Insert usual disclaimers here, characters don't belong to me but 
to someone(s) else but they were soo much fun I just had to borrow 
them.   

-----
Earth, Moon and Heaven - Chapter One
By Lei
-----

 Ranma waved to Akane as he walked through the gates of 
Furinkan High and moved over to where she was standing, the 
angry look on her face disappearing as she saw her friend 
walk in through the gate.  Lifting one foot off the ground 
she ground it into the gut of the unconscious BOY sprawled 
out before her and headed off to talk to Ranma.
 "Hey, Ranchan."
 "I see you've been having fun with Kuno-'sempai' again."
 Akane grimaced and shrugged, tossing her longish black hair 
over her shoulder.  "Hmmph.  I don't think 'fun' is the word I 
would use.  I really wish you'd beat him up for me.  Or even 
better, beat me up and tell him you can now date me and he can't!"
 "Yeah, I'd love to Acchan, really I would, but your sister 
would kill me."
 "Nabiki is, strangely enough, the jealous type, isn't she?  I 
still don't quite believe that you guys are dating.  I mean you're 
not exactly what I would've called her type."  Akane frowned as a 
though occured to her, "She didn't, like, black-mail you into it 
or anything, did she?"
 "Hey!  She isn't that bad."
 A pair of arms snaked their way around Ranma's waist and 
Nabikilaughed softly.  "Oh, you're so sweet, Ranma, defending me 
like that."
 Ranma grinned and twisted himself around.  "Hi, Biki-chan."
 "Hi.  So, Akane-chan, you really think I'm low enough to 
blackmail someone into being my boyfriend?  I'm crushed."  Sounding 
not the least bit crushed Nabiki laughed again before reaching up 
and brushing Ranma's cheek with her lips.  "I'll see *you* at 
lunchtime.  Byyeee."  She waved and headed for the doors to the 
school, not looking back.
 Akane shook her head in disgust and a certain carefully 
disguised envy as she considered the relationship between her 
older sister and oldest friend.  It was something she would never 
have expected and from the shock that had been generated 
throughout the school when the news became public, no one else 
had expected it either.  For one thing Nabiki was 8 months older 
and a year ahead in school and for the other they were just 
so...different.
 "C'mon, Akane-chan, we'd better head off or we'll be late  
as well."
 In confirmation of this a cloud could be seen advancing 
down the road where Furinkan High's notorious Queen of Forever 
Late was heading towards the school.  She skidded to a halt next 
to Ranma and Akane and drew in a deep breath, arranging her 
expression into something dignified.
 "Did I make it on time today?"
 "Yep.  Just.  C'mon, Akane-chan, Usa-chan, we have to go 
*now*."  Ranma grabbed a wrist belonging to each girl and dragged 
them into the building, up the stairs.  He thrust Usagi into her 
classroom and continued on with Akane arriving at their own just 
as the final bell rang.

 Tenchi ended up being the last person out of the classroom 
that afternoon and was heading for the gates where Xian and the 
Tendo sisters were waiting for him when he heard his name being 
whispered.
 "Teennchiiiii."
 Then a hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.
 "Gaaaaah!"  Jumping, Tenchi took a few running steps forwards 
then turned to face the direction the hand had come from.  There 
was no one there.
 A hand again touched his shoulder from behind and Tenchi 
made another mad dash forwards, ending up where he had started 
and looked around the empty hallway.  Then a georgeous female 
with spiky mint-green hair phased through the wall in front of 
him and reached.  Tenchi ran, the school's front doors swinging 
wide and crashing against the hinges as he tore across the front 
yard, making a beeline for reinforcements in the form of Xian 
and the Tendo's.  Just before he reached them he crashed headfirst 
into something soft and cushy.
 The female was now standing in front of him and over her 
shoulder he could see Xian, Akane and Nabiki go on the defensive, 
dropping their school bags and moving forwards.  
 Grabbing Tenchi and pulling him towards her, the green-haired 
female smiled with sensuous promise into his eyes.  Unfortunately 
he was too busy panicking to notice this.  Disappointed, Ryoko went 
back to threatening.  After all Tenchi had the Tenchi-ken and she 
could always seduce him _after_ she had the gems.
 Then something unexpected happened.
 The Tenchi-ken drifted out of the school bag Tenchi had 
managed to hang onto and snapped into being in front of him.  

 Walking home after school with his next door neighbour and 
one of his best friends, Ranma somehow ended up listening to a 
boyfriend-less Usagi dispense relationship advice to Ryouga. 
 "You should ask her out if you like her that much, Ryouga.  
I mean, she likes you and would probably jump at the chance to go 
out with you."
 "But, if I were you, I'd stage a defeat for Kuno's benefit.  
That way he can't object to you dating since it was him who made 
up the rules," Ranma added.
 "But...but what if she said no?  I-I don't know if I could 
deal with that."
 "Well, you're never going to find out if you don't ask."
 "Couldn't you, y'know, see if you can get her to tell you 
how she feels about me...she is your best friend."
 "Um, we've kind of got this deal where we don't talk about 
who we like.  It would be unfair on her since I'm going out with 
Nabiki..."
 Ranma jerked his head upwards as he felt some faint vibes 
glitter through the air in front of him.  Evil vibes and they 
were coming closer.  Frowning, he tilted his head to one side 
and stopped walking, letting Usagi and Ryouga stare at him in 
confusion.  
 Then something else branded itself across his consciousness. 
 From around the corner a noisy crowd ran, and following it 
was the creature giving off the evil vibes.
 By this point in time, both Usagi and Ryouga had noticed 
that something was wrong and each turned in time see Ranma 
engulfed by the crowd.  A second later, they too found themselves 
fighting the almost overwhelming tide of bodies.  Ryouga leapt 
upwards, spotted Usagi's distictive hairstyle and dived back into 
the crowd for a quick spot of galant rescuing.  
 The two emerged from the crowd and landed in front of the 
youma next to Ranma.  Usagi took a few quick steps back, knowing 
Ranma and Ryouga were much more likely to be able to deal with 
this thing.  But she dropped into a defensive stance in case she 
got a shot at it.  
 The youma stopped and grinned at the trio ferally.  More 
victims for an energy drain.  Readying the rubbery appendages 
that had the ability of drawing in energy via osmosis it sent 
them flying forwards.  
 A blur later, three of its tenticles dropped to the ground 
and a shallow slash in its side began to ooze with black ichor.  
A rumble of pain left it's throat and it stepped back in order to 
reassess the situation.
 The two males were again standing where they had been and 
the female had not moved.  Each of them projected confidence, in 
differing degrees.  Out of the corner of it's eyes it saw 
something else move but dismissed the small black cat as harmless.
 It drew in a deep breath, then with a loud cry of 'Shi-ne!' 
it attacked once more, cautiously this time.  The two males leapt 
to meet it and the three engaged in a battle, which allowed the 
small black cat to move closer to the blonde female, watching the 
fight avidly and not moving from her position.
 "Tsukino Usagi?"
 Usagi blinked and spun around hoping she wasn't going to 
have to go up against another one of those things on her own, she 
didn't have anywhere near as much training as the other two.  On 
the verge of wailing at the unfairness of life, she realised that 
there was nothing there.  A frown descended across her brow and 
she looked around more carefully.
 "Down here." the voice said from somewhere near the ground.
 Usagi looked down and found a black cat with a strange 
cresent moon bald spot on it's forehead looking up at her with 
a surprisingly intelligent look on it's face.
 "Um..."
 "Yes, it was me who spoke."  And it did seem like it 
because the cat's mouth was moving in time with the words she 
was hearing.
 "Oh," Usagi dropped her defensive stance, "A talking cat."
 The cat blinked at the reaction.
 It was about then that Usagi realised what she had just 
said.
 She rubbed her forehead, closing her eyes, "I'm going 
crazy.  I thought I just heard that cat talk to me."
 "My name is Luna and you, Tsukino Usagi, are the Bishoujo 
Senshi Sailor Moon.  It is your destiny to fight for love and 
justice against youma such as that one and to find the and 
guard the Moon Princess."  Luna tossed her head in the direction 
of the fight that was still going on.  Then she jumped straight 
up, performing a flip in midair.  A brooch appeared in the centre 
of the circle her movements had drawn and fell, only to be caught 
in her mouth.  She offered it to the still-shocked Usagi who 
automatically reached out to take it.
 "If you don't want to lose your friends just hold up the 
brooch and say 'Moon Prism Power, Make-up'."
 Usagi obeyed the talking cat and felt a disorienting wrench 
and when next she looked down at herself she was wearing a _very_ 
short skirt, gloves and boots.  Blinking she reached to her 
forehead, where an unfamiliar weight sat and found that she was 
also wearing a tiara.
 "Now you have to go and help your friends defeat the youma."
 Usagi turned back to the battle and watched as Ranma moved 
in for a quick Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken while Ryouga slammed his 
umbrella repeatedly into the youma's side.  
 "Doesn't look like they need any help..."
 Luna turned her attention to the fight for the first time 
since she'd spotted Usagi and her mouth dropped open.  That wasn't 
meant to happen.  Still...
 "Just take your tiara, throw it at the youma and shout 'Moon 
Tiara Action'.  You'll get rid of it a lot faster."
 Usagi nodded, willing to help out and reached for her tiara.
 "Moon Tiara Action!"
 The glowing golden disk that used to be her tiara slammed 
into one of the wounds in the youma's stomach, disintegrating it 
into dust.  Streaks of released energy flew outwards from the pile 
of dust and dissipated back to wherever they had come from.
 Ranma and Ryouga stopped their movements and stood watching 
until even the dust had disappeared.  They turned to Sailor Moon 
and stared.  Neither of them had ever seen a magical girl before 
and definately not a Sailor Senshi, though they were well known 
across Tokyo because of their work in Juuban.
 "Um, thank you for your help, miss," Ryouga, ever polite, 
said, bowing shallowly.
 Ranma was running his eyes across the girl, trying to work 
out what it was about her that was wrong.  Then, near one of her 
ankles he spotted the slight shimmering that indicated a shield 
of some kind.  Ignoring the appearance of the girl in it's full 
glory, he concentrated on the individual parts and came to a 
conclusion.
 It was Usagi.  She was the only person he knew who would 
wear her hair like that and he couldn't see her anywhere else.  
She might be a little timid about youma but she wouldn't just up 
and leave her friends unless she was sure they were out of danger.  
 Ranma grinned at her and opened his mouth, "Nice dress, 
Usa-chan."

  Xian and Tenchi walked to Tenchi's place quietly, 
enjoying each other's company and the blue skies.  Xian was 
attached to Tenchi's arm and smiling happily at everyone and 
everything she passed.  Tenchi was enjoying the contact between 
him and his girlfriend as much as it was possible for him to, 
being as self-conscious as he was.  He constantly threw looks 
all over the surrounding area and felt eyes that he couldn't find 
staring at him.  This was fairly normal but for some reason it 
was worse today.  He had no idea if the demon would turn up again 
or not.  He was glad, though wary, that it had decided to disappear.  
He came close to pushing Xian Pu away but knew that would earn him 
Pain so he tried to ignore the imaginary eyes he felt and 
concentrate on Xian instead.  He wasn't finding it as hard as 
expected.
 They reached Tenchi's house and he dug his keys out of his 
pocket while Xian took the mail from the mailbox and returned to 
his side.  They stepped into the immaculate house and removed their 
shoes.  Tenchi headed for the kitchen.
 "Do you want some tea, Xian?"
 "Hai."  Xian put her schoolbag down next to Tenchi's and 
moved to the table where she could talk easily to Tenchi while not 
getting in his way.  She couldn't help smiling as she remembered 
Khu Lon's comments about Tenchi's domestic skills and how he would 
have fit right in to the Joketsuzoku amazon society she had left so 
many years ago to marry Happosai.  She wasn't entirely sure though.  
He may be able to cook and clean but he wasn't the retiring type.  
His strength was one of the first things that had attracted her to 
him.  
 "Here you go."  Tenchi set the tea on the table and poured 
a cup for Xian and for himself, settling next to Xian.
 Xian picked up her cup and breathed in the steam, smiling 
up at Tenchi.
 "Are you looking forward to training tonight?"
 "Sure. I *really* want to learn The Pipe Thing Happosai 
promised he'd show us.  Particularly after this afternoon."
 "Hai.  We're lucky we've got two people so good at martial 
arts to teach us."
 "Yeah, they're nice old people, aren't they.  They remind 
me of Ojiisan.  He's really good with a sword but unlike 
Happosai-sensei he's..."  Tenchi trailed off, unsure how to say 
what he wanted to say nicely. 
 "A hentai?" 
 Oh yeah, Xian had met him over the summer, hadn't she.
 "Well...yeah.  Then again you never know how Happosai-sensei 
would have turned out if he hadn't married Khu Lon-sensei."
 "I suppose, though I really can't imagine him as a hentai."
 Tenchi and Xian talked idly for a while before Nobuyuki 
rang, informing Tenchi that he was working overtime at the 
architectural firm where he and Soun worked.  Xian then decided it 
was time for her to head home so she said goodbye in her own very 
affectionate way and left with a small wave.  Tenchi managed to 
wave back as he caught his breath and stared at her figure until 
after he could no longer see it.  He sighed and turned, heading 
inside to cook dinner for his father and himself.  His homework 
would have to wait until after.

 "Tadaima!" 
 Akane and Nabiki walked into their house and kicked off their 
shoes.  Their step-mother stepped out of the kitchen with a tray 
and smiled at the two.
 "Okaeri, Akane-chan, Nabiki-chan."  
 Dressed in a traditional kimono, Nodoka knelt at the table 
across from her step-daughters and poured each of them a cup of 
tea, something that had become habit since the wedding at the 
beginning of the summer just passed, offering them a snack at the 
same time.  She pushed a strand of dark red hair, that had slipped 
out of her usual knot of hair, behind her ear.  
 "So, how was your day?"
 "Oh, it was good.  Nothing unusual."  
 Akane, having just taken a mouthful of tea, began to choke 
as she tried to figure out how a demon attacking one of their 
best friends and him having been able to activate a mystical, 
glowing weapon could be considered normal.
 Nodoka patted her carefully on the back until she had 
stopped coughing.
 "Are you alright, dear?"
 "Uh, sure.  I'm fine, just went down the wrong way."
 Nabiki waited until Nodoka had finished being solicitious 
before continuing on with the news she had decided she *could* tell.
 "I got an A on my maths quiz and an A+ for my economics test."
 "Well done, Nabiki-chan.  You always do so well."
 Not to be outdone, Akane also managed to come up with some 
news, "Um, I just got the lead in the play that's coming up."
 "Such a good actress.  I know you'll be absolutely wonderful.  
When will it be?"
 "It's scheduled for the last week of school."
 "Thanks for the tea, Nodoka-san, I'd better go finish my 
homework.  We're going to be going out later on."
 "With your Ranma-kun?  He's such a lovely boy."  Nodoka 
smiled fondly, giving Nabiki an approving look, "And such 
wonderful parents."
 "Er...yeah.  We're going out with the usual group.  Don't 
wait up for us, we may be late back since Khu Lon-sensei invited 
us to stay for supper after the training."
 "Just remember you have school tomorrow."
 The two girls nodded, beginning to pull themselves away 
from the table to head for their rooms.
 "Oh, Soun will be late home from work tonight.  He and 
Nobuyuki-san are running behind on the deadline and Kasumi-chan 
has a date with a young man who's also studying medicine so 
it'll just be the three of us for dinner."
 "Arigatou, Nodoka-san."
 "Hai, arigatou."

 Xian walked in the door of the small cafe her parents ran 
and looked around at the small number of people sitting in the 
booths eating and talking quietly.  She smiled and walked through 
to the back of the cafe.  She kissed her mother hello and asked 
if she needed any help.
 "No dear, it's a slow day and your father and I can handle 
it.  You go on upstairs and finish off your homework if you're 
going to beheading over to Obaasan's dojo later."
 Xian smiled and nodded.  "Hai, I'll be upstairs then."
 She walked up the stairs, past her little brother's room 
and flopped down on her bed closing her eyes and yawning.  She 
wished she had finished that last assignment early so she hadn't 
had to stay up so late last night; she was sooo tired.  At least 
she wasn't the only one who had a late night though.  Usagi had 
looked just as tired and so had Ryouga, though he may have missed 
out on sleep trying to find his bedroom rather than staying up 
with his homework.  She yawned again and blinked her eyes rapidly 
to get rid of the sleepy tears that had appeared.  She managed 
to drag herself off the bed and sat at her desk with a sigh, 
pulling a book out of her satchel and opening it.
 She managed to read the first page twice before her mind 
drifted onto other thought-paths, most of which seemed to feature 
a green-haired demon.    
 
 Meanwhile, Usagi, Ranma, Ryouga and Luna were sitting under 
a tree in the Temple's grounds.  Luna was worrying about what 
she was going to do now that these two boys knew about Sailor 
Moon's real identity and how much she could safely tell Usagi 
with them here as well.  Usagi had insisted Luna could tell 
Ranma-niisan and Ryouga-niisan anything and it would remain a 
secret, but it just wasn't the done thing.  She was sure Artemis 
hadn't had any such problems when he had awakened the other Senshi.
 "So, Usa-chan is actually the leader of the Sailor Senshi 
and it's her job to look for this Moon Princess and ginzuishou?"
 "Hai.  She'll need to go and join the other Senshi and once 
they find the Princess she can use the ginzuishou to destroy the 
Negaverse."
 Ranma frowned, "That's another thing.  Is this Negaverse 
another name for Hell, the Abyss, that sort of thing?  Cause if 
it is..."
 "If it is, then we have to destroy it!  We can go get Tenchi 
and the others and go kill this Queen Beryl person.  If she was 
responsible for the destruction of Usagi-chan's old kingdom then 
she deserves it."  Ryouga's mind was distracted by the vision of 
a glorious victory and his eyes became glazed.  He had always 
wanted to be a hero...
 A hand whapping him on the back of his head bought him out 
of it and he glared at Ranma who had started talking again.
 "That's all very well, Ryouga, but there's a balance that 
has to be maintained.  You can't just go around killing off evil 
without discrimination.  You'll probably end up killing off a 
whole lot of good at the same time.  The doublet system's in place 
for a reason, y'know."
 Ranma looked up to find three pairs of eyes staring at him 
in bewilderment.  
 "Ranma-niisan?  What are you talking about?"
 Ranma's face went red and he waved his hands frantically, 
"Nothing, nothing, just something I, uh, read in a book somewhere.  
Yeah that's it, read it in a book somewhere.  Heh heh."  
 A hand went up behind his head as the other three continued 
to look at him as if he was crazy.
 "Well, Ranma, I don't think we need to worry about that.  
So far as I can remember, the Negaverse used to be the tenth 
planet in the solar system before it destroyed itself.  All the 
survivors imigrated into a dimensional pocket which took the hate 
and other negative emotions they had an abundance of and made 
their outward selves a mirror of their inner selves.  So they're 
actually...mutated humans.  Sort of."
 Belldandy chose that moment to appear amidst the small group.
 "It's dinner time, Ranma-chan.  Is Usagi and her little 
friend staying for dinner?"
 "Yes, thank you, Belldandy-san, we're all going to be
heading over to the dojo later on and we may as well go together."
 Belldandy smiled sweetly and nodded her head before heading 
back inside.  
 Luna held a paw to her pounding heart and tried to stop 
herself from hyperventilating more than she already was.  If that 
woman had come by any earlier there was no telling what she might 
have heard.  Speaking of heard...how could _anyone_ be quiet 
enough to sneak up on her.  _She_ was a _cat_!

 The group of friends assembled at the dojo, all 
appropriately dressed for martial arts training.  All the girls 
wore gi, the guys whatever they found most comfortable, or in 
Ryouga's case, whatever he felt wouldn't embarass him if he 
happened to get lost.  
 Happousai stood in front of them, his equally diminutive 
wife sitting on top of her walking stick.  If she had stood 
behind Happousai, it would have looked as if she were standing 
on top of his head.  Every time they went outside of the dojo 
compound they got strange looks and sniggers, but it never 
bothered them.
 "Okay, break into the usual groups.  Usagi-chan, 
Nabiki-chan, the two of you will be working with Cologne again.  
And I'll teach the rest of you the Pipe Thing.  We'll need lots 
of room, so whaddya say we stay out here?"
 There was a murmur of agreement and Nabiki and Usagi 
followed Khu Lon inside as the others waited for the lesson to 
begin.
 An hour later Ranma and Ryouga were busy practising the 
Pipe thing against each other, flinging each other back and 
forth across the yard, while Tenchi and Xian, the main 
weapon-users, sparred.  
 It was at this point in time when a certain green-haired 
woman appeared behind Tenchi and placed her hands over his eyes.
 "Guess who?" she purred into Tenchi's ear as he jumped.
 Xian scowled and moved forward to help her boyfriend.  
Ryouga stopped midway through a Pipe motion as a bleeding nose 
threatened.  Ranma, noticing Ryouga's distraction, decided to 
go easy on him and only sent him flying 10 feet this time.  
Then he turned and noticed who the distraction was.  His 
eyebrows went up.
 
 Ryoko pouted as Tenchi scrambled away from her.  After 
700 years locked in that cave she was finally free and she'd 
already found the boy she'd come to adore.  She blinked into 
place behind him and bent her concentration towards seducing 
him once more.
 "What are you doing with _my_ boyfriend?"
 A silky voice sounded from behind her and Ryoko turned, 
reluctantly releasing Tenchi, to face whoever had spoken.  
 It was that purple-haired bimbo from the school.  The 
one who'd been waiting for Tenchi... Wait a sec.  Boyfriend?
That couldn't be right, Tenchi couldn't have a girlfriend, he 
belonged to her!  
 Ryoko sneered and thrust her face and chest at the other 
girl's, going for intimidation.  It didn't work.  The girl had 
as impressive a figure as her own, as hard as that was to 
believe and wasn't flinching from her glare either.  Which meant 
it was time to fight.  She bared her teeth in a wicked grin 
and launched herself at the purple-haired girl.
 She was met with a fist and staggered back, more 
surprised than anything.  Growling she was about to attack 
again when a glowing blade inserted itself between them.
 Ryoko sent a surprised glance at Tenchi who was looking 
rather determined.
 "Leave her alone."
 Ryoko blinked, "You mean it's true?  She's your 
girlfriend?"
 "Uh, y-yeah," Tenchi blushed.
 "When you could have me instead!?" she questioned, her 
eyebrows raised in amazement.
 "Er..."
 "Um, excuse me?"
 Tenchi and Ryoko both turned to Ranma where he stood, 
flanked by the others, Khu Lon and Happosai included.
 "What's going on?"
 Tenchi looked back at Ryoko and his face burned 
brighter.
 Xian grabbed his arm and pressed up against his side, 
glaring at her rival, almost causing Tenchi to explode.
 "Um..."
 Ryoko was about to answer in place of Tenchi, who 
didn't seem able to get anything comprehensible out, and 
Xian, who was ignoring them, when she felt something.
 Hissing she grabbed Tenchi's collar, effortlessly 
pulling him closer.
 "You have to give me the gems!"
 "Uh uh.  There's no way I'd..."
 "She's here!  If you don't give them to me she'll 
get Ryo-oh-ki and I won't be able to fight back!  You have 
to give them to me."
 Tenchi brought his hands up to Ryoko's wrists and 
tried to get her to stop shaking him.  He was getting dizzy.
 "Who is 'she'?"  Khu Lon asked, watching Tenchi to make 
sure no permanent damage was being done.  
 "The bratty Princess.  She wants to kill me."
 Usagi gasped, "Princess...?"  She wondered if this 
Princess was the same one that Luna had been talking about.
 A spaceship appeared above the dojo and a voice 
sounded across the Nerima, but was, strangely, only heard 
by those at the dojo and a select few others.
 Tenchi finally allowed Ryoko to borrow one gem and 
found himself within a strange crystalline spaceship moments 
later still surrounded by his friends and senseis.
-----
C&C welcome, questions answered
<elenalei@geocities.com>
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Field/2272/