Time Enough For Love

Chapter 2

A Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon, Tenchi crossover

by Drake



disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Tenchi, and Sailor Moon characters aren't mine.
Pity, isn't it?

warning: A few unpleasant words. Call it a PG rating.



Part A: By the Hunger of Change and Emotion





        Nabiki sighed as she ascended the stairs up to her sister's
room. For much of her teenage years she'd been jealous of her baby
sister, who was indulged by her father and more popular at school than
the Ice Queen would ever be. In retrospect, Nabiki had to admit
encouraging Kuno and the hentai horde at school was rather petty, and
that she'd tried to needle Ranma about Akane  and vice versa pretty
often. Recently, however, she'd decided Ranma was indeed more than an
ordinary dumb jock, and that her sister might deserve a little help.

        Nabiki grimaced. 'She's not going to get it from Daddy.'

        Soun Tendo had stormed off to his room again, apparently on the
verge of tears. He was probably going to weep in front of her mother's
picture for hours.

        Once that sort of thing had made her terribly sad. Now it just
made her terribly angry.

        'Now, because Akane's got the temper of a shrew and about
Ranma's level of good sense, and Genma Saotome is a worthless human
being who screws everything up, I have to fix everything. Because father
hasn't done much more than cry or whine about Ranma and Akane for
months, and Kasumi hasn't tried to help Akane much ever since she broke
that promise. Not that 'little miss popular' noticed. But she's still my
baby sister, and this time if I don't fix it she's going to lose him,
and she might not get over that. Ever.'

        Nabiki knocked on Akane's door.

        "GO AWAY!!!" Akane screamed at the top of her voice. Something
hit the door.

        A cruel smile graced Nabiki's face. A small part of her was
going to enjoy this. Well, perhaps a fairly largish part. "Akane, if you
don't open your door right now and listen to me like a civilized human
being, I'll tell Kasumi who it was that ate practically all of her
chocolate truffles two weeks ago. You remember what she did to Mr.
Saotome, don't you?"

        A long pause, as Akane considered the threat. It had been odd to
actually see Kasumi... angry... Nabiki herself found the notion of
having Kasumi angry with her VERY disturbing.

        "Fine. Come in then," came the reluctant reply from inside the
door.

        Nabiki opened the door and slipped inside. Akane was sitting on
her bed, her face turned away... probably she was trying to hide the
fact that she'd been crying.

        Nabiki briefly entertained herself with a fantasy involving all
the people Genma had stolen from and lied to being given his current
address...

        "I don't know what you want to talk to me about anyways. This
isn't the first time some girl has come after that baka." Akane growled.
Her voice was tired, though, and Nabiki could hear pain and resignation
in it.

        'Deep down, she knows this isn't like the others.' Nabiki
thought to herself. 'Setsuna isn't a girl, she's a woman, and more
beautiful and refined than any of them. I have to admit, in Akane's
place I'd feel pretty awful too.'

        "You know it isn't the same." Nabiki stated in a cool, icy tone.
"This Setsuna woman is rich as Kodachi, more beautiful than Shampoo,
apparently a damn good fighter, and she has a more solid claim on Ranma
than Ukyou ever did. Worse, she's giving him a choice about it, and
she's making certain that he's going to spend plenty of time with her
before he makes that choice.

        Nabiki gazed at her younger sister intently, who had gone...
absolutely... still.

        "I'll only tell you this once, Akane. If we don't do something,
in three years her name will be Setsuna Saotome, not Setsuna Meiou.
Because she is perfect. Too perfect. She's hiding something. I'm not
sure what, but I think maybe her plans go a bit further than making
Ranma her husband."

        Akane's fists clenched.

        "So what do you think I should do, Nabiki?" Her voice was calm.
Unreasonably calm. She was very, very angry, but for once Akane was
listening.

        "First of all, if Ranma shows up again, DON'T get into a fight
with him. Ranma is going to have to WANT to break this new engagement.
I'm going to find out as much as I can about Setsuna Meiou."



        Setsuna Meiou spooned more chocolate-mocha-triple-fudge-
ultimate-supreme-sundae into her mouth, savoring the flavor. Ranma had
eaten three parfaits and a sundae since she'd begun on it, and appeared
to be waiting patiently. Patient being a very subjective word. He'd
bought her a sundae to apologize to her, and his first parfait. She'd
bought him two more parfaits and a sundae out of pity, as he'd eaten his
first parfait before she'd even finished the whipped cream on her
sundae... Now, he was staring at her sundae with that eerie hungry look
again.

        'God, I'd give a lot to have a man look at me like that.
Although the drooling is a little scary.'

        Sailor Pluto sighed, then reached into her purse yet again, and
laid some yen on the table. "I'll buy you another sundae, Ranma, but
when I finish this we're going to talk."

        Ranma blinked, stirring out of his trance. "Uh, sure. Sorry. Um,
thanks." He scooped up money and stood in line for another sundae.

        Setsuna managed to finish her sundae while he was waiting. In
point of fact, she had to admit she was getting some admiring looks from
the other boys in the ice cream shop. Apparently Ranma was a well-known
figure in Nerima though, as none of the boys had done much more than
look. Some of them looked a bit afraid, actually. Her and Ranma were
definitely the topic of conversation at most of the tables in the ice
cream shop.

        The Senshi of Time caught the word 'amazon' being whispered in a
low voice, and restrained the urge to hurl a 'Dead Scream' at the table
in question. 'I am definitely getting tired of that.'

        Ranma returned, and, seeing that she'd finally finished her
sundae, had the grace to look a little embarassed. "Um, do you want to
share this one?" he asked, taking his seat.

        His new fiance smirked. "No, I'm full. Besides, I think sharing
food with you is a rather hazardous proposition."




        Ranma dug into the sundae quickly, manageing to finish it in
about a minute. He looked, to see Setsuna watching him with a strange
sort of smile.

        "Umm... so, watcha wanna talk about?" he asked, scratching the
back of his head nervously.

        Setsuna leaned back in her chair, licking her ice-cream spoon
with a sort of odd twirling motion. Ranma shifted in his seat, and
Setsuna suddenly smiled.

        "Well, mostly I want to know what you're planning to do now that
the Tendo engagement is out of the way. If you haven't decided yet,
that's fine, but I think you should start thinking about it."

        The pig-tailed martial artist blinked. It hadn't really hit him
until just now that things were going to be so... different.

        'For most of my life I've just been following Pops around
learning martial arts. Then I got stuck with the engagement, and I've
been dealing with the stuff here in Nerima. So what now?' Ranma asked
himself. The answer came to him immediately.

        "I wanna get rid of my curse."

        Setsuna shrugged. "So I suppose we're headed to China? You could
look around Japan, too, you know... there's no guarantee you'll find a
cure in any particular place. There's lots of legendary places of
healing and magic. England's Stonehenge, for example."

        Ranma bit his lip... "It's more than just the curse. I just need
a break from all the weird stuff and stupidity... China's a huge place
compared to Japan. Maybe I can get away from that sort of stuff for a
while."

        Setsuna sat silently for a moment...  She almost looked sad.

        'Oh no, what did I say?' Ranma thought frantically... 'Think...'

        "Umm... not that meeting you hasn't been a good thing. I meant
all the other stuff."

        "That's okay. Ranma... How would you feel if you knew that your
life would always be a little... different. Not as bad as it has been
lately, but that you would never have the sort of life a normal person
does. That no matter what else happened, every once in a while something
strange would happen... some sort of magic, or challenge, or journey
you'd have to go on. Could you live like that?"

        The pig-tailed martial artist blinked. "That's kind of a weird
question. Most of my problems lately have been with my fiancees, and all
the engagements Pop made."

        "Even without the engagements, you've hardly led a normal life."

        "Yeah, I guess so... I dunno. How can I guess how I'll feel ten
years from now, or even a year? A little over a year ago I had no idea
my old friend Ucchan was a girl... not to mention my fiance. I hadn't
met Shampoo or Mousse or Cologne... Or Akane, or the Kunos. I didn't
have a curse. If you had told me the stuff that'd happen to me this
year, I would have thought you were crazy."

        The green-haired girl sighed. Then the corner of her mouth
curled up, a mirror image of Ranma's habitual smirk. "I guess we'll have
to find out, right?"

        "Guess so."

        "Ranma. Let's go to your parent's house."

        The pigtailed boy blinked. "Both of us? Aren't you going home?
Besides, before we go home I need to get my stuff from the Tendos."

        Setsuna smirked. "The deal was we travel together for the next
three years. Starting today. Where you go, I'll follow, Ranma. As for
the Tendos, we can get that stuff tomorrow. I don't really feel like
dealing with them so soon after that blow-up, do you?"

        "Heh... ummm, ok. I guess there's not much there anyways. Where
are you going to sleep?"

        Setsuna stared over at him, silently.

        It took him a few seconds to realize where she might plan to be
sleeping. Ranma's face slowly started to turn red... He opened his mouth
to protest, and...

        "I'm sure I can sleep in your new dojo." Setuna said, flashing
him an evil grin. "Where else would I sleep?"

        'Thank Kami-sama! For a second, I thought she meant... Wait,
Mom'll kill me if I let her sleep in the dojo while I'm up in a
comfortable bed...'

        "Umm... you can sleep in my bed..." Ranma face was now nearly
the color of his shirt. "Urk! I mean, you take my bed, I'll sleep in the
dojo!"

        Setsuna grinned.




Part B: By the Thirst of Unbearable Things




        Ranma lay down on bedroll in the midst of the new dojo,
thinking.

        A lot of the walls in the new dojo were bare, just planking and
wood beams without insulation. Not that a lot of insulation was needed
in Japan's warm climate. Still, it got cold at night. It hardly bothered
Ranma though, after years on the road.

        Was it this easy to leave it all behind?

        He felt like an idiot. A green-haired girl had walked, (or
rather leapt), into his life one night and only a few days later Setsuna
had solved half his problems and given him a long vacation from the
rest. Worse, she seemed to have done it so easily! She'd just decided to
help him out, and had then delivered an ultimatum to his family, and the
Tendos, that they couldn't ignore. Just that simple.

        How long had it been since he'd really fought for his freedom,
his right to decide what he wanted to do with his life? Had he always
just let the Pops bludgeon him into doing what the old panda wanted with
talk of honor or duty? Hadn't he ever decided for himself what his honor
demanded?

        Ranma clenched his fist, squeezing the fabric of his bedroll.
"Could I have done this so easily myself? Just decide what I want and go
after it? What was stopping me?"

        Akane? She was the first thing to come to mind. He'd thought he
loved her, once or twice. Shortly after Phoenix Mountain, and even back
as far as the Orochi.

        "But it always seems to disappear, like a trick of the light.
For her and me both. I try, and I guess she does too, even if the tomboy
screws up half the time. If her screwing up, or even me screwing up all
time was the problem, we could deal with it. The real problem is what
happens between the major stuff."

        He screwed up, and she'd yell at him, and hit him. Or she'd do
something stupid, and he'd fail to go along with her when she tried to
deny it, or he'd point it out. Then she'd yell at him and hit him. Or
Shampoo would come around and try to feed him ramen or glomp him, and
she'd yell at him, and hit him. Or Ukyou would come around, and the same
thing would happen. Or Kodachi would stop by, and sure enough, he was
obviously doing something to encourage that lunatic. Or Ryouga would
come around and pick a fight, and then it was NEVER Ryouga's fault, oh
no, it was always his...

        Ranma scowled. She actually wasn't THAT bad-tempered. The
problem was, it was worse when she DIDN'T hit him. Then she'd go off and
cry or break bricks, and Kasumi would give him a disappointed look, and
Pops and Mr. Tendou would yell at him, and Nabiki would make his life
hell for a while... and he'd feel like an utter jerk. Maybe he was
sometimes, but not every time she blamed him for something.

        "It's always my fault. She never admits to making a mistake, but
she blames me for damn near everything that goes wrong around here.
Maybe she doesn't even mean it half the time, and I admit sometimes it
IS my fault, and sometimes it looks bad, but can't she just for once..."

        Wait before she whipped out a mallet, or grabbed a statue, or
doused him with water, or stomped off to her room? Blame somebody else?
Realize that weird stuff just sort of happened to him sometimes? Listen
to his side of the story? Trust him?

        Ranma smiled. It wasn't a very happy smile. Every once in a
while, someone in Hell might smile like that. It's the sort of smile a
person might have when they come up against the undeniable, ultimate
realization that there is no real justice. The universe isn't a fair
place.

        "I dunno. I don't know if she can change. But I can't marry her,
the way things are going right now. She doesn't trust me. Maybe she
never will..."

        As for all the rest...

        "I gotta start deciding what I want to do. Not Pop, or Mr.
Tendo, or Cologne, or Shampoo, or Ukyou, or even Mom. Maybe that's why
all this stuff kept going on and on... Everybody's trying to push their
decisions on me, tell me what honor requires me to do. It's time I made
my own decisions. Once I've done that, I can decide how to I'm going to
deal with everybody and what they want."

        What did he want to do? For the major stuff, he didn't know. How
could he know, with Pop deciding where they went and what they did for
most of his life? He hadn't had the choice to decide what he wanted do,
ever, and people wanted him to decide who he'd marry? How he'd live the
rest of his life?

        Now he had a chance. He'd decided to go to China, and for the
next three years, he'd decide where to go and what to do.

        And he wouldn't be alone. A while ago, when Happosai had hit him
with that strength-draining pressure point, he'd been ready to leave it
all... Nerima, his father, and just about everybody and everything. He'd
tried to hide it, but as embarassed as he was when Akane came up and
said she'd go with him, he was also relieved. He didn't want to be
alone.

        "For the next three years, I won't have to worry about that,
either..."

        He didn't know Setsuna nearly as well as Akane. But she seemed
like a good friend.

        A memory stirred, bringing back a morning over a year ago, and
the face of a girl who had seemed to offer only kindness and
acceptance...

        'Hi. My name's Akane. Do you want to be friends?'

        Ranma bit his lip until he tasted blood, and tried to will
himself to sleep...




        THUD! Thud! THUD! Thud! THUD! Thud!....

        Setsuna gritted her teeth, and rubbed her eyes as she slowly
pried herself out of her futon. There were plenty of guest rooms in the
Saotomes' new house. Hers was certainly comfortable, although still not
really furnished. Unfortunately, it was above the new dojo. Also, Ranma
and his father were apparently both early risers, and were now bonding
as father and son by trying to beat each other into unconsciousness at
six-thirty in the morning. Their exchanged taunts and insults penetrated
through the floor, along with numerous thumps and banging noises as they
richoceted off the dojo's ceiling.

        'I will not destroy them. That would be wrong," the green-haired
fiance told herself. 'Satisfying, but wrong. I need Ranma alive anyway.'

        Setsuna growled, and quickly began to dress herself, heading
downstairs to get some breakfast...

        Ranma's mother was there, of course. Setsuna had been worried a
bit about how Nodoka Saotome would react to the engagement. She'd been
under the impression that Nodoka favored the Tendo agreement. Apparently
she had made some sort of miscalculation.

        Nodoka Saotome was practically glowing. "Setsuna-chan! My
apologies if Ranma and Genma woke you up... They can both be so
vigorous. But please, sit down, have something to eat. I made tea...
Tell me, where are you two planning on going? How do you plan to get my
son into bed?"

        Setsuna had just taken a sip of tea, and nearly choked on it.

        'This is going to be interesting.'




Part C: By Despair, the Twin-Born of Devotion




        Everyone has a weakness. Nabiki Tendo had learned this through
long, oftentimes painful experience. Sometimes painful for her, but more
often for someone else.  Not surprisingly, a lot of people who can
easily ignore aggravation from perfect strangers have more trouble when
it comes to family.

        "Isn't that why I'm involving myself in this mess?" Nabiki
muttered, smirking to herself in self-deprecaton, and tapping her
fingers nervously against her briefcase.

        It was extremely fortunate that Furinkan High's computer club
included several near-compulsive gamblers. While few people were willing
to bet on Ranma losing a fight, there were many more interesting things
to bet on than who would win. Whether fiancees would arrive at the
fight, which ones, would they interfere with the fight... Girls tended
to bet less on the fights, but were often willing to bet more on the
conflicts between the various fiancees. There were plenty of things to
bet on, and even computer geeks seldom paid as much attention to the
odds as Nabiki.

        Sayako Amiko and Mendo Sajamata both tended to bet heavily, in
part because Nabiki made a practice of letting them slide on their debts
in return for information-gathering in her service. Nothing illegal or
even risky, just simple things like finding out someone's address and
who their relatives were, where they attended school, and so on...

        Which led her to where she was now. In front of a modest, if
large, traditional home in the Juuban district, about to confront
Setsuna Meiou's relatives. Her sisters, rather. The whole family had
traveled from place to place frequently, and apparently, Setsuna's
parents had died in a plane crash three years ago. She had plenty of
family left, however, in the form of three sisters, all younger than
her. Setsuna was 20 years old, a goodly bit older than she looked. She
lived with a younger sister named Ifurita who was 19, and another sister
named Persephone who was 17. The youngest sister, Cassandra, was 16, and
apparently attending a prestigious private school named Ohtori Academy
year-round.

        'Uncle Jiro', Nabiki had discovered, was not a blood relation.
He was the 'guardian' of Persephone and Cassandra, and formerly of
Ifurita and Setsuna, but his influence over the latter two ended when
they reached the age of 18. Apparently he was a good friend of the
family, and had accepted legal responsibility for the Meiou daughters
upon their parents' death. He might still wield an informal sort of
influence over Setsuna, but Nabiki was reluctant to confront him.

        'You don't become District Attorney by being a nice person, or
even by playing fair all the time.' Nabiki thought to herself, grimacing
as she appraised the Meiou household. 'Antagonizing Kanzaki would
probably be a very bad thing. Especially given the rumors that he might
be in bed with the Yakuza.'

        It was a much better bet to speak with Setsuna's sisters.
Sisters tended to disagree with each other. Often. In fact, Nabiki had
disagreed with Akane about Ranma being a good choice for quite a while
herself... She only needed to find an ally. Since she'd had Ranma and
Setsuna tailed yesterday by a student who owed her a favor, she knew
that Setsuna was staying at the Saotomes. That meant she wouldn't be
home, and wouldn't be able to defend her position. If Nabiki could
convince Ifurita or Persephone the engagement was a bad idea, they might
convince the other sisters.

        Nabiki clenched her fist a bit tighter around the briefcase
she'd brought. "Alright, enough procrastinating. Time to enter the
lion's den..."

        Nabiki walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.




        "Setsuna?" Nabiki asked in a somewhat dazed voice.

        The woman who had answered the door certainly fit the
description. Green hair, red eyes, tall and slender...

        The woman smirked. "No, I'm Ifurita. Setsuna's out at the
moment. You want me to take a message, kiddo?"

        Nabiki blinked. "No, I'm sorry... I wanted to speak with you and
Persephone about something. I was just surprised by how much you look
like your sister. Now I can see the difference."

        Which was true. Now that Nabiki examined Ifurita more closely,
it was clear that she was a bit broader and more muscular than her
sister. Still, the woman looked almost identical to Setsuna in just
about every other way. It was eerie.

        "Got a name, kid?"

        "Nabiki Tendo."

        'Why does she keep calling me 'kid', anyways?' Nabiki thought to
herself with some irritation as she was led inside... 'She doesn't look
THAT much older than me.'

        "YO! PERSEPHONE! VISITOR!" Ifurita yelled.

        Nabiki nearly jumped out of her skin as the Setsuna-clone
screamed out for her younger sister. 'Okay, I guess this can't be
Setsuna after all. I only met her for a few seconds, but she didn't
strike me as being anywhere near this rude. This woman's almost as bad
as Ranma.'

        "Have a seat, kiddo." Ifurita said, gesturing as she led Nabiki
into a small living room type of area. Unlike the rest of the house,
which was relatively traditional and stylish, this room looked...

        'Oh my.' Nabiki thought to herself, her mind rebelling against
the reality of the room. It was...

        Well it was hard to describe. There was a giant television set
along one wall of the room, standing next to a huge cabinet that
seemingly contained every form of home entertainment system known to
man. At least, Nabiki noted a DVD player, a VCR, a large stereo with a
CD player and cassette deck, a record player, a playstation 2, a
Nintendo 64, and more... In front of the mass of entertainment
paraphernalia were several beanbag chairs. At the other side of the room
was a large bar containing a soda fountain, and racked behind it in
shelves more alcohol than Nabiki had ever seen on display in her life.
There was also what appeared to be the door to an industrial-class
refrigerator-freezer.

        All of this served as a mere backdrop to the decorations and
knick-knacks which were strewn and stacked throughout. To mention only a
small fraction of what was present; there were individual Pokemon cards
stored in little glass cases on shelves, mirrors for various sorts of
beer or liqour, seven different clocks, a pink lawn flamingo, a moose
head mounted on the wall, a stuffed alligator hanging by support wires
on the ceiling overhead, assorted dolls, a small collection of buttons
with various sayings (mostly lewd), beer steins from around the world,
and various weapons, ancient and modern... A katana and an automatic
pistol were mounted on the wall within easy reach. There was no trash or
junk lying around, nor any discarded clothing, but the sheer
overwhelming tackiness of most of what was present was mind-boggling.

        "Like my pad, eh kid?" Ifurita asked, moving behind the bar and
starting to mix up some strange concoction... "Want something to drink?
Go on, have a seat. We might as well get comfortable."

        Nabiki blinked a bit, then gingerly took a seat in one of the
bean-bag chairs. "I'll have some sake, please."

        'Do they normally greet visitors in this room? These people are
almost as bad as the Kunos...'

        Another green-haired woman stalked into the room, shot a dirty
glance at Ifurita, and approached the bar. "Ifurita. Why did you bring
her in here? We have a living room that is perfectly suited for
receiving guests, you know. Make me some green tea, please..."

        She turned to Nabiki and bowed, showing a grace similar to
Setsuna's. "I am Persephone. I apologize for my sister's behavior. We've
lived outside Japan for many years, and I'm afraid she's yet to adjust.
Would you like to take this discussion to a more formal setting?"

         Ifurita snorted in disgust at her Persephone's comment,
reminding Nabiki of Akane for a moment. Persephone looked even more like
Setsuna than Ifurita did. In fact, if she hadn't known better, Nabiki
would have thought the woman was Setsuna. Persephone lacked Ifurita's
muscular build, showing instead a figure that was nearly identical to
her eldest sister.

        'They all look almost exactly alike. Creepy. What the hell have
you gotten me into, Ranma?' Nabiki thought to herself.

        Nabiki stood and bowed to Persephone, then regained her seat. "I
am Nabiki Tendo. This room will be fine, thank you. I wanted to discuss
the matter of your sister's recent engagement to Ranma Saotome."

        Persephone raised a slender green eyebrow. "Engagement? I take
it you're not referring to Cassandra?"

        Nabiki shook her head. "No, although Ranma himself is only 17.
That, however, is the least of the complications involved..."

        Ifurita snickered, coming back over with a tray containing
several drinks, and taking a sip of one of them... "Setsuna always could
pick'em."

        "I take it you're here because of one of those complications?"
Persephone asked, retrieving her tea from the tray and taking a sip.

        "One of the fiancees, rather. Ranma Saotome has three other
fiancees at last count, and one girl who considers herself his wife."
Nabiki replied, smirking. She picked up her sake and took a sip, hissing
momentarily at the strength of the drink.

        'That's sure to provoke a reacion.' She thought to herself.

        Neither Meiou girl seemed perturbed at the information, however.


        Persephone traced her fingers around the outside of her teacup.
"How does this involve us, exactly, Ms. Tendo?"

        Nabiki studied the two sisters. "Did you already know about
this?"

        Ifurita shrugged. "Not really. Setsuna pretty much does her own
thing though, y'know? We knew she's chasing after some guy, but why
should we get involved?"

        "There's family honor, for one thing" Nabiki noted, placing her
sake on the tray. "This may be hard to believe, but Ranma Saotome has a
curse. A magical curse that transforms him into a girl when he's
splashed by cold water. If you want proof, I brought a video recording,
and you can see him in person yourself..."

        "So what?" Ifurita interrupted. "I'm not into the whole rug-
munching thing myself, but Setsuna can deal. It's pretty obvious you're
hoping to get us to run off to Setsuna and ask her to break this thing
off, but it's really none of our business. Setsuna's old enough to take
care of herself. Older than the rest of us, at least..."

        Nabiki frowned. 'This is definitely not going the way I'd hoped.
Still, Persephone at least seems to have some traditional values... Not
to mention some manners.'

        Nabiki looked over at the calmer Meiou sister. "Do you share
your sister's opinion on this matter?"

        Persephone lifted her gaze to meet Nabiki's. It was somehow
disturbing to see such different people behind identical eyes... Each of
the Meiou sisters' eyes was the same red color, but Ifurita's seemed
somehow wild, like a firestorm. Persephone's were placid, like pools of
blood...

        'Creepy. But I'm used to dealing with strange people...' Nabiki
thought, shrugging off any sense of unease.

        "I do. Tell me, Ms. Tendo. What do you plan on doing if Setsuna
continues to pursue this manner?" Persephone asked.

        Gazing back into Persephone's red eyes, Nabiki smiled. It wasn't
a very pleasant smile, but then Nabiki wasn't feeling very pleasant. "I
intend to dissuade her by any means. My family's honor is at stake. My
sister has genuine feelings for Ranma as well, though she sometimes
hides them. I won't let her get hurt."

        *Click*

        'Shit.'

        A cold piece of blunt metal pressed into the back of Nabiki's
head. That was disturbing enough, but she'd heard that noise before, if
only in the movies... and the feel of the metal suggested what she might
have guessed at.

        Nabiki said nothing for a few seconds, gazing into Persephone's
eyes... She'd flinched, of course. She'd shown fear. But who wouldn't,
with a gun pressed to the back of their head? The sound of the safety
being taken off had nearly made her scream aloud. Still, she could at
least try to keep her voice calm, even those these people might well be
crazier than Kunos by far...



        "What exactly are you doing?" Nabiki asked. Calm. Her voice was
calm.

        Ifurita's voice came from behind her. Somehow, the bitch had
snuck up behind her while she was looking at Persephone, and pulled a
gun on her. "Well, Tendo-san, you did say you'd dissuade my sister
Setsuna 'by any means'. Is it any surprise I'm just as unwilling to see
my sister hurt? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just start a
blood-feud here and now. They'd never find your body, bitch, and I think
the rest of your family would be just as easy to dispose of."

        'You're going to die. Think of something! ANYTHING!'

        "Very cute, Ifurita. I think you've made your point. Now put the
gun away," said Persephone, glaring up over Nabiki's head. Her voice was
just as cool as before. Of course, she didn't have a gun to her head.

        "I'm older than you, Persephone, remember? In Setsuna's absence,
I'm in charge. If I think we should clean house, then that's what
happens." The voice came from behind Nabiki's head.

        'I confused her with the martial artists that hang around all
the time,' Nabiki thought to herself feverishly. 'She's not a martial
artist, she's a sociopathic thug. Damnit, THINK OF SOMETHING! Isn't
impending death supposed to sharpen the mind or something?'

        "I don't think Setsuna would like it if Ranma found out her
sister had killed someone. He'd never marry her then," Nabiki said. Her
voice was hollow, unconvincing. Still, it was probably true.

        "She's right, Ifurita. Put the gun down. You don't want to make
Setsuna angry," Persephone said. She was actually starting to look a
little worried. Of course, Ifurita might hit her if she tried to shoot
Nabiki.

        'Maybe I could jump forward on top of Persephone?' Nabiki
thought, frantically trying to figure a way out of this nightmare.
Admittedly, both women looked like better hand-to-hand fighters than
her, but at least Ifurita wasn't likely to shoot her if there was a good
chance she'd hit her sister, right?

        Suddenly that hard, cold presence vanished. Ifurita had taken
the gun off her head.

        Nabiki got up backed off, hurriedly, snatching up her
briefcase... "I think I should leave."

        'There's an understatement,' she thought to herself
sarcastically. 'These people are psychopaths.'

        Ifurita didn't stop her, and Persephone remained seated,
stirring her tea. "I apologize for my sister's behavior, Miss Tendo."

        Nabiki turned and started walking hurriedly toward the door.

        "Miss Tendo?" Persephone's voice rang out from behind her. It
held a faint trace of amusement. Bitch.

        'Walk, don't run.' Nabiki told herself. She'd pissed off Kodachi
once or twice. It was the same principle, just different loonies.

        "Yes, Miss Meiou?" Nabiki didn't stop walking towards the door.

        "I don't think I should have to tell you, but don't go to the
police. Telling the wrong people about my older sister's temper tantrum
could have... unfortunate consequences. You'd never be able to prove it,
in any case."

        Nabiki walked out the door, and paused, looking back in. Neither
woman had followed her. Of course, she'd seen what Ranma could do...

        'Ifurita might be standing right behind me. I'd never know.'

        "I'm not stupid, Miss Meiou." She slammed the door and stalked
away, holding onto the last shreds of her courage...



        Persephone gazed up at Ifurita... She didn't look angry. Just
annoyed. "That was a bit much."

        'Whining little sycophant.'

        Ifurita stalked over to the bar, pouring herself a drink. "So?
It'll make 'little miss mercenary' think twice before sticking her nose
in Setsuna's business."

        Persephone tried to grab her arm, but she might as well have
tried to restrain a bulldozer. 'I was made for war, by a people who saw
nothing but battle for centuries... This little pretender's Silver
Millenium was a pathetic mockery.'

        "Don't make me hurt you, girl." Ifurita warned her.

        "You're starting to interfere a lot for someone who isn't even
supposed to be here in the first place," Persephone stated. Her voice
was cold, but calm. Good.

        'She knows she can't do anything to stop me...'

        Ifurita smiled coldly, and turned to face Persephone. "So? You
think Setsuna's going to leave this timeline anything like it was to
begin with? I've waited a long time to have a hand in things..."

        "We're Sailor Pluto. We're supposed to defend the timestream,
not interfere..."

        'wuss.'

        Ifurita tossed back her vodka, then grinned nastily and crushed
the shot glass within her hand. Miniscule shards of glass sifted to the
floor. "You listened to our *fearless* leader when she told you about
the K'tee. You let us in, not that you had a choice... Do you think you
can tell us what to do now? Whine to Setsuna if you want, but she's not
going to care. Try to stop me, and I'll kick your ass."

        Persephone glared at her, but said nothing.

        "Just remember, little girl, if there's anyone Setsuna is
willing to sacrifice for the greater good, it's herself. Don't think
that your belonging here makes any difference. Try to stop us, and
you'll die like the others..."