Ranma and Hotaru
****************
An Insert for Turn the Page

All characters the property of the people who own them, and are used without the owner's permission.  Please don't sue me.  "Knight Life" lines used without permission.

**********

Ranma gazed out upon the graveyard, seeing the thousands of stones that
marked the landscape like a miniature forest, as far as the eye could see.
The center of Nerima, now one of the largest graveyards on Earth.

He walked down the rows of stones, first stopping at one, then another, then
another.  He made his rounds with his eyes unfocussed, letting his memories
of the age-old ceremony guide his feet.  Finally, he reached a series of
three stones, slightly better kept than the others.

"X'ian Pu."  He still smirked when he said her name now.  It had taken him
almost a century to stop mangling the names of the Amazons.  He placed a
single, purple rose on her grave, gathering up the dried husks of the last
homage placed there.  By the volume of them, he figured it was Muu Tse.

"Ukyou."  He placed another flower, a yellow one, on her grave.  "Kami-sama,
Ukyou Hibiki still sounds ridiculous, even now."  He laughed as he saw the
black and yellow bandana tied to one portion of the stone. It was almost
brown with dust and dirt.  "Baka Ryouga."  He carefully untied the cloth and
shook it out, before returning it to the grave, and gathering the dead
flowers from it.

He took a deep breath before confronting the last stone.  "Akane."  He
placed the rest of his flowers on the grave - a dozen roses as red as blood.
As he took the dead flowers off the grave, he bunched all the waste in his
hand and concentrated, nodding in satisfaction as a ball of ki appeared in
his hand and vaporized them.

Taking another breath, he sat down beside the grave.  "It's been a long
time, I guess.  Almost half a century, ne?" He suddenly laughed again, this
time it was somewhat more bitter.  "Time flies when you're almost immortal."

Ranma's laughter died as quickly as it came.  "A-akane, I have something to
tell you about.  About...about someone I met."  He paused for a long second.
"A girl."  Reflexively, he winced, and then chuckled.  "Old habits die hard,
ne?"

"I think I love her.   She's...different.  I don't know how to describe
her..." he trailed off, then brightened.  "I'll tell you how we met, OK?"

"You know how the past few centuries I've been wandering.  Well, the last
few decades I spent in England..."

**********

*I love this town,* Ranma repeated for the hundredth time as he looked off
the roof of a skyscraper.  *You gotta like any place with a skyline like
this.  It's like it was MADE for roof-hopping.*

With that last thought, he leapt off the building, landing on a convenient
ledge of the adjacent, taller structure.  He made a spiral around the
building, making a great leap every so often as he worked his way up the
side.  As he rose higher and higher, he picked up his speed, and as he
reached the top he bought up his fist with a great cry.

"HIRYU SHOTEN HA!!!"

A great whirlwind sprung from the roof where Ranma stood, and whipped about
the top of the building, creating a swirl in the clouds far above before
finally dissipating.

Ranma fell to his knees, panting.  "Now that's a workout," he gasped, and
struggled back to his feet with a wince as he felt his joints pop.  "Ooof, I
must be getting old."  He looked over the edge of the roof and grinned.
"Only one cure for that."

Taking a few steps back, he ran forward and jumped as far out as he could.
"BANZAI!!!"  He relished the feeling of the air whipping by him, growing
exhilarated as the ground below him rushed upwards.

He frowned as he noticed a group of people in his chosen landing site.
"Masaka," he swore, and switched to English as he began to gather ki for the
landing.  "INCOMING!!!"

***

The pale girl with the neck-length black hair fearfully looked at the thugs
who confronted her.  "Please," she begged them, "don't do this.  Don't make
me fight you."

A chuckle rose from the leader, a huge brute of a man with glowing red eyes,
telltale signs of cybernetic enhancement.  "We're just going to have a
little fun, isn't that right, chickie?"  The eyes glowed brighter, and the
voice deepened further, becoming more metallic.  "Or should I say, Sailor
Saturn?"

Hotaru's eyes widened and she gasped.  "<You know who I am?>"

"Demand sends his greetings," the thug said, and a black crescent moon
appeared on his forehead.

Any further action on his part was stalled by a high pitched whistling
sound, accompanied by a loud cry.  "INCOMING!!!"  Looking up, they saw a
man, glowing yellow with power, hurtling out of the sky.

With a boom that shook the Earth, he impacted the ground, knocking all of
the assembled people off their feet.  As the thugs got to their feet they
could only stare at the man as he rose to his feet, stepped out of the
crater he had formed in the ground, and dusted himself off.

He grinned at them.  "Real men don't need parachutes."  His eyes narrowed as
he looked at the thugs and then at Hotaru, and he sighed.  "Let me guess,
I'm interrupting your 'fun.'"

"Right," the leader growled.  "Now get out here and you won't get-hey!"  He
looked on in surprise as Ranma brushed by him and went to examine Hotaru.

"Scrawny little chick, ain't she?" he remarked.  "I'd think a big guy like
you would want something a little more...mature."  As Hotaru looked up at
him in shock, he winked at her.  He turned to look at the thugs, and his
eyes suddenly widened in fear.  "Oh my God, it's the Dirty Pair!" he yelled,
pointing behind them.

"Haruka-papa?" Hotaru whispered as the gang members whirled.  She eeped as
Ranma gathered her in his arms and jumped onto a nearby roof.

"SUCKERS!"

The leader turned and gaped at Ranma's disappearing form.  "What the...hey!
Come back here!"  He turned to the others.  "What are you waiting for?  Go
after them!"

"But...but...Boss," a thug cowered, "what about the Dirty Pair?"

A growl escaped from the head thug's throat.  "You idiots, it was a trick!
Get them!"  The others looked shamefaced for a moment, then began their
pursuit with a roar.

The leader sighed and began to follow them, but a presence in his head
stopped him.  *Well, Ambir, what is your status?*

*Sailor Saturn escaped,* he sent back, *but I am in pursuit.*

*Do not let her escape, Ambir.*

*As you command, my Lord Demand.* He paused.  *My liege?*

*Yes?*

*Why couldn't I have a few droids instead of working with this street
trash?*

*A droid would alert the Neo-Queen to our presence, as would the use of your
full power.* A pause, and then a sharp pain in Ambir's head sent him to his
knees.  *Do not question me again.  Now destroy Sailor Saturn!*  With that,
Ambir felt the presence in his head disappear, and he began his pursuit.

***

"I can't believe they fell for that," Ranma laughed as he hopped from roof
to roof.  "Two centuries since their last mission, and the mere mention of
Haruka and Michiru still frightens people to death."  He grunted as he
landed on a low roof, switching back to Japanese so as not to offend his
passenger with his next words.  "<Kuso, for such a scrawny chick you're
heavy.>"

Suddenly, the girl he was carrying began to squirm, and Ranma had to stop or
risk dropping her.  Unfortunately for Ranma's peace of mind, this was giving
him an eyeful of her cleavage as well.  *OK, maybe not scrawny,* he thought
as he became suddenly aware of exactly how curvy the girl he was carrying
was.  Not skinny, she was just...well toned.  He felt his face heat up.
*Down, boy.  700 years old and I blush at the sight of a girl's flesh.
You'd think I was Ryouga.*

***

Hotaru was so surprised by the strange man's actions she couldn't even
breathe at first.

*Now I know how Usagi felt every time Mamoru showed up," she thought with
amusement.  *There's something to be said for being carried by a man.*  That
last thought sent her down track she felt a bit ashamed of.  *A rather
handsome, well-built man, at that.*

She looked up at him with a bit of admiration, and inwardly chuckled at his
words about her adopted parents.  Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she heard
the man say something in Japanese.  *A man who is a complete and total
JERK!*

She began to squirm in an effort to force the man to let her go, and saw him
look down at her and suddenly blush.

***


He set the girl down on a rooftop that was slightly higher than the
surrounding ones, and took a look around for their pursuers.   Not seeing
them, he decided they were safe for now.

"Well, we should be OK for a few minutes," he said as he rotated his
shoulders to loosen himself up again.  "What's a girl like you doing running
around in dark alleys anyway?"

"You mean, what's a scrawny chick like me doing?" the girl hotly replied,
and Ranma winced.

"You speak Japanese?" he questioned lamely.  "Of course she does, Ranma.  I
am SUCH an idiot."  He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and
tried to apologize.  "Look, I'm sorry, when I get into tense situations I
lose all control of my mouth."

"And that's supposed to make it fine for you to insult me?"

"I said I'm sorry," Ranma snapped.  "Besides, I stopped thinking you're
scrawny after..." he clamped a hand over his mouth as he realized what he
was saying.

"After what?" Hotaru demanded.

Ranma hung his head and looked away.  "After I got a better look at your
figure," he mumbled.

Hotaru blushed suddenly, a small smile on her face.  *That explains more
than a little.*

"Well, isn't this sweet," a scratchy voice drawled.  The pair whirled to see
a half-dozen of the street thugs climb onto the roof.  The one in the lead
turned to the others.  "Remember, Ambir said to leave the girl for him."  He
grinned evilly at Ranma.  "We'll have to entertain ourselves with the hero
here."

Ranma sighed and shook his head.  "Keep behind me..." he paused.  "What is
your name, anyway?"

"Hotaru," she replied.

"'Firefly,' how appropriate," he chuckled, and then entered a relaxed battle
stance.  "Ranma's the name.  Keep behind me, I'll deal with these idiots."

"Ooh, look, he's a martial artist!" the speaker sneered, and held up a fist.
"Let's see how much Mr. Martial Artist likes these."  Suddenly, four sharp
blades popped out of the back of his hands.

"Cyborgs," Ranma groaned.  "They had to be cyborgs.  I HATE cyborgs.  Do you
know hard it is to avoid breaking those implants?"

The thugs felt a lot less sure of themselves at that point.  Blustering in
anger, the speaker charged forward, his blades held before him to impale the
waiting martial artist.

Ranma seemed to blur as the brute came into striking distance, as he flowed
around the man's outstretched arms and sent blow after blow into his chest,
gut, and face.  A second later, the man flew back to be caught by one of his
allies, his face and chest a mass of bruises.  Looking a little more
closely, they could see the dermal armor under his skin was dented and
cracked.

"Iiiiteeee...." Ranma hissed, shaking his hands, and blowing on bruised
knuckles.  "That smarts.  They must have come out with a new armor alloy
when I wasn't looking."

The remainders looked at the unconscious man, aghast, then turned their gaze
on to Ranma, faces twisting in anger.  With a roar, they charged him.

"This is more like it!" Ranma enthused, and his battle aura flared into
being.  He ducked under a roundhouse, and threw a few dozen punches at an
open torso, jumping up just in time over an attempted slick with a
foot-blade.  He came down foot-first on the attacker's forehead, using his
vantage point to unleash a barrage of punches on two others before jumping
off again.  A moment later he landed, his back to the mass of men, and
grinned at the awestruck Hotaru.  "Three...two...one...now."  On his last
word, the men collapsed into a groaning heap.

Slow, loud applause rang out, echoing into the night.  "Very impressive,"
the familiar metallic voice chuckled.  "Very impressive indeed, Ranma
Saotome, Grand Master of the Anything-Goes School."  From behind Hotaru, a
man rose onto the roof, buoyed by mere air currents.  "Lord Demand will be
pleased if I bring him news of both your deaths."

Ranma snorted in derision.  "Yeah, right, whatever.  I've heard it before, a
thousand times.  Give up now, you'll make it painless, yadda yadda yadda."
He frowned over in the direction of a nearby clock tower.  "Would you mind
hurrying it up...Ambir, was it?  I've got a class to teach at noon, and I'd
like to get at least six hours worth of sleep."

A snarl of rage came from the man.  "You are a fool to mock me, Saotome."

As he slowly walked to place himself in between Hotaru and Ambir, Ranma
rolled his eyes.  "Just once, I'd like to hear an original speech," he
complained to Hotaru.  The absolute absurdity of the situation finally got
to her, and she giggled.  "All right, get it over with."

"FOOL!" Ambir roared, and thrust out his arms.  A dark orange light burst
from them, striking Ranma and throwing him back several feet.  He lay there
dazed for a second, and then jumped back to his feet.

Ranma wiped a bit of blood away from his mouth with the back of his hand.
He slowly grinned, and nodded his respect to Ambir.  "Not bad, this may
actually take some effort."  With that, his brow furrowed in concentration,
and a small yellow sphere began to develop in his hand.  "MOKO TAKABISHA!"
he cried as the attack sped from his hands towards Ambir.

"Fool," Ambir repeated with a smirk as he lifted his hands and created a
barrier in front of himself.  The yellow blast splashed harmlessly against
the shield, but blocked Ambir's view of his opponent, so that he did not
expect the jump kick Ranma leveled at him.  Stunned, Ambir fell to the
ground, the impact knocking the breath out of him.

"Now who's the fool?" Ranma taunted, and gathered his ki again.  This time,
he swiped his right hand down in a chop.  A glowing yellow line hung in the
air for a moment, and then flew towards Ambir as Ranma cried "ENKODAN!"

Still shaken by the kick he had taken, Ambir was surprised by the new
attack, and could only throw up his arm to block the blazing arc.  A splash
of blood fell to the ground as his right forearm was cut to the bone.  He
gritted his teeth in pain, and slid out of the way as Ranma attempted
another jump kick.  He quickly backed away, trying to put as much distance
as he could between himself and the martial artist.

"Orders or not, I refuse to lose to one such as you," Ambir growled, and
held forward his left hand.  A cone of energy burst from it, which quickly
expanded so that both Ranma and Hotaru would be hit.

"Watch out!" Ranma cried, and threw himself in front of the girl.  "SEIREI
TATE!" He held his hands out palm first, and the blast impacted them and
were deflected around the pair.  Ranma gritted his teeth as the ray of
energy kept coming, and his arms began to buckle.  Moments later, the blast
stopped, and Ranma fell to his knees, exhausted.

Seeing this, Ambir threw out what appeared to be a long whip of energy,
which wrapped around Ranma and lifted him into the air.  Ranma writhed in
pain as the band tightened on him.  Ambir laughed, and more strands of
energy appeared from his hands, wrapping around Ranma's legs, arms, and
neck.

"You hurt me, Saotome," he said, and the whips turned Ranma to face Hotaru.
"Take one last look at her before I tear you apart, and know, that when you
die, she is next."

"Why?" Ranma hissed.

"Oh, I don't believe this.  You are going to die for her, and you don't even
know why!"  He smiled, a cruel gleam in his eye.  "You will die not knowing
the answer."

"Saturn Planet Power, MAKE UP!"

Ambir whirled, aghast, to see the transformation of Hotaru into Sailor
Saturn, his face growing more pale as each second passed.  "No..." he
whispered.  "You can't...they said you would never become her!"

Holding her glaive in an attack stance, the transformed girl looked
impassively at Ambir.  "I draw my powers from the planet of Silence, holding
powers both great and terrible, I am Sailor Saturn."

"No..." Ambir repeated, shaking his head.

Saturn pointed her glaive at the bands holding Ranma.  "Silence WALL!"  A
shimmering field sprung up from the point of her blade, and cut through the
strands like they were the merest string.  Ranma grunted as he fell to the
ground, and looked with a mixture of fear and hope at Saturn as she walked
towards him.

"Do not be afraid," she whispered as she knelt laid her hands on him.  A
white glow burst from the contact, and Ranma began to feel both very good
and very tired.  "Rest.  I will deal with this one."  Saturn then stood and
turned to Ambir, banishing the wall as she walked towards him.

"No!" he screamed, and threw blast after blast at her.   Spinning her glaive
like a quarterstaff, Saturn caught each one on the blade, canceling it out.

"Death..."

Ambir turned and began to fly away from them as fast as he could, almost
gibbering in fear.

"Ribbon..."  she pointed her glaive at the fleeing form, and put her entire
being into controlling the power.  "REVOLUTION!"

A thousand black ribbons exploded from the blade, twisting through the air
like snakes as they pursued Ambir.  He screamed as one wrapped around his
legs, his screams rising in intensity as his whole body was covered in the
black ribbons.  Suddenly, the screams stopped, and the ribbons fell away,
leaving only empty air where Ambir once was.

Saturn sadly stared at the disappearing ribbons, and then turned to Ranma
who was now staring at her.  She once again knelt beside him, and gently
kissed him on the lips before placing her hand on his forehead.  "Sleep."

***

Ranma awoke to the feel of cold water on his face.  He opened his eyes, and
saw the unfamiliar ceiling.  Memories flooded back to him, and he sat up.
"What the hell?"  He absently noted he was female.

"Wha...wha..." turning, Ranma saw Hotaru staring at him with wide eyes.  At
her side there was a bowl of water and a cloth.  Looking down, he saw his
shirt had been removed, and his wounds had been cleaned, but not bandaged.

A sigh escaped from Ranma, and he sheepishly sighed at Hotaru.  "Let me
explain..."

**********

"She listened to my explanation, and then stood up, went to her sink, and
got me a glass of hot water to change back," Ranma said, and chuckled.
"That was probably the first moment I became attracted to Hotaru the person,
and not just her body."  He arched an eyebrow at the grave.  "She was a heck
of a lot more understanding than a certain tomboy I knew."

"Hotaru told me that she had to go Crystal Tokyo, that Neo-Queen Serenity
had to know about what that Ambir guy had said."  He paused, and shifted
positions.  "She asked me to come along...I guess my feelings were mutual.
She told me later that I was the first man she'd ever met who didn't run
from her because she was Saturn.  I didn't want to go at first - I was
comfortable where I was, and my attraction to her was scaring me."

Ranma looked at the grave with tears in his eyes.  "It felt like I was
betraying you, even seven hundred years later.  I loved you then, just as
much as I did when I married you.  I still love you now."  He took a deep
breath.  "I think she understood that I had some things to work out, even if
she didn't know about you."  A grimace flashed across his face.  "I'm not
going to enjoy telling her that I was married once."

"I told her I'd travel there on foot - you know, play the part of the
wandering martial artist.  I was an old hand at that now.  She surprised me
yet again, and offered to go with me."  A sudden burst of laughter.  "She
was such a city girl, I couldn't believe how long it took her to get used to
the life.  But she survived, and she...went slowly with me.  By the end of
the trip, months later...I was in love with her."

**********

Neo-Queen Serenity was almost biting her nails in anticipation.  Hotaru
Tomoe, the last of the Senshi, was coming home.  She remembered the flash of
fear she had felt when she sensed Hotaru becoming Sailor Saturn again, after
700 years of retirement, but she was reassured by the extraordinary control
she had shown.

A dazzle of colorful light outside the throne room caught Serenity's
attention, drawing her out of the daydream she had fallen into.  She glanced
over at Rei, who gave her a look of infinite sympathy as the official in
front of her droned on and on.  A sharp tap echoed through the chamber, and
she looked up to see the figure of a woman carrying a large, vicious-looking
polearm, flanked by a muscular man with a pigtail.  She made a subtle
gesture with her hand, and Rei proceeded to  thank and get rid of the toady.

As soon as the man joined the audience, the pair walked forward, the woman's
steps delicate but sure as her boots clicked on the crystal floor.  Beside
her, the man moved with a grace Serenity had seen in few others.  The man
seemed nervous, out of place.


Behind her, she heard two of the Shieldsmen burst into laughter.  She turned
her head, and noticed Mousse and Ryouga chuckling.  Serenity locked eyes
with Ami and Minako, and sent her message: shut them up.  Moments later, the
laughter stopped.

Serenity stood, and with slow, stately steps, stood before Sailor Saturn.
"Welcome back, Hotaru," she said, a brilliant smile on her face.  "We've
missed you."

"Thank you, Serenity-ouhi," the woman returned, a few joyous tears on her
face.  "It is great to be back."  With that, the two women embraced.

"Who is your friend?" Serenity asked, turning her smile upon Hotaru's
companion.

Hotaru's smile widened, and she took Ranma's hand.  "This is my..." she
paused and looked Ranma in the eyes.  He nodded slightly, and smiled.  "My
consort. Ranma Saotome, Grand Master of the Anything-Goes School of Martial
Arts, and the greatest martial artist on Earth."  Those last words were
rewarded by a look of surprise on Ranma's face, and two indignant shouts
from Ryouga and Mousse.

"Welcome, Ranma Saotome," Serenity said formally, and on Hotaru's cue, Ranma
knelt before her.  "From this day forth, you shall also be known as Indigo,
a Shieldsman."  She took his hands in hers, and the light of the Ginzuishou
swirled around them.  When it faded, Ranma's clothes were the same purple as
Saturn's uniform.

"Th...thank you, Serenity-ouhi," Ranma said softly as he stood, then blushed
as Hotaru embraced him.

From where they stood, Mousse and Ryouga exchanged some quiet words.  "Think
we should tell him about First Night?"  Mousse asked.

"I'd say yes," Ryouga chuckled, "but for that 'greatest martial artist'
remark I think we should let him be surprised."

***

Ranma tossed his pack on the floor of his and Hotaru's chambers, and started
moving the cushions on the couch to form his bed.

Hotaru walked into the room and looked peevishly at him.  "What are you
doing, Ranma-kun?"

"Setting up a bed," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh no you don't," she growled, and walked over to him.  Grabbing his shirt,
she shoved him towards the bed, where he fell with a grunt.  She flopped
onto the bed beside him, and began kissing him passionately.  "There's an
old tradition among the Senshi called First Night," she said between kisses,
"and we're not going to break it now."

Ranma gasped for air, and looked at Hotaru apprehensively.  "Is this
tradition what I think it is?"  The only answer he got was Hotaru's hands on
his chest as she removed his shirt.  "I guess so," he chuckled, and began to
reciprocate.  As seconds passed, he grew more aggressive, until suddenly he
was the one taking the lead.

Surprised, Hotaru pushed him away.  "Whoa..." she stalled, and then blushed.
"Take it easy, OK?  It's been a long time."

"Try seven hundred years," Ranma growled as he pulled the shoulder of her
fuku down, and began kissing her neck.  She gasped and pushed him back
again, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Seven HUNDRED years?" she asked incredulously, and whistled.  "<You must be
the horniest man alive,>" she breathed, unconsciously slipping into the
English she had been speaking for so long.

Ranma frowned, his pace broken, and mouthed her words with a bewildered
expression.  "Hold that thought," he said, laying his finger on her lips.
He jumped out of the bed and went to his pack, where he pulled out a small
book.  Hotaru looked on in confusion, and then giggled as she realized what
the book was.

A moment later, Ranma returned to the bed, and looked her in the eyes with a
completely serious expression.  "Hotaru-chan?"

"Yes?"

"You're right."

The resulting giggle attack lasted for quite a few minutes.

**********

"...and the rest, Akane, is none of your business," Ranma finished.  He
stood, and looked down on the grave.

"I'll always love you, Akane.  But I think it's time I moved on.  Hotaru and
I love each other, and I think we can keep each other happy.  I've found a
woman who I can trust, and who needs me - maybe not the way you did, but
still she does.  And I need her.  I need her to help me remember how to be
happy again, and how to live a real life."

He paused, and tidied the flowers a little.  "Maybe in some ways, we were
meant for each other.  I was the last of the three of us guys to let go of
the past, and she was the last of the Senshi to accept who she was.  She was
what helped me let go, and I was what helped her find her acceptance."

"I'll always love you, Akane," he repeated, then chuckled.  "I'm getting
defensive, ne?  I'd better go."  He kissed his fingers, and pressed them to
the earth.  "I'll visit you again in a bit."

Ranma turned and walked out of the graveyard.  Somewhere in his soul, he
felt the pain of losing Akane change, from something he always lived with,
to something he remembered, but would never forget.  "Arigato, Akane-chan."

END

***

Notes:
I figure Ranma would probably pick up a trick or three over seven centuries.

ENKODAN - Arc Light Shot
SEIREI TATE - Spirit Shield or Star Spirit Shield