Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and it's characters are the product and property of rumiko takahashi and viz video.

Chapter Five

By Michael Fetter

Sitting crossly in the pond a large panda gruffed as it watched the young redhead smile broadly and almost skip back into the house.

"Thanks pops. I sorta missed that yesterday." Ranma-chan called back. The fight was better than usual. Her father still gave her trouble and used dirty tactics, but for some reason he seemed much slower. Perhaps the fight with the Sailor Scouts and her own manifesting powers had given her a new boost. Ranma did like the idea of being stronger, but only if she earned it. Did she earn this?

Ranma frowned slightly. Maybe if she learned to use this aura of hers she'd feel better. Oyagi had called it a manifestation of her ki. If that was true then she should be able to force her will upon it. It may even be possible to make those energy blasts the Sailor Scouts had been hammering her with.

Nabiki sat at the breakfast table sipping at her tea as Kasumi finished up in the kitchen. Her mind was still a little distracted from yesterday's events, her shoulder a throbbing reminder of why she didn't get involved in martial arts.

A bit of red caught her eye and she found Ranma-chan strolling into the house with a frown. After a moment it turned to a look of determination. It was incongruous with the more pleasant voice she'd used with her father the pandaman. "I can't believe you're already fighting again." Nabiki snorted with some disgust.

Ranma blinked. "Why? I feel fine."

"Of course you are." Nabiki continued to scowl. It wasn't fair for people to feel so good when she was hurt. Still, Ranma was the best martial artist she'd seen so Ranma was probably also very used to pain and soreness. There were other things to discuss right now anyway. "Listen, I've got a quick question for you."

Ranma sat down at the table across from Nabiki, leaning on her elbows. "Shoot."

"Are you gay?"

Ranma sputtered and pulled herself off the floor. Where had that come from? A wave of nausea ran through her stomach and left a bad taste in her mouth at the thought. "Hell no! I ain't attracted to no pervert boy!"

". . ."

The room remained silent for a minute, just long enough for Ranma to laugh nervously at her slip-up. "Uh, . . just kidding, hehehe!"

"Right." Nabiki replied slowly with a flat gaze.

The stairs squeaked in agonizing moans and creaks. The sound went well with Akane's paced groans of pain. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow."

Ranma and Nabiki watched the girl's descent, waiting for something more spectacular to happen. By the way Akane moved Nabiki thought her little sister might have forgotten to take the hangers out of her clothes. It would not have surprised her in the least if at that moment, Akane pitched forward onto the ground because her hips and torso were no longer connected.

Akane did make it to the first floor without anything too detrimental happening. Nabiki suppressed the urge to clap and ask for an encore. "That had to be the most painful slow walk down the stairs I've seen, little sister."

Akane groaned, her head still titled to the floor, and began to shamble towards the breakfast table. "I'm fine."

"You sure, Akane?" Ranma asked, her brow creasing cutely though she had meant to look worried. "Even Ucchan needed to sleep in after yesterday."

Akane snapped to attention as she heard Ranma's voice. She stood straight up and scratched the back of her head nervously. "Sure! I'm fine, Ranma-san."

Slowly bringing a smile to her face, Ranma nodded and stood up, heading for the stairs. "Well, okay. I'm gonna check on Ucchan and take a bath."

Akane nodded and started to stretch out her sides quickly with a big, forced smile. "I think I'll train for a while since it's the weekend and all." She continued to go back and forth between side stretches while she listened to Ranma's retreating footsteps.

Watching the false smile as Akane's face began to tear up, Nabiki waited until she heard a door close. "She's gone." Nabiki deadpanned as Akane continued, oblivious to the world through her pain.

Collapsing to the ground, Akane grabbed her sides then rolled onto her back. "Iteeee."

The door to the guestroom slipped open silently. Ranma peaked in to see if Ukyou had woken up yet. The drapes were still drawn to hold out the morning sun, but Ranma could still make out the shape of a body still curled up in the futon.

Ranma closed the door behind her, creeping along the floorboards until she stood over the brown-haired beauty. In the dim light she could make out the way Ukyou held a pillow that supported her head. Ukyou's lips were open only slightly as if she were whispering to someone she held in her arms. This was her friend; the serene, innocent girl was Ukyou.

Feather soft touches, Ranma drew her hand over Ukyou's brow to brush away a few locks of hair. Ukyou's cheeks reddened and her eyes slowly began to open, blinking away her dreams.

"Ranchan?" Ukyou stared up into blue eyes speckled with black. If lightning crackled across them she would not have been surprised. They were a strange contrast to the bright red hair framing her friend's face.

Ranma smiled and sat down on the futon beside her friend, the mattress barely giving under her small weight. "Mornin, Ucchan."

A smile crept onto Ukyou's lips, lightly amused with Ranma's modeled beauty and contradictory coarse manner. "Why are you smiling? You shouldn't be smiling. You should be unconscious and in pain."

Cocking her head, Ranma shrugged and watched her friend bury herself deeper into the blankets, looking for the small warm place inside that would lead her back to slumber. "Oh, I'm over that. C'mon." Ranma started peeling back the sheets.

Ukyou attempted to rescue the covers, but her half-asleep body couldn't put up much of a struggle. She groaned and clutched the pillow possessively. "Where?" Ukyou mumbled through the cloth at Ranma, whom she knew was enjoying making her suffer.

"A hot bath will make you feel better." Ranma almost sounded motherly and only made Ukyou's despair worsen.

"Later. My back hurts too much to move." For a moment she thought Ranma would accept this and closed her eyes, relaxing the grip she held over the pillow. Little hands wormed their way beneath her back and legs. Ukyou failed to understand why until she'd been hoisted into the air with the pillow falling back to the futon. "Ranma! Put me down! This isn't fair!"

Ukyou complained as Ranma carried her across the hall to the end where the furo was still warm. She might've tried hitting and kicking but her muscles hurt too much to move in such silly ways. At that point, just opening her eyes seemed like a silly thing to do.

She woke again, startled that she had fallen asleep with Ranma carrying her to the furo. It was the cold water that got her, of course. Ukyou wrapped her arms about her body, shivering, unable to stop the redhead from washing her back.

The torture lasted another two minutes until both girls were cleaned and Ranma carried Ukyou over to the furo. She settled the pony-tailed girl carefully into the warm water then relaxed herself.

Ranma sighed and stretched out her lithe form in the hot water. She looked over at Ukyou smugly. "Feel better?"

"Yes." Ukyou had melted as she felt the warm water envelop her body. It had been so long since she'd been able to enjoy something like this. From what she learned yesterday, the same went for Ranma.

Ukyou's head lolled on the furo's lip, her eyes closed once again. This feeling was better than okonomiyaki. She'd have to remember to add warm baths to her list of survival needs. Stuck on an island and she could only bring one thing, it would be a tub of warm water . . with bubbles.

Red hair fell over her shoulder as Ranma leaned against her. Ukyou blinked and her face blushed as the feeling reminded her of the dream she'd been having just before Ranma had woken her up. Pretending to be a boy, Ukyou had to do some 'things' to keep her cover from being blown while in school.

Thankfully a headache worked for either sexes, and was all that kept a frisky Jubie from 'discovering' her secret. Ukyou's back went nervously rigid as she wondered which way Ranma now leaned. "So, you're engaged?" her voice squeaked.

Sighing, Ranma nodded, oblivious to Ukyou's discomfort as she hugged the girl's arm to herself.

Ukyou coughed and sneaked a peak at the redhead out of the corner of her eye. What is she doing?! "What's he like?"

Ranma snorted and hugged Ukyou's arm tighter. "He's a pervert that likes to touch women's breasts."

Why did that sound familiar? Ukyou tried to think back to last night. "About six feet tall?"

Ranma nodded.

"Short black hair?"

Ranma looked up at her and nodded again.

"Athletic frame?"

Surprised, Ranma turned to look at Ukyou fully. "You know him?"

Scowling, Ukyou grunted in response. "We met. Briefly. Last night." She belatedly remembered that the jerk was Ranma's fiancé and didn't want to be rude. Ukyou schooled her features a little more pleasantly before looking back to the redhead. "What's his name?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed, fire burning intensely within them. Her voice growled like a wild cat, "Mamoru."

Ukyou couldn't help herself from giggling at Ranma's rather violent reaction. "Geez, it really sounds like you don't like him!" The way her friend was growling Ukyou could believe the hentai was in the furo with them. Ukyou laughed again, but Ranma did not stop growling. Ukyou blinked, "Ranma?"

Ukyou swiveled around in her seat and blushed crimson as Mamoru stood at the door, nothing but a towel in his hands, his limbs shaking unsteadily, face flushing, and a trickle of blood running from his nose.

"PERVERT!"

Soun and a large panda sat just beneath the stairwell landing, sweating as they watched Mamoru crumble onto the ground after hitting the wall with a resounding smack.

Ranma-chan hmphed and strode back into the furo with a sway in her hips.

'I told you that wouldn't work.' Genma-panda remarked with a sign in his hands.

Soun was on the edge of tears as he watched the furo door close, his hands twisting at the occupied sign he'd pilfered from the door. "But why is she in there with another woman?"

From where he landed, Mamoru stared dazedly at his cousin, Nabiki, as she held out her hand with a wicked smile.

"One thousand yen and I'll give you a five second lead over Akane."

~

They were cruising down the city streets in silence. Haruka usual maniac driving had been greatly subdued by her thoughts. In her mind she still saw the young pianist lying on the sidewalk, the stack of papers in her hands having scattered upon the ground. There was no blood or visible wound, but her skin was pale and getting colder by the moment. She stretched out her hands for help, but Haruka and Michiru looked away, the pure heart crystal safely tucked away in their grasp.

The blonde's somber mood had not been lost on Michiru. She understood her lover better than anyone else. She never liked seeing Haruka like this. "Have there been more daemon attacks lately?"

"Feels like it." Haruka nodded absently, keeping her eyes on the road.

Michiru made a vain attempt at a smile, which Haruka did not see. "At least the Inners finished off the last youma stragglers."

The blonde shrugged a little. "I guess."

"Haruka-kun, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing." She gave Michiru a sad smile and went back to her driving. "Just a bit distracted I guess."

"Hey, cheer up!" Michiru tapped her on the shoulder with a small fist. "We've got a hold of the only pure heart crystal so that's good, right?!"

Haruka took a moment to answer. They were pulling into their parking space in front of the two-story house that they shared. She brushed a hand through her short blonde hair and glanced over to Michiru, who was still waiting with a hopeful look. Haruka stepped out of the car and walked to the front door, listening to Michiru follow closely. Her hand felt heavy as she unlocked the door and let them in.

She knew she should be happy, but . . but what was to be happy about with the stain of an innocent's death on their hands? Sure, they may not have knocked the heart crystal out, but they sure as hell didn't put it back. But it was all for the good of mankind, so it was all right, wasn't it?

Haruka shook her head with a bitter smile. "Right."

So lost in thought, they had almost walked into someone with long green hair.

"Oh, Setsunna." Michiru blinked in surprise. It wasn't often that they saw Sailor Pluto around the house, or anywhere really. "We didn't expect to see you."

Setsunna had a grim look on her face. "We have a new problem."

"What problem?" Michiru asked, though she could feel her shoulders slump a little more.

"Here." Setsunna handed over a picture of a young redhead. The girl was in the midst of a fight with a shark-like daemon in the park. Her hands were glowing as she curled in the air to avoid a spout of water from the daemon.

Haruka handed the picture over to Michiru. "Cute girl. Who is she?"

"She is the problem." Setsunna stated.

"She certainly doesn't look very happy." Michiru pointed out. The redhead in the picture was sneering with all the muscles in her body tensed.

Haruka tapped a portion of the shot that looked like a shot from Mars aimed at the girl. "And the Inners certainly don't seem to like her very much."

"So why does she have you so frazzled?" Michiru looked up at Setsunna's stoic expression.

"This girl does not exist."

Haruka looked at the picture meaningfully and gave the green-haired woman a dubious look. "If you say so."

"Everyone has a measure of chaos in their life, it creates random chance and makes life go on." Setsunna explained.

Michiru nodded. "Ok."

"What does this have to do with the girl?" Haruka asked.

Setsunna frowned, but answered in her monotone voice. "There is not one shred of chaos in her life and it has erased all traces of her existence from the world. I don't know how she will effect our future, but she has already diverted the Inners on two occasions."

"What . . does this all mean?" Michiru asked, though she was a little intimidated by the things that Pluto could not explain.

Shrugging, Setsunna could only guess at the meaning. "She may have some connections with the Silver Millenium, but I don't remember anyone fitting her description."

Michiru looked thoughtful as she studied the picture further. "Maybe it's the effect of a pure heart crystal."

"It would explain why she's been attacked by daemons already." Haruka added.

"That, or she is Saturn."

"Saturn? Wouldn't you recognize her?" Michiru asked.

Setsunna shook her head. "Not necessarily."

"We'll go check her out." Haruka scowled at Setsunna's smirk. "You know what I mean."

~

It was near impossible to believe that Ami had anything in common with the rest of her friends. While they gossiped, snacked, played games, and whiled away the day she kept to her studies looking ahead to stay the top of the class and prove to everyone just how special she could be. Smartest student in school, the one who everyone went to for the answers; the girl lost in the crowd, tucked away in the shadows, if not by choice then as a request from the others.

Ami lived with her mother in their small apartment with three bookcases of medical journals and unsorted junk mail lying in heaps about the living room and her mother's bedroom. She kept to her own room, neat and clean, with everything in place for easy access and minimum effort. Her window gave way to a pleasant view of a nearby park spotted with large clusters of trees, a long path twining a circle about the lake in its center. On festivals people would gather by the lake and set off fireworks and revel. She'd seen it all from her window many times.

Her world wasn't isolated, she would say. Not with Tolstoy, Chekov, Shakespeare, and Emerson within reach for a quick ride through the world. Seeing nature like a great eye wandering through forests of equal parts day and night. Starlight along a mid-summer night was not quite so rich without the Puck as a guide.

So she didn't know her friends exactly. She understood how they acted and how late to expect them at study sessions. They were held at Cherry Hill Temple so Raye would already be there. Makato arrived with food to share as was her want. Minako came in like a giddy breeze, bubbling like a songbird and landing morosely with her books at the table. Ami could never expect her first friend, Usagi, within ten minutes of the time they would've started. Usagi was a nice enough girl, wanting nothing but to enjoy life and make friends with all whom she came into contact with. Underneath that childlike innocence was Sailor Moon and her princess, both of which Ami could understand little better. Usagi the reincarnated Princess Serenity sounded like an oxymoron; stately, goofy, wise, and rambunctious.

Ranma, who had a spirit like Raye's flames, strength Makato could not touch, beauty Minako felt jealousy for, and courage and determination she had not seen since their Princess' fight with Beryl, in one sentence had uncovered more than one facet of the Sailors' natures. This nature was being expounded upon as Ami sat in the shrine, trying to remain hidden in the shadows as her friends proved to her again why she did not like to associate with many teenagers.

"Here you go, Raye." Makato presented a steaming bowl. "Nothing like chicken soup when your jaw is too sore to chew solid foods!"

Raye grumbled, but snatched up the bowl anyway. Her face hurt, but not that badly. There were bruises on her lower lip, eye, cheeks, forehead, and chin that made her look like a purple blowfish. Thankfully her grandfather wasn't the type to ask too many questions if she asked him not to.

The others had their own wounds to lick, but since Ranma had the time to concentrate on just Mars for a while she had gotten the worst of it. Ami felt only a little bad that she had barely been hurt since it meant she hadn't stood up with her friends; never mind that she thought it was wrong.

Minako was sitting beside Usagi, stretching her right arm behind her head to work out some of the muscles and pulled tendons. They enjoyed a faster healing rate, better while in costume, but it wasn't miraculous. "So what now?"

"First we make sure she hasn't done anything to my Mamo-chan." Usagi stated righteously. Luna beside her only shook her head and looked to Artemis beside Minako for help.

"Don't look at me." Artemis snorted, looking at each of the girls, but Ami, in turn. "Until we settle this boy craze they won't do much but whine. I learned that after living with Minako for so long."

"Watch it furbrain!" Minako growled, driving her elbow into the white moon cat's head.

"Why shouldn't we worry about, Mamoru." Makato frowned at Artemis, "We told you what Ranma was capable of, and she wasn't even transformed."

Luna looked up, pouncing onto the table with her black tail swaying back and forth. "So she is Saturn! You saw the marking?!"

"Uh . ." Makato looked sheepishly at her hands. "No, not really."

Groaning, Luna looked to the other girls and received the same response.

"Actually Luna," Ami pulled out her Mercury computer, a small blue palm top with a highly evolved design. "I did make some recordings of the battle. Plus, I was watching for a symbol to appear on her forehead."

"And?!"

Ami shook her head. "It never happened, but the only time I could see was when she was fighting the other Scouts. Would it appear if she were fighting us?"

Luna considered the question and looked to Artemis. He only shrugged his cat shoulders. "I'm not certain. But you should at least have gotten a power spike from your recording if it did appear."

"Power spike?" Ami turned the computer about for the others to see. The screen bore a slowly ascending line on a graph. "This is an energy meter. Ranma started far above any normal human and as the fight continued, all the way up to the last minutes, it continued to increase. The only time I registered a power spike was when Ranma began acting like a cat."

Artemis looked up from the screen with a smirk. "Maybe it was another Moon cat." Luna turned a menacing eye upon him though he didn't notice with his own closed and the bright smile on his face. "I was quite the ladies' man after all."

No one bothered to remark on that; it would have been too easy.

"Ami." Luna examined the energy reading once more then looked up at the blue-haired girl. "If I'm reading this right then the energy used was something like the Moon Kingdom's magic, but with an equal part of something else."

Ami nodded her head in agreement. "I noticed that as well. I have two theories to explain it. Either Saturn cannot fully awaken herself and her powers are mingling with a human's natural energy, or Ranma is something of a hybrid."

"A hi-bread?" Usagi asked. Raye knocked her on the back of the head just for opening her mouth.

Beneath her pleasant smile Ami was wondering if she could just discuss these things with just Luna and leave the explanations to the Moon cat afterwards. "A hybrid, a mix of two things."

"Wait." Raye speech was slightly slurred with her desire not to move her jaw more than she had to. "You mean that Ranma could be like a descendant of the Moon Kingdom, like if someone had somehow survived the attack and took refuge on the Earth?"

"Not likely." Ami shook her head. She could see the others fall further into confusion. "If Ranma were a hybrid, then by these readings one of her parents was from the Moon Kingdom and the other from the present Earth. Other than Pluto, I can't think of anyone to have survived and found refuge on the Earth."

Minako's eyes went wide with shock. "So she's Pluto's daughter?!"

Ami took a moment to collect her thoughts before she answered, removing all of the swear words from her response. "No. Pluto was trapped in the Time Stream as she explained it to us. Besides, if someone like Pluto were to have a child I doubt she would have let Ranma's Sailor training slip so much."

The group fell into a silence as they tried to work this all over in their heads. Ranma was becoming more complex each time they met the angry redhead.

"Whatever her origins," Luna caught the attention of the rest. "I hope Mamoru is able to handle her. Ranma sounds like a very unstable girl right now."

"That's exactly what I was saying before." Usagi crossed her arms and glared at the cats. "We should go over there right now and rescue him from her evil clutches. Who knows what she's trying to do with my poor Mamo-chan!"

"I really don't think that's what Luna was talking about, Usagi." Makato looked sternly at their blonde leader. "Before Minako knocked her out, Ranma looked about ready to explode. In fact she sort of did."

Usagi and the rest watched as a deep pain came near the surface of Makato eyes. The color dulled and they saw only into empty space for a short while. "I'd felt the same way while I was being passed between one orphanage after another, a new school every year. My life had been ripped apart with the loss of my family and it only got worse as I was forced around, no one wanting me for too long."

She looked back up to the group with concern and sadness. "That's what I saw in Ranma's eyes. She's been through a lot even before we met her and I'm sure we've just made it all worse.

"Ranma looked ready . . wanting it more than I had after she got done yelling at us. It's too terrible to think of how much worse Ranma's life must have been to have pushed her so far."

"So far?" Usagi placed a comforting hand on Makato's. They'd never known about this before. Admittedly, there was a lot they didn't know about the strongest Scout; her isolated life kept her quiet about her past. "You never really thought about-"

"Suicide?" Makato smiled sadly and nodded her head. "A few times, after something got me really angry and all I had to deal with it was my fists."

Ami held back her tears better than the rest as Makato confessed a small piece of her life to them. Usagi began to bawl uncontrollably and ended up having Makato try to soothe her. Makato herself remained strong an in control, but that was on the surface. Ami knew that the tall Scout was ready to cry if she couldn't have something to hold on to. Strange how Usagi could do the right thing without knowing it.

"Do you really think Ranma maybe thinking about suicide, Luna?" Minako asked with all trace of humor lost from her voice. Raye also looked at the cat with her face pulled into a straight line.

Nodding Luna crept into Usagi's lap to help comfort her princess.

"A good thing Mamoru is there." Minako finally agreed.

Ranma was so quiet.

Ami picked up her shoes before leaving the shrine and took the time to look around as they were laced. The shrine had a stone path surrounded on either side by mowed green grass. There were some trees along the edges to cover the high wall surrounding the grounds. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, clear and bright. Perhaps this was a good omen.

"Just be careful when you get there, Ami."

Startled, Ami tensed and looked back to see the white Moon cat sitting on its haunches and studying her seriously. She could hear the rest still bickering over Mamoru or something else unimportant. "I didn't think anyone would see me."

Artemis bobbed his head in a nod. "Just don't get yourself in trouble. I don't like the sound of this Ranma girl right now."

~

She was back in time once again. Usa's mother sent her back for further training with the Sailor Scouts. There was something else though, she was certain. Pluto had had a part in this decision, which usually meant the future needed her to be here now. Why, she didn't know.

The time key Pluto had given her dropped Usa near the park. She remembered it from the last time and knew the Tsukino home was only a few blocks away. It would be no problem making the family believe she was their cousin again so she would have a place to stay. Her mother now was not old enough to take care of her alone.

"No one here to save you this time, freak!"

Usa picked up the sound of boys over in the huddle of trees. The sounded violent and in the copse there wouldn't be anyone to see whatever they were doing. She didn't wait long to make her way into some cover and call out her henshin pen.

Neo Sailor Moon jumped into the clearing, multi-colored fuku trailing bits of transparent cloth and hairpins catching the sun. She arrived in time to see one of the boys she'd heard push down a frail little girl. "Yeah, we'll show you what we do to freaks like you!"

The girl did not cry, but her voice was thick with fear. Usa noticed her breathing was harder than it should be and thought the girl sick. The shoulder length black hair offset the girl's pale features to make her look even thinner. She was dressed in a gray skirt that reached her ankles and a purple shirt. "I-I didn't do anything! Just l-leave me al-lone!"

"Hahaha! Get a load of the scared little witch!" The leader jeered, pointing at the girl and mocking her cry.

"Stop it right there, bozos!" Usa stood up and took on a pose Sailor Moon used to address her enemies. "Picking on little girls is wrong! I am Neo Sailor Moon and on behalf of the Moon I'll punish you!"

The boys shared a look and began to snicker. They didn't carry weapons, but they cracked the knuckles on their fists for effect. What kind of resistance could two little girls give them anyway? "Yeah right! You aren't the real Sailor Moon!"

"Get lost, stupid!"

Very annoyed at being treated like an insect, Usa stalked over to the first boy and picked him off the ground with one hand. The others stared in shock and slowly backed away. With little flicks of her wrist, she smacked him across the cheeks. With her Sailor powers the slaps left red welts on the boy's face. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Seeing his dazed expression, she tossed him over to the gang and glared. They need little prompting and ran like a pack of wounded dogs. "Boys." She muttered and helped the girl to her feet. "You okay?"

The girl was taller than Neo Sailor Moon by a few inches, but she still seemed to look up to the Scout with awe. "Y-Yes. Thank you. Are you r-really Neo Sailor Moon?"

Usa made another pose with a sign of victory. "Yep, that's me! Protector of Love and Justice!"

"Thank you, Neo Sailor Moon." The girl bowed gratefully.

Usa nodded and jumped into the trees, disappearing soon after. "No problem. I'm glad I could help!"

With a look of wonder, Hotaru brushed off her dirty skirt and stared after the Scout for a moment until she began to head for home once again. "I wish I were a magical girl."

~

Akane trudged back up the stairs as slowly as she had descended. This time it had more to do with her energy than the soreness of her muscles. The stretching did help after a while and she could almost move like a normal person again.

She yawned at the entrance to the bathroom and missed the two sets of clothing sitting in the changing room. With a towel, Akane opened the shoji and walked slowly into the next room. A bath sounded so good right about now - She was startled as she bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry."

Ranma caught herself before she tipped over into Ukyou. They were drying themselves and getting ready to leave when Akane had walked in. "It's all right, Akane. We'll be out of your way in a minute."

Blushing, Akane nodded and stood silently, watching the pair finish up and grab their clothes. It made her a little jealous to see two girls who looked so much better than she did. Their closeness also rattled her, but not in the same way. "Ranma-san?"

"Hmm?"

Ukyou stopped to watch them. Akane couldn't bring the question she wanted to ask past her lips though. ". . Nothing."

"You okay, Akane?"

"Yeah, fine!" Akane nodded quickly to the redhead. She brought her towel up further over her body and tried to not to blush further.

Ranma nodded after what seemed to be an eternity of study to Akane. "All right."

As the door closed, Akane sighed again and went about her bath routine with more on her mind than she wanted. Lesbianism was perverted, but Ranma was so cool. Was Ranma really a lesbian though? Was it really so perverted or was that just what she told herself? What did this mean for Mamoru and his engagement? Would she ever look as good as Ranma did? Akane examined her smaller breasts and sighed again.

"Morning, pervert." Ranma-chan snickered at Mamoru's nervous sputter. Ukyou sat down beside Nabiki across from Ranma and Mamoru.

" . . Morning, Ranma." Mamoru finally muttered around his breakfast. He was trying to keep his eyes on the rice bowl in his hands, but things weren't quite working out that way.

Ukyou watched silently as Mamoru stole a glance at the redhead then back to his empty rice bowl with a blush. Ranma didn't seem inclined to notice Mamoru in the least, slowly picking her way through her food. Strange, Ranma used to eat her okonomiyakies like they were going out of style. She was so different now, subdued unless it was a fight and the time they spent alone.

Mamoru set down his chopsticks and looked at Ranma squarely. "There's not a lot of things to do in Nerima, but since I'm here I usually take Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane out for ice cream. You two can come if you want."

Shrugging her shoulders, Ranma-chan didn't even look back as she responded plainly, "I've got stuff to do."

Tendou-san started laughing like what she said was too silly. "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing you can't put off for later, Ranma. No sense denying your fiancé when he's just trying to be nice! Why, I'm certain it would be a nice way of getting to know Mamoru better!" He pat Mamoru on the back and gave her a toothy smile, already on the verge of tears. Genma sat quietly near the end of the table beside his old friend. He hadn't really looked at Ranma since arriving at the Tendou-ke unless it was to spar.

"I need to train." Ranma growled lightly, still ticked at the old man's views on women in the martial arts.

Without looking up, Genma tried to act as mediator. "You've done enough training these past ten years, Ranma. Why not relax for a little while?"

She stared at her father for a moment of silence, her face masking whatever emotion she was feeling.

Splash.

Ranma left the quiet table to head for the dojo. Her glass, now empty of its contents, rattled on the wood as it found its base again. Ukyou and Mamoru sat staring at the wet panda then decided it was best they not ask about it. Especially after it picked up a sign reading, 'Pass the pickles'.

Ranma-chan stomped into the dojo and slammed the shoji behind her, stalking to the center of the mat. Her breathing was hard and fast, fists clenched tight, and her arms shaking. With a shriek of outrage, Ranma jumped into one of the most complex katas she knew.

Why not relax for a little while?! The baka panda would never have said such a thing if she were still a man. What the hell was he trying to say?! She wasn't good enough anymore! She was still Saotome Ranma and Saotome Ranma was the best! How dare he, that . . that baka!

Blue flames crawled through her fingers and along her arms, twisting about her neck and running through her hair. She wanted to train with her ki and right now seemed as good a time as any. If she were still capable of some rational thought, Ranma might've had some second thoughts about diving into a training regime that could literally have killed her.

A few hours passed while Ranma trained. She stripped off her silk shirt to keep it from being ruined and was sweating through her sports bra. It had taken a while without anything but her imagination to form the techniques but she came up with two useful ki-based attacks. The first was simple, folding the ki about her body to increase her speed to something almost blinding even to herself. She'd get used to it in time, but it was a success as far as the demolished dummy was concerned. The other was a blast. After watching and being hammered by the Sailor Scouts last time, the blast was what she really wanted. It irked her to no end how easily they could beat her once they kept some distance and used their magical attacks. Not anymore though, Ranma smirked.

The shoji slid open.

"Excuse me, Ranma?" Kasumi called from the doorway. She blinked upon seeing the athletically trim redhead wind down on her speed technique, her skin gleaming with sweat.

Ranma panted for a minute then smiled at the older girl. "Hai, Kasumi-san?"

"There is someone here to see you." Kasumi said, a little blank expression on her face. Ranma like her because she was kind and cooked really well.

Ranma furrowed her brows as she tried to think over who might be looking for her. After the curse, there shouldn't be anyone that could recognize her. Well, there were the Sailor Scouts. Maybe she could show off her new moves. "To see me?"

Kasumi nodded and stepped out of the way of another girl with short blue hair, plain skirt and blouse, and a small purse in her hand. Ami bowed with a smile. "Afternoon, Ranma."

Frown deepening, Ranma crossed her arms. Kasumi left seeing the confrontation that was building. "What are you doing here?"

Ami balked at the angry reply. She hadn't thought Ranma would still be so mad after apologizing the other day. "I . . I saw the fight by the lake with the youma. I just came by to make sure you were all right." She took a sidelong glance at the redhead and lost her smile. "I guess you are."

Ranma watched Ami enter the dojo and examine the shrine in the corner. After a minute of silence, the girl sighed, "Mamoru invited me to go eat ice cream with you guys. Do you mind if I join you?"

Shrugging, Ranma snatched up a towel to wipe herself down a bit. "I guess not."

"Can I ask what you were doing before I walked in?"

"Sure." Ranma's voice was indifferent, like she hadn't heard the question at all.

". . ." Ami waited for her answer, but nothing else was forthcoming from the redhead. "Why are you so cold?"

Ranma put a finger to her chin as if considering. "Maybe it's the company."

"I did apologize."

Snorting, Ranma snatched up her blouse and headed for the shoji. "Excuse me. I need to take a bath."

Ami asked quickly. "All I get is the first impression then?"

"Why not? It's all I ever get." Ranma snapped back. She almost passed Ami on her way out when she got a good look at the sorrow in the girl's eyes. An old feeling of remorse Ranma-kun would get to hurt girls was creeping back into Ranma-chan's system. She scowled, but Ami didn't see it. "Tell Mamoru I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Passing a girl with long blue hair, Ami made her way back into the house after Ranma-chan and sat down heavily beside Mamoru, staring at a cup of tea Kasumi handed her.

"What happened? Gang up on her at school?" Ukyou asked.

". . ."

Ukyou looked at the blue-haired girl darkly and the way she sat beside her friend's fiancé. "What were you thinking? Picking on a poor girl like that?"

In a little voice, "Some things were said and we all got a little angry."

"Well, it's nice you're trying to make up." Kasumi smiled brightly, ending the argument that had been building.

"Trying." Ami agreed.

Akane returned with a strange look on her face, she was brushing at her arms like she were wiping away some water. "Have you been out in the dojo? It feels strange. Like its been charged with electricity or something."

Ami nodded; she'd felt the same way upon arriving at the dojo.

"Ranma was just out there." Kasumi supplied.

Sniffing haughtily, Ukyou sipped at her tea and leveled her gaze on Ami. "I'd tell your friends to lay off if I were you. Ranma's gotten a little . . enthusiastic with her fights against girls."

Don't worry, Ami thought without humor. They all know that very well now.

~

They left not long after lunch. Kasumi was an exceptional cook, almost as good as Makato, Ami thought. Ranma and she had spoken little since the dojo, but the fact she wasn’t glaring at her anymore made Ami feel a little more at ease.

Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane kept up conversation between Mamoru and his fiancee much to the boy’s disappointment. Ranma still scowled at him when the engagement was mentioned, but otherwise she seemed easier around Mamoru as well. Neither had seemed interested in the relationship so they were on even ground.

Ranma was, is, a mystery. Ami had left her Mercury computer on in her purse and every time she checked on it the answer was still as confusing as before. It was like the redhead was the neutral spot in the universe and for that reason the rest of the world was interested in filling her up with their influence. The power readings she’d gotten before in Ranma’s fights were much the same, only the sphere of influence had expanded with her growing strength.

Ami ended up getting much of the redhead’s story from Nabiki for a price, but it had been interesting. She ended up liking Ranma more afterwards. There was something to be respected about a girl who had literally become the best martial artist in the world. She had to be if she could take on the Sailor Scouts like she did. Anyone else would have crumpled even under one of her own punches. Usagi would have seemed like a speed demon to normal people.

She would not have minded in the least if Ranma were on their side, Scout or not.

"Have you two known each other long?" Ami asked Ukyou who was watching her friend walk along the fence with an easy grin. Ranma certainly seemed to be more pleasant with her friend around. A ten-year training trip with just her father was probably a great strain on a young girl. Ami assumed she too would be quite relieved to be around girls her own age again. Father's weren't the best at emotions or understanding of a girl's needs.

"Sort of. We were friends when we were younger and just recently found each other again."

Ami smiled at the fond way Ukyou continued to regard Ranma. "That's nice."

Ranma jumped down to the sidewalk and finish the walk beside Ukyou as she ran out of fence. Each of the Tendou's tried discussing the engagement with Ranma, but the redhead was hardly interested. She did agree to help Akane train when they had time. The youngest Tendou had beamed proudly and let herself become more comfortable around the shorter redhead, touching her arm, placing a hand on her shoulder, or patting her on the back with a laugh.

Mamoru followed the girls, sticking beside Ami most of the time. He couldn't help but stare; it was all too strange. Ranma had seemed so angry and closed off from everyone the few days he'd known her, but now she was animated and cheerful. The transition was too fast. There was something more going on than enjoying her friends' company.

The ice cream store's door jangled a bell as it was opened. Mamoru held it for each of the girls, almost all of whom gave him a smile. There were a few more than he expected to be buying for, but it was the best way he could think of to smooth some of the tension between himself and Ranma. At least it worked with Usagi anyway.

As they looked through the cases, Ranma snagged up Akane and started to gesture more cutely at everything. On hindsight, Mamoru realized Ranma had chosen Akane because Ukyou dressed far too masculine to pull this stunt off. Her eyes seemed to double in size, bright blues shining up at the stuttering male teenager who was scooping her and Akane out a complimentary two scoop ice cream cone. Akane looked very awkward and uncomfortable, but she was able to smile and graciously accept the proffered ice cream with a blush that was not as forced as Ranma's.

"Oh, thank you so much! That's so nice of you!" Ranma clung to the ice cream with both hands and stared at the laughing boy with watering eyes. She left the sap barely able to help the other customers without blushing and laughing at the oddest of times.

"And what was that?" Nabiki arched her eyebrow, though a smile curled on her lips at the same time.

Akane sat down at the booth with her face down to hide her blush. Ranma had no problem meeting Nabiki's gaze and smirked back. "Oh, these are the perils of training in the Anything Goes style." Ranma lamented with an arm cast of her face in a style very similar to what they heard Tendou-san perform.

A feeling of gloom flit across Akane's face as she pondered over how much of this 'training' Ranma had been considering when she'd asked before.

Nabiki chuckled and dug into her sundae. She took a few slow bites of her chocolate before glancing at Ami who was still sitting beside Mamoru. She was certainly shy around new people. "So, how do you know are cousin, Ami? You seem a little young to be in college."

"I'm friends with his g-"

Mamoru cut in quickly, receiving a questioning look from Ami. "Good friend Usagi!"

Nabiki turned her gaze on her cousin. "Is she in college then?" Mamoru began to sweat as he tried to think of a way to answer.

Ami ended up saving him. "She's in a world of her own." The conversation was probably not going to end, if the look she was getting from Nabiki was any indication, so she spoke again quickly. "How about you Kasumi-san? Are you in college?"

Kasumi shook her head sadly. "Oh, no. Too much to do at home right now. But I have thought of becoming a doctor."

"Oh?"

Nodding, Akane stopped watching the ravenously eating redhead. "Our family doctor lends her books all the time. Toufuu-sensei is a very nice man."

Ranma paused on her last bite of chocolate chip. "No such thing. They're all perverts." Her voice filled with conviction.

"That's not true! Toufuu-sensei is a nice man!" Akane protested.

Quirking an eyebrow, Ranma nodded to Akane's cousin who slumped a little more. "Yeah, weren't you the one telling me how nice yer cousin Mamoru was a couple days ago? And what did you call him this morning, chasing him around for nearly ten minutes?"

"Did something happen?" Ami asked, watching Mamoru's face flush.

"I'm sure it was an accident, Ranma." Ukyou laughed at Mamoru's embarrassment. "Nobody is that stupid."

Everyone stared at him in an evaluating manner.

"So, Ranma." Mamoru laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head with his eyes closed. "What's with this curse your father has?"

Ranma-chan cocked her head to the side, but decided to let it go. "Oh, that." She would have to tell this tale eventually, she thought. However, edited. "Oyagi an me were on the ten-year training trip and then about three months ago he decided to take me to Jusenkyou . ."

~

"Ready boy!"

They were standing atop narrow bamboo shoots each, facing the other in a balanced fighting stance. The Chinese guide on level with the valley of springs had finished yelling and only muttered darkly, waiting for something to happen resignedly.

This was the last month Ranma and his father were planning to train in China. After this they would begin the long trek back to Japan. Ten years on the road, Ranma was ready for a home once again.

These thoughts in mind, Ranma had become more enthusiastic about the training lately. "Anytime, pops!" Ranma didn't have to wait long. He pivoted in the air to avoid his father's grab for the lapels of his gi and dropped a sidekick into the old man's chest. Ranma landed easily on the next bamboo shoot sticking out of the springs and watched his father disappear beneath the water with a big splash. "Ha! Yer gettin slow, old man!"

There were a lot of springs here, hundreds. Though it was a sunny day the area was cool and a mist had been creeping up along the edges that made Ranma nervous for some reason. The sightseeing was cut short when the guide began to lament once again and a large animal jumped out of the spring and onto a different poll. A big panda in a dingy white gi. "P-Pops?!"

Splash!

'What . . What's going on?!' Ranma was at first shocked by the panda and then by its speed and skill. He barely registered the water as he tried to work through what had happened. His father a panda?

This too was pushed aside by thought of the springs. Now Ranma wished he had listened to the Chinese guide. His body began to tingle and the muscles were locking up. The knot in his stomach went from metaphorical to literal and Ranma curled in further. 'Oh god! That hurts! I-I can't-' His vision blurred and the spring began to glow. He didn't know what was happening to him, but the pain was becoming intense, running through every cell in his body like it was pulling pieces of him away. 'AAUGGHHH!'

". . and is normal again with warm water." The guide explained to the once again human Saotome Genma. The teapot was still half-empty in expectation of the other martial artist to pull him . . itself from the cursed spring. Why did they never listen? "Where is young Customer; not return?"

Genma blinked and looked about. His son had not surfaced the spring yet. It was taking too long and he began to worry that Ranma was hurt or trapped beneath the water. He leaned over the edge to get a look, but all he found was a light slowly growing to encompass the whole spring. The flash intensified until the whole of the valley was bathed with a silvery light.

The guide covered his eyes until it was safe to look again. His face was ashen with what that light may have meant. "Oh no! I not see this before! Maybe spring take new victim! Is too tragic!"

"Ranma!" Genma shouted, diving into the water. It was warm from the heat of the light, but not burning. Bubbles erupted from the surface and then all was silent. The guide shifted nervously a foot from the edge, in no hurry to be cursed as well. He sighed in relief when the balding martial artist returned to the surface with another in his arms. "Ranma?! Wake up, boy!" Genma shouted, uncaring of the gender of the redhead in his arms. It was a curse and this was his son.

The guide was not just a little surprised to see Genma still human. "S-Sir! You not change!"

"Ranma! C'mon boy! What would your mother think if you died in China!" He continued to shout, smacking Ranma-chan on the cheek as he dragged the body out of the spring.

The young girl's body tensed and she suddenly sucked in a great lung full of breath. When her vision cleared she saw her father's face clear of its temporary worry and smile. "P-Pops?"

Genma sighed. "Your all right now, boy."

~

"You're lucky you didn't get knocked into one yourself."

Ranma blinked away the memory and returned to the present. She wanted them all to know she was not a girl. Her body had been stolen and nothing she had done could retrieve it. "Yeah."

The hot water had failed even when it scolded her skin. For two days Ranma had moped about the springs, half her body red and sore from the boiling water. Recursing herself with nannichuan hadn't worked either and in her state she could not keep herself from crying, what did matter anymore?

For days she sat on the porch of the guide's hut. Plum, the guide's daughter, sometimes tried to cheer her up, but the efforts had been lost on Ranma. Those few days she watched a group of men toss monkeys into the same spring she herself had drowned in and leave disappointed with only a bunch of wet monkeys. A soft cliff's edge sounded the fall of a young man bearing a large pack. He too fell in the spring with nothing coming of it. In the back of her mind, Ranma thought of how losing her body had prevented the same from happening to others. The guide said the spring had somehow become uncursed.

It was a hollow consolation.

"Ranma?"

"Huh?" Ranma looked up to see Ukyou staring back down on her with a worried face. They'd left the ice cream shop and were heading further downtown to look at the shops. She hadn't registered any of this except to grab Ukyou's arm and hug it to her body once again. Ranma imagined she looked like a frightened child at the moment.

"It's nothing." Ranma-chan smiled lightly and gave Ukyou some space. It was nice to know she had such a good friend to put up with her stupidity like that.

A car screeched to a halt alongside them. Akane looked away from the redhead long enough to get a look at the young couple in the sports car.

The blonde with short hair grinned at them. "Ami-chan?"

Surprised, Ami too looked away from Ranma and to the car, meeting the blonde's gaze. "Haruka? Michiru? What are you two doing here?"

"Well we were just driving around and saw you and Mamoru." Haruka snickered a bit. "You aren't cheating on poor Usagi now are you, Mamoru?"

"What?" He looked around and did find himself with six girls. After the Scouts, he'd just gotten used to these situations and didn't think about how it looked. "No! It's not what it looks like!"

Ami quirked an eyebrow at Mamoru. He'd been getting pretty jumpy lately. "I came down to see how Mamoru and Ranma were after the fight she got into with a daemon, and ended up joining them and the Tendous downtown."

"Fight with a daemon, huh?" Haruka made herself look impressed. "And who won?"

"I did, of course!" Ranma-chan snapped. She hadn't quite noticed the way Haruka's chest stuck out in the wrong way. "What's it to you, pervert?!"

Michiru watched Haruka slowly steam with anger. It wouldn't do to have one of her lover's fights mess up their mission. "Then you must be . ."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Michiru." Ami looked slightly abashed. "Let me introduce the Tendou sisters; Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi; this is Kounji Ukyou and this is Saotome Ranma."

Haruka seemed ready to shoot off a snide remark, but was cut off by a scream from above.

"I'VE FOUND YOU AT LAST! SAOTOME RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!"

Mamoru blinked and looked up to the voice only to see a red bamboo umbrella aimed straight at his head!

End Chapter Five

* * *

Let me start off by explaining that things are different from the normal Sailor Moon story line. The pure heart crystals are not going to be where you think they are for a reason. I'm going to skip a bunch of the bad guys and side-adventures of the regular series because they are unnecessary here. Don't be shocked!

So far I've been pretty good about getting new chapters out at least once a month. As I finish up Schools United, however, I expect to increase production. Yes, soon these chapters my be rolling off the assembly line!

But, until then . . .

Send C&C to [email protected]

Or visit my website at www.geocities.com/jehtek

Ja ne.