Chapter Two

To China

"This...place is...packed!" Akane cried.

It was worse than the hallway at school between classes. Akane had nearly lost Mousse in the crowd so many times, she finally resorted to clinging onto his long sleeve. Of course, with Mousse and his terrible eyesight, it really didn't do her much good. He constantly bumped into people, gaining shouts, swears, and evil looks from the other civilians bustling around the airport.

Even with the busy hallways at school, Akane had never had to really worry about being bumped into—not only because she had 20/20 vision, but also because she was good at weaving through crowds, and when people took up whole hallways just to shit-chat, she wasn't afraid to bite off heads so she could get through. She had done it so much that people learned to clear the hallway when she was close by.

Then when Ranma arrived, her worries were completely diminished. For some reason, without any assertiveness on Ranma's part, people parted for him to walk by, as if he were Moses parting the Red Sea. Akane had always found this strange; she wasn't sure if they all did it because they respected, or feared him. After all, he hadn't taken very long to obtain his 'delinquent' reputation among his teacher and peers.

This strange power Ranma had naturally was what made it so weird that he had been kidnapped. As much as he wasn't the stereotypical charming prince in shining armor, he certainly was no damsel in distress, either (besides, he'd wig out if anyone dared called him a damsel, even if half the time he was one).

Like Mousse had said, once Ranma woke up, he'd try any means to escape. Being kidnapped would be bad enough—to be held a prisoner would be a huge wound on his ego.

"Watch where you're going, fool!" a man barked at Mousse irritably, pulling Akane from her thoughts.

Akane jumped in front of Mousse and glared heatedly at the man.

"Back off! For your information, he doesn't have good eyesight. He barely brushed you anyway, from what I saw, so why don't you calm the hell down?" Akane snapped. She grabbed Mousse's arm and jerked him through the crowd, leaving the man gob-smacked.

"I can't stand people like that! Honestly..." Akane grumbled. "I'll lead the way from now on, okay, Mousse?"

"Thank you, Akane Tendo."

"Huh?" Akane looked over her shoulder and stared quizzically at Mousse.

"Nobody has ever stood up to me for my poor eyesight." Mousse explained. "They'd just call me a blind fool; you're the only one to ever defend me, and I truly appreciate your kindness."

Akane blushed, royally embarrassed by Mousse's sudden sincerity.

"H-hey...no reason to be so formal." she laughed nervously. "Don't mention it. Really. It was my pleasure to give that guy a taste of his own medicine."

Akane realized she'd brought them to a stop, and continued to weave them through the crowd again. At last, they reached the front desks.

"Good morning, how may I help you?" a young woman asked when Akane and Mousse approached.

"Hello, we'd like two plane tickets to China, please." Mousse told the woman.

"Certainly," the woman said, typing into her computer. "There will be a flight in the next half hour, at 6:30 am. Will that be fine?"

"Yes, thank you very much." Mousse nodded.

"Alright, then. Here are your tickets. Have a nice flight." the woman smiled, giving two tickets to Mousse. Mousse blindly reached for the left, away from the tickets. Akane snatched the tickets with a sigh, the woman blinking at the two in confusion. Akane grabbed Mousse's arm and pulled him away, reading the ticket to find out where they were headed.

"Terminal Six..." she muttered aloud, "Okay, that's this way."

She lead Mousse to Terminal Six, then went to go buy them some drinks as they waited for the flight. Mousse waited at a bench, and Akane came back with their drinks. She handed Mousse a cup of coffee.

"One sugar, two creams." she announced, sitting down with her own drink.

"What did you get for yourself?" Mousse asked.

"French vanilla cappuccino with whipped cream and caramel sauce." Akane said cheerfully, sticking a straw into her drink.

Mousse stirred around his coffee. "How very feminine." he muttered.

"Hey, I need the sugar boost." Akane defended, sipping her cappuccino curtly, then pulling out the straw and licking the whipped cream and caramel from the end.

"This will be my first time on an air plane," Akane said after a while, trying to start small talk. "I'm a bit excited to see what it's like."

"Well, the bathrooms are very small...then there's the turbulence...the terrible movies...and if you sit beside the aisle then the flight attendant could hit your funny bone with the food cart...then there's the crying babies...the snoring old men...the sense of claustrophobia...the aching joints...the numb behind..."

Akane pouted. "Geez, thanks a lot, killjoy." she grumbled, poking at the whipped cream glumly.

"Oh. My apologies, Akane Tendo." Mousse replied.

Akane sighed, peeking at the clock as she sipped on her cappuccino.


Luu Fa walked across the village with a tray of food. It was scarcely a peasant dish, she thought to herself with a frown. A small bowl of plain rice, and a loaf of bread, leftovers from dinner that evening. Luu Fa set the tray down on the ground, then grabbed the latch on the cellar, that sat alone by the trees at the far end of the village.

She heaved it open, then grabbed the dish. Most of the villagers simply tossed the food down, since they had no other way of getting down, since the only way was by ladder. Luu Fa stood by the open cellar a moment, thinking. Then she made her way down the ladder, until her head and torso were the only things poking out from the hole. Balancing her feet on the foot holds, she grabbed the tray and carefully balanced it on her head. There was many things an Amazon woman had; just one of those things was incredible balance.

Luu Fa climbed down the ladder slowly, the tray balancing on her head. Finally, her feet landed on the bottom, and Luu Fa took the tray from her hands and turned around. The cellar smelled of dirt and must and dampness, like oncoming rain. Luu Fa sniffed the air in distaste.

"You awake?" she asked in Japanese.

There was no response from the darkness, but Luu Fa's trained ears heard low, shallow breathing and feet shuffling against dirt.

"Got your food here." she said, kneeling down and setting the tray on the ground. "Bet you're happy it wasn't thrown down again, huh? Everything must get soiled, so you don't eat much of what they hardly give you in the first place, right? Got to be starving. Be lucky they assigned me to feed you tonight."

She pushed the tray further into the darkness. Still there was no response.

"They bound you, didn't they?" Luu Fa asked. "How do you eat?"

Again, she was met with silence. She heard shifting, a grunt.

"Must be difficult, if you eat at all, that is." she said. "How long has it been now? Just over two weeks?"

No reply. More shallow breathing.

"Your are stubborn. I'm pretty sure they just bound your hands and feet, not your mouth." Luu Fa muttered. "Lots of them don't know your language, but as you can hear, I do."

Luu Fa waited a moment, still getting no response from the blackness. Sighing irritably, she sat down on her haunches, crossing her legs.

"You're such a pain..." she muttered under her breath. She snatched the piece of bread and crawled into the shadows.

She ripped a small piece off, and held it out to the darkness. Her eyes had adjusted slightly, and the pale moonlight crept down the hole, aiding her vision. She could see a scarce outline of their prisoner. She sat beside him against the stone wall.

"Eat." she ordered. "I'll shove it down your throat if I have to, kid. They're trying to keep you around so you can marry Shampoo, but they're doing a lousy job. They keep this up, and she'll have to find another husband because they'll have buried you right in this hole."

She felt the figure shiver a bit. She shoved the piece of bread further towards him.

"Go on. Eat, before it goes stale." she commanded.

She felt the bread being pulled from her fingers. Something dry and soft—his lips, she figured—brushed against her finger. She heard him quickly chew the piece and swallow.

Luu Fa smiled. "Good," she said. "Want more?"

She paused for a moment, then reached over and pulled the tray towards her, and started to rip the bread into pieces and setting them on the tray.

"What a stupid question." she whispered. "Of course you'd want more."

Maybe she was just imagining things, but Luu Fa could've sworn she heard the faintest, weakest chuckle come out of the pitch black.

"See?" she said, smirking, picking up another piece of the bread. "You're feeling better already."


"I could sleep for a month..." Akane groaned.

She and Mousse were at a cheap hotel, in the Qinghai Province. They'd arrived in China earlier that day, and traveled as far as they could with the lack of sleep they'd received. Akane's first plane ride hadn't been a pleasant one, at all. She'd hardly slept a wink on the plane, and when they at last arrived in China, Mousse wanted them to keep on trucking, when Akane was just about ready to pass out on a bench in the terminal.

Finally, he had allowed them to stop, finding them a low-price hotel to rest in. Akane was now lying on one of the two small beds, face down, exhausted. Mousse sat on the opposite bed, watching her.

"How much longer until we reach your village?" Akane mumbled.

"From here, the Joketzsuko village should be another three days away." Mousse said.

"Three days...?" Akane cried, looking up. Mousse nodded. She slumped back onto her pillow with a moan.

"The things I do for that dummy..." she sighed.

"You've done well so far. Have a rest." Mousse got to his feet. "I'm going to go get something to eat, then take a bath. You should do so once you've rested."

Akane nodded lazily, and Mousse left the room. She turned slowly onto her back, staring at the off-white ceiling, and let her thoughts wander.

She was in China, at last. Three days from now, she would be in the Amazon village, and she would free Ranma from their imprisonment no matter what it took. If she had to beat up an entire village full of Amazons, she would do it. She wondered about what she would do once she saw Ranma again. She smiled, not only at the thought but at the certainty of it. She would see him again, if was the last thing she ever did. What would she say to him? Long time, no see?

Akane chuckled sleepily. She wasn't sure what exactly she would do when she saw him again, she just knew she'd be happy; happier than she had ever been, and happier than she ever would be the rest of her life. Smiling, Akane fell into a deep slumber.


Against the pitch black, she heard a soft, quiet voice break through the silence. The sound of water rushing could be heard in the background. The air was warm, like in a furo.

"You gave your life...for mine. You were always trying to do things like that. You were so...so...so stupid."

The voice stopped, the rushing water continued. Then, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, hard.

"That wasn't what I meant to say," the voice went on. "What I wanted to say was...thank you, Akane...and I'm sorry, and...I-I'm really lame at this stuff. I never did tell you how I really felt, did I? I just made you mad and hurt you..."

The voice trailed off for a while, then continued.

"Please...wake up, Akane. I need to tell you something. Akane, can you hear me? I...I wanted to tell you that..."

I love you.


"Akane? Akane, wake up."

"Ran...ma."

Mousse's eyes widened, caught off guard by what Akane had said. He shook her shoulder a little harder.

"Akane, wake up." he said.

Akane mumbled, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked peaceful for a moment, her eyes full of love. Her eyes fell upon Mousse, and suddenly the expression changed to disappointment.

"Oh." Akane whispered, still half-asleep. "It was only a dream."

She sat up and quickly rubbed her eyes. Tears had quickly emerged when she realized she was only dreaming; she stretched and rubbed her eyelids, feigning it for drowsiness.

"How long was I out?" Akane asked quickly, clearing her throat.

"Two hours." Mousse said softly, having noticed her tears and knew she was trying to hide it. "I ran you a bath. I came to wake you up before it gets cold."

Akane nodded. "Thanks, Mousse. A bath sounds great." she said. She got up and headed for the bathroom.

The furo was warm and steamy when Akane entered, wrapped in a towel. She splashed herself with the bucket available and got in, sighing at the hot water instantly relaxing her muscles, tense from travel and sleep. She sank into the water, closing her eyes.

I wanted to tell you that I love you.

Akane opened her eyes. She was positive she'd heard him say it, as he held her still body in his arms in the Jusen caves, right here in China. Being back here was recalling all the memories tenfold, but the one that came to her the most was that one. He denied it when she asked him, but she was sure he'd said it. Everyone had been standing close by, but she hadn't seen them give him grief afterward for saying anything, which she knew they all would were he to say such a thing out loud. Perhaps he hadn't said it out loud, but she'd heard him, somehow.

"I know you love me...I know it." Akane whispered. Tears made their way to her eyes yet again. Akane was so sick of crying, but she didn't bother to wipe the tears away again. She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"That's why I need to save you." she said. "You love me, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna sit here and watch as Shampoo tries to make you marry her when I haven't said it back yet."

Akane rested her forehead on her knees.

"I wanted...to tell you I love you, too, dummy." she mumbled. "So just wait for me. I'll come for you, and then...then I can finally tell you how I feel."


"Can you feed him again tonight?"

Luu Fa looked up from the dishes she was washing, her eyebrows raising in confusion at the woman beside her, drying the dishes she handed her.

"I thought everyone was taking turns?" Luu Fa asked in Mandarin. "I fed him last night."

The woman shrugged. She had hair the colour of lavender, which was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked just a few years older than Luu Fa.

"Everyone is busy tonight." said the woman. "Getting ready for the upcoming tournament."

Luu Fa nodded to herself, looking back at the dishes. "Right, the tournament." she muttered.

"Judging from your tone," the woman grumbled. "I'm guessing you won't be partaking again this year?"

"It seems...unnecessary to me." Luu Fa replied, plunging a plate into the soapy water.

The woman snorted. "Always the rebellious one." she snapped. "A good Amazon should take pride in her fighting; she should want to flaunt her skills to all who can see."

Luu Fa rolled her eyes. "What's the point?" she said. "I don't care about the amount of respect I gain from the people of the village. At the end of the day, it will never matter. The Elders get the highest respect."

"You talk like a child," the woman sighed, exasperated. "I suppose no matter how old you get, you'll always be my kid sister."

Luu Fa frowned. "I should be considered a child for my opinion, sister?" she muttered.

"To consider fighting 'unnecessary'?" the woman said the word with malice. "Yes, it is childish of you."

Luu Fa washed the last dish, and shoved it into her sister's hands.

"I don't care what anyone in the village thinks of my beliefs." Luu Fa said. "Even you, Sao Pu."

The woman, Sao Pu, simply frowned at Luu Fa. She scoffed, and went back to drying the dishes.

"I'll feed the boy tonight." Luu Fa said after a time. "Would it be troublesome to give him a bigger meal this time?"

Sao Pu laughed. "Now you're just speaking nonsense!" she cried. "Why in the world should we give him more of our food?"

Luu Fa held back the frown that wanted to come to her face. She chuckled halfheartedly.

"Have you no sense of humor? It was just a joke, sister." she said.

"You're an awful comedian." Sao Pu muttered, shaking her head, a small smile on her lips.

"Good luck in the tournament." Luu Fa said, walking out of the hut.

"Can we hope to see you there next year?" Sao Pu called.

Luu Fa chuckled. "If that was a joke, sister, then now I know where I get my lack of talent for humor from." Luu replied. She opened the hut's wooden door, letting in the afternoon's bright light. "Don't count on it."


Shampoo climbed the ladder out of the cellar, closing the door behind her. She heard footsteps coming closer, and looked up.

"Auntie?" she said.

Luu Fa walked up to her niece, a tray of food in her hands. Tonight, the tray had another bowl of rice, and a lone pickle on top. Reading the girl's face, she knew she had yet to have any progress convincing her 'airen'.

"Surprised to see me, Shan Pu?" Luu Fa said. "Your mother assigned me to food duty tonight. Everyone is leaving soon to go practice for the tournament. Are you going with them?"

Shampoo nodded. "Yes." she said. "Are you?"

"Nope. I have to give the boy some food." she said, holding up the tray. "Besides, I'm not entering the tournament."

"Why not? Everyone has told me you are very good in combat. Almost as good as great-grandmother." Shampoo said.

Luu Fa shrugged. "I'm getting too old for such games." she said.

"You don't look that old." Shampoo said.

Luu Fa smiled. "Don't try and butter me up, Shan Pu. No praise will get me into that tournament, so pit it out of your mind. It may seem strange to you, but 31 is older than it sounds."

Luu Fa jerked her head in the direction of the village. "Now go. Before they leave without you."

Shampoo nodded, and walked off. Luu Fa watched her go until she was out of sight. Then, she hurried towards her hut, wary of any villagers making their way to meet up with everyone else. Once inside her hut, she scooped some stew she'd left boiling into a bowl, and a plate of sashimi. She put the two dishes onto the tray, then quickly headed back for the cellar.

She opened the door, again balancing the tray of food on her head while she made her way down the ladder. She landed on the ground and took the tray from her head.

"Evening, kid." she greeted, turning around to face the dark. "Now, how about a real dinner for a change?"


Authour's Notes:

Hey there, Jadells here. First of all, thanks for reading Decode. I enjoy reading the reviews I get; it certainly is a spirit-booster. :) I had to delete this story to make some editing to the Prologue, but now it's back on with a longer Prologue, and three chapters, to boot! Hoorah!

I've noticed that some of my reviewers have gotten a kick out of Luu Fa, and are enjoying my sense of humour. :P Yes, she is named after a lufa, found in most common bathrooms, used to scrub skin smooth. I found the name quite fitting, since thought they are pretty-looking, if you rub yourself with a lufa to hard, it kind of hurts. Luu Fa's personality is the same way. She's beautiful, but she won't show a lot of sympathy-which is what makes it so strange that she's showing so much pity for their 'prisoner', which I'm sure you all know is our favourite pigtailed martial artist. xD

The name also fits, considering her relatives. When you use a lufa, you put shampoo or soap on it to wash yourself. So, it seems a bit ironic that her neice's name is Shampoo, and her sisters name is Soap. Did anyone figure that one out? Sao Pu's bastardization is Soap. ^^ (lmao)

So, Akane and Mousse are now in China, and are on their way to the Amazon village to save Ranma. Will they succeed? Find out in Chapter Three! :)

Happy reading!

- Jadells