I would like to thank Ghost in the Machine pre-reading this chapter with his trusty baseball bat and microscope.

Constructive criticism is always welcome.

I don't own any of these characters or situations. They belong to someone else. Also this is done purely for fun, not profit. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, yet to be born, or visiting from other dimensions is purely coincidental. I'm doing this for fun.

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


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

University Part 8

- - - - - - -

Ranma shivered as the cool morning air penetrated the thin nightshirt she wore. She sat up groggy and disoriented. Shaking her head to clear it, she puzzled over her environment. Looking about her in the dim morning twilight, she discovered that she was in a small clearing surrounded by clumps of trees. Overhead the slightly clouded sky hung strangely over the treetops, almost as if it were about to pounce on the prone girl.

Looking about, there were no mountains to be seen anywhere and nothing looked familiar.

"How did I get here?" Ranma thought as she climbed to her bare feet. "Where am I?"

Unsure of what was going on, took stock of herself and discovered that she was dressed as she was when she retired for the night. Ranma scanned the area around her with her eyes.

"What's going on here?" she thought before theorizing, "I bet this is one of the girls idea of a practical joke."

Using her ki senses, Ranma looked over her surroundings again in the hopes of picking up the ki trail of whoever left her in the middle of nowhere.

"Nothing," she thought bitterly as the morning coolness was slowly warming with the dawn. Her nosed twitched and stung a bit in the morning air. Ranma smiled, "I'll just look deeper."

Tapping into her Senshi powers, Ranma clearly saw a trail heading off to the west.

"Bingo," she smirked to herself. "I better hoof it, don't want anyone asking about me tree hopping."

It was odd of her to think that, but for some reason it seemed important at the moment.

The woods weren't too thick and allowed Ranma easy passage through the trees. Every now and then her balance was thrown as her feet sunk into undergrowth, but otherwise it was an easy hike. Occasionally, she would stop as the sensation of needing to sneeze seized her before passing. After an undetermined amount of fast paced walking, Ranma spied a familiar figure near the creek bed that paralleled the trail she'd been following.

"Tenchi!" Ranma called out, happy to see another person - especially since that other person was Tenchi.

"Ranma," Tenchi replied with a wave. "I've been looking for you."

Ranma's heart raced in excitement when she heard that, along with other pleasant sensations. Those sensations she quickly suppressed.

"Stupid!" she berated herself for the umpteenth time. "He's just a friend."

The two met each other at the crest of the creek bank.

"What are you doing out here?" Tenchi asked as he neared Ranma.

"Oh nothing," Ranma answered, happy to be with him. "I think one of the girls was playing a joke. Don't worry about it."

"Come on, let's get you back to the house," Tenchi said sternly as he lead the way. "I'll have a few words with them and make-"

"Don't bother," Ranma stopped their walk and interrupted. "It was just a joke. Let it go."

Tenchi studied her for a moment before nodding.

"Okay. If you say let it go, I'll let it go," he said somewhat reluctantly.

As they resumed their walk back toward the house, Tenchi draped an arm around Ranma's waist and pulled her gently to his side. Ranma sighed and leaned into him and snaked her arm around his waist. The feeling of the warmth from Tenchi's body against hers filled her with contentment.

As Ranma smiled and enjoyed the sensation of Tenchi next to her, her nose started to twitch again. This time there was something else with it.

"Something wrong?" Tenchi asked, looking down on her, with concern.

"Just a nose itch. Had it since I got up," Ranma replied as she rubbed her nose.

Instead of making the sensation better it made it worse. Ranma rubbed her nose again in an effort to control what was going on. She stopped walking and concentrated on the itch in her nose, wishing she could sneeze and just get it over with. That is when Ranma became aware of something else that accompanied the twitching in her nose.

That something else grew dramatically at such a speed that it alarmed her. Something was not right.

"Ranma?" Tenchi questioned with renewed concern in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"I... I don't... know," Ranma worked out between the stinging sensations in her nose. "I... think I... gotta... sneeze."

She realized too late what the other accompanying sensation was.

Ranma tried to divorce the Senshi magic from the sneeze, but she became aware of it too late to do anything. Ranma let lose a single sneeze, involuntarily and loudly, and was helpless to stymie the tidal wave of power that was behind it. The last thing she saw was the horrified look on Tenchi's face as the very earth beneath them blew apart with the uncontrolled force of the sneeze that was powered by Ranma's Senshi magic.

Just before the world fractured, Ranma's eyes flew open. Self control kept her from screaming or crying. Sitting up shakily, Ranma got her heart rate under control as the last vestiges of the nightmare faded.

"Man," Ranma thought. "It's been awhile since I had one that... bad."

Ranma ran a shaky hand through her hair and looked over at the still sleeping forms of Ayeka and her sister, Sasami. They had invited her to share their room for the night more likely than not to keep an eye on her. She didn't mind, it was nice to have the company.

"Least I didn't wake them," Ranma thought as she clambered to her feet.

The room was nearly dark, the sun not yet over the mountains that surrounded Tenchi's home, but the room was dimly lit by the faint light of the coming morn. Using the little light provided, Ranma stealthily exited the room without disturbing the others and made her into the darker hallway. Feeling her way downstairs, she crossed the main room when her attention was drawn by the sound of soft snores. Puzzled by the sound, Ranma waited until her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room before locating the source of the sound.

It was Ryoko sleeping where Ranma first saw her the other day on one of the rafters overhead. Ranma thought it odd for the briefest of seconds before hitting on a idea.

"She must be putting herself through some balance/awareness training," Ranma concluded as she made her way out the back of the house and onto the pier jutting into the body of the lake. "I remember doing something like that when I was a kid. That beam's gotta be more comfortable than a tree branch."

With a good theory in mind, Ranma was satisfied and quickly dismissed the matter. After all, it made perfect sense and it was training and not too unlike what Ranma had been through.

Ranma stood and looked out across the dark mass of the lake. A few stars still shone to the west as the eastern sky started to glow with the first traces of the dawn. The moon that had dominated the night was now hidden behind the mountains to the west. The dark silhouette of the surrounding mountains to the east were contrasted with the pinkness of the sky.

The calm, dark waters of the lake were like a mirror that began to reflect the natural surroundings as the dawn warmed the sky. Ranma found the end of the pier and made herself comfortable by sitting cross-legged to clear her mind. More than ever, she planned on trying the techniques on the scroll that Master Asahi lent her to compartmentalize her power.

Ranma reflected as she sat. "I forgot how it was, watching the birth of a new day."

Ranma sighed.

"It's peaceful here," she thought. "I should go on more training trips during school breaks. It's relaxing."

Ranma continued to stare at the dark mass that was the lake. She prepared to clear her mind when other thoughts crept in, distracting her. After a few minutes of trying, she gave up and addressed the disturbing thoughts, hoping to put them at ease.

"Dammit," she thought, "I thought I had most of my... fears... taken care of."

The memory of the dream made her shake a bit.

"I was honing my skills to control my power better," Ranma thought as she looked over the smooth surface of the lake. "Doing that stopped the nightmares, so why is it bothering me now?"

Ranma sighed.

"It's because I almost lost control sparring with Tenchi's grandfather. I don't have complete control over them like I'd hoped or I wouldn't have slipped," Ranma thought. "Stupid Senshi powers. Making me afraid to even sneeze."

Ranma sighed again. There was the another aspect to the dream.

"I wish I could figure out how I feel about Tenchi," she thought somewhat remorsefully. "I mean I haven't really known the guy a year - half a year maybe - and I think I might be..."

She shook her head, chasing the remaining thought from her head.

"I'm such an idiot," she scolded herself. "I'm doing it again - letting some stupid romantic ideas cloud my judgment of him. He's a friend. I'm sure he feels the same way. With all the problems he had with girls I'm sure that he wouldn't be feeling like..."

Ranma paused in thought, sagging psychically as she did.

"... I'm feeling."

Ranma sighed.

"I am an idiot."

The early morning wind picked up and gently brushed through Ranma's bangs. Ranma sat and enjoyed the sensation of the wind through her hair as she watched the waters in silence while she worked on finding her center.

"Ranma? Is anything the matter?" came a concerned voice from behind.

Ranma 'eeped' and spun on her bottom, almost tumbling off the pier. She regained her balance and faced the person who managed to sneak up on her.

It was Sasami with the ever present Ryo-Ohki on her shoulder.

Ranma quickly got her heart rate under control and smiled at the little girl.

"Nothing's the matter," Ranma said pleasantly. "I'm just an early riser. I didn't mean to get you up."

"Oh you didn't get me up," Sasami explained. "I get up this time everyday to start breakfast. I noticed that you were gone and then I saw you out here and thought something was wrong."

"I'm fine," Ranma reaffirmed gently. After a moment reflection she asked, "Do you need any help? I usually do some katas in the morning, but I would like to help if I could."

Sasami seemed to ponder the question while idly rubbing Ryo-Ohki.

"Okay," she happily replied. "But you don't really have to."

Ranma smiled at the younger girl.

"That's fine," Ranma said while reaching over and giving the animal on Sasami's shoulder a few strokes. "If nothing else, I can keep you company."

- - - - - - -

Washu was woken by the insistent beeping from the viewing mirror. Knowing that Tsunami wouldn't disturb her unless it was an emergency, Washu kicked off the covers, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while crossing the lab and pressed the activation button. In a few moments the ghostly shape of Tsunami refined itself into a more solid looking form.

"Yes?" Washu asked anxiously in a voice still filled with sleep.

"The Queens are nearer than I thought," Tsunami said. "They had left decoys to make everyone think that they're still on Jurai. They were good decoys, I didn't spot them until I ran a bio-scan on them. The Queens left over four weeks ago."

"Four weeks?!" Washu asked alarmed.

Tsunami nodded.

"The royal trees are the fastest that Jurai has," Washu pointed out. "With that it won't take them too long to get here."

Tsunami nodded. "They're sixteenth generation trees, it will only take about four or five weeks to reach Earth from Jurai."

Washu pondered the meaning of that. Sixteenth generation. That meant the the Royal Trees were the zenith of twenty thousand years of biomechanical engineering, splicing and breeding. Very fast, very powerful.

"If they left over four weeks ago - then they should show up anytime now," Washu said mostly to herself.

Silence fell between the two Techno-mages.

"And Fire Walker's here too," Washu said while rubbing her temples. "When it rains it pours."

"Tell Yosho that the Queens are going to show up anytime now. We must do all we can to keep Fire Walker from knowing what's going on without rousing her suspicions."

Washu nodded in agreement.

"Where's Fire Walker now?"

"I don't know," Washu answered, blinking. "I just got up."

"Find out where she is," Tsunami said. "We need to be more careful now than ever before."

Washu nodded. "I'll get on it. Let's hope things don't get more complicated."

An annoying buzz penetrated the vastness of the lab.

"What's that?" Tsunami asked worriedly.

Washu rushed to a console and studied the complex readouts.

"Are the Queens here?" Tsunami asked.

"Worse," Washu said as she turned an ashen face toward the image in the mirror. "Mihoshi is coming."

- - - - - - -

Ranma was in the kitchen helping Sasami prepare breakfast. The twin ponytailed girl said she could manage, but Ranma insisted on helping. While aiding Sasami, the two girls chatted about various subjects. Sasami was asking rather covertly, but still in an obvious way, about Ranma's feelings for Tenchi.

"He a good sparring partner and friend," were Ranma's replies to Sasami's attempts at subtlety.

The subject had just changed to Ryoko's sleeping habits when a distant booming sound, not unlike thunder, peeled the air. Soon after Ranma became aware of a faint droning sound that got louder and louder. Quickly the sound went from nothing to an almost overpowering wail. Ranma tried to isolate the direction but it seemed to come from all around. She considered using her Senshi senses to locate the disturbance, but after last night's dream she was reluctant to do so. Ranma also noted that Sasami seemed unfazed by the noise.

Turning to Sasami, she asked loudly over the noise over the growing wail, "What is that?"

"What?" Sasami replied.

"I said: Where is that noise coming from?" Ranma yelled the question.

"Oh, that. It's nothing!" Sasami yelled her answer in a cheery way.

Ranma blink-blinked and was considering going out to investigate when a large sound, like an explosion, rocked the room. Outside a heavy downpour erupted from the sky with thick raindrops falling hard against the ground. Puddles quickly formed as the rain continued for the briefest moment before stopping.

"A cloudburst?" Ranma asked herself. "I thought it only rained like that in Nerima."

As she returned to attention to preparing the tamago-yaki, she mused, "I was getting soaked all the time in those sudden downpours."

The droning noise was gone, the only reminder was a faint ringing in Ranma's ears. Ranma put the weirdness of the situation behind her and turned most of her focus to helping Sasami prepare the meal.

"How many people do you think I'll need to make this for," Ranma asked as she arranged the square frying pans on the stovetop. Ranma needed to know the number of people to determine the amount of eggs to use.

Though she was resistant at first, since Ranma was a guest, Sasami did find it enjoyable to have company and help this early in the morning.

"Ummm... with nine of us - no wait -," Sasami paused and counted cutely with her fingers. "Tenchi's father won't be back until the weekend, but Mihoshi is here now... nine."

Ranma blinked-blinked at the young girl.

"Mihoshi?" Ranma pondered. "I don't remember being introduced to a Mihoshi."

Ranma just shrugged her shoulders and continued with the meal preparations.

"Nine it is," Ranma said with a smile and a nod as she began to break the eggs into a large bowl. Next to the bowl were the rest of the ingredients: sugar, dashi soup stock, and soy sauce.

When Ranma reached over to retrieve a wash rag from the nearby sink to clean up a minor spill, she noted through the window the puddles on the ground, the beauty of the mountains and the clear sunny morning.

The clear sunny morning.

"Strange, it was clear before it rained and... it's still clear," Ranma thought as looked more carefully through the window at the sky and the fact of its clearness seeped into her. "What in the heck? It was raining cats and dogs just a few min-"

Ranma's brain seized up at the sight before her and did a double take.

She blinked, closed her eyes, shook her head clear and looked again.

Still unsure at what she was seeing, Ranma blink-blinked, looked away and puzzled over what she thought she saw...

... and looked again to be sure.

"Fish?"

Ranma blink-blinked again and rubbed her eyes with the back of her clean hand. Sure enough, fish were flopping around here and there in several of the puddles that had formed after the cloudburst.

"Fish," she confirmed. "How did fish get into the yard?"

Ranma opened her mouth to ask the blue haired girl next to her what was going on. Looking over, Ranma watched as Sasami continued with making breakfast, unconcerned at the weirdness of fish raining from the sky. Ranma looked back out the window, with its puddles and occasional fish flopping around and back to Sasami.

Sasami looked up and smiled back at Ranma with a big, broad grin that was completely and truly disarming. The more Ranma considered asking, the less important it seemed to be. Weirder things had happened in her life, or lives as it were, so why should now be any different? With a shrug of her shoulders, Ranma continued to help Sasami prepare breakfast.

"I'll figure it out later," Ranma thought absently.

- - - - - - -

Ranma and Sasami had just finished placing the food onto the long, low table as everyone filed into the room.

"Good morning," Sasami cheerfully chimed to each person as they entered.

"Good morning," Ranma also sang out, Sasami's natural good nature having rubbed off.

There was a chorus of 'good mornings' from the various people that filed into the room, including the newcomer: a blond haired young woman in a uniform of some type. To Ranma's surprise, most of the household came in from outside and not the stairs where the sleeping quarters were located. Ayeka was the only person to emerge from the stairs and Ryoko was already in the room, having slept there. Tenchi's grandfather and Washu were escorting the blond haired and slightly wet young woman to the table where they all sat down on the surrounding cushions.

Ranma sat in the spot offered to her with Sasami on one side and Tenchi on the other. She smiled at her table mates and made small talk with Tenchi, Katsuhito, and Sasami.

Ranma would swear that she could almost feel the pinpricks from the glares that Ryoko and Ayeka were giving her while trying to not look like they were giving her glares. In spite of that, each girl was trying to be overly helpful to her and especially to Tenchi. Tenchi bore the brunt of the attention well and kept the conversation light by focusing it on school and the sparring sessions that he and Ranma had shared. It was funny how when Tenchi talked about Ranma, the other girls would try to be extra nice to distract him.

Ranma found the behavior almost comical, but was careful not to provoke the situation further.

"How does Tenchi put up with it?" she thought. Then it dawned on her. "How did I put up with it?"

During the meal, Ranma eyed the newcomer. She had been introduced as Mihoshi Kuramitsu and she seemed an odd duck from what Ranma could tell. Not that there was anything wrong with that, most the people that Ranma ran into in her life were - unique and about as far from normal as you could get. Mihoshi had a ditzy air about her that Ranma noted seemed to grate on Washu's nerves.

Mihoshi was wearing what could only be described as a uniform. The uniform consisted of grey slacks that fastened far above the hipline and a blue short bodied jacket with matching grey long sleeves and orange cuffs. A matching hat with a white pom-pom donned atop of Mihoshi's blond hair completed the look.

"I don't know what to make of this one," Ranma thought as she eyed the young women speculatively. "She's dressed in what seems like a military uniform, but not any I've seen before... does she work at an image club?"

With knowledge she gleaned from her dorm-mates, Ranma new that some of the girls 'dressed up' for the customers fantasies. However, the only hole in this theory was that none of the girls she'd spoken with ever wore their costumes in public. Ranma dismissed that notion.

"Maybe she works at one of those fancy restaurants that go for a trademark look or something," Ranma reflected with a mental shrug. "It's probably nothing."

Ranma didn't mind the apparent airheadedness of the blond, but some of the things that Mihoshi said didn't make sense. At one point during the meal Mihoshi piped up, "Washu, my ship has broken down again. Could you fix it for me, please?"

The breakfast table froze and Ranma noticed everyone's discomfort. Not fully understanding the situation, Ranma concluded that Mihoshi was referring to a boat or something - after all, the house backed to a sizable lake. The only thing that puzzled Ranma was why ask a kid to fix your boat?

The tension around the breakfast table was broken as Washu answered Mihoshi.

"We'll discuss this later," Washu stated firmly.

Mihoshi nodded her head so quickly that Ranma was certain that she heard something rattling.

Ranma shrugged off the odd behavior and continued with her meal.

Breakfast had just finished when Tenchi commented, "The tamago-yaki was really good today, Sasami. Thank you."

Sasami beamed, but corrected Tenchi, "You're welcome Lor-, I mean Tenchi, but it was Ranma that prepared the tamago-yaki this morning."

Ryoko and Ayeka stared at their guest, suddenly feeling a little inadequate. Tenchi ignored the reactions of the girls and complimented Ranma on her tamago-yaki .

"It was really good, Ranma," Tenchi said with a smile that just made Ranma feel mushy. "Thank you for sharing it."

"You're welcome," Ranma replied, feeling her face warm up as she blushed. She controlled herself and dispelled it before anyone hopefully noticed.

"Oh," Mihoshi rang out. "Has anyone heard any word from the Galactic Pol-"

"We'll talk about it later!" Washu and Ayeka roared, cutting Mihoshi off.

Mihoshi 'eeked' and ducked under the low table. Ranma blink-blinked as the two girls yelling drew her attention away from Tenchi, and because she was busy paying attention to Tenchi, she missed Mihoshi's question completely.

Ranma felt that breakfast had been a tense affair. Every time she tried to speak with or ask Mihoshi a question, no matter how innocent, Ayeka, Washu and even Tenchi would distract or redirect her. It was like no one wanted her to talk to the blond.

But it was Washu that troubled Ranma the most.

"There's something about that kid," Ranma thought with a slight chill running down her spine. "She reminds me of someone... or something. But what?"

"Ranma?" Sasami asked. "I know you're a guest, but it was really nice this morning. Could you help me with clearing the table and the dishes?"

Looking at the 'puppy dog eyes of persuasion' that were a thousand times more powerful than anything Usagi could muster, Ranma agreed.

- - - - - - -

Ranma was helping wash the dishes with Sasami when she noticed the wind pick up outside and the shadow of a cloud darken the area. A strange, eerie sound was faintly heard that raised the hairs on the back of her head. As quickly as the sound came, it waned and disappeared. The cloud moved on restoring the sunny brightness of the day.

Ranma thought about the oddity, but decided to file it away as something to look into later. The mental list of weird stuff she had picked up on had grown and Ranma would decide on whether to look into or not - later. For the moment, normalcy had returned and she was enjoying Sasami's company.

- - - - - - -

Yosho greeted the two women being led into the room by Tenchi from the dock side of the house.

"Queen Misaki, mother," he said formally with a bow. "Washu informed me of your visit and the reason for it."

This raised eyebrows of the two newcomers.

"But first," Yosho continued. "I must tell you we have a guest and we need to be... subtle if we can, until she leaves."

Yosho's mother, Funaho nodded understandably. Funaho was a woman with an air of serene control about her. She wore a loose pant-suit like garb with a light green robe with red shoulder pads. Her long, dark hair framed her face as it cascaded down her front.

Her companion was dressed similarly in flowing robes of brown with green shoulder pads. Her bright blue hair hung down her back in a large, high ponytail. Her magenta eyes shone brightly in her heart shaped face. Unlike Funaho, this woman had a perky, happy disposition.

"You can say that we are your sisters that dropped by unexpectedly," she said. "Call me Funaho. That would sound less suspicious than calling me 'mother'."

Queen Misaki piped in, "You can call me Aunty."

Yosho nodded.

"Now, before we begin," Misaki said. "Where are my daughters?"

"I'll go get them," Tenchi volunteered.

"Before you do," Yosho said stopping Tenchi with a upraised hand. Yosho then turned his attention back to his guests. "I think it would be a good idea if you two changed into something less... noticeable."

The two women nodded in understanding.

- - - - - - -

Tenchi poked his head into the kitchen and froze at the sight of Ranma gracefully moving about, assisting Sasami in putting the dishes away. Momentarily mesmerized by Ranma putting some of the cookware up in a high place, her back stretching and arching as she did. This made her form press tightly against the shirt she was wearing, accentuating her figure. Tenchi felt his face heat up as the memory of the unexpected sight of Ranma's unclad body in the bathroom the night before pushed its way into his mind.

"Oh man," he lamented to himself. "I am a pervert."

Withdrawing from the doorway, he held his nose and let the blush and other hormonal effects pass before sticking his head into the kitchen again.

"Sasami," he said with a squeak, the pitch of his voice guaranteed that he got both girls attention. He cleared his throat. "Your... you have a visitor."

- - - - - - -

Ayeka entered the main room with Tenchi just as Sasami and Ranma did. She froze at the sight. Queen Misaki was here.

Her mother.

Ayeka eyes widened before her shoulders sagged. She had wanted to make and maintain a good impression on Ranma, but with her mother here...

"Mommy!" Sasami cried and bolted into the blue haired woman's arms. Mother and daughter were busy smothering each other with affection, ignoring everyone else in the room. Between the two, there was a healthy chorus of 'mommy' and 'little Sasami' as each hugged the other for all they was worth. Misaki's smile was as wide as humanly possible as she beamed at her youngest child.

Having dealt with Misaki's affections before and not wanting to risk being face planted into the walls, Ryoko looked down in bemusement from the safety of her rafter.

"Hello mother," Ayeka said to the odd, blue haired woman with a slight bow. She widened her smile and cocked her head cutely before continuing, "This is such a surprise. We weren't expecting you."

Still holding Sasami close to her, Queen Misaki's smile faded slowly into a frown. The expression on her face as she looked at Ayeka betrayed a mixture of sternness, hurt and displeasure. Ranma studied the scene in confusion.

"I don't know what Ayeka did," Ranma thought. "But the temperature definitely dropped."

Ayeka took a deep breath and a drop of sweat made its way down the side of her face. This was so embarrassing - especially in front of a guest. She also knew Ryoko never let her live it down and who knew what Ranma would do.

But she sucked it in and got it over with.

"Mommy!" Ayeka said with her hands clasped in front of her and a wide smile plastered on her face.

With that Queen Misaki perked up with an equally wide smile and brought her hands close together before her.

"Little Ayeka," she said happily.

"Mommy!" Ayeka said stepping forward, wishing she could crawl under something and hide.

Misaki threw her arms out wide as Ayeka rushed and embraced her mother. Sasami happily folded herself into what turned into a group hung.

Ranma stared at the scene.

"I can see where Sasami gets her personality from," she thought with a thin smile. "There's defiantly a family resemblance. She seems so... enthusiastic about her children."

Ranma noted that Ayeka was blushing furiously in embarrassment.

"Ayeka doesn't seem too happy about being part of that group hug," Ranma noted as the smile faded from her lips.

"Why would she be embarrassed?" Ranma puzzled over what she was seeing, trying to figure out what was so embarrassing.

"Just because it's her mother?" Ranma wondered.

Her mother.

Ranma watched the scene unfold as the older women fussed over the younger ones. Sasami was basking in the glow of her mother's affections while Ayeka looked like she wanted to die. She was definitely uncomfortable with the attention from her mother.

Her mother.

Ranma felt a deep emotion well up inside her, reach out, and stab her in the heart. For some reason this scene had touched a part of her that she had suppressed and buried deep within. Things were starting to get a little blurry when Ranma hurriedly excused herself from the room and made her way out the back door and onto the dock that jutted out into the lake.

- - - - - - -

She was alone. She needed to be alone to deal with this.

She sat there watching the waters lap against one of the support beams without really watching it. She couldn't stop the flood of thoughts and emotions that ran rampant inside her.

"Damn it! Every time I think I'm over it, something reminds me, or gets to me, or something..." she lamented to herself. "Did my mother truly hate me so much that she let me go for a worthless piece of paper?"

Ranma sighed heavily and fell further into depression as her heart of hearts answered with a 'yes, she did hate you that much'.

"It's not fair," she complained mentally. "Everyone that I know, had or have parents that loved them. Mine... my real ones used me, abused me and threw me away. I was nothing to them."

She shifted her weight, "Why am I thinking about this? Why does this still bother me after all this time?"

Ranma considered that question as she looked out across the lake.

"Are you alright?"

For the second time that morning, Ranma let an 'eep' escape her lips and almost ended up in the lake again at the unexpected question. Turning she saw the cyan haired girl, Ryoko, standing behind her.

"I'm fine," Ranma answered almost defensively. "I'm always all right."

"Right," Ryoko snorted, "and I'm a demon."

Ranma blink-blinked at her. "Huh?"

"Never-mind," Ryoko said dismissively. "Tenchi got tied up with family matters and sent me to check on you."

"That's nice of him," Ranma commented. She cocked an eyebrow and asked, "So do you have any family?"

Ryoko shrugged nonchalantly. "I have a mother - sort of."

"Yeah... not me," Ranma whispered mostly to herself.

Ranma tried to shake herself out of her depression. It didn't work. Ranma sighed and decided to distract herself - something that she had lately become very good at - maybe too good at. She turned her full attention to the strange woman near her.

"When you asked earlier about sparring, were you serious?" Ranma asked.

Ryoko shrugged uncertainly, paused and then nodded.

"Yes, but I don't think Tenchi would be happy if I sparred with you," Ryoko explained. "I may not be trained, but I'm tough."

Ranma smirked, a perfect way to get out of her funk.

"Wanna spar?" Ranma asked Ryoko.

Ryoko smiled an evil smile, but a smile none the less. "Sure," she replied. "But like I said, Tenchi wouldn't be happy with me if I did and I don't want Tenchi mad at me."

"We just going to spar," Ranma said with an explosive exhale. "It's not like we're going to kill each other or anything."

Ryoko sized Ranma up, thought a few seconds and then nodded.

"Okay," the cyan haired girl said. "But I expect you to explain to Tenchi if he gets mad at me."

"I promise, on my honor," Ranma said resolutely. "Since this is a friendly little match just to see how we stack up, let's stick to hand to hand. No weapons."

Ryoko nodded in agreement as she mentally reminded herself to not use any of her abilities.

Moving to off the pier to a open area beside the house, the two woman faced off against each other. For a brief moment, in which both sized the other up, all was still. Not even the gentle summer breeze blew as time seemed to stop.

Then things moved very fast.

Ryoko started with a straightforward attack: a punch to Ranma's face that would have taken her down if it connected. Ranma easily dodged and took advantage of the extended arm by grabbing it and using it to throw Ryoko. Ryoko let out a surprised yelp as she landed ungracefully on her bottom with her legs splayed.

Letting out a low growl, Ryoko picked herself up off the ground, dusted off her back side and attacked again. This time she got close to Ranma, inside her guard, trying to make it harder for Ranma to dodge. Much to Ryoko's amazement and chagrin, Ranma seemed to flow around her punches unscathed. Ranma was also able to go on the offensive and tag Ryoko along her torso and back in several places. The tags were not hard enough to hurt a normal person much less Ryoko, but they did signal to her that Ranma could've crippled her if she wanted to.

The two combatants broke apart.

"Care to take this a notch higher?" a frustrated Ryoko asked with a slight edge to her words.

Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"She's powering up her ki or whatever," Ranma realized. "This might get interesting."

Ranma tapped into her own ki and nodded.

The two resumed their play.

- - - - - - -

After the family reunion had passed, the youths were excused so that the adults could speak about matter of import.

"Now Yosho," Queen Funaho said firmly. "If Washu has explained the situation on Jurai, then you know things are quite serious. We have permitted you, Tenchi and the rest to stay here, but because of the growing unrest we must insist that you and everyone return home."

Yosho opened his mouth to comment, closed it and thought a bit before speaking. "Home?" he objected. "As far as Tenchi and I are concerned, this is home. I'm not goin-"

"Before we get too far into this discussion about what Yosho should or shouldn't do," Washu piped in. "We had better move to my lab for security reasons."

The group fell silent.

"Security reasons?" Yosho asked. "What security reasons?"

Washu thought for a brief instant, then answered.

"I discovered something unsettling a few days ago," Washu said while crossing her arms. "I'll explain when we get to a more secure-"

The rest of Washu's remarks were lost in the resounding noise of an explosion from outside the house.

"What in the world?" Funaho asked worriedly.

A loud 'hiyaa' was heard from outside followed by another loud bang. A sound, reminiscent of hail pelting the roof, was heard as earth and rock rained down from the sky.

Everybody in the room looked at one another before rushing outside to see what was the matter.

- - - - - - -

Ranma noted the ki on Ryoko was about as weird as the ki on Tenchi and Katsuhito. She would have dismissed it as a family trait except Ryoko's ki seemed to be centered in and around some jewelry she wore.

"She must use her gems to focus her ki with," Ranma theorized. "Why in the heck would someone teach her to focus her ki that way? The gems would become a crutch."

Ranma dodged a flurry of punches that was launched by Ryoko, all the while wearing a huge grin that plastered itself on her face. Twice Ryoko had attempted a left/right combo that Ranma blocked effectively with her arms, leaving Ryoko wide open. However, as close as they were, almost nose to nose, a kick would have been difficult - even for Ranma. In a situation like that, Ranma preferred dishing out a head butt, but knowing a head butt would hurt, Ranma never capitalized on the advantage.

"I gotta think of some way to let her know she's wide open," Ranma thought as she tapped a few places on Ryoko's torso.

While dodging another round of punches while returning the blows with taps along Ryoko's right arm and shoulder, Ranma's grin broke into a full blown smile as she hit upon a way.

"Heh, this is going to be so devious," Ranma snickered to herself.

Ryoko for her part, was frustrated. She had tried everything to land a blow on the elusive redhead, but nothing worked. Ranma proved to be too fast, too agile and too well trained to fall for any of the feints that she tried.

"She can't be human," Ryoko thought as another series of taps raked across her side. "No one can be that fast."

The thought of teleporting and catching Ranma by surprise had crossed Ryoko's mind several times, however the order to keep everything as normal as possible still rang in her ears. On top of Tenchi and Yosho's edict on normalcy, the last two years had tempered Ryoko's impulsiveness. Though she was still passionate about Tenchi, she had learned to keep her head.

Shelving teleportation or anything else 'abnormal', Ryoko tried for a quick one-two combo that the smaller girl blocked easily. She growled in frustration as they broke apart, only to have Ranma chase her down and deliver a series of more taps along her front.

After a few more minutes of trading blows, during which Ryoko failed to score once, and throwing ki balls at each other, Ryoko tried her left/right combo again and as Ranma did before, she blocked both arms. This time though, instead of letting the moment pass, Ranma leaned forward to deliver a peck on the tip of Ryoko's nose.

That was the plan.

Instead Ryoko saw Ranma lean forward. Unable to block because her arms were tangled with Ranma's, Ryoko leaned back and away to escape whatever Ranma was going to do. As Ryoko leaned back, Ranma leaned forward more and contact was made - slightly lower than Ranma had planned.

Ryoko eyes bulged out as her and Ranma's lips connected. Ranma's eyes were equally coming out of their orbits.

Ryoko found herself sitting on the ground, wearing a stunned look on her face. Ranma was on all fours over her with a look that mirrored Ryoko's. Their faces were mere inches apart. Time stood still and no sound was heard as both women's eyes locked on the others in embarrassment.

Slowly time sped up and Ranma started to chuckle. Ryoko looked as the redhead stood, giggling away and blinked as she offered a hand up. Seconds ticked by as Ryoko eventually found the humor in the situation and began giggling in return and took Ranma's hand. Ranma pulled Ryoko to her feet.

"Sorry about that," Ranma said between giggles. "You had an opening and I wanted to point it out. I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Ryoko interrupted as she waved Ranma off. Looking about them at the small craters here and there, Ryoko commented, "I think we got carried away. I hope Tenc-"

"RYOKO!" came a roar from behind the girls. Turning, Ranma saw Tenchi stride purposely toward them and quickly put two and two together.

Ryoko 'eeped' and ducked behind Ranma.

"Wait!" Ranma cried, keeping between Tenchi and Ryoko with arms outstretched. "I asked her to spar! She didn't do anything that I didn't agree with!"

This brought Tenchi up short.

"You asked her?" he quietly asked Ranma.

"Yeah," Ranma answered with a nod while lowering her arms. "And it was great too. What she lacks in technique," Ryoko scowled slightly at that, "she more than makes for in tenacity. It was great."

Tenchi looked back and forth between Ranma and Ryoko. Ryoko seemed tense under Tenchi's gaze and Ranma didn't seem too worse for wear. Deciding that no harm was done Tenchi nodded his head. "Okay," he finally said. He looked about the grounds and noticed the destruction that marked the spar and quipped, "I see you two did almost as much damage as we did when we first met."

Ranma blushed at the memory and pulled at the base of her ponytail, "Sorry about that. I'll get right on setting everything right."

"That's okay," Sasami perked up. "Why don't you two get cleaned up. After such a vigorous workout, I'm sure you both need a bath."

- - - - - - -

Ranma and Ryoko bathed quickly together and were heading back to join the rest of the household in the family room when Sasami intercepted them.

"Ranma? Could you help me please?" the little girl asked in a way that swayed Ranma without trying.

"Of course," Ranma replied and followed the purple haired girl.

Sasami was really enjoying Ranma's visit and her willingness to help.

In very short order, Ranma helped Sasami by carrying a tea service while Sasami carried a tray with cookies into the family room. Sasami had liked Ranma willingness to help and found herself enjoying her company.

"I can see why they need such a big place," Ranma thought as she stepped into the room. "With this many people popping in and out, you'd need the space."

After Ranma set the tray down, she settled into her seat. Ranma sat next to Tenchi, who made sure that the spot next to him was open for her, opposite Katsuhito and Washu. To her right were Sasami, Ayeka, and Mihoshi, to her left were the two woman introduced to Ranma as Misaki and Katsuhito's sister, Funaho. Ryoko was back on her rafter, looking down on everyone.

"Hello," Ranma greeted as formally as she could while tugging nervously at the base of her ponytail. "My name is Ranma Yonai."

"It is a pleasure to meet you young lady," Funaho said. "Tell me, what were you doing out there?"

"That? Just some martial arts," Ranma explained, taking the opportunity to reaffirm Ryoko's innocence. "I asked Ryoko to spar with me."

"I meant when you were on the ground on top of Ryoko," Funaho said with a hint of tease in her voice. "That certainly didn't look like any combat art I know."

Ranma's face flushed, turning as red as her hair.

"That was an accident," she stammered out. "I was trying to think of a way to let Ryoko know that she left herself open to a head butt, and that was all that came to mind."

"I think it was romantic," Misaki said with a giggle.

Ranma groaned as the rest of the room chuckled at her expense.

"So," Ayeka began. "Do you spar with Tenchi like that?"

"No," Ranma answered. "We concentrate on armed combat, not hand to hand."

"No head butting in kendo?" Funaho asked.

"Not formally," Ranma explained. "But in a real combat situation, anything goes."

"So you haven't... you didn't...," Ayeka began, paused, then stopped. "Never mind."

The conversation resumed along more safe topics such as family, school and work.

- - - - - - -

It was a beautiful day as the combatants circled each other between charging and breaking.

Unlike the previous day, Ranma was thoroughly enjoying herself. Tenchi took the fight up a notch, but it was well below where 'The Border' was so the spar was well within her comfort zone. Tenchi was trying many of the moves that his grandfather had used the previous day, but not as skillfully.

For her part, Ranma met Tenchi's assault with vigor and sped up her attacks accordingly. She came close to nailing him a few times, but Tenchi's skill kept her from scoring any points.

When they had first started sparring in the afternoon, the pair had a small audience made up of most the household. But as the match passed its second hour, the witnesses lost interest and wandered back into the house. Even then, Ranma knew that they were probably being watched, just from a more comfortable place.

"Wanna take a break?" Tenchi asked as he huffed for air.

Ranma, also breathing heavily, nodded.

In spite of the knowledge that they were probably being watched, Ranma and Tenchi sat back to back as was their tradition after a vigorous sparring match.

"I notice that you're better than I remember," Ranma commented. "You stepped up in speed and strength."

Tenchi panted while he nodded.

"Yeah," Tenchi said with a hint of humor. "After watching you with grandfather yesterday, I figure I wouldn't hold back as much as I have been."

Ranma sat up and spun, facing Tenchi's back.

"You've been holding back on me?" she asked slightly hurt.

Feeling Ranma move, Tenchi turned and face her.

"No!" he defended himself. "I was only joking. Besides, you were holding back on me - weren't you?"

Ranma thought a moment before answering. It was true in a way. She had been holding back, only fighting with her natural born skill and using her ki sparingly. Her Senshi power - forget it, there'd no way that anyone could beat her if she did that. Besides that would be cheating.

"My Senshi powers were given to me, I didn't earn them," she thought.

"Yes, "she said tentatively. "But only a little. I'm trying to hone my skills by not depending on my ki so much."

"Besides," she thought. "If I can't nail down when I cross the line... I can't really trust myself."

Tenchi regarded her for a moment.

"You know, I would like to hone my skill too," he said. "I'll tell you what - let's pick up the pace of our sparring and stop at a level we feel comfortable with. Deal?"

Ranma nodded and smiled at him, "Sounds good. As long as we don't tear anything up like the first time we met."

Tenchi smiled. Ranma swore she almost swooned.

"Idiot!" she berated herself quickly. "Think! He's only a friend!"

"It was an interesting way to meet," he said while grinning broadly. "I wouldn't want to repeat it though."

Ranma nodded slightly at the statement.

"Wanna spar some more?"

Ranma cocked her head and thought.

"Nah," she answered. "I want some energy for karaoke tonight. Are we going to invite Mihoshi with us?"

"I haven't asked her yet," Tenchi replied. "I guess I should with Sasami, Ryoko and Ayeka coming too."

Ranma nodded.

- - - - - - -

"Here we are," Tenchi announced.

The six youths stood outside a big building - well, five youths and one youthful looking seven hundred year old demon. Ranma had heard of the large Karaoke bars in Tokyo, but never been in one. Here in Okayama was one larger than she could imagined.

"How did you find this place?" Ayeka asked.

"A couple of weeks ago I called and asked a school buddy of mine," Tenchi explained. "He said this was the best place he knew of."

The front of the karaoke bar was brightly neoned up with the club's signs. A banner-like neon sign proclaimed the place to be The Mountain Song. The front was all glass that afforded a clear view of the activities in the club. Not only was the club was larger as far as footprint went, it was also two stories. The club used the extra space for balconies that overlooked the dance floor.

Ranma thought it was awesome. "Wow," Ranma said genuinely surprised. "It looks really nice."

"Let's go," Tenchi said as he grabbed Ranma's hand. Ranma in turn grabbed Sasami's not wanting the little girl to get lost. Tenchi lead them through the glass doors and into the club interior with Mihoshi, Ryoko and Ayeka following behind at their heels.

The main floor was laid out similar to the Cute Rabbit back in Tokyo, with an elevated stage, tables around the dance floor and a long bar along one end of the room. The lighting wasn't as fancy as the club back in Tokyo, but the size of the club surprised Ranma. It was much larger on the inside that it looked on the outside and unlike the Cute Rabbit, this karaoke bar had room-sized studios in the back for private parties.

"You want me to grab one of the back rooms?" Tenchi half-yelled into Ranma's ear above the din of the music.

"Nah," Ranma loudly replied as she looked about the club, her heart rate went up as she felt the energy in the room. "The bigger the crowd, the more fun it is."

Ryoko and and Ayeka were obviously unsure of what to do, Sasami was just taking in the whole thing with a fascinated look on her face. Ranma pointed out an open table and motioned for Tenchi to head for it. Sasami followed Tenchi as Ranma noticed that the their other three companions were so busy taking in the club scene that they remain rooted to the spot. She gathered them up by pulling them by their arms and followed Tenchi through the crowd.

"C'mon," Ranma said to the other girls. "You don't want to get lost."

Mihoshi, Ryoko and Ayeka linked hands and allowed themselves to be pulled along by the redhead and soon were seated at a rectangular table.

"First time doing this?" Ranma asked and was rewarded with a nod from each of them. "Don't worry,' Ranma said with a smile. "You're going to have fun."

Ranma stared at the four girls, only Sasami seemed to be enjoying herself. Ranma became aware that she had sat next to Tenchi. Very close. Not wanting the girls to get the wrong impression, she acted.

"C'mon, Ranma said as she rose. "Let's go."

Grabbing Ryoko and Sasami's arms she half lead, half dragged them toward where the playlist books were.

"She seems... very enthusiastic," Ayeka said primly and carefully. "You two do this often?"

Tenchi sighed.

"This your first time?" Ranma asked again to Ryoko and Sasami as she leafed through the book. Ranma was delighted to find that 'The Mountain Song' must have used the same music service that 'The Cute Rabbit' did. The playlists were almost identical.

Ryoko nodded her head as she watched the redhead flip through the book quickly before stopping at a certain page. Sasami was busy watching a twenty-something man singing on the stage.

"Don't worry, once you relax and go with it - you'll have fun."

- - - - - - -

"So," Queen Funaho said. "Are these Senshi a threat to the Empire?"

The four of them had moved to Washu's Lab for security reasons to continue their discussion in detail.

"I don't think that they're a threat unless we threaten them," Washu answered. "But we are going to have to deal with them at some point. The sooner the better."

"What are you going to do?"

"First, I am going to see if Queen Serenity is around. If possible, we must locate her and deal through her. If the Queen is not around, then we need to find the princess."

"How are you going to do that?"

"When Ranma leaves, I'll have the ability to track her," Washu explained. "Hopefully she will lead me to the rest of the Senshi and the Queen."

Silence fell among those in the lab.

"Speaking of spying, are you sure about what you found earlier this week?" Yosho asked.

Washu looked at Yosho through half lidded eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "Stupid question."

"How long do you think you were spied on?"

"I really can't venture a guess," Washu said as she shook her head.

- - - - - - -

Sasami and Mihoshi descended the stage amid applause from the clubers.

"This is fun!" Sasami chirped as she took her seat. "We should do this more often."

"I don't think it's very-," Ayeka began.

"Look Ayeka!" Sasami happily interrupted. "Ryoko, Tenchi and Ranma are going to sing!"

Ayeka looked toward the raised platform and sure enough, the three youths took microphones from the stand. Ranma punched a few buttons on the console and within a few seconds a heavy bass began thumping.

Ranma opened the song followed by Ryoko. Ryoko had loosened up so much she was dragging Tenchi or Ranma onto the stage with her, doing duets. Tenchi joined in with his deeper voice adding to the two girls. It sounded very good.

Ayeka concentrated on Ranma.

"She can cook, she does martial arts, she's talented," she thought, "and she's good looking."

Ayeka sat listened to the trio on the stage with Sasami and Mihoshi.

"I hope that Tenchi doesn't fall for her," Ayeka's eyes narrowed at that possibly. "I may have to take - subtle steps to ensure that he doesn't."

- - - - - - -

"Instead of me going back to Jurai," Yosho said in a very serious tone, "I'll stay here an act as a Ambassador of the Jurai Empire. Negotiate with the Senshi, come to some type of agreement."

"You are needed on Jurai," Queen Funaho said evenly. "This just convinces me more of the need for you to return home. If not for the Empire, then for the security of yourself and your family."

"Mother. We have had this discussion be-," Yosho began only to be cut off.

"That was before the Empire got into this shape," Queen Funaho interjected. "We know how you feel. However, are you going to let your personal feelings interfere with your duty and in the end possibly endanger everything?"

Yosho stood with one hand rubbing his chin, deep in thought.

"Okay, I'll return to Jurai, but I will not take the throne. I plan on returning after the crisis is over," he finally said. "Tenchi stays here though. This is his is his home and has no reason to leave."

The three women looked at one another in silence. Funaho was visibly thinking deeply. She sighed then broke the silence.

"That may not be a bad idea," she said to three surprised people. "But if he does stay, Tenchi should be told what's going on."

Washu, Yosho and Misaki blink-blinked audibly.

"Why?" Washu asked.

"I like the idea of having an Ambassador here to deal with the Senshi," she explained. "And if I am not mistaken, Tenchi has already broken ground with this Fire Walker."

Silence fell once again in the room.

"Alright," Yosho said. "But I don't think Tenchi needs to be told anything yet."

"Why not?" Funaho asked. "Don't you think he needs to know what he is dealing with?"

"Yes, but not yet," came Yosho's firm reply. "You said yourself that things may not be as out of hand here as you thought. I don't see any need to alarm more people that necessary. Besides I think Washu would be better at negotiating with the Senshi than Tenchi."

"Why?"

"She seems to know more about them than anyone," Yosho pointed out. "In any case, I wouldn't what to burden Tenchi needlessly until we know more about what's going on."

"But what if these Senshi become a threat, then what?"

"From what Washu has told me, there wouldn't be anything we could do about it anyway," Yosho answered.

The two queens thought for a moment, shared a look, then nodded as one.

"Okay," Funaho spoke. "Tenchi and the rest can stay here. Washu could look after them and deal with the Senshi on behalf of the Empire. What about the spying? Can you do anything about that?"

"Yes," Washu said. "I've been working on some hunter/killer anti-spying devices. They should be ready in about four days."

"What are they keyed on?" Funaho asked.

"It monitors any possible micro transmissions between the spying devices and their controlling unit," Washu answered. "When the spying devices report in to their local controller, my hunter/killers should be able to filter out the background, identify the signal and use that to track them down."

Funaho nodded in approval.

"Anything else we should know?" Yosho asked.

"We'll be keeping a patrol nearby to evacuate everyone just in case," Queen Misaki said. "We can't have anything happen to the royal family here."

- - - - - - -

With Ayeka off to the powder room and Ryoko, Tenchi and Sasami on or near the stage, Ranma took the opportunity up strike up a conversation with Mihoshi as they sat at their table. Mihoshi was bobbing her head to the music making her hair move in time also. It reminded Ranma of the way Tetsuyuki's, Megumi's boyfriend, hair moved when he bobbed his head.

"So - what so you do?" Ranma asked idly as she sipped a C.C.Lemon.

"I'm a Detective, First Class with the Galaxy Police," the blond replied - blondly - while still bobbing her head.

Ranma blinked, contemplated several several possible meanings beyond the most obvious one and stared blankly at the blond as she practically danced to the music in her seat. Seeing how Mihoshi's explanation was not impossible, for Ranma had been briefed by Ami on the existence of the Starlights, Ranma seriously considered the possibility.

Then discarded it.

"Extra-terrestrial intelligence," Ranma thought while watching Mihoshi bob her head to the music. "Not in this case."

Ranma decided to grasp at straws.

"Is that like a band or something?" Ranma ventured.

"Oh no," Mihoshi said distractedly. "It's part of the Civilian Enforcement Branch of the Juraian Empire."

Ranma stared blankly again at the woman as Mihoshi started to shimmy in her seat.

"Err... yeah," Ranma said as she thought, "Man. Some people get too involved in their cosplaying."

Shaking her head of any thoughts, Ranma nudged the blond with her arm.

"Say, would you like to dance?" Ranma asked, getting bored with just sitting.

Mihoshi stopped her bobbing and looked at the redhead.

"We're both girls," she pointed out.

"So?" Ranma replied while grabbing her hand. "Let's go."

- - - - - - -

Yosho, Funaho, and Misaki had retreated form Washu's lab after a few of the details were worked out. Alone in her lab, Washu turned on the mirror-device she used to communicate with Tsunami and waited for it to warm up. While the communicator was coming on line, Washu looked over the plans for a smaller, better one on one of the screens.

All too soon, the ghostly outline of a woman appeared in the devices shiny surface. Washu then turned her attention to the matter at hand.

"Were you able to put a tracking device on Fire Walker?" Tsunami asked as her image solidified in the glass.

"Better - I am able to track Fire Walker through the space/time tracker she is wearing," Washu explained. "Someone else wants to keep tabs on her and my guess it's probably the Queen."

"Her or Wind Walker," Tsunami said as she nodded in the mirror-like device. "Will your tapping be detected?"

"Not unless I put more power into the tap than I am now or someone takes a close look at Fire Walker's waveform," Washu answered.

The room descended into silence as Tsunami pondered that.

"Tsunami," Washu said very plainly and clearly. "I have a question about Fire Walker."

Tsunami blinked from her thoughts and looked at the ancient child.

"Yes?"

"Tsunami," Washu stated matter of factly. "Why doesn't Fire Walker have a zero state?"

Tsunami stared at Washu through the looking glass and sighed.

"Fire Walker was designed to be the ultimate weapon," she said. "What good is an ultimate weapon if it can be caught in an unpowered state?"

Washu thought deeply on that.

"So Fire Walker has no zero state - she's always on," Washu pointed out. "Do you realize how dangerous that is? That's like leaving a gun lying around with the safety off."

"Not quite. She has a zero-state, but the only way to reach that would be for the Queen to cut off the power tap as with any other Senshi."

"Given the power levels involved, that's not much better."

"Yes I realize it - now," Tsunami said as she sighed heavily. "Then, when we were younger, the political and defense needs of the kingdom overshadowed good judgment."

Washu thought in silence before saying almost wistfully, "To be young and stupid again."

Tsunami nodded.

"Tsunami," Washu said. "What is Fire Walker's staging compared to the other Senshi?"

Tsunami contemplated for the briefest of moments before answering.

"Fire Walker's staging is similar to the other Senshi," Tsunami explained. "She is always at first stage, which is the transformed stage of the other Senshi."

Washu remained silent and listened to Tsunami explanation.

"Within that first stage, we built in three sub-stages or levels of power," Tsunami continued. "Fire Walker didn't go into second stage like you thought, if she did, she would have transformed. She just went from stage one, sub-stage one to sub-stage two."

"Does she even have a zero state?" Washu asked.

"Yes," Tsunami replied with a nod. "As with the other Senshi, the Queen has the power tap running through her. If she were to cut off Fire Walker's power, she would fall into zero state."

"Could we somehow-," Washu began.

"No," Tsunami answered the question before it was fully out. "The bindings are to the very life forces, the very souls of Fire Walker and the Queen."

"If the Queen isn't around, then what?" Washu posed the question.

"Then there would be no one to stop Fire Walker if she went rogue," came the unwelcome answer.

Silence fell between the two.

"If we had records of the bindings, we could try," Washu pointed out, looking at Tsunami. "Why did you destroy all the detailed records on the exact process for infusing?"

Tsunami blink-blinked at Washu in surprise.

"You know about that?"

Washu nodded.

"When I was doing research on the Senshi," Washu explained. "I noticed that carefully selected records were missing or destroyed. Why?"

Tsunami looked down. It was obvious that she was collecting her thoughts.

"We shouldn't have done it," she finally said after a few moments of silence. "It was monstrous of us to do what we did to those kids."

Washu sighed, she understood. "You have to work past that. At the time-," Washu began.

"We bound them to powers that in turn bind them to a preconceived destiny," Tsunami continued sadly, interrupting Washu. "There's nothing like condemning innocent children to an eternity of slavery without... a chance of release."

"I wouldn't think of it as slavery-," Washu began before getting cut off.

"It is!" Tsunami said loudly and firmly. "Do you think any of those - kids - will ever have a chance for a life they choose? I know that they're working on rebuilding the Moon Kingdom - they can't help it! It's something that been drilled into them in their training: Protect and preserve the Kingdom!"

Silence ruled between the two as Washu considered Tsunami words.

"That was then, this is now," Washu said. "I doubt very much that any of the subjects - I mean - kids recall much if anything from the silver Millennium."

"I hope they don't remember a thing," Tsunami said softly before changing to a harder voice. "The reason I destroyed the details on the infusion process is so that no one would follow in our footsteps. I was hoping to leave all of our mistakes behind us and forgotten."

Washu stared at the image of Tsunami in the glass. Washu sighed. "I know," she said. "We've both done a lot of things we regret. We can't undo things that we've done, but we can try to make things better now."

Tsunami nodded.

"When I find the Queen and the rest of the Senshi," Washu continued. "We'll see how much of the old programing is still intact."

"And if it is?" Tsunami questioned.

"Then we should try help the Senshi," Washu paused. "By guiding them to a more independent path."

"Wouldn't that be seen as a threat?" Tsunami pointed out. "We would be changing their - destiny."

"We can offer our help," Washu said. "Either way, it couldn't hurt and by offering it, may even help with the political solution."

- - - - - - -

The six youths returned to Tenchi's home rather late. Sasami had given out on the ride home and was being carried by Tenchi, piggy back style. The other girls dragged behind, tired in a good way from the night's activities.

"Man that was fun," Ranma said as she stretched a bit. "I forgot how much fun it was."

Ryoko nodded as she yawned from her spot on the rafters.

"How'd she get up there so fast?" Ranma asked herself in mid-stretch.

"It was fun," Ryoko agreed as she laid out on the beam. "I'm going to crash now and bathe later."

"I'll think I'll take mine now," Ranma said after sniffing under one arm. "Do you need a hand with her?" she asked Tenchi, making a wave at the sleeping Sasami on his shoulder.

"You go take your bath," he said. "I'll have Mihoshi and Ayeka to help me. Ayeka, can you get her bedding ready?"

Ayeka nodded absently and headed for the stairs trailed by Tenchi and Mihoshi.

"I'll just put her to bed and bathe and hit the sack myself," Tenchi said quietly on the stairs, not to disturb a snoring Sasami.

Ayeka nodded silently and pondered the night's activities as she ascended the stairs. The others did have a good time, but she was so caught up in keeping an eye on Ranma she wasn't able to relax. Even Sasami using her industrial strength puppy dog eyes of persuasion couldn't get her near the stage.

Ayeka sighed.

"I should have tried," she thought. "Maybe I can convince Tenchi to take me back there sometime..."

- - - - - - -

The Central Controller analyzed the data that it had collected from its scouts on the going ons of the Masaki household. The redheaded women in her late teens drew the most interest of the Central Controller. It sifted through the data from the sparring session with the elder Masaki and cross referenced the information with pre-set command functions, it then concluded that the woman known as Ranma met certain classifications to raise interest.

Relying on its artificial intelligence, the Central Controller didn't need to contact its creators for instructions and concluded that Ranma would be assigned a Watcher.

Just as quickly as the Central Controller analyzed the data, it selected a Watcher that met the mission criteria. It had to blend in of course and have a long range, something the Dragonfly didn't have, and be able to carry its own transmitter. It had several at its disposal that would do the job, but after calculating the pros and cons settled on one disguised as a small bird.

- - - - - - -

Ranma was up early and helping Sasami in the kitchen as Tenchi popped in to give his good mornings.

"Good morning," Ranma responded with a broad smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," came Tenchi's reply. "You?"

Ranma nodded as she turned her attention back to want she was preparing. "I slept great. I figure that I would leave after breakfast. It's a long way to Tokyo, but since I'm heading straight there, I should make it by the end of the day."

Tenchi nodded.

- - - - - - -

The breakfast was more relaxed than the previous one - and more crowded. Ranma sat between Tenchi and Sasami, across from her the other girls were sitting. With all the other relatives and guests at the table, seating was crowded and noisy as conversations flew back and forth.

Of course that did mean not everything that was said was understandable.

"So I hear you are going to school with Tenchi?" Funaho asked politely of Ranma.

"Yes ma'am," Ranma answered. "I'm majoring in chemistry."

"Ah!" Misaki said. "Inspiring to be another Washu?"

"Umm. Huh?" Ranma answered.

"Are you going to apply at the Academy?" Misaki asked in a way that one could hear the capitol 'a' in academy.

"Huh?" Ranma said as she focused on the odd banter that she was engaged in with the two older women. Unseen by Ranma, Tenchi, Ayeka and Washu were waving the two women off behind her.

"Excuse me, Ranma," Katsuhito said breaking into the conversation. "Can you pass the rice?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. Sure," Ranma said as she was successfully distracted by picking up and handing the rice warmer to Tenchi, who in turn passed it down to Katsuhito.

"Thank you," Katsuhito said.

"No problem," Ranma said with a smile. She idly noted the low level distortion field that surrounded him.

"Oh yeah," Ranma thought. "I was going to look into that - if I felt like it. It does look familiar though."

Ranma mentally shrugged her shoulders and focused her attention on Tenchi who was asking her something.

"I'm sorry Tenchi," she said. "What did you say?"

"I was just wondering if you are going need any help getting to the train station," he asked. "If you want, I'll gladly take you there."

Ranma considered his offer. It would be nice to spend a little time alone, but she took the other girls into consideration.

"Nah, I'll be all right," Ranma responded. "It's not far and I already looked at the schedule. I know which train to hop-, er, I mean catch."

Tenchi nodded and turned his attention to a question that one of the older women, Misaki Ranma thought her name, was asking him.

Ranma took a moment since she wasn't speaking with anyone at the time to examine the other people at the table. The blond girl from the other night was engrossed in a conversation with Washu, it was amusing to watch her hair bobble around with each movement. Ayeka was talking to the other older women, her mother if Ranma recalled correctly and Sasami was also part of that conversation.

Ranma looked at Tenchi and sighed softly before she realized it.

"Miss Yonai," a voice asked.

Ranma turned to Katsuhito, Tenchi's grandfather.

"Yes sir?" she replied.

"You are a very skilled martial artist," he complemented her. "I would be honored if you would spar with me again if you ever find yourself here."

Ranma smiled.

"Be happy to," she replied. "I don't know when I can make it back this way though."

She spared Ryoko a look.

"I'd like a rematch, if we ever meet up again," Ranma said. "It was fun."

Ryoko leaned slightly forward and nodded with a smile.

- - - - - - -

"Tenchi?" Ranma asked carefully. "Is there anything going on around here?"

"Going on?" Tenchi asked nervously. "What do you mean?"

"Tenchi, I'm not stupid," Ranma said while folding her arms. "Something is going on."

Tenchi sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry Ranma," he said. "But I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"I can't. It's... it's...," Tenchi flailed around for words, "It's like when you made that promise to that guy you thought of as a friend. I can't. Too many people are involved."

Ranma looked at Tenchi, uncertainty in her eyes.

"Trust me," Tenchi whispered.

Ranma blink-blinked, then nodded.

"Okay," she said with an added smile. "I trust you."

She stepped closer to him, close enough that Tenchi swore he felt her body heat. Tenchi tensed then relaxed and found himself not feeling nervous about her nearness.

"But if it is something you can't handle alone," Ranma added, poking him in the chest with her finger while looking up at him with a cocked eyebrow. "I expect you to tell me so I can help you. Okay?"

Tenchi looked at Ranma in the eyes, a smile crept over his face.

"I promise."

The two youths stood in an awkward silence for a moment before Ranma piped up, "Well, I guess I'll be going now. I'll see you in a few weeks."

Tenchi's smiled broadened and Ranma fought the urge to glomp him.

- - - - - - -

With a shrug of her shoulders, Ranma reseated her backpack into a more comfortable position. She looked down the tree lined path she was on that would take her to Okayama. From there she'd hop a train back to Tokyo and home.

"It was a good trip, I'm glad to have done it," she thought, kicking a stray pebble in front of her. "I got to learn new techniques, spar with Tenchi and his grandfather and met the other people in his life."

She smiled at the recent memory.

"His life is about as screwed up as mine was, poor sap," Ranma thought as she lost the pebble to an errant kick. "I won't complicate his life, I can tell he has enough problems."

She continued down the path, her footfalls kicking up a small amount of dust in her wake.

"I do like him though." She considered her mixed feelings about the pigtailed man.

Ranma considered those mixed feelings deeper before mentally shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm still young," she thought as she made her way to the paved road. "I'll figure it out."

Seeing that there were no motorists on the road, Ranma made a beeline for the bordering trees and quickly flowed through the woods as she dashed from limb to limb.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being followed by two different parties.

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

Notes:

First and foremost I would like to thank everybody that emailed me with their advice on solving the problems I've had with the posting of the last chapter. I kept my original notices that I posted here and the end for anyone in the future that is interested in what I went through.

I hope everyone has been enjoying this and I am hoping to "pick up the pace" with the next chapter. I'm going to attempt to speed the pace without skimping. Hope I can pull it off.

I would like to thank everyone who managed to read through the mess that was the last chapter before it was fixed and left a review.

The last three lines on the bottom are just test lines so I can quickly see if my punctuation marks are showing up. Please ignore them. But for those who are posting stories here, they may want to do something similar.

Thanks for reading.

Original notice: 2-08-05

Important note:

I now have a simple web page up (my wife was real quick in putting it up for me). It has all the chapters of Aftermath posted. My web page can be found on the link on my profile page.

I will continue to post here on FFNet and I will do my best to insure that the chapters are displayed as best they can. But I will not be spending hours trying to doing that anymore.

I don't know what the problem is, but I am about 90 percent sure that it is not my files. I have been noticing that the problems I've been having with FFNet have been growing worse over the last three to four months. All it took to fix those problems in the past was an adjustment here or there - no big thing. Now it seems like no matter what I try, it ends in failure and frustration.

As stated, I will continue to post here and try to make my pages display correctly, but I do not know how successful I'll be.

This notice will be replaced by a real live chapter when it's finished.

Thank you all,

Trimatter

Update: 2-11-05

Howdy,

I'd like to thank everyone who wrote to me with suggestions and help with the problems I had with FFNet.

I like to thank Ranchan17 for hosting the chapter on her web site in a legible format while I wrestled with it.

I did extensive testing and I am now 95 percent sure the problem is not in my file. After haggling around I narrowed the problem down to two possibilities:

An interpretation error. FFNet converts the file and the errors are created. This, I feel is the most likely culprit.

File corruption during uploading. Though this is a possibility, but I feel it is unlikely. The shear number of upload attempts from different computers and places that I had tried. I cannot rule it out completely, therefore, it is still a possibility.

The number of tests/experiments I did to check this out would be too numerous to list here, lets just say it included many applications (to create the rich text file) and operating systems. Also in my effort to narrow this down I 'spot checked' other peoples postings around the the time I posted my chapter. This leads me to issue the below warning:

ALERT TO ALL OTHER WRITERS: When I "spot checked" other peoples postings that were made around the time of my problem, I have noticed the same problems occurring in some of their files. I would say roughly between ten and twenty percent of what I checked had problems with question marks, comma's, and other punctuation marks disappearing. The pattern of dropped punctuation marks is too regular to dismiss for they are in predicable areas of the text.

I suggest everyone double-check their files after they have posted them.

As stated above, this notice will be replaced by a real live chapter when it's finished.

Thank you all,

Trimatter

- - - - - - -

"Is this a test?"

"Yes," he said. "This is a test!"

Italics, bold