Chapter 11

     "WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!!"
It wasn't original. And Hibiki Ryouga didn't really expect an
answer. Still, it was a great tension reliever. Not as good as beating
the stuffing out of Ranma of course. He thought of RAnma, the trouble
maker; RANma, the coward; RANMA, the womanizer . .  ."  He could almost
feel his rivals throat in his hands as he squeezed the life out of him.
     "Excuse me." a soft shy voice said.
He would grab Ranma and twist his lying. . ..
     "Excuse me."  "WHAT!!"  "May I have my book-bag back please?"
Hibiki Ryouga looked down and saw a torn, twisted mass of leather a
and paper in his hands. His eyes followed a tattered leather strap
that led from the shredded bag to a small, pale hand. From there it
was a surprisingly brief trip from hand to arm to head. A raven dark
cap of hair topped the head which did not even reach the bottom of
his shoulders. His eyes dropped to a painfully delicate, beautiful
face dominated by a pair of huge violet eyes.  A GIRL! A really,
really TINY girl. A really, really tiny BEAUTIFUL . . ." Ryouga's
glacially slow but precise thought processes ground to a halt as
previously noted details were analyzed and new conclusions drawn.
A YOUNG girl. A REALLY, REALLY . . ."
     "Excuse me." the shy voice came again, like rain
whispering on crystal bells.
     "Excuse me, but you're squeezing my hand."
Ryouga looked down at  her hand, or rather where her hand should have
been.  He could feel her soft warm hand trembling inside his fist like
a frightened bird.  He could see her fragile wrist protruding from his
huge hand. He could see how her skin whitened under the pressure . . .
     "AAAAAAAAA!!!" Ryouga snatched his hand away
as if he'd grabbed the hot end of a poker.  He dropped on his belly
at the girls feet.

"I'msorrypleaseforgivemeI'mnotapervert-It'sallRanam'sfault!"
     "Oh, you've hurt yourself."
Ryouga flinched in embarrassment as he felt the girl kneel beside
him. He felt a delicate fluttering on his scarred knuckles. He opened
his eyes to see a small pale hand resting on his large calloused
one. A soothing warmth spread through his hand and up his arm. Soon
his entire body tingled with energy and a strange peace. Startled,
he looked down to see the cuts and bruises that always covered his
hands fading like the stars at sunrise.
     "My name is Tomoe Hotaru. What's yours?"
Ryouga looked into eyes that had darkened to purple.  Deep mysterious
pools . . .
     "Hibiki. Hibiki Ryouga."

*************************************************


     "Would you just get back into bed!"  "OH, my son! So manly."
     "I give my permission. . ."  "But father, they're too young. . ."
     "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!!!!"
Usagi and most of her friends watched in amazement.  Forgotten and
almost unnoticed the object of the verbal sparring limped slowly down
the stairs and crossed to the one person standing alone. .
          ". . .panda. It's just not possible. I could almost
believe a sex change. That's just a chromosome difference.  Except
for the mass discrepancy.  But a panda is a different species. The
brains are wired differ. . ." Mercury's muttering trailed off again
as she typed furiously, occasionally raising her visored eyes to
scan Saotomesan who had forgotten he was once again human and was
gesticulating wildly with his signs.
     "You probably don't want to know about the cat the
duck and the Minotaur then."  Ami jumped at Akane's teasing whisper.
     "Oh, I didn't see you."
          "You wouldn't have noticed Taro Pantyhose
coming down the stairs."
     "WHO!"  "Uh, he fell in the spring of Yeti riding a Yak while
carrying a crane and an eeeeeeelllll!" Akane yelped as Ranma scooped
her off her feet.
     "Don't forget the octopus." Ranma added, then looked
sternly at Akane.
     "BAKA. You've got to rest if you wanna get better."
     "I'm fine. My. . .ooooww!" Akane rubbed her side
where Ranma had poked her. "Why did you do that?"
     "Sure you're fine. Just had a building fall on you is
all."
     "My implants are fix. . ." Akane trailed off as she
noticed Ami's glazed look.  Usagi walked up behind Ami and gently
bopped her on the head.
     "OK, Ami-chan. Time to eat." she pulled the computer
out of her hands. "And stop thinking. I can smell brain cells frying
from across the room."
     "B. . .b. . .but he said OCTOPUS!" Ami was almost in
tears. "Why did he say octopus, Usagi?" Ami looked desperate. "There's
a panda too. Did you see the panda?"
     "Yes I saw the panda."Usagi said soothingly, "Bad,
bad panda for upsetting you. We can have Rei do a Burning
Mandella. You'd like that wouldn't you?"
     "That's it. And then I can dissect it. I can find out how
it works." Ami turned pleading eyes to Usagi. "I can find out!
I CAN! If I cut it into pieces, into tiny, tiny pieces I can figure
it all out."
     "That's right." Usagi reassured Ami. "Tiny, tiny
pieces. But first let's get something to eat."
     "ok." Ami said in a little girl voice as she meekly let
Usagi lead her away.

     "POP'S!! Get outta there!" Ranma glared at his father
who was wrapped tightly around a bush in the garden outside.
     "That's right Mr. Saotome. Usagi won't really let Ami
dissect you."
     "Yeah, just cut off a few piece. . .owww!"  "Quit teasing, Ranma."
     "Oh, I don't know.  I'd like to get video of the dissection."
They turned to look at Nabiki. "It'd sell better than that 'Alien
Autopsy' I bet."
     "!!!!!!!!!!"  "OK, Nabiki, YOU'RE going to have to get him off
the roof this time." Akane groused.
     "Hey guys!" Makoto burst into the garden.  "I think
you're gonna want to see this."

     ". . .ite House has confirmed a nuclear detonation." the
young NHK news anchor was visibly shaken. "There are unconfirmed
reports from the Peoples Republic of China of three
 and possibly four detonations of devices in the 2000 kiloton range.
A joint communication from . . ."
     "I'm tapping into what's left of the satellite system." Ami worked
furiously at her computer. "It looks like the enemy has been making
incursions in other countries." She entered a few more commands
 then turned the screen so the others could see.
     "These points designate unconfirmed sightings of
'strange lights', 'monsters' and other unusual phenomenon. A lot of
these sightings were undoubtedly the usual 'UFO' type sightings but
many were probably genuine. And there is no way to tell how many actual
alien visitations went unnoticed. In fact it appears that there may
have been several other visitations in Japan at the same time we were
fighting that first group. If we hadn't stumbled on them by accident
they probably would have been in and out without anyone knowing." Ami
paused to collect her thoughts. "I believe that these were scouting
parties, a large number of small lightly armed groups.  They were not
here to fight, just to gather information, make maps, that sort of
thing.  I think the second incursions were a reconnaissance-in-force,
to refine their data from the first visits." Ami punched a function
key and the icons on the world map shifted yet again. "This last
visitation was very visible. I have CONFIRMED reports of alien
invasions in Europe, North and South America, Russia, the Baltic,
China, India and we all know about the one in Japan. It looks like
the Americans killed the enemies portal by firing a nuclear tipped
cruse missile into the center of it. I suspect that explains the
other nuclear detonations we've heard about."
     "What does it mean?" Usagi asked worriedly.  "Invasion. These
     things have been scouting, now
they're trying to establish a beach-head."

*************************************************



At that moment five hundred thousand metric tonnes of vitrified rock
and battle-steel passed through the outer fringes of the asteroid
belt at 64kps. Navigation thrusters made a minor course correction
and then engines went to full power. The huge mass was now headed
for a precise point in space that would intersect the earths orbit
exactly above the small island nation of Japan.

*************************************************



     "Would you like to go to a party?"  "P . . .p
     . . .p. . .arty!" Ryouga was stunned. No girl
had ever asked him to a party before. Well there was that one time,
but he didn't think his mother counted. And it was his own birthday
after all.
          "I . . .I. . .I.."
     "Please hold this, I'll be right back."  Hotaru suddenly
thrust the tattered remains of her book bag into Ryouga's hands and
ran off toward the sound of people screaming.  Ryouga stood frozen
in place then pounded after Hotaru. He could see her round a building
in the distance and he sprinted to catch up.
     ". . .OWER MAKE UP!!"
The voice reverberated with power and a brilliant light spilled out
into the street. Ryouga came around the corner in time to see Hotaru
swirled up in a vortex of energy. As he watched, her street clothes
burst apart. Dimly through the pulsing light he could see ribbons
of energy run up her legs and become knee- high boots. Involuntarily
his eyes were drawn up her long legs to . . .
     "AAAAAAAA!"
Blushing Ryouga spun away, shutting his eyes and pinching his nose
shut. By the time he had recovered himself he turned around to see
that Sailorsaturn was fully engaged with the Skroach warrior.

     "SILENCE WALL!"
Sailorsaturn staggered as the warp-gun's point-blank fire forced
her back a pace. The enemy could not pierce her shield but neither
could SHE attack. Even if there were no other enemy soldiers around
she would eventually tire. She had to put some distance between her
attacker and herself, disengage long enough to counter-attack. Even
as she thought this the black armored figure forced her back step by
step. He heel caught in some debris and she went down catching herself
on one hand.. Out of the corner of her eye she could see another
figure approaching. Her only chance was to drop to the ground as she
collapsed the 'Silence Wall', hope she would be below the warp-gun's
effect, hope she was  fast. . ."
     "SHI SHI HOUKOUDAN!!!!"
Muddy green fire vomited down the alley, slamming the armored figure
against an overturned truck.  Saturn had the opening she needed.
     "SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE" "Are you all right Tomoesan?" Ryouga
     crunched
through still twitching bits as he ran up to the ichor-splattered girl.
     "I. . .I'm fine Hibikisan. Thank you for. . .for. . ." she
waved vaguely at the ground.
     "You're welcome, Tomoesan. Uh, what. . .?" Ryouga
pointed at her fuku and glaive.  Sailorsaturn took a deep breath.
     "I'm Sailorsaturn."  "S. . .Sailor. . ." Ryouga stuttered and
     stepped back.  "I understand." Sailorsaturn said sadly. She was
     all too
familiar with rejection. Only Small Lady and Usagi had ever really
cared about the "destroyer of worlds". With dragging steps she turned
to go.
     "Uh, does this mean the party is on a boat?"
Startled she looked up to see Ryouga walking beside her.
     "Because, uh, I have this little problem with water
and . . ."

*************************************************

     "Get dressed."
Startled Michiru looked up from the book she was reading to see Meiou
Setsuna standing at the foot of the couch.
     "I beg your pardon?"  "Get dressed. We're going to a party."
Michiru swung her legs down to the floor, jolting Haruka who had
been asleep with her head in Michiru's lap. She shook her lover by
the shoulder. Haruka grumbled under her breath and snuggled deeper
into Michiru's lap.
     "Anybody we know?" Michiru asked while thinking of
ways to wake Haruka before the end of the century.
     "An old . . .acquaintance."  Setsuna replied, dumping a
tumbler of ice water on the sleeping senshi.

*************************************************

     "Usagi, how can you eat at a time like this?" Rei
hissed.
     "BuifgooondIgotakpemystrenfup."  "She says 'It's good. And she's
     got to keep her stren. . ."  "I KNOW what she's saying Ami."
     "I was translating for Akanechan." Ami replied
calmly.
     "Thank you Amichan. But I'm beginning to catch on.
It's not too much different from Ranma. Don't do that,
Makoto-chan." Akane warned the senshi of thunder.
     "Wha. . .?" Makoto froze, her hand half way to a
bean-jam bun. "I'm sorry." she blushed contritely. "did you want. . ."
     "No." Akane laughed. "I just didn't want you to get
hurt." she jerked her head in the direction of Ranma.  Makoto looked
at Ranma. He was focused on the bun with the quivering intensity of a
shark smelling blood in the water..  A prickling in her spine brought
her head slowly up and to the left where she saw Usagi, eying the bun
as if it were the last lifeboat leaving the Titanic. As gingerly, as
if there were a rabid badger with a bad attitude asleep in her pants,
Makoto edged her chair away from the table. The tension in the air
was so thick you could bounce a fifty yen coin off it and get change.
     "They may be a while. Why don't we go sit in the
garden and talk?" Akane got up from the table. "That was delicious
Kasumi. Thank you."
     "Yes, it was wonderful Tendousan." Minako added
politely. "Would you like some help cleaning up?"
     "Thank you, but no. Why don't you all go and figure
out how to save the world. I'll bring some tea in a minute."
Rei stared after the eldest Tendou daughter as she disappeared into
her kitchen.
     "Is your sister always like this?"  "Oh no. Normally she's not
     this agitated" Akane
apologized. "But a lot has happened lately."

***********************************************

     "I don't see the problem." Makoto argued as they seated
themselves in the garden. "We just keep on doing what we've been
doing."
     "It's not that simple." Minako replied. "We just barely
stopped this last bunch. And the JSDF is still cleaning up stragglers
that were trapped when we blew up their portal.  What do we do if,
or rather when, they open two or three or MORE portals?"
     "It's worse than that Minakochan." Ami looked up
from her computer. "The government has officially requested a United
States Carrier Task Force armed with nuclear weapons."
     "What! That's crazy. The people. . ."  "It's not crazy
     Reichan." Ami looked grim. "The
government doesn't dare let these aliens get a foothold in Japan. It's
not just to save Japan either. If the aliens were to establish a
beach-head on the home islands. . .we would be a danger to the rest
of the world. If the Americans don't send atomic weapons. . .well,
I'm sure the Chinese or Russians would be only too happy to send us
a few. In fact hey might not wait for us to ask."
     "Are you all right, Usagichan?"  "My head hurts, Akachan. I keep
     wishing for a normal
life, no more monsters, no more fighting, no more end-of- the-world
stuff." Usagi closed her eyes and a tear trickled from under the
closed lids. "My head hurts."  Akane lay her princesses head in her
lap and began caressing her temples with gentle fingers.
     "It's all right princess. I'm with you now. And your
senshi are here." Akane bent and brushed the half dozing Usagi's
cheek with her lips. "It's going to be all right. . .this time."
Ranma watched in amazement as Akane took Usagi in her arms with a
gentle tenderness that . . . Ranma shook his head angrily. He was
NOT jealous!
     "Oh, hello Ryoga."
Heads turned at the sound of Kasumi's voice.
     "And you've brought a friend. How nice. Everybody is
out in the garden. You missed dinner so I'll just go make some snacks."
     "I didn't know you knew the Tendou's Hotaruchan."  "I don't
     Ryougachan. My friend Usagi told me to meet
her here."  Ranma listened to the voices that drifted out into the
garden in amazement. It sounded like Ryouga . . .chan? And with
a GIRL? Then two figures appeared in the garden and Ranma's jaw
dropped. It WAS Ryouga . . .and a girl. A very . . .small. . .girl. A
very. . .YOUNG girl. And they were holding hands in a VERY friendly
manner.  The concept of Ryouga. . .all on his own. . .meeting a girl
AND being able to walk three steps without  getting lost. Ryouga
with a girl and not  blacking out from blood loss . . .Ryouga not
becoming overly excited and maiming the girl . . . or all of the
above . . . Ranma was frozen in shock  Not so Usagi.
     "Hotaruchan!" Usagi sprang up, the top of her head
catching Akane just under her chin and knocking her flat on her back.
     "Ha, some super-warrior you are." Ranma said
sarcastically, helping Akane up. "A real martial artist would
never be caught. . ."  In horror Ranma watched Usagi throw herself
into Tomoe Hotaru's arms, sending the smaller girl staggering
backward. Automatically Ryouga's arm shot out to steady the two girls,
just as Kasumi stepped through the door; a tray loaded with snacks
and a large pitcher of tea . . .ICED tea . . . in her hands. Ranma
thrust Akane from his arms and leapt . . .
     "Bweeeeee!"  "A Piiiiig!" Ami wailed. "He's a pig now! I saw it."
     "Now, now Ami." Makoto scooped the small genius
into her lap and rocked her back and forth.  "Now, now. It's not
that bad."
     "It's WORSE!! How can he be a pig? He can't be a pig.
He just can't!"
     "Well," Rei looked on as Ranma poured hot tea on the
pig. "now he's a boy. A naked boy."
     "A naked boy with a really . . .nice personality."
Minako added grinning..  Centripetal force slung Ami tumbling as
Makoto whipped around to the front.
     "Heh.,heh,heh." Ranma sounded like a starter motor
with a bad bushing. "You know, Akane. There's a really funny story
behind all this. Isn't there a funny story Ryouga?"
     "I. . .I'll just get dressed and. . ."  "Leave them."
It didn't sound like Akane at all. Ranma could see her lips moving
. . .but the voice . . .It gave him the same shivery feeling he'd
gotten on his second trip into the pit-of-starving-cats for cat-fist
training..(He hadn't know what to expect on the first trip, and
didn't really remember anything after the third.)  Ryouga froze as
a very sharp blade inserted itself just under his chin. He slowly
straightened up under the gentle urging of the blade. His eyes almost
crossed rying to focus on the steel as it disappeared under his
chin. He recognized it. Kasumi had baked fresh bread. And of course
you needed a sharp knife to slice fresh bread  cleanly. A VERY sharp
knife. How thoughtful of Kasumi.
     "What are you doing?" the spine of the knife rapped
the knuckles of his cupped hands. "Move them." The point of the knife
moved to lightly trace a line from his belly button to his Adam's
apple. "Or loose them." The knife retraced it's path downwards.
Ryouga took one look at Akane's eyes and let his arms dangle at
his sides.
     "Good boy." Everyone shivered at the venom in her
voice. "What a good P-chan you are. Now turn around."
     "What are you doing!" Ranma put a hand on Akane's
shoulder and froze as the knife whipped around like a striking snake
to rest just under his heart.
     "Why I'm peeking Ranma. Just like HE did to me. Just
like he watched me undress for bed. Did you two get a good laugh out
of that?"
     "It wasn't like that Akane-ch. . ." Ryouga's head
rocked as Akane  backhanded him.
     "Don't you call me that. Only my friends can call me
that. You're not my friend. I don't know who you are. I don't
know. . ." A shudder wracked her body. "I thought you were my
friend." she whispered. "I thought I could trust . . .  that I could
talk." Akane paled and swayed on her feet. " . . .Talk to you. My
god. I talked . . .to P-chan. I told him things. Trusted him. He
was my friend. I told him. . . told him." She started to shake
violently. "Why. . .what did I ever do to you. . .  Why would you
hate me that much? I should have known. . .the bandanna. . . but I
trusted. . .I trusted. . .  "Akane clutched her belly and fell to her
knees sobbing. "I trusted you. . . I trusted . . ."  Ranma dropped
to his knees beside her.
     "Akane. . .Akane! Please. You're going to make
yourself sick. Please don't cry!!"
     "Akan. . .Tendousama." Ryouga joined Ranma on the
ground. "Please. It's my fault. I should have told you. But I was
ashamed of my curse. And you were so kind to me. I was afraid. Afraid
that if you found out I would be alone again. Please Tendousama. Please
don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
     "Akane-chan. You have some more guests."
It was perhaps not an ideal time for Meiou Setsuna to walk through
the door.  Ranma and Ryouga were blasted across the garden as Akane
surged to her feet. Even with a life dedicated to martial training
Ranma was hard put to end up on his feet. Out of the corner of his
eye Ranma could see Ryouga down on all fours. Most of his attention
was focused on Akane. He'd never been this close to "Weapon 4" when
she activated. He watched in disbelief as Akane seemed to burst into
flame, her features melting and reforming. He could see her body
twisting and rippling like a reflection in a tide pool . He could
see every detail of the cannon in her right hand, every aspect. . .

CANNON? . . . Uh oh!

HATE. Her blood boiled with it. Rage. Her muscles clenched 'till her
bones ached.
     "Full power to graser." she ordered.  ##Graser at full power##
     the Whisper acknowledged.  "Target selected." she dropped the
     targeting pip in the
center of Setsuna's chest.
     ##Invalid target. Identification files list designated
target as senshi. Invalid target. Iden. . ##
     "OVERRIDE!" she snarled.  ##Invalid tar. . ## "OVERI. . .:"
     Weapon 4  screamed and jack-knifed
forward as fail-safe protocols activated.
     ##WARNING. Senshi are not valid targets.
WARNING. Sen. . .## Weapon 4 ignored the Whisper. She focused through
the pain. She'd had good teachers.
     "Run diagnostics. Initiate primary sensor suite test
protocol."  She felt a brief hesitation as the system diagnostics
started. There was a faint buzzing as the primary sensor's went
off line and the secondary's kicked in. She'd been waiting for that
infinitesimal window.
     "Load digital re-mapping sub-set.  Initial point set to
zero, zero, zero."  Digital re-mapping was intended to provide improved
long-range scans. To enhance contrast, remove sensors ghosts and
defeat enemy stealth systems. By setting the initial point to zero,
zero, zero the software increased the resolution to the point that
the details obscured the identity. Suddenly the senshi disappeared
from the sensors to be replaced by an unrecognizable blur.  With a
howl of triumph Weapon 4 raised her weapon back into battery and . . .
     "USAGI! NO!" Rei screamed and lunged for Usagi as
she darted to put herself between Akane and the three Outer senshi.
     "Akachan, Akachan. Please listen to me."There was no
sense of recognition in the twisting flowing features. Suddenly a
dreamscape seemed to flash before Usagi's eyes. Of a young girl, with
grey eyes the color of . . .
     "Misty? Misty! It's me, Stormy. Please Misty. Don't do
this. It's alright. I won't let anyone hurt you. Please . . ."  With a
tearing shuddering cry the figure in front of Usagi slammed back down
into normal space. Usagi reached out and caught Misty in her arms as
she fell.  Ranma was a fraction of a second behind, steadying Usagi
as she staggered under Akane's weight.  The three of them sank to
the floor, Ranma and Usagi holding the weeping girl protectively
between them.
     "What are you doing here." Makoto snapped, stepping
forward aggressively to confront Setsuna and the two figures behind
her.
      "I asked them to come." Usagi said from her place on
the floor.
     "HEY!" Ranma's eye's focused squarely on Setsuna.
"That's the woman from the other day, the one that tried to do
something to Akane!" He started to his feet, but was tangled up with
Usagi and Akane.
     "What did you do to Ak. . . to Tendou-sama!" Ryouga
placed himself in front of the three outer senshi. Heavy ki boiled
from him like pus from a old wound. Even if she hated him, if he'd
lost even her friendship. . . he would defend Akane to the death.
     "Please!" Usagi's gentle voice stilled Ryouga's heavy
ki, even if it couldn't dissipate it completely. "Please. I
invited them here to try to solve our problems, not start a fight."
Slowly, grudgingly Ryouga backed away.
     "I wanna know what SHE was up to!" Ranma looked
pointedly at Setsuna.
     "There is a new enemy." Setsuna began. "You have all
seen it. An alien race who wishes to take the Earth, the Solar System
and all it's riches. After they have eliminated the human race." She
paused and looked down at Akane, Usagi and Ranma.

     "I am. . .sorry. I acted precipitously. I needed to
talk to. . .Akane. We will need her power if we are to win this
battle. I needed to talk to her" Setsuna laughed mirthlessly "but I
had little reason to believe she had any interest in talking to me.
So, in my arrogance, I tried to force her to listen. I have been
too much alone, too used to acting without consulting others." She
pretended not to see all of the inner senshi nodding their heads. "My
need. . .OUR need is great. The enemy is very powerful and I was
afraid." This statement got everyone's attention.  "I lost my home
once before, and people that I loved." There was no doubting the
genuine anguish in Setsuna's voice. "I was afraid to take a chance,
afraid of losing Akanesan's help, and thereby the lives of billions
of people, my home and people I have come to . . .care for.
     "Setsunasan." Usagi looked up at the older woman,
her eyes filled with tears. "How could you doubt that we would help
you. We are senshi, we should always fight together."
     "You have a generous heart princess. Other's are not
so generous. And. . .I have no right to ask  for generosity or
forgiveness in this case."
     "I will talk to Akane-chan when she is feeling better. I
am sure she will help you if she can."
     "Thank you princess. But please tell her she will be
helping her own family, everyone on Earth as well, not just me or
the senshi."

*************************************************
     "Are you sure it's OK to leave you Akachan?" Usagi
stared worriedly at the pale listless girl laying in the bed.
     "I'm fine Usagi." Akane replied hoarsely. "Just feeling
a little tired, and a lot foolish."
     "Akane, talk to them."
Akane's lips tightened mulishly and she tried to turn away from Usagi.
     "Don't close yourself off from your friends over. . ."
     "FRIENDS! What kind of friends . . ."  "The kind who make
     mistakes, who do foolish
things."Usagi laughed "Believe me I'm an expert when it comes from
doing foolish things. But friends are the most important thing in the
world. Just as important as someone who loves you. And if you're very,
very lucky you can find someone who loves you AND is your friend."
     "It's just so confusing. I don't know what to think. And
there's you and the senshi. I know you and I don't know you.  You're
the most important person in my life and a total stranger." Akane
let her head droop tiredly. "Sometimes I feel like I'm back in the
Imperium, sometimes I feel closer to people and places that have been
dead for a hundred thousand years and then it all disappears like a
puff of smoke."  Usagi put a sympathetic hand on Akane's shoulder.
     "I know. How do you think I felt when a CAT told me
that I was a sailor-suited soldier for love and justice. I'd just
gotten used to that when I found out I was a PRINCESS.  And things
just got crazier from there." Usagi sighed. "But it was worth it for
all the wonderful friends I made, or re-discovered."  She grinned at
Akane. "Anyway remember what I said about talking to people. Besides,
think about how guilty you can make him feel by forgiving him."
Akane watched Usagi leave, then lay back on the bed staring at the
ceiling. She was not really surprised when she heard a tapping at
the window. She thought about ignoring him, but remembered what Usagi
had said about talking and forgiving. She rolled wearily out of bed
and padded across the room to open the window..
     "Hey Akanesan. I'm sorry about. . .about everything."  "I'm sorry
     too Ranma. But I need to know. . ."

Akane SAN?

Ranma NEVER called her Akanesan. The incongruity just had time to
register as Ranma's features dissolved into a tall figure with short
white-blond hair. There was a stinging sensation from behind and  she
collapsed to the floor like a puppet whose strings were cut.  A door
that did not existed opened into a place with no name. Akane and a
tall figure with long dark hair that gleamed with strange highlights
disappeared through the door.

***************************************************************************