"May I join you?"
Ranma opened one of his eyes to see the girl he was currently thinking about sat beside him. "I thought that you wouldn't come back today?"
"Couldn't a girl keep her secret?" she said, smirking. "So, can I join you or you're going to interrogate me some more?"
Ranma patted a next to him. "No tricks"
"Why, Ranma, you're doubting me? I'm hurt" she said, winking seductively. Not receiving any response, she sat. "You're no fun. All right, no tricks" After a few seconds of tranquility passed between them, she said, "Tonight is a clear night, isn't it?"
"Yeah"
"A hundred yen for your thoughts?"
"I'm supposed to pay you to tell you about my thoughts?"
"Well… that seems a better idea than the one I have"
Ranma chuckled. "I'm thinking about all of you, and how meeting all you has affected my life"
"Well..."
Ranma groaned. "Very well. Hitsuzen it is. Happy?"
Nabiki smiled. "Ranma, life is like a dream. Someday, when all of us look at this moment of time, I think we will smile and laugh a bit"
He looked at her silently while trying to understand what was said. After a while, he said, "I don't think what that stupid father of mine put me through is a laughing manner"
"True…" Nabiki's voice trailed. She twiddled with her fingers, looking a bit hesitant. "You must be wondering why I'm here with you right now. Actually, Ranma, I have to ask you a question. I hope that you wouldn't be angry"
"Shoot. I wouldn't get mad"
"Have you chosen your girl yet?
"Huh?"
Nabiki stretched her body and lied down on the roof. "Ranma. I don't want to be seen as forcing you, but you should have probably decided now which one of your fiancées you would prefer to marry"
"Why?"
"Because time is what we don't have. Don't ask me how, but I can feel it"
"What does time has to do with me choosing any of them?"
A long period of silence engulfed, choking any words that might come out. He looked at her expectantly but she just looked at the sky. Finally she broke the spell between them. "Apparently, there will be more suitors on the way"
Ranma stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"To go and kick my pop out of the bed"
"For something he didn't do?"
"It is his fault"
"Ryoga's influence rubbing on you, eh, Ranma?"
He stopped and sat down
"Anyway, I don't think your father is involved, at least not directly"
"How do you know?"
Nabiki muttered an incantation and Ranma was bathed with lights. Panicked, he looked around to see many colorful threads of lights. "Look, Ranma, there are a lot of soul threads around you"
He looked more closely to see that the threads of lights were intertwined, like colorful wires.
"They look like wires, aren't they? That's because like them, your life are intertwined with others. These soul threads represent people who will be vastly affected by your existence and in return influence yours, such as your parents and lovers"
"How come there's a lot of them here!"
"That's because there's a lot of people whose life is interconnected with you"
Ranma pointed to a thread. "How come this one is thicker?"
Nabiki didn't look at where he pointed but answered. "That thread represents your soul mate. What normal people mistakenly call as 'true love'"
Ranma touched it tentatively only to have his fingers go through it. "True love?"
"Soul mate"
"Soul mate?"
"A soul mate is someone who will influence your life greatly. In life, soul mates are intended to teach each others very important lessons in karma. You're still with me?"
Ranma scrunched his face. "Yeah. I think so"
"According to the law of reincarnations, when we die, our soul will leave the body and then be reborn. So, in the passage of time, it'll only be logical if we have multiple soul mates. So, for example, in this life, you will probably meet your soul mate from the time of the dark ages in Europe, instead of the one from 17th century. You understand?"
"So far"
Nabiki smiled mischievously. "And maybe in that era you were a woman and your soul mate was a male and the two of you…"
"AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
"are siblings," Nabiki finished. She looked at Ranma whose eyes were wide and giggled. "What! Soul mates aren't necessarily lovers. Even a teacher who teach you martial art can be your soul mate. The relationship between soul mates is very special. Their bond is stronger"
Ranma mused for a moment. "So people can search for each other using the spell you showed me?"
"Not that simple. You have to be very close to each other in order to see the connection" Nabiki smirked. "But for a couple, if they are that close enough, I think seeing the thread connection is the last thing in their minds"
Ranma blushed.
"In fact," Nabiki smiled coyly, being that close will result in the thread between them becoming more powerful"
"I still don't see where this is leading"
"Ranma, to be frank with you, one of your soul mates is probably a demoness"
He blinked for a few times before laughing hard. "Man, you're sure can tell a joke, Nabiki"
She shook her head. "Look at the other threads. You'll probably see five threads that are bigger than the rest, but still smaller than that one. Two of them probably represents your parents, and the three of them your fiancées"
"There are fifteen of such threads. But, I still don't get it. What makes you say that the owner of the biggest thread is probably a demoness?"
"The color of the thread represents the owner's ki. I can guess that your soul mate's thread color is black"
"How?" Ranma's voice was hoarse.
"I've been seeing residual power from you ever since you returned from Jusenkyo. At first, I thought that the aura was from you thinking that you killed Saffron. Depression aura, like Ryouga's"
"So, how can I solve this problem?"
Nabiki turned toward him and explained further. She explained that being soul mates doesn't mean that the connection between the two people cannot be changed. Soul mates simply mean that the power that be decided that the chemistry between the two of them would be easier to take place compared to others.
"It'll be easier for me to like her?" Ranma asked.
"Yes. But that doesn't mean you will like her. People thought that they can only be together with their soul mate. That is a big lie. If you work on your relationship with one of your fiancées, the resulting bond can be stronger than that bind you and your soul mate"
"Okay, I get it. So I should choose Akane or the others so that my connection with the demoness can be eliminated"
"Close enough"
"And tell me again why I must do it?"
"I don't know. If the demoness has a good intention, would it hide itself from us?" Nabiki stood to leave. "Think about it"
"Maybe she's afraid of what Akane will do to me" Ranma answered half-jokingly. Then he became more serious. "Or maybe she's afraid of how I will react when I saw her"
She turned to gave him a cursory look. "Maybe" She looked back to the front. "But Ranma, the thread looks similar to the others, right?" She smiled, as if knowing that he was examining it. "She's probably in human form"
"That means she could meet me anytime during the day"
"That's right. She could be closer than we thought. Why, she could even be one of your fiancées"
"Or you"
"Or me" Nabiki affirmed. "Or Kodachi… Maybe the soul link is between your girl side and…"
Ranma shuddered as images of the perverted males in Nerima High School flashed in his mind.
Nabiki turned and walked back to him. "Then, when that happens, we will know who she really is. But if she's not one of your fiancée, that will give her enough warning to stay away from you"
"Talking from experience, I don't think that's likely"
"Dragging your feet will make things worse"
"Am I misjudging what you're saying? You're making it as if choosing my wife will influence everything"
"Oh, not really. Only your life" Nabiki turned away to hid a smile on her lips.
"That's comforting to know"
"Don't be too pessimistic" Suddenly, Nabiki's face brightened up. "Tonight you will learn about magic"
"Pffttt… why do I need to study this? I can manage with my martial art"
"If you learn this, your intelligence will increase"
"Uh huh?" Ranma was yawning.
"Have you ever fought an Accounting Martial Arts user? Or a Statistic Martial artist?"
"Nope. But they don't seem like difficult opponents"
"Well, the reason why you haven't fought them was because they calculated that they only have 18.98 chance of beating you in straight fight, 33.13 if they cheated. So, seeing the low possibility of winning, they decided not to fight you"
"What! That's impossible. They actually have a chance of defeating me!"
"Saotome and Tendo school of Anything Goes concentrated on the strength and speed of the techniques without paying much attention into the mental part. Well, you, your father and my father do have a higher than average aptitude for taunting your opponents, but that wouldn't work against someone who has a sharp mind. Take Khu Lon for example"
"Okay"
"Actually, if it suits you, you can think magic as one of the many branches of martial arts that you need to master"
"I can do that"
"Now, produce a ki ball"
Ranma did as he was told and produced a clear orb. "Like this?" He looked at Nabiki to see her also produced one in her hand.
"Very good. Now, can you, using your ki detection technique, tell me which one is stronger?"
"I feel that the two of them are similar in power"
"Correct. But it takes less effort to produce mine"
"In that case I should learn magic"
"Yes, but you should not abandon your present technique. See, your current technique is like moving bricks using your bare hands whereas using magic is like moving the bricks using a wheel barrow"
Yeah, moving by wheel barrow is faster and easier" Ranma smirked. "But you forget that moving the brick using bare hands will strengthen the body faster"
"Believe me, I know about that and was about to say that when you interrupted me. The magic and ki technique can coexist in you, so there is no question of choosing which one to learn and practice"
"How about this bracelet? Wouldn't it affect me?"
"Yes. The bracelet will consume your energy all the time, so you will need more energy to execute a spell. Then again, the same thing applies if you're using your normal technique. There are some more limitations to the bracelet, but it's enough for you to know that the bracelet wouldn't affect your ki and magic attack as much as your physical attacks"
"Why?"
"You'll be far away from you opponent when you launch your ki attack, right? Think about it later. Okay, tonight we will learn how to produce a magical flame" She opened her hand and it was engulfed in red flame.
"Hey, it's like the time when you burn the envelope"
Nabiki raised her eyebrows. "Envelope?"
"You know... the time when we go to Tomoeda to 'grant' that Li his wish"
"Li?
"You know, the brat from China?"
"Li Shaoran" Nabiki giggled. "Ah, I remember now. I have so many thing on my mind, you know"
"Anyway, that time, the flame is green. What did you do to change the color?"
"It's just a matter of magical element used in the spell. You'll eventually learn that as you go along"
The two of them spent hours, with Nabiki teaching Ranma about basic magic. The basic spell was the focusing of ki, or mana as known in magic, into any object, which can include the caster's body parts. Done correctly enough, the point will glow. When enough energy has been gathered, the energy can either be released. The release can be forced, like the one Khu Lon, Ranma and Ryouga have mastered, or released, by using gestures and anything that will tap into the cosmic power. The type of energy released what was determined the type of spell it was. Spells that uses the energy to the surrounding according to the 'normal' law of nature, would be less complicated. Those would include many damaging spells. Spells such as Divine Shield or Levitation requires some of the laws of nature to be momentarily 'suspended'. As such, they required more energy and skills to cast.
When they were finish, it was almost three o'clock in the morning. Nabiki got up from her seat and stretched. "That's basically it for our session"
"Thanks, Nabs."
"But remember, Ranma, you must promise me two things"
"Huh?"
"One, do not practice in front of everyone, including me"
"Why not?"
"Think about it. If I, the one who teaches you caught you practicing, then there's a possibility that the others will find out about it too. You don't want more complications, do you?"
"Makes sense. So what's the other one?"
"Get up"
Ranma did as he was told. He was shocked when Nabiki threw her arms around him and kissed him. Nabiki only broke the kiss when she needed to breath.
"This... is my payment", she said, panting. Nabiki cupped Ranma's face and smiled."But I can't let you remember this" She then put a finger on Ranma's forehead.
"Huh?" Ranma felt some kind of Deja Vu.
Her finger began to glow with the familiar black aura.
"Erase"
Author's note (16 July 2006)
1. What do you know? I have nothing to say... NOT
2. I'll be updating the previous chapters bit by but to remove some of the errors lying around there. Of course, this only applies to the story. I wouldn't do anything for my Author's Note section.