Lines Of Destiny A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 Crossover
By Louis-Philippe Giroux <dragon@anime.sobhrach.com>
Thank you for all your comments! Keep'em coming! C&C is always welcome!!!
Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi. Please don't sue me.
The latest versions of the previous chapters are always the ones on my WWW page at http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~dragon/lines/lines.html
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Chapter 2
Hotaru Tomoe was depressed. Since Chibi-Usa had gone back to the future, she had lost the only friend who was close to her. Sure, Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna were far from bad company, but they were *much* older than she was. Besides, they had other things to worry about than play baby-sitter to a thirteen year-old girl who could easily level the planet.
She missed her brother.
Following her rebirth, Hotaru had grown up at a phenomenal rate, though she still ended up smaller than the others (much to her constant annoyance). Only this time, she remembered things from her days in the Silver Millennium, eight thousand years ago. Among other things, how everyone had different names back then; Serenity, Endymion... One of the things she now remembered was that she had had an older brother, named Kanma. She remembered...
<Silver Millennium, 8000 years ago>
Princess Verika was watching her older brother Kanma work the forge. Prince Kanma, the eldest son of the Royal Family of Saturn, was an odd person. He was not only a prince, but also a Third Circle mage. That, in itself, wasn't strange at all since there were lots of people who knew how to use magic. What was unusual was his choice of pastime, which in his case was smithing. Kanma was quite skilled at it; he could spend hours at a time in a forge coming up with a tool or the occasional weapon. Sometimes, he infused the resulting weapon with his magic. Such weapons were highly sought after, but Kanma did not make too many of them, since he was not particularly motivated in making weapons; what appealed to him was working the forge. He kept saying pounding things made him relax. He had black hair, tied in a braid and muscles that had made many a person envious.
The ladies of the Saturn court thought that Kanma's royal blood, looks and magic skills made him a prize catch. Kanma was quite aware of the situation, but he had yet to find a woman he liked. He thought the court ladies were far too sweet-tempered (this, of course, greatly annoyed his parents, since he was of marrying age).
"Did you hear the news?" Verika asked with a look of anticipation on her face.
"What news?" asked Kanma, somewhat amused by his younger sister's antics. "The healers finally said that you were going to gain another inch after all?" He briefly turned towards the forge and whispered a low-level spell to keep the forge's heat up.
Verika scowled. "I can't help it if I'm short, okay!?" she said testily. The look of anticipation quickly came back, though. "What I'm talking about is the nominations of Sailors Terra and Saturn! The Royal Seer said that the girl who becomes Sailor Saturn would know it because the sigil will appear on her forehead today!"
"Don't tell me you _want_ to be Sailor Saturn?" said Kanma incredulously, letting his hammer rest beside the forge.
Verika was a bit miffed at her brother's comment. "Why not? Sailor Saturn is supposed to have great healing powers. I'd very much like to be a great healer."
Kanma shook his head. "You've never bothered to read the prophecies, have you?"
"What prophecies?" aked Verika, frowning.
Kanma took on a lecturing tone. "Many things have been said about the legendary Sailor Saturn." Nodding towards his sister, he continued: "The prophecies do say she is supposed to be a great healer, but the very fact that she will be chosen means other things."
"Like what?" asked Verika, leaning forward.
"It's said that Saturn would have more than enough power to wipe out an entire planet if she chose to. It's also said that she would only awaken in time to fight off the Moon Kingdom's greatest threat."
Verika paled a little and Kanma nodded. "Do you see now? Even though Sailor Saturn is fabled to have wondrous healing abilities, she's generally portrayed in the prophecies as the Bringer Of Silence or even the Destroyer, not the Healer. Sorry to disillusion you like that little sister, but you should be careful what you wish for. Besides, don't forget there are several other girls in the Royal Family who could be chosen to become Sailor Saturn, just like you." After a bit, he added, under his breath: "I'm just glad I'm a guy, so I can't be chosen."
Verika, now uncomfortable, changed the subject. "What about Sailor Terra?"
Kanma snorted. "No contest there. It's old news all over the kingdoms that it's Earth Prince Endymion's sister, Akana, who will be Sailor Terra. It's always a princess of a planet's Royal Family who becomes a Sailor Senshi and the current Sailor Terra, or should I say _Elder_ Terra, is certain it will be Akana. It's rumored that she will be the strongest Senshi next to Saturn."
Verika nodded absently. She had had a chance to meet Princess Akana, once before, in a diplomatic meeting. She wasn't bad-looking, although she had a tendency to act like a tomboy at times...
Later that day, the sigil of Saturn appeared on Princess Verika's forehead and her life was changed forever.
<Present day>
Hotaru's reminiscing was interrupted by the sound of the apartment's front door being opened. She got up and looked towards the door, where Haruka and Michiru were already taking off their coats.
"So how was the concert, Michiru-mama?" asked Hotaru.
"It was all right," Michiru replied.
Haruka grinned and put an arm around Michiru's neck. "She means it went perfect as usual." Haruka then gave her a playful kiss.
Hotaru sighed. It was a strange relationship between those two, but at least they had each other. She, on the other hand, didn't have anyone close to her.
Hotaru gave herself a mental shake. She had to stop whining to herself like that. Suddenly, she noticed something, or rather someone, was missing. "Hey, where's Setsuna-mama?"
"She said she had some business to attend to," said Haruka. "And you know from experience that if she doesn't want to tell us, she won't." She shook her head. "For all we know, she's removed herself from the time stream again and the Kami only knows when she'll be back."
In a rare moment of peace, Luna and Artemis were asleep, while the girls were all out shopping, so they never noticed the Guardian Of Time stealthily walking up to them. Sailor Pluto silently raised the Time Staff and a tiny beam of light shot from the Garnet Orb to the cats' crescent moons. Their crescents shined, but the felines merely stirred and stayed asleep.
A ghost of a smile touched Pluto's lips. *At least now, Luna and Artemis will be able to deal with Mamoru and the others' questions. Their memories will come back gradually.* The Guardian slowly shook her head. *I doubt they realize just how hard awakening Terra will be, but they _will_ need her power in the times to come.*
A swirling portal opened behind Pluto and she stepped inside it, disappearing into thin air. She had one more person whose memory she had to help jog a little. Someone who had a sister... or a brother, depending on how you looked at it.
* * *
Akane had fallen asleep early. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, the stress related to her wedding had taken its toll on her. They had agreed to sleep apart for this night because they didn't want to be tempted by anything that would require... exertion; they needed to leave early the following morning. Besides, she knew how their fathers were; they were very capable of trying to get _it_ on film (if Nabiki didn't beat them to it first).
She settled for dreaming of Ranma, how they had finally admitted that they loved each other and how they would spend the rest of their days together. But gradually, the dream became something else; images she had never seen or imagined before were floating in her mind. Strangely, the face of a young girl she had never seen before often repeated itself. The girl sometimes wore an ornate old-fashioned dress and sometimes what looked like an ridiculously abbreviated sailor suit. The strangest thing of all was that she felt some kind of kinship to the girl, but she didn't know exactly what.
Soon, the images disappeared and she dreamt of Ranma again.
In his room, Ranma had his own dreams. He dreamt of college and of his marriage to Akane, how he would make sure she was happy for the rest of their lives. And like Akane, his dreams drifted to those of a young girl whose face he could not see. He saw a silhouette of the girl running and somehow, he knew her. He knew that inexplicably, he had once been, and still was, closely bound to this girl. Suddenly, her face cleared...
...and he was rudely awakened by an oversized panda who nearly crushed him. Ranma cursed silently. *Damn! it's the third time in three days I've had this weird dream and at last I was this damn close to figuring who the hell that girl is.* Ranma got up and walked to the window and looked out at the starry sky. *I thought I had that dream because of pre-wedding jitters, but now I'm not so sure...* He smiled and snorted softly. *Huh... If it gets worse, maybe I can always ask Rei about the dream. Maybe she knows something about dreams.*
Ranma yawned and went back to sleep and to his dreams of Akane.
The following morning, Ranma and Akane had what would probably be their last meal at the Tendo Dojo for a long while. For the occasion, Kasumi and Nodoka had prepared a such a feast that even Genma and Ranma could not eat everything (and perhaps most surprising of all, a smiling Akane not passing a single comment on her new husband's eating habits). Afterwards, Ranma and Akane finished packing their belongings and prepared themselves to take the train.
Then came the tearful good-byes.
"Take good care of yourselves, okay?" Kasumi hugged her youngest sister.
"We will, I promise," answered Akane.
"If you need a loan, don't hesitate to call me, okay? I have special rates for family," said Nabiki with a sad smile on her lips.
"Uh... we will, Nabiki," said Ranma nervously.
"Nabiki, it's not so bad," chided Akane. "We'll probably see each other at the university."
"That's true."
"Oh my daughter is growing up! She's married and going to unversity!" Soun wailed.
Ranma extricated himself from the knot of Tendo sisters and walked to his parents.
"Be sure to tell your cousin Rei that we're grateful for what she's doing," Genma said, a proud smile on his lips. "And try to keep your curse a secret, if possible."
Ranma chuckled: "It's not as if I want everyone to know about the curse, Pop. It's just that sometimes, it's like Akane says: I'm a water magnet; you should know that better than most. As for Rei, I'll be sure to be careful around her. Still, we won't see much of each other; we'll only see each other at the shrine, remember?"
"Still, do try to remember to be polite with her, son," said Nodoka.
Genma cut in. "What does it matter, son? Just be sure to keep up your training and come to visit us once in a while, okay?"
Ranma cast aside thoughts of his cousin. "Yeah, sure!" he said. "We'll come back as often as we can, I promise."
Akane approached Ranma and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's time to go if we want to catch the train, Ranma."
Ranma nodded and soon, the two newlyweds were on their way to the train station.
* * *
Mamoru was sitting in the train, reading a magazine on the strange and unusual. He chuckled softly. One of the magazine's top stories this month was the popular mystery of the Sailor Senshi. As he read the article, however, one passage caught his attention:
"... another one of the mysteries concerning the Sailor Senshi is that every planet in our solar system apparently has a Senshi named after it, except for Earth, where, oddly enough, the Senshi, who happens to be the leader of the group, is named after the planet's satellite. Is there or has there ever been a Sailor Earth? What about the mysterious Sailor V? Was she related to this group? Only the Senshi could answer these questions, and they have never been known to stay around for interviews."
Mamoru closed the magazine and put it back on the tray where he had found it. A Sailor Earth? The name sounded wrong somehow. Unwittingly, he found his thoughts drifting back to the girl in his dreams while the speakers warned people that the next stop was Nerima station...
* * *
Ranma and Akane boarded the train along with other passengers. Moving inside the car, Ranma caught a magazine on a tray, as did Akane. They found seats across from a handsome young man in his early twenties who looked preoccupied by something. For a moment, Ranma thought the man was staring at him and Akane, but when he looked up from his reading, he found the man looking away. Ranma shrugged and went back to reading an article on a group of mysterious girls calling themselves the Sailor Senshi...
Mamoru was still zoned out when two young people sat in front of him. When he looked up, he couldn't help but stare at them in puzzlement. He didn't understand, but the young man seemed very familiar, somehow... almost like...
He quickly changed the focus of his gaze, when he saw the young man lifting his head. Luckily, the young man didn't pursue the matter any further and went back to his reading. Mamoru looked out the window and started thinking about Usagi, who had promised she would be waiting at the train station.
* * *
Minako (minus Artemis) and Ami arrived at the train station. They weren't really surprised to see that Usagi and Luna were already there; Usagi had probably arrived here a long time ago, since Mamoru's train was due back in less than fifteen minutes. They were surprised, however, to see Hotaru.
"Hotaru-chan! What are you doing here?" exclaimed Minako.
Hotaru turned towards the voice. "Minako! Well, I was bored sitting around Haruka and Michiru's apartment doing nothing, so I decided to come here with Usagi to greet Mamoru when he comes back."
Minako nodded. "That makes quite a few of us to greet him then."
"Where's Artemis?" inquired Hotaru, purple eyes searching for the white cat.
"He stayed home," said Minako, a bit grumpily. "He said he didn't like places where there are too many people who might step on him." Luna gave a loud sniff from where she was standing.
Ami looked up from yet another book she was reading. "Say, isn't Rei's cousin supposed to arrive on this train as well?"
"Cousin?" Usagi, Hotaru and Minako exclaimed in unison. Luna wisely refrained from saying the same thing out loud, seeing as they were in a public place, but her face clearly showed surprise as well.
Ami spent the next few minutes explaining that Rei would be housing her cousin and his wife at the Hikawa Shrine for the next few days.
While Minako was clearly disappointed he wasn't single, Usagi and Hotaru wondered what Rei's cousin would be like. Luna bore a look that promised further questioning when they were in private.
Hotaru spoke up: "Why didn't Rei come by to welcome him?"
"She told me she had special shrine duties today, since her grandfather left with Yuuichiro yesterday," Ami answered. "Anyway, she said her cousin had the address of the shrine, so he shouldn't have any problems finding it on his own."
"What does he look like, anyway?" asked Minako. "We could always accompany him to the shrine instead of letting him go there on his own."
Ami thought for a second. "Rei didn't tell me or Makoto, because she says she was too young to clearly remember what he looked like the last time she saw him. I don't think she could have given us a decent description even if she had wanted to."
"Do you at least know his name?"
Ami looked sheepish. "I didn't ask."
Usagi broke into an eager smile. "We'll see what he looks like later! The train is arriving!"
The others sighed good-naturedly. Several things had changed in the last few weeks, but Usagi was still single-mindedly obsessed with her "Mamo-chan."
The train pulled into the station and people started flowing out. It wasn't long before Mamoru got out of the train.
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi cried, running into Mamoru's arms. "I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too, Usako."
While Usagi was busy gushing all over Mamoru, the other girls looked at the other passengers. Minako was trying to spot herself a hunk and she soon found one. A muscular young man, looking slightly older than her, who was wearing loose black pants and a red Chinese shirt. His wild black hair was tied down in a pigtail-style braid. *I'm in love!* Minako told herself.
She nudged Ami, and even Hotaru. "Hey girls, look at the major hunk over there! Isn't he gorgeous?"
Ami looked where Minako was pointing, looked around the boy and quickly brought her friend back to Earth. "Look right behind him, Minako. I think he's already taken."
Minako shook herself out of her dreams and realized there was a girl holding his hand. A girl who bore a faint resemblance to Ami, at that. "Awww, it's not fair," she pouted.
Hotaru wasn't merely looking at them. She was staring at them. *Masaka! He... she... they look so much like...* she shook herself. *You're imagining things, Hotaru. Neither of them could be alive today. They both died before the end of the Silver Millennium. Besides, the genders are all...*
Suddenly, something beeped urgently in Ami's purse. Startled, Ami took out her computer compact and her eyes widened. She grabbed Usagi's shoulder and turned her around.
"Usagi! My computer's detected a... " She was interrupted as a wall suddenly caved in and a monster made its appearance.
"WWRRRRAAGGHHHHHHH!!!!"
"...daimon nearby," she finished weakly.
Usagi cursed under her breath. She thought they were finished with this. They had not had a monster attack in over a month and a half. Much to Luna and the other girls' surprise, Usagi's grades had picked up strength during that short time. Usagi said it was because she was no longer interrupted by constant monster attacks. The girls had been inclined to believe her.
And now, the attacks were starting up again. Damn.
"All right," she said, her face darkening. "Let's find a place to transform and take care of that thing..."
Usagi got no further when all hell broke loose.
End of Chapter 2
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