Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A New Home ❯ Waking Up ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

Waking Up

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

 

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

 

I find that if I let thinks sit for a while in my head; I can play them out farther. Plus by trying and keeping my chapters between 2500 and 3000+ words, it helps keep me from making the story slide out of control, turning a diamond to a pile of shit.

 

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

 

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

 

Thanks to my proofreader, Howard. Without him, my stories would definitely have a lower quality to them.

 

I wrote this story to get it out of my head, as well as deal with the Chibi-Usa/Ranma/Hotaru match-up that I picked up from Meaning of Life by Kuraiko Kurohoshi. A great and funny story you should read if you have the time.

 

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Okay. This is not how things were supposed to happen.

 

I had spent a few more minutes at the Gates of Time, watching the battle happen and preparing myself for the role destiny had provided me. I watched as Saturn and Little Lady fought the great beast. I watched them hold it off as the other Senshi arrived. I watched as I provided a great distraction for Sailor Moon, the princess, to eliminate it with her purification attack.

 

I watched all of these things happen.

 

So why, when I teleported in at the specific point in time that I should have, was there no one there?

 

I know they should have been there.

 

I know they had been there! It is kind of hard to miss a giant ditch dug out where the monster was supposed to have been.

 

But no one was there.

 

The Gates of Time had been wrong.

 

This has to be bad.

 

Is this a threat to the future of Crystal Tokyo?

 

Is this the work of some new enemy that the gates cannot track?

 

Have I finally been drinking too much at work?

 

The answer to all three questions is the same: maybe.

 

Okay, so what do I know?

 

I know that what was supposed to happen, didn't. I also know that whatever changed these events cannot be tracked by the Gates of Time.

 

But the Gates have a failsafe. Whatever they cannot track still does not effect what has already occurred.

 

Returning quickly to the Gates, I observe the past, backward from the moment I entered the Time Stream.

 

I rewind the Gates from the end of the battle to the beginning.

 

And I catch it. The moment at which reality went from what the Gates had shown me to being what really happened.

 

Thinking quickly, I re-watch the entire battle. I see Hotaru and Little Lady sitting and talking. I see the monster arrive, and shortly disappear into a portal, only to reappear with a…floating chain?

 

Obviously, whatever the chain is holding is currently outside the Gates' ability to see. But that is easily corrected if it lives. I watch as Hotaru—now Sailor Saturn—uses her Silence Glaive, and destroys the chain encircling…whatever it is that it's holding.

 

But suddenly, the monster appears to be torn apart molecule by molecule from the front onward.

 

Then I witness Hotaru and Chibi-Usa touch whatever it was that had destroyed the monster and teleport away.

 

Thinking quickly, I use the Gates to find out where they went. And lo and behold, they went to Hotaru's home—my home—and placed the untraceable newcomer in the guest room.

 

Well, I have to see this person for myself.

 

As the Guardian of Time, it is my responsibility to guard Time itself.

 

And if this person can avoid the Gates, they are a threat to Crystal Tokyo.

 

They will receive the benefit of doubt. After all, they had saved Hotaru and Usa from the monster. If I can get a sample of this newcomer's blood, the Gates will be able to follow them, and I can see if they're a threat.

 

I just hope that Little Lady and Hotaru haven't made friends with it yet; I would hate to be forced to destroy their friend. They have too few as it was.

 

 

 

Hotaru and Usa remained in their Senshi forms after arriving in the guest room at Hotaru's house. This man—this gift from the heavens—was kind of heavy, even without the backpack.

 

Slipping it off him, the two used all of their magically enhanced strength to move him to the guest bed and place him there.

 

Even using the amount of healing magic they had at their disposal, they had only managed to get him to breathe at a stabilized pace.

 

“I'm tired, Usa.”

 

Usa looked at her friend. Both of them were exhausted from healing him, to the point where they could no longer hold their Sailor forms. “Maybe we should lie down.”

 

“What if he takes advantage of us?” Hotaru was still slightly afraid of the male that they had rescued, even though he had quickly destroyed the monster for them.

 

“He's out cold. And he was so hurt, it took both of us healing him just to let him breathe normally. He ain't going anywhere for a long time, unless you wanna call my mom over to finish fixin' him up?”

 

“No—no—no. I just want to be careful. I mean, we did wish for him and everything, but I don't want to just be unable to resist him.”

 

Usa smiled. It was true she loved Hotaru, but she could be so overly sensitive sometimes. “He ain't moving for a while. And we did just spend a bunch of magical energy just to help him.” She turned to the sleeping Ranma, “You won't hurt us, will you?”

 

Ranma just snored a little more, laying his arms out to the sides.

 

“See, he's okay with it.”

 

Hotaru was still weary. “It still seems weird.”

 

Usa decided to prove her friend wrong. She lay in the bed. Not exactly next to Ranma, but still close enough for his outstretched arm to touch her neck. “See, he isn't trying to kill me or drain my energy or stop Crystal Tokyo from happening. No threat here.”

 

Hotaru, while still feeling a little uneasy at how forward her friend was being with the guy, was still stumped. She was tired and wanted to sleep, but was she ready to sleep in the same bed as the guy who had just saved them and been delivered to them by the Kami? Was she willing to trust this guy who had used the last of his waking thoughts to make certain they were safe?

 

Two minutes later, both girls were asleep in the same bed as the man that had been delivered to them, dreaming of him as their consort.

 

Ranma, on the other hand, was dreaming of food; mallet-happy, tomboy cat-girls; and odd little electrical rodents who fit into little tennis balls.

 

But the dreams shifted as the two drew close to him, and a feeling of inner peace encompassed his dreams.

For once, there was no nightmare of the Nekoken, no nightmare of some guy declaring his love for him, no nightmare of being permanently stuck as female. For once in his life, Ranma slept in peace.

 

 

 

Setsuna arrived quickly, making her way to the guest room. It can't be too late.

 

But she arrived to find both her adoptive daughter and her future charge both asleep, curled up against a sleeping male.

 

Okay, true, he is quite attractive, but why are they so trusting of him?

 

Many would have thought Setsuna to be quite the non-sexual person and it was true in a way. She had sacrificed much for her duty. She was willing to sacrifice much more for Crystal Tokyo.

 

Well, she would never sacrifice her alcohol, or anything that would kill a cockroach, or…

 

But first…she needed to decide what possible futures this boy offered. If he truly was beyond the sight of the Gates of Time, then she would need to correct that before considering whether this guy was a possible threat or a danger to either of her young charges. For all she knew, this boy could cement Crystal Tokyo as the only possible future, making it much better. He might even be a part of restoring the Moon Kingdom to its former glory.

 

Or, he could be the new random asshole who shows up and tries to take over the world, blow it up, or break up the Senshi.

 

Luckily, Setsuna had access to what she needed to determine exactly who and what he was; as well as how his future would play in this world.

 

After drawing a blood sample, she left, silently hoping not to be forced to tell either girl that the man they seemed so comfortable with was a threat to them.

 

But neither girl was worried about that. They were both dreaming of a future with the strange man, though neither of them had any idea what to call him.

 

 

 

Sailor Pluto approached the Gates of Time and opened the failsafe slot. It had a simple function, so easy to use even Minako could do it.

 

If the Gates were unable to track a being, whether they were a being of chaos or from outside of their timeline, this failsafe had been installed to fix that. All the guardian needed was a DNA sample from the person and the Gates would be able to track them and their line.

 

It had been what allowed Pluto to track the House of Nova and Beryl's eventual betrayal of the Silver Millennium.

 

But she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

 

“Hello, I am Hades. How may I assist you?”

 

Pluto was many things. She was cautious, she was well prepared.

 

And like cockroaches, she was scared as hell of someone sneaking up on her at the Gates of Time.

 

“DEAD SCREAM!”

 

She watched as the energy went towards the new person with her at the Gates…

 

And pass right through him.

 

“You know, that really wasn't necessary. Plus, it is quite annoying. You think that one Guardian would let another Guardian know I was around.”

 

Sailor Pluto would not admit defeat, but wished to know her enemy—if for nothing else than to learn of a possible weakness. “Who are you?”

 

The new male simply bowed. “I am Hades, the AI program of the Gates of Time, Assistant of the Guardian of Time. I am at your service…Lady Pluto.” The hologram gave a convincing simulation of someone muttering under his breath, “Lady Pluto? You think the Guardians would choose a simple title. Why is it I always get stuck with the royal types? They are always such pains, but oh well. Anyway, it's been a while since I was last active.”

 

She was confused. “And exactly how long has it been; in Earth Years, that you have last been active?”

 

“Oh, about 40,537.572 Earth years.”

 

She was unable to keep her jaw from dropping open. “And why has it taken you this long to make your presence known?”

 

“Oh, I need a certain amount of chaos magic to function. The blood sample you gave me was saturated with it. I would appreciate another pint or two of it. That would top off my reserves and keep me active for approximately one hundred thousand Earth years.”

 

She was confused, to put it mildly. “You mean you function on chaos magic?”

 

“Oh, yes. The entire functionality of the Gates of Time is based on chaos magic. I need it to power my holographic interface, but I can draw enough from the Time Stream itself to power my lower functions. I must thank you. The last Guardian to see me was unable to find any chaos magic that could power me. The source you found was quite…fulfilling.”

 

She was confused more now. Even her predecessor must not have known about this function of the Gates: a fully sentient avatar that would assist with her role. If she had, why would she have hid it? “Okay, assuming I believe you, how would you assist me?”

 

The avatar known as Hades smiled. “I would inform you that the male whom you obtained my fuel from is quite unique here. He is from a parallel reality, injured by a portal that was keyed specifically to the monster that you went to help eliminate. Though the healing magic of Lady Saturn and the Future Lady Moon was helpful in preventing his untimely death, it was not enough to fully restore him, and he will be unconscious for some time. I would also advise against eliminating him, as he will prove a great ally against your new enemy.”

 

“But there are no more enemies between now and the Great Ice.”

 

“So you thought.” Hades moved towards the Gates, flicking his hand, and the images changed to show the monster that Ranma had fought. “This creature had a master, a very powerful one at that. Ranma—which, by the way, is the name of the new man—will be quite helpful in dealing with it. With his help, Crystal Tokyo appears in over ninety-five percent of the possible outcomes. Without him, it only appears in thirty-five percent, and most of those will cost you at least three Senshi.”

 

“Which Senshi?”

 

Hades shook his head. “Should it matter? Your job is to preserve the future, past, and present. Would you willingly sacrifice someone on the off-chance that their death might provide a future benefit?”

 

Sailor Pluto lowered her head. It wasn't often she was reminded of her true purpose, her real reason for being a Guardian of the Gates of Time. “Crystal Tokyo must occur. It should occur.”

 

Hades shook his head again. “You have been playing with forces you barely understand. You have been lucky nothing serious—like the end of all existence—has occurred because of your selfish desires. The first rule for any Guardian is not to tamper with time unless it is to prevent a disaster. You have violated that rule to ensure a future you deemed fated. In the old days, this would have earned you your death after I sent a report to the Queen.”

 

Hades shook his head. “However, these are not the old days. Things still must change, and there is little I can do now.

 

“I will help you with Crystal Tokyo, if for nothing else than Usa. She…interests me. But the fact that you are willing to sacrifice four billions lives for this future will change. While you may guard these Gates, I am your counter-point. I balance your will.”

 

Shaking her head in agreement, Sailor Pluto knelt before the avatar. “Then how shall I proceed?”

 

Hades smiled. It wasn't often, even in his vast memory, that he got to humble a Guardian. Most were too smart to pull the stuff this one had. “I will advise you as necessary. Just know that you will be allowed to live a normal life again. But remember, that male known as Ranma has already been claimed as a concubine by Usa and Hotaru.” Hades smiled an evil smile. “You'll have to ask them for permission to use him for an heir.”

 

Watching the sputtering of the Guardian more then made up for his lack of activity for the last forty thousand years.

 

Sometimes, it just was fun to tease.

 

 

 

Loki was watching his console. There had been little interest in the things happening on Midgard for him since he single-handedly averted Ragnarok. Sure, the enemies that were vanquished by the Sailor Senshi were fun to watch. And while this…Crystal Tokyo did shift things in favor of the Asgard, it was of little use to him. There was no fun, no enjoyment of what was currently happening for him.

 

In short, this world was boring.

 

“Man, I really need to see about getting an avatar.”

 

Suddenly, a beep manifested itself on his console.

 

Could it be…?

 

Might it be…?

 

Dare I hope…?

 

Yes, Loki had found a new interest.

 

Poor Ranma. From one skillet into a pot.

 

But at least only one Kami was interested in him.

 

For now.

 

 

 

Man, my head hurts.

 

Ranma was slowly coming to the world of the waking. He had no idea how long he had been out, but shot up quickly. The monster…

 

But there was no monster, nor the weird battling cheerleader who had helped him.

 

He was in a room, in a bed…all alone.

 

Man, how often does that happen?

 

Me, in a bed, all alone.

 

Ranma wasn't used to this.

 

Okay, no fiancées around. I am by myself in a strange room. Let's see, no ring on my finger, so I wasn't married to someone while I was out. My backpack looks untouched, as do my clothes, so I wasn't abused. And I was moved by somebody with some serious strength to move my backpack from the park to here.

 

The park, how did I get to the park?

 

Second thought, how did I get back from the park?

 

Let's see. What do I remember?

 

The demon the old letch summoned. He pulled me through some portal, and I felt pain…such pain…

 

Ranma shook his head. The pain far surpassed what he had felt under the Nekoken. Even beyond what he had endured eating Akane's food.

 

Damn, it must have been bad if it surpassed the tomboy's cooking experiments.

 

“We don't care! We chose him, the Kami sent him to us! We make that decision, not you!'

 

And I get to be woken up by some girl screaming at… What time is it anyway?

 

The clock was at least digital, which saved Ranma some problems. It was difficult to focus on a normal clock, especially this early after waking up.

 

Was it so early?

 

He remembered few things about his day. He remembered waking up and heading back to the dojo, but little else after that. A few stray thoughts floated in his mind, memories of what must have happened. But every time he tried to grab onto them, to form a coherent thought with them, they slid through his grasps, returning to the ether.

 

It's as if those moments never happened. As if all of this was a dream.

 

“Welcome back, young man.”

 

Turning his head towards the voice, he caught sight of her. She seemed almost regal. Having blue-green hair that rested on her shoulders, Ranma bit back the thought of how cute she looked. The last thing I need is another fiancée. “Um, I'm Ranma Saotome, and I'm sorry about this. I take it the yells I heard are about me?” He started to berate himself internally for giving out his name.

 

Michiru smiled. “Yes, it seems my daughter and her best friend seems to think you are the answers to their prayers for a boyfriend.” She thought it best not to mention the girls had prayed for the perfect husband. While he may be cute—no one said she didn't appreciate the opposite sex, just didn't feel that way about men—she wasn't about to let some gigolo play around with Hotaru's feelings. “So, perhaps it is best for you to tell me about yourself. Unlike my love, I would like to know the man my daughter seems to wish to know.”

 

She has a daughter! “Um, I'm sorry. But you don't look old enough to have a daughter my age.”

 

He was rewarded with a gentle laugh, somehow “opposite sounding” to what Kodachi usually assaulted him with. “She is my adopted daughter, only a few years younger than me and about your age. I didn't mean to make you think a small child had lay claim to you.”

 

He released a breath he had no idea he was holding. He may always end up being called a pervert, but it was best not to have your first impression be that you were a possible pedophile. “Okay. I'm a martial artist who got sucked into some portal-thingy by a weak demon summoned by the perverted master of my idiotic father. So thanks to that portal, I went from being able to easily kick its ass to barely hanging on long enough for that warrior-cheerleader to slash the chain the demon had around me so I could blow it up. I did blow it up, right?”

 

“Oh, yes. And those `warrior cheerleaders' as you call them are called the Sailor Senshi. They protect us from most of those little nasties, but they usually work in a group. You say you took it out by yourself?” She already knew the story from what Usa and Hotaru told her earlier. But it paid to be certain.

 

“Yeah. I had to use a new technique on it, and it pretty well drained me of what I had left.” Scratching his head, he was trying to figure out what to say. They knew his name already, a stupid mistake on his part. If someone went around saying they had a Ranma Saotome, there was bound to be a fiancée or thirty around to hear it. “So, did they bring me here? Why?”

 

“Oh, the Senshi have helped Hotaru a few times with some bullies, and she offered to let them bring injured people here to rest up. It seems you were just tired, and they didn't want to leave you in the park.” She stood a little straighter. “Now, where are you from, Ranma?”

 

“I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. If I do, you'll see if you can find someone, news will get out, and next thing I know, every idiot ever after me will be heading here and ruining your house. I probably should go. I don't want my problems to become your problems.” He tried to make his way over to his backpack, but his legs were still wobbly from what happened earlier. He barely braced himself on the bed.

 

Michiru would have made her way over to help him, but if what the two self-appointed brides of Ranma's had said was true, she would need her Senshi form just to keep him from taking her down as well. “I'm afraid you're stuck here for a while. The Senshi informed us that they had healed you some, but you are still pretty drained. Dinner will be in about half an hour. You should rest up so you can make it downstairs. If you want, I can have the young ones bring it to you. I'm sure they'd appreciate time with their new boyfriend.”

 

She watched as Ranma's face paled a bit. Either he has someone or has had bad experiences with women. Oh my, I do hope he's straight. They'd be so disappointed if their supposed “gift from the Kami” was a homosexual. That just might make them snap.

 

Of course, they could seek each other out. That could be just as well.

 

“I…I'll try and make it downstairs. Um, I hate to sound stupid, but which way is downstairs?” He tried to smile and scratch the back of his head. But both arms were currently supporting him.

 

“Down the hall to your left. Bring a healthy appetite.”

 

Little did she know, Ranma would have brought that anyway.

 

 

 

Hades kept sifting through the data the Gates of Time were giving him. Since Pluto had left about an hour ago, he had been trying to comb through the possible futures to see where this guy would stand.

 

So far, it was taxing even him.

 

He had tried to contact his counterpart in Ranma's reality, but found no response. Even if his AI in that world was inactive like he had been, the Gates of Time for that universe should have responded.

 

No response meant one of two things: either they were destroyed—unlikely since only a Big Crunch would do that—or they never existed.

 

This is bad. I have no way of knowing his past. Even at full power, I couldn't read that from another universe.

 

And he obviously doesn't come from any one of the infinite realities split off from this one. He doesn't even belong to one of the realities which this one came from. His universe must have split off from this one before the making of the Gates of Time.

 

If I was organic, I'd have one hell of a headache right now.

 

Ranma's effects on the universe were also quite chaotic. Even the founding members of the House of Nova didn't have this much chaos in them. He had seriously underestimated the levels in Ranma's blood. It was shocking to find out that if Ranma chose to drink milk tomorrow morning instead of orange juice, he would end up married to Usagi the First. If he had waffles instead of miso soup, a massive power outage would hit all of Europe and Asia.

 

Of course, those were oversimplifications, but when the results were over fifty percent for those actions, he had to wonder.

 

It's a good thing I locked Usa to this time, otherwise the resulting chaos would rip her from existence. Not exactly a pain free way to go.

 

Time to go over what he knew. He knew Ranma apparently had something called a Jusenkyo curse, and explained it in ninety five percent of the realities in which it was exposed.

 

Well, I guess that explains the worlds where he ended up married to Mamoru.

 

Never knew the guy swung that way. Makes one wonder about Motoki.

 

In 96.7 percent of the realities, he was married to one or more Senshi, 4.75 percent of those had him married to all of them, including Mamoru.

 

The guy had problems showing his feelings. Obviously he had been raised to display no emotion.

 

He was nearly unstoppable, and never hesitated to end a battle to ensure no one got hurt. He said it was part of his training to ensure the safety of innocents.

 

The guy was apparently going to be cold to them all for a while. He had told Pluto that Usa and Hotaru would have a better shot with him if they took their time and didn't rush him. The guy seemed to have a problem with women who were too forward.

 

At least to the level that Hotaru and Usa were in 34.6 percent of the possible futures.

 

He also had a problem with cats. The Moon advisors were going to need to meld with him to fix that. Diana herself would send him fleeing in terror. He had to hope Pluto informed them of this as well.

 

The main problem the Senshi were going to have now was explaining to Ranma that he wasn't on his Earth anymore, and they had no way of sending him home. If he had a Time Gate in his universe, maybe they could.

 

But no response meant no way to do it.

 

He almost felt sorry about that. But Ranma did seem to grow happier as time went on.

 

The only question was who he would be happy with.

 

 

 

OMAKE!

 

Sailor Pluto stood outside her home, waiting for Ranma to emerge. He was a threat to the future of Crystal Tokyo, and thus had to be destroyed.

 

She had it planned perfectly. He would emerge through the back doors for a morning workout. She would hit him with a full power Dead Scream—end of story.

 

Too bad for her, no plan survives contact with Ranma.

 

She saw him emerge from the home in male form. “For being a threat to—what the hell are you doing?”

 

Ranma was currently hiding behind her. “Help me. They're crazy!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Back away, Pluto. He, I mean, she's ours.”

 

Pluto turned once again to face the door, now seeing Uranus and Neptune with weapons ready. “And what the hell are you two doing?”

 

“We have claimed her as a consort, or we will claim her once he gets hit with some cold water.”

 

Uranus smiled. “Yes, come, join us, Ranma. Let us show you being female isn't so bad.”

 

“DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM, URANUS!”

 

Neo-Moon and Saturn ran through the door, completing the Mexican Standoff. “We claimed him as our consort.”

 

“Why are you trying to take him away from us? Don't you want me to be happy, Haruka-papa? Michiru-mama?”

 

Michiru just looked over at them. “You claimed the male half. We want the female half.”

 

Haruka smirked, “You already said you didn't want her that way. If you won't make her a woman, let us do it.”

 

Pluto had had enough. “It will not work that way.”

 

“Not you too, Puu.”

 

Setsuna was a little shocked. “To what are you referring to, Little Lady?”

 

The other girls all turned towards her. “She wants him all for herself.”

 

Setsuna never got the time to issue a denial.

 

“NO!” was the common phrase they yelled.

 

“WORLD SHAKING!”

 

“SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!”

 

“DEEP SUBMERGE!”

 

“PINK SUGAR HEART ATTACK!”

 

All that was left was a now drenched female Ranma and a twitching Pluto, currently on the ground.

 

“GET RANMA!”

 

“EEP!”

 

One news crew and a cup of hot water later, the Inners were watching the chase unfold on TV.

 

“As you can see, four Sailor Senshi are chasing what we believe may be a new villain, but he keeps screaming something about it not being his fault, and asking why they won't leave him alone. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved…Woah! Did you see that, Keiichi, he leapt over that building!”

 

The girls could only stare, the moon cats banging their heads on the floor since this was something they expected the Inners to do, not the Outers.

 

“Sempai!”

 

Okay, maybe this could get worse.

 

 

 

OMAKE2! By Howard

 

Artemis came out of the back room bristling with anger. “I can't believe it! I just can't believe it!”

 

Venus spun, wide eyed. “Artemis?”

 

Usagi piped up with, “What do you mean?”

 

Artemis glared daggers at the door he just exited. “Luna cured Ranma's ailurophobia just a little too much.”

 

In a panic, the assembled senshi rushed to the partially open door and threw it open.

 

There, before their astonished eyes, was Ranma lying on the floor with Luna sitting on his chest, preening under his attentions. He was running his fingers sensuously through her fur and she was making happy mewling sounds.

 

Ranma paused and looked Luna intently in the eyes. “I love you, Luna.”

 

Luna stroked his cheek with her paw, “I love you too.”

 

The shocked senshi watched as Luna lowered her head as Ranma raised his. Everyone turned away and shuddered except for the always curious Ami.

 

“I didn't know moon cats could french-kiss.”

 

 

 

If I messed anything up, then let me know including typos.

 

Any suggestions on how I should continue the story or improve it would also be accepted.