I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi.

Several days later:

"You want me to what?" Lieutenant Stacy Vernon grinned at Win's blush, in spite of the worry flickering through the back of her mind.

"I want you to hunt down David and bring him here so that the two of you can act as witnesses for Toshiko and my marriage. He's not answering his phone, and I need to track down Father Seward. Then I need you to take Toshiko shopping while I report to General Layton, she needs ... well, everything."

That flicker of worry was getting stronger—this kind of plunge was not normal for her friend, and he didn't have the besotted look she had seen more than a few times (though mostly in high school, including once in the mirror). And if his wife had been an indication, the young Japanese woman in clean but tattered clothing was anything but his type. For that matter it hadn't been that long since his wife's death, and the way he'd ducked out early during their last night out said he wasn't over it yet. Stacy carefully asked, "Are you sure you don't have that order reversed? A girl really ought to dress up for her wedding, even if it's this sudden."

A grimace flashed across Toshiko's face, and Win caught it and had to turn a snort into an unconvincing cough. "Yes, well, normally you'd be right, but we're on something of a schedule. We really need to get the ceremony performed before I see the General. Do you think you can find David?"

Stacy sighed but nodded. "Yeah, I have an idea of a few places he might be hanging when you're not hanging with us. I'll see if I can run him down."

The next few hours were positively surreal. Most of that time was spent tracking down David (really, she ought to have checked the officer's club first), and the pair returned to the apartment to find Father Seward waiting ... and the chaplain didn't seem any happier about the ceremony than the bride, and she seemed to think she was going to her execution. Though she kept a stiff upper lip that would have done any British gentleman proud, reciting her lines in a clear and steady voice.

And now Stacey was staring at a printed out marriage license and certificate with a lot of empty spaces—Win's information was all there but the only entry for the bride was Toshiko's name and age, and while Father Seward's name was present his signature was not ... Stacy suspected because of the line right above it stating that that signature meant he knew all the rest of the certificate was complete and accurate.

Stacy looked up at her friend. "Win, there's a lot of empty spaces there."

"Yeah, there are," he agreed, "that's one of the things I need to talk to the General about."

"Win ... Mandy ..."

He smiled wistfully when she trailed off. "Mandy would understand ... does understand, I'm sure. I know, this is weird and I can't explain right now. I might be able to after my meeting with General Layton, but maybe not then. Trust me?"

Stacy exchanged glances with an equally confused David, and sighed as she scribbled in her signature. As David added his own signature she grinned at Toshiko. "Looks like you're all mine for the next few hours, let's go shopping!"

Oddly, Toshiko's air of facing her own execution actually seemed to deepen.

/oOo\

General Layton hit the speaker icon on his cell phone and set it to one side of his somewhat paper-strewn desk, then straightened in his office chair (customized at his own expense). "Send him in."

As he watched Lieutenant "Win" Blake enter his office, he really hoped one of the finest fighter pilots he knew was here to tell him what the hell was going on. It had been almost a week since Win had brought the girl that had helped bring down part of a mountain to his apartment, General Layton had no idea what the base chaplain and Win's two best friends in the squadron had to do with said target, though from what the team had overheard when everyone split up in front of his apartment building, at least so far as Stacy and ... Toshiko? ... were concerned shopping was involved. That and the fact that Win had headed toward his office (on foot, which was odd, it was a bit of a walk) were the only things that had kept the General from ordering the team to try and take down the target—Toshiko—instead of just continuing to shadow them—well, that and concerns that the tranquilizers would work too well ... or not work at all; they were strong enough to take down the strongest human known, which actually risked killing the tiny girl Toshiko appeared to be, but the feats she'd pulled the few times their searchers had managed to observe her, much less that amateur video, very much said otherwise. (He had to wonder how well the team would manage that surveillance now that the pair of young women were off-base, or if they'd handed it off to another team he didn't know about. They'd almost have had to, he'd think, gaijin didn't exactly blend in.)

But he didn't let any of his worry and confusion show on his face as he returned the salute that indicated Win has something to report. "So, Lieutenant, Styles says you need to see me on an urgent matter, what's going on?"

"Sir, it's about the young woman in the ... interesting video I was shown a few months ago, and instructed to let you know if I learned anything about her."

"Yes, I remember. Interesting, indeed." Layton leaned back in his chair. "So you have something for me?"

"Yes, sir, her name is Toshiko Tatsuno. I found her huddled in a doorway just off base in the middle of a snowstorm. She's been on the run and living on the streets for most of a year, dodging a lot of people hunting her. Would you know anything about that ... sir?"

Layton stiffened at the oh-so-polite and extremely unpolitic question for a member of the military to ask their superior officer—at least with that tone of voice—but after a moment forced himself to relax. The situation wasn't exactly amenable to standard military protocol. In more ways than one, now that he thought about it. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, Win, so far as I know the ... people that provided the video only had a few people looking for her, and only found her a couple times before you carried her onto the base. If they'd had so much as the name you just gave me, do you think you'd have seen that video?"

Win's eyes widened at the use of his personal name and the fact that the General was already aware of Toshiko's presence on base, then narrowed. "You said 'they'. Not 'we'?"

Layton chuckled. "No, they aren't Air Force, or even ... officially ... part of the government. Unofficially, the Company has had ties with all levels of the government and military since the Second World War. It deals with Things that Go Bump in the Night—fortunately most also Go Boom in the Night, but not all."

Win stiffened. "Is Toshiko one of these 'things that go bump in the night'?" he asked, voice hard.

"No, not at all," Layton hastened to assure him. "What she is, maybe, is someone that can help deal with the threats. She's a bit ... louder ... than the Company prefers, but things are getting to the point that it can't be hidden much longer, anyway. The 'magical girls' apparently fighting something in Tokyo are pretty much blowing the lid off ... even if most people are still dismissing them as some sort of special effects stunt and doctored videos, that isn't going to last—the governments know better, us and the Japanese at least, I'm sure. But even if those school children weren't so active, with the internet sooner or later something would slip beyond anyone's ability to cover it up or explain it away."

He rubbed at his face with a tired sigh. "Besides, the Company has been worried about the casualty rate for quite a while—for field operatives they recruit only the best physical specimens with intelligence scores to make an Ivy League school weep for joy, their basic training makes Paris Island look like kindergarten, and all too often the mission casualty rates still resemble a desperate rear-guard action when they don't resemble the Alamo."

Win was silent for awhile, expression thoughtful, then quietly asked, "And what if she says no?"

"Then she says no. You cannot draft people into this kind of war. If she's just willing to maybe help train some people, or even just show what she can do, it'll help. Even just some names will help; our penetration of Japan sucks, much less the rest of the Far East, and we badly need to coordinate with whoever is fighting the good fight here. If she doesn't want to help at all, maybe just her name will give us the thread we need to pull."

Win gazed at his superior officer for a long moment, eyes narrowed again, and finally nodded. "You're a good man, Gene, I'll trust you on this." He reached into his pocket to pull out a folded sheet of paper, and reached across the desk to hand it to Layton. "Do you think your 'Company' can fill in the blanks?"

Layton opened the folded sheet, and his eyebrows rose at the sight of a marriage license and certificate with a number of empty lines.

"My wife's original name wasn't the one she used when we exchanged our vows—before she was permanently transformed into a woman it was Ranma Saotome, and right now she doesn't have a legal identity. If the Company could arrange for an identity under her new name so we can fill in the blanks and Father Seward can add his signature, it would buy some good will. That's a copy, by the way."

Layton slowly nodded, mind racing as he grappled with that statement. It certainly explained what Win had been up to before visiting, even if the surprise left his boss scrambling to catch up. "They should be able to do that, though that identity will probably be American. Like I said, our penetration of Japan sucks. I imagine they'll send someone to discuss the details of why someone that young and clearly not raised American has U.S. citizenship, along with what Toshiko is willing to give us. As much as I'd like to hear all the details myself, I have a base to run. I'll just have to wait for the report."

"Of course, I and my wife will be ... well, willing at least if not exactly happy to talk. Oh, and you'll want to pass along word to be careful investigating her original name, both because from what she told me it'll lead to some people that are both bizarrely unpredictable and dangerous, and because it'll probably trip some flags. There's no way in hell someone in the Japanese government isn't keeping an eye on Nerima."

Layton nodded, noting the location he'd just been given—deliberately, he was sure.

"Good." Win rose from his seat. "Unless there's anything else, I'd better get back to my ... our ... apartment to wait for Stacy to bring my wife back. Oh, and you'll need to let the guards know to let Toshiko back in. She'll need an ID once she has a legal identity."

"Oh course." Layton rose to his feet as well, and leaned over his desk to offer his hand. "You're doing a kind thing here, Win, and took a hell of a risk doing it. I'd say welcome to the club, but it isn't exactly a party."

Win's eyebrows rose again, but he shook Layton's hand before leaving. Layton dropped back into his seat and blew out his breath in relief, then asked, "So what do you think?"

The voice from his phone replied, "I think your lieutenant is a quick-witted and incredibly courageous and generous young man. I wish we'd run into him earlier."

"Yes, he is," Layton agreed with a chuckle. "But I meant how you think we should deal with this."

"We'll have someone out first thing in the morning to discuss Toshiko's new background. But we'll probably want to hold off on actually interviewing her until her new identity is created—after all, as your lieutenant's new wife we know where to find her."

"True, but make it this evening if you can. Blake has work tomorrow, and we don't want to draw attention to him than we have to by interrupting it."

" ... That's probably doable, we'll contact you when we have a name for the person assigned to make contact."

"I'll be waiting."

The pair made their farewells, and Layton sighed as he slipped the phone into his pocket and turned to his desktop computer. As important as his work with the Company was, he had to get back to his real job. And to let the guards know to let Toshiko back in, of course.

/\

Win was light-headed, almost hyperventilating in the cold winter air as he walked out of the administration building. He'd done it! He'd bearded the lion in his den and walked out unscathed. Of course they weren't out of the wood yet and he was putting a lot of trust in people he didn't even know...

General Layton knows them, and he's as good a man as you said he is. You aren't trusting them, you're trusting him.

Which was true, but didn't make him any less nervous about the situation. Still, he hadn't been kidding when he'd told Toshiko that she couldn't keep going as she had, that they had to trust somebody.

He grinned at that thought as he pulled his phone out of his pocket—trust only went so far, after all.

/oOo\

Ranma—Toshiko, don't you forget it!—was in hell. Stacy was being remarkably patient, considering all the questions that even Toshiko could tell she had clamped behind her teeth, but she'd stayed focused on her assigned task ... and that had been the gateway into the Fiery Realm. Taking the measurements for Toshiko's sizes had set her cheeks burning, and the questions on types and styles of underwear hadn't done a thing to decrease the heat even though this was hardly the first time she'd gone clothes shopping, even clothes shopping for herself.

Yeah, but those times you were buying a costume, for an act. This is for you.

This wasn't the first time she'd gone shopping for her, of course, but Kasumi had known her—the Eldest Tendo sister had been both understanding and gentle. Neither applied to a Stacy hiding her concerns behind enthusiasm.

The phone Win had given her ringing in the pouch slung around her hip shot her adrenaline through the roof even as it was a relief from her thoughts and memories.

Scrabbling at her pouch, she quickly pulled out the phone and flipped it open. "Yes?"

"No need to close the barn doors."

She gusted out a breath at the code phrase Win had come up with, relief and disappointment warring within her. He was right, she couldn't go on as she had. More than that he was her husband now, she didn't want to simply abandon him after the risks he'd taken for her no matter what he had said. But she was completely helpless, with no control over her future at all, and she hated it.

Dream of Columbus. She'd done some research on Columbus a few days ago, when Win was home so no one would think anything of someone using his internet, and she had mixed feelings about the man—certainly there was a warning there of how desperation could corrupt character, but she couldn't deny his courage and vision. And it was a good song.

She managed to force her voice to stay light as she said, "Good ta hear. At this rate it'll be a few hours before Stacy's done with me, see ya then."

"See you then."

She closed the phone and put it back in the pouch, and noticed Stacy's curious look. Only then did she realize that she'd switched back to Japanese when she'd answered the phone and her companion apparently wasn't a speaker. "That was Win, just telling me I can come home," she assured her, then paled when Stacy's eyes widened and she realized what she'd said.

"Toshiko, what have you gotten Win mixed up in!?"

At least she managed ta keep her voice down, Toshiko thought wryly. Fortunately, she and Win had discussed just how much they could let his friends know before he'd called them ... which wasn't much. "I didn't get Win mixed up in anything, he did that all on his own. I've been on the run for most of a year without even my name for my own, not really. He found me in a doorway just off yer base, dying of starvation and exposure in the middle of a snowstorm. He took me in ta nurse back to health, in his apartment instead a' the hospital when I ... said not ta go there." She ran a hand under the braid down her back (considerably longer than it had been almost a year ago, she hadn't bothered to cut it). "That's really all I can tell ya."

"Toshiko, he's my friend," Stacy hissed, glancing around to make sure no one had taken an interest in the conversation.

"I get it, I really do. But there's nothing you can do ta help, more than ya already are, and any more might be dangerous ... more dangerous, just knowing Win might be dangerous, thanks ta me. Anything more, you'll need ta talk ta Win."

Stacy grimaced, apparently she didn't think much of her chances with that. "But General Layton knows."

"That's your base commander, right? Yeah, he knows ... now."

Taking a deep breath, Stacy pasted on a smile. "In that case let's get busy! You and Win have a wedding to celebrate."

Toshiko managed not to wince.

Author's Note:The way how Columbus describes the aboriginal inhabitants of the Caribbean changes over time, and how he treated them under the pressure of trying to make a profit from the islands where he was made governor, makes for very disturbing reading. But like Toshiko says, there's no denying his courage and vision. And it really is a wonderful song. Pastwatch, a time-travel fixit book by Orson Scott Card about Christopher Columbus, is a fun read.

I was doing a little more research on how seahorses are seen in Asia and found an interesting TV Tropes page, Seahorses are Dragons ( /Main/SeahorsesAreDragons ). It turns out that tatsu-no-otoshigo literally means "dragon's bastard child."