Fated Pasts, Chaotic Future

A Ranma ½ and Sailor Senshi crossover Fanfic

Written by: Konsaki
(Aka – Matt Nethken)

This Fanfic was inspired by and uses source material from 'Lines of Destiny', a dead Fanfic created by Louis-Philippe Giroux.

Mr Giroux has approved of my adopting his story but asked that I not use his original work's name. As per his request, I have changed the name to 'Fated Past, Chaotic Future'. I doubt I can ever hope to obtain the great quality of his work, but Ihope I can honor it through my own beginning chapters will use Mr. Giroux's work as a guide, but as I write, I will be adapting his story to my own style.

- Konsaki

oOo

Here are the following ages of the cast:

Hotaru (Sailor Saturn) – 13 years old
Inner Senshi – 16 years old
Outer Senshi – 17 years old
Ranma/Akane – 18 years old
Mamoru – 19 years old
Setsuna (Sailor Pluto) – …who knows, but she looks 25-27ish

In this storyline, Ranma and Akane are ready to attend university as 1st years while the Inner Senshi are in their 2nd year of high school. The Outer Senshi are between Ranma/Akane and the Inner Senshi, working on their last year of high school.

For the Sailor Senshi part of it, it's after the Pharaoh 90 storyline and the Kaguya Snow Queen incident, but there are a few mods: everyone in the Inner Senshi goes to Juuban High, sans Rei. Usagi can turn into Super Sailor Moon, but none of the other Senshi can go 'Super'.

Sorry if this throws a monkey wrench into how you think of the Sailor Senshi, but it works for me…

oOo

"When the Kin of Silence and the Daughter of Earth join, the Circle of Planets shall be complete once again."
- Last prophecy of the Terran Royal Seer, End of the Silver Millennium

A slight breeze blew across the open grasslands, mixing with the soft sounds of the small brook that ran into a lake. The sun shown from the horizon as lazy clouds floated past the pristine scene set before. One would be able to spend hours, if not an entire day, soaking up the ambiance radiating from this tranquil place.

Chiba Mamoru stood in the center of this endless prairie, looking around at the view quickly finding himself facing the scene of a girl walking through the field. It's her again he thought to himself as he unconsciously reached out towards her.

The girl continued her stroll through the tall blades of grass and flowers, completely at ease, the sun shining behind her. She wore a sailor fuku, but he couldn't recognize anything else about it or her. The sun blocking any image more than a silhouette, but then, she turned towards him and started to run towards him...

Mamoru woke from the dream, always at the same moment... just before he could see her face. Putting a hand to his face, he let out a groan. 'Who is that girl?' he asked as he made his way to the window. 'Her silhouette doesn't look anything like the Inner or Outer Senshi... Why is she wearing a Senshi fuku... I thought we found them all...'

Opening the window up, he felt the cool air rush over him, refreshing after waking up from that dream. It wasn't unusual for him to have dreams of his past life, living as Prince Endymion. But since he left Juban on his two week special assignment for college it started happening more often and then she started showing up in his dreams.

Taking a deep breath, Mamoru thought about three days from now, when he would finally see his Usako again. Just the thought of the way she acted when he told her that he was going away for just fourteen days brought a grin to his face. It had taken Minako and Makoto working together, along with Rei verbally chastising her, to make Usagi unlatch from Mamoru's arm so he could board the train. He promised his blond girlfriend that he would think of her everyday...

His face changed to a frown though as he thought about how she would react if she learned that he had been having dreams about a girl that he couldn't place. She was important though, that much he knew. How was a question he couldn't answer, but another question that burned at his mind was if she was another Senshi.

With a heavy sigh, he closed the window and lay back down on the bed. He'd just have to ask Luna or Rei once he got back. It was only three days away...

With that, he faded back to sleep. If the dream did mean something, he would find out eventually... That he was sure of.

oOo

The evening sun felt nice as it shone on Ranma, who lay atop the Tendo's dojo roof. It was up here that the martial artist could usually find a place of relaxation and tranquility, a place to himself. On that roof, he had spent many an hour, thinking about things and wondering what effect his plans for the future would have.

There were many moments of regret over past events up there as well, as his thoughts inevitably ran across the major turning points in the past year since the crazy circus that should have been his happy wedding to Akane. With his thoughts currently about the wedding, his mind floated to what happened just after through the following months… his and Akane's interactions with Ukyo after the incident.

The okonomiyaki shop owner had repeatedly returned after her attack, but each time she came to see Ranma to either talk to or woo him, Ukyo found herself on the wrong end of an ever increasingly cold shoulder. After one severely cold reception from her once friend and fiancée, she decided to observe him for a while before trying to talk to him again. What Ukyo saw broke her heart and tore at her mind more than anything she had heard him say to her.

Through the hours that passed, she finally saw what she had been blind to for the past month, Ranma and Akane had already chosen one another. The chef's mind thought about everything she had done to split the pair and the responses she had received… Then, she made a decision and swore to follow through with it.

The next day, Akane and Ranma were standing in 'Uchhan's', both on edge looking out for anything that might happen. What did happen surprised both, as Ukyo made her way down the stairs from her apartment above the shop, garbed in a simple white kimono. Though the pair couldn't see her face, the state of disrepair of her hair and clothing only hinted at what the girl had gone through the night before.

With her long brown bangs still occluding her face, Ukyo stopped before the couple, silent for a moment before speaking in a low almost whispered voice. "T-thank you both f-for coming…", Ranma heard the girl say, noting the unusual tone in the chef's voice. Before either he or Akane could respond though, the girl in white before them fell to the floor with each of the pair jerking to catch her but stopping as they noticed the position Ukyo had taken.

On hands and knees, with her head drooped, she called out in a pained voice, "P-please! Please forgive me!", she cried out.

This left the standing pair in a state of stunned shock, in which they glanced at each other in concern before Ranma looked back down at the kneeling figure. "Ukyo…" was all that escaped Ranma's mouth before he was interrupted by both the feeling of Akane's hand on his arm and Ukyo's voice in the air once more.

"P-please… forgive me… both of you.", she repeated in a softer voice. "I don't want to lose you, Ranma!"

Hearing that, Akane tightened her grip on Ranma's arm slightly, about to say a scathing response but stopped short once she heard what Ukyo was still saying, "I-I'm sorry for what I've done…"

It was then the girl looked up at the man that had held her heart for so long and him noticing the tears flowing down her face. "I-I know she has your heart… I see it now… I'll never have it; I just don't want to lose you as a friend… Please, please forgive me!", Ukyo cried out to the pigtailed martial artist before dropping her head once more causing some wet spots to appear on the wood floor as she weakly whispered out one more time, "Please…"

Ranma was visibly shaken by the emotions shown by his onetime fiancée and friend. Finally registering the fact that he had gripped Akane's hand sometime during the last few moments, he looked over at her. She could see the questions in his face and eyes, he never had to say a word for her to understand what he wanted to ask because she, herself, felt just as confused and shocked.

Sparing a quick glance at the crying girl at her feet, Akane looked into Ranma's eyes for a moment before giving a slow nod. At seeing that, Ranma gave a weak smile as they both turned their eyes down towards Ukyo. Akane felt a slight squeeze of her hand before it was released, as Ranma knelt down in front of the white garbed figure.

Ukyo didn't even register the moment, but stiffened in reflex as Ranma embraced her in a hug, saying "Ucchan… I… We forgive you..."

After a moment, in which Ukyo looked up at Ranma's face, she put her arms around him crying even harder into his chest while letting out whispered 'Thank you' over and over. They stayed like that for a long while, with Akane joining in hugging the distressed girl after a few moments.

After that, the relationships between the three got better, since Ukyo fully renounced her betrothal to Ranma. They became good friends once again, though it was slow at the start. As Ranma thought about it, he figured it was good for all three of them that. He was happy that he and Ukyo were friends at least.

Before he could think about it anymore though, a call broke through the evening air, "Ranma! Ranma, where are you!?"

Standing up, Ranma made his way to the edge of the roof and looked down at the girl calling for him down below. "I'm up here, Akane." he responded.

With a swish of her yellow dress, she turned and looked up with her hands on her hips. With a slight frown Akane called up, "Well, come down from there! Dinner's ready and I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Ok, ok… I'm on my way…" he replied, with a grin at a thought his past reminiscing brought up. With a quick drop, he was standing beside his fiancée, still grinning as they both walked into the main household.

After quickly washing up, Ranma sat down at the long table the Saotome's and the Tendo's used for most of their meals. With a quick, 'Itadakimasu' he started eating with the rest, his father to his left next the head of the table, where Soun sit, and his mother to the right of him.

The usual banter went back and forth between Soun and Genma, along with complaints from Ranma as his father tried to pick things off Ranma's plate, though glances from Nodoka usually stopped that event from escalating.

Ranma happily ate the meal, only stopping once he tasted something odd about one part of it. Swallowing, he spoke up, "Hey, who made the Teriyaki?"

Kasumi, across the table, put down her chopsticks. "Akane helped me by cooking it.", she said with her usual smile. Next to her, Akane looked directly at Ranma, who noticed immediately.

"Really?" he replied. "It tastes great! Almost as good as yours, Kasumi.", Ranma exclaimed, though it wasn't true due to it being particularly bland. Even so, the more important fact was the food was still edible. Plus, the look of Akane smiling made her look cute.

As Ranma dug back into the meal in front of him, he said a silent word of thanks to Ukyo for finally being able to teach Akane how to pay attention when she cooked. Akane still couldn't cook well but at least the food she did produce wouldn't try and kill you or crawl off the plate…

oOo

"Usagi … It's only two days…" Chiba Mamoru said exasperatedly into the telephone of his hotel room. He had said the same thing each day, just changing the number of days left each time. He loved hearing her voice, but he could hear what she was going to say even before she said it.

"I know, Mamo-chan, but I miss you!" Usagi half whined from the other end of the call.

Putting a hand to his temple, Mamoru let out a sigh. "I miss you too, Usako… I'll see you two days from now at the train station. Just wait for me there."

"Alright … I love you, Mamo-chan.", she replied in a slightly hurt voice.

"I love you, too. I'll see you when I'm done here, Usagi." he finished and then hung up the phone. Letting out another sigh, he rubbed his forehead. 'Two days…', he thought as he got up from the small bed in his hotel room and moved to the bathroom to clean up for the night.

oOo

Ranma let out a slight squeal as she rinsed herself off, feeling the effect of the cold water on her body. It was much less the change, and more the fact that the water was cold nowadays. Shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes, she set the wash bucket back on the floor. As she opened them, Ranma noticed that she had unconsciously put her other hand on her side, where the Amazon had done the most damage to her. Looking down at it, she sighed as she rose from the stool she was sitting on.

It was worth it… she reminded herself as she made her way towards the furo, loose red hair swinging behind her. She could remember it like it was yesterday… She doubted she'd ever forget the fight till the day she died.

Immersing herself into the tub's hot water, Ranma felt the change go over him like normal and barely registered it. He was too engrossed in replaying the fight between himself and Cologne…

He had spent weeks preparing for it after he finally decided on this specific course of action. Training like there was no tomorrow in the mountains all by himself had made himself faster and stronger than before, but even then he didn't know if he was ready to fight the old ghoul. Still, Ranma could only take so much time before Shampoo tried her next scheme to get him to marry her.

It all happened one day that he walked into the Cat Café, him finding Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne serving their customers like normal. Without a word to the younger two chinese, he went straight to Cologne, who was cooking the orders up as fast as they came. She had seen him enter though and all cooking had stopped just as fast once he stepped up to her.

"I need to talk to you… alone" was all Ranma said to the old chinese matriarch and that was all she needed to know something big was going to happen.

"Follow me, future son-in-law" was her even reply as she hopped around the counter and towards the back rooms of the café. Wordlessly, the pigged tailed young man followed her into a room, where he closed the door and stood against it.

There in that room, they talked for what seemed forever to Shampoo but was only a quick five minutes or so. Then, as quick as they came in, they came out to the main dining area, with Ranma walking past Shampoo and out the door, not responding to her questioning look.

"Great-grandmother, what is going on?!" she asked as soon as the main door closed. The blood from her face drained almost instantly once she heard the matriarch's reply.

"Ranma challenged me…"

The fight that took place an hour later was filled with furious punches and kicks. Ki blasts flew like they were fireworks going off for a festival. The very buildings around the abandoned lot the two had chose for their battleground shook and cracked from the strain of the battle aura's the two were giving off.

The weeks of training that Ranma had subjected himself to, seemed to give him an edge in the fight as both warriors traded blows with one another. He had just enough speed to dodge just enough of the special hidden attacks the ancient chinese Amazon was pulling out of nowhere. Just enough wasn't good though, as the ones that did hit did a lot of damage or distracted him just enough for Cologne to get a few good hits in.

Cologne was taking a beating from Ranma in turn though, and was struggling to keep the fight even with the younger faster Saotome. After a bit, she decided to use a specific forbidden technique on Ranma, though she felt ashamed that she had to. It's either use this or lose all together!, she psyched herself up as she switched to offense and broke his guard. Within that split fraction of a second, the old fighter reached in and poked a specific spot on Ranma's side.

That instant, Ranma knew something was terribly wrong as the world slowed down and he felt weaker overall. Knowing it had to be something to do with Cologne's last attack, he growled and went on the offensive again, yelling, "I'll still win, old ghoul!"

Cologne had expected Ranma's speed and power to drop, but it wasn't as much as she expected. The ensuing barrage of punches and kicks were still incredibly fast, but at least it was more manageable for the worn down matriarch to handle. She took a few glancing blows but was able to block most of them.

The rest of the fight was an almost even match, with Ranma and Cologne trading damage at an almost equal rate… almost. Cologne was still pulling new hidden techniques out that Ranma could have only dreamed of, but now he didn't have the speed required to dodge most of them. It was like this way, all the way until both fighters were staring each other down, blood dripping from both and breaths raging like there wasn't enough air for the two of them.

The two stared at each other in a final showdown that seemed like hours for the pair, but was broken in a sheer instant that made everyone's eyes shoot wide save for one. "You win…"

Ranma could barely believe his ears, as he blinked and looked at the old ghoul who had hung her head, eyes closed. "Wait… WHAT?" he yelled over to the chinese woman.

"I will honor my promise, Ranma. Shampoo, Mousse and I will leave and never bother you again" the heavy voice of Cologne replied. Ranma couldn't comprehend why the old ghoul was saying this and responded with a low, "What? We aint done…"

He stopped once the woman raised an old weathered hand, raising her saddened gaze to him. "Ranma, you have fought harder than I've ever seen, just to keep from losing. Even if I won, I doubt you would ever fully follow our ways of marriage. This I know due to your fighting spirit... even after I used the forbidden technique on you, you fought on with a will I've rarely seen. I only wish I could remove that effect but I am unable…"

"So this is it?" Ranma finally said after a moment. Cologne replied after a long sigh, "Yes, this is farewell, Saotome Ranma. Shampoo, Mousse… come."

With that, Ranma looked over to Shampoo to see a face of falling tears. Without a word, he turned and walked over to Akane, who had been watching the entire duel in rapture. Once she noticed Ranma standing in front of her, she looked up into his face, eyes still wide.

Seeing her reaction, Ranma put a hand on her forehead and smiled, while saying "Let's go home, Akane..." He then promptly fell forward, Akane snapping out of her daze just in time to catch him.

It took Ranma a week to fully heal from that fight.

During that time, Cologne kept her word and closed down the Cat Café... Ranma never heard from the three ever again.

Stepping out of the furo, Ranma felt a pang of guilt from the way Shampoo looked at him, but he just shook it off. 'She'sbetter off not striving over something she'll never have...' he told himself as he dried off and dressed for bed.

oOo

The next morning, as the sun shown down on Nerima, the atmosphere inside the Tendo household was unusually solemn and quiet. This meant there were no super powered martial artists seeking neither the death of Saotome Ranma nor the hand in marriage of Tendo Akane, sometimes the other way around depending on the day. With any luck, everything would be quiet from now on, to the great relief of the local insurance companies.

This is because today, Saotome Ranma and Tendo Akane were finally getting married; thus putting a stop, once and for all, to the madness which plagued Nerima... or so they hoped.

The morning passed like a blur for everyone in the Tendo household, every person doing something to help complete the planned event without hitch. Ever since the last attempt at a wedding bombed, literally, Genma and Soun had been almost chewing their nails off waiting for their next chance to wed their children together. Had it not been for Nodoka, they would have tried sooner, but she wanted them to wait until Akane and Ranma came forward to them.

After the two set a date, the clock started ticking down. Now it seemed like time was passing like water falls from the sky when it rains. And then... the rain stops.

"By the powers vested in me..." the priest intoned with a grand smile on his face pausing as Ranma and Akane looked at each other in love. Ranma, clad in a white tuxedo and Akane dressed in a western wedding gown. Both stood before the priest holding the short western wedding, while everyone waiting for the last words to finalize the event.

"I now pronounce you man and wife!" he finished. To Ranma's surprise, it was at that moment that Akane pulled him in to a tight embrace and a deep kiss to cement the marriage. After a moment, he was kissing her back, his arms wrapped just as tight around his new wife. All around them, their family cheered and whistled in celebration.

"Way to go Akane!" Nabiki shouted at her sister with a laugh.

Soun and Genma were practically dancing together. "At last, Saotome! Finally, our families are joined... Our schools are united!" Soun yelled at his friend, bursting into tears which threatened to flood the dojo. Quickly, Genma excused himself and pushed Soun outside for the safety of everyone. Nodoka and Katsumi just shared smiles as they watched the men go outside.

After what seemed like eternity, the newlyweds broke their embrace and stood their smiling at each other each holding the other's hands. If asked, they would have sworn that they could see perfect reflections of themselves in the other's eyes, they were looking so deep into them.

Their moment was broken as Nodoka walked over, smile across her face, to ask, "What do you both plan to do now?"

Ranma looked at Akane with a grin and she blushed a bit. "Akane and I decided to go to a university together. We've already chose Mizuharo University over in Juuban. It'll be perfect for us."

By that time, Genma had come back in from pushing Soun outside. With a lecherous grin on his face, he added, "And you'll have some time alone to your new wife too, eh boy?"

With both Ranma and Akane blushing bright red, Akane replied trying to sound scandalized but only succeeding partially, "Uncle Saotome! Please!"

"Genma... don't embarrass them like that." Nodoka chided her husband. "Besides, I'm sure Ranma is more than manly enough to satisfy Akane."

Hearing this, Ranma wondered if his head was going to explode with all the blood from his body rushing to his face. He decided to act quickly to try and prevent his mother from embarrassing him further, either by accident or on purpose. Letting out a cough, Ranma spoke up, "Our only problem right now is that, even though we've chosen to attend Mizuharo U, we don't have a place to stay while we apply. There's also no guarantee we will find an apartment between now and when classes start either."

Seeing the look on her son's face, she put a finger to her chin and asked, "I know you were young at the time, but don't you remember your Grandfather Hino or Cousin Rei?"

"Maybe... I think me and Pop saw them shortly after starting on that training trip. I would have only been six at the time... I think Rei was even younger than me, but why do you bring them up?" Ranma replied in confusion.

"Well, my father, your Grandfather Hino, owns a shrine in Juuban. I think Rei is there training as a Shinto Priestess. From what I can remember, it's not far from the university. You could always ask them for a room to stay in until you find a place of your own."

With a slight frown of thought, Ranma mulled over the idea for a second. "I don't know, mom. I mean, they probably don't even remember me. I'd feel like I'm imposing on them if I just show up out of nowhere after ten years asking for a place to stay."

"Nonsense, Ranma. I'll go give them a call. I'm sure there will be no problems with you staying for a short while." With that, Nodoka turned and headed back into the house where the phone was.

Seeing Ranma look back to her, Akane shrugged a bit and smiled weakly, "It would be nice to have a place to stay when we got there..."

She didn't get much farther before the pair turned towards another figure who had stepped up. Genma looked solemn as he nodded to Akane and then turned towards Ranma. "Boy," he started, "it's time you took more responsibilities as heir to the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu."

Raising an eyebrow, Ranma looked at his father. "What kind of responsibilities, Pop?"

In answer, Genma produced two thick scrolls from behind his back and handed them to Ranma. With a puzzled look on his face, the pigged tailed son opened the scrolls and almost had his eyes pop out of his head. "Pops... these are the Saotome Forbidden Techniques!" he exclaimed, his eyes trying to soak the writings in all at once. Then, he stopped looking the scrolls over and trained his eyes at his father, "I thought they were destroyed..."

With a laugh, Genma's glasses flashed. "They were, boy. These are copies, the only ones in existence, mind you. So I expect you to treat them with respect and make me proud!" A second later, his visage became hardened once more, "I know you'll use them more wisely than I ever did... Consider them a wedding gift as well as your first real responsibility towards the Art."

"I don't know what to say... Thanks, Oyaji!" Ranma replied as he rolled up the scrolls and smiled at his father.

Genma just smiled back at his son. "You've made me proud, boy... Son..." he said, before turning around and headed out to see if Soun had stopped crying... and maybe to cry some himself.

Ranma watched him go but quickly turned his attention back to the scrolls. He had been trying for a long while to duplicate the Yama-sen-ken techniques used by Ryu Kumon, which had originally been invented by Genma. Knowing that his father would likely disapprove of such dangerous moves being used when they were supposed to be sealed away, Ranma had only practiced them when training by himself in the mountains.

He had started to think he would never get them quite right, which rankled him, even though he was not planning on using the Yama-sen-ken on a regular basis anyway - it was far too dangerous against regular opponents. Now, those same techniques had just been given to him. He felt like pounding his father for not telling him he had duplicates, but realized it was also his fault, since he had never actually asked Genma if he had made copies.

Looking up from the scrolls, he looked to where Akane was standing to find her missing. Looking around, he saw her on the side of the room, talking with her sisters and Ukyo. With a slight pang of sadness, Ranma wished Ryoga could have been here for this, but that quickly passed as he looked down at the scrolls once more. Since I have the time, it wouldn't hurt to look at these for a while... Ranma thought to himself.

oOo

At the same moment, over at the Hikawa Shrine, Ami and Makoto were stopping by for a visit. Makoto was just getting started on how her latest boyfriend had left her when Rei breathed a sigh of relief and excused herself to answer the phone which was ringing. A few minutes later, both Ami and Makoto saw Rei come back in looking flustered.

"What's wrong, Rei?" Ami asked her friend as she sat back down.

"I don't know... my aunt calls for the first time in over ten years and by the end of the conversation has me agreeing to have my cousin stay here at the shrine..." she replied with a frown. Shaking her head she muttered, "I don't know how she did it, but she managed to have her way in less than five minutes..."

Makoto and Ami looked at each other in confusion. Then Makoto turned back, ponytail waving, and asked, "Why would he need to stay at the shrine?"

"It seems he is starting up at Mizuharo University and don't have an apartment yet. He's going to look for one when he gets here, even though classes only start in a few days." Rei replied, shaking her head at the situation.

"So..." Makoto started up with a familiar look in her eyes, "What's your cousin like, Rei?"

Hearing and seeing this, Ami giggled a bit while Rei let out a slight groan, "Don't even think about it, Makoto. He's bringing his wife here with him."

"Reh?!" the brown haired Senshi exclaimed in response. "A wife?" she echoed as her shoulders slumped.

Ami had a finger up to her mouth in thought, "When's the last time you've seen your cousin, Rei?"

The fiery female waved a hand in front of her quickly, "It's been over ten years. I was only four at the time. I think he and his father were headed out on a training expedition at the time. They weren't here long."

Ami and Makoto looked at each other once again. "A training expedition..." Ami echoed. "What kind of training?"

"I think it was for martial arts..." Rei said with a thoughtful look on her face.

Makoto looked at Rei with a saddened face, "He's a martial artist too!?" With that, she pouted and let out a slightly whiny, "Why are all the good one's taken?" A moment passed before her pout faded to be replaced by confusion once more. "Wait a minute... You said his father was taking him training at six?"

Rei nodded at her friend, "Yeah... though I think his training started well before that. He had already been traveling on the training trip before he showed up here."

Ami looked rather doubtful, "Isn't that a little... well, obsessive of his father?"

Holding her hands up defensively, Rei replied, "It's not like I could do anything... I was only four at the time! Besides, I'm lucky I can remember this from over ten years ago!"

"Sorry, Rei" Ami apologized to her friend. "Um... when is he supposed to arrive?"

"Well, he should be here tomorrow afternoon from what my aunt said..."

The girls looked from one another for a moment before Makoto spoke up again with a raised eyebrow, "Will this interfere with our... other activities?"

Rei thought about it for a second, but waved it off with her hand, "I don't think so. He's only going to be here long enough for him and his wife to find a place nearby. We'll just have to find somewhere else to meet up while he's here and be quiet about around him."

With a nod, Ami asked another question, "Rei, where's your cousin from anyways?"

When Ami heard, "Nerima", she let out a slight frown. The Nerima Ward had a history of weird occurrences and strangeness that rivaled Juuban's. Shaking her head, she gave a mental shrug. Just cause he's from there doesn't mean he is weird as well. she thought as she started reading the book in her lap again.

oOo

By the time Nodoka had come back to the dojo, Ranma and Akane were sitting together holding each other's hands again. They looked up at the Saotome matriarch as she approached them, standing in respect. His mother smiled one again, looking over her son and his new wife.

"I have good news for you both. I spoke with your cousin Rei and she agreed to let you both stay in a spare room at the shrine." Nodoka said with a smile.

"I just hope you don't start attracting girls once we get there." Akane said to her husband with a slight edge that showed her old temper hadn't died.

"Come on, Akane! You know you're the only one for me! We just got married for Kami's sake." Ranma said to his new wife with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

He was thrown off guard a second later when his wife's face switch from annoyance to full on happiness as she planted a kiss on his lips. Drawing back from him, she giggled and replied, "I know. I just wanted to make sure you knew, too."

A few moments passed as Ranma blushed at his bride and smiled dreamily at her. 'I could get used to this...' he thought to himself.

Nodoka only smiled at the interactions her child and new daughter were displaying. With a cough though, she had their attentions back just enough for her to say, "You both better start getting ready. I told your cousin to expect you tomorrow afternoon."

Both teenagers smiled at her and let out a happy, "Hai!"

oOo

Elsewhere in Tokyo, a dark-green haired woman took a sip of the tea she was holding and looked out at the sky. A smile toyed at the edge of her lips as she mused over the plans in her head. It's almost time I paid a visit to a certain pair of Moon cats... and one other..., she thought as she nursed the warm cup in her hand.

Soon the Senshi will know more of their past... There's much work for me to do. With that, she stood up from the café she was sitting at and moved out into the crowds that moved up and down the streets of Tokyo.

The final awakening is beginning... hopefully the circle will finally be complete.

End of Chapter 1

oOo

A/N – The following notes were taken from Mr Giroux's "Lines of Destiny" word for word.

- The Saotome Forbidden Techniques are a dual set of thieving techniques designed by Genma when he was younger. The moves are divided in two main categories: The Yama-sen-ken Mountain of the 1000 fists and the Umi-sen-ken Sea of the 1000 fists. Both are actually styled in ways similar to attacking a house. The Yama-sen-ken moves are all highly aggressive and violent, like a violent and aggressive thief attacking a house. The Umi-sen-ken are quiet and soft, but more difficult. It's a higher art, like a sneak thief attacking the house at night, while the occupants don't notice.

In the manga, Genma had "generously" given Ryu Kumon's father the Yama scroll, to help the Kumon Dojo, which was basically falling apart. However, after practicing on the Dojo itself, Ryu's dad pulled the building down on top of him. His last words to Ryu were to find the Umi-sen-ken, with which he believed the restoration of the Kumon Dojo could be possible. Afterwards, Ryu wandered around, naming himself "Ranma Saotome" (Ranma had doodled his name on the Yama-sen-ken scroll), and happened to save Nodoka one day, and named himself as "Ranma Saotome". Ryu then stayed at the Saotome house for several days, during which he was naturally challenged by Ranma.

In a latter fight, Ranma was almost killed by one of Ryu's attacks, and later demanded that Genma teach him the Umi-sen-ken. Genma briefly showed Ranma some of the moves on Ranma's body, which was enough for Ranma to understand, and then train to perfection the style of the Umi-sen-ken.

Meanwhile, Ryu was close to beating up Nodoka because he thought she had the Umi-sen-ken scrolls - they had been given to her by Genma before he left on the training expedition with Ranma, though Ryu couldn't bring himself to do anything.

In the final battle, it was agreed that if Ryu lost, he would 'seal away' the Yama-sen-ken, while if Ranma lost, Ryu would get the Umi-sen-ken. Ryu, hoping to learn the Umi-sen-ken off Ranma, deliberately tried to get Ranma to attack him with them, which Ranma did so. However, Ryu could not follow the moves, and on Ranma's first attack, he found himself lying on the ground in pain.

The battle ended with Ryu literally buried in a large mound of dirt.