Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Paternity of a Princess ❯ A Confrontation with the Senshi ( Chapter 8 )

Paternity of a Princess

A Ranma/Sailor Moon Crossover Fanfic

By Michael A. Ivins

 

I don't own the characters of Ranma One Half or Sailor Moon, I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement and hopefully that of my readers. I make no money from doing this.

 

There are some lime bits in this story, so be warned.

 

The only time that Ranma will be male in this story will be for a part of the first chapter. For all of the rest of it she will be female so there will be no usage of “Chan” or “Onna” to differentiate between male and female Ranma. This story takes place after the end of the manga (so after the failed wedding.)

 

Chapter 8

A Confrontation With the Senshi

 

A couple of nights later Ranma was about to swoop down on a mugger when she noticed an odd flash of light off to one side, This could be what she had been searching for. She held off acting to watch what happened next. A moment later Sailor Mars ran in and took care of the mugger.

 

The floating girl bore witness to the encounter. When a police officer showed up on the scene Sailor Mars ran off, with Ranma silently following. She was able to get a good read on the Senshi's aura. She was sure she recognized it even with the expansion and enhancement of the Senshi transformation. She decided to keep following just to be sure.

 

The pursuit eventually led to the shrine where Rei lived. Ranma wasn't sure she believed what she was seeing. The girl couldn't be dumb enough to run into the shrine while still wearing her Senshi outfit, could she? Shortly that question was answered when a light show produced Hino Rei, shrine maiden.

 

Ranma flew quickly away back to her mother's house to think. Rei went to a different school from Juuban High School but was a member of the same circle of friends Ranma had been hanging out with. If Rei was Sailor Mars then it wasn't too much of a stretch to figure out that the other girls in the group were also Sailor Senshi.

 

She thought about it. Usagi was obviously Sailor Moon and not a fan as Ranma had assumed. It still seemed a bad move for her to wear the same hairstyle in civilian form as she did when transformed. That would surely mean that Minako had to be Venus, Ami must be Mercury and Makoto Jupiter. Hmm. she hadn't seen them as often but would guess the lesbian couple she'd met were Uranus and Neptune while Hotaru, their adopted daughter must be Saturn.

 

That just left Pluto. Apparently she didn't socialize much with the other Senshi. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. She had seen all of the fan stuff Akane had of the Senshi. All pictures and written descriptions always depicted Sailor Pluto with green hair. Meiyou Setsuna, the school counselor, was the only person she had ever seen with green hair and it wasn't like that was a common hair color. It was even more rare than her own bright red.

 

Wait a minute! There might be one other person involved in this. Two months back Ranma had seen a strange pink haired girl with Usagi. That girl's hair was in an even more extreme odango style that resembled rabbit ears. She had looked only a couple of years younger than Usagi, yet Ranma could swear she had heard the girl call Usagi “mom.” At the time Ranma had just assumed that the pink haired girl had been joking around with the blonde, but now she wasn't so sure.

 

Still, Ranma had seen the mysterious pink haired girl only once in four months so that argued that she wasn't one of the major players in this whole business. For now Ranma wouldn't worry about her.

 

Now that she knew who the Senshi were, what was the best way to approach this? She didn't think it was a good idea to jump into the middle of a battle with monsters again. The last time she'd done that hadn't turned out well at all. If she was going to confront them it might be best to do so when they were in their civilian identities. They might be less inclined to fight in such a case.

 

Ranma began following the girls from her circle of friends. She learned their habits and travel patterns. She did try to follow Ami but decided to stop after the computer the girl carried beeped. After looking at the screen of the small computer the blue haired girl looked directly at Ranma. It seemed safe to assume that the strange gadget was able to detect the magic Ranma was using.

 

It was a Saturday two weeks later that a certain pink haired young girl showed up at the home of the Outers. This time the girl appeared older than usual. She walked up to Sailor Pluto and in a cheery tone said, “Hi, Pu-Chan. Were you planning on going to this week's Senshi meeting?”

 

“Hello, Small Lady. No, I wasn't planning on attending,” Pluto said. “Why, do you know of any reason I should?”

 

“Yes, I do know a reason,” the girl replied with a grin. “I think it might be a very good idea if you were to invite my father to the meeting as well. I think this meeting will be a little different from the usual and you and he will want to be there for it.”

 

“Small… Lady?” Setsuna's tone was questioning. “Is this the night for the event that my future self has been hinting at for months?”

 

“Yeah!” The girl's tone was one of great satisfaction. “My parents told me some of what was going to happen. They did leave some gaps and said they didn't want to completely spoil the surprise.”

 

“Then I'd better not miss it,” Said the Senshi of Time. “From the hints dropped by my future self, this is likely to be one of the more interesting of the Senshi meetings.” She didn't say out loud that she was understating things by a very big margin.

 

During the times when there were no major threats or demon invasions to be countered the weekly Senshi meetings were more social events than anything serious. They would get together, eat snacks and drink beverages. They would chat about school, boys and other things. In many ways it was like a party.

 

At the Hikawa Shrine Rei's grandfather was away for the evening. He had gone to help out at another shrine, leaving the place for Rei to tend. He knew about the regular gatherings of Rei's friends but had no idea of the things the girls talked about at these meetings. Not knowing of their Senshi activities, he had assumed that it was some kind of social gathering.

 

In the living room of the home attached to the shrine all available seats were occupied and some people were sitting on the floor. There was the usual scream of fright from Usagi when Setsuna teleported in and Chibi-Usa was greeted with a hug from Usagi.

 

When the doorbell rang again and Rei went to the door she was surprised to find Mamoru there. He told her, “Setsuna called me and said something was going to happen tonight that I should be here for. Did you have anything unusual planned?”

 

The shrine maiden frowned in puzzlement. “Not really. Tonight was going to be the usual snack food binge and gabfest.”

 

He shrugged and wandered into the living room and looked around for a place to sit. When he didn't see an empty seat he lowered himself to the floor and sat cross legged.

 

Mamoru had been suffering from a terrible indecisiveness. He was pretty sure that he did love Usagi, but he was recalling memories of the Silver Millennium that had lain dormant for a long time. Looming large in those memories was the beautiful face of a girl named Ruby. Just remembering the past wouldn't be a problem if there were not a living girl who bore the same face. Who did Mamoru love? Did he love both? Did he love one more than the other? He wondered how he would make up his mind.

 

Outside of the house there was a person making a stealthy approach. Ranma had figured out that the Umi-senken was part of set of moves Genma had actually stolen. The older Saotome had claimed to have created them himself, but Ranma had learned the truth. Ranma had found the original scroll and had made a copy to study further.

 

She didn't use her magic to sneak up on the house for the simple reason that Ami's computer could detect magic. Now she used the disciplines she had learned to silently open the door of the house and to slip in unnoticed. She got to the door to the living room just in time to hear Usagi say, “I call this week's meeting of the Sailor Senshi to order. Does anyone have any official business?”

 

From her place at the door Ranma said, “I have business.”

 

Everyone turned and half of those present pulled out Henshin rods. Ranma thrust her hand up in the air and called out, “I don't want to fight! I just want to talk.”

 

“Ranma?” Everyone said at the same time.

 

“Uh… Hi!” The redhead somewhat lamely offered, rubbing the back of her neck. “I was going to use my invisibility trick, but I was pretty sure Ami can detect it with that gizmo of hers, so I just snuck in. I know you guys are the Senshi.”

 

Trying to bluff her way out of the situation, Usagi asked, “We're just friends getting together for a… a party. (Yeah, that's it.) We're all fans of the Senshi.”

 

Walking into the room, Ranma plopped herself down more or less in the middle of the circle of friends and reached for a cookie. She took a bite and shook her head. “People always used to tell me I couldn't tell a convincing lie. You aren't much better. On top of that is the simple fact that you just announced the start of the meeting of the Sailor Senshi. Mmnn, these are good. I'll bet Mako-Chan made them.”

 

She paused to finish the cookie and swallow it. “I knew you were the Senshi before I came here. That's why I came. I'm the Phantom Lady. I was out on patrol when I saw Sailor Mars take out a mugger that I was going to handle. I followed her to the shrine and saw her transform back to Rei.”

 

Minako blurted out, “You're Phantom Lady?”

 

“Yeah.” Seeing the expressions on their faces Ranma said, “What? Have the Senshi got some kind of exclusive contract for hero work in Juuban?”

 

Usagi shook her head. “It's not that. I was just wondering why you would do that.”

 

Ranma took a sip of soda pop and said, “I have been training myself to learn new techniques. When I was good enough with them that I was sure I could survive a fight with you if you got the wrong idea and attacked me, I started looking for you. I guess you guys weren't out a lot because there weren't any monsters attacking. Since it's a martial artist's duty to protect those who can't protect themselves, I used my flying and invisibility tricks to catch crooks and drop them off with the police.”

 

After another sip of her beverage Ranma continued, “Anyway, after I knew Rei was Mars, it wasn't hard to figure out the rest of you. I mean, you all do hang out together. Based on hair color and style I'd peg you as Venus.” She pointed at Minako then proceeded to identify each of them by their Senshi name.

 

She paused over the Outers and said, “With the way Haruka dresses and acts, I sort of had a hard time imagining her wearing something as girly as a Senshi fuku.”

 

At first wanting to take offense, the Senshi of Uranus decided to be calm about it. The redhead did have a point. With a shrug she said, “The outfit sort of comes with the job.”

 

Ranma nodded. “I figured it would be something like that.” She identified Neptune and Saturn, then turned toward the one man in the room and her face lit up with a smile. “You must be Tuxedo Kamen. I admit that even though wearing a tux into battle is kind of silly, you do cut a dashing figure.”

 

He smiled in return. That face, that beautiful face. He didn't know how much longer he could keep silent about his feelings for the red haired girl. He did comment, “I actually do have a suit of armor I can wear. Some people think that looks silly too.”

 

Before Mamoru could frame further reply, Ranma had moved on. She pointed to pink haired girl and said, “I've seen you before but I'm afraid we haven't met. Are you a Senshi too?”

 

Usagi put a hand on the girl's shoulder and said, “This is Chibi-Usa, my daughter from the future. She's also Sailor Chibi-Moon.”

 

The girl said, “That's right, I'm from the future. In this time I haven't been born yet, but in the future you and I will meet and get to know each other very well.”

 

Ranma took a moment to digest that. “The future? Well, I guess that's no weirder than magical girls in general.”

 

She looked around again then said, “In all the manga and comics when there is a team of teenage superheroes, there is almost always an older person who is advisor and mentor. I don't know how much older Meiyou san is, but I'm guessing you do that for this group.”

 

The Senshi of Pluto shook her head. “Actually I'm a lot older than I look. I do function as advisor sometimes but for the day-to-day stuff it's…”

 

A new voice said, “Us. We're the advisors.”

 

Looking for the source of the new voice, Ranma could only see the cats, Luna and Artemis. Ranma's eyes went wide and she could feel her old fear trying to come back. She controlled it with an effort and asked, “Talking cats?”

 

In a thoughtful tone Luna said, “Technically it might be more accurate to say that we just look like cats. We are originally from a planet called Mau and in the past had the ability to transform into cat-like humanoids.”

 

The redhead frowned in thought. “Wait a minute! I remember from my dreams of that fantasy kingdom in Atlantis. I had a talking cat for an advisor. She was a Siamese cat with a mark on her face like you two have. I called her Boo.”

 

Artemis spoke up, “That wasn't a fantasy, it was a memory of a past life. You were Princess Ruby. Your advisor's name was really Bubastis, but you shortened it.”

 

“Whoa, hold up there!” Ranma was having trouble grasping this. “If that were true then it would mean I was Sailor Terra. I know there isn't a Senshi of Earth now. Tux does that job, doesn't he?”

 

Usagi shook her head. “We thought he was the Senshi of Earth, but we recently learned differently. Tuxedo Kamen is the Earth Knight, not the Senshi.”

 

Eyes wide, Ranma said, “Of course, I remember now. But that would mean that Mamoru was Endymion. He was my…” She trailed off as if afraid to say it.

 

Quickly pushing that thought aside she sternly looked at Usagi and said, “Well, it seems I have already done one of the things that I set out to do. I told Sailor Moon the full story of what happened to my male side. At the time I didn't know who I was telling it to. I'm grateful for the kindness and friendship you and the rest of the Senshi have shown me. It's in part thanks to you girls that I dropped my plan to kill myself.”

 

She stopped for a moment with tightly closed eyes. When she had control of her emotions again, she focused on Usagi and said, “I need to ask you why? Why did you mess with the curse without first asking me what it does?”

 

This was the question that Usagi had been dreading. She had been mentally going over the possible responses that Setsuna had given her when Mamoru spoke up. “Don't be angry with Usagi over this. It was my fault.”

 

All eyes turned to the Knight of Earth. He said, “When you spoke to me on that rooftop it sparked a memory from the Silver Millennium. It was seeing your face, those eyes, that hair and that figure that made me remember Princess Ruby.”

 

His eyes momentarily seemed to lose focus as he recalled the moment. He brought himself back to the present with an effort and said, “Sailor Saturn healed you of the wounds you gained in battle. She felt the presence of magic that was beyond her power to touch. Sailor Moon wanted to wait until you woke up before trying to remove the magic. I was worried that a magic curse was hurting you and that was why I insisted that she remove it.”

 

Ranma turned back to the Senshi leader and asked, “Is this true?”

 

“Yes, it is true,” replied Usagi. “It was only after I started to take off the curse that I learned what it did. I discovered that it was a shape-shifting curse, but I didn't know what shape it was trying to change you into. I'm afraid I imagined you changing into something horrible and had the rest of the Senshi join their power with that of the Silver Crystal to bring your body back to the shape we originally found you in. Even then you were still a little bit changed, you were taller.”

 

Ranma couldn't help chuckle at that. “Actually, I sort of liked that part. My girl side was always so short that I felt like a little kid. I was happy that I'm at least average size for a girl now instead of such a midget.”

 

Setsuna broke in, “You probably won't like this part. I don't know how much you know of what roles we Senshi play beyond the planets we draw our power from. Do you know what my job is?”

 

The redhead frowned for a moment then said, “I don't know for sure but I'm guessing the presence of the girl from the future means your duties have something to do with Time.”

 

“Very good,” acknowledged the eldest of the Senshi. “I am the Guardian of the Gates of Time. At times I talk to a version of myself in the future to learn what things must happen to preserve the timeline. I can also use the Gates to look into the past. I did that to look at your past.”

 

Ranma's frown became more severe. She didn't like the idea of someone using a magic artifact to spy on her, but kept that thought to herself. Instead she asked, “What did you learn from your viewing of my past?”

 

The green haired woman said, “From what I could learn, you should have been born female in this lifetime. The only reason you were born a boy instead had to do with some kind of destiny. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that if you had been born a girl you would not have received the training you did to become the powerful martial artist that you are now. Given your father's chauvinistic attitudes, it seems a safe bet he wouldn't have trained a girl as well as he trained you. Very likely in that case you wouldn't have had the strength and skills needed to overcome Saffron.”

 

“Are you saying it was destiny that got me the curse in the first place?” Ranma demanded.

 

“That's right,” The Senshi of Time confirmed. “Your curse at the Pools of Sorrow was the first step on the path to making you the gender you were supposed to be. Sailor Moon's `mistake' was the final step. You could never become Sailor Terra if you were male or even half male.”

 

“So I'm supposed to be Sailor Terra?”

 

The older woman pulled an item out of stuff space and threw it to Ranma. The redhead snagged the flying object out of the air and looked at it. It was a rod that looked like it was carved out of polished brown stone. At one end was a golden ornament that bore a symbol that looked like a plus sign inside a circle. She looked back at Setsuna and asked, “What am I supposed to do with this?”

 

Setsuna instructed, “Hold the rod over your head and say the words that come to mind.”

 

The redhead stood up and held the rod over her head as instructed. She said, “Earth Star Power Makeup!” She felt incredibly silly saying such words.

 

She felt herself floating up into the air as her body spun slowly encircled by glowing bands that seemed to rotate in a direction opposite to the spin of her body. She was aware when her clothing disappeared then relieved when she felt new clothing form on her. She felt embarrassed at the knowledge that Mamoru could see her naked.

 

When her feet touched back onto the floor she looked at herself. She was now wearing a short skirted fuku just like the ones the rest of the Senshi wore. Hers had a skirt of reddish brown and bow on the front of her costume was yellow. She could see that the trailing ribbons from the bow on her back were also yellow. The first thing she could think of to say, “Was I supposed to be naked for part of that transformation?”

 

Usagi tried to reassure her newest teammate, “Yes, we all go through a transformation like that.”

 

The new Senshi of Earth looked angry. “What pervert dreamed that up?” Ranma demanded.

 

Setsuna shook her head, even though she looked amused. “Whoever it was, it was back in the Silver Millennium and it's unlikely we'll ever get a chance to complain to them. That nudity is one of the main reasons why we transform in places where we can't be seen by others. Concealing our identities is actually the second reason.”

 

Before Ranma could make a comment on the costume itself, there was a sound of a loud beeping from Ami's computer. The young genius hit some keys and read the screen. "There's a demon a few blocks from here. We'd better go take care of it.”

 

Immediately Henshin rods were drawn and transformation phrases were spoken. Ranma did notice that Mamoru had turned away from the girls to make his own transformation. She was relieved that he wasn't such a pervert as to watch while the girls were naked during their change.

 

After all the Senshi had transformed, Sailor Moon said, “Sailor Terra, since you're new, maybe you should hang back and just jump in if the rest of us get into trouble. Tuxedo Kamen, you stay with her, please.”

 

“Right,” the formal dressed man agreed. As Ranma followed the others out of the house she thought that it probably wasn't that good of an idea for the Senshi to go charging out of a shrine all in a group. If someone came to visit the shrine they would be treated to a view of several pretty girls in short skirts and probably given a good idea of the girls' secret identities.

 

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter. Well explanations have been given, apologies have been said. Ranma has committed to continue living and is sort of dealing with the idea of being a Sailor Senshi herself. There is still the issue of Ranma's and Mamoru's feelings for each other. There will be a lot happening in the next chapter.