Oh, I forgot to mention in the first part that I own none of these characters. They all belong to their respective copyright publishers. Just wanted to borrow them for a while, promise I'll bring them back and top off the gas tank.

By the way, I just wanted to thank all of you who reviewed. I promise that I'll reveal the exact nature and meaning of Akane's dream, but not quite yet. Trust me, by the time it happens you will not expect it. I promise I will try to answer any questions and fill up as many gaps as possible. As for the chapter length, my brain craps out after about a page and a half on my word processor, but I'll try.

Note: this is an edit of the earlier version of the chapter

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Somewhere outside the peaceful valley of Jusenkyo in China lies phoenix mountain. To the uneducated it would appear to just be a mountain, but to a few people it was the one place where you were certain to meet one of the phoenix. They were one of the few peoples that lived in the region whose lives did not revolve around fighting or war. Like the other people in this region, they knew how to keep themselves hidden.

Kiima looked at her home and sighed. Was this all there was to life? It's such a small mountain, such a secluded and secret existence, and the numbers of her people are dwindling. She could never be happy here, but she could never leave for fear of revealing her people and causing further harm to them.

Almost a month ago all of this could have been destroyed, and by one man. One man defeated Saffron, Saffron a god! Since that time she had personally made sure that she would do as many things as possible to keep her people hidden. Gone were the days of their many spies in the neighboring villages and cities. They didn't really need Jusenkyo anymore and this time she could allow the once and future king to grow up normally.

Perhaps this was all for the best, after all, that Ranma person did move the taps and her people could now live as they hadn't since the last time Saffron was an adult, but this time permanently. After all she did, after all Saffron did, he spared them.

She avoided her cursed form after that day, only using it when she needed to leave the mountain. This person, the person who owned this body originally almost died, and at her hands nonetheless. The last thing she wanted to see was that face in the mirror.

When had she gone from being the defender of her people to a murderer?

Using someone else's life as nothing more than a means to an end.

"I thought you'd be up here Kiima" a young boy's voice piped in from behind her.

"and I thought that you'd still be in school" she replied.

The diminutive form of Saffron stood behind her, having grown already to the apparent age of four or five in the span of a month. This was good news for her, she was never a person who was good with babies, and as protector of her people she was automatically assigned the duty of rearing their king. It hadn't happened this way last time, last time he aged normally enough, considering he wasn't born. Both facts happened to bother her.

"It was boring, nobody even bothered to correct me" he said with a sad tone in his voice.

"I see" she replied, still lost in thought.

It was true, fearing the power he would probably have again none of his people would stand up to him. This really bothered her, if they couldn't even pretend that he was an equal, then what was to stop him from growing back into the way he was before. Something was different this time though, whether it be the accellerated growth or something else, Saffron was different this time around.

"Kiima, I want to tell you something..."

"Yes Lord Saffron?" He never acted like a real child before. Always as if he was someone or something better, and he knew it.

"Kiima. . . I love you. You're the closest thing I've had to a mother, twice. You've always treated me with respect instead of fear and for that I thank you."

Saffron watched as his personal guard and two-time surrogate mother opened her mouth as if she were going to respond, then promptly faint.

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Despite the fact that she was in fact female this moment, Ranma really didn't have anything to complain about. Since she was in such a good mood she really didn't see any harm in fulfilling Kasumi's request either. Akane's near death seemed to soften both her temper and his mouth, though the failed wedding did return some of the strain to their relationship.

As she made his way into her fiance's room, she paused a moment. How should she wake Akane? Though their relationship was on better terms then it's been since, well since it's ever been, Akane still had a habit of pounding the hell out of her on a frequent basis. The hard part about it was pinpointing whether or not it was just ingrained into her psyche or if it was just play.

As she stood above the head of Akane's bed thinking about what to say as to not be projected too far, she began to notice Akane was covered in a faint sheen of sweat. Her eyes were darting around and her fists were clenched, clutching her sheets as if she were hanging on to something for her very life. Ranma knew what this meant.

"WAKE UP YA STUPID TOMBOY, IT'S ONLY A DREAM!"

"HOLYSHIT!" Akane exclaimed as she jumped up at a speed that made Ranma wonder if she had been practicing the amaguriken.

"Pervert!, what are you doing in here?" she yelled brandishing Mallet-sama inches from the redhead's face.

"Just thought ya might like some breakfast before the stupid panda gets it" she yelled back.

"Oh, ok then, tell Kasumi I'll be down soon, and Ranma?"

Wow! , she managed to say something without pissing Akane off! Ranma thought to herself

"Yes?"

"This is for calling me a 'stupid tomboy' again"

Before her brain could even process that statement she found herself malleted out of the room, through the hall, and down the stairs. She could faintly hear someone mutter 'baka' under their breath. Strange, she was both conscious and still on the ground, her spirit wasn't dampened one bit. It hurt, but at least she didn't have to walk very far to get back to Kasumi.

"She only hit me within the house, it must be love!"

"Thank god I don't have to pay to have the roof patched again Saotome" Nabiki muttered while sipping on her coffee. "My little sister is softening to you."

Ranma glared at Nabiki