Long ago, when there but a few Sailor Senshi, there stood the planet Mu, between planets Mars and Jupiter. Even from the beginning, everyone knew there was something different... something special about the planet Mu. What that something was, no one knew for certain. It was a place powerful mages gathered to study and learn their Art and to create magical creatures to help them with chores and various tasks. Of those created on Mu, only the magical cats that serve as advisors to the Senshi and the House of Serenity survive to this day.

     It came to pass that various Seers and Precog foretold that a Great Darkness would be upon them soon... Yet despite the warnings, the various Worlds stood powerless against the living Darkness. Until the Nameless One, She Who Brings the Final Night, literally struck the planet Mu. To the amazement of all, the planet Mu cracked like an egg, for an egg it truly was. And from that planet-sized egg emerged a being of pure Light... a bird of holy Fire... a planet-sized phoenix.

     And woe, the Phoenix of Light did battle upon the Demoness of Darkness. Their battle shook the very Heavens themselves. In the End, the Phoenix triumphed over the Demoness only through the cost of His Life.

     And lo, the Phoenix fell to Luna dying. None, save one, dared approach the fallen Phoenix for fear of His Holy Fire. And she, the maiden of magic, did come to stand before the Phoenix and tended to His wounds as best a mortal could, for her heart was pure. Alas, the Phoenix knew He wouldn't recover so He said unto the maiden, "Maiden, know thee well that the Demoness, whom I must battle again and again, shall return as I too shall. Moreso, maiden, the Demoness will not return empty-handed, but with allies... Thus, to thee of pure heart I shall bestow two gifts..."

     Upon touching His beak onto the maiden's forehead He said, "Thy first gift... a Name. Henceforth, All shall call you 'Serenity,' 'She-Who-Will-Stand-Calm-and-Strong-Against-the-Darkness.'"

     The maiden, now called 'Serenity' by her Lord and Master, did shed a single tear for her hope that the Phoenix would recover were dashed. Through the newly forged bond between them, she knew the pain the Phoenix was going through delaying His death so that He might protect Life.

     Gently, the giant Phoenix reached out again with His mighty beak and captured the maiden's tear, that joined with a tear from the Phoenix's flaming eyes. And that Tear did crystallize and was known to All as the 'Ginzuishou,' an object of vast power, a power that could only be held by the Maiden and one of her Bloodline.

     The three, the Phoenix, the Ginzuishou, and the Maiden did glow as one in Holy Fire. The Holy Fire seemed to consume the Phoenix and then there was a blinding flash. There standing alone stood the Maiden, nude for the Holy Fire had consumed her clothing but unharmed, with the Ginzuishou in her outstretched arms. A light, similar to the Holy Fire, erupted from the Ginzuishou and washed over the Maiden's body. Then the light, the Holy Fire, gathered the Ashes of the Phoenix around the Maiden's body and seemed to enter the Maiden's body. As the Holy Fire had come, so too did it leave. Upon the Holy Fire's departure, the Maiden grew tired and lowered herself to the ground to sleep.

     Having felt the Greater Magic of the dying Phoenix, the greatest Human Mages did come to Luna. Amazed and awed they were of the Greater Magic that even after His passing still clung to the air. It was these Masters of the Mystic Arts that did venture into His spent funeral pyre and found the Maiden of Magic, who they acknowledged their Queen and Mistress, and the Ginzuishou that brought Death to any, save the Maiden and her Bloodline, who touched it. Such was the very Nature of the Phoenix and the amount of Power released upon His death, that the Great Mages sealed off His funeral pyre from the rest of the Worlds. And before the startled eyes of the Mages did the first Senshi of Time did appear, claiming the Pyre for her Godling, which to this day is known to the Winds as the Gate of Time.

     Thus was born the House of Serenity and the Legend of the Phoenix.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

     "You do realize that 'Ranko' is in very big trouble, don't you?" Lady Pluto, Senshi of Time, Princess of the planet Pluto, and childhood friend, asked Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom.

     Without thinking, Queen Serenity replied, "I am not!"

     Lady Pluto could only smile at her queen.

     Realizing what she said and its implication, Serenity said, "What 'Ranko' did wasn't that bad... It's not like it's anyone else's business..."

     Lady Pluto counted on her right hand, "One, a 'midnight stroll' with one of the Palace Soldiers that kept the poor boy occupied... allowing an unknown intruder into the Palace. Two, there's that 'mess' in the Green Room... that caused the Frutian Ambassador Debacle. Three, they still haven't cleaned up the Kitchens from the food fight 'Ranko' started last week. Four, old General Arfvedsonite hadn't recovered from her near-heart attack when she caught 'Ranko' and some young Palace page going at 'it' in the third floor Page room..."

     With a smile Serenity asked, "Oh? And what about the time 'Ranko' was seen skinny dipping and 'other things' with the male cadets from the Saturn Military Academy... that wasn't me... And the Luna Disguise Pen wasn't where I left it."

     Lady Pluto blushed and replied, "You can't have all the fun!"

     Both women laughed.

     "Seriously, Pluto, you have to understand we both need time to simply be women and not the merely symbols of our positions," Serenity stated.

     "Yes, but..." Pluto began.

     In a regal voice, Queen Serenity declared, "I'm keeping the child."

     Lady Pluto's eyes widened in surprise as she stammered, "Ch... Child?"

     Blushing as she realized that it wasn't the fact that she was pregnant that had brought her old friend to her, she nodded her head.

     Lady Pluto's eyes narrowed as she screamed, "How could you be so stupid to let such an *accident* happen? You'll lose your Throne--"

     Serenity began to glow a deep purple as she stated calmly, "It wasn't any 'accident.' If I must say so myself, I thought I planned it all quite well."

     After seeing that her friend wasn't going to push the issue, Serenity released her power as she calmed down, thus she stopped glowing.

     This revelation brought Lady Pluto up short. She asked, "You planned... it?" Lady Pluto's voice broke on the word 'planned.'

     Looking highly pleased with herself, Serenity nodded.

     Aghast, Pluto asked, "How could you... You'll lose your Throne... Do you know what you've done? You're not *married*!"

     It was Serenity's turn to narrow her eyes as she replied, "It was *you* who pointed out that most Serenitys don't marry and that 'Maiden of Magic' is only an title like 'General.' After if my *mother* was always a 'Maiden' then where did *I* come from?"

     Surprised, Pluto defensively exclaimed, "Nani?!?"

     Serenity, surprised at Pluto, simply stated, "Wasn't it you that said you have to 'read between the lines' when we studied the Histories of the previous Serenitys?"

     "Yes, but," Pluto began.

     "But nothing," Serenity declared. "I'm keeping the child."

     Pluto sighed and asked, "At least, tell me who the father is?"

     "Combat Sorcerer Uma[1] of Saturn," Serenity stated proudly. Combat Sorcerers were those who studied both the Martial Arts of Mars, the Mysticism of Terra, and the Magic of Venus, and combined them into a single, extremely powerful form. Few were the practicers of such a demanding style, fewer still had great skill in all three areas. While Combat Sorcerer Uma of Saturn was actually a weak, medium-class mage, Power-wise, he made up for it, in spades, in skill. He was declared a 'Master' by the Council of Mages at the age of twenty, thus becoming the youngest Master ever. There wasn't a martial arts technique he couldn't master within two weeks or spell that he couldn't learn or create a counter-spell to in that same period of time. And the people of Saturn were all warrior-born, or so said the tales told of their World. It had been said that no Saturnian went anywhere without a knife (the women had two) and they all knew how to use them.

     Pluto whistled in awe and then asked for confirmation, "The one that single-handedly stopped the Fitz Incident? The most skilled Combat Sorcerer in generations..."

     Serenity nodded proudly and said, "The same."

     "He's a Commoner!" Pluto exclaimed. Seeing her friend's look she changed the subject and asked, "How did you? Last I heard, he didn't--" She stopped a moment, her eyes widened as she remembered a particular passage or two in the Histories of previous Serenitys, so she accused, "You didn't rape him, did you?"

     "Of course not!" Serenity replied. "It took some planning, a LOT of food, and some time... He's not... just very shy around women."

     Both women giggled.

     "It would have been a tragedy if Uma's abilities weren't passed on to the next generation," Serenity replied in a serious voice that was slightly spoiled by her playful smile.

     "Uma's abilities coupled with the Power of a Serenity," Pluto commented, then whistled in amazement.

     "Such a daughter," Serenity stated, "wouldn't be the like the sledge hammers the rest of us had to be... She would be a surgeon's scalpel."

     Pluto could only nodded her head to such a statement.

     There was a reason why those of the House of Serenity's powers were likened to that of a sledge hammer, for each member of the House of Serenity were mage-born, but unlike other mage-borns, their powers were active from the moment of birth instead of growing after puberty. A Serenity's powers was the same in infancy as in old age. It didn't fluctuate through Age or Season, which was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because a Serenity never had a low-power day, month, or year like other mage-borns did. Bad, since training with such powerful abilities with little or no control was extremely dangerous. Which is why the nursery that the young Serenitys grew up in was heavily shielded to protect a young Serenity, basically, from herself. There was even a special delivery room that mage-born children were born in, and a special section of that room was used by the Serenitys and the very powerful mage-born.

     It had been almost eight months since Queen Serenity last saw her old childhood friend, the Lady Pluto. Unlike the other Senshi, the Chosen of Pluto was always one who was mage-born, thus the current Queen and the current Princess of Pluto were born at the same time and in the same room, and had been raised together in the same nursery room. And now, they both returned to the same room they were born in so that Serenity could give birth to her child.

     The Healers on duty were understandably surprised to learn that their Queen was not only pregnant, but almost ready to give birth, since the Queen had used the Luna Disguise Pen to hide her 'condition.' But being the professionals they were, they were ready in record time.

     The birth went smoothly despite the lack of preparation on the Healing staff's part. The first sign of the child's arrival was the gasp of pain from Serenity, then a green glow that surrounded her. A few moments later, a white glow came out of the birth canal which was followed by a very small head. A head with a golden crescent moon on its forehead showing the world what House gave birth to the child. After that, the rest of the baby's body emerged, the umbilical cord cut, and cleaned by a junior Healer. After being cleaned up, it was then discovered that this wasn't a normal birth... at least, for a Serenity it that is, for the child was male.

     It is a widely-held belief that all descendents of Serenity the First only had one child in their lifetimes and all those children were female. The fact of the matter was, even Serenity the First gave birth to two girls and a boy. It was simply the fact that only the first born girls of the House of Serenity were known to the people that gave rise to the myth. Every child of a Serenity, regardless of gender, was born with the Mark of Serenity, the golden crescent moon on the forehead. It was just that the non-ruling children faded into obscurity in the Outer Worlds and none of their children had the Mark. It's because of these self-exiled children of Serenity that that the Outer Worlds' mages were so strong.

     Aside from the young Healer fainting, everyone else took the news well, even if Lady Pluto did look a little worried.

     Queen Serenity decided to name her son 'Ran-ma' (Wild Horse) in favor of his 'Horse' (Uma) father and 'Wild Child' (Ran-ko) mother. No declaration of Ranma's birth was made. No record was ever recorded of who Ranma's father was since he had been killed in a skirmish shortly after Ranma's conception. While there was no announcement, the Queen didn't deny or try to hide Ranma's existence either. She, as any mother who gave birth, loved her son greatly. Unfortunately, the Palace servants, staff and the various nobilities were not as overjoyed as the Queen was. In fact, many feared the new Prince simply because either they saw him as a freak, whose very existence was in defiance of their treasured interpretations of the Legends, or they were too shocked to discover that their 'pure, virginal' Maiden had an affair with some mere mortal.

     Lady Pluto suggested that if they hid the Mark upon Ranma's forehead he might be accepted, somewhat, by the People. To this end, she suggested a number of 'methods' to disguise the golden crescent moon on Ranma's forehead, figuring then Ranma could be passed off as simply another mage-born son, but Serenity knew from personal experience that none of Pluto's attempts would work. Even the Luna Disguise Pen could only hide the Mark if she, herself, remained calm and made a conscious effort of it, which had taken her years to figure out. Since an infant couldn't consciously control its powers, that solution wouldn't work either.

     Time went on. The Queen took care of her son and her son grew up. Serenity wasn't sure what she expected, but what happened both surprised and saddened her. Within a few months after Ranma's birth, it became apparent that her subjects were avoiding her son. They even went so far as to avoid mentioning him, as if by naming him some disaster might strike them. Or they would purposely confuse his gender when all else failed. She may have been the Queen of the entire System and had the Power to rule, but she couldn't change people's minds.

     Her cat advisor, Old Hera, whom she 'inherited' from her mother, was no help at all. Old Hera was as conservative as one got. She was as bad, if not worse, than the others since she knew how the people's reaction to her son had hurt her. The worst part was that Old Hera had a son named Artemis, so she should have understood.

     Her other cat advisor, Luna, was only a kitten herself and hadn't quite yet grasped the idea that people had kids, not kittens, and that infants weren't able to help themselves like kittens did. The fact that Luna sought out Old Hera for advice on everything didn't help matters either.

     Then there was the Queen's old friend, Pluto. They had been as close as sisters. There were times even when Serenity wished she could strangle her, which just proved how close they were. Pluto, like the Queen herself, had read a number of books on how to care for a baby and learned, just as the Queen did, that most books written on the subject were written by people without any practical knowledge of child-raising.

     For the first year of Ranma's life, he had only his mother to take care of him. It was when she breast-fed her son that the Palace servant's 'attitude' towards the young prince became the most apparent. Some kind of 'disaster' would occur at almost any time, except when she was breast-feeding, then, it was if the Palace was completely abandoned. It wasn't, her senses told her that. It was just that she had the entire wing to herself. Worse, the staff and Old Hera would pretend that either that didn't happen or that the queen was 'indisposed' at that moment.

     Armed with a book on child-care, Pluto had once tried to change Ranma's diaper. 'Try' being the optimum word. Serenity, to her dying days, still couldn't help laughing when the mighty, 'all-knowing' Mistress of Time couldn't even change a four-month old baby boy's diaper. Ranma showed her what he had thought of her attempt at changing his diaper right between her eyes, or rather Pluto believed that he did... It also became apparent that not only didn't Pluto know how to deal with a child, any child, but that Ranma was somehow 'immune' to her Time Sense, thus allowing him to surprise her. Since she couldn't 'predict' such a recurrence, she tended to avoid any possible repeats.

     Since the 'incident,' she had only to mention it and she could get almost anything out of Pluto. Such as the original reason why Pluto had visited her if she didn't know about her pregnancy. The reason was two-fold, first and foremost, that the Senshi of Neptune and Uranus had been 'chosen,' both were the teenage daughters of the rulers of their worlds, and, secondly, that the 'exploits' of 'Ranko' had reached as far as her remote court. Although, only half of those 'exploits' that were told were of the Queen, the rest were of Pluto when she was 'Ranko.'

     And yet, Pluto seemed to spend most of her time with young Ranma with a look that clearly told her friend that she wished she too could have a child of her own. Serenity knew that Pluto thought she didn't have the time to have a child and she wouldn't, until she made the time for herself.

     The second year was a little better since Ranma was able to eat solid foods and was more independent. Serenity also had trained Luna to help her, although there were a few false alarms. Luna had her 'paybacks' when Ranma thought it was fun to catch Luna by her tail and carry her that way. It took both his mother and Pluto a number of months to convince him that a cat's tail wasn't a convenient handle. It was also at this time that Pluto pointed out that Ranma was highly coordinated, a lot more than his mother was at that age. The Queen, as her mother before her and her mother before her, etc., all were extremely clumsy until puberty finished with them. And yet, Ranma showed a natural acrobatics ability, which, as Pluto was more than happy to point out, he didn't get from his mother. Which just proved that Serenity had selected wisely when she picked Uma to father her child.

     During the fourth year, Serenity started to get a little worried. Usually by this time a young 'Princess Serenity' would 'demonstrate' her power by demolishing parts of the Palace, which was a magical construct built to recover from such things, but young Prince Ranma hadn't shown any sign of his power. Thus, the Queen was very surprised and relieved when he did.

     It had happened just after Ranma had discovered the Bouncy-Bouncy Room. The room, which didn't have an official name, had been called the 'bouncy-bouncy' room by one of the earlier Princess Serenitys who discovered it. It was so named because of the rubbery foam material that completely covered the room allowing a person to bounce all around the room with little to no possibility of being injured. As a magical construct, the inside of the Palace was larger than the outside. In fact, Legends had it that only the Ginzuishou knew all the rooms of the Palace, since it was the Ginzuishou that created them. And there were a few that wondered if that was true or not, since the Palace was so large.

     It was almost guaranteed, that if the young Princess Serenity was 'missing,' one need only look within the Bouncy-Bouncy Room to find her. It was true for the now-Queen Serenity, and her mother, and her mother's mother, and it was true for Prince Ranma. And just like his ancestors, he didn't wish to leave the room as more then they did. Especially in order to take a bath.

     It was at this point that Serenity first felt Ranma's use of his power. Like his ancestors before him, he too didn't wish to leave the Bouncy-Bouncy Room so, unconsciously, he used his power to push his mother away. It was then that the 'differences' between Ranma and his ancestors were made apparent. The first difference, when a Princess Serenity pushed her mother, Queen Serenity, away, she also pushed the walls, the floors, and the ceiling, thus destroying a large part of East Wing where the Bouncy-Bouncy Room was located. Ranma, on the other hand, seemed to concentrate his powers to only push his mother away, leaving everything else untouched. Of course, by the sheer amount of force involved, had the magical push been directed at anyone other than the Queen, they would have been killed. But the Queen, having the same power-level, was able to withstand the force by throwing up a magical shield just in time. Which pointed out another difference, when a Princess Serenity wished to use her powers, there was a 'build up' time period required before she could do anything, but with Ranma, either there was no 'build up' period or a very short one, since his mother had no forewarning. Also of note, since the sheer magnitude of power being used by both parties was so vast, usually the Ginzuishou would aid the elder Serenity in containing the vast energies involved, and yet, the Ginzuishou remained dormant throughout this 'exchange.'

     After Ranma's fifth birthday, which was celebrated only with his mother, Pluto, Luna, Artemis, and a forced Old Hera and her mate, Jove, Prince Ranma was somewhat accepted by the Palace servants, especially, since they couldn't escape the energetic child. Upon learning that other children, even Artemis, had a father, Ranma started to ask his mother who his father was. On advice from Pluto and Old Hera, the Queen didn't tell Ranma who his father was since if it was known that Ranma's father was a Commoner, although a highly skilled Combat Sorcerer who saved the Kingdom numerous times, the servants would, once again, shun him. His mother did tell him that his father had a noble heart and was very skilled mage. Once he knew that, Ranma wished to be a mage too and he didn't care that no offspring of Serenity the First could be trained, it was just too dangerous. Thus with a stubbornness inherited from both parents, Ranma was determined to be the first. So, as soon as he was eligible, which happened when he was five and half years old, he applied to the Saturn Military Academy's Sorcery Department. The Academy was hesitant to accept an offspring of Serenity, until Commodore Grimite agreed to train him. Commodore Grimite was the type of woman who loved a challenge and, by his very nature, Ranma was a challenge. One of the first things that Grimite and Ranma worked on was disguising the golden crescent moon on his forehead, after which, no one could tell where he had come from except that one or both of his parents were very powerful mages. If anyone noticed that the Queen's annual visit to the Saturn Military Academy and its Sorcery Department was a bit longer than it used to be, no one made the connection between her and the Academy's newest cadet.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

     For the fifth time in less than fifteen minutes, Kronia (she still thought of herself that way despite the Custom), Princess of Saturn, Heir to the Throne of Harvest, Lady Saturn, Senshi of Silence, and Lieutenant Commander Healer of the Saturn Royale Militia (which every Saturnian was apart of), wondered how Lady Pluto had conned her into coming to this... this... Ball. It was a waste of time. Worse, she was on Luna when she should have been on Titan, helping to teach a class on Healing as was her Duty. If something should happen while she was away... But the Ball was being held for the Moon Princess's sixth birthday.

     The Outer Senshi, as rule of thumb and almost a custom, avoided Lunar Balls, or any other Inner System celebrations. Most were wastes of time, and, more importantly, kept them away from their Duties...

     And yet, somehow, the Queen had somehow gotten the Lady Pluto to convince herself, the Lady Neptune, and the Lady Uranus to come. As the youngest of the Outers, Kronia was the least comfortable one there. She still hadn't 'given up' her birth name as was the Custom upon discovering one was a Senshi. It had been only two years ago that the Sign of Saturn appeared on the young Princess of Saturn's forehead during her fourteenth birthday party of which only close friends, relatives, and the Lady Pluto attended. The Lady Pluto's attendance should have been a tip off, she realized in hindsight.

     Her fifteenth birthday was only celebrated by the Outer Senshi, since most of her 'friends' had deserted her upon her Ascension to Sailor Saturn. It had greatly hurt her to learn that a lot of people, even her own people who should have knew better, believed the lies the Inner System ignoramuses told of the so-called 'Bringer of Destruction.'

     True, she held in her hands the power to destroy a world, but it would cost her her life and was a last-resort measure. The most maddening thing was that the Serenitys held a greater power, with very little to no control over it, and yet, they were respected and loved, while she was feared. When Princess Serenity was but three, she destroyed the entire East Wing of the Palace to its very foundation, injuring a vast number of servants and guests... What was everyone's reaction? They would laugh and say 'Isn't that cute?' But when she, Sailor Saturn, destroyed an asteroid no smaller than a single room within the East Wing of the Palace, which Queen Serenity restored, that had housed an abandoned Enemy base, so no one else could use it to threaten the System... everyone claimed she was power-mad and only a matter of time before she killed everyone in the System while they slept. And here she was, attending a Ball for that same spoiled Princess. It was so *unfair*.

     Although, all the Outer Senshi had come, none of the four came in 'uniform.' That would have been a disaster in the making. Instead, the Lady Pluto was wearing a green full-length ballroom gown that she had made with her magic.

     That was another thing that was unfair, of all the Senshi, both Inner and Outer, only the Lady Pluto had her own magic apart from her Senshi abilities. Even though she was only a low-level mage who only had enough strength to use her magic to help create clothing (a second-order spell any novice mage could cast), it was more than any of the other Senshi could do.

     The Lady Neptune wore a marine blue ballroom gown. She seemed to attract all sorts of attention much to her amusement and the Lady Uranus's annoyance. Speaking of the Lady Uranus, for reasons she didn't understand, the Lady Uranus had come dressed in a golden tuxedo suit. She didn't think anyone realized that the 'tomboy' (as both Lady Pluto and Lady Neptune called her; whatever that meant) was actually the LADY Uranus... The Lady Uranus in her tuxedo looked very handsome in the suit, even if the cut of the suit was for the opposite gender. All four Senshi knew that if any civvie knew a woman wearing a tux instead of a dress, they would have a fit, to say the least, but she was the Princess of Uranus. The Lady Uranus could wear whatever she wished. Especially when she would wave that sword of hers around. That 'double standard' at play, again.

     She, herself, was wearing a light purple ballroom gown, which was vastly more uncomfortable than her Senshi uniform or Saturn Royale Militia one-size-fits-all unisex fatigues. While, in truth, this was the First Inner System Ball she had attended, it was not, strictly speaking, her very first Ball. She had, as required from the Princess of Saturn, attended a number of Ball given on her own World, but on Saturn, the Balls were simple, a little dancing, some snacks, and some politics. At most, the Ball would last only for a few hours. Saturnian Balls were for relaxing after a hard campaign. But on Luna, Balls were serious affairs, there were lots of dancing, lots and lots of food with dishes from all over the System, people talking to people about anything, and it lasted for days on end.

     Keeping her 'true' identity a secret, she was able to dance with a few minor Inner nobles, who wished to 'impress' their friends for having 'survived' the 'savage warrior-woman from distant Saturn.' Of course, the bakas weren't that quiet or they didn't think it was true that all Saturnians were trained to maximize all their senses. So after hearing their 'bragging' she wished she had stuck the bakas with a knife, and not necessarily in the back too. The area she had in mind was a bit lower... Of course, she could have transformed right there and scared a few centuries out the bakas. But she knew that neither the Queen or Lady Pluto would like that. So she headed to one of the food tables that had this interesting little tidbit that was so yummy instead.

     She must had been eating the unfamiliar snack food for a while when she felt a vast power in the ballroom. Looking around she shortly spotted the 'source' of the power she felt. The source was a young man. A very handsome young man.

     The young man stood out in the crowd, literally. Everyone, regardless of rank or position, made room for the young man. He had to be a noble, nobility oozed out of him. He radiated Power like the Sun itself, so such so even a mage-blind would have felt it. In quick estimate, Kronia had to admit that this young man had to come very close, Power-wise, to the Queen herself, which wasn't supposed to be possible. As a Senshi, she knew all the very powerful mages, and none of them came close to having even quarter of the power of the Queen... The Serenitys were a class of mages by themselves, with no close seconds or thirds for that matter. And yet, here was a young man walking towards her with a strength of magic that was almost as great as the Queen's, which wasn't supposed to be possible.

     Impossible or not, the young man was walking towards her. After a few moments of shock, her training kicked in and she began to analyze the situation. She noted that he was wearing a flame-colored outfit of unknown material that covered him from neck to his knees, from his knees down the material was black ending in re-enforced, covered slippers. From his elbows to his wrist were black as well. From his stride, she deduced that he was a practicer of the martial arts, which very few mages were. Most mages didn't even know which end of a sword to hold. Around his waist was a black sash. On his chest, the material was black with a golden stylized bird there. His eyes were the blue-grey of the sky and seemed to hold a force of Nature within, barely.

     When the young man got within a few feet of her, he smiled, held out his hand, and in a voice that seemed to speak only to her he asked, "Lady Saturn, would you like to dance?"

     Looking into his eyes, Kronia knew that he knew that she was the Senshi of Silence and that he didn't care or was concerned about the lies that was told about her. Feeling a confidence that wasn't justified, she accepted.

     The very next song, they were on the dance floor and by the third song they were the center of attention, stealing the Ladies Neptune and Uranus's thunder as it were.

     Kronia had never heard of a flying Senshi or even one that could float, but she while she danced she felt as if she was. And she felt like she could go on and on for all eternity...

     Kronia felt a shift in the dynamics of the dance floor a moment before she heard an angry female voice asked, "Where have you been, young man?"

     Everything seemed to come to a halt, the band, the other dancers, and Kronia felt herself fall back to Reality.

     The young man shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Out."

     Kronia looked at the source of the angry voice and gasped as she realized that it belonged to Queen Serenity.

     All the dancers had parted for the Queen and had enclosed the Queen, the young man, and Kronia. The onlookers gasped at the young man's seeming disrespect for the Supreme Ruler of the System.

     Angrily, Queen Serenity asked, "Why didn't you answer my summons, Ranma?"

     While scratching his head, the young man, now identified as 'Ranma,' replied, "I was... busy?"

     If the onlookers gasped before, they were now wild-eyed surprised. Kronia, herself, wasn't doing much better. No one, not even the Lady Pluto, ignored a Royal Summons. It was simply NOT done.

     While the Queen looked like she was about to scream and pull her hair out, Ranma was simply looking at the floor and tapped his right foot to a beat only he could hear.

     After a taking a deep breath, the Queen calmly stated, "I -- I was worried about you."

     "Why?" Ranma asked curiously.

     With a smile the Queen, shrugged, and answered, "It's a mother's prerogative."

     Kronia could only gasped at that revelation. She then looked more closely at Ranma and the Queen and noted the family resemblance, especially since both had the golden crescent moon on their forehead. How she missed it on Ranma's forehead before, she didn't know.

     "Since you're finally here," Queen Serenity stated. "You can wish your sister happy birthday."

     Ranma shrugged and said, "Okay... It's not like I hadn't planned on doing so, Mother."

     The Queen, Ranma, and Kronia walked over to the main table where the Princess Serenity sat staring in front of a large birthday cake. As they approached, the Princess's head snapped up, she turned around, saw them, and she ran towards Ranma screaming, "Oniisama!"

     When the Princess was only a meter away, she launched herself into her older brother's arms, who caught her easily.

     Kronia was impressed since the Princess usually managed to knock down those she tried to hug, herself including.

     "Heya, Bunny Rabbit," Ranma replied playfully.

     "I'm not a bunny," Princess Serenity remarked. "I'm a Princess. I'm going to be Queen someday!"

     "Better you than me," was Ranma's answer to that statement.

     Both his mother, the Queen, and Kronia looked at him, the Queen with sadness and a little pain and Kronia with confusion.

     The four continued on to the main table with Princess Serenity pointing out her birthday cake and how big it was. To which Ranma replied, "Maybe some of the others will get some then."

     Princess Serenity stuck out her tongue at Ranma, to which he returned the gesture. If Kronia had any doubt before, even with the identical golden crescent moons on their foreheads, she knew then that Ranma was Queen Serenity's son and Princess Serenity's older brother, because he acted like them too.

     Seeing that neither Ranma or the Princess Serenity were going to stop making faces at each other, their mother asked, "So, Ranma, how was the Academy?"

     Hearing their mother, they both stopped, and Ranma answered, "Okay, I guess..."

     The Queen simply smiled as Kronia asked, "Academy?"

     To which Ranma replied, "You know the Saturn Military Academy..."

     Kronia, Princess of Saturn, asked out of curiosity alone, mind you, "Which department?"

     "Combat Sorcery," Ranma answered.

     Kronia blinked and muttered, "But..."

     Ranma shrugged and remarked, "And I should have been born a girl too... if that part of the Legend was true."

     Kronia had to admit that Ranma had a point. In a daze, she asked, "What..."

     "Commander, unassigned to any unit, at the moment, Lieutenant Commander Healer," Ranma finished. "The Brass may have had the guts to accept me, but they weren't going to push Mother too far..."

     Under her breath said lady remarked, "Smart."

     Upon hearing Ranma's rank, Kronia, the youngest to reach her rank sputtered, to which he just smiled. She wasn't sure but she thought she saw the golden crescent moon on his forehead glow with his smile. She was, of course, vastly impressed and a bit jealous, since he had beaten her record.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

     Kronia was content. As far as she was concerned, the entire Universe began and ended here, in her bed, in her room in the Moon Palace. She never thought that the room she 'inherited' from the previous Sailor Saturn would ever feel like hers, but it did now. Her room, as she now thought of it, was the sixth room in the Hall of Senshi, as it was called. The rooms were in order of the Age of the Position of the Senshi, hence, Uranus's room was first, since as the Senshi of Heavenly Wind, she was the very first Senshi Post to be created. On the other side of the Hall, was Sailor Venus's room, because the Senshi of Love came next in seniority. Sailors Neptune and Mars came next, or so the Legend of the Senshi goes. Of course, those four Senshi preceded the Moon Palace itself since they existed before the House of Serenity was formed. Sailor Pluto was the fifth Senshi to be created, and according to Legend, she appeared just after the Phoenix's Death and the Creation of Serenity, the First, who created the Moon Palace with the Ginzuishou.

     For the first time, she didn't care if she was the sixth Senshi or the last Senshi, Sailor Mercury, she was warm, happy, and loved. Very much loved, as Ranma had proven time and time again last night. The Academy had told her about sex, it was after all a required class, but what she and Ranma had done was Love, with a capital 'L.' It was the most wonderful thing in the entire Universe. It was better than chocolate, as hard as that was to believed... but it was true.

     The fact that she was completely naked didn't matter to her. What did matter was that she was resting with Ranma, or rather, on Ranma, while he held her in a loving embrace, in which she was content to remain forever.

     But alas, the World and Duty would not let the lovers be. It was a sign on how relaxed and sleepy she was that she didn't realize that she had the 'company' of her fellow 'Outer' Senshi until she was shaken fully awake by Lady Uranus. At which point, her Academy training caught up with her, causing her to jump out of bed with the Silence Glaive in her hands.

     Sailor Uranus's reaction was to give the young Senshi some room. Sailors Pluto and Neptune's reactions was to giggle, both at the nude Sailor Saturn in a ready stance and a slightly startled Sailor Uranus, whose life was passing before her eyes. While Sailor Uranus was the oldest Senshi to exist, she knew what her chances were against the the Warrior from Saturn.

     Seeing it was only her 'fellow' Senshi, Kronia relaxed and allowed the Silence Glaive back to its subspace resting place. It was Sailor Uranus's smile and Sailor Neptune's frown at Uranus that alerted her to the fact that she was completely nude. With an 'eep' that belayed the warrior within her, Kronia scrambled to cover herself with a sheet.

     Minus a sheet, it was now obvious to the Senshi that Kronia wasn't alone in her bed. Both Uranus and Neptune had knowing smiles on their faces, while Pluto had a frown. Uranus made an offhanded remark to Kronia, which caused her to blush, and woke Ranma up.

     Sitting up, it was obvious that Ranma was as equally as naked as Kronia was, and that unlike Kronia, Ranma wasn't as embarrassed as she was. In fact, he got up and walked over to Kronia. Both Uranus and Neptune could only stare at his nude body with a look that made Kronia regret sending the Silence Glaive away. Upon reaching Kronia, Ranma hugged her, enspelled a robe of silk around her body, and replaced the sheet back on the bed.

     After helping Kronia out, Ranma asked Sailor Uranus in a calm, even voice, "What do you want?"

     Seeing that Uranus was incapable of speech or meeting Ranma's eyes, Pluto answered, "We need to go on Patrol. Uranus takes the Alpha Quadrant, Neptune, the Beta, Saturn, the Gamma, and I --" Pluto knew she was blabbing. Sure, she had seen Ranma nude many, many times, but that was years and years ago. Even though she was as old as his mother, she couldn't deny the effect of his nude body had on her.

     "No," Ranma commanded.

     Sailor Uranus took an anger step towards Ranma with her Space Sword drawn. Males were only 'good' for one thing as far as she was concerned, and she was thankful that young Saturn had finally realized that. But no mere male would ever tell a Senshi what she could or could not do, let alone a crowned princess what to do... Uranus had ever intention of showing Saturn's boy toy his place, until she finally looked into his face.

     She stopped dead in her tracks and the Space Sword fell out her limp hand. Before it could hit the floor, the Space Sword returned to its subspace storage dimension.

     What stopped Sailor Uranus was Ranma's eyes, they were eyes that held a vast power, a force of Nature, that she knew that if she was to live past this moment, it would only be at his whim and not by anything she could possibly do. It was only in her resignation of defeat that she noticed the Mark of Serenity on his forehead and her face paled. The Oath that she and every Senshi swore came back to haunt her. Although, she hadn't done what she had planned to do, she knew then that she would be spending the rest of her unworthy life trying to make up for her Mistake and never be come close to being fully redeemed.

     Sailor Neptune and Kronia could only stare at Uranus, she had gone from a murderous rage to completely immobile. It was then that Neptune noticed the Mark on Ranma's forehead and she too paled.

     The four Senshi were frozen in indecision until Pluto said, "But...."

     The four women in the room didn't know if Pluto had meant to state an objection or name the part of his anatomy that three newly arrived women would give anything to be able to caress, knowing that only the young Saturn had been so gifted.

     Ranma, ignoring the Outer Senshi's looks, simply stated, "No buts. It's bad enough that the people think there's a division between the 'Inner' and the 'Outer' Senshi. They wonder why you all go your 'separate ways' and are rarely seen together. You need to show some unity."

     Without much thought, the four Senshi nodded their heads in agreement. It made sense to the Outer Senshi. The people knew, unfortunately, that the Inner and Outer Senshi didn't get along, mostly because while the Outer Senshi protected the System, the Inner Senshi guarded the Princess, who was only six and confined to the Palace, thus they had spent most of their time at the Royal Functions and other wasteful things.

     Seeing the Senshi nod, Ranma added, "I'm coming too..."

     Now it was Pluto's turn to pale. Through her Time Sense, she knew that the Outers were heading towards trouble, trouble enough that her Time Senses couldn't see past it and that she knew that all the Outers were going to be seriously wounded. If Ranma came along... worse, if Ranma got hurt...

     Pluto sighed, knowing there wasn't a way to stop Ranma if he truly wished to come with them. He was a Serenity, as such, he, like his mother and younger sister, was bonded to them, as they were bonded to the House of Serenity. In a battle of Wills between a Senshi and a Serenity, Serenity would alway win because of that bond. In fact, after Ranma's birth, she had re-read the History of the House of Serenity realizing that a few of the former 'Queen' Serenitys were in fact 'Kings,' whose entries had been altered after their deaths to 'protect' the Legend, and that a few of those King Serenitys had used their bonds with the Senshi to ensure that the House of Serenity continued. So she sighed again and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

     Kronia giggled. It was childish, true, but how many people could boss the Senshi of Time and Senshi of Heavenly Winds around? At both Pluto and Ranma's looks, she just shrugged and transformed into her 'working clothes.'

     The four Senshi waited for Ranma to get dressed, instead, he starting walking towards the bedroom doorway, seeing that the Senshi weren't following him, he said, "Are you coming?"

     The four Senshi just looked at each other, shrugged and followed Ranma out... or rather followed his naked butt out.

     Once in the hallway, the four Senshi were surprised to see Ranma's in his 'work clothes,' especially since their eyes never left his butt the whole time.

     Although the four together, or even Ranma himself, could have done the necessary teleportation Ranma directed them to the Palace Teleportation Center. Ranma silently signaled for Pluto to inform the four mages on duty to teleport them to their destination. Rumors of the four Outer Senshi working together began to circulate the Palace even before the Outers had reached their destination and calmed a number of the populace who feared a Senshi Civil War. The fact that Ranma was with them was ignored.

     Their destination was an outlying base where they acquired a ship and began their Patrol together, which the base personnel noted. For the most part, the Outer Senshi's patrol was boring. They passed the time with Uranus trying to impress Ranma with her skills, which she did to a certain degree, Neptune and Saturn talking silently about Ranma, his body, and pointers on how to make things better, and Pluto trying to remain calm while realizing that even if she did somehow survive the coming confrontation, she wouldn't survive her Queen's wrath when she learned that Pluto 'let' Ranma tag along, even if Pluto really didn't have a choice in the matter.

     It was on their return trip back towards the base, after completing a full circuit of the system, that their craft was struck. A group of powerful demons were entering the System, and saw them in their craft, so they attacked them.

     Without a thought, Sailor Uranus and her Space Sword rushed the demons head on. Sailors Neptune and Saturn followed her to protect her back. Sailor Pluto and Ranma swore and followed after them.

     It soon became apparent that the demons had the advantage in numbers, but the Senshi had the advantage with raw power, and with nothing around them needing to be protected, the Outers had no problems going full out. Ranma simply created an sword of fire and he simply cut his way through the demon horde.

     In short order, the demons re-organized themselves and began to gang up on the Senshi and Ranma, in order to divide and conquer them. This also prevented them from concentrating their attacks. By simply their sheer numbers, the Senshi were being injured and driven back.

     When a demon was about to strike Saturn's back, Ranma grew angry. A seemingly living flame surrounded his body and he launched himself at the demon. Ranma flew straight through the demon as if it was mere paper... Ranma continued on until he got to the center of the demons. There he expanded his flame aura and incinerated all the demons while leaving the Senshi untouched. Senshi couldn't help thinking at that moment how much his flame aura resembled a bird of fire...

     Once the demons were gone, Ranma helped each of the badly injured Senshi back into the craft and took them back to the base. Once there, he ordered two guards to inform System Command of the attack and two others to help him with the Senshi, who they brought to the base infirmary. In the infirmary, Ranma healed Saturn, who in turned, helped him heal the other three Senshi.

     Once the Outers were well enough to walk on their own, Ranma opened a portal to the Palace, which they walked through into the Hall of Senshi. He helped each untransformed Senshi into her bed and set up a few healing/sleep spells.

     His mother found him in Sailor Saturn's room as he tucked his lover in. Ranma nodded his head towards his mother and continued his attention on getting Kronia into a nightgown that he had formed from magic as he had done for the other Senshi, even though he knew since they had been sleeping together that she had slept in the nude, but he knew that she needed the extra warmth of the nightgown, at least until he returned.

     Ranma found his mother in her private chambers. He found the chair that as a boy he loved to sit in, and sat down. Seeing that his mother remained standing he asked, "So?"

     Queen Serenity then proceed in a matter that would have made Captain Grimite proud to drill Ranma about the demon attack, size, organization, location, and what the hell he was doing there.

     To which he answered, "I had to be there."

     "Nani?" the Queen exclaimed in surprise.

     Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and repeated, "I just had to be there."

     Ranma tried to explain his feelings to his mother but he lacked the words to do so. He couldn't express the primal need to make sure that the Outer Senshi were together and that he was with them.

     After a few hours, the Queen let Ranma return to 'his quarters.' So Ranma got up and headed back to Kronia. But right outside the door was Princess Serenity. When she saw him, she said, "Oniisama, you know that Mother was worried about you? We, both, felt you..." She trailed off and pulled Ranma into a hug.

     Ranma brushed her hair slightly as he replied, "You did? Didn't think I used that much... Anyway, I knew what I was doing. After all, demon hunting was one of the things I learned at the Academy..."

     "Can I go to the Academy too, Oniisama?" the Princess asked with hope in her voice.

     Ranma just shook his head and sadly answered, "Afraid not, Bunny Rabbit, your Destiny is different from mine."

     "It's not fair," the Bunny Rabbit replied.

     "No, Life isn't fair sometimes," Ranma wisely stated. With that, Ranma picked up his sister and put her back to bed. From there, he headed back to Kronia's room.

     As Ranma got into the bed, Kronia whispered, "Missed you."

     Ranma's response was to simply give her a kiss, and she snugged up against him. He noted absent-mindedly that at Kronia was holding the magical robe he had made for her instead of wearing it.

[=== End of Part 1 ===]

[=== Begin Footnote 1 ===]

[1] "Genma" can be translated to "Black/Reddish Horse," "Uma" translates as "Horse", just as "Ranko" can be translated as "Wild Child" or "Ranma" as "Wild Horse."

[=== End Footnote 1 ===]