The prologue of Hailstorm is a modified portion of Dark Phoenix's prologue to "Who's Your Daddy?", found on Tannim's page (http://tannim.anifics.com/Daddy/Daddy.html)

It All Began When...
 

It was a hot, stressful day in mid-July. They'd been arguing for most of the day, continuing fights that had occurred earlier in the week. They were near the breaking point of their relationship - Ranma could see this clearly. Yet, he couldn't just leave her, either. Unlike his previous relationships, there was a major complication with this one, one whom he currently held in his arms. His child - their daughter, Saotome Ami, nine months old with cute, scraggly blue hair and a wonderful, beautiful smile - he couldn't just abandon her. So here he was, still at the apartment in mid-July, trying his hardest to solve the problems in what should have been a solid relationship. Alas, it was not to be.

In less than two blinks of an eye Ranma found himself on the doorstep of their apartment, Ami in his hands and a large bag with her clothes and essentials by his side. The lock of the front door clicked loudly behind him, and the words of Ami's own mother ringed in his ears.

"You've wrecked enough lives already. I won't let you have mine too! Just take her and go. I never want to see you again! You got that, Saotome? Never again!"

Necessity forced him from the doorstep, required him to deplete his money on food, shelter, and clothing. At least he'd escaped with his wallet. The little bit of cash in his bank account wouldn't sustain them for long.

As the shock of the situation finally wore off of him, a quickly deepening worry came to his mind, and continued to pester him, even in sleep. How would he ever be able to keep and raise Ami now?

Present Day...

Atsuko Mizuno wearily kicked off her shoes, not bothering to replace them with the soft indoor slippers that waited next to the door. Juban General had been absolutely swamped with victims of the most recent monster attack. As a doctor, she had literally been working around the clock, allowing for very little time to rest in nearly three days.

A long, hot bath and a good night's sleep would refresh her depleted reserves of energy, but the trek to the bathroom seemed an impossible mission. Each step compounded the pain in her aching feet, yet she made it, thankfully. Sluggishly, Atsuko retrieved a large bath towel from the linen closet and slid open the door to the furo. The room was already filled with a thick blanket of warm, cloudy steam. Through the fog, Atsuko could barely make out the form of her daughter, the pride and joy of her life for the last thirteen and a half years, laid back in the large furo.

By this time, Atsuko would usually have left and let Ami alone to her bath. Bathing together with her daughter was something they hadn't done since Ami could bathe on her own. Today, however, tired and weary as she was, Atsuko could not bring herself to leave the bathroom until she'd at least had a few minutes to soak in the warm water. Shedding her uniform, Atsuko walked to one of the shelves over the sink and pulled out a bar of soap, one which she hoarded very carefully and used as sparingly as possible. This soap... with it, she could immerse herself and hide from her reality.

Sitting herself on one of the stools, Atsuko wet the soap and took the time to carefully lather herself before washing with cold water. Seeing Ami was dozing slightly, she carefully descended into the furo so as not to wake her. Looking down at Ami's sleeping form, Atsuko wondered again at how beautiful the girl was. She and Ami had grown distant from each other over time. Ever since she started working at the General Hospital, Atsuko was always too busy to find time to spend with her daughter. Ami's own studies were likely a result of her mother spending so much time working at the hospital, and Atsuko finally had to pull the girl out of private school, with hope that in placing Ami in a public school, she'd make friends and be more sociable.

It was only when she had slid down and rest her back against the side of the furo that the woman noticed the state of Ami's bruised and battered form. She gasped, reaching out to the sleeping girl, instinctually checking out the degree of her bruises. Years of experience in treating nearly every form of injury that could possibly be sustained told her that nothing was seriously wrong with Ami. The bruises were already halfway healed, the scratches and small lacerations scabbed over and showing no signs of infection.

Whatever had done this to her daughter, Ami must have come out as the victor. The girl was not a fighter, but when put into a troublesome situation she could handle herself. Regardless, a fight of the caliber to cause these numerous wounds and lacerations was not to be taken lightly. Damn it, just how many times had they moved to avoid this kind of thing?

It was a question to be asked and answered later. For now, filled with fear for her daughter's safety, Atsuko pulled Ami close to her and hugged her tightly, feeling a great need to protect the girl and teach her to protect herself.

Ami woke up with a wince, feeling every one of the injuries she obtained during the struggle with the droid from Chibi-Usa's dream she and the other Senshi fought off earlier in the day. Thank all that was holy for accelerated healing, something she seemed to have even when not in her Senshi form, much to the chagrin of her teammates.

The girl opened her eyes and squawked in surprise. She was in her mother's arms and the older woman was weeping softly. Oh no, what would her mother think of her condition? Ami shifted slightly, trying to take pressure off of a tender spot near her lower back. The motion caught her mother's attention and Ami found herself the target of a powerful gaze that burned with an internal fire of such intensity, she momentarily wondered if the woman was possessed.

"Ami, who did this to you? Is it another kid from school?" demanded Atsuko, a severely forceful tone entering into her voice. "They can't hurt you anymore, I promise you." A promise filled with certainty.

Ami's eyes widened in surprise. Her mother thought someone had... oh, hell, she was so screwed.

"M-Mom, you've got the wrong idea. It's nothing like that!" Ami quickly said. How was she going to get out of this without compromising her identity?

Atsuko cradled her closely, not allowing the girl to escape her grasp. Around them the water sloshed and splashed, but neither of them paid it any attention, too caught up in more important matters to care.

"It's okay, Ami. I'm not mad at you. Just tell me who it is, I'll make sure they never do anything again. We'll talk to the authorities, get everything straightened out. Everything will be okay, Ami, after this it will never happen again. I'll make sure it never happens again."

Fearing the fallout of her mother's future misguided actions on her behalf, Ami began to talk, blurting out secrets she'd never even thought about exposing. The Senshi were going be very mad at her, Ami knew, but sacrifices have to be made every day. Besides, who knew, maybe her mother wouldn't mind having a super hero in the family.

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