Guardian One-Half

by TheDevian

While being chased through town one day, Ranma somehow managed to avoid the walkway washer woman, and his fate subtly changed. My apologies to anyone who has been waiting on the next chapter of my first story, Nodoka 2/1, my editor got sidetracked, and while I was waiting on him to catch up, I started this "short story" idea that grew well out of hand.

38. Chapter 38

Warning: Everything about this story is absolutely true ...except the parts that are written.

Chapter 38 - Dream Weaver

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The night was late, and Kodachi had not gotten out of bed for weeks ...or at least not that she could remember. The only thing that even made her aware of the passage of time was when their faithful manservant, Sasuke would bring her meals, and most of those visits tended to blur together in her mind. She could hardly even tell when she was awake or dreaming. Was she even awake at that moment? She had no idea.

Hearing the soft clacking of the lock on her door, she knew that Sasuke would soon appear through one of his hidden passages. She had no interest in the food, though her throat still ached, and the soothing tea seemed appealing, if she could only find the strength to drink it. Before he could get through the tunnels, she managed to get one of her homemade pills into her mouth.

"Kodachi-sama? Have you awoken?"

Her throat was far too dry to speak, though she managed to nod slightly, if she was not conscious, then she was dreaming that she was.

"I brought you your dinner again, are you certain that you will not eat?" The small servant looked grim as she shook her head. His visage was made all the more ominous by being hidden under his mask. In his eyes, she was looking terrible, a shadow of the young woman he had been taking care of for so long, and he was growing more concerned for her health with each passing day. The vitamins he had been dissolving into her tea could only go so far, and he was beginning to think he would have to call a home nurse to feed her intravenously. Her personality had always been a 'bit ...less than complete', but ever since that fateful day when Ranma had showed them his curse, he barely recognized her any longer.

"Okay, Ojou-sama, but let me help you drink your tea at least, okay?" Seeing her face light up slightly, he felt relieved. She seemed to only swallow hard at first, but managed to finish her cup before long. "That's the way, good." Not only was she starving herself and not moving, but he could hear her arguing with herself at all hours, and she had their loyal retainer quite worried.

Seeing a bit of color return to his mistress's overly-pale skin, the littlest ninja felt a modicum of relief, and he offered a short 'thank you' to the gods watching over their house. "What about a little miso so-... No? Okay, okay, I will not force you." 'Yet.' "Maybe another cup of tea?"

After a second cup of vitamin tea, Sasuke noticed an odor as he was cleaning up their mess. "Shall I ready your bath then?"

"...Fine, another sponge bath it is. I will leave the food here in case you decide you would like some while I prepare. I shall return soon Mistress." The one bright spot in his life was that since she had stopped speaking, she no longer asked him to dress up as Ranma and hold her...

Kodachi followed him as he left the room until her eyes glazed over, the numbing of her drugs taking effect, and spreading throughout her body before finally calming her minds. The cotton that had filled her mouth, now fled to her brain, where it made the memories equally 'fuzzy'. She could almost see Ranma's handsome face, without being able to tell that it was contorted into a rage, all of which was obviously directed toward 'her'. No matter what she did, she could not get that image out of her minds. At least when she was awake the drugs could cloud her mind, because there was nothing that could block her dreams as she slept, always to wake at the same moment, that same image burned fresh into her memories. The man she loved ...'hated' her, and it was all 'HER' fault! Both of them really... The other always DID come on too strong.

'Hey! It wasn't MY idea to kidnap that harlot!' A sultry, yet outraged voice rang out in her head.

A harsher version of her voice cackled in response. 'And I've gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for-..."

'If it hadn't been for RANMA-SAMA! Could you not see how much we hurt the one we love?' Kodachi had finally reached her limit, and raised her compassionate voice, interjecting herself into the argument.

'If we left it to you, we never would have even spoken together!' The angry tone echoed through her skull.

'If we left it to YOU, we would be hated forever by the only person who was ever kind to us!' The desperate tone in the pitiful voice was clear, she felt as if she had lost her last bit of meaning in her life.

'That's true, the others were all so fake, it was obvious, they just wanted something from us!' The voice paused for a moment as she considered what they wanted. 'Not that it would be ALL bad...'

'Exactly, everyone else just wants something from us, so why not take what we want?' The haughty inflection made it clear that everyone else was below her.

'Some things need to be earned! Can you not see that?' She passionately implored the others to see reason.

'I know how I would reap my reward, and Ranma-sama would never look at another woman again when we got done!' The sensuous tone turned into haughty laughter as she imagined everything she would do if she had gotten Ranma alone.

'Exactly, take what we want!' Demanding the others listen to her, she expected them to bow before her will.

'No! How can you not see that we cannot do that? That is how we got it to this point in the first place!'

'And what point is that? Where you have us wasting away in bed, while bawling yourself hoarse? Let me take over, I will get us back in shape!'

'Well, we DO look terrible lately, and you know 'I' will not hurt anyone...' The seductive sounds of the breathy voice practically cooed in her mind.

'After what we have done, we do not deserve to look good...' She sounded as if she were about to resume her crying when she was interrupted.

'Perish the thought!' The very idea offended her sensuous sensibilities.

'We do not 'deserve' to do anything.' The other two had to strain to hear her meek statement.

'Oh quit whining, you can't keep us like this forever! One of these days I-...!'

'I will never let you out to hurt anyone again!' The sad resignation rang clear.

'Anyone who stands in our way deserves what they get!'

'No! I would rather die first!'

'One should not tempt the Black Rose! Oh! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho, hohohoho...'

'Hey, hey, neither of you get too crazy here, I do not want to die a virgin!'

'You don't want us to get 'too crazy', that is rich! You want to see crazy, let us get crazy!'

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Kodachi found herself in the audience of a circus as the tent lights came up, calling attention to the high wire platforms. As the spotlights focused, they centered on a young woman in a green leotard, holding a long pole.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the greatest show on earth! May we now draw your attention to the platform far above your heads! Tonight, the mistress of the wire, terror of the tightrope, the first female of funambulism, will amaze you with acrobatic feats of dexterity, the likes of which you have never seen, all without a net! Bring your hands together for the lovely, the incomparable, the one, the only, the Black Rooooooooose!"

Just before the audience erupted in applause, one voice was heard screaming out a question, "Then why is the suit green?"

Kodachi could not figure out why they were announcing her, when she was clearly in the stands. She could not be up there as well, could she?

"OHhohohohoho!" The Black Rose started off by doing forward somersault, landing in the splits while holding her balancing staff near her center. Rising up on her back leg, she did a forward flip, followed by another somersault. Rising again, she stood on her toes and leaned forward as one foot rose to match. The young gymnast spun around several times on her toes before facing the audience.

Everyone 'Oooo'd and 'Aaah'd as she began to spin her staff, as if this were a martial arts demonstration. Suddenly she tossed it into the air like a baton and catching the end before she spun around backwards, appearing to grip the cable with her toes as she flipped around. On her last rotation, as she spun forward, she flicked out with her staff as it spiraled forth like a ribbon, entangling Kodachi, and pulling her back, only to find herself completely entangled and dangling from one of the support beams.

"OHHOhohohoho! Now do you see? You are no match for the Black Rose!" The live studio audience erupted in canned applause. "Watch, as I lower the helpless twit into the pool of hungry piranha! My babies have been known to strip a deer in under a minute when sufficiently hungry, and I have not fed them in two weeks. Just like someone else we all know who is little more then skin and bones right now... How long do you think you can last?"

Dangling helplessly, she managed to get the ribbon out of her mouth. "Ranma-sama will never love someone like you!"

"I do not care, I do not need LOVE! Not from that guy, not from you, not from mother, nor anyone else! I only went after that fool for you two! I! Do! Not! Care!"

"How DARE you call Ranma-sama a fool?"

Bending backwards, she flipped over in one sleek motion before rubbing her hands over her own curves. "Anyone who would pass up on this body, IS a fool and worse! Am I right everyone?" The big tent filled with hoots and whistles in response to her query.

"Ranma-sama cares about more then looks!" The audience 'Aaawww'ed in response to her declaration.

"Nobody cares what that fool wants! Not us, and not anyone else! All that matters is what 'I' want, and right now, what I want is permanent control over our body!" To emphasize her point, the ribbon dropped by several centimeters.

The sound of a horn echoed around the tent, as a toy car drove out into the center ring, sputtering as it went. Once the tiny door opened, a normal sized foot came out of it, followed by an extraordinarily long leg wrapped in colorful cloth. The lithe woman who climbed out was dressed as a harlequin, and tumbled away from the car. "Ohohohoho! What have we here? Only the most cliche shtick in the book, eh? And here I thought we were going to get ...'crazy'." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a giant mallet, and smashed the glass wall of the oversized fish tank.

"Oh no, my babies! How could you?"

For some reason, her accent changed to that of somewhere in the north eastern' United States. "Easily! Just, like, this! Splat! Splat! Splat! ...and, Splat!" Each swing of her mallet squished several of the fearsome fish. "I got news for ya, ya won't take over that easily, Missus Kay!"

"Why are you talking that way, did you hit your head?"

"Couldn't tell yas, it just seemed ta fit th' outfit!"

"Well, no matter, neither of you will be around for much longer. I will see to that!" Pulling bowling pins out of nowhere, she began to hurl an endless volley of clubs.

"Oh, I don't know, I am known to be rather vexing, if you were not aware." Easily dodging most of them, she pulled an aluminum baseball bat from behind her back, to knock the last of them back toward their her attacker. "Oh come now, ya gotta play harder than that! Oh well, now it is my turn!" Cocking the baseball bat, she hefted it over her shoulder before firing a rocket with a huge explosion!

The projectile stopped centimeters away from the Black Rose, who did not flinch as the nose of the giant bullet swung open to reveal an arm reaching out with a flag hanging from it which read 'BANG!' Just as the flag unrolled, the finger at the end of the arm flicked her nose, causing her to lose her balance, and tumble from the wire.

A few somersaults later, she landed gently on the ground. "Pathetic! You play with toys at a time like this? You should have used the real thing if you want to be rid of me!" From within the opening on the front of her leotard, she pulled bomb after bomb, hurling them at the clown.

"Eeeeeek!" She started to dance around as the explosions happened all around her, and then just stopped. "...Is that what you expected? Oh please..." Bat still in hand, she knocked each one of them out of the park ...er tent. "Yer gonna hafta train more, if ya wanna be as crazy as me!"

As the explosions were heard off in the distance, the Black Rose's expression intensified, and her eyes seemed to lose focus. "Well then, let's go off the rails!" The scene tore away like paper as a locomotive steamed through the tent, it's whistle drowning out any other sound. "ALL ABOARD!"

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Screams and gunfire were heard in the distance, as Kodachi awoke in her dark compartment on the train, wondering what was happening in the other car. Suddenly she felt the thin wire tighten around her neck, and she was glad that she had opted for her nightgown with the thicker collar. Unable to scream, she looked around, wondering what she was going to do.

"That is not very sporting of you."

"That is just how crazy goes? Everyone of us, living as foes." The attacker started to screech out a tune.

"Maybe, it's not too late..." Throwing a rubber ball, it bounced off of the attacker's head, leaving a small welt, and causing her to lose her grip on her garrote.

Finally able to breathe again, Kodachi rolled out of her bunk, rubbing her sore neck. "Why can't we just love, and forget all the hate?"

The black rose watched as the two of them ran from the room, trying to extricate herself from being entangled in the bedding. "Mental wounds ...not healing, driving me insane..." She fell out onto the floor. "We all went off of the rails on the Crazy Train!"

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The Kodachis found themselves on top of the speeding train, trying to make their way to the engine. "You are going to have to learn to stand up for yourself one of these days, you know?"

"But, that woman is just so ...scary!"

"Remember, this is not just for you, this is for our Ranma-sama too! You will never know that sweet embrace, you will never know the bliss of falling asleep in each others arms ...we will never get to make babies, and making them is the BEST part of kids!"

"That's not true, babies are adorable!"

"So, it's only when we get older that everyone wants us gone?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well? Where are they when we need them? Where were our parents? Did they stick around? No. But did we let that affect us? ...Well yes, yes we did, but that is fine, we can be fine, we don't need them, we have each other, and we can overcome anything, as long as we are together."

"I don't know..."

"Have I ever let you down?"

"Pretty frequently, actually..."

"Um, well... Ohhohohohohoho! We can worry about that later, now we have another problem..."

Looking passed her doppelganger, she saw the other, dressed in a black trench coat and large brimmed hat stomping toward them with a machine gun in her hands. "I knew you would try this, always so predictable. Everyone always does exactly what I expect, you pathetic little bugs."

"Ohhohohoho, then why are you not in control? Why do you not have everything you want?"

"Who says that I do not? In fact, I have the two of you, exactly where I want you..."

"Oh really?"

"In just one minute, you will voluntarily jump from this train."

"What makes you think that?"

"Nothing, I do not need to think, I 'know'. Everything that exists in this world, is there for the sole purpose of entertaining me." Dropping the gun to her side, she lashed out with her ribbon which wrapped around Kodachi's waist, and before anyone could react, she tossed the other end straight into the air where it snagged a passing water tower.

Kodachi watched in horror as the slack in the ribbon rapidly vanished seeing that she was about to be pulled from the speeding train, and thrown into the air. "Ahyeeeeeeeeeee!"

Without thinking, she jumped, grabbing the ribbon to lesson the impact on the other woman's spine as the world faded.

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Dressed in animal skins, the pair of Kodachis swung through the trees, switching from one vine to the next. "Ohhohohohoho!"

"Oh! It looks like we got away." The Kodachi being carried let out a sigh of relief.

"Or that one did! Whoa!"

A branch hit them square in the chest, causing them to both tumble off in different directions.

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Kodachi found herself back in her own garden and dressed in her school uniform, looking down at the pond. "Oh, Green-turtle-kun! How are you tonight? No, I am not having a fun evening myself, sometimes I believe that woman is a disgrace to the gymnastic profession, but hopefully things will get better now. Everything is all crazy, but as long as we have each other it will be all right."

Her hand absently stroking the back of the large crocodilian's neck, she looked up to see the full moon being revealed by the thin night clouds. "Would it not be glorious if we could all just work together, but I am afraid that may never happen..."

Her introspection was cut short by the sound of a growling stomach. Looking down, she saw her pet's eyes looking back at her with a hopeful expression as his mouth opened. "Feed me."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Feeed me!"

"Midorigame-kun! You talked! You-..."

"Feed me, Kuno, feed me now!"

"Oh! Certainly, let me go get you a nice steak-..."

"Must be blood... Must be live..."

"What?" She stopped short as her path was blocked by the ever growing creature.

"I'm staAarving!"

"What do you want?"

"I'm tired of cold dead flesh, I want something fresh!"

"Oh no..."

"FEEEED ME!"

"Where am I supposed to get it? Should I run down to the pound?"

"Bigger!"

"What?"

Suddenly they heard music as he started to sing. "Feed me 'Dachi, feed me all night loooong... Heh, that's right girl! You can do it, feed me 'Dachi, Feed me all night long! Hahaha! 'Cause if you feed me, 'Dachi, I can grow up, BIG ...and strong. Heheh..."

"But if you want people, Midorigame-ku-, how am I supposed to go on feeding you, kill people?"

"Why not? I can help you out, make sure you get everything, your sleazy, greasy, heart desires!"

"You have the wrong one..."

"Isn't there something you want? Think about a room at the Ritz, wrapped in velvet, and covered in glitz. A little nookie gonna clean up those zits, and you'll get it..."

"Zits! WHERE?" Looking into the pool, instead of her refection, she saw a beaten Ranma, tied up and helpless, while her darker self, dressed as a dominatrix, loomed over him with a whip.

"Ranma-sama! NO!"

"If you want to be profound, if you really got to justify, then take a breath and look around, a lot of folks deserve to die!"

"Wait a minute! That is not a very nice thing to say!"

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"No! That's not true! I don't know anyone who deserves to be chopped up and fed to a hungry crocodilian!" Swinging his snout, he indicated she look back into the pond...

"First I am going to start cutting pieces off of you, and then when you can no longer fight back, I am going to start on your friends and family while you watch. You had your chance, now you are going to suffer even more than you made us! Even more than our mother!"

"NO! RANMA-SAMA!" Without thinking, she dove into the cold waters, hoping to stop the torture being administered.

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The feeling of falling filled her being as Kodachi tried to see anything around her. The further she fell, the brighter things grew, and far below her, she saw what appeared to be a large forest approaching rapidly from below her. Seeing her impending doom rising up to meet her did not fill her with joy, and she began to scream out in protest.

"Hey now, is that any way for the first daughter of the house of Kuno to act?"

"But-..." Looking up, Kodachi saw herself dressed as a sexy cat-girl, with a large smile plaster across her face, while floating there, suggestively accentuating her own cleavage. "Who-...?"

"Just call me 'Cheshire' for now."

"What? Why?" Kodachi looked at her with a confused expression.

"Pfffft! You are no fun at all sometimes! You know this right? Because I am the Cheshire cat-girl, why is this so difficult to grasp?"

"But, we are falling!"

"Correction, YOU are falling, I am floating! ...Downward, very rapidly."

"Some help you are!" Reaching out, she tried to grasp her 'sexy twin', only to have her arms pass right through the air as that section of her body vanished.

She waved her finger at her drab self. "Now, now, that would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"What can I do?" Pleading, she exchanged glances between her clone and the ground.

"Just think of a fun guy, and that will save you!"

"A 'fun guy'? What do you mean?"

Her body quickly faded, leaving only her smile. "You had better figure it out quickly... Good luck!" With that, the mouth 'popped' out of existence as well.

Going to an all-girls school, she knew very few 'guys', fun or otherwise, two of whom she was related, and a third was their servant, Sasuke, which only left one alternative. "Oh Ranma-sama! Please, save me!"

As she closed her eyes and remembered the feeling of being carried in his strong arms, a smile formed upon her lips just before she bounced off of a giant mushroom and into a large field of soft grass. "Oh, look, my twisted sister has come to join us for tea. What do you think, Pigtailed-girl, Akane-chan?"

Both of them turned to her with eyes closed, sticking their tongues out, and giving her the 'thumbs down' gesture. "Well, you saw it with your own eyes, you cannot stay. No tea for you, come back in one year!"

With the nod of his head, the others simultaneously pressed a large button in the table, causing the chair she had tried to sit upon, shoot up, throwing her back into the air.

Worried about her safety, she flailed about, hoping to catch anything to break her eventual fall, when suddenly she was caught in someone's arms. "Ara, ara, ara... It is not safe up here for someone who cannot fly."

Calming, she looked to see she was being held by a beautiful, brunette angel, in a sheer toga. Without the immediate fear of death looming over her, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. "The ground is above, and the sky is below! Whatever is the matter with this world? Are we upside-down?"

After a moment, she realized that the blood was not rushing to her head, and she felt as if she were facing the correct way, but everything looked ...wrong. The seeming 'wrongness' of it all, started to mess with her sense of space, and she panicked, flailing once again.

"Ara, ara! If you keep doing that, you will fa-... Oooops. Oh well..."

"I am falling up into the skyyyyyy... Why does this keep happening to me?"

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Back in her garden, Kodachi came across a small table. On this it, was a cup of tea and a tiny piece of cake, next to which was a card that read, 'eat me'. Assuming that Sasuke had left it for her, she smiled. It was nice to at least have someone who cared for her. Though, she still did not feel up to eating, so simply drank the tea instead.

"Oh my..." Suddenly, it seemed as if everything around her grew to astronomical proportions ...no, that was not correct, it was her, she was shrinking! Within moments, she was barely as tall as a flower, looking much like a toy, and glad she had barely sipped at the tea, who knows how small she might have gotten if she had finished it!

After whining cutely for a moment, she looked around, she was unable to pinpoint her current location. She was hoping Sasuke would have an antidote for her, however she would have to find her way back to the mansion before that would be an option. As she climbed the nearest flower, hoping to get a better look, it began to complain.

"OI! Oi! Get off of me! How would you like it if someone trampled all over you?"

"Oh! I am terribly sorry, I ...wait, flowers cannot speak, that is absurd."

"Of course we can speak."

"Yes! That is if we have anyone to talk to!"

"...Or 'about'!" The local flora tittered, and started to gossip amongst themselves.

"Excuse me, but could you-..."

"I am Groot."

"What?"

"That one said that we can sing too!"

"I am afraid that I do not have time for-..." Turning away, she found her path blocked, with no escape in sight as the chanting began.

"Froompa, roompa, doompadee dee. If you are wise, you will listen to we."

"What do you do what you fall off the terrace?"

"Scraping your knee, and completely embarrassed."

"What do you do when you make a mistake?"

"Do you just sit in your room, with a shiver, and, quake?"

"We don't think that's good for you!"

"Froompa, roompa, doompadee, dahff!"

"Pick yourself up, and brush yourself off."

"You can live in happiness too."

"Just like we know, you always wanted to."

"...Wanted to!"

"I am trying you see, but in order to get back to myself, I need to make it to the mansion..."

"Oh, you do not want to go there!"

"To get there, you would have to go through the rose garden!"

"...And no one ever comes back from there!"

"The evil black queen rules that place with an iron whip!"

"But, I simply must get back there!"

"It's just not safe!"

"Were you not just telling me that I needed to pick myself up, and try again?"

"That's just a song!"

"We just happened to watch Flora and the Chocolate Fauna Factory last night!"

"This is your life we are talking about here!"

"How about a nice happy tea party?"

"I could call the dormouse!"

"But there aren't any doors..."

"We could loan you a nice hat..."

"How about some candy?"

"That does sound good... No! I really need to be going, thank you. But if you will not tell me the way, I simply must find it myself!"

"The only ones who would want to go there are weeds! You are not a WEED, are you?"

"NO!" Forcing her way through, Kodachi made it into another part of the garden, where she heard another voice singing each mora in the language.

"A, I, U, E, O..." She followed the voice, hoping it would lead her somewhere familiar.

"Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko..." The foliage changed as she moved, less flowers, and more of the darker plants.

"Sa, Shi, Su, Se, So..." The soft moss beneath her feet felt nice between her bare toes.

"Ta, Chi, Tsu, Te, To..." Mushrooms of various sizes grew all around her, some small enough to barely come up to her knee, while others towered over her.

"Na, Ni, Nu, Ne, No..." Looking up, she saw kana made of smoke floating upon the breeze coming from the same direction as the voice.

"Ha, He, Fu, He, Ho..." Pushing the large blades of grass aside, she entered a small clearing, where she saw a caterpillar roughly her current size, lounging on one of the larger mushrooms, and puffing on a seemingly large hookah.

"Ma, Me, Mu, Me, Mo..." Curiously, she moved closer, hoping to get a better look.

"Ya. Yu. Yo, Ra, Ri, Ru, and who might you be?" As he spoke, letters would form from his exhaled smoke of various colors.

"Well, I-, I, hardly know, sir, for I have changed oh so many times since this morning, you see?"

"I do not see. Explain yourself."

"I am afraid I cannot explain myself, because I am not myself, you know?"

"I do not know."

"I cannot put it any more clearly, for it is not clear to me."

"You? Who are you?"

"Well, is it not the custom to give one's own name first?"

"Why?"

"Manners are important, even when everything is just so confusing..."

"It is not."

"Well, it is to me."

"Why?"

"Well, my memory might be a bit fuzzy, but things just are not the same as they should be, everything simply feels 'wrong'."

"Such as?"

"I am terribly sorry, but I need to get back to the mansion, can you tell me which way to go please?"

"You? Who, ARE, you?"

Waving her hands in front of her face, to blow away the smoke letters, she coughed and fell off of the larger toadstool she had been using as a seat. Standing, she brushed off her clothing and stormed off, trying to shake the smoke cloud that clung to her foot.

"What a rude child." Seeing the girl turn up her nose as she entered the jungle of grass, he lazily crawled from one leaf to another, calling out to her as he shook several of his hands. "You there, girl, come back, I have something important to tell you."

Hearing the frantic voice, finally offering to be helpful, she poked her head back into the clearing. "Oh dear, what is it now?" Walking over, she saw the caterpillar lazing about, with his feet in the air, still puffing away on his hookah. "Well?"

Bothered, he laid back on the leaf upon which he had been sitting. "Keep your temper, you know where that leads."

"Was that all?" Kodachi examined him with an irked expression.

Flipping himself over, he turned to face her. "No. ...Exacticaly, what 'is' your problem, anyway?"

"Well, it is exactica-... exactic-... precisely this. Well, to be certain, there are a great many things, first and foremost, I should like to be a little larger sir."

"Why?"

"Well, it is just that eight centimeters is an awfully troublesome height, you see..."

"And just 'what' is wrong with eight centimeters?" Standing up on his back most feet, he stretched up to seem as tall as possible. "I am exacticaly eight centimeters high, I will thank you very much! It is a very respectable size, indeed!" In a huff, he puffed and puffed, turning himself pink, and filling the whole area with smoke as sparks flew out of the hookah.

Climbing on the nearest mushroom, she tried to get closer to him, though her vision was soon obscured by the smoke. "Well, it may be very fine for you, but I am not used to it! How am I ever to stop the evil one, if I am stuck like this?"

A voice echoed from within the smoggy bank, though she did not wish to get much closer to the pungent vapor. "Now we are getting somewhere!"

Pulling a giant fan from her bodice, she waved away the cloud, only to see that nothing remained of the caterpillar, except for his skin, gloves, shoes, and the hookah. "Oh dear!" She gently picked up one of the shoes until a voice startled her.

"I have one last thing for you girl."

Following the voice, she looked up to see a butterfly, hovering above her.

"Take this. You may need it later." With that, he dropped a small pouch into her hands before flying off, slightly miffed.

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Finding herself in a small hedge maze, Kodachi frantically searched for the way through. "I do not recall ever planting such a thing! Though, perhaps it might be more fun if I were not so late! No time to say 'hello'. Good-by. I am late, I am late, I am late!" For what, she was not certain, but a sense of urgency was upon her, and she knew she could not dawdle.

As she ran through the maze, she heard voices singing, and instinctively followed them. Before long, those voices started to become clear enough to make out the words. "We have a red rose and we need it painted black..."

Finally, she came to an opening in the hedges, and upon exiting the maze, she saw several women dressed in naught much more than aprons that resembled playing cards, stockings, and small hats with their 'suit' on them. Each of these women held a bucket and brush, and were painting the flowers!

"No colors can show through, we need them painted black... WE NEED THEM PAINTED BLACK!"

"Next, please." The roses also looked like beautiful woman, and they all stood in line, waiting to be painted.

"Hai!" Each flower-woman stepped up as they were called.

"We have a white rose and we need it painted black..."

Kodachi was slightly torn, while she did love the black roses best, it felt wrong to her to paint the others, it could kill them after all! Certainly there must be a reason, hopefully they would be allowed to wash later. She started inching her way closer, hoping that if she asked nicely, they could give her directions to the castle.

...Wait, was it a 'castle'? Somehow that felt correct, so she decided not to question it. "Excuse me...?" She did not want to bother the people who were working so hard, so she chose to ask one of the flowers who were waiting in line instead. "Would you be able to tell me how I could get to the castle?"

One of the painting 'card' women responded to her, while the rose poked her own cheek and stuck out her tongue. "Sorry, as you can see, we are busy right now."

"Yes, I see. Could you, perhaps, tell me what you are doing?"

"Can't you tell?"

"Yes, but why?"

"We must make these red and white roses into black ones quickly!"

"Is that not harmf-...?" Before she could finish her question, she was pulled aside by one of the 'cards'.

"Hush, hush, hush! It might be harmful to the flowers, but NOT doing it would be harmful to US! The queen only likes BLACK roses, do you get it?"

"I am not certain that do..."

"We accidentally planted the wrong seeds, and if the queen finds out, we will all be punished, so we have to fix it before it is too late!"

"Oooo! I want to be punished!" One of the painting cards jumped up excitedly.

"I want to be punished too, you know?"

"Me too!" Many of the other women joined in the chanting when Kodachi felt a presence behind her, and turned to see herself step out from behind a large tree. She was much taller than anyone else, dressed in tight, skimpy leather dominatrix gear, and holding a whip instead of her usual ribbon.

"I told you to only plant black roses here..."

All of the women turned toward the sound of the voice. "My queen! My queen!" With each of them trying to shout over the other, it made it difficult to make out any single voice.

"So, whose fault is it?" The stern woman looked over her gushing subordinates.

A cacophony of voices, all clamoring to be the one to take the blame rose from amongst the crowd of cards.

Seeing how they wanted to be punished, the frustrated queen chose to do so by ignoring them and walking over to the newest 'guest', flipping her cape as she turned. "And what are you doing here?"

"Well, I am just-..."

Snapping her whip at Kodachi's feet, she took a bold posture. "Get on your knees, and lick my boots!"

"WHAT?"

"You want this to end? You want to go back to normal? Then I want you to lick my boots, and tell us all how wrong you were to oppose us! Promise me that you will never oppose me again!"

"Yes, do it!"

"Tell us!"

"Don't be selfish!"

"I'll do it!"

"I want you to do it now!"

"Eeeeh?" Barely managing to dodge the incoming whip, Kodachi ran blindly while looking back as the queen was mobbed by the half naked women, begging to be whipped as well.

It did not take long before she had broken free and was chasing after her. With each step, she grew taller as she struck out with her whip. "You will not escape that way, little fly."

Before she noticed it, she was surrounded by brick walls, arranged like a maze. Running as hard as she could, she knew she could not stay ahead for long with their ever-widening size gap. Desperate for any way to escape, she spotted a tiny door, and ran through it, slamming the thing behind her.

"Oh my..." A small dormouse, with light brown fur, looked up from her knitting. "Would you like some tea?"

Just as Kodachi was about to agree, a second mouse entered the room, and gave her a glare even darker than his own fur. "This is no place for the likes of you! Why don't you go back where you came from and leave us alone!"

"RANMOUSE-SAMA! Noooo... Do you hate me so?"

"Duh! Who wouldn't hate a selfish woman, who can't even see how much in love we are? You me right off my cheese!"

"But ...I can't go back out there!"

"Fine! Follow me, I'll show ya th' back way!" Taking her through the tiny house, he showed her into the kitchen. "Here we are, and out ya go!" With that, he grabbed her by her night gown, kicking her through the door, and out into the abyss.

"AIIIIIIYEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Looking down, there was nothing but blackness, and soon there was nothing else as far as she could see.

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Kodachi awoke to find herself still barely taller than the blades of grass that surrounded her. Standing up, she surveyed her surroundings, looking for a sign, and it did not take her long to find one. The first thing she saw as she turned around, was a large one that read, 'Saint Hebereke's School for Girls'! She was at school! But how was she going to go to class like this? As if being tiny was not bad enough, still being in her negligee was not how she wanted to attend classes!

As she made her way though the jungle of grass toward the building, she remembered the pouch that the caterpillar had thrown to her after turning into a butterfly. Opening the small bag, she wondered what magical thing might be found within to help her in her moment of crisis, and inside she found a small scrap of paper. On the paper, there was a single word written in the Latin alphabet. She had studied English, but the characters did not form any word she knew, and she struggled trying to wrap her tongue around it. "Inyukchuk?"

As she read the word, her body began to tingle, expanding until she had regained her proper stature. She was so overjoyed that she barely even minded when she looked down and discovered that her garment had not grown with her, and had been shredded in the process. ...That was until she realized that it meant that she was still out front of the school, naked, and fully visible to everyone else present! "EEEEEEEEEK!"

After calling attention to herself and alerting everyone to her presence, she did her best to cover herself with her hands as she ran for the locker room, hoping she had a spare outfit of some kind in her waiting for her there...

Everywhere she went, people pointed, stared, and laughed at her, but no one would help her. The taunts were growing stronger as she ran, and she almost wished that she was small again! She certainly felt tiny in many ways at that moment at any rate.

By the time she had arrived at her goal, she was so mortified that she almost wanted to simply crawl into a hole and hide forever ...however she managed to pull herself to the showers. As the warm water washed away her stress, the room seemed to fill with bubbles, rubbing her all over. She felt as if she were floating in the land of bubbles, and she enjoyed it VERY much. Along with the bubbles, it almost felt as if a pair of small hands were rubbing her all over, and as they ran down her spine, she felt as if something inside of her brake, and the floodgates were released. "OOOOOOOOOHHOHOHOHOHOoooo YES!"

"Now that is my girl. Are you feeling better?"

"Oh yes, thank you."

"I am glad that I could help..." Leaning down, she kissed herself on the cheek.

"I do not suppose you could gather some clothes from our locker?"

Her already wicked grin, gained a bit more of a sinister glint. "Yes, about that ...our friend was here earlier and burned everything..."

"But, I cannot go out there like this!"

"Why not? You already did it once..."

"If you think it is so easy, give my your clothes, and YOU go out there like that!"

"I would, Darling, but would that not just be the same thing? It is all the same to me, I am comfortable in our skin, but you should be as well.'

"But, everyone will make fun of me!"

"Why would they? We are gorgeous! Anyone who would ridicule our body is simply jealous!"

"Well, maybe, but ...wait, that does not seem correct-..."

Without waiting for her to finish, the sultry doppelganger kicked her out through the double doors. "Now, go out there and get to class! People are waiting for you..."

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Flailing as she stumbled into a classroom, she could not understand how she had gotten there so quickly. Looking around, things did not exactly look like HER classroom, but she could not figure out why that was the case.

"Finally, our new student arrives. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, Miss. Kuno?"

Turning around, she wrote her name on the chalkboard. "Gu-Good morning!" Bowing to the class, she saw a number of familiar faces. "I am Kodachi Kuno. I am sixteen years old, and I enjoy gymnastics. Please, take good care of me!"

She was receiving evil glares from all of the young women in the class while all but one of the boys were openly gawking at her. She felt some regret that the only person who was NOT staring at her, was Ranma, who was watching something through the window. There were few open seats, and she was hoping to get the one next to the 'pig-tailed' young man, partially due to it being in the back of the room.

After licking a lollipop, the tiny teacher pointed toward her desired seat, and spoke. "You can sit back there next to Mister Saotome ...later. For now, because you were late, you need to go stand in the hall!"

"WHAT?" As she protested, the female half of the class cheered, while the male half jeered their loss, many of them hoping to get thrown out with her for being rowdy.

"If you are going to talk back to me, you can hold two buckets like a boy, with your arms out to your sides, so everyone can see your flat chest!" She spoke without the slightest hint of irony due to her diminutive stature.

"That's what you get, dressing like that, you stupid bimbo!" As Akane shouted, many of the other girls joined her in shouting insults.

"Well, if you would rather, we could use you to teach about the human anatomy, and reproduction."

"Would Ranma-sama be helping?"

"No!"

"Then I will go hold the bucket, thank you very much for giving me a choice."

"As long as you understand, now go, so we can get back to homeroom."

Dejected, Kodachi moved toward the exit, uncertain how she would make it through the day. As she went back into the hallway...

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Looking down, Kodachi found herself dressed for a winter expedition to one of the poles, however she was on a beach ...and sweltering. As she began to strip off the unneeded layers, she looked around to see that she was on an island, and surrounded by watermelon! Not having a bathing suit, and not seeing anyone else around, she did not stop until she was down to her underwear, and ran over to grab one of the melons!

It would have been better if it had been chilled, however she was in no position to worry about it, and it still seemed rather refreshing! Not seeing any other way, she looked around for a stick, but had trouble finding one, 'they did not grow on trees after all!' For once, she almost wished her idiotic brother were there with his annoying bokken. She was about to smash the thing on a rock when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Ohohohohoho... So this is where you have been hiding."

"I would not say 'hiding' exactly... Do you want some?"

"NO!" Using her ribbon, she knocked the proffered watermelon out of her hands and flying out into the ocean.

"Awww... That was not very nice."

"I never said that I was. Now, lick my feet! Since you came to the beach here, they are all nice and covered in sand, and I want them spotless!"

"Well, I do not think-..."

"Who asked a fool like you to think? Your job is the cleaning!"

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

The small cottage was filthy as Kodachi frantically tried to clean, it seemed that no matter how much work she did, nothing stayed spotless for long. The broom handle had indentions from where her fingers were always wrapped around it, and her palms had blisters upon their blisters. Looking around the room at state in which her sisters had left the house, she let out a sigh. While she did not wish any harm to befall them, there were times in which she wished that others could see the same side of them that she did.

She kept sweeping as she occasionally attended their soup pot. It was a rich broth that she had seasoned with things from her own garden, and the room was filled with the delicious aroma. Smelling the food as she heard the singing of the birds at her window, she began to dance and whistle while she worked.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Did you find a boy?"

Eyes wide, she denied the accusation. "Of course not! How would I find the time?"

"Is not the dog good enough for you anyway? Why not just kiss your boyfriend now? Here, Shiro! There's the mutt, now show us what you two do when you are alone!"

"...!"

"Ohohohoho... Sometimes you two are just too much!"

"What is the matter, did the lovebirds have a fight? Did you fall out of puppy love?"

"I... I... ...!"

"Oh fine, if you are not going to entertain us, then at least get dinner ready while we go get our bath."

"We must look our best for the ball!"

'Ball? What ball?' The look upon her face spoke volumes.

"Oh? Did we not tell you?"

"There is a ball celebrating the handsome prince Saotome's birthday!"

"All of the women in the kingdom will be there, and the best one will be chosen!"

"For what?"

"Marriage, you idiot! Do you not want to marry the prince?"

"Of course I do!"

"Well, too bad! It is going to be me! OHhohohohoho...!" Toying with the whip in her hands, she grinned wickedly.

"As if! Who would pick you, when 'I' am available?" Posing seductively, she ran her hands down her sides. "The prince is such a handsome man!"

"...That I can beat endlessly!"

"Oh no! That is not nice!"

"I keep telling you that I am not! Now, get to work! Nobody wants you around anyway..."

"Oh I cannot wait for all of the dancing!" The pair of sisters talked and laughed as they climbed the stairs from the main room, and headed toward their rooms.

"Oh, it is just no use ...with all of this work, I will never get to go. It is not as if I have a thing to wear..." Without hesitation, but with much practice, she swept all of the dust into a pile, and out the door in a moment before hurrying back to the kitchen as she grabbed the dishes to set the table. Her body moving on instinct, her mind having long since drifted off into happier daydreams.

She had no idea how much time had passed when a voice floated in on the breeze, growing closer with each lyric. "Salagadoola, mechicka boola... Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo... Put them together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"

"Sister?"

"Who were you expecting, your fairy godmother?" Nonchalantly walking into the room, she handed over a nice gown. "I brought this for you."

"You mean...?"

"Yes, now we can all go to the ball together. Sorry about before, you know how easily I get distracted ...but don't expect me to go easy on you when it comes to the prince!"

"No, of course not, but thank you so much for giving me this chance!" Grabbing the dress, she ran for her room.

"Oh no, not on my watch."

Just as she had gotten to the top of the stairs, a foot shot out, tripping her, and causing her to stumble back down, unceremoniously hitting her head on the wall as she landed.

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

"How do you do? I ...see you've met my ...faithful, handyman." Dressed in black, lacy lingerie, the wicked wench glared down at the others gathered before her.

"Good evening, Sasuke."

"Hello..." The little ninja looked up at her, his clumsy movements calling attention to the hump on his back.

"What are you doing here?"

Before he could answer, her sexy doppelganger stepped forward and started singing. "I've been making a man ...with long hair and a tan, who's good for relieving my, sexual, tension! I'm just a sweet rhythmic gymnast, from Saint Hebereke, women's, hiiiigh ...schooool! Oho! Hit it! hit it! I'm just a sweet rhythmic gymnast..."

"Sweet rhythmic gymnast..."

Seeing the song and dance number starting, Kodachi made a break for the door, and out of the mansion.

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

"Choose, your destiny!"

"Humm?" Kodachi wondered where the vice had originated ...and why she was suddenly in what appeared to be an old Roman style Colosseum.

"Round one, FIGHT!" The disembodied voice echoed around the stadium.

A disorientated Kodachi took in her surroundings, wondering why she was facing off with herself while the audience called for blood! "What ...what is happening?"

"Is it not obvious? Were you not listening? We are fighting, you fool!"

"But ...why?"

"If you are not going to start, then I will! GET OVER HERE!" Lashing out with her ribbon, she ensnared her opponent, pulling her closer before landing a strong uppercut.

"TOASTY!" She had no idea from where the announcer's voice came, but did not have time to worry about it.

Having crashed through the ceiling, Kodachi found herself on another floor, her doppelganger having followed her to the next level. "Oh no, whatever will I do?"

"All you need to do is DIE!" Reaching back, she tossed in one of her exploding bombs.

"Not on my watch!" At the last moment, yet another Kodachi interposed herself between them, bouncing the bomb off of her bottom, and back toward its source. While the Black Rose was avoiding being blown up by her own explosive, she turned back toward the injured one. "Run along, I've got this."

"Are you certain?"

"You just stay safe." Turning around, she smiled. "Is that any way to act? Why not just have fun?"

"This is fun for me! I suppose it matters not which of you I dispose of first, both of you need to go. Come when you are ready. OHHOHOhohohoho..."

"Thank you, I will." Reaching into her cleavage, she pulled out metal hoops, tossing them out like a chain, and striking the other her square in the chest.

"A brazen move, from one equally shamelessness." Almost too quickly to see, she launched a bowling pin at her midsection.

Doing a forward cartwheel, she arched over the pin as it flew harmlessly under her. "One as audacious as you, should not talk, your highness." Barely managing to avoid the follow-up sweep kick, she wrapped her legs around the other girl's neck, tossing her into the air.

"Those who live only for carnal desires, should know their place!" A flurry of whip-like attacks rained down upon her foe.

Her guard penetrated by the ribbon strikes, she was unable to counter the long range attack. "My 'place', is whatever 'position' I choose!"

Seeing her twin take to one knee, she started to gloat. "No, you always were, and always will be, under me!"

"Sorry, as kinky as I am, you just do not do it for me any more." Taking a rose out of her hair, she tossed it like a dart.

"Is that so?" Casually, she dodged the projectile. "Do you really think that what you want matters to me in the slightest?" She spun a hoop around her wrist, above her head.

"And that is why you need to be stopped, you are ruining all of my fun!" Knowing the secret of the razor hoop, she caught it through the center, and redirected it back toward its owner.

"You will not have to worry about that for very long, I will ruin far more than that very soon! OHHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!" From seemingly nowhere, she pulled out a bowling pin, many times larger than herself, batting away the hoop and gymnast along with it!

Flying through the air, she breathed a sigh of relief as she remembered that there were no 'ring outs' in this game! Twisting her body in the air, she rebounded off of the wall, and flew back toward the center of the room, knocking the oversized club out of her hand and across the room. The pair clashed in the center with a flurry of fists and feet, neither of them able to land a solid blow.

As the fight waged onward, Kodachi watched in horror, glad that she was not involved, yet scared that someone would get hurt and then she would be next. As she cowered out of sight, she wondered why they could not just get along! She had not felt this small since she was a child and her mother died, leaving them with their unstable father, who also left them soon after. If that had not been enough, her buffoon of a brother had gotten himself injured to the point of not being able to move for some time, and then her beloved had given her 'that look' before he had walked out of her life as well!

Would he ever return to her? Could she blame him if he did not? Was everyone in her life destined to leave her? She did not want to be alone, but even her 'sisters' seemed bound and determined to leave her as well. Perhaps it would be better to just give in, and let her win... SHE would not be afraid of being lonely! Though if she did that, she would also never get to be happy again, never get to have friends or a love life, did she want to give up that opportunity forever?

"...The dreaded attack of ...ONE THOUSAND KNIVES!" The change in their familiar technique, surprised them all, almost as much as the bloodied form that flew across the room and crumpled in the corner near her.

"Oh no!" Kodachi quickly took her in her arms, and tried to stop the bleeding.

"Why are you still here? I though I told you to run away." Coughing, she looked into her worried face.

"How could I? There is no door!"

"You do not need a door here, have you not realized that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, Honey, this is not real, it is all in our head, you can go anywhere, and do anything. You simply need the desire."

"Then, you are going to be okay?"

"Oh, no, I am dying, I do not have much time left, but before I go, I need you to be strong, for me."

"What? No! You cannot leave me too!"

"You do not need to worry, I will always be a part of you."

"How?"

"One last thing... Dying is not fun!" Without waiting for a reaction, the pale young woman leaned closer as her blood red lips touched those of her other self.

"Mrph...!" A bright light radiated from between the pair, before encompassing them both, and filling the room.

The feeling of growing was not entirely unknown to Kodachi, but when the illumination faded she was glad to see that her now larger self was not nude this time! However, she had no idea what to make of the strange armor she seemed to be wearing.

"One, two, 'Dachi's coming for you..." The scraping sounds of metal nails on a chalkboard screeched in her ears.

"Three, four, better lock the door..." She turned to see herself slowly advancing on her position while flexing her bladed fingers.

"Five, six, grab your crucifix..." She wore a bladed glove on her right hand, though the battered old fedora and sweater did little to hide her badly burnt and scarred skin.

"Seven, eight, better stay up late..." Kodachi found that while she 'was' frightened, it was not as bad as she would have expected, though she was uncertain as to what she might be able to do.

"Nine, ten, never sleep again..." As she closed the gap, her clawed hand rose into the air, preparing to strike.

With barely a thought, her suit reacted to her instinctive desires, activating jets in her feet, propelling her backwards, and away from her tormentor. "Whoa!"

"You think that will help you escape, Kusojou?"

"No, get away from me!"

"Believe me, I am trying to do just that! Just hold still for a moment!"

No idea what to do, Kodachi waved her hands in front of her face.

"Your eyes say 'no, no', but my mouth says 'yes, yes'." Closing the gap, she moved to brush her arms aside, as she planned on taking her time pealing off the armor, and then her skin!

"STOOOOOOOP!" Her hands refused to move, and the more she resisted, the warmer they grew before exploding in a burst of flames.

An electronic voice spoke into her ear. "Konbanwa, Ojou-sama. What is your next command?"

"What? Who are you?"

"Yes, Mistress, I will introduce myself. I am the Repurposed Offence System Enhancer, or R.O.S.E. for short. I am here to assist you, in any task that you may need. What is your next command?"

"What can you do?"

"Yes, Ma'am, would you like to read the owner's manual? We can start with volume one, and at an average reading speed, you could be done in three days."

"I do not think we have time for that, the other one will be back soon."

"Parameters accepted. Emergency protocols initiated. Stand by for data transfer..." The whirring sound of various systems activating roared in her ear, and suddenly she felt as if she were being mildly electrocuted, though it was not entirely unpleasant to the young gymnast.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the only thing that came out sounded like one of those fax machines! The moment she heard the squelching noise, she slapped her hands over her mouth, or at least where her mouth would be under the armor. She began to panic, wondering what was happening to her.

"File transfer complete, with zero point zero two percent packet loss. What is your next command?"

"What did you just... Oh my!" Awareness slowly washed over her, and many things came into focus for the confused young woman. "I understand."

As her senses recovered, a voice filtered into her ears. "...you hiding? I am coming for you..."

With her mind much clearer than she could ever remember, Kodachi was in control, waiting patiently for the other 'her' to enter her field of vision.

"And when I find you ...you DIE!"

Waiting for the moment the light reflected off of her clawed hand, Kodachi lashed out with her arms, causing rose vines to shoot out of the palms of her hands, and act like spiked whips. "It is too late, I know your secret now. You are not real, you are not alive, and this ...this is all a DREAM!"

Surprised by the sudden onslaught, she jumped back, taking shelter behind the wall as reason started to fail her, the pain of being burned and the frustration of her prey becoming the predator becoming too much to bare. Pulling out a sword and shield, she ran back around the corner, ready to attack. "You what? You think you can give me orders? I will show you who is the dominant personality!"

"You have no power here!" Seeing her rose whips blocked by the shield, she allowed them to fade from existence.

"Is that what you think?" With a flick of her wrist, her sword extended, and moved about like a whip, with a mind of it's own. The snake-like weapon, slashed through the air with a screeching sound.

Allowing the flexible blade to wrap around her forearm, Kodachi interrupted the attack. "For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom is as great! You have no power over me!" Clenching her fist, she made the whip-sword vanish as well, before turning her attention back toward her 'evil twin'.

"WHAT? How did you do that?"

"I told you, I am the original, and 'I' am taking back MY life!"

"You cannot stop me! You will fall ...and everything will be MINE! Just as it 'should' be! You will regret making me angry, you won't like me when I am angry." Stepping back, she grew larger as she started to summon a new weapon. "Come! It is time to face your DOOM!"

"Gomenasai, imouto-san." The sudden diffusion of light went from filling the room, to a more focused beam, completely engulfing her opponent with a scream!

As the radiant light faded away, all that remained were the sweater, hat, and bladed glove. "All vital signs ...Terminated. We are alone."

"Thank you for all of your help, Rose, I could not have done it without you!"

"You are welcome, Ojou-sama, I am glad that we were finally able to have fun together! I guess this is finally 'sayonara'..."

"What? You mean, Rose is YOU? Wait! Do not-..."

"Hey, now no need to cry, I always was, and always 'will' be, a part of you. Now, go out there, and make me proud of you! It is time for you to finally, 'Wake up'!"

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

"...Please, wake up."

Kodachi found herself back in her room and lying in her bed. It was difficult to move, but she looked around to find that Sasuke was cleaning up from her apparent sponge bath. Seeing his diligence, she remembered the food he had been trying to feed her, and her stomach growled. She tried to speak, wanting to apologize for wasting food and thank him for caring for her, but her voice was far too hoarse.

"Ojou-sama! You are awake! May I bring you more tea, or perhaps some rice porridge?" Despite the hopeful tone in his voice betraying his concern, he could not believe his eyes when she smiled and nodded back at him! "Yes! YES MISTRESS! I will be right back!"

True to his word, the small man took less than a minute to return with his loaded tray. The more he fed her, the better she felt, and her voice slowly returned to her. "Arigato-gozaimasu, Sasuke. Could I get some more?"

"OF COURSE! THANK YOU, KODACHI-SAMA! I am glad that you are starting to feel better, it's been so long!"

Watching as he ran back to the kitchen, she was grateful to have such a loyal servant. Perhaps she ought to see about paying him...

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

NOTES

-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-

Among others, Kodachi's dream sequence was primarily inspired by the movie 'Paprika', which in turn inspired the movie Inception, which actually got the live-action version of Paprika canceled... I had conceived the scene as a Dreamscape/Matrix/Inception-like sequence where she jumped from one parody to another, and then I remembered Paprika, and it fit all too well, so I took the intro of that movie, and warped it to fit Kodachi's issues here. Again, apologies to anyone who thought I handled that whole ordeal poorly, it just kind of happened that way, I was trying to do it in the style of how it might have been handled in this and other stories of the day, not reality.

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My apologies to anyone who was disappointed with this short break, but what will happen when we return to our regular story next time? You will have to come back for, 'Fever Dreams', or 'Our Regularly Scheduled Program', to find out!