Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections
A. V. Morgan
Part Twenty-Two: Variations on a Girl and Her Curse
Even though it was a Wednesday night, and thus deep in the middle of the work week, Ranko was not the only well dressed young lady hanging on a man's arm waiting for the train. While Ryouga and herself were much younger than the majority of those crowding the platform, they were not the youngest. This fact drew a few unpleasant looks and muttered comments from Nodoka, who clammed up and smiled if either of her charges glanced over at her. It was kind of unnerving, since she was far enough away to give them the illusion of privacy, but far too close for Ranko to feel comfortable speaking openly to Ryouga. She sighed and looked down. She had intended to lay down a few rules with Ryouga, and draw him out on the subject of past… misunderstandings, but it all had too much to do with Ranma. If his name so much as tickled their lips, the woman would perk up and lean in hungrily to catch any tidbit she could about her son. Ranko glanced at the boy beside her, reading the discomfort on his face as he struggled against the urge to pace. The problem being that part about turning at each end. He would be mortified if he took a wrong turn at one extreme and ended up lost right at the start of his date.
He glanced back at Nodoka, who grinned and waved at him.
"I appreciate her helping out with reservations and such," he commented aside to Ranko. "I just wish she wasn't watching our every move."
"I hear ya, Man," she glanced over and then back. "Look out," she barked, shoving him roughly around to her left. A spray of water flashed through his after image, followed by the bottle that had been kicked into the air by some leather clad punk. She glared in his direction, catching his eye easily, while Ryouga panted in shock and irritation.
"Dammit! That's the fifth time!"
"Sheesh. Last thing I want is for Mom to see a curse in action!"
"You'd think under a covered train platform, where no food or drinks are allowed, I'd be safe!" he grumbled, as Ranko kept him from going over to "speak" with the jerk who had almost doused him.
"Don't. He's just a stupid punk."
"Yeah, but I don't like the way he's lookin' at you."
Ranko stared at him, then glared. Before she could yell at him, she choked herself off and turned to stare down at the tracks. Getting mad at him for treating her like a girl was extremely stupid. Especially considering how worried she had been that he would not be able to see past her history as Ranma. She tightened her fist and controlled her breathing. She was about to do the impossible—or turn around and thank him—when she noticed something in the crowd. It was hard to catch all of it, but she distinctly saw a water bottle wrapped in a wad of yen being passed between two people, who had their heads together in the shadows. They were concealed for a moment as the tide of bodies between her and them shifted, but a moment later, the crowd parted and she could clearly make out the form of Nabiki Tendo. Catching Ranko's eye, she grinned, pulled another water bottle out of her backpack, opened it impudently and took a long swallow.
"I don't believe it!"
"What?" Ryouga focused in on Ranko's face as the anger in her voice registered. He noticed her staring off into the crowd and followed her gaze. He quickly spotted Nabiki. "Nabiki? What's she doing here?"
"It looks like she's paying people to splash you with water, Pork-butt!"
"Hey!" That sounded like the Ryouga she knew! Oops.
"Sorry. Habit!" she bowed her head meekly, keeping her eyes on Nabiki.
"Break it!" he ordered, glaring.
Ranko sighed and kicked herself mentally. "Why is she trying to sabotage our date?" she wondered, leading him back on topic.
Ryouga shrugged. A moment later he groaned and fixed Nabiki with a glare that could break stones. Ranko twitched and reminded herself to never, ever give him an idea like that. It was bad enough when he did that at close range! She poked him, silently demanding an answer and he sighed. "Now I know what she meant when she offered to sell me insurance for our date!"
"Great!" Ranko snarled. "Just great! What else can go wrong!?"
"Ranko!" Ryouga glared at her in warning. It was too late.
Nabiki suddenly turned and scampered out of sight just in time to avoid the spill of human bodies upended as Kuno rushed onto the platform, racing straight at the two of them. By some common instinct, the mob rapidly cleared that entire section of the platform. Ranko took one look down at what she was wearing and despaired. There was no way she could fight in this dress. Not unless she hiked it up around her waist to free her legs. Even as she grimaced and started to gather the fabric in her hands, her mother suddenly appeared between her and the charging kendoist. Ranko was momentarily blinded as the silk wrapping of her family's honor blade fluttered free before her, then she was jerking Ryouga down to keep him from being beheaded as the naked blade swung free of its scabbard.
"Whoops! Mustn't drop it!" Nodoka cried, losing her grip.
"Oh shit!" Ranko wondered if anywhere was safe.
"Do not fear, my beloved Pig-Tailed Goddess! I have come to rescue you from the foul clutches of that cretin, Habiki!" Kuno gushed.
"Gyaaaa!" Ryouga saw the flash of live steel dance in front of his nose and cringed as it whipped madly around, by chance or by pure malice coming within inches of cleaving, slashing or skewering the dozen people lingering too close in curiosity, who darted away in instant terror. Nodoka finally got control of the weapon and steadied it in front of her.
"Oh dear! It seems Nerima just never changes! Smooth down your dress! I will protect you, Ranko-chan!" Nodoka braced herself before Kuno, surprised with the speed with which she had been moved by her maternal instincts. The very notion of allowing Ranko to hike up her dress for battle had spurred her instantly to action. However good a fighter, a young lady simply could not be allowed to do battle in her panties!
"Mo-! A-auntie N-No-Nodoka!" Ranko tried to stop her. To her shock, Kuno responded instinctively to an opponent wielding a sword and launched into a devastating series of attacks. Even more surprising, the wild blade danced in her mother's hands, casually deflecting all of his strikes.
"At last! A worthy opponent rises against the Blue Thunder!"
"Oh Dear! I really must remember to practice with this thing more often!" Nodoka cried, somewhat embarrassed but not the least upset by the kendoist's onslaught. Strangely, as the fury of Kuno's attack left her with no room to think, her swordsmanship suddenly shifted into precise, complex and devastating form. In the blink of an eye, her defense solidified. Then, with two quick movements, Kuno's bokan was flying back over the crowd and Kuno was suddenly grasping at his hakama to keep it from dropping around his ankles.
"That- that was incredible!" he gasped, eyes crossed upon the point of the blade hovering at the end of his nose. Ranko and Ryouga stared at Nodoka in absolute disbelief. Their eyes met in silent consensus. The word they would have used was "impossible".
"Oh! I am so sorry!" Nodoka gasped in shock at herself. "I- I- Forgive me for meeting you with a live blade, but, you see, I simply could not allow you to attack my daught- Ranko-chan!"
Ranko snapped her eyes back to her mother. Did she know!?
"Y- you are the mother of the glorious Pig-Tailed-Girl!?" Kuno stared.
"I- Well, actually…"
"No. I can see the resemblance. Truly you are a woman of great nobility, to best a great warrior such as myself with the sword! Alas," he frowned and sighed, "there is a misunderstanding. I could never bring myself to attack one so vibrant, so pure as your daughter!"
"Except for EVERY FREAKIN' TIME YOU SEE ME!!!" Ranko shouted right in his face, flushing with anger.
Nodoka, oblivious to that, stuttered, "Ah… well… actually… I don't have a daughter. Oh, how I wish… but no."
Kuno and Ranko turned to stare at her, confused by her statements. There was a frightened, hopeful look on Ranko's face. Nodoka paused to study her, conscious of the fact that she had not intended to reveal her feelings for the girl. Unfortunately, in the heat of the moment, she had betrayed herself. Ranko looked at her, eyes moist, clearly afraid of what she might say. Nodoka stepped forward and put her hand on the girl's shoulder and looked her in the eye.
"I wish you were my daughter," she smiled cautiously, hoping the girl would not reject this overture. She seemed so desperate for a mother. "I suppose it's time I admitted that to you." Ranko seemed speechless, but the fear and anxiety seemed to wash out of her. Nodoka sighed and turned to Kuno. "If, as you claim, you mean this girl no harm, how do you explain this attack?"
Kuno straightened himself, and finished retying the waist of his hakama. "My Lady. I am saddened to learn you are not this girl's mother, for sooth, I would at once beg for her hand in marriage!"
"Y- you want to marry Ranko?" Nodoka stammered in surprise. She turned to stare at the girl, well aware of how modest and feminine she looked now. Considering how she habitually presented herself, Nodoka had despaired of her having any suitors, not to mention one so well spoken and cultured as this! "I was not aware that she was in such a relationship! Do you claim to be courting her?"
"Indeed, I would say nothing else! E're now we have dated several times. Most recently the day before last!"
"And you have proposed to her?" she covered her mouth in concern.
"Nay, as I have yet to learn of her true parentage, I have instead taken upon myself the task of protecting her from the unspeakable depredations foisted upon her by curs like him," he pointed at Ryouga. Turning to face the lost boy, he accused, "Often have I heard of you seeking to force your attentions upon young women, most notably the fair Akane Tendo! I will not permit you to defile the immaculate beauty of my fair goddess!"
"K- Kuno!" Ranko could hardly speak, she was so irate.
Ryouga growled and began to stalk towards the kendoist. "I should kill you for saying such things!" he spat, beginning to glow a menacing purple. "No one has done more to demean and offend her than you!"
"Ha! It is to laugh! Truly you are lost if you do not know that your rival, your most hated foe, did warp and exploit their curse to bind her to him! Even so far as to force her to assume his name and dress in his clothes!"
"WHAT!!!" Nodoka reared up above the boys, enshrouded in a column of flames. She stared at Ranko, nailing her with a look that sent a chill into her heart. "Do you speak of Ranma Saotome!?"
"I could speak of no other, I assure you, Madame!"
Nodoka heaved several angry breaths, still staring at Ranko. "What is this curse you speak of!?" she demanded.
Kuno turned and studied her. He bowed his head, "It would be unseemly to speak of such a thing, especially before the girl herself. Honor forbids me from speaking on this matter without her leave."
Nodoka turned her glare on him and he visibly quailed. "Absolutely. However, as it happens that Ranma Saotome IS my son, and you have impugned his character with this accusation, I would think it wise that you beg her leave to speak of it, so you may explain this insult to my family's honor!"
Poor Kuno could not contain himself. This women, this noble lady who had bested him with the sword, was the mother to his hated rival? Having seen the boy's father he had naturally been confidant in Saotome's low birth, but, here before him stood a vision of grace and beauty and fire even his beloved Pig-Tailed-Goddess paled beside. He swallowed with great difficulty, and turned to Ranko. "Pig-Ta…"
"Her name is Ranko! Do her the courtesy of using it!"
"Ra-Ranko," he gulped, stammered and pushed on, "I beg your leave…"
"You mean to tell her what Nabiki told you for FORTY MILLION YEN!?"
He swallowed hard again and nodded.
Ranko smiled at the glare he got from her mother for that admission. No doubt Nabiki would hear about this too. Summoning up all the ice she could, which was impressive enough with the Soul of Ice technique at her disposal, she glared at him. "I didn't wanna mess up Ranma's life by revealing the nature of the curse afflicting… us. I won't let you spill it just to attack Ranma. After all, you admitted to his face, he's just a victim, like me, so he's really innocent of all that crap you always accuse him of, right Kuno?" Kami, she hoped this went off right. While it was a lie, it was safer than the truth could ever be, and it would not come from her lips.
Nabiki, who had edged forward to listen to this confrontation stared at Ranko with carefully hidden respect. Occasionally, hints of a brain emerged, but this was quite different. Nabiki decided she must finally be rubbing off on the girl. She had admired how Ranko maneuvered the situation, explicitly identifying the rumor Nabiki herself had created and using it to evade the fatal truth. Better, she forced Kuno to recant his accusations about Ranma, removing the stain to his honor in her mother's eyes. If she kept this up, Nabiki would have to start keeping a serious eye on her.
Kuno turned to Nodoka and cleared his throat. "From the day I became acquainted with Ranma Saotome and the… and Ranko, I was concerned about the connection between them. Though he had stolen the affections of the noble Tendo Akane…" he paused as he remembered that the engagement he so strenuously opposed had been arranged by their parents. It might not be a good idea to speak ill of that. "Ahem. Though he was… engaged… to Akane, he seemed to…" he glanced at Ranko nervously. "He seemed to be, ah, somewhat intimately involved with, er, Ranko."
Nodoka turned to look at Ranko, who blushed, remembering the lewd imagery Kuno had evoked, protesting Nabiki's revelation that she and Ranma were as one body and soul. She also remembered Nodoka questioning her about her affection for Ranma. She swallowed nervously.
Kuno swallowed some air and continued, "I endeavored to intercede, hoping to free Ranko from Ranma's influence. It was unspeakable for a girl of her beauty and passion to be bound so utterly to his influence, even to the point of assuming his name, his manner—even his wardrobe—and fighting in his battles! Though I ached to know her name, her true identity, she was compelled to insist that she must answer to HIS name!"
Nodoka was really staring at Ranko now, who trembled a little, but could not utter a word. Silently she begged the insufferable windbag to get to the point and clear up this mess!
"Why?" Nodoka gasped, grabbing her and forcing Ranko to meet her gaze. "I can see by your face you do not dispute these claims! Why are you so intimate with my son!?"
Ranko just could not speak. Even Nabiki bit her lip and shook her head when the Saotome matriarch glanced at her. Kuno finally came through, "I asked that every night for months, until at last I learned the horrible truth. Though I know not the exact cause, and I must beg you believe as I speak of magics most dark and foul, I tell you it is a curse."
Nodoka looked puzzled and studied his face. The conviction there and in his words was disturbing. "Magic? A curse?"
"Alas, though it would be a far better thing than to contemplate such a possibility, in this past year I have myself witnessed such things of legend and lore that I cannot deny the influence of magic, even in this modern world. Thus, your son and this brave girl did somehow encounter some dangerous artifact that has bound their fates to each other. It is a damnable curse, that drives them to seek love, though it denies them any hope of loving each other. I have learned that were they to be separated from each other, or dare to embrace each other as lovers, they must perish," Kuno cried, sagging to the ground.
Nodoka gasped. "Is this true?"
Nabiki cleared her throat and stepped forward, "I don't know how to explain it better, but the facts are certain. The boy we call Ranma, and the girl we call Ranko are bound together spiritually. If one were to die tonight, the other would certainly follow. The intimacy they share is not what you might think, though it is part of their curse to know more and less of each other than lovers. I suppose you could say, they were so close that Ranko had to deny her own femininity to protect Ranma's masculinity," Nabiki dared with inspired genius. Oh, the three were going to owe her big time for this!
Nodoka heard that and whipped around to Ranko. She opened and closed her mouth in shock a few times before she got out, "Is this truly the reason for how you dress and act?"
Ranko actually laughed in honest relief, "Actually, yeah."
"You sacrificed your own womanhood to protect my son's manliness?" Nodoka was flabbergasted. She could not, in her own odd way of viewing things, think of a more noble sacrifice a girl could make. "And yet, you do not love my son?" it seemed implausible.
Ranko sighed, "I suppose you can't understand it just looking at it. With the curse it's like… like we're the same person. So, yeah, I guess I do love him, but it's like loving myself. I wouldn't want to be… you know… with him. It just wouldn't be… right… somehow."
Nodoka stepped close and fingered the dress Ranko was wearing, remembering the many times she had nagged Ranko into more feminine clothing and manners. Strangely, it was at such a time that her son had appeared acting in the most unmanly fashion. If what she was hearing was true, then she was actually partly at fault for her son's perversity. After all, if the curse forced Ranko to dress as her son, might it not also force her son to dress as Ranko? How horrifying. "But, what does this mean? Should I believe then, that because I encouraged you to dress like this and date… my son might…!?"
Ranko hastily cut her off, "NO!" She grabbed Nodoka's hands and looked her in the eye. "No, Mo- Auntie! No. We're working on a cure, and this is just part of testing it. Right now he is with Akane and I assure you, he is being very manly!"
"Did you almost call me 'Mom'?" Nodoka blinked.
Ranko sighed, "I- I… well, I guess it's safe enough to tell you now. I don't have a mother besides you. I mean, you know, through Ranma," she hastily corrected.
Nodoka stared at her in sudden sadness. "No mother? Oh you poor child!" she grabbed the girl and hugged her to herself. She had been right! The girl had needed her all along. Perhaps she was not her true daughter, but from what she had sacrificed for her son, she had proven herself worthy of being part of the family. As she hugged the girl, Ranko was doing her best not to cry as she crossed the threshold between her true identity and the one she had finally adopted. She almost lost it when her mother softly asked her, "Would it please you to have a mother? To be my daughter?"
After a moment, as she got her breathing and trembling under control, she pulled back and looked at Nodoka. "I- I would like that. I- I have wanted that since I met you, I guess. But," she turned away and looked at Ryouga. "I'm not entirely free of the curse yet. Your son and I could both be lost to you at any time because of it. Maybe… maybe it is best if we wait until it's broken before we consider something like that."
Nodoka looked puzzled. Ryouga picked up the silk wrapping that normally concealed her sword and handed it to her. Without thinking, she sheathed the weapon and quickly bundled it up. Looking at the girl the entire time, it was obvious that there was something else bothering her. Something that had not been said. "Why would it be necessary to wait?"
Ranko considered things carefully. What they had told her mother was a lie. There were elements of truth in it, but by deceiving her things could very easily blow up in everyone's face. Sighing, she turned back, "This isn't the first time we've thought we'd found a cure. This one comes with a price we might not be able to pay. Ranma and I, we might survive this cure, but a part of us could die. The only sure way to prevent that is to allow the curse to become…" she cut herself off. "It would change the curse to something you might not care to know of. If it came to that, the only other cure I know of would… save your son's life."
Nodoka paused for a moment to parse that statement. Then her eyes got wide. "What about you?"
"I… you can't lose a daughter you don't have," she turned away. "I'm not saying it has to come to that, but for people like you and Akane… If it came down to it, you'd need him more than me. That's just the way it is." There was silence all around her, painful silence shared by Ryouga, Kuno and Nodoka, and sober quiet from Nabiki. For several long moments, no one spoke, then Ranko turned and smiled at everyone, "Hey! I think our train's here! Come on, Ryouga! We need to get a move on, I am absolutely starving!"
Nabiki looked at the cheerful red-head dragging Ryouga over to the edge of the platform and turned to look at Kuno. He was staring at the girl as if he feared she might be just an illusion. "The sad thing, Kuno, is that she's right. She'd sacrifice everything for Ranma. She doesn't really have a choice."
"Wh- why?" he babbled, still too stunned by the revelation, and what it implied, to pursue her onto the train that was pulling up. Nodoka had hastened away from the two sophomores to take charge of the young couple, pushing aside the horrible revelations she had just absorbed, taking her cue from Ranko and smiling in anticipation of the night's delights. She had not given the Kendoist a second look. Still, she had not forgotten his proposal. He seemed to have some concerning issues, but it was not hard to see the real reason he had insulted her son. How could any boy resist such a selfless, passionate girl?
"Come on, Kuno-chan. I better drag you on home."
In the wake of the battle in the park, the witnesses and participants quickly retreated back to Dr. Tofu's clinic. An air of tense confusion subdued them to the exchange of puzzled and worried glances and a number of aborted attempts to speak to the girl who had proven herself to be Fa Shen. She returned Akane's searching look with a friendly smile and a hesitant look of recognition, but avoided her because of Ranma who remained close to her side the entire way. Shampoo and Ukyo were too busy arguing under their breath, and Fa Shen put more distance between herself and all four teens when she heard the name "Ranma" a few too many times. It seemed strange to her to be identified as someone she had no memory of having ever been. That was enough to suggest that she had not been a victim of Xi Fa Xiang Gao shiatsu. A person did not forget what happened to them while under its influence. They only forgot what was locked away by the technique. So, her symptoms were closer to those of demonic possession. At least, if she was willing to believe that she had spent enough time living as "Ranma" to establish the identity in people's minds. As she followed Cologne into the clinic, she sighed and shook her head.
"I don't understand what is going on," she complained aloud.
Cologne glanced back at her thoughtfully, then directed her to resume her perch on the examination table while the others filed in around them. Fa Shen did so, frowning at the twitching body that still lay on the other half of the table. One hand shot out from the charred form of Happosai, straining to touch the pretty girl he sensed near him. Settling on the very edge to keep her distance, Fa Shen turned to look at Cologne, who had settled on a stool at her knee and waited for her attention. After studying the girl for a long moment, she cleared her throat and jogged the girl's memory.
"Do you remember what I was saying, before we were interrupted?"
Fa Shen nodded. "You asked me if I remembered the last time I'd gone to Jusenkyo." She blushed, remembering her panic when the physician, Tofu, had referred to his study of Jusenkyo and she feared he was about to reveal she had been cursed. If she remembered correctly, that was one way to obtain a new personality and suffer prolonged blackouts. She found herself breaking out into a cold sweat. She noticed that once more she was the center of troubled and indirect attention.
"And?" Cologne prompted.
"I visited it with my mother a few years ago," she replied easily, remembering their return from the Emperor's Court. Her mother had shown her the springs and revealed that one of them might unlock the potential her training had failed to tap. Fa Shen had considered what her mother told her and concluded that no amount of power was worth embracing a curse that would turn her into a man. Rather than speak of that, she reminded her elder, "You know we are forbidden to enter the accursed valley without special permission."
"Also, in times of need, warriors are allowed to use the springs to confound the enemy," Cologne corrected gently, smiling.
"Of course. Only a warrior of great skill can cross the valley with impunity," Fa Shen returned, remembering her training. It was a common tactic for amazon warriors to retreat from conflicts with overwhelming numbers by leading them into the valley of accursed springs. Another warrior might be able to pursue across the bamboo poles, but he would still have to be cautious, and mere soldiers were doomed if they dared to march through the springs.
"Have you ever had occasion to use this path of retreat?"
"I don't th…" Fa Shen trailed off, her eyes narrowing as she sensed the deliberation of these questions. Cologne was not seeking information from her. She already had it. She was prompting Fa Shen to recognize that information for herself. That meant… With widening eyes, she gasped, "Yes. I did."
With that admission, she felt a door opening in her mind. The hunting party she had been assigned to had stumbled into an ambush. They had fought their way free, but hundreds of Musk warriors were pursuing them. Fa Shen had felt that the traditional escape route would not work, but the senior member of the party silenced her and led them, and their enemies, to the source of their conflict. The image of rushing through the forest, breaking into the clear to see all of Jusenkyo spreading out under a thick blanket of fog, played through her inner eye. The tops of the poles could be seen above the dense layer of moisture. For a moment, that had made her feel hopeful. All but the best of their pursuers would think twice about daring a crossing under such conditions.
"Do you remember what happened?" Cologne's voice intruded on the memory. Fa Shen refocused her gaze on the old woman, and felt the back of her mind screaming for her not to look for an answer.
Unfortunately, the scene was already playing out. Her people had been mistaken to believe they had discovered the identities of all the traitors in their midst. They had missed dozens; girls who had secretly been boys the entire time they had been growing up. How did this happen? The Musk had tempted amazon mothers who desired strong daughters, offering the use of the Chisuiiton to seal the forbidden transformations. Later, those girls were approached and confronted with their true nature, pressured into acting as spies for the Musk. Her friends. Why had they betrayed her? Because her enemy, her nemesis, had control of the power to lock and unlock their curses. And what had been their reward for leading her into this trap in Jusenkyo? They had been denied the touch of the Kaisuifuu, laughed at and mocked by men who were descended from animals. She shuddered. Not just mocked, but raped. All of them had been raped. Except for herself. She closed her eyes and covered her face.
"I died," she finally answered in a small voice. "…" She had opened her mouth to speak, but no words would form. She was trapped in the final moments of her life, as they played out in her memory. Her eyes locked on the boy her rage had focused on, and she saw a reflection of her own horror, as if he too could see her death unfolding. The girl beside him, Akane, stared at her in painful sympathy. Fa Shen stared around and looked at the rest, and discovered that none of them were truly shocked by her revelation. They all knew. They saw her, talked to her, touched her or even fought with her, but they had known all along that she was dead. The implication hit her like an avalanche. Curling up on herself, hugging her knees to her chest and staring at the unfamiliar clothes she had awakened wearing, she fought to keep from screaming. Words finally came spilling out in a rush, "I don't understand. I mean, I should have realized when I found myself in such a strange land. Everything is unfamiliar. Is this the after life?" She focused on the teens in the room and tried to console herself with the fact that she was not the only one struck down so young.
"No child. This is the future." Cologne's simple statement rang in the silence for a moment. Fa Shen swallowed and jerked around to stare at her incredulously.
"Wha- How can that be?" she cried, the numb acceptance that had only just begun to form shattered by the ridiculous assertion.
Cologne sighed and proceeded to tell her the history of the world she had grown up in. Speaking of her own birth twelve-hundred years after Fa Shen's death, and growing up with the legends of past heroines and the particular legend of the prodigy no one could forget, because so many had been cursed in her image over the ages. A virgin girl who was, through those surrogates, the mother to hundreds and ancestor of thousands. A girl who, according to the rarest legends of Jusenkyo, might one day be resurrected through one of those cursed by her grave. Then, while the girl was struggling to deal with that, the old woman mentioned the birth of a boy named Ranma Saotome, sketching his brief life, the torturous training he underwent, and the foolish decision of the father to take his son to Jusenkyo.
"So, this young man was knocked into the spring where you perished. Like so many before him, but few in his generation, he took your form. When I first saw him, I recognized the possibility and watched him as commanded by your mother's last wish. I held little hope of your resurrection, I confess, because I could not imagine you being reincarnated as a foreigner or a male. I see now my own pride blinded me," Cologne concluded.
Fa Shen sat there stiffly, struggling against belief, but as her resistance began to collapse she was left to confront the final implications of the Matriarch's tale. The key to her resurrection was her reincarnation, who and what she was in the present tense. She flushed darkly then went cold all over. She stretched out and looked at herself, and suddenly realized why her clothes fit her so terribly. They were cut for a taller person, with rather different proportions. "I- I'm a BOY!?" she gasped jumping to her feet. "NO!!!"
"In that body," Cologne interrupted her, trying to calm her by explaining, "only when you are doused with hot water." She made a gesture and Fa Shen whipped around to see Dr. Tofu standing there with a pitcher of water. Before she could object, he raised it over her head and poured. She felt the hot water, and an itching tingle passing through her body. Something like a bolt of lightening shot through her nervous system. She convulsed and began to drop unconscious. The reaction was as fast as the transformation, and as Tofu lunged forward to catch the drenched boy, he seemed to regain his balance and clap his hands to his head.
"Oh, my head!" he moaned, obviously reeling in confusion. Centering himself, and bracing one hand on the edge of the examination table, he squinted up at everyone, "What happened?"
"Fa Shen?" Dr. Tofu inquired cautiously.
"Fa…?" the boy stared with wide eyes, unutterable disbelief on his face.
"Ranma?" the doctor tried again, looking more concerned.
"Oh no. I turned into her, didn't I?" Ranma-kun moaned.
"Quite entirely. How very peculiar that she'd just vanish like that." Dr. Tofu frowned and set the pitcher down. Everyone was staring at Ranma-kun in confusion, though the teens all showed obvious relief. Before anyone could say anything, Dr. Tofu picked up the pitcher beside the one he had just set down and tipped it over the boy's head, dousing him in cold water.
"Hey! What did you do that for?" Ranma-chan snapped, blinking the water out of her eyes angrily and pulling the fabric plastered to her breasts away from her skin. By pure reflex, she began to wring her shirt and pants out while Tofu studied her curiously.
"Fa Shen?" he asked experimentally. The girl jerked and glared at him.
"You tried to turn me back into her!?" she shouted, indignant.
"Where did she go?" Akane covered her mouth after blurting the question on everyone's mind. There was another round of confused looks and shrugs. Cologne was frowning intently, as Dr. Tofu rubbed his chin in thought. Though concern remained on everyone's face, there was more on the minds of those two than just relief that the old Ranma had not been utterly lost.
"This is not good," Cologne met the doctor's eye. She ignored the glare from the cursed girl and stated her conclusion. "They're operating as two separate personalities."
Dr. Tofu nodded and set the second pitcher down. Ukyo swallowed and edged forward. It was obvious he had set the water up to demonstrate the curse to Fa Shen. Equally obvious that he had not considered the shock would allow Ranma to resurface. Glancing at the second pitcher, and then at Ranma-chan, she ventured.
"Were you hoping she would come back with her proper form?"
"No. But then, I wasn't expecting her to vanish because of his form, so I was prepared to be wrong. Now I have established that her control was not dependant on the curse," Tofu replied, confirming her thoughts for everyone in the room. He sat on a stool and regarded Ranma-chan calmly. Ranma-chan tried not to glare back. She might have wondered if the other girl could only surface while the curse was active too. Tofu slapped his knee, as he came up with a hypothesis. "Apparently, this is similar to the nekoken. It has a trigger, but the shock of the transformation can override her possession of the body."
"Is it likely to happen again?" Ukyo shuffled nervously, catching a look from Shampoo.
"Probably. Ranma-chan, do you remember being her?"
"No," she shook her head, looking scared but trying to keep a lid on it. "One second I was watching Shampoo and Ukyo fight, and the next, I was in the clinic, as a guy."
"What was the last thing you remember, before blacking out?"
"They were shouting stuff at each other and me, and I was shouting back. I think I said, 'I AM Fa Shen, even if I don't remember it' and started to get light headed. I tried to get their attention, and asked them to stop fighting, when someone said it was time to put a stop to this. Before I could look to see who spoke, I was getting drenched with hot water."
"Very interesting." Dr. Tofu bowed his head to think again. Ranma-chan sat there nervously, her eyes darting around the room. She could remember the strange sensation of a presence suddenly looming over her shoulder, the understanding of words, a thought, she was positive did not come from her. Knowing that the threat was within made it very hard for her to sit still. Of all the ways she might have become Fa Shen, this scared her the most. She had never even considered she might be shoved aside, locked away and oblivious to everything around her. If that was how it was going to be, she might as well be dead! Rather than follow that line of thought, she continued to stare all around her, until her eyes fell upon the charred form on the bed beside her.
"What happened to Happosai?" she prodded the old pervert.
"You… ah," Cologne began, then cleared her throat to continue her reply. "Fa Shen, did not, ahem, approve of his greeting."
"It looks like he was struck by lightening!"
"That's not a bad description of it."
"She decked him with a bolt of lightening!?" Ranma-chan stared up at Cologne in surprise. She had been told that Fa Shen had been a master of chi manipulation but this was way beyond what she had suspected. She created lightening! "Is that possible?"
"You've created tornados with chi, why should lightening come as a surprise?" Ukyo frowned, not seeing the reason for Ranma-chan's disbelief.
"I've never seen anyone else do that!" Ranma-chan retorted.
"What about Kuno?" Akane asked with a grin.
"Er…" Ranma-chan and Ranma both reacted to that one. They exchanged a look, aware that they had synched up, then looked over at Cologne. The old woman realized she was supposed to confirm that the eerie coincidence of lightening punctuating Kuno's pre-battle monologues as just that, mere coincidence. She grinned at them.
"In his case, it's an unconscious talent," she informed them. Cackling at the look of terror that flashed in their eyes, she waved off their concern. "I doubt he could use it against you in combat."
"What a relief!" they sagged.