Chapter 3: The Slumber Party Disclaimer: See prologue, I didn't own anything then, I still don't. A month and a half had passed since the day in the park and Nodoka was walking Ranko over to Hotaru's house. Nodoka had asked Setsuna to watch Ranko for the weekend because she needed to take care of some last minute details regarding her divorce and Genma's arraignment. While Nodoka would have trusted Kasumi to watch after her daughter, she didn't trust the rest of the Nerima regulars enough to leave Ranko in their midst. "Hurry up 'kaasan!" Ranko was anxious to see her best friend again. Since neither was back in school yet, their guardians had been splitting time taking care of both of them during the day. But today was special, it was going to be her very first slumber party! The walk was taking entirely too long, Ranko would run ahead and back, then start dragging Nodoka up the street. Meanwhile, the Senshi were having an impromptu meeting at the Outers' home. Events surrounding the Dead Moon Circus were coming to a head: the Inners had just discovered Nehellenia's base and they needed to consult with the Outers on a plan of attack. "Absolutely not! I don't care what you say odango atama, the Outers can't get involved, this is our fight!" Chibi-usa declared. "Hey, don't call me that! And why not?" Usagi yelled. "They just can't, I can't say any more," Chibi-usa fired back. "Perhaps what Small Lady means is that if we were to get involved this time, the future itself would change. I'm sure she has her reasons," Michiru gently interrupted the argument while Setsuna just smiled mysteriously. "Please keep it down you two, Hotaru is taking a nap." "USA!" Hotaru ran into the room and jumped into her first friend's lap, snuggling close, yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes. She had grown extremely fast over the past month and a half. Where before she was an adorable, if somewhat chubby two year old, her baby fat was a thing of the past. She had shot up a couple of inches, slendered down and now looked, and acted, like a four year old. Her hair was still cut at shoulder length, but it was currently held in a ponytail by a violet ribbon to match her violet sun dress. "Did you have a good nap Hotaru-chan?" Haruka asked. "Mmhmm, yep Haruka-papa. But I heard Usa's voice and I wanted to see her. Can she spend the night too, pleeeeaaase?" Hotaru begged and turned her big, shining purple eyes at her 'papa,' lips lightly pouted out. "Oh, you are just adorable!" Usagi gushed over the little girl. "Can Usa spend the night with us, please please please?" Hotaru snuggled a bit closer into the familiarity of Chibi-usa's arms. "Of course she can honey," Michiru interrupted gently. "Taru-CHAN!" A blur shot in through the window and knocked Hotaru and Chibi-usa to the floor in a tangle of limbs. The Inners reached for their Henshin pens; except for Ami, who noticed that instead of transforming, Setsuna and Michiru were fairly shaking with repressed mirth, while Haruka erupted in full blown chuckles. Said blur resolved itself into a female form with crimson and aqua hair that was currently hugging the stuffing out of Hotaru and feathering little kisses on her face. What caught their eyes, however, were the aquamarine wings filled with deep blue ice crystals protruding from her back. Ranko had grown at nearly the same rate as Hotaru, though she was still at least two inches shorter than the de-aged Senshi. She too had lost the last vestiges of baby fat, and was wearing a specially modified backless red dress to allow her wings to freely deploy. Her wings had grown even faster than the rest of her, and now sprouted an impressive foot and a half each from their origin on her shoulder blades. " 'Ko-chan!" Hotaru finally processed what had happened, and hugged her friend close. Unfortunately, her arms went through Ranko's wings. Since Ranko's control was still shaky at best, this disrupted them and they fell apart, thoroughly drenching all three girls. "Eeep! Cold!" Chibi-usa shouted. This finally caused the Inners to relax, as they burst out giggling at the soaked pile. The laughter distracted Ranko, who still had an incredibly short attention span. She noticed all the other people in the room, bounced to her feet and started buzzing around. "Hi, I'm Ranko, who are you, do you wanna be friends?" She orbited around Rei's and Minako's heads at high speeds on reformed wings. "Ooo, cool hair, it looks kinda like meatballs, you're very pretty, do you wanna be my friend too?" She had floated over to Usagi, who let out an indignant "Hey!" at the meatball head comment while the others chuckled. After processing the rest of the statement, Usagi smiled widely, "Of course I'll be your friend little one." "Yay!" Ranko slammed into Usagi for a big hug, nearly knocking her off the couch before taking back to the air where she noticed Ami. "Hiya Akane, huh? You aren't Akane, but you look kinda like her. Who are you? I'm Ranko," she said as she excitedly flitted over. "Hello there Ranko-chan, I'm Ami," she introduced herself. "Ahem," Setsuna cleared her throat. Ranko turned around and shot off, slamming into Setsuna. "Hi Auntie!" "Auntie?" This brought a new round of giggling from the stunned Inners, seeing the normally unflappable Setsuna knocked around by an excitable four year old. "Hello Ranko-chan, where is your mother?" Setsuna asked from her new position on the ground. "Eeep! I kinda got excited and I flew the rest of the way here and mommas probably really mad at me and I think she's here now," Ranko babbled as the doorbell rang. Michiru left to answer the door while Hotaru and Chibi-usa finally disentangled themselves and sat up. "Young lady, you are in so much trouble," Nodoka stormed into the room. "Eeep, I'm sorry momma, I was just so excited to see Taru-chan and have a slumber party, and I saw the open window and I wanted to see her now and surprise her and," Ranko babbled out while she drew little circles with her toe, "I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me." She looked up with shining eyes. The Inners collectively sighed, "Awww," at the adorable little girl. Nodoka finally noticed the other people in the room and bowed. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt you," she said. Nodoka turned to Ranko and opened her arms. "Have fun tonight dear, but we will be discussing this at home." "Okay momma," Ranko replied before flying into her mother's arms for a big hug. "Be good daughter," Nodoka said. She then turned to Setsuna, "And thank you for watching her for me. I must be off." "It's not a problem," Setsuna replied. Hotaru seized Ranko's hand and dragged her and Chibi-usa towards her room. "Let's go play, the old people'll probably be all boring. 'Ko-chan, I wanna show you my new lamp!" "Hey, we're not boring," ranted Minako. "Oh my god, she was so adorable," gushed Usagi. "Hey meatball head, stay on topic will you, we're here to discuss Nehellenia, remember, not some little girl," Rei snarked. "Waaaahh! Rei-chan is so mean," Usagi cried and the meeting dissolved into the usual chaos. XXOOXX "Ooh, is that the new lamp, Taru-chan? It's so pretty," Ranko gushed. She looked around Hotaru's room, taking in its familiar appearance. The windows were shaded with deep purple drapes which matched the thick, comfortable bedspread that Ranko sprawled out on. Hotaru's bed was canopied with violet hangings. Lamps stood on nearly every available surface. The newest one was featured on the nightstand. Dark purples, violets and the occasional black decorated the rest of the room. With the door closed, the combined lamps lit the room in a gentle glow. Ranko stretched out and looked up into the mischievous face of Usa, whose red eyes shined in mirth. "So, who is this little menace, firefly?" Usa asked. "Hey, I'm not little," Ranko pouted indignantly. Usa collapsed to the floor giggling, "So you admit you're a menace, hah!" Ranko smirked, "Yup! Jealous, huh?" Hotaru joined Usa on the floor in helpless laughter while Ranko flashed a victory sign. After a few moments, Hotaru and Usa managed to compose themselves. Hotaru pulled Ranko over to them. "Ko-chan, this is my best friend Chibi-usa, Setsuna-momma says we met in the park before I became a baby. Usa, this is my other best friend Ranko, we met in the park when we were two." "Hi, wanna be friends? Sorry about splashing you earlier, I'm not good at holding my wings out yet and they get things really wet. Can I call you 'Sa-chan? You can call me Ko-chan like Taru-chan does. Are you gonna stay for the slumber party too, I'm sooo excited, it's my first one," Ranko babbled out as she jumped forward and hugged Usa while Hotaru burst out giggling at them. Usa pouted, "What's so funny Hotaru?" "Sh-she, you, hee hee, both the same, hee hee, when you meet someone," Hotaru clutched her sides. Usa got a glint in her eye and chucked a pillow at Hotaru who "Eep'd" and jumped out of the way laughing. Soon, all three girls were running around the room throwing pillows at each other. XXOOXX Downstairs, the senshi meeting was finally winding down. "So, we have a plan of attack. Is there anything else we need to discuss?" asked Ami, who somehow managed to keep both Usagi and Rei on topic long enough to get through with business. "I don't think so," Setsuna replied. "We'll see you tomorrow for dinner at the Crown." She got up to lead them out. The scouts were mostly desensitized to strange things but the sight that greeted them as they left the meeting room caused them to freeze up in shock. Gigantic insectoid female monsters, not worth a second glance. Possessed Heart Crystal-hunting cars, please… been there, done that. Life stealing dark generals with bad hairdos, wake me up if something interesting happens. Winged four year old flying down the hall faster than Haruka drives while dodging projectiles hurled by the apparently powered up Sailor Chibi-Moon and Sailor Saturn? Jaws dropped, the Outers stared, the Inners stared, Mamoru stared, and Usagi… fell to the ground laughing her butt off. "Nice aim spore!" she taunted. The other scouts sweatdropped. The chase stopped. Ranko turned around, and went ballistic. "Wow, pretty! When'd you put on the pretty outfits? You were wearing normal clothes a moment ago…" she trailed off thoughtfully. The scouts gaped. "You can see their faces?" Haruka asked in shock. "Huh, oh yeah, of course I can silly," Ranko responded absently while Hotaru and Chibi-usa looked at each other nervously. Neither had meant to transform, nor had they used their transformation items. Hotaru hadn't even remembered that she was Sailor Saturn until that moment, and for a minute her eyes glazed over as vague memories rocked her brain. "Oh, I get it!" Ranko yelled. The scouts looked on apprehensively, thinking that their secret might have leaked out. "You want to play Sailor Senshi? Guess I just missed you changing in the pillow fight. I guess I have to be the monster cause I don't have a costume too, huh?" She looked depressed. "Ooo, I know!" Ranko brightened momentarily before her face scrunched up in concentration. Mist seemed to pour off of Ranko's body and her breath came out in little clouds of condensation. The girls stared as her wings wrapped around her body and her eyes glowed with power. The wings solidified into an aquamarine bodysuit with a stiff, short, dark blue skirt and sailor collar. The getup looked to be made of solid ice. Her eyes shone even brighter for a moment, and a new pair of wings burst out of her back. Completing the look was a pair of vicious looking short swords composed of ice that formed in her hands. "Cool!" Ranko hopped around excitedly, "I've never made anything separate before." She gave the swords an experimental swing before they dissipated into a puddle of water. "Darn! Oh well. This'll be so much fun! Which scouts are you supposed to be, I think Mercury has ice powers, so I get to be her." Ranko dragged Hotaru, who claimed to be acting as Sailor Neptune, and Chibi-usa, who claimed to be Sailor Moon, outside to play. The remaining Senshi breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Phew," Minako gasped, "for a moment there I thought she thought something catty was going on." Rei groaned, "That's fishy Minako." "That's what I said, isn't it?" Minako responded. "Whatever," Rei mumbled back. "Hah!" Ami smirked triumphantly, drawing shocked looks from the gathered senshi who couldn't help but stare at the normally reticent girl. "She wanted to be Sailor Mercury!" She stuck her tongue out playfully at the others. The tension broke, and the scouts dissolved into fits of laughter. Hotaru, Usa and Ranko played Sailor Senshi outside until dinner time. They ran around, picking various things to attack as 'youma' while spouting off corny speeches about "love and justice" and yelling out some of the attack phrases. Chibi-moon and Saturn were very careful to keep their actual powers under wraps, but subconsciously allowed their agility and speed to increase to keep up with Ranko. Ranko, on the other hand, occasionally managed to coordinate a cry of "Shabon Spray Freezing" with an actual blast of freezing mist or an iceball. Watching them, the remaining scouts were amused, and yet horrified, when Ranko accidentally froze the gate to the house shut. She would also periodically lose her concentration, causing her outfit to partially melt away. Eventually, she was just wearing her dress, though she was too busy playing to notice. As it got later, the girls started to look progressively more worn out. Though they hadn't been firing off energy blasts like Ranko, Hotaru and Usa's transformations ran out of power. But like Ranko, they were too tired to notice. When Michiru called out that dinner was ready, the Inner Senshi jolted out of their daze. Since they didn't want to impose, they left for the night with a promise to meet up again the next day at the Crown Arcade. XXOOXX Dinner was a relatively peaceful affair in the Outers' home. Hotaru had very good table manners, though she was also had an incredible appetite due to her extremely rapid growth. On the other hand Chibi-usa, who was very much like her mother, and Ranko, who for some reason always retained Ranma's feverish appetite, would have demolished the meal. But, while the younger girls were famished, they were also exhausted from playing and only managed sedate consumption. And, factoring in that Michiru cooked more than enough for all of them (being quite familiar with the quantities required), everyone left the table very pleasantly full. Hotaru, Ranko and Usa decided to watch a movie for the rest of their slumber party, but the younger two girls were fading fast. They had used up an incredible amount of magic earlier while playing. Not halfway through the film, Hotaru was sound asleep in Usa's lap with Ranko's head pillowed on her shoulder. Twenty minutes later, Haruka and Michiru walked downstairs to check up on the girls. The television was glowing with formless static with the girls in the exact positions they were in earlier. Usa had fallen asleep while stroking Hotaru's hair with one hand and pulling Ranko tighter in with her other. "They look so cute like that, it'd be a shame to disturb them," Michiru murmured. "We should really get them up to bed though," Haruka commented. She carefully picked up the two smaller girls. "Grab Chibi-Usa, let's take them to Hotaru's room." They tucked the girls into bed together and Michiru snuggled back into Haruka's embrace to watch them sleep for a few minutes before they too headed to bed. XXOOXX Michiru woke with the sunrise and began her morning routine, starting with a quick rinse and a short soak in the furo. She then started the rice cooker and the miso broth before going to wake the other members of the house, starting with her lover. Haruka slept like the dead, but Michiru had figured out a couple surefire ways to wake her. Ranma would have attested to just how suddenly a bucket of ice water can start the day, but Michiru usually reserved that method for days when they were fighting. Oxygen deprivation, however, was just as effective and far less messy, which explains why Michiru decided to cover both Haruka's nose and mouth until her lover sputtered awake, gasping for air. "You know I really hate you sometimes," Haruka grumbled out. "That's not what you were saying last night," Michiru spoke in a husky voice while striking a little pose, causing Haruka to stare at her, drooling. Michiru just giggled and floated out of the door, leaving her shell shocked girlfriend behind. Next to wake was Setsuna, but her chronometrically aligned physiology managed the task without any help from Neptune's Senshi. As usual, the unflappable woman was up, dressed, and reading the morning's paper while drinking a cup of coffee by the time Michiru had managed to drag a still disheveled Haruka into the kitchen, where her morning coffee was waiting. Haruka, like a certain middle Tendo daughter, could hardly be considered human without at least a cup of the caffeinated beverage in the morning. Because it wasn't a school day, it wasn't until the adult Outers were finished getting ready before they decided to wake Hotaru and her companions. The three women carefully opened the door to Hotaru's room, allowing a ray of light in through the crack in the door, illuminating the otherwise dark room. On the bed was a sight that caused them to smile softly and Michiru took a couple pictures with a camera. The bedsheets were a tangled mess, with both Hotaru and Ranko cuddling up to Usa like a large teddy bear. The light traveled the length of the room, up the bed, and directly into Usa's eyeballs. Unlike her mother, it was actually physically possible to wake Usa without resorting to feline violence. But, like her mother, Usa is really really NOT a morning person, and attempted to roll out of the way of the light. Unfortunately, she was somewhat trapped by her companions, and when she realized her trapped state, her still groggy mind went into panic mode, like full on, I'm stuck outside in a thunderstorm and I really hate lightening because I'm Usa panic mode. This resulted in her flailing wildly, or at least attempting to. But, all she really managed to accomplish was to throw Ranko off the bed to be rudely awakened by a painful landing on her bottom, and to entrap herself and Hotaru in the sheets even more. The final result: Setsuna, of all people, cracking up with Haruka. Ranko's eyes teared up a bit. She cried out, "Owie!" and tried to stifle a couple sniffles. Michiru picked her up to comfort her while Hotaru, who had finally woken up, attempted to calm down the substantially freaking out Usa. Eventually they all made it out of bed, and down to breakfast. Since it was a beautiful summer day, the younger girls asked if they could spend the day at the park. As they had no actual plans until dinner, Setsuna offered to watch them, leaving Michiru and Haruka to have some 'alone time.' They made their way to a playground at the edge of the park where Ranko wanted to be pushed on the swings. Hotaru hopped up next to her and yelled out, "Me too! Me too! Push me Setsuna-mama, please?" Setsuna got behind Hotaru and gave her a couple of pushes while Usa got Ranko going before she too got on the swings. "Yay! Higher Setsuna-momma, higher!" Hotaru squealed. "Whee!" Ranko yelled out delightedly and giggled as she rocked her swing as high as it would go. But then she started to slip off and lost control of her swing. It started twisting around, and Ranko slipped further. Finally, it gave a full 360 degree spin right as Ranko was launched forward, sending her catapulting off the swing. "No 'Ko-chan!" Hotaru gasped out and covered her eyes, but she was also on the swings and was launched forward when she let go of the chains. She felt herself falling to the ground, and braced herself for what looked to be a painful landing. She shut her eyes tighter as the ground approached and then… Nothing happened. Hotaru opened her eyes cautiously to see the ground a foot away and looked over her shoulder to see a relieved looking Ranko holding her up, wings pumping incredibly fast. Hotaru giggled, Ranko giggled too, and they dropped to the ground in a heap of laughter. Setsuna raced forward, grabbed Hotaru in a hug and said, "Don't do that ever again, I was afraid you were going to be hurt." "It's okay momma, I'm fine" Hotaru hugged her back. "Thank you for catching her," Setsuna turned and caught Ranko in a hug as well. "Aww, it was nothin," Ranko mumbled. After Setsuna released her, Ranko said, "That was fun! But I wanna do something else. Let's go play with the fishies, the lake is nice." The three girls dragged Setsuna off where they splashed in the shallows for the afternoon while Setsuna watched from the shade of a nearby tree. XXOOXX Usa returned to the Tsukino household before dinner. All three of the young girls desperately needed to take baths, and she didn't have a change of clothes with her. Setsuna took Hotaru and Ranko back home to get cleaned up. Ranko was feeling strangely nervous as she stood in the changing room. Hotaru had already gone into the furo, but for some reason, Ranko had the feeling that bad things were going to happen if she went into the bath with her. "Ko-chan, cmon, where are you? The water's really nice," Hotaru called out. Ranko entered the room, and tentatively washed herself down with cold water. When she got into the bath with Hotaru, she started to shiver uncontrollably. For some reason, she had the suspicion that something painful was supposed to follow getting into a bath with another girl, but she couldn't see what was wrong with it. "Are you okay 'Ko-chan?" Hotaru asked and pulled her friend into an embrace when she continued to shake. "Ya, I'll…I'll be fine Taru-chan," Ranko shivered harder in Hotaru's arms. "I'll, it's fine. Nothings wrong, why am I so scared right now Taru-chan? Why?" Ranko started sobbing. "Hurt me already, get it over with. I'm in the bath with you, so why aren't you hitting me for it?" She hiccupped out, though it really didn't seem like Ranko knew what she was saying. Ranko eventually cried herself out, and Hotaru realized that her friend had fallen asleep. After shaking her awake, she asked, "Are you better now 'Ko-chan?" as she stepped out of the bath. "Yeah, I'm better Taru-chan, I'm not sure what came over me," Ranko replied, still a little downcast. "I'll be right out." Hotaru left the room and went to find one of her parents; she was confused and very worried about her friend. She ran into Setsuna's room and jumped into Setsuna's arms. "Setsuna-mama, Ranko was just crying in the bath and she was trembling and she said that she thought something bad was going to happen because we were in the bath together and she was mumbling that she was waiting for me to hurt her and is she going to be okay?" She looked up with tear-filled eyes. "Damn," Setsuna swore under her breath. "Yes Hotaru, she'll be fine. Go get dressed now sweetie, I'll check up on her. You didn't do anything wrong." Setsuna carried Hotaru to her room to get changed, and went to the furo to check on Ranko who was just drying off. "Are you alright Ranko-chan?" Setsuna asked as she pulled the young girl into a comforting hug. "I'm scared auntie," Ranko replied, burrowing a bit deeper into her arms. "I don't know what came over me, I just thought something was going to hurt really bad and then I was sobbing and I don't remember what happened after that. Am I gonna be okay auntie?" The young girl shivered slightly. "You'll be fine dear; I was hoping this wasn't going to happen yet. We need to get everyone together so we can talk," Setsuna replied. "Okay auntie." Ranko smiled tremulously. XXOOXX Setsuna gathered her housemates and Ranko up at the kitchen table. Ranko still felt incredibly vulnerable, and flinched a bit when the other girls looked at her. She burrowed into Hotaru's shoulder. "I suppose we need to talk about some things, but I had hoped this wouldn't become an issue for quite some time," Setsuna began. "You see, Ranko-chan, you and Hotaru-chan were both reborn recently and you still have some impressions and buried memories from your past lives. I had hoped that they wouldn't surface yet, but apparently your associations are very strong. Ranko-chan, if I may ask, what do you think about cats?" "Cats auntie, huh?" Ranko looked really confused. "They are kinda cute and fuzzy and I'd like to pet one right now, why?" "Never mind dear," Setsuna sighed in relief. "Sure thing auntie, so what happened in the bath? Why was I so scared for no reason? I mean, it was just a bath, wasn't it auntie?" Ranko asked, regaining a bit of her normal cheer. "I think it was just a vague impression from your past life, dear. With any luck you won't get many more of those, though you might randomly remember things you once knew," Setsuna replied. "If either of you need help coping with something, please come to me, alright?" "Yes auntie/Setsuna-momma," the girls replied. "Alright then, let's go to dinner," Setsuna said. "FOOD!" Ranko shouted and jumped up, buzzing around the room quickly and troubles at least temporarily forgotten in favor of sating the beast in her belly. "Let's go, let's go, I'm hungry, c'mon Taru-chan!" XXOOXX Ranko and the Outers walked to the Crown to meet up with the Inners and Usa for the evening. Well, the adults walked, while Hotaru and Ranko skipped ahead and dragged them faster towards the Arcade. Though they had seen her earlier, both girls were excited to play with Usa again and Ranko was extremely hungry. They reached the Arcade a few minutes after the Rei; the other Inners having spent the day there. Ranko got a mischievous look in her eyes when she saw Usa standing with her back to them. She tapped Hotaru on the shoulder, put her finger up to her lips, and pointed at Usa. Hotaru grinned back. The girls snuck up Usa, and when they were a foot behind her, they both yelled out, "Hi 'Sa-chan!" "Eeep!" Usa shouted and spun around with wide, panicked eyes to see the two younger girls giggling at her. The rest of the Senshi joined in, causing Usa to pout which triggered another bout of laughter. "I'll get you for that, just wait," she threatened. "Sorry 'Sa-chan," Ranko mumbled and traced a pattern on the floor with her toes. "We didn't mean to scare you, we just were so excited to see you, please forgive us, please," she said while looking up with wide, innocent eyes. "Devious, that one," Rei commented to Minako. The group eventually managed to sit down for dinner, and surprise heart attacks notwithstanding, they had a good time. The Inners were absolutely stunned watching Ranko order and eat, however, as she poured on the cute and managed to outpace even Usagi. Michiru commented to Setsuna, "She's cute now, just imagine her a bit older. She'll be a devastatingly natural flirt," causing the older woman to smirk. "Scary, there's two of them now," Makoto said. "Three," Ami corrected, pointing down the table to where Usa was absolutely demolishing a monstrous ice cream sundae. Appetites sated, the Senshi took turns showing Ranko and Hotaru how to play their favorite games. Neither had spent much time in an arcade before, either before or after their rebirths. Minako and Usagi showed them the Sailor V game, which both younger girls thought was fun. Haruka let them beat her in the racing game, much to Hotaru's delight. Ami, Michiru and Setsuna just watched. Rei and Makoto decided to introduce the girls to Dance Dance Revolution, which proved to be a quick favorite. Neither girl was even halfway decent. For all her physical prowess, Ranko's legs were just too short to keep up with the game, and she couldn't even attempt to reach the double notes. Hotaru had never been athletic, and while she was stronger after her rebirth, she didn't have the stamina or coordination to really do well either. Much to the others' amusement, however, both girls were giggling madly as they watched each other's mistakes. After a few hours in the Arcade, the senshi broke up for the evening. The Outers walked home with Ranko and Hotaru tiredly dragging behind. When they finally reached Hotaru's bedroom, they barely had enough energy to put on pajamas. They curled up together, and promptly fell asleep. AN: A couple people have made the point that they want to see Ranko (and Hotaru to a lesser extent) regain their memories, I have plans, but there is still framework that needs to be laid first, with the big piece being the start of the Ranko/Usa friendship in this chapter. The memories will come back, I figure age, strength of memory, and other factors will influence when/how the memory returns. For example, some things might return as impressions, as Ranko's random reaction to being in the bath with a girl exemplified in this chapter. Others will return as dreams, potentially some as visions. I intend to get into memory recovery and its consequences, but it will be interspersed with the friendship episodes. After all, the first arc of this story is all about growing back up, and I see those as being the two main themes. I really wanted to stuff Ranko into a fuku at some point while she was growing up. This will not be a regular occurrence for now, but I just couldn't resist having Ranko "play" Sailor Senshi with Hotaru/Usa. As to Ranko not figuring out that Hotaru/Usa were really sailor senshi, she's only 4, which means she's not all that observant yet. She will figure it out eventually. As one final note, I am not planning anything relationship-wise at this point except for the canon SM relationships and Akane/Ukyo. The main characters are far too young to worry about that yet. Eventually, there will be romance, but I don't like pairings set in stone, so we'll see what the situation feels like after the first arc. If I absolutely had to pick a pairing now, it would be Ranko/Hotaru, but, depending on how things change (I only outline one or so chapter ahead), it may become a Ranko/Usa a Hotaru/Usa or a ménage a trios. It could also wind up being something else entirely, like I said, relationships are being slightly considered, but not seriously yet. Thank you for reading, and constructive criticism on anything, but especially on the dialogue and the less fluffy stuff would be appreciated.
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Death Reborn Evolution
Chapter 04: Chapter 3: The Slumber Party
By: Shanami