Cat Girl Nuku Nuku Fan Fiction / Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Hotaru 1/2 ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

As for what happened afterwards, and who ended up married to whom...
to paraphrase Bilbo, "and they lived happily ever after, to the end of their days..."

Not satisfied, eh? Okay.

EPILOGUE:

Hotaru Saotome leaned into her husband as their children went through the complex patterns of a martial arts kata on the dojo floor.

The door flew open. "RANMA! I've returned to..."

Ranma smiled at his former fiancee. "That's great, Akane. You're a teenager again!"

Hotaru smiled and nodded her head at the girl. "It's nice to see you again, Tendo-san."

Akane looked at the kids, comparing features on the six year old and the four year old to the couple watching them. "But it's only been ten years..."

Ranma and Hotaru blinked, not understanding the point.

Akane deflated somewhat, eyeing the ring prominently displayed on Hotaru's finger. "So, uhm, what have you been up to?"

"Well," said Ranma, thinking, "I've been the Consort to Sailor Saturn, learned a few more martial arts, fought menaces from beyond, that sort of thing. Princes have shown up to kidnap girls, you know - the usual mess."

"Oh, really..." Akane sighed. "By the way, the dojo isn't there any more."

"One of those menaces," admitted Ranma. "Don't worry, everyone got away. Kasumi is working as a nurse for Mizuno Pediatrics and has a job as a priestess of Hestia. Nabiki stopped by for Hiroko's birthday party, says she's been keeping busy in Shinjuku."

"What's she doing in Shinjuku? Did she become an accountant?" Akane was a little curious. Nabiki should be 27 now...

"Oh, sort of. She's a police officer now, works in a fraud investigation department," said Hotaru brightly. "She gets to work with money and figures and also pry into other people's business. She loves her work."

Akane twitched. Kasumi a nurse working with children? Nabiki a COP?! "What about father?"

"He married Hinako Ninnomiya after Usagi cured her of that chi problem," confided Hotaru. "Last time we got a postcard from them you've got a little sister!"

Akane twitched again, but shook it off. "What, no rivals, dragons, monsters, stupid martial arts challengers?"

"Uhm. Yes, and they're quite annoying. Yes, but some of the dragons are quite nice when you get to know them. Yes, and that *is* one of the benefits of knowing superheroes. And yes, but we send most of them down the road." Ranma shrugged. "They have to beat at least two of our sister schools before one of our school is allowed to fight them. When it's explained that we often have sleeping children here most of them understand."

"Do you remember that one, oh, what *was* his style?" Hotaru giggled at the memory.

"Disgusting Martial Arts. There are some styles I ain't gonna learn. No way." Ranma made a warding gesture.

"What was it that was so disgusting?" Akane asked, having seen some particularly nasty ones during her journey.

"Akane, that was the style. A heavy bean diet was part of the school's special manuevers. Disgusting or nauseating your opponent was the main thrust of the school," said Ranma, again shuddering. "And you thought Picolette Chardin and HIS style was gross. Ick."

"How did you beat him?" Akane remembered Ranma's habit of learning the other school's moves to do the counter.

Ranma smirked at the memory. "We keep matches around. Hotaru likes those vanilla scented candles. When he used that green cloud attack, I flicked a lit match at him."

"You nearly burned down the dojo," said Hotaru, playfully punching Ranma's bicep. "That was when the other schools got elected to handle the filter duties."

"Yeah, Ranma! Once again you have made my life a living hell!"

Akane startled at the familiar voice as Ryouga walked in the still open door.

"Hah. You've never had it so good, eh, P-chan?"

"Well that's true too." Ryouga admitted as he sat down. "Akari's in a mood again."

"You married Akari? That's wonderful, Ryouga! What's so funny?" Akane saw the grins and wondered if this sort of thing might have happened if she had married Ranma.

"She's having problems with Makoto, isn't she?" Hotaru asked Ryouga.

Ryouga nodded.

"Two wives. And you thought *I* was a pervert," chuckled Ranma.

"Oh shut up! It's not my fault." Ryouga's head hung down slightly.

"Two wives? How is that legal?!" Akane felt slightly alarmed by this new development. Ryouga a bigger pervert than Ranma?! What next, Happosai reformed?

"When the Queen says it is legal, it is legal," said Hotaru, sounding as if she were quoting something she had heard many many times.

"Next thing you know, you'll be telling me Happosai doesn't go on panty raids any more," complained Akane.

"He doesn't," acknowledged Ranma.

"Now I know you're kidding me." Akane looked the two of them in the eyes. "No?"

"No. He discovered the Internet, developed Martial Arts NetSurfing and Martial Arts Site Hacking, and I think he starved to death cruising porn sites." Ranma shrugged. "It was a few years back."

"'Terrible Tragic Story'," quoted Hotaru. "Not that he bothered us very much after the first instance."

"So how's Oyaji?" Ranma asked. "We tried to find him for the wedding but even Neptune's magic mirror couldn't find him."

"Well, there's a reason for that," said Akane, trying to find a politic way of saying that one of "Uncle Genma's" attempts to find a cure for the Jusenkyo Spring Of Drowned Panda curse had proven worse than the disease. "He's, uhm, kind of retired and changed his name."

Ranma considered that. "Is he happier that way?"

"Yeah, you could say that," said Akane. Not really wanting to say that the last she'd seen of Uncle Genma had been from the back of the Sierra Club truck taking "Ling Ling" to a new home. Spring of Drowned Girl + Spring Of Drowned Panda = a very unhappy Genma.

"Uhm, you're looking well, Akane," said Ryouga finally. At Akane's glare he just shook his head and resumed contemplating his shoes.

Akane considered her plans of so long ago. Returning in triumph, her age restored, the usual goings on and adventures resuming. Somehow ten years had passed. "What about Ukyo, Shampoo?"

"They're around," said Ranma. "Mousse went back to his village. Shampoo finally gave up and let Cologne arrange for her to meet a nice customer of their shop. They named their first kid Ranma - can you believe that?"

"How did he defeat her in combat?" Akane frowned. Nobody was ending up as she'd pictured them either.

"He didn't. She got to know him, decided he was nice and pretty strong, and as she'd been permanently exiled for not marrying me, threw those rules out." Ranma shook his head. "Well, mainly. She's started a tribe of Japanese Amazons from the sounds of it. Ukyo ended up with her business and eventually found herself someone."

"Kazuki Takahashi, a programmer and artist from Konami. As you well know," gently chided Hotaru.

"Yeah, yeah," responded Ranma, holding his wife a little closer briefly. "Let's see. Kodachi, well, she got hit with one of Sailor Moon's attacks. She's a lot better now. So's Tatewaki. Last I heard Kodachi was in Hawaii - she took charge of the pharmaceutical company they owned there. Tatewaki was wandering the world looking to purify himself and master the sword or something. He's still crazy - it's just a lot less annoyingly so. Oh, who else from the old crowd?"

"Yuka and Sayuri?" Akane didn't expect Ranma to know, they'd been her friends not Ranma's.

"Yuka's working her family business," said Hotaru. "I ran into her a couple of weeks ago. She has a stall at the Ginza."

"Sayuri?" Akane repeated.

"She's in, uhm, Akihabara. She..." Ryouga colored up. "She's a shopkeeper over there. One of THOSE stores."

"Oh," said Ranma, "it's always the ones you don't expect that turn out bad."

Akane puzzled over that, not understanding. Akihabara was mainly electronics, wasn't it?

"Angelica the Gypsy Queen was *after* your time, right?" Ranma asked. "Hmmm. That's all I can think of. Oh, Cologne's back in her village last I heard. Though there *were* some unusual couples among the Senshi."

"Uhm, excuse me," said Akane, standing quickly. "It's late and I need to get to my next destination."

"You sure you don't want to spend the night?" Ranma asked.

Akane looked at where the slender girl rested in Ranma's embrace with all the comfort of long familiarity. "No. No, I think I need to be going."

"Okay, Akane. Send your address when you get settled will ya? Don't make it another ten years before your next visit!" Ranma called out at the quickly retreating former fiance. "You know, Hotaru, I think something was botherin' her."

Hotaru patted her husband's arm while Ryouga snorted. "Dear. You can't make everyone happy. Not everyone is going to be pleased. All you can do is the best you can do."

"I'm missing something again, huh?" Ranma said before his wife kissed him. As the kiss continued he was aware of Ryouga excusing himself and the two kids making "Yuck!" noises and going off to watch TV.

Though at that point, with his arms full of a warm and affectionate wife, he was aware of only one thing: that he had well and truly lucked out.


end sequence- Hotaru 1/2