Chapter Three

     Makoto woke up slowly as her alarm went off. Her bleary mind reacted slowly to the annoying sound. It sped up some as suddenly the noise stopped. ‘Is it broken?’ Her mental gears kicked into overdrive as she felt a hand shaking her gently. She snapped awake and sat up.

     “Good morning to you too,” a voice said. Makoto looked around and saw her mother leaning back in the bed. She put that together with what she remembered last night and realized that her mom had been her pillow the whole time. After making that realization, there was only one thing she could do.

     “Mom!”

     Ukyou smiled as she wrapped her arms around the girl. “Yep, still here. Is it a school day for you?”

     Makoto blinked and actually had to think for a moment. “Yes. But I could call in…”

     Ukyou smiled in an odd way. “Actually, let me. I haven’t ever had the opportunity to call a school about my daughter before. I want to give it a try.”

     Makoto giggled and snuggled up closer to her mother. “All right.”

     Hugged her daughter lovingly. “Later, though. I think I want to enjoy this for a bit longer."



     The school secretary nodded to no one in particular as she scribbled down on a notepad that Makoto Kino’s mother had called in for her with a family emergency and would be gone for the week. It wasn’t until after she hung up that something occurred to her. She scowled as she remembered that Miss Kino was an orphan and living on her own. She changed the note from ‘excused’ to ‘unexcused’ and filed it.



     Later that morning, Makoto stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself before heading to her room. As she stepped out she could smell something wonderful being prepared in the kitchen. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to instantly go running to see. Instead she went to her closet and quickly got dressed. And then she ran to the kitchen as fast as she could. She almost avoided running into her father, but at the last moment decided to tackle him in a happy hug.

     “Morning, sprout,” Ranma said happily as he hugged his daughter. “Sorry about bailing like that last night. I got a thing about cats.”

     “That’s okay, dad. At least you’re back, right?”

     “That’s right. Now, where were you off to in such a hurry?”

     “I think mom’s cooking and I wanted to help.”

     Ranma smiled as he sniffed the air. “Okonomiyaki. Man, it’s been a long time. They just ain’t got the right ingredients on Jade.”

     Makoto pulled her father behind her as she dragged him to the kitchen. Ranma noted that her grip had an almost desperate quality to it, as if she was afraid he’d vanish again if she let go. He let himself be pulled along. He was a bit surprised when Makoto shoved him into a chair at the table, but he went along with it. He was too happy to be back with his elder daughter to care about being manhandled a bit.

     He watched with some amusement as Makoto went over to her mother, who had just finished the okonomiyaki and put them on plates. Mother and daughter hugged each other lovingly for a few moments before Makoto began pushing Ukyou to one of the chairs at the table. Ranma grinned as his daughter went about serving them breakfast.

     “I see how it is,” Ukyou commented in mock reproach, “I do all the work and you take all the credit.”

     Makoto smiled as she blushed. She had already stacked several of the pancake-like food onto her father’s plate and had gone on to her mother’s when Ranma stood up and started to head out of the kitchen. “W-where are you going?”

     Ranma and Ukyou both heard the subtle tone of panic in her voice. “Mako-chan, I’m just going to get your sister. She needs to eat too, you know.” He smiled softly at her. “I’ll be back. We’ll always come back to you.”

     “O-okay.” Makoto felt tears coming to her eyes. “I just… I’m afraid that I’m going to lose you two again.”

     “Ain’t gonna happen, sprout. There ain’t nothing going to keep me and Ucchan from being there for ya ever again.”

     “That’s right, Sugar,” Ukyou piped in as she stood to hold her daughter in her arms. “We’re here to stay. Besides, we don’t plan on going to China again any time soon,” she said with a smirk.

     “Good morning,” a shy voice said from the doorway to the kitchen. Makoto looked over to see her new sister standing nervously at the entrance.

     Somewhat nervously herself, the brunette smiled in greeting. “Good morning.”

     Ukyou glanced back and forth between her two daughters. Sighing softly, she knew she had her work cut out for her when it came to getting the two to open up to one another. “Well, since we’re all here, how about we have breakfast?”



     For the rest of the week, Makoto was rarely seen without either her mother or father nearby. Despite constant reassurances, she still seemed worried that at any moment they might up and vanish. While Ranma and Ukyou were quite happy to return her attention, they were becoming worried that she and Siofra had not accepted each other yet. Siofra and Makoto didn’t have much in common, aside from their parents and their gender. Even their nationality was different. Siofra had obvious Celtic heritage while Makoto was clearly Japanese. Makoto enjoyed exercise, growing plants, and cooking, as well as a good fight. She was fairly outgoing and energetic. Siofra was shy and introverted. She liked taking things apart and putting them back together, learning things, and was rather non-confrontational. It ended up taking the whole week for something to bring the girls together. In the end, what helped them come together was an annoying bully who was passing through on Sunday.

     “What kinda people let a kid as freaky as you run loose where other people have to look at ya?”

     Siofra had been watching some repairmen work on a telephone line. She turned to see a fifteen-year-old boy staring at her. He was rather large for his age and he carried himself in that self-assured way that only an arrogant bully can pull off.

     “Man, did they test out a new kind of ugly stick on you or what?”

     Siofra felt tears coming to her eyes as she started to back away from the belligerent young man.

     The boy followed after her with a nasty sneer on his face. “Yeah, I’d cry too if I had a face like yours.”

     Siofra was seconds away from bolting into the house when suddenly a blur shot past her. Before she could blink an extremely ticked off Makoto had the boy by the lapels of his shirt and slammed him into a nearby wall. Using the strength of the righteously angry, the tall girl lifted the boy off his feet. In a growling voice that dripped with untold menace she made it quite clear that if the bully did not leave under his own power in the next ten seconds, she would forcibly eject him in such a way that would grant him a small fortune from the tooth fairy. The acrid smell of urine coming from the bully’s pants let Makoto know that he had agreed to her demands. Releasing her grip, she stepped back enough to give him room as he ran off down the street.

     Turning to Siofra, Makoto knelt down and gently wrapped her arms around the crying girl. After a little while, Makoto let her go and asked if she was all right.

     “I just don’t understand why some people are so mean to others,” the redhead responded.

     “I don’t know either. Some people just have to make themselves feel bigger by making others feel smaller. I’ve… had to deal with it a few times myself.”

     Siofra looked at her in surprise. “You? But… what could they make fun of about you? You’re really pretty.”

     Makoto giggled and blushed a little. “I’m not that pretty, but thanks anyways. As for how they picked on me… you haven’t been around many Japanese people, have you?” At Siofra’s negative response, Makoto continued. “The average Japanese teenage girl is about five-foot-one. I’m five-foot-five. And I think I’m still growing. A lot of people made fun of my height, calling me ‘Amazon girl’ among other things. It’s one of the reasons I used to get in fights. Which made the teasing worse, sometimes. In the end, I found a group of friends who don’t care that I’m tall and athletic. Now, I could care less what other people think.”

     Siofra shifted a bit nervously. “Do you think…”

     Makoto smiled. “If I know Usagi, she’ll love you. And the others will too. I’ll introduce you at school tomorrow.”

     Siofra hesitated for a moment before throwing her arms around the taller girl. “Thank you, sister.”

     A warm and fuzzy feeling drifted through Makoto’s chest and she hugged back. “Glad to help, sister.”



     On Monday, Ranma rubbed his forehead as he and Ukyou tried dealing with the school bureaucracy. First, they had to argue with the school secretary about the fact that Makoto’s absence had been excused. It took almost an hour of arguing about the fact that, though they were legally considered dead, they were in fact alive and well before the secretary called in the vice principal to moderate. The man, a rather overweight looking middle-aged fellow, finally agreed to let Makoto go back to classes without detention pending the Kino’s providing proof that they were her parents. Then came the subject of getting Siofra enrolled. She had no birth records, no immunization records, and no previous schooling, so it was looking like there was no way the bureaucracy would let her in any time in the next year, let alone the next few days. Giving it one last shot, Ukyou gave the man a glare. “Look, is there someone higher up I can talk to?”

     The vice president returned the glare with baleful indifference. “I’ve already called the principal. He will be here shortly.” With a dismissing motion of his head, he promptly began ignoring the couple and their child.

     “Don’t call him shortly.” Ranma and Ukyou blinked as a vaguely familiar voice piped up behind them. Turning around they saw someone that they had never really expected to see again.

     “Daisuke?! Is that you?”

     Ranma’s old schoolmate nodded and smiled. “Why don’t we go to my office and see if we can get this cleared up?” Ranma and Ukyou followed him out the door with Siofra firmly attached to her mother’s hand.

     Once inside, Daisuke sat down in a rather large, cushy chair that seemed more fitting for a throne room. Ranma and Ukyou both gave him a cautious look as they sat down. “Hey, man… you didn’t catch the Kuno virus, did you?”

     Daisuke laughed. “Nah, I just like the stares I get when I sit here. Sometimes I turn on the spotlights behind my chair to give me a ‘god-like’ aura. It’s useful when trying to get rid of annoying people or to liven things up when I’m bored.”

     Ranma shook his head. “I never would have figured you for a school principal.”

     Daisuke smirked. “You, however, I _would_ expect you to ‘rise from the dead’. Standard chaos that usually follows you around, I assume?” When Ranma frowned and nodded, Daisuke continued. “Good. We need more of that here.”

     Ranma and Ukyou blinked and stared at him. “Huh?”

     Daisuke just shook his head. “After dealing with Nerima for a few years, I found that I had become addicted to the weirdness. If things were too quiet, my nerves would be put through the wringer. That’s why I put in for this position. I could tell Juban was beginning to turn into Nerima, and I wanted to be at the center of it.” Daisuke leaned in conspiratorially, “And besides, if I hadn’t, Nutcase Kuno would have, and I didn’t think your daughter, Makoto, would have appreciated that.”

     Ranma scratched his head in confusion. “How’d ya know she was our daughter? We didn’t tell any of the old gang about our name change when we moved.”

     Daisuke just smirked. “Simple. Prone to fights that she didn’t start, excellent fighter for her age, weird things happen in the area, and she looks just like Ukyou, the only non-Chinese fiancé of yours who survived Nerima. Put it all together and she fit the bill for being your kid.” He glanced over at Siofra. “And I see you have another one as well.”

     Ranma nodded. “We’re back, hopefully permanently, and we want to get Siofra enrolled in school, but the bureaucracy is giving us nine shades of hell.”

     Daisuke nodded in understanding. “Being legally dead will do that to you. But don’t worry, I’ve got a special permission form here that will let her in until you can get the official paperwork put through.”

     “Special permission form?”

     Daisuke laughed. “Yep. Check it out.” He slid the paper across his desk to Ranma and Ukyou.

     They read it and mumbled in unison, “Former Nerima Resident Special Circumstances…”

     “Every school has at least three of these available. I don’t know if you’ve been back there yet, but it’s almost gotten worse. Martial artists still abound, magical curses fly left and right, and people show up with multiple fiancés regularly.”

     “Why didn’t you stay there if you like the weirdness?”

     “Simple. Kuno’s still principal there. You couldn’t pay me enough to work under him, and he isn’t retiring any time soon.”

     Ranma and Ukyou shuddered as they thought about that. “Glad we moved here then.” They filled out the paperwork and handed it back to Daisuke.

     The principal glanced over the form and smirked. “I don’t know what’s scarier, that you were on another world, or that there was actually an option for that on the form.” He glanced back and Ranma and Ukyou. “Now for the bribe.”

     Ranma and Ukyou nervously looked back at him. “Bribe?”

     Daisuke nodded. “In order for me to file this, I want a bribe. Let’s see… two million yen should cover it.” As he watched Ranma’s and Ukyou’s faces hit the desk, he let out a small laugh. “Or you can tell me the whole story over dinner some time.”

     “Dinner!” Ranma blurted out.

     “Ah, I figured you’d go for food. Oh well, I suppose that will have to do.” Daisuke let a broad smile creep across his face. “Anyway, you’ll still need some help getting declared legally not-dead. Going to City Hall soon?”

     Ranma nodded. “That’s next on our list.”

     “Good.” He handed them a business card. “You’ll want to talk to him. He’ll smooth things out for you.”

     Ranma glanced at the name on the card and did a double-take. “Hiroshi?!”

     Daisuke laughed. “Yep. He’s a supervisor down there.”

     Ranma scratched his head in confusion. “Why would he take a boring job like that? I always figured the pervert would go for a job as a photographer, or hot-springs resort owner, or porn star. Anything to be near girls.”

     “That’s why he’s working at City Hall.”

     “Huh?”

     “One word: Secretaries. Steady government job plus secretaries equals one happy little horn-ball.”

     Realization dawned on Ranma. “Ah, gotcha.”

     Daisuke stood and escorted the couple to the door. “Well, I’ll take Siofra to the testing center to see where we should place her. I’ll also see what I can do about getting her into classes today. I’ve got a quick question, though. Does she have your study habits, Ranma?”

     Ranma groaned softly. “No. She actually likes school.”

     “Whoa! Are you sure she’s your daughter?” Daisuke grinned as they stepped outside his office.



     Makoto and friends were sitting around their usual lunch spot and chatting amiably. A soft crying sound just barely caught the edge of Makoto’s hearing and she looked around. The sound seemed to be coming from behind some bushes near the school. Makoto excused herself and when to go investigate. What she found sent a wave of emotion through her. Sitting in the shadows was her little sister. Makoto dropped to her knees next to the crying redhead and placed her hand on her shoulder.

     “Siofra! What’s wrong?”

     The girl just shook her head as she rubbed at her eyes with her hands.

     “Please, what’s wrong?” Makoto’s voice was full of concern and just a little bit of anger. She wasn’t stupid. She had a good idea as to just what might be wrong. She heard Usagi coming up behind her.

     Siofra finally spoke quietly through her tears. “Some of the students made fun of me.”

     ‘I knew it.’ Makoto ran her hands through the little girl’s hair as she gently squeezed her shoulder. “What could they have been making fun of?” Again, Makoto had a good idea.

     As a way of answering, Siofra tugged at her ear and then pointed to her teeth. Makoto tried to figure out something to say, but Usagi beat her to it. “Why would they make fun of that? I think it makes you look exotic, not to mention cute.” The blonde smiled radiantly at the little girl as Siofra looked up in surprise.

     “Cute? Only mother and father ever call me cute.”

     Usagi blinked in surprise and put her hands on her hips. “Well, you are cute! And anyone who doesn’t think so is blind or stupid!”

     Siofra looked up in amazement at Usagi and slowly let a smile creep onto her face. There was something about the way Usagi spoke that made her believe the blonde. “Really?”

     Usagi nodded enthusiastically. “People make fun of my hair sometimes, but I think it looks cute so they can just go soak their heads! Hey, would you like to eat lunch with us?” She held her hand out to the little girl who took it cautiously. “Mako-chan made lunch today, so I know it’s gonna be great!” She thought for a moment and then let out a laugh. “Oh yeah, she probably made lunch for you too. Or did your mom make it? Is she as good a cook as Mako-chan is? I remember…” Usagi slowly forgot about her own worries as she focused on helping Siofra.

     Makoto excused herself with a smile as Usagi rattled on about random things to an awe-struck Siofra. She found her way over to where Umino was sitting next to Naru and took him aside. “I need a favor from you.”

     Umino blinked, though it wasn’t noticeable through his thick glasses. ‘Makoto asking me for a favor? What’s up with that?’ “Sure.”

     “You know the new girl in the first year class?”

     Umino whipped out his ever-present notebook. “Yes, a Siofra Kino. Probably of Irish decent, extremely shy, rumored to be a renegade princess due to special attention given to her by the principal. Apparently has little knowledge of Japanese history, but her math scores rival Ami’s. There’s also a rumor that she’s related to you.”

     Makoto nodded. “She’s my baby sister. My parents finally came back! It turns out they survived the plane crash and now I have a sister as well.” She watched Umino jot a few things down.

     “So, what can I do for you?”

     “I want the names of anyone who picks on her, and I want you to spread the word that if anyone makes fun of her, they will answer to me.” To emphasize her point, she smacked her fist into her hand.

     Umino gulped and nodded. “Got it.”

     Makoto smiled and headed back for her friends. “Thanks!”

     Umino watched her go. “Maybe I should start a betting pool on how soon she ends up getting transferred for fighting again.” After thinking it over a little, Umino shook his head. “Nah.”



     After school, Makoto waited for Siofra at the front gate. As the redhead approached, Makoto noticed a couple of boys pointing in the girl’s direction. She glared at them as she gently took her sister’s hand. The boys got the hint and turned around quickly. Makoto smiled down pleasantly at her little sister. “So, did you enjoy your first day?”

     Siofra nodded slowly. “Usagi’s nice.”

     Makoto nodded and smiled. “I agree. She was my first friend when I came to this school.”

     “Really?”

     “Uh-huh. Everyone else thought I was a bully, but Usagi knew differently.” Makoto let her mind drift back to that first day and smiled. She looked down at her little sister and smiled brightly. “Shall we go home?”

     Siofra nodded slowly and nibbled on one fingernail as she walked hand-in-hand with her sister.



     They were almost home when Makoto’s communicator beeped. Panic swept through her as she frantically tried to figure out what to do. ‘I can’t leave her alone! Even if she gets home all right, mom and dad will be furious that I left her alone and demand to know why. But the gang is counting on me! What do I do?’ She failed to notice Siofra’s nervous look as she felt her big sister’s hand clench tightly around hers.

     “Is something wrong?”

     Makoto shook her head. “No, it’s… it’s all right.”

     Siofra nibbled on her thumbnail again. “Okay.”

     Makoto’s mind worked furiously on her problem. So intent was she that she almost didn’t hear the strange noises approaching her. “Outta my way!” The cry startled her out of her thoughts as she looked up to see Sailor Moon barreling down the street towards her, pursued by a red youma with electric shears for a hand.

     “What the?” Makoto blurted out as she grabbed her sister and dove out of the blonde’s path. A few moments later another blonde barreled down the street towards them. Sailor Venus broke to a halt next to Makoto.

     “What are you wait-“ Venus stopped when she noticed Siofra. “Er, why aren’t you taking cover?” Without waiting for a response, Venus took off, hoping that the team wouldn’t need Sailor Jupiter for this fight.

     Makoto stared after the Senshi of Love. She never noticed the strange look she was getting from her sister. A sudden motion off in the other direction caught her attention. Makoto noticed her mother tearing down the street, bolting past her with a smile and a wave before running at an incredible pace in the same direction that Sailor Moon had run. “What the?”

     Makoto looked down at her sister and then after her mother. Finally she looked down at Siofra. “Er, think we should go after them?” Siofra nodded and together they chased after Ukyou.

     When they got there, they found Sailor Moon jumping around and tripping all over the place, somehow dodging the slicing attacks of the youma in spite of her obvious lack of coordination. The youma suddenly roared in pain as Ukyou hit it in the shoulder with a small, sharp spatula and it wheeled around to face her. Ukyou glared at the youma, who kindly returned the favor. “Okay, jackass. You’ve got one shot at leaving alive. Use it.” She glanced over her shoulder to see Sailor Moon being helped to her feet by Sailor Venus.

     The youma made a sweeping motion with one hand and a barrage of scissors flew at the brown-haired martial artist. With a smooth motion she unhooked her combat spatula and swept it around, deflecting the scissors into the ground easily. “And that wasn’t it.” Ukyou took a few steps forward and unleashed a trio of smaller spatulas that embedded themselves in the shoulders and chest of the monster. It howled in pain and tried to recover, but Ukyou had finished closing the distance and, with a graceful upswing of her combat spatula, she destroyed the shears on its hand and rendered it mostly harmless. She yawned as she leaned back and stared at the youma for a moment. “No challenge at all,” she commented. With a quick, practiced motion she brought the spatula around into an overhead swing that clobbered it into the ground. “Well, that was dull.” She raised the spatula in preparation for finishing off the creature.

     “No! It’s still human!” Moon yelled out. Ukyou paused and looked over at her, noticing that there were now four Senshi present. She stepped away from the youma’s fallen form as she saw Moon preparing a spell. “Moon Healing Escalation!”

     Ukyou blinked in surprise as the youma glowed brightly for a moment before crying out, “Refresh!” Suddenly a group of women appeared in its place for a moment before collapsing to the ground. “Weird. Well, that makes it harder to slay and filet.”

     “Huh?” Sailor Moon blinked.

     “Well, on Jade, it’s a really bad idea to waste food, so adventurers typically ate whatever they killed. We call it ‘slay and filet’.”

     The Senshi gave their collective opinion of that. “Ewwwwww!!!”

     “Hey, I’ll have you know that wave serpent meat tastes great, especially when cooked properly in an okonomiyaki.”

     Ukyou noticed Makoto and Siofra standing a short distance away. The taller girl’s mouth was hanging open in surprise. Ukyou walked over and lifted her jaw shut. “That’s not good manners in public, sugar.” When Makoto blushed, her mother gave her a stern look. “And what are you doing here, anyway?”

     “I… er, uhm… well…” Makoto was trying to think of how to explain her actions without giving away her secret. To her surprise, Siofra came to the rescue.

     “I wanted her to watch you fight, mother.”

     Ukyou blinked and smiled down at her. “Well then, that’s all right. That’s enough fun for today, though. Let’s go home and cook your dad some dinner, shall we?”

     Makoto gave her friends an apologetic look as she nodded to her mother. Again, she didn’t notice Siofra’s keen eyes observing her and the Senshi for a moment. The Senshi nodded to the trio and Sailor Moon smiled. “Thanks for the help!”

     “No problem!” Ukyou called out as she lead her family home.



     A knock at the door interrupted Ukyou’s and Makoto’s cooking preparations. “I’ll get it!” Makoto called out. Opening the door, she found all four of her friends waiting outside in civilian garb. “Hi guys! What’s up?”

     Usagi looked and made sure no one was in eavesdropping range as she leaned close and whispered, “Luna thinks something might be up, so we wanted to talk with you. We also wanted to find out more about your parents. Isn’t it cool the way they can beat a youma?”

     Makoto nodded and whispered back with a small frown. “Yeah, but it makes it hard to help you guys since my family’s always around. Is Luna here?”

     Usagi nodded and whispered, “She’ll stay outside though.”

     Ukyou’s voice called out from the kitchen. “Makoto honey, who is it?”

     “It’s my friends!”

     “Well, invite them in!”

     “All right!” Makoto turned back and smiled. “Want to join us for dinner?” Makoto didn’t even bother waiting for a response, knowing that at the least Usagi would not turn up the chance at free food.

     The friends sat around chatting amiably for a while. Usagi had somehow stolen some of Rei’s manga and brought them with her, and she was showing them to Siofra. The redhead, for her part, had never seen comics before and was instantly intrigued. She also ended up having some discussions with Ami about having the shorthaired girl assist her with getting up to speed at school. After a while, the front door opened and Ranma came in. While not stomping, she was noticeably wet, unhappy, and grumbling under her breath about bureaucracies being the same no matter what world it was. She finished off with a comment that she sometimes wondered if she should just go on a training trip permanently.

     Rei raised an eyebrow at that comment. “What kind of training? Martial arts?”

     Ranma put on a look of mock hurt as she looked towards Mokoto. “You mean, you haven’t told your friends all about me? I’m hurt!” The chuckle at the end of her statement gave away the ruse.

     Makoto blushed a little. “Well, I haven’t actually known them very long. I’ve had to change schools a few times.”

     Ranma frowned some. “Your principal mentioned something like that. Why is that?” A dangerous look came into her eyes. “Was someone giving you trouble?” The look intensified. “Was his name Kuno?”

     Makoto shook her head vigorously, a little stunned by the intensity of her father’s reaction. “No, I just had a habit of getting into fights. And I don’t know anyone named Kuno.”

     Ranma visibly relaxed. “Oh, that’s okay then. You didn’t start the fights, did you?”

     Makoto shook her head. “Sometimes they would try to make it look like I did, and I got blamed for starting them a few times, but I never did.”

     Ranma chuckled. “Boy does THAT sounds familiar. Did you win?”

     Makoto nodded and smiled with some pride. “I’ve never lost yet.”

     Ranma slapped her knee. “That’s my girl! Never start a fight, but always finish it. That’s the way it should be.”

     Usagi looked a little worried by that statement. “Are you saying you want your daughter fighting?”

     Ranma tilted her head to one side and scratched it as he looked at the blonde. “Oh, right… normal people… I keep forgetting they exist.” Ranma watched Usagi and friends plant their faces into the floor. As they picked themselves up, she chuckled. “I don’t like using force to solve problems, but sometimes it’s kinda hard to avoid it. When I was growing up, I was challenged to a fight almost every single day at school, and after school I usually had two or three more fights to deal with. I never started them, but I always made sure to finish them. I guess Makoto-chan inherited that from me.”

     “Was it really that bad?”

     Ranma nodded. “After spending almost every waking hour of nearly every day since I was four practicing the martial arts, it was kinda hard not to be the best. And when you’re the best, people try and take you on to prove themselves.”

     Usagi’s eyes were wide. “Were you really that good?”

     A confident smirk came to Ranma’s face. “What do you mean ‘were’? I’m still the best.”

     “Oh, really?” A voice said from the hall. Everyone looked to see Ukyou leaning against the entrance. “I seem to have remembered winning a few sparring matches recently.”

     “Hi, Mrs. Kino!” Usagi hopped up and down happily. She suddenly blinked as she noticed something odd about Ukyou’s outfit. “That’s a weird hilt there. Is that a sword?” She asked while pointing.

     Ukyou laughed as she used one hand to pull out her trademark weapon, a giant combat spatula. “Sort of, sugar. This is one of the traditional weapons of my martial arts style.”

     Rei’s eyebrow twitched as she watched the woman twirl the weapon with one hand while the other continued to hold her daughter close. “You’re kidding, right?”

     Ukyou smirked but Ranma put a hand on her shoulder. “Not now, dear. We can both show off to our guests later. Would you get me a glass of hot water?”

     Ukyou chuckled as she disappeared into the kitchen. “She get you again?”

     Ranma stuck her tongue out at her. “I swear that woman is a demon or something! She’s as bad as Happosai!”

     Ukyou froze. “Oh, please tell me he’s not here! I don’t think I really want to deal with him right now.”

     “Nah, at least I haven’t seen him around yet.” Ranma looked at the girls. “I hope you guys aren’t being bothered by a midget pervert running around stealing underwear, are you?”

     The girls gave him a collective blink. “I’ll take that as a no.”

     “There aren’t any real perverts around here, unless you count Rei’s grandfather, Grandpa Hino. Rei, you didn’t tell me your grandfather stole underwear.”

     “MY GRANDFATHER DOES NOT STEAL UNDERWEAR!” Rei thundered.

     Ranma held up a hand. “Your grandfather wouldn’t be the priest of the Hikawa shrine, would he?” When Rei nodded, Ranma smiled. “Is he doing all right? He was a great help to my family so many years ago. It’s actually because of him that we moved to Juban in the first place.”

     “Why is that?” Makoto asked. She felt Ranma tense up instantly. “Daddy?”

     “We’ll talk about that later, Makoto dear,” Ukyou interrupted. Changing the subject, she looked at the other girls. “So, how long have you all been friends with my daughter?”

     “About three days,” Minako answered.

     “Several months,” Ami and Rei answered at the same time, with Usagi nodding in agreement.

     Ukyou smiled. “Well, that’s good.” Suddenly a loud, strange noise emanated from Ranma’s stomach region. She blushed some as Makoto responded in embarrassment. Ukyou just smiled at her before winking at her daughter. “What say we hit the kitchen and finish cooking your dad something to eat?”

     Usagi cheered happily. “Yaaaaay! Mako-chan’s cooking is great and I’m sure her mom’s is too!”

     A while later, Ranma, male once again, sat back on the couch and patted his stomach. “Ahhhhh, good eating.” He cut loose with a monstrous belch. Makoto glared at her father while Ukyou just rubbed her forehead.

     “Four years of manners training shot in one meal.”

     Usagi groaned a little as she rubbed her swollen stomach. “Oooooh, Kino cooking is soooo good!”

     Rei, Ami, and Minako just stared back and forth between Ranma and Usagi. They all vowed never to get between them and food ever again.

     “So where have you been all this time?” Usagi managed to ask without burping.

     “Well, you girls have handled the weirdness pretty good so far, so maybe you won’t be too shocked by what I’m about to say… you see, when I said we were lost, I didn’t mean like somewhere in Japan or on another continent or something. We kinda ended up on another world that’s parallel to this one.”

     “The Dark Kingdom?!?” Minako blurted out. ‘Oh, please don’t have them be from the Dark Kingdom! Mako-chan doesn’t deserve that!’

     “Nah, we checked with Makoto on that one. The world we’ve been on is called Jade.”

     “Jade?” Rei asked a little nervously. Jade was a little too close to the original Dark General’s name, Jadeite.

     Ranma and Ukyou both nodded. Ukyou picked up where Ranma left off. “It’s a beautiful world of forests and mountains, plains and swamps, islands and underground caverns. Would you believe that fairies, trolls, oni, demons, kitsune, and the like actually exist? When Earth started becoming inhospitable to their kind, they packed up and headed off to Jade.”

     “Wow that sounds cool! But how did you get there?” Usagi piped in.

     Ukyou sighed. “We’re not sure… it happened during the plane crash. Somehow we ended up in Jade and it took us eight years to figure out how to get back.”

     “How did you get back?” Usagi asked.

     “Well, Ranma has become quite the mage these days.”

     Ranma rubbed his forehead. “I keep telling you that they’re martial arts techniques, not spells. I’m a martial artist, not a mage.”

     Ukyou nodded. “Right, dear. And I’m a cook and a mother, which makes me a defenseless housewife.” The sarcasm poured from that statement.

     Ranma groaned. “They’re not spells! They’re techniques!”

     “Spells.”

     “Techniques.”

     “Spells.”

     “Techniques.”

     “Spells or couch, your choice.”

     Ranma grumbled under his breath but didn’t actually say anything. Ukyou smirked in victory. “Anyways, Ranma’s gotten quite good at… doing unusual things.”

     The girls’ were a little surprised at this exchange and it showed on their faces.

     Ranma smiled at them. “What?” Suddenly his head burst into flame, leaving a burning skull behind. “You don’t believe her?”

     Before the stunned and somewhat frightened girls could react, Ukyou slapped Ranma on the back of the head. The flaming skull instantly vanished. “What did I tell you about that?”

     Ranma sighed. “I know, I know… save it for Makoto’s boyfriends. I remember.” He turned a mischievous grin towards his daughter. “So, got any?”

     “DAD!!!”

     “Why, I’ll have you know that by your age I had… uh, what was that count again?”

     “I gave up trying to count, sugar.”

     “Hmmm, I think I’ve had a total of… oh at least seven fiancés.”

     “DAD!?!”

     Ukyou smirked. “Don’t worry, I was one of them… off and on.”

     Usagi glanced back and forth between the two. “Something tells me that’s a long story, too.”

     Ranma rolled his eyes. “You don’t know the half of it. But before we go on about us, how about we hear how you girls are? Is Juban as quiet a place as it used to be?”

     The girls all blinked. “Juban? Quiet? Are you crazy? There’s an average of one youma attack a week! At least! We’ve had three in the last two days! If it wasn’t for the Sailor Senshi, we’d be overrun!” Rei commented.

     Ranma nodded. “I’ve met them a couple of times. Do they have to dress up like a pervert’s wet dream, or do they get some kind of kick out of it?”

     The girls all facefaulted. “What do you mean ‘a pervert’s wet dream’?!” Rei growled.

     Ranma glanced over at her. “Jumping around in those short skirts and those silly poses.”

     The vein on Rei’s forehead bulged dangerously. “Those poses are NOT silly! They’re intended to strike fear in the hearts of the youma!”

     Ranma scratched his head. “Uhm, are you sure they’re not just trying to make the enemy die from laughter? Or maybe as a distraction technique?”

     Ami had to restrain Rei from trying to strangle Ranma, who was smirking at the raven-haired shrine maiden.

     Makoto tried to get her parents off of the topic of the Senshi by asking about Jade.

     Ranma smiled. “Well, when you get some time off from school, I’ll take us there on a vacation.”

     Makoto and the girls blinked. “You mean you can go back there?”

     Ranma nodded. “It took me a few years to learn the technique and get good enough to open the portal, but I should be able to do it on a regular basis now.”

     “If you don’t count short side trips, that is,” Ukyou commented.

     “So I missed once!” Ranma glowered half-heartedly. He stuck his tongue out at Ukyou, who merely grabbed onto it and held.

     “Enough of that, mister. Besides, I can think of better uses for that tongue. Later.” Ukyou turned back towards the girls while still holding Ranma’s tongue. She noticed Makoto’s embarrassed blush and smirked a little. “But yes, we can go back any time. Ranchan is good enough to open a gate once a day.”

     “That is SO cool!” Usagi bounced. “Can we go too?”

     Ranma got his tongue back and scratched the back of his head. “I dunno… how would you explain to your parents that you’re going to another world for a picnic? Or is that kinda common here?”

     Usagi blinked and hadn’t thought of that. “Uhm, we could just tell them the picnic part and not tell them about Jade.”

     Ranma thought it over for a while. “We’ll see… I’ll check with some friends of mine and make sure we can have the picnic in a place that should be completely safe.”

     “That’s great! Oh, I can’t wait to see the fairies and the pixies and the elves and the…”

     The girls and the Kinos chatted amiably for a while, but then it came time for Makoto’s friends to leave. A minute later, Siofra surprised Makoto by asking if she could go exploring. “Do you want me to come with you?” The older sister asked.

     Siofra shook her head and gnawed on her thumbnail. “I just want to get used to the area.” She smiled a little as she shouldered her backpack.

     Ukyou nodded. “Allright, honey. But be careful, okay? And be back before it gets too late, since you do have school tomorrow.”

     “I will, mother.” Siofra stepped outside the house and closed the door. She looked around and made sure no one was looking and then she suddenly seemed to vanish. She didn’t see Luna, who was hiding in the bushes near the house. The lunar cat barely managed to restrain a gasp as she saw the girl change from a human into a rat with red-brown fur. Her eyes narrowed as she considered the evidence before her. ‘She might be the one that’s controlling Makoto’s family, or else they’ve all been replaced.’ She stealthily followed after the rat as it took off at high speeds down the street, hugging the curb as it headed in the direction that Usagi and the others had gone.