Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ A Big Help ❯ Dreams of Long Past ( Chapter 15 )

A Big Help

A Ranma one half/Sailor Moon crossover fanfic

By Michael A. Ivins

 

Mykon and Jora are my original creation so please nobody use them without permission. The rest of these characters are the property of their creators, publishers anime production companies, etc. I write this for fun and make no profit off it.

 

 

Chapter 15

Dreams of Long Past

 

Ranma-Chan was down on one knee on a carpeted floor. The carpet was red and seemed to be a wide strip that ran through the length of a large room. At the moment she was looking down at the rug and couldn't see much of the room she was in. To either side of the rug there was a floor that appeared to be highly polished stone. When she tried to look up she found that she couldn't. It was like she was an observer in her own body or maybe it was some kind of dream where she couldn't control her movements.

 

When her body finally looked up she found she was in a large room, longer than it was wide. Flanking the ribbon of carpet on either side were two rows of columns with ornate details at the foot and top. Beyond the row of columns to one side was a wall with many tapestries and paintings. Some of the paintings were portraits of people in stiff poses and formal clothing while others showed images of starscapes and some were impossible looking depictions of fantastic buildings that appeared to be on the surface of the moon.

 

On the wall on the opposite side of the room there were large windows that were curtained currently. In spite of the curtains being closed, the room was strongly illuminated by elaborate crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

 

At the front of the room there was a beautiful silver haired woman seated on a throne. The throne appeared to carved from a single block of stone and was on a raised dais. A comfortable cushion was on the seat of the throne. The woman wore a simple, yet elegant white gown that was of the finest fabrics. Her wings were the purest white. Wings?

 

Ranma looked down at herself. What was she wearing? A white… leotard with a short pleated skirt colored with black and dark green stripes. On her chest there was a bow that was white with stripes of yellow and pale green. On her feet she wore high-heeled boots also in pale green leather. She was also wearing white gloves almost to her elbows and yellow band around the top. She recognized the outfit! This was a senshi sailor fuku! She couldn't see it but was sure there was a `sailor' flap on her back along with a larger bow.

 

The woman on the throne radiated a kind of quiet power. There was also a sense of great calm and compassion. There was also a feeling of regret. Ranma wasn't sure what that was doing there.

 

Something was going on. Ranma could feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. She had done something hard and was reporting to her queen. She spoke, “My queen, I have completed my training and I am ready to take my place among the Planet Senshi.”

 

A sad expression came to the queen's face. (Serenity! That was her name.) “I am so sorry my loyal Senshi but that is not to be.”

 

A sense of terrible disappointment came crashing down on her. This was to have been her supreme moment, the culmination of years of hard work. “Not to… Have I done something wrong, my queen? Was there some further training I needed? I am ready to work as hard as needed.”

 

“I do not doubt that. None of the Planet Senshi has worked as hard at her training as you have. In every way and in every category you have met and exceeded our expectations. You are the strongest of the Senshi and therein lies the problem.”

 

That sounded like praise. How did that jibe with the previous statement? “Your majesty, I am confused. How can being the strongest of the Senshi be a problem?”

 

The queen explained, “My advisors say that the kind of power you wield should be kept in reserve, to be used if the Planet Senshi come up against a foe that is beyond their powers.”

 

“I am not to be a front line fighter?”

 

“That is what my advisors recommend.”

 

Strategically and tactically it did make a kind of sense. It was not what she had been working toward but she was a soldier, she would obey. Ranma-Chan sounded dubious. “As you command, my queen. I shall continue to train to keep my skills sharp and I shall wait to be called.” She stood then bowed once more to the queen before turning and striding out of the room.

 

In the hall outside the door of the throne room a young girl waited. She was a pretty blonde who bore a strong resemblance to the queen. Her hair was done up in two long pony tails that reached nearly to the ground and odango at the base of each of those. She was wearing a pretty gown that was a confection of pink and white.

 

When Ranma-Chan first stepped into the hall the blonde girl had an expression of happy expectation on her face. When she noted Ranma's somber expression her own face fell and she asked, “Ranna, what's wrong? What did my mother tell you? Come on, cousin, tell me.” That last was delivered in a tone of command.

 

Ranma hesitated to tell her. She had no wish create trouble between the Princess and her mother. Finally she decided. “Serena, she told me I won't be joining the Planet Senshi.”

 

“What?' demanded the young blonde. “What can my mom be thinking? She can't keep you out of the Senshi. You're the best, they need you.”

 

Angrily the other girl grabbed the door handle only to stop when Ranma placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Serena, no. It's a strategic decision. Her advisors told her I'm too strong to be a first-in, front line fighter. I need to stay in reserve in case the rest run into something they can't handle.”

 

The blonde searched her cousin's face. “But Ranna, this was your dream. You practically had to beg mother to let you train to be a senshi. And now after all of your training and effort, you're the strongest and best of them all. It's not fair.”

 

A single tear escaped Ranna's eye. “No, it's not fair, but it is for the good of the Moon Kingdom. I will abide by Queen Serenity's decision and I ask that you don't make a fuss about it.”

 

The blonde grabbed her red haired cousin in a crushing embrace. Or it would have been crushing if the redhead wasn't in Senshi form. “I don't understand it, but since you ask, I won't yell at mother about it.”

 

Ranma-Chan sat up in her futon with a jerk. In a near panic she looked around the room to assure herself she was still in her room in the Tendo home. Weak light came in through the window from a street light outside. It gave enough illumination to see that everything in the room was just as it had been when she had laid down.

 

“Meow?” The cat sounded concerned.

 

Ranma waggled a finger at the cat and she jumped into the girl's lap.

 

The red haired girl took several deep breaths to calm herself in addition to reciting a mantra in her head. In a whisper she told the cat, “I had a strange dream. I guess hearing about the Senshi on TV made me dream about being one. I know you can't do anything about it but maybe talking about it will help me sort out how to feel.”

 

While stroking the fur on the cat's back she gave a description of the dream. She included the fact that the queen didn't say her name but Ranma seemed to know it anyway. She told the cat, “It was weird. It was like I was there but not there. It was me but it was like I was just there watching stuff happen. I couldn't change anything.”

 

The cat looked on with an expression like she was listening. “Ok, I just heard on the news about the Senshi fighting a monster like we did. I've heard about them before but I don't remember ever thinking I wanted to be one. After all I'm a guy inside and only girls can be Senshi. When I told Akane we were `fighting for love and justice' there was something that felt totally familiar and right about it.”

 

She paused for further thought. “If I'm going to dream I'm a senshi, why wasn't I dreaming that I was Sailor Moon, or Mars or one of the other current ones. I just went and invented a whole new Senshi who's supposed to be stronger than all the others. I thought Mykon and Jora had helped me get over all that inflated ego stuff the panda tried to teach me.”

 

She took a little more time to do a breathing exercise and recite a few more mantras. Finally she said, “I'm calmed down now.” She picked the cat up and set her down next to her pillow and lay back down to try and go back to sleep. She fell asleep rather quickly.

 

The following day at school was different to say the least. The only thing that remained the same was Kuno. Either he hadn't seen the news reports or had refused to believe them as he again demanded that Ranma `release' the pigtailed girl from her slavery.

 

As Ranma punched Kuno over the roof of the school it was odd to think that the idiot kendo champion was one the few things that was close to a constant in his life right now. True, it was an unpleasant constant, but at least Kuno was predictable.

 

Other than Kuno it seemed that everyone wanted to talk to Ranma and Akane. Everyone wanted to hear the story about the fight with the monster. Ranma's friends Hiroshi and Daisuke were acting very proud and were making sure to tell everyone that Ranma the hero was their friend. Akane's friends Yuka and Sayuri were doing the same thing about the black haired girl. Both of the teen martial artists were just hoping people would stop making such a fuss over it and let them get on with the business of getting an education.

 

It did seem that not quite the whole school population was so greatly impressed to have a hero in their midst. During lunch Ranma was hit with a water balloon that was thrown by boys who were anxious to get a wet T-shirt view of Ranma's girl side. They were shocked when all that happened was Ranma getting wet and no transformation happened. Instead of any violence or threats the pigtailed boy just glared at the offenders and told them, “That doesn't work anymore.” Ranma didn't offer any explanation.

 

The news that Ranma no longer changed with the application of cold water was not well received among certain portions of the student body. It was not only the perverts, either. Among them were boys who still had hopes of dating the gorgeous girl that he turned into. There were also girls who lusted after Ranma-Chan. There were even some girls who looked at the beauty of the redheaded martial artist as a standard to try to equal or surpass.

 

In their classes for the day not even the teachers were completely immune to the little touch of hero worship. Two of them actually asked Ranma and Akane to tell the story about the fight. Through this Ukyo was ambivalent. On the one hand she was impressed and proud that her fiancé was a hero. On the other hand she was angry that she had not been called on to take part in the fighting.

 

Ranma and Akane were very happy to see the end of the school day. After school Ranma knocked on Nabiki's door. The brown haired girl came to the door and said, “What can I do for you?”

 

Ranma looked unsure of himself. “Things have been pretty crazy the last few days. I wanted to talk to you for a while.”

 

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, let's see, giants, goddesses, trials, curses removed and curses changed and battles with monsters. I'll say one thing about you Saotome, you have a talent for understatement. I think I know what you want to talk about. Come in and sit down.”

 

Ranma came in while Nabiki closed the door behind him. Ranma sat down in the desk chair while the middle Tendo sister sat on the bed. Nabiki looked at him a moment and commented, “I thought you were going to change to a girl right after school every day.”

 

“I'm still playing around with the timing. I was thinking I would change right after dinner.”

 

Nabiki nodded.

 

After a moment of thinking how to phrase his question, “You knew?”

 

“About the rent money? Yeah, I knew. I figured it out a while ago when I saw the regular deposits on the bank statements. I knew you had to be doing it but I was only able to get absolute confirmation two weeks ago. Your bank is very secure. You chose well.”

 

This wasn't quite the response Ranma was expecting. Hesitantly he said, “Uh, thanks I guess. You aren't going do anything about it?”

 

In a reasonable tone, “Why would I want to do anything? You have been paying for room and board for you and your father ever since you moved here and you wanted to keep it a secret. You even paid enough to cover the cost of repairs to the house and dojo from your fights. I have no problem with the money you've been putting into the house budget.”

 

“You aren't going to try and blackmail me into paying more?”

 

The middle Tendo daughter winced at that. “Considering the way I've treated you, I guess I deserved that. After I found out that you were doing more to support this family than my own father is, I decided to back off on all the stuff I've been doing to you. I'm not interested in you as someone to date or anything like that but I guess you are an Ok guy.”

 

“Really?”

 

She nodded. “Since the fight with the monster on Sunday night I've been looking at the way the people at school have been acting toward you and Akane. I've had an idea in mind that there might be a way to make some money off that. If you'd like to help there is something you could do. It won't cost you anything, not even your dignity.”

 

Now intrigued, he asked, “What did you have in mind?”

 

“In the last two days I've sold out of every copy of every picture I have of your boy side. It's the same thing for everything I have of Akane. I've had to order extra copies from the photo lab. Now that everyone wants pictures of the heroes I was hoping that I could get all of you guys including Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse to come and pose for some group pictures and action shots.”

 

Ranma considered that. “You want us to model for you?”

 

“Yes,” the mercenary girl confirmed. “I can rent some professional equipment and set up the dojo as a studio for a day. I was thinking of taking some professional quality shots instead of the candid stuff I usually get of you and Akane. If I can get some of the right kind of pictures I think I could work it into a calendar under the title of `The Nerima 5'. Each of you would get one month for a solo shot and the rest would be group shots or one-on-one action shots.”

 

“Do you really think people would buy that?”

 

“If we can get on the market quickly enough.”

 

Ranma thought for a moment. “Mykon and Jora might be able to help with that.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Ranma explained, “With the facilities they have access to they might be able to get you a couple thousand calendars printed and ready to ship by Monday.”

Nabiki's eyes went wide. “'Facilities?' Do you mean…” She pointed her finger toward the ceiling.

 

Ranma couldn't resist smiling at the implication “I'm not sure of all the facilities they can access. That may be one. Considering they are also aliens from an alternate reality they could have more. I was thinking maybe they have something like the replicator from Star Trek.”

 

The middle Tendo sister thought about it and shrugged. “I guess there's no harm in asking. It would be a good way of making some `honest' money.”

 

A pleasant alto voice spoke, “That sounds like an excellent idea.”

 

Nabiki let out a shriek and jumped. Lacking Ranma's martial arts skills and physical conditioning she didn't make it all the way to the ceiling. When she came back down she looked to see the head and shoulders of Mykon in female form sticking through one wall.

 

It took the middle Tendo daughter a moment to regain her composure. Finally she asked, “Please don't do that again. Next time announce yourself.”

 

“Sorry about that. I think the calendar is an excellent idea.” She held out her hand and a holographic screen appeared in the air above it.

 

“I even got some images that might be good for it.” They looked at a succession of images, pictures of each of the Nerima 5 in a variety of poses.

 

Mykon paused the succession of images. “Say Nabiki, I know you were planning to take the pictures yourself, but did you really have your heart set on that?”

 

“What? No. If I could swing the cost I would be taking them to a professional photographer instead. Still, I think I'm a good enough photographer that I can get the job done.”

 

“Good.” The platinum blonde giant pulled out a small box (at least it looked small in her hand) that had what looked like a speaker grill on the front. As she looked at it she warned, “I'm going to zone out for a few minutes. Don't be alarmed.”

 

A light appeared on the box and Mykon spoke into it, “Yo, Fred… Interface.”

 

The luminous green eyes went pure white and the giant woman seemed to be looking within. After two minutes Nabiki asked, “Ranma, what's she doing?”

 

He shrugged, “I don't know. I've never seen either of them do this before.”

 

Three minutes later the pupils and irises reappeared in Mykon's eyes and what looked like five large but thin magazines plopped onto Nabiki's bed. She picked up the one on top and stared at it.

 

It was a calendar. On the cover there was a picture of the group with Ranma in the center. On his left were Shampoo and Mousse and on his right were Ryoga and Akane. All of the martial artists were in fighting stances. Over the images of the five were the words “The Nerima Five.” Nabiki demanded, “How did you get this picture?”

 

Mykon replied, “I used my computer to bring five images together into a group shot. Think of it like Photoshop on steroids.”

 

The page for January had a picture of Ranma in one of the aerial moves that the Anything Goes School was best at. The February page had a shot of Ranma and Akane that looked like it was taken from one of their sparring sessions. The March page had Ryoga in an action shot. The rest of the calendar was like that. The solo shot of Shampoo was where she was wearing one of her mini-dresses. She looked really good and sexy.

 

Nabiki put the first calendar aside and flipped through the second one. It was completely different but similar in theme. After she had looked through all of them she looked up at Mykon and asked, “You put these together in five minutes?”

 

“With Fred's help, yes. Fred is the computer on my ship. You should know that we do have the ability to manipulate time to some extent.

”

Ranma asked, “Your ship? You mean the ship you told me about that's bigger inside than on the outside?”

 

Mykon smiled. “That's the one.”

 

Nabiki wouldn't be put off. “You've done this before, haven't you?”

 

Mykon shrugged. “When you've lived over two thousand years you usually get a chance to do just about everything. I've been a profession photographer and I have worked on design and layout for many calendars. Which one do you like?”

 

The Tendo sister had been looking at all of the calendars offered. She shook her head. “I'm not sure if I can decide on just one. They're all good. Aside from the front cover group shot, where did you get all of the other pictures?”

 

Mykon grinned. “I still have access to that recording the gods did while Jora and I were on probation. There are tons of images in it that make great calendar shots. The great thing is that it's full 3D so when you find a good shot you can pan, zoom and generally play with the angle until you've got the perfect shot.”

 

The middle Tendo sister asked, “Can we use all of these calendars?”

 

The giant woman nodded. She got a faraway look for a moment then said, “Ok, Fred just replicated five thousand copies of each one. If that's not enough we can make more easily and if you don't sell all of them we can recycle the surplus. They are all in boxes and currently stacked in a corner of the dojo. Take some with you to school tomorrow and see how they sell. Be sure and tell everyone who buys one to tell friends, relatives and so on.”

 

Mykon said with a grin, “You, young lady, need to get busy. You should get on the phone and start calling around to stores to find places to sell these. Even if every kid in school buys five you'll still have a lot left over. You need to develop other markets.”

 

That same evening at a meeting of the Senshi at Mizuno Ami's home. Ami looked at the Mercury Computer and sighed. She announced, “I've going over the recording of yesterday's fight. First, I'll tell you what I didn't find. There was no magic, no dark energy or anything else to suggest something supernatural.”

 

Makoto asked, “Are you saying it was just an animal?”

Amy shook her head. “No. I think the enemy that sent that monster is using technology. From my readings I feel pretty sure the creature was genetically engineered. It may not be magic but it is a monster. The readings suggest that it had limited intelligence, but it was no simple animal.”

 

Usagi asked, “Is this related to the monster that attacked Nerima Monday?

 

Ami frowned. “The eyewitness reports about the portal show the gateway both monsters used looked and sounded the same. Unless we have two different enemies using the same technology, it seems a safe bet they are related. As to the creature in Nerima, there wasn't much left to analyze. The martial artists who fought it did a very… thorough job of destroying it. There's nothing left but chunks and fluids and they are having to scrape those off the surrounding buildings.”

 

Makoto perked up. “Martial artists?”

 

Ami nodded. “The town has lots of them. I understand this bunch has been in some high profile fights before although they were fighting each other then.”

 

Makoto mused, “Banding together against a common enemy?”

 

Ami shrugged, “Maybe.” She looked for a moment for her mother's copy of the previous evening's newspaper. She found that Minako was looking at it. The blonde haired girl handed over the paper to the Senshi of Jupiter. She commented, “The boys are cute, although I'm not too sure what to think of that one with fangs.”

 

Rei put in, “I don't know, I think the fangs look kind of cute on him.”

 

Minako rolled her eyes and said, “You would.”

 

Makoto started to read the article but not before staring at the picture of Saotome Ranma. There was something about the boy in the picture that struck a cord with her. The expression on her face was not lost on the rest of her friends.

 

“Hey Mako-Chan?”

 

With a start she brought her attention back to the meeting. “What?”

 

In sing-song voice Minako mockingly asked, “Does one of them remind you of your old boyfriend?”

 

Feeling a little flustered, she answered, “Actually no, he doesn't.”

 

Minako teased, “She said `he.' One of them must have caught her eye.”

 

Makoto glared at her friend. Still she didn't think she could put as much force into her glare as she wanted because one of the boys had indeed caught her eye. Saotome Ranma's picture seemed to cause something within her to resonate. He didn't remind her of her old boyfriend but she found herself thinking, “If I have anything to say about it, he will be my new boyfriend.”

 

It was after dinner a few days later. The Tendo sisters were gathered in the dojo and wondering why Ranma had called them together.

 

Nabiki demanded, “What is this about?”

 

Ranma answered, “I wanted to get together with you before but things have been pretty crazy this week. You all know that my mom wanted to talk to me after the trial. We went off to my room after dinner and talked for a couple hours. One thing that came across really clear is how lonely she was all the time I was away. She lost not only her son but her husband as well.”

 

Ever the empathetic one, Kasumi said, “I can sympathize with her. But why did you call us here to talk about it.”

 

Ranma went on, “I know it wasn't my fault that the panda took me away from her but I want to do something for her. I'm going to go visit her at her house and she's going to come here to visit. She said that some nights she can cook so Kasumi could get the night off.”

 

The eldest Tendo sister was surprised. Ranma nodded. “You could go out or see about getting a date with Dr. Tofu.”

 

Kasumi's expression changed. Instead of the normally calm quiet smile there came (was it even possible) a frown. Akane asked, “Kasumi, what's wrong.”

 

The eldest Tendo sister seemed thoughtful. “Dr. Tofu is nice and I used to think it was cute how he always acts so silly when I'm around him. I'm getting tired of it. Supposedly he is giddy in love with me but I kept waiting for him to get over the giddy and start showing more of the `in love'. It never seems to happen.”

 

For the longest time Akane had had a crush on the doctor. She gave up on it when she felt sure that her sister was the one Tofu loved and she loved him in return. Now hearing that Kasumi was apparently thinking of giving up on the doctor was something that the youngest Tendo was unsure how to take. She had thought she had moved on in her life.

 

Nabiki looked around at her sisters and back to Ranma. “If I'm reading the whole thing right you are wanting us to play matchmakers for your Mom. Is that right?”

 

Ranma nodded.

 

For a moment the mask of the Ice Queen thawed a little. “I think it's sweet what you want to do for your mom, but I'm not sure if you came to the right people to help you with this.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Somewhat apologetically Nabiki looked at the others. “Look at us. None of the women in this room has had a date in years. With the way you were raised, I'm betting you never had a date at all.”

 

Ranma blushed. “The panda always said that kind of stuff was a distraction from the Art.”

 

Nabiki said in a gentle tone, “I'm not saying that as a criticism. I know it's not your fault how your father raised you. What I was trying to say is you don't have the skills to get yourself a date much less getting dates for anyone else. The rest of us are so badly out of practice that I personally doubt we'd be much help.”

 

Kasumi had a thoughtful expression. “Don't be too hasty, sister.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I'm not saying we should actually make dinner reservations for Ranma's mother. I do think we could introduce her to some eligible men. Since I'm ready to give up on Dr. Tofu anyway maybe he would be a good match for her.”

 

Akane looked shocked. “Are you sure you want to give up on him?”

 

Kasumi smiled again, but this time it was a sad smile. “I think I've waited for him long enough. I feel I've learned what I wanted to from that relationship.”

Nabiki looked interested. “Learned what you wanted? What were you trying to find out?”

 

The eldest sister continued to smile “You will probably find out later, but lets just wait for now.”

 

Nabiki stood and in a challenging tone said, “You know I'll find out.”

 

Kasumi's smile got bigger. “I know you will, but it will be more fun for you than if I told you.”

 

Akane elbowed her middle sister. “She's got you there.”

 

The middle sister had to admit that it was true. She would have more fun digging for the information than if Kasumi just told her. Still, she hated being predictable.

 

Kasumi decided throw Nabiki a bone. “I will give you this one hint. You have already seen clues.”

 

Ranma now looked thoughtful. “Hmm. Just introduce them…? That might work. My mom is smart and pretty and Tofu is smart and good-looking. If there is any chemistry between them they can handle the dinner reservations themselves.”

 

The eldest Tendo woman nodded, “That's what I was thinking.”

 

The redhead grinned. “We need to make some plans.”

 

* * *

Ranma was suspended in emptiness. She felt a moment of panic until she remembered that this was another dream and it couldn't hurt her. Hmm, the emptiness was black and studded with…were those stars? Was she in outer space?

 

She again had that feeling like she was an observer in her own body. She looked down and saw that she was again in a sailor fuku just like the scene remembered from the palace. She tried to extract more information out of the situation than she had the last time.

 

She tried to concentrate on her feelings and look into her own mind. She really was in outer space. Oddly enough she felt comfortable there. She felt excited and ready. Ready…? Ready for what?

 

Wait! Something was coming. No… more than one thing. They were coming fast. Her sense of excitement increased. This was going to be fun!

 

Ranma-Chan extended her senses and in her mind there formed the image of a spherical tactical grid. This quickly displayed 20 objects. The analysis on the grid told her that each object was a sphere about as large in diameter as she was tall. The outer surface of each of the sphere was studded with projections. She knew those projections held space drives, thrusters and weapons.

 

The objects now approaching were tactical drones. They were fast, maneuverable and packed a punch. They didn't hit hard enough to kill Ranma-Chan, but they could deliver small, painful wounds. These were what she used for battle training.

 

She had a grin on her face and was just about throw a power bomb when the group of drones suddenly scattered. Damn! She thought she'd caught them early enough that she could have disposed of them in a group. Oh, well. It wouldn't be much of an exercise if it were too easy.

 

She reduced the size of her energy sphere and threw it. Using her multilevel tracking ability she guided the flight of the sphere to her chosen target even as she pointed a finger at the second target. From the tip of that finger there lanced out a brilliant beam of blue energy. That beam instantly bored a hole through the drone.

 

Ranma-chan didn't bother to wait to see the explosion before she teleported. By this time the power bomb had struck its target. That tactical drone was vaporized. In but an instant the fast moving girl appeared right beside a third drone and she made a slashing gesture toward it with her stiffened hand. From the tips of her fingers there extended out an invisible blade of energy. The sphere was neatly sliced and Ranma had targeted her slash to cut the power core.

 

Once again she didn't wait for the explosion before she teleported again. She was having fun. The tech guys kept trying to program better tactics into the drones and she kept taking them out regardless. It had become a game with techs trying to program the drones into scoring at least one hit during a session.

 

In less time than it takes to describe Ranma-Chan had destroyed all 20 of the drones. There was nothing left but debris and expanding clouds of gasses from the vaporized drones.

 

There was a faint crackle of static from the headset Ranma-Chan hadn't been aware she was wearing. “That was great, Sailor Galaxy. You shaved 10 seconds off your best time.”

With a chuckle the girl said, “Don't give me `that was great.' Jeran, that was sneaky programming those last drones to team up. You almost tagged me that time.”

 

There was a laugh over the headset. “Sorry about that, Princess Ranna. You said we had to make these exercises harder.”

 

Ranma laughed again. “You are doing a good job. I'm coming in.” With that she teleported away.

Ranma sat up on her futon. She didn't feel quite so alarmed this time. Mia jumped in her lap. “Sorry if I worried you, Mia. It was another dream, at least I think it was a dream.”

 

The cat angled her ears in the way that Ranma was beginning to understand meant, “What do you mean?”

 

Speaking softly so as not to disturb anyone else sleeping in the house she said, “When Pop and I were on the road we stopped at a lot of temples. Some of the monks talked to me about reincarnation and stuff like that. They said that for most people to remember a past life requires either hypnosis or intense meditation but for a few those old memories just `break through'.”

 

She sat and considered it for a time. “It felt more like a memory than a dream. It was like I was watching events that had already happened. If it really was a memory of a past life then I was a girl for all of that life.”

 

“I kept getting impressions about things other than just the events happening in the dream/memory. I was a warrior for something called the Moon Kingdom. It was during a time called the Silver Millennium. I don't know how I know this but I have the feeling that it was thousands of years ago.”

 

She shrugged, “Anyway, the way it started out I was in outer space…” She told the cat the whole story. It was somewhat entertaining to watch the play of emotions the expressions of the cat displayed.

 

Finally she said, “So I'm not just a Senshi named Sailor Galaxy, but I was also a princess named Ranna. It also looks like I was a pretty kick-ass warrior back then too.”

 

She scratched the cat under the chin. “I think I'm going to have to talk to Mykon and Jora about this. Maybe they will know something about this `silver millennium.' It's just that I don't see very much of them any more. They always seem so busy lately. I miss my friends.”

 

Mia got up and rubbed her head against Ranma's stomach. She was trying to comfort her friend. Ranma picked up the cat hand hugged her.

 

“Well, better try to get back to sleep. In the morning we will have to see what is the next episode in the anime/soap opera that is my life.” She lay back and pulled the blankets up.

 

 

Author's Note: Yes, that is Sailor Galaxy, not Galaxia. I thought of Sailor Nebula, but I didn't think that sounded quite as cool. Keep in mind that she would have had that name back in the Silver Millennium before they ever met Sailor Galaxia.