***Disclaimer***

I do not have any right to be writing this except for writer’s curiosity.  I don’t own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon or have any relation to the creators to possibly be able to do this.  I can’t be sued, because, well you won’t get anything from a poor student.  So please don’t try, it will be considered a financial loss if you do.

 

Time period: Ranma - about year after manga’s, Ranma and Akane are nearing graduation

                        Sailor Moon - before the Sailor SS, scouts not can go super as of yet.

 

Other notes: Italics represent thought and quotes are speech unless noted otherwise.

 

Knight of the Moon

Chapter 3

 

Rei Hino was kneeling in front of a large fire with her eyes closed in a meditative position dressed in her usual priestess garb.  Suddenly, her eyes opened, “Oh great fire.  Please give me insight on who the Sailor Senshi are fighting against and how we might be able to defeat them.”  Rei continued to gaze into the fire for several minutes, waiting for the images to come.

Slowly, an image started to form.  It was a strange design with a sword intersecting a royal crown.  The sword itself was rather plain looking, with no distinguishable characteristics.  What really confused her though, was something that she did recognize that was placed on top of the hilt of the sword, the sign of Serenity.  Before she could think much more about it, the image duplicated itself.  The two images floated apart and stopped, as they became part of a white cape.

Slowly the two images faded as another image formed, it was another that she recognized very well as it belonged to the newest member of their team, Sailor Saturn.  Just as she thought it was over the Symbol of Saturn began morphing itself.  Rei nearly lost her control when she recognized the image was becoming another of the last image.  When it was finished, everything slowly disappeared, leaving her gazing into the flames with more questions than answers.  Shaking her head, Rei stood and began to get things ready for the meeting today.

 

Sailor Pluto carefully watched the fight near the train station.  Seeing the boy dispatch the monster so easily made her cautious.  She was already blocked from viewing the future by her future self for the time being, so she tried to sense the boys affect on time itself.  She discovered that the boy could the considered the avatar of chaos himself.

The number of timelines that were attached to boy made the Senshi of Time extremely uneasy; especially when she noticed that he apparently had ties to each of the Senshi, including herself.  She knew the boy could very easily lead to the destruction of Crystal Tokyo.  But she could not remove him from the timeline since that could have repercussions in the future that also could stop Crystal Tokyo.  “ARGH!” Sailor Pluto yelled as she grabbed her head in frustration; she could feel a major migraine approaching.

Getting her headache under control, Pluto decided to look into the past to see what gave him the ability to destroy a yuoma so easily.  Luckily, her future self didn’t block her from viewing the past.  Grabbing some popcorn, she sat down and began watching the boys past from the very beginning when he was a young baby.

Shortly after watching, she almost threw up the popcorn as she watched the boy’s father continuously toss the 5 year old into a pit of starving cats, then pulling out a mauled and bloodied child that was unconscious from all the pain.  The same thing happened each time the boy came out and each time he went in, he cried for his father who ignored him and his mother who had no idea what her husband was doing to their only child.

Pluto saw everything after that, everything.  From the curses to fiancées claiming him without his opinion to hiding from his own mother because of a five year olds promise to his mother to be a man among men when he thought he was finger painting.  She saw all the challengers that had come looking for Ranma because of his father and others coming to claim his fiancée’s for one reason or another.  When she was finally done, she had deep respect for this boy.  No, boy isn’t right.  He has grown up through all the trouble and has persevered and is trying to make his own decisions in his life.  The boy has grown up to be a man.  A small tear trickled down her face as she watched the young man walk home, knowing the trouble that he was going to get.  He reminds me of Logan in the earlier years.

 

At the Hikawa shrine, 8 girls were gathered together as friends and as fellow Senshi.  There would be nine gathering, but she usually appeared unannounced.  As Senshi, they gathered here to talk about very serious subjects.  They would usually talk about enemy movements, tactics, and how to defeat the enemies.  They are very proper at their meetings, always conducted in a proper manner to most efficiently use their time there.

“OOOOHHHH!  This is so cool!  You never told me you had this issue Rei!” Usagi screamed with delight as she shoved a cookie in her mouth and plopped on a pile of cushions and started reading a new manga that Usagi just discovered that Rei had.  As you can tell, the meetings are always used efficiently.

“Because I knew you would take it and try to read it without my permission, meatball head,” Rei stated flatly.  While everyone was dressed in their school clothes, Rei was dressed in her priestess robes.  The rest of the Senshi, Makoto, Minako, Ami, Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru were sitting on various cushions and watching another battle between Rei and Usagi start to break out.  Artemis and Luna were talking with Ami about the new enemy.

“Come on Rei.  You have to share this stuff!  I can’t get stuff like this because I’m always poor.  And don’t call me meatball head!” Usagi bantered back.

Rei made a lunge at her manga, trying to get it back from Usagi who just kept moving it out of the way at the last minute.  “You might be able to get more of them if you didn’t spend all your money on all the ice cream and candy you buy.”

Just as Usagi was about to retort, a cough interrupted them.  Both looked at Ami who had her fist covering her mouth.  Ami took a brief glance over the group and noted again that Setsuna wasn’t going to be joining them, “We really should start the meeting.  There are some important things that we need to talk about.  Especially with this latest attack.”

“I’ll say we have something important to talk about,” Minako stated.  Just as quickly, she turned her complete attention on Hotaru who was sitting next to Michiru and Haruka who were sharing a cushion.  “Come on Hotaru, you were quiet during the walk over here, now please tell us who was that hunk of a man that you were walking with just before the yuoma attack?”

“Yeah Hotaru, no secrets now!” Makoto exclaimed.  During the walk over to the shrine, she and Minako drilled the younger girl for info on the boy she was with.  They were disappointed that she would only give his name and believed that she really knew more.

“All I know is his name is Ranma Saotome.  I really don’t know anything else,” Hotaru told her dense friends.  “It would be also safe to assume that he wasn’t from Juuban since he didn’t know where the train station was.”

“Who was this Ranma, Hotaru?  How did you meet him?” Haruka asked her charge.

“He helped me with some bullies after school,” Hotaru mentally groaned to herself as soon as she blurted out the answer.  She knew exactly what was coming next.

“Again!  Hotaru, we told you before that if you were having problems at school that you would tell us and let us take care of it,” Haruka stated.  She heard the stories before and was ready to take numbers.

Hotaru stared back at her guardian, “I know your meaning of ‘take care of’ Haruka, take numbers and beat heads senseless.  They backed down a little after Michiru talked to the principle but he can’t do anything if they are off school grounds.”  Haruka had the decency to look ashamed at Hotaru’s remark, she pinned the definition right on the nail.  “Besides, after what Ranma did I don’t think they will be bothering me at all next week or for a while after.”  By this time, the rest of the Senshi were paying attention.  This was one of the few times that Hotaru talked back like this.

“So what did this Ranma do to them?” Michiru asked, interrupting Haruka’s question.  “I’m assuming he didn’t hit them.”

“Well, Ranma walked up behind them and stared at them angrily.  He said a few words; they apologized and ran off faster than Usagi does when running to school.”

“Wait a minute,” Rei interrupted.  She hadn’t heard much about the fight except that a hunk of a man, by Minako and Makoto’s description, easily defeated a yuoma that was very similar to what they fought the day before.  “Am I guessing right that this Ranma that you are talking about is the same ‘hunk’ that defeated the yuoma?”  She received a nod from the five that were there.  “How did he do that?”

“With the 13 years of martial arts training and over twice that amount in skill,” a new voice interrupted.  Everyone turned their heads to the new voice and found Setsuna dressed in casual slacks and blouse walk through the door, closing it behind her.  “The yuoma he also faced also wasn’t as powerful as the one before, but he could have defeated with just as much ease as he did with this one,” Setsuna said matter-of-factly as she sat next to Hotaru.

“What?” everyone said at once.  Hotaru just looked at her with amazement.

“The boy himself is so intertwined with time that a small change could seriously harm the time line.  I haven’t tried to do anything since my future self is blocking my views of the future now for some reason and she is not telling me why yet.  So I looked in his past.”

“What did you see,” Hotaru asked.

“The boy Ranma has gone through more difficulties than we have in one year than we have in four.  The boy has walked through hell and back because of his training and his father.  To say the least, what you saw was only a portion of his full ability.” Everyone was somber at that thought.  They found it hard to believe what Setsuna was telling them, but she never lied and rarely was flat out with information like this.

“Ahem, I’m sorry to interrupt your interest with this Ranma, but we have a new enemy that we need to prepare for” Luna stated loudly, getting everyone’s attention.

“Yes,” Ami said plainly as she typed a few commands on her Mercury computer.  “From the data I’ve gathered at yesterday’s fight and today’s, the yuoma are very maneuverable.  Their speed and agility makes up for their less armor.  Strength wise, they are twice as strong as those we’ve fought before.”  Ami paused to let what she said to sink in.  “But the strangest thing I’ve found so far was the energy signature I was receiving from the yuoma, it was both negaverse and silver millennium.”

“What?  That’s has to be impossible to mix the negaverse and silver millennium energy,” Usagi stated.

“It isn’t that difficult, Usagi,” Ami replied.  “Remember what Beryl did to Mamoru?  That was a mix of silver millennium and negaverse.”  That immediately quieted Usagi.  Ami then turned to Setsuna, “Could there be more people from the Silver Millennium that are still alive?”

“There aren’t anymore from the Silver Millennium.  The Queen only sent you girls, the cats, and Mamoru to the future.”  Even as she said it, Setsuna knew that there was something missing but chose to ignore it.

“I tried a fire reading earlier today to try to find out more about the enemy.  The vision I received was very strange,” Rei said.

“What was it Rei?” Artemis asked for everyone.

Rei calmly told everyone what she saw in the flames.  Artemis, Luna, Setsuna, and Hotaru were the only ones that appeared to show recognition to it.  Everyone listened but appeared to not know anything.  When she was finished, Luna spoke up.

“Rei, did the symbol you saw that split, look like this,” Luna then picked up a pencil in her teeth and began to draw a sword intersecting a crown with the symbol of Serenity resting on the sword hilt.

“Yeah, that’s what I saw.  But what does it mean?”

“Our memories are still a little flaky on details, but this is one of the few things that we can remember fairly clearly,” Artemis answered.  “That particular symbol is the royal crest for the Moon’s royal knights.”

“Royal Knights?” Haruka asked.

“Yes, the knights were the best fighters in the solar system, next to you guys.  Each planet had their own garrison of knights made up from the people of that planet.  But the Moon’s garrison consisted of the best from the entire solar system.”

“But what did they do?  I thought we were the ones to defend the system from invaders while the others guarded from internal threats,” Michiru asked.

“That is true, but the Silver Millennium was anything but complete peace.  We had our share of terrorists and people who wanted to destroy the peace.  So the knights were created to take care of all the smaller problems and help you girls out with the larger ones.  The solar system is too large for your girls to be everywhere at once.

“The planets knights took care of their own territories unless asked for help, which nearby planets would respond or the Moon would send help.  But the main task for the Moon Knights was to the same job that you girls, including guarding the palace, but their numbers allowed them to be in more places at once and this allowed them to stop small problems before they turned into larger ones that you girls would have to take care of,” Luna said.

“It seems that we have two of the knights from the moon still alive and they were somehow turned by the negaverse.  But all the knights were killed during Beryl’s assault on the moon,” Artemis stated.

“There might be a third knight out there as well Artemis,” Rei stated and began to tell everyone about the second part of her fire reading.

Everyone quietly thought about the meaning of what Rei said until Hotaru spoke up, “How many remember a Logan Somerled?”

Hotaru watched everyone’s reaction but didn’t see any recognition.  She thought Setsuna recognized the name, but might have been something else.  “After the fight last night, something seemed familiar about the yuoma to me.  It was the way it fought us.”

“What do you mean by that Hotaru, dear,” Michiru asked.

“The yuoma fought smart.  It didn’t allow us enough time to power up our attacks by using its speed to move in and disrupt our power up by attacking us.  It used its agility to dodge the attacks when we did get them off; even with three or four attacking at the same time it was able to dodge.  We received a major beating because we couldn’t hit it close up or at a distance.  It was only when we were able to restrict its agility by getting it in a building were we able to start hitting it.  Logan was the only one able to do that when we sparred with him during the last few years.”

“Who was Logan Somerled, Hotaru,” Luna asked.  Some of her memories were starting to come back, but something was missing.  A knight of the moon just didn’t have a sparring session with the Queen’s Senshi.

Hotaru became very silent as she started studying her hands.  “Logan was a Moon Knight, and he was my brother.”  Everyone gasped and a few were thinking what the implications could mean.  “He isn’t alive though.  Queen Serenity only sent us forward.  Besides he… he died right in front of me that day doing his duty as a Knight.”  Tears were falling from Hotaru’s eyes as she recalled the images from the battle.

Everyone felt something for Hotaru at that point.  Usagi, in a moment of maturity, went over and grabbed Hotaru in a hug, as tears fell down her face.  Out of all the people, she probably could relate to Hotaru the most, remembering her friends sacrifice themselves so she could defeat Beryl.

After a few moments, Usagi let her go and smiled back at Hotaru, “Why don’t you tell us about him Hotaru.  I found that talking about those lost tend to help deal with the loss.  Besides, I think we would all would enjoy hearing about your brother.  He sounded like he was an important person.”  Hotaru nodded as she began to talk about her brother.  As the story progressed, each of the Senshi wished they had a brother like Logan.  Pluto though was only partially listening as a memory of her past resurfaced with the name Logan Somerled.

 

--Silver Millennium--

Pluto watched over the multitudes of people as they talked, ate, and danced at the ball that the Queen was holding on the Moon for Earth family that had arrived.  She glanced over to the side and smiled as Prince Edmyon and Princess Serenity quietly walked outside.  She knew those two were going to be together and their parents also saw the love that was blooming between those two.  But she knew from watching the time gates that their time would be too short, no matter how much time they had.

“They look good together, don’t you agree Lady Pluto.”

Pluto’s smiled dropped as she heard a familiar voice behind her, “What are you doing Sir Logan.”  Shortly after he became a Knight, he made it a point to make sure she wasn’t alone.

 She was the Guardian of Time, a position that had always been carried out by one person.  She had been always alone except for the friendship with the outers and spending time advising Queen Serenity.  She didn’t know what to do with him, she could tell him off but that would just bring him back again later.  But over the constant presence and talking that he forced upon her, she was growing to enjoying the visits.

“I’m hurt my Lady,” Logan said as he stood beside her and gazed at her softly.  “I was doing my duty demands; to guard the palace and its occupants.  You just happen to be an occupant and I was wondering how you were doing.”

She turned and smiled as if the cat just ate the mouse, “Oh, you aren’t even detailed to the moon this time.  You are supposed to be on the outer rims helping the uprising there.”  She paused a moment before smiling warmly, “I am fine and thank you for your worry.  Your sister though might need your attention more than I.”

“I knew that already Lady Pluto.  I was on Saturn before arriving and could guess by my father and mother’s lack of mention of their daughter.  I was on my way here shortly.  But as you can see,” Logan gestured to their left.  “I have helped all I can for her,” Logan and Pluto saw Saturn talking with another Knight; a smile could be seen on her face as they talked.  “I wish Mother and Father wouldn’t be scared of her though.  They have no idea how much they are hurting her.”

“She is the bringer of silence and is only awakened when she will be needed,” Pluto said quietly.

“I know that Setsuna!” Logan said sternly.  “But that shouldn’t make a difference.  She is still my sister and a young girl that needs everything that every other girl gets but doesn’t.”  Logan took a few deep calm breaths, “Now look at what has happened.  I have come to cheer you up and I have turned things around and gotten us depressed.  No more talk.  Since you were so observant to note that I am not on duty here and the music is still going,” Logan turned and took her hand.  Pluto’s cheeks turned a little pink by the contact, “May I have this dance Lady Pluto?”

Not knowing anything else to say, Pluto gently nodded her head as Logan led them to the dance floor.  The Queen caught Pluto being led to the dance floor.  She smiled and hoped for the best for her friend.

 

--Present--

A tear escaped Setsuna’s walls and quickly wiped it away.  She looked around and hoped that no one saw it.  Since the meeting was winding down, she decided that she should get back to work guarding the time gates.  “I’d best be going.  I’ll let you know if I find anything new about our enemy,” Setsuna then teleported out of the shrine to the gates.  Only Hotaru noticed the tear, and made a mental note to ask about it later.

--A while later--

“Any idea what you two are going to be doing next year?” Makoto asked Michiru and Haruka as they were all leaving the shrine after the meeting.

“Well, we’re both enrolling in Mizuharo University,” Michiru answered.  “I’m probably going to major in music performance and Haruka her is still undecided.”

“Do you have any idea what you want to do Haruka?” Ami asked.

“Well, I don’t know.  I enjoy car racing, but that is more of a hobby for me.  I’ve been thinking about Physical Education though and become a teacher or a trainer.”

“Since your going to the same university as Mamo-chan, can I ask you a favor?” Usagi meekly asked.

“Sure,” Haruka said.  “Do you want us to make sure he isn’t cheating on you,” she said jokingly.

“How did you know?” Usagi asked dumbfounded.  Everyone else had a small sweat drop forming.

“Sometimes the answers just come falling from above.”

 

--Nerima--

Ranma, in girl form, sulked as he walked down the street, not paying any particular attention to where he was going.  All he wanted to do was to walk out some anger and try to think.  Ranma started thinking over what happened again to bring him where he was now.

 

When he got home, his father started berating him for freezing him in place for over two hours this morning.  Ranma barely remember the event and casually brushed it aside.  Not wanting to deal with his father at the moment, Ranma surprised him with a kick in the gut, right into the pond resulting in a panda and giving Ranma the time to jump up to the roof without his father noticing.

On the roof, Ranma gazed at the sunset and started to think about his life; all the fights, fiancée’s he had no choice about, people trying to kill him for one reason or another, etc.  What is my life, except a bunch of other people’s wants and desire’s?  Do I have any say in how I want to live my life?  Ranma watched as the sun started its first moments as it began to set over the horizon before giving a small snort.  My life is an endless circle of problems that can’t seem to be solved without someone else getting in the way or honor being destroyed, my families or others.  I only hope that I can make my own life out of what’s left of it.  Before he went farther along that line of thought, Ranma needed to visit someone that meant the world to him, but before that, he needed to talk to Nabiki about a legal issue.

 

Ranma started to head to the door after talking to Nabiki, and paying a small fee, when Akane stopped him.  “Where are you going Ranma?  I’ve just started cooking dinner,” as she walked out of the kitchen.

Ranma immediately started sweating at the mention of Akane cooking.  She might have gotten better, but the food from last time was still being examined at Tokyo University Chem. Labs, which Nabiki sold it to.  “I’m have to talk to Mom about some things Akane.  I won’t be back until after dinner,” and started to head for the door.

Akane, for her part accepted what Ranma told her, but warning flags jumped at the last part.  He’s going to go eat somewhere else, probably to flirt with Ukyo or that Chinese bimbo.  “You just don’t want to eat what I’m cooking do you.  Admit it, you’re going over to Ucchan’s or to visit Shampoo aren’t you?”

Ranma, no really confused, “What do you mean?  Why would I go visit them?  I’m going to visit Mom.”

“You’re just saying that so you don’t have to eat the new recipe I’m trying,” Akane was angry now.  She was seeing the truth behind Ranma’s words.

No matter how much control Ranma had been trying to hold over his mouth, it was bound to loosen eventually under high stress, “You might want to wait until Tokyo Chem. Labs are done with your last meal before trying something else.”  Damn it!

“RANMA, YOU JERK!” and once again, Ranma was sailing the wide blue yonder, minus wings, engine, and a parachute.  Akane stiffly turned and walked back into the kitchen determined to prove Ranma wrong.  Why does he have to be such a jerk?  He should have at least tried it.

Nabiki noticed that without Ranma here, she and everyone else would have to suffer Akane’s cooking and he was the only one that could usually stomach her cooking.  Thinking quickly, Nabiki started dialing for delivery.  As she made the call, she made a mental note to contact Tokyo University again about another new discovery.

Now brings us to earlier as Ranma-chan sulked down the street.  Why won’t Akane trust me for once?  She can be so cute at times, but the rest of the time, it’s as if she doesn’t want anything to do with me.  I don’t know what to do anymore.  Its time for a change; I only hope Mom can accept it without too much trouble.”

“Oh, pig-tailed goddess!  How glorious it is that you would honor me with your presence.  This must be a sign that we are meant to be together.  Come to me and allow me to shower you with my affections and be blessed with my presence.”  Kuno then charged Ranma-chan with open arms to allow his goddess to jump into them and return his affections.

Ranma-chan groaned as she heard the voice of the last person she wanted to see right now.  Seeing Kuno charging him, he waited until the last moment before dodging Kuno.  From the side, we see bungling, delusional idiot charging a very annoyed redhead.  Just as the idiot was about to embrace the redhead, she blurred from view and appeared behind the idiot and he suddenly found himself embracing a light pole.

“Don’t bother trying Kuno.  You’re stuck like that for two hours, and you’re voice won’t be back for another day after that.  Don’t try coming after me again, Kuno.  I am not interested in you at all what so ever.  No matter what you say or believe.  Wake up Kuno before it’s too late,” Ranma-chan then turned and continued walking towards his mother’s house.

Kuno was left, hugging a light pole and unable to let go of the fierce embrace.  What was more disturbing was the inability to question what was wrong, as no words would come from his glorious being.  The words of his goddess though bothered him for some reason.  Was he not awake, as she put it?  Could it be true that she did not desire him as he did her?  Since Kuno had a little less than two hours, he decided now would be an ample time to try to answer those questions, completely ignoring the stares and whispers of people passing buy.

As Ranma-chan walked towards his mother’s house, his thoughts were going over the past events.  What is happening to me?  I know very little of shiatsu, and yet I seem to be a master at it: maybe better than the old ghoul.  Ranma-chan paused a moment before resuming.  Let’s see, the first time was this morning on Pop; heh, he deserved it any way.  Then there was that one with Dr. Tofu, but how did I know that point would be able to calm him and restore his balance.  Then there was Kuno.  What ever is happening, I like it, but I would like a little explanation.  His thoughts were put on pause as he began walking up to the Saotome household.

 

“That was excellent Mom,” Ranma, male again, stated with a smile and a full belly.  “Sorry I didn’t give ya any warning about me arrivin’.”

Nodoka Saotome just smiled as she sipped her tea.  True, she was surprised to see her son at her doorstep.  She guessed that a fight happened between him and Akane.  Quickly ushering him in, she disappeared into the kitchen to cook up some more food while Ranma got himself cleaned up.  By the time he was downstairs again, Nodoka had laid out more food.  But something was bothering her.  Ranma seemed calmer and yet nervous at the same time.  She decided to wait until he was ready to talk about whatever was bothering him.  “It was my pleasure Son.  I don’t mind you visiting, even unexpectedly.”

Ranma’s smile dropped a little, “Mom, I didn’t visit just to visit.  There, are some issues that I can only talk with you about.”

“I knew something was bothering you when you arrived.  I still enjoy it the time we share, even if it is, business.  What do you want to talk about?”

Ranma took a calming breath and steeled himself for what laid ahead.  “Mom, do I have to be martial arts sensei?”

Nodoka was not expecting a question like this, “You are the only heir to your fathers school, Ranma.”

“That doesn’t answer the question Mom!” Ranma stated a little more forcedly than intended.  “I’m sorry Mom.  I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Ranma, you have to understand.  You are the only heir and it’s your duty to teach your fathers school to others and pass it down to your heir.”

“Mom, I don’t want to be a sensei.”

“Why Ranma, you seem to enjoy it when you practice it.  It only seems right to be able to teach it to others.”

“I do enjoy the art.  I can relax with it and I stay in shape.  But it’s loosing its appeal to me.” Ranma paused and saw that he needed to explain more.  “Pop taught me that a martial artist is supposed to be honorable.  But he tosses that aside when it comes to his stomach.  His master, Happosai, has no honor whatsoever as he gropes women and steals their underwear and Pop and Mr. Tendo allow this to happen.  Heck, they bow and scrape when he is around.  I’m the only one that will stand up to him and try to stop him.

Ranma paused for a moment, as everything that he had kept pent up started to flow, “Mom, do you truly know what happened during the training trip that Pop took me on?”

Nodoka, who had been slowly building her rage, calmly answered, “Yes, your father told me all about your training trip.  I have to say, it seemed like you had a fun time.”

“Let me tell you a different version, Mom.  Most is from what I remember and what I have discovered since my past started to find me.”  And so, Ranma began to tell a very different version to what Nodoka was told by Genma.  Ranma didn’t leave anything out, the stealing, the promises, the fiancées, and the Neko-ken.  By the end, Nodoka was seriously thinking about ordering a Panda rug.

“Mom, right now I have been living someone else’s life because it was all that I knew.  With that, I have two fiancées that seem to have equal claim that I didn’t not have a choice about.  One was because of his stomach and the other was made because he was probably drunk with Mr. Tendo.  I also have an Amazon after me because of their backward laws.

“Then there was the promise that I supposedly made.  No matter what you think Mom, I did not make that promise.  That was Pop’s idea.  A five year old is not old enough, even by the old rules, to make a decision like that.  Because of that, I feared you Mom, because of that damn promise Pop made and used my handprint.”  Ranma stopped as tears started to break the dams that he made.

Nodoka, who had been simmering with anger over Ranma’s tale, quickly banished the anger when she noticed her son crying and grabbed him in a loving hug, allowing him to vent the tears.  A couple tears were evident on her face as well.  She never knew how bad things were, she always suspected but she trusted her husband, since trust was the foundation to a relationship.  It seems that some changes might need to be made.

Ranma slowly calmed himself down so he could finish, “Right now I have a continuously repeating life.  Nothing changes because making a change would destroy more than one person’s honor and create many people hating me or wanting my head.  I just don’t know what to do anymore.  I’m tired of having to continuously fight just to live one day more.”

Nodoka’s mind was grinding, trying to find a way to help her only son live.  She knew he wouldn’t consider suicide, but his life was almost not worth living.  “Ranma, this may seems strange to you, but what do you want to do?”

Ranma pushed back so he could look at his mother’s eyes and saw she was sincere.  She was the first one to ask what he wanted since he could remember.  “I want to be able to help people.  Many people remember me because of all the fights I get into that end up in destruction of property.  People are in awe of my skill, but they fear me because of what I can do as well.  Being a martial artist that Pop wants just isn’t worth it anymore.  I want to try working in medicine, where my skills in the art will be put to more use than destruction.”

Nodoka smiled at her son.  He was truly smarter than others let on, though a little rough on the edges.  “Ranma, I would be honored to have a doctor in the family, if that is what you want to do.  You are right; you are living someone else’s life.  I was so caught up in honor, that I was blinded by the hurt that it was causing you.  Over the past year, I have thought about that promise and what it has given me and I hated it, an empty house, no family for ten years, and my only son with a horrible life because of the training trip.”

Ranma was speechless as he listened to his mother.  She wasn’t saying he was honor bound to do something.  Nodoka grabbed her son again in a loving embrace, which he gladly returned, for once getting the love and attention that he desperately needed.  “Son, you are truly a man to have finally decided to choose your own life, even though everyone around you was pushing you in the direction they wanted.”

Suddenly Nodoka remembered something, “Ranma, what about Akane?”

Ranma lowered his head as he spoke, “I don’t know anymore Mom.  I used to care for her greatly.  It might have been love, I don’t know.  But there are so many problems between us that I think it’s too late.  We can probably become friends eventually, but nothing more.  Right from the start there was hatred because of a curse and pushy fathers that were living in their own dream world, which they called reality.  They still are to this day.  Then I have my own problems dealing with people because of Pop.  I’ve gotten better and I’ve tried to make it work, but she doesn’t easily trust me and never has.”

Nodoka sighed audibly and was truly sorry for her son.  She like Akane very much and hoped that they would admit the truth and be married, but it seems that things were working against them, not just pride.  Genma, you idiot!  “I’m sorry son.  You were in love with her, and she with you.  Otherwise she wouldn’t have helped you, hide, from me.  I caught the glances back and forth between you and her.”

“Mom, it’s ok.  You never knew.  But is there a way for me to get out of some promises without destroying everyone’s honor?”

She smiled at her son, who looked exactly like he did when he was still with her back then; the eager child, wondering if there was something that his mother didn’t know.  “We’ll work out something.  I’ll let the Tendo’s that you are staying with me.  Then we can work on saving honor.”

 

That night, after a long talk with his mother, Ranma was able to go to bed with smile on his face.  Over the past few hours, he and his mother had been able to create several plans to deal with the promises made.  It would take about a week to get everything ready.  People were going to be hurt, his father the worst, but people would be free to choose their own lives.  He only wished he didn’t have to hurt people, that was the last thing he wanted to do.  But his mother made it clear, that no matter what, people were going to be hurt and needed to live with it.  As he closed his eyes, his mind wandered from the promises to the new abilities that he was starting to show.

 

--Ranma’s Dream--

Ranma was standing on a barren field as multitudes of images passed by him.  Many dealt with another girl with purple eyes and long black hair.  The images changed with age and he soon saw the girl dressed in what looked like an abbreviated school uniform that had purple trimmings.  In many of the images, a boy with short black hair and blue eyes was at the side of the girl.  Together they seemed to be the same age, like twins.  Soon, he saw the boy, now a young man, standing with the girl in the school uniform but he was dressed in white armor and cape that had gold trimming.  Soon, a woman joined the two people in the picture, a tall woman with green hair and ruby eyes who radiated knowledge and an eternal love towards the man in the armor.

Ranma continued to gaze at the three in the image dumbfounded, especially the dark haired girl.  He just didn’t understand why the three in the picture seemed familiar somehow or the feeling that he had met one of them today.  “You know, Elaine would have a fit that her own brother forgot about her.  Heck, Setsu-chan might even be daring enough to Dead Scream your butt for forgetting her.”

Just as the voice said it, names were placed with the faces and he recognized them in the picture.  Elaine, my twin sister, also known as Sailor Saturn, Ranma’s gaze turned to the green haired woman, and Setsuna, Sailor Pluto and my lo… my… Ranma couldn’t even finish that line of thought.

“There is no shame in admitting that she was our lover back then.  In fact, we were quite happy together, the two of us.  Elaine and the Outers made it even more special since that allowed us to be more of a family.”

Ranma nodded in agreement as memories floated through his head as the person next to him spoke.  Wait a minute.  Some one is standing next to me?  Ranma turned his head to see the spitting image of the man in the image smiling back at him.  Ranma’s reaction could be considered normal, CRASH!  “Who… Wha… How… Where did you come from?” Ranma nearly screamed as he pulled himself off the ground.

The man smirked as he helped Ranma stand up, “I am you, Ranma Saotome, practically master of the Anything Goes Martial Arts School.  Don’t look surprised; I know everything about you.  I am actually just a floating memory to help myself remember who I am.  Don’t worry, I’m not actually taking over your body, just reminding you who we were in the past, before we were reborn.”  Ranma relaxed a little hearing that.  “I set this up with magic so that when I tried using my skills from before like you have, this would happen.  I’m sure you have lots of questions and I have a lot to tell you and the time is very limited.  This memory helper will be gone after you wake up in the morning.

“To get started, we were Logan Somerled, heir Prince to the Planet Saturn, and Royal Knight of the Moon, rank General.  Elaine Somerled is our twin sister, also heir to the throne of Saturn.  Se is also, Sailor Saturn…

 

--Next Morning--

Ranma got up with the sun, as was habit because of his father.  As he got up it took him a moment to realize he wasn’t at the Tendo’s, but his mom’s house.  Then memories of the dream came back to him.  That was one heck of a dream.  It had to have been a dream.  I know my life is strange and causes me to live in interesting times, but this takes the cake.  But Ranma couldn’t shake the feeling he was fooling himself.  A sudden thought caused him to trigger a mental command and to his utter shock, a sword appeared in his hands.

In his shock Ranma almost dropped the sword, but kept his hold.  Taking the sword in two hands, Ranma began to examine the sword in more detail.  In his hands, the sword seemed feather light and would shatter on the first contact with anything it hit.  But he knew, how he couldn’t explain, that the sword would only break upon his death or his dismissal from the Order of the Moon Knight.  The sword itself was about four feet long, three inches wide, and only about a quarter of an inch at the middle.  The hilt was about a foot long and the hand guard was long enough for more than two hands on it.  The hilts base suddenly caught his eye.  The base appeared to be made out of clear crystal ball and in the middle of the ball, was a golden crescent moon.  Queen Serenity!

With another unknown thought, Ranma had the sword disappear to where ever it came from and unknowingly also brought out the staff.  This was quite longer than the sword since it stood six feet tall.  Again surprised, Ranma accidentally knocked some books off his desk.  Ranma cringed and hoped that his mother didn’t here the ruckus.  Ranma took a quick glance at the staff, noticing that it was lighter than the sword, but Ranma somehow knew that it was just as strong as the sword.  Taking another glance at it, he noticed that the crescent moon wasn’t anywhere on the staff.

Suddenly a rapping came from Ranma’s door, “Ranma, are you up?”  Ranma quickly scrambled to try to hide the staff, “I thought I heard a crash.”  The doorknob started to turn, then as Ranma was about to toss the staff out the window, it disappeared the same way it appeared.  Nodoka walked in and saw her son, sitting on the bed staring at his hands for some reason, “Is something wrong?”

Ranma looked up and thought up something quick, “No, just a bad dream.  I ended up knocking some books off the desk,” motioning to the books scattered on the floor.

“Well, why don’t you clean up.  I want to spar with my son for the first time,” she said with a smile and walked out the door.  Ranma watched her go as she closed the door more confused than ever.  Mom wants to spar?  And what just happened minutes before?  Why does stuff like this happen to me all the time?

 

***Authors Notes***

Finally got this done.  It took a long time, mostly because of classes since the end of the semester is near.  I hope to have another update in two weeks.  The reason is because of finals this upcoming week and the week after will be devoted to writing, sleeping, and visiting friends.  Hope you enjoy the story so far as the next chapter will introduce our evil masterminds and Genma will be reinventing the Crouch of the Wild Tiger to try to appease the anger of extremely sharp metal blades.