Disclaimer: Reading this disclaimer has been known to cause cancer in small
laboratory animals.
_______________________
A John Tannius Production:
Fusion _______________________
Ranma sat eating his breakfast in silence. Akane gave him a worried sidelong glance. It had been three weeks since their disastrous wedding attempt and almost a month since Ranma was forced to kill Saffron at Jusendo.
Jusendo. Akane shuddered even though the room was warm. Her mind kept going back to that event almost a month ago. She'd nearly died there and would have if not for Ranma calling out to her. He denied it of course which only made Akane mad. She was becoming frustrated at his macho attitude. She knew he loved her but refused to make the first move. She had relented and tried to control her temper and had been showing a lot of patience since Ranma had protected her once again this time from Shampoo and Ukyou at the wedding.
Since the wedding disaster Ranma had become more and more withdrawn. The last couple of days it had been impossible to get more than two word answers from him at all. Akane wanted to talk to him, get him to tell her what was troubling him. She hoped it wasn't her causing him to close up. Even now she wished she could hold him, comfort him and tell him it would be ok that she loved him curse or no.
There was a knock at the front door bringing Akane back to the present. Kasumi got up to answer the door. She came back a second later with her ever present smile.
"Ranma, you have a visitor."
Ranma looked up to see Ukyou come into the family room. She had a hesitant smile and was carrying an okonomiyaki box. There was no sign of her battle spatula or her bandoleer of mini spatulas.
"Ranchan I." she started.
"I have nothing to say to you." Ranma said and went back to eating.
Ukyou's smile faded and tears came to her eyes. Ranma continued to ignore her as he helped himself to some more rice.
"I think you'd better go now." Akane said to Ukyou.
Ukyou's head dropped as she placed the box on the table, turned, and stumbled out of the house. Nabiki shook her head but said nothing. She was still in hot water for inviting all of Ranma and Akane's rivals to destroy the wedding. She had been sure that Akane and Ranma didn't want to get married and had been shocked when Akane had chewed her out royally for screwing things up.
Akane returned to her meal trying to push the image of a totally broken Ukyou from her mind. She deserved the treatment she had received she told herself. It was Ukyou's own fault wasn't it? Sighing she finished her breakfast and was about to get up when she heard a familiar ringing of a bicycle bell.
Shampoo had spent all morning working on a new potion. Her grandmother Cologne had gone to a local small business association meeting on the other side of Tokyo and would not be back until later that day. She had taken her Great grandmother's forbidden spell book from her room and had been pouring over it for hours. She was sure she got the recipe and incantations right and now she had to test it. If the soul binding potion worked correctly then Ranma would be bound to her for the rest of his life. She knew he was upset for some reason since the wedding fiasco but was positive it had nothing to do with her. Jumping the boundary wall of the Tendo dojo she rang the bell on her handlebars to announce her arrival.
Happosai was returning from a full night of panty theft and his sack was stuffed to overflowing. He bounded across the rooftops with practiced ease of the Grand Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He had found a real prize in his travels, a red and black lacy bra that would fit Ranma-chan perfectly. Happosai was positive this was just the perfect thing to snap the boy out of the funk he'd sunk to. He came in through an open window on the second floor and bounded down the stairs grabbing a flower vase still full of water on his way down.
Akane looked up as Shampoo came barreling into the family room. Ranma looked up as Happosai leapt from the stairs screaming, "Ranma my boy! I've got a present for my sweet Ranma-chan!"
Ranma backed up into Akane. Akane backed up into Ranma. Happosai jumped off Shampoo's head tossing the water towards Ranma. Shampoo lost her grip on the flask containing her potion. The flask flew through the air impacting Ranma's head, breaking and splashing all over Ranma and Akane. The water from the vase splashed a second later covering both Ranma and Akane. There was a flash of light, a tearing sound, and a scream that shattered glass for two blocks.
* * * * * * * * * *
She regained consciousness slowly sensing the presence of people around her. She groaned slightly as every nerve in her body protested movement. She fluttered her eyes trying to open them in the bright light.
"Akane?" someone said.
She recognized that voice she was positive it was family. A sister? Nabiki came to mind, always selling pictures of her to Kuno. Scenes flashed in her mind of beating the kendoist on many occasions.
"She's finally coming around." another voice said.
"Kasumi?" she said.
"It's ok Akane. Lie still. Dr. Tofu will be here shortly." Kasumi said.
Dr. Tofu? Faces came quickly as more names intruded on her consciousness. There was a strangeness to it all. Conflicting emotions and perceptions clouded her mind. She knew these people she was sure of that. Some were closer to her than others but something was wrong. She heard her mother talking to her father nearby. But wasn't her mother dead? Then she heard her father crying softly on the other side of her. She suddenly remembered training with her father when she was younger. She was practicing katas in the dojo. Then she was on the road in China. She didn't train in China she realized but she didn't train at home in the dojo either. Confused she tried opening her eyes again when she heard Dr. Tofu come in.
Dr. Tofu looked down at the young girl lying on the futon with a damp cloth on her head. "Where's Ranma?", he asked.
Nabiki nodded in the direction of the girl lying on the floor. Dr. Tofu turned back to the red headed girl. She looked like Akane except for the red color of her hair. It matched Ranma's exactly. The facial features were obviously Akane's although the bustline was much larger than Akane's. The clothes were a strange combination of Akane's school uniform and Ranma's Chinese style clothes. They were fused in a patchwork style down to the threads themselves.
She opened her eyes and looked up at the doctor, "Dr. Tofu?"
"Yes. Can you tell me your name?", he asked.
"Yeah. sure. it's Ran.Ran.kane.", she said hesitantly, "No, that's. not. right."
"It's ok. Don't talk. Let me examine you first."
Dr. Tofu Shooed all the men out of the room and began his examination. He had to cut away the clothing as it was fused together. Luckily it wasn't fused to the skin. Her body was obviously female showing attributes of both Ranma and Akane. He accessed his second sight and examined the girl's aura. He inhaled sharply in surprise as he saw two distinct auras swirling together in a chaotic mess. Finishing his examination he calmed slightly with the knowledge that the girl was in no danger of dying. Looking up at Kasumi he asked, "Can you tell me what happened exactly?"
Kasumi smiled shyly. She had been dating the young doctor for a couple of months now and he had gotten past most of his uncontrollable fits. She told him to the best of her ability what had happened including Shampoo's hasty exit after the incident.
Dr. Tofu shook his head sadly. When it came to Amazon magic anything could happen. He looked back up at Kasumi, "Could you go get some hot water? I'd like to experiment. If we're lucky it will simply reverse what has happened. Apparently whatever Shampoo dumped on them fused Ranma and Akane into one person when Ranma's curse was activated."
Kasumi returned shortly with a steaming kettle. Dr. Tofu took it and gently poured it on the semi conscious girl. The body shifted and changed. It filled out and became more muscular. The mass was more than the male Ranma and his face was Ranma's only less angular and softer like Akane's. The hair turned dark and Dr. Tofu swore softly.
Kasumi looked worriedly at her sister Nabiki. Nabiki silently vowed to get revenge on the Amazon responsible however possible.
"Their auras are fused in a swirling mess. I'm pretty sure their memories are mixed together as well. Given time I think they'll separate out like oil and water. The question is how do we separate their bodies again?", Dr. Tofu said finally.
The boy who was Ranma and Akane sat up wearily and put a hand to his head and groaned.
"Careful. I don't want you over exerting yourself until we know the extent of what's happened to you.", Dr. Tofu said trying to make him lie back.
"S'okay. I.we'll be all right. Its just there's all these conflicting memories. Who am. are.we.I?", he looked up at everyone with a confused expression.
Kasumi looked to Nabiki then Dr. Tofu with a pained expression. Nabiki scowled to herself for a moment as she thought of how to answer the question.
"How about we call you Rankane until you sort yourselves out?", she finally offered.
Rankane pondered this for a moment before nodding slowly, "Dr. Tofu? Can you help me.us? Our head hurts. Too much conflict."
Dr. Tofu reached out and pressed his shiatsu sleep point and laid him down. Then he poured cold water over him now her again. "let them sleep as long as they need to. They may wake up more coherent after their subconscious sorts things out. Call me as soon as they regain consciousness all right?"
* * * * * * * * * *
She drifted in a black void. No, a void was an empty place, she was surrounded by what looked like glass shards. So not a void then, but what was it? She reached out and grabbed a shard at looked at it. It was kind of like looking through a window. There was a scene of a young 'boy?' running down a dusty road chasing a cart crying. She let the shard go and it spun off to connect to another shard fusing into a larger piece. Curious, she thought. As she looked around she noticed that the shards were in fact combining to create a larger whole but it was a slow process. Grabbing another shard almost by instinct she looked into it. This one showed two girls and a man standing around a family shrine. Everyone was crying and she felt sadness overwhelm her when she saw the name on the shrine, 'Tendo'.
It dawned on her then. These were memories. She grabbed some more. There was one where she lost her hair to a tiger striped bandanna. One where she fell into the nyanchiyan in China. She saw one where a guy wearing a bandanna turned into a pig when he was splashed. That one didn't seem right for some reason. As she kept looking she realized that many of the memories conflicted. They seemed to show two different lives. She wondered at that. Which one was hers?
He floated in the void. No, a void was empty, this place was filled with broken shards of what looked like glass. Not a void then. Curiously he grabbed at a shard and wondered that he hadn't cut himself. He looked through it and saw a purple haired woman screaming 'Ranma I kill!' He dropped the sliver in sudden fear and it connected to another shard with a soft click. He grabbed the now larger piece and looked again. This time he saw a skating match occur that he won before the purple haired girl burst through the wall of the locker room. Letting the piece drift off he grabbed another. This one showed him having his first period and the uncertain embarrassment of talking to his older sister about it. Uncomfortably he let the piece go. One bounced off his head and he took hold of it. It showed him attempting to cook something in the kitchen. He felt a certain determination as he kept trying to keep the food from crawling out of the pot.
He suddenly realized that these were memories. But whose? They seem to conflict, some were obviously a girl's but some were mixed as if they belonged to a boy who was also a girl. Were any of these his memories his and if so which ones? He watched as the shards grew larger as they pieced themselves back together. Something had shattered these memories he thought. But why were at least two peoples memories mixed up like this? He started grabbing memories at random searching for some answer, some clue as to what happened and how he got here.
As she perused the memory fragments about her she gradually became aware of another presence nearby. There were too many fragments in the way to see very far. "Hello?", she called out.
He was so absorbed in what he was doing he almost missed the voice. For a minute he thought it came from the shard he was holding but was suddenly aware of a presence behind him. "Hello? Who are you?", he called out.
"I'm not sure. Who are you?", came the reply.
He laughed, "I guess that makes two of us. I assume one of these sets of memories is yours." He thought he could just make out a figure for a moment as some of the shards floated out of the way temporarily.
"The question is, which one of us is Ranma and which one is Akane?", she asked. She kicked towards the voice as if she were swimming. It was slow and she wasn't sure if it was working but it seemed the presence she had been talking to was coming closer.
He watched as a figure emerged from the obscuring shards of memory. She was a slim figure with an ample but pert bosom, wide hips, but an overall athletic build. He suddenly realized neither one of them were wearing clothes and moved to cover himself as he blushed and looked away.
She could see him now and she felt the heat rise in her face as she noticed his state of undress. She suddenly realized why he was looking away and moved to cover herself as well. He turned back to look at her trying not to be too embarrassed.
"You don't look like the Ranma in these memories.", she said finally.
"Really?", he looked at himself or tried to anyway, "You look a lot like some of the memories of Ranma I've seen though.", he gestured to her red hair that fell down to the middle of her back.
'Am I Ranma?', she thought. She tried the name out to see if it felt right. She shook her head. Apparently the memories were still too scattered and chaotic.
"I don't know if I'm Ranma or not, but you don't look like him. So if you're not Ranma who are you?", she asked.
* * * * * * * * * *
Cologne returned to find the Nekokatten closed. She searched around downstairs finding no sign of Shampoo or Mousse. It was only as she went upstairs that she hear the sobs coming from Shampoo's room. An unconscious Mousse blocked the doorway. Cologne stepped over him and entered Shampoo's room.
Shampoo was lying face first on the bed crying into her pillow. Something terrible indeed must have happened while she was away. Thoughts of Ranma marrying Akane or being killed ran through the old matriarch's head as she approached the bed.
"Shampoo, what has happened?", Cologne asked gently.
Shampoo looked up, her eyes were red and puffy from crying so long. She seemed to be overcome by grief.
"It all Shampoo's fault!", she said in her broke Japanese, "Because of Shampoo, Ranma probably dead now."
Not willing to believe anything until she got the whole story, Cologne slowly coaxed Shampoo into replaying the events of earlier that day. She'd have to start locking that book up she realized after Shampoo relayed the part about making the potion. When she got to the part where Shampoo had spilled the potion on Ranma just before his curse was activated she started crying again.
"There was a flash of light and he was screaming. It was horrible how he screamed and he convulsed like he was dying. He frothed at the mouth like a rabid animal. I was so scared Great Grandmother. I ran, I ran so fast. Oh Great Grandmother, what if Ranma dead?", Shampoo sobbed.
"Do not mourn until you know for sure he's dead. I will go and see for myself what has happened my child."
* * * * * * * * * *
The shards were larger now, the size of hand mirrors. They also seemed to be lining up on either side of the two figures floating in space.
"So how long have we been here?", He asked.
"I don't have a clue. It could be minutes, days, years. How could we tell. I don't even know where here is.", She said in frustration.
He hung his head in defeat. The two had stopped trying to hide their bodies when they realized the futility of the gesture.
A largish fragment of memory floated lazily past him as he looked back up. Gazing into it he saw himself looking down at Akane screaming out how much he loved her if she would just wake up.
"Ranma you idiot.", he muttered angrily.
"Hmm, what did you say?", she asked.
He grabbed the memory before it flew away and handed to her. She took it and watched it for a moment.
"I thought I lost her that day.", she sobbed emotion overwhelming her.
"You idiot why couldn't you tell me that when you were awake?", he growled.
"Akane? Is that you?", She asked.
He stopped for a moment and thought. If he was Akane then why was he a guy? Well Ranma was a girl but that always happened, all they needed was to find some hot water and he'd change back.
"Ranma?" There was a look of recognition in her eyes, "I'm scared. What's happening to us?"
Ranma reached for Akane to comfort her. As soon as their fingers touched there was a spark like static electricity. They looked at each other as they changed. Ranma grew taller as his breasts flattened out and his genital area made certain changes. Akane grew shorter, her breasts filled out and she inhaled in surprise as she felt a certain something disappear from between her legs. They looked at each other in surprise as recognition showed in their faces.
Shards continued to coalesce around them.
* * * * * * * * * *
Kasumi was tending to Rankane. She gasped in surprise when Rankane suddenly shifted from female to male. She looked around for any source of water, frowning when she didn't see any she started again when Rankane moved.
Rankane woke slowly, the pain in his head was gone thankfully. He opened his eyes to see a concerned Kasumi hovering over him like an overprotective mother.
"Hey Kasumi. When's dinner?", He smiled.
Kasumi sighed and the tension in her body lessened, her trademark smile almost came back fully on her face.
"Ranma?", she asked hesitantly.
"Um, I'm not sure.", He looked down at himself, "Well I'm a guy at the moment but my or should I say our memories are still mixed up pretty bad. I do know that I'm starving. What time is it?"
"Just after four. Nabiki is ordering takeout tonight. I really didn't have time to prepare anything for tonight.", she explained.
"That's all right sis, I understand.", he smiled.
Kasumi shook her head. She was used to the craziness since Ranma arrived almost a year ago but this was stretching her limits. She knew her father wanted to unite the two schools but she doubted this was what he had in mind.
"Do you feel well enough to get up?", Kasumi asked.
"Actually if I have to stay in bed much longer we'll go crazy.", he said.
"Let's go downstairs to the TV room then I'll call Dr. Tofu and let him know you're awake. Then we'll see about getting you something to eat.", Kasumi said. Rankane's varying use of pronouns was giving her a headache.
Rankane went downstairs first. He had put on one of Ranma's Chinese shirts and silk pants. As he entered the family room everyone looked up with concerned looks.
"Geez, you guys look like someone died.", Rankane said.
"That sounds like Ranma.", Nabiki said.
Soun leapt up and grabbed Rankane by the shoulders, "Ranma! Where's my little girl? Where's Akane?"
"Calm down daddy. We're fine or we will be if you let go.", Rankane said calmly.
Soun let go, stunned that Ranma would call him daddy.
Kasumi went into the hall to call Dr. Tofu. Nabiki got up and examined Rankane all around.
"So what do you remember?", she asked reaching the front again.
"Well, I remember everything Dr. Tofu said about our merging and how things will sort itself out in our head. Things are still muddled though from before the accident. There's memories from two lives and our mind is trying to fit them together. It's kinda like trying to make a single picture from two different jigsaw puzzles, some of the pieces just don't fit right or if they do the picture doesn't make any sense."
"So what you need to do is sort the pieces then assemble the two puzzles.", Nabiki offered.
Rankane laughed, "Easier said than done."
Kasumi came back into the family room, "Dr. Tofu will be here shortly. Nabiki if you would be so kind as to order dinner. Rankane did miss lunch and I'm sure he's quite hungry."
"Sure thing sis. Any preferences tonight?", she asked Rankane.
"Anything is fine as long as it's a lot of food.", he replied.
Nabiki smirked and disappeared down the hallway. Out of sight her smile faded to a scowl. It sounded a lot like Ranma. So where is Akane?
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki hung up the phone. Normally she would have ordered ramen or Okonomiyaki but with all the problems lately the last thing she wanted to deal with was Ukyou or Shampoo. She just hoped beef bowl would be enough for everyone. She had ordered extra just in case Rankane had twice as much appetite.
She turned to walk back into the family room when there was a knock at the door. Opening it she looked around before she noticed the diminutive form of Cologne below her.
Nabiki scowled. This was the last thing the family needed to deal with. She was sure the old ghoul was prepared to cure Ranma and Akane in exchange for his marriage to Shampoo. It was old ploy that had been used too often in her opinion.
"Haven't you Amazons done enough today. Get the hell out of here before I call the cops." She snorted.
"So Ranma is still alive. This is good. What Shampoo did this morning was done without my consent. I have come to offer what help I can. No strings attached." Cologne responded ignoring Nabiki's threat. No police meant no one had died.
Nabiki's brow furrowed. She didn't trust the old lady. She also didn't trust any one who offered to help without asking for anything in return. This was already two strikes against the amazon.
"Fine. But I'll be watching you closely. One wrong move and I'll have you deported so fast you'll think you never left China." Nabiki warned as she led the matriarch into the house.
Cologne sighed. Something terrible indeed must have happened to piss off Nabiki. She entered the family room and looked around for Ranma. Soun and Genma were playing shogi. She heard Nodoka and Kasumi talking in the kitchen and Akane was watching TV. Where was Ranma?
She gasped suddenly as she realized it wasn't Akane, "Ranma? Is that you son-in-law?" she said as she approached him.
Rankane started then gave Cologne a look of undisguised hatred, "What did you do to us old ghoul?"
Cologne stared at Rankane in shock. It took a lot to shock a woman who had lived as long as her. She could see Ranma and Akane's auras twisting and turning about each other.
"Could you explain the events of this morning in detail?" Cologne asked Nabiki.
Nabiki huffed and began with Ukyou's departure ending with Dr. Tofu leaving.
"I see. Shampoo used a soulbinding potion. I was away at a meeting this morning or I would not have allowed this. The problem with magic is when you mix magic you get unpredictable results. A soulbinding potion connects two people as if they were soulmates. It is a powerful but fragile magic. It is easily contaminated. That is why we never used it on Ranma before. Combined with Ranma's curse and his proximity to Akane it appears they have fused into one being." Cologne explained.
"We already know that! How do you undo it?" Nabiki snapped.
"I'm afraid I do not know. The potion is permanent as is Ranma's curse. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do."
"What? You can't leave us like this! I'll kill you, you bitch!" Rankane screamed.
Cologne dodged the clumsy strike and hit Rankane's sleep spot. He collapsed onto the couch. "He is only sleeping. It would not be good for him to be upset so early after the shock." She said in response to Nabiki's snarl.
"We will return to China. You will not be bothered again. Shampoo has in essence killed her husband and will be punished appropriately. Again I offer my sympathies."
Nabiki screamed and threw a lamp at the amazon who dodged it easily and pogoed out the back door and out of sight. She slumped to the ground next to Rankane and for the first time in years began crying.
* * * * * * * * * *
"I guess we're asleep again." Ranma commented. Akane and Ranma sat facing each other. The fragments of their lives were almost whole, great chunks of glass separated by cracks. Their whole lives laid out before each other.
"So this is a dream?" Akane asked rhetorically.
Ranma shrugged, "not like any dream I've ever been in. I can't believe we're stuck together forever."
"It could be worse." Akane said offhandedly.
"How could anything be worse than this?"
"Kuno could be here with us." Akane said flatly.
Ranma laughed humorlessly, "True. I guess there are worse things than being permanently stuck with someone you care about."
"You really do care don't you?"
Ranma scratched his head nervously, "Yeah, it's kinda hard to hide it here with all our memories exposed for the other to see."
"So why didn't you."
"Ever tell you? Because I was afraid. I killed someone just to save you, to keep you near me but I kept being a jerk to keep you at arms length because I was afraid of being hurt.if you didn't love me." Ranma said.
"I guess it didn't help that I was always pushing you away. I've always been afraid you'd turn out just all the other boys I'd ever met." Akane confessed.
"It didn't help that I was a sex changing freak did it?" Ranma laughed.
"No it didn't." Akane laughed back, "Do you know what it's like to know your fiancé has a better body than you do?"
"Yup." Ranma grinned, "Every time I look at you."
Akane blushed, "Baka."
"I'd love to stay here forever with you, just the two of us, but I think we need to find a way to separate ourselves back into two people." Ranma said after a moment of silence.
Akane nodded, "We need to wake up first."
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki was angrily trying to figure out the best way to convince the Chinese government to re-zone the Jusenkyou valley into a bombing range for their air force when she heard a small groan from the couch. Wiping her remaining tears away and setting her face in a cold expression she went over to check her sibling or was that brother in law?
"Is the old ghoul gone?" Rankane asked.
"She said she was taking Shampoo back to China to be punished for 'killing' her husband." Nabiki said venomously.
*It's about time she's out of our hair!"*
*Huh? Akane? I guess we've finally separated out like Dr. Tofu said.* Ranma chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Nabiki asked.
"Wha'? Oh, Akane's ecstatic that Shampoo's finally out of our hair." Ranma snickered at the pun.
"Akane's there!? Can I talk to her. Please Ranma, I need to see that my sister is all right!" Nabiki said frantically, all pretense of control fading.
"I'll try." Ranma said. *Akane? Can you talk to her? *
*It's no good. I can see out our eyes and hear what's going on but I can't move or speak.* She sighed.
*Let me try something.* Ranma felt that Akane was standing behind him when she 'spoke' to him so he imagined himself stepping back to let Akane forward.
Suddenly Ranma's body shifted to the red headed Akane form eliciting a gasp of surprise from Nabiki.
"I'm here Nabs." Akane smiled.
"Akane? Kasumi! Dad! Everyone! They're awake! Come quick!" Nabiki shouted.
Soon the family room was full. Kasumi and Soun, Nodoka and Genma. They all waited patiently for Akane to explain what was going on.
"Well, the first thing we remember was talking to Dr. Tofu. When he explained what had happened to us. Everything was all mixed up. It was funny, while our memories were sorting out I actually thought I was Ranma." Akane laughed. Her face got more serious with a touch of anger, "It wasn't that funny Ranma." she said.
"Ranma's still there?" Nodoka asked worriedly.
Akane nodded, "We can speak to each other in our head it seems. He's just watching everything right now like I was when we woke up."
"So when you changed." Nabiki began.
"That was us switching places I guess. Dr. Tofu could probably explain it better than I could. Hopefully he can find us a way to split apart again now that the Cologne has abandoned us."
"I'm working on it." Dr. Tofu said from behind them. "There was no answer at the door so I let myself in." He grinned.
"Hello Dr. Tofu." Akane said.
"So, Cologne was here. Did she have anything to offer?"
Akane shook her head. Nabiki described the encounter leaving out the part where she broke down in tears.
Dr. Tofu looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, a soulbinding potion. I've been going over the various cases where Ranma has been split in two before. I'm almost tempted to try the incense Happosai used to separate your male and female parts. I also remember something about the spring of drowned twins in Jusenkyou. It could theoretically split you apart. I need to do more research. In the meantime let me check you over now that you've recovered a bit."
He proceeded to go over the two in one again checking for possible disastrous side effects. With magic mixed like this there was always the possibility of something unexpected occurring. It was even possible the effects of the potion would wear off. After all it was never meant literally fuse two people together and that could put a serious strain on the spell. He had Akane and Ranma switch back and forth a few times to study the phenomenon before he finished up.
"Well, you seem to be in good health and there are no obvious side effects that could be dangerous to you. I would just try to live as normally as possible while I keep researching a way to fix this. With all the weird things that have happened in Nerima the last year I don't think anyone will be too shocked by this new development." Dr. Tofu said getting up. He excused himself and said goodbye before leaving back to his clinic.
It was about that time the food arrived. Akane's stomach growled ominously. She blushed embarrassed. She sat down in her and Ranma's place.
*Be careful Akane, you know how Pops gets around food. You will have to defend yourself.* Ranma coached.
She flashed out with her chopsticks surprising herself at the speed she was able to eat. She blocked every one of Genma's attempts on her food. Soon she was sitting back with her hand on her stomach feeling comfortably full.
*That was amazing! It looks like I got some of your speed in this form. I wonder what else we share now. Do you think I could do a ki attack?* Akane asked Ranma.
*Hmm, it's possible. I suggest we wait until at least tomorrow. Who knows what would happen if we started messing around with our ki so soon after this morning.*
*We could still go work out right? I feel the need to work off all this food.* Akane sighed and stood up.
*Sure we can work on our teamwork as well. If we're stuck this way for a while we might as well take advantage of it.* Ranma agreed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane sat in the middle of the dojo breathing heavily. *That was awesome! Now I know why you love the art so much if you can do that! *
Ranma laughed in the back of their mind, *You know, I regret not having trained you before this. Let me take over for a second. *
Akane stepped back and Ranma took charge. Their body flowed from female to male smoothly. "Hey, I don't feel tired at all!" He exclaimed.
*Maybe even though our bodies are fused, they are still separate in other ways. *
"Well, It's getting late and you should probably get some sleep after that workout. Oh, um, I guess we need to take a bath first." Ranma said feeling a deep blush to his toes.
*Pervert! * Akane teased, *We've already seen each other naked and we can't really bathe with our eyes closed can we? *
"Umm, well, I guess not. I'll make it quick then." Ranma said as they went to the furo.
*Besides, it's not as bad for a girl to see a guy naked as it is for a guy to see a girl. *
"Now who's the pervert." Ranma returned as he stripped and entered the furo proper.
After a quick bath without too much embarrassment, Ranma made his way up the stairs and went to slide open the door to the guest room.
*I'd rather sleep in my room. The bed is more comfortable than this worn futon. * Akane decided.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. This has been a weird day." Ranma turned and opened Akane's door.
He quickly stripped to his boxers and a tank top and climbed into bed. "Do you have a body preference to sleep in?" Ranma asked.
*I don't care. I'm too tired. We have school tomorrow and we need sleep. * Akane replied.
"School? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ranma was worried.
*Dr. Tofu said to keep to as normal a routine as we could. Besides, this is almost normal compared to some of the things that have happened around there in the past year. * Akane laughed.
"All right Akane. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love ya." Ranma yawned.
*I love you too my baka *
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane sat on a patch of grass underneath a tree looking out over a broad green field of flowers. She smiled in the peaceful serenity of the place.
"I wonder if I'm dreaming?" She said to herself.
Suddenly the scene shifted to sharp craggy mountains. Dark threatening clouds loomed overhead. Thunder and lightning flashed in the distance. The scene resolved showing Ranma fighting a glowing birdlike man. Akane wasn't really aware during Ranma's battle with Saffron but she recognized the phoenix god immediately.
Ranma sliced Saffron's arm off with his weapon only to watch in horror as it regenerated.
"You were foolish to challenge me boy! Now you shall suffer for your arrogance!" Saffron laughed maniacally.
Suddenly Ranma and Akane's families were all there surrounding Saffron. Saffron lashed out with a fireball blasting Kasumi to ash. He turned and quickly destroyed Nabiki and Nadoka as well. Ranma screamed as he watched helpless to stop the destruction around him. Even Ryouga, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Mousse were obliterated. Eventually all that was left was Ranma cradling Akane's limp form. He was crying freely.
"Akane! Please Akane wake up! I love you! Please don't die." He screamed.
"How pitifully weak you are." Taunted Saffron, "I think I'll put you out of my misery now."
The fireball engulfed Ranma and he screamed.
Akane shuddered as the dreamscape shattered and she was forcibly jolted awake. Ranma was screaming Akane's name as he stared sightlessly at the wall.
*Ranma! It was only a dream! I'm ok. Everyone is safe. You won. You defeated Saffron and saved me remember? * Akane tried to soothe Ranma. She cursed herself for not being able to reach out and hold him.
"A nightmare? Yeah, that's all it was. I'm ok now Akane." Ranma said calmly.
Akane could feel he was lying but decided not to press the issue.
The door burst open as everyone in the house tried to enter at once. Nabiki finally calmed everyone down and once it was clear that Ranma and Akane were ok (As ok as they could be given the situation) she shooed everyone out.
"You ok?" Nabiki asked.
Ranma shifted as Akane became dominate, "We'll be all right Nabs. Ranma just went back to sleep. He's been having nightmares about Jusendo."
Nabiki nodded in understanding. She may not have known the specifics but she knew post traumatic stress syndrome when she saw it.
"If he wants someone to talk to besides you he can come to me. No charge." Nabiki smiled.
Akane gave Nabiki a weird look.
"What? I can't show a little compassion? Besides, this is the least I can do after my wedding blunder." She waved a hand and left the room.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane woke that morning feeling much better. It took her a few minutes to register what had happened the previous day. She stretched and grabbed her bath supplies. She'd just had a bath that night but felt the need to soak a bit before breakfast.
She realized then that Ranma was still asleep. Being the sound sleeper he was Akane realized she had at least another hour to herself. She planned on using it.
As she left her room she could hear the sounds of Kasumi in the kitchen downstairs. She went into the changing room and saw Nabiki's robe lying on the washing machine. The occupied sign was on the inner door. Shrugging, Akane knocked on the door.
"Nabiki? You mind if I come in and take a bath?"
Nabiki's voice sounded uncertain, "Uh, what about Ranma?"
"He's still asleep, you know how he likes to sleep in." Akane responded.
"If you're sure then ok."
Akane opened the door to see Nabiki up to her neck in the furo. Smirking, Akane proceeded to fill a bucket then dump it over herself. As she lathered up her hair she tried to decide what to tell the people at school.
"Nabiki? How do you think I should handle things at school?" Akane finally asked coming up with no ideas of her own.
Nabiki shook her head, "Why not try the truth? Kuno probably either won't believe it or will warp it to suit his own version of reality. The rest of the school will probably just figure it's par for the course on weirdness."
Akane chuckled, "Our lives have been pretty interesting since Ranma arrived haven't they?"
"Let's just hope this latest bit of weirdness isn't permanent."
Akane agreed and slipped into the furo to soak. She was mildly surprised when she realized she didn't turn into a guy. The two sisters talked of inconsequential things for a while until Akane felt Ranma beginning to stir.
Nabiki took this as her cue to get out of the tub and get dressed for breakfast.
*Yawn! Hey, how did we get into the furo? * Ranma asked in mild surprise.
"I woke up early and decided to take a bath. I wanted to let you sleep in after that nightmare last night. You want to talk about it?"
*Not really. * Ranma said evasively. *I will when I'm ready, I promise. *
"All right, I'll hold you to it. Let's get breakfast and get to school. Hopefully things will be quieter with Shampoo gone."
*Don't bet on it. Something else will come up. Ryouga will probably show up and blame me for everything again. *
"If he does, I want first crack at him. You're lucky I can't smack you myself at the moment for not telling me he was P-chan." Akane growled.
*Oh come on Akane! It was a matter of honor you know that. Besides, I dropped enough hints about it that even Kasumi picked it up after a couple of weeks. That and I tried to convince him to stop every time I could. * Ranma whined.
"That's why I'd only smack you not kill you outright. Although it is nice to see you get jealous, shows you really care." Akane teased as she dried off with a towel.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki decided to walk with the couple to school. Akane decided to raid Ranma's wardrobe mainly because of Ranma kept yelling that he didn't want to wear a dress. It would be less embarrassing if they had to switch bodies anyway.
Akane was walking along the fence top like Ranma. Nabiki wasn't sure but it looked like Akane was having a silent conversation with Ranma. Akane kept gesturing with her hands as if she were talking.
"So what are you guys talking about?" Nabiki finally broke the silence.
Akane looked down at her sister and blushed, "Well... uh... Ranma was just wanting to know how we were going to do the wedding."
Nabiki smiled and shook her head. Why now of all times to decide to finally admit how they feel about each other? Do they have access to each others memories?
"You could probably do it in the United States. I read in one of those tabloids that a guy with multiple personalities married himself. Otherwise I'd say you two are closer now than anything a marriage could do for you."
Akane suddenly blushed and Ranma took over. He had a silly grin on his face.
"What?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity perked.
"Heh, I only asked how we'd go about having a family. I think she's hiding to keep from dying of embarrassment." Ranma said quietly. "Ouch Akane! Not so loud! All right, we'll let Dr. Tofu do some research before we make any long term plans."
* * * * * * * * * *
There were gasps of astonishment as Akane walked into the school grounds. Immediately people started gossiping about why Akane would make her hair up like Ranma's and why she was wearing Ranma's clothes.
Yuka and Sayuri, Akane's two friends, ran up to Akane, "What's going on Akane? Why are you dressed up like Ranma?" Sayuri asked.
"Hey, is he going to come dressed up as you?" Yuka asked.
Akane shook her head, "It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it at lunch. That is unless you hear it through the Nabiki grapevine first." She turned to look where her sister was surrounded by students all holding money.
"I think we can wait until lunch." Yuka said.
"Yeah, besides, it's cheaper." Sayuri agreed.
Suddenly, "Pigtailed girl! You have come to me at last! Come let us away together lest the fiend Saotome bring you to heel once again." Kuno continued on for a few more seconds before something began nagging for his attention. "Pigtail... Akane?" Kuno stopped as unused gears in his brain started moving, disturbing a nest of squirrels and causing a small fire as a lightbulb shattered. "That Fiend! Somehow Saotome has fused my two loves into one person!" Stop, pause... "Oh joyous day! Now I can truly date you both at once!"
Kuno stopped talking soon after that as Akane tried out some of her new skills on Kuno. She was impressed by her newfound speed and agility and actually drew out her beating of Kuno by an extra thirty seconds over her usual time just for the heck of it.
As Akane stomped off into the school Ranma made his presence known, *That's just creepy. Although even when Kuno's right he still got it wrong.*
Akane giggled and hurried to class.
* * * * * * * * * *
School was surprisingly uneventful. Most people figured Akane had finally just given in and accepted she was head over heels in love with Ranma and was doing some sort of hero worship. There were some rumors that Ranma and Akane had switched bodies and Ranma was using Akane's body as if it were his own. Lunch time brought its own problems in the form of Kuno followed by Ukyou.
Akane was sitting with Yuka and Sayuri explaining the events leading up to today when Kuno came to proclaim his love once again. Akane of course beat him soundly and punted the unconscious lunatic into the school pool. Ukyou however wasn't as easily disuaded.
"Where's Ranma?" She asked with a touch of anger in her voice. She figured she didn't need the meek humble attitude she gave Ranma to deal with Akane.
Akane cocked her head as if listening to someone, "Ok Ranma, you deal with her. I'll trust you not to screw it up."
With a morphing sequence that would have cost George Lucas a couple million dollars, Akane shifted to Ranma, "So what exactly did you want Ukyou?"
Ukyou stood with her mouth gaping for a couple minutes. As her brain tried to work on what she'd just seen her mouth tried to operate on its own. What came out was a barely audible squeak. Suddenly she snapped her mouth shut as a look of comprehension dawned, "Oh, my God! Kuno was right!"
Ranma recovered from a near facefault and shook his head. "Yeah, something that Shampoo did interacted with my curse while I was near Akane and we were fused."
Ukyou felt her anger rise, "That bitch, I'll kill her!"
Ranma shrugged, "Cologne already took care of her. I hope they don't kill her for what happened. I don't care Akane, no one deserves to die for a mistake like that." Ranma responded to the unheard question.
"Akane can still talk to you?" Ukyou asked.
"Yeah, this is what happened..." Ranma began.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Well she took it better than I had hoped." Akane said.
*Well, she should have known how we felt about each other even before the failed wedding. * Ranma replied.
"How could she, we didn't even know." Akane countered. They were walking to Dr. Tofu's office after school to see if he'd found anything during the day.
As they entered Dr. Tofu called out, "Akane, Ranma, come on back to my office would you?"
Dr. Tofu sat at his desk with about ten old books and scrolls of various types strewn about, "I've been going over every bit of Jusenkyou lore I've gathered since you came to Nerima Ranma. I'm sorry to say I'm still not sure of a way to separate the two of you however I need to look you over again.
"Why is something the matter doctor?" Akane asked.
Dr. Tofu led the two as one into the examination room and had them sit down on the table, "I'm not sure, I hope it's nothing."
Dr. Tofu lit some incense and started probing them and trying to get a good view of their auras. Akane was dominant so the aura was a bright red, Ranma's aura was blue and clung tightly to the skin. Where the two auras met swirled in a violent chaos of purple. Dr. Tofu looked deeper and saw the threads of the spell of Jusenkyou magic and how it was tangled with the threads of the soulbinding potion. As he watched, one of the threads crumbled and disappeared. This was met with a flare of combined auras in that spot.
The doctor sadly shook his head, "It's as I feared. The combined spells are failing. I give it a month before the combined Jusenkyou, soulbinding potion magic completely fails."
"That's a good thing right?" Ranma asked, assuming control.
"Unfortunately no, when the spells wear off whatever form you are in at the time will become permanent, also both personalities with merge. You'll become one person, neither Akane or Ranma."
Ranma turned white, "There's gotta be something you can do! At the least find a way to remove my personality, let Akane have the body. No Damn it! Akane, it's my fault you're stuck with me like this in the first place. Promise me doc, if you can't split us at least let Akane try to live her life normally."
Dr. Tofu sat down heavily in a nearby chair, "Ranma, I wouldn't even know where to begin on something like that. Even if I could bring myself to find a way I could never do anything to harm you."
Ranma broke down, tears that had been threatening to fall suddenly turned loose, "I'm sorry Akane. Your life would have better if you'd never met me."
*Baka! Even if that were true, I still love you. We'll find a way to deal with this, together.*
"Ranma, Give me another week or two and then we'll try some different ideas. I don't see how we could make the situation any worse."
Ranma nodded and withdrew leaving Akane in charge, "Thank you doctor. I know you'll do your best." She got up and left the clinic.
"I only hope it's enough." Tofu said quietly.
* * * * * * * * * *
A couple of nights (and a few Kuno beatings) later, Akane found herself once more on the dreamscape. It was bright and sunny. She looked out over a wide green field surrounded on all sides by tall trees. The smell of spring was in the air. She walked slowly, just enjoying the quiet. Idly, she wondered where Ranma was, they hadn't seen each other face to face since that first day and night so she was starting to miss him. Granted they talked all the time but it wasn't the same. She wished she could hold him and comfort him, maybe even... she broke off that line of thought with a blush. It would never happen anyway she sighed.
Her thoughts were interrupted as dark clouds began to gather overhead. She watched in horror as the grassy field dried up and turned to barren cracked clay. The trees crumbled into dust that blew away on a foul wind. The ground suddenly thrust upwards and Akane found herself on top of a mountain. Jusendo. It was happening again. Ranma's nightmare was taking over. Akane looked frantically for Ranma, finally spotting him higher up the slope. There was a flare of light and Akane saw Saffron take to the air. something was different this time. Saffron was covered in a dark golden fur. Everything was catlike, his hands ending in foot long claws.
There were no taunts or threats this time. Saffron attacked with a bestial ferocity so that all Ranma could so was dodge. Akane realized why Ranma wasn't fighting back, she saw herself being held to Ranma's chest but not as a doll. A large figure came out of the shadows and Akane looked in shock as a gargantuan panda at least six stories high came into view. It laughed long and hard at Ranma, "You're getting soft boy. Maybe it's time to retrain you." With that, Genma threw a long rope of fish sausage around Ranma and dream-Akane. Saffron sniffed the air and smiled. Somehow he began stalking Ranma while in the air. Ranma screamed in frustration trying to get the sausage off.
Then came a low meowing. Ranma's eyes opened wider as hundreds of small purple cats came out of the darkness and converged on them. Ranma and the dream-Akane disappeared under a pile of purple fur. That was too much for Akane, she ran forward and started throwing cats away into the darkness. The cats broke away after the first five or six and darted off wherever they came from. Akane stood there stunned looking down at Ranma. Ranma was holding someone who was neither Akane nor Ranma but a conglomeration of the two.
"My fault, all my fault." Ranma chanted over and over.
Akane kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Ranma, startling him, "It's ok Ranma, I'm here. This is really me. We're dreaming, it's not real. That's not real." Akane pointed to the figure in Ranma's arms and it faded away.
"Akane? Dreaming? I-I-I'm sorry." He grabbed Akane in a bearhug.
Akane held Ranma gently as he cried on her shoulder. She looked up to see Panda-Genma and Saffron still there but frozen as if someone had paused a movie. She shook her head and thought about how everything looked before. She blinked her eyes and they were once again in the field.
She held Ranma a while longer until he drifted off into a deeper sleep out of REM and he faded from her arms. Akane took this as her cue and tried to get some more rest herself.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fusion _______________________
Ranma sat eating his breakfast in silence. Akane gave him a worried sidelong glance. It had been three weeks since their disastrous wedding attempt and almost a month since Ranma was forced to kill Saffron at Jusendo.
Jusendo. Akane shuddered even though the room was warm. Her mind kept going back to that event almost a month ago. She'd nearly died there and would have if not for Ranma calling out to her. He denied it of course which only made Akane mad. She was becoming frustrated at his macho attitude. She knew he loved her but refused to make the first move. She had relented and tried to control her temper and had been showing a lot of patience since Ranma had protected her once again this time from Shampoo and Ukyou at the wedding.
Since the wedding disaster Ranma had become more and more withdrawn. The last couple of days it had been impossible to get more than two word answers from him at all. Akane wanted to talk to him, get him to tell her what was troubling him. She hoped it wasn't her causing him to close up. Even now she wished she could hold him, comfort him and tell him it would be ok that she loved him curse or no.
There was a knock at the front door bringing Akane back to the present. Kasumi got up to answer the door. She came back a second later with her ever present smile.
"Ranma, you have a visitor."
Ranma looked up to see Ukyou come into the family room. She had a hesitant smile and was carrying an okonomiyaki box. There was no sign of her battle spatula or her bandoleer of mini spatulas.
"Ranchan I." she started.
"I have nothing to say to you." Ranma said and went back to eating.
Ukyou's smile faded and tears came to her eyes. Ranma continued to ignore her as he helped himself to some more rice.
"I think you'd better go now." Akane said to Ukyou.
Ukyou's head dropped as she placed the box on the table, turned, and stumbled out of the house. Nabiki shook her head but said nothing. She was still in hot water for inviting all of Ranma and Akane's rivals to destroy the wedding. She had been sure that Akane and Ranma didn't want to get married and had been shocked when Akane had chewed her out royally for screwing things up.
Akane returned to her meal trying to push the image of a totally broken Ukyou from her mind. She deserved the treatment she had received she told herself. It was Ukyou's own fault wasn't it? Sighing she finished her breakfast and was about to get up when she heard a familiar ringing of a bicycle bell.
Shampoo had spent all morning working on a new potion. Her grandmother Cologne had gone to a local small business association meeting on the other side of Tokyo and would not be back until later that day. She had taken her Great grandmother's forbidden spell book from her room and had been pouring over it for hours. She was sure she got the recipe and incantations right and now she had to test it. If the soul binding potion worked correctly then Ranma would be bound to her for the rest of his life. She knew he was upset for some reason since the wedding fiasco but was positive it had nothing to do with her. Jumping the boundary wall of the Tendo dojo she rang the bell on her handlebars to announce her arrival.
Happosai was returning from a full night of panty theft and his sack was stuffed to overflowing. He bounded across the rooftops with practiced ease of the Grand Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He had found a real prize in his travels, a red and black lacy bra that would fit Ranma-chan perfectly. Happosai was positive this was just the perfect thing to snap the boy out of the funk he'd sunk to. He came in through an open window on the second floor and bounded down the stairs grabbing a flower vase still full of water on his way down.
Akane looked up as Shampoo came barreling into the family room. Ranma looked up as Happosai leapt from the stairs screaming, "Ranma my boy! I've got a present for my sweet Ranma-chan!"
Ranma backed up into Akane. Akane backed up into Ranma. Happosai jumped off Shampoo's head tossing the water towards Ranma. Shampoo lost her grip on the flask containing her potion. The flask flew through the air impacting Ranma's head, breaking and splashing all over Ranma and Akane. The water from the vase splashed a second later covering both Ranma and Akane. There was a flash of light, a tearing sound, and a scream that shattered glass for two blocks.
* * * * * * * * * *
She regained consciousness slowly sensing the presence of people around her. She groaned slightly as every nerve in her body protested movement. She fluttered her eyes trying to open them in the bright light.
"Akane?" someone said.
She recognized that voice she was positive it was family. A sister? Nabiki came to mind, always selling pictures of her to Kuno. Scenes flashed in her mind of beating the kendoist on many occasions.
"She's finally coming around." another voice said.
"Kasumi?" she said.
"It's ok Akane. Lie still. Dr. Tofu will be here shortly." Kasumi said.
Dr. Tofu? Faces came quickly as more names intruded on her consciousness. There was a strangeness to it all. Conflicting emotions and perceptions clouded her mind. She knew these people she was sure of that. Some were closer to her than others but something was wrong. She heard her mother talking to her father nearby. But wasn't her mother dead? Then she heard her father crying softly on the other side of her. She suddenly remembered training with her father when she was younger. She was practicing katas in the dojo. Then she was on the road in China. She didn't train in China she realized but she didn't train at home in the dojo either. Confused she tried opening her eyes again when she heard Dr. Tofu come in.
Dr. Tofu looked down at the young girl lying on the futon with a damp cloth on her head. "Where's Ranma?", he asked.
Nabiki nodded in the direction of the girl lying on the floor. Dr. Tofu turned back to the red headed girl. She looked like Akane except for the red color of her hair. It matched Ranma's exactly. The facial features were obviously Akane's although the bustline was much larger than Akane's. The clothes were a strange combination of Akane's school uniform and Ranma's Chinese style clothes. They were fused in a patchwork style down to the threads themselves.
She opened her eyes and looked up at the doctor, "Dr. Tofu?"
"Yes. Can you tell me your name?", he asked.
"Yeah. sure. it's Ran.Ran.kane.", she said hesitantly, "No, that's. not. right."
"It's ok. Don't talk. Let me examine you first."
Dr. Tofu Shooed all the men out of the room and began his examination. He had to cut away the clothing as it was fused together. Luckily it wasn't fused to the skin. Her body was obviously female showing attributes of both Ranma and Akane. He accessed his second sight and examined the girl's aura. He inhaled sharply in surprise as he saw two distinct auras swirling together in a chaotic mess. Finishing his examination he calmed slightly with the knowledge that the girl was in no danger of dying. Looking up at Kasumi he asked, "Can you tell me what happened exactly?"
Kasumi smiled shyly. She had been dating the young doctor for a couple of months now and he had gotten past most of his uncontrollable fits. She told him to the best of her ability what had happened including Shampoo's hasty exit after the incident.
Dr. Tofu shook his head sadly. When it came to Amazon magic anything could happen. He looked back up at Kasumi, "Could you go get some hot water? I'd like to experiment. If we're lucky it will simply reverse what has happened. Apparently whatever Shampoo dumped on them fused Ranma and Akane into one person when Ranma's curse was activated."
Kasumi returned shortly with a steaming kettle. Dr. Tofu took it and gently poured it on the semi conscious girl. The body shifted and changed. It filled out and became more muscular. The mass was more than the male Ranma and his face was Ranma's only less angular and softer like Akane's. The hair turned dark and Dr. Tofu swore softly.
Kasumi looked worriedly at her sister Nabiki. Nabiki silently vowed to get revenge on the Amazon responsible however possible.
"Their auras are fused in a swirling mess. I'm pretty sure their memories are mixed together as well. Given time I think they'll separate out like oil and water. The question is how do we separate their bodies again?", Dr. Tofu said finally.
The boy who was Ranma and Akane sat up wearily and put a hand to his head and groaned.
"Careful. I don't want you over exerting yourself until we know the extent of what's happened to you.", Dr. Tofu said trying to make him lie back.
"S'okay. I.we'll be all right. Its just there's all these conflicting memories. Who am. are.we.I?", he looked up at everyone with a confused expression.
Kasumi looked to Nabiki then Dr. Tofu with a pained expression. Nabiki scowled to herself for a moment as she thought of how to answer the question.
"How about we call you Rankane until you sort yourselves out?", she finally offered.
Rankane pondered this for a moment before nodding slowly, "Dr. Tofu? Can you help me.us? Our head hurts. Too much conflict."
Dr. Tofu reached out and pressed his shiatsu sleep point and laid him down. Then he poured cold water over him now her again. "let them sleep as long as they need to. They may wake up more coherent after their subconscious sorts things out. Call me as soon as they regain consciousness all right?"
* * * * * * * * * *
She drifted in a black void. No, a void was an empty place, she was surrounded by what looked like glass shards. So not a void then, but what was it? She reached out and grabbed a shard at looked at it. It was kind of like looking through a window. There was a scene of a young 'boy?' running down a dusty road chasing a cart crying. She let the shard go and it spun off to connect to another shard fusing into a larger piece. Curious, she thought. As she looked around she noticed that the shards were in fact combining to create a larger whole but it was a slow process. Grabbing another shard almost by instinct she looked into it. This one showed two girls and a man standing around a family shrine. Everyone was crying and she felt sadness overwhelm her when she saw the name on the shrine, 'Tendo'.
It dawned on her then. These were memories. She grabbed some more. There was one where she lost her hair to a tiger striped bandanna. One where she fell into the nyanchiyan in China. She saw one where a guy wearing a bandanna turned into a pig when he was splashed. That one didn't seem right for some reason. As she kept looking she realized that many of the memories conflicted. They seemed to show two different lives. She wondered at that. Which one was hers?
He floated in the void. No, a void was empty, this place was filled with broken shards of what looked like glass. Not a void then. Curiously he grabbed at a shard and wondered that he hadn't cut himself. He looked through it and saw a purple haired woman screaming 'Ranma I kill!' He dropped the sliver in sudden fear and it connected to another shard with a soft click. He grabbed the now larger piece and looked again. This time he saw a skating match occur that he won before the purple haired girl burst through the wall of the locker room. Letting the piece drift off he grabbed another. This one showed him having his first period and the uncertain embarrassment of talking to his older sister about it. Uncomfortably he let the piece go. One bounced off his head and he took hold of it. It showed him attempting to cook something in the kitchen. He felt a certain determination as he kept trying to keep the food from crawling out of the pot.
He suddenly realized that these were memories. But whose? They seem to conflict, some were obviously a girl's but some were mixed as if they belonged to a boy who was also a girl. Were any of these his memories his and if so which ones? He watched as the shards grew larger as they pieced themselves back together. Something had shattered these memories he thought. But why were at least two peoples memories mixed up like this? He started grabbing memories at random searching for some answer, some clue as to what happened and how he got here.
As she perused the memory fragments about her she gradually became aware of another presence nearby. There were too many fragments in the way to see very far. "Hello?", she called out.
He was so absorbed in what he was doing he almost missed the voice. For a minute he thought it came from the shard he was holding but was suddenly aware of a presence behind him. "Hello? Who are you?", he called out.
"I'm not sure. Who are you?", came the reply.
He laughed, "I guess that makes two of us. I assume one of these sets of memories is yours." He thought he could just make out a figure for a moment as some of the shards floated out of the way temporarily.
"The question is, which one of us is Ranma and which one is Akane?", she asked. She kicked towards the voice as if she were swimming. It was slow and she wasn't sure if it was working but it seemed the presence she had been talking to was coming closer.
He watched as a figure emerged from the obscuring shards of memory. She was a slim figure with an ample but pert bosom, wide hips, but an overall athletic build. He suddenly realized neither one of them were wearing clothes and moved to cover himself as he blushed and looked away.
She could see him now and she felt the heat rise in her face as she noticed his state of undress. She suddenly realized why he was looking away and moved to cover herself as well. He turned back to look at her trying not to be too embarrassed.
"You don't look like the Ranma in these memories.", she said finally.
"Really?", he looked at himself or tried to anyway, "You look a lot like some of the memories of Ranma I've seen though.", he gestured to her red hair that fell down to the middle of her back.
'Am I Ranma?', she thought. She tried the name out to see if it felt right. She shook her head. Apparently the memories were still too scattered and chaotic.
"I don't know if I'm Ranma or not, but you don't look like him. So if you're not Ranma who are you?", she asked.
* * * * * * * * * *
Cologne returned to find the Nekokatten closed. She searched around downstairs finding no sign of Shampoo or Mousse. It was only as she went upstairs that she hear the sobs coming from Shampoo's room. An unconscious Mousse blocked the doorway. Cologne stepped over him and entered Shampoo's room.
Shampoo was lying face first on the bed crying into her pillow. Something terrible indeed must have happened while she was away. Thoughts of Ranma marrying Akane or being killed ran through the old matriarch's head as she approached the bed.
"Shampoo, what has happened?", Cologne asked gently.
Shampoo looked up, her eyes were red and puffy from crying so long. She seemed to be overcome by grief.
"It all Shampoo's fault!", she said in her broke Japanese, "Because of Shampoo, Ranma probably dead now."
Not willing to believe anything until she got the whole story, Cologne slowly coaxed Shampoo into replaying the events of earlier that day. She'd have to start locking that book up she realized after Shampoo relayed the part about making the potion. When she got to the part where Shampoo had spilled the potion on Ranma just before his curse was activated she started crying again.
"There was a flash of light and he was screaming. It was horrible how he screamed and he convulsed like he was dying. He frothed at the mouth like a rabid animal. I was so scared Great Grandmother. I ran, I ran so fast. Oh Great Grandmother, what if Ranma dead?", Shampoo sobbed.
"Do not mourn until you know for sure he's dead. I will go and see for myself what has happened my child."
* * * * * * * * * *
The shards were larger now, the size of hand mirrors. They also seemed to be lining up on either side of the two figures floating in space.
"So how long have we been here?", He asked.
"I don't have a clue. It could be minutes, days, years. How could we tell. I don't even know where here is.", She said in frustration.
He hung his head in defeat. The two had stopped trying to hide their bodies when they realized the futility of the gesture.
A largish fragment of memory floated lazily past him as he looked back up. Gazing into it he saw himself looking down at Akane screaming out how much he loved her if she would just wake up.
"Ranma you idiot.", he muttered angrily.
"Hmm, what did you say?", she asked.
He grabbed the memory before it flew away and handed to her. She took it and watched it for a moment.
"I thought I lost her that day.", she sobbed emotion overwhelming her.
"You idiot why couldn't you tell me that when you were awake?", he growled.
"Akane? Is that you?", She asked.
He stopped for a moment and thought. If he was Akane then why was he a guy? Well Ranma was a girl but that always happened, all they needed was to find some hot water and he'd change back.
"Ranma?" There was a look of recognition in her eyes, "I'm scared. What's happening to us?"
Ranma reached for Akane to comfort her. As soon as their fingers touched there was a spark like static electricity. They looked at each other as they changed. Ranma grew taller as his breasts flattened out and his genital area made certain changes. Akane grew shorter, her breasts filled out and she inhaled in surprise as she felt a certain something disappear from between her legs. They looked at each other in surprise as recognition showed in their faces.
Shards continued to coalesce around them.
* * * * * * * * * *
Kasumi was tending to Rankane. She gasped in surprise when Rankane suddenly shifted from female to male. She looked around for any source of water, frowning when she didn't see any she started again when Rankane moved.
Rankane woke slowly, the pain in his head was gone thankfully. He opened his eyes to see a concerned Kasumi hovering over him like an overprotective mother.
"Hey Kasumi. When's dinner?", He smiled.
Kasumi sighed and the tension in her body lessened, her trademark smile almost came back fully on her face.
"Ranma?", she asked hesitantly.
"Um, I'm not sure.", He looked down at himself, "Well I'm a guy at the moment but my or should I say our memories are still mixed up pretty bad. I do know that I'm starving. What time is it?"
"Just after four. Nabiki is ordering takeout tonight. I really didn't have time to prepare anything for tonight.", she explained.
"That's all right sis, I understand.", he smiled.
Kasumi shook her head. She was used to the craziness since Ranma arrived almost a year ago but this was stretching her limits. She knew her father wanted to unite the two schools but she doubted this was what he had in mind.
"Do you feel well enough to get up?", Kasumi asked.
"Actually if I have to stay in bed much longer we'll go crazy.", he said.
"Let's go downstairs to the TV room then I'll call Dr. Tofu and let him know you're awake. Then we'll see about getting you something to eat.", Kasumi said. Rankane's varying use of pronouns was giving her a headache.
Rankane went downstairs first. He had put on one of Ranma's Chinese shirts and silk pants. As he entered the family room everyone looked up with concerned looks.
"Geez, you guys look like someone died.", Rankane said.
"That sounds like Ranma.", Nabiki said.
Soun leapt up and grabbed Rankane by the shoulders, "Ranma! Where's my little girl? Where's Akane?"
"Calm down daddy. We're fine or we will be if you let go.", Rankane said calmly.
Soun let go, stunned that Ranma would call him daddy.
Kasumi went into the hall to call Dr. Tofu. Nabiki got up and examined Rankane all around.
"So what do you remember?", she asked reaching the front again.
"Well, I remember everything Dr. Tofu said about our merging and how things will sort itself out in our head. Things are still muddled though from before the accident. There's memories from two lives and our mind is trying to fit them together. It's kinda like trying to make a single picture from two different jigsaw puzzles, some of the pieces just don't fit right or if they do the picture doesn't make any sense."
"So what you need to do is sort the pieces then assemble the two puzzles.", Nabiki offered.
Rankane laughed, "Easier said than done."
Kasumi came back into the family room, "Dr. Tofu will be here shortly. Nabiki if you would be so kind as to order dinner. Rankane did miss lunch and I'm sure he's quite hungry."
"Sure thing sis. Any preferences tonight?", she asked Rankane.
"Anything is fine as long as it's a lot of food.", he replied.
Nabiki smirked and disappeared down the hallway. Out of sight her smile faded to a scowl. It sounded a lot like Ranma. So where is Akane?
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki hung up the phone. Normally she would have ordered ramen or Okonomiyaki but with all the problems lately the last thing she wanted to deal with was Ukyou or Shampoo. She just hoped beef bowl would be enough for everyone. She had ordered extra just in case Rankane had twice as much appetite.
She turned to walk back into the family room when there was a knock at the door. Opening it she looked around before she noticed the diminutive form of Cologne below her.
Nabiki scowled. This was the last thing the family needed to deal with. She was sure the old ghoul was prepared to cure Ranma and Akane in exchange for his marriage to Shampoo. It was old ploy that had been used too often in her opinion.
"Haven't you Amazons done enough today. Get the hell out of here before I call the cops." She snorted.
"So Ranma is still alive. This is good. What Shampoo did this morning was done without my consent. I have come to offer what help I can. No strings attached." Cologne responded ignoring Nabiki's threat. No police meant no one had died.
Nabiki's brow furrowed. She didn't trust the old lady. She also didn't trust any one who offered to help without asking for anything in return. This was already two strikes against the amazon.
"Fine. But I'll be watching you closely. One wrong move and I'll have you deported so fast you'll think you never left China." Nabiki warned as she led the matriarch into the house.
Cologne sighed. Something terrible indeed must have happened to piss off Nabiki. She entered the family room and looked around for Ranma. Soun and Genma were playing shogi. She heard Nodoka and Kasumi talking in the kitchen and Akane was watching TV. Where was Ranma?
She gasped suddenly as she realized it wasn't Akane, "Ranma? Is that you son-in-law?" she said as she approached him.
Rankane started then gave Cologne a look of undisguised hatred, "What did you do to us old ghoul?"
Cologne stared at Rankane in shock. It took a lot to shock a woman who had lived as long as her. She could see Ranma and Akane's auras twisting and turning about each other.
"Could you explain the events of this morning in detail?" Cologne asked Nabiki.
Nabiki huffed and began with Ukyou's departure ending with Dr. Tofu leaving.
"I see. Shampoo used a soulbinding potion. I was away at a meeting this morning or I would not have allowed this. The problem with magic is when you mix magic you get unpredictable results. A soulbinding potion connects two people as if they were soulmates. It is a powerful but fragile magic. It is easily contaminated. That is why we never used it on Ranma before. Combined with Ranma's curse and his proximity to Akane it appears they have fused into one being." Cologne explained.
"We already know that! How do you undo it?" Nabiki snapped.
"I'm afraid I do not know. The potion is permanent as is Ranma's curse. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do."
"What? You can't leave us like this! I'll kill you, you bitch!" Rankane screamed.
Cologne dodged the clumsy strike and hit Rankane's sleep spot. He collapsed onto the couch. "He is only sleeping. It would not be good for him to be upset so early after the shock." She said in response to Nabiki's snarl.
"We will return to China. You will not be bothered again. Shampoo has in essence killed her husband and will be punished appropriately. Again I offer my sympathies."
Nabiki screamed and threw a lamp at the amazon who dodged it easily and pogoed out the back door and out of sight. She slumped to the ground next to Rankane and for the first time in years began crying.
* * * * * * * * * *
"I guess we're asleep again." Ranma commented. Akane and Ranma sat facing each other. The fragments of their lives were almost whole, great chunks of glass separated by cracks. Their whole lives laid out before each other.
"So this is a dream?" Akane asked rhetorically.
Ranma shrugged, "not like any dream I've ever been in. I can't believe we're stuck together forever."
"It could be worse." Akane said offhandedly.
"How could anything be worse than this?"
"Kuno could be here with us." Akane said flatly.
Ranma laughed humorlessly, "True. I guess there are worse things than being permanently stuck with someone you care about."
"You really do care don't you?"
Ranma scratched his head nervously, "Yeah, it's kinda hard to hide it here with all our memories exposed for the other to see."
"So why didn't you."
"Ever tell you? Because I was afraid. I killed someone just to save you, to keep you near me but I kept being a jerk to keep you at arms length because I was afraid of being hurt.if you didn't love me." Ranma said.
"I guess it didn't help that I was always pushing you away. I've always been afraid you'd turn out just all the other boys I'd ever met." Akane confessed.
"It didn't help that I was a sex changing freak did it?" Ranma laughed.
"No it didn't." Akane laughed back, "Do you know what it's like to know your fiancé has a better body than you do?"
"Yup." Ranma grinned, "Every time I look at you."
Akane blushed, "Baka."
"I'd love to stay here forever with you, just the two of us, but I think we need to find a way to separate ourselves back into two people." Ranma said after a moment of silence.
Akane nodded, "We need to wake up first."
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki was angrily trying to figure out the best way to convince the Chinese government to re-zone the Jusenkyou valley into a bombing range for their air force when she heard a small groan from the couch. Wiping her remaining tears away and setting her face in a cold expression she went over to check her sibling or was that brother in law?
"Is the old ghoul gone?" Rankane asked.
"She said she was taking Shampoo back to China to be punished for 'killing' her husband." Nabiki said venomously.
*It's about time she's out of our hair!"*
*Huh? Akane? I guess we've finally separated out like Dr. Tofu said.* Ranma chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Nabiki asked.
"Wha'? Oh, Akane's ecstatic that Shampoo's finally out of our hair." Ranma snickered at the pun.
"Akane's there!? Can I talk to her. Please Ranma, I need to see that my sister is all right!" Nabiki said frantically, all pretense of control fading.
"I'll try." Ranma said. *Akane? Can you talk to her? *
*It's no good. I can see out our eyes and hear what's going on but I can't move or speak.* She sighed.
*Let me try something.* Ranma felt that Akane was standing behind him when she 'spoke' to him so he imagined himself stepping back to let Akane forward.
Suddenly Ranma's body shifted to the red headed Akane form eliciting a gasp of surprise from Nabiki.
"I'm here Nabs." Akane smiled.
"Akane? Kasumi! Dad! Everyone! They're awake! Come quick!" Nabiki shouted.
Soon the family room was full. Kasumi and Soun, Nodoka and Genma. They all waited patiently for Akane to explain what was going on.
"Well, the first thing we remember was talking to Dr. Tofu. When he explained what had happened to us. Everything was all mixed up. It was funny, while our memories were sorting out I actually thought I was Ranma." Akane laughed. Her face got more serious with a touch of anger, "It wasn't that funny Ranma." she said.
"Ranma's still there?" Nodoka asked worriedly.
Akane nodded, "We can speak to each other in our head it seems. He's just watching everything right now like I was when we woke up."
"So when you changed." Nabiki began.
"That was us switching places I guess. Dr. Tofu could probably explain it better than I could. Hopefully he can find us a way to split apart again now that the Cologne has abandoned us."
"I'm working on it." Dr. Tofu said from behind them. "There was no answer at the door so I let myself in." He grinned.
"Hello Dr. Tofu." Akane said.
"So, Cologne was here. Did she have anything to offer?"
Akane shook her head. Nabiki described the encounter leaving out the part where she broke down in tears.
Dr. Tofu looked thoughtful, "Hmmm, a soulbinding potion. I've been going over the various cases where Ranma has been split in two before. I'm almost tempted to try the incense Happosai used to separate your male and female parts. I also remember something about the spring of drowned twins in Jusenkyou. It could theoretically split you apart. I need to do more research. In the meantime let me check you over now that you've recovered a bit."
He proceeded to go over the two in one again checking for possible disastrous side effects. With magic mixed like this there was always the possibility of something unexpected occurring. It was even possible the effects of the potion would wear off. After all it was never meant literally fuse two people together and that could put a serious strain on the spell. He had Akane and Ranma switch back and forth a few times to study the phenomenon before he finished up.
"Well, you seem to be in good health and there are no obvious side effects that could be dangerous to you. I would just try to live as normally as possible while I keep researching a way to fix this. With all the weird things that have happened in Nerima the last year I don't think anyone will be too shocked by this new development." Dr. Tofu said getting up. He excused himself and said goodbye before leaving back to his clinic.
It was about that time the food arrived. Akane's stomach growled ominously. She blushed embarrassed. She sat down in her and Ranma's place.
*Be careful Akane, you know how Pops gets around food. You will have to defend yourself.* Ranma coached.
She flashed out with her chopsticks surprising herself at the speed she was able to eat. She blocked every one of Genma's attempts on her food. Soon she was sitting back with her hand on her stomach feeling comfortably full.
*That was amazing! It looks like I got some of your speed in this form. I wonder what else we share now. Do you think I could do a ki attack?* Akane asked Ranma.
*Hmm, it's possible. I suggest we wait until at least tomorrow. Who knows what would happen if we started messing around with our ki so soon after this morning.*
*We could still go work out right? I feel the need to work off all this food.* Akane sighed and stood up.
*Sure we can work on our teamwork as well. If we're stuck this way for a while we might as well take advantage of it.* Ranma agreed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane sat in the middle of the dojo breathing heavily. *That was awesome! Now I know why you love the art so much if you can do that! *
Ranma laughed in the back of their mind, *You know, I regret not having trained you before this. Let me take over for a second. *
Akane stepped back and Ranma took charge. Their body flowed from female to male smoothly. "Hey, I don't feel tired at all!" He exclaimed.
*Maybe even though our bodies are fused, they are still separate in other ways. *
"Well, It's getting late and you should probably get some sleep after that workout. Oh, um, I guess we need to take a bath first." Ranma said feeling a deep blush to his toes.
*Pervert! * Akane teased, *We've already seen each other naked and we can't really bathe with our eyes closed can we? *
"Umm, well, I guess not. I'll make it quick then." Ranma said as they went to the furo.
*Besides, it's not as bad for a girl to see a guy naked as it is for a guy to see a girl. *
"Now who's the pervert." Ranma returned as he stripped and entered the furo proper.
After a quick bath without too much embarrassment, Ranma made his way up the stairs and went to slide open the door to the guest room.
*I'd rather sleep in my room. The bed is more comfortable than this worn futon. * Akane decided.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. This has been a weird day." Ranma turned and opened Akane's door.
He quickly stripped to his boxers and a tank top and climbed into bed. "Do you have a body preference to sleep in?" Ranma asked.
*I don't care. I'm too tired. We have school tomorrow and we need sleep. * Akane replied.
"School? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ranma was worried.
*Dr. Tofu said to keep to as normal a routine as we could. Besides, this is almost normal compared to some of the things that have happened around there in the past year. * Akane laughed.
"All right Akane. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love ya." Ranma yawned.
*I love you too my baka *
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane sat on a patch of grass underneath a tree looking out over a broad green field of flowers. She smiled in the peaceful serenity of the place.
"I wonder if I'm dreaming?" She said to herself.
Suddenly the scene shifted to sharp craggy mountains. Dark threatening clouds loomed overhead. Thunder and lightning flashed in the distance. The scene resolved showing Ranma fighting a glowing birdlike man. Akane wasn't really aware during Ranma's battle with Saffron but she recognized the phoenix god immediately.
Ranma sliced Saffron's arm off with his weapon only to watch in horror as it regenerated.
"You were foolish to challenge me boy! Now you shall suffer for your arrogance!" Saffron laughed maniacally.
Suddenly Ranma and Akane's families were all there surrounding Saffron. Saffron lashed out with a fireball blasting Kasumi to ash. He turned and quickly destroyed Nabiki and Nadoka as well. Ranma screamed as he watched helpless to stop the destruction around him. Even Ryouga, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Mousse were obliterated. Eventually all that was left was Ranma cradling Akane's limp form. He was crying freely.
"Akane! Please Akane wake up! I love you! Please don't die." He screamed.
"How pitifully weak you are." Taunted Saffron, "I think I'll put you out of my misery now."
The fireball engulfed Ranma and he screamed.
Akane shuddered as the dreamscape shattered and she was forcibly jolted awake. Ranma was screaming Akane's name as he stared sightlessly at the wall.
*Ranma! It was only a dream! I'm ok. Everyone is safe. You won. You defeated Saffron and saved me remember? * Akane tried to soothe Ranma. She cursed herself for not being able to reach out and hold him.
"A nightmare? Yeah, that's all it was. I'm ok now Akane." Ranma said calmly.
Akane could feel he was lying but decided not to press the issue.
The door burst open as everyone in the house tried to enter at once. Nabiki finally calmed everyone down and once it was clear that Ranma and Akane were ok (As ok as they could be given the situation) she shooed everyone out.
"You ok?" Nabiki asked.
Ranma shifted as Akane became dominate, "We'll be all right Nabs. Ranma just went back to sleep. He's been having nightmares about Jusendo."
Nabiki nodded in understanding. She may not have known the specifics but she knew post traumatic stress syndrome when she saw it.
"If he wants someone to talk to besides you he can come to me. No charge." Nabiki smiled.
Akane gave Nabiki a weird look.
"What? I can't show a little compassion? Besides, this is the least I can do after my wedding blunder." She waved a hand and left the room.
* * * * * * * * * *
Akane woke that morning feeling much better. It took her a few minutes to register what had happened the previous day. She stretched and grabbed her bath supplies. She'd just had a bath that night but felt the need to soak a bit before breakfast.
She realized then that Ranma was still asleep. Being the sound sleeper he was Akane realized she had at least another hour to herself. She planned on using it.
As she left her room she could hear the sounds of Kasumi in the kitchen downstairs. She went into the changing room and saw Nabiki's robe lying on the washing machine. The occupied sign was on the inner door. Shrugging, Akane knocked on the door.
"Nabiki? You mind if I come in and take a bath?"
Nabiki's voice sounded uncertain, "Uh, what about Ranma?"
"He's still asleep, you know how he likes to sleep in." Akane responded.
"If you're sure then ok."
Akane opened the door to see Nabiki up to her neck in the furo. Smirking, Akane proceeded to fill a bucket then dump it over herself. As she lathered up her hair she tried to decide what to tell the people at school.
"Nabiki? How do you think I should handle things at school?" Akane finally asked coming up with no ideas of her own.
Nabiki shook her head, "Why not try the truth? Kuno probably either won't believe it or will warp it to suit his own version of reality. The rest of the school will probably just figure it's par for the course on weirdness."
Akane chuckled, "Our lives have been pretty interesting since Ranma arrived haven't they?"
"Let's just hope this latest bit of weirdness isn't permanent."
Akane agreed and slipped into the furo to soak. She was mildly surprised when she realized she didn't turn into a guy. The two sisters talked of inconsequential things for a while until Akane felt Ranma beginning to stir.
Nabiki took this as her cue to get out of the tub and get dressed for breakfast.
*Yawn! Hey, how did we get into the furo? * Ranma asked in mild surprise.
"I woke up early and decided to take a bath. I wanted to let you sleep in after that nightmare last night. You want to talk about it?"
*Not really. * Ranma said evasively. *I will when I'm ready, I promise. *
"All right, I'll hold you to it. Let's get breakfast and get to school. Hopefully things will be quieter with Shampoo gone."
*Don't bet on it. Something else will come up. Ryouga will probably show up and blame me for everything again. *
"If he does, I want first crack at him. You're lucky I can't smack you myself at the moment for not telling me he was P-chan." Akane growled.
*Oh come on Akane! It was a matter of honor you know that. Besides, I dropped enough hints about it that even Kasumi picked it up after a couple of weeks. That and I tried to convince him to stop every time I could. * Ranma whined.
"That's why I'd only smack you not kill you outright. Although it is nice to see you get jealous, shows you really care." Akane teased as she dried off with a towel.
* * * * * * * * * *
Nabiki decided to walk with the couple to school. Akane decided to raid Ranma's wardrobe mainly because of Ranma kept yelling that he didn't want to wear a dress. It would be less embarrassing if they had to switch bodies anyway.
Akane was walking along the fence top like Ranma. Nabiki wasn't sure but it looked like Akane was having a silent conversation with Ranma. Akane kept gesturing with her hands as if she were talking.
"So what are you guys talking about?" Nabiki finally broke the silence.
Akane looked down at her sister and blushed, "Well... uh... Ranma was just wanting to know how we were going to do the wedding."
Nabiki smiled and shook her head. Why now of all times to decide to finally admit how they feel about each other? Do they have access to each others memories?
"You could probably do it in the United States. I read in one of those tabloids that a guy with multiple personalities married himself. Otherwise I'd say you two are closer now than anything a marriage could do for you."
Akane suddenly blushed and Ranma took over. He had a silly grin on his face.
"What?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity perked.
"Heh, I only asked how we'd go about having a family. I think she's hiding to keep from dying of embarrassment." Ranma said quietly. "Ouch Akane! Not so loud! All right, we'll let Dr. Tofu do some research before we make any long term plans."
* * * * * * * * * *
There were gasps of astonishment as Akane walked into the school grounds. Immediately people started gossiping about why Akane would make her hair up like Ranma's and why she was wearing Ranma's clothes.
Yuka and Sayuri, Akane's two friends, ran up to Akane, "What's going on Akane? Why are you dressed up like Ranma?" Sayuri asked.
"Hey, is he going to come dressed up as you?" Yuka asked.
Akane shook her head, "It's a long story. I'll tell you all about it at lunch. That is unless you hear it through the Nabiki grapevine first." She turned to look where her sister was surrounded by students all holding money.
"I think we can wait until lunch." Yuka said.
"Yeah, besides, it's cheaper." Sayuri agreed.
Suddenly, "Pigtailed girl! You have come to me at last! Come let us away together lest the fiend Saotome bring you to heel once again." Kuno continued on for a few more seconds before something began nagging for his attention. "Pigtail... Akane?" Kuno stopped as unused gears in his brain started moving, disturbing a nest of squirrels and causing a small fire as a lightbulb shattered. "That Fiend! Somehow Saotome has fused my two loves into one person!" Stop, pause... "Oh joyous day! Now I can truly date you both at once!"
Kuno stopped talking soon after that as Akane tried out some of her new skills on Kuno. She was impressed by her newfound speed and agility and actually drew out her beating of Kuno by an extra thirty seconds over her usual time just for the heck of it.
As Akane stomped off into the school Ranma made his presence known, *That's just creepy. Although even when Kuno's right he still got it wrong.*
Akane giggled and hurried to class.
* * * * * * * * * *
School was surprisingly uneventful. Most people figured Akane had finally just given in and accepted she was head over heels in love with Ranma and was doing some sort of hero worship. There were some rumors that Ranma and Akane had switched bodies and Ranma was using Akane's body as if it were his own. Lunch time brought its own problems in the form of Kuno followed by Ukyou.
Akane was sitting with Yuka and Sayuri explaining the events leading up to today when Kuno came to proclaim his love once again. Akane of course beat him soundly and punted the unconscious lunatic into the school pool. Ukyou however wasn't as easily disuaded.
"Where's Ranma?" She asked with a touch of anger in her voice. She figured she didn't need the meek humble attitude she gave Ranma to deal with Akane.
Akane cocked her head as if listening to someone, "Ok Ranma, you deal with her. I'll trust you not to screw it up."
With a morphing sequence that would have cost George Lucas a couple million dollars, Akane shifted to Ranma, "So what exactly did you want Ukyou?"
Ukyou stood with her mouth gaping for a couple minutes. As her brain tried to work on what she'd just seen her mouth tried to operate on its own. What came out was a barely audible squeak. Suddenly she snapped her mouth shut as a look of comprehension dawned, "Oh, my God! Kuno was right!"
Ranma recovered from a near facefault and shook his head. "Yeah, something that Shampoo did interacted with my curse while I was near Akane and we were fused."
Ukyou felt her anger rise, "That bitch, I'll kill her!"
Ranma shrugged, "Cologne already took care of her. I hope they don't kill her for what happened. I don't care Akane, no one deserves to die for a mistake like that." Ranma responded to the unheard question.
"Akane can still talk to you?" Ukyou asked.
"Yeah, this is what happened..." Ranma began.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Well she took it better than I had hoped." Akane said.
*Well, she should have known how we felt about each other even before the failed wedding. * Ranma replied.
"How could she, we didn't even know." Akane countered. They were walking to Dr. Tofu's office after school to see if he'd found anything during the day.
As they entered Dr. Tofu called out, "Akane, Ranma, come on back to my office would you?"
Dr. Tofu sat at his desk with about ten old books and scrolls of various types strewn about, "I've been going over every bit of Jusenkyou lore I've gathered since you came to Nerima Ranma. I'm sorry to say I'm still not sure of a way to separate the two of you however I need to look you over again.
"Why is something the matter doctor?" Akane asked.
Dr. Tofu led the two as one into the examination room and had them sit down on the table, "I'm not sure, I hope it's nothing."
Dr. Tofu lit some incense and started probing them and trying to get a good view of their auras. Akane was dominant so the aura was a bright red, Ranma's aura was blue and clung tightly to the skin. Where the two auras met swirled in a violent chaos of purple. Dr. Tofu looked deeper and saw the threads of the spell of Jusenkyou magic and how it was tangled with the threads of the soulbinding potion. As he watched, one of the threads crumbled and disappeared. This was met with a flare of combined auras in that spot.
The doctor sadly shook his head, "It's as I feared. The combined spells are failing. I give it a month before the combined Jusenkyou, soulbinding potion magic completely fails."
"That's a good thing right?" Ranma asked, assuming control.
"Unfortunately no, when the spells wear off whatever form you are in at the time will become permanent, also both personalities with merge. You'll become one person, neither Akane or Ranma."
Ranma turned white, "There's gotta be something you can do! At the least find a way to remove my personality, let Akane have the body. No Damn it! Akane, it's my fault you're stuck with me like this in the first place. Promise me doc, if you can't split us at least let Akane try to live her life normally."
Dr. Tofu sat down heavily in a nearby chair, "Ranma, I wouldn't even know where to begin on something like that. Even if I could bring myself to find a way I could never do anything to harm you."
Ranma broke down, tears that had been threatening to fall suddenly turned loose, "I'm sorry Akane. Your life would have better if you'd never met me."
*Baka! Even if that were true, I still love you. We'll find a way to deal with this, together.*
"Ranma, Give me another week or two and then we'll try some different ideas. I don't see how we could make the situation any worse."
Ranma nodded and withdrew leaving Akane in charge, "Thank you doctor. I know you'll do your best." She got up and left the clinic.
"I only hope it's enough." Tofu said quietly.
* * * * * * * * * *
A couple of nights (and a few Kuno beatings) later, Akane found herself once more on the dreamscape. It was bright and sunny. She looked out over a wide green field surrounded on all sides by tall trees. The smell of spring was in the air. She walked slowly, just enjoying the quiet. Idly, she wondered where Ranma was, they hadn't seen each other face to face since that first day and night so she was starting to miss him. Granted they talked all the time but it wasn't the same. She wished she could hold him and comfort him, maybe even... she broke off that line of thought with a blush. It would never happen anyway she sighed.
Her thoughts were interrupted as dark clouds began to gather overhead. She watched in horror as the grassy field dried up and turned to barren cracked clay. The trees crumbled into dust that blew away on a foul wind. The ground suddenly thrust upwards and Akane found herself on top of a mountain. Jusendo. It was happening again. Ranma's nightmare was taking over. Akane looked frantically for Ranma, finally spotting him higher up the slope. There was a flare of light and Akane saw Saffron take to the air. something was different this time. Saffron was covered in a dark golden fur. Everything was catlike, his hands ending in foot long claws.
There were no taunts or threats this time. Saffron attacked with a bestial ferocity so that all Ranma could so was dodge. Akane realized why Ranma wasn't fighting back, she saw herself being held to Ranma's chest but not as a doll. A large figure came out of the shadows and Akane looked in shock as a gargantuan panda at least six stories high came into view. It laughed long and hard at Ranma, "You're getting soft boy. Maybe it's time to retrain you." With that, Genma threw a long rope of fish sausage around Ranma and dream-Akane. Saffron sniffed the air and smiled. Somehow he began stalking Ranma while in the air. Ranma screamed in frustration trying to get the sausage off.
Then came a low meowing. Ranma's eyes opened wider as hundreds of small purple cats came out of the darkness and converged on them. Ranma and the dream-Akane disappeared under a pile of purple fur. That was too much for Akane, she ran forward and started throwing cats away into the darkness. The cats broke away after the first five or six and darted off wherever they came from. Akane stood there stunned looking down at Ranma. Ranma was holding someone who was neither Akane nor Ranma but a conglomeration of the two.
"My fault, all my fault." Ranma chanted over and over.
Akane kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Ranma, startling him, "It's ok Ranma, I'm here. This is really me. We're dreaming, it's not real. That's not real." Akane pointed to the figure in Ranma's arms and it faded away.
"Akane? Dreaming? I-I-I'm sorry." He grabbed Akane in a bearhug.
Akane held Ranma gently as he cried on her shoulder. She looked up to see Panda-Genma and Saffron still there but frozen as if someone had paused a movie. She shook her head and thought about how everything looked before. She blinked her eyes and they were once again in the field.
She held Ranma a while longer until he drifted off into a deeper sleep out of REM and he faded from her arms. Akane took this as her cue and tried to get some more rest herself.
* * * * * * * * * *