Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! You hear me? NOTHING! Well, I own Suiren, and Keimara, and Keimara's henchmen, but hey, you know. Everyone else was created by Rumiko Takahashi, therefore, she owns them.
Author's Notes: Chapter 5, finally. Here, you'll learn a little more about Suiren's secret and Keimara. This next part happens while the spy is reporting to the guy in the warehouse.
~
"RANMA SAOTOME, PREPARE TO DIE!" Suiren slammed her book shut and looked up to where the voice had come from. She shielded her eyes from the sun, trying to spot the attacker.
'Please God, please, not Keimara or one of his henchmen!' Instead, Ryoga dropped down, wielding his umbrella. Ranma had hardly enough time to dodge the offensive umbrella.
"Hey Ryoga! Where have you been? I thought the challenge was for last week."
Ryoga stopped when he noticed Suiren, sitting on the ground, clutching her book to her chest. She was pale and breathing hard from fright, but was slowly calming down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"No, no, it's not that. I thought you were… someone else."
'Poor girl. She's still scared of Keimara attacking her after all these years. I don't know what she went through, but it had to be bad to affect her for this long.' Ranma was too busy concentrating on his sister, he almost didn't get a chance to avoid Ryoga's next attack. "Whoa! Watch it, Piggy!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Ryoga leapt at Ranma, right into his fist. Ryoga slumped to the ground, barely conscious. He looked at Suiren. "So," he said weakly, "what are you to Ranma, another fiancée?"
Suiren giggled. She didn't look afraid anymore. "No, I'm his sister, Suiren."
Ryoga nodded and stood up. "How I pity you Suiren." Ryoga shook his head solemnly.
"Whatcha talkin' about?" Ranma was visibly angry.
"She's your sister, of course. That's a fate worse than death." Before Ranma could move, Suiren kicked Ryoga into the air and far away.
"Huh. No one insults me or my family."
"Unless it's one of the family members doing the insulting, right?"
"Yup. Get over here, Brat!" Suiren leapt for Ranma, intending to tackle him. Ranma jumped onto the roof with ease.
"Come and get me!" Ranma stuck his tongue out at his sister, then bounded off. Suiren shook her head and went inside. Kasumi stopped her in the hallway.
"Suiren, I don't mean to be nosey, but what was in the package? I'm just worried because there were no addresses on it."
'Think fast, Suiren!' "Um, just a few things a friend brought over for me. I guess I left them at their place when I last visited them. See." She showed Kasumi the jewelry and the book.
"All right. As long as it's from someone you know."
'Damn right I know Keimara, and I hate everything about him!' Suiren just smiled and hurried upstairs. She knocked on Akane's door. "Akane? Can I come in?"
A faint "Yeah sure" came through the door. Suiren pushed it open quietly. Akane was lying face down on her bed.
Suiren sat on the edge of the bed. "Akane, is something wrong?"
Akane rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering. "No, I just had a bad day, that's all."
"It's not about what Ranma said earlier?"
Akane winced at the memory. True, she had been hurt by Ranma's words, but they were the same words he always said. "No. This has nothing to do with Ranma. Besides, everything he says now is just the same old thing." She noticed the book and the jewelry. "Is that what you got in the package?"
"Suiren fingered the pendant. It didn't feel right. The weight was different. Almost as if… something was on it, like a tracking device, or something. "Yeah, a… friend sent them to me." 'Ha, Keimara's the farthest thing in the world from a friend.'
'A… friend? Why the pause? Could someone else have sent it to her? Someone she doesn't like?'
Suiren smacked her palm to her forehead. "Oh, I promised my mom I would help her with something. We can talk later, if you like."
"Sure Suiren. I could use someone to talk to." Akane smiled meekly. Suiren returned the smile and got up from the bed. She put her book by her bag, and quietly left the room, leaving Akane alone with just her thoughts and the silence.
~
"One of my other fiancées works here, at the Cat Café." Ranma pushed open the door for Suiren. They were greeted, or rather, Ranma was glomped by a certain purple-haired Amazon waitress. She backed off when she noticed Suiren.
"Ranma, who strange girl?" Shampoo glared at Suiren, while Suiren stood idly by. Shampoo looked ready to fight. Suiren was ready for anything the girl threw at her, despite her stance. Shampoo charged at Suiren. "I kill any other girl near Ranma!" Before Ranma could do anything, Suiren had caught Shampoo by the wrists. The Amazon girl was thrashing around, trying to hit Suiren.
Suiren put her face next to the raging Amazon's. She spoke in an even tone, revealing no emotion at all. "Calm down. I'm only his sister."
Shampoo stepped back, still wary. "Ranma, is what strange girl say true?"
Cologne hopped to the counter, watching her great-granddaughter, Ranma, and the new girl. The new girl looked a lot like Ranma. She had his eyes, his face, she was almost a female version of him. Cologne hopped over to the trio. She was just in time to catch the tail end of the conversation.
"Yes, Shampoo. This is my older sister, Suiren."
"She does look a lot like you, Ranma." Cologne sized up her future daughter-in-law. 'She looks like a strong fighter.' "Tell me, why haven't we seen you around before?"
"It's a long story, but I was kidnapped when I was three, before Ranma was born. I just found my family yesterday." 'And I might lose them again soon, if Keimara has anything to do with it.' Suiren forced a smile, despite her inward thoughts.
"Come, sit down." Shampoo led them to a table. While they ate ramen, they discussed everything under the sun.
But the two were unaware of another pair of eyes watching them. Mousse was sulking in the corner, his heart falling father with each passing second. He had so hoped the new girl was another fiancée, as Ranma seemed to care for her a lot. If she had been another fiancée and Ranma had loved her, Shampoo would give up on Ranma and turn to Mousse. But the new girl, Suiren, just had to be his sister. He continued to sulk until Cologne called out for him to deliver another order.
~
When Suiren got home later that evening, she went up to Akane's room. She helped Akane with her homework and they talked long into the night once more. Only this time, the conversation was focused on personal matters, matters of the heart. After Akane had fallen asleep, Suiren climbed out of her sleeping bag. She fumbled for her penlight in the darkness. Fearing she had made too much noise and woke Akane, Suiren froze. She heard Akane's steady breathing and sighed in relief.
She made her way to her backpack and got out the journal Keimara had sent her along with the jewelry. She had been careless not to do this before. She opened the journal. She read the first page in the dim light, and noticed the writing in the book was not her handwriting. Suiren flipped ahead. The writing continued to be someone's attempt at forgery, but they had screwed up in another way. They had the events mixed up or missing. They had her birthday on August 23, but her birthday was in May, on the 13. Suiren smirked and pulled another leather-bound book from her backpack. This was her real journal. In hers, doodles and pencil sketches crowded the margins, while in the forgery, the margins were neat and empty. The forger had been careless.
Putting aside the books, Suiren picked up the necklace. She was sure there was something planted on it. Suiren examined the pendant, searching along the sides carefully. There was a seam, very hard to make out in the dim light, but it was there. She checked the ring, and a similar seam was along it as well.
Suiren yawned. She would take a closer look in the morning. Now, she just wanted to sleep. She put the items away and crawled back into her sleeping bag. The moment her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.
Unfortunately, her sleep was plagued by nightmares.
~~Dream Sequence~~
A young girl, about three years old, was sitting on the floor, crying. She was wearing a water lily necklace. A door opened somewhere in the background. Chibi-Suiren looked up as the person approached her.
"Don't cry, little girl." He pulled out a tissue and crouch next to the girl, wiping away her tears. The man had long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, a single blood-red stripe running down it. He had rugged features, and the coldest white-blue eyes. The jagged scar running down his cheek resembled a lightning bolt. This was Keimara. Chibi-Suiren stared at the man wiping away her tears. She whimpered in fear, tears filling her eyes again. "It's alright. What happened to make you cry?"
"Some-some m-men kidnap-napped m-me. They l-left m-me al-alone." Chibi-Suiren began to hiccup.
"Now, why would anyone do that to a poor little girl? What's your name?"
Chibi-Suiren stuck her small chin out stubbornly. "My Daddy told me not to tell strangers my name. I shouldn't even be talking to you."
"And your daddy is a very smart man. You can trust me. I can help you get out of here and get you home. But I need to know your name to do that. Here, I'll tell you my name first. I'm Keimara." He smiled, revealing glistening white teeth. But hard as he try, his sincere smile had an evil edge to it, promising a future of pain and suffering. But Chibi-Suiren was naïve, knowing no different.
"I'm Suiren Saotome. My daddy's a great martial artist."
"Let's be friends, okay?" Chibi-Suiren was hesitant. "Then I can get you home to your mommy and daddy." The offer of getting her home was enough to make up her mind.
"Okay."
"Let's shake on it." Keimara stuck out his hand. Chibi-Suiren shook his outstretched hand…
~~
"NO!"
Akane was woke up to Suiren's cry. She switched on the light, blinking in the sudden brightness. She looked over at Suiren. The older girl was moaning and murmuring in her sleep. Akane could hear the rest of the household running to her room. Akane leapt out of bed, and gently shook Suiren. "Suiren, wake up! You're having a nightmare!" But Suiren didn't wake up. The dream continued in her head.
~~Dream Sequence~~
Chibi-Suiren is sitting alone in another room, this time she's a little older. A rectangle of yellow light falls across the floor as the door is opened. Keimara walks into the room. This time, his face is not friendly in any way, only cold and hard. He was angry. He walked over to Chibi-Suiren, who did her best to hide in the shadows. Keimara grabbed her wrist roughly, hauling her up from the floor so that her face was next to his. Her feet dangled above the floor.
"I'm through with this! Your father hasn't replied to the ransom letters yet! Are you sure that's your address?"
"Yes," Chibi-
"Could they have moved? Answer me!"
"I-I don't know." Chibi-Suiren screamed in pain as Keimara tightened his grip once again. He was mad enough to snap her hand clean off.
"I should get rid of you now!" His other hand started for her throat, but stopped. "But if I do that, I'll never get the secrets of Yamasen-ken and Umisen-ken. You'll live for a while longer."
~~
Everyone else entered the room. Ranma hurried to his sister, wrapping her up in a hug. He stroked her hair and whispered in her ear. "It's okay Suiren, I'm here. Everything's okay." He kept murmuring this over and over, trying to comfort his sister.
Suiren calmed down a bit. Then her eyes flew open. Visions from the dream flashed in front of her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut and she wrapped her arms around Ranma's neck and sobbed into his nightshirt.
'Geez, if she wasn't his sister… what am I THINKING? I should be helping to comfort her!'
Suiren composed herself, and pulled away from Ranma. For the first time, she noticed everyone else watching her and Ranma. "Oh, I'm sorry I got all of you out of bed."
Nodoka rushed over to her daughter. "Are you alright dear?"
"Yes. It was just a nightmare."
Do you want to talk about it?"
"Uh, no. That's ok." 'Mom can't find out about Keimara!' "I don't remember much from the dream anyway." But that was such a lie, and Suiren knew it. She could see everything, every detail, hear every word spoken, from the dream. It was hard to forget. She'd had that same dream over and over almost every night for the past year. The reason, Suiren supposed, was that Keimara was soon to return to her life to warp and twist it once more.
"You're sure you're okay?" Ranma was concerned, and it showed in his eyes. He was the only other person in the room that could have guessed what Suiren's dream was about, and that she was lying when she said she didn't remember it.
"Yes, I'm fine. All of you can go back to bed now." Everyone filed out of the room. Akane sat back on her bed, and looked at Suiren.
"How bad was it?"
"It was horrible. You know what, I shouldn't be scared of this dream anymore. After all, I've had it almost every night for a year now. I should be used to it."
"Wow, my dreams were never that bad after my mother died."
"Akane, little do you know that your mother's passing was heaven to what I went through," murmured Suiren.
"What did you say?"
"I didn't think you'd hear me."
"I have very acute hearing. What did you go through that was so bad?"
Suddenly, Suiren could tell they were being watched. 'Keimara. I can't tell her now, if at all.' "I-I don't want to talk about it. Could you turn out the light? I'm getting tired." Akane switched off the light. "Thanks. Good night, Akane."
"Sweet dreams."
"I'll try." Suiren closed her eyes, but she couldn't shut out the visions from the dream. Those visions were so vivid, so real. But why wouldn't they? She had lived through everything. Suiren wasn't sure if she'd live through this encounter with Keimara, but she was sure as hell that she was going to pull her family through it. They weren't going to be hurt, at all, not if Suiren Saotome had something to say about it. Suiren fell into a deep, dreamless sleep with the thoughts of her future weighing heavy on her heart.
~
Keimara sat in the darkness of the abandoned warehouse. Suiren would return to him, he just needed the perfect bait. 'Let's hope the journal hit home.' He looked at the hand-held tracking device. A small flashing red light showed where Suiren kept the necklace. The speakers had been quiet, Suiren had either hidden the ring, or the household was sleeping. He smiled one of his cold, hard smiles. She couldn't escape him now. For eight years, eight fucking years, he had searched for her. After she had escaped from the island. Now, with the tracking device, she could run, but she couldn't hide. She didn't know that the jewelry was fake, so she would carry it with her wherever she went. And Keimara would follow. He smiled again, wider this time. He laughed, the vibrations ringing in the rafters of the rickety old building. The laughter stopped and his chest was racked with pain.
"NO!" Keimara was snapped out of his reverie by Suiren's scream. He heard the sounds of the household moving about.
"Suiren! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!" Akane's voice drifted to his ears. Another nightmare. About him, of course. He had shaken up her life so dramatically, and he was proud of it. Keimara heard everything. He smiled as she refused to tell her mother about the dream, then how she refused to talk to Akane.
His heart convulsed, forcing him to double over in pain. It was getting worse. He needed Suiren!
~
Author's Notes: I have NO idea where that ending came from. I was planning on making this a happy story… oh well. I like this version better. This was supposed to be part of chapter four, same with the next chapter. Oh well. Next chapter, more action. I promise, really. Till next time, ja ne!