Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Goddess ❯ A Cure for the Cat-Fist ( Chapter 6 )

Sailor Goddess

A Ranma One Half Fan Fiction

By Michael A. Ivins

 

Ranma, and all of his/her friends and family are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own any of them, nor do I own any of the characters from Ah! My Goddess or Sailor Moon. I'm writing this for fun, not profit. I'm so poor that suing me wouldn't do you much good.

 

WARNING: This is a sequel to a previous fic I wrote called, “Nodoka's Lessons.” That was a Lemon fic. While there won't be as much emphasis on sex (it will be more implied than described) in this sequel, it will deal with subjects like incest. If these subjects offend you, stop reading.

 

Chapter 6

A Cure for the Cat-Fist

 

Arriving in back yard at the house Ranma, went into the house and announced herself. Nodoka smiled at her daughter and asked, “How was your tour?”

 

Ranma shook her head. “I don't know if I can find words to describe it. It was totally amazing. I also learned where I'm going to doing a lot of my training. I'm sorry I didn't come straight home.”

 

Nodoka smiled. “You are an adult and a goddess. You don't need to check in with me.”

 

Ranma bowed and said, “I still don't want you to worry. Skuld was hungry for some ice cream so I took her to a place I know of in Juuban. It's a great place. I had my ice cream drowned in chocolate syrup.”

 

She paused before saying, “While I was there I ran into a group of girls that lived in the area. I didn't know any of them but got the strangest feeling that I've met them before. They must have felt the same because there was this one blonde girl who thought I was a old friend of hers named Ruby. I had to tell her that I don't know anyone named Ruby.”

 

“How odd,” Said Nodoka.

 

Ranma looked at the clock. “It's early enough that I think I want to go visit the Onos. Doc was worried about my pregnancy and I need to tell him about the changes that have happened. I have the word of no less than Kami-Sama Himself that my babies will be born healthy. On top of that goddesses tend to be pretty healthy as well, so the Doc has no need to worry.”

 

Nodding, Nodoka agreed, “Yes, I think it would be a nice gesture to go visit to tell him about this.”

 

Ranma nodded and kissed both of her spouses before going out to roof hop to the clinic of Ono Tofu. The clinic was closed for the day, but Ranma didn't go to the main door. She went to the rear of the building where she knocked at the door at the top of a flight of stairs.

 

At her knock Kasumi came to the door and the brown haired woman stood looking up at the person who had come calling. She didn't think she knew any women who were that tall and had tattoos on their faces, but on the other hand how many blue eyed redheads did she know? Cautiously she asked, “Ranma, is that you?”

 

“Yeah, It's me. Is the doc home, oneechan?” Ranma knew Kasumi got a kick out of Ranma calling her “big sister.”

 

Kasumi was taking a while to adjust to the changes to her sister/brother-in-law. Finally she answered, “Yes, he's here. Were you here to talk about this new change in you?”

 

“Yes,” Ranma agreed. “A lot has happened since you left Mom's house yesterday.”

 

“Please,” she invited, “come in and sit down.”

 

As they got to the living room and Ranma went to the couch. Kasumi went to the door of the bedroom and said, “Tofu, Ranma's here and would like to talk to you.”

 

The doctor came out of the bedroom and looked at his guest. After taking in the changes in his patient he said, “I was going to ask why you didn't come to the clinic during regular hours but I understand now. I'm assuming you came to tell me about the newest changes in you.”

 

Ranma nodded. “I know you were concerned about my health and the health of my babies. Some things happened yesterday that would make it really hard for me to go to the OB/GYN you told me about. Strictly speaking I'm not human any more, or at least not mortal.”

 

“Not mortal?” The doctor considered that for a moment. Finally he commented, “You're going to have to explain how that came to be.”

 

The goddess nodded and launched into a slightly condensed version of the events of the previous day and earlier this same day.

 

After Ranma finished her tale the Doctor opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He stopped and thought some more. Finally he managed to say, “If anyone else had told me this I would doubt their sanity or maybe their honesty. However, I can sense the increase in your ki. You do appear to have the power of a goddess. I suppose it wouldn't be much harder to believe that you are a deity now in truth. About the interview with Kami-Sama I am not even going to try to make a comment. The implications to these events are too big for mortals such as myself to comprehend.”

 

Ranma shook her head and sighed. “Right now it feels like it's too big for me too. There is stuff going on that I don't know about. I'm not going to go into that right now. I do think that I will have to talk to some divine Healer about my pregnancy and ask what sorts of things they do up there. I'm told that pregnant goddesses are rare.”

 

Genuinely curious, Tofu asked, “Why is that?”

 

Ranma explained, “Goddesses don't get pregnant unless they want to. From talking to some goddesses I get the feeling that not many of them are really interested in raising kids. Since they're immortal I guess that's actually a good thing. Imagine how overcrowded the earth would get if the birth rate stayed what it is and nobody ever died.”

 

After thinking about that for a moment, the doctor shuddered. “I understand. It would be horrible.”

 

Ranma thought for a moment and said, “I don't know if they have the kind of space limitation in Heaven that there are here, but still, it's better if only a very few kids are born up there. After all no matter how big the place is, there has to be some limit to it.”

 

“Did anyone say anything to you about your pregnancy?”

 

Ranma sighed. “Nothing specific. I was told that my babies would be born healthy and would have a double portion of all of my gifts. I was also told that Goddesses don't suffer from any of the mortal female problems like morning sickness. When I think that I'm going to get away from that while Mom and Akane won't, it makes me want to see if I can learn some kind of healing power to help ease them through it.”

 

Healing power? That sounded interesting. “Can you do that?”

 

“I don't know,” confessed Ranma, “That wasn't one of the powers I was told I'd have, but I've only been divine for a day. I think I need find out a lot more about this new body.”

 

Dr. Tofu nodded. “That's a good idea. Thank you for coming to tell me about this. I was concerned about your health.”

 

The goddess smiled, “With all you've done for me in the past, you deserve it. I don't know where things are going to go from here, but it's a safe bet that my life is going to stay weird.”

 

Dr. Tofu sighed. “That does seem to be a constant in your life. I wish you well in your new job.”

 

Later that night at the Saotome home the three women engaged in a hot session of 3 way lesbian love. The only problem to come out of it was that Ranma was not getting tired like the other two were. The more they did, the more energetic she became. Finally she could see that her partner's strength was flagging and she called a halt.

 

“It looks like you two are getting tired. I guess being a sex goddess means I could go forever and not get tired.” She couldn't help feeling a twinge of sadness at the thought.

 

“Why don't you get some rest? I'm going to go sit on the roof and think for a while.” With that she levitated up from the bed and phased through the ceiling. She wasn't completely sure how she did that, but it seemed easy and natural to do. Before settling down she summoned up pants and a shirt to wear.

 

She settled down on the roof and looked at the stars. She felt like she was leaving Akane and her mom behind. They couldn't keep up with her anymore when it came to sex. The session had been good and had given her a charge to her energies, but had left her feeling oddly unsatisfied. Was she going to have to seek out some god or goddess to have sex with in the future? Was that the only way she could feel completely satisfied now?

 

If that were the case it would make her feel terribly sad. She loved Akane and her mom. She thought of them as if they were both her wives. She was going to need advice on this.

 

She found that the act of making love to her mother and wife had so charged up her energy that she couldn't sit still. She took off roof hopping. She had no particular destination in mind, she just wanted to expend some of her excess energy in movement. It actually turned out to be a productive night for her. She stopped a mugging and caught two purse snatchers. She rescued three people from a burning building. In all, she felt that it was a night she could be proud of.

 

The newspapers the next day gave reports of a `Crimson haired Avenger,' a `Scarlet haired super heroine,' and even “Flame Headed Angel.” Never once had Ranma stopped to give her name or wait for thanks. The eyewitness reports spoke of a woman of “unearthly beauty” and “fierce fighting skills.”

 

Looking at the newspaper, Nodoka asked, “Did you go out last night, Ranma?”

 

Looking slightly sheepish, Ranma said, “I was too charged up to sit on the roof. I went out and fought a little evil and saved some lives.”

 

“Yes dear, and I'm proud of you for doing that. You're going to have to be more careful in the future, though. Even if the descriptions are in exaggerated language, people who know you might be able to recognize you.”

 

Ranma thought about it. “Hmm. I've heard that the Senshi use some kind of spell that disguises their faces. Maybe I could do that too.”

 

Nodoka smiled. “That would work only if the disguise spell also masks the color of your hair. I'm afraid it is rather distinctive. That was why I started dying my hair to make it darker.”

 

Ranma nodded. “I'll work on it. I'd better turn on the TV and see what Urd has scheduled for me today.”

 

“Didn't you want breakfast?”

 

“I'm not really hungry, Mom. Sex with you and Akane last night was like eating a couple of hearty meals.” She snagged a cup of tea and went to the living room. Picking up the remote, she turned on the TV.

 

A short time later Urd was climbing out of the TV set. “You're prompt this morning.”

 

“What's on the schedule for today?”

 

Urd told her, “I'm going to drop you off at the Physical Culture building. You will go to this room.” She handed Ranma a piece of paper with a room # marked on it. “This is one of the dojos. You will meet with Bast who will work with you on conquering your fear of cats.”

 

Feeling a bit uncertain, Ranma asked, “No offense, but how is a c-cat goddess going to cure me of my fear of c-cats? If I'm scared to even be in the same room as her, I don't know how well this is going to work.”

 

Urd could recognize the real fear in Ranma's voice. She tried to be reassuring. “Bast seemed to think she had a way around that. Please give her a chance.”

 

Muttering, “I'm not going to like this,” she took Urd's hand and dived into the TV screen after her. Shortly Ranma found herself in one of the small dojo's. A TV had been put in the room, likely specifically to accommodate Urd's mode of transport.

 

The silver haired goddess scanned the empty room. She noted a futon on the floor in the center of the room with a raised eyebrow but refrained from comment. She did say, “We seem to be early.”

 

At that moment there came a knock on the door. A pleasant contralto voice spoke from the slightly open door. “Is Ranma there?”

 

Ranma gulped nervously and replied, “I'm here.”

 

“I wanted to be sure you were warned of my coming.” A head poked through the opening. Ranma was relieved to see that the head looked mostly human with long brown hair. Two triangular cat-like ears were mounted high up on the sides of the woman's head and poking through the hair. The short fuzzy hair on the ears was a darker color than the longer hair. A slight twitch to one of the ears confirmed they were real and not part of some kind of costume.

 

She asked, “Is it alright if I come in?”

 

Somewhat reassured but still nervous because of the cat-like features of this woman, the red head said, “Please come in.”

 

The woman was wearing pale green a tunic-like top and shorts the same color. At the back of the shorts there was a hole out of which a furry tail protruded. The fur on the tail was the same dark color as the fur on her ears. She was rather petite, about the same size as Ranma's girl form used to be.

 

Hesitantly the redhead said, “Uh… Hi, I'm Ranma. Please don't be offended, I… was expecting someone more… c-c-catty.”

 

“I'm Bast, goddess first class, category 1, unlimited license. I am the goddess of cats and women. I am not offended. I am taking my most human looking form to try and put you at ease.”

 

Ranma bowed and said, “I thank you for that consideration. Because of it I'm only nervous instead of being near panic.”

 

The cat woman looked the redhead over, gauging her. She turned to Urd and said, “Thank you Urd, I think I can take it from here. You can go now.”

 

Feeling responsibility for the new goddess, Urd asked, “Did you want me to come back later to pick her up?”

 

The feline deity responded, “I don't know how long this will take. It might be better if she uses a patch of dirt outside to go back home.”

 

“Ok, if you're sure.”

 

The cat woman nodded. Urd looked back and forth between the other two women and finally stepped into the TV. Bast commented, “She's a good person. I think she's worried about you.”

 

Ranma nodded, not sure how to respond to that. The small woman gracefully lowered herself to sit on the futon. When she was settled she patted the futon beside her and invited, “Come, sit beside me. We will need to talk.”

 

Ranma sat down cross-legged. She couldn't help a flinch when Bast's tail swished.

 

The cat goddess shook her head sadly. “Your father really messed you up, didn't he? From what I've learned of you already I can tell that the only reason that you're even partly sane is your innate talent and strength of character. I think it must come from a past life. You certainly didn't learn those traits from your father.”

 

The taller goddess was feeling distinctly jittery. She apologized, “I'm sorry, I'm trying to stay calm.”

 

The cat goddess signed. “For what we must do I need for you to feel comfortable in my presence.”

 

Ranma looked around the room as if trying spot avenues of escape. Bast seemed like a nice enough person, it was just those damned feline features she had. “I'm sorry, but that may take a while.”

 

One ear quirked forward and a smile appeared on Bast's face. “I think I may know a shortcut.”

 

The next thing Ranma knew cat goddess was on her knees and holding on to the redhead's shoulders. She was too startled to know how to react when the smaller woman's lips pressed into hers and a tongue began probing at her lips. Maybe it was the whole “sex goddess” thing or maybe something else but she found herself responding by opening her mouth.

 

Two hours later two nude forms separated and lay side by side. Ranma said, “That was amazing, but I'm not quite sure why you started that.”

 

With a subtle little smile, Bast asked, “Do you still feel nervous being near me?”

 

“Eh? I guess not.” Now that she mentioned it, Ranma didn't feel nervous. “I'm still not sure about the tail, but I think the ears are sexy.”

 

With a grin the cat goddess said, “I take it I was your first deity?”

 

“Well… yeah.” Since Ranma had only been a deity herself for a couple of days, it was a silly question.

 

Smiling wider, the cat goddess said, “I'm honored. As you said yourself, most ways of getting someone to be comfortable around you take time. What we just did is usually faster and a lot more fun.”

 

Puzzled, Ranma asked, “Are we in a hurry?”

 

A slight frown replaced the smile as Bast answered, “Not that I know of. However, all of the communications about you have said that all training you are given is to be handled as efficiently as possible. The implication is that it should be done quickly but as thoroughly as time permits. The reason for the haste was not revealed.”

 

Ranma shrugged. That seemed to be consistent with the whole goddess business she had been through so far. Kami-Sama didn't seem willing to let others in on His reasons for what he wanted from Ranma.

 

The cat goddess studied the woman next to her for a moment. She ventured, “You are worried about your mortal lovers, aren't you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

 

In a gentle tone the cat woman soothed, “Not obvious, but not hard to guess. There is something you have to realize about sex deities compared to mortals. When a mortal makes love he or she is engaging in a physical activity that requires them to expend energy. In simplest terms it is an exercise that makes them tired.”

 

“That is also true even of most deities. The difference between mortals and deities at least in this one activity is that gods and goddess have much greater energy reserves and can last a lot longer.”

 

The cat goddess continued, “Sex deities are different from all others in that when making love they cannot get tired because making love charges them up, energizes them. They can outlast anyone except other sex deities.”

 

She laid her head down and contemplated the ceiling for a moment. “There is a story (I don't know if it's true) that Eros and Aphrodite once made a bet as to which of them could outlast the other. According to the story Zeus (you probably know him as Kami-Sama) ordered them to stop after a month and declared there was no winner.”

 

“The moral of this story (if there is one) is that when it comes to making love, no one can outlast a sex deity. This is where you have to start to apply an old principle. It's called quality over quantity.”

 

Ranma frowned. “What do you mean?”

 

Bast explained, “You can be sexually satisfied without getting tired.”

 

“Huh?”

 

The cat goddess swished her tail. “If you do it right, one orgasm can be enough. In fact, if done right one orgasm can be better than dozens. Do you feel tired now?”

 

“Not at all. If anything I feel supercharged with energy.”

 

“Do you feel sexually satisfied?”

 

Slightly surprised to be saying it, Ranma replied, “Yes. More satisfied than I was with both of my lovers last night.”

 

“Aphrodite and Eros have both signed on to train you on some of the things a sex deity needs to know. I won't lie to you, some of it will be sexual positions and techniques but some of that will help you with those mortals you love. They will also teach you how to use your aura to increase or suppress sexual arousal of people around you.”

 

The redhead conceded, “Well I guess it might be fun.”

 

The cat goddess smiled. “Most important for you and your mortal lovers is a technique that lets you share your energy with them. You can give them the stamina needed to keep up with you.”

 

She sighed and said, “All right, that's enough playing around. I didn't just come here to have sex with you today, although I was hoping for it when I came. I'll treat that as a bonus.”

 

Ranma's expression became serious, if a bit apprehensive. “Right! You're going to help cure me of the cat-fist. What do you want me to do?”

 

The cat goddess got up and moved around to kneel by Ranma's head. She lightly touched her fingertips to the redhead's temples. “We're not going to `cure' you; you will master the cat-fist. I believe you already know how to achieve a meditative state. I want you to do that now.”

 

Ranma closed her eyes and took some calming breaths. It was not the easiest thing to do because she felt so charged with energy that she felt almost like bouncing off the walls. Finally she found the calm that Kami-Sama had told her about. She found her center and began to look inward.

 

The next thing she knew she found herself standing on what looked like an endless grassy plain beneath a blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds. Ranma looked down at herself and noticed she was still naked. For some reason it didn't seem to trouble her. A few feet away Bast appeared. She was also naked and still in her cat woman guise.

 

“Where are we?” Ranma asked.

 

The feline deity answered, “We are in a part of the dreamscape of your mind. We are going to confront the spirit of the cat-fist and you must accept it into yourself as a part of you. Once you do that you will be a true master of the technique and able to summon forth the ki claws without having to go even temporarily insane. You will also lose all of your fear of cats. In fact you will be able to talk to cats, including the big cats like lions and tigers.”

 

A thought occurred to her. “Just because you can talk to a tiger and understand him doesn't mean you should think they are tame. You could try to talk to a tiger who would tell you, `You look like you would be a tasty meal.' As a goddess you'd be more likely to hurt the tiger than be hurt, but still it's better to avoid such fights.”

 

“Ok, what's next?”

 

“We walk.” She started off over the neatly trimmed grass. Ranma shrugged and followed. She hoped the cat woman knew where she was going. The plane they were crossing looked the same in every direction.

 

After they had been walking for what seemed like an hour Ranma spotted what at first looked like a dot on the horizon. As they continued on it got bigger and began to take shape.

 

After they got close enough to clearly see it Ranma stopped short. Ahead of them was an enclosure that looked like it was composed those metal poles and velvet ropes that theaters used to channel patrons. They were the sort of dividers that would tell people where not to go without providing a real barrier. She had to wonder why something like that was inside her own mind.

 

Inside of that enclosure was a thing of nightmare. It had the general form of a house cat but was taller at the shoulder than was Ranma herself. The coloring of the creature was black and gray in a tabby cat striped pattern. The beast was prowling back and forth like a caged tiger. The sounds coming from the giant cat were like some odd blending of lion, tiger and housecat but enlarged or amplified.

 

Suddenly the creature stopped pacing and turned to look at them. The creature let out a roar that felt like it was going to shake the ground. The monster stalked over to the rope barrier and glared in an expression that seemed to broadcast waves of hate. It crouched down and looked like it was getting ready to pounce.

 

Even though she was taller than the cat goddess, Ranma cringed behind her and wailed, “I have to accept that into myself? Are you insane?”

 

The other goddess admonished, “Calm yourself! We are in your own mind. You can change things here. You must concentrate and change how you view this creature. You can change it so that it looks less threatening. You should try to make it look like a baby kitten or maybe a cat that you used to love before your cat-fist training.”

 

Back in the mundane world a certain black moon cat was sleeping on the bed of Tsukino Usagi. She began to have a really strange dream.

 

“A c-cat that I loved before? There were some of those.” Ranma knew there were. She reached out with her mind and into her memories. The cat monster in front of her was acting as a barrier. It was with a supreme effort of will fueled by desperate fear she was able to push past the cat fist. Her extreme emotions gave so much strength to that effort that it pushed farther and harder than Ranma would have planned (if she was really planning.) So great was the power of the mental thrust that it smashed through another barrier she hadn't even realized was there. It was the barrier behind which past life memories had previously been sealed.

 

Initially she took little notice of the memories her mental probe was rushing through. She had to find the memory of a cat she had loved, she had to find it fast before the monster feline was able to pounce. Fortunately for her inside of her own mind time was a matter of perception. She finally came upon the image of two cats together in her memories. Both of them were prominent as creatures for which she had felt great love and affection. In haste she picked one. Not really knowing how she was doing it she applied the image to the cat creature in the roped-off area. Suddenly the monster cat on the dreamscape turned completely black and shrank. Almost before they knew it the cat inside the rope barriers was a smallish looking black cat with a peculiar crescent moon symbol on her forehead.

 

The cat looked around and found herself on a broad grassy plain and inside of a roped off enclosure. Off to one side she could see two nude women, one of whom had catlike ears and a tail. The other woman was tall and had red hair. Both of the women looked familiar. While normally she would have hid the fact that she was intelligent and able to talk she felt almost compelled to talk to these two women. “This is a most peculiar dream I'm having.”

 

The eyes of both goddesses in the dreamscape went wide. Both at the same time spoke the same name, “Luna?”

 

Both goddesses turned and looked at each other and at the same time asked, “You know her?”

 

Now that the barrier sealing away past life memories had broken Ranma felt almost like the flood of memories were going to overwhelm her. She exerted every iota of mental control she possessed to stem the flow and to shunt the extra memories to the side to examine later. When she regained control she had recovered an enormous amount of memories. Things that had been obscure were now clear.

 

Ranma looked at the feline goddess and in a questioning tone said, “Bubastis?”

 

The moon cat walked under the rope of the enclosure and stood in front of the two goddesses. She was trying to make sense of the dream.

 

The cat goddess asked, “How do you know that name?”

 

Ranma explained, “When I was trying to reach a memory of a cat I loved, I reached back into the memories of past lives. I remembered Luna but I also remembered a cat named Bubastis.”

 

“A past life?”

 

Luna looked up at the redhead and said, “You were Ruby, weren't you?”

 

“I… I… was. I was also Sailor Terra. I can remember it now. I was Ruby. You're Princess Serenity's advisor, Luna. You were my friend and friend of… Bubastis… my own advisor.”

 

For most of the time they had been together the cat goddess had a sense of nagging familiarity for the tall redhead. Like the other moon cats her time in stasis had wrought havoc on her memories. Now she realized where she knew Ranma from. Bast fell to her knees in front of redheaded goddess and begged, “Princess, please forgive me. What I did with you was totally inappropriate.”

 

Bemused, Ranma pulled the cat goddess to her feet and told her, “If you are talking about the sex, consider it forgiven. I've been reborn several times since the Silver Millennium and those ties no longer hold. I hope I can still keep both of you as friends.”

 

A thought occurred to Ranma. “Wait a minute. I'm acting like this is really Luna. Isn't this cat here just an image from my memories? The real Luna would have been dead for thousands of years.”

 

The moon cat took in the scene and the conversation and shook her head. “I don't think so. In your life as Ruby you died before the Negaverse rose to give us trouble. They destroyed the Moon Kingdom. Queen Serenity sent the souls of the other Senshi forward in time to be reincarnated along with the soul of her daughter, Serenity. We Mau advisors were placed in stasis. At least Artemis and I were. I never knew what happened to Bubastis.”

 

The cat goddess explained, “I go by the name of Bast now. Ever since the English language started using the word `boob' to mean a fool or an idiot, I decided to change it. I also didn't like that the same word is used as a slang term for women's breasts.”

 

Luna asked, “Are you Saotome Ranma?”

 

The red haired goddess's head whipped around to look at the moon cat. “Where did you hear that name?”

 

“Yesterday you went to an ice cream parlor and while you were there you met a group of girls who were at a nearby booth.”

 

Ranma exclaimed, “I knew there was something up with those girls! They're the Senshi, aren't they?”

 

The cat confirmed, “They are. Sailor Moon would like to get in touch with you. She has a henshin rod for you.”

 

Ranma looked over at Bast and asked, “Would that even work with me being a goddess now?”

 

The feline deity shook her head. “I don't know. This is way outside my area of specialty. I don't know if anything like this has ever come up before. I doubt it.”

 

Still reeling a bit from all that had just happened, Ranma was able to remember the purpose of the current exercise. “While getting back old memories and meeting old friends is nice, what about the reason for coming here inside my mind?”

 

Bast shook herself. “Oh right, we're supposed to cure you of the Cat-fist.”

 

Another thought occurred to the redhead. “I think I see a possible problem. I'm supposed to accept the cat spirit into myself to become a part of me. If I do that with Luna here, what happens to her.”

 

Bast looked over the moon cat, probing her magic senses. After a few moments she said, “Luna is basically astral projected her. Her spirit didn't merge with the nekoken spirit; she took control of it. Her spirit is still tethered to her physical body. When you accept the cat-fist spirit Luna's spirit will return back to her body.”

 

Concerned, Ranma asked, “It won't hurt her, will it?”

 

The cat goddess soothed, “She'll probably wake up feeling disoriented, but nothing serious.”

 

Ranma turned to Luna and told her, “You can't stay inside my head.”

 

The moon cat said, “I agree. But before I leave I want to give you a warning. I doubt it would be possible to find a place more private than the inside of your mind. Only Bast can overhear us. Beware of Sailor Pluto and the Outer Senshi. Pluto often has her own agenda and the Outers usually follow her. None of the Inners know what that agenda is, but we do know that if sometimes conflicts with what Sailor Moon wants.”

 

Ranma tried to understand how someone who had not even met her in her current life could be that hostile toward her. “Is there any reason she wouldn't want me to reclaim my heritage as a Senshi?”

 

Luna explained, “If she felt your doing so was a threat to her plans, then she might not want you to get that henshin rod. I'm pretty sure the Gates of Time won't lock onto or track a deity.”

 

Ranma rolled her eyes. “So maybe I have someone else who wants to kill me?”

 

Luna nodded. “It's possible. I'm just warning you to watch her any time she comes near you.”

 

“Ok, thanks for the warning.” She thought, “Oh well, this Sailor Pluto will have to get in line with all the other people who want to kill me.”

 

Luna jumped up into Ranma's arms and goddess began gently petting the moon cat. She focused her senses on the small creature and was able to see a sort of double image. There seemed to be a kind of cord that ran from one of the images off to disappear in the distance. Ranma concentrated on the cord for a moment and saw it pull taut, taking the image with the moon symbol away.

 

The remaining image still looked like Luna's body but didn't have the moon symbol on her forehead. As Ranma focused on it, the image seemed to dissipate into a fog of light. Still feeling unsure of herself she inhaled the fog. It didn't hurt, but it felt strange. For a moment she blacked out.

 

When Ranma opened her eyes again she saw the ceiling of the dojo in the Physical Culture Building in Heaven. She looked up to find Bast looking down on her.

 

The red haired goddess sat up and asked, “Did it work?”

 

“Let's test it.” Suddenly the catlike human form shrank down until it was a Siamese cat. Ranma looked at the cat and felt not the slightest trace of fear. In delight Ranma scooped up the cat and gave her a hug that would have endangered her life if she hadn't been a goddess.

 

“Boo, it worked! Thank you.”

 

The cat squirmed in her grasp and Ranma put her down. She quickly morphed back into the cat-eared human form. With a stern expression she informed her friend, “I will put up with you calling me `Boo' but you are the only one I will allow to do that. You should test out the rest of it.”

 

Ranma paused to study her teacher for a moment. She nodded and concentrated. The sensation of her ears moving up the sides of her head and changing shape was really weird. Equally weird was the sensation of a tail growing out from the base of her spine. When it was done she reached up and felt the ears. With a little experimentation she was able to bend them forward or back or make them stand up.

 

She found she also had control of her tail. When she swung the tail around to where she could get a good look she found it had fur on it the same red as her hair. A thought occurred to her and she concentrated for a moment. Her effort was rewarded when the color of fur changed to auburn like her mother's hair. With more concentration the color changed to black.

 

Bast nodded in approval. “I was going to tell you about that trick, but I'm glad you figured it out on your own. You should be able to get even more catlike. Try getting a complete covering of fur.”

 

With one eyebrow raised, Ranma looked at the back of her hand and concentrated again. In moments she found herself covered with short silky soft fur. The palms of her hands and the soles of her feet remained clear as did her nose and the nipples on her breasts, but the rest was covered in black fur.

 

“Cool!” Ranma enthused. “This would make a good disguise.”

 

“Try the claws,” urged the cat woman.

 

She made her hands into fists and concentrated. She saw glowing claws extend out from her knuckles. The claws looked like those of a cat. Experimentally she was able to extend the claws longer or shorter. Playing around, she was able to get the claws to relocate to her fingertips.

 

She suddenly thought of a character she had seen in a movie. One of the claws disappeared and the three remaining ones moved to where they looked like they were coming out from between the knuckles on the back of her hands. They lengthened until each was about a foot long.

 

Bast laughed. “I've seen those movies too.”

 

With another thought Ranma was back to her usual appearance. Bast nodded her approval.

 

“You are learning this very quickly. I am impressed. But then you were always a quick study when you were Ruby.”

 

Ranma considered that for a moment. “I guess that explains why I was always able to pick up martial arts techniques so quickly.”

 

The cat goddess nodded. “Now that you are free of your fool of a father and his unhealthy obsession with martial arts maybe you can turn your intelligence to a broader range of subjects.”

 

“Maybe so.”

 

Bast said, “You will need to practice with the claws. As you have heard from your times in the Nekoken state, your claws can shred anything. I recommend that you do your practicing on one of the fields outside the building and in the back. There are plenty of practice fields set up for just this sort of thing. There is also a plentiful supply of practice dummies for you tear up.”

 

“Did you want to go out there now?”

 

“We have this dojo reserved for the day.”

 

Ranma nodded. “So can you tell me how the advisor to the Earth Princess in the Silver Millennium came to be a goddess?”

 

The cat goddess sat on the floor and fell into a thoughtful expression. She finally said, “I was devastated after Ruby's death. Beryl wasn't interested in my services and it wasn't until later that I found out why. When the Moon Kingdom was falling apart around us, Queen Serenity put Luna, Artemis and me into stasis. My stasis capsule was damaged.”

 

“When my capsule opened I found myself alone in a primitive world. I heard stories about Egypt and I made my way there. Believe me, travel can be difficult when you are a cat.”

 

“Considering the beliefs those people had it was a serious decision to reveal myself. A talking cat that can shape-shift into a humanoid would either be destroyed as a demon or honored as a goddess. I'm just lucky they decided that I was a goddess. It was after I was playing the part of a goddess for a while that some real gods came and offered me to make me a real goddess too. I accepted.”

 

Ranma nodded. “What about the Egyptian statues of a woman with the head of a cat?”

 

Bast shook her head. “The Egyptians were prone to flights of fancy. They seemed to like imagining gods with heads of animals. The real gods don't look anything like that. I include such as Osiris, Horus, Hatshepsut and Anubis. At least I am really a cat. Anubis hated jackals and didn't care much for dogs either.”

 

Changing the subject, Ranma asked, “Have you followed the careers of the Senshi?”

 

“I have a little. I haven't been allowed to interfere.” She gave a rundown on the Fall of the Moon Kingdom as well as how Beryl returned. She related the death and rebirth of the Senshi in that battle.

 

After hearing what Bast knew of it, Ranma examined her restored memories. After a moment she said, “From a tactical standpoint, killing me was a smart thing for Beryl to do. If I had been alive I would have stopped her. If it were possible to do, I would have freed her from that… thing or I would have killed her.”

 

“I'm sorry I wasn't able to do anything.”

 

Ranma waved the apology aside. “You have to understand something. I loved my sister but I'm also well aware that she had flaws. She was too ambitious for her own good. I can easily imagine how she might make a deal she thought would bring her power. I'm guessing this Metalia tricked her. On her own Beryl would never have participated in the deaths of all on the planets. There is no benefit in ruling over dead worlds. I can only assume Metalia has something against humans, since she seemed to want to wipe them out.”

 

Bast nodded. “I got that impression.”

 

The cat goddess was silent a moment. “I've been thinking about what Luna said. You should know that the Sailor Pluto who is around now isn't the reincarnated spirit of original. She is the same woman. She has been alive the whole time and charged with watching the Gates of Time. To be stuck on that one job all of this time I wonder if she is still completely sane. Watch your back.”

 

“Would she go against another Senshi?”

 

Bubastis nodded. “She might. She's ruthless and much less scrupulous about collateral damage and extraneous casualties than the Inner Senshi.”

 

Ranma snorted. “Sounds like some people I've fought.”

 

Bast sighed. “I really hope Pluto isn't stupid enough to attack a goddess. Purely aside from the fact that she lacks the power to kill you is that fact that it would make lots of beings in Heaven, Asgard, Olympus and the other divine realms angry. If it came down to a war between the Heavens and the Senshi, they would lose, badly.”

 

Ranma was shocked to hear this. “Why would the Heavens go to war over me? I've only been a goddess for a couple days.”

 

The cat woman explained, “I know you think you have been a plaything of the gods, but that's not true. It would be safe to say that a lot of gods and goddesses have been `rooting for you.' The fact that you always stand up for what you believe in and that you never give up in the face of opposition has made you popular in Heaven. Unlike your father who just says the words, you really believe in the `martial artist's duty' to protect the weak. You really have honor. Why do you think gods and goddess are lined up for a chance to train you?”

 

This was something of a stunning revelation. “I guess I didn't really think about it.”

 

“You are very well thought of in Heaven.”

 

“Wow, I don't know what to say.”

 

“For now, how about we go out to the practice field and do some damage to some practice dummies?”

 

They left the dojo and went outside. The rest of the day was spent in practice using Ranma's ki claws. Not all the practice dummies were made of wood and straw like the ones she was used to. They came in many varieties with some even seemingly carved out of stone or metal. The dummies of the harder substances took only slightly more effort to shred than the wooden ones.

 

After a hard workout Ranma dismissed her claws. She gave Bast a hug and said, “You must promise me you'll keep in touch.”

 

“You may be assured of that.”

 

Author's Note: The fear of cats is now gone but it will take practice to fully master the use of the ki claws. We all know this is a challenge that Ranma can meet. The past life memories include more than just the Silver Millennium. There's still a lot of work ahead for our hero.