Title: Warriors of Light and Shadow; Chapter4: A New Home?

Author: Storm Bringer

Rating: PG-13

E-mail: the_storm_bringer@hotmail.com

Disclaimer: I won’t say it! You can’t make me say it! I’m rebelling! I’ll never… What’s that? It looks sharp… and hot. What are you… No! Don’t! AARRRGH!! Okay! Okay! I’ll say it! Geez, you don’t have to be nasty about it. The characters in this story do not belong to me. There, happy? OWW!

* * * * * *

From her post at the Gate of Time, Sailor Pluto watched as Usagi led Ranma through the pouring rain. She wished that she could do more than just watch the events that would dictate the future, but she was trapped in the void, a place where time and space met yet had no bearing. Pluto had used a forbidden technique to save Uranus and Neptune, and now she was paying the price. Only at certain times was she now allowed to plunge back into the river of time and interact with the world, and then only as a wraith.

Despite what people might expect of someone dubbed the Guardian of Time, Pluto could not in fact read the future. Such an act was impossible even for the gods themselves. What she could do, was view the paths the future might take and attempt to guide the future to the goal she sought, a goal that was always for the greater good. There were many, many such paths with an uncountable number of branches leading off to yet more paths.

The incident that had just taken place on an abandoned street this day, between a young Princess and her cursed companion was such a branching. The future that had been plotted for them had been passed up in favor of another. This disturbed Pluto, for although what was happening now was not too upsetting to the balance—the other Senshi might disagree, but they did not know what she did—the path now traveled could lead to a complete ruination of the future.

What it boiled down to was simply a matter of going right instead of left. Existence itself was little more than a series of choices, choices not always made by the person whom they affected. Many times events were dictated by fate and destiny. In the events to come though, the choices would largely be made by the Senshi and their allies. Sailor Pluto had little doubt that the choices they made would grant this world a future.

But there was one branching of the future that caused her some distress. Before, she had had little faith that this choice would ever have to be made, but destiny had made a choice and now the fate of the future hung in the balance. It was such a small crossroad, one with an easy choice that pointed the way generously. But the obvious path led to the eventual destruction of Crystal Tokyo.

Sailor Pluto rubbed at her temples, feeling a headache coming on. She could act when the time came for that choice to be made, and she would no matter what the cost. But she greatly disliked the task that had been thrust upon her. What the Senshi had done to Usagi would pale in comparison to what she must do to her.

If Usagi lived that long.

* * * * * *

Ikuko Tsukino took one look at her daughter and nearly went into hysterics. An understandable reaction considering Usagi’s current appearance. She was soaking wet, her clothes and legs were splattered with mud, one eye was swollen and would be black and blue in the morning, and practically the entire side of her face was red from where Uranus had slapped her and there was the possibility that it would bruise too—a testament to Uranus’ strength. All and all she looked like something a cat might drag in and leave at its owner’s feet in hopes of earning a pat on the head.

"What happened to you!?" demanded her mother as she began looking Usagi over for more injuries. Both concern and fear showed clearly on her face.

Usagi was a bit taken aback by her mother’s reaction, but she hadn’t seen herself in a mirror yet. "Well, there were these men and—"

Usagi was cut off by her mother’s shriek. "You were raped!?"

"No! That’s not—"

Suddenly Kenji was standing next to his wife. "What’s this I hear!?" he roared. "My beautiful daughter was violated by a gang of vicious criminals! I won’t stand for this! I’ll track them all down and wring their necks!"

"That’s not…Will you…C’mon mom! Listen to me!" By now both parents were shouting and raging and ready to kill anything that might have ever looked at their daughter funny.

Ranma, who had gone completely unnoticed so far, snickered softly. Usagi shot her a pleading look as she tried to quell her hysterical parents, but Ranma just shrugged and tried to hide her smile. Judging from the look Usagi gave her before returning attention to her parents, Ranma hadn’t succeeded.

Looking around, Ranma noticed the presence of a second person who seemed to find the situation amusing. A young boy, presumably Usagi’s brother, was standing nearby doing his best to contain his laughter. He at least had taken note of Ranma and he stared at the broken katana in her hand with the wide-eyed curiosity of the young. When the boy’s eyes met Ranma’s she smiled at him and he grinned back. Then he blushed slightly and averted his eyes, an act which caused Ranma a bit of confusion.

"LISTEN TO ME!!" roared Usagi in frustration, finally fed up with the situation. All of a sudden it was dead quiet and everyone was staring at her. Clearing her throat, she said, "I wasn’t raped." Instantly her parents broke down into sobs of relief and it was another few minutes before Usagi was able to continue. "As I was saying before, some men tried to rob me, but Ranma here saved me and chased them off."

All eyes turned to regard the pig-tailed girl and she fidgeted nervously, becoming self-conscious with everyone staring at her. "Hi," she said simply.

Usagi’s mother suddenly had her hands on Ranma’s shoulders and was fussing over her ragged appearance. "Oh my! Just look at you! You’re a mess! I bet you’re cold too. How about a nice warm bath and something hot to eat. You’ve earned it and more for saving my daughter. I bet we can find something to replace that torn shirt of yours as well. Oh dear! What happened to your hand?! I’ll have to take a look at that." Ikuko led a stunned Ranma deeper into the house, snagging Usagi as she went. "You come along too. You’re both in terrible shape and I bet by tomorrow you’ll both be down with colds."

The two girls went along with Ikuko without protest. Ranma because she wouldn’t have known what to say if she wanted to and Usagi because she knew saying anything would be pointless. Besides, the idea of a warm bath and hot food was enticing to the both of them.

Ikuko led them upstairs and thrust them both into the bathroom. "Warm baths first, you need to get out of those wet clothes. I’ll bring you both a robe for when you’re done. Ranma, I want to look at that hand of yours as soon as you’re finished with your bath. At the very least it will need some antiseptic and a good bandage, it might even need stitches." Then she was gone, shutting the door as she left and leaving the two girls staring blankly at where she had been standing.

"I can’t believe my parents embarrassed me like that!" exclaimed Usagi finally.

Ranma gave Usagi a disapproving frown. "They just care about you. If my parents thought I’d been raped they’d probably try to get me to kill myself or somethin’," she said bitterly, thinking of all the things thrust upon her throughout her life by her parents.

"You’re kidding!" exclaimed Usagi. Ranma looked away and Usagi’s gaze moved to the broken katana. "You mean—"

"I don’t wanna talk about it!" said Ranma harshly. Seeing the hurt look on Usagi’s face she immediately regretted her tone of voice. "I’m sorry, I’m just…"

"Hurt," said Usagi, giving Ranma a sympathetic look. "And confused, and feeling alone in the world."

"Somethin’ like that," muttered Ranma as she turned to look at herself in a mirror hanging on the wall. She really didn’t want to talk about it even though it appeared that Usagi understood exactly what she was feeling. Ranma had always been taught that babbling about one’s emotions was something only weaklings and girls did. Of course, it had been her honorless father that had told her such things, but old habits died hard.

Staring into the mirror, it took Ranma several moments to equate the face staring back with her own. The only thing that kept her from looking as bad as Usagi was a lack of bruises. Gently undoing the makeshift bandage covering her hand, she examined the ugly gash that ran the length of her palm. Usagi’s mother was right, it might need stitches.

Ranma heard Usagi began running water for the bath, but she was too caught up with poking and prodding at her wound to pay much attention. Stitches or no it would probably scar, but at least it didn’t appear…Usagi was running bath water? Ranma finally took note of the voice in the back of her head that had been screaming at her for the last several minutes.

Spinning around, Ranma said, "Usagi, I don’t think…" Ranma trailed off staring at Usagi, who had removed her blouse and was in the process of taking off her bra. Letting out a small squeak, Ranma turned back around, her face flaming.

"What’s wrong Ranma?"

"Well, you see…there’s ah…somethin’ I haven’t told you yet…" Ranma tried desperately to think of something to tell Usagi other then the truth, but her mind came up completely blank. "I’mnotreallyagirl," she finally blurted.

"What? I couldn’t understand you."

Ranma took a deep breath. "I’m not really a girl. I’m a guy."

Usagi laughed. "Not with boobs like that you aren’t."
"I’m serious!" Ranma’s face was now deep crimson and she was beginning to feel quite warm. "Yeah, I’m a girl now, but I’m not really a girl."

There was a long moment of silence and then Usagi gave a gasp of realization. "Oh, I get it. You’re…that way and you’re afraid to tell me because you think I might be offended or something because you saw me naked. Don’t worry about it, we’re both still girls."

That way? What did she mean by… "That’s not what I meant!" said Ranma whipping back around. "I’m not…" Usagi was now wearing nothing but her panties and the color of Ranma’s face managed to enter into shades of purple. Hastily she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. "Listen," she managed to say, "just cover up and I’ll show you what I mean."

There was a pause and then, "Okay, show me that you’re really a guy." Usagi’s tone of voice was like that of a parent humoring a small child.

A quick peek revealed that Usagi had wrapped a towel around herself and Ranma was able to regain some of her composure. While trying not to look at Usagi too much—she might be covered, but Ranma knew exactly what was underneath that towel—Ranma walked over to where the bathtub was filling with hot water. There she hesitated for a moment, memories of her first meeting with Akane filling her mind.

Would Usagi hate her after this? Ranma had definitely seen more than she should have. In the end, Ranma decided that there was no getting out of this so it didn’t matter. Kneeling down next to the tub and setting her katana aside, she cupped her hands and proceeded to splash herself with hot water. A startled gasp escaped Usagi’s lips as the change took place.

"See," said a very male Ranma as he stood back up. "I told ya I wasn’t a girl. You’re not gonna get mad and hit me now, are you?"

Usagi’s face was turning brilliant crimson as she realized she had just undressed in front of a man, but she didn’t seem angry. Well, she didn’t seem happy either, but so far there was no glowing blue aura or large hammer. Reaching out, Usagi prodded Ranma’s chest, gently searching for those boobs she had mentioned just a short time ago.

"I don’t believe it," she said in a slightly awed voice. "How—"

A knock on the bathroom door cut her off. "I’ve got your robes and I’m bringing them in," called Ikuko.

Ranma didn’t need Usagi’s frantic look to know that there’d be trouble if her mother caught the two of them in the bathroom while he was a guy. As the door began to open, Ranma grabbed Usagi’s discarded shirt from the floor and rung it out over the top of his head. When Ikuko stepped in carrying two yellow robes, Ranma was a girl once again.

"Ranma," she said in a sharp voice that made the red head jump. For a moment she feared her secret had been discovered. "Why aren’t you out of those wet clothes yet?"

Ranma blinked. "Well, uh…I was…examining my hand. Yeah, that’s what I was doing. I was making sure the wound was clean."

"Let me see," said Ikuko, taking a hold of Ranma’s hand. She looked it over carefully and then said, "This is bad. How did you manage to do this to yourself?"

"Um…I was cutting up carrots and the knife slipped."

"I thought you said it was an accident with a can opener," said Usagi.

In Ranma’s opinion, the room was beginning to become uncomfortably hot. "Did I? I mean, yeah, I was trying to open a can of carrots, but um…I didn’t have a can opener so I had to use a knife and it slipped. Yeah, that’s what happened."

As one, the eyes of both Usagi and her mother slid to the broken katana laying on the floor. They didn’t say anything about it though, only exchanged unreadable glances.

"Make sure you clean it well," said Ikuko finally. Releasing Ranma’s hand, she turned to leave. "And get out of those wet clothes before you do anything else."

During this entire exchange, Ranma thought that Usagi would say something about what had happened. Most girls didn’t like the idea of a man seeing them naked when they didn’t want to be seen naked. It was a relief when Usagi said nothing, but when the door closed behind her mother she rounded on Ranma with a furious look.

"Couldn’t you have said something about this earlier!?"
Ranma shrugged and tried to look innocent. "I forgot," she said lamely, knowing the excuse wasn’t going to cut it, but too tired to come up with anything better.

"Forgot!? How do you forget something like that!?"

Sighing, Ranma said, "It’s been a very long day. I’ve sorta gotten used to people knowing about my curse and it just slipped my mind." Looking over at Usagi’s angry visage, Ranma said, "I suppose you want me to leave now, huh?" If that was the case then Ranma didn’t know what she was going to do. She had nowhere to go, no one to turn to.

To Ranma’s relief, Usagi shook her head. "No. I’m not that angry with you. Besides, you tried to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. Some of this is my fault. But you can’t let my parents find out you’re a guy or else my dad will probably try to kill you or something." Her eyes narrowed. "And you’re not taking a bath with me either."

"Yeah, I’ll uh…just sit over here and stare at the wall until you’re done."

"Good plan. You can tell me all about why you turn into a girl too. I’ve seen some really weird stuff, but this has got to be the strangest."

So Ranma sat in the corner and related the story of her encounter with Jusenkyo while Usagi cleaned up and soaked the chill from her bones. Then it was Ranma’s turn to bathe while Usagi stared into the corner. They just made idle conversation then, and Ranma was pleased that Usagi didn’t pry into his past and accepted the uninformative answers he gave when asked about it. In return, Ranma didn’t ask about her black eye or the attack by the strange girl.

After the bath, Ranma splashed himself with cold water and she and Usagi went downstairs to get something to eat. Before food though, came Ikuko’s examination and treatment of Ranma’s injured hand. She decided that stitches were not necessary and bound the wound with a thick layer of bandages with the admonishment that Ranma was to use that hand as little as possible over the course of the next week.

Everyone gathered in the dining room as the two girls were given large plates full of hot food, and Usagi began making formal introductions. "This is my mom and dad, and that little runt is my brother, Shingo. Everyone, this is Ranma… What did you say your last name was?"

Ranma, who had been in the process of nodding to everyone politely, suddenly frowned and looked away. "I uh…I don’t have…a last name," she said softly.

"Why not?" asked Shingo innocently. His parents shot him hard looks, but there own curiosity showed plainly on their faces, just as it did on Usagi’s.

Ranma didn’t answer at first. She considered not answering at all, but decide that these people had been nice enough to her so far and deserved to know the truth. Some of the truth at least. There were some things that Ranma decided strangers, friendly or no, didn’t need to know about her. That list, she noted, was rather long.

"My parents…disowned me," she said finally, still not looking at any of them. That admission had hurt more than she thought it would, and a pall of loss and sadness fell across her heart.

"That’s awful!" exclaimed Usagi. "Why would they do such a thing?"
Ranma sighed. She hated these questions. "They wanted me to marry a…someone who I didn’t want to marry. Neither of us was happy with the idea"—at least Ranma hoped the unhappiness had been shared equally—"and I finally told them off. They kicked me out because of that." Well, that was some of the truth.

Ikuko made a disapproving sound. "Some parents are still stuck in the past. They don’t understand that they can’t arrange their children’s life for them."

"Why not?" asked Kenji.

Usagi frowned at her father before turning to her mom with a pleading look on her face. "Mom, Ranma doesn’t have anywhere to live. We can’t just toss her back out on the street."
"Of course we can’t," said Ikuko firmly. "She can stay in Chibi-Usa’s room since your cousin isn’t staying with us right now."

This proclamation took Ranma off guard. Usagi had said she’d be able to stay here for a while, but Ranma really hadn’t believed her. At the very least she had expected Usagi to have to do a lot of arguing and pleading just to get her parents to agree to a few nights. There had to be a catch.

"You’re just gonna let me stay here?" she asked.

"Like my daughter said, we can’t just toss you back out on the street. Especially not after you saved her from those men. You can stay here until you work things out with your parents or find a relative to stay with."

"I don’t think my parents will let me back anytime soon," she muttered. "And I don’t have any relatives. But I suppose I can find a job or something and pay you rent."

"A job at your age," said Ikuko with a raised eyebrow. "You should be in school. If you really want to pay us back then you can help around the house. It would be nice to have at least one person who’s willing to help me." The rest of the family suddenly began a very intense study of the floor.

Ranma didn’t know what to say to such a generous offer, so she simply said the first thing that popped into her head. "I can cook."

Ikuko smiled. "Then you can help me out in the kitchen from time to time. Maybe you’ll be a good influence on Usagi. Now eat, you two. Undoubtedly you’ll be sick tomorrow because of all the time you spent out in the rain so you need to eat while you can."

Ranma didn’t need to be told twice. Eating was one of her favorite hobbies and it seemed Usagi shared her interest. In no time they had each consumed enough food for two people and were clamoring for dessert. Usagi’s mom didn’t cook quite as well as Kasumi —who did?— but her food was delicious none the less and Ranma was more than satisfied when she was finished.

After dinner, Ranma was led to her room, which was located in the attic. It had been vacated recently by Usagi’s younger cousin and it was quite obviously set up to match a girl’s tastes. After the day she had had though, Ranma didn’t care about frilly white curtains, or a pink bedspread. She would care about those things in the morning, she decided. Right now all Ranma wanted to do was sleep. And sleep she did, long and hard.

She woke up once that night though, and went down in search of a drink of water. As she passed Usagi’s room, Ranma heard soft weeping. Glancing inside, she saw that the clouds outside had parted slightly and the light from the moon was faintly illuminating the small, shaking form of Usagi as she cried beneath her blankets. Not knowing what to do, Ranma watched her for a short time and then returned to her own room, water forgotten.

After that it was a long while before Ranma was able to get back to sleep. Her thoughts were filled with images of the past. Looking back, she realized that not everything in Nerima had been bad, there had been good times as well. She didn’t regret what she had done though, only wished it could have been different.

When sleep finally found Ranma, her last thought were not of the past, but of the future, and a girl whose tears tugged at her own heart. What had been done to Usagi to cause the pain Ranma saw etched in her face? What could be done to ease that pain? These were the thoughts Ranma carried off to sleep.

* * * * * *

The next day both Ranma and Usagi were sick just as Ikuko had predicted. They were laid up with runny noses, disgruntled stomachs, and a general feeling of ickyness. Since being sick alone was no fun, a futon had been set up in Usagi’s room and that was where Ranma spent pretty much her entire day, which consisted mainly of napping, eating chicken noodle ramen, and then napping some more. Since it was a lazy Sunday afternoon, they didn’t miss much.

The monotony was broken for a short time when Ikuko came into the room with the phone. "Usagi dear," she said softly when she saw her daughter was awake. "Rei’s on the phone."
Usagi rolled over in her bed so that her back was to her mother. "Tell her I’m sick. I don’t want to talk on the phone right now."
Ikuko blinked. "You must be really sick if you don’t want to talk on the phone. Maybe I should take you to see a doctor." There was no reply and Ikuko left, concern painting her features.

A short time later, an insistent beeping sound began coming from the general area of Usagi’s desk. The blond didn’t seem to notice, or simply decided to ignore it, but after a few minutes of listening to the annoying ‘beep, beep, beep,’ Ranma finally got up to find out what the problem was while trying to ignoring a dull throbbing in the back of her head courtesy of her cold. After searching through the clutter engulfing the top of the desk, she finally discovered that the sound was coming from something that resembled a pink watch with a lid that had to be lifted so you could view the time.

"Usagi, your watch is beeping. How do I shut it up?"
"It’s not a watch," mumbled Usagi. "It’s a communicator."

"Huh?"

Usagi rolled back over so that she was facing Ranma. "A communicator. It’s like a phone only it looks like a watch."

Ranma stared down at the thing she was holding. "Sorta like James Bond, huh? Doncha’ wanna answer it?"
"No," stated Usagi decisively.

"Well then, can I answer it so it’ll stop beeping? That sound’s drivin’ me nuts."

Usagi considered Ranma’s offer for a moment and then nodded. "Just make sure I don’t have to talk to whoever’s there. Open the top if you want to talk."

Ranma flipped open the watch and was greeted with the image of a girl about Usagi’s age with long, raven black hair. "Wow, you even get to see the person you’re talkin’ to. This thing’s pretty neat."

"Who are you!?" demanded the girl.

"You’re the one callin’ me. You tell me who you are first."

The girl’s eyes narrowed. "I’m not calling you. I’m calling Usagi. Where is she?"

"Around. Who are you?"

Ranma could almost hear the girl’s teeth grinding together. She was silent for a long moment before finally saying, "I’m Rei. Now put Usagi on!"

Ranma shook her head, then winced as the motion incited the dull throb at the back of her skull to become a sharp pain. "Can’t do that. She doesn’t want to talk to you."

"Listen you—"

"I’m Ranma."

"Listen Ranma," growled Rei. "Put Usagi on NOW!"

Ranma assumed a pensive pose. "Tell ya what. Give me the password and I’ll let ya talk to Usagi." Usagi, who could hear the entire conversation, giggled loudly.

"I heard that!" exclaimed Rei. "I know Usagi’s there! Let me—"

"Sorry," interrupted Ranma, "wrong answer. Good bye." She flipped the lid shut, effectively ending the conversation.

Usagi burst into laughter. "That was great! I wish I could have seen the expression on her face."

Ranma tossed the communicator back on top of the desk. "Who was that?"

Instantly Usagi’s mirth died. "Just someone I know…someone I knew," she replied, turning to gaze out the window.

Ranma knew better than to press the matter. She just lay back down on her futon and attempted to get some rest. After staring at the ceiling for several minutes though, she came to the conclusion that despite how tired she felt, sleep would not be coming any time soon. There were just too many thoughts and questions spinning through her head to be conductive to getting some rest.

"Usagi," she said at last, "you still awake?"

"Yeah."

"Can I ask you somethin’?"

There was a slight pause. "Sure."
"Yesterday, in the bathroom, when you found out I was a guy… Why didn’t you tell your parents or kick me out or hit me or somethin’?"

"Should I have?"

Ranma shrugged, but then realized Usagi couldn’t see her. "Most girls would have."

Usagi chuckled. "I suppose they would." Ranma heard movement on the bed and suddenly Usagi’s head popped up in front of her. "See this?" asked Usagi, pointing to her black eye. "This was given to me by someone I once called friend. Now I call her enemy, because I have to. The girl you saved me from yesterday and the girl you talked to today are also my enemies now. I have no friends, Ranma. I have no one to talk to, no one to confide in. All of a sudden I’m very alone in the world."

Ranma gaped. "And you want me to be your…" She trailed off, not sure she actually understood what Usagi was saying.

"Be my friend, if you would." Unshed tears glistened in Usagi’s eyes. "I don’t care if you’re a girl or a guy or both, things like that don’t really matter. You didn’t have to rescue me yesterday, but you did. You’re a nice person with a good heart. I would like it if you would be my friend."

Ranma didn’t know what to say. Throughout her entire life, no one had ever given Ranma anything without expecting something in return. And now here she was practically an adopted member of the Tsukino family and no one had asked her to give more than she was willing to offer. Usagi had now asked for her friendship, but that was a two way street that would benefit them both.

"It’s been a long time since I had a real friend," said Ranma softly. "Everyone I know is always trying to fight me or marry me, even people I once thought were my friends. That’s part of the reason why I rebelled against my parents. The forced marriage was the major reason, but I needed to get away from there. I needed to start over. I think… I think I would like to be your friend, Usagi."

Usagi’s smile put the sun to shame. "Thank you Ranma."

* * * * * *

Rei hurled her communicator across the room with a frustrated scream. "That… that… little red headed bitch! Who the hell does she think she is?!"
Minako turned her gaze away from the window she was staring out of and looked over at Rei. The priestess was beet red and it was a wonder steam wasn’t coming out of her ears. Ami was sitting right next to Rei, but she was lost in thought and oblivious to the raging girl who was now taking her anger out on an innocent stuffed bear.

"What’s going on?" asked Makoto as she entered the room. The brunette had a haggard look, as though she hadn’t slept well last night.

Rei began to give a play by play of her recent conversation, but it was delivered in a furious round of shouting that no one could understand. After being asked several times to calm down, she gave each girl a furious glare and then stomped from the room.

Makoto stared after the priestess. "Anyone else want to try?"

"Someone else answered the communicator," replied Ami, who seemed to have finally returned to the here and now. "A girl who called herself Ranma. She would not let Rei speak with Usagi and managed to do a fine job of angering her in the process. She matches the description of the girl Haruka ran into yesterday."

"Why would Usagi let someone else answer her communicator?" asked Makoto. Looking closer, Minako noted a slight puffiness around Makoto’s eyes, an indication that she had been crying some time ago. Minako hoped that her makeup hid the redness rimming her own eyes.

"It seems," mused Ami, "that Usagi has acquired a bodyguard."

"Why the hell does she need a bodyguard?!" demanded Rei as she stormed back into the room. Before anyone could attempt to answer the question, she once again started ranting about her mistreatment by the redhead.

Minako went back to staring out the window. "Maybe she needs a new bodyguard because her old guardians abandoned her," she said in a soft voice no one else could hear. "Maybe she needs a bodyguard because she’s afraid of the people she once thought were her friends." A single tear slid down her cheek.