Disclaimer: Not even Genma could sell me the rights to Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon

Author's Note: This is the sequel to The Prince of the Planets .

Hotaru woke up just as the sun started to shine through her window. Gently rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hotaru took a moment to think about the changes that her life had recently undergone. Less then a month ago she had been Hotaru Tomoe, daughter of a widower mad scientist. For the most part it hadn't been too bad of a life for Hotaru, but it had been a lonely life for the most part. This was due to the fact that her father had been more distant ever since the accident that claimed Hotaru's mother and the fact that Hotaru had been ostracized from her peer group.

Now however Hotaru was Hotaru Saotome, daughter of Nodoka Saotome and little sister to Ranma Saotome. Hotaru now had a loving mother and a very protective big brother who both treated her like she had been born in the family. She had also received the friendship of Ranma and Usagi's friends very quickly after she had been adopted. Another thing that Hotaru had quickly grown to like about her new family was the fact that Hotaru now went to a different school where her classmates were very friendly and helpful.

Turning her head to her nightstand, Hotaru shed a single tear as she looked at the picture that was there. The picture had been taken about 6 months before the accident that had claimed the life of her birth mother and had eventually destroyed her original family. Even though the love of Hotaru's new family and friends had done much to heal her heart, it still hurt for her to think about the end of the Tomoe family. Hotaru knew that she had effectively been an orphan ever since that accident and her father had been merged or absorbed into a demon. However part of Hotaru felt that she was responsible for her father's death a month ago.

Shaking those somber thoughts out of her head, Hotaru got out of bed and quickly changed. Now wearing a cheerful but very modest dress, Hotaru left her room and headed downstairs. When Hotaru arrived in the kitchen she saw that Nodoka and Makoto were busily working on breakfast. Nodoka and Makoto then spotted Hotaru and Nodoka said, "Good morning Hotaru. Would you like to help finish making breakfast?" Hotaru very quickly accepted the offer by nodding her head and then went over to put on her apron that was hanging on a hook to the side of the kitchen.

Nodoka watched Hotaru walk over to her apron and Nodoka felt a small smile grace her lips. The Saotome matriarch waited a moment as Hotaru tried to tie her apron in the back, but Hotaru was having trouble getting the bow on properly. "Here Hotaru," Nodoka said as she walked over to the slightly petite young woman. Gently placing her hands on Hotaru's hands, Nodoka guided Hotaru's hands in making the bow properly. Nodoka then walked around Hotaru so she could see her daughter's face. Looking into her daughter's eyes Nodoka sweetly said, "Don't worry right now Hotaru about getting the bow exactly right. It took me several months to get it just right, especially with the frills that we all have on these aprons."

Wrapping her arms around Nodoka, Hotaru softly said, "I love you mom." Hotaru truly meant it when she said that she loved Nodoka as a mother. She also didn't feel any shame in saying it as Hotaru was sure that her birth mother would have been happy that she had found such a wonderful woman to be her new mother. Nodoka had immediately offered to adopt Hotaru when she had found out that Hotaru had become orphaned. The fact that Nodoka only knew about Hotaru for less then a day hadn't mattered to auburn haired woman and that was part of the reason why Hotaru had so quickly come to love Nodoka as her new mother.

Standing up again, Nodoka merrily led Hotaru over to the counter so they could help Makoto in making breakfast. As the three girls worked on making breakfast Nodoka let her mind wander over how things had changed in the last month. Besides adopting Hotaru, for which Nodoka had always been extremely delighted with herself for doing, Makoto had moved in. Things had been fun at first simply due to the fact that the Saotome house was only designed with three bedrooms. However things were quickly sorted out with Ryoga moving back in to his parents' old house. Although the boy had claimed it was because he wanted to have a better chance of catching his parents, Nodoka suspected that Ryoga had just wanted to escape being so outmanned. Once Ryoga had left Ranma gave up his old bedroom and moved into the smallest bedroom leaving his old room to Makoto and Hotaru.

After directing Hotaru to put several ingredients back in the cabinet Nodoka carried the dirty dishes over to the sink. She then turned the water on so that the dishes could soak during breakfast. Once Nodoka heard Makoto say that the table was set she started to walk towards Makoto. As Nodoka walked towards the table she though about the last full-time female in the house. Personally Nodoka had a hard time describing her relationship with Makoto. Parental help books sadly did not have a section on dealing with your child's last incarnation's reincarnated mother.

Luckily however, Makoto had found a way to seamlessly integrate herself into the Saotome family. Ranma for his part apparently considered Makoto to be a sort of cousin/young aunt. In fact, Ranma had used the term "Aunty Makoto" a few times in a friendly teasing manner. Nodoka herself had slowly come to view Makoto as a sort of much younger sister. To Makoto and the family's friends, this was a never ending source of friendly ammunition for jokes.

Sitting down at the head of the table, Nodoka looked on at the girls with a proud smile. Her family may have been different and rather unorthodox but it was her family. For some reason that Nodoka did not know the kami had decided to give her back her family after making that foolish agreement with Genma years ago. Nodoka soon ended that line of thinking when Ranma came in from his morning practice and the family started to eat.

Usagi and Ranma were sitting in the park on a picnic blanket having lunch in peace. Ranma was eating his sandwich propped up by a tree while Usagi was lying on her belly merrily swinging her feet back and forth. Both teenagers were happily enjoying their casual date in the park. It was a time when both Ranma and Usagi could forget about the unique things in their lives and could simply be a young couple in love. Neither of them really wanted to change how their lives had ended up; otherwise they might not have met each other and that was a very upsetting thought. Still, it was great to pretend to be an everyday couple for a little while.

Looking up after she finished chewing a bite of her sandwich, Usagi casually said, "Ranma, how am I doing in my martial arts training in your opinion?" This was something that Usagi was genuinely concerned about because it tied into Scout business. After the confrontation with the Death Busters, Usagi had privately sworn to make sure she would be able to defend the people of Tokyo to the best of her abilities. Martial Arts, besides being a way to spend time with Ranma, was the best way for her to prepare for the next attackers whoever they may be or whenever they appeared. That some other evil threat would eventual appear was something that Usagi was certain about. She no longer had any illusions that she could possibly defeat evil forever like she did at the end of the Dark Kingdom crisis.

Ranma closed his eyes for a second to think about Usagi's question and then he opened his eyes. Staring strait into Usagi's light blue eyes Ranma said in a surprisingly gentle manner, "You're doing alright Usagi for only 6 weeks of practice. I will admit that your training has been difficult at times but that's because of me. As your teacher I should have realized sooner that you're unsuited for the Saotome School of Anything Goes, that style is simply too aggressive for your personality. I know that we're making up for those earlier mistakes as we cobble together the Tsukino School of Anything Goes for you Usagi. Still, everything is going wonderful Usagi so don't worry."

On hearing Ranma's honest opinion of her skills Usagi's cheeks gained a hint of pink. Usagi had been putting the most amount of effort in martial arts training out of all the inner scouts and she was proud to know that she wasn't wasting her time. Makoto, who at times was Usagi's sparing partner, had the second strongest training drive out of the inner scouts. Rei was in the third slot as far as Usagi knew and had apparently gotten Herb to supervise Rei's training. Ami was trailing in fourth place in terms of martial arts training while Minako was dead last. Personally Usagi didn't have any problems with Ami's current skill level due to the fact that Ami was support rather then a front line fighter. However Minako was another story and Usagi was planning to chew her fellow blonde out once school was over on Monday.

Usagi, once her cheeks returned to their normal complexion, lazily reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a bag of cookies. With a half-eaten cookie in her hand Usagi then said, "So what do you think about the up coming school events Ranma?" Looking at the blank expression in Ranma's eyes Usagi realized that Ranma had completely forgotten about the events. Shaking her head with a playful smile on her face Usagi said, "Ranma, Ranma, you really need to remember these things dear. After all, what would your mother think if you depended on me to tell you when these kinds of events were coming up?"

Ranma closed his eyes, took a gulp of his soda that was originally lying out of Usagi's sight, and shrugged his shoulders. He then said in a very board manner, "Mom would probably just praise me for realizing that it's the Queen not the King who rules the castle. After that Mom would start asking me when she could expect to see any princes or princesses in the castle." As he said this Ranma was congratulating himself in his head for keeping a strait face as he said this to Usagi. While Ranma was annoyed that he had forgotten about the upcoming school events, he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a joke that Usagi had set herself up for.

Prince Nephelite had been quite the joker and had been known for his clever wit. Ranma had slowly discovered that he had absorbed this aspect of Nephelite's personality along with his past life's powers and knowledge. However Ranma had only shown this part of his personality when he was alone with Usagi and even then he mostly just played the part of an ignorant jock. Usagi always knew that he was joking when he did this and that was part of the humor in Ranma's mind.

After blushing for a second because of the remark about princes and princesses, Usagi got up and walked towards Ranma. She stopped in front of Ranma, leaned over so that she was eyelevel with him and then Usagi flicked her finger on Ranma's forehead. As Usagi watched Ranma slowly rub his forehead she said in a jokingly motherly voice, "Ah is the big, strong king wounded? Maybe the lady of the castle should kiss the wound to make it all better?" Ranma's eyes quickly meet Usagi's and they quickly conveyed the message of touché.

Plopping down on the grass next to Ranma, Usagi laid her head on Ranma's shoulder and sighed. Usagi then said in a friendly but still serious tone, "All joking aside Ranma you really shouldn't have forgotten about these upcoming events. First there is the fall dance next month. While the dance will be having modern music for dancing, all the people who go to the dance are supposed to wear traditional Japanese robes. Also the history professor said that he will give extra credit to all students who show up in the appropriate outfit for their ancestors' social station and bring written proof. It doesn't matter to the professor whether it's the appropriate garb for a student's paternal or maternal line just as long as it is the appropriate garb and there's proof."

"Then there is the City wide school sponsored martial arts tournament that starts a month after the dance with the ward primaries. The members of the school team that represents each ward will each receive a 30,000 yen scholarship to the collage of their choice in Japan. According to tournament rules each team is to only have five members. Any replacements for team members who can't make it to the tournament are to be chosen by the principal. From what I read on the flyer on Friday our principal has decided that our school's team is to be decided by a mini tournament supervised by the gym teacher if we have more applicants then team slots. Also, the team members who win the tournament will get an additional 500,000 yen each for their scholarships!"

"And last but not least there is that school sponsored vacation to Okinawa during the winter break. The vacation lasts for 10 days and for most of that time the students can do whatever they want. True, all students have to write a 3,000 word paper on Okinawa's unique culture before they can sign up for the trip but it's still a great deal. I'm thinking about taking the trip if Setsuna can't detect anything that may need Sailor Moon's attention during that timeframe. Even if Setsuna gives the clear, I'm only planning on trying to go on the trip if you're planning on joining me Ranma. After all, it's better and so much safer for a girl to go with her girlfriend to the beach then to go alone."

While he was enjoying the feel of Usagi's head on his shoulder, Ranma thought about the school events. Ranma then wrapped his arm around Usagi and said, "The dance sounds wonderful Usagi. If you want we can compare our genealogies to see if it's possible for us to go as a matched pair. Otherwise I'll just go with whatever you choose as the outfit princess." There was a part of Ranma that didn't want to go to the dance but he knew that it would make Usagi happy so that settled the matter.

Ranma knew that Usagi would want to hear the rest of his thoughts and so continued to talk. "I'm definitely going to try out for that tournament Usagi. That kind of money is just too good to pass up when it comes to scholarship funds. Also, there's the chance that if I enter this tournament I might be able to impress the sponsors of the tournament. Those people are most likely going to be the ones I'll be going to for collage money in a few years. Besides, it sounds like it could be fun! As for the winter vacation to Okinawa, let me think on it a little bit Usagi."

Usagi gave a small contented sigh as she snuggled a little closer to Ranma. His response to the school functions was pretty much what Usagi had expected. The fact that Usagi could predict what Ranma would do in some situations didn't bother her at all. And as far as Usagi was concerned, life didn't get much better then this. That is being able to spend time with her boyfriend, doing reasonably well in her studies, and not having to worry about defending the city. Usagi knew that eventually she and Ranma would have to defend the city so Usagi was determined to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

Ami and Rei were sitting in Rei's living room just lounging about after school. Their book bags were lying on the coffee table with several books sticking out of Rei's bag. Sitting next to the book bags was a cookie plate and a small pitcher of tea. Both girls were reclining on the furniture; Rei was on the couch while Ami had taken the love seat. In the background the TV was on and showing an episode of Five-Star Squadron Dairanger.

"So Rei," Ami started to inquire after she had a sip of tea, "How are things between you and Herb?" To Ami's amusement, Rei turned her head to face Ami and raised an eyebrow in a questioning way. Before Rei could voice the question Ami clarified, "Your relationship Rei. What is your and Herb's relationship?"

Rei set her tea cup down on the coffee table and waved it around in a slightly dismissive manner. "Herb and I don't have a 'relationship' Ami, we're strictly amicable housemates and that's all." Rei then paused for a moment, brought her previously waving hand to rest on her chin, and then continued. "I'm just glad that he isn't some macho pig, no offense meant Ami, or a loser like some other princes I could name."

Ami just shook her head and then said, "Don't try to fool me Rei I know you too well. Don't forget that I was at the park last week when Ranma and Herb were sparing. Your eyes were practically glued to Herb's chest as those two fought. Personally I thought your expression was absolutely hilarious when the fight went into the pond. Of course, you did give Herb a tongue lashing over at almost immediately afterwards. Couldn't you have waited until we had gotten Ranma and Herb out of the pond before laying into the poor boy?"

At this point Rei started to blush as she remembered the incident that Ami was talking about. About two weeks after the Death Busters were taken care of Ranma and Herb had decided to have a match in the park so they could see which of them was stronger. The only limits on the match were that they couldn't permanently maim each other and that they couldn't use any Chi techniques. Since it had been an unusually hot day both boys had been fighting without their shirts on.

Rei shook her head trying to drive the images of a sweaty half-naked Herb out of her mind. Quickly glancing over to where Ami was sitting Rei saw the small smirk on Ami's face. A tic started to develop above Rei's right eye as she realized was Ami was trying to do. Right at that moment Rei realized how much Ami had changed since she had first met the girl. Gone was the shy bookworm genius and in her place was a confident, clever, but still private, young woman. In an attempt to save face Rei said in a grudging manner, "So Herb is a decent looking young man. A girl can walk for four blocks and see two dozen decent looking men on posters and billboards."

As she refilled her tea cup Ami thought about what Rei had just told her. It was obvious to Ami that Rei was still trying to fool herself in regards to how she felt about Herb. Personally Ami thought that Rei was being completely stupid with trying to pretend that her feelings didn't exist. Although Ami had never really had a boyfriend before meeting Ryoga, she had always known when she had a crush on a boy. The only reason why Ami hadn't had any previous boyfriends was because she had been too shy to ask any of her previous crushes out. Well there also was the fact that she spent so much time studying so she could become a doctor even before Scout duties were added on, but that was only a minor piece of the equation.

Ami then took a sip of her tea and said, "If you say so Rei, if you say so. However, I would like to remind you that there is that dance coming up next month. That dance is shaping up to be one of the biggest events the school is hosting this year and it IS the biggest event that people like you or I would likely find interesting. It would be such a shame for you to show up to the dance without a date, especially when you have one of the 'top 5 hottest guys' in the school staying over. So do yourself a favor Rei and ask Herb to the dance. Whether you go as friends or go as dates doesn't matter, but I can assure you re that you will regret it if you let this chance go by you."

Knowing that it would be unwise to peruse the conversation any further, Ami decided to change the conversation. "Have you noticed Rei that we have been watching a Five-Star Squadron Dairanger marathon since we got to your house?" Rei nodded her head to answer Ami's question thankful that the conversation was changing. Putting a single finger on her cheek, Ami then said, "Why are we watching this show in the first place? I mean, our life is a sentai show."

Minako was sitting on a stool with a large Mountain Dew in front of her and a large amount of annoyance surrounding her. The source of Minako's annoyance was the fact that Usagi was complaining about Minako's lack of progress in martial arts. Correction, Minako mentally groused it was the 'lack of effort' that Minako was putting into her training. To think that Usagi, whose dreams used to vary between being a bride and being a princess, would say something like that to Minako just seemed so wrong. It was times like these that Minako was able to truly see how much Usagi had changed from that naïve starry eyed girl.

The thing really annoyed Minako about the whole situation was the fact that Usagi was right. Being honest with herself on the matter Minako knew that had fallen to bottom of the barrel in terms of her combat ability compared to the other scouts. Usagi and Ranma surpassing her abilities hadn't bother Minako at all; the High Royal senshi, when they actually fought, had always been the strongest senshi among the Sailor Scouts in the Silver Millennium. As for Ranma, well Minako knew that her reincarnated godson was simply an impossibility that had somehow happened and had completely shot the power curve.

Still Minako also knew that didn't excuse the fact that all the other inners had surpassed her abilities. However in Minako's mind it wasn't fair for Usagi to compare Minako's progress to any of the other inners. After all she didn't have a boyfriend or a family member that was a martial arts master that could make wire-fu movies look like a warm up routine to teach her. Also, it wasn't like she could just go to the gym and sign up for karate lessons. The oh-so-annoying-monsters-of-the-week all seemed to have a knack for ruining regular events like extra-curricular lessons.

Unknown to Minako, Mousse had been keeping an eye on the blonde. Mousse had recognized Minako as one of Usagi's friends although he didn't know Minako's name. Not wanting to have an unhappy girl in his establishment, Mousse turned to the kitchen and called out, "Hey Yon. Two number threes and a little emperor's delight at table number 7. I'm going to man the counter." Almost immediately Mousse received an affirmative from the shadow clone and then Mousse headed over to where Minako was sitting. Mousse then said to Minako when he saw that she had noticed his presence, "You're one of Usagi Tsukino's friends right?"

Minako slowly nodded her head and then said in a defensively curious tone, "Yes I'm one of Usagi's friends and the name's Minako by the way. How do you know Usagi?"

Mousse then gave a small chuckle and said, "I'm an old associate of Usagi's boyfriend Ranma so I know both of them. In fact those two show up here when they eat out on their dates often enough that they have a semi-reserved booth. Now that the inquisition is over, can you tell me what's eating at you?"

At that moment Minako remembered that she heard about this restaurant from Usagi so what Mousse had told her was very possible. Minako then decided, for some reason that she didn't know at the time, to tell Mousse about the situation. "As I'm sure you've noticed, it can be quite dangerous at times for your average citizen here in Juuban. It was decided by my friends and me that we should start studying martial arts so we could defend ourselves better. Well earlier today Usagi started to complain to me that I wasn't holding up to my end of the agreement. It's just so unfair! Usagi and Makoto are learning from Ranma, Rei has Herb teaching her, and Ami is being tutored by her boyfriend Ryoga. This whole situation frustrates me; how do they expect me to 'hold up my end of the agreement' when they have tutors like that and I don't!"

Minako's situation struck a cord in Mousse's heart as he knew from experience what it was like to watch other people flourish under tutors while your own progress was much slower. Knowing that his mother's ghost would probably scold him for eternity if he didn't do anything to help, Mousse took off his glasses and carefully cleaned them. While he was cleaning Mousse said, "Earlier I said I was an 'old associate' of Ranma rather then an old friend. That's because for a while in the past Ranma and I fought a lot. Why we fought no longer matters, but what I think would matter to you is the fact that I was able to hold my own against Ranma."

At this little revelation Minako started to pay closer attention to what Mousse had to say. "Now I will admit that it's currently unlikely that I would be able to beat Ranma, at least without going for the kill that is. What I'm trying to say is that if you would like Minako I will tutor you in martial arts."

This offer immediately brightened up Minako's day. However Minako was also curious as to why a complete stranger would offer to help her. "That sounds wonderful Mousse, but why are you making offering this without asking for anything?" Minako said genuinely hoping that offer wasn't too good to be true.

Mousse gave a soft sigh and then said, "Chaos follows Ranma around life flies follow a horse. Not even the craziness that the Sailor Scouts generate can possibly hide Ranma from his luck forever. When trouble finds Ranma, and I'm sure that it will find him, his friends and associates tend to sucked into the mayhem as well. Since you're a friend of Ranma's girlfriend your likely to be involved in at least some of Ranma's misadventures."

Pausing for a moment to look Minako strait in the eye, Mousse said, "I'm ashamed of that fact that I've caused a few of Ranma's misadventures in the past. Some of the stunts that I pulled back in those days could have ruined innocent peoples' lives forever. Now the kami may have sent me a fitting punishment for my stupidity, but I still try to make up for my earlier follies. Helping a person who's pretty much assured of getting stuck in similar misadventures gain the skills to make it out of those situations is one way that I can continue to make up for my earlier mistakes."

Minako vary carefully went over why Mousse wanted to help her out. Part of Minako wanted to tell Mousse to get lost, but this was only a very small part of her. Past conversations that Minako had had with her friends then came to Minako's mind. Both Ryoga and Herb had admitted to making some ill advised decisions in their pasts that could have seriously hurt other people. If those to could be sorry for those mistakes Minako mused, why couldn't Mousse also be sorry as well? Flashing Mousse a bright smile Minako, said chipper voice, "Alright Mousse you've got a student. When do we start?"

Back in Nerima, Happosai was sitting in his room at the Tendo house with a sack full of his liberated loot and a lit pipe in his hand. Currently the infamous grand master of the Anything Goes School was thinking about the situation in Nerima. When Happosai had returned from a bikini exhibition in Hokkaido two months ago he had been shocked to see how much things had changed. Sure Happosai had been shocked to hear that Akane had been shipped off to military school and that Ranma had declared that the two families wouldn't be joined. However, Happosai hadn't bothered to worry about the situation too much. With Ranma gone, Happosai had been able to collect his darlings without that disrespectful boy's interference.

Lately however Happosai had found himself getting bored with his raids. Where the thrill in the hunt Happosai was wondering when he had hit every house in the ward. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Nerima had completely lost its entertainment value. And so here Happosai was, pondering what he could do to continue to enjoy his golden years.

Suddenly the proverbial light bulb went off for Happosai. If Nerima had become boring, then Happosai simply needed to move his operations. But where to set up shop that was the question that Happosai wanted to know. Snapping his fingers, Happosai remembered that article he had seen about the Sailor Scouts in Juuban. Superheroes wouldn't dare harm a harmless old man like himself and would be able to provide him with hours of entertainment. Look out Juuban because Happosai was coming to town!