DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty
Productions, and Viz Communications.
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UPON ETHEREAL WINGS By Michael "TheZorch" Haney
See author's notes at the end of the chapter.
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Chapter One
It was the dawning of a new day in Nerima Ward, a small city on the outskirts of Tokyo. Tendo Akane opened her eyes hearing the sound of birds chirping outside of her bedroom window. She looked up and saw not a cloud in the sky, it was a clear sunny morning. She felt better than she had in a long time. As she sat up in her bed she became immediately aware of a body next to her. Lifting the covers she found Saotome Ranma, her iinazuke, fast asleep and still wearing his Chinese outfit from yesterday. Akane's usual rage didn't surface this time though, she just sat there and studied the young man whom she would one day marry. Akane had to admit that Ranma was gorgeous, as both a man and a woman.
The incident with "P-Chan" the day before totally ruined their plans to go on a date. That night Akane and Ranma went up to her bedroom and talked, and kissed, and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Eventually the two became very tired and snuggled up together on the bed. Before long the two had fallen fast asleep in each other's arms. Akane shook Ranma lightly to wake him, she knew he was a sound sleeper but didn't want to wake him the usual way, which involved a bucket of cold water. When he didn't awaken Akane got down low next to Ranma's ear and softly spoke his name.
"Ranma, Ranma." she repeated but he didn't stir. "RANMA!!!!"
The boy shot up bolt upright. "HUH, WHAT, WHERE!!!"
"Good morning sleepy head." Akane smiled at him.
Ranma looked around and suddenly realized where he was. "Uh, did we-?"
"I guess we fell asleep talking to each other last night." Akane blushed.
"So, we like, didn't-?" Ranma couldn't finished the sentence.
Akane laughed and blushed at the same time, "No silly, we kissed some but we didn't do that.
"Oh, well, uh, I'm sure if we had I would've remembered it." Ranma blushed.
"Yeah, me too." Akane blushed furiously.
When they climbed out of bed Ranma pulled Akane into his arms and kissed her softly. The Tendo girl sighed, her hands on his chest felt the tight ropey muscles there that were as hard as mortared bricks. Ranma's whole body was muscle, he could lift a car up over his head literally without straining himself! When they parted Akane opened her door, and a flood of bodies fell inward.
"AKANE AND RANMA HAVE SLEPT TOGETHER, AT LONG LAST THE SCHOOLS WITH FINALLY BE JOINED!" Akane's father cried in a bull horn.
"AT LAST YOU HAVE BECOME A MAN!" read the sign in Genma's panda paw.
"Oh my, sex before marriage Akane just isn't proper." Kasumi gasped.
Nabiki held up her camera and snapped a picture. "Say cheese!"
"DADDY!" Akane shouted.
"POP!" Ranma yelled.
"WE SLEPT TOGETHER BUT WE DIDN'T SLEEP TOGETHER!!!!" they both chorused.
"Yeah, we stayed up talking and fell asleep, nothing happened!" Akane explained.
Happosai bounded into the room and bopped Ranma over the head with his pipe. "You mean you slept in Akane's room all night and you didn't once take advantage of her!" Happosai fumed. "I'm disappointed in you Ranma!"
"I'm not like you, you old pervert!" snarled Ranma.
The two iinazuke turned towards a hideous sound. Their fathers were dancing around the room singing, "THE SCHOOLS WILL BE JOINED, THE SCHOOLS WILL JOINED, LA, LA, LA, LA, THE SCHOOLS WILL FINALLY BE JOINED!!!"
"So you two didn't do anything?" Nabiki asked suspiciously.
"NO!" Akane and Ranma shouted.
But, Akane looked at Ranma and blushed, "Well, we did kiss some, but we didn't get any more intimate than that."
Ranma nodded, "That's all that happened."
Ranma felt a firm hand clamp onto his shoulder, he looked up into Tendo Soun's serious face. "Nevertheless Ranma, you slept in my daughter's bed, and now you have to do the right thing." he said sternly.
"But we didn't do anything!" Ranma shot back at him.
"YOU WILL DO WHAT'S RIGHT!!!" Soun's Demon Head hissed in rage.
Ranma turned faster than anybody could follow with the naked eye, scooped up Akane into his arms, and bounded out of the window. He leapt up onto the rooftops and kept on running until they were well away from the Tendo dojo. Finally, they reached the top of a large building near the market district and Ranma sat Akane down. Her legs were a bit wobbly at first, and she felt as if she left her stomach way back in her bedroom.
"I had to get us out of there." he told her.
"Its ok, I don't blame you." Akane smiled at him. "They were totally blowing this whole thing out of proportions."
"You know they're not gonna give us any rest now." Ranma sighed and sat down.
Akane sighed and sat down next to him, "Yeah, I know."
"Akane." he said.
"Yeah." she replied.
"There's only one way to get them off our backs, you know that don't you?" he asked her.
Akane nodded, "Yeah."
"Akane, let's just do it." he said.
She turned to him, "But would that really solve our problems?"
"We'd have the pressure off us at home, and we can handle Kuno, but it probably wouldn't make a difference to Shampoo." Ranma replied.
"I know, but we've only been together as a 'real' couple since last night." Akane looked into his eyes. "This would be a huge step."
"Nothing much would really change except your dad and my pop would make us share the same bedroom, we'd still have school and stuff." Ranma explained.
"I know but-" she started to say as Ranma came around in front of her and kneeled down on one knee.
"Tendo Akane, will you marry me?" he asked her while looking into her eyes.
"Ranma." Akane gasped softly.
"I was thinking last night, about us, about everything, and well, I got to thinking that maybe things would be better off it we was married." he said softly. "I was going to ask you last night, but we were so tired, and it felt so comfortable laying there with you-" All the while he was talking Akane could not take her eyes off of Ranma's blue eyes. She was captivated by their blue depths, the way they sparkled in the morning sunlight. They were the eyes that made girls swoon just looking at them. In that moment she knew there was only one answer she could give deep within her heart.
"Yes." she whispered.
"Huh?" Ranma gaped in surprise.
She smiled and repeated, "Yes."
"Y-Y-You will?" he said surprised.
"Yes!" Akane flung her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately with all the emotion she had coursing through her.
"I love you." Ranma whispered into Akane's ear when they're lips parted and they held each other.
"I love you too." Akane replied in a whisper also, tears streaming down her face.
They shared another kiss, this time they poured their emotions into it even more deepening the contact. Soon they were bounding over the rooftops again headed for home. Akane rested her head against Ranma's shoulder feeling a little like Jane to Ranma's Tarzan and loving every minute of it. Unbeknownst to both they were being watched from the ground below. Shampoo sat on her "Bicycle of Death" as she watched them bound from rooftop to rooftop.
"Soon, very soon that be Shampoo that airen hold in arms." Shampoo thought out loud. She took the Comb of Suggestion out of her Chinese blouse and looked at it. "Soon, Shampoo finally win man she love."
Back at home the two iinazuke didn't give their parents time to start harassing them about marriage. They had already agreed to talk to them about it after school that same day. Akane and Ranma both ran into the bathroom together, knowing that if they took separate baths that they'd be separately ambushed by both parents on the subject of a wedding. Slowly and tentatively at first the two undressed together in the changing room and slipped into the bathroom. They both blushed furiously as they set about washing.
"We'll have to get used to seeing each other naked." Akane realized.
"Heck, we've already seen each other naked before, remember." Ranma said over her shoulder after a good douse of cold water.
"How could I forget that." Akane laughed.
Ranma blushed and said, "You're still as pretty now as you were back then."
Akane turned around to regard her and blushed, "You really mean that Ranma?"
Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I never really meant those things I said to you about you not having sex appeal and being built like a stick and all."
"Thank you. Ranma." Akane smiled.
"Do you want to know the truth about something?" Akane asked.
"Uh huh?" Ranma nodded.
"I like you the way you are, your curse never really did bother me, well at first it did, but then later I sorta got used to it." Akane admitted. Then she turned to face her iinazuke and looked into those beautiful blue eyes. "I don't care of you ever find a cure for your curse, Ranma, I love you whether you're a girl or a boy." she went on.
Ranma turned to face her, her breasts bouncing with her movements, "You mean that?"
Akane nodded, "Yeah, I-I mean it."
"So, you don't mind if I give you a kiss right now, as a girl." Ranma said with a smile.
"Not at all." she told her, then leaned in and kissed Ranma softly on the lips. When they came back up for air the two found they had gone into each other's arms, their bodies pressed together.
"You're still Ranma whether you're a boy or a girl, and I love you." Akane told her.
Ranma looked into her eyes and said, "This'll take some getting used to."
"We'll have plenty of time after we're married." Akane smiled coyly.
"Unless our parents ambush us as we leave the bathroom, whisk us off to a temple, and force us to get married today." Ranma laughed.
Akane shushed her with a finger to her lips, "Don't give them any ideas, that's something they'd definitely do."
Ranma laughed, "Ok."
"Turn around and I'll scrub your back." Akane told her and picked up her washcloth. Ranma did so without hesitation. Later she turned around and did the same for Akane. About another douse of cold water to wash off the soap the two slowly helped each other into the furo. Akane watched as Ranma instantly reverted back to male form so quickly she couldn't even see the transformation.
"I've seen it happen a million times but it still amazes me." she said.
Ranma sat down next to her and put his arm around Akane's waist. "You know, Prince Herb has the same curse I do."
"I figured that from the way he acted when we found out he had a female body." Akane replied. "He had the same look on his face as you did yours at times."
"I couldn't have beaten him if it weren't for Ryoga and Mousse though." Ranma admitted. "They kept Lime and Mint off my back while I fought Herb."
"They did?" Akane looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, they were trapped in their cursed forms by Herb until they got the kettle." Ranma explained. "Of course they turned around and tried to betray me but in the end they knew they couldn't make it out of that whole situation unless they helped me turn male again."
Akane laughed, "Let me guess, Ryoga wanted to keep you female so he could have me, and Mousse wanted to keep you female so he could have Shampoo."
"Gee, was it that obvious?" Ranma smirked.
"From the way Ryoga acted last night I sorta got the idea he has a one track mind." Akane nodded.
"More like half a track." Ranma snorted.
"No, he's not quite as bad as Kuno." Akane smirked, then she laughed and Ranma joined her. "At least Ryoga knew when to do what was right, most of the time."
"Hey, maybe we should look up that Golden Pair and tell that Asuza girl that her Charlotte is available." said Ranma.
"Ugh!" Akane moaned. "I should have known what you two were fighting over that day, but I was too dense to figure it out."
Ranma reached over and kissed Akane tenderly. Akane sighed and melted into Ranma's arms, not even really caring that they were both naked and Ranma was in male form. After their kiss ended Akane contently rested her head on Ranma's shoulder not wanting to be anywhere else but in his arms at moment. So much has changed in a day, or a night. It was like finally admitting their feelings for one another had opened the floodgates of their souls and now admitting and openly showing affection wasn't so hard to do or so embarrassing anymore.
"We'll be late for school, we'd better go." Akane said, not really enthusiastic about leaving Ranma's embrace.
"Yeah, and I smell breakfast." said Ranma.
"Good ol' Ranma, always thinking with his stomach." Akane laughed.
Sometime later Ranma and Akane were making good time on their way to school. Akane clung to Ranma as he bounded across the rooftops at breakneck speeds, and hid her face into Ranma's chest when they made death defying leaps over wide streets. Just out of sight of the main gates of the schoolyard they alighted to the sidewalk and continued on the ground at a considerably less heart pounding rate of speed. To their surprise they made it to the school grounds just in time, other students were already heading into the school building and the bell hadn't rung yet. The two walked together totally forgetting that they were at that moment holding hands. Several students who saw them, both girls and boys, gasped in shock and wonder at this sight. The spectacle did not go unnoticed by three certain pairs of eyes. One pair watched from behind a shrub in the school yard while holding a camera. The second watched from the school balcony while a hand almost reflexively reached up to grab the giant Baker's Peel strapped to her back. And the third came running with rage in his heart and thrust the tip of a bokken into Ranma's face.
"Cretin, how dare you place your hand upon the person of the fair Tendo Akane in my presence!" Kuno snarled.
"What's up Kuno." said Ranma totally unfazed by Kuno's rage.
"No doubt you hold the fair Akane in the sway of some spell, or she would not consciously suffer herself your loathsome touch!" Kuno raged on. "Begone vile demon or Kuno Tatawaki shall send you back to Hades from whence you came!"
"I hold hands with whoever I feel like!" Akane protested.
"Fear not my lovely flower, for you know not what you say as you are under the thrall of this vile creature!" Kuno cried as he grabbed Akane into his arms. "Though your tongue speaks one thing, I know your heart speaks another!"
"And they both say, GET LOST!" Akane shouts and boots Kuno over the school building.
"Good kick, but Kuno would get more air time if you jumped and kicked at the same time adding more power to the blow." Ranma told her.
Akane smiled, "I'll remember that."
Everyone's jaw threatened to make craters where they stood as Ranma put his arm around Akane without her half killing him and they walked into the school. They made it to homeroom on time so they didn't have to stand out in the hall, and in no time lunch time came around. Usually Akane and Ranma would go separate ways for lunch at school, but today was different, and everyone was noticing the difference. The two went to the cafeteria together. Ranma held Akane's tray while holding his own while she got them lunch, then they choose a table for themselves that was unoccupied and sat across from one another. All the while the two could "feel" hundreds of eyes on them, and didn't even care. They really didn't notice when a certain spatula wielding girl came and sat next to them.
"Hey, Ranma honey, Akane." Ukyo greeted them.
"Hi Ukyo." Ranma returned the greeting.
"So, what's going on with you two?" the girl asked. "I saw something pretty strange this morning."
"Nothing strange happened this morning." said Akane.
"Uh, you guys were holding hands." Ukyo replied with a frown.
"Ukyo, we gotta talk, but not right now, not in school." Ranma told her. "Me and Akane both gotta talk to you."
Ukyo looked at Ranma and then Akane and back again. "Ranma honey, what are you trying to say?"
"We can't say here, too many prying ears." Ranma said looking over at where Kuno was sitting and glowering towards them. Gosunkugi Hikaru sat further away holding one of his trademark voodoo dolls dressed win black pants and red Chinese tunic.
There was something in the way Ranma looked at Akane just then that made a pit form in Ukyo's stomach. Suddenly she didn't really feel like lunch. "I-I-I gotta go, I'll see you later." she stammered and ran from the lunch room.
"She knows." said Akane quietly.
"I wish we could make it easier on her, I don/t love her, but I still care about her." Ranma sighed. "Its all pop's fault, he's the one who did this to her not me."
"We'll find a way to satisfy her family honor, I know we will." said Akane.
"There's more to it than that, honor is one thing, but how can repairing her honor repair her heart or her life." Ranma said and he was suddenly unable to eat.
"Like you said Ranma, it wasn't your fault." Akane told him. "It was your father who promised you to her and then ran off with her dowry leaving her behind."
Ranma reached across the table and took Akane's hand. Across the room the two could hear a table being split in half with a bokken. "Yeah, she's as much a victim of my pop's stupidity as I am."
"She's more of a friend than a rival too, really." Akane nodded.
Kuno Tatawaki was uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the day, which gave Akane and Ranma some much needed breathing room. They did notice a certain mousy shadow hiding just out of sight snapping pictures. Except for the paper dolls incident Gosunkugi Hikaru was pretty harmless so Ranma ignored him, but didn't let his guard down either. On their way home Ranma could not help but notice the looks many students were giving them, some were happy, some surprised, and others were outright aggression. Akane had many admirers in Furinken High School. Kuno had over eighty boys going after her everyday before Ranma came on the scene. Shortly after seeing what Ranma was capable of doing against Kuno, Ryoga, and Mousse the Hentai Horde all but vanished. Nobody in their right mind at Furinken High School would challenge Saotome Ranma, but then Kuno Tatawaki wasn't exactly in his right mind.
Instead of taking the high road home over the rooftops the two iinazuke walked together holding hands. It was a beautiful day with a sunny cloudless sky. They were not in any hurry to get back home, not that they dreaded getting there, but that they wanted to make this moment last just a little longer. When they get to the house they knew a long discussion with their parents was in order. Of course, the two were going to be overjoyed with what they were going to hear from their children. Ranma and Akane wanted to get married, and as they both thought it over they came to realize that it would actually take a lot of the pressure off of them if they did just go ahead and get it over with. A formal ceremony with guests could come later when they were financially stable enough for it. There was the question of children, but they could both wait on that. This mean that they'd both have to be very careful up until then.
Akane asked Ranma if they could take a detour to Dr. Tofu's office on the way home, and Ranma didn't see why not. They entered the clinic and the doctor came out carrying Betty his skeleton. "Oh, hello Akane, Ranma." he said cheerfully. "Any injuries today?"
"No, actually I came to ask you about something doctor." Akane told him.
"Oh?" Dr. Tofu looked at her. "Anything wrong?"
"Uh, Ranma, could you wait here?" Akane asked her iinazuke. "This is sort of a private thing."
Ranma nodded, "Oh, one of them girl things, yeah, ok." He took a seat in the waiting room while Dr. Tofu escorted Akane into one of the examination rooms.
"Having menstrual problems?" the doctor asked her.
"No, uh, I wanted to ask, uh." Akane stammered.
"You can talk to me Akane, what you say here never leaves this room." Dr. Tofu reassured her.
"D-D-D-Do you have anything for birth control?" Akane finally asked. "Besides condoms, I don't think Ranma would think they're manly."
Tofu Ono raised his eyebrow in a classic Spock Maneuver, "Oh, so you and Ranma have become sexually active, eh?"
Akane blushed, "N-N-Not yet, we're going to get married soon, but we don't want to have kids right away.,"
"How soon?" the Doc asked.
"As soon as possible." Akane replied.
"Hmmm."
"Can you help us?"
The Doc raised his finger saying, "I think I can." He quickly left the room and returned a short time later holding a bottle of pills.
"Have you heard of RU486?" he asked her.
Akane shook her head, "No."
"Well, this is similar to it." Dr. Tofu explained. "RU486 is known as the 'Morning After Pill', its prevents pregnancy after the fact, in Western countries they call it the 'Abortion Pill'."
"Oh, no, if my father found out I was using something like that he'd be livid, he's against abortion, and I have no idea what Ranma's stand on it is." Akane told him.
"Not to worry, I call this the 'Night Before Pill'." Tofu explained. "It is a combination of special medicinal herbs that causes your reproductive cycle to go dormant temporarily." He handed her the bottle. Akane popped the lid and looked inside. The pills looked orange and translucent like Vitanim E pills.
"Take one every other day and everything should be fine, and no side effects." the Doc told her. "I've administered this to many of my patients."
"Thank you, Dr. Tofu." Akane beamed.
"You're welcome." Tofu replied.
"Everything ok with her Doc?" Ranma asked when they returned to the waiting room.
"All is well Ranma." Dr. Tofu told him and winked at him.
"Uh." Ranma let out not know what that was about.
"Remember Akane, one every two days." Tofu told Akane.
Akane nodded, "Got it Doctor, and thanks again."
When they were finally outside Ranma looked over at Akane questioningly. He wasn't sure what Akane wanted to see Dr. Tofu about, and what was that wink all about too. Finally, Ranma got up the nerve to ask her about it. When he did Akane held up the bottle of pills.
"You're not sick are you?" he asked.
"No baka." she replied affectionately. "These are for after we get married."
"You need pills for marriage?" Ranma was totally confused.
Akane blushed intensely and told him, "Yes, if we don't want to have babies right away."
"B-B-B-B-Babies?!" Ranma stammered.
"They're birth control pills, baka." Akane blushed.
"OH!" Ranma said finally getting it and wiped sweat from his brow.
"Geeze, don't buzz my tower like that." he want on.
Akane gave him a sheepish grin, "Why not, you look so cute when you get all nervous and flustered like that."
Something suddenly set off Ranma's danger sense, he put out his arm to block Akane's path. "We're being watched." he whispered. He fell into a defensive crouch in front of her and looked around for danger.
Akane looked around, both ways down the street and at the rooftops all around but saw nothing. "I don't see anything." she said.
"They're close." Ranma warned.
"Shampoo?" Akane assumed.
Ranma shook his head, "No, doesn't feel familiar, this isn't somebody we know."
This was starting to make the hair on the back of Akane's head stand up on end. She grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the street. "Come on, Ranma y-y-you're scaring me, lets get home." she told him. He nodded and followed her while still looking around for the presence he sensed. On a rooftop above them, from a hidden vantage point, a graceful swan looked down at them. When the pair were far down the street the beautiful fowl spread its wings, leapt from the building and soared into the clear blue sky.
As the two two had expected the dojo was in total pandemonium, with emphasis on the word "panda". Sometime during the day Soun and Genma had gathered together dozens of wedding catalogs for dresses, decorations, and all sorts of other things one would expect at a major wedding. It took both Akane and Ranma to bring both men, well one man and one panda, down off of cloud nine so they could talk to them. When the sitting room was finally cleared of the wedding stuff and Kasumi served some tea the discussion began. Ranma elected to go first.
"Pop, Mr. Tendo, Akane and I have done some talking and we've decided we want to get married now." he told them.
The two men were about to suddenly go into hysterics with party horns and streamers to celebrate the pending marriage but a warning cry from Akane brought both back to Earth. "No big ceremony, only family and Dr. Tofu and that's it, no guests." she said.
"B-B-But Akane, this is a big event, the schools are finally being joined, we have to celebrate it." Soun protested.
"Yeah!" read Genma's sign.
"And can you guarantee that certain people won't show up to try and stop such a wedding?" Akane asked. "I can just imagine what would happen if Shampoo got wind of what we were planning, let alone what Kuno would do, or Kodachi, or Ukyo, or who know who else if either after me or Ranma."
"That's why we want a simple private ceremony, and we can have a full blown wedding with all the trimmings later when all this insanity is finally taken care of." Ranma supported her.
"No big party, no reception?" Soun looked downtrodden.
"Later, when we have the second wedding, right now we just want to get married and make it a simple ceremony." said Akane.
Genma tapped the man on the shoulder and showed him his sign, "Tendo, at least they're finally getting married."
Soun turned back to them asking, "When would you like to do this?"
"Next week, or as soon as possible." Ranma explained.
Soun nodded, "Alright, I'll start making the preparations, and you said you want Dr. Tofu there also."
"Yeah, he's almost like a part of the family." said Akane. "He's been there for us ever since before momma died so me and Ranma both want him to be there."
"One other thing." Ranma said shooting a glance over at Nabiki. "Certain people are not to get wind of this whatsoever, and if I find out they do learn about this and they try to stop it I'll know who to blame."
Nabiki shuddered under Ranma's gaze. She knew very well what the young man could do when angry. Being the target of Saotome Ranma's wrath was not something she'd find very pleasant. After all, on the news she heard about the destruction of the mountain where Ranma confronted Herb. Ranma had destroyed a whole mountain fighting that Musk warlord, so of course she had a damn good reason to be afraid of him if not also secretly be envious of her sister. Ranma may be a superhuman martial artists, but he's also a certifiable mega-hunk.
"I get the point Ranma, these lips are sealed." Nabiki said making zipper motion over her mouth.
"Good, you can sell your info after the wedding." he told her.
"Even though it will be just us, I can still try out a few of mother's recipes for a dinner after the wedding." Kasumi smiled.
"That would be nice Kasumi, and it would give you a chance to cook a meal for Dr. Tofu." Akane replied and Kasumi blushed lightly.
"Yes, it would, I've made him pastries from time to time, but never a whole meal before." the eldest Tendo sister blushed even more deeply. Kasumi heard a sound out in the yard and turned to look. Out beyond the shoji doors she saw a beautiful swan paddling around in the koi pond.
"Oh my, father look." she pointed.
Soun gasped, "It's a omen, a good omen!"
Ranma frowned, he had that same sudden sense he had before out on the street, like they were being watched by something or somebody. "Where did it come from?" he wondered out loud.
"It's a sign from the spirits of our ancestors blessing the wedding of Ranma and Akane!" Soun cried streaming tears of joy.
"Truly a divine miracle." read Genma's sign.
"It is an omen, but for good or ill, that still remains to be seen." said a voice from outside. Everyone looked up but all they could see was the swan looking in at them from the pond.
"Who said that?" Akane asked.
"Somebody's out there." said Ranma as he took a fighting stance.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Saotome Ranma." said the voice again, and this time with everyone looking they realized the voice came from the swan. "Yet."
"OH MY!" Kasumi gasped.
"I-I-It speaks, our ancestors have come to speak to us!" Soun sobbed.
"W-W-Who are you?" asked Akane. In answer to her question the swan flapped its great wings and alighted on the porch overlooking the pond. It shook itself off and waddled into the room to the surprise of everyone. Suddenly, the swan began to change shape before their eyes and quickly morphed into another form. Within minutes the swan was replaced by a rather comely looking old woman. Clearly the years have been very good to her, she still had much of her beauty from youth. Her body was adorned in fine robes and she held a long staff gilded in gold and silver.
"I am Lady Ambrosia, the Weaver of the Amazons." the old woman replied. "And I have come looking for you Tendo Akane."
Ranma was suddenly between this strange old woman and Akane in a fighting stance. "I knew it!" he spat. "She's working for the old ghoul!"
"Old ghoul?" Lady Ambrosia looked at him and cocked her head to one said and then laughed. "Oh, I see, I assume you're speaking of Matriarch Cologne. It is easy to understand why you would call her that as the years have not been as kind to her as they have been to me. Interesting nickname though, I bet it just burns her buns when you call her that."
"What do you want with my daughter?" Soun asked apprehensively.
The old woman looked at Akane said replied, "I have come all this way from China seeking Tendo Akane, because it is to her that I plan to bequeath my legacy."
"HUH!?" everyone gasped in surprise.
"My legacy is my knowledge, the knowledge to use the potential that is now beginning to awaken within you, Tendo Akane." she went on still looking at Akane.
"Potential, within me?" Akane pointed at herself. "For what?"
"To be a Weaver my dear." Lady Ambrosia said and gracefully passed her hand over her tea cup. The cup sudden rippled as if it were made of Jello or water somehow suspended in midair by an invisible force, then it flowed into a new shape become a figurine of a graceful swan.
"Oh my." Kasumi gasped quietly in fascination.
"H-H-How did you do that?" Akane gasped.
The old woman smiled and said, "In time you too will learn to do this, and more Tendo Akane."
"You want to train Akane to be a magician?" Ranma questioned her suspiciously.
"What I do is not magic, some would say we Weavers are far more powerful than any wizard or sorceress." Ambrosia replied.
"You call yourself a Weaver, a weaver of what my I ask?" Tendo Soun asked.
Ambrosia nodded towards the Tendo patriarch and replied, "A Weaver of Reality."
Akane held the ceramic figurine that had been a tea cup little more than an hour ago and still could not believe it. The material of the cup had been reshaped seamlessly into this form without loosing any of its intricate Japanese patterns. It was as if the cup had been melted down, poured into a mold, yet she had seen the thing change right before her eyes. And, the Amazon had said that 'she' would one day learn to do this sort of thing also. What Akane could not understand was why this Lady Ambrosia came to her. Ranma remained suspicious of the old woman, believing this was all a ploy to get him to go on a date with Shampoo, trick him into marrying her, or to get Akane out of the way. Since her arrival Lady Ambrosia showed no signs of being hostile, though.
The three of them, Ranma, Akane and Lady Ambrosia sat in the middle of the dojo. They're discussion was for meant for Akane but Ranma had insisted on being present. Lady Ambrosia agreed on the condition that Ranma would not interfere in anything that happened. Reluctantly he agreed, he was as curious as Akane was about what all this was about and why did this Amazon want to pass on her knowledge to Akane rather than another Amazon like Shampoo or someone else.
"You asked me, what is a Weaver, but before I answer that question I want to ask you a question." Lady Ambrosia said. "What is Reality?"\
Akane gestured around the dojo with her hands. "All of this, I guess." she said.
"You are partially right." Lady Ambrosia explained. "Everything that you see, touch, taste, hear, and feel in the universe if a manifestation of Reality. Now here is another interesting question, what causes Reality?"
Akane and Ranma looked at her with a baffled expression. "Uh, I don't know, um, the universe?" she replied.
"The universe is a manifestation of Reality." Lady Ambrosia corrected her. "But what makes Reality possible?"
Akane shook her head, "I don't know, the Kami maybe."
"The answer is a combination of Space and Time." Lady Ambrosia smiled. "Space manifests all that you see, matter, light, energy, while Time allows us to move about in Space."
"I never took Physics classes." Akane admitted.
"Only a rudimentary knowledge of Physics is needed to understand the concepts I am going to teach you, Tendo Akane." Lady Ambrosia replied.
"Earlier, you said you're a Weaver of Reality, what does that mean?" Akane asked her.
"Space and Time are the Fabric of Reality, joined together they make up the universe around us." the old woman said as she gestured around the dojo. "They manifest the air we breath, the light we see with, everything in the universe comes from these two vital elements. But, there is a third element, an important one that few know exists, and even fewer know how to use it."
"You weave reality, but that's impossible." Akane gasped in disbelief. She heard Ranma beside her grunt in agreement.
"Is it?" Lady Ambrosia asked pointing at the figurine that had been a teacup. "Space and Time are our thread, the Universe is our tapestry, is it so incomprehensible, how did I shape that tea cup into a swan if I had not woven the fabric of reality that comprises it?"
Akane still could not believe it. "But to do what you're saying you can do you'd have to be-"
"A Kami, hardly." Lady Ambrosia interrupted her. "I admit that weaving reality does make it seem as if we Weavers possess the power of the Kami, but in truth our formidable talents are infinitesimal compared to those of the Pantheons of Heaven."
"You say I have this talent?" Akane pointed to herself.
"We call it the Gift, and yes my dear you possess it." Lady Ambrosia smiled at her.
"This is all so-"
"Overwhelming, confusing?" the old woman interrupted.
"W-W-What is the third element?" Akane asked.
Lady Ambrosia smiled and said, "As bricks require mortar to hold them together, so does the Space and Time need a mortar or glue to hold them together to create Reality." She gestured towards the swan figurine in Akane's hand and it reshaped back into a tea cup.
"This third element is the stuff that binds Space and Time together, a force of immense power, yet despite this it is a maliable as clay, but only if one only knows how to mold it." Lady Ambrosia explained. "We call it the Etherium. If you can change the Etherium, then you can shape reality itself."
"Incredible." Akane breathed as she examined the cup.
"The Gift within you is awakening, Tendo Akane, you will need instruction in how to control this power, but I will not lie to you for this journey could be perilous." the old woman admitted. She saw Ranma shuffle a little closer to her intended apprentice when she said that.
"In what way?" Akane asked a bit fearfully.
"There was a man who once wrote, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'." Lady Ambrosia replied.
"Adolph Hitler." said Akane. "We learned about him in our World History class in high school."
"Yes, he was a madman but those words he wrote speak the truth." the old woman nodded. "To be a Weaver means to control a power that allows us to shape reality into whatever we will it be, and there have been some who have become slaves to the Gifts they have been born with. Too easily the power afforded by the Gift can become addictive, the temptation to use the power for your own gains becomes too great to resist, thus to be a Weaver means to possess great responsibility and to have even greater self- control."
When she said this Ambrosia noticed Ranma shoot a very apprehensive look at Akane. This peaked the Amazon's curiosity a bit, so she decided to let him in on the conversation. "You seemed concerned, Saotome Ranma." she said. "Share with us your misgivings."
"Uh!" he stammered. What he had been thinking at that moment had the risk of awakening the old Akane. His iinazuke was not known as the most self-controlled person in the world, but lately she had been exercising some of that control pretty well but mostly for a desire to make a relationship between them work.
"Go on Ranma, I know what you're going to say." said Akane. "I don't exactly have a lot of self-control." All the times she booted skyward came to Akane's mind.
"Well, I-uh-that is-" he stammered some more.
"Ranma and I didn't always get along very well, I always took what he said the wrong way and came to all sorts of wrong conclusions about things he did." Akane explained.
"Hey, it ain't like you're alone here, I got the same problem too ya know." Ranma said in her defense. "Besides, why is she wanting to train you to use this whatever it is she's talking about anyway? This could be one of the Old Ghoul's ploys to get me and Shampoo together."
"I have nothing to do with the Matriarch's designs towards making you the husband of her great grand daughter." said Lady Ambrosia.
"Ok, then why do ya wanna train Akane to do this stuff and not an Amazon like Shampoo or somebody else?" Ranma asked.
"Because, she is The One." the old woman inclined her head towards Akane. "There is an ancient legend among our people that speaks of The One, she will be a Weaver who will surpass all other previous Weavers in power."
"This is the part where you say we're all in a dreamworld and we've been turned into human batteries." Ranma scoffed.
Lady Ambrosia laughed, "I've seen that movie too, Saotome Ranma."
"I will not go into any further details now, neither of you are ready to know all that I know as of yet, but in time you will learn everything." she want on. "Know this, the world around you is indeed real, but for we Weavers it is only as real as we will it to be."
"So there is no catch if I agree to become your apprentice?" Akane asked her. "Ranma doesn't have to date Shampoo or anything along those line?"
Lady Ambrosia shook her head, "No, the Matriarch does not even know that I am here."
"Until now." said a old, crackling voice. Everyone suddenly to see Cologne, Matriarch of the Nyanchiczu, standing by one of the outside doors of the dojo while balancing on her staff.
"I wondered how long it take before you felt my presence." said Lady Ambrosia with a smile. "I see the centuries have not dulled your senses."
"You are here without the approval of the council I presume." said Cologne.
"They would never understand." Lady Ambrosia told her. "I have found The One." She gestured towards Akane and Cologne's eyes went wide with shock.
"Tendo Akane is The One?" she gasped. "I hope you are certain of this."
The old Weaver closed her eyes and nodded, "There is no question, the flow of the Etherium around her is unlike anything I've seen around any Weaver."
"How very interesting that two people with such incredible potential would be found in the same city." said Cologne as she regarded Ranma and Akane. "Even more interesting is that fact that those same two people would be engaged to one another. Whether they actually marry is another question."
"I ain't gonna marry Shampoo, you old hag so get off it!" Ranma yelled at Cologne.
"So the rumors of true, this young man is the one who defeated Prince Herb?" Lady Ambrosia asked the Matriarch.
Cologne nodded, "Yes, and it is a very impressive accomplishment worthy of my great grand daughter."
"Didn't you just hear him, he said he's not going to marry Shampoo." Akane spoke up.
Cologne produced a bucket of water and quickly dumped it over Ranma's head. He felt the transformation take hold instantly. "What the hell was that for?!" female Ranma snarled.
"A reminded son-in-law, a reminder of the situation you currently in." Cologne smirked. "It would be a shame if you were locked in you're female form once again."
Ranma jumped up into a defensive crouch. "You ain't using that Cat's Tongue on me again." she hissed.
"You have a Josenkyo curse?" Lady Ambrosia asked in wide eyed surprise.
"Duh!" Ranma gaped at her pointing at her ample chest.
The old Weaver turned to Cologne quickly and said in a forceful voice, "Stop this at once."
"Excuse me?" Cologne gasped and looked at the other woman.
"I will have words with you outside please, Matriarch." Lady Ambrosia said as she stood up with her staff.
Ranma and Akane just looked at one another as Cologne and the old woman left the dojo closing the door behind them. The two elderly Amazons went to the far end of the yard and stopped when they reached the wall. Cologne turned to Lady Ambrosia with a disapproving scowl on her face.
"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice in front of my future son-in-law." she said angrily.
"He cannot marry your great grand daughter, and you know the reasons why as much as I do." Lady Ambrosia looked down at her.
Cologne folded her arms, "I know the legends, how do you know Ranma is the same one spoken of by our ancestors.?"
"A warrior who is a man among men yet embodies the soul of a woman, I'd say Saotome Ranma fits the bill quite nicely." the old Weaver replied.
"Son-in-law isn't the only martial artist in the world with that particular Josenkyo curse." said Cologne.
"True, but how many of those martial artists could have defeated the Crown Prince of the Musk Dynasty in single combat?" Lady Ambrosia asked her.
"Until I see more proof I will not dissolve Shampoo's claim to him." Cologne said resolutely. "He will marry Shampoo."
Lady Ambrosia leaned down to look at her closely. "Are you willing to risk the survival of our world on this, you did not doubt my judgment so fervently when I said that Tendo Akane was The One." Lady Ambrosia smirked.
"How much have you already told her?" Cologne asked looking towards the dojo.
"Nearly everything, except for certain details concerning the legend." said the old Weaver. "What I did tell her is that she is The One."
"So she nothing of the Age of Shadows, nothing of the great apocalypse that is coming to this world, and the role she will play in it." Cologne mused.
"Nor of the role her chosen life-mate will play in that same war, or of the fact that her mate will be a warrior unlike any other, a man among men, yet embodies that soul of a woman." Lady Ambrosia continued for her.
"Shampoo would never agree to let the boy go, she is enraptured by him." Cologne explained.
"If he is truly the fated bond-mate of The One, no man or woman in the universe can separate them." said Lady Ambrosia. "Allow Shampoo to try one last time to win her airen, but I already know what the outcome will be."
"That is already done." Cologne told her. "She had the Comb of Suggestion with her and right now plots to take that which is hers."
Lady Ambrosia did a Spock Maneuver eyebrow move. "Interesting, I almost feel sorry for poor Shampoo." she said. "I can guarantee you her efforts will not succeed."
Cologne humphed and said, "That remains to be seen."
Akane's special education was scheduled to formally begin the next day after school. The next morning the youngest Tendo sister awoke and came downstairs with her iinazuke beside her. At the bottom of the steps the most wonderful, mouthwatering aroma assaulted their noses. The two quickly made for the kitchen and were surprised to see Lady Ambrosia working at the stove as Kasumi watched her over her shoulder.
"That smells wonderful Lady Ambrosia." said Kasumi.
"An old family recipe my dear handed down from generation to generation." the old Amazon Weaver smiled. "I learned it from my mother who was also a Weaver."
"Oh my, I thought the men did all the cooking in the Amazon village." Kasumi mused.
Lady Ambrosia laughed, "We Nyanchiczu are a matriarchal society, but we do not relegate men strictly to domestic chores."
"I see, the women are in charge but men are not forced into doing the duties of a housewife." Kasumi said.
"No, there are a few on the council of elders who would love it if we enslaved our men, but we tend to do things on a more even sharing basis." Lady Ambrosia explained.
"That ain't the impression I got from Cologne." said Ranma.
Lady Ambrosia looked over at him and nodded to him and Akane. "Good morning, I trust you both slept well." she said.
"Are you making our breakfast?" Akane asked.
"Since your father was gracious enough to allow me to stay here during your training I must do something in return for his kindness." the old Weaver replied with a smile.
"She really is a good cook, Akane." said Kasumi.
Nabiki stuck her head into the kitchen and asked, "Say, what smells so good in here?"
"The old woman's cooking us breakfast." Ranma told her.
"Ranma, be nice." Akane scolded him.
"Akane, Kasumi dear, could you set the table for me?" Lady Ambrosia asked them. "I'm almost done here."
Akane shrugged her shoulders, "Ok." She and Kasumi went to the cupboard and pulled out the dishes. Soon the dinner table was set for breakfast. Ranma and Nabiki sat down at the table just as the three women started bringing out the food. The smell make Soun and Genma's mouths water, and Ranma's stomach rumbled. When he saw how much a spread of food had been brought out he gasped.
"Whoa, where did all of this come from?" he asked.
"I collected many of the ingredients from China, Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia just this morning." Lady Ambrosia told him with a smile.
Ranma gaped at her. "How the hell did you do that?"
"This morning one minute the pantry was nearly empty, then I turned around and suddenly it was full." said Kasumi.
"You, you created all this food with you're powers?" asked Akane.
"Oh no my dear, that would have taken too long and would have required a great deal of concentration and meditation." Lady Ambrosia told her. "I simply transferred the items here by folding space, the cost of the items will of course be picked up by the village."
"You don't have to go that far, Ms. Ambrosia." said Tendo Soun.
"The Nyanchiczu are quite wealthy, the expense of supplying food to this one household is a paltry sum." the old woman replied.
"Y-Y-Your people are rich, the Amazon's?" Nabiki asked in surprise.
Lady Ambrosia nodded, "Our society dates back more than ten thousand years, and in that time we have acquired enough wealth in gold, jewels, ancient relics, and long forgotten scrolls of knowledge to pay the national debt of the American's a hundred times over."
"Too bad Ranma's not gonna marry Shampoo." said Nabiki and earned a scornful look from her younger sister. "Lady Ambrosia, you wouldn't happen to have a younger cousin who's single would you?"
"Maybe you should go out with Mousse." said Ranma under his breath and Akane stifled a giggle.
"What was that Saotome?" Nabiki asked flashing him her patented and trademark "Ice Queen" stare, then looked at her younger sister with a slightly less chilly expression.
"Uh nothing, nothing at all." he replied quickly scratching the back of his head.
Nabiki snorted, "I thought so."
"Sorry dear, all of my male cousins are already spoken for, but Shampoo has a cousin about your age who is still single." Lady Ambrosia smiled.
"If your people are so rich why do you live the way you do?" Ranma asked. "When I went to Joketsuzoku and met Shampoo that first time it looked kinda primitive."
"We believe in simple living, we do not let wealth go to our heads like it does to so many in your culture and other lands." explained Lady Ambrosia. "Besides, to live in any higher luxury than we do now would arouse many questions from the Beijing government."
"Oh, so you make the appearance of being poor when you're actually not." said Nabiki. "Pretty clever, throwing around too much money in communist China would certain draw a lot of attention your way."
"When they do send agents our way to investigate us or check up on us from time to time we Weavers make certain that they do not see what they are not supposed to see." Lady Ambrosia said.
"I wondered how the Amazons were able to maintain their way of life, especially after the Cultural Revolution." Akane scratched her chin.
"A army is fairly useless against those who possess the ability to manipulate the Etherium to alter space and time." the old Weaver smiled. "During that dark time in China's history, while the communists were forcing cultural conformity among the populace Joketsuzoku virtually disappeared. Many times the communists came into our area looking for our village after hearing rumors of our existence, but time and again they failed to locate us. Eventually, they stopped searching, but discovered us sometime in the 1960's but all they know of us is that we are a primitive village in a remote portion of the country in an area that has no strategic or natural resource value except for perhaps lumber."
"They gotta know about Josenkyo." Ranma looked at her.
"They know of the place, but not of what it is." the old Weaver told him. "When the government in Beijing created and tested their first biological weapons we knew that if they learned of the true secrets of Josenkyo they might try to turn it into a weapon."
"Yeah, I can see how they could do that." Akane nodded. She envisioned in her mind a battlefield, bombs exploded over the heads of an advancing army then they were drenched by a spray of water from overhead. That same army stopped in its tracks as their gear fell to the ground and all sorts of different animals wriggled their way our of their uniforms. The thought of Josenkyo water being used as a weapon made Ranma shudder.
"Better hurry and eat you three or you'll be late for school." Genma spoke up.
"Huh?" Ranma looked up and checked the wall clock. "Aw man, and we haven't even sparred yet."
"You're off the hook until after school, boy." his father smirked.
Ranma smirked right back at him, "Morning or afternoon I can still kick your tail, old man."
Ranma held Akane's waist as she tried to balance to top of the canal fence. She staggered a little at first but slowly made her way while Ranma helped her balance and Nabiki kept and eye open to anyone on the street who might come along and look up Akane's skirt. When they saw a few school boys approach they leapt down, and heard groans of disappointment from them.
"Next time we practice fence walking when I'm wearing pants." Akane said.
The boys backed off quickly when Ranma shot them a hostile stare. "Yeah, that's a good idea." he agreed.
Suddenly a girl in a Furinken school girl's uniform ran up to them and nearly ran into Akane. "Akane, I-came-warn-you-Kuno!" Yuka tried to say between gasps of air.
"What's this about Kuno?" Nabiki asked.
Yuka turned and pointed down the street. "Look-for-yourself." she said finally catching her breath.
The three looked down the street at the gates to Furinken High School and saw a sight they had not seen in nearly a year. Several throngs of boys wear all sorts of sports and martial arts equipment were standing in rows at the gates. The Hentai Horde was reassembled. "What the hell!" Ranma gasped.
"He got the boys all worked up about you two yesterday, he told them that your engagement to Ranma would be null and void if they could beat you." Yuka explained.
"Why that dirty, no good." Akane clenched her fists and ground her teeth in rage.
"Who the hell does he think he is!?" Ranma snarled and put his arm around Akane's waist.
Yuka's eyes went wide. "Wow, so the rumors are true, you two are like a real couple now." she gasped.
"It ain't like we've been trying to hide it much." Ranma said.
Akane put her hand over Ranma's that was on her waist and smiled, "Yeah, Yuka, don't spread this around but me and Ranma have worked out our differences and we're not fighting the engagement anymore."
"But you made a vow that you hated men." Yuka gaped at her.
"Not all men." Akane said looking at Ranma. She noticed her old friend look over at Ranma with a very brief expression of longing which quickly turned to one of immense disappointment. What is it about Ranma that every single girl that sees him wants him for herself?, she asked herself. When she found her gaze drifting towards his beautiful crystal blue eyes she got her answer.
"Want me to take this one, I gotta stake in this too now." Ranma looked back at her and drifted a bit in her gaze.
She tightened her grip on his hand and said, "For now on we do this together."
Ranma smiled and said, "This is gonna be fun." Yuka and Nabiki watched in fascination and surprise as both Ranma and Akane rushed the Hentai Horde hand-in-hand. They plowed into the first boys head on bring them down with a jump kicks. The two let each other go but stayed close together as they tore through the enraged school boys. Cries of "Break up Ranma and Akane!" echoed down the street amidst the many cries of agony coming from the boys we had been felled by the two iinazuke. Ranma and Akane were like two sides of the Yin and Yang symbol. On one side Ranma's moves were all fluid and graceful as he delivered devastating kicks and punches. On the other Akane's moves were fierce and brutal as she hammered boys with her fists and sent them skyward with high kicks which unintentionally gave a few boys a brief peep show of her panties before they too where slammed to the ground. As soon as the carnage began it was over, and when the dust cleared everyone in the school yard and up on the balcony gasped in surprise when they watched Ranma and Akane approach one another, kiss, then headed towards the school hand in hand. Immediately as they passed the gates Ranma's danger sense when off. He ducked his head narrowly avoiding the blow from a bokken that would have taken off his head.
"Attacking me from behind isn't very honorable, Kuno." Ranma said as he stood up.
"Only when my intended target is himself an honorable man, Saotome." Kuno smirked.
Akane stalked up to the wannabe Samurai and snarled, "What is the deal with sending all those boys at me again!?
"Watching you and the vile Saotome yesterday in school was horrible torture beyond any mortal pain this humble warrior could ever bear." Kuno sighed dramatically and held up a red rose to his face. "I knew that the hold this vile creature has upon you has grown stronger, therefore I know endeavor to break this bond now and forever."
Ranma groaned and rubbed his hand down his face, "Man is this getting old or what?"
"Tell me about it." Akane whispered to him.
Kuno quickly tossed his rose at Akane, who caught it with practiced ease, then tossed an envelope at Ranma. "Not this again." Ranma groaned as he caught the letter. Kuno had challenged the engagement before and Ranma had defended himself, but back then he fought to protect his reputation as a better fighter than Kuno. Now the battle was more personal, he really wanted to be with Akane this time.
"Saotome Ranma, I challenge you, meet me at the selected place and time." Kuno said puffing up his chest. "This issue shall finally be put to rest and I Kuno Tatawaki shall finally free the beauteous Tendo Akane from your vile grasp."
Ranma tore open the letter and read it. "Heh, the track field behind the gym after school." he said.
"I will understand if you are too frightened to show, but in the event that you do not you loose by default and Tendo Akane will become my iinazuke." Kuno said proudly.
"Are you deranged!" Akane snapped at him. "I'd never marry you!"
Ranma patted her shoulder to calm her down and said, "I'll agree to this fight on one condition Kuno, that if I win you drop your claim to Akane and the Pig Tailed Girl."
Kuno thrust his bokken into Ranma's face, but the Saotome youth didn't flinch one bit. "Naive!" he yelled. "You lay claim to the beauteous Akane and now you lay claim also to my pig tailed goddess as well!"
"Neither of them want you, you annoy the hell out of both of them and your so caught up in your samurai fantasy world that you don't even realize it." Ranma looked at him with a hard stare. Akane and Nabiki both looked at Ranma in surprise. "You make up fantasies that the only way I beat you is through dark magic or something like that, and its pretty pathetic if you ask me." he went on.
Kuno did not reply, he just stared at Ranma for a moment with immense contempt on his face. They stood there looking at each other for several minutes when suddenly Kuno's face curled up into the most vicious snarl Ranma had ever seen. Tatawaki lifted his bokken and cried, "DAMN THE CHALLENGE, THE SWORD OF KUNO WILL TASTE YOUR BLOOD NOW!"
Akane ducked out of the way as Kuno attacked Ranma in a berserker rage, he wildly swung his sword about attempting to hit Ranma. The Saotome youth dodged the blows that narrowly struck him several times. The wooden sword cleaved through a tree and smashed part of the school wall as the two combatants chased one another around the school yard. Ranma did not just dodge during this whole exchanged, but he was unable to get close enough past Kuno's wild sword blows to land a punch of kick.
Ranma dodged a series of furious sword blows that came too close to connecting for comfort. He leapt high over Kuno's head and reach out to grab his bokken away from him. Ranma's hand encircled the wooden blade and he felt it give way and pulled away with him. When he alighted to the ground behind Kuno he realized with a chill down his spine that what he was holding in his hand was a wooden sword scabbard made to look like a bokken. Kuno whirled around, the sound of bare steel sung in the air as a bright metal blade narrowly missed Ranma's neck.
"Kami-sama, Kuno baby has a real sword!" Nabiki gasped.
"Ranma look out!" Akane cried.
Ranma saw it before either Tendo girls did, and he put some distance between himself and Kuno while staying a safe distance from the girls or any other students. This whole fight had turned from an annoyance to downright dangerous. Kuno was fighting with a vicious ferocity unlike anything Ranma had ever seen from the Kendoist, and he was actually demonstrating some skill too. Something just didn't add up here. During the whole battle nobody noticed the bejeweled wire comb stuck in Kuno's hair.
"Stupid bokken boy, Shampoo say defeat Ranma in duel, not kill Ranma." Shampoo growled through clenched teeth as she watched the fight from her hiding place in the school yard. She winced as Kuno's sword came within a hair's breath of slicing Ranma's torso like a side of beef. It was clear to the voluptuous Amazon that her strategy for getting Ranma and Akane apart had some "flaws". Clearly relying on the comb to get her command through Kuno's thick skull was a mistake. Magic can only do so much when the people you're controlling are dumber than a stick.
Akane stood there with her older sister watching the whole fight, if this is what you could call it, and it was becoming clear that Ranma as in trouble. Kuno was fighting like Ryoga in a rage, but he was doing so with inhuman skill. Ranma hadn't delivered a single punch or kick, and it wasn't because he didn't try. Finally, she gasped in horror was the tip of Kuno's sword slashed a cut across Ranma's chest. Akane watched her iinazuke, the man she loved with all her heart, fall backwards holding his chest and grimacing in pain and rage. Kuno brought up his sword for a downward stroke that would certainly kill, and his face was curled up in a mask of insane glee. Time for Tendo Akane seemed to slow down, she watched as Kuno raised his weapon in slow motion and prepare to deliver a lethal blow to Ranma who was on the ground. Fear and hatred welled up inside of Akane as she looked at Kuno, she could feel the rage within her like a physical force traveling down her spin to her waist, then it went from there to her legs and traveled swiftly to her feet. Nabiki and the other students gasped as they looked at Akane, her hair and skirt were fluttering about as if in a fierce breeze, but the wind in the school yard was very calm. Kuno's sword reached its apex and the Kendoist swung downward issuing a cry of triumph.
"NNNOOOOO!!!!!" Akane cried. Her skirt flew up around her showing her bare legs and white panties to the entire student body, suddenly an invisible force traveled through the ground throwing up dirt and sod in a straight line headed directly for Kuno. When it reached the insane Kendoist the ground exploded in a geyser of dirt, rock and sod. Kuno was thrown into the air nearly forty feet and he lost his grip on his sword. The deadly weapon went flying and embedded itself into one of the trees that ringed the school yard. Seconds later Kuno himself slammed into the ground unconscious. The fierce unfelt winds holding Akane's skirt aloft suddenly subsided. Akane put her hand to her head and staggered a couple of steps and fell to the ground
"AKANE!" Ranma cried as he raced towards her. He reached her before anyone else could including Nabiki who had been right beside her. Ranma lifted her up into his arms and brushed her hair out of her face. "Akane." he said softly as he held her close. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, she looked up at Ranma.
"W-What happened?" she asked him.
He shook his head, "I dunno but I'm getting you to the Doc." Before Akane or anyone could say a word Ranma was up and running at full speed. He leapt and cleared the school ground wall then took to the rooftops making a beeline straight for Dr. Tofu's office. After he was out of sight and most of the students watching the fight went into the school building Shampoo came out of her hiding place. She walked over to Kuno's unconscious body and retrieved the Comb of Suggestion.
"Stupid bokken boy!" she spat. "Shampoo say defeat Ranma in fight so Shampoo can come to rescue and impress Airen." After glancing around again to make sure we wasn't seen Shampoo bounded over the school grounds wall and vanished.
Unknown to Shampoo someone was watching her. Nabiki slipped back away from the edge of the upper floor balcony and scratched her chin. What he heck was that all about, what did Shampoo take off of Kuno's head?, she wondered. She had seen Shampoo slip out of a hiding place soon after Ranma and Akane left and her curious side too over. Of course, if she had stayed much longer than she did Shampoo would certainly have sensed her presence. After all, Shampoo was an accomplished martial artist with a keen sense of awareness. The Tendo Clan Mercenary and reputed "Ice Queen" of Nerima decided to talk to Ranma and Akane about this later. She checked her watched and groaned, she was two minutes late for class and would certainly be made to stand out in the hall.
Saotome Ranma made record time getting to Dr. Tofu's clinic. Clearly if he'd been in an Olympic event Ranma would be wearing a gold medal right now. As it was he was beside himself with worry while he waited in the waiting room. Back in one of the examination rooms Akane blushed as she pulled up her blouse revealing her back so the doctor could check her with his stethoscope.
"Other than a mild headache and a bout of exhaustion I don't really see anything else wrong with you Akane." he said letting Akane put her blouse back down.
"I feel so tired." she told him.
He scratched the back of his head. "And you say Kuno Tatawaki used a real katana sword against Ranma, and when you thought Ranma was in trouble-"
"I was scared and angry, I just wanted to lash out at Kuno, I wished that I could." she interrupted.
"Hmmm." he wondered. "Have you ever experienced anything like this before?"
Akane shook her head, "No, never."
"I want to say it was a chi technique, that would explain the fatigue." he said.
"But I don't know any chi techniques." Akane told him.
"Sometimes they come to you by accident during times of extreme tension or stress, that was how the Shi Shi Hokadon was discovered." Dr. Tofu informed her. "It could be you used one when you though Ranma was in real danger."
"Doctor, there's this lady who came to our dojo yesterday from the Nyanchiczu." Akane said as she turned around and sat with her knees up to her chin. "She said I had some kind of power awakening inside of me and what she said that power was is pretty far fetched."
Dr. Tofu did a classic Spock Maneuver. "Tell me what she told you." he said. Akane went through an abbreviated version of what Lady Ambrosia had told her about the power she had within her. Dr. Tofu's expression turned very white suddenly when she was finished.
"In my many travels around the world I have visited the Nyanchiczu and I am well aware of what the Weavers can do." he admitted. "If you have this power, it is very potent and very dangerous if not properly controlled."
"So what I did at the school was the power." Akane guessed.
Dr. Tofu shook his head and rubbed his chin, "I can't really tell you if it was or not I know only a little about the Weavers, maybe you need to take this up with your sensei."
Akane sighed, "I guess I have no choice but to accept her teaching, I've got to learn to control this power or the next time I get mad-"
Dr. Tofu interrupted her, "Try not to ponder on it, the gift you have is very special, not many have it as I am told."
That made Akane feel a little better and she smiled. Dr. Tofu reached into his white physician's coat and took out a small bottle. After he took out two small tablet he handed them to Akane. "These should take care of the headache, ordinary Aspirin." he told her.
"Thanks." she said taking the tablets. The doctor went to the sink near the door and drew Akane a cup of water.
He offered her the cup and said, "Take it with this and then go home and take it easy for the rest of the day."
Akane nodded and took the medicine. She and the doctor returned to waiting room to a very nervous Ranma. "Is she alright Doc?" he asked quickly.
"Other than a headache and some fatigue she'll be alright." Dr. Tofu smiled reassuringly. "Take her home, she needs to rest."
"Thanks, Doc, I owe you one." Ranma smiled back, picked Akane up into his arms and hurried out the door to fast that it make made Ono's physician's coat flutter violently. Before long Akane found herself in her backyard after a journey that to her was only just a blur of images and the rush of wind. Kasumi was outside string up the wash and gave a yelp of surprise as Ranma and her sister landed in the backyard.
"Oh my, what happen, why aren't you two in school?" she asked, her voice sounding very concerned.
"Kuno happened, Doc says Akane needs to take it easy the rest of the day." Ranma told her.
"Kuno Tatawaki." Soun said questioningly from the house where he and Genma were playing Go.
"What happened?" Genma asked.
"He went at Ranma with a real katana." Akane said tiredly.
Soun took at look at his daughter and was immediately concerned. To put it bluntly she looked like death warmed over, her face looked like she hadn't slept in days. He got up quickly, surprisingly without shedding any tears, and went to his little girl.
"What happened to you Akane?" he asked her. "You look terrible, did that boy do this to you?"
Ranma shook his head, "No, she did something, I can't explain it, but she took Kuno out without even touching him."
Soun and Genma looked at him in surprise. "You mean you let a girl do your fighting for you!" Genma snarled and pounced on his son. After a brief struggle on the ground Ranma went sailing across the yard and landed in the koi pond. Female Ranma came up sputtering and cursing worse than a sailor.
"Mr. Saotome, it wasn't like that at all!" Akane shouted at the large man.
"You jerk, I was fighting Kuno, and when he had me on the rope Akane did something and Kuno was suddenly on the ground!" growled Ranma as she got up close, face to face with her father.
"Is Lady Ambrosia here, I think this has something to do with what she told me and Ranma yesterday?" Akane asked her father.
"After you left for school she left and said she was going to Nekohauten until later." Kasumi answered for him. Akane suddenly felt a wave of fatigue go through her and she started to fall. Ranma was at her side in an instant to catch her. The youngest Tendo sister blushed a little as she felt her shoulder resting against one of Ranma's generously proportioned breasts.
"Let me get you to bed, you can talk to her later." Ranma said softly.
Akane nodded weakly, "Ok." She didn't protest as Ranma picked her up, getting her dress wet since Ranma was still soaked from her dunk in the koi pond, and was carried like a delicate package into the house. She blushed furiously as Ranma helped her slip out of her school uniform and into one of her pajamas. Ranma tried not to stare at Akane too much, and blushed just as intensely. Damn, she is pretty, why didn't I ever notice it before?, she asked herself.
"Thank you." Akane smiled at her iinazuke as Ranma tucked her into bed.
"Get some rest." Ranma whispered then leaned down to kiss Akane's cheek, but Akane tilted her head just the right way and their lips met. Ranma was shocked at first, but remembered what happened yesterday morning, how Akane accepted her as a boy or girl. When their kiss ended Ranma smiled and said, "Now, go to sleep, and rest."
"You know, I used to hate it when you got this protective with me." Akane admitted. "Show how much I've changed in a few days, eh."
Ranma kneeled down next to the bed, not wanting to sit on it and soak the sheets. "I know, we both kinda changed a lot in only like two days." she agreed. "Its kinda weird, I sorta thought we'd be like the same as we'd been but only a little different, getting along better but still arguing a little, you know changing just a little over time but not all at once like this." In response Akane reached out with her hand and grasped Ranma's hand that was resting on the bed.
"I wonder, I wonder if it has something to do with what Lady Ambrosia told us last night." Akane pondered.
"That mumbo jumbo about you changing space and time or whatever." Ranma laughed. "You really believed all that."
Akane shook her head, "No, not until today."
"Huh?" Ranma looked at her in surprise.
"Ranma, I attacked Kuno using some kind of power I can't even begin to understand." she said. "I'm starting to think that maybe there is something to what she said last night."
Ranma snorted, "Well I ain't gonna trust her until I'm sure she's on the up and up and she ain't involved with the Old Ghoul."
"Ranma, you, a voice of reason." Akane said in a mock sarcastic tone with a smirk on her face.
Ranma laughed, "What's happen to us, just the other day we're at each other's throats, and now its taking everything we got to keep from screwing each other's brains out." Akane busted out laughing, but the though of being intimate with Ranma at that moment was suddenly very appealing. Her body shivered with expectation.
"Ranma, one of the reasons why I was so hard on you all this time was because, because, I was attracted to you." Akane admitted.
"Y-Y-You were." Ranma looked at her, blushing.
Akane smiled at her, "Remember, I got a pretty good look at you that day in the bathroom." She blushed as she remembered that day she walked in on Ranma in the bathroom and saw him in his true male form for the first time. The first thought in her mind when she saw him was, "My Kami-sama, that guy is hung like a freaking horse!"
Ranma's lovely female face smile softly and said, "I though you were really pretty." She thought back to that day when she was in the bathroom. Ranma intended to go out in her male form, she thought everyone would find out eventually about her curse, so why not. That was when Akane showed up and saw her in her true form as a boy for the first time. Ranma's first thought when that happened was, "Wow, she's got a body on her!"
"I can't wait until after our wedding." Akane said thinking out loud.
"Eh, uh-" Ranma stammered.
"Why do you think I got those birth control pills from Dr. Tofu yesterday?" Akane smiled at her. Ranma's beautiful blue eyes suddenly grew very wide. She recovered quickly and just sighed.
"That's something I can't really understand." said Ranma. "Why am I like a magnet for women, is it the curse or what?"
Akane shrugged her shoulders, "I think it's been happening before you got your curse, remember Ukyo."
"Yeah, but I never knew she was so hung up on me like that until just recently." Ranma replied, then threw up her hands. "Hell, I didn't know she was a girl until recently." Akane giggled at that.
"Then there's Kodachi, she fell in love with you on sight." Akane said counting out on her fingers.
Ranma rested her forehead on the bed. "Ugh!" she groaned. "Please don't remind me of that."
"Shampoo is bound by her laws, but I can tell when I look in her eyes that she really is totally smitten by you." Akane added.
Ranma looked at her with a hopeless expression and said, "Ok, then please explain Kuno."
"Why do any of the guys you've met in your female form suddenly go nuts over you, like that guy from the Gold Pair, or the boy from the Martial Arts Tea Ceremony dojo?" asked Akane. "Its not your curse, its just you." She reached out and touched Ranma's face. "They fell for you, some people are like that, they just attract admirers." she continued.
"Yeah, but its gets to be a real bother sometimes." Ranma groaned but smiled anyway.
"I'm the same way, look at all the boys that have gone after me." Akane pointed out. "Not counting Kuno."
Ranma had to nod in agreement there. "I see your point." she said. There had been several times she had to fight off somebody going after Akane. Ryoga had been one of them, up until recently that is. It would take a miracle for him to have any chance to be with her after what happened the other day. Maybe, just maybe, he and Akane would be friends after all of this, but they could never be a couple. There would always be that knowledge that he deceived her like he did, hiding his curse from her, and using it to sneak into her bed as her pet pig P-Chan. Of all of Akane's "suitors" Ryoga was the worst one Ranma had to face. Kuno didn't even count, and wasn't really a problem until today.
"I wonder what happened to Kuno, he was never that good before." Ranma said while wondering.
"I-I know, you couldn't get anywhere near him." Akane pursed her lips in thought. "You've always been able to beat him."
Ranma scratched her chin. "Something smells rotten in Denmark."
"Maybe it was just a fluke." Akane shrugged.
Ranma shook her head. "No, he was too good today for it to be just blind luck." She looked up at Akane and asker her, "Remember when Kuno went to that watermelon island to train, and he got beaned on the head?"
"Yeah, I remember, he couldn't remember who he was but he was also pretty good with the sword too." Akane replied remembering the incident.
"This was just like it, but he remembers who he was this time." said Ranma.
Akane shivered, the prospect of a highly skilled Kuno Tatawaki on the loose with his Akane Obsession in full gear was frightening. "Oh no." she whispered. Ranma squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Don't worry, there ain't a martial artist I haven't been able to beat." she said to Akane reassuringly. "If I can beat that Musk guy I can beat Kuno."
"Be careful, ok?" Akane looked at her, the fear in her eyes was very evident.
Ranma pointed to herself. "Hey, its me, don't worry." When she said that the sound of thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky as if the Kami were mocking her statement.
**********
Coming up in Chapter Two
Shampoo's little plan involving Kuno didn't quite work out as well as she would have liked. After the fight at school Kuno seems to have completely dropped out of sight, and the Hentai Horde is once again absent. Akane has begun her formal training under Lady Ambrosia, and life at the Tendo Dojo seems to have finally calmed down a little. The wedding is two days away, what could possibly happen in two days? Well, this is Nerima we are talking about here, Murphy's home town. Stay tuned.
**********
Notes: The concept for the Etherium was conceived in 1992, but at the time was called the Ethereal Matrix. After the movie "The Matrix" came out I decided it sounded too similar and looked for a name to replace it. The Etherium was a good choice. The character Lady Ambrosia was my own idea but was also slightly modeled after the good sorceress in the movie "Willow". The Weaver aspect came from a little known but excellent Lucus Arts game "Loom". In "Loom" the Weavers could fashion things out of the threat of the universe and even alter reality. Part of the concept of the Etherium came from that game but I never used the Weaver aspect in the outline for Orrin Quintarin's original story. I thought it would interesting to use the idea in this story, but alter it a bit so that the Gift wasn't dependent on the use of the mystical Loom the Weavers used in the game. The Comb of Suggestion was my own idea, but I could easily imagine Takahashi-san using it in the original manga has she thought it up before I did. :-)
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UPON ETHEREAL WINGS By Michael "TheZorch" Haney
See author's notes at the end of the chapter.
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Chapter One
It was the dawning of a new day in Nerima Ward, a small city on the outskirts of Tokyo. Tendo Akane opened her eyes hearing the sound of birds chirping outside of her bedroom window. She looked up and saw not a cloud in the sky, it was a clear sunny morning. She felt better than she had in a long time. As she sat up in her bed she became immediately aware of a body next to her. Lifting the covers she found Saotome Ranma, her iinazuke, fast asleep and still wearing his Chinese outfit from yesterday. Akane's usual rage didn't surface this time though, she just sat there and studied the young man whom she would one day marry. Akane had to admit that Ranma was gorgeous, as both a man and a woman.
The incident with "P-Chan" the day before totally ruined their plans to go on a date. That night Akane and Ranma went up to her bedroom and talked, and kissed, and talked until the wee hours of the morning. Eventually the two became very tired and snuggled up together on the bed. Before long the two had fallen fast asleep in each other's arms. Akane shook Ranma lightly to wake him, she knew he was a sound sleeper but didn't want to wake him the usual way, which involved a bucket of cold water. When he didn't awaken Akane got down low next to Ranma's ear and softly spoke his name.
"Ranma, Ranma." she repeated but he didn't stir. "RANMA!!!!"
The boy shot up bolt upright. "HUH, WHAT, WHERE!!!"
"Good morning sleepy head." Akane smiled at him.
Ranma looked around and suddenly realized where he was. "Uh, did we-?"
"I guess we fell asleep talking to each other last night." Akane blushed.
"So, we like, didn't-?" Ranma couldn't finished the sentence.
Akane laughed and blushed at the same time, "No silly, we kissed some but we didn't do that.
"Oh, well, uh, I'm sure if we had I would've remembered it." Ranma blushed.
"Yeah, me too." Akane blushed furiously.
When they climbed out of bed Ranma pulled Akane into his arms and kissed her softly. The Tendo girl sighed, her hands on his chest felt the tight ropey muscles there that were as hard as mortared bricks. Ranma's whole body was muscle, he could lift a car up over his head literally without straining himself! When they parted Akane opened her door, and a flood of bodies fell inward.
"AKANE AND RANMA HAVE SLEPT TOGETHER, AT LONG LAST THE SCHOOLS WITH FINALLY BE JOINED!" Akane's father cried in a bull horn.
"AT LAST YOU HAVE BECOME A MAN!" read the sign in Genma's panda paw.
"Oh my, sex before marriage Akane just isn't proper." Kasumi gasped.
Nabiki held up her camera and snapped a picture. "Say cheese!"
"DADDY!" Akane shouted.
"POP!" Ranma yelled.
"WE SLEPT TOGETHER BUT WE DIDN'T SLEEP TOGETHER!!!!" they both chorused.
"Yeah, we stayed up talking and fell asleep, nothing happened!" Akane explained.
Happosai bounded into the room and bopped Ranma over the head with his pipe. "You mean you slept in Akane's room all night and you didn't once take advantage of her!" Happosai fumed. "I'm disappointed in you Ranma!"
"I'm not like you, you old pervert!" snarled Ranma.
The two iinazuke turned towards a hideous sound. Their fathers were dancing around the room singing, "THE SCHOOLS WILL BE JOINED, THE SCHOOLS WILL JOINED, LA, LA, LA, LA, THE SCHOOLS WILL FINALLY BE JOINED!!!"
"So you two didn't do anything?" Nabiki asked suspiciously.
"NO!" Akane and Ranma shouted.
But, Akane looked at Ranma and blushed, "Well, we did kiss some, but we didn't get any more intimate than that."
Ranma nodded, "That's all that happened."
Ranma felt a firm hand clamp onto his shoulder, he looked up into Tendo Soun's serious face. "Nevertheless Ranma, you slept in my daughter's bed, and now you have to do the right thing." he said sternly.
"But we didn't do anything!" Ranma shot back at him.
"YOU WILL DO WHAT'S RIGHT!!!" Soun's Demon Head hissed in rage.
Ranma turned faster than anybody could follow with the naked eye, scooped up Akane into his arms, and bounded out of the window. He leapt up onto the rooftops and kept on running until they were well away from the Tendo dojo. Finally, they reached the top of a large building near the market district and Ranma sat Akane down. Her legs were a bit wobbly at first, and she felt as if she left her stomach way back in her bedroom.
"I had to get us out of there." he told her.
"Its ok, I don't blame you." Akane smiled at him. "They were totally blowing this whole thing out of proportions."
"You know they're not gonna give us any rest now." Ranma sighed and sat down.
Akane sighed and sat down next to him, "Yeah, I know."
"Akane." he said.
"Yeah." she replied.
"There's only one way to get them off our backs, you know that don't you?" he asked her.
Akane nodded, "Yeah."
"Akane, let's just do it." he said.
She turned to him, "But would that really solve our problems?"
"We'd have the pressure off us at home, and we can handle Kuno, but it probably wouldn't make a difference to Shampoo." Ranma replied.
"I know, but we've only been together as a 'real' couple since last night." Akane looked into his eyes. "This would be a huge step."
"Nothing much would really change except your dad and my pop would make us share the same bedroom, we'd still have school and stuff." Ranma explained.
"I know but-" she started to say as Ranma came around in front of her and kneeled down on one knee.
"Tendo Akane, will you marry me?" he asked her while looking into her eyes.
"Ranma." Akane gasped softly.
"I was thinking last night, about us, about everything, and well, I got to thinking that maybe things would be better off it we was married." he said softly. "I was going to ask you last night, but we were so tired, and it felt so comfortable laying there with you-" All the while he was talking Akane could not take her eyes off of Ranma's blue eyes. She was captivated by their blue depths, the way they sparkled in the morning sunlight. They were the eyes that made girls swoon just looking at them. In that moment she knew there was only one answer she could give deep within her heart.
"Yes." she whispered.
"Huh?" Ranma gaped in surprise.
She smiled and repeated, "Yes."
"Y-Y-You will?" he said surprised.
"Yes!" Akane flung her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately with all the emotion she had coursing through her.
"I love you." Ranma whispered into Akane's ear when they're lips parted and they held each other.
"I love you too." Akane replied in a whisper also, tears streaming down her face.
They shared another kiss, this time they poured their emotions into it even more deepening the contact. Soon they were bounding over the rooftops again headed for home. Akane rested her head against Ranma's shoulder feeling a little like Jane to Ranma's Tarzan and loving every minute of it. Unbeknownst to both they were being watched from the ground below. Shampoo sat on her "Bicycle of Death" as she watched them bound from rooftop to rooftop.
"Soon, very soon that be Shampoo that airen hold in arms." Shampoo thought out loud. She took the Comb of Suggestion out of her Chinese blouse and looked at it. "Soon, Shampoo finally win man she love."
Back at home the two iinazuke didn't give their parents time to start harassing them about marriage. They had already agreed to talk to them about it after school that same day. Akane and Ranma both ran into the bathroom together, knowing that if they took separate baths that they'd be separately ambushed by both parents on the subject of a wedding. Slowly and tentatively at first the two undressed together in the changing room and slipped into the bathroom. They both blushed furiously as they set about washing.
"We'll have to get used to seeing each other naked." Akane realized.
"Heck, we've already seen each other naked before, remember." Ranma said over her shoulder after a good douse of cold water.
"How could I forget that." Akane laughed.
Ranma blushed and said, "You're still as pretty now as you were back then."
Akane turned around to regard her and blushed, "You really mean that Ranma?"
Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I never really meant those things I said to you about you not having sex appeal and being built like a stick and all."
"Thank you. Ranma." Akane smiled.
"Do you want to know the truth about something?" Akane asked.
"Uh huh?" Ranma nodded.
"I like you the way you are, your curse never really did bother me, well at first it did, but then later I sorta got used to it." Akane admitted. Then she turned to face her iinazuke and looked into those beautiful blue eyes. "I don't care of you ever find a cure for your curse, Ranma, I love you whether you're a girl or a boy." she went on.
Ranma turned to face her, her breasts bouncing with her movements, "You mean that?"
Akane nodded, "Yeah, I-I mean it."
"So, you don't mind if I give you a kiss right now, as a girl." Ranma said with a smile.
"Not at all." she told her, then leaned in and kissed Ranma softly on the lips. When they came back up for air the two found they had gone into each other's arms, their bodies pressed together.
"You're still Ranma whether you're a boy or a girl, and I love you." Akane told her.
Ranma looked into her eyes and said, "This'll take some getting used to."
"We'll have plenty of time after we're married." Akane smiled coyly.
"Unless our parents ambush us as we leave the bathroom, whisk us off to a temple, and force us to get married today." Ranma laughed.
Akane shushed her with a finger to her lips, "Don't give them any ideas, that's something they'd definitely do."
Ranma laughed, "Ok."
"Turn around and I'll scrub your back." Akane told her and picked up her washcloth. Ranma did so without hesitation. Later she turned around and did the same for Akane. About another douse of cold water to wash off the soap the two slowly helped each other into the furo. Akane watched as Ranma instantly reverted back to male form so quickly she couldn't even see the transformation.
"I've seen it happen a million times but it still amazes me." she said.
Ranma sat down next to her and put his arm around Akane's waist. "You know, Prince Herb has the same curse I do."
"I figured that from the way he acted when we found out he had a female body." Akane replied. "He had the same look on his face as you did yours at times."
"I couldn't have beaten him if it weren't for Ryoga and Mousse though." Ranma admitted. "They kept Lime and Mint off my back while I fought Herb."
"They did?" Akane looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, they were trapped in their cursed forms by Herb until they got the kettle." Ranma explained. "Of course they turned around and tried to betray me but in the end they knew they couldn't make it out of that whole situation unless they helped me turn male again."
Akane laughed, "Let me guess, Ryoga wanted to keep you female so he could have me, and Mousse wanted to keep you female so he could have Shampoo."
"Gee, was it that obvious?" Ranma smirked.
"From the way Ryoga acted last night I sorta got the idea he has a one track mind." Akane nodded.
"More like half a track." Ranma snorted.
"No, he's not quite as bad as Kuno." Akane smirked, then she laughed and Ranma joined her. "At least Ryoga knew when to do what was right, most of the time."
"Hey, maybe we should look up that Golden Pair and tell that Asuza girl that her Charlotte is available." said Ranma.
"Ugh!" Akane moaned. "I should have known what you two were fighting over that day, but I was too dense to figure it out."
Ranma reached over and kissed Akane tenderly. Akane sighed and melted into Ranma's arms, not even really caring that they were both naked and Ranma was in male form. After their kiss ended Akane contently rested her head on Ranma's shoulder not wanting to be anywhere else but in his arms at moment. So much has changed in a day, or a night. It was like finally admitting their feelings for one another had opened the floodgates of their souls and now admitting and openly showing affection wasn't so hard to do or so embarrassing anymore.
"We'll be late for school, we'd better go." Akane said, not really enthusiastic about leaving Ranma's embrace.
"Yeah, and I smell breakfast." said Ranma.
"Good ol' Ranma, always thinking with his stomach." Akane laughed.
Sometime later Ranma and Akane were making good time on their way to school. Akane clung to Ranma as he bounded across the rooftops at breakneck speeds, and hid her face into Ranma's chest when they made death defying leaps over wide streets. Just out of sight of the main gates of the schoolyard they alighted to the sidewalk and continued on the ground at a considerably less heart pounding rate of speed. To their surprise they made it to the school grounds just in time, other students were already heading into the school building and the bell hadn't rung yet. The two walked together totally forgetting that they were at that moment holding hands. Several students who saw them, both girls and boys, gasped in shock and wonder at this sight. The spectacle did not go unnoticed by three certain pairs of eyes. One pair watched from behind a shrub in the school yard while holding a camera. The second watched from the school balcony while a hand almost reflexively reached up to grab the giant Baker's Peel strapped to her back. And the third came running with rage in his heart and thrust the tip of a bokken into Ranma's face.
"Cretin, how dare you place your hand upon the person of the fair Tendo Akane in my presence!" Kuno snarled.
"What's up Kuno." said Ranma totally unfazed by Kuno's rage.
"No doubt you hold the fair Akane in the sway of some spell, or she would not consciously suffer herself your loathsome touch!" Kuno raged on. "Begone vile demon or Kuno Tatawaki shall send you back to Hades from whence you came!"
"I hold hands with whoever I feel like!" Akane protested.
"Fear not my lovely flower, for you know not what you say as you are under the thrall of this vile creature!" Kuno cried as he grabbed Akane into his arms. "Though your tongue speaks one thing, I know your heart speaks another!"
"And they both say, GET LOST!" Akane shouts and boots Kuno over the school building.
"Good kick, but Kuno would get more air time if you jumped and kicked at the same time adding more power to the blow." Ranma told her.
Akane smiled, "I'll remember that."
Everyone's jaw threatened to make craters where they stood as Ranma put his arm around Akane without her half killing him and they walked into the school. They made it to homeroom on time so they didn't have to stand out in the hall, and in no time lunch time came around. Usually Akane and Ranma would go separate ways for lunch at school, but today was different, and everyone was noticing the difference. The two went to the cafeteria together. Ranma held Akane's tray while holding his own while she got them lunch, then they choose a table for themselves that was unoccupied and sat across from one another. All the while the two could "feel" hundreds of eyes on them, and didn't even care. They really didn't notice when a certain spatula wielding girl came and sat next to them.
"Hey, Ranma honey, Akane." Ukyo greeted them.
"Hi Ukyo." Ranma returned the greeting.
"So, what's going on with you two?" the girl asked. "I saw something pretty strange this morning."
"Nothing strange happened this morning." said Akane.
"Uh, you guys were holding hands." Ukyo replied with a frown.
"Ukyo, we gotta talk, but not right now, not in school." Ranma told her. "Me and Akane both gotta talk to you."
Ukyo looked at Ranma and then Akane and back again. "Ranma honey, what are you trying to say?"
"We can't say here, too many prying ears." Ranma said looking over at where Kuno was sitting and glowering towards them. Gosunkugi Hikaru sat further away holding one of his trademark voodoo dolls dressed win black pants and red Chinese tunic.
There was something in the way Ranma looked at Akane just then that made a pit form in Ukyo's stomach. Suddenly she didn't really feel like lunch. "I-I-I gotta go, I'll see you later." she stammered and ran from the lunch room.
"She knows." said Akane quietly.
"I wish we could make it easier on her, I don/t love her, but I still care about her." Ranma sighed. "Its all pop's fault, he's the one who did this to her not me."
"We'll find a way to satisfy her family honor, I know we will." said Akane.
"There's more to it than that, honor is one thing, but how can repairing her honor repair her heart or her life." Ranma said and he was suddenly unable to eat.
"Like you said Ranma, it wasn't your fault." Akane told him. "It was your father who promised you to her and then ran off with her dowry leaving her behind."
Ranma reached across the table and took Akane's hand. Across the room the two could hear a table being split in half with a bokken. "Yeah, she's as much a victim of my pop's stupidity as I am."
"She's more of a friend than a rival too, really." Akane nodded.
Kuno Tatawaki was uncharacteristically quiet the rest of the day, which gave Akane and Ranma some much needed breathing room. They did notice a certain mousy shadow hiding just out of sight snapping pictures. Except for the paper dolls incident Gosunkugi Hikaru was pretty harmless so Ranma ignored him, but didn't let his guard down either. On their way home Ranma could not help but notice the looks many students were giving them, some were happy, some surprised, and others were outright aggression. Akane had many admirers in Furinken High School. Kuno had over eighty boys going after her everyday before Ranma came on the scene. Shortly after seeing what Ranma was capable of doing against Kuno, Ryoga, and Mousse the Hentai Horde all but vanished. Nobody in their right mind at Furinken High School would challenge Saotome Ranma, but then Kuno Tatawaki wasn't exactly in his right mind.
Instead of taking the high road home over the rooftops the two iinazuke walked together holding hands. It was a beautiful day with a sunny cloudless sky. They were not in any hurry to get back home, not that they dreaded getting there, but that they wanted to make this moment last just a little longer. When they get to the house they knew a long discussion with their parents was in order. Of course, the two were going to be overjoyed with what they were going to hear from their children. Ranma and Akane wanted to get married, and as they both thought it over they came to realize that it would actually take a lot of the pressure off of them if they did just go ahead and get it over with. A formal ceremony with guests could come later when they were financially stable enough for it. There was the question of children, but they could both wait on that. This mean that they'd both have to be very careful up until then.
Akane asked Ranma if they could take a detour to Dr. Tofu's office on the way home, and Ranma didn't see why not. They entered the clinic and the doctor came out carrying Betty his skeleton. "Oh, hello Akane, Ranma." he said cheerfully. "Any injuries today?"
"No, actually I came to ask you about something doctor." Akane told him.
"Oh?" Dr. Tofu looked at her. "Anything wrong?"
"Uh, Ranma, could you wait here?" Akane asked her iinazuke. "This is sort of a private thing."
Ranma nodded, "Oh, one of them girl things, yeah, ok." He took a seat in the waiting room while Dr. Tofu escorted Akane into one of the examination rooms.
"Having menstrual problems?" the doctor asked her.
"No, uh, I wanted to ask, uh." Akane stammered.
"You can talk to me Akane, what you say here never leaves this room." Dr. Tofu reassured her.
"D-D-D-Do you have anything for birth control?" Akane finally asked. "Besides condoms, I don't think Ranma would think they're manly."
Tofu Ono raised his eyebrow in a classic Spock Maneuver, "Oh, so you and Ranma have become sexually active, eh?"
Akane blushed, "N-N-Not yet, we're going to get married soon, but we don't want to have kids right away.,"
"How soon?" the Doc asked.
"As soon as possible." Akane replied.
"Hmmm."
"Can you help us?"
The Doc raised his finger saying, "I think I can." He quickly left the room and returned a short time later holding a bottle of pills.
"Have you heard of RU486?" he asked her.
Akane shook her head, "No."
"Well, this is similar to it." Dr. Tofu explained. "RU486 is known as the 'Morning After Pill', its prevents pregnancy after the fact, in Western countries they call it the 'Abortion Pill'."
"Oh, no, if my father found out I was using something like that he'd be livid, he's against abortion, and I have no idea what Ranma's stand on it is." Akane told him.
"Not to worry, I call this the 'Night Before Pill'." Tofu explained. "It is a combination of special medicinal herbs that causes your reproductive cycle to go dormant temporarily." He handed her the bottle. Akane popped the lid and looked inside. The pills looked orange and translucent like Vitanim E pills.
"Take one every other day and everything should be fine, and no side effects." the Doc told her. "I've administered this to many of my patients."
"Thank you, Dr. Tofu." Akane beamed.
"You're welcome." Tofu replied.
"Everything ok with her Doc?" Ranma asked when they returned to the waiting room.
"All is well Ranma." Dr. Tofu told him and winked at him.
"Uh." Ranma let out not know what that was about.
"Remember Akane, one every two days." Tofu told Akane.
Akane nodded, "Got it Doctor, and thanks again."
When they were finally outside Ranma looked over at Akane questioningly. He wasn't sure what Akane wanted to see Dr. Tofu about, and what was that wink all about too. Finally, Ranma got up the nerve to ask her about it. When he did Akane held up the bottle of pills.
"You're not sick are you?" he asked.
"No baka." she replied affectionately. "These are for after we get married."
"You need pills for marriage?" Ranma was totally confused.
Akane blushed intensely and told him, "Yes, if we don't want to have babies right away."
"B-B-B-B-Babies?!" Ranma stammered.
"They're birth control pills, baka." Akane blushed.
"OH!" Ranma said finally getting it and wiped sweat from his brow.
"Geeze, don't buzz my tower like that." he want on.
Akane gave him a sheepish grin, "Why not, you look so cute when you get all nervous and flustered like that."
Something suddenly set off Ranma's danger sense, he put out his arm to block Akane's path. "We're being watched." he whispered. He fell into a defensive crouch in front of her and looked around for danger.
Akane looked around, both ways down the street and at the rooftops all around but saw nothing. "I don't see anything." she said.
"They're close." Ranma warned.
"Shampoo?" Akane assumed.
Ranma shook his head, "No, doesn't feel familiar, this isn't somebody we know."
This was starting to make the hair on the back of Akane's head stand up on end. She grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the street. "Come on, Ranma y-y-you're scaring me, lets get home." she told him. He nodded and followed her while still looking around for the presence he sensed. On a rooftop above them, from a hidden vantage point, a graceful swan looked down at them. When the pair were far down the street the beautiful fowl spread its wings, leapt from the building and soared into the clear blue sky.
As the two two had expected the dojo was in total pandemonium, with emphasis on the word "panda". Sometime during the day Soun and Genma had gathered together dozens of wedding catalogs for dresses, decorations, and all sorts of other things one would expect at a major wedding. It took both Akane and Ranma to bring both men, well one man and one panda, down off of cloud nine so they could talk to them. When the sitting room was finally cleared of the wedding stuff and Kasumi served some tea the discussion began. Ranma elected to go first.
"Pop, Mr. Tendo, Akane and I have done some talking and we've decided we want to get married now." he told them.
The two men were about to suddenly go into hysterics with party horns and streamers to celebrate the pending marriage but a warning cry from Akane brought both back to Earth. "No big ceremony, only family and Dr. Tofu and that's it, no guests." she said.
"B-B-But Akane, this is a big event, the schools are finally being joined, we have to celebrate it." Soun protested.
"Yeah!" read Genma's sign.
"And can you guarantee that certain people won't show up to try and stop such a wedding?" Akane asked. "I can just imagine what would happen if Shampoo got wind of what we were planning, let alone what Kuno would do, or Kodachi, or Ukyo, or who know who else if either after me or Ranma."
"That's why we want a simple private ceremony, and we can have a full blown wedding with all the trimmings later when all this insanity is finally taken care of." Ranma supported her.
"No big party, no reception?" Soun looked downtrodden.
"Later, when we have the second wedding, right now we just want to get married and make it a simple ceremony." said Akane.
Genma tapped the man on the shoulder and showed him his sign, "Tendo, at least they're finally getting married."
Soun turned back to them asking, "When would you like to do this?"
"Next week, or as soon as possible." Ranma explained.
Soun nodded, "Alright, I'll start making the preparations, and you said you want Dr. Tofu there also."
"Yeah, he's almost like a part of the family." said Akane. "He's been there for us ever since before momma died so me and Ranma both want him to be there."
"One other thing." Ranma said shooting a glance over at Nabiki. "Certain people are not to get wind of this whatsoever, and if I find out they do learn about this and they try to stop it I'll know who to blame."
Nabiki shuddered under Ranma's gaze. She knew very well what the young man could do when angry. Being the target of Saotome Ranma's wrath was not something she'd find very pleasant. After all, on the news she heard about the destruction of the mountain where Ranma confronted Herb. Ranma had destroyed a whole mountain fighting that Musk warlord, so of course she had a damn good reason to be afraid of him if not also secretly be envious of her sister. Ranma may be a superhuman martial artists, but he's also a certifiable mega-hunk.
"I get the point Ranma, these lips are sealed." Nabiki said making zipper motion over her mouth.
"Good, you can sell your info after the wedding." he told her.
"Even though it will be just us, I can still try out a few of mother's recipes for a dinner after the wedding." Kasumi smiled.
"That would be nice Kasumi, and it would give you a chance to cook a meal for Dr. Tofu." Akane replied and Kasumi blushed lightly.
"Yes, it would, I've made him pastries from time to time, but never a whole meal before." the eldest Tendo sister blushed even more deeply. Kasumi heard a sound out in the yard and turned to look. Out beyond the shoji doors she saw a beautiful swan paddling around in the koi pond.
"Oh my, father look." she pointed.
Soun gasped, "It's a omen, a good omen!"
Ranma frowned, he had that same sudden sense he had before out on the street, like they were being watched by something or somebody. "Where did it come from?" he wondered out loud.
"It's a sign from the spirits of our ancestors blessing the wedding of Ranma and Akane!" Soun cried streaming tears of joy.
"Truly a divine miracle." read Genma's sign.
"It is an omen, but for good or ill, that still remains to be seen." said a voice from outside. Everyone looked up but all they could see was the swan looking in at them from the pond.
"Who said that?" Akane asked.
"Somebody's out there." said Ranma as he took a fighting stance.
"You have nothing to fear from me, Saotome Ranma." said the voice again, and this time with everyone looking they realized the voice came from the swan. "Yet."
"OH MY!" Kasumi gasped.
"I-I-It speaks, our ancestors have come to speak to us!" Soun sobbed.
"W-W-Who are you?" asked Akane. In answer to her question the swan flapped its great wings and alighted on the porch overlooking the pond. It shook itself off and waddled into the room to the surprise of everyone. Suddenly, the swan began to change shape before their eyes and quickly morphed into another form. Within minutes the swan was replaced by a rather comely looking old woman. Clearly the years have been very good to her, she still had much of her beauty from youth. Her body was adorned in fine robes and she held a long staff gilded in gold and silver.
"I am Lady Ambrosia, the Weaver of the Amazons." the old woman replied. "And I have come looking for you Tendo Akane."
Ranma was suddenly between this strange old woman and Akane in a fighting stance. "I knew it!" he spat. "She's working for the old ghoul!"
"Old ghoul?" Lady Ambrosia looked at him and cocked her head to one said and then laughed. "Oh, I see, I assume you're speaking of Matriarch Cologne. It is easy to understand why you would call her that as the years have not been as kind to her as they have been to me. Interesting nickname though, I bet it just burns her buns when you call her that."
"What do you want with my daughter?" Soun asked apprehensively.
The old woman looked at Akane said replied, "I have come all this way from China seeking Tendo Akane, because it is to her that I plan to bequeath my legacy."
"HUH!?" everyone gasped in surprise.
"My legacy is my knowledge, the knowledge to use the potential that is now beginning to awaken within you, Tendo Akane." she went on still looking at Akane.
"Potential, within me?" Akane pointed at herself. "For what?"
"To be a Weaver my dear." Lady Ambrosia said and gracefully passed her hand over her tea cup. The cup sudden rippled as if it were made of Jello or water somehow suspended in midair by an invisible force, then it flowed into a new shape become a figurine of a graceful swan.
"Oh my." Kasumi gasped quietly in fascination.
"H-H-How did you do that?" Akane gasped.
The old woman smiled and said, "In time you too will learn to do this, and more Tendo Akane."
"You want to train Akane to be a magician?" Ranma questioned her suspiciously.
"What I do is not magic, some would say we Weavers are far more powerful than any wizard or sorceress." Ambrosia replied.
"You call yourself a Weaver, a weaver of what my I ask?" Tendo Soun asked.
Ambrosia nodded towards the Tendo patriarch and replied, "A Weaver of Reality."
Akane held the ceramic figurine that had been a tea cup little more than an hour ago and still could not believe it. The material of the cup had been reshaped seamlessly into this form without loosing any of its intricate Japanese patterns. It was as if the cup had been melted down, poured into a mold, yet she had seen the thing change right before her eyes. And, the Amazon had said that 'she' would one day learn to do this sort of thing also. What Akane could not understand was why this Lady Ambrosia came to her. Ranma remained suspicious of the old woman, believing this was all a ploy to get him to go on a date with Shampoo, trick him into marrying her, or to get Akane out of the way. Since her arrival Lady Ambrosia showed no signs of being hostile, though.
The three of them, Ranma, Akane and Lady Ambrosia sat in the middle of the dojo. They're discussion was for meant for Akane but Ranma had insisted on being present. Lady Ambrosia agreed on the condition that Ranma would not interfere in anything that happened. Reluctantly he agreed, he was as curious as Akane was about what all this was about and why did this Amazon want to pass on her knowledge to Akane rather than another Amazon like Shampoo or someone else.
"You asked me, what is a Weaver, but before I answer that question I want to ask you a question." Lady Ambrosia said. "What is Reality?"\
Akane gestured around the dojo with her hands. "All of this, I guess." she said.
"You are partially right." Lady Ambrosia explained. "Everything that you see, touch, taste, hear, and feel in the universe if a manifestation of Reality. Now here is another interesting question, what causes Reality?"
Akane and Ranma looked at her with a baffled expression. "Uh, I don't know, um, the universe?" she replied.
"The universe is a manifestation of Reality." Lady Ambrosia corrected her. "But what makes Reality possible?"
Akane shook her head, "I don't know, the Kami maybe."
"The answer is a combination of Space and Time." Lady Ambrosia smiled. "Space manifests all that you see, matter, light, energy, while Time allows us to move about in Space."
"I never took Physics classes." Akane admitted.
"Only a rudimentary knowledge of Physics is needed to understand the concepts I am going to teach you, Tendo Akane." Lady Ambrosia replied.
"Earlier, you said you're a Weaver of Reality, what does that mean?" Akane asked her.
"Space and Time are the Fabric of Reality, joined together they make up the universe around us." the old woman said as she gestured around the dojo. "They manifest the air we breath, the light we see with, everything in the universe comes from these two vital elements. But, there is a third element, an important one that few know exists, and even fewer know how to use it."
"You weave reality, but that's impossible." Akane gasped in disbelief. She heard Ranma beside her grunt in agreement.
"Is it?" Lady Ambrosia asked pointing at the figurine that had been a teacup. "Space and Time are our thread, the Universe is our tapestry, is it so incomprehensible, how did I shape that tea cup into a swan if I had not woven the fabric of reality that comprises it?"
Akane still could not believe it. "But to do what you're saying you can do you'd have to be-"
"A Kami, hardly." Lady Ambrosia interrupted her. "I admit that weaving reality does make it seem as if we Weavers possess the power of the Kami, but in truth our formidable talents are infinitesimal compared to those of the Pantheons of Heaven."
"You say I have this talent?" Akane pointed to herself.
"We call it the Gift, and yes my dear you possess it." Lady Ambrosia smiled at her.
"This is all so-"
"Overwhelming, confusing?" the old woman interrupted.
"W-W-What is the third element?" Akane asked.
Lady Ambrosia smiled and said, "As bricks require mortar to hold them together, so does the Space and Time need a mortar or glue to hold them together to create Reality." She gestured towards the swan figurine in Akane's hand and it reshaped back into a tea cup.
"This third element is the stuff that binds Space and Time together, a force of immense power, yet despite this it is a maliable as clay, but only if one only knows how to mold it." Lady Ambrosia explained. "We call it the Etherium. If you can change the Etherium, then you can shape reality itself."
"Incredible." Akane breathed as she examined the cup.
"The Gift within you is awakening, Tendo Akane, you will need instruction in how to control this power, but I will not lie to you for this journey could be perilous." the old woman admitted. She saw Ranma shuffle a little closer to her intended apprentice when she said that.
"In what way?" Akane asked a bit fearfully.
"There was a man who once wrote, 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'." Lady Ambrosia replied.
"Adolph Hitler." said Akane. "We learned about him in our World History class in high school."
"Yes, he was a madman but those words he wrote speak the truth." the old woman nodded. "To be a Weaver means to control a power that allows us to shape reality into whatever we will it be, and there have been some who have become slaves to the Gifts they have been born with. Too easily the power afforded by the Gift can become addictive, the temptation to use the power for your own gains becomes too great to resist, thus to be a Weaver means to possess great responsibility and to have even greater self- control."
When she said this Ambrosia noticed Ranma shoot a very apprehensive look at Akane. This peaked the Amazon's curiosity a bit, so she decided to let him in on the conversation. "You seemed concerned, Saotome Ranma." she said. "Share with us your misgivings."
"Uh!" he stammered. What he had been thinking at that moment had the risk of awakening the old Akane. His iinazuke was not known as the most self-controlled person in the world, but lately she had been exercising some of that control pretty well but mostly for a desire to make a relationship between them work.
"Go on Ranma, I know what you're going to say." said Akane. "I don't exactly have a lot of self-control." All the times she booted skyward came to Akane's mind.
"Well, I-uh-that is-" he stammered some more.
"Ranma and I didn't always get along very well, I always took what he said the wrong way and came to all sorts of wrong conclusions about things he did." Akane explained.
"Hey, it ain't like you're alone here, I got the same problem too ya know." Ranma said in her defense. "Besides, why is she wanting to train you to use this whatever it is she's talking about anyway? This could be one of the Old Ghoul's ploys to get me and Shampoo together."
"I have nothing to do with the Matriarch's designs towards making you the husband of her great grand daughter." said Lady Ambrosia.
"Ok, then why do ya wanna train Akane to do this stuff and not an Amazon like Shampoo or somebody else?" Ranma asked.
"Because, she is The One." the old woman inclined her head towards Akane. "There is an ancient legend among our people that speaks of The One, she will be a Weaver who will surpass all other previous Weavers in power."
"This is the part where you say we're all in a dreamworld and we've been turned into human batteries." Ranma scoffed.
Lady Ambrosia laughed, "I've seen that movie too, Saotome Ranma."
"I will not go into any further details now, neither of you are ready to know all that I know as of yet, but in time you will learn everything." she want on. "Know this, the world around you is indeed real, but for we Weavers it is only as real as we will it to be."
"So there is no catch if I agree to become your apprentice?" Akane asked her. "Ranma doesn't have to date Shampoo or anything along those line?"
Lady Ambrosia shook her head, "No, the Matriarch does not even know that I am here."
"Until now." said a old, crackling voice. Everyone suddenly to see Cologne, Matriarch of the Nyanchiczu, standing by one of the outside doors of the dojo while balancing on her staff.
"I wondered how long it take before you felt my presence." said Lady Ambrosia with a smile. "I see the centuries have not dulled your senses."
"You are here without the approval of the council I presume." said Cologne.
"They would never understand." Lady Ambrosia told her. "I have found The One." She gestured towards Akane and Cologne's eyes went wide with shock.
"Tendo Akane is The One?" she gasped. "I hope you are certain of this."
The old Weaver closed her eyes and nodded, "There is no question, the flow of the Etherium around her is unlike anything I've seen around any Weaver."
"How very interesting that two people with such incredible potential would be found in the same city." said Cologne as she regarded Ranma and Akane. "Even more interesting is that fact that those same two people would be engaged to one another. Whether they actually marry is another question."
"I ain't gonna marry Shampoo, you old hag so get off it!" Ranma yelled at Cologne.
"So the rumors of true, this young man is the one who defeated Prince Herb?" Lady Ambrosia asked the Matriarch.
Cologne nodded, "Yes, and it is a very impressive accomplishment worthy of my great grand daughter."
"Didn't you just hear him, he said he's not going to marry Shampoo." Akane spoke up.
Cologne produced a bucket of water and quickly dumped it over Ranma's head. He felt the transformation take hold instantly. "What the hell was that for?!" female Ranma snarled.
"A reminded son-in-law, a reminder of the situation you currently in." Cologne smirked. "It would be a shame if you were locked in you're female form once again."
Ranma jumped up into a defensive crouch. "You ain't using that Cat's Tongue on me again." she hissed.
"You have a Josenkyo curse?" Lady Ambrosia asked in wide eyed surprise.
"Duh!" Ranma gaped at her pointing at her ample chest.
The old Weaver turned to Cologne quickly and said in a forceful voice, "Stop this at once."
"Excuse me?" Cologne gasped and looked at the other woman.
"I will have words with you outside please, Matriarch." Lady Ambrosia said as she stood up with her staff.
Ranma and Akane just looked at one another as Cologne and the old woman left the dojo closing the door behind them. The two elderly Amazons went to the far end of the yard and stopped when they reached the wall. Cologne turned to Lady Ambrosia with a disapproving scowl on her face.
"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice in front of my future son-in-law." she said angrily.
"He cannot marry your great grand daughter, and you know the reasons why as much as I do." Lady Ambrosia looked down at her.
Cologne folded her arms, "I know the legends, how do you know Ranma is the same one spoken of by our ancestors.?"
"A warrior who is a man among men yet embodies the soul of a woman, I'd say Saotome Ranma fits the bill quite nicely." the old Weaver replied.
"Son-in-law isn't the only martial artist in the world with that particular Josenkyo curse." said Cologne.
"True, but how many of those martial artists could have defeated the Crown Prince of the Musk Dynasty in single combat?" Lady Ambrosia asked her.
"Until I see more proof I will not dissolve Shampoo's claim to him." Cologne said resolutely. "He will marry Shampoo."
Lady Ambrosia leaned down to look at her closely. "Are you willing to risk the survival of our world on this, you did not doubt my judgment so fervently when I said that Tendo Akane was The One." Lady Ambrosia smirked.
"How much have you already told her?" Cologne asked looking towards the dojo.
"Nearly everything, except for certain details concerning the legend." said the old Weaver. "What I did tell her is that she is The One."
"So she nothing of the Age of Shadows, nothing of the great apocalypse that is coming to this world, and the role she will play in it." Cologne mused.
"Nor of the role her chosen life-mate will play in that same war, or of the fact that her mate will be a warrior unlike any other, a man among men, yet embodies that soul of a woman." Lady Ambrosia continued for her.
"Shampoo would never agree to let the boy go, she is enraptured by him." Cologne explained.
"If he is truly the fated bond-mate of The One, no man or woman in the universe can separate them." said Lady Ambrosia. "Allow Shampoo to try one last time to win her airen, but I already know what the outcome will be."
"That is already done." Cologne told her. "She had the Comb of Suggestion with her and right now plots to take that which is hers."
Lady Ambrosia did a Spock Maneuver eyebrow move. "Interesting, I almost feel sorry for poor Shampoo." she said. "I can guarantee you her efforts will not succeed."
Cologne humphed and said, "That remains to be seen."
Akane's special education was scheduled to formally begin the next day after school. The next morning the youngest Tendo sister awoke and came downstairs with her iinazuke beside her. At the bottom of the steps the most wonderful, mouthwatering aroma assaulted their noses. The two quickly made for the kitchen and were surprised to see Lady Ambrosia working at the stove as Kasumi watched her over her shoulder.
"That smells wonderful Lady Ambrosia." said Kasumi.
"An old family recipe my dear handed down from generation to generation." the old Amazon Weaver smiled. "I learned it from my mother who was also a Weaver."
"Oh my, I thought the men did all the cooking in the Amazon village." Kasumi mused.
Lady Ambrosia laughed, "We Nyanchiczu are a matriarchal society, but we do not relegate men strictly to domestic chores."
"I see, the women are in charge but men are not forced into doing the duties of a housewife." Kasumi said.
"No, there are a few on the council of elders who would love it if we enslaved our men, but we tend to do things on a more even sharing basis." Lady Ambrosia explained.
"That ain't the impression I got from Cologne." said Ranma.
Lady Ambrosia looked over at him and nodded to him and Akane. "Good morning, I trust you both slept well." she said.
"Are you making our breakfast?" Akane asked.
"Since your father was gracious enough to allow me to stay here during your training I must do something in return for his kindness." the old Weaver replied with a smile.
"She really is a good cook, Akane." said Kasumi.
Nabiki stuck her head into the kitchen and asked, "Say, what smells so good in here?"
"The old woman's cooking us breakfast." Ranma told her.
"Ranma, be nice." Akane scolded him.
"Akane, Kasumi dear, could you set the table for me?" Lady Ambrosia asked them. "I'm almost done here."
Akane shrugged her shoulders, "Ok." She and Kasumi went to the cupboard and pulled out the dishes. Soon the dinner table was set for breakfast. Ranma and Nabiki sat down at the table just as the three women started bringing out the food. The smell make Soun and Genma's mouths water, and Ranma's stomach rumbled. When he saw how much a spread of food had been brought out he gasped.
"Whoa, where did all of this come from?" he asked.
"I collected many of the ingredients from China, Thailand, Korea, and Indonesia just this morning." Lady Ambrosia told him with a smile.
Ranma gaped at her. "How the hell did you do that?"
"This morning one minute the pantry was nearly empty, then I turned around and suddenly it was full." said Kasumi.
"You, you created all this food with you're powers?" asked Akane.
"Oh no my dear, that would have taken too long and would have required a great deal of concentration and meditation." Lady Ambrosia told her. "I simply transferred the items here by folding space, the cost of the items will of course be picked up by the village."
"You don't have to go that far, Ms. Ambrosia." said Tendo Soun.
"The Nyanchiczu are quite wealthy, the expense of supplying food to this one household is a paltry sum." the old woman replied.
"Y-Y-Your people are rich, the Amazon's?" Nabiki asked in surprise.
Lady Ambrosia nodded, "Our society dates back more than ten thousand years, and in that time we have acquired enough wealth in gold, jewels, ancient relics, and long forgotten scrolls of knowledge to pay the national debt of the American's a hundred times over."
"Too bad Ranma's not gonna marry Shampoo." said Nabiki and earned a scornful look from her younger sister. "Lady Ambrosia, you wouldn't happen to have a younger cousin who's single would you?"
"Maybe you should go out with Mousse." said Ranma under his breath and Akane stifled a giggle.
"What was that Saotome?" Nabiki asked flashing him her patented and trademark "Ice Queen" stare, then looked at her younger sister with a slightly less chilly expression.
"Uh nothing, nothing at all." he replied quickly scratching the back of his head.
Nabiki snorted, "I thought so."
"Sorry dear, all of my male cousins are already spoken for, but Shampoo has a cousin about your age who is still single." Lady Ambrosia smiled.
"If your people are so rich why do you live the way you do?" Ranma asked. "When I went to Joketsuzoku and met Shampoo that first time it looked kinda primitive."
"We believe in simple living, we do not let wealth go to our heads like it does to so many in your culture and other lands." explained Lady Ambrosia. "Besides, to live in any higher luxury than we do now would arouse many questions from the Beijing government."
"Oh, so you make the appearance of being poor when you're actually not." said Nabiki. "Pretty clever, throwing around too much money in communist China would certain draw a lot of attention your way."
"When they do send agents our way to investigate us or check up on us from time to time we Weavers make certain that they do not see what they are not supposed to see." Lady Ambrosia said.
"I wondered how the Amazons were able to maintain their way of life, especially after the Cultural Revolution." Akane scratched her chin.
"A army is fairly useless against those who possess the ability to manipulate the Etherium to alter space and time." the old Weaver smiled. "During that dark time in China's history, while the communists were forcing cultural conformity among the populace Joketsuzoku virtually disappeared. Many times the communists came into our area looking for our village after hearing rumors of our existence, but time and again they failed to locate us. Eventually, they stopped searching, but discovered us sometime in the 1960's but all they know of us is that we are a primitive village in a remote portion of the country in an area that has no strategic or natural resource value except for perhaps lumber."
"They gotta know about Josenkyo." Ranma looked at her.
"They know of the place, but not of what it is." the old Weaver told him. "When the government in Beijing created and tested their first biological weapons we knew that if they learned of the true secrets of Josenkyo they might try to turn it into a weapon."
"Yeah, I can see how they could do that." Akane nodded. She envisioned in her mind a battlefield, bombs exploded over the heads of an advancing army then they were drenched by a spray of water from overhead. That same army stopped in its tracks as their gear fell to the ground and all sorts of different animals wriggled their way our of their uniforms. The thought of Josenkyo water being used as a weapon made Ranma shudder.
"Better hurry and eat you three or you'll be late for school." Genma spoke up.
"Huh?" Ranma looked up and checked the wall clock. "Aw man, and we haven't even sparred yet."
"You're off the hook until after school, boy." his father smirked.
Ranma smirked right back at him, "Morning or afternoon I can still kick your tail, old man."
Ranma held Akane's waist as she tried to balance to top of the canal fence. She staggered a little at first but slowly made her way while Ranma helped her balance and Nabiki kept and eye open to anyone on the street who might come along and look up Akane's skirt. When they saw a few school boys approach they leapt down, and heard groans of disappointment from them.
"Next time we practice fence walking when I'm wearing pants." Akane said.
The boys backed off quickly when Ranma shot them a hostile stare. "Yeah, that's a good idea." he agreed.
Suddenly a girl in a Furinken school girl's uniform ran up to them and nearly ran into Akane. "Akane, I-came-warn-you-Kuno!" Yuka tried to say between gasps of air.
"What's this about Kuno?" Nabiki asked.
Yuka turned and pointed down the street. "Look-for-yourself." she said finally catching her breath.
The three looked down the street at the gates to Furinken High School and saw a sight they had not seen in nearly a year. Several throngs of boys wear all sorts of sports and martial arts equipment were standing in rows at the gates. The Hentai Horde was reassembled. "What the hell!" Ranma gasped.
"He got the boys all worked up about you two yesterday, he told them that your engagement to Ranma would be null and void if they could beat you." Yuka explained.
"Why that dirty, no good." Akane clenched her fists and ground her teeth in rage.
"Who the hell does he think he is!?" Ranma snarled and put his arm around Akane's waist.
Yuka's eyes went wide. "Wow, so the rumors are true, you two are like a real couple now." she gasped.
"It ain't like we've been trying to hide it much." Ranma said.
Akane put her hand over Ranma's that was on her waist and smiled, "Yeah, Yuka, don't spread this around but me and Ranma have worked out our differences and we're not fighting the engagement anymore."
"But you made a vow that you hated men." Yuka gaped at her.
"Not all men." Akane said looking at Ranma. She noticed her old friend look over at Ranma with a very brief expression of longing which quickly turned to one of immense disappointment. What is it about Ranma that every single girl that sees him wants him for herself?, she asked herself. When she found her gaze drifting towards his beautiful crystal blue eyes she got her answer.
"Want me to take this one, I gotta stake in this too now." Ranma looked back at her and drifted a bit in her gaze.
She tightened her grip on his hand and said, "For now on we do this together."
Ranma smiled and said, "This is gonna be fun." Yuka and Nabiki watched in fascination and surprise as both Ranma and Akane rushed the Hentai Horde hand-in-hand. They plowed into the first boys head on bring them down with a jump kicks. The two let each other go but stayed close together as they tore through the enraged school boys. Cries of "Break up Ranma and Akane!" echoed down the street amidst the many cries of agony coming from the boys we had been felled by the two iinazuke. Ranma and Akane were like two sides of the Yin and Yang symbol. On one side Ranma's moves were all fluid and graceful as he delivered devastating kicks and punches. On the other Akane's moves were fierce and brutal as she hammered boys with her fists and sent them skyward with high kicks which unintentionally gave a few boys a brief peep show of her panties before they too where slammed to the ground. As soon as the carnage began it was over, and when the dust cleared everyone in the school yard and up on the balcony gasped in surprise when they watched Ranma and Akane approach one another, kiss, then headed towards the school hand in hand. Immediately as they passed the gates Ranma's danger sense when off. He ducked his head narrowly avoiding the blow from a bokken that would have taken off his head.
"Attacking me from behind isn't very honorable, Kuno." Ranma said as he stood up.
"Only when my intended target is himself an honorable man, Saotome." Kuno smirked.
Akane stalked up to the wannabe Samurai and snarled, "What is the deal with sending all those boys at me again!?
"Watching you and the vile Saotome yesterday in school was horrible torture beyond any mortal pain this humble warrior could ever bear." Kuno sighed dramatically and held up a red rose to his face. "I knew that the hold this vile creature has upon you has grown stronger, therefore I know endeavor to break this bond now and forever."
Ranma groaned and rubbed his hand down his face, "Man is this getting old or what?"
"Tell me about it." Akane whispered to him.
Kuno quickly tossed his rose at Akane, who caught it with practiced ease, then tossed an envelope at Ranma. "Not this again." Ranma groaned as he caught the letter. Kuno had challenged the engagement before and Ranma had defended himself, but back then he fought to protect his reputation as a better fighter than Kuno. Now the battle was more personal, he really wanted to be with Akane this time.
"Saotome Ranma, I challenge you, meet me at the selected place and time." Kuno said puffing up his chest. "This issue shall finally be put to rest and I Kuno Tatawaki shall finally free the beauteous Tendo Akane from your vile grasp."
Ranma tore open the letter and read it. "Heh, the track field behind the gym after school." he said.
"I will understand if you are too frightened to show, but in the event that you do not you loose by default and Tendo Akane will become my iinazuke." Kuno said proudly.
"Are you deranged!" Akane snapped at him. "I'd never marry you!"
Ranma patted her shoulder to calm her down and said, "I'll agree to this fight on one condition Kuno, that if I win you drop your claim to Akane and the Pig Tailed Girl."
Kuno thrust his bokken into Ranma's face, but the Saotome youth didn't flinch one bit. "Naive!" he yelled. "You lay claim to the beauteous Akane and now you lay claim also to my pig tailed goddess as well!"
"Neither of them want you, you annoy the hell out of both of them and your so caught up in your samurai fantasy world that you don't even realize it." Ranma looked at him with a hard stare. Akane and Nabiki both looked at Ranma in surprise. "You make up fantasies that the only way I beat you is through dark magic or something like that, and its pretty pathetic if you ask me." he went on.
Kuno did not reply, he just stared at Ranma for a moment with immense contempt on his face. They stood there looking at each other for several minutes when suddenly Kuno's face curled up into the most vicious snarl Ranma had ever seen. Tatawaki lifted his bokken and cried, "DAMN THE CHALLENGE, THE SWORD OF KUNO WILL TASTE YOUR BLOOD NOW!"
Akane ducked out of the way as Kuno attacked Ranma in a berserker rage, he wildly swung his sword about attempting to hit Ranma. The Saotome youth dodged the blows that narrowly struck him several times. The wooden sword cleaved through a tree and smashed part of the school wall as the two combatants chased one another around the school yard. Ranma did not just dodge during this whole exchanged, but he was unable to get close enough past Kuno's wild sword blows to land a punch of kick.
Ranma dodged a series of furious sword blows that came too close to connecting for comfort. He leapt high over Kuno's head and reach out to grab his bokken away from him. Ranma's hand encircled the wooden blade and he felt it give way and pulled away with him. When he alighted to the ground behind Kuno he realized with a chill down his spine that what he was holding in his hand was a wooden sword scabbard made to look like a bokken. Kuno whirled around, the sound of bare steel sung in the air as a bright metal blade narrowly missed Ranma's neck.
"Kami-sama, Kuno baby has a real sword!" Nabiki gasped.
"Ranma look out!" Akane cried.
Ranma saw it before either Tendo girls did, and he put some distance between himself and Kuno while staying a safe distance from the girls or any other students. This whole fight had turned from an annoyance to downright dangerous. Kuno was fighting with a vicious ferocity unlike anything Ranma had ever seen from the Kendoist, and he was actually demonstrating some skill too. Something just didn't add up here. During the whole battle nobody noticed the bejeweled wire comb stuck in Kuno's hair.
"Stupid bokken boy, Shampoo say defeat Ranma in duel, not kill Ranma." Shampoo growled through clenched teeth as she watched the fight from her hiding place in the school yard. She winced as Kuno's sword came within a hair's breath of slicing Ranma's torso like a side of beef. It was clear to the voluptuous Amazon that her strategy for getting Ranma and Akane apart had some "flaws". Clearly relying on the comb to get her command through Kuno's thick skull was a mistake. Magic can only do so much when the people you're controlling are dumber than a stick.
Akane stood there with her older sister watching the whole fight, if this is what you could call it, and it was becoming clear that Ranma as in trouble. Kuno was fighting like Ryoga in a rage, but he was doing so with inhuman skill. Ranma hadn't delivered a single punch or kick, and it wasn't because he didn't try. Finally, she gasped in horror was the tip of Kuno's sword slashed a cut across Ranma's chest. Akane watched her iinazuke, the man she loved with all her heart, fall backwards holding his chest and grimacing in pain and rage. Kuno brought up his sword for a downward stroke that would certainly kill, and his face was curled up in a mask of insane glee. Time for Tendo Akane seemed to slow down, she watched as Kuno raised his weapon in slow motion and prepare to deliver a lethal blow to Ranma who was on the ground. Fear and hatred welled up inside of Akane as she looked at Kuno, she could feel the rage within her like a physical force traveling down her spin to her waist, then it went from there to her legs and traveled swiftly to her feet. Nabiki and the other students gasped as they looked at Akane, her hair and skirt were fluttering about as if in a fierce breeze, but the wind in the school yard was very calm. Kuno's sword reached its apex and the Kendoist swung downward issuing a cry of triumph.
"NNNOOOOO!!!!!" Akane cried. Her skirt flew up around her showing her bare legs and white panties to the entire student body, suddenly an invisible force traveled through the ground throwing up dirt and sod in a straight line headed directly for Kuno. When it reached the insane Kendoist the ground exploded in a geyser of dirt, rock and sod. Kuno was thrown into the air nearly forty feet and he lost his grip on his sword. The deadly weapon went flying and embedded itself into one of the trees that ringed the school yard. Seconds later Kuno himself slammed into the ground unconscious. The fierce unfelt winds holding Akane's skirt aloft suddenly subsided. Akane put her hand to her head and staggered a couple of steps and fell to the ground
"AKANE!" Ranma cried as he raced towards her. He reached her before anyone else could including Nabiki who had been right beside her. Ranma lifted her up into his arms and brushed her hair out of her face. "Akane." he said softly as he held her close. Slowly her eyes fluttered open, she looked up at Ranma.
"W-What happened?" she asked him.
He shook his head, "I dunno but I'm getting you to the Doc." Before Akane or anyone could say a word Ranma was up and running at full speed. He leapt and cleared the school ground wall then took to the rooftops making a beeline straight for Dr. Tofu's office. After he was out of sight and most of the students watching the fight went into the school building Shampoo came out of her hiding place. She walked over to Kuno's unconscious body and retrieved the Comb of Suggestion.
"Stupid bokken boy!" she spat. "Shampoo say defeat Ranma in fight so Shampoo can come to rescue and impress Airen." After glancing around again to make sure we wasn't seen Shampoo bounded over the school grounds wall and vanished.
Unknown to Shampoo someone was watching her. Nabiki slipped back away from the edge of the upper floor balcony and scratched her chin. What he heck was that all about, what did Shampoo take off of Kuno's head?, she wondered. She had seen Shampoo slip out of a hiding place soon after Ranma and Akane left and her curious side too over. Of course, if she had stayed much longer than she did Shampoo would certainly have sensed her presence. After all, Shampoo was an accomplished martial artist with a keen sense of awareness. The Tendo Clan Mercenary and reputed "Ice Queen" of Nerima decided to talk to Ranma and Akane about this later. She checked her watched and groaned, she was two minutes late for class and would certainly be made to stand out in the hall.
Saotome Ranma made record time getting to Dr. Tofu's clinic. Clearly if he'd been in an Olympic event Ranma would be wearing a gold medal right now. As it was he was beside himself with worry while he waited in the waiting room. Back in one of the examination rooms Akane blushed as she pulled up her blouse revealing her back so the doctor could check her with his stethoscope.
"Other than a mild headache and a bout of exhaustion I don't really see anything else wrong with you Akane." he said letting Akane put her blouse back down.
"I feel so tired." she told him.
He scratched the back of his head. "And you say Kuno Tatawaki used a real katana sword against Ranma, and when you thought Ranma was in trouble-"
"I was scared and angry, I just wanted to lash out at Kuno, I wished that I could." she interrupted.
"Hmmm." he wondered. "Have you ever experienced anything like this before?"
Akane shook her head, "No, never."
"I want to say it was a chi technique, that would explain the fatigue." he said.
"But I don't know any chi techniques." Akane told him.
"Sometimes they come to you by accident during times of extreme tension or stress, that was how the Shi Shi Hokadon was discovered." Dr. Tofu informed her. "It could be you used one when you though Ranma was in real danger."
"Doctor, there's this lady who came to our dojo yesterday from the Nyanchiczu." Akane said as she turned around and sat with her knees up to her chin. "She said I had some kind of power awakening inside of me and what she said that power was is pretty far fetched."
Dr. Tofu did a classic Spock Maneuver. "Tell me what she told you." he said. Akane went through an abbreviated version of what Lady Ambrosia had told her about the power she had within her. Dr. Tofu's expression turned very white suddenly when she was finished.
"In my many travels around the world I have visited the Nyanchiczu and I am well aware of what the Weavers can do." he admitted. "If you have this power, it is very potent and very dangerous if not properly controlled."
"So what I did at the school was the power." Akane guessed.
Dr. Tofu shook his head and rubbed his chin, "I can't really tell you if it was or not I know only a little about the Weavers, maybe you need to take this up with your sensei."
Akane sighed, "I guess I have no choice but to accept her teaching, I've got to learn to control this power or the next time I get mad-"
Dr. Tofu interrupted her, "Try not to ponder on it, the gift you have is very special, not many have it as I am told."
That made Akane feel a little better and she smiled. Dr. Tofu reached into his white physician's coat and took out a small bottle. After he took out two small tablet he handed them to Akane. "These should take care of the headache, ordinary Aspirin." he told her.
"Thanks." she said taking the tablets. The doctor went to the sink near the door and drew Akane a cup of water.
He offered her the cup and said, "Take it with this and then go home and take it easy for the rest of the day."
Akane nodded and took the medicine. She and the doctor returned to waiting room to a very nervous Ranma. "Is she alright Doc?" he asked quickly.
"Other than a headache and some fatigue she'll be alright." Dr. Tofu smiled reassuringly. "Take her home, she needs to rest."
"Thanks, Doc, I owe you one." Ranma smiled back, picked Akane up into his arms and hurried out the door to fast that it make made Ono's physician's coat flutter violently. Before long Akane found herself in her backyard after a journey that to her was only just a blur of images and the rush of wind. Kasumi was outside string up the wash and gave a yelp of surprise as Ranma and her sister landed in the backyard.
"Oh my, what happen, why aren't you two in school?" she asked, her voice sounding very concerned.
"Kuno happened, Doc says Akane needs to take it easy the rest of the day." Ranma told her.
"Kuno Tatawaki." Soun said questioningly from the house where he and Genma were playing Go.
"What happened?" Genma asked.
"He went at Ranma with a real katana." Akane said tiredly.
Soun took at look at his daughter and was immediately concerned. To put it bluntly she looked like death warmed over, her face looked like she hadn't slept in days. He got up quickly, surprisingly without shedding any tears, and went to his little girl.
"What happened to you Akane?" he asked her. "You look terrible, did that boy do this to you?"
Ranma shook his head, "No, she did something, I can't explain it, but she took Kuno out without even touching him."
Soun and Genma looked at him in surprise. "You mean you let a girl do your fighting for you!" Genma snarled and pounced on his son. After a brief struggle on the ground Ranma went sailing across the yard and landed in the koi pond. Female Ranma came up sputtering and cursing worse than a sailor.
"Mr. Saotome, it wasn't like that at all!" Akane shouted at the large man.
"You jerk, I was fighting Kuno, and when he had me on the rope Akane did something and Kuno was suddenly on the ground!" growled Ranma as she got up close, face to face with her father.
"Is Lady Ambrosia here, I think this has something to do with what she told me and Ranma yesterday?" Akane asked her father.
"After you left for school she left and said she was going to Nekohauten until later." Kasumi answered for him. Akane suddenly felt a wave of fatigue go through her and she started to fall. Ranma was at her side in an instant to catch her. The youngest Tendo sister blushed a little as she felt her shoulder resting against one of Ranma's generously proportioned breasts.
"Let me get you to bed, you can talk to her later." Ranma said softly.
Akane nodded weakly, "Ok." She didn't protest as Ranma picked her up, getting her dress wet since Ranma was still soaked from her dunk in the koi pond, and was carried like a delicate package into the house. She blushed furiously as Ranma helped her slip out of her school uniform and into one of her pajamas. Ranma tried not to stare at Akane too much, and blushed just as intensely. Damn, she is pretty, why didn't I ever notice it before?, she asked herself.
"Thank you." Akane smiled at her iinazuke as Ranma tucked her into bed.
"Get some rest." Ranma whispered then leaned down to kiss Akane's cheek, but Akane tilted her head just the right way and their lips met. Ranma was shocked at first, but remembered what happened yesterday morning, how Akane accepted her as a boy or girl. When their kiss ended Ranma smiled and said, "Now, go to sleep, and rest."
"You know, I used to hate it when you got this protective with me." Akane admitted. "Show how much I've changed in a few days, eh."
Ranma kneeled down next to the bed, not wanting to sit on it and soak the sheets. "I know, we both kinda changed a lot in only like two days." she agreed. "Its kinda weird, I sorta thought we'd be like the same as we'd been but only a little different, getting along better but still arguing a little, you know changing just a little over time but not all at once like this." In response Akane reached out with her hand and grasped Ranma's hand that was resting on the bed.
"I wonder, I wonder if it has something to do with what Lady Ambrosia told us last night." Akane pondered.
"That mumbo jumbo about you changing space and time or whatever." Ranma laughed. "You really believed all that."
Akane shook her head, "No, not until today."
"Huh?" Ranma looked at her in surprise.
"Ranma, I attacked Kuno using some kind of power I can't even begin to understand." she said. "I'm starting to think that maybe there is something to what she said last night."
Ranma snorted, "Well I ain't gonna trust her until I'm sure she's on the up and up and she ain't involved with the Old Ghoul."
"Ranma, you, a voice of reason." Akane said in a mock sarcastic tone with a smirk on her face.
Ranma laughed, "What's happen to us, just the other day we're at each other's throats, and now its taking everything we got to keep from screwing each other's brains out." Akane busted out laughing, but the though of being intimate with Ranma at that moment was suddenly very appealing. Her body shivered with expectation.
"Ranma, one of the reasons why I was so hard on you all this time was because, because, I was attracted to you." Akane admitted.
"Y-Y-You were." Ranma looked at her, blushing.
Akane smiled at her, "Remember, I got a pretty good look at you that day in the bathroom." She blushed as she remembered that day she walked in on Ranma in the bathroom and saw him in his true male form for the first time. The first thought in her mind when she saw him was, "My Kami-sama, that guy is hung like a freaking horse!"
Ranma's lovely female face smile softly and said, "I though you were really pretty." She thought back to that day when she was in the bathroom. Ranma intended to go out in her male form, she thought everyone would find out eventually about her curse, so why not. That was when Akane showed up and saw her in her true form as a boy for the first time. Ranma's first thought when that happened was, "Wow, she's got a body on her!"
"I can't wait until after our wedding." Akane said thinking out loud.
"Eh, uh-" Ranma stammered.
"Why do you think I got those birth control pills from Dr. Tofu yesterday?" Akane smiled at her. Ranma's beautiful blue eyes suddenly grew very wide. She recovered quickly and just sighed.
"That's something I can't really understand." said Ranma. "Why am I like a magnet for women, is it the curse or what?"
Akane shrugged her shoulders, "I think it's been happening before you got your curse, remember Ukyo."
"Yeah, but I never knew she was so hung up on me like that until just recently." Ranma replied, then threw up her hands. "Hell, I didn't know she was a girl until recently." Akane giggled at that.
"Then there's Kodachi, she fell in love with you on sight." Akane said counting out on her fingers.
Ranma rested her forehead on the bed. "Ugh!" she groaned. "Please don't remind me of that."
"Shampoo is bound by her laws, but I can tell when I look in her eyes that she really is totally smitten by you." Akane added.
Ranma looked at her with a hopeless expression and said, "Ok, then please explain Kuno."
"Why do any of the guys you've met in your female form suddenly go nuts over you, like that guy from the Gold Pair, or the boy from the Martial Arts Tea Ceremony dojo?" asked Akane. "Its not your curse, its just you." She reached out and touched Ranma's face. "They fell for you, some people are like that, they just attract admirers." she continued.
"Yeah, but its gets to be a real bother sometimes." Ranma groaned but smiled anyway.
"I'm the same way, look at all the boys that have gone after me." Akane pointed out. "Not counting Kuno."
Ranma had to nod in agreement there. "I see your point." she said. There had been several times she had to fight off somebody going after Akane. Ryoga had been one of them, up until recently that is. It would take a miracle for him to have any chance to be with her after what happened the other day. Maybe, just maybe, he and Akane would be friends after all of this, but they could never be a couple. There would always be that knowledge that he deceived her like he did, hiding his curse from her, and using it to sneak into her bed as her pet pig P-Chan. Of all of Akane's "suitors" Ryoga was the worst one Ranma had to face. Kuno didn't even count, and wasn't really a problem until today.
"I wonder what happened to Kuno, he was never that good before." Ranma said while wondering.
"I-I know, you couldn't get anywhere near him." Akane pursed her lips in thought. "You've always been able to beat him."
Ranma scratched her chin. "Something smells rotten in Denmark."
"Maybe it was just a fluke." Akane shrugged.
Ranma shook her head. "No, he was too good today for it to be just blind luck." She looked up at Akane and asker her, "Remember when Kuno went to that watermelon island to train, and he got beaned on the head?"
"Yeah, I remember, he couldn't remember who he was but he was also pretty good with the sword too." Akane replied remembering the incident.
"This was just like it, but he remembers who he was this time." said Ranma.
Akane shivered, the prospect of a highly skilled Kuno Tatawaki on the loose with his Akane Obsession in full gear was frightening. "Oh no." she whispered. Ranma squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"Don't worry, there ain't a martial artist I haven't been able to beat." she said to Akane reassuringly. "If I can beat that Musk guy I can beat Kuno."
"Be careful, ok?" Akane looked at her, the fear in her eyes was very evident.
Ranma pointed to herself. "Hey, its me, don't worry." When she said that the sound of thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky as if the Kami were mocking her statement.
**********
Coming up in Chapter Two
Shampoo's little plan involving Kuno didn't quite work out as well as she would have liked. After the fight at school Kuno seems to have completely dropped out of sight, and the Hentai Horde is once again absent. Akane has begun her formal training under Lady Ambrosia, and life at the Tendo Dojo seems to have finally calmed down a little. The wedding is two days away, what could possibly happen in two days? Well, this is Nerima we are talking about here, Murphy's home town. Stay tuned.
**********
Notes: The concept for the Etherium was conceived in 1992, but at the time was called the Ethereal Matrix. After the movie "The Matrix" came out I decided it sounded too similar and looked for a name to replace it. The Etherium was a good choice. The character Lady Ambrosia was my own idea but was also slightly modeled after the good sorceress in the movie "Willow". The Weaver aspect came from a little known but excellent Lucus Arts game "Loom". In "Loom" the Weavers could fashion things out of the threat of the universe and even alter reality. Part of the concept of the Etherium came from that game but I never used the Weaver aspect in the outline for Orrin Quintarin's original story. I thought it would interesting to use the idea in this story, but alter it a bit so that the Gift wasn't dependent on the use of the mystical Loom the Weavers used in the game. The Comb of Suggestion was my own idea, but I could easily imagine Takahashi-san using it in the original manga has she thought it up before I did. :-)
