Part One
(Seventeen Years Ago)
The green haired doctor’s lips moved silently as she watched the woman bear down and push. This time the baby's head appeared covered in a shock of fine red hairs. As the newborn finally arrived into the world the doctor announced her as a healthy baby boy and then continued to move her lips silently reciting a spell learned many lifetimes ago. And the baby she handed to the mother was indeed a healthy baby boy with fine black hair with just the slightest hint of a quickly fading red.
Setsuna smiled down at the new mother and her child. "Have you decided on a name?" she asked.
The woman looked up from the baby and smiled back, "If he had been a girl we had decided on Saotome Ranko, but since it's a boy we'll name him Saotome Ranma" she answered.
"I'm sure he'll make you proud" Setsuna told the woman with a smile as she left the room. If she hadn't been so happy with the fact that there was another firstborn princess of Titan's Royal family that she hadn't been forced to kill, she might noticed the symbol of Titan shinning on the child’s forehead and looked into the girl turned boy's future. But she was too used doing as she had today, and so she didn't expect that things would be any different this time around.
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(One-Week Ago)
Ranma marveled at the speed of Akane's recovery. She had gone from not being able to feed herself to back to breaking bricks in the dojo in less than a month. No matter what the price of the cure, seeing Akane up and about again was more than worth it. Even if the cost was turning out to be more than he had originally thought it would be.
*Things between them had improved greatly after they had returned from China and their idiot fathers' attempt at a forced wedding. Things had quickly calmed down but had -not- returned to normal.
Ranma had put extra effort into being nice to Akane while Akane had stopped hitting Ranma with her mallet for every imagined slight. Slowly the two had begun to express their feelings for each other and started acting like two young people in love rejoicing in their feelings for each other. Their joy however didn't last very long. Two months after the wedding attempt, Akane became sick. The doctors at the hospital and Dr. Tofu who'd been located in hopes of him knowing a cure all confirmed that Akane had the same wasting disease that had killed her mother so many years ago and that there was no known cure.
Devastated, Ranma had gone to the one other person who might have known of a way to cure Akane, Cologne. He had offered her the one thing that she would not have been able to refuse...himself.
Of course, being who she was she had tried to make it difficult. 'Why should I help great granddaughter's greatest rival?' the shriveled crone had asked dismissively.
Ranma's reply had been simple and to the point, 'Because if you don't I promise I ain't never gonna have anything to do with you, Shampoo, or your stupid Amazons ever again' his tone had left little doubt in Cologne’s mind that son in law meant exactly what he said.
After a few more token arguments Cologne had tried to help but only after she had made Ranma promise that if she could cure Akane that he would marry Shampoo and return to China to follow Amazon rules and law. Fortunately for Ranma there nothing the old Amazon could come up with worked well enough to call it a cure. The best she had managed was to ease the girl’s suffering somewhat.
And so Ranma had set off on a journey to find a cure for his beloved. After nearly three months of travel he had found the answer he needed in the form of an enchanted ring that would grant any wish in exchange for something it considered of equal value to the wish made.
A wet and ragged Ranma-chan had made it into the Chamber of the Ring after wading through creatures out of his worse nightmares that had stood guard around and on the inside of the castle where it had been hidden. She had told the Ring her wish and it had told her the price of the wish.
'I will save your betroved for something of equal value' came the voice in Ranma's head. 'Normally a wish of this kind would cost your life, but I see you carry something just as valuable inside you. Akane will be saved if you will give me your male body'.
For the first time since she began her quest Ranma had hesitated. Her manhood had meant everything to her for as long as she could remember, but as she thought about what was at stake she felt shame at her hesitation. A life, any life but especially that of Akane was worth more than her pride. For Akane, she decided that no price was too much to pay. And so Ranma-chan had returned to Nerima with a vial containing Akane's cure and a permanently female body. Also on the plus side, it seemed that the part of the curse that seemed to attract water had left along side her male form*
Of course she had known even as she made her deal that there would always be a chance that Akane wouldn't be able to love her now that she was stuck as a girl. She had comforted herself with the knowledge that even if it came to that, at least Akane would live.
As Akane had recovered, she had noticed that things were taking a turn for the worst as far as their relationship was concerned. And earlier today her fears had proven true. The reason that Akane was in the dojo and Ranma-chan on the roof was because Akane had broken up with her.
*'I'm so sorry Ranma, I tried' Akane said sadly, her eyes locked on the floor in an effort to avoid Ranma's. 'I love you so much, but…I can't be with you like this, as a girl. I've tried to get over it but...I can't help but feel that it's wrong.' She had told the redhead*
Looking back on it, it became obvious that everyone except the fathers had seen what was coming. Kasami and even Nabiki in her own understated way had been sympathetic all day and had made themselves scarce right before Akane had come to her for a talk.
The worse part was that Ranma hadn't been able to argue with her. What girl could ever love him...her now that she was a girl herself? Her mother had been surprisingly understanding about the whole thing and had offered to let Ranma move back home with her now that her home in Juban was repaired. Genma of course had gone out of his way to pretend that his son turned daughter didn't exist after Nodoka had shot down his plans for forcing ‘Ranma-chan’ to marry Soun.
And so tomorrow the two would start their move into Ranma's new home. Who knew? Maybe it would do her some good to get away from the mess that her life had become since her arrival in Nerima. But the main reason she had been so eager to leave was because being so near to Akane and knowing that they'd never truly be together would most likely have killed her if she had chosen to stay. As things were, the two had promised to write and visit after things settled down a bit. *Akane as just a friend is better than no Akane at all* she thought before going in at Kasumi's call that dinner was ready. She figured that if she told herself that often enough that sooner or later she’d even believe it.
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(Present)
Meiou Setsuna was in her office sipping a cup of tea when she felt it. She didn't really pay it that much attention, as she knew exactly what the feeling was. Or at least she thought she did until she called for whichever of the scouts that was outside of her door to come in before they could even knock.
So it wasn't too surprising when she nearly choked on her tea when the door opened and in walked a woman she had last seen seventeen plus years ago followed by a girl who looked remarkablely like her. There was no question that the duo were mother and daughter, but the surprising thing was that the daughter felt to her mind the same way one of the Senshi felt whenever they were near.
As soon as the woman had registered her daughter, one Saotome Ranma, and left, Setsuna transformed and went to check the history of the girl at the time gates. What she saw of the young girl/boy/girl's life left her horrified and angry beyond anything she had ever felt before. The only reason she didn’t immediately hunt down Genma Saotome and kill him was because the fat fool had inadvertently given her what she felt was a hint of hope. With the defeat of Sailor Galaxia, Chaos had returned to the galaxy. And with its return perhaps Sailor Titan could return to the ranks of the Sailor Senshi. Still, the panda man was due some serious pain as soon as she could arrange it.
As she checked the Time Gates to see what effect this unexpected turn of events would have on Crystal Tokyo even she was amazed at the difference one person had made to the time stream. Crystal Tokyo was now only a small possibility. Oh the city was there in a lot of timelines, but it was no longer the center of the timelines it was in. Now she and the other Senshi had a chance of achieving something truly wonderful. While it would mean more battles, the return of humanity to space and the birth of Kingdom that made even the best times of the Moon Kingdom pale in comparison would be more than worth it. She just hoped that Usagi agreed with her or she would have to kill Saotome Ranma to put the timeline back on track and after surviving her father the girl/boy/girl deserved better than to die for a kingdom she knew nothing about and would never see.
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The reactions of the other Senshi were much as she’d anticipated they would be. After telling the others the story of Titan’s royal family and of Sailor Titan, she went on to tell them of her part in the story, coming very close to tears although she hid it well, and how that led to one Saotome Ranma, although she didn’t tell them the name. She told them the story of the girl’s life from birth to present and went on to tell them some of what she had seen at the time gates. Then she sat back and awaited the pandemonium that she knew was about to erupt.
Usagi’s first concern was of course Chibi-Usa, “What about Small Lady?” she asked, “Will she still exist? Will trying to bring about this new Kingdom harm her in any way?” Her anxiety for her future child was very evident.
“Chibi-Usa will be fine” Pluto assured her. “In fact, if we do this she will be born a great deal sooner than she would have been in the Crystal Tokyo timeline” she told her princess.
“I’m not too sure about this,” said Haruka. “We’ve made too many sacrifices for Crystal Tokyo to just walk away from it when we’re almost there. Is this new Senshi really worth the risk you’re asking us to take?” Michiru nodded her agreement to her partner’s worries. No one was too surprised at this reaction from the two Outers, as they had both given up a great deal and done things that they would have never done otherwise, all for the future that would be Crystal Tokyo. To see that pulled away from them nearly as soon as it had come into reach and after all everyone had gone through, would cause anyone to be reluctant to deviate from the known path.
“Whichever choice we decide upon, your sacrifices will not have been in vain,” Setsuna answered empathically meeting both the girls’ eyes. “We would never have made it far enough to even be having this conversation if the two of you had not been willing to give so much of your hearts and souls for our princess and our cause. Whatever else happens, I will not let that effort be in vain.
“However, were it not for the survivors of the Dark Kingdom’s attack on Titan, I can assure you that none of this would have been possible. When Queen Serenity defeated Beryl and sealed Metallia away with the Ginuzuishou, she did not completely end the war. She merely removed the most dangerous elements of a huge army of lesser demons, youma, and the malcontents of Earth. This caused a pause in the battles as the strongest of Beryl’s generals that had escaped death fought each other for the right to take her place and the survivors of the first wave of attacks tried to adjust to the fact that for the first time in remembered history, there were no Senshi and no Queen to protect them… In the end it was Beryl’s brother by adoption, Ken who proved strongest of her generals and he wasted no time in killing off his rivals and replacing his sister.
“He took Beryl’s place as the leader of the Dark Kingdom, however, where Beryl’s intent had always been freeing Metallia and conquest of bringing the world of the Sol System under her control, her brother, Ken’s intent was nothing short of pure madness. Ken’s intent was to destroy all life that exists anywhere in the Sol system, other than that of those who came from Earth. He believed that anyone not born on Earth was inferior and that by letting them stay in the same solar system that they would contaminate the pure blooded Earthlings. Unfortunately, it was all to easy for him to convince others on Earth of their superiority in the universe.
“Meanwhile, with most of their armies destroyed trying to defend the Queen and the kingdom the few worlds that had survived Beryl’s initial assaults were helpless before the remaining might of Ken’s followers. I did what I could to help them fight, but even with my help and their forces combined there was little we could do to stop Ken with the resources he could draw upon from the Earth. I didn’t know it until many years later when I used the time gates to look back upon these and other past events of Titan’s Royal family, but the queens of Titan had long ago urged their people towards the practice of the Martial Arts as a substitute to the loss of Sailor Titan. Although the people remembered very little of the long vanished Senshi of Titan, it was the wish of their queen for them to be strong and defend both their world and the innocent who were unable to defend themselves. The people loved and respected the royal family and so they did as they were asked without too much trouble regardless of their belief that the Senshi would always be there to protect them.
"Over time many great fighters and various oftentimes, strange fighting techniques were developed. Nearly everything, from housework to eating, became a form of martial arts to these people. As the people of Titan grew stronger, none were as focused on doing so as the royal family. To them it had become something of a private challenge, and they stepped up to it by taking their skills to an unbelievable level for unenhanced humans. The most powerful of them were more than likely a match for any one of you before the Black Moon family attacked,” Setsuna added, looking at each of the inner scouts.
“Knowing there was no way to win against Ken and the Earth, the survivors of the attack on Titan volunteered to hold the enemy in check for as long as they could while as many refugees as possible were snuck onto Earth which oddly enough was the safest place for them to be. The time brought with the lives of the people of Titan’s distraction was the only reason your ancestors survived” Setsuna said, her gaze passing over all the gathered girls. “The price they paid for their heroism was that less than a hundred people out of forty million made it from Titan to Earth alive. Only one of the survivors was of the Royal family and she lived only because her people refused to allow her to fight when it was discovered that she was pregnant.
“Outraged at being held up by people who lived on such an insignificant Moon World, Ken used a forbidden enchanted weapon to destroy the magical barriers that made most of the other worlds of the solar system livable. Upon Mars and Venus, the only two other worlds that didn’t need the barriers he unleashed a bio weapon that ate every sign of life. He assumed that the people on all those worlds died and we encouraged this belief as best we could, so that he made no effort to search for them on Earth,” she finished, she finished as she took another sip of her tea.
Makoto spoke into the silence that followed, “If they really sacrificed so much to help others, they’re just like us. It would be wrong of us to not take this chance to help them” she told her friends. “Besides, I’d love the chance to visit Jupiter and when we win I’ll eventually be able to,” she added confidently.
Rei nodded, “I think that Makoto’s right. We should give this Sailor Titan a chance at least. Although I don’t see how having one more Senshi will get us back into space” she said as she looked over to Ami with a slight frown as if hoping she’d have an answer.
“I couldn’t even start to calculate the odds of this succeeding,” said Ami as she reached over and took Rei’s hand in her own giving a slight squeeze. “But for a chance to go into space and to walk on other worlds, whatever they are they’re odds I can’t pass up” she added seeming to have gained spirit from the contact.
Next up was Minako, who Setsuna had notice had been glaring at her since about halfway through the story. “What is it, Mina-chan?” she asked the girl.
Minako’s eyes narrowed as she answered, “You’ve said more just now than on our last date!”{A.N. There’s a story in here somewhere. I might even get to it one day} the accusation in her voice was plain for all to hear. Michiru who had been watching as the blonde had gotten ever more peeved at the time guardian broke into a quickly cut off spat of giggles at the look on Setsuna’s face.
Setsuna sighed, *‘Why is it that she’s the only one I can’t predict?’* She thought. *‘I guess that’s one of the reasons I love her’* Putting on her most adoring face she said, “But Mina-chan, I enjoy being with you so much that I don’t really feel the need to say much.” Of course, the sad thing was that it was true. She batted her eyes and in her sweetest voice asked, “Didn’t we have fun together?”
Minako looked thoughtful for a while and then slowly a smile spread over her face and she nodded shyly. Then as if nothing had happened she said, “I’m with Rei, Ami, and Makoto. I know that we are up to any challenge that the universe decides to throw our way. If the inner and outer Senshi all works together we’ll be unstoppable. And Sailor Titan is one of us. It wouldn’t feel right just abandoning her.”
“Since everyone else is in I guess we are too” Michiru said after receiving a reluctant nod. Haruka was not one to let her honor slip if she could help it, and it was becoming clear that giving this new Senshi a shot was a matter of honor. “But I think we should try to keep Hotaru out of the battles unless she’s absolutely necessary. She hasn’t gotten much better than when we first met her.” Everyone knew she was referring to the younger girl’s failing health.
“I had forgotten about that!” Setsuna exclaimed suddenly. “The Senshi of Saturn has a great deal of raw energy constantly moving through their bodies. Far more than any of the other Senshi! But while not nearly as powerful as Saturn, Sailor Titan may be able to help regulate the energy of Sailor Saturn. Come to think of it, it wasn’t too long after Titan vanished that the Saturn of that time began to become ill and all the Saturns that followed her were born sickly. I’ll have to look farther into it of course, but perhaps with the return of Sailor Titan, Hotaru could very well start to get better! Still let us not say anything to her about this, just in case it’s nothing” Any doubts Michiru or Haruka had were promptly put aside at the thought of a possible way of helping the young girl they had taken as their daughter. While Hotaru’s health hadn’t gotten any worse, there seem to be nothing anyone could do to improve it either.
“How about you Mamo-chan?” Usagi asked, “Will you help us?”
Mamoru gently squeezed her with the arm he had around her shoulders, “It seems like the right thing to do” he told her. “And you know I’d follow you anywhere, Usagi” he added as he placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. “Besides, if this girl used to be a guy she may have problems adjusting to being treated like a girl. She’ll need a friend who can understand what she’s going through.”
Usagi’s smile lit the room and warmed the hearts of her friends. “It’s agreed then. Just tell us how to help Setsuna!” she said.
Setsuna smiled back as released a tension she hadn’t been aware of holding until it was gone and told them, “For now we just go on with our lives. The girl who will become Titan has already made her appearance and soon a new enemy will arrive as well. Until then all we can do is be ourselves” she told them.
“But…but aren’t you going to tell us who she is?” asked Minako, confused.
Smiling a smile that said she knew something they didn’t, Setsuna replied with a simple, “No” and faded from sight. The indignation that followed her leave-taking was something else that went exactly as she’d predicted.
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