Chapter 14

Kasumi Tendo became Kasumi Saotome on the nine month anniversary of their arrival. They had decided that they would have a small ceremony, even if they were they only ones there. They exchanged vows in the yard in front of their home at sunset. Akane never would have believed it, but Ranma had never pressured Kasumi, and they decided that they would like to be married before they became...too familiar. Oh there had been some close calls, and both parties were tempted, but both of them had decided that since they were making the rules in this strange land, they might as well feel good about their choices. Honor was important to both of them, and they were proud of how they had handled their engagement.

They were sitting with each other under the large tree in the front yard watching the sunset. Kasumi was sitting against Ranma's chest with his arms wrapped around her. "Ranma" she asked "are you really happy to be married to me?" Even though she knew he really loved her, she never tired of hearing him say it.

He gave her a squeeze. "I sure am. I'm not sure why we're here, or how we'll get back, but I swear to you, if I died tomorrow, I'd die a happy man. I wouldn't trade the time we've had together for anything.

She snuggled in closer to him. "Thank you Ranma. That means a lot to me. It's good to know I'm appreciated, and how much you really want to be with me. Before you came, I took care of others, but nobody took care of me. Now, I finally have somebody who really cares about me, and it makes me feel just as good as you do. The funny thing is, I used to consider taking care of my family as a duty, but now it's something I enjoy doing for you."

"Yeah, it's funny how having that you love changes perspective on all that you do."

Kasumi paused, trying to remember something. "Ranma right before we came here, do you remember what you were searching for?"

He had to think about it for a moment, it seemed like a lifetime ago. "Yeah, I was worried about being a One Trick Pony." The phrase made him smile now, back then, it had caused him a lot of grief.

Kasumi shifted against him, then continued her question. "You didn't find an answer back then, but how do you feel now?"

He thought about how much they had gone through so far, and how much more was required of them. "Like I've found my answer."

She didn't understand his response. "You mean you like this place?"

He immediately shook his head. "Well, yes and no, but this place wasn't my answer. You were my answer. Because of you, I've tried new things, cared about new things. Far more than I ever had before. Instead of trying to define myself as the "best there is", I just want to be with you. That means I'd like you to be proud of me, and that means being more than just a Martial Artist, that means being a friend, a husband, and someone who loves you. 'It's kind of funny, I was thinking today about that conversation I had with that old couple in that park just before this happened to us. I didn't know what they meant about having more than my Art to live for, but now, I understand what they meant."

She frowned, a little puzzled by what he said. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Actually, it's pretty simple. Now that I have you, the Art is something I use to work out with you, or to protect you with. The medicine I'm learning is something to take care of you with, the fact that I can cook, build some simple things, like taking walks, is all a product of having you. Now that I have someone to love, to really care for, there is all sorts of things that help make my life complete. Before I had you, all I had was the Art, and it was a pretty poor substitute."

He stopped, then continued on. "I think when I lived for just myself, it was easy to be trapped as a 'One Trick Pony'. I think that's why so many people that surrounded me were stuck the same way I was." He chuckled, "In fact, about the only one who wasn't stuck was you."

Now it was Kasumi's turn to shake her head in the negative. "Not true, I dedicated myself to making the home for my family that my mother couldn't. Oh, I took care of the family, but I didn't grow with them. In many ways, I was just as bad as you." She twisted around and gave him a kiss. "I guess we've helped each other grow nicely. I know one thing Ranma, you are definitely not a 'One Trick Pony' anymore."

They sat in silence, watching the sun dip behind the trees on the farthest hill. Ranma broke the quiet again. "Kasumi, I know we really haven't talked about it too much, other than say we'd like to wait a bit, but I was thinking again about the whole family issue."

Kasumi sighed, she didn't like thinking that much about this topic because it was one of the truly unpleasant issues they had to deal with. "I know what you mean" she agreed. I know we decided we wouldn't try for kids right at first, too much is unknown about our future, but what if we never get back? Or for that matter, what if we can't have kids here?"

Curiously, neither seemed to have aged much during the year they had been here. That's not to say that she still looked the same. While Ranma was always fantastically fit, Kasumi now sported her own athletic look. The months of training with Ranma had toned her body. Neither could explain why the aging process seemed to be slowed or halted, but they assumed is was another strange trait of their banishment. Kasumi was the one who had brought up that with their bodies not aging, they may be able to have children here.

"I know. Hey, if we can't have kids, the issue's taken care of, but if we can, would we want to sentence them to this world as well. I'd die a happy man here with you, but our kids would never have a chance to meet anyone else, and they'd be here alone once we died. Plus..." he paused, and she knew him well enough by now to know that the pause meant he was saying something difficult for him to say or admit. "Plus, childbirth is risky. I don't know if I'd want to risk you going through that without a real doctor present."

She had considered the isolation of their children to be reason enough to hold off, but she hadn't considered the risk to her. "Yes, I guess you're right. But that means you'll just have to keep your promise, won't you?"

He groaned. "Yeah...I haven't forgotten." He'd told her he'd get her back when they first arrived here, and she'd never let him let go of that hope. He still didn't know how he'd do it, but he knew with Kasumi believing in him, if there was any way of doing so, he'd figure it out. "I'll get us back, after all..."

"...Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!" she finished.

--

Time breezed by for the couple. Their first year of being wed continued to be dominated by Chinese studies, growth in Martial Arts, and Ranma's medical studies. Two months after their union, Kasumi was able to execute her first Ki based attack, the Moko Takabisha. Most people would have been surprised with Kasumi learning that particular attack, since it was based on confidence, but being with Ranma had done wonders for the girl. She was still just as quiet and peaceful, but under that calm demeanor was a force to be reckoned with. Ranma had found that when Kasumi set her mind to something, she could be just as stubborn as he was.

In many ways, Ranma and Kasumi were both having the times of their lives, Ranma was enjoying being an instructor, and he couldn't have wished for a better student. His concern for Kasumi had started his interests in medical studies, but he even snuck in some home-improvement training to keep their place up.

When the time came, they were reluctant to admit that they felt prepared to go to the Amazon village. They had made the small house their home in the time they had been there. The thought of leaving their comfortable home to go to the unknown of the Amazon village didn't please them, but the continued existence of Ranma's nightmares had convinced them to not give up on their goal of returning home. The continuity of the dreams, the detail and lack of variation had convinced the two that the dreams were more than just nightmares, they were some time of sign of what might come if Ranma ceased his supply of Ki to the world around them.

--

It was the night before the trip to China. They had spent a good part of the day enjoying themselves at the hot springs. Kasumi watched Ranma walk from the cold stream and admired her husband's other form. Since they had been married, Kasumi had worked hard on freeing Ranma from the conditioning that her sister had induced. As the redhead walked up the hill, Kasumi was glad to see that she carried herself with pride, and didn't mind at all to be nude in front of Kasumi any longer. As she slipped into the hot spring with Kasumi, the now male Ranma waded over to his wife. Ranma caught Kasumi staring "Penny for your thoughts?"

Kasumi shifted over to make room for Ranma "I'm still amazed at watching that. Yes I know it's magic, but somehow when you are clothed, it isn't quite as impressive as watching you without anything on when the change occurs."

"Yeah, it is a bit different I guess." No hint of shame anymore. Kasumi had convinced him that she loved him in both forms, so the guilt was gone. "I'm just glad you like me as I am. You have no idea how screwed up I used to be about this curse."

"Oh yes I do. I saw how it got to you. I just shake my head when I think of how Akane, and even Nabiki had the opportunity to have you for themselves and they both blew it. Ah well, their loss is my gain" she slid her body over his and proceeded to show her just how happy she was.

Ranma decided to express him in a way that his wife could truly appreciate. "Oh my" was all he could say as Kasumi showed how deep her feelings ran..

--

They had decided to travel as light as possible on their trip to China. Each had a backpack on and they were standing in front of the house they'd been in for over three years. Most of the content in each backpack were Chinese language reference books, in case they needed them in the village.

"I'm going to miss this place" Kasumi said, with more than a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Me too. A lot has happened to us in this house."

Kasumi still looked at the house. "Yes, it is a place where we were both reborn."

Ranma turned to look at his wife. She met his gaze and they both got in one of the operational cars they kept on hand for longer trips. Ranma got into the passenger side of the car. He had found long ago that Kasumi loved to drive, and she was taking them to the seaport where they had located a sailboat six months ago. Since that time, they had made many weekend trips to familiarize themselves with using the boat. They were fortunate that Kasumi had sailing lessons when she was younger, and remembered enough information that added to the instructions they found in books, it allowed them to safely operate the sailboat.

"Oh man, why'd the wave have to do that for" lamented Ranma, as she wiped the cold sea water from her face.

Kasumi looked at her husband, who was now a frustrated looking redhead. "Well Ranma, you might as well just stay that way for a while. With no hot springs handy, it's going to be hard to stay male for a lot of this trip."

"I know" she pouted. "I just hoped I'd made it a little longer."

Kasumi scooted over and kissed her. "It doesn't matter. You know I don't mind"

"Yeah, old habits die hard. I guess I just got spoiled having the hot springs available all the time, it was almost like I had control of the curse"

"Ah, Ah, Ah. No 'C' word!" she chastised.

"Okay, my 'condition'" she looked up at Kasumi and smiled. "Looks like this will be a girls sailing trip though."

Kasumi put an arm around the smaller girl and just gave her a hug. "Fine by me, Ranma, fine by me."

--

One of the eeriest signs of their world was the growth of vegetation in the empty cities. Trees and bushes were sprouting up everywhere, and many cars and houses were starting to be lost to the unchecked growth. Many dirt roads were becoming unusable, and they estimated that the trip to the Amazon village would probably have to be on foot.

The trip to China took about two weeks. When they arrived, they quickly found a working abandoned auto. They might not be aging, but buildings, roads, and machines certainly were. They were fortunate in that the roads were still in pretty good shape and they made good time getting to the village. They had to trade cars several times, and then finally shift to bicycles when the last car ran out of gas and no more were to be found.

Riding the bike made Ranma glad he stayed in girl form for most of the journey. Hate these damn bike seats as a guy! She thought as she pedaled along.

The topic of food came up that evening at the campfire. Ranma had shifted back to his male form at the end of the day, and was talking to Kasumi after their makeshift dinner.

"Well Kasumi, it looks like some of my training with my old man is going to pay off now."

"Yes, I think you're correct. It's been much harder to find unspoiled food here in China."

Ranma looked at Kasumi with a twinkle in his eye. "Yeah but I'll bet if you had nothin' but twigs and rocks you could out-cook Akane."

"Now Ranma..."

Ranma quickly countered. "Oh come on Kasumi, its been one of the topics we never talk about, because it involved Akane. Kasumi, you were there, you saw what came out of the kitchen when she tried to make something."

Kasumi shuddered at some of the creations that even she wouldn't let Akane bring out of the kitchen. The scary thing was, Kasumi only let Akane's best efforts be tasted by Ranma. "Oh Ranma, you have no idea how bad some of her concoctions were. I managed to keep the worst of her efforts from ever appearing in front of you."

"You're kidding! Most of the stuff she fed me was marginally toxic! What else could she have done that was worse?"

Kasumi shifted closer to the fire. "Remember that American movie, The China Syndrome?"

"Yeah...kind of..."

Kasumi stared into the coals as she continued her story. "Well, in that movie, the power plant melted and sank down into the ground."

"Yeah..."

"So did one of Akane's dinners" she giggled.

He started laughing too. "No way! when? I never remember that happening?"

"It was when you were looking for the pot that would unlock your curse. You had been gone for a while and Akane wanted to practice making you something 'special'. I have no idea what she snuck into that pot. I was trying to watch her every move. The next thing I know, the pot starts making this strange hissing sound. When drops of goo started to fall from the bottom of the pot I whipped it over to the sink. It was a good thing too because the sink was a lot cheaper to replace than the stove." She sighed at the memory. "I still can't believe how patient you were with her cooking. I felt sick just watching you eat some of it."

"Yeah, but I guess I paid my dues, because look what I have now." He reached over and gave her a kiss.

"Oh, you just say that so I'll cook again tomorrow!" she teased back.

"Uh...yeah!".

They sat quietly for a little longer, when Kasumi spoke up again. "Ranma, you know those dreams you've been having about the nasty black and red creatures?"

Ranma felt a sickening feeling descend upon him. He'd still had those dreams occasionally. None of them were quite as bad as the first one, but they all revolved around these strange round creatures literally eating up the world around him. Eventually, he told Kasumi about them, but she'd never brought up the topic before. "Yes, what about them?" he finally asked.

"I didn't want to upset you any more and I know those dreams bother you a lot, but.." she paused, then went on "...I've started having them as well." She looked down at her hands, not wanting to meet Ranma's gaze.

"When did they start?"

She looked back up at him. "A couple of weeks ago. They were so similar to yours, I figured I just had them after hearing you talk, but I've had three or four now, and they are so realistic, I think I'm seeing the same things you do. I think they are some kind of warning."

He scooted over and sat next to her holding her hands in his. "Maybe they are, but we've been here for a long time, and nothing has happened yet, so we must be doing something right. Somehow, some way, we'll get outta here. I promise"

She looked at him, knowing he meant every word, and she believed him. She'd learned that when her husband set his mind to something, nothing stood in his way. "I know" she said. "After all, Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."

He looked at her trusting smile and added his own line to the familiar motto. "And neither does Kasumi Saotome..."

--

It was a few weeks later and they had finally arrived at the Amazon village. As with everywhere they traveled, the area looked ominous due to the lack of people and uncontrolled growth of vegetation.

Ranma looked around at the abandoned houses. "Not much to look at, is it? Hard to believe this is where the old ghoul came from, huh?"

Kasumi had walked over to an open area in the center of the village. "Ranma, is this the log that you defeated Shampoo on?"

Ranma looked closely at the log. Vines had grown over much of it, and the high grass made the area difficult to identify, but he was pretty sure that over to the left was where the food prize for the victor had been kept when his father helped himself to it. "You know, I think it is. Wow, if I had only known what I was getting into when I challenged her. If I had known, I would have let them keep Pop for a pet and I would have cleared out."

They continued walking through the village, looking for a place to stay. In the center of the village was a large obelisk, with ornate carvings. It looked like a monument they had built to the Amazon people. They passed several more houses and various shops, and they finally found a house near the stream. Whoever had lived there had made a makeshift aqueduct that channeled water from the stream to the edge of the house. There were several leaks in the waterway, but Ranma knew he could fix it up tomorrow morning with ease.

After cleaning out much of the original contents, they went about gathering choice furnishings from the village to decorate their humble abode.

Ranma had taken a break after moving a large table into place. "Not exactly as nice as our old place, is it Kasumi?"

Kasumi sat down at the table he had just finished moving. "No, but we didn't come here for the scenery, did we?"

"Nope, sure didn't. I vote for a final cleanup of our new digs and then a quiet evening tonight. Tomorrow we can start exploring the village for clues about this key" he fingered they key he had placed around his neck. "Hopefully it won't take too long. I hope we can figure out what this is for?"

She walked over and put her arms around him. "I'm sure we will Ranma, I'm sure we will"

--

For the next four weeks, they poked and prodded around the houses in the village looking for some kind of clue. Oh, they found a few locked trunks and cabinets, but the key fit none of them and all opened easily with a good whack by Ranma or Kasumi. Most of what they found in the houses was routine, what you'd expect in any village.

The only thing out of the ordinary was a huge tree of unknown origin growing toward the back of the village. At first glance, it looked just like a really old, large tree, but as Kasumi walked over to touch the trunk, she jumped back with surprise.

Ranma walked over to steady her, concern clearly written on his face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Kasumi managed to get out. She steadied herself and continued. When I touched it, I felt dizzy, and got a little tired. I moved back out of reflex. It didn't hurt, just felt strange, that's all."

Ranma helped Kasumi sit down, then went back over and scrutinized the tree. It still didn't look like anything special, until he opened his Ki senses up a bit and then saw some of the energy stored in the tree.

"Well I'll be..." he muttered. He turned to Kasumi and continued, "Looks like old Cologne didn't keep that staff of hers with her for just balance. Pops and I had heard about trees like this in our travels. Every once in a while, a tree is found that can act as a Ki reserve. A person can slowly stockpile Ki in a staff made from a branch from the tree, and then draw it back out later when they need it. I suppose that explains why the old ghoul had such impressive reserves." He whistled as he looked at how huge the tree was. "Man, the Amazons must treasure this tree."

Their exploration continued for several more days. Ranma was getting frustrated. "I don't know, maybe she didn't say 'go to the village' after all."

Kasumi was getting frustrated as well. She had made herself be patient when they had come up with the plan over three years ago. She did not want to be patient any longer. "What is with these people? We know Cologne gave us a key to something, you'd think they'd have something valuable somewhere! All we've seen is just everyday stuff."

In her searching, her hair which was normally neat and controlled was somewhat disheveled. Stray wisps of brown hair hung over her forehead. Of course the look made her look all the cuter.

He walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You know, you're beautiful when you're frustrated."

She smiled at him. "You say I'm beautiful no matter what! Sometimes I wonder if you just have low standards..."

"Kasumi, you know how many girls I had chasing me, and you know what they looked like, can you honestly say I have low standards?"

"No, but even after all this time, it still feels strange to get compliments."

"Kasumi, one of the worst things about us being here by ourselves, is that you can't see how much better you are than anybody else. Not only are you more beautiful, smarter, nicer and a better cook, I'd say you are already on par with Shampoo as far as Martial Arts ability goes."

She leaned forward, and put her head against his. "I know, you've told me, it's just hard to believe. I know I've come a long way, but I just can't really accept it."

"Don't worry, one day, when we get back, you'll be quite surprised." Ranma knew that if Kasumi kept training with him, she'd be able to take on anybody back in Nerima. The years of training were really starting to show, and Kasumi was becoming a force to be reckoned with.

"So, if you were an old ghoul, where would you hide your treasures? Somewhere where nobody else would tend to look?" he said.

"Or maybe..." Kasumi looked at a large pillar in the center of the village "where everybody would look?"

Ranma pulled back and looked at his wife. "What do you see"

"We've looked in every house, and in the surrounding woods. Wherever they put their valuables, it wouldn't be far away from the village would it?"

"No probably not." he agreed.

"But what if they put it in a most obvious spot, the last place anybody would look." She untangled herself from Ranma and walked over to the obelisk. It was about six feet wide at the base, and rose about 15 feet in the air. Ornate decorations and carvings covered its surface. She began inspecting the sides of the structure and on the third side, she let out a "I think I've found something!"

Ranma looked over her shoulder and saw a place where they key might fit. Finally they would be able to start looking for whatever clue Cologne had left them! He reached in his shirt to pull out the key, and placed it in the lock. It was a perfect fit!

Kasumi was excited as well. "Go on, turn the key."

After over three years of preparation and study, they were sure they had finally found the lock that would allow them to take advantage of all that work. Ranma turned the key...and nothing happened...

Authors Note: Thanks once again for the great reviews. I'd also like to thank neo82 who will help proof Chapters 15 and on.