I would like to thank Ghost in the Machine for pre-reading this chapter with his trusty baseball bat and microscope. Without his assistance, my head wouldn't be hurting so much from thinking.

Constructive criticism always welcome.

Boldly going where others had gone before and meekly going where few have been.

I don't own any of these characters or situations, this is done purely for fun. As always the spelling errors are mine, as are the grammar mistakes.

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Juuban part 15

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Sailor Pluto materialized before the Gates of Time. Looking about, she checked the Gate's condition before exhaling explosively in frustration. She fumed to herself over the turn of events. Everything was going so well until Moon stopped her from doing what was necessary. If she had foreseen what would happen, she would just have blasted the stabilizers without warning and sealed Sailor Sun away, hopefully forever.

She really should have known better. Seeing anything in the future concerning Ranma had been difficult before. It had now become almost impossible since she came into her powers. Even in her un-Senshi form, Ranma was masked from the power of the Gates of Time.

"Sailor Sun," Pluto thought. "The last and most powerful Senshi ever created."

She sighed as an uncertain fear griped her.

"And without anything to keep her in check, the most dangerous."

The Techo-mages put all their knowledge and experience from making the other Scouts into the creation of Sailor Sun, the Senshi of the Nexus of Time and Space.

Pluto was frustrated and afraid.

"I can't see into Ranma's future, that is now closed to me," she thought in a controlled panic. "With the power that Ranma has at her disposal, how long will it be before she succumbs to the temptation of her power?"

"God knows I have witnessed enough examples in history to know that it's only a matter of time..."

She finished that thought with a heavy sigh as she leaned against her staff and looked around.

She was alone.

Again.

When she began her mission to watch and protect the Earth from threats during the dark ages, she hadn't expected it to stretch for as long as it had. She had spent centuries watching over the time stream for any danger that might lurk in the future. The monotonous duty was broken occasionally by some anomaly, real or imagined, that was investigated, classified, and dealt with. Using the Gates and knowing with good probability what was going to happen, turned out to be the ultimate spy tool.

At first, the only time she left the Gates was to deal with threats that endangered the Earth.

Over time, Pluto had changed.

Loneliness can do so much to a person. She first noticed its effects when she started to lose interest in her task. Her loss of motivation came to light when she nearly failed to stop a minor threat from growing into a major one. It had also dawned on her how her general attitude had changed. The years began to numb her feelings and emotions - especially those that were defined by associating with other people.

First, she tried to combat this by "taking breaks" and "getting out" when she felt she could leave the Gates for brief periods of time. When she did however, paranoia would soon set in and she found herself, instead of relaxing and socializing with other people, worrying about the safety of the Gates instead. It was so bad when she tried to take two days off three hundred years ago, she found herself "just checking" the Gates almost every hour. This was in spite of various ways of monitoring the Gates remotely.

Besides, it was depressing to met people that she knew she would outlive.

After a fashion, Pluto began to lose all sense of emotions altogether. Joy, sadness, anger and happiness were all blending together into a big nothing that was being filled with cold logical thought. She was slowly becoming dehumanized.

The last few years that she associated with the Outers were surprisingly difficult. She had put up a good front, but after being alone for so long she found it awkward and arduous to become emotionally involved with anyone. She tried, but she felt more like a prisoner that just came out of solitary confinement and was sometimes unsure on how to behave around people.

Approaching the Gates of Time, she stopped and once again, leaned against her staff, pausing in thought.

Her mind drifted back to the day when she viewed far into the future to see what the results were of her vigilance. A new Moon Kingdom was discovered in the major time stream at the end of the dark ages she was in the midst of. Apparently it rose on its own accord - but at a very ponderous pace. She often wondered how it was possible for she could not see anyone doing any rebuilding. After hundreds of years of observing the slow progression out of the dark ages, she grew impatient.

She just wasn't sure if she would be still be sane by the time the resurrected Moon Kingdom was reborn.

Becoming despondent by just watching for and dealing with threats, she decided to actively take a hand in rebuilding the Moon Kingdom. With no instructions to the contrary, Pluto decided to lend a hand to speed things up a bit. If the ends were the same, or nearly the same, why not? With her prodding and manipulations she had a renewed interest in her duties and the construction of Crystal Tokyo.

And it shaved at least five to six hundred years off the dark ages.

Over time, Crystal Tokyo became an obsession that eclipsed her original duties. She was sure Serenity would have appreciated her efforts.

But her efforts came at a cost. She almost missed the coming of the First Enemy, or the Protectors as they were also called. It was clear that in spite of how much the Senshi had progressed as a fighting unit, they would be hopelessly outnumbered by a foe that couldn't be reasoned with or persuaded. They would need help.

Looking into the Gates for the last, most powerful, and forgotten Senshi, she was dismayed to find the she had been reborn as a male in this life. Useless for accessing the powers that were sleeping inside him. Something had to be done and she succeeded in doing it. For this, the Pools of Sorrow and Genma's stupidity were a godsend.

She didn't care if it almost drove Ranma insane. She wasn't planning on him to survive long after the conflict ended anyway. Sailor Sun could deal with the threat of the Protectors and she would deal with the threat of Sailor Sun.

All that changed when Sailor Moon interfered.

Pluto thought about the words of Sailor Moon "... how do we know you haven't become corrupted by your power? The power to manipulate events and time can be considered a great power, can't it?"

For some reason, Moon's words disturbed her more than she wanted to admit.

She shook her head. "No. Crystal Tokyo and the Moon Kingdom will be a reality. I'm doing what Queen Serenity would've have wanted," Pluto reaffirmed to herself.

Then doubt set in, "Am I?"

She stood and regarded her actions, "No. I am doing the right thing. I must convince the others of this. I must convince them Ranma is a threat - after Galaxia, that should be easy."

--------------------------

Eyes.

Ranma bolted upright from her sleep with her arms flailing and hands clutching at air.

"Noooo," her mind screamed.

Panicked from her dream, Ranma launched to her feet, throwing bedding everywhere and took a defensive stance. Covered with sweat and not knowing for sure where she was at only added to her fear. She scanned the room in confusion for a few brief moments before recognizing it as her own.

Dropping her guard, she slowed her breathing, then steadied it.

Ranma failed to blink away the tears that had formed before she resorted to wiping them away with the back of her hand. Standing in the middle of her sleeping quarters, she blinked a few more times to remove the last of her tears. When she moved her hand upward to wipe the sweat from her brow, she noticed the slight tremble.

"Oh god, those eyes, I'll never forget those eyes," she thought as collapsed onto her futon, burying her face in her unsteady hands. It didn't help that the Protectors resembled headless men. It just amplified the feelings Ranma had.

A flood of emotions built again and overwhelmed Ranma. Her trembling hands shook more violently against her face as the memories of the previous day played out before her. The battle, the mistakes she made, and finally defeating the Protectors. Mostly it was her mistakes that stood out.

She tried to force back a sob, but it escaped anyway. Tears tracked down the sides of her face, past her hands, that tickling as they flowed downward.

Sobbing a few more times, Ranma sat there, struggling to regain control of her thoughts and emotions. Slowly coming back to herself, she began to calm down as she recalled last night's dream and started to sort through her feelings.

The dream was vivid and real. It was more like a memory of something that had really happened, it was not like remembering a dream at all. She remembered the alley. She remembered the shadowy figures that condemned her for her mistakes. Ranma started to shake again and tears, once more, escaped her tightly closed eyes, making additional tracks down the side of her face.

Then she remember something else, no - someone else who saved her from her tormentors. Remembering back to that part filled Ranma with great assurance, that it would be alright in the end. Her emotional storm was still at full force, but Ranma felt now she could get a handle on those feelings.

"Auntie," Ranma whispered hoarsely.

Ranma then felt the painful emotions peaked, leveled off, then faded.

Looking about the room, Ranma wiped away her remaining tears with the sleeve of her night shirt. Sniffling, she pondered her dream and what it could mean. Muscles, stiff and sore from their exertions of the day before and the long motionlessness that came with sleep, demanded relief. She obliged by extending her arms above her head and reached for the ceiling. She felt her back as it elongated, generating a warmth that circulated up through her arms.

"Whatta weird dream," she thought as she stretched her back again, working out the kinks. This time, she paused in mid-stretch, letting its warmth flow through her.

Tilting her head to one side, unsure of last nights events, "It was a dream - wasn't it?"

She blink-blinked wondering if the dream last night was real or something conjured up by her subconscious to relieve the pain she was in. It seemed very real to Ranma and she hated not knowing for sure. She sighed heavily.

Looking upward, she noted the time on the wall clock. It was very early.

She sighed heavily, again.

"Those eyes. They were so accusing," she lamented to herself.

Ranma started to shake again. "I see them every time I think about being Sailor Sun. I don't want to see them again... ever."

Emotions threatened to overwhelm her again. She rode it out quietly before continuing her self evaluation.

"I've got dependent on my power. Too dependent. Because of this I have forgotten how to fight, or at least fight effectively." She stopped that line of thought, before going on, "I haven't sparred with anyone in months. If I'm going to be a Senshi, I'm going to be the best that I can be."

Then with added firmness, "No more screw ups and no more excuses."

An intense and graphic memory from the day before was followed by a queazy feeling that crawled through her gut.

"No more deaths," she thought weakly.

In face of the memory, a cold sweat broke over her body as the tremors returned. The pit of her stomach ached as the uncomfortable feelings resurrected themselves. Her queasiness grew until she was forced to make a dash for the water-closet down the hall to empty what little was in her stomach.

After cleaning herself off, Ranma returned to her room on unsteady legs. Crossing over to the window and lifting the blind, she checked what the new day looked like. It was still dark and she just stared at the backs of the buildings, dimly lit by the street lights across the alley. She wasn't really seeing them, though. Her mind was else where as she sat herself on the floor by the window, staring out into space.

"What I'm I going to do?" Ranma thought, "My life is so out of control, I don't think I'll ever straighten it out."

Taking a deep breath for another sigh, she was distracted by an pungent smell. Leaning over she sniffed her bedding. "Better put that out on the back roof to air out. I must have sweated a couple of gallons into my futon."

Sniffing herself, first her front and under her arms, her nose wrinkled. "I better wash up after that," she thought. "I think starting to ferment."

After one last look outside, Ranma rose to take care of her futon and to get ready for the day.

------------------

After setting her bedding on the back roof to air out, Ranma entered the bathroom and placed a change of clothing on a shelf and stripped to her birthday suit. Walking over, she filled the furo and turned the on water heater to keep the water hot. She then righted one of the scrubbing stools and took the bucket and filled it with water. After dousing herself with it, she began soaping up.

After yesterday, she felt very unclean.

As she bathed, Ranma's thought's became unfocused as her mind wandered from one problem to another. She pondered about the changes in her life, what they meant and about the power she controlled.

Power.

She had a lot of it. Not just a lot, but an insane amount of power.

Enough power to drive anyone insane.

Ranma shuddered and sighed. She was going to deal with it. She wasn't the type of person who would run from anything and she was not about to start now. She wasn't going to run from the responsibility that came with her powers or her newfound personal demons.

Ranma's arms dropped to her side as she considered the magnitude of her powers and her responsibility. Her power was her responsibility. Who ever thought that power, especially power you controlled, would be something to fear? Ranma feared hers and in a way, felt small against it.

"What in the hell am I going to do?" The genie, as they say, was out of the bottle and there was no way to put it back. "It doesn't feel right having this much power. I neither earned or deserve it," she concluded.

"But I won't run from this, either," she thought to herself as she shook her head. "Like it or not, it's something I have to deal with."

As she resumed scrubbing, her thoughts drifted backwards.

Fighting side by side with the Sailor Scouts was... wonderful in a way. The sense of belonging that filled her when she thought about that eased the pain. Defeating an enemy that would have... "eliminated any deviators" in the human race and not stop until the world was rebuilt in a preprogrammed idea of the Moon Kingdom was also... wonderful. It was like performing or fulfilling a great duty. Ninety-seven percent of the human race owed their existence to her.

No. Not her. Sailor Sun.

"That Protector sure was tough," Ranma thought as she scrubbed down her front. "It took a lot of work to finally kill..."

Ranma froze in mid-scrub again to consider what she had just thought.

"Oh god... I killed. I killed before in the park and a voice told me it was alright. What the hell I'm I turning into?"

She continued to sit on the stool, frozen in mid-scrub.

"They were just machines. Biological machines... it doesn't count. Does it?" She thought hopefully to herself.

Other thoughts invaded her mind.

"Just because they were created in a lab somewhere, did that make them any less alive? They may have been biological fabrications of a long dead kingdom, but that didn't change the fact that they were living beings. Living beings - maybe with thoughts, ideas and possibly dreams of their own."

Ranma arms once again dangled by her sides as the impact of what she did hit her.

"Oh god. I didn't just kill, I destroyed a whole freakin' universe. How I'm I going to put a lid on that. What the hell I'm going to do?"

Ranma's heart rate shot upward in her panic, "I didn't stop to think about this when I was fighting. Why am I thinking about this now? Why am I wondering now if what I did was... was ethical or not?"

She took a moment to compose herself. It would do her or anyone else any good if she went off half cocked. Ranma found her center and continued her line of thought, somewhat calmer.

"What if..." Ranma's mind began, "What if next time the enemy isn't a biological fabrication? What if it is a real living, breathing and intelligent being? Would I act the same way? Would I destroy them utterly? How would I feel and what would I do?"

She paused to consider that.

"I will do whatever it takes to protect this world," was her firm answer. "I didn't have a choice. The Protectors, and the way they were programed, would not have stopped and gave me any other options. It was my responsibility to stop them and the more responsibilities you have, the less choices you have."

It was at that moment the Ranma started to think that maybe she was not a martial artist anymore.

Just what she was now, she wasn't sure.

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Ranma was dressing after drying herself off from her bath when she resumed her thoughts on the problem with power.

Power.

"I have power. Power people could only dream about," she thought as she slipped her bra on. She was starting to hate the very reality of her situation.

"This power made me stupid and reckless. As a martial artist, I have sworn to protect the weak and I'm going to do my best to uphold that promise," she thought while donning a pair of black pants.

She paused as she tied her pants off at the waist, could she protect herself from herself?

"Maybe Pluto's right," Ranma rationalized. "Maybe it would have better if I would have died or something. How can I be sure that someday this power won't turn me into everything I fear?"

She pondered this uncomfortable idea before shaking her head angrily, "I bet that's what Pluto is afraid of. Never! I would rather die first."

She grabbed her red shirt off the shelf and prepared to put it on. She paused looking at her shirt.

It was red.

Blood Red.

Mistakes of yesterday reasserted themselves. Her mistakes and no one else's. Her stupid, cocky, arrogant mistakes. She remembered the alley...

... and those eyes.

Ranma shuddered as she stared off into space, looking lost for a moment as she unconsciously slipped into her shirt. Buttoning up the front without thought, she turned to the mirror out of habit to check her appearance. For a moment she saw herself in the glass without really seeing herself.

Then something dawned on her.

Yesterday had changed her. In the mirror, she looked the same, yet different. She looked physically as she always had, but something was off. She studied her reflection carefully and narrowed the change down to her face.

Her eyes to exact.

She could see something haunted deep within.

Her eyes.

Accusing eyes.

Ranma shuddered, as a chill ran down her spine that touched something much, much deeper.

As she exited the bathroom, she was sure of one thing: she would never let her power corrupt her.

Those eyes would see to it.

-----------------

Ranma made her way to the stairs and headed down. One of the steps creaked softly as she put her weight onto it just before she landed on the ground floor. Crossing the dining area, she looked about her and noticed that the job she had left unfinished the night before had been completed. Going straight to the kitchen, she opened the door to discover Akiko just hanging up the phone.

"Granny?" Ranma ventured, for some reason feeling unsure.

"Ranma! You're up," Akiko said with surprise. "I thought after yesterday you would be sleeping in."

"Ahh... yeah," Ranma answered sheepishly while pulling her ponytail.

"Are you feeling better?" Akiko asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Ahh.. yeah," Ranma replied, but her voice was uncertain. "Amazing what a night's sleep can do."

Akiko raised an appraising eyebrow, crossed the room and placed a hand on each of Ranma's shoulders.

"Are you sure?" She asked in her gentle, yet commanding way.

"No," she answered while looking down. "I'm not sure. I'm not sure about a lot of things right now."

"Then we should talk - Michiko won't be up for hours, you know her," Akiko said.

"Ahh... yeah," Ranma thought for a moment, "Granny, I don't like keeping Michiko in the dark, she is my sister and I feel like I am lying to her."

"I understand. But, would you want everyone to know what you are?"

Ranma shook her head.

"When Michiko is old enough to understand the importance of keeping her mouth shut, then you can tell her. She will understand."

Ranma looked up to be caught in Akiko's hazel eyes. Fear and uncertainty stabbed at Ranma's heart as she nodded mechanically.

"Now - let's get some tea and you can tell me all about it," she smiled and bustle off to the already heating kettle.

-------------

Later, after much talk and two cups of tea...

"How do you feel?" Akiko asked in her gentle way.

"Better. That dream last night was... I don't know, therapeutic I guess," Ranma replied while trying to grasp for words. She stared off into space, reflecting on the dream, "It seemed so real...," she whispered.

"If it helped you, then it does it matter if it was real or not?" Akiko asked.

Ranma thought on this before answering, "I guess not, I just feel... no, I hope it was real. It was the first dream that I really got a good look at her. It was good to see her again."

"What are you going to do now?"

"About Pluto? Well, I'm..." Ranma began before being stopped by Akiko laying a hand on her arm.

"No. I don't mean that. I mean with your life. What are you planning on doing with it? You said that you wanted more than martial arts. "

Ranma sighed while thinking about martial arts. It was still important to her and tried to imagine what to add to it.

"A person should not be defined by one thing," Ranma finally said.

Akiko waited patiently for Ranma to finish her thoughts. As she did Ranma stared out the large front window. Outside the beginnings of the early morning gray signaled the new day and birds were making their presence known by song. Ranma continued to stare at the darkened street, illuminated by the dim street lights.

Ranma moved around in her chair as she continued to think deeply. She shifted her gaze from the outside world and rested her eyes at her empty cup before her.

"Balance," she finally said as she looked up. "It all comes down to balance. Concentrating on one aspect of life to the exclusion of everything else is like... is like..." Ranma smiled, "... depending on one thing to get by on."

Akiko returned the smile as Ranma spoke one of her of her own fundamental beliefs.

"But I can't ignore what I am. I almost lost yesterday because I haven't really done any hard training or sparring in months. All the power in the world can't help me if I don't know how to apply or use in correctly."

"... and how to morally apply it." Akiko rounded out a thought for Ranma.

"Morally?" Ranma thought. "Right. I need to learn when, how and if I should use it. I wonder how the other Scouts do it? What do they use for a moral... a moral guide?"

A moment passed between the two women before Akiko spoke up, "So... what are you planning to do with your life?"

Ranma looked at Akiko in the eye before just as quickly looking away. She fidgeted for a brief second before beginning, "I really don't know. I never really sat down and thought about it. My life, before coming here, was planned out before I was even born. I really don't know... I really don't know where to begin."

"I think you're starting in the right direction by wanting something more. What I would suggest is to think about your life, where you have been, what you have done and then about where you want to take it."

"Think about my past? Why? I want to try and plan for the future."

"If you don't know where you've been, then you don't know where to go."

Ranma blink-blinked at that. "Oh well, Granny has never steered me wrong so far," she thought, before saying, "Okay, Granny. I'll do that."

Akiko smiled at that, "Good, I'm sure that you will find it helpful. Oh, before I forget. Could you work next Saturday?"

"Ah... sure. It would have to be after school lets out. Why?"

Akiko's smile broaden, "Well, Fumiki got married last night."

"Married? That was quick."

"She didn't go into detail. She did say after what her and her boyfriend - that is husband - went through yesterday, they were not going to wait. I can find others to fill in for her during the week, but Saturdays are always tough."

Ranma returned the smile. "Well, in that case, sure. I don't mind."

"Thank you dear. Now, I think you should concentrate on what you are going to do. If you need to talk, I'm here for you. I'll talk to Michiko, I'll tell her that you witnessed some - unpleasant things - yesterday. It will keep her from asking questions."

Ranma looked lost again as she thought about what Akiko said, "Yes... I think you're right. It would be for the best."

On that note, Ranma excused herself. She had a lot to think about.

-----------------------

Ranma walked about her neighborhood. The sun was now shining low in the early morning sky as she made her way to the wide avenue near where she lived. Lost in thought, the coolness of the morning went unnoticed by her. Out of habit, she headed in the direction of the park, until she realized that the park was still closed and cordoned off. She sighed, she had a lot to think about and nowhere to think.

"At least it's quiet," she thought to herself as she made her way in the direction of the temple. As she walked, she didn't take note of the thin morning traffic of service vehicles as they passed by. Eventually, she found a bench at a bus stop to sit and think.

Ranma thought about her life.

She was aware of her shortcomings, but never really sat down and considered them before. At first it was something she avoided thinking about, hoping that her problems would simply go away. Later, she realized that no problem goes away by itself and only by working on solving it can you even hope to resolve it.

Socially, she knew she was lacking.

"Not being around people most my life made it so I had a hard time dealing with people," she thought, "and living almost half a year on the streets didn't help either."

Although she was surrounded by millions of people, she had mostly kept to herself.

"I'm glad my friends and family have been so helpful," she smiled to herself before sighing at a embarrassing memory. "But sometimes they have to point out when I'm acting like a kid."

She still had some trouble, in spite of the encouragement from Akiko and Michiko, relating to people her age. She was getting better. Hanging around Michiko, Hitomo, Chiyo and Tamami had helped a lot, but she knew she had a long ways to go. The sad fact was in spite of Ranma being close to seventeen, she related better to kids who were almost four to five years younger than her.

Ranma sat, moving on to her next problem.

Sex.

In spite of having a sex changing curse, Ranma couldn't understand what the big deal about sex was for that matter. Mainly because she didn't know anything about sex.

When she first started Juuban High, the Health and Science teacher Mrs. Harada, was appalled by the lack of knowledge Ranma processed in that area. During the first week, Mrs. Harada had pulled Ranma aside or a little private chat about the 'facts of life'. It was at that moment that some of the reasons why people acted the way they did came clear. Ranma was a little green after the talk, especially after learning the mechanics involved.

She was so ignorant. And she had been like that a long time.

Usually, when a child is one to two years old, they can tell the difference between a boy and a girl. Many child psychologists suspect the age is even earlier, but there is no conclusive scientific tests for children younger than the age of one. The child was not aware of why the differences existed, but they could still tell a boy and girl apart.

When Ranma first met Ukyou at the age of six, back when she was a he, he couldn't tell that Ukyou was a she. Looking back, it was obvious that Ukyou was a girl, but at the time it never occurred to him that there could be anything outside of... what he was.

Ranma knew now that even back then, she was very far behind other kids her age.

Even more recently when she was living on the streets and being exposed to all sorts of perverts, she couldn't really understand why they were being perverts. All she knew is that she didn't like to be touched or fondled in 'that way'. It was frustrating and embarrassing and sometimes the uncomfortable feelings that accompanied such abuse were difficult to deal with. Ranma couldn't really understand why the perverts did what they did - until Mrs. Harada had enlightened her.

Ranma sighed as she sat. Another facet of her life reared its head.

Her education.

For a long time, she didn't really understand the need for an education. As Genma would put it, "a true martial artist doesn't need schooling". She went along with it for the longest time because to her it made sense. If you are training to be the best martial artist around, why would you need a formal education? Would knowing your times tables make you a throw a better punch? Would knowing what happened on a certain day over five hundred years ago improve your kicks?

Then again, knowing how to fight didn't keep her off the streets or put a roof over her head when she needed it the most.

She discounted and ignored so many things because they were not part of her world view.

A very narrow world view.

Things were different now.

Academically she was still behind her peers, but making great strides in the right direction. All her instructors had commented on how bright she was and how quickly she picked up on things. Encouraged by her teachers and friends, she applied herself and studied more in order to catch up with her class. There was no doubt that she would have to have some type of schooling during breaks, no one misses as much school as she did without getting far behind, but she was making good progress which pleased herself and everyone else.

Ranma had learned the importance and necessity of an education and cursed Genma for keeping her so ignorant, and the problems he created in her upbringing.

Her upbringing.

When she was younger and showed any interest, whether it be social or intellectual, in anything outside of martial arts, Genma was there to crush it. Everything outside of martial arts was considered "girlie", "unmanly" or "for weaklings". So in striving to be "the best" in Genma's eyes, she had sold herself short or totally ignored important aspects of her life.

Aspects that she was now realizing were more important than martial arts.

Genma had unintentionally or deliberately kept her ignorant.

She suspected it was more intentional and that Genma would not have bothered to send her to Furinkan High if he thought he could get away with it.

"Knowledge is power," Ranma remembered one of her teachers telling her. "Genma was keeping me ignorant so he could have power over me."

She sat there and pursued that line of thought,her anger slowly building, "Genma didn't want a son, he wanted a slave that would keep him in retirement in style. I was just a means to that end. When I got stuck and that fell through, he wanted me to marry that fossil of a friend of his. All just so he wouldn't have to work."

She stared off into space, letting her mind wander to claim herself. Blinking a few times, she resumed her thoughts, "He kept me in the dark of so many things. Things that are important."

Her eyes narrowed as anger reasserted itself, "He kept me stupid so I would depend on him to call all the shots. And I let him! He kept me stupid and I let him! Bastard."

"First Pluto screws me big time in my past life and then this one," she continued. "Genma lead me around by the nose, used me and sold me like some whore! Some whore so he could enjoy his life! What the hell about me? What I wanted? What about my life?"

Ranma expanded on that line of thought and began a full blown rant internally, "Does everyone feel the need to manipulate my life? To control me? To use me? To treat me like some object without thoughts or feelings?"

Ranma took a calming breath, it didn't help much.

She sat and fumed as nasty thoughts concerning a certain panda-man bopped around in her head.

"Maybe I should pay a visit to my ex-father. He screwed with my life, destroying it in his own way. I should go and..." Ranma froze in mid-thoughts of vengeance.

Those eyes.

Ranma shuddered and calmed herself, letting the tempest of emotions pass. After a moment, a calmness flowed through her taking the strong emotions with it.

"No. That is the past," she concluded. "The dead past as far as I am concerned. I'm now going to concentrate on the future. I know I don't want to be used anymore. I know I don't want to be just a martial artist anymore. Hmmm... What to do, what to do..."

A loud hissing sound, not too unlike the sound the wormhole made, tore Ranma from her thoughts in a panic. She looked up and was greeted by a bus that was stopped on the street. She blink-blinked at the vehicle before noticing the driver through the open door looking at her from behind the wheel. She puzzled at this before realizing that the driver was waiting for her.

She smiled and shook her head slightly. The driver nodded, tipped his cap, closed the door and engaged the gears smoothly. The air brakes hissed again as they were released and the bus moved on down the road. Ranma followed the bus with her eyes as it moved away from her. Her thoughts were derailed by the interruption.

She sighed as she rose from her seat.

"Maybe I'll talk to the school counselor tomorrow and see what kind of suggestions he has," Ranma though distractedly. She studied the sky and noticed some clouds moving in from the west.

"Doesn't look like rain," Ranma thought as she evaluated the weather. "Maybe I'll go to the temple and see what's-her-name and find out when the next Scout meeting is."

On that note, Ranma proceeded in said direction.

------------------

Climbing to the shrine, Ranma spotted a figure half way up, sweeping the stairs. She had her back to Ranma and her long dark hair flowing over her robes. Ranma recognized her as Mars, but couldn't put any names to her outside of that. As she approached, she fought the sudden playful urge to sneak up from behind and surprise the shrine maiden.

"Good morning," Ranma called out openly.

The figure turned and with a look of surprise, responded, "Good morning Ranma."

"Ahh...," Ranma began, feeling awkward for not remembering Mars' real name. She felt very uncomfortable all the sudden and stopped to compose herself. She then began again, "Sorry about taking off like that yesterday, it's just... a lot happened."

"Usagi thought as much," Rei replied. "Would you like to come up to the shrine for some tea and talk about it?"

"Ahh...," Ranma faltered around a bit, not expecting this, "No. No thank you, I have to be getting home soon. Um... when is the next meeting?"

"Tonight around six,"Rei smiled. "Are you planning on coming?"

"Yes... there is something important I need to know," Ranma replied while thinking, "Man, she's not a pain in the ass when she's normal."

"Are you sure there's not anything I could help with?" Rei asked.

"Not at the moment," Ranma said. She was beginning to feel relaxed and comfortable talking to Rei, "That is, it's a question that would be best if everyone was there."

Rei studied Ranma for a moment and looked as if she were about to say something rash. She began to idly sweep the step before her before saying, "Okay then, I'll tell the others to expect you."

Ranma looked back at Rei and wondered what the shrine maiden could be thinking. She sighed and added, "Okay, but don't tell Pluto though, that's what I need to ask all of you about."

Rei looked uncomfortable for a moment, before speaking, "That should be easy, she never comes to the meetings unless she feels the need to."

The feeling of awkwardness returned as Ranma made her leave.

"I'll see you tonight at six," she called over her shoulder.

Rei nodded and return to her chores as Ranma made her way down the stairs.

-----------------

The street lights were still coming on when Ranma arrived at the intersection where the narrow street where she lived met the wide avenue. At this time of the evening, the traffic on the street was light as was distracting noises that would be made by it.

She had decided to wait for Usagi and Ami and walk with them to the meeting. Ranma had just finished helping prep the restaurant for the next business day and excused herself by saying she wanted to take a walk to think some things out. Michiko having been told an edited version of Ranma's unpleasant encounter by Akiko, didn't ask any questions.

Ranma looked about her as she causally leaned against a post box, hugging herself to help keep warm against the coolness of the evening. Yes, winter was well on its way. There was a sharp crispness in the air as she breathed it in, the kind that clears the sinuses and the mind. In the dimming light, she mentally noted all the neighborhood landmarks that Michiko first pointed out to her the day after she was taken in by the Yonai's.

"Everything seemed so simple back then," Ranma smiled as she mused at what she considered 'simple'.

Having time, while she was waiting, Ranma thought deeply on the changes in her life. It really wasn't that long ago that she was taken in by the Yonais and soon formally adopted into the clan. She found that overall, she was better off now than at any other time in her life.

"Life's so weird," she mused as she stood waiting for the girls to come by. "First being a girl, dying and being reincarnated as a boy then back to being a girl again."

She looked up and watched the shifting colors of the sky, "And I wasn't just any girl, I was a Senshi... for a very long time. I still don't remember it all, but it makes the fifteen - sixteen years I spent as a boy seem... insignificant."

Ranma pondered this point for a moment before thinking, "Then again, I remember a time when being a boy was... normal."

With one hand on a 'no parking sign', Ranma spun around it all along considering her life for the umpteen time today.

"It's nice to live where people don't treat you like an object or a slave with no say so," Ranma thought. "The Yonai's are supportive and openly care about me. Akiko is like a... a... mother - a mother I never had."

Ranma stopped her rotation around the sign as she started to get choked up with the emotions brought about by that line of thought.

"She cares for me. All my mother did was give me away to Genma. All she cared about was getting a 'man among men'. All she cared about was some ideal, not her child. I wish she cared for me even half as much as Granny," Ranma thought while fighting back tears. She regained control when a young couple walked past her. She wasn't afraid of her emotions anymore, but it wouldn't do to cause a scene in public.

To distract herself, Ranma turned her thoughts to her life as it was before being disowned and just as quickly turned away. She didn't even want to think about how she would be treated if she were still back in Nerima. No. She had decided earlier that morning that Nerima and anyone from there was the past. They were dead to her and she would not think about them anymore. They didn't matter anymore. She had a future to plan out - even if she wasn't quite sure what that future was.

But she would think of something.


Beginning to get bored while waiting, Ranma continued to look around her. The bottom half of the buildings across the street were illuminated by the street lights while the tops were in silhouette from the setting sun. The sun itself was unseen, hidden by the buildings behind her. It made its presence known by turning the sky an uncomfortable shade of red.

Blood red.

Ranma averted her eyes and started to pace, impatient for the other girls to show up. She walked and kicked the leaves that had collected on the ground from the trees planted beside the avenue. The leaves were red.

Red.

"Damn. Red used to be my favorite color," she thought bitterly. "I may have to go out and get some different color shirts."

Ranma quickly found a barren space along the sidewalk, without any red to make her feel... uncomfortable. She toed the sidewalk, suddenly feeling awkward, nervous and self conscious when she heard her name being called.

"Ranma!"

Looking in the direction that her name came from, she recognized the two girls approaching her. The one with the with the short hair she knew as Ami, the other with the twin ponytails in meatballs startled her with her appearance.

In Ranma's dreams everyone was some indistinct or faceless person that she felt more than saw. Now approaching her was a sharper vision of someone from her dreams. Without a doubt Usagi looked like a younger version of ...

"Serenity," Ranma whispered softly, slightly amazed.

"Ready to go?" Ami asked.

Ranma nodded distractedly and the three girls made their way down the street.

--------------------

Rei lead Usagi and Ranma into the room with Ami following behind. Ranma looked at the others who were already there. She nervously search each of the girls faces, trying to put names to them. It was no good, with the exception of Ami, she only seen most of the girls a couple of times and had been introduced only once.

Usagi crossed the room and settled on the edge of the bed while Ami took a chair by the desk. The six other girls were seated on the bed or the around on the floor. Looking about for a good spot, Ranma settled on a place on the floor near the door. Sitting cross legged, she continued her study of the others.

After what felt like an uncomfortable eternity to her, Ranma spoke up.

"Ahh... hi," Ranma ventured shyly.

"This is odd," Ami thought. "She's not acting the way she was the last time she was here. I wonder what happened to her?"

"I think introductions are in order," Ami said, filing that thought away. "I'm Ami Mizuno," she added with a smile.

"Yeah. I remembered when you helped me with my math," Ranma replied, returning the smile with a small one of her own. "Ah... I'm sorry, I've forgotten everyone's names."

"That's okay, I'm Usagi" said the blond who bore a striking resemblance to Serenity. "We'll be happy to introduce ourselves."

Ranma looked over to the others sitting in a semi circle around the room. As the other girls introduced themselves, she paid special attention when it came to Haruka's and Michiru's turn. Two names she wanted to remember.

Ranma looked and Haruka and Michiru. Hotaru sat between them, staring back at Ranma with questioning eyes.

"That's different," Ranma thought, wondering how this child fit in with their lives. An unsure feeling accompanied it. Jealousy?

When the last Scout had finished, Usagi piped up, "Well, I would like to welcome you to our little group."

"Ahh... thanks," came Ranma's hesitate reply as uncertainty assailed her again.

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed, at least it seemed to Ranma. It was broken when Ami perked up. "Would you mind if I ask you some questions?"

Ranma eyed her.

"If you don't mind, that is. If you don't feel like answering, I understand."

Ranma, unsure what this was leading up to, nodded tentatively.

"Yesterday," Ami began, "how did you move so fast? I couldn't get any readings from the Mercury Computer."

"Oh that... " Ranma said while tugging the base of her long ponytail nervously. "I just compressed time and, well... I just compressed time."

"Compressed time?" Makoto asked.

"Ahh... yeah," Ranma fumbled with her ponytail as much as she fumbled for words. "It's like... like... I don't know, like moving at a different time... it's like one second takes forever. You know?"

"So... you can slow time down," Ami said in an attempt to clarify.

"Yeah... kinda," came Ranma's response after thinking about it. She was really beginning to feel uncomfortable being the center of attention.

Sensing Ranma's discomfort, Usagi piped in, "That's so cool!"

As she said that, something jumped in Usagi's lap. Something black and furry. In spite of getting over the Cat Fist during the bonding with the crystal, Ranma's reaction was pure reflex.

"C... C... Cat!" Ranma screamed as she leaped for the ceiling.

"Luna! Hide!" Ami yelled. The cat stunned by the reaction she was generating, froze before responding. She leaped from Usagi's lap and darted under the bed.

Ranma clung to the rafters of the ceiling, looked down on the group as they blink-blinked at her. Ranma blink-blinked in return.

"What in the hell am I doing?" she asked herself. "It's just a c... c... cat."

Ranma carefully came from her perch and alighted on the floor away from the bed.

"Sorry about that." Ranma explained, "I... I still get a little nervous around c... c... cats. Something my stupid ex-father did to me. I'm mostly over it," she said as she eyed in the direction of the bed. "Mostly."

"That's alright, we understand," Michiru said.

"Thanks," Ranma said as she knelt down. "Here k... kitty, k... kitty."

The black cat cautiously stuck her head out from underneath the bed. Ranma cringed inside, but covered it well. The cat crawled out to within touching distance of Ranma. Ranma put out a shaky hand and carefully touch the cat, giving her a hesitate stroke. The cat responded with a light purr.

"You know, I remember a dream where I used to talk with cats," Ranma said absentmindedly. The black cat was now laid out on the rug, receiving more confident strokes from Ranma.

"You remember the court advisors?" Usagi asked, eyes wide with excitement.

Ranma still stroking the black cat, searched deep within. She looked for filaments of memory before answering the question.

"Yes... a little. Not much," she replied. "I wonder if any of..."

Ranma started to study the cat she was still was nervously petting. She looked carefully at the head, above the eyes where she glazed upon the moon symbol. She stopped stroking the cat and looked lost for a moment. A memory was there, almost out of reach...

"R... Ranma? What is it?" Minako ventured softly as the others crowded around, looking at the distracted redhead.

Ranma furrowed her brow before narrowing her eyes.

"Luna. Is that you?" Ranma asked the cat, not sure about the scrap of memory she latched on to.

"Yes," the cat replied with what might be termed a surprised look on her face. "I'm sorry, I don't remember you, most of my memories are like Swiss Cheese."

"Welcome to the club," Ranma replied nonplused by talking to a cat. "I have most of mine closed to me because if I tried to remember my entire existence before I'm ready, I could hurt myself."

"Do you remember Artemis?" Luna, now sitting up asked. The rest of the room was watching this unexpected exchange.

"Artemis? Artemis?" Ranma thought out loud, trying to latch on to anything. She eventually shook her head, "I'm sorry. It doesn't jog anything loose."

"That's alright. Looking at you, I have a vague feeling of you were quite the prankster," Luna stated. "What do you remember most?"

"What I remember gossiping with you after the balls, or at least dreaming about it... and I... I remember dancing," Ranma answered before continuing with a distance look in her eyes. "I used to love dancing. It was one of the few times I felt free."

The room looked at the spaced out girl as she was absorbed in her half forgotten memories.

"So... what happened yesterday?" Rei asked suddenly, out of the blue.

Ranma, shook out of her state by the unexpected question, looked at the long haired girl before answering, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Rei replied, slightly tartly.

"I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" Ranma said, while mentally adding, "You insensitive jerk."

"I'm just trying to help, no need to get your nose of of joint," she shot back.

"Rei... " Usagi cautioned.

"You wouldn't understand," Ranma shot back with equal vigor.

"Try me," Rei challenged.

Ranma narrowed her eyes at Rei as she thought, "Why in the hell doesn't she take a hint? What is her problem? Stupid, uncute, ... I bet she's also a macho-"

"Ranma," Ami said softly, derailing Ranma's internal rant, "Rei may lack tact," earning a glare from said girl. "But we all are concerned about you. You're so different from the last time we met. Did something happen yesterday?"

Ranma warred with her emotions. It was true, she was different from the last time they had met. At the last meeting, when she clandestinely followed Usagi and Ami, she was confident and cocky in her abilities - now she wasn't so sure anymore. The deaths she witnessed and blamed herself for took a lot of confidence out of her. She was coming across almost as meek as she was when she first came to the Yonai's.

Luna approached the disturbed girl carefully and sat in the space formed by her crossed legs. Ranma, without thought, began petting her again with long strokes as she tried to keep her emotions in check.

The silence dragged on a few more heartbeats.

"Ranma?" Usagi asked softly. "Are you okay?"

The uncomfortable feelings she had been warring with resurfaced. She redoubled her efforts to force them down. Quietly Ranma prepared to answer Usagi's question. Before she could however, Rei interjected.

"Well? Are you going to answer?" Rei said in a slightly annoying way.

"God, she's grating on my nerves," Ranma thought before blurting out, "Okay. I messed up yesterday. Happy?"

Silence.

"O-kay" she drawled out. "But we won yesterday. How did you mess up?" Rei asked, congratulating herself for getting somewhere.

"I... I... messed up, okay. I messed up big time and... " Ranma trailed off.

More silence.

"So you messed up," Rei said while crossing her arms. "Is that all? We can't help you unless you tell us what's that's bugging you."

"Bugging me? You want to know what's bugging me you uncute..." Ranma stopped herself as she fumed at Rei.

"I'll tell you what's bugging me," Ranma finaly worked out, "I screwed up big time and got people killed in the process..."

Ranma didn't look up when she spoke. She didn't want to see the looks that she imagined on thier faces or what they must think of her...

"Ranma?" Usagi asked softly. "Are you okay?"

The uncomfortable feelings she had resurfaced. She forced them down and answered Usagi's question.

"No," Ranma said evenly. Looking down at her lap, Luna looked up into her eyes. Ranma closed hers, not wanting to see anything. "I don't think I'll ever be okay again. I saw," Ranma's voice cracked a bit, "people getting killed. And it's all my fault."

Ranma heard someone exhale softly in the ensuing silence.

"How?" Usagi gently prodded as the rest of the room remained quiet.

"I... got careless and overconfident. It cost ..." Ranma broke away and that point and was quiet. She began to shake and fought the emotions that threatened to take over.

"That wasn't your fault," Usagi said.

"You don't know that!" Ranma said loudly, startling the others in the room. Tears were threatening to form in the corners of her eyes, she quickly suppressed them.

The room was was once again plunged into silence. The only sound was the ragged breathing from Ranma.

"Have you ever seen anyone die before?" Ranma quietly asked to no one in particular.

"Yes," Usagi answered. "When we were fighting Beryl, and last year Galaxia . I watched and felt everyone I love die before finally defeating them."

Ranma stared at Usagi. The last name didn't mean anything to her, but the first loosened a memory. "Beryl?" she said incredulously. "I thought she was sealed away with the others. What happened?"

"They came back," Rei replied, more sharply than she intended, earning a glare in return from Usagi and a few others.

Ranma reacted as she were punched. "They?" she asked.

She looked into the faces of the girls who were now crowded closely. "Did I screw that up too?" Ranma asked weakly.

The others looked back at the stricken girl.

"That doesn't matter right now," Usagi spoke up trying to comfort Ranma before she fell into despair. "All that matters is that you are not alone in this. We will," gesturing to everyone in the room, "all of us, will help you through this."

Ranma shook her head while whispering, "Those eyes." Looking down she addressed the group, "I can't stop thinking about those eyes. It's like they knew I screwed up and ... I can't stop thinking about them."

Ranma was shaking now as her guilt assulted her again. Usagi looked at the venerable redhead, moved closer to her and placed a comforting arm around Ranma's shoulder.

"It will be alright, you have to believe that," Usagi said.

Ranma looked into Usagi's eyes and softly said, "I just never seen anyone die before. I never really thought about it before. I never thought it would really happen - and to see it ... there in front of me” Ranma broke eye contact while shaking her head, “- I don't know."

"I won't lie to you, it will hurt," Usagi said softly while drawing Ranma into a hug. "And like I said, we'll help you through this."

Ranma looked up and stared at Usagi, face to face.

"Wha...?" she said intelligently.

"That's what friends are for," she said smiling with her blue eyes in 'puppy-dog' mode.

Blue eyes met blue. A memory of a dream. Ranma was moved.

"Th...thanks," Ranma squeaked out as she managed to force back the tears that were threatening to escape. Didn't help. She bowed her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Dammit! I'm so emotional lately," Ranma berated herself, "I guess seeing people get killed would do that to anyone."

Unsure as to what to do, the other occupants in the room watched the silently weeping girl. Usagi continued to hug and comfort Ranma. Ranma, tensed for the briefest of moments before tentatively and slowly returning the hug. The other girls crowded around and gave quiet words of encouragement. Ranma soon was in control of herself again.

"Tell me, did you do the best that you can?" Usagi asked softly, still hugging Ranma.

Ranma sat and thought before answering, this was too much like the dream, "Yes. But ...," Ranma paused and then continued, "If I had listened to what my instincts were trying to tell me, if I had practiced on more... then..."

"There is a saying," Ami piped up, "and I forgot where I read it, is that 'hind sight is twenty-twenty'."

Ranma, still sniffling a bit, stared blankly at her.

"It means that it is easier to spot your mistakes after you make them than before," Makoto clarified.

"I still should have known," Ranma mumbled out, but internally feeling somewhat relieved. She was beginning to tire from the roller-coaster of emotions she had been on.

A somewhat pleasant silence fell.

"Is there anything else that is bothering you? We can try to help," Usagi said in a way that eerily reminded Ranma of someone else.

Ranma was back to petting Luna again. With Usagi sitting beside her, she stared off into space as she composed her thoughts. She took in a deep breath and exhaled it evenly.

"Yeah... maybe. I don't know," she finally said, almost unintelligently.

Rei opened her mouth to say something, but Minako beat her to the punch.

"Take your time."

Ranma looked at all the girls looking back at her expectedly. Screwing her courage up, she spoke.

"My power," Ranma muttered.

"Is there something wrong with your powers?" Ami asked growing concerned for the redhead.

Taking a deep breath, Ranma composed herself again. Her head drooped as she continued quietly, her voice filling with despair, "I have all this power, all this ... this... responsibility that goes with it and... I don't know what to do."

The others in the room were moved by the hopelessness in the redheads voice.

"You see...," Ranma continued quietly, "I've been doing a lot of thinking - at first I was angry with her... and... but... I can see... why Pluto would be worried about me."

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked.

Ranma sighed. "Do you have any idea how powerful I am?"

"We saw some video of you destroying a star system..." Minako began.

Ranma shook her head, "If only..." she mumbled quietly before sighing, "Look, destroying a star system is... nothing. The Protectors' universe had thousands of stars and tens of thousands of planets - and I destroyed it."

Once again silence filled the room.

"A whole universe...," Rei squeaked out.

"Thousands of stars..." Michiru mumbled.

"... planets," Ami muttered.

Ranma nodded her head.

"How... er, how powerful are you?" Rei ventured as she eyed nervously.

Ranma regarded the others in the room for a short moment before answering, "I really don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Rei asked.

"I mean," Ranma explained, " I'm not sure of how powerful I am."

"We could have used you earlier when Galaxia came," Makoto said.

"Who?" Ranma asked.

Ami waved Ranma off, "Never-mind. Long story."

The room descended into silence once again.

Ranma concentrated on what was she was going to ask. It was awkward, but she needed to know. She sniffled a few times and resumed stroking Luna again, who was still in her lap.

There was a moment of silence that was broken again by Usagi, "What ever problems you have, we'll help you."

"Ahh... thanks, Usagi, er, ah - guys," Ranma said sincerely. "I needed to hear that."

Taking a deep breath, Ranma broached the subject, "Um... guys, I need to know something."

"Certainly," Ami spoke. "What so you need to know?"

"So... er, what's the plan?" Ranma asked.

The girls in the room looked and each other and back at the red head, blink-blinking at the question.

"... plan?" Ami ventured.

Ranma blink-blinked back in return and look at each of the girls faces in turn. They hadn't a clue what she was asking.

"I mean, ahh... what is the plan? You know - are we just here to fight the bad guys or are we here to do something more?"

The girls looked at each other in silence.

"O - kay," Ranma drawled, in a way that reminded everyone of Rei. "How about: What do any of you know about any plans that Pluto is doing?"

The girls looked at one another.

"Plans?" Ami asked.

Ranma sighed in exasperation, this was not going as she envisioned it.

"Pluto watches over the time stream." Ranma explained. "She manipulates it more than we probably know, what she did to me is just an example. What I'm asking is what are her goals and how is she planning on achieving them?"

"We... I mean, I don't know. We never thought about it and the way she... she comes in and tells us things we need to know," Michiru said.

"True, but she also evades any questions," Ami interjected.

"Leaving vague meanings behind," Makoto finished as the rest of the Scouts nodded.

Ranma thought carefully about what she was about to say."Maybe we should find out."

The silence that followed stretched many minutes.

"How?" Haruka asked.

"We go and ask her," came Ranma's careful reply.

More silence.

-------------------------

Somewhere indeterminate, that existed outside of normal time and space, a slit appeared in midair. It glowed softly before it widened, separating into an opening. Sailor Moon stuck her head through and looked around. She had been there once, a long time ago and never thought she would be there again. Stepping through, others followed until the last one, a redhead dressed in a teal fuku sealed the way behind them.

The group of girls found themselves in what felt like a room, but it was hard to define. It had a floor, but no walls or ceiling that they could see. The quietness of this place was eerie, for their footfalls didn't make a sound on the smooth surface of the floor. The place didn't seem to be outside, but there was a feeling of vastness as if they were.

A short distance away they noted a ornate door.

In front of the door, with her back to them and holding a staff was Sailor Pluto. So absorbed in watching whatever, she failed to notice the group as they approached from behind.

Ten feet from Sailor Pluto, Ranma held her finger up to her lips. She gestured with her free hand toward Moon. Moon smiled and silently and with uncharacteristic grace, came up behind Pluto who still was absorbed in watching the Gates of Time.

"Whatcha watching?" Moon asked playfully.

"EEEEP!" Pluto screeched as she leapt away and spun to face her would be attacker. She froze when she realized that she wasn't alone anymore.

Her usual speech about breaking the taboo died in her throat when she realized who was with her now.

"What are you... what are all of you doing here?" Pluto demanded, hiding her nervousness.

"We're here to play a game," Sun answered innocently. "Or to put it more accurately, we're here to watch you play a game."

"A game?" Pluto asked with a raised eyebrow, felling uneasy about where this was going, "What kind of game?"

"Probably the first one you learned as a child," Sun evenly answered. "It's called show and tell."

Sun's eye's narrowed, "You are going to show us and tell us what you have planned."

Pluto looked at Sun and then Moon, and back at Sun again.

Sailor Pluto was ordinarily a calm, cool and logical person. She instantly analyzed and studied the situation it from many angles before deciding on a course of action.

"Shit," she muttered.

This was going to be a long evening.

---------------------

===============

Author's notes:

The posting of chapters will probably be coming at longer intervals, I had a set back of sorts. When I first plotted out this back story, it was early morning at a 'Taco Cabana', and I outlined most everything out. On napkins.

Mmmm.. something about Tex-Mex food...

Anyway...

I transcribed most of the napkins into a text file that I been following (more or less) since the beginning. I copied up to about half way into this chapter, before setting them aside to begin work on actually writing. Well, to make a long story short, I can't find the napkins that I plotted out the rest of the chapters in this story arc. I'll have to rethink and reconstruct the outline...

... or do I dare, "wing it"?

Either way, I haven't given up, it will just take longer to get it done.

I thank you for your patience.