I claim no ownership rights to any of the works of Rumiko Takahashi or Steve Jackson Games.

Most of this chapter is NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

Nabiki was shivering harder than the last time she had been standing by her open window with cell phone in hand, caressed again by the December evening breeze, this time with a rain so light it was practically mist, waiting for the call from her handler. (And there was no point pretending that the man on the other end of the call was anything else—it was always the same voice, even if he had never given his name.) the temperature had plunged over the last few days.

At least the pain in her gut provided something of a distraction—Kasumi had had Akane "practice" again. Though perhaps it really was practice, since she was only suffering from an upset stomach instead of puking her guts out. Her little sister was improving.

Then the clock on her wall reached the appointed time, her cell phone rang, and Nabiki lifted it to her ear. "Nabiki speaking," she said, as always.

"Any word?" The same question as always.

"No, Ranma hasn't returned or contacted the family." As always.

"It has been months. This is not acceptable. Inform your father and Genma that more is needed on their part to deliver what they promised or a replacement will be required—perhaps your little sister."

Nabiki froze. "What?"

"Your father and his friend sold us a commodity which they have failed to deliver. We have been more than patient, but will demand compensation if in the end they cannot deliver what they promised. Your sister is well below Ranma's capabilities but still might well be a valuable asset, as a breeder if nothing else, and more manageable than Genma. So tell them."

Nabiki's self-training in control that had led some of her fellow students at Furinkan to give her the title of Ice Queen came through, and rather than shouting something into the phone that was likely to get her killed she simply replied in a strangled voice, "I will." Her finger hit the 'end call' button and she stared out into the gathering night to tamp down her anger and fear to the point she could hold a conversation, then closed her window and headed for the stairs.

/\

She found the fathers right where she expected, sitting at the low table in the family room, eyes fixed on the shogi board between them. "Father, I just received a call from one of Schwei-san's men," she forced out through her tight throat. She thought she heard his neck crack as his he'd whipped around to stare at her. She actually found herself relaxing at his poorly hidden fear, and continued, "He said that if you can't produce Ranma Schwei-san might have to be satisfied with Akane." Genma had been taking advantage of his friend's distraction to shift pieces on the board, but now he whipped around to stare at her; she ignored him as well as the sound of breaking pottery and clanging metal behind her, keeping her gaze fixed on her father. "You might want to resume Akane's training, in the event Schewei-san is serious. For that matter, you might want to resume your own training, you've been lax since Mom died."

Message delivered she turned to find what she expected—her older sister standing uncaring of the pool of tea about her feet from the dropped platter of tea kettle and cups, eyes wide and face pale. Nodding to Kasumi, she strode past her on the way to her room. She had some planning to do.

/oOo\

Win glanced at the clock again, then at the dark night beyond his reflection in the window, and sighed. Like his wife, he suspected, he'd been putting this off, but with work in the morning he couldn't wait any longer. "Toshiko, it's time for bed."

At that her head shot up from the the Western she'd been reading. She stared at him for a moment, glanced over at the clock, then jerked a nod. "Yeah, we're past when ya normally turn out the lights, let's go." She bookmarked her location and put the book down on the side table beside the couch where she'd been sitting, then rose from her feet and followed him toward the bedroom.

This is going to be weird. Win hadn't shared a bed since Mandy had died—even with Toshiko he had slept on the couch while she'd been recovering, then switched at her insistence ... they hadn't been married until they'd exchanged their vows in front of Father Seward, after all. And now he was going to have that familiar body heat without that familiar person.

Suck it up, you knew you'd be sharing a bed when you asked her to marry you. Win quickly stripped out of his shirt and slacks, tossed them in the dirty clothes hamper, turned to grab his new pajamas out of their dresser drawer—he hadn't bothered with them before, during his marriage—and froze.

Toshiko had undressed as well and more thoroughly, her naked body completely on display. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her naked, of course, he'd had to strip her down when he'd first brought her home to get her out of her cold and wet clothes and his makeshift hot water bottles in place before he bundled her up. But then she'd been dirty, her hair stringy, and she stank. Now she was clean and there was a hint of perfume in the air that he hadn't really noticed before. She was as pale as she'd been then, though not because of cold, and her hands were twitching from, he suspected, abortive moves to cover herself. And around and just above the vertical line of her cleft she wasn't covering ...

"You shaved," he heard himself say in the Japanese that had become the household language when they were alone.

Toshiko somehow managed to blush as red as her hair at the same time the rest of her face remained almost as white as the fresh snow outside. "Stacy suggested it."

Win chuckled, shaking his head. "Did you blush as much then as you are now?"

"I thought I was gonna pass out."

Win's chuckles turned into laughter. "We'll have to come up with something suitably embarrassing to return the favor."

Toshiko's laughter joined his. "I'll hafta leave that ta you, that was more Nabiki's thing and you're the one that knows her."

After a moment the laughter died down, as her blush faded even as she regained some color, until Win quietly said, "Toshiko, we don't need to do this, not yet." Maybe not ever.

The just regained color fled, but she shook her head. "No, I'm yer wife, and it's what wives do."

Win started to respond, only to pause as a thought occurred to him. After a moment of standing there with his mouth open, he sighed. "You're right, it's what wives do. Sometimes it's the difference between an 'annulment' and a divorce ... and a big check in our favor if anyone accuses us of marrying under false pretenses."

"What?" Toshiko asked, eyes widening. "How could they accuse us of marrying under false pretenses? What's an 'annulment'?" She stumbled slightly over the English word imbedded in her husband's Japanese.

"Divorce means your marriage is over, annulment means that, legally speaking, it never happened. And yeah, if a couple was accused of marrying just so that, say, one of the couple could become a U.S. citizen—or so that the couple have a legal relationship—the couple never sharing a bed would go a long way to making the government's case. I don't really think 'the Company' will turn on us, but if they do we'll want as strong a defense as possible."

"Oh, yeah." Toshiko took a deep breath, obviously steeling herself. "So, we doin' this?"

"Yes, I guess we are." Win turn back to the drawers. "I think I have some condoms somewhere here, though they're a little old. If we wait a few days I can—"

"Ya won't need 'em."

Win froze, then slowly turned around. "Toshiko ... you don't ... pregnancy—"

"—is what wives do. Wives become mothers. And if the Company does turn on us like ya say, "

Toshiko wasn't any more relaxed than Win, but her voice was steady, and he couldn't find a hint of uncertainty on her face. But it didn't stop him from asking one more time, "Are you sure?"

"I swore an oath, an' I knew what I was gettin' into."

Only about one percent of pregnancies are tubal. And this time, I'll be watching for it. It was Win's turn to take a deep breath. "Okay, you win, but let's do this right."

/\

'Right' apparently involved the shower. Toshiko stood trying not to shake from sheer nerves as she undid her braid. Win, now stripped down as naked as she was—and she had to admit she was impressed, for a civilian he was in good shape without an ounce of fat and washboard abs—turned the knob to adjust the temperature as they waited for it to warm up. She asked, "So why the shower?"

"Because you're way too tense." Win stepped back. "Right now you not only wouldn't enjoy it, it'd be painful. So we need to change that."

"Hey, I can handle pain, I've been doin' it all my life!"

Win glanced at his outraged wife and shook his head, chuckling. "I'm sure you can, and I really hope I get to talk to your father about that sometime ... preferably with Special Forces and an arrest warrant to back me up, or maybe some of the Company's combatants. But you shouldn't have to be 'handling' pain—not with sex, that's supposed to be enjoyable. Unless you enjoy pain?"

"Ah ... no, not like that."

From the way her cheeks were heating up she was blushing yet again, but Win just repeated his chuckling and turned back as steam began rising, the foggy wisps brushing against the glass of the shower door partially swung open. A hand under the spray and a quick adjustment and he took a deep breath. "Okay, that should do it. Get in and get soaked all around." Win stepped out of the way and motioned her in. Toshiko stepped in and turned up her face to the spray before turning in place to get her hair thoroughly soaked. Already she could feel herself beginning to relax under the soothing feeling of the almost burning hot water pouring over her.

And then she tensed up all over again as Win joined her and swung the glass shower door closed.

Her husband didn't comment on her tension, just reaching around her to hang a washcloth on the shower knob and grab the shampoo bottle from the rack hanging beneath the shower nozzle. It was a bit of a close fit, but there was enough room that they weren't pressed together—like the apartment, the shower was a bit large for one person, but not two.

Then she felt fingers running through her hair over her scalp, presumably mixing in the shampoo he'd grabbed. After a few moments he reached around her to replace the shampoo bottle in the rack and more fingers joined the first ones massaging her scalp. She found herself calming again, soothed into the pleasantly familiar sensations. During her recovery after the fight with Herb Kasumi had sometimes helped her bathe, even taking over the task entirely occasionally when Ranma had been particularly depressed, and the curse-locked girl had come to associate the touch of water and another's hands with loving care and softly-sung lullabies. Win's touch wasn't as gentle as Kasumi's had been and she had no idea what his singing voice was like since he wasn't exercising it, but she relaxed into the happy memories nonetheless.

Then he reached around again and grabbed the bar of soap sharing space on the rack with the shampoo and the washcloth he'd hung on the knob, and after a moment she could feel soap and cloth running over her back. "Turn around," he ordered, and she obeyed without thinking, only to stiffen as she realized she was facing her. What would he—? But he simply shifted to her side, running his fingers through her hair again. "Tilt your head back." A few moments of steaming hot water sluicing through her hair and running down her back and breasts, and the spray cut off as Win moved behind her. He wasn't much taller than Toshiko, perhaps as tall as Ranma's male form had been, but that was enough that he could see the top of her head, and act as a shield against the stream. A moment later the bar of soap was again running over her sides and stomach. She sighed and leaned back against her husband, determinedly refusing to acknowledge the nature of the length pressing between her butt cheeks and against her lower back.

Then the soap ran along the underside of a breast, and she stiffened in spite of all she could do.

Win sighed and shifted around her, gently turning her in place so that the spray was again pouring over her. "This isn't working, not fast enough—the hot water will run out before you're ready."

"I ... I'm not sure I can get ready," Toshiko admitted. She hesitated for a moment. Treat it like just another Art, and he's yer Sensei. She forced herself to ask, "How is that supposed ta work, exactly?"

There was a pause, then Win hesitantly asked, "Have you ever masturbated as a girl?"

Toshiko laughter was edged, sharp as one of Konatsu's blades. "I never masturbated as a guy. Between Nabiki's camera, the fathers removin' the 'occupied' sign fer the furo so Akane would walk in on me, rivals bustin' in at any time a' the day or night, all a' them chasin' me even on training trips, I couldn't chance it."

"Wonderful." Win sighed again. "Or rather, not 'wonderful'. Looks like we'll have to settle for 'not awful'." He reached around her to place the soap and washcloth on the rack beside the shampoo. "I have work in the morning, please don't knock me into the wall."

She was frowning in confusion at the request when his now empty hands rose to cup her breasts, and she had to restrain herself from driving an elbow into his side. Right, no attackin' yer husband fer doin' what ya told him ta do. Thanks to the stress, even in her mind her language was deteriorating to how he'd spoken when he'd first shown up at the dojo. If Kasumi could have heard, she would not be happy with her. A' course, if Kasumi could hear you, ya wouldn't be here.

Even as Toshiko was restraining her instinctual reaction and sinking into nostalgia Win's hands had been busy, and she found herself distracted from her thoughts by gentle fingers caressing flesh under the constant warm spray, crisscrossing her teats, and she found herself leaning back against her husband as she shivered at the pleasure he was giving her, even if it wasn't mindblowing like she'd half-expected from porn she'd seen and read online. (Only half-expected because she had 'experimented' with her breasts, just a little—she'd just thought that perhaps her husband's experience would make a difference.) But even if it wasn't setting off skyrockets it was ... pleasant, enough that she could feel her nipples tightening under his gentle stroking.

Then one hand slid down from a breast, and she jerked as fingers slipped along nether-lips wet with cascading water, then shivered from warm breath against an ear as he whispered, "Spread your legs a little." She took a deep breath and slid her feet along the tile, the length pressing between her buttocks sliding up along her lower back as she sank a little lower, then moaned as a finger slipped into her folds and found her entrance and his palm brushed across the nub beginning to poke out of its sheath ... and then the finger was slipping inside, then another. She shuddered as it probed, beginning to pant, then jerked with a whine at a particular bolt of pleasure flashing through her.

Win chuckled. "I'll have to remember that spot. But now ..." His fingers slipped free and his arm circled her waist, pulling her against him as he swung her around to face the wall opposite the glass door before turning her around to face him. " ... we're running out of time—or hot water, same thing."

Toshiko actually giggled. "You and Mandy didn't waste time?" Win froze for a moment, and she winced. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Akane would be calling you an idiot right now, if she wasn't pulling out her hammer and calling you a pervert.

But then her husband relaxed. "No, Mandy was always ready if not eager." He slipped his hands between her legs and pulled them apart, lifting her up with her back sliding against the wet tile of the wall. "Guide me in."

What? It took a few moments—and the odd sensation of the tip of the rod that had been pressed between her butt cheeks now slipping along the folds of her cleft—to realize what he meant. She grasped him behind his neck with one hand as the other reached down between them to circle the wet, warm, steel-hard length of his cock. She hesitated for just a moment ... his wife ... and guided the tip through her folds to the opening to her sheath. Then gasped as he began to push.

To her surprise it wasn't just not pleasurable, but actually painful—as her husband forced himself deeper and deeper into her sheath she felt like he was trying to split her in two. But she had felt worse from her ... from Genma in an average day's spar, so she just bit her lip, pulled herself against Win with the arms around his neck, and endured as his hips soon pressed against her thighs. The pain faded as he began to thrust into her again and again, and she let her lip slip free from between her teeth. This part of her wifely duties wouldn't be so bad, she decided—she hadn't even bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood. It would be a chore, perhaps, but not—

Win lifted her slightly, shifted the angle of his thrusts, and she gasped as the steel rod stretching her to the limit pushed against the same spot his fingers had earlier found and a bolt of pleasure flashed through her ... then again ... and again! She found her hips beginning to thrust back, trying to maintain the pressure, found herself again panting, softly moaning with each thrust, and—

The steel sheathed in her cleft actually seemed to swell ... she thought she could feel every vein ... and liquid erupted, splashing into her core again and again, impossibly filling her even more and oozing out to slime the feel of hips against thighs. His seed, she realized, perhaps even their first child. She ... didn't know how to feel about that.

Win thrust a few more times, then pulled out of her, more of his seed oozing out with his softening rod, and slid his hands along her thighs so her feet could drop to the floor. "If we hurry, we might get out with the last of the hot water."

They didn't quite make it, Toshiko was unsteady on her feet and feeling tender. But she was as long used to cold baths as she was to pain, and they were out and her husband toweling her dry soon enough. Though she had to sit to pull on the emerald green 'teddy' Stacy had strongly suggested she buy. She hadn't needed Win's help rebraiding her hair for bed, but he'd provided it anyway.

Win slipped into bed next to her and turned out the light. Silence fell for a moment as Toshiko tried to get comfortable without touching the man she was sharing the bed with, then Win sighed. "Toshiko ... don't ever compare yourself to Mandy. You aren't her, you never will be, and you shouldn't try to be. Just be yourself, that's more than enough. I rather like the 'you' I'm learning about. So how was it?"

"What?" she asked, a little whiplashed at the sudden change of subject. "Oh. It ... it was ... all right—better at the end, much better. I won't mind doing that again." And again, and again ... it was what a wife does. But what else am I going to do? She hesitantly asked, "Win? What now?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do I do now? I can't just stay in this apartment ... at home all day. Yeah, I get that there's cleaning and cooking, but that isn't gonna take much. And there's my Art."

"I hope this apartment does become your home, eventually. Beyond that ..." Win softly laughed. "We'll talk later about how we divvy up the chores. But no, you can't stay here all the time, though you probably should until the General arranges your I.D. ... but that'll be quick." He hummed thoughtfully. "Well, now that this ... Company ... has supplied your identity they're going to want to debrief you. I'll be there for that, of course. And we'll need to find a place for you to practice your Art. That will need to be both sturdy and private, from what Davidson said they aren't going to want you showing what you can do to all and sundry. Perhaps the hold of a ship? Beyond that ..." His soft laughter rumbled out again. "I was thinking High School."

Author's Note: Yeah, Ranma/Toshiko's views on marriage are a little ... traditional, one more thing to blame on her father. And Kasumi, a bit. Which isn't to say she is wrong, not entirely... We do need a next generation, after all, kids do best in a family environment, and as Win comments, we speak of "consummating" a wedding for a reason. Still, Toshiko has a lot to learn. Oh, and no fear, this isn't going to turn into a high school drama fic. Well, maybe just a little, but not much. Toshiko, the Company, and those left behind in Nerima have more important things to worry about.

Oh, and to Lukkai: the "wifely duties" may have happened even fast than the original story (it's been so long I can't remember), but, well ... reasons. And "Toshiko" isn't exactly comfortable with it yet...

For the title of this chapter I considered "For My Wedding" by Don Henley, and "Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" by a number of people but the version I'm familiar with is Waylon Jennings', but I settled on "Daughters" by John Mayer:

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Oh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
Cleaning up the mess he made

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Boys, you can break
You find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without the warmth from
A woman's good, good heart

On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the God and the weight of her world

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too