1989: Happousai walked into the magic shop, looking for something with which he could wreak a horrible vengeance. The old man who ran the shop looked at him thoughtfully. "Looking to buy something with real power?" "Yes! I need to destroy my ungrateful students who imprisoned me!!!" The old man took an egg nearly the size of Happousai's head off a shelf. It sat in a large nest of sticks and had a character painted on it. "This is the phoenix egg. Supposedly. Not that I believe it for a minute." "I'm not looking to make dinner!" The old man cocked his head, and thought for a moment. "Oh, wait, you said 'destroy', not 'reward'." "YES!" "Well, you could put this on their heads, and then it would hatch and they'd look silly. According to the legend." Happousai shook his head. "Could I interest you in a video girl?" He pointed to the shelf of tapes on one wall. "I always find them quite soothing." "No, I want a horrible, bloody vengeance. Plus, if she isn't real, I'm not interested. Video girls only have pictures of panties." "Hmm. You're a hard man to please." Happousai picked up a deck of cards and checked the label. "What are 'Clow Cards'?" "I'm afraid those are only cheap American knock-offs. They don't work, and even if they did, I wouldn't believe in them. Quite silly, really." the old man said. "Hmm..." He pulled a golden trident out from under the counter. "The previous owner traded this in, but it still works. Any good with fire shooting tridents?" "Nope." He blinked at the can of spinach on one shelf. "What's this doing here?" "Since it's a can, it's not doing very much." "Look, do you have anything I can use to get even or what?" Happousai asked irritatedly. "How about a can of Silly Superstrings? They warp and bend space when you open the can, then they stick to everything. Great fun at a physicist party." "I'll just take my business elsewhere," Happousai said, starting for the door. "How about a scroll with a spell for banishing people to other planes of existence?" the old man offered. "Not that I believe in other planes." "Ahh, now you're talking," Happousai said. "I'll take it." "Keep in mind, it only extends to sight range, and it only works once, so be careful when you use it." "Hmm. I'll need something else to dispose of my other ungrateful student, then." "How about a pair of Silver Shoes? Only used once!" "Not interested in going home," Happousai said. "But I'll just poke around a little bit more...maybe something will catch my eye." "Browsing is always welcome here," he said. "Just don't pour any water on my pet." He petted the cute little white and brown furred humanoid creature, only about two inches tall. "He'll start sprouting off horrible gremlins?" "No, he gets mad and bites you. I really hate the days I have to bathe him" "Fair enough." ***************** Children of Fire A Sailor Moon/Ranma Elseworld Chapter 12, Part 1: Green Eyes http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/SMR/ By John Biles ***************** "I think I've finally met someone smarter than you," Feldspar said to Tourmaline. "Your new boyfriend's a real genius, eh?" Tourmaline smiled as Feldspar jumped. "He's not my boyfriend." "Yet." "I dunno. I like being with him, but he's not romantic at all. But it's kinda neat hanging out with someone who knows everything. He's always so earnest, though. I like that. And he's more of a gentleman than most of my troops." Feldspar leaned back in her chair, the front legs coming off the ground. "He'd make a wonderful assistant for Mom." "You should test him, then." She nodded. "I need to test Margaret too. So what's her real name, anyway?" "That's her little secret," Tourmaline said. "I don't suppose you've got any advice on how I'm supposed to seduce Guardian Saturn?" "Ugh. That's like having to seduce a mad dog." "A mad dog who already has a harem," Tourmaline added. "He must have a low sex drive, or else he's slick enough to sleep with all of them and the others don't know. But I doubt he's that good. Oh...and Daddy's decided I have to marry him for real." "WHAT?" Feldspar lost her balance and toppled with her chair. "Yeah. His dad the panda and Daddy are old friends. They decided to unite their families." "Bleah." "I'm tempted to just fail spectacularly so that Beryl will pull me off the mission, but she might demote me. This is just a waste of my time." "What you need to do is set up some sort of romantic meeting without him realizing he's going to be alone with you. And somehow get the others away from him." Feldspar thought for a minute. "Hey, I've got an idea for that." "Sock it to me; It can't be any worse than my last eight dumb ideas, and might be a lot better," Tourmaline said. "Okay, first off..." ************ Ranma struggled to stay awake. I should have asked for veto power over the movie, he thought. After an hour of 'Fried Blue Potatoes', his brain was melting. At least I talked her out of going to see the Strawberry Shortcake live-action nostalgia movie, he thought. Maybe I can take a quick nap using her shoulder as a pillow, he thought, and closed his eyes. Ukyou felt Ranma's head on her shoulder and smiled. She reached over and held his hand and gave a happy sigh. I was so worried about this date, she thought, but it's gone wonderfully so far. Ranma hasn't complained about the movie at all. Maybe he just didn't realize he likes this sort of thing before. And no Setsuna spying on us. To Ukyou's thinking, Setsuna was her main rival; she knew that until Ranma got Ruby out of his head, he'd never be able to commit to someone else. How she would go about getting Ruby to shut up and leave Ranma alone and stop pushing Ranma to date Setsuna, she wasn't sure. She'd carefully paired off everyone in her mind. Rei and Usagi could date each other. She would have her Ranchan. Tsubasa would fall off a cliff into the ocean and drift away. Setsuna could date Ken; he was basically a decent guy once you got past his mouth. Ami had Ryo. Haruka would be tricky, but maybe Shampoo could be convinced to hook up with her. Michiru already had two boyfriends. Grandpa was too old to need a girlfriend. And Genma could fall into the sea with Tsubasa. She drifted into a happy little fantasy about life with Ranchan while Ranma drifted into slumberland, although he failed to encounter Little Nemo. *************** "So you think it's caused by the fact that we have a fundamental unresolved conflict between our past and present behaviors?" Rei asked Setsuna. Setsuna nodded. "In your case, it's the conflict between Eowyn's old hatred of Ruby, and your love for Ranma." "I don't love Ranma!" Rei proclaimed. "Oh please," Setsuna said. "Let's not put up any false fronts here. If you didn't care about Ranma, there wouldn't be enough conflict in your head between Eowyn and you for this to be happening. She's grown strong because you had to call her up to stop Jadeite, and now you can't put her back down because..." She frowned. "Mind magic is not my strong point. By allowing yourself to become her when we fought Jadeite, she's become a more...persistent aspect of yourself. And you can't just reabsorb her because you reject her hatred of Ruby. It would help if I had some idea WHY she didn't like him. They always clashed, but I never really understood why." He's arrogant and rude and so cocky it makes me sick, Eowyn said to Rei. And he always thinks he's right. Rei repeated that for Setsuna's benefit. "But he's not like that...well, not all the time. Sometimes he can be arrogant or vain or cocky or rude, but it's not so bad." "But it makes you mad when he is," Setsuna said. "Of course it does! Who wouldn't get mad when he makes some dumb comment about how big his breasts are or how someone did 'better than he expected'?" "Which tends to reinforce Eowyn, who embodies that for you. Can you think of anything else about Eowyn that makes you uncomfortable?" "No," Rei lied, unable to admit the other half of it. She can't admit how she feels about the Princess, Setsuna thought. "Anyway, once you deal with that, I suspect Eowyn will give you less trouble." "And the talking objects?" "You hear their spirits. I wish I could tell you more, but I really know almost nothing at all about spirit magic. Probably you should tell Grandpa about that; he likely knows more of it than all of us put together." Rei nodded. "And Ranma?" "He's so afraid of losing himself in Ruby that he can't escape him. If he just accepted how he felt about me, I suspect Ruby would just fade away." Rei frowned. "He shouldn't have to be in love with someone just because he was in his last life." "Do you throw out all your feelings each night and get new, different ones in the morning?" "No." "But why should you have to love someone because you loved them yesterday? Isn't that yesterday you oppressing today you?" "It's different!" "How? It's not like Ruby is some other person. Ruby is Ranma as Ranma was in the past. It's not like Ruby fell out of love with me; he got killed. We never got the chance to have a full life together." "But then, by that logic, I ought to decide to hate Ranma like Eowyn hated Ruby!" Rei exclaimed. Setsuna resisted the urge to say it would simplify matters. "The problem, though, is that the conflict is clear in your case, but it's not clear that Ranma would NOT love me if Ruby fell silent. I wish I knew how to make Ruby shut up, just so Ranma could see it's not simply because of his past feelings that he loves me now." "If he loves you now, why does he reject Ruby?" Setsuna frowned and stared at the table, then muttered something. "What?" Setsuna looked at her. "I'm not sure if I should tell you about this." "Don't give me that. Nothing is more aggravating than bringing something up and refusing to discuss it." "Well, you see, Ruby and Diamond were both men and... Diamond was in love with Ruby. Now Diamond is a girl, but is still in love with him. I know that has to make Ruby VERY uncomfortable, because I'm sure he can't stop thinking of Diamond as a guy, and you know how Ranma is about that sort of thing." "Well, he only dislikes it if it's two men," Rei said. "Yes, but the part of him that is still Ruby thinks of Ukyou as a man." "Yeah, I can see how that would cause problems. Ruby must have blown his top the time Ranma kissed Ukyou." Rei paused for a moment. "Especially with Ranma so worried about..." She fell silent, not sure if she should talk about it. Setsuna smiled at her. "As you said before?" Rei sighed. "A bunch of other guys keep calling him gay because he isn't in bed with one of us." Setsuna frowned very deeply. "That's a stupid view of manliness." "Yeah, but I think this sort of thing would make it worse. Throw in the curse..." "Hmm, I bet the curse creates a further mental gap that reinforces Ruby's existence too. After all, Ruby had no curse; I doubt he likes it." "So what can we do about it?" Setsuna thought for a minute. "Curing his curse would help." "We need an air mage, but don't have one." "The Princess. She could do it with the Crystal," Setsuna said. "In the meantime, we need some way to reassure him of his manliness. I could just seduce him." "I think not." ************** "I can't believe you fell asleep!" Ukyou proclaimed as they headed down the street looking for somewhere to eat. "I can't believe you stayed awake," Ranma said. "Did that movie have a plot?" "It was all about relationships," Ukyou said. "The mother and the..." "Ahh, it was boring by design." Ukyou slugged his arm. "All you want is to see people beaten up?" "Car explosions help," Ranma replied, laughing. "I got enough relationship trouble in real life; I don't need no movie for it." "So I'm just a source of trouble to you?" Ukyou snapped. "That ain't what I meant! Geez, I can't even be honest without getting my head bit off!" Ranma frowned. This is what you get for dating a guy, Ruby said. Geez, are you BLIND? Ukyou ain't no guy, and don't start no junk about Diamond, Ranma thought at him. Go be dead. Maybe you are gay, Ruby thought. I never thought I'd end up like you. "Ranchan, I don't like being called...Ranchan?" Ukyou's look of irritation turned to a concerned one. I AM NOT! I like women and I like them all the time! I'm just not a horndog like you were! Ranma snapped back. How can you betray Cassandra with Diamond like this? She loves you! Ruby fired in return. "Ranchan?" Ukyou took Ranma's hand. "What's wrong?" "I am so sick of this bastard," Ranma said, staring at the ground. "It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't always say a load of stupid shit. I can't believe I was ever him; he's just so...I can't even understand why Cassandra liked him." "That's because all his good parts are part of you, Ranchan," Ukyou said, squeezing his hand. "He doesn't have to try to urge you to be like the good parts of what you were like then." "He's just making me crazy. He won't shut up about Cassandra," Ranma said. "So you and Diamond don't have these sorts of problems?" "I am Diamond," Ukyou said. "Every once in a while, I feel a little weird about my body, but pretty much, we're not much different." "Weird thing is, he never shows up when I'm in my girl body." "Well, if worse comes to worse, you could just live as a woman, then." "Ugh. I'll take my chances with him. How about that sandwich shop over there?" Ukyou's stomach rumbled. "I think that's a yes." ************* Naru watched the disc closing in relentlessly on her. She moved into position, ready to deal with it. To her surprise, it somehow hopped upwards, and she had to leap to catch it. "Usagi, are we playing Frisbee or jumping jacks?" Usagi blushed. "Sorry, Naru. I'm used to throwing things in ways that prevent people from catching them." Naru flicked the Frisbee back, bouncing it off the ground and up into Usagi's hands. "Like that." This time the Frisbee rebounded off three trees and flew right into Naru's outstretched hands. "Better?" Usagi asked. Naru laughed. "Better." She quickly arced the Frisbee back at Usagi. It curved off to the left, then came back and hit someone in the head, which surprised them, as they hadn't realized they had a visitor. Minako rubbed her head. "Owww!" Usagi pulled her staff off her back. "We won't fall for your tricks this time!" Minako waved her hands in the air. "No, no tricks! I've come to invite you all to come to the Green Dragon Casino where I work. I've got free passes and free chips and everything." She pulled out a large golden velvet sack with a green dragon embossed on it. "It's even got a hotel too, so you can stay the whole weekend, relax in our pool and spa, and you don't have to risk your own money gambling with the stake I've given you." Usagi looked in the bag. "Wow, this is a lot of stuff. How can you afford this?" "I caught a member of the Mendo family cheating. The boss confiscated all his chips and I won them off the boss at blackjack, along with all these passes." "You're good enough to beat the manager of a casino?" "Martial Gambling is part of the training of Tea House Ninjas, like myself," Minako said. "Along with Martial Arts Tea Ceremony, Martial Arts Kettle Cleaning, and Martial Arts Carpentry." "Martial Arts Carpentry?" "Gets rather dangerous in the unrestricted styles, what with them using nail guns and the like." Naru eeped. "Well, it sounds fun to me," Usagi said. "I'll make sure to tell everyone!" "Thanks!" Minako threw down a eggshell grenade, then collapsed sneezing and choking in the cloud of black dust which rose up. "Stupid pepper grenade!" ************ Ami came back to her room to get some clean clothing to take with her to the bathroom; she'd been painting for two hours, and while she did her best to paint neatly, something always happened. She'd therefore designated an old plaid shirt her father had given her which still went down nearly to her knees as her official painting clothing, worn with some old gym shorts. To her surprise, the printer was running, finishing just as she noticed it. She picked up the paper and read, 'Roses are red, Violets are blue, Wait, how does This poem end? I love to see your smiles, I wish it was always at me. I would walk ten thousand miles In order with you to be. Geez, poetry is harder than I thought. I love you because you are kind. You are always on my mind. You're the one I like to find When I look ahead or behind. C'mon, I can do better than this. Even if this takes forever to type. If a tree fell in a forest, I wouldn't care if it made a sound The forest can do whatever it wants So long as you're around. The sound of your feet Makes my heart shiver with joy But my brain knows fear.' The poetry was unsigned, and Ami wondered who could have printed it; her father had his own computer, and he wrote much better poetry than this. She laughed as she read it. "Maybe this is one of Father's pranks, trying to convince me there's a ghost in my computer or something." She noticed P-chan trying to hide under her endtable, so she bent and picked him up. "Did you write this?" she asked, smiling. "Bwee." "Well, someone did this. You guard this while I take a bath, okay?" P-chan nodded. "See you in a little bit, P-chan." Once she was gone, P-chan went back to the computer and closed the file he'd been working on, resolving to be more careful not to accidentally hit the print button again. ************* Ranma dropped low and swept his father's feet, then grabbed those feet and backflipped, tossing his father over him. Genma simply flipped in the air and landed on his feet. "Boy, you should have slammed me into the ground." "Your arm is still broken," Ranma replied. "I ain't gonna do nothing that could break the other arm." Genma frowned. "I can't teach you anything if you hold back." "You can't teach me nothing with TWO broken arms." Genma nodded. "True. True. Go get Rei, then." "Eh?" "Just do it, boy." Ranma shrugged and went and got Rei. "I was doing homework!" Rei protested. "Ranma needs a sparring partner until my arm heals." Rei's pride said to say yes. Her common sense said no. "Are you sure I'm the best for this?" "Well, I could get Usagi, so they could get hot and sweaty together every day, and..." Genma began. "I'll do it," Rei said, getting into a fighting stance. "I'll kick your butt." Genma said, "Hold on." He dumped a handy bucket of water on Ranma, who transformed. "Fight like this. Ranma needs to train in both forms." "I have to fight dripping wet?" Ranma-chan said. "You'll dry off, boy. Now, you two, go to it." It quickly became obvious to Rei that Ranma-chan was holding back, which extremely irritated her. All she did was defend. "C'mon, take a punch at me!" Ranma-chan swept her legs as if she'd been standing still and blindfolded. Rei got back up. "A real attack!" Ranma-chan shook her head. "Hit me." Rei backed up, then threw herself into a jump kick. Ranma-chan sidestepped and helped her along, changing her trajectory slightly into a tree. She managed to bounce off it, but ended up flat on her back. A second later, Ranma- chan was over her, a foot an inch from her face. "Don't jump kick people who are on the defensive. Not unless you're good at midair grappling." She backed off and let Rei up. "Hey, Usagi, come over here!" Usagi came out of the building. "Hmm, what, Ranma?" "Jumpkick me!" Usagi blinked, shrugged, then vaulted off the porch, hit the ground and leaped up in an arc at Ranma-chan. Ranma-chan tried to do the same thing she'd done to Rei, but Usagi grabbed onto Ranma-chan and simply pivoted around her when Ranma-chan tried to 'help her' go by. Then she flipped backwards and slammed Ranma-chan into the ground, only to get swept by Ranma-chan. They beat each other up for a minute, then Ranma- chan finally got Usagi in a headlock. "Did you see what we did?" "Umm...sort of," Rei said. "Okay, Rei, jumpkick Usagi," Ranma-chan said. When Rei leaped at Usagi, Usagi sidestepped, and one of her ponytails whipped around. Rei ended up grabbing that instead of Usagi, and as a result went spinning around Usagi's head in an arc, blinding Usagi with her own hair and nearly strangling her. She herself smacked into a tree. "Owwww!" "I hate it when that happens," Usagi said. "It's inevitable with that much hair," Genma said. "Nice job, Rei." "Hairpulling is for pro-wrestlers, though," Ranma-chan said. "Not real martial artists." "Sometimes you may have to do it, though," Genma said. "One advantage to my baldness." Rei got up. "Hmm." She looked over at Ranma-chan and frowned. "Baldness is hereditary..." "Don't remind me," Ranma-chan said. ************* "A what dropped these off for me?" Ukyou asked, looking at the bouquet of roses. "A good luck Tanuki," Grandpa repeated. "What, just cruising around under its own power?" Ukyou asked in surprise. "It was a Nippon Ham Fighters fan." An eyebrow raised. "Well, that was the hat it was wearing." "..." "Probably the Tsubasa boy." Well, I'll take the flowers anyway, she thought. They're nice and shouldn't go to waste. "Ask next time, okay?" "Okay." "Oh, we've all been invited to a casino this weekend, so mark your calendar." "A casino?" "Some ninja girl who apparently had caused some of you some trouble? Named Minako, I think. A nice way for you all to start your summer break." Ukyou's eyes widened. This could be fun, a lot of trouble, or likely both. *************** Michiru looked up in the midst of her violin playing and realized that she had attracted an audience. Several nurses and two doctors were watching her and Kodachi as they played for Kunou and Mamoru. Kodachi was a passionate player, while Michiru was precise; their strengths complemented each other. Mamoru, Kunou, and the audience all applauded, and Michiru smiled. Kodachi smiled very broadly. "It's nice to see the arts are appreciated," Kodachi said. "What shall we play next, my love?" "How about something by Handel?" Mamoru suggested. The doctor said, "Before you get started, I just wanted to let Mr. Kunou know he should be ready to go home tomorrow. And let you two know you're quite talented." "Music is a Kunou family tradition," Kodachi said. "And a Kai'ou family tradition as well. Michiru-san's parents are internationally famous musicians." "You play like a goddess, oh vision of loveliness," Kunou said. Michiru smiled at him. "Thank you, Kunou. I hope one day I can be as good as my mother." "You're much better than I am," Kodachi said. "And that's not easy. Now, let's play another tune for the men in our lives." Maybe she simply feels less jealous because she has a boyfriend, at least in her mind, Michiru thought. Although I fear it may get ugly once Mamoru finally disabuses her of that. Poor woman, she needs someone who can love her back. *********** Nephrite frowned at the astrological reading. Envy would appear in the sign of Taurus. Which likely meant some sort of bank or mint or possibly the Nissei. For that matter, it could just be a large corporation. Tokyo was stocked with enough banks and large businesses to keep him busy for weeks. Or possibly, it might mean a china shop or a slaughterhouse. Or perhaps he'd misread the stars and it meant that Envy would cause a bull market, somehow. He snapped his fingers. "Greed!" Greed appeared in a spray of thousand yen notes. "Yes, Master Nephrite?" "You must search all the major financial centers of Tokyo for Envy." "I suspect I'll find a lot of envy, sir." "No, no, Envy the Shadow." "Any idea what he looks like in this life?" "Not a cat or a giant wooden rabbit, I hope." Greed clanked his fists together thoughtfully. "I'll check the Nissei, and probably you should put the Youma squad on this too." He nodded. This was one time they would be useful. "I myself will start checking china shops." Greed blinked. "China...oh. Right." Nephrite shrugged. "The stars know all, but sometimes they like to tell it in tricky ways. Gluttony is ruled by the constellation of the Bear...where are we going to find a bear in Tokyo? The horoscopes I did for Pride and Lust make even less sense. But one task at a time." "I'm off," Greed said, and vanished. Hmm, Tourmaline understands ways that mortals make money now, I had best wheedle some information from her, he thought. Time to pay her a visit. *********** "I met the cutest guy last night while I was picking up a glass statue I'd ordered for Mom's birthday," Naru said to Ami, Setsuna, Umino, and Ranma at school the next day during lunch. "Did you ask him out?" Umino asked, getting out his notepad and scribbling furiously. "I was too shy, but he really admired the statue, and I think he was flirting with me," Naru said, then blushed. "He's a kind of older guy, but really dreamy." "What kind of statue did you get her?" Setsuna asked. "It's a bullfighter facing down a bull. Mom went to Spain one time, and she ran in that crazy bull race thing." "That's a dangerous thing to do," Ami said. "Cool. Your mom's got guts," Ranma said, pausing from shoveling food into his mouth. "I'd love to try that some time. Of course, I could fight a bull without a sword." Umino laughed. "No one could do that." Ranma cracked his knuckles. "I'm _good_." "At bragging anyway," Setsuna said, then laughed. Ranma frowned. "So what are you doing for Summer Break?" Naru asked Ranma. "Going to go see Mom and settle stuff," Ranma said. "That sounds fun," Ami said. "Oh, Ami, you gonna go to the Casino thing with us?" "Casino thing?" Ranma explained the whole thing. "Well, I don't know. I mean, I'm not much good at card games and..." Ami began. "You gotta go," Naru said. "It'll be a lot of fun." "C'mon, Ami. You gotta take advantage of gifts like this." "Well, I suppose it might make a good study break," she said. "Can I come?" Umino asked. "Ya gotta pay your own way," Ranma said. "Minako didn't give us infinite passes." Umino sighed. "I'm broke. I spent all my money on flowers for Akiko. I'm two weeks in hock on my allowance." "Geez, how many flowers did you buy her?" Naru asked. "Isn't your allowance pretty hefty?" "Well, when you do it every day..." "You're really sweet on her," Naru said. "Uh huh." "So when do we get to meet her?" Setsuna asked. "Well, if I can find some money, I'll bring her to the casino, okay?" "Okay," Ranma said. "The more the merrier!" ************ "Well, did she like the flowers?" Naoko asked Tsubasa. "I'm not sure," he replied from inside a Smokey the Bear statue, complete with shovel. "Can you get out of that? It's sort of distracting." "The spirits are especially restless today; they'll harass me too much if they can find me." "..." "Some day I'm going to beat up my father." "Your father?" "He wanted me to be a priest like him, but ever since the two years I spent training under him, the spirits won't leave me along unless I hide so they can't recognize me," Tsubasa replied. He popped his head out. "But I guess I can give it a shot." He climbed out, still in his school uniform. "I'm trying to figure out something romantic to wear to the casino," Naoko said nervously. "I want to...impress Ranma. But I don't really have anything very...sexy. And I don't know if I'd be comfortable dressing too sexy." Tsubasa got out a tape measure. "I'll make you something that'll knock his socks off. Hmm, I should make Ukyou something nice to wear, too." "You're a tailor?" She sounded quite surprised. "I make all my own costumes." He began measuring her. "He'll be worshipping you in this outfit." "You really think so?" She fidgeted, and Tsubasa wasn't quite sure if she was pleased or displeased by the statement. "I know so." ************ Souichiro Mizuno watched his pile of chips shrink, and the one in front of Ryo grow. "Hmm, I think you will do well at the casino, Urawa-kun." "I'm not that good," Ryo said. Ami, who had lost some chips, but not so many as her father, said, "Well, it's impossible to bluff you." "I have a knack," Ryo said nervously. P-chan frowned at him. Obviously the boy was cheating. This further reinforced P-chan's growing dislike of the cad who was trying to muscle in on his one true love. "I'm still not sure if I should go," Ami said, looking over at her father. "Don't worry about me. I'll have Luna here to protect me." He petted Luna, who purred. "She's a very smart cat," Ryo said, laying down his cards. "Jacks and Queens." "Hah! Four Kings! I FINALLY won!" Soichiro said, sweeping a small stack of chips over. "Four Aces, Daddy. I'm afraid you lose." Ami said, laying down her cards and taking the chips. "Curses, foiled again." ************* Haruka ran along the racetrack, dodging homework by practicing running. She sprinted along at high speed, her legs conquering space while her mind drifted. There had to be a better way to find the next Rainbow Crystal, but her mind just couldn't think of what it was. She'd made her choice, and she intended to take her duties as a senshi seriously. She breezed past Sister Seira, who waved at her. She was one of the youngest of the nuns who ran the school, the music teacher. Unlike most of the other nuns, she typically wore the traditional 'habit' most of the time, although Haruka wasn't sure why. Maybe she's wearing chainmail under it or something, Haruka thought, then laughed. Haruka could hear running feet coming up behind her, so she sped up. The feet sped up too, and drew closer, impressing Haruka. I always thought Hitomi was the only woman with a prayer of keeping up with me. Ranma-chan came up alongside her. "Nice looking school." "How'd you get in here?" "I showed up like this and said I was looking for you." "But..." Haruka shook her head. "Of course, they wouldn't know." "This body has its uses." Haruka watched Ranma-chan run, and felt a little envy. Clearly, Ranma-chan wasn't even trying very hard, while Haruka was making some effort, although she wasn't near her limits either. "How can you stand your breasts bouncing like that?" "You get used to it." "So what brings you here? Nephrite unleashed his next trick?" "Dunno. Wanted to talk to someone who doesn't want to marry me. Tried to talk to Ken, said the magic word, and he hid under the bed." "The magic...oh. I'm gonna have to beat some sense into his head." "I dunno why he's so much more freaked than Gosunkugi." Ranma-chan shrugged. "Maybe Gos is just so low key no one can tell." They passed two younger students with ease, and kept going. Haruka slowed down slightly, saving her strength. "So what did you try to talk to him about?" Ranma-chan was silent for a while, trying to muster the strength of will to speak. "So, like, what do you think men are supposed to be like?" "I'm not the best woman to ask about this." "I'm not looking for what makes women like men. What do you think men are supposed to BE like. Not what makes you horny about them." "Whatever they feel like," Haruka said. "Whatever works for them." Ranma-chan frowned slightly. "But obviously that's not what you're looking for." "Uh..." "You have a nice ass," Haruka observed. "Thanks." Haruka laughed. "You're supposed to get embarrassed." "But it's true." "A little vain, are we?" "I just know my strengths." They rounded one end of the track again, sending several students scattering. Haruka said, "Well, if I was in your position, I'd probably have gotten into bed with one of your women by now, if that's what you're wondering about." "Geez, have I got it written on my forehead or something?" "You wouldn't have said 'gay' around Ken if you weren't worried about being gay," Haruka said. "Ain't nothing wrong with being gay, but I don't think you are. When you're a guy, anyway." "It's just like..." "Just don't drag it out. I can appreciate where you're coming from, but if you wait too long, you'll lose all of them." Ranma-chan frowned. "I think Usagi is after me and Rei at the same time." "Does Rei like Usagi? Like that?" Ranma-chan frowned more. "Maybe." "There you go. Sounds like the making of a perfect little triangle to me." "They took the Oath of Bronze, back in the Silver Millennium." "And that means?" "It's sort of like marriage, but without sex. Oh, and death doesn't part you. If you know what I mean." "Well, my past lives have yet to start chatting with me, so I'll take your word for it." "You and Michiru took it back then." Haruka stumbled and nearly fell. "You're lying." "Nope. Me and Diamond, Eowyn and Princess Serenity, Kunzite and Zoicite, you and Michiru. I just... It makes me wonder if we'll all just end up with whoever we were with before." "Yeah, but you and Diamond weren't lovers, were you?" "No, but everyone else who took the Oath either were or became lovers. It just makes me wonder if we'll all just end up repeating history." Haruka tried to imagine herself and Michiru taking the Oath, and just couldn't quite do it. "Ain't no way I'd end up with Michiru." "Setsuna told me you said that before you and Tethys got together, too. One of those very mushy stories I half slept through, but it stuck in my head." Haruka felt the weight of destiny try to settle itself upon her, and frowned. "Now I know why you hate him so much. I don't want some destiny telling me what to do." "Me neither." "Well, we could just have a mad passionate fling and send Destiny screaming into a pit," Haruka teased. Ranma-chan looked over at her. "You serious?" "Do you want me to be?" "If it wouldn't get me killed, I'd go for it," Ranma-chan said. "I could use a fling myself." "You gotta pick one of them soon, or lose them all. Or don't you like any of them?" "I like all of them. And I sometimes think...I mean, with Setsuna, I know Ruby loves her, but I don't know if I do. With the others...I dunno. It's not the same as what I feel for Setsuna sometimes. Sometimes I have the hots for Ukyou and Usagi, and sometimes they're just like buddies. And with Rei...Sometimes I want to punch her lights out, and sometimes I want to...you know." "Which one do you most want to have sex with?" Ranma-chan thought for a moment. "Well, it's a tossup between Rei or Setsuna. But with Setsuna, it's hard to be sure what I really feel." "Then find out." "How?" "Act on it. See if it feels natural. If it does, then go for it. Waiting won't magically make you know for sure." Ranma-chan nodded. "True. No point in just pussyfooting around. Thanks, Haruka." "And if that doesn't work, we can have a mad passionate fling." Haruka grinned. "If that doesn't work, I may need somewhere to hide." ************** Setsuna finished her science homework, then turned to subdue math. Sensing an imminent knock, she got up and headed for the door. "Come in!" Ranma-chan came in. "Can I use your shower?" She was a sweaty mess. "Sure," Setsuna said. "Been jogging?" "Yep." Setsuna put some tea on and got out some cookies. It was all ready when Ranma-chan came out, dressed in a towel. "I just realized something." "What?" "I don't have anything clean to wear home." "You could go like that," Setsuna suggested teasingly. "I think not," Ranma-chan said. "Hmm..." Setsuna got up. "Follow me." Setsuna's bedroom was fairly simple. There was a poster of Mount Fuji up on the wall, and a Time Bandits poster right over the bed. The endtable held a phone shaped like a Tardis and a box of tissues, the bed had simple black sheets, and there was a desk piled with books. Ranma-chan sat down on the bed. Setsuna walked into her closet, and much clothing rustling ensued. Then she came out, tossing a skirt, panties, a bra, and a light blue blouse to Ranma-chan. "Here you go." "This is GIRL clothing," Ranma-chan said. "I have several other lovely towels you could choose from," Setsuna said. "I generally don't wear boxers or jeans or anything like that." Ranma-chan sighed. "Well, I guess I can survive wearing it home. But if anyone laughs, I'll come back and kill you." She got up and went to go change. Setsuna went back to the table. Ranma-chan soon emerged in the outfit. The blouse was a little too big for her, but it fit quite well other than that. She looks good, Setsuna thought. "You look nice." "Don't want to look nice like this," Ranma-chan said. "Especially not tonight." "Why not tonight?" "Well, if you liked girls, it wouldn't matter, but I know you're not like that," Ranma-chan said. "I just wanted to..." She frowned. "Maybe tomorrow." Setsuna's brain analyzed the evidence. She made a hopeful conjecture. "To kiss me?" "Something like that. I just...I dunno. Like Haruka said, I'll never know how I really feel if I just don't do nothing. You know what I mean?" Setsuna frowned. He finally wants to...but we can't, she thought. "Yes." "I just...can you love a guy who has this problem?" "I couldn't...you know...with you like that. But I still love you," she said. "If you were a girl all the time, I...I don't know what I'd do. But if it's just a problem sometimes, that's fine." She stared at the floor. "That doesn't...I hope I don't sound superficial." "Naah, I don't find guys attractive, you don't find girls attractive. Perfectly normal. But usually, I can change back and forth, so it wouldn't be a major issue." Ranma-chan came and sat down by her. "Look, I'll come back tomorrow, okay? I just...I need to be able to be in my boy body for this, and I just...I wanna get out of this as soon as I can without having to wear stinky stuff." She nodded. "Just bring the stuff you've got on back tomorrow, okay?" "Okay." "See ya at school!" "See you." The door closed, and for a few seconds, there was silence. And then Setsuna's self control broke like a typhoon. She began laughing hysterically and dancing around the room. Furniture fell over as she spun about, ignoring everything except the joy she felt. He loves me, he wants me, he wants to kiss me, he's going to kiss me tomorrow, I wish I could travel into the future and just skip ahead to that, faster, clock, faster! Her thoughts spun about as she danced, until finally she fell down and simply lay there with a goofy grin on her face. ************ "What are you wearing THAT for?" Rei asked Ranma- chan as she walked into the kitchen. "Got too sweaty jogging, stupidly stopped at Setsuna's to shower. Had no clean clothing that wasn't girly to wear." Ranma-chan opened the fridge and polished off the Gatoraid. "Need more Gatoraid." She tossed it into the garbage can. "He shoots...he scores!" "Oooh, cute outfit!" Usagi said. "I didn't know you liked to dress like that," she said as she came in. Ranma-chan jumped. "I don't! But it beats being naked." "Oh, but you should do it more often. You really look good like that," Usagi said, then stuck her head in the fridge. "Hey, who drank all the Gatoraide?" "Probably Pop," Ranma-chan said instinctively. "Ranma did," Rei said. "I take it back. You're definitely uncute," Usagi said, sticking out her tongue at Ranma-chan. "Good. Don't want to be cute. Well, I'm not thirsty anymore, so time to go change." Ranma-chan headed out. Usagi sat down. "Whatcha working on?" "Chemistry homework. Slightly more fun than leaping off a cliff into a lake of broken glass." "Should I leave you alone, then?" "Unless you know about chemistry, yes." Usagi nodded, got up, and wandered outside. Shingo was out on the porch, clumsily trying to play a game on Rei's Gameboy. He kept fumbling it or missing the buttons he wanted. "Hands are overrated," he said to Usagi. "Practice, practice, practice, that's what Great- Grandmother says," Usagi said. "You'll get used to it." "Your fur is so soft," Shingo replied. "She couldn't see me without saying that." He laughed. "Actually, most of the Elders said that. I've never met a cat with rough fur, though. I mean...how could fur be anything but soft?" "Did you like the village, Shingo?" Usagi asked, curious as to what his experience had been like. "It was great. All I had to do was be cute and play with kids and kill some mice. I dunno what I'm going to do now. I can't go to school because I've never been to school. All I really know how to do is to be a cat. I can't even play this stupid video game." He sighed. "About the only skill I have is reading and writing Chinese, although my characters are really clumsy. Oh, and speaking it. I can speak Japanese, but I can't read it. I only know a little math. I've got some herblore, and I know all about Amazon history from listening to Deep Dish lecture the children." "Yeah. If I wanted to go to school, I'd be eight years behind on most stuff," Usagi said. "But you should get Dad to teach you photography like he's doing with me. You just need two hands and a good eye for that. And I'd be happy to teach you to fight, if you want to learn." "Artemis has been trying to teach me some cat magic too," Shingo said. "Did the Elders really treat Mom and Dad so badly as they say?" Usagi asked Shingo. "I never noticed it, but I was too busy training to notice, I guess." "They treated me a lot better than they treated human boys," Shingo said. "But all Mom and Dad ever did was sit around and complain about being cats. They wouldn't even chase mice. Well, they did play with the kids, but that was about it. All they did was leech off the village. And complain. Now, Towelrack really did dislike them, and she kept trying to get the Council of Elders to kick them out, but Cologne wouldn't let her, and most of the other Elders didn't want to throw them out either." Usagi's eyes widened. "She did? I never heard about that!" "Yeah, well, younger warriors aren't allowed to know what's going on in the Council meetings. Elder privilege or whatever they call it." Shingo clambered up on the rail and sat on it. "Then how do YOU know about it?" Usagi asked. "The roof conducts sound pretty well, and no one pays attention to a sleeping cat. Even when he isn't sleeping. If they knew how many of their secrets I heard, they'd probably throw me in the pool of drowned mouse or something." "Did you ever..." Usagi wasn't sure if she wanted to know the truth. "Did they ever talk about why they never found a cure for Mom and Dad and you?" "What cure? They tried everything they had the first week. Only good thing about having our curse locked is that it protected us from getting a worse one. The bad thing was that it meant using man or woman water didn't work either. They tried their tricks, and failed. We needed the thing the Musk Dynasty has. So, I'm not mad at them for that. I guess Mom and Dad had a lot more to lose from being cats than I did, though." "I was thinking about it, and wondered why they never tried a commando raid on the Musk. I mean, we were there eight years..." "The last time they fought the Musk, they lost a quarter of their warriors. Which isn't hard when you're such a small group, but still, it was ugly." "..." "Didn't you pay any attention when Tablecloth was teaching about recent Amazon history?" "Umm...I was sort of looking at Tablecloth's...umm...no." Shingo laughed so hard he fell off the porch. "Oww!" He got up. "Shingo, are you okay?" "I'm fine. I'm too used to being able to fall and land on my feet," he said. "C'mon, don't you remember anything about the Sixty-Fifth Musk/Amazon war?" Usagi strained her brain. "It was ten years ago. It started when King Chives of the Musk saw Hairnet and was smitten with her beauty and kidnapped her. He took her back to Troy, and...no, wait, that was the Trojan war. He took her back to the Musk fortress, and...actually, Tablecloth was pretty vague about it. We rescued Hairnet and then made another truce with the Musk." "And a quarter of the Amazon warriors died in the process. You think they'd risk that again for a bunch of foreigners? I wouldn't. Frankly, I don't know how they ever expected you to become good enough to steal the ladle. Although I suppose if the Musk didn't expect trouble it would be a lot easier." Usagi frowned. Was Shingo making things up? Surely, they would have told her this. On the other hand, the Elders did tend to be pretty secretive, but...I would have noticed if there had been so many dead shortly before I came, wouldn't I have? "How many of the Musk died?" "A lot. The Amazons weren't sure how many, but they gave more than they got. Still, Teacup thought King Herb could probably level a small hill with his chi abilities. Then again, so could Teacup. Didn't you ever hear anyone talking about that war?" "I was too busy training, I guess, and all the people I trained with would have been too young to remember much. I mean, I knew they hated the Musk because of all the people the Musk had killed in the past and all the trouble they'd caused, but..." Usagi frowned. "But it makes me wonder more how they expected me to be able to recover the ladle." "Because Teacup knew little sister would dwarf her in power one day," Shampoo said. Usagi and Shingo started. "Where'd you come from?" Shingo asked. "Teacup could feel you with her eyes closed from a hundred yards away. When you were eight. Even Mousse could feel your power, just before you left." She sat down between the two of them. "With the Silver Crystal, you could probably level the Musk Castle while asleep. Not that Elders knew the Crystal exists, far as Shampoo knows." "Big sister, why didn't they tell me..." "They did, but you didn't listen. Little sister, you see only the good and ignore the bad. Usually, that's good, but making you see something you don't want to see is very, very hard." Usagi frowned. "I do not." Shampoo laughed gently. "It not matter now. Your family doesn't need the ladle anymore. Or at least not so much." "Big sister, do you think...the elders really...I mean..." "I don't know. Sometimes the Elders have to do harsh things for the village to survive. And sometimes they make mistakes. Your parents made a bargain with the Elders, and as far as Shampoo knows, the Elders kept the bargain. Shampoo not privy to Council secrets, so maybe they had secret plans she doesn't know about." Shampoo put a hand on Usagi's shoulder. "But Shampoo cares about you very much, and so does Great-Grandmother." "I don't know if I'll ever be going back now," Usagi said. "I want to, but at the same time..." She sighed. "Ranma wouldn't go back with me under any conditions." "Shampoo still think Usagi can find someone better than Ranma." "But I love him!" "Lamp loved Wu Lon too. And you know how that turned out." Usagi winced. "Ranma's not out to destroy the Amazons, though, unlike Wu Lon." "Not ALL Amazons." "He is NOT a bad person!" Usagi snapped at Shampoo. "I can't see why you don't like him!" "Because he treats you badly." "He's just trying to..." "Have four girlfriends." Shingo began trying to sneak away; he didn't want to be in the middle of this. "He's just not ready for marriage!" "Or any other sort of commitment. If he loved you, he'd tell the others to back off." Usagi winced. "I don't want to press him into a corner." "If he hurts you, Shampoo will bury him in three different prefectures." She got up. "Shampoo just..." She sighed. "Shampoo just wants little sister to be happy, but doesn't think Ranma will make you happy." "Why?" "He's too wishy-washy. Real man would make up his mind by now. And you shouldn't have to make excuses for someone you love." Usagi didn't know what to say to that. ************* Toranaga Reiko (better known as Ami's mother) put down the spot welder and stared at the copper and crystal lattice. I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought. But then, the world is full of hard to believe things. Tsukata Satoshi, an old friend of hers from high school, now a teacher at an auto mechanics school, stared at the odd contraption. "So what is this supposed to do?" He had supplied the equipment, but really had no idea what they were doing. She tried to come up with a clever lie, then simply said, "Somewhat like a compass, if it works." She took out a small spindle-shaped blue crystal and dropped it into the middle of the roughly cube-shaped copper and crystal sculpture. The crystal plunged to the middle of the cube, then began to bob in the air. She started, and Satoshi started more. "It's floating!" he said. "But...is this thing magnetic somehow?" "I'm still struggling to understand the principles involved," Reiko replied. "I never liked physics." The crystal now floated through the cube, finally settling down near the middle of the 'northern' face, just shy of floating out of the cube entirely. Satoshi did a quick check of directions in his head. "It's pointing northeast." Reiko nodded, then looked at her watch. "I need to go. Thanks a lot for your help, Satoshi." "You ever going to tell me what this thing does?" "When I fully understand it myself, I'll let you know. I'm going to need your help to make more." She pursed her lips. "Souichiro is probably laughing." "Why would he be laughing?" "I told him it couldn't possibly work. Goodnight, Satoshi-san." "Goodnight, Reiko-san." He watched her go, and wondered what she'd gotten herself into this time. ************* "But when do I get to go on a mission to destroy the Sailors?" Amethyst asked. She was tall and well muscled, with long purple hair like her mother and violet eyes that glittered like gemstones. She wore a simple golden knee- length tunic that belted at the waist and black leggings under that. "You don't even have a military rank yet," Gold said. He looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger crossed with an Oscar trophy. "They'd chew you up and spit you out." "Hey, I have years of training!" Gold blurred and swept her legs, sending her down on her butt, then stopped with his foot an inch from her throat. "The Plutos can move faster than that. You ready for that?" "You caught me off guard!" "You think they're going to issue you a formal challenge? That they'll obey the Eight Rules of Wrestling? I think they'll strike from ambush and murder you if they can. Your mother will kill me if I let you go anywhere before I KNOW you can defend yourself. You can't even fire a decent energy blast yet." Amethyst's face twisted with irritation. "AMETHYST TSUNAMI!" A whirlwind of water the size of a man erupted from the ground and surged at Gold, who closed his eyes and ignored it. "Done yet?" he asked. She launched a leaping kick at him in frustration, and he casually caught her foot, eyes still closed, spun, and threw her into the wall. His eyes opened. "You also need to learn to control your temper." "I don't have a temper," she snapped as she got up. "You're right. It has you. And so long as it does, you won't be fit to face the Senshi." Amethyst folded her arms. "If you're so tough, why aren't you fighting them?" "I'm bad at illusions, I'm bad at shapeshifting, I'm bad at draining energy from unwilling targets, and I'm no good at tricking anyone. I'm also poor at divinations. I'd make good heavy artillery, but Queen Beryl thinks I make a better combat instructor than cannon fodder. Part of it is that I have the patience to not get mad and break people's limbs when they disobey, unlike too many of the rest of us who try to teach." He shrugged. "Also, I actually like it." "How old are you, Gold?" "Six hundred and fifty two." "..." "I know. Most of us can't make it past two hundred. But my metabolism is hyper-efficient. Sandstone estimated I will live another six hundred years, roughly. More if we get better sources of energy. If I was to make no use of magic at all, I could survive three years on my current charge. For a long time, we feared I might be the last survivor of the Kingdom." Amethyst shuddered. "All alone as the lights guttered out one by one?" "Your mother saved us from annihilation. We were doomed. I owe her; we all do. And I'll do my best to make you the best warrior I can, for her sake." She nodded. "I will do my best." "Good." *************** "Good news!" Umino said. "My parents are going to give me some money so I can take Akiko there the first night for a date. I'll just be there that one day, but it ought to be a lot of fun." "I'm surprised your parents will pay for it," Naru said. "I think they're just glad to see me dating," Umino said. "Surprised anyway," Ranma muttered. Setsuna whacked his leg. "Be nice, Ranma." "I bet Akiko could kick your butt," Umino said. "She does Martial Arts." "Ain't no girl who can kick my butt," Ranma said confidently. "Usagi could probably take you," Naru said. "No way! I've got her after me BECAUSE she couldn't take me," Ranma said. "There's got to be someone," Naru said. Just Kasumi, Ami thought, and felt a pang of guilt. I wish there was something I could do for her, but... She sighed, but no one noticed as Naru and Ranma continued to banter. *************** Setsuna had refrained from inquiring as to what Ranma had originally wanted to talk to her about yesterday, as she didn't want to push him too hard. Curiosity was slowly eating her alive, though. Once they got back to her house after school, she finally couldn't wait any longer. "So what did you want to...do, yesterday?" "Well, I decided that I ain't never gonna deal with this thing with me and you by not dealing with it." Ranma sat down in a plush chair. "So, I thought I'd ask you if you knew some way to make him go away just long enough for me to know what I feel without him being around. 'Cause it ain't that I hate you or nothing, I just can't tell if I love you or if I just like you and he loves you." She was disappointed, as he'd seemed to indicate the previous day he wanted something a little more physical. The moment must have passed. "The problem is that I could trigger a regression to being him, but...hmm..." She scratched her head. "The problem, you see, is that there is no temporal state of 'you' which doesn't include 'him' as background material. Now, the temporal states of 'you' when he was passive were all before you actually met me in this life. Do you understand?" "So, you could rewind me, but since he was there before he started talking, it wouldn't help." "Exactly. Now, if Venus was here and in the fullness of her skills, she could help you, because she was good at mind magics. But I just have a little telepathy, and even that requires ritual magic to pre-establish the link. And some mental disciplines to help me augment my mental capacities to deal with my time sense." "So you don't know nothing that can help." "The Silver Crystal could, but it would be dangerous. Really, we need...Endymion! That's it! Prince Endymion was skillful in mental magic and healing." She got up. "Where's my phone..." ************ Mamoru scratched his head. "I can try, but I really don't know what I'm doing. I haven't recovered many of my memories yet." Ranma frowned. "Hrm. So I could end up more messed up." "On the other hand, I don't know how I'll ever get better if I don't try." "Maybe we should wait," Setsuna said. "Are you saying that by premonition or because you're worried?" Ranma asked. "I can't see far enough ahead without my staff to be sure of what might happen," she said. "But I don't want to make things worse." "Give it a try," Ranma said. Mamoru nodded, and came over to Ranma, kneeling down by him. "Let's see...something like this..." He put his hand on Ranma's forehead, and closed his eyes. A childish voice spoke to him, a young boy saying, 'Part the veils, raise the sails, set forth in the sea of souls, another heart to find'. Mamoru murmured the words, and then the world turned inside out. When the world resumed functioning, he found himself inside a dojo. Ranma and Genma were sparring, bouncing off the walls and colliding in mid-air combat. He watched them for a few seconds, then smiled faintly. Well, it worked at least a bit, he thought. I can hardly believe I'm doing this, Mamoru pondered. It's like a dream. The world shifted, and he found himself watching Ranma play Moral Kombat, taking down Pat Robertson with the Robopope character. The world shifted again, and he was back in the dojo, where the fighting continued. Mamoru blinked. Ranma has weird dreams, he thought. He went over to a door and opened it. The dojo was surrounded by a roiling sea of chaos in which thousands of videotapes crashed into each other. There was a flash, and each became a different flower. Mamoru watched them flow by, crashing into each other, and tried to figure out what to do. I wonder where Ruby is in all this mess. And then he was in a great throne room. His father's throne room, though the throne sat vacant with an abandoned crown of gold set with yellow and red gems positioned exactly in its middle. The ceiling vaulted high overhead, and a long blue carpet stretched from the throne to the doors at the far end of the great hall. And lounging against one of the pillars was Ruby, the Guardian of Saturn, in full court dress. Ruby bowed. "My liege." He straightened up and ran over. "Endymion! It has been so long!" Mamoru's own memories stirred, and he remembered their past adventures, especially the time they'd both been chased for an hour through the palace by the cook when they'd tried to make off with his mother's birthday cake. He took Ruby's hand and clasped it firmly. "My friend and steadfast supporter. I am glad to see you." "What brings you here?" Ruby asked. "You don't know?" "My foolish future self has cut me off from seeing for the moment," Ruby said. "I cannot believe I've become such an idiot." Mamoru tried to figure out how to say it. "Ruby, you've been driving him away from Cassandra." "I've been trying every trick I know to get him to GO to her," Ruby replied. "He doesn't trust his feelings." "If I could control his feelings, he'd be down on his knees begging Cassandra for forgiveness," Ruby answered. "I can only come forward and control him if he invites me to. What he feels for Cassandra is no conscious doing of mine. It is simply his nature and mine to love her. I cannot make him love her, nor can I make him stop. I can only nag." Mamoru frowned, wishing he had enough mastery of his skills to actually be able to check that. If only there was a red thread or something REALLY connecting people. "Hey, where'd this come from?" Ruby asked. There were two red threads and a bronze thread leading away from his right hand, each looped around a finger. Mamoru walked over and examined them. They led in three different directions. "Two red threads?" And the bronze one for the Oath of Bronze, he thought. "Cassandra is the ONLY woman for me," Ruby snapped. Mamoru experimentally tugged on one thread, then began reeling it in. Fairly quickly, Setsuna was reeled in, staggering along as the thread tugged on her finger. "Oww!" "Sorry," Mamoru said. "Just testing. Let's see where this one goes..." Setsuna said, "Ruby, is that you?" "Cassandra!" He rushed over and embraced her, then kissed her fiercely. She responded in kind. Mamoru started reeling the other one in; it was much longer, and the more he pulled in, the harder it got to pull. "You're wasting your time," Ruby said nervously. "It's probably someone I had a crush on when I was eight or something." Maybe it's Diamond, Mamoru thought. That would explain why he doesn't want anyone to know, but...I bet Diamond is the bronze colored one, because of the Oath of Bronze they took. So who could the other one be? Setsuna looked nervous, and Ruby said, "This other one has to be a mistake, my prince." "All right, who's reeling me in like a fish?" a deep female voice bellowed. "Eowyn?" Setsuna asked in shock. She charged in, looking very angry. "What sort of prank is THIS?" she shouted, waving the red thread encircled finger about. There was a bronze thread running from a bracelet around her right wrist, and a thick red thread leading off out of sight from a golden ring on her left hand. "Ruby you idiot! What do you think you're DOING putting threads on me?" "It's some kind of mistake! Because I could NEVER love a stuck up snob like you!" Ruby shouted back. They began to bicker fiercely, while Mamoru and Setsuna looked at each other. He asked, "You came into Ranma's mind too?" "Not deliberately. I think I just sort of got pulled in when you traced the thread." She looked at the two of them. "Do you think maybe..." "Hmm. Let's go do a check." He took Setsuna's hand, then concentrated on Ranma. They were back in the dojo, where the never ending battle continued. Looking carefully, he could see no threads at all. "This must be the wrong part of his mind," Mamoru surmised. Setsuna held up her hand. "Can we follow this thread?" "It'll take us back to Ruby, though." "Ranma IS Ruby," Setsuna said. "I've come to see that." He shrugged. "Let's try it." They followed the line for a time, then finally came to a place that resembled Setsuna's living room. Ranma and Setsuna were on the couch, playing a video game, talking and laughing. Setsuna was also right next to Mamoru. "That's his idea of a romantic time with me???" Mamoru shrugged. "Well, if he's fighting his instincts, maybe this is some time he forgot to fight them. I don't really know what I'm doing. This could just be a random memory. But he does have the red thread." Setsuna looked contemplative. "We'd best get out before we blunder into a nightmare. I'm sorry I dragged you over here to just wander around Ranma's mind." "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help." He paused. "Umm...how do I stop?" "I don't know." "You don't KNOW?" "I told you! Mind magic is NOT my forte. Just think yourself out, I think." I think I'm out, therefore I am, he told himself. And then he was, and he opened his eyes. "Well, that was mostly futile, although we may have learned a few things," Mamoru said. "Couldn't figure out how to do it?" Ranma asked. "Ruby claims he isn't influencing your feelings." "But how can I KNOW that?" Ranma asked. "How can you KNOW little green men aren't telling you what to do?" Mamoru asked, getting up. "He only has power when you invite him in. I have to say that if she'd been waiting for me for twenty five thousand years, I wouldn't be fighting it as hard as you are." Setsuna blushed slightly. "Thank you, Mamoru." "Give her a chance. Anyway, I need to get back to my homework." He started towards the door. "You're welcome, Setsuna." Once he was gone, Ranma looked up at Setsuna. "You think he's right?" "I'm not the best person to ask that if you want an unbiased answer," she said faintly. He scratched his head. "Hmm. HMMM!!!" "Hmm?" Ranma asked, "Do you remember much about Silver Millennium marriage customs?" Setsuna tried to decide how much hope she should take from that. "I remember quite a bit." "How common was that double marriage thing the Prince and Princess would have had?" "It was rather unusual, reserved generally for Kings and Queens and those who married one. Normally, only the two spouses proper had conjugal relations, although when possible, guardian spouses were chosen who also wanted to marry each other. On rare occasions it developed into a sort of four way marriage. It also sometimes led to jealousies that exploded into murder." She sighed. "Like the tragedy of Ganymede." "Well, we're not living in the Silver Millennium anyway, so it probably doesn't matter. I just..." He tried to decide how to say it. "...was thinking about possibilities. And wondering about..." "Whether Rei and Usagi will become lovers as Eowyn and Princess Serenity were?" Setsuna asked. He nodded. "Yes. They will, I think," Setsuna said, idly tugging a strand of her long hair. "But it's not set in stone. After all, she hasn't gone after Endymion yet, as she did in the old days. Although it may be simply that her heart only has so much room in it, and you've moved into Endymion's place." "Well, I am better looking, more charming, a better fighter,..." "More vain. More unable to make up his mind," Setsuna said, a twinkle in her eye. "Hrmph." She decided to be bold. Getting up, she came over and sat down in his lap, leaning against him. "I never understood why some women play hard to get until I watched you do it," Setsuna said, with a playful smile on her lips. Her fingers idly playing with the ties to his shirt. "I am not playing hard to get! I'm just trying to figure out what I really want and whether it's the result of Ruby messing with my head." He looked nervously at her fingers, not sure if he wanted her to continue what he's doing. "And if it isn't?" she asked. "If it turns out Ruby has nothing to do with how you feel?" Faint tingles went up and down her arm due to her nervousness, as she tried to steel herself to go a little further. His arms came up slowly and wrapped around her, his left hand stroking her long hair. "Even Pop ain't dumb enough to fight real feelings," Ranma said. "I just need to know for sure. And I...Sometimes I feel like..." He frowned. "Dunno how to describe it." "Like you want to marry all of us?" Ranma shook his head. "I ain't that vain. Sometimes I just feel like if I commit to someone, something horrible will happen to one of the others of you. I dunno if it's just my brain making excuses or some kind of real premonition." Setsuna frowned. "Your powers are more over changing the flow of time than predicting its course. On the other hand..." She began minutely inspecting his shoulder, leaving her eyes on idle while her brain worked. "Surely none of us would go over to Beryl if you didn't pick her." "Setsuna, if you couldn't have me, who would you go after?" She blinked. "I hadn't really thought about it, you know." "Yeah, but...Are there any other guys you think are attractive?" "Why are you asking?" "Humor me," Ranma said. "Umm. Mamoru is quite handsome and quite intelligent. Kunou is a little too formal. Ken would be fun to date, but I couldn't marry him, although I suppose he will grow up eventually. If Haruka really was a man, I could go for Haruka, but women are out. Ryo is nice, but too shy. Tsubasa is a little too weird for me. Umino is a bit too geeky. Of the guys I know more than a little, I think Mamoru would be the one. So why do you ask?" She finished ticking them off on her fingers and looked up at him again. He stared into her eyes for a few seconds, started to say something, then stopped. "Because...Setsuna, why do you love me?" "You're handsome and brave and determined. When you decide you're going to do something, you keep trying until you succeed. You never say die, and you never give up. I thought I would never really know love, but you chased me until I finally gave in, and even though I insisted I couldn't marry you, if we hadn't all died except for me, you made me want to abandon my duty. The thought of you sustained me through twenty five thousand years of mostly slumber and constant vigilance. I sometimes wonder if you got this frustrated when you were after me back then." "I ain't worth waiting 25,000 years for," Ranma said. "Nobody's worth that." "I had nothing to live for but my duty and you, and duty is a poor companion. And you ARE worth that." "You didn't think that when I met you," Ranma said. "You thought your duty was the most important thing." "25,000 years alone with your duty does that to a person." She ran a finger along the edge of his chin and watched him shiver. "I bet if you lived with me for a week, I could get rid of all your doubts." "Now I'm the one with duties," Ranma said. "I have classes to teach, and duty to my father, even if he is an idiot sometimes, and a duty to all of you not to...to play favorites until I openly settle things. Even though...I think I'd like it." A part of his mind pointed out that sleeping in the same room, and a few times the same bed as Rei, probably counted as playing favorites. "Can't I come live with you at the temple then?" "We already have too many people. Half of us have to camp outside." Ranma had the realization that if he stayed here much longer, he was going to end up kissing Setsuna. A large part of himself wasn't bothered by this, but the more sensible part was quite sure it wasn't going to stop there. Stray thoughts of undressing her were nibbling at the corners of his mind, and he knew that if he did that, there would be no turning back. "I had better go." "Don't go." She ran a hand up and down his chest. "Please stay." "If I stay, I'll do things I shouldn't do if I'm not ready to make a commitment to you," Ranma said. "That and I won't have any clean clothing for tomorrow if I stay." To head off a potential suggestion, he said, "And I ain't going as a girl." "Well, I could try to change some clothing for you. It's harder without my staff, though." Ranma slapped his forehead. "Why didn't you do that the other day?" "Didn't even think of it." Ranma was forced to put her in a headlock. It was duty and fate at once. "Setsuna!" She giggled. "You looked so cute in that, though." "I thought you didn't like women!" "Doesn't stop you being cute," she said. "Usagi wanted to play dress-up with me!" A thought struck her. "Hmm. How's this for a compromise? When we're at the casino/hotel, you'll stay with me, okay?" "Okay," he said, shaking her hand. "It's a deal." ************** Ami and her mother looked up at Tokyo Tower. "A ley line nexus," Ami said. "Looks like it worked." "It was supposed to lead us to a Rainbow Crystal, though," her mother replied. "Perhaps we have to use one inside it in order for it to pick up the right kind of energies," Ami replied. "But now that I have a node to work with, we can try some of these other devices I have plans for. This will be a busy Summer Break." "I wish I could do more for you to help get this over with," her mother said. "That you didn't have to put yourself in danger." "Me too," Ami said. "But we have to do this in order to protect everyone." "No mother likes seeing her child in danger." Ami leaned over and hugged her mother. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll be careful." That's what your father said just before the time he stuck his finger in a light socket, she thought. ************ Everyone was gearing up to go to the Green Dragon Casino, piling up their luggage and assembling at the temple. Ukyou, Rei, Ranma, Setsuna, Usagi, Ken, and Gosunkugi were milling about waiting for everyone else. "I wish Tsubasa would hurry up and get here," Gosunkugi said. "He's got my ticket, and I keep worrying he lost it." "Well, why'd you give it to him?" Usagi asked. "I was afraid I would lose it, and Tsu never loses anything. Except himself sometimes." Footsteps echoed up the stairs, and soon Tsubasa emerged through the torii, nicely dressed in an expensive black suit, his long brown hair tied back into a pony-tail. Side by side with him was an incredibly nervous looking Naoko. Two tiny gold lightningbolt earrings hung from her ears. Her arms were bare, and the purple skirt of her dress was slit high up the sides, showing off her legs as well. The neckline plunged open in front nearly to her waist, and most of her back was bare. One could call it a minimalist dress, although a bit of her bare flesh in front was covered by a golden necklace with a lightning bolt pendant. She moved clumsily on purple high heels, then managed to trip at the very top of the stairs. Moving swiftly, Ranma caught her. "Ya shouldn't wear shoes that make you fall down." She blushed slightly. "Sorry about that." He couldn't help but stare at her cleavage a bit; her chest seemed more impressive than he'd realized before. Realizing what he was doing, he helped her to her feet. "No problem." There was a sound of running feet, and as he turned, he saw Rei, Usagi, and Ukyou withdrawing in the general direction of where they kept their wardrobes. He glanced over at Setsuna, who wore a simple red blouse and a knee- length skirt, but she simply grinned at him. Tsubasa watched them run. "Do I look that scary?" "Only to Ukyou," Ken said, laughing. "Gee, thanks." Tsubasa frowned, then smirked. "Raspberry Jello." Ken vanished in a cloud of dust. Gosunkugi scratched his head. "What a weird thing to be scared of." "Pro wrestling." "AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" Ranma shook his head. "Gonna scare anyone else off, Tsubasa?" Setsuna whispered to Tsubasa. "Commitment?" he said, confusedly. "Har de har har." *********** Ryouga dried himself off, got dressed, and leaped out the window. I have to get to the casino, he thought. This is my best chance to finally try to win Ami's heart as a human. I can do it. I will do it! He paused. I wonder where the casino actually is.