Lines Of Destiny

   A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2  Crossover

   By Louis-Philippe Giroux
   <Phoenix@upc.qc.ca>

    Thank you for all your comments!  Keep'em coming!
    C&C is always welcome!!!

   Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi and Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko
Takahashi.  Please don't sue me.

   I fianlly decided to stop Chapter 4 there and include what I wrote extra
in Chapter 5, which has been started today.  Don't whine!  It only means
that Chapter 5 will be done quicker!  ;)  I make no promises about the
release date of Chapter 5, but it *might* be ready by next week-end.

   Feeling bored, I rated this fic on the fanfic drinking game scales
available.  On the SM scale, it rates 31 drinks while it rates 21 drinks
and a chug on the Ranma scale.   BTW, I'm still looking for a suitable
color scheme for Sailor Terra.  Anyone want to volunteer suggestions?
(PLEASE!!! No pink combinations)  Every combiantion I came up with falls
way too close to what one of the other Senshi is already wearing.

   Mizuharo College is now Mizuharo University.  Ranma and Akane attend
university while the the Inner Senshi are in their second year of High
school.  The Outer Senshi are in their last year of College.

Chapter 4 (version 2.0)

  Makoto had just come back from the market when she decided she was bored.
Among all the Senshi, Makoto was perhaps the only one who missed the
occasional fight with a youma, daimon, or whatever they periodically
fought.  Makoto would never admit it to the others, of course, but it still
didn't change the fact that she was bored.
   She looked up the time. *Mamoru probably arrived at the train station a
while ago*.  Not knowing what else to do, she decided to go see Rei at the
Hikawa Shrine, remembering yesterday's conversation.  If she was lucky, she
might get to meet Rei's mysterious cousin before everyone else.
   She let out a small sigh.  The moment she had heard Rei's cousin was a
martial artist, she had gotten her hopes up, but said hopes had taken a
brutal nosedive when she learned that Rei's cousin was coming with his
girlfriend.
   Shaking her head from such thoughts, she left her appartment, locked it
up and left in the direction of the Hikawa Shrine.  After a moderate walk,
she arrived in view of the gates to the Shrine and saw two people going in.
One of them was a young black-haired man, wearing a red Chinese shirt and
loose black pants and the other was  a black-haired girl, wearing a yellow
dress and a sky-blue blouse. They were both carrying suitcases with them.
Makoto started wondering if the guy was Rei's mysterious cousin.

   Ranma and Akane pushed the gates and went inside the shrine grounds.
They looked around and saw the staircase leading to the shrine itself.
Seeing no one on the grounds, they decided to climb the steps and stopped
when they neared the top of the stairs.
   "Rei?  Are you here?  It's me, Ranma!" he called out."
   A girl came out of the shrine, a look of anticipation on her face.  She
had long, raven-black hair that went down her back and she was clad in
traditional Shinto priestess robes.
   "Ranma?" she said, blinking, all the while looking shocked for a few
seconds. "Is that you?"
   "What? Don't you even remember me Rei?" answered Ranma with a smile on
his lips.
   Rei seemed to stare at Ranma for a few seconds, but quickly put herself
together.  "Welcome to the Hikawa Shrine, Ranma."
   "Thank you for your hospitality," Ranma replied politely.  "Rei, may I
introduce you to Akane Saotome, my wife."
   Akane bowed in response. "I would like to thank you for your
hospitality, Rei-san."
   Rei, too stunned for words, merely nodded.  She had not even tried to
hide the double-take she did at that  statement.  Ranma and Akane had a
somewhat sheepish look on their faces.
   "Call me Rei,"  she said, turning to Akane.  "You're... married?" Rei
managed to get out, despite her surprise.  "But... aunt Nodoka said you
were coming with a girlfriend, not a bride!"
   "She probably didn't want to freak you out," Ranma said, trying to make
as little a scene as he could.
   "When *did* you get married?" Rei asked.
   "Err, yesterday" answered Ranma, trying to sound as nonchalant as
possible (and failing miserably).
   Rei stared at him for a couple of seconds more, than mentally shrugged.
*Usagi and Mamoru are as good as married and Usagi is younger than he is,
so why not them?*
   "Come on, I'll show you around the shrine grounds," she said.
   "Do you mind if I tag along on the guest tour, Rei-chan?"
   Rei, Ranma and Akane turnd around to see Makoto, standing in the
shrine's doorway.
   "Mako-chan!" Rei said in surprise.  "What are you doing here?"
   Ranma and Akane finally got a good look at the unexpected visitor: a
very tall girl with long, flowing brown hair tied back in a ponytail.  She
had a simple dress on that complimented her... substantial features well.
   Rei turned to Ranma and Akane.  "Ranma, Akane, this is Makoto Kino, a
very good friend of mine."
   Makoto gave a polite bow, which was returned by the two Nerimites.
   Rei repeated her question "What are you doing here, Mako-chan?  I
thought you would have gone with Usagi and the others to greet Mamoru at
the train station."
   "I just came back from grocery shopping," replied Makoto. "By the time I
came back, the train would probably have had arrived a long time ago.  In
fact, the other girls and Mamoru are probably on their way here."
   "Then they're probably not far behind." said Rei.  She turned to Ranma.
"If I remember correctly, you were on the same train as Mamoru. Which
reminds me, I hope nothing bad happened on your way here?"
   Ranma looked pensive for a second. "The trip was fine. There was a brawl
at the train station, but that's all."
   Rei looked a bit surprised. "What kind of 'brawl'?" she asked.
   Akane decided to jump in in before Ranma could put a foot in his mouth.
For some reason, she felt she did *not* want Ranma to say that they had
trashed the monster.  It would probably just upset Rei; after all, young
Shinto priestesses didn't deal with monster on a regular basis, right?
"Someone started a fight inside the train station and got kicked out," she
answered. *It's not a lie, it's just not the whole truth* she told herself.
With that, she subtly pinched Ranma's arm to warn him against saying more.
   Ranma looked sideways at Akane, a slightly puzzled look on his features.
"Nothing I couldn't have handled if it had come down to it," he finished,
looking back at Rei.
   "You think you're that good a martial artist?" asked Makoto.
   "I don't think it; I know I am." said Ranma with a hint of arrogance in
his voice.
   Akane winced.  Rei and Makoto each raised an eyebrow and looked
questioningly at Akane.
   Akane shook her head.  "Ranma *is* good, but he has a small ego problem
as well."
   Ranma suddenly looked miffed about Akane's comment.
   "Well," said Rei, unwittingly defusing a potential scene, "let me show
you around the shrine, okay?"
   "Lead the way," Ranma and Akane chorused.
   "Wow.  Replies in stereo, too?  You two are *definitely* made for each
other!" said Makoto with a smile,  dealing in her own way with the
disappointment she'd felt when she'd overheard Rei's surprised comment
about Ranma's marriage.
   Meanwhile, Ranma and Akane blushed slightly at Makoto's comment.  They
knew they should be used to it by now, but coming from a relative stranger
(a younger girl, no less, despite Makoto's deceptive physical appearance)...
   Rei raised an eyebrow at the blush.  "You'll have to excuse Makoto.
She's an incurable romantic."
   It was now Makoto's turn to look miffed.  "Hey, I'm just searching for
the right soulmate, that's all!"
   Rei rolled her eyes and motioned Akane and Ranma to follow her.  "Come
on, Ranma.  Time to give you the guided tour."

   And so it went, Ranma, Akane and Makoto following Rei as she showed them
around the Shrine.  They eventually reached the small courtyard outside.
Ranma looked around and smiled.
   "Rei, at what time do you usually get up?" Ranma asked.
   "Around six o'clock.  I have various duties to perform before I go to
school.  Why?"
   "Would there be a problem if I used this courtyard to practice my
martial arts each morning?  I need to keep in shape, even if I attend
University."
   "I don't think there will be any problems," replied Rei.  "I'll have to
ask Grampa about it, but I don't think he'll mind."
   "Where *is* your grandfather anyway?" asked Ranma. "I haven't seen him yet."
   "He and Yuuichiro, who, by the way, is an apprentice who also lives
here,  left this morning to visit holy grounds outside the city.  They'll
either be back tomorrow or the day after," replied the raven-haired
priestess.  "And for the final stop of the tour, something I guess I should
have showed you earlier: the guest room."
   Ranma and Akane went back to get their luggage, which they had left at
the entrance, and followed Rei.  She led them to a large room where two
futons had obviously been recently installed.
   "You sure don't seem to have a lot of luggage for two university
students who want to live in an apartment," observed Makoto.
   "We only have the basic stuff for a few days.  Once we find an
apartment, we'll send for the rest," replied Akane
   "There's only one guest room, so you'll have to bunk in the same room.
I hope you don't mind," said Rei.
   Ranma and Akane looked at each other questioningly, then back at Rei.
"Why should we mind, Rei?  We're married, remember?" said Ranma.
   Rei suddenly remembered what Ranma had said earlier and blushed
slightly.  "Yes, well, I didn't know that yesterday..." she trailed off.
   Makoto suddenly had a wicked gleam in her eye as she saw a golden
opportunity to make Rei squirm a little.  "Maybe you should bunk the futons
closer together, Rei.  After all, they're newlyweds..."
   Rei suddenly turned beet red, thinking about the possible implications
of what Makoto had just said. Rei turned towards Ranma and Akane, whose
faces were also in the process of acquiring a healthy shade of red.  Seeing
them blush as well, Rei immediately panicked and jumped to conclusions.
"NO, please! Don't do that here!... I mean... err..." Rei stuttered.
   Makoto couldn't help snickering at Rei's predicament.  She turned to
Akane and Ranma and apologized: "Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.
Seeing Rei squirm is a rare sight and I couldn't pass this up."
   "Die, Makoto," Rei growled too softly for Ranma or Akane to hear.
   Akane coughed politely.  "Yes, well, speaking of... that, maybe we
should go apartment-hunting while there still is time today, ne Ranma?"
said Akane, not-so-subtly nudging Ranma with her elbow.
   Ranma shook himself out of the slight daze he was in, then nodded
absently.  "Uh? Yeah, apartment-hunting, that sounds good."  He and Akane
turned to leave.  "We'll try not to come back too late, okay?" he said,
looking over his shoulder.

   As soon as they were out of sight, Rei whirled on Makoto, who was still
grinning like an idiot.  "Makoto!  What on Mars possessed you to make a
comment like that?  They're older than us, remember!"
   "Calm down," said Makoto.  "It's exactly like I told them. You need to
learn to relax, girl."
   Rei's frown suddenly turned into a smug smile.  "Well, *I'm* not the one
who's going to pass for a sex-crazed maniac because of that little stunt."
   Makoto stopped smiling.

   "Your cousin has *very* weird friends, Ranma." said Akane, once she and
Ranma were safely out of hearing range.
   "I'm just starting to realize that.  Oh well, it'll only be for a couple
of days, remember?"  After a few second's pause, he added: "Why didn't you
want me to tell Rei there was a monster at the train station?"
   "Ranma, Rei's a young Shinto priestess in training. We don't even know
if she believes in monsters. She probably has enough problems of her own
without having to worry about monsters and everything."
   "Okay, I can understand that, but why did you have to tell her I have an
ego problem?  You know I'm good!"
   "But you do have an ego problem, my lovable baka husband," said Akane in
a teasing voice.
   Ranma smiled.  "And you still can't cook, kawaiikunee-chan."
   Akane smiled and took Ranma's hand, which he gladly offered.

   Meanwhile, Usagi, Luna, Mamoru  and Ami had gone to Mamoru's apartment
to drop off his luggage before heading to Rei's place while Minako and
Hotaru had gone to Minako's house to pick up Artemis and brief him on the
events that had transpired at the train station before rejoining with the
first group.
   Once they all got there, they were faced with a smug Rei and a
flustered-looking Makoto.
   "What happened with you two?" asked Ami.
   Rei thought about it and decided to go for the brief approach, omitting
the details.  "Makoto wanted to embarass me in front of my cousin but she
ended up embarassing herself instead."
   Makoto threw a frow at Rei, who pointedly ignored it.
   "Your cousin is here?" asked Ami.  She looked around and added in a
lower voice: "Should we move elsewhere, then?  We have... serious business
to talk of."
   "Don't worry.  He's gone appartment-hunting with his wife," said Makoto,
almost bitterly.
   "He's married?" Usagi sqealed.  "How romantic!  Aren't you eager to get
married Mamo-chan?" she asked Mamoru, who was currently lost in thoughts.
   "Yeah, yeah, can't wait," he mumbled distractedly.  Of course, Usagi
totally missed the tone and only heard the message.  While Usagi was
staring dreamily in the air with hearts in her eyes, thinking of her
marriage to Mamoru,  Ami turned to Makoto and Rei.  "I thought he was
coming with a girlfriend."
   "It turns out his girlfriend *is* his wife.  They apparently got married
yesterday." said Rei.
   Surprised looks were everywhere.  "And they've got registration tomorrow
too, if I remember correctly.  What a way to spend a honeymoon," said
Minako, shaking her head.
   Rei and Makoto suddenly looked as if they found the walls of the shrine
very interesting.  Before the girls could start asking the really
interesting questions, though...
   "Ahem!"
   All the girls suddenly took notice of Luna, who was looking generally
annoyed.  "We have more important buisiness than discussing the love life
of Rei's cousin."
   "She's right," said Ami.  "There was a monster attack at the train
station today."
   Rei's eyes widened while Makoto looked somehow disappointed.  "Argh!
The first monster attack in months and I miss it!" said the tall brunette.
   A sweat drop found it's way behind Luna's and a few of the other girls'
heads.  Ami, however, was unfazed by Makoto's comment and continued.
"Well, it's not the monster in itself that was strange, but rather *who*
dispatched the monster."
   Makoto looked at Ami.  "Wait a minute here. You mean *you* weren't the
ones who killed it?"
   Minako jumped in the conversation: "We didn't even have a chance to
transform!  There was some kind of superpowered hunk accompanied by a girl
who arrived in the same train as Mamoru who fought the monster.  The guy
blasted it with some weird energy ball and the girsl bashed it with a
hammer she got out of nowhere.  You should've seen him move, Makoto; it was
unbelievable."  Minako went on, describing the fight in detail, concluding
with their mysterious escape.
   It was an understatement to say that Rei and Makoto were interested by
this.  "What did they look like?"
   "The guy had black hair, tied in a pigtail.  He was wearing loose black
pants and a red Chinese shirt.  The girl had short black hair, a yellow
dress and a blue blouse," said Minako, who noticed Rei wasn't listening to
her anymore.
   Rei and Makoto were looking at each other.  "Wait... Doesn't that sound
like...?" Makoto started in an incredulous tone.
   Rei suddenly whirled back on Minako.  "Did you talk to them? Did they
say their names?" she asked quickly.
   This time, it was Usagi who jumped in.  "We didn't even have a chance
to.  They vanished right after the girl hammered the monster into the
train."
   Makoto's eyes grew introspective.  "I think Rei and I may know who your
'superpowered hunk' is, though we can't be absolutely sure," said the
brunette.
   "Who do you think they are?" asked the Artemis, cutting off Luna in the
process, who settled by glaring at him.
   "My cousin and his wife," answered Rei.  "Ranma and Akane Saotome."
   "Your cousin!?" everyone else (except Makoto, of course) chorused
incredulously.
   Once they calmed down, Rei continued: "Ranma and his wife look exactly
like you described and they mentionned there had been a 'brawl' at the
train station."
   "It seems that was... quite an understatement," said Ami.
   "Wait, it gets weirder," said Minako.  "We also found out Mamoru had a
sister who was Sailor Terra in the days of the Moon Kingdom and Hotaru had
a brother," she said in an excited voice.
   "Sailor Terra?" said Rei and Makoto said incredulously in unison.  "That
would be a first!  Why wouldn't we have ever heard anything about her
before today?" asked Rei.
   Luna and Artemis suddenly looked distinctly uncomfortable. Luna had
conferred earlier with Artemis and it seemed he had also spontaneously
recovered some memories concerning Endymion's family. It was not going to
be fun trying to explain that. Suddenly, Luna got an idea and turned to
Hotaru and Mamoru: "Why don't you tell them what you told us?"
   Hotaru and Mamoru each raised an eyebrow at Luna's somewhat blatant
attempt to divert the attention away from herself and Artemis but
nevertheless told their tale to Rei and Makoto, who listened intently.


**********************
* The Phoenix Reborn *              Jordanite and Mystical
**********************                  Freak at Large

Louis-Philippe Giroux

Phoenix@upc.qc.ca
Phoenix@cmq.qc.ca