Chapter 3
DISCLAIMER: (n) A statement made by an author in an attempt to keep from getting sued for using other people's characters in situations they were never intended to be in.
FANFIC: (n) A story based on a set of canon characters with no actual bearing on canon.
Meiou Setsuna, aka Sailor Pluto, prided herself on her ability to make the other senshi believe that she was, in fact, all knowing. She carefully cultivated this belief in them, not so much because of any pleasure she derived from it, but because it was necessary for them to think that she had an "in" to future occurrences and plans of the enemies. In all truth, however, Setsuna was not able to see into the future. What she could do, and do very well, was use the Gates of Time to view the past. Because she was effectively immortal, she could take as much time as needed to study motivations, plans, actions, and even possibilities of things that had occurred before. But her knowledge of the future was limited to meetings with her future self, or anyone else sent through the Gates with a message for her. And since she was forced to use a forbidden and potentially suicidal attack during a previous fight, even her knowledge of the distant past was fading. But she made the best of her abilities and ensured that the other Senshi would be able to rely on her when they needed to.
So Hotaru's failing health barely registered to her as a problem. Never in history had illness claimed a Senshi, and she knew from hints dropped by both Small Lady and her future self that the Senshi team was complete in the future as well, with all nine planets represented, among others. So she took her to see her friend Ami's mother, a respected doctor, to see about making little Hotaru's life abit easier. When Reiko suggested that she see a specialist, she agreed, and when he, in turn, wanted to consult someone else, she glibly consented, secure in her knowledge that Hotaru was just fine, and they were all overreacting. Her first encounter with Saotome Ranma was an interesting one, to say the least. She was shocked at how well the girl was able to read both the latent power the two senshi possessed, and the skill the girl demonstrated at reading Hotaru's ki. When she went home, she was quick to teleport herself to the Time Gates and take a few subjective years looking over the highlight of Ranma's life. She came away with a deep sense of respect and even some sympathy for the poor boy/girl, not to mention no small desire to inflict grievous bodily harm upon one Saotome Genma. So when, in their second visit, Ranma expressed concern about Hotaru's ki complications, Setsuna actually listened. And she carefully considered and then accepted Ranma's offer to jump start Hotaru's ki pathways. The resulting lightshow and experience was beyond even Setsuna's long experience, but, in the end, Ranma seemed confident that it would work.
She was shaken out of her musings by her giggling ward, who was dancing in circles in front of her as they left the hospital. Hotaru had a joyous expression on her face, as she exalted in the first feelings of true freedom and health that she had ever experienced. On a purely human level, she was astounded at the change in the girl, and eternally grateful to Ranma for everything he had done for the little girl.
"Setsuna-mama!" The girl called out, "Let's go to the park!"
Setsuna smiled and followed her to a nearby park, where Hotaru immediately climbed onto some playground equipment that normally would tire her out. Setsuna sat down and called the other two outer senshi on her communicator, telling them to meet her there. She had a feeling that they would want to see the miracle that Ranma had done.
When Haruka and Michiru arrived, they were struck silent and watched the girl that they often treated as their daughter play like a normal child. The couple joined the elder senshi of time as they watched her on the playground equipment smiling and playing.
That night, both teams of senshi, inner and outer, met at Setsuna's home for a somewhat calmer meeting than they usually participated in. Rei and Usagi sniped at each other as usual, Usagi devoured more than her share of the snacks Makoto provided, Makoto and Minako spent time discussing cute boys they had seen, and Ami sat and stared at her computer screen for most of it. Though Ami's attention was drawn away when she heard Hotaru mention a familiar name.
"Nurse Ranma was really nice to me today! She's the reason I've got so much more energy!" Hotaru was exclaiming.
"Saotome Ranma?" Ami asked, looking up.
"Yes," Hotaru responded, "Do you know her?"
Ami nodded, "I've been tutoring her some in the juku she's taking."
"What are you impressions of her?" Setsuna asked, in that mysterious tone she loved to irate the others with.
Ami shrugged, "She's very quiet, most of the time, doesn't really like to talk about herself very often. She's obviously missed out on a great deal of her education, but she is picking it up very quickly." She tilted her head, "Honestly, I'm not surprised to hear that she's the one who helped Hotaru. She is very… unusual."
"What do you mean?" Usagi asked, her mind drifting back to other new friends they had encountered. Some good, some not.
"Its hard to explain, honestly. I had this odd feeling of…. Foreboding… when I first encountered her. Like she was a signal of something coming." She shook her head, "I usually don't put much stock in feelings like that," Rei shot her a glare, which she sheepishly looked away from, "But this one made the part of me that's Mercury really nervous. So I had my computer scan her when we were working one day. She's defiantly been touched by magic, but she's not generating it herself. What she does have is a lot of life energy. More than anyone I've ever encountered." She shuddered, "If someone like Beryl had gotten a hold of her… she could have powered the entire Dark Kingdom."
Silence greeted that statement, until Usagi spoke up. "So what exactly happened with Hotaru?" she asked. "I'm not really sure I understand."
Haruka spoke up, "From what Setsuna told us, Ranma-san told Hotaru that she wasn't producing any life energy at all, and when it ran out, she'd just… fade away." The usually very standoffish blonde unconsciously drew the younger girl into a hug with one arm as she spoke. "She said there was something blocking her ability to produce this energy… umm… ki, she said, but she was able to push through it."
"We've been thinking about it and it may be something left over from her experience with Mistress Nine."
Makoto had a very pensive look on her face the entire time the others had been talking, which Minako noticed. "What is it, Mako-chan?"
The tall girl just looked pensive. "Sorry, its just… I know that name. Saotome Ranma." She sounded it out briefly, then shook her head. "Saotome Ranma is one of the best martial artists in the entire world. I've seen all kind of pictures and stuff. But… Saotome Ranma is a boy. Tall, black hair… and very cute." She sighed like a lovestruck girl, "He looked just like my sempai" She said with hearts in her eyes.
The others rolled their eyes, though Setsuna never stopped smirking.
Rei was the next of the senshi to meet the mysterious Ranma. She was sweeping up the shrine when she felt a presence enter the temple grounds. She rushed to the front, her henshin wand in her hand, when she saw a smiling red-head bowing to the shrine at the gate before entering further. When Rei's grandfather walked out of the temple, she quickly hid her transformation pen, as the girl bowed to her grandfather.
"You honor the temple with your presence, favored one." Her grandfather intoned, causing her to reel back in shock. The girl just shook her head, though she cast an eye at Rei a moment as she did so.
"I'm not all that favored, sir." The girl responded. She bowed, "Saotome Ranma."
"Hino Ichiro," He responded, bowing in return. "I think I can recognize greatness when it approaches." He smirked, "I'm around it often enough with my granddaughter here."
Rei cast him a sharp glare, which he just winked at. "Hino Rei" She said, bowing to the girl. "Welcome to our temple. My friends have spoken highly of you."
Ranma smiled mysteriously, reminding Rei of Setsuna for a moment. "You have some very good friends, Rei-san. But that's not why I came."
"Oh?"
She withdrew a scroll from her sleeve. "Many years ago, my father stole this from your temple. I wanted to return it to you."
Her grandfather cast a critical eye at the girl, tilting his head from one side to another. "Saotome Genma only had a son as I recall. Offered the boy's hand to Rei in fact." He was pleased to see his granddaughter blush and the girl flich. "But I was unwilling to accept. I thank you for the return of my scrolls."
Hotaru, for her part, had the best two weeks of her life, enjoying the freedom that her newfound energy brought. She was out at a mall with Setsuna, looking at some pretty summer dresses, when a call came on their communicators that a monster of some sort was attacking a downtown play park. Ami wasn't certain, but said that it may have been a leftover of some sort, because it read as being fairly close to dark kingdom energy. Mercury and Venus were already on scene, but they needed some stronger firepower to finish the thing off. The two outers transformed, and headed to the scene. Hotaru immediately started to feel off when she transformed, and as they ran she began to feel weaker, but ignored it, concentrating instead on what needed to be done. They arrived just as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars did, and dispatched the thing in short order. As the dust settled, Hotaru saw Sailor Pluto look over at her and gasp, just as the world went black around her.
On her way to her third week of work, Ranma saw construction crews working on a small stretch of street near the hospital, and heard stories that a monster had appeared and started tearing up the street. It was apparently dispatched by the Sailor Senshi, but it was apparently quite a fight. He had seen reports of the sailor-clad girls fighting, and while he was certain he could take any one of them hand to hand, they possessed magically enhanced stamina and attacks that would wear him down in short order. Not to mention that they rarely fought alone. The residual feeling of magic on the street just added fuel to his suspicions.
He walked into the office, and saw a haggard looking Tofu staring at a file on his desk.
"Doc, are you alright?"
"No, Ranma, I'm not. Hotaru collapsed yesterday afternoon, and didn't wake up until this morning. Her guardian is on her way over right now to have you check her out."
Ranma froze. Over the last few weeks he had gotten to really like the younger girl, spending time with her away from the office at local ice-cream shops, arcades, and generally just learning what it meant to have just friends. Admittedly the looks that her "papa and mama" gave her reminded her uncomfortably of how Mousse used to stare at Shampoo, but the girls were polite to him, and never made her feel unwelcome. So when the girl and her primary guardian arrived, she was quick to examine the girl's ki paths again, after Tofu took her vitals. She frantically ran her scans three different times, trying desperately to keep the panic building in her from showing on her face as she got the same results. One of the lessons Tofu wanted her to first understand about medicine was that it was important to keep your face neutral when running tests, so as not to alarm the patient. That skill was being sorely taxed, so Ranma again pulled the doctor aside while Hotaru was getting dressed again.
"Its gone, doc." Ranma said when she was sure they were alone, tears in her eyes. "All the ki I gave her and most of her own is gone. And whatever it was that was blocking hers is back, but… it's worse than before. I don't think I can break through this one."
Tofu hugged Ranma for a moment, and let Ranma make a quick call to the Nekohanten. A quick conversation in Mandarin followed, but Ranma just shook her head sadly. Tofu nodded and then took her back into the room to speak with the two women.
"The treatment Ranma gave Hotaru several weeks ago… has been compromised." Hotaru and Setsuna shared a startled glance, but there was something else in their eyes… almost a suspicion. "Whatever was blocking your ki has come back, and it's apparently worse than before. Ranma doesn't think she can do anything about this."
"Is there anyone else you can talk to?" Setsuna asked
"No, ma'am." Ranma responded. "I've spoken to my sensei, and she told me that what I've already done is well beyond both her experience, and anything she has ever heard of. I don't think…. I'm sorry."
Hotaru ran over and embraced Ranma. "Its all right, Ranma-chan. You gave me a really good couple of weeks. I've done more, and had more fun these last two weeks than I've had in a long time. I'm grateful for that."
Ranma just hugged her back, crying softly. They were joined in their embrace a moment later by Setsuna, who sniffed slightly but did not seem to join them in their tears.
Ranma was in class the following Monday, when one of the faculty came into the room and called him over.
"Saotome-kun, you had a phone call from your employer. He asked you to call him back immediately."
His heart in his throat, Ranma raced to the office, and dialed the hospital switchboard, and was quickly connected to Doctor Tofu. "Doc! What's going on?"
"Ranma… Hotaru's been admitted to the emergency room with a high fever. She slipped into a coma and her vitals are failing…. She's dying, Ranma. You need to get here as fast as possible."
Ranma didn't know how he made it to Juuban as fast as he did. He splashed himself at a fountain nearby, and ran into the hospital doors, where he was directed to a room by his friends in the reception area. He skidded to a stop outside of the room, thinking he had just seen a bright white flash of light under the door. She opened the door and slipped in, just in time to see the blonde she had been told was named Usagi slip a brooch into her jacket pocket. The room was full of girls Ranma had seen with Hotaru at one time or another, and a young man who stood protectively next to Usagi. All of them were crying. Ranma glanced over at the monitors next to Hotaru's bed, and saw that she had flatlined.
He was too late. Hotaru was dead.
Setsuna was baffled. When Ranma had infused Hotaru with more ki, honestly, Setsuna thought that would be the end of it. She'd looked into it, and never before had any senshi suffered anything like Hotaru did. In fact, never had any senshi in their history died of anything other than either natural causes, or, in the case of the most recent incarnations… and curiously every Sailor Saturn ever awakened, in battle. So she dismissed the danger to Hotaru.
Until the battle, Hotaru had been energetic, and full of life. She laughed, ran, played, and did everything that she hadn't been able to since Mistress Nine. When the youma showed up near the Hospital, the Senshi gathered to take it down. As their adversaries went, it was mostly an easy fight. But Saturn seemed to suddenly become sluggish after a few moments of fighting. And when the youma fell to Sailor Moon's final attack, and the girls detransformed, Hotaru collapsed to the ground.
And now here she was, watching Doctor Tofu pronounce time of death, and seeing Ranma, a girl full of spirit and laughter, barely hold herself up, tears running down her face. Usagi had even tried to revive the girl with the ginzisushou, but it did nothing but, she later discovered, copy the basics of Hotaru's memories.
The senshi didn't know what to do. One of their own had fallen. None of them were prepared to deal with it. Setsuna hugged Ranma tightly, whispering to her that it would be alright somehow, that she didn't blame her, and watched with a broken heart as Tofu lead to sometime-girl out of the room. The other senshi agreed to hold their own memorial back at the shrine at Usagi's request, and they all filed out, except for Setsuna and Usagi, who turned to Setsuna with fire in her eyes.
"Tell me you didn't know about this, Setsuna"
"You know I can't reveal information about the future."
"Don't give me that protecting the timestream shit, Sailor Pluto" a golden cresent flared to life on Usagi's head. "I want you to stand there and tell your queen whether or not you knew that one of MY senshi was about to die from an illness we could have prevented!"
Setsuna didn't even hesitate. Her queen had given an order. "No, Serenity-sama. I had no idea. My knowledge of the future is limited to information I am given by my future self. And I was not informed of this, or even of the attack last night."
"What do you think happened."
"The young redhead, Ranma, that was in here earlier, was called in by Hotaru's doctor to check on some problems she had been having. Ranma said that there was something blocking her ki… her life force. Ranma was able to break the binds, but described the blockage as being a purplish energy. The ki ranma gave to Hotaru is the reason she'd been so active these last few weeks. After she transformed and collapsed, I had Ranma check her again, and the blocks were back, and stronger. Her life force was practically gone. Then she just… faded away."
"Do you think its related to her being a Senshi?"
"I am beginning to."
"Where is Ranma now?"
"She's probably in the hall with Tofu. And we should leave the room, and let the others take care of Hotaru."
She nodded, and the two paid their last respects to the girl who had been such an important part of their life. They found Ranma in the hall, and each hugged her, Setsuna introducing Ranma to Usagi. They asked to speak with her privately, and she agreed.
"Ranma-san… we need to ask you a favor."
"What is it?" Ranma asked, still abit choked up
"I need you to check both of our ki flows for the same type of blockage Hotaru had."
"Why?"
"Just…. Its something I want to check."
Ranma regarded her oddly, then turned to Usagi who shrugged. "All right, I'll do it. Let me get an exam room for us." Ranma went to the duty nurse, who expressed her condolences at Hotaru's loss, and gave them a room for Ranma. She took the two to the room, and asked them both to undress, which they did without question. She then took time to examine each of them, floored at the power rolling off of Usagi. As she examined the blonde, she seemed to pause, and trace a cresent moon on the girl's forehead, then stepped back and looked at the two of them seriously.
"Its not hard for me to put two and two together." She said, and watched Setsuna and Usagi exchange glances. "I haven't been here long, but I think I know who you both are, and who Ho.. Hotaru was. I won't say anything else, but just know that I swear on my honor that I will keep your secrets." She took a breath. "Both of you have an almost infinite amount of ki. More than I have ever seen, and I've encountered someone who called himself a god. Not only are you two not blocked, but you possess a well beyond anything I can imagine." Ranma paused. "I don't know what that means. You two are definitely more than human. But your ki paths are nothing like Hotaru's were. Her's were almost totally opposite of yours."
Usagi seemed confused, but Setsuna seemed to have a stricken look on her face. "I don't know if I want to know what you just figured out. But there you are. I'll let you both get dressed."
"Ranma…" Usagi paused. "You were Hotaru's friend, I don't know if you know that or not. She thought of you as a big sister. I'd hate to loose a member of Hotaru's family. Please come visit us some time."
Ranma nodded, and walked out, practically bumping into a nurse.
"Oh, Ranma-chan, I was just about to come get you. There are some girls downstairs looking for you. They all seem worried."
Ranma smiled abit, wondering how they found her, but glad they did. "Thank you Kimiko-chan. I'm going to go find them."
She headed down the hall to the elevator bank, and went down to the waiting room, where her five fiancées waited for her, worried looks on all of their faces as they saw the heartbreak written all over Ranma's face. Kasumi reached her first, pulling the red-head into a hug, where she broke down crying. The girls all gathered around her, rubbing her back and whispering comforting words to her as she wept.
Finally she pulled herself together, and wiped her eyes. "Thanks girls. I'm sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it, Ranma-chan." Kasumi said, releasing her and kissing her forehead. "We're here for you"
"Do you girls want me to change?"
To the surprise of almost everyone, Akane answered first. "Don't even think about trying to be strong for us, Ranma. We know you express emotion better as a girl, and none of us are going to ask you to change. We're going to take you out for some ice cream, and take care of you while you're hurting."
"What she said, sugar," Ukyo agreed. "We've all been talking about this, and we've put ourselves first for too long. We're here for you."
Ranma smiled weakly, and allowed herself to be hugged by each of the girls, then lead to a nearby ice-cream parlor, where the five proceeded to forget their trouble in a bowl of chocolate icecream.
The mood at the Hikawa Shrine was somber as the last of the remaining Senshi gathered, along with the moon cats and Mamoru. They sat in a circle, and stared at each other for a long moment.
"Setsuna, how much of the moon palaces are still intact?" Usagi asked, sounding serious. Setsuna blinked, then thought about it.
"The main throne room was totally destroyed, but I think that there are a few halls and some meeting rooms still in fairly good shape. Why?"
She looked at the others, and then responded, "Because I think we need to have a serious conversation. There is something that you all need to know, but I need to get some confirmation before I can tell you for certain, and I'd prefer to be assured of total privacy before we talk."
Setsuna nodded, and instructed the girls to gather around, tranform, and teleport to the moon palace. Much of what they found was rubble, but Setsuna lead them to a room with a large table, and several, still comfortable, chairs around it. Upon entering the room, Usagi eyes closed, and she transformed to her Serenity form, then took her place at the head of the table.
"We've lost one of our friends, today. But there is more to it than that. The ginziushou wasn't able to reach her spirit. And I cannot access her sailor crystal. Unless something changes… there isn't going to be another Sailor Saturn."
The girls gasped.
"That's not possible!" Uranus spoke up, "There's ALWAYS been a Sailor Saturn…. Hasn't there?"
They all looked at each other, and Pluto spoke up, hestitantly. "Not… exactly. There was always a Queen of Saturn, and a Princess, but the only time that Sailor Saturn was awakened was when she was needed to Silence a planet."
"She was a weapon?"
"Not exactly. But honestly, that was something hidden even from me. I don't know what the conditions were that would cause Saturn to be awoken, or why she never fully ascended."
"Ascended?"
Setsuna winced. "You are all Senshi, its true, but… you're not completely Senshi yet. You're still mainly your civilian identity, and transform to your Senshi form as needed. There is going to come a point, though, and I don't know when that will be, when that will change. You will be Senshi first, and only. You can take a civilian form, as I do, but it won't really be you. You'll be changed. And practically Immortal. Each of you had ascended in your previous life, which is why you can access your super forms now. But there is another step, the last step, that you can't reach until that point. And when you do… there's no going back."
"Why haven't you told us the before?"
"Because none of you are ready. And honestly, it must be the will of the queen for a senshi to ascend. And I don't think Usagi is ready to take that step with you yet."
"I'm not even sure how," Usagi admitted.
The Senshi spoke about ascensions abit longer, then began to share stories of what they remembered most fondly about Hotaru, well into the night. They returned to Earth, and the shrine, late, but fortunately Rei's grandfather was out of town for the night.
Across Tokyo, another meeting was about to take place.
Ranma had spent the day with her fiancées, watching movies and eating ice cream. It was exactly what she needed after the tragedy of the morning, and she was glad that their relationships had gotten so much better, though a niggling thought was forming in the back of her mind that if things kept going this well, she may not be able to let any of them go. She went to bed as a girl that night, at her mother's house, with a promise made to each of the girls to spend a few hours alone with each of them in the coming week.
Ranma tossed and turned for several hours, until she sat bolt upright in bed after hearing her name called. Standing in front of her bed, was Hotaru, dressed in the costume of one of the Sailor Senshi.
"Hello ranma-chan" Hotaru said gently.
"H…h…. hello hotaru. Umm…."
She giggled, "It's alright, Ranma. Don't be scared of me. I wanted to thank you again for doing what you did for me, and to ask you to meet someone."
"Ok… who?"
"You met Usagi earlier today. She is Sailor Moon. Setsuna-mama is Sailor Pluto. But I think you'd figured out at least Usagi's identity."
"I had a pretty good idea."
"I thought you might. Well Usagi is also a reborn princess, of a kingdom a long time ago."
"Okay…"
"Her mother wants to talk to you."
"Her mother?"
"Her first mother. Queen Serenity of the Silver Millenium"
Ranma shrugged, "Sure, why not."
A bright flash of light filled the room, and woman with long silver hair appeared in front of him, a sad look on her face.
"Hello Ranma."
"Umm… hello your majesty."
"There's no need for that, Ranma. I'm not really a queen anymore. You can just call me Serenity."
"Alright" Ranma was fairly certain she was dreaming at this point.
"Now then, Ranma… I believe I owe you an explanation, as well as an apology. When the powers of Saturn were first created, long before even I was born, it was decided that they were too powerful. Saturn is responsible for the Silence, the ability to completely end life either in a given area, or on an entire planet. One swing of her weapon, and earth itself would be rendered lifeless." Ranma paled, "Exactly. When a senshi ascends fully, they are given total control over their powers, and are able to access them at a moments notice. It was decided… it was decided that a senshi of Saturn would never ascend. When the powers were needed, they would find a young girl, of noble birth, but one with few family connections. They'd give her the henshin wand, and she would transform into Sailor Saturn." The queen bowed her head "It was a death sentence, really. Saturn was a kamikaze, who would go in and silence a world that was beyond redemption."
"That's… that's barbaric! Why would you do something like that?"
"Because, Ranma the power of Saturn is almost god-like. And you've seen what happens to the bearer of godlike powers. They go mad with power, believing themselves to be better than anyone else."
"But then, why give her all that power?"
"What do you mean?"
Ranma thought for a moment. "You create this Senshi, this ultimate weapon, and then cut off her ki, to make sure that one way or another, she doesn't last a long time, am I right?"
"Essentially, yes."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you need the Silence? Why does there have to be a single person with that ability? Couldn't you just have created her with the ability to fight as any senshi, and… I dunno… only use the Silence as a last resort? Something that she would have to fight to achieve? Like if she was dying or something, and there was no way out?"
Serenity thought for a moment. "I suppose its possible. But she would still be the most powerful of the Senshi, and that is not something bestowed lightly."
The two sat in silence, Ranma having a feeling a question was coming. But to his surprise, the queen just sat there, silently.
"What happens now? Hotaru's dead. And so is Sailor Saturn."
"Unfortunatly, there isn't much to be done. There is no one on earth that I am ready to give that kind of power to… that I would trust with it, honestly. Because in all our history, we'd never seen the result of Saturn NOT using her final attack. I had no idea of just how little time we were giving those girls."
Ranma hesistated, cursed himself, then spoke in a quiet voice. "I could do it."
Serenity smiled. "I've no doubt you could, Ranma. I know the power you held in your hands against Saffron, and you'd be a perfect candidate, but… you're not a girl. And the Senshi's full power has to be wielded by a woman. It wont allow a full transformation otherwise."
For some reason, this bothered Ranma, and he found himself objecting without thinking it through. "But I'm a girl half the time!"
"Ranma… an ascension changes you. You wouldn't just be a girl half the time, you would be a woman, all the time. After some time, you could learn how to manipulate your disguise powers to look like your former self, but only your girl form. Ranma Saotome, man-among-men, would die."
Ranma was silent.
"I'll be honest. The thought crossed my mind. But it would change you. And yes, Sailor Saturn will be needed, and needed soon. There is a great enemy coming, one that the Senshi have never seen the likes of, and it can destroy everything."
"You said there's no one else." Ranma was saddened, realizing the whole of his life may have been leading to this. Basically suicide.
Serenity bowed her head. "I don't know of anyone else. But I can't ask this of you."
The two sat there in silence for a long moment. "You're not really a ghost, are you?"
Serenity shook her head. "No. I'm a…. projection, if you will. I'm no longer on the mortal plane, but I have enough power to travel back to this existence once in awhile, to help where I'm needed. Ranma… I really just came here to apologize to you, and offer an explanation of what happened to Hotaru. But, you're right. There may not be anyone else."
Ranma flinched, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm going to give you Saturn's henshin wand. In two weeks time, you will feel summoned. I swear by ever kami above I'm going to spend that time looking for someone else. But if you feel that summoning, please help my daughter."
"What… what do I do."
"You'll know when the time comes. And I promise, the changes will be made to that power to make you a full senshi. You won't have the limiters Hotaru had."
"What do I do after that? Where can I go?"
"Pluto will take care of you. Ranma, don't make this decision lightly. I won't think any less of you if you choose not to."
"But if I don't, the world is doomed."
"If you don't, the Senshi have a much harder fight ahead of them. They can still come out victorious." She glided over to kiss Ranma's forehead. "Live your own life, Ranma. This isn't destiny. Its just a choice." She paused, and seemed to be listening to something a long way away, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get yelled at by my daughter for awhile." The woman disspeared, and Hotaru stepped back out of the shadows.
"Was I just set up?"
"No, Ranma-kun. Not at all. You were offered the choice, which is something none of us had when we were awakened."
"But I have to take it."
"Please don't think of it that way. You CAN take it, but its not a requirement."
Ranma sighed.
"Just think it over. Don't rush into it. Talk to your fiancées, they have an interest here too."
He nodded, and Hotaru faded from view.
The next evening, Ranma arrived at the Nekohanten for his date with Shampoo. Cologne greeted him at the door.
"Hello there, son-in-law. You seem troubled."
"I am abit… can I ask you something?"
"Shampoo is getting herself ready, so we have some time. What can I do for you?"
"SAOTOME YOU ENEMY OF WOMEN! PREPARE TO URK!" Mousse declaration was cut short by a fist to his stomach courtesy of a very pissed off ranma.
"Not now, Mousse. " He grabbed the boys robes and threw him to the side.
"Rough day?" Cologne asked blandly.
"You could say that. Great-grandmother… if you had to die to save the world, would you?"
Cologne paled, "You never ask the easy questions, do you? And I somehow wonder if this isn't just a hypothetical." She considered. "Death isn't that feared by my tribe, but the consequence to those you leave behind is often one we consider. I think you have to decide whether the life you leave behind for the ones you save is worth the cost if you chose not to act."
Shampoo chose that moment to bound downstairs and glomp on Ranma, "AIREN! Shampoo too-too happy to go on date with you!"
Ranma smiled, his somewhat serious mood evaporating. "Ranma think Shampoo too-too pretty. Shampoo want date now?" Cologne laughed as shampoo thumped him on the head.
"Don't tease me, beloved!" Shampoo said in mandarin. "I'm trying to learn your language!"
"I know you are, sweetheart" Ranma responded, "But in the meantime, what you end up sounding like is adorable."
The two left, headed for dinner.
The next two weeks seemed to fly by to Ranma. Each of his fiancées, and family members were asked the same question. What if you had to die to save the world? Each agreed that the cost would be worth it, though the more observant ones realized Ranma wasn't just asking an academic question. As time dragged on, he wondered when the call would come, and if it did, would he answer it.
Friday night found Ranma and all five of his fiancées lounging around at Ukyo's apartment above her restaurant. They all had been having a serious discussion about Ranma's question, though he remained very tight-lipped on where the question was coming from.
"Alright," Nabiki pronounced, "I am not thoroughly sick of this topic. Ranma-kun, we all know you will do the right thing, at the right time, and we all hope that it won't do anything permanent to you. Now we're going to do something fun, because I'm getting depressed."
"Shampoo think we should do some kissing," The Chinese girl said, winking at Ranma. Nabiki, who was dying for a chance to laugh, responded with "Alright" and proceeded to glomp the girl and pull her into a very scorching kiss. The others were laughing until they realized just how involved the two were getting, and the laughter turned somewhat awkward.
Nabiki finally pulled away, flushed and breathing hard. Shampoo wasn't in much better shape, and whispered without thinking "Shampoo think she have busy fingers tonight." The slightly flushed girl suddenly turned beet red as shocked laughter surrounded her. "Shampoo not say that! Was just figment of imaginations!"
"Pervert" Akane muttered fondly.
Ranma just looked around, realizing that if everything really ended, that things had turned out okay. The girls were all friends now. Sure there was alittle jealousy, but it was all good-natured. They spent time together as friends, without Ranma even there, and were teaching each other alittle bit about what they were good at. Akane was getting cooking lessons, Nabiki and Kasumi getting some refreshers in martial arts, and all five were learning as much about each others fighting styles as they could.
And at 3 oclock that morning, Ranma's time ran out. He was tossing and turning in bed, unsettled and not able to sleep, when he suddenly realized there was somewhere he needed to be, something that had to be done.
And then he knew. He was being called. An ornate purple wand, about 6 inches long fell into his hand, an empty opening at the top where he knew a crystal would form. When it did, he realized that he never intended to turn this down. The martial artists duty was to protect the helpless, he knew. And this was the ultimate expression of it. He splashed himself with water from the sink, changing into his shorter form, and pulled out a pad of paper to leave a letter to his girls. Then he pulled out his backpack, and pulled out a series of envelopes, addressed to the important people in his life, that he had been writing, 'just in case.' One last fond look later, and Ranma-chan ducked out into the alley. She looked around, feeling the intensity of the call getting stronger, and raised the wand to the sky, silently bidding her life as she knew it farewell.
"SATURN CRYSTAL POWER…. MAKE – UP!"
Sailor Saturn was reborn. And Ranma Saotome was dead. Power unlike anything she had ever known coursed through Ranma's body, and an instinctive knowledge of how to use it filled her mind. While Ranma was no genius, when it came to tactics, strategy, and the art of war, she had no equal. She processed the power flowing through her, and found several attacks at her fingertips, a shield, and… hmm… this was apparently new, and could be quite interesting to play with. A judicious application of magic later, and the alley was empty.
For just a moment. Then a silver light filled it, and Queen Serenity stood in the alley, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you, Ranma. You've given up so much, I promise we will find a way to make it up to you."
Several miles away, a battle that had been raging was not going well for the Sailor Senshi. The enemy they faced, a construct made from what looked like a car combined with a cannon, had been very resistant to many of their attacks. Its huge energy weapon had dealt them several glancing blows, and both Mercury and Neptune were unconscious, dragged to the side by a bruised Venus. Nothing they were doing seemed good enough to stop the attacks, and they felt themselves loosing, and losing badly. A huge arm swept Sailor Moon to the side with a crack, and the huge cannon bore down to finish her off.
The green strobe of energy pulsed from the cannon, headed straight for Sailor Moon's prone form.
"SILENCE WALL!"
Until a web of purple energy stopped it dead in its tracks. Sure it was cliché, and the monster knew better, but it couldn't help but turn its attention to the shadowed form on a nearby roof.
"I ain't making no damn speech. SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!" A burst of energy from the wicked polearm the figured carried knocked the monster back, and then the figure jumped down into the streetlight.
"Sailor… Saturn?" The senshi cried out, confused by what they were seeing.
The girl wore the uniform of Sailor Saturn, but its darker colors seemed brighter somehow. And instead of the short bob of purple hair, a long red pigtail went down the girls back, with a spike of some kind tied to the end of it. Saturn wasted no time in jumping into battle, wielding the Silence Glaive not as just a magical focus, but as a weapon. And she was good at weapons.
The monster was broken, beaten, and, if it had flesh, it would have been bruised. Saturn, however, was unforgiving. She was vicious, unrelenting, and skilled. But mostly, Saturn was pissed.
"I don't doubt, that whatever sent you is listening right now. So let me give it a message." She swung the glaive again, knocking an arm off the creature. I've given up everything to take you down, and that's just what I'm going to do. Say hello to an ascended senshi, bastard. DEATH REBORN REVOLUTION!"
"NO!" The Senshi cried, but instead of the total destruction they were expecting, a concentrated beam of energy lanced from the girls hand, lancing through the creature that just sat there a moment, then dissolved.
Saturn banished her weapon, then turned to the other Senshi. She helped Sailor Moon stand, then placed a hand on both Neptune and then Mercury, causing each to glow just a moment, then awaken. The Senshi could just watch in silence, each wondering who this girl was, and what her story was.
"I'm sorry we had to meet like this," Saturn said finally breaking the silence. "But to be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted the job."
"Hotaru?" Uranus whispered, pain in her voice.
Ranma just shook her head, sadly. "No, Sailor Uranus. Hotaru is dead. Even I can't undo that. But what I can do is fight in her name, alongside the rest of you."
"Who are you?"
"Not here. Do you have a meeting place that you usually meet at?"
"You can use my home." Sailor Pluto spoke up.
"How do we know we can trust her?" Jupiter asked, "We don't know who she is."
"She is Sailor Saturn," Sailor moon said, wonder in her voice. "She's…. ascended."
Saturn nodded. "Yes I have. And I'm still learning how to control these powers, so to be honest, I'm not really anyone else right now. But I'd be glad to tell you my story in private."
The Senshi bounded off, where Ranma explained everything that she knew, and had been through.
Back at Ukyo's, Nabiki awoke with a start. She glanced around the room, and realized Ranma was missing. And in her heart, she knew what had happened. She found a note next to a pile of letters, and was about to read it, until she realized that it wouldn't be fair to do so without the other. So she set about waking each of them up, quietly whispering that there was something going on with Ranma, then opened the note and read it aloud.
To my fiancées
Never in a million years would I have dared think that things would end up like they did. You have all been so good to me, and seem to be becoming great friends, and a great team. I don't want you to lose that, but I can't be around while you work it out.
No that wasn't just an idle question I've been asking. There is something I have to do… something that will change me. I don't know if I'll come back ,but if I do, it wont be for some time, and I may not look like you remember
I won't be a guy, that much I'm sure of.
I can safely say I love you all. I've written longer letters for each of you, and one for mom, for pop, for Ryoga, and for Cologne. Please make sure the right people get them.
Take care of yourselves, and each other. Live, laugh, and love.
-Ranma
Author's Note: This was actually going to be the ending point, but suddenly I have a desire to move this forward some more, so the epilogue I have planned will be integrated into further parts of the story. But here we have Ranma's transformation into Sailor Saturn.
Again, this is unbeta'ed, and may be re-written before I go any further. I'll call this the end of arc one. The sequel / next story arc will be called Saturn ½.
Thanks for all the reviews. No planned release date for the next chapter, because up to this point I had everything written out. But hopefully soon.
