Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing Destiny ❯ A Long Prolog ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chasing Destiny
A mostly-SERIOUS fanfic
By David L Battley

In accordance with the rules, here are my rolls:

A. 6) Turn on the radio (whatever station it's already on) and start writing!
B. 6) The Knights of the Planets are showing up!
C. 3) Ranma is fed up with Nerima, moves to Juuban.
D. 5) A plot? Who needs a stinkin' plot?
E. 5) Genma died in China, so he never runs into them.
F. 3) Prologue only, the story never develops past Ranma moving out
G. 2) Ranma was involved with (Sailor Mercury) in the Silver Millinium (roll again). 5) Ranma marries (Sailor Venus)
H. 5) Ranma is injured! (Sailor Mercury) takes care of him, and becomes a second intrest.

I will need to take a few liberties if I'm going to make this work. First with F-3, if this is only the prolog, I will never get to G-5. Hmm... Unless... Now I'm getting too many ideas, I may simply ignore this one. Second, E-5, Genma is dead...

(Deafening applause interrupts writer.)

Are you through? Anyway, Genma died...

(Writer now glaring at the individual who shouted, "Wohoo!")

Genma didn't die in China however, but dead is dead nonetheless, and that is where we pick up our story.

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(Music to set the mood. Public broadcasting station just started Jazz programming, which I absolutely hate. One too many bad porno flicks during puberty, I guess. Turn that bugger off.)

Chasing Destiny
Prolog

The boy wept. He tried to stop the sobs that seemed to want to break out of his lungs like a choking cough. The grown ups talked in the next room and he knew it was important that he listen to them. He couldn't understand everything that was being said but one thing was absolutely clear.

Genma Saotome had died falling into a pit, breaking his neck, and being mauled by an animal.

He remembers...

"Papa, I don't want to go in the pit again. Please. I'll be good. I'll train as hard as I can."

"This is training. The harder the training, the stronger the technique. This will make you invincible."

The smell of the fish oil that covered his was overwhelming. They were closer to the pit now, the sound of the cats below only increased the boy's fear.

"Papa, don't make me go in! They'll hurt me. They'll kill me. They'll never let me come out again."

"Stop it, boy. You can't be afraid. Of anything! You must face your fear and overcome it. I won't allow you to be weak and afraid, crying like a little girl."

His father picked up his son and made ready to throw him in the pit filled with starving cats.

Ranma had listened to his father. He didn't want to be a weak girl. He didn't want to be afraid. He would face his fear and overcome it.

But as he was held at arm's length over the mewing darkness, his courage failed him. With a frightened shout, he squirmed out of his father's grip to grab the older man around the middle. The only thing the frightened boy had meant to do was hug his father for support/get away from the pit/latch onto something solid and heavy so he couldn't be thrown in again. It was during this unfortunate panic scramble that Ranma's knee was introduced quite indelicately to the paternal organs that spawned him.

Genma's eyes crossed as he pitched foreword into the pit. Credit to his martial arts training, he did try to catch the edge of the pit so he wouldn't have to go down with his son; however he only managed to grab the small crate of sardines and pull that in after them.

Father and son were separated as they hit the pit floor, sardine crate breaking over the head of the elder Saotome and both were dog-piled by cats (pardon the pun). The last thing Ranma remembered was seeing his old man throw off some the cats and stare at him with fear in his eyes; that and his own screaming.

He had woken up here, in the lap of a kind old lady who had insisted he sleep some more, since it was night after all. Currently, she was in the living room listening to the police testify to his father's demise. She in turn told them of the boy who acted like a kitten. The police knew they were related, several people around town had seen them together. Now, Ranma was an orphan. He would stay the night here and someone would be by to take him away tomorrow.

Take him away? Where? Jail most likely. That's were they take people who kill their parents, after all.

He had killed him, hadn't he? They were the only two in the pit, them and the c-c-ca... furry things. He couldn't remember and he didn't want to.

When the police left, the old lady came back into the room to check on the supposedly sleeping boy. Satisfied, she was about to close the door when she heard a small voice.

"Am I going to be punished?" It said, quietly.

She walked in and knelt next to Ranma as he sat up. "Why on earth would you think you're going to be punished?"

"Because, I killed him. Pop's dead because of me. At least, I think so."

She held her arms out to him, "Come here." He hesitated only a moment before crawling into her lap once more. "What do you remember, child?"

"I remember Pop and the pit and those... being afraid." He shivered slightly, thankful for the warmth next to him. "And then you were here and I was asleep. Are you an angel? Did you get me out of that hole?"

"No, but don't worry, young one. If you don't remember it, then you didn't do it." She said. "Hush now and don't you worry about a thing. I'll be here for a while longer."

That night as he slept in a fitful half consciousness, he heard a young woman's voice say, "It's going to be all right. You'll see." Halfway into a memory, the voice was comforting, none the less, even though he couldn't recall it the next morning.

After breakfast, the old lady told Ranma he could go outside to play. When she went out to call him in for lunch, she was surprised to find him dancing around the backyard. It took a moment to recognize that he was practicing a fighting style and not simply playing. This seemed odd to her, had his whole life been about training? Hadn't he ever just played, like a normal boy before? His father's backpack had been brought to her at her request. She went through it thoroughly and found nothing as far as mementos except for a few photographs that showed Ranma in various embarrassing situations, but with a caption on the back "Save for training." There were training manuals and scrolls of all sorts. She repacked them for later; after all, they did belong to Ranma now. She watched him for the rest of the day and if the boy wasn't practicing, he was working, if he wasn't working, he was combining the two. At least hedge was trimmed and the lawn looked good. Even so, She decided that what he needed was to experience a normal life and family.

The old lady called her grandson later the next day. He immediately cleared his schedule and came over on her request. After a brief conversation at the door the family came into the house, "Ranma," the old woman said, "There's someone I want you to meet. This is my great grand daughter."

Ranma simply stood there shifting from one foot to the other, finally the girl took the initiative, "Hi, I'm Mina. Do you wanna play with me?"

"Uh, play?" Even though Ranma only had a vague idea what the girl was talking about, he still fell victim to her bright smile. "Sure." He replied with a lopsided attempt at his own smile.

When the children were outside, the young father finally cornered his grandmother, "You weren't serious on the phone, right? About us adopting that boy?" The old woman just looked up at her grandson and grinned. "You're kidding. He's an orphan now; that means he's a ward of the state. They have institutions to take care of things like this."

"Actually, they called me this morning and asked if I could hold onto the boy for a while longer. Seems they can't find their red tape or their bureaucracy is stuck in some loop hole or another." Her grandson just shook his head, it was useless to try and correct her. "So you see it will only be for a while. A boy like that has too much energy for these old bones, but Mina-chan seems to handle him quite nicely. Don't worry so much."

Outside, little Minako and Ranma were chasing some imaginary bad guy/monster, when Ranma shouted about an incoming attack, scooped Minako up in his arms, jumped to the top of the fence, to the roof top, over the power lines to a treebranch and back down to the large rocks that lined the garden. Minako squealed in laughter the entire time and said, "Again!"

"See?" said grandmother, "They are perfect together." Both parents stood there frozen and rightly horrified.

-----------------------------

The woman crept downstairs, having just put Ranma and her daughter Minako to bed. She found her husband in the living room.

"Dear, it's been months. Hasn't social services made any progress in finding a space for the boy?"

"No," the man replied. "And unfortunately, I can't seem to get a straight answer from them at all."

"Well, we've got to do something. Every day I get more worried. Just yesterday I found more bruises on Mina-chan's arms and legs. She says it's just playing, some Bruce Lee film they were acting out. I never let her watch that junk." She protested. "If she weren't so enamored with that vagabond, I'd say he's beating her up on purpose."

Her husband looked up from his paper. "Do you think so?"

"I don't know, she keeps turning up more and more bruises whenever she hangs out with him. It's not healthy."

"Well, we actually may not have to worry about it for long." He put the paper down and turned towards her importantly, "What do you think about moving?"

"Moving? What are you talking about?"

"I've been offered a promotion at work, but it means moving... to France."

"France? But what about Ranma and..."

"We won't be able to take him with us, of course. Social Services simply won't have a choice. I'm sure they will find him a foster home or orphanage or something. Meanwhile, we will be toasting Christmas Eve to a Paris skyline."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," she cooed, "I'll be the envy of the neighborhood." She giggled as she slid into her husbands lap.

Neither of the adults noticed the shadow that moved back up the stairs. Ranma had only heard rumors of "orphanages", more like his father had used them to scare him into obedience. There was only one thing to do; he had to go back on the road. He quietly loaded his backpack, made sure he had the key to the safe deposit box where his father's training scrolls were stashed, and made his way out the window.

"Where are you going?"

He froze. "Mina? What are you doing here? Go back to bed."

The poor girl was just about in tears, "Are you running away? Don't you like it here? Was it because of me?"

Ranma put the backpack down, "What? No. Mi-chan, you don't understand. You are going to go away soon and I... I'm not. When you leave me behind, I don't like to think where I'll end up, so I have to make sure I make it there first. Understand?"

"This is my parent's fault, isn't it? Mom never believed me that you were teaching me how to fight and it was just pretend. She's just a screaming old hag."

"No, don't blame them. Adults do what they think is right, even if we don't understand quite always. But they are good people, they took me in and fed me and I got to be friends with you."

"Ranma," she said with a little hope, "we can be more than friends."

"Huh? How can we be more than friends?"

"We can get married."

"What's that?"

"It's like a promise, a very serious promise." She held up her pinky finger. "Come on." Ranma hesitated but faltered when she added, "Please?" with a small pout.

Ranma hooked his pinky into hers, "Huh. Ukyou did the same thing, almost."

"Your best friend? Yeah, you mentioned him. Never mind. `I, Minako, take you, Ranma, to be my lawfully wedded husband.' Now you say the same thing."

"Uh, I, Ranma, take you, Mina-chan, to be my awfully wedded husband."

"Wife!"

"Oh, right. Wife."

"Good, now lets go."

"Go? Where are you going?"

"I'm going with you."

"You can't go with me. You have to stay with your parents."

"But we're married now and where you go, I go."

"That's crazy; you wouldn't last two seconds living on the road."

"And you can?"

"You bet I can, I've done it before don't forget."

Mina huffed, she knew she couldn't stop Ranma physically. "Ranma if you take one step towards that window, I'll scream."

"Big deal."

"I'll scream and my parents will come running and they will stop you. Now you have to take me with you."

Ranma stopped for a moment. He didn't want Mina's parents to know he was gone until it was too late, but there was no way he was taking Mina either. "I want to take you with me, Mi-chan. I really do." He said, taking a step forward.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Even when Pop was there, it was really lonely sometimes. That's why I'm really, _really_ sorry about this."

The next morning, Mrs. Aino went to wake up the children. "Mina, Ranma. Time for OHMYGOD!" Opening the door, she found her only child wrapped in her bed sheets like a fish sausage with only her head poking out, gagged and wiggling like a worm. Of Ranma there was nothing left, only a small post-it note taped to her daughter's forehead, "Do not open until X-mas."

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It had been years since that time. Ranma traveled from dojo to training field and back again, hoping to fulfill his father's goal, to be the best: a man among men, perfecting his art and himself. Yet this was not his only driving goal.

The dreams that started with the traumatic event continued and slowly became clearer. Dreams of a girl with short, dark hair in roman style robes who could catch you off guard with her smile, always with an open book in her hands or in front of a computer terminal; he had come to the fanciful conclusion that she might be real. It was through his dreams that he knew he loved her and compared all other girls he met to this dream girl. In making a half hearted attempt to find her, he started going to public libraries, hoping she would show up. To pass the time, he would read anything and seemed to soak up knowledge the way he adapted new techniques, always hoping the girl would show up.

Of course, he met many friends and had many adventures along the way, but those are other stories for other times.

--------------------

The two travelers stepped off the ship onto Japanese soil once again. They both gave a sigh of relief as they put their first step inland. They had planned things up to this point, so the question begged, "What now? More dojos and temples and training?" Well, that went without saying, but there needed to be more as far as purpose.

Ranma's mind drifted back to the dreams again. That cute girl with the short hair kept coming to mind. It was idiotic, really. Tokyo was a lousy place to try and find such a girl. He may as well look for a single silver hair on a white horse.

"What do you think we should do now, Ry...?" Ranma looked over at his companion only to find himself quite alone. *Dammit. We're not even a mile inland.* "You better not get on board another ship, Ryoga!" he shouted into the crowded street, "I am not coming out there to find your ass."

Now that he had gotten that off his chest, he was sure he'd run into Ryoga some time or another. He always did.

Still, that didn't leave him in a better position as to what he should do. Here he was in the land of his birth and he...

'Birth'? Come to think of it, where was he born and who had given birth to him? He had to have been born some time, right?

---------------

It was early in the morning, and Ranma was getting desperate.

Finding out what he needed to know had been harder than he thought and just wandering around the outskirts of Tokyo was getting him nowhere. Worse, he was getting behind on his training. What he needed was someone to do the searching for him, like a private eye. But stuff like that has got to be expensive. What he needed was some serious help.

"If you need help, why not try Nabiki?"

That sentence stopped Ranma in his tracks. He turned to look at the two male students who had just walked passed him.

"I don't know, I don't think I can afford it. I know she's good at finding out stuff, but really..."

"Hey, wait." Ranma ran back to stop them, "Please, wait. Who was this 'Nabiki' you were talking about and what does she do?"

The two students looked at him and despite his rough appearance, or because of it, they answered, "The Ice Queen of Furinkan High, Nabiki Tendo. She'll find anything you need to know, for a price." The other spoke up, "She's a real mercenary. She'll do most anything for money. No offence, but you have to have some serious cash on you before you even talk to her."

Ranma just shrugged it off, "Maybe. Can you tell me where Furinkan High is?"

Hiroshi and Daisuke looked at each other, then looked at the guy who appeared as though he could beat the crap out of both of them. "Uh, sure. We're students there. Follow us."

When they entered the gates at the school, Ranma asked, "What are all these sports teams doing out here? This some sort of athletic convention?"

"Yeah, something like that." Said Daisuke.

"Nabiki Tendo is over there," pointed Hiroshi, "and don't mention our names."

"Idiot." Whispered Daisuke, "if this goes over good, maybe she'll give us a discount next time."

"Oh, right, tell her we sent you."

"On the other hand, if it goes over bad, she'll fleece us for everything we've got."

"Uh, forget it, you never saw us."

"Of course, there's always the chance it could go well..."

"Let's just go already."

Ranma just shook his head and walked over to the group of girls he had been directed to, "Nabiki Tendo?"

The group seemed to open up to a cute girl with a page-boy haircut standing in the middle. All of the other girls stood there smiling, as most girls seemed to do around him, though not all were kind smiles others they just looked, hungry. They were obviously deferring to the girl in the center, waiting for her to make the move. This girl, who was not smiling, looked him over from head to toe, taking stock of his attitude, appearance, and possessions before answering, "Yes?"

Ranma was suddenly at a loss on how to start. "I, uh, need to... I understand you do things for money. I need you."

The temperature in the immediate vicinity seemed to drop a few degrees, "I don't know who told you what about me, sport, but I think you're mistaken. I'm not that desperate for money, and I am certainly not in that type of business."

"Huh? No, wait. It's not like that. What I mean is I need you to find a woman for me."

"I thought we were clear that I don't do that sort of thing."

By the look Nabiki was giving him, she obviously thought she could hurt him in some very enduring way. Ranma couldn't think how, but it appeared was on the verge of putting into a world of pain.

"Wait, OK? I think we got off on the wrong foot here. What I need is for you to find some information on someone."

Nabiki's attitude returned to normal, as did the local temperature. "Well, why didn't you say so? Of course, it won't come cheap."

"I... I don't have any money."

"This interview is over." She said as she turned away.

"Wait," Ranma stepped around to block her path, "what I was hoping for was an exchange of services."

"I don't need a lackey, especially a poor one, and a ronin at that."

"Come on. It's for a good cause. I need..."

"Akane Tendo, I love you." "Date with me." "No, me." "I will be the one." "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!"

The last was shouted by a girl, the rest by the gang of athletes who had burst into action at her arrival. As soon as Ranma saw her his heart seemed to seize up.

It was her, the girl from his dream. Impossible as it seemed, there she was, in this very schoolyard.

...fighting a large group of guys... wielding sports equipment.

He was about ready to jump into the fray, when Nabiki spoke up, "I wouldn't if I were you. Don't worry, she can handle herself. This happens every morning."

"Oh."

Of course, her hair was a bit longer than he remembered, and she was never quite this angry, but then she was being attacked. Wearing her school jumper did nothing for her figure as well, but she could easily be the one that he was looking for, the princess from his dream. If it was her, then he really did have nothing to worry about, since she would surely win, and it explained why she was angry, because she absolutely hated fighting.

"Hey, Tendo, what kind of odds will you give me?" Nabiki gave him an odd look. "You know, that I can beat her."

Nabiki rolled her eyes, thinking that yet another fool had fallen for her sister. "You said you didn't have any money."

"I'll put this up for collateral." Ranma said, setting backpack down with a heavy thud, "It's easily worth five thousand yen at the pawn shop."

"We are not a charity organization, you know," said one of Nabiki's friends.

"Five thousand yen. ...And," he quickly interrupted before they could give a negative response as he took off his traveling cloak revealing broad shoulders strong from hard travel, "I'll throw in my servitude, no questions asked. Think about it, your own personal slave for one month."

"Say yes, Nabiki." One of the girls said. Nabiki was a bit taken aback by the stars in the girls eyes. "Yeah, it might be fun," said the other who hadn't taken her eyes off Ranma and was practically drooling.

Nabiki was about to admonish both of the girls for letting their libido control their business decisions but quickly reconsidered as Ranma stripped his shirt leaving only a tank top, his tightly muscled arms flexed with every casual movement. "OK, five thousand yen on you to win against the backpack plus slavery for three months, not just for me, but my friends as well." *And anyone who can pay me enough is certainly my friend.*

Ranma didn't like being taken advantage of, but he didn't want to reveal everything quite yet, "Does slavery include food and lodging?"

Nabiki smiled, *Not quite so dumb, and not so confident of his skills.* "Yes." She said.

"Deal." Ranma said, stripping his shirt, "and the odds?"

"Three to one." He nodded and walked out to the front yard in only a tank top and black pants.

"Thank you boss, you know I won't regret this." One of the girls cheered, watching his butt as he walked away. Nabiki could appreciate the sentiment, but rolled her eyes anyway.

The dark haired girl just beat down the last of the athletes when she saw a guy walk over who seemed to think he was Bruce Lee. His confident, even stride in her direction meant only one thing, that idiot samurai wanna-be brought in a ringer. She charged, not wanting to give him a chance. With a yell, she leapt at him in a flying side kick which Ranma easily side stepped.

Ranma started to dodge everything that was thrown at him. He looked into her eyes to see if he could some hint of recognition, the only thing he found there was hate and anger. To Akane, she saw eyes that only expressed confidence with a hint of curiosity.

"Quit dodging and fight me!"

Ranma continued to weave between the blows, "Come on, Princess. Try and remember me."

"What are you talking about, I don't even know you. Whatever you're up to, you're not going to get away with it!"

Ranma frowned; this girl was deliberately trying to make herself madder. Her punches became more erratic and her kicks sloppy, but with more power behind them. "Are you sure you don't know me, even..."

"SHUT UP!!"

"I guess it really isn't you then." Ranma juked to the outside a punch and stepped into it, bringing his knee into her stomach and follow up with a Hollywood judo chop to the back of the neck. He quickly snagged the back of her jumper before her face it the pavement and eased her to the ground, unconscious.

He was about to turn back to where Nabiki Tendo was when a bokken wielding boy in Kendo garb rushed forward, "What villain is this that lays claim to the prize of heaven? Surely you have heard the proclamation of the Blue Thunder and came seeking the treasure of Furinkan for yourself. Nay, I say. Speak your name, villain, so heaven may show you justice."

Actually, Ranma only caught the last part of what the older boy had said. "Ranma, Ranma Saotome." He replied.

"Villainous Soutome, know the wrath of heaven!" The older boy rushed forward and swung his bokken that would have cleaved Ranma in half if he had not jumped into the nearby tree at the last second.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"You will address me as your superior, outsider. For I am Tatewaki Kuno and I challenge you for the prize you have just claimed."

*And this happens every morning?* Ranma though to himself, *and he hasn't beaten this girl yet. Probably holding back for her sake.* "You mean you set all of this up? You can't beat her yourself so you have these jerks wear her down enough so you actually have a chance with her. And if they do beat her, you automatically challenge them and will most likely win because you are the strongest guy in the school?"

"Verily, it is so." Kuno proclaimed, "Such is my right as a warrior of heaven."

Ranma growled at the suppositions of this samurai wannabe, "Yo, Tendo, what odds will you give me to beat this guy?"

"You dare to trivialize this dual with a wager?" Kuno slashed the tree, forcing Ranma to jump out as it fell.

Nabiki considered the odds, Ranma had just taken out her sister with ease, but Kuno could be dangerous if provoked, plus, she now owed Ranma fifteen thousand yen. "Five to one odds on all of your winnings. That way you can take my sister on a proper date."

"Deal." Then he stalled, "Hey! What date?"

"An opening." Kuno slashed, hitting Ranma in the ribs. Luckily, Ranma automatically rolled with the hit so it didn't break the skin. Kuno continued to swing, putting Ranma on a desperate defensive until he got his center back. "Vile cur! You know not of what you speak. You shall not take Akane on a DATE!" Kuno was in almost in a rage at that single word. "That privilege belongs one man, and I am he!"

Kuno set his feet for his all out strike, "Yahtatatatatatah!" Though it appeared as ten blades were coming at him at once, Ranma had little trouble evading the strikes.

"You're fast, but try this! Amaguriken!" Ranma's hands blurred, turning away the sword thrusts as he stood in the middle of them striking his opponent at speeds unheard of before. Just as suddenly, they both stopped. "It's over, Kuno. I win."

"I..." Kuno said, falling to his knees, "shall... not..." he fell on to his face, unconscious.

Ranma looked over to the fallen girl and noticed some of the recovering athletes were inching their way towards her. He simply went over and picked her up and carried her off, under the hostile glare of the other competitors.

He walked over to where Nabiki and her companions stood looking like gloom and doom had descended on them, except Nabiki, who looked like she was made of stone.
"Tendo, how about we continue this in the nurse's office?" He shifted his cargo to lift his backpack as Nabiki led the way.

"So," Ranma said as he placed Akane down on a bed in the nurse's office, "that's seventy-five thousand yen you owe me, Tendo." Nabiki glared at him, "but I am willing to put it up as payment towards the info that I need."

"Fine." Nabiki nearly choked on the word. She got a pad of paper and pencil from the desk, "What do you need?"

"I need to find my mother."

Nabiki stared for a moment to see if he was serious. Having lost her own mother, she did have a soft spot for other people's mothers. "What's her name?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Ah, I see. When was the last time you saw her?"

"I can't remember. I was too young I guess."

"Do you remember where you used to live?"

"No. Sorry."

"Forgive me for asking, but she was married to your Father, right?"

"I guess so. At least Pop always said so."

"And where's your father?"

"He's dead."

At last, the beginnings of a paper trail, Nabiki thought. "And what's his name?"

"Well, um... Pop?"

Nabiki pinched the bridge of her nose trying to stave off a headache, "What CAN you tell me about yourself?"

"My name is Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm 16 years old, I think." She waited for him to continue, but apparently he was done.

*Anything Goes Martial Arts school? That was interesting.* "When did your father die?"

"About 10 years ago"

"About?" Ranma only nodded in response. "Where did he die?"

"Not sure, we moved around a lot."

"What's your birthday?" Silence was the only response, "You don't even know, do you?"

"I know I'm not much help here, but that's why I came to you. Hey, if you can't do it, I'll just take my winnings and go."

"Don't get hasty, Saotome, I never said I couldn't do it." She wrote down her home phone number on the pad and tore off the paper for him. "This is where you can reach me. If you remember anything else that might help, call me."

Ranma was sure to take the paper with both hands and a bow, "I appreciate it, Tendo, really." He reached to grab is backpack and leave.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" said one of Nabiki's comrades, with a bit of disappointment on her face.

Ranma thought for a moment, "I don't think so? Why?"

The disgruntled girl gestured to the bed, "You won the `prize', remember?"

"They were serious about that?" The girls only nodded and looked at him expectantly. "Fine," he shrugged and walked over to the bed where the girl still lay unconscious. "Uh, hey,..." he looked up to Nabiki.

"Akane." She supplied.

"Hey Akane. C'mon we're going on a date. Wake up. We have to catch a flight to America to see the Grand Canyon, then to Paris for Dinner, then we have to make it back in order to toast the Tokyo sunrise. How's that sound? ...Well?"
He turned back to his audience, "Sorry girls, it looks like I'm being stood up. Them's the breaks." He said as he grabbed his backpack and headed to the door.

"Not so fast, Saotome." Nabiki said in her most commanding voice. "You can't just upset the balance of the school and just expect to leave."

"Why not? Oh, all right. But what do you want me to do? I'm not sticking around here just to force her on a date she obviously was trying to fight her way out of. It just wouldn't be right."

"And what about all of the other boys out there, do you think they are going to take this lying down? Or Kuno for that matter? If anything it's going to make matters worse."

"Tell them whatever you want. Tell them..." He got a smile on his face, "Tell them that they cannot take Akane out on a date without her permission," jerking a thumb in Akane's direction, "and if they don't like it, they can take it up with me. I'll be back in about 2 months and hopefully she won't want to kill me on sight. After that, we'll work something out. Later."

With that, he walked out.

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He set up his camp in the park hidden in an out of the way place. His small fire was protected from the wind and outside view. He looked again at the newspaper he had found, "Defenders of Love and Justice Save the Day, Again." The article went on to describe the battle as well as the sailor senshi themselves. What pictures were shown were blurry at best, but the uniform could be made out. The close resemblance to his dreams was almost haunting at best.

So he waited for the next attack. He wasn't too worried, there's always a next attack. In the meantime, he could always continue working on his father's scrolls.

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Ami was heading to school early for juku classes. She was more worried about her friends. All this extra studying was paying off, but it meant less time to spend with her friends. If she wasn't there, their grades might slip. It's not that she was vain about her ability or her grades, it was just a fact. Sometimes those girls simply needed help, in many respects.

But these early classes were a necessary evil, in her eyes. She just prayed this latest monster menace could be identified and eliminated before entrance exams started.

Her computer started beeping urgently snapped her out of her reverie. Another monster portal was opening. She pulled out her compute and did a quick scan of the data to determine where it was going to open. With any luck she could also determine where it was originating from. It seems at several point around the city, portals were opening bringing monsters. There weren't too many, the Outers were already responding to one small cluster. But there was one errant portal...

She dove to the side as a portal opened right above her dropping a monster on her exact location. She rolled into the bushes to get a look at this new adversary. It was only half again taller than a full grown man and looked like a humanoid worm, glossy black body with an exoskeleton on the torso arms and legs and small tendrils around the mouth but had a set of wicked looking claws on its hands and feet.

This wasn't much information to classify it as a daemon or youma, she noted to herself, so it was a generic monster for the moment.

As quietly as she could, she took out her communicator and sent out a general contact signal. "Yeah?" It surprised Ami that Usagi was the first to answer. She shouldn't even be awake at this time in the morning, but it was obvious the princess had just woken up.

"Usagi, get the others. There's a monster in the park near the school."

The monster moved its head back and forth as though testing the air. It was looking for something. Testing the ground with its tendrils, it began to move toward the bush Ami was hiding in.

She wasn't any more than a few feet from it and knew she wouldn't have time to transform. Before saying anything else, she dashed out of the bush, sprinting for her life as the monster took notice and began galloping after her. She ran directly through the forest hoping her smaller size would give her an advantage among the trees. The thing crashed through the trees after her. Though it was slowed down, everything in its wake was splintered or knocked over. Even worse, while she was running and dodging trees she couldn't change to Sailor Mercury, and she was running out of forest.

She knew it would take the other Scouts several minutes to get there, she just hoped she could last long enough.

She just past a particularly large tree and turned to see the monster's progress. As she turned, a blur leapt out of the forest slamming into the side of the creature forcing it to barrel into the large tree at its full running speed.

"Keep running!" she heard and she did. Behind her she heard what she was expecting. The creature was getting up. What she didn't expect to hear was that someone or something was fighting it. Just before she cleared the forest, she stopped.

"Mercury Crystal Power, Make up!"

As her transformation finished, the monster crashed into the clearing landing in a heap, but it wasted no time in getting up. From the direction it came from, a boy ran into the clearing looking beat up, scratched and definitely breathing heavy from exertion. She watched him stop just outside the clearing to catch his breath and watching the monster regain its feet, he didn't seem to see her.

The thing tested the air and immediately leapt towards her position in the woods. She blasted the monster with a coating of ice which stopped its forward progress. She ran out into the clearing and shouted at the boy, "You should get out of here, there's no way you can stop that thing."

"You don't seem to be doing so hot yourself," he shouted back. Indeed the monster had shaken off the last of the ice and was looking for its opponents again. "Hit it low!" he shouted at her.

Without really thinking she turned and shot another coating of ice on its legs to trap it. The boy jumped impossibly high into the air and hit the monster with a Dragon Stomp to the top of its head. The thing toppled over, even as it thrashed around trying to hit the annoying boy.

"Mercury Shining Aqua Illusion!" The attack encased the fallen monster in ice, trapping it.

"It's you."

She turned to look at the boy who was slowly walking toward her with a look of bewilderment on his face. "Who are you and how did you do that?" she asked. The boy continued to walk towards her.

"My god, I can't believe it's really you."

"A normal person shouldn't be able to jump that high." His eyes were so blue, like the clearest mid day sky. "Let alone fight that thing toe to toe." Shoulders were not too broad, but his every step spoke of power. "Who are you, anyway?" Her heart wouldn't seem to slow down, he was making her nervous, but why was she letting him into her personal space?

"You don't know what this means to me." Before she could respond, he leaned forward and kissed her.

Love. That was the only possible explanation, nothing more made sense. Half of a memory invaded her brain, but only the emotional half. She loved him, or had loved him back then. He was beautiful, skilled, and kind, but what was his name? Oh, if she could only remember the name of this boy she was kissing. If she knew that she was sure she would figure out why she was kissing him back.

Her kiss was broken by the sound of cracking ice. The monster was breaking free.

"Knocking it down isn't hard. It's getting it to stay down that's the trick." The boy said, settling himself into ready stance.

The instant the monster broke free, the boy blurred into action, slamming a roundhouse kick into the side of the things head, dodging a claw strike and grabbing the outstretched arm and throwing monster to the ground. He was knocked backwards by a failing arm as the monster sprang back to its feet. It didn't hesitate as it sprang towards Sailor Mercury once, claws outstreached.

She jumped, but she knew she wasn't fast enough. Time seemed to slow as she watched the deadly claws come at her like knives.

Then she was hit.

...Pushed to the side by the boy.

She landed roughly. The monster seemed stunned that he had impaled the wrong target on his claws. The boy was still alive, clutching at the arm of the monster while being held off the ground bye claws buried deep in his abdomen.

Memories flooded back to her in a tidal wave. She saw this image before, the black starry sky superimposed over the normal morning blue, a youma holding the man she loved by a claw through his breastplate. It was all happening again, even the faces were the same.

The emotions choked her. Her loved had died in front of her eyes, again. She collapsed on the ground and could only stare at the horror in front of her.

"Keep f-fighting," the boy and the memory said together.

The monsters brain finally seemed to come to grips with the fact that it missed its intended target. It lowered its claw and allowed the human male to slide off and land on the ground with a wet thud.

"No," said Mercury, still numb with the emotions that assaulted her.

The monster turned and stalked towards her.

"No." It was happening the same way, just like before. Would she die here as well?

The monster raised his claws over the girl on the ground.

"NO!" Mercury raised her arms towards the monster. Waves of power emanated from her hands, pure cold energy. No water combined with this attack, no sense of direction, but the monster slowed as frost and freezing lines covered his front side. Mercury continued to scream, draining all of her emotions into the magic she had no control over.

Her arms dropped, exhausted. She was barely able to hold herself off the ground. She looked at the monster. The front side looked as if it had severe freezer burn and frostbite and was frozen stiff. The backside was impossibly alive, muscles twitching in an effort to move again.

A small rock smashed into the front side of the monster, shattering like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. Broken apart, the back side stopped trying to move.

She saw the boy lying on the ground with a satisfied grin, his hand still held forward as though he had just shot a marble in a game.

"Oh, my god," her exhaustion forgotten, she ran over to the boy. "OK, just lie still."

"I'm so glad I found you princess," he said, "...girl of my dreams. I'm not crazy after all."

"Don't talk, ok? Help is coming soon." In fact, it should have been here already. She took out her communicator again, "Moon. Sailor moon are you there? Where are you?" Sailor Moon had a healing spell that would prevent him from dying if she could just get here.

After a few agonizing moment, Usagi appeared on the tiny screen, still in her pajamas. "Mmm? What?" she slurred.

"You went back to sleep?!" Mercury screeched.

"Ami?" Usagi seemed a little more awake that time.

"Aaargh!" Mercury punched at the buttons of the small compact. "Saturn. Saturn, I need you."

It was Uranus that appeared this time, but an explosion behind her caused static in the screen for a moment. "We've got our hands full here, kid. Whatever it is, you're going to do it on your own for now." In the background she heard Sailor Pluto begin her attack as the line went dead.

Sailor Mercury continued to stare at the screen, not want to believe what was happening. The two members with healing powers were out of reach, she felt like she had never been so helpless.

"Smile, princess." The boy made an attempt to chuckle, but coughed up some blood instead, "You always look so cute when you smile." He was becoming paler by the second. She had just reunited with the one who made her heart complete, and he was about to die and she didn't even know his name.

But what could she do?

-------to be continued.

OK, finally. This prolog is not the end. I have too many ideas for this, just no way to string them together just yet. I'll be along with the next chapter soon. I hope.

C&C welcome.

-David L. Battley
dbattley@rural-net.com