Ranma tugged on the ropes binding his arms. He had no idea how long it had been since he was taken from Nerima, but it had to have been a good three hours since he arrived at the Amazon village. He made the trip in the cargo hold of a ship with another girl who had also been abducted from Nerima. He hadn't seen her since they arrived, but from the things she said when they spoke, she faced a far worse fate than he.

She had taken some sort of artifact from the village after some incident with her father and the village had been hunting her ever since. If Yingnucun had the same type of crazy items Joketsuzuko had, no doubt it could've created a world of trouble...trouble he, once again, found himself in the middle of.

At the moment, he was locked in a room, likely in a house that belonged to that Azuki girl. When she left, she said that she had to report to the village elders along with that ninja girl, Spring. She did say, though, that when she got back, she was going to do all sorts of perverted things with him, some he wasn't even aware was humanly possible. He had to get out of there before any trouble...or anything else started. Unfortunately, he was tied down quite thoroughly and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't free himself.

With a resigned sigh, he ceased his struggles. There was nothing left to do but bide his time until an opportunity arose to escape.

"Should be thankful for one thing," he said to himself. "At least she put me on a bed."

With nothing else to do, his mind wandered back to the girl who had been kidnapped along with him. Apparently, she was a part of the village at one time as well until that incident she mentioned. What could have happened to make her run away? What could she have taken that was so important that the villagers had to hunt her down the way they did? And what was going to happen to her?

All those thoughts stopped as a new problem presented itself. Ranma began to struggle even harder against his bonds. All of his focus turned to one new, all-important question...who was going to scratch his itchy nose?

-o-

In the center of Yingnucun village stood Caparrone Square, the village capital where the elders met to discuss matters of governance. At the moment, the matters concerned the defector, Summer. The village council was made up of seven older women sitting on elevated platforms, which formed a semi-circle around a central point. The center platform was raised the highest, belonging to the village matriarch.

For her part, Summer stood defiantly before the council. Her arms were tied behind her back and she was flanked on either side by guards armed with spears. Behind her stood her sister, Spring, and the warrior, Azuki.

"You gave us quite a chase, Summer," started the matriarch. "But you couldn't evade us forever, could you?" Summer remained silent.

"Really," went another elder, "did you think you could get away with stealing one of our most valuable treasures?"

"Young Spring, step forward," the matriarch beckoned.

"Yes, elder." Obediently, Spring did as she was told and bowed respectfully to the council.

"I know this must have been a particularly difficult assignment, having to hunt down your own sister. I commend you for a job well done."

"Thank you, elder."

The youngest of the elders, a vibrant woman in her early seventies spoke up next. "Did you manage to find the artifact as well?"

Spring took out the envelope she found in her sister's apartment and handed it to the matriarch. She opened the envelope and removed its contents.

"At last," the matriarch said, taking the item in hand and raising it high for all to see, "Zhu Rong's dagger, our most prized possession, has been returned." She waved over one of the guards and handed it to her. "See to it that this is put back in its rightful place." With a bow, the guard left. "As for you," the lead elder said, returning her attention to Summer, "You're going back to your cell until we figure out what we'll do to you. Until then, we are adjourned."

Without a word, Summer was lead out of the meeting chamber by the two guards flanking her. Once she was away, the other women finally made their way out of the council chamber as well, except for two. The youngest of the elders pulled one of the guards to the side and after making sure they were alone, spoke in a whispered tone, "Opportunity is within reach once again. Get your weapons ready. There's going to be an execution soon."

The guard smiled, "Yes, Mistress Lima."

-o-

Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

Love and War

Left Me in the Vacuum of my Heart

-o-

"HISSS!" went Shampoo indignantly.

"Calm down, great-granddaughter," chided Cologne. "True, it's not an ideal situation, but it's the only way we can make the trip."

Shampoo, in feline form, shot a glare in the direction of her unwanted roommate, Akane Tendo, before crawling under the bunk and lying down. The three, along with Lin Lin and Lan Lan were in a small room on the lower decks of a cargo ship that departed from Hinode Bay, sailing towards the shores of China.

The youngest Tendo daughter paid no mind to Shampoo's protests, opting instead to gaze through a porthole out to the open sea. She wondered what she would find herself facing once they hit land. The last time she attempted to rescue Ranma from a similar situation, it didn't turn out that well. Since learning about her demonic heritage, she trained very hard and had gotten noticeably stronger, yet it didn't seem to make much difference when it mattered most. If she had to fight for his freedom again, would it turn out any differently?

"You seem troubled, child," Cologne observed.

"Hmm?" went Akane, snapping out of her daze. "Oh, no. I'm fine."

Cologne raised a wrinkled brow. "This is not the place for you. I told you as much before we left."

-Flashback-

After seeing the sign on the herbalist's front door, Akane and Shampoo raced back to the Nekohatan to relay the news to the Amazon elder. Shampoo had been itching to return to China ever since she learned her village had been plunged into war, but Cologne had resisted. But once she heard that Ranma penchant for getting into trouble likely got him involved, she felt they had no choice and immediately made arrangements to head back to China.

In short order, Cologne, Shampoo, Lin Lin and Lan Lan were on the docks of Hinode Bay, ready to board a cargo ship bound for the Chinese mainland. While Shampoo was aware of the situation she would be facing, she couldn't help but think about the moment when she would rescue Ranma from captivity. No doubt, he'd be so grateful, he would declare his undying love for her and would probably marry her on the spot.

It was so vivid, she could see him as he took her hand, got down on one knee and in front of the entire village, ask for her to become his wife. Despite herself, Shampoo giggled at the thought. "It felt like Shampoo waited whole life for this moment," she said in her daydream. "Of course Shampoo marry you!"

The daydream Ranma stood to his feet, tilted her head upwards and leaned in close. Just as their lips were a hair's breadth apart, he whispered, "Who the hell would want to marry you?"

"What?" In an instant, the wonderful daydream was gone, and Shampoo found her self face to face with Akane Tendo. And for some reason, she was holding her amorous obstacle's hand. Repulsed, she let go and took a step back. "Akane, what you do here?"

Wiping her hand on her blouse and readjusting the bag slung over her shoulder, the youngest Tendo sister answered, "I would think it's fairly obvious."

Shampoo shook her head in refusal, as much as from embarrassment from the earlier incident. "But, you not can come!"

"She's right," interjected Cologne as she hopped towards them on her cane. "This isn't one of the juvenile excursions you kids have gone on in the past."

"That right," added Lan Lan. "This war. Only warriors should go."

"I don't care. If it were me, Ranma wouldn't think twice about it. He'd jump in headlong and do whatever it took to make sure I was safe. I can't do anything less."

"That's easy to say," went Cologne. "But what will you do if you find yourself in the middle of a battle? The warriors you might come against will be as strong as Shampoo, if not stronger. Do you think you'll be able to handle it?"

"Yes!" Akane answered without hesitation.

Cologne wasn't so sure, but it was clear that Akane wasn't going to be swayed by talk of the dangers ahead, so the matriarch tried a different tactic. "What of your family? Do they even know what you're doing?"

"They know. I made sure to tell them before I left."

-o-

About an hour earlier, after seeing the sign on the herbalist's front door, Akane raced home and began preparing for her trip abroad, which consisted of throwing a few changes of clothes into an over the shoulder bag. With that, she ran back down the stairs.

Before running out the door, she paused and took a look back. She didn't know when she would be back and wanted one last memory of the place before her trip. It was then that she figured she should tell her folks what was going on so that they wouldn't worry about her. Going to the living room, she found her father and her soon-to-be father-in-law playing a rather intense game of Go. Kasumi, as usual, was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

She probably should have just left without saying anything, given her father's tendency to overreact, but Akane prided herself on being a responsible person. She wasn't looking forward to it, but it had to be done. "Dad..."

"Hmm?" went Soun, not looking up from the game board.

Akane took a deep breath. "Ranma got himself kidnapped again and I think he may have been taken to China, so I'm going there to bring him back."

"Okay, have fun, sweetie," he said with a wave, still intently focused on the game.

Well, that was easier than she thought. "Alright, bye then!"

Not long after Akane ran out the door, Soun smiled and placed a piece on the board. "HA! That's it! Game over, Saotome! You lose!"

"What?" went Genma in a panic. "NOOOOOOO!"

"That's right," gloated Soun. "Looks like you'll have to pick up the grocery bill next month. And with as much as you and your son eat, that's quite a loss!"

"Congratulations on winning the game, father," Kasumi said from in the kitchen.

Soun crossed his arms and smiled, "As much as it will save the family, I'd say we all won."

"I have to say, though, I was surprised you allowed Akane to go all the way to China to rescue Ranma. And all by herself, no less."

The Tendo patriarch blinked, "Let who go where now?"

-o-

Akane crossed her arms, and stared down the Chinese warriors. She had successfully struck down all the roadblocks they had tried to put in her was and was getting antsy to start the trip. "So it's settled, then? Can we finally get going?"

This could wind up ruining the best chance Shampoo has had to win Ranma's heart in a long time. There had to be something that could keep Akane away. She wracked her brain for anything else that could possibly force Akane to stay. She looked at her great grandmother and one final idea popped into her mind. It wasn't much, but it just might be enough. "There still no way you to go. Great grandmother only pay four people to go. Unless you pay-"

-Splash!-

It was fortunate Akane had the foresight to pack a small case of drinking water to take with her. She tossed the emptied plastic water bottle into a nearby trashcan and gave Shampoo a smirk. "There. Now we have four people and one easily concealed housecat ready to go. Anything else?"

"Meow!" went the feline Shampoo, still trying to object.

With a sigh, Cologne relented. "Very well. If you're so insistent, you can go. Just remember we warned you. We'll be going into a war zone and I can't guarantee your safety."

"Time's wasting," said Akane, starting towards the ship. "Let's go."

-End Flashback-

Cologne unpacked a small gas burner, placing it on a dresser and putting a kettle of water on top to heat. The fare she paid was just for passage, so they had to depend on their own provisions. Besides which, Shampoo would need to be reverted back to human form once they hit land, so it was best to be prepared well in advanced. Who knew what they would find once they arrived.

With that small task done, Cologne sat down on the room's lone bed and continued addressing her great granddaughter's rival. "You should have heeded my warning and stayed behind. Now isn't the time to get apprehensive. It's too late for that."

Akane turned to Cologne "You don't have to worry about me. When the time comes to act, I'll be ready."

The Amazon matriarch shrugged, "If you say so, child."

That was easy enough to say, but Akane did worry about how effective she'd be if she had to actually fight anyone. Even after her new abilities manifested themselves, she still hadn't managed a clean one on one victory against anyone she came up against. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but that played hell with her confidence and she was tired of being a burden to everyone around her.

The youngest Tendo sibling returned to gazing out at the open sea, which was set aglow by the moon shining brightly in the night sky. It was a calming scene to be sure. Too bad it did little to quell the turmoil in her heart.

-oo-oo-oo-oo-

"Ah, have I mentioned how much I love land?"

"Yes," answered Ryouga in a tired tone.

"About fifty times already," added Ukyou, rolling her eyes.

Autumn ignored the obvious annoyance from the two Japanese teens. It had been three hours since their ship made landfall and the four teens wasted no time in starting towards Autumn's village. The more distance they put between themselves and the ocean, the more the young herbalist recovered from her seasickness...and the more she made vocal her preference for being on dry land.

Night had caught up with them, however, and while they could see well enough with the bright moon, it was decided the best thing to do would be to make camp and continue their journey in the morning.

With the tents pitched and a fire stoking, Autumn sat down onto the ground and let out a contented sigh. "I love the land, so much."

"WE KNOW!" Ukyou and Ryouga shouted in unison.

"Maybe you would appreciate her saying it if you had to clean up the mess," said Mousse. "Now, if you're done with your bellyaching, we should take this time to eat something before going to sleep. We'll have to break camp and head out before dawn."

"Yeah, yeah," answered Ryouga, waving him off.

Ryouga went about arranging the provisions, while Mousse finished setting up the tents and Ukyou set up the portable cooking equipment. With a lull in the conversation, Autumn decided that was as good a time as any to engage Ukyou.

"Hey, I feel like I need to apologize," she said, sitting down next to the chef.

"Hmm?"

"I know you're new and probably still don't even consider yourself as part of our village," Autumn continued. "Yet here you are in the middle of our war, one you don't know the history of and probably don't even care about."

"Right on every account," went Ukyou with a nod. "Still, you don't need to apologize. If it wasn't this, then it'd be something else."

"Mousse told me about how that little neighborhood seems to be a magnet for insanity."

"In any event," Ukyou went on, "I don't intend on getting too caught up in this war. I'm only here to see to it that Ranma gets back home safely."

"Hmm...that Ranma must be something. I remember seeing Akane and two other girls fighting over him before."

"Those other girls are..." snapped Ukyou. Taking a deep breath, she continued, "Those other girls who fought Akane were fighting for a dream that can't come true anymore."

Autumn raised an eyebrow, "Oh? So I guess you were..."

"I was...I am his friend," Ukyou sighed. "Nothing else."

"I see." Judging from the way the chef's face had become crestfallen; Autumn could tell Ranma was a touchy subject. She speculated that Ukyou could just as easily have been one of those girls fighting Akane under different circumstances. She wondered if Ranma was worth all the fuss. If so, she also wondered if Azuki knew what she was getting herself into. But if Ukyou still had it so bad over a guy ostensibly from the past, what about the guy she fought so hard to stay with in the present? Autumn couldn't help herself, "So, what about you and Ryouga?"

This new line of questioning caused a quick change of demeanor in the chestnut-haired martial artist. "W-what about me and Ryouga?"

If the wound from Ukyou's dealings with Ranma was as fresh as she thought, then Autumn would need to handle the inquisition delicately, or else it could quickly turn into a messy affair. "I mean, what is he to you? Just a rebound guy or something?" Very delicate indeed.

Given the argument that lead to Ryouga's near suicidal rampage, the implication cut deep. "Listen, you brought up that huge fight we were all caught in. Yes, the girls were upset and fighting over Ranma, but that was only half of what went on. The guys were fighting over Akane and Ryouga went through a rather rough time of it also. Since then, we've sort of become each other's support system. He works for me, I give him a place to stay and we try to help keep each other half sane. That's it. We're just friends. Nothing more."

That cut to the heart of the matter rather nicely. Sometimes delicate can work wonders. Other times, sledgehammering was best. Autumn gazed over at the perpetually lost boy and looked him over while he prepared the food for cooking. "He certainly is handsome, isn't he?"

"Huh? Oh, well, I guess he's not so bad." As Ukyou recalled on a number of occasions, he wasn't bad at all to look at. Maybe if he had a pigtail...'Dammit, stop that,' she chided herself.

"Even though Spring lost the right to have him as a husband, she still can't stop talking about him." The mention of Autumn's sister made Ukyou's eye twitch. And she thought she got over that already. "It makes me wonder if he's worth the trouble."

Letting irritability get the better of her, the okonomiyaki chef spat, "Feh...not really."

She was very insistent that she and Ryouga were just friends trying to help each other though a difficult time. Yet the mere mention of Spring brought out the green eyed monster in her. Autumn got a mischievous look on her face, "Maybe I should have a go at him just to find out?" Apparently, some of Spring's lasciviousness rubbed off on her older sister.

"WHAT?" went Ukyou, blushing furiously and nearly bowled over at the suggestion.

"I'm asking, of course. You know, after all of this is over. I mean, you say there's nothing between you, but since you are still technically engaged to each other, I have to ask."

"I...you...but..." fumbled Ukyou, trying in vain to form complete sentences. "W-what about Mousse?"

"Hey, if it's a trade you want, that's fine with me. He can certainly help with how tense you are."

At that suggestion, Ukyou's poor brain couldn't take anymore and shut down. Having a bit more fun than she should have, Autumn was going to press forward, but Mousse decided to intervene. "Hey, Autumn, I'm having a little trouble with this tent. You think you could lend me a hand?"

"Um, sure." With her shoulder slumping slightly, she got up and strode over to her intended. She was not surprised to find that he already had erected the tent. "Humph, killjoy," she said with a smirk.

"You should be grateful," said Mousse. "What in the world were you thinking?"

"Whether or not she's ready to accept it, we are tribal sisters now. It seems to me that those two really do like each other, but at the same time are fighting against that attraction. I figured maybe I could nudge her in the right direction. Once there, I'm sure he'd follow." Autumn stroked her chin and glanced at Ryouga again, "And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

"Don't."

Autumn blinked. "Don't what?"

"Don't try to play match maker," said Mousse. "If those two are meant to be together, they'll end up together on their own time. Trust me. I know this from past experience. Anything you'll do to try to get them together will only end up biting you in the a-AAAAH!" Feeling a sharp pain, Mousse looked down and found a dart protruding from his rear end. He yanked it out and said to Autumn, "Yeah...something like that..." and promptly passed out.

"MOUSSE!" Ukyou and Ryouga leapt to their feet at the sound of Autumn's shout. Before they could process what happened, a group of fifteen heavily armed women emerged from the surrounding foliage.

One of the women, likely the squad leader, stepped forward and pointed her spear at Autumn. "We were just on our way to pick up an elder coming back from overseas," she said in Chinese. "How fortunate for us that we managed to stumble upon an enemy camp. You were pretty stupid to have set that fire. You lead us right to you." She looked at Mousse. "We even managed to find the traitor. This just gets better and better."

Autumn whipped out a kunai on a chain and twirled it in a circle, cursing their poor luck. They weren't anywhere near the war zone yet and didn't think they'd have to worry about any enemy units. Not only had they been found out but they were also outnumbered nearly four to one...five to one now that Mousse had been incapacitated. Even still, she wasn't about to give up. Obviously the dart that hit him had a poisoned tip, but she wasn't sure if it was just to knock someone out, or if it was lethal. She needed to examine him as soon as possible and for that, she needed to get rid of their assailants. "I'll be damned before I allow you to lay one finger on him."

The woman smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Not far away, Ukyou and Ryouga were trying to figure out what was going on. "So, what do you think?" Ukyou asked. "Maybe it's just a case of mistaken identity and they're really friends?"

"Having wandered here for about a year, I've picked up a few words," Ryouga answered. "Nothing they've said so far has been friendly."

The chef gripped her mega spatula tighter, "Too much to ask for, huh?"

Getting out of the situation alive may have been too much to ask for also, with fifteen armed opponents and one of their number already down for the count. If Shampoo was any indication of how strong the typical fighter from Joketsuzuko was, then this was a fight they would not be able to win. Ryouga didn't like it, but there was only one option opened to them.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

"NO! DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY!" the squad leader ordered, instinctively protecting her face from the debris created by Ryouga's attack. Immediately, the squad shot off their blowguns while charging into the cloud. However, as the dust began to settle, all that were left was the troop of women along with Mousse, still lying on the ground.

"Sorry ma'am," said one of the soldiers. "It looks like they got away."

"Tch...we can't search for them either. We've wasted enough time here. Four of you will have to carry the traitor back to the village. The rest of us have to keep going if we're going to make our scheduled meeting."

"Yes ma'am!" As ordered, one of the women slung the unconscious Mousse over her shoulders and started back to Joketsuzuko village with three others providing an escort.

The squad leader took one last look at the huge crater. "Who would have guessed that guy knew one of our techniques? I wonder who he was?" She shook her head. She had more pressing matters to attend to. "Let's go!"

-o-

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DAMMIT, LET ME GO!"

Thanks to the smokescreen he created, Ryouga was able to grab the two girls and make his escape, leaping from tree to tree. It was made more difficult, however, by Autumn flailing her arms and legs the entire way. Once he figured they were a good enough distance away, he dropped back to ground level and let the girls go.

"Why did you do that?" yelled Autumn, nearly hysterical. "Why did you run away?"

"Maybe you hadn't noticed, but we were way outmatched," Ryouga countered. "If we tried to fight them, we would have lost."

"What are you talking about? I've seen how strong you are! You probably could have taken them all on by yourself!" She fell to her knees. "Dammit, I can't believe we just left him there...we don't even know if he's still alive..."

"Oh yeah, that's right," interjected Ukyou. "These guys are at war now and Mousse used to be with them. Who knows how they treat their prisoners, especially ones that turned against them."

"It's not just that," Autumn said. "There's no way to tell what was on that dart that hit him. If it was lethal, then he probably had just a few minutes before it took full effect. I probably could have treated him before it was too late. But now..."

Ryouga sighed. "Sorry. I hadn't even thought of that. I figured they'd take him prisoner. We could have rescued him later when we had the advantage." He blinked and put a hand on his head. "Still, if you want a sample of whatever it was on those darts, I think I can oblige..." Before he could finish his sentence, the bandana clad martial artist blacked out and fell face first into the ground, exposing another poisoned dart firmly lodged in his shoulder.

-oo-oo-oo-oo-

-oo-oo-oo-oo-