Certificate of Marriage

	Ranma Saotome to Usagi Tsukino

	June 22, 2001

	That just about said all Usagi needed to have said. One foolish
act on Mamoru's part and two counts of foolishness on her account just
about sealed her fate. Married. A possible pregnancy. What was to become
of her future? When she had first found out she was Sailor Moon all
those years ago, one part of her loathed the fact that she couldn't live
a normal life. 'Why me' was all she could say. She just wanted to live a
normal life where she would find a normal boyfriend, enjoy normal
friends, and get a normal job. Once she became Sailor Moon, that was no
longer an option. The other part of her wanted to help the world by
being Sailor Moon. When she discovered that she was the reincarnation of
a dead Moon Princess of a mythical kingdom, she saw the potential she
could become. She had the ability to become a mature, regal, and
influential woman. This fact enabled her to continue fighting the fight
against evil. Along the way she met her best friends. Friends that would
follow her to death, who fought the good fight, and who helped her
through her troubled times. When she first glimpsed her future as
Neo-Queen Serenity the golden beauty who would rule the powerful kingdom
of Crystal Tokyo, she saw her destiny. She saw what she would become and
never questioned it. She would become queen and her beloved King
Endymion would rule by her side. All the details would work itself out
as time went by. Such details like the Holy Grail and Galaxia. However
with each triumph it seemed more and more clear to her. Her future was
clear. Whatever she did, she would become the queen.

	What now?

	She was married to this man who was obviously not Endymion and
she was quite possibly pregnant with a child who was not Endymions. Was
this another step in achieving Crystal Tokyo? How could this be? This
was not some great evil she needed to fight. What would this experience
bring? How was Crystal Tokyo supposed to come to pass now that Mamoru
had shown his true colors? It was all so confusing. Taking a step back
she sat onto the sofa. She heard the paper snatched out of the man's
hand as Mina exclaimed.

	"You're Ranma Saotome?"

	By god she had married a, if all the press reports were correct,
emotionless monster.
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	Usagi stood stock still as she looked at the paper in his hands.
Looking at her eyes, she saw several emotions runing across her blue
orbs. Confusion, that was a given. Anxiousness. Weariness. There was
also a bit of Sorrow. She took a step back and collapsed onto the sofa
like a pile of bricks. The other blonde reached over his shoulder and
grabbed the certificate from his hands. Shrugging his shoulders he
walked towards Usagi trying to gauge what she would say next.

	"You're Ranma Saotome?" the other blonde exclaimed. At that
Usagi looked up and stared up into his eyes.

	"Yes." Ranma replied with a calm voice. Usagi's eyes widened as
she realized just who he was.

	"Ranma Saotome as in ST Corp.?" the other blonde said as she
walked over to the sofa.

	"I am Ranma Saotome CEO and co-founder of ST CORP. Grandmaster
of The Anything Goes Style Martial Arts. Grandmaster of Chinese
Amazonian Martial and Mystical Arts. Grandmaster of the Raging Claw
Arts. And more. Did you want me to list all of my accomplishment or do
you understand who I am." Ranma said in a calm and almost monotone
voice. Shaking her head Mina placed the certificate on the coffee table.
Usagi was still staring at him when she spoke.

	"what do you want?" Unable to predict what her response would
be, Ranma forged ahead as planned.

	"Well there is the obvious discussion of our marriage. As well
as what will be done about it." Ranma explained in a very businesslike
manner.

	"I don't know you. I know I don't love you. Most likely I don't
even like you as a person." usagi said in an even tone. She wanted to
lay everything out on the table. A relationship between herself and
Ranma was doomed to fail. He was a man of the worst kind, cut-throat,
emotionless, and powerful. These men generally thought they could do
anything to anyone and not have to suffer the consequences.

	Looking straight at Usagi, Ranma spoke calmly as he kept his
emotions in check. "I don't know much about you either, other than the
fact your long time boyfriend cheated on you and you found out." The
slap caught him off guard as Usagi stared at her own hand wondering if
she had indeed executed the slap. After a moment or two she bore her
crystal blue eyes into Ranma's ocean blue eyes.

	"What do you want?" She said through her gritted teeth. The fact
of infidelity was a very sore subject to be mentioned at this point.
Usagi seemed to be consumed with anger as she focused her anger not on
Mamoru, but at this man before her.

	"We keep the marriage." Ranma said simply not even fazed from
the blow. Usagi's anger turned into puzzlement This was not what she
expected. She expected him to force her to sign an annulment followed by
a large pay off to keep her mouth shut. Why would he want to keep the
marriage?

	"Why? You don't know me. Why keep the marriage?" Usagi asked.

	"We could get it annuled. However, I have a crisis on hand to
improve my image. Stock holders and the board memebers want to see my
life stablalized with a relationship." Ranma explained. "I am willing to
let the marriage stand and also to help you through your troubled time."

	Wrinkling her brow, Usagi wasn't sure if he was being truthful
or not. "But why me? I'm sure you can marry yourself to any girl you
choose. Why would you choose me?"

	"Your father works for my corporation. When he signed on, he
agreed to a background check on himself and his family members as well
as close friends. I simply had your file pulled up. To put it simply,
you are simple, honest, and have no ulterior motives." Ranma said as he
moved back to his briefcase and extracted a thick manilla folder.
Handing it to Usagi, he sat on the chair facing the two women.

	After shuffling through the papers, Usagi handed the folder to
Mina. "i guess this answers some of my questions, but are you just going
to assume that I would accept this marriage? I've read quite a bit about
who you are and what you do. I do not let anyone trample over me. So if
you can bully me into helping you out, you are sorely mistaken."

	Narrowing his eyes, Ranma began to see there was more to Usagi
than just a trusting girl. She must still be reeling from last night's
betrayal. Taking a deep breath, Ranma decided to take a large risk. He
was good at reading people. What he was about to offer was unprecedented
for himself. If he was wrong about usagi, he would pay dearly for it.
However if he was right, his board members would no longer to pester
him. Most importantly his mother and Nabiki would be appeased. " Usagi,
I don't know you. However what I am prepared to offer you is
unprecedented for me. If you keep your marriage to me, I will grant you
one request. Any request where my powers extend shall be yours. Think
about how much you would be able to do for yourself, the world, or your
family in that respect."

	Stunned, Mina chose to finally speak out. "Why? What do you have
up your sleeves? There is something you aren't telling us. The day Ranma
Saotome comes in here and makes an offer to allow someone else, a
stranger no less, have this much control over his life is the day that
hell freezes over." Standing up, she was about to pitch Ranma out the
door when Usagi placed a hand on her leg.

	usagi looked closely at Ranma and wondered what he was up to.
Was this one of the junction points where Destiny was testing her? Is
this what destiny had in store for her? Was Mamoru's infidelity and
Ranma's indecent proposal steps to which Crystal Tokyo would be created?
On the one hand if she was indeed pregnant, destiny or not, she would at
least try to make things work between Ranma and herself. Destiny had
shaped her into the person she was now, which ever decision she made now
would be destined and predetermined. Taking a shuddering breath, Usagi
reached into her pocket. "I will let fate decide this." taking out a
coin, she fliped the coin into the air.
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	Nodoka sat at the private dining room of the Hyatt waiting for
her son to arrive. What was so urgent that he would postpone their time
together? Glancing down at her watch, she shifted in her kimono. Ranma
was almost an hour late. He was never late to meet them. Grimacing she
was almost tempted to call that personal assistant of his to find out
why he was late. However sitting at the dinner table and waiting for her
son for the rest of the night would be much more pleasing than talking
to that frigid woman. Besides Ranma always kept his word. He would be
here. Looking to her two daughters, she noted Natsume sitting placidly
at her chair waiting, while Kurumi paced back and forth in and out of
the room. Smiling at them, Nodoka noted to herself that where as Kurumi
has had a string of boyfriends, Natsume never seemed to date. She was as
old as Ranma yet never pursued a relationship. She had been spending so
much time trying to revive her son that she hadn't attempted to help her
daughter find a good man to settle down with. She wondered if what sort
of man Natsume liked. Perhaps when they went back to Tokyo after the
gala, she would contact some old friends and try and find Natsume a
match. Suddenly the door slid open. Standing up Nodoka, Kurumi and
Natsume looked towards the door as Ranma escorted a young blonde woman
into the room.

	The stranger in question seemed to be a few years younger than
Ranma and had her hair done up in an awkward style. She was wearing a
simple sundress and had a very beautiful face. Whereas she wasn't thin
like a model, she was certainly a lovely girl that any man would be
attracted to. Maybe even Ranma? Standing in silence for a moment,
Ranma's mother and sisters scrutinized the newcomer trying to decipher
what relation she had with Ranma. Ranma, who had been speaking to the
waiters and cooks, turned back around and shut the door. Wrapping one
arm around the shorter woman's waist, he looked to his mother and
sisters.

	"Usagi these are my sisters, Natsume and Kurumi Saotome." The
three women bowed to each other. "And this is my mother, Nodoka
Saotome." Nodoka nodded her head towards the girl Usagi, who was staring
at her.

	"Pleased to meet you Usagi. If I may ask dear, what is your
relation to my son?" usagi turned to Ranma, who cleared his throat.

	"Mother, Natsume, Kurumi. I would like you to meet usagi
Tsukino-Saotome. My wife."
 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

	In a darkened apartment, a woman was sitting at a drafting table
sifting through hundreds of photographs. Each one of them had the same
figure in each one. A sharply dressed man with short dark hair and ocean
blue eyes. Tenderly she looked at each picture and browsed through each
one.

	"Ranma..." Suddenly the woman doubled over in pain. Falling to
the ground, she struggled to breath but could only gasp for air. After a
few minutes the pain seemed to subside as she rolled onto her back and
looked to the ceiling.

	"What is going on!" Getting up, she waved her had and seemingly
pulled a staff from thin air. Suddenly she disappeared from the room and
was transported to an empty void.

	"What? Where is the Time Gate!" Looking around she saw nothing,
just an empty void.

	"It's gone." A voice whispered as a woman materialized in front
of the confused woman.

	"Goddess? What do you mean it is gone? I thought we had made
sure all threats to Crystal Tokyo were removed!" The woman asked
urgently.

	"Oh Setsuna, they were, however, I have been stripped of my
powers of manipulating time and destiny. Once that happened, the chaotic
nature of the players took over and caused the dream of Crystal Tokyo to
shatter." The woman said in a sad tone.

	"What? What are you talking about? How was your power taken? Is
there another rival god or goddess we must defeat to set things right?"
Setsuna asked even as she felt her whole world falling apart.

	"No, Crystal Tokyo will not come to be, ever now. The past can
not be changed now. The decisions of the pawns have insured that. What
will come to be will be a future that no one can predict." The goddess
sadly. "My powers were taken from Father. He can not be contested."

	"No! All we have worked for! What brought upon the change?"
Setsuna said as she collapsed to her knees.

	"You will find out tomorrow. go back Setsuna. There is nothing
left for you to do." With a wave of her hand, Setsuna disappeard from
the void and reappeared back in her apartment. Collapsing onto her
apartment floor, Setsuna tried to stand up using her Time Key staff as a
crutch. In an instant she collapsed back onto the ground. Lying on the
floor she looked over to her Time Key and stared at it incredulously.
The Time Key was broken. It was cracked in half. with shaky hands, she
grasped the broken pieces and tried to call upon the power of Pluto.
When the familiar sensation failed to overtake her, Setsuna began to
shudder. Thousands of emotions flowed through her as she forced herself
from crying. Exhausted for some reason, Setsuna passed out on her cold
dark floor.
 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

	Nodoka was in the state of complete shock. Staring at the blonde
woman in front of her, she wondered if she was dreaming. Her son, who
had vehemetly denied to having any sort of relationship just yesterday
was now married? It seemed like a dream come true. However who was this
woman? Was she a fighter like Ranma and his friends? Was she a homemaker
like Kasumi? Was she a business woman like Nabiki?

	"Wife? Ranma, when did this happen?" Nodoka exclaimed as she
rushed to her daughter-in-law and examined her.

	"Usagi and myself met in the hotel last night and after talking
to her about a problem she was having, we became inebriated. This
morning we found each other in my bed." usagi looked a bit shocked at
the bluntness of Ranma's recount of last night. She expected him to
create a long and convoluted story. Looking at him with a question in
her eyes.

	Catching Usagi's questioning eyes, Ranma took his mother's hand
and placed it in his own. "I don't lie to my mother about something like
this." Nodoka felt her heart about to explode. In the past six years,
her son had barely said kind words to anyone. Today she finds out that
he really does care for her still.

	"You two met in a bar and get drunk and married each other?"
Natsume asked with her eyes suspicious. "And you decided to keep this
marriage? Why?"

	"I have my reasons Natsume." Ranma said cooly. He never liked it
when she tried to confront him. Once she had attacked him to try and
'beat' some sense into him when talking to his mother. He had gracefully
blasted her into another state to let her know not to confront him.

	"What makes her worthy?" Natsume asked vowing to find out about
this golden hair woman.

	"I have confidence that she will not abuse the Saotome name.
That is sufficient enough Natsume." With that he pulled out a seat for
usagi to sit at. Helping her into her chair, Ranma gestured for the rest
of them to take a seat. Withing a few minutes a few bottles of wines
were brought to the table as well as bread and butter.

	As soon as the servants left, Nodoka started her 20-questions
with Usagi. "Usagi dear, please tell us about yourself. I have so much I
want to know about you." Trying to place where she's met her
mother-in-law before, Usagi began to tell Ranma's family about herself.
 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

	Back at Usagi's apartment, Mina was frantically looking for the
scout communicator. She couldn't understand why Usagi would make that
deal with Ranma. He was a dangerous man. What they should be doing now
was to try and figure out what they were supposed to do now that Mamoru
had cheated on Usagi. What would make Usagi make a decision like this?
Perhaps it was a new evil that had her under it's control. As unlikely
as that seemed since Pluto told them that Galaxia was the last of the
evil powers, it seemed to be the most logical reason. On one hand she
wanted to trust her friend's decision, but this seemed out of character
for her. Rummaging through her clothes, she searched around for her
scout communicator. Screaming in frustration, she kicked her closet. All
of a sudden a calculator-like device hit her on her head before dropping
to the floor. Rubbing her head, Mina looked down saw the scout
communicator. Chuckling sheepishly Mina bent down and picked up the
device. Quickly she began to dial the other scouts.

	"Rei? Big problem. Get your butt down here ASAP this is not a
joke. Something happened to Usagi." Before Rei could say anything, Mina
went about calling all the other scouts up other than Pluto. No one knew
how to contact her since she seemed to fall of the edge of the world.

	"Ami?"
 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

	Throwing her purse on the counter, Usagi huffed a bit. Her
mother-in-law was a darling woman, and she already felt a bond with the
woman. However, her older sister-in-law seemed to be much colder to her
when making snide comments to her or trying to interrogate her. Looking
around the room, she did have to appreciate Ranma's sense of style. This
penthouse was probably four times larger than her apartment. She'd seen
rooms like this before when photographing one of their richer clients
for a magazine article. Even then the client could only afford one day
for the room. Walking over the the sofas in front of the large TV, she
sat down and rested. What was she doing? Was this her way of getting
back at Mamoru? No, she quickly squashed that thought as she knew what
the reason for accepting Ranma's proposal. If she was with child she
would stay with Ranma, if she was not with child, then perhaps she would
leave Ranma. Still something nagged at her when speaking to Ranma. He
was quite an asshole, but when she looked into his eyes when they were
back at the apartment, she saw something. A glimmer of something. It
seemed to cry out to her trying to reach the surface. Perhaps she could
draw it out of him. But as for right now she would stay with him until
she found out if she was pregnant or not.

	"You did remarkably well down there." Ranma said as he walked
into the room loosening his tie. "I've never heard my mother as happy as
she was today in a long time. Thank you."

	"She was very easy to talk to." usagi said with a wave. "Besides
I get the feeling that we've met before."

	"Really? How odd." Ranma said as he poured himself a glass of
orange juice. "Would you like a cup?"

	Nodding, Usagi lolled her head back and closed her eyes. "You
love her don't you?" The chink of glass confirmed her suspicion. Opening
her eyes, She looked over to Ranma who was wiping some spilt juice from
the counter. "Despite what all the reports and media say about you and
how you have a cold heart. You loe your mother don't you?"

	Walking over to her, Ranma handed her a glass of juice. "You can
have the bed tonight. I will sleep on the couch."

	"You didn't answer my question." Usagi said after she drained
her cup. "You love her don't you?"

	Ranma looked back at his wife. "There's another bathroom in the
bedroom. use it to wash up. Get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow you will
have a long day ahead of you."

	"What's happening tomorrow?" Usagi said as she walked towards
the bedroom.

	"Tomorrow we break the hearts of all the women in the world when
I announce I am married to you." With that he walked into the bathroom
and slid the door closed behind him.

	Usagi stared at the door for a minute before she sighed and
walked into the bedroom, uttering one word. "Baka."
 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________