Hello and good evening again. This is still my first fanfic so be gentle. Disclaimer: Not mine. Not yours. (Unless you're Takahashi or Takeuchi.) I have no money. Don't bother wasting yours trying to sue me, please. Ready? Good! Let's do it! *************************************** All The Small Things-Chapter 1 A Sailor Moon/Ranma 1/2 fanfiction By: Slacker(r_heins@yahoo.com) *************************************** Juban, Present Day (unless noted, all events are present day) The meeting had gotten off to a bad start. They were meeting at Rei's temple, as normal, and Usagi had stolen one of her mangas as soon as she came through the door, again as usual. To complete the trend, Rei was insulting Usagi with the usual insults. The only thing unusual about the meeting so far, was the fact that the Outers had shown up, with the exception of Pluto (but she almost never showed up). Hotaru and Ami were exchanging news about their respective schools and Haruka and Michiru were, well, the best word would probably be "snuggling" on a pillow. The meetings had all followed the same pattern lately: meet, gab, make plans to meet and talk somewhere else, and be home before bedtime. (The Senshi's "extracurricular activities" had really slowed down after Galaxia.) "I don't know why we still bother with meeting every week. Setsuna said Galaxia would be the last major threat we faced before the Great Ice," Makoto commented. "Yes, but do you really want to give up the entertainment value of those two?" Minako asked, pointing at Rei and Usagi, who were now at the wrestling point of their ritual fight. "OK, you've got a point there. I wonder when they're going to admit to the fact that they like each other and all that's just an act?" Makoto wondered. "Probably never. I think they enjoy it too much." "Still, I think maybe we should cut the meetings down to once every two weeks. I could use the extra time for study." Three guesses as to who said that. "AMI!! You don't need more time to study!" came from every person in the room, including Rei and Usagi(who had called a temporary truce). "Well, Setsuna said we don't have any more big threats coming up, so why should we meet so often?" Ami asked. "That's easy to answer," came Setsuna's voice from the corner directly behind Usagi. "EEEK!Howlonghaveyoubeenthere?Youscaredme!Don'teverdo that!" Usagi shrieked. "Wow, she did that in one breath," Minako commented. Ami went to Setsuna's statement, instead of commenting on Usagi's lungpower, "'Easy to answer?' What do you mean?" "Remember how I said there wouldn't be any more major threats until the great ice?" Setsuna asked. "Why can't she ever just answer a question? Why is it always some mysterious, cryptic answer or another question?" Minako muttered loudly. Ami ignored Minako. She had gotten good at ignoring all distractions (which was a useful trick around this group), and answered Setsuna, "Yes, of course we do." Setsuna smiled that mysterious smile of hers as she sat down and calmly announced, "I lied." ******************************** Tendo dojo, about the same time. "Has anyone seen Ranma?" Kasumi asked. "Supper's almost ready," "I think he's up on the roof." Nabiki replied. "Oh, my. He's been spending a lot of time up there after that...incident in China, hasn't he?" "Yeah, he has. I suppose you want me to go get him, right?" "Yes, please do. I'll get Akane from the Dojo." Nabiki climbed to the roof by her usual means, a ladder. When she got up there, she found Ranma brooding in a pose that had become very familiar to her: sitting on the edge of the highest part of the roof with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs as he gazed at the sky. Before she could say anything, Ranma spoke, "I know, supper's almost ready. I'll be down soon." Nabiki started to head back down the ladder, but paused at the top to say, "You know Ranma, whatever's bothering you won't go away if you just keep brooding on it. I'm open if you ever need to talk." "Careful, Nabiki, what about your reputation? If word of an offer like that gets around people might not buy the 'Ice Queen' legend anymore." He said with a small, insincere, smile. "Hey, you're practically family. I take care of my family. And besides, I can't make any money off of you if you're depressed all the time." "There's the Nabiki I've grown to fear and detest." Ranma said with an actual smile on his face. "Oooh, detest. Looks like someone learned a new word in school today." She quipped as she started down the ladder. "You'd better hurry. Supper will be ready soon and if your dad gets to it first, there won't be any left for you." She said as her head disappeared below the edge of the roof. "Oh, don't worry. Mom'll keep him off of it 'til I get plenty." "OK, but hurry. If I have to wait for you so I can begin eating, I'll triple your interest rates." "Right. I'm coming." He said as he calmly fell off the top of the roof and twisted effortlessly to land on his feet on the lawn. "Show-off." "Hey, I'm the best, I don't need to show off." "And so modest, too." "Hey, I am. Now let's eat" Since Ranma was back to acting like his normal self, Nabiki completely forgot about her offer. Ranma didn't. *************************************** Tendo dojo, next day, about 3 a.m. *tap, tap* Nabiki groggily thought as something woke her up. *tap, tap, TAP* Nabiki managed to raise her head to locate where the sound was coming from. It was coming from the window. <3 am. The window. Gotta be Saotome. He's gonna pay.> She slowly climbed out of bed and moved over to the window. As she opened it, she asked Ranma (who was hanging off the roof,) "Do you know what time it is? It's... " "3 am." Ranma interrupted, "I know. But I need to talk, and you're the only one I could think of. After all, you offered." "When I made the offer, I didn't think you were going to wake me up at 3 IN THE FREAKING MORNING!" She hissed, "I meant at a normal time." "I couldn't wait. I need your help. Do you always sleep in the nude?" "Yeah, usually, when it starts to get warm. What do you mean, 'I need your help'?" Now Nabiki wasn't the brightest of the morning people. In fact, if she had her way, the sun wouldn't rise until, oh, noon. But somewhere deep in her slowly waking brain something was saying, "Hey! Wait a minute! What'd he say?" In fact, if you were to map her thought processes they would go something like this: "EEP!" Nabiki was across the room and in her clothes before Ranma could even blink. "Man, if I could move that fast I'd be able to kick the old ghoul's butt before she even knew I was there." Ranma commented. "Why the hell didn't you tell me I was standing there butt-naked?!" "Ever hear of payback? Besides, didn't you think it was a bit drafty? I'd think it would be obvious. Just be glad I don't have a camera." "Oooh...you are going to get it. A camera. Feh." "Soo, what did you need to talk to me about?" "I need you to help me run away from home." **************************************** Hikawa Shrine, right after Pluto's little bomb. There was absolute silence. Not just quiet, but complete, total silence. The kind of quiet you only get after someone announces the world is going to end in three seconds. The kind of quiet you'd get if Rei announced she changed her name to "Bambi" and was working in a strip joint. It was so quiet you could hear a faint "DARLING NO BAKA" and an electrical crackle in the background. Ami was the first one to break the silence. "Excuse me, but did you say 'I lied'?" Disbelief was quite prominent in her voice. "Oh, yes. Would you please pass one of the muffins?" was Setsuna's calm response. "'Please pass you one of the muffins'? 'Please pass one of the muffins'! What the heck do you mean 'Please pass one of the muffins'!?" Makoto burst out. "I mean the muffins look good and I'd like to eat one. Is there a problem with that?" Setsuna asked with a "I'm so innocent, butter wouldn't melt in my mouth" look. "Yes!" Makoto quickly responded. "So, I can't have a muffin?" "No! I mean yes! I mean...That's not what I'm talking about!" "Then what are you talking about, if not the muffins?" "I think she means that part about you lying," Haruka said with a fairly sarcastic tone of voice. "Oh! That! Yes, that would make sense, wouldn't it?" Setsuna said in an amused voice with a little smile. The same thought was going through everyone's mind at this point, except Usagi's. Her mind was still in synaptic shock. (OK, so maybe the only one to use "fundamentally" was Ami, but the sentiments were the same.) Ami was the first one to speak, (again) "Um, Setsuna, are you OK?" she asked a bit hesitantly. "Of course I am. Why?" "You made a joke, you smiled, and I _think_ you're teasing Makoto. That is _not_ normal for you. Why are you acting like this?" "I told myself to loosen up. Literally." "You told yourself to loosen up?" Now Ami was a tad bit confused and the rest had lost it. "Yup, my future self told me to stop being so...'anal' is the word I believe she, I?, whatever, used...and have some fun." "So you were joking about lying. That's a relief." "No. I was serious about that." Silence met this little announcement, too. Not as deep as the prior one, but still pretty dang quiet. This time Rei broke the silence. "I don't suppose you'd care to share just what you mean, would you?" Her voice had a wee bit of fire in it. As in, you could roast marshmallows with it. "Let me have a muffin, first." After Setsuna had gotten her muffin (Blueberry, by the way. Makoto made them.), she began: "Let me tell you a story about a planet named Nemesis..." I'm going to end the chapter right there. Aren't I scum? To Be Continued(Big surprise, eh?) *************************************** Author's loud-mouthed piece: Like it? Love it? Hate it? Hate me? Let me know! My e-mail is r_heins@yahoo.com C&C read, appreciated, and considered when writing. Flames will be used to heat my house. Death threats will be laughed at and deleted. Letter bombs will be kept for a rainy day to relieve the boredom. I always need pre-readers. If you want to volunteer for this task, tell me. As was already mentioned at the top of the fic, this is my first fanfic. As such it probably has huge holes. If you see one, _PLEASE_ tell me! Any and all C&C will be greatly appreciated! I _promise_ the next chapter will justify my use of the word "crossover." It's taken a little while for me to get to that point, I know. I originally intended to make this chapter into the meeting point, but this thing seems determined to write itself. What can ya do? (shrug) Ja Ne! Slacker PS. A fic I can't recommend enough is "Curse of Destiny" by Brian Drozd. It's one of the major reasons I'm writing Pluto the way I am. It makes you realize that Pluto does certain things because she HAS to, not necessarily because she WANTS to. You can find it @ http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/HobbyCt/brian_drozd/ chouko.htm In fact, I love all his work! Read `em and send him a line! PPS. A _HUGE_(!!!!!) "THANK YOU" goes out to my pre-readers. Without them, this fic would suck. A lot. I mean a WHOLE lot. I mean a whole, big, huge, massive amount of suckage would result. (I've got a thesaurus and I'm not afraid of using it! Can you tell?) They are (Drumroll, please, Paul): Aaron Blomenkamp, the Beast of Chaos Anchan Battlezone http://www.angelfire.com/bc/Battlezone CCMax E_Nebedum I'm apathetic Mr.P `tsuki-chan William Dix Xaldaran PPPS. What? You're still here? Go home! Hit the back button! Do something! PPPPS. Hey, buddy. The chapter is over. If you've read this far, you're obsessed or something. The secret phrase is "Don't forget to floss." Send me an e-mail with it in it and I'll put the number of people who did in one of the future chapters. Goodbye. I was serious up there. This is the end of the chapter. SO STOP READING!!!!!