Xian Pu blinked lazily as she stretched out her arms. It was nice to wake up without having anything all that pressing to do. Maybe she could just stay in bed for a little while longer...
Ranma suddenly rushed into her room with his trademark smirk, causing Xian Pu to jump up. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing too much underneath the covers. After all, there wasn't any need, since she was sleeping in a separate room from Ranma now. "Ranma!!", she growled as Ranma blushed and ran out of the room even faster than he ran in.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." she heard him mumbling while she headed to the drawer where she put her clothes in, and pulled out on of her Chinese dresses. Things went very well for her yesterday, getting to know Ranma's mother and spending some more time with him, but this was NOT how she wanted to start her day off.
"Is okay come in now Ranma", she said, sighing.
"Geez, Xian, I'm really sorry.", he said while scratching the back of his head, a blush on his face. "I didn't mean to, well, you know. I thought you'd probably be up by now, so..."
"Don't worry about Xian Pu, Ranma. Xian...I at least moderately covered.", she said, a gleam in her eye. "If not, you have to marry. Is Amazon law." Ranma gulped as he started to back-step towards the door. After all, he may be a little bit more comfortable around women now, but there was a limit.
Xian Pu started to giggle as she noticed the fear on his face. "Am just kidding, Ranma. You not airen. No need worry." As she said this her face started to fall a little bit, but she corrected that before Ranma could see.
"Hey Xian, we've got to do a lot today, so we better get started."
"What you mean, lot to do?"
"Well, mom was thinking that we'd do somethin' together today, then I was hopin' that we might be able to find those girls from earlier."
Xian Pu's eyes narrowed a little. "Why you want to meet short skirt girls?"
"Ummm...well, we do kind of owe them for fixin' up the house, and I was thinkin' that we might be able to help them out. I imagine they could use another couple of good fighters."
Xian Pu turned her head away slightly, not wanting to make eye contact. She should have known Ranma better by now.
"I'll meet you downstairs, Xian-chan. Mom has some leftover breakfast in the fridge. It's really good. Much better than deer and grass stew.", he said, winking at her. Then he was off, leaving Xian Pu to freshen up.
If it was as hard to track those girls as Xian Pu thought, it'd probably be a long day. At least she was with Ranma. It was good to finally have a real friend. Who knows, maybe now she'd get the chance to make more.
It was dark, but then again it was always dark in the Dark Kingdom. Beryll hated it. She hated it almost as much as she hated the light.
"So, Nephrite, do you think you could do a better job then Jaedite? He was a terrible disappointment. You do know what happens to disappointments, don't you?"
"Yes, your Majesty.", he said while bowing, his fist planted to the floor. "He was a fool, taking the Senshi on without any help from youma. Rest assured, your Majesty, I am not a fool."
"We'll see, Nephrite, we'll see. I expect you to have Tokyo conquered within a couple more months and I expect weekly reports showing your progress towards such. Once we reach that point, I'll give you the rest of your orders. Now begone."
Nephrite got up and left, never looking back, which is just as well. He probably wouldn't have felt nearly as good if he had seen the smirk on Beryll's face.
Usagi was enjoying herself at the Crown Game Center. She still had to work twelve hour shifts, but now that there were four Senshi she had a little bit of time to herself. Playing the new Sailor V video game was the perfect way to pass her time. She still couldn't get over the fact that she actually knows Sailor V. She is so great. It was almost like she'd known her for years!!
She sighed as she, once again, saw her character get pegged by a criminal's bullet. It was amazing how she was so bad at video games when she was able to save Tokyo from crime so 'easily'. She rolled her eyes at this. People really had no idea, did they?
"Hey, Usagi-chan. I see you still can't get past the third level. I would've thought you'd be doing better than that, now that you have more time to practice.", Motoki said, rubbing her head affectionately.
Usagi grimaced, as she turned away from the video game. Here was the man she had a crush on since she was 12 years old and all he thought of her was that she was some cute little kid sister. Little did he know.
"I've been spending too much time trying to catch up on schoolwork, for when school starts back up."
Motoki punched her lightly on the shoulder. "C'mon, Usagi. You don't have to lie to me. I'd do the same if I was in your shoes."
Usagi was about to retort when she felt her communicator vibrating. She'd have to thank Ami again for rigging up the communicators so they could vibrate instead of beep. It was a master-stroke of genius and saved her a ton of explanations.
"I've gotta go, Motoki-san. My parents are...umm...they're holding a test in mathematics."
"Oh.", he said, nodding. That explained a lot.
Usagi ran off a couple of blocks and ducked into a portable bathroom. After a check from her communicator and a transformation later, she was headed for the local shopping district.
Ranma groaned as he was dragged off to yet another clothing store, for the third hour straight. He liked being with his mom and Xian, but this was just too much. "Hey, guys. I'm gonna be in the manga store over there, if ya need me."
Nodoka got a slightly sad look on her face as she nodded her assent. "I'll come get you when we're done, Ranma." With that said, she changed her course from a 'general selection' clothing store to a women's clothing store. Ranma shuddered, grateful that his mom hadn't found out about his curse yet. Who knew what would happen if she found out.
He opened the door to the manga shop and started to look at the selection. It was huge!! He'd heard about manga, but had never had the chance to read any before. "One must being willing to sacrifice everything for the art.", was his father's favorite saying. He could still hear his father say that whenever he thought about anything besides the Art.
He tried to forget about that as he started roaming throughout the manga, trying to find one that he'd like. He eventually started moving from the front of the store, which mainly consisted of shojo stories, and started to find stuff a little more to his liking. He was just getting into a good one, called "Slayers", when he heard somebody scream outside. Instincts took over as he tossed the manga back onto its shelf and started to run for the door.
Outside was a monster that looked to be made from a photo booth. He stood there staring at it, as his mind was assaulted by the memory of his mother lying on the floor. Cold and helpless. Hardly breathing. Ranma's eyes narrowed as a huge red battle aura broke out around him. "This youma will NOT hurt anybody else! I swear it!", he vowed as he broke into the fastest run he could.
Within the span of a second he was upon the monster. Before it could even register the approach of an enemy, it was assaulted with a punch-kick combo that was immediately followed up by a leg sweep that sent it careening backwards. It didn't stop there though. Oh no, Ranma wouldn't let it get off that easily. He continued to throw more punches and kicks, giving it all he had until he jumped back, needing a breather.
The youma got back up and dusted itself off. It charged for Ranma before he got a full chance to rest and started its own attack. Ranma easily dodged it's attacks, being quite a bit quicker. However, try as hard as he might, he wasn't able to cause any damage that made the youma so much as flinch.
Just as he started to get tired, the creature was assaulted by Xian Pu, her bonbori hitting it in the side. "What's wrong with me?", Ranma asked himself. "There's no way that thing should be shrugging off those blows. I may not be as good as Khu Lon, but I have ta be as good as those sailor girls."
Ranma pulled himself out from his contemplations just as he noticed that Xian Pu had been tagged by a new youma that had shown up, and was sent flying into a fire hydrant. Ranma saw red as he dove for the new youma, giving it everything he had. "Kachu Tenshin Amagurikan", he shouted as he let loose 600 consecutive hits to its torso finishing with a jump back to view his handiwork. However, it just stood there and leered at him while it got back up and started its charge.
He quickly noted that Xian Pu regained her footing, which was a good thing, since both youma were currently charging towards them. He got ready to meet the first youma's attack when he heard someone shout "Fire Soul", which was followed by a jet of flames that engulfed the second youma, causing it to shriek in pain. He didn't pay too much attention to the Sailor Suited Warrior of Justice though. He didn't have time. He had to distract the first youma until someone with...m..more...power came to take care of it, he admitted to himself.
The fight seemed to draw on forever, with him hardly causing a scratch on the beast. However, eventually after the other Senshi showed up it wasn't too much of a fight , even when a third and fourth youma appeared.
After the battle was over Ranma fell to his knees, his eye's closed in disgust. He could practically hear his father behind him. "Well, boy, I see you've shown your true colors. I guess you're not a girl after all. That's much too powerful for you. What's it feel like having to be saved by bunch a bunch of little girls?"
Ranma clapped his hands over his ears and let out a scream that everyone within distance would always remember. It was gut wrenching scream that some would say was the scream of someone who'd lost their soul to a youma. It was a scream of utter misery and despair.
The Senshi jumped back, and even Xian Pu took a step back as Ranma jumped for the nearest roof and ran with all his might.
Sailor Moon shot a worried look at her friends as she saw the young man from before shoot off at a speed that almost matched their Senshi forms. All of them looked downtrodden. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. They won. Clear cut. No people injured. Why? What could have happened to this boy to make him sound like that?!
"Mercury, can you track that young man?", Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes, Sailor Moon. I've been scanning him for awhile now, so it shouldn't be too hard. If you want, I could send the program into your communicator."
"I'd appreciate that.", she said as she took off in the direction of the boy.
"You no leave without Xian Pu. Ranma is Xian Pu best friend.", she heard someone shout from behind. She turned around while on one of the rooftops, just in time to see the purple-haired girl (Shampoo, she said?) jump up after her. Sailor Moon stared at her for a moment. How was it that these two were able to pull off feats like this? Oh well, she'll have to investigate that later. Judging by the look in Xian Pu's eyes, she wasn't going to get any answers right now. Besides, she had to help that boy.
Sailor Moon started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a slightly slower pace than normal, to make sure Xian Pu could keep up. After a couple of blocks she took out her communicator and tuned it to the map screen. Sure enough, there was a glowing blip. Then again, that couldn't be it, could it? It was over half a mile away!!
Lacking any better direction she started to head for the blip, but began to get worried when Ranma hadn't shown up within a few more blocks. "Shampoo, I think we may have missed him.", she said stopping on one of the higher roofs, so she could look in every direction.
"Why that? Magical screen not working properly?", Xian Pu asked.
"I don't think so. According to this, Ranma would have to have been more than half a mile away when we first started."
"Oh, that all? I think he would have run much farther."
Usagi shrugged off her surprise and continued onwards. Within another minute of flat out sprinting they had arrived, and not a moment too soon, from the looks of things.
Ranma sat there staring at the water. His mind no longer working, he just stared off into space, nothing registering, until a hand was put on his shoulder.
Ranma let out a sharp gasp as the world started to lurch around him. He turned around and saw two of the people that meant the most to him. There was An-ei, laying a hand on his shoulder, and behind her was his beloved Hikari. Ranma blinked a couple of times. That didn't seem to be quite right. Those weren't their names. They're Xian Pu and Sailor Moon, right?
"Go away", he managed to whisper. The last thing he needed was pity, especially from somebody that was stronger than him.
"No. We no leave when need."
"I said to go away, Xian."
Sailor Moon stood in the background, feeling horribly out of place. Did she have a right to be here? She didn't even know the girl, Shampoo, let alone Ranma, but she felt like she had to do something. It felt like her heart was ripping apart.
"Ranma-sama.", she spoke softly. "I just wanted to let you know that I appreciated your help out there."
"Appreciated my help? Appreciated my HELP?!", Ranma shouted, a sick green glow surrounding him. "Oh yes, the great Saotome Ranma. Master of the light punch and the bounce-back kick."
Sailor Moon stared at him, a shocked look on her face. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She didn't know how, but she knew that this wasn't how he was supposed to be.
Ranma sank back to his knees as the overwhelming guilt overtook him. He just proved, once again, how weak he actually was, snapping at a girl he barely knew. A person that was ten times what he could ever be.
Ranma reeled back as Sailor Moon struck him with an open palm. She glared at him in righteous fury. "Is that all you have to say?! Is it? Oh, look at me. I can't kill a youma with my bare hands.", she said, tears starting to roll down her eyes. "Do you even realize? Do you?! Do you know how many lives you just saved by stalling long enough for us to come? The man I saw out there was nothing like this pitiful shell of a little boy. The man I saw out there was everything we could ever hope to represent!!", she finished with a shout. She spun around, tears still streaming down her eyes as she ran away, not really caring where she went.
"This isn't supposed to be how things go when we meet!", her mind screamed. "This isn't what's supposed to happen. Why?"
That was the last thought she had before she collapsed on a rooftop, sobbing to herself. She had no idea how long she was there before arms gently wrapped around her. She stared into Sailor Venus' eyes for a brief moment before she let it all out, sobbing into her best friend's chest.
Sailor Venus' eyes were sad as she tried to comfort her friend, her princess. "There, there. It's going to be alright. You'll see. You'll see.", she whispered into Sailor Moon's ear as she gently rocked her back and forth, until half an hour later when she eventually cried herself to sleep.
Xian Pu just stood there. She didn't know what else to do. She felt like she had just witnessed a violation of all the rules she knew. She felt like she disturbed an almost sacred ceremony, of which she was part, but had no right to be. That's what hurt. That's what really tore at her soul.
She watched as Ranma, once again, sank slowly to his knees, but she could tell that it was different this time. She moved forward and put her hand on Ranma's shoulder again. "Is okay, Ranma. Xian Pu know you need time alone. I tell mother you be back when can. Just no be out too long.", she whispered into his ear, giving his shoulder a squeeze and drawing him into a quick hug. It was over too soon, and she got back up. Then, like a shadow in the noonday sun, she vanished.
Sailor Moon's words kept repeating in Ranma's mind, drowning out the admonishments of his father. However, even though her words held true, wasn't it also true that he was still weak?
"Is it all that weak to depend on others?", Ranma could hear his onna-form's voice ask him.
"Yes. A true martial artist need not depend on others."
"Oh, really? So would you say that Sailor Moon is weak?"
"No! Of course not!"
"Ah, but you just said that in order to be strong, you mustn't be dependant on others. Yet, Sailor Moon places her life in the hands of her fellow Senshi every time she does battle."
"That's different, and you know it!!"
"Really? I fail to see the difference. Then again, she is just a girl, isn't she? One can't expect much from a girl."
Ranma's battle aura came to life briefly, giving everything around him a slightly red tint. "What's that supposed to mean?", he snarled out. "Some of the best warriors I know have been girls. Just take a look at the Senshi and Xian Pu. Look at Khu Lon, for crying out loud!!"
"So, what you're telling me is that it's not a bad thing to depend on others, and that it's also not a bad those for those other people to be girls, ne?"
Ranma drew in a sharp breath. Could that be true? Could he have been wrong all this time? He sighed as he thought about it for a while longer and came to the conclusion that it was, indeed, quite true. Maybe teamwork wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Ranma, set off for home just as the sun started to set, bursting in all the colors he remembered from when he was in the forests of China. It seemed a fitting overture to the earlier events, he thought. Hopefully, it would also be a prelude of things to come.
Nodoka sat on the living room couch, next to Xian Pu, thinking about her son. What did her husband do to their son that could bring that kind of reaction.
Just as Ranma was about to enter, he was thrown back when his mother tackled him in a fierce hug. "You're okay. My baby boy's alright.", she murmured, hugging him for all she was worth.
Ranma blushed at some of the things she said, but returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. It seemed as if everything was, once again, right with the world.
Nephrite grumbled to himself as he reviewed the day's failure. He was so sure that he would have be able to win the shopping district, as well as the energy from all the people there. He'd planned it so carefully! He knew the Senshi's general routes for patrol. He watched them until they were ten minutes away from the fight. He even threw four youma at them, but the Senshi still won!!
Nephrite grabbed a nearby Youma by the neck and started squeezing the life out of it, taking extra care to make it last as long as possible. "It was all that boy's fault.", he thought. "Rest assured, I will find you and crush you.", he declared, crushing the youma's throat.
"There. That feels much better.", he declared, wiping the dust from in between his fingers.
Usagi woke up to the sound of her communicator going off. She shrugged off the dysphoria accompanied from dropping into sleep unexpectedly, and grabbed her communicator. Ami's face showed up on the screen as soon as she pressed the receive button. Usagi smiled. After all, it wasn't the distress signal sent out when a youma was attacking. What could possibly go wrong?
"Good, you're awake. Come over to Rei's shrine ASAP. I'm afraid I have to call a Senshi meeting."
"Whoa, slow down, Ami. Why? What's so important?"
"It's about Ranma and Xian Pu. They're not what they seem."
Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sorry that it's a little bit shorter than some of the others, but I figured this was a pretty good place to stop. Hehe. As always, send all comments and criticisms to asgeras@hotmail.com . For previous chapters, in their most recent state, go to the link at the bottom.
I'd like to send a special thanks to my editor, Yap Chin Weng, who has selflessly volunteered his time to help me out. It is greatly appreciated!!