"Sneaky and subtle menaces? How dastardly," agreed Uranus.
"I've been getting conflicting feelings regarding this," said Neptune. "So he's managed to alter the future and as a result a new menace is looming."
"That's exactly right," said Sailor Pluto.
"We eliminate the source, we eliminate the problem, no more menace to the world," summed up Uranus. She nodded. "Quick and clean."
"Which beggars the question, why now?" asked Neptune thoughtfully.
"What do you mean 'why now'?" asked Pluto.
"You come from the future, or I should say, a future," pointed out Neptune. "You nonetheless are frequently surprised by some things, and other events you could have had us all avoid - you let us walk into it. I understand paradox and fate and karma - why violate those things now?"
"Because this particular problem is... my fault," admitted Pluto, hanging her head. "It is my shame. My sin. In attempting to avoid one problem, I caused another."
"And since you messed up the first time, you want help this time," guessed Uranus.
"That is so," admitted Pluto.
"Very well then," said Sailor Uranus. "Point out this 'Ranma Saotome' and we'll deal with him."
"Together," said Neptune, nodding her agreement. While aspects of this all felt 'off' - the regret and shame from Pluto seemed real enough.
"Which means that you can come out now, Miss Tendo," said Ranma.
Akane slowly came out from behind the partition, wondering how he'd spotted her.
Ranma looked around, and wasn't put off by the number of gazes slipping away from him. The suppressed revulsion, the averted looks. No, what surprised him were the number of those who WOULD meet his gaze. He knew he was a mess, and that Japanese tended to avoid anything they saw as 'unclean' - such as a crippled and scarred ugly fellow in a wheelchair. It was a pleasant surprise, but then to be friends of Hotaru - wouldn't it follow that they were special themselves?
"If you'll direct your attention to the incubator," said Ranma, clicking the toggle that retracted the dome. When it stalled halfway through he rapped the side to free it up again and it finished retracting.
"Why are those shaking like that?" asked Usagi.
"They're reacting to your presence, and those who would select you to be their partner are anxious to meet you," said Ranma. "Keep in mind that this isn't a hamster that you could pawn off on someone else later. If you accept the dragon, she has a lifespan potentially lasting centuries."
"So, uhm," said Akane in the background, bringing everyone's attention back to her.
"I calculated a 13% chance that you or one of your sisters would attend, Miss Tendo," said Ranma, his voice cooling ever so slightly as he noted that she was like Miss Aino and Miss Kino in not wanting to look in his direction. Well, maybe in time they could get past all that cultural conditioning. He'd be civil though - this was an important moment.
crick-crak
Several girls stared wide-eyed as the first of the quivering eggs began to crack.
"I- I hear singing," said Ami, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
"I don't hear anything," said Usagi, glancing at her friend.
"His name is Cinnabar," said Ami as one egg began to crack. "I feel..."
Ranma moved his wheelchair back out of the way, not saying a thing as the dragon struggled to get to his princess.
Hotaru hugged her friend as she trembled and stared at the dragon breaking free from his confinement.
"What do you feel?" asked Rei, staring back and forth between friend and the dragon as it finally slipped completely out. "I -".
Rei had just gone stiff, staring off into space. "Oh."
"Sempai?" asked Hotaru.
"In the fridge, there's some bowls of shredded meat," said Ranma.
Akane watched as one after the other of the girls was united with one after the other of the dragons. Surprisingly, each had a different coloration and pattern. Hotaru's was all in shades of purple, while the bookish-looking girl had a dragon whose skin seemed to be brightly chromed metal.
The shrine priestess got one that was entirely in shades of red, and the tall girl got one that had patterns of brown and dark green.
She didn't dare hope that she'd get one. After all, she hadn't even been invited, and-
*Don't feel sad.*
Akane frowned at the unfamiliar voice, looking around.
*Here.*
She didn't dare hope. Right?
*Love you!*
Akane staggered back, feeling tears well up in her own eyes. That projection, going straight from mind-to-mind with no hint of barriers. Complete sincerity. Complete love, beyond what a normal human heart would be capable of.
Now she understood why each of the girls had broken out in tears the moment their dragon had started breaking free.
*She who is Other rejects me,* sent that non-voice, sounding incredibly sad. *Accept me?*
"yes," whispered Akane as her eyes went to one of the quivering eggs in the back.
The shell broke as a head popped up. A green so dark that it was almost black, with golden eyes swirling in its head. *Accept you! Love you!*
Akane wasn't aware of how close her reaction had been to each of the others, the frantic pushing forward, to meet her dragon as it finished clawing its way free from the shell.
"Chrono!" said Akane, cradling the dragon to her and feeling the river of emotion washing through her. "His name is Chrono."
Ranma was surprised a second time. From the rumors and his background check, he'd have thought Akane Tendo was a brutal thug of a woman. It appeared that she had depths that were not quite so brutal, despite being a martial artist. A dragon should be able to see directly into the soul, and apparently the Pluto dragon had seen something worthy there. How very interesting.
Perhaps not all martial artists were as bad as his parents.
Perhaps.
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(Posted Mon, 03 Apr 2006 09:31)
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