okay, the concept for the story (and i know it's been done before) is that
Skuld, the goddess of the future, becomes ill, and in order for her to be
cured, humanity has to find a 'gateway' to another world, because she can't
survive anymore in ours. 

a band of people must be gathered for this quest, and all the other gods
and goddesses go about arranging this gathering. Ranma Saotome (i couldn't
think of any other series!) is the 'magnet' that draws all these people
together, and the final posse consists of Mousse, Ukyou, Shampoo, and
Ryouga. Ranma will stay behind because his purpose (to bring everyone
together) has been fulfilled. _his_ destiny is to keep on protecting the
Nerima and the rest of the world, and to marry Akane. he is the greatest
martial artist in the world, of pure spirit, etc., but this quest is about
more than that. everyone else's destiny is to save Skuld. 

okay, now the actual question (yay!) is a sort of vague, general one. what
exactly is Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld's relationship to the past, present,
and future? is time linear to them? how do you get around the fact that the
past has become the present, and that at some point both the present and
the future become the past? is this ever stated in the manga anywhere, or
can i just make something up? 

also, if there's anyone out there who has any ideas or suggestions about
the nature of this quest, or wants to co-write or something, please get
back to me, 'cause i totally suck at writing plot-driven stories. ^_^;

- mee