Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections
A. V. Morgan
Part Twenty-Four: Confronting the Girl
Emerging from the crowds pouring in and out of the train station, Ranko found herself in the canyons of downtown Tokyo and slowly craned her neck to look upward. Being raised by Genma left her something of a naïf when it came to big cities. The tall towers, the crush of vehicles and pedestrians, the garish illumination, all conspired to make her a bit dizzy. With her height, even enhanced by heels, she was dependant on watching her mother's back as she led them through the crowd to their destination. A quick glance at Ryouga confirmed that he took the hustle and bustle in stride. He probably wandered through metropolitan areas every other time he turned a corner. She reminded herself that this was hardly her first visit to Tokyo. The problem, really, was that this was her first trip in a dress, and she was extremely conscious of the impact her appearance had on every staring set of male eyes. Even Ranma-chan, who was way ahead of her in the whole being a girl thing, would have been uncomfortable dressed as Ranko was in public.
This self-consciousness was the part of the curse she had hated the most when she was Ranma. Fortunately, "he" had almost no clue what lay behind the interest men showed in his cursed form. She did not have the same shield of oblivion. Thus, while she had accepted the notion that she was a girl, and her appearance was perfectly normal, she was still painfully nervous about the attention.
Apparently, so was Ryouga. They had pushed their way through the crowd only a block or so before he put his arm around her waist and carefully steered her out of the path of an approaching Salaryman. Ranko automatically stiffened and glared, turning to yell at Ryouga for grabbing her like that, when she realized the man he had just helped her avoid had his hands positioned to intercept more sensitive portions of her anatomy when they would have "collided". He had frozen in that position because Ryouga had caught his eye with an icy stare promising an agonizing death. The man gulped and backed away to be swallowed by the passing crowd.
"Sorry, Ranko," Ryouga relaxed his grip. "Guys like that infuriate me!"
Nodoka continued on, unaware of the little scene behind her. Ranko and Ryouga picked up their pace so they would not lose sight of her. Though he had relaxed, Ryouga's hand still rested on her hip, the muscled arm brushing her back. It felt strangely protective and threatening at the same time. "I would have noticed him before he got close enough," she reprimanded gently, no longer sure she wanted to yell at him for interfering.
"Don't be a jerk, Ranma!" he scowled under his breath, withdrawing. He was not about to apologize for acting like a gentleman. "If you're gonna look and act that much like a girl, don't expect me not to treat you like one!" Once more doubt flashed in his eyes. Just looking at her, the way she appeared from the start of their date, it had been very easy to forget who she had been and pretend she was Copy-chan. How could one remark undo that illusion?
Ranko stiffened and looked away. "Turning into a girl doesn't mean I can't take care of myself, Ryouga," she muttered, sounding a little hurt. Strangely, being addressed as Ranma was what actually hurt. She tried to make sense of that. Was it the obvious? That, coming from Ryouga, the use of her original name was the highest expression of contempt he could offer?
"If he had been trying to kill you, I wouldn't question that," he answered without looking at her. He suddenly regretted snapping at her, how he had addressed her. Even before he invoked it, the apparition of Ranma had been hanging over their heads, along with all the bad blood that went with it. The sheer number of times Ranma had deceived him in female form showed how easy it was for Ryouga to see just the girl, and his automatic move to protect her proved it. Of course, he was also in the habit of losing his temper when he pierced the illusion and realized it was Ranma. He was kicking himself now for being stupid enough to have forgotten she was Ranma in the first place. Choking down his temper in furious embarrassment, he could not deny that she had not deceived him as much as he was deceiving himself. He did have a genuine concern, however, and he tried to express that while backing down from the implied insult she protested. "I know you would have wiped the floor with him, after he molested you."
"After," she picked up on the condition of his statement. "You think I would have let him touch me like that!?"
"Tell me it would occur to you that a stranger would try to do that, that you could have prevented it," he demanded.
Ranko frowned, about to assert that she would have, but suddenly swallowed. Her initial complaint had been a thoughtless reflex. She knew she should have been able to block or avoid an ambush, but pushed for an honest answer her conscience kicked in. With all the people, and her distraction, she had felt no sense of physical danger. She had not even realized what the man was up to until Ryouga stood him off. "Well, no. I suppose I didn't expect that. 'S not like I was in any danger, Ryouga. I still could have clobbered him."
"That's not the point. He would have already copped a feel," Ryouga raised a tightening fist, as his anger found a genuine focus. He suddenly saw the inherent charm of Ranma as a girl. She was so defenseless. It was as if she had no clue what men would want to get their hands on her for. Kind of ironic, when she had been one herself. In a wry tone, he spelled it out so there would be no more misunderstandings on this point. "Perverts like that expect to get pounded, but if they get their rocks off, it's worth it to them. Haven't you learned anything from Happosai!?" he asked, incredulous.
Ranko stopped to study him. Thanks to Copy-chan, she was no longer as innocent as she had once been. For Ranma, previously, defending a girl's honor had been sort of an abstract notion. It figured she would not get the point until she was a girl, and it was her honor in question. It suddenly became clear that being taken advantage of was not merely losing the upper hand in combat. It sent a cold chill down her spine to grasp the reality of the threat she had missed. A flash of anger, swallowed by intense retroactive embarrassment followed as she considered the question. "If anything, Happosai got me to ignore that kind of thing," she admitted a bit sheepishly.
It stabbed him suddenly, all the things Happosai had done to his rival that the "girl" had "taken like a man" and which he had privately mocked Ranma over. How often had he warmed himself at night by recounting the suffering and abuse heaped on his rival and gloating? He had catalogued the wounds and humiliations suffered by Ranma with glee, seeing it as karmic payback for the insults Ryouga had suffered because of him. Had he ever tried to compare their lives? Looking at Ranko, and suddenly seeing a girl who had been conditioned to welcome abuse, he found he did not much like himself. Ryouga sighed in frustration. "You really don't have a clue about being a girl, do you?" he winced in sympathy.
She glanced down at herself. "Ranma-chan said there was more to being a girl than just putting on a dress," she mused aloud, as Ryouga's argument began to sink in. Dressing up, and her mother's fussing, had caused her perspective to shift. It had brought out a feeling of being a girl, of just being feminine, and it served as a constant reminder to mind her speech and manners. It did not impart any special wisdom, however.
"We better keep moving, your mom's getting way ahead of us," Ryouga offered his arm in truce. Ranko slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and they resumed walking. They progressed several more blocks in silence. After careful consideration, he tried to return to the topic, "I can think of you as a girl, or I can think of you as Ranma, but I don't know how to do both at the same time. I don't mean to insult you, but I have feelings for you that drive me insane if you think of you as him. I get the idea that being Ranko is like being Ranma to you, that you see yourself as the same person, but there's just no way I can treat you like a guy if that's what you're expecting. If that's what you want, we should end this date right here."
Ranko's head whipped around to stare at him in shock. She swallowed and looked down. Her own reaction startled her. For all Copy-chan was a small part of her memory, her feelings had been powerful and unrestrained. Emotionally, she had been too naked to do anything but give herself completely to her passions. There had been no time to build a relationship, but the girl had genuinely loved Ryouga. For all the complications Ranko faced, the idea of losing Ryouga so suddenly was too painful to contemplate. The emotion was as real and powerful as that caused by the koi rod, except that it was genuine. It would not magically evaporate. It could only end with a broken heart. That was why she had tried to distance herself from it at once. Her hand tightened on his arm, but her throat clenched up too.
"What?" he looked down at her.
"J-just… treat me like a person, Ryouga," she stammered and swallowed. "I know I'm an idiot about being a girl, and maybe I'm just an idiot to begin with, but… don't be… don't… I need to do this if I am going to figure out what to do with my life," she forced herself to meet his eyes.
"I… Alright. This is confusing for both of us, but," he took a deep breath and sighed. "I would like to see if this can work." For a moment his eyes glazed over as he imagined the girl beside him straddling his hips and saying shocking, provocative things to him, the sun shining through her scarlet mane, the scent of lawns and forests on the air, the tickle of her lips nibbling on his neck. Unconsciously he slipped his arms around Ranko and crushed her to his chest possessively.
Ranko squeaked and began gasping for enough air to shout for freedom.
Nodoka, having noticed the couple were not following, had doubled back in time to see the passionate embrace. Her eyes lit up with fond delight and she clasped her hands in the air in front of her, "Oh! How darling!"
Ryouga stiffened in shock at the interruption and Ranko nearly fainted from the increased pressure. Nodoka looked on for a few more seconds, savoring the blossoming romance she perceived, then cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt you two love birds, but the restaurant is just around the corner, and we have strict reservations. If we delay any longer, you will lose your table," she began to shoo them into motion. Ryouga was quick to release Ranko, then catch her when she swooned from the return of oxygen to her brain.
"Are you okay?" he asked in instant concern.
"Sure. Fine," she grabbed him by the collar, "Ryouga, if you dump me and go back to Akari, you better give her a few years of martial arts lessons before you date her. Otherwise, you'll break her in two!"
"Wha-!" he stood there baffled. The notion of dumping Ranko was not pleasant, it sort of distracted him from the rest of her statement. "I'm not going to do that! You just asked…"
"Strength, you idiot! You have more than your share!" she leaned in and squeezed his biceps. "I'm a girl, all soft and delicate, remember!"
Ryouga blushed and stammered as she led him after Nodoka. That was the first time in Ryouga's memory that someone had called him an idiot and he did not instantly begin raging. He had been too distracted by the feel of her hands straining to dent his muscles. Then he noticed the way she was moving, as if her ribs were bruised. He swallowed a sudden, panicked urge to snatch her up and apologize. How could he have hurt her so thoughtlessly!?
"Ranko," he jogged a step to walk beside her.
She looked over at him, and saw the chagrin on his face. She laughed before she could stop herself, "Hey, don't worry. I am pretty tough. Just… be careful next time, okay?"
Ryouga felt his heart pound heavily as she gave him a brilliant smile.
While Ranko and Ryouga were following Nodoka into a five star restaurant in downtown Tokyo, Ranma was fretting on the sidelines of the fight between Akane and Kodachi. The park, which had seen more than its share of conflict in recent days and weeks, offered Kodachi an advantage with her aerial fighting style and reliance on weapons and treachery. As she had proven in their fight against the Yamatano Orochi, Akane could enter aerial combat, but she generally neglected or only unconsciously used her ki to enhance her leaps. Ranma had surreptitiously guarded Akane's back, flinging small rocks to intercept any weapons Kodachi launched that Akane failed to block or dodge. He hoped she did not notice, since it only took a moment's distraction for her innate clumsiness to trip her up. He winced at the flaws in her form and her over reliance on strength and power, but had to admit it forced Kodachi to keep her distance. The one time Akane had gotten a hold of her, Akane had whipped Kodachi around like a rag doll, pounding her into the ground and off of trees and boulders.
On the bright side, the training she had once undergone to face Kodachi in Rhythmic Gymnastic Martial Arts had not entirely left her. Within moments, Akane had been arming herself with the weapons Kodachi littered the battle field with, throwing them back into the fray against the gymnast. Akane would probably have done better over all if Kodachi had brought her entire team with her, since Akane was still better adapted to fighting crowds willing to converge on her. It was obvious, from her increasing temper, that she realized she had to take the fight to Kodachi, somehow, or her opponent would eventually wear her down with her strafing attacks.
"It's a shame she can't harness all the chi she's giving off!" Ranma sighed, skirting the edge of the combat so he remained able to intercept Kodachi if push came to shove. Akane was lighting the clearing they fought in, standing in a pillar of spectral flames.
Kodachi suddenly darted forward, behind a hail of gymnastic clubs, her ribbon snapping out in their wake. Akane took the clubs on her forearm, then snagged the ribbon with her other hand, in a broad, sweeping motion. The ribbon wrapped around her wrist, and, while Kodachi was in mid leap, she jerked her hand back, dragging the startled girl through the air. Kodachi twisted to avoid the fist Akane prepared to meet her, but at the last second, Akane whirled and sank a powerful round-house kick to her midsection. Kodachi huffed explosively, as the air was driven out of her lungs.
"Hyaaaaaaaa!" Akane screamed, whipping her upper body back around to deliver a staggering back hand punch to Kodachi's jaw. Kodachi's head snapped left and back, her body arching limply as it followed the momentum imparted by the blow. The handle of her ribbon fell from her numb hands, and as Akane lunged forward to deliver more punishment, her legs became entangled in the long strip of cloth. "Waaaaah!" Akane crossed her arms over her face, as she whipped chin first into the sod.
"Oh man!" Ranma began to rush forward.
Kodachi flipped over and halted her flight by landing delicately on her feet. Wiping her chin, her hand came away stained by the blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth. "Well," she uttered haughtily, "it seems your reputation for brutality is well deserved, Akane Tendo."
Akane fumed, struggling to disentangle herself, "Shut up!"
"Perhaps it is even true, then, that you abuse my dear Ranma-Sama at every opportunity!" Kodachi sneered. "Truly, I must teach you a lesson!"
Akane flinched and scowled. "If any one's going to be taught a lesson here, it's you, Kodachi!" she promised, hurrying to her feet. She could sense Ranma rushing to her side, but after her rival's accusation, she could not turn to look at him.
"And what do you presume to teach me, peasant?"
"For one thing, you aren't wanted here. Ranma doesn't want you! He doesn't care for you, he doesn't even like you!" she snarled. "The sooner you realize that and go back to your psychotic little dream world, the better!"
Ranma groaned. Now Kodachi would be even worse!
"Akane!"
"You stay out of this, Ranma! I am sick of her butting in and thinking she can do whatever she wants," Akane almost looked over, but forced herself to keep her eyes on Kodachi.
Kodachi laughed mockingly, "Oh, like your pathetic little lies mean anything to one such as I! I can see quite clearly that you don't speak for Ranma-Sama. Does she?"
"I…" Ranma wanted to confirm Akane's assertion, but he was cut off.
"Don't answer that, Ranma! She's just dragging you back into the middle of this," Akane did turn this time, sparing a heartbeat to meet his eyes. Returning her glare to the gymnast she raised her guard, "Ranma's made himself perfectly clear many times, Kodachi! You just refuse to hear it! You're as bad as your brother and I am not putting up with it any more!"
"I have certainly had enough of you, as well!" Kodachi snarled. Producing another ribbon, she twirled it idly and gave an evil smile, "I seem to recall that you and I had a bet at one point, but you faked an injury to get out of it. Perhaps it is time we corrected that, and determined, once and for all, who shall give up their claim to dear Ranma-Sama!"
"I'd be happy to fight you, and wipe that arrogant smirk off your face, any day, but I'd be an idiot to believe you would ever honor your word in such an agreement," Akane stepped boldly between her rival and Ranma. "Any excuse to put you in your place is good enough for me!"
"You would be an idiot under any circumstances, and you'll never stop me from claiming my rightful place at his side!" Kodachi bounded over Akane's head and made a grab for Ranma.
Seeing her headed right at him, Ranma darted out of the way. Akane pivoted as Kodachi flipped over her and was ready when the girl touched down where Ranma had been standing beside her. A few seconds of close combat was all she really needed, and she grinned fiercely in delight that Kodachi had given her the opportunity. In an explosion of movement, she lashed out in a series of violent moves to disarm the gymnast. As fast as Kodachi produced ribbons, clubs and razor hoops, Akane's feet and fists snapped out to shatter them or knock them right out of Kodachi's hands. For once, her manic, headlong charge succeeded in allowing her to run her opponent down in a dazzling series of strikes, and when all of Kodachi's weapons had been exhausted, Akane was ready with her trusty mallet.
Kodachi had pulled everything out of her sleeves, so to speak, trying to find something tough enough to meet or deflect Akane's blows. It was like trying to ward off a wood chipper, except that if she tried to gather herself to leap clear, a leg would sweep out in perfect timing to catch her on the ankle and force her to maneuver on the ground to keep her balance. Akane was more than fast enough to stay right on top of Kodachi through flips, cartwheels, handsprings and rolls. All of that sustained momentum was transferred to her mallet, streaking in a low arc over the grass and up under Kodachi's jaw in a move perfected on Ranma over the past ten months.
It was all Kodachi could do to prepare herself for the impact that launched her bodily over the horizon. Her cry of despair and dismay echoed for a full minute after her departure, which Akane spent panting for air and grinning in victory. Ranma stood there, a cold sweat chilling his entire body. He was quite familiar with what she could accomplish with a perfect opening, but it was kind of startling to see her batter a serious opponent to the point where such an opening had presented itself. It was almost as though Akane had realized the weakness of Kodachi's style, reliance on weapons of course, and created an effective strategy to exploit it.
"I have been waiting a long time to do that!" Akane finally crowed.
"Didn't you beat her up the other day?" Ranma stuffed his hands into his pockets and sauntered over to her, with a mask of bored curiosity covering his disbelief and nervousness.
"Ukyo was helping. It's not the same thing," Akane dusted her hands off and took a moment to examine her dress. Ranma frowned and quickly patted and pulled the outfit into an astonishing semblance of order. What Akane had thought were tears and stains seemed to vanish as he passed his hands over them. However, in the process those same hands were in close contact with her body. She had caught the offending paws in her hands and twisted them painfully out of joint before she even realized what she was doing.
"Gyaaaaah! Watch it, you violent ox!" Ranma cried, trying to slip free of her grip while his arms remained attached to his body.
"What did you call me!?" A firestorm erupted in her eyes.
"What did you do that for!?"
"Maybe you'll learn to keep your perverted hands to yourself!"
"Yeah, well if you didn't enjoy it so much maybe you wouldn't have to act so insulted over the slightest contact!"
Akane gasped and could not get her flapping mouth to produce a word.
"Uh oh."
"You arrogant, egotistical, perverted, insensitive, JERK!"
Certain noises can convey in an almost tangible way, the detailed composition of flesh and bone and wood. They are almost as painful to hear as to produce, or, after much exposure, Ranma had realized being malletted was only half as painful as it sounded. On the positive side, Ranma thought in transit, at least Akane had bashed him over the opposite horizon from Kodachi.
The arrival of Dr. Tofu, carrying an unconscious Ranma and trailed by Cologne, Shampoo, Ukyo and Mousse, caused an upset at the Tendo Dojo. Ranma was just fortunate that Cologne had been standing behind the doctor when Kasumi greeted them at the door. She had seen the doctor's glasses fog up, and his body stiffen, and casually tapped a few pressure points. Tofu had jerked once, shifted the girl in his arms, cleared his throat and began explaining the situation to Kasumi, who led them all upstairs to Ranma's room. Once Ranma-chan was laid out on a futon and in familiar surroundings, Dr. Tofu went downstairs to speak to Soun and Genma, while Kasumi remained upstairs with Ranma-chan and the three teens. Cologne hesitated at the door, trying to decide whether to go downstairs and help keep the father's from storming up to meddle with Ranma-chan, or to remain to attend her, and keep an eye on Mousse.
She glanced at Shampoo and Ukyo, wondering if they were enough to keep the boy in line, but as her gaze traveled to Kasumi, she realized there was no need for concern. Mousse did not have what it took to defy Kasumi. One look of disapproval from the mild mannered girl would tie the boy up in knots.
"I will return to check on Ranma-chan as soon as I have calmed Soun and Genma. The last thing we need is the two of them trying to rouse her out of this trance," she informed the group before exiting.
"Oh dear," Kasumi clucked, laying a warm, folded, hand towel over Ranma-chan's forehead and adjusting the blanket tucked up to her chin. Dr. Tofu's explanation had been a quick sketch of the immediate facts, but in this case the straight facts beggared understanding. She looked at the two girls and frowned in lingering confusion, "She's like this because she's fighting with the spirit of the girl she used to be? I am sure that must be quite unusual. How did this happen?"
Both girls turned to glare at Mousse. Ukyo turned back first to explain, "I didn't really believe the rumor about Fa Shen, or at least that there was any way Ran-chan could become her, until she popped out and took control of Ran-chan earlier tonight. It doesn't make any sense to me, unless being around other Amazons acting aggressively somehow triggers the awakening of this past incarnation. I am guessing Ran-chan tried fighting it off, like he sometimes resists going cat around other cats," Ukyo looked down in concern and slipped a hand under the blanket to grasp one of Ranma-chan's. She met Kasumi's eye in faint alarm. "She's still cold!"
"That means she's probably in shock," Kasumi frowned. "Did Cologne say if there was anything we could do to help her in this condition?"
"Great-grandmother say, we no can do anything without upset Ranma, maybe make permanent sleep of death we no be very careful," Shampoo sobbed. She also reached for one of Ranma-chan's hands.
"Did she say Ranma-chan could fall into a coma?" Kasumi paled.
"Is word Great-grandmother use, Shampoo sorry, no remember right. All we can do is keep Ranma safe in family place, make more at home for rightful spirit want to come back," she clarified, or at least tried. "Is all stupid Mousse fault!" she turned to glare at her unwanted paramour. "What you thinking, try force Shampoo kill Ranma!? Try threaten kill Ranma like that!?"
Mousse gritted his teeth and tried to keep the anger and shame from boiling out. "At least I was thinking! Don't you remember that the reflections could kill Ranma? He… she could just evaporate and then everything that was on her head falls upon the reflections. If the legends are true, and I've been sneaking in and reading the old mummy's books to check them, there won't be a body, so you could never prove she died and claim you fulfilled the kiss!"
"Just what are you getting at, Mousse?" Ukyo turned furious eyes on him. "How dare you presume Ranma won't beat this! Ranma never loses, and I'll bet you everything I own that Ranma would find some way to beat the mirror's curse if you haven't already ruined his chances!"
"You mean, the same way Ranma beat the Jusenkyo curse and never gave in to it?" Mousse challenged, knowing they could not counter that argument after Ranma-chan admitted to becoming a girl at heart.
"It wasn't the curse that caused Ran-chan to become a girl in his mind," Ukyo retorted hotly. "It was the other Ranma, and his stupid father pushing him to treat this mistake as a cure! He told me himself, it would be suicide to try to fight with his copy over who got to be Ranma. Ran-chan does what it takes to win, and in this case the only way to win was to not fight! Don't you have any respect for that!?"
Both Amazons stared at her in surprise.
"Shampoo thought you try force Ranma be man for you," the purple-haired girl accused, a taint of bitter shame in her voice for undercutting Ukyo's argument.
"Yeah, well, that was pretty selfish of me," Ukyo lowered her head. "I was too busy worrying about my own problems to listen to Ran-chan about his. But I do care about Ran-chan, and now that I've thought about it, what he and his copy said makes sense. As much as I want Ran-chan to be a man again, I know why he's not one right now. Until he can be, I'll damn well be her friend and I am not going to listen to any crap about killing her 'cuz you all think she's going to die anyway!"
"Shampoo not think that! Never think that!" she cried in defiance.
"Even if it means you forfeit your cure for allowing the girl you promised to kill to survive?" Mousse challenged softly.
"You no can speak of that, Mousse! Is forbidden!"
"So is neglecting or ignoring the kiss of death. If you don't even try to fulfill it, you defy the laws of the tribe. You know that a nyanniichaun curse does not void that law, and only the kiss of marriage given to the man behind the curse gives you a loophole out of it. Only if he resists the curse. If he gives up his manhood, he loses that protection and you are required to act upon the first kiss as soon as you discover the fact!" Mousse was once more openly enraged.
"Is true," Shampoo admitted, "But, spirit of amazon womans in Ranma mean Shampoo no allowed to claim kiss of death!"
"And what about the other one? Are they both going to become Fa Shen? Don't you realize that you have to kill the one who does not!?"
There was a moment of silence as the three girls stared at Mousse in shock. "What the hell are you talking about, Mousse?" Ukyo gasped.
"I'm talking about what Cologne never mentioned!" he raged. He jumped to his feet and began to pace around the guest bedroom. "The laws of our tribe are written in such a way that they cannot be eluded by magic. In fact, the harsh ones are designed specifically to protect the tribe from enemies who use magic to threaten or manipulate us. Because of where they come from, Ranma and Ranko are technically the same person as this Ranma. Because they are split into different sexes, the kiss of death follows Ranko, and the kiss of marriage follows Ranma, if this Ranma ceases to exist before they are fulfilled. If Shampoo consummated her marriage with this Ranma, she would remain married to the other one if the original died. If Shampoo kills this Ranma, the kiss of death is fulfilled and Ranko is considered to be dead by the tribe."
Ukyo paused, studying the two amazons. Frowning, she asked, "Does that mean, if Ran-chan asserted his manhood and married Shampoo, the kiss of death would be dissolved, or would it still affect Ranko?"
"Kiss of death is dissolved if kiss of marriage is fulfilled," Shampoo stated calmly. "Is why spatula-girl no can have Airen. Shampoo no want kill girl Ranma."
"What happens if Ran-chan becomes Fa Shen?"
"Fa Shen great amazon legend. Is immune to both kiss, so same as if Ranma die, both kiss go to copies. Shampoo forced to marry boy and kill girl."
Ukyo and Kasumi turned to stare at Mousse. He was nodding sadly in agreement. Ukyo rehashed the confrontation outside the clinic and growled in sudden comprehension. "If she killed Ran-chan, you would still be blocked from marrying Shampoo by the male Ranma. I know you don't really care about Ranko, because that's just a name to you. What you were really after was that part about redeeming Shampoo! You expected her to refuse to do it, leaving it up to you. If you could claim you killed Ran-chan to redeem Shampoo from her failure to do it herself, you'd own her. Like Ran-chan blurted out, she'd be like your slave!" Ukyo accused.
Mousse sagged as Shampoo glared at him with murder in her eyes.
"I would not have treated her like a slave," he mumbled. After that accusation, there was nothing he could say that would make them understand why he would take such a desperate path to bind Shampoo to him. "I would take her as a wife, and treat her with love and respect. The only difference would be that the marriage would be more similar to that of foreigners, where the woman defers to the man, and so would not be officially recognized by the tribe."
"Mousse, I would never allow you to destroy Shampoo's honor that way," Cologne announced from the door, having returned in time to hear Ukyo's accusation and the boy's reply. "I would have her reclaim her honor in death before I permitted such a travesty." She hopped over and dropped off her staff to examine Ranma-chan. She remained pale and chill, but the tension had not returned to her face. The struggle was either too deep to touch her features, or it had evolved into a more cerebral conflict. Returning her gaze to Mousse, "I will admit, that, though desperate, your scheme was at least clever. Unfortunately, your ignorance of Son-In-Law's former incarnation betrayed you. You have fueled my great-granddaughter's contempt for you and gained nothing from it. I believe that is punishment enough for daring to circumvent my commands and question my authority."
"Yes, Elder."
It was somehow appropriate that when Ranma-chan and Fa Shen broke from the initial contest of wills and sank into a trance, that they found themselves inside a memory of Jusenkyo. Rather than a specific memory of an event, the spring riddled, misty valley resolved like a dreamscape, a realm inhabited by the two of them alone. For Fa Shen, they had arrived just in the wake of her being told of her death and resurrection in the male incarnation of Ranma. Like Ranma-chan, she had simply blacked out. There was an eternal moment of falling, as hot water doused her body, soaking her clothes and hair, then the sensation of something combing though her memory, picking out various details of amazon law, and a growing awareness that some amazon male was challenging her to combat. That had shaken her awake. There was no way she was going to be forced into marriage with any man! She had not been prepared for the indomitable will that held her back, forcing her back into her cage of oblivion. Unable to rise up and take command of her body, she grappled with that will and began to pull it down with her. From her recent revelation, she assumed it was the mind of the boy she was supposed to have been reincarnated as. With a feral, psychic grin, she assumed she would quickly subdue him and reclaim her grossly interrupted life.
There was one problem, she realized as she saw her opponent resolving in the mists, where they entered the dreamscape locked in combat. The person in her grip was not male. She was Fa Shen's twin.
"I'm not gonna let you steal my body!" the girl was shouting as thought translated into sound. Ranma-chan was so focused, she accepted the transition from mental to physical battle without even blinking. Something warned her that Fa Shen had the advantage simply for having succeeded in dragging her mind from the brink of reality into this mental construct. Or, as she understood it, the ghost's spiritual home turf.
Fa Shen found herself heavily pressed to defend herself from a storm of close quarters attacks. She struggled under a constant rain of hard striking knees, elbows, and fists. Realizing that she did not have the skill to retaliate, and that her defenses would quickly crumble under the onslaught, she gasped for air and shouted, "Wait! Stop! What the hell-!? Aren't you… supposed… to be... a boy!?"
Ranma-chan hammered in a few more hits, then catapulted herself backwards to gain room to respond to the shocked question, checking herself out with a quick glance. With surprise she sucked in air. Ranma had often had dreams where his cursed form manifested, but she sensed that her appearance here had more significance. "Heh. I really am a girl inside," she mused.
"Uh," Fa Shen kept her guard up, but relaxed gratefully and tried to regain her breath. "That sounds like there was some question," she noted, when she felt comfortable enough to speak.
"I knew it was possible, knew it was real, but I wasn't sure if I was just pretending after all," Ranma-chan replied carelessly, studying her hands. She looked up at the other girl and frowned. She recognized her form, of course. She was intimately familiar with every physical feature, but the style of her hair and clothing was unfamiliar, except in the general sense of amazon fashion. "You're Fa Shen?" she asked hesitantly, wondering if they were still fighting for control on some level, and if this was all some trick to bring her guard down.
"I am. I don't know who you are, though. I thought…" she hesitated. This was really weird. The other girl's comments had made little sense, though they added strength to her original suspicion. "Aren't you supposed to be a boy?" she asked again, looking a little uncomfortable and confused.
"I'm… I was Ranma Saotome," she responded, bowing nervously. "Sorry about this." She looked down again at herself and then met the girl's eyes again. "I was a boy until a… yesterday, I suppose. I mean, I've been turnin' into a girl, because of the curse, for almost a year. I just never thought of myself as a girl until…" she cut herself off. "Look, this is a really bad time for me to be fighting for control of my body. Why are you trying to possess me?"
Fa Shen stared at Ranma-chan in confusion. "What?"
Ranma-chan sighed. "I don't remember anything that happened when you had my body. Did anyone explain to you what is going on?"
"I met a bunch of strangers who told me a lot of things I am not sure I believe. Since I'm talking to you now, I guess a lot of it was true. I remember dying. I understand that created a new cursed spring, but I don't understand why you would look exactly like me if as much time has passed as Cologne claimed. The impression of the original usually fades over time and the effects become more general."
"Cologne said something like that. She said it becomes more rare for the ghost of the spring to try to possess someone, which I guess makes them look like the original. Which is funny, 'cuz I'd probably look like this if I was born a girl anyway. If she had not shown us a picture of what you looked like in the past, I would not believe my curse was any different from Herb's," she confided, taking a few cautious steps closer. "Look, I don't know what's going on here, but if we're not still fighting, I've got a lot of questions, and I bet you do too," she proposed, crossing her arms. "How about a truce while we sort things out and figure out how to fix things and wake up. And quick. For all I know, you're killing me by trying to take control, since no one's there keeping my body from dissolving."
"What!?" Fa Shen shrieked. She could not accept coming back from the dead just long enough to end up dying again!
"I guess I'll go first then," Ranma chan led them to the edge of the valley, both to find a place to sit and to put some distance between them and the springs. Even in a dream, she did not want to be anywhere she could accidentally fall into one. Strangely, most of the springs seemed to disappear as they moved, until only one remained. Beyond it was the Tendo Dojo. At a second glance, Ranma-chan realized it was actually the koi-pond and skipped around it to take a seat on the patio outside the Tea Room. Fa Shen followed, taking in the change of scenery in confusion and curiosity.
The two sat down facing the pond.
Ranma-chan, comforted by the feeling of being on her home turf, quickly sketched out her life as Ranma, confirming the story Fa Shen had been told in the clinic and adding a few details. "About a week and a half ago, my Pops and I were returning from the mountains where we had been training. It was a dark and stormy night, and we decided to seek shelter when we came across this big mansion in the woods," she continued to tell about looking in the mirror, and what happened with Copy-chan, the second visit and the emergence of Copy-kun, the chaos of the next two days as Cologne revealed the true nature of the Mirror of Broken Souls and Genma replaced the cursed teen as his son. Fa Shen smirked as Ranma-chan explained her mental shift from male to female in the wake of losing her identity, and the danger of being absorbed into her reflections and ceasing to exist.
"I knew that if I had some center to focus on, and if I could restore my ki boundaries, I could survive. Since my reflections are becoming Ranma and Ranko, and because we discovered that I was once you, I thought I would become you," she finally admitted. "I didn't think you'd roll me over and take my place though."
Fa Shen looked a little ill. "You actually remember things that happened to me? You have some of my memories!?"
"Yes. I thought I would eventually remember everything, and I would become you like Copy-chan and Copy-kun became Ranko and Ranma."
"I suppose if it worked that way, you sort of would," she frowned. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel like I would actually wake up. I certainly don't remember anything about being you! If you want to know why I am fighting you, I guess it's because I don't want to die either. I didn't want to die in the first place! I think just remembering my life won't make me a part of you. I'll just be the one who gets sucked into oblivion!" she realized in sudden distress. She collapsed into worried fretting.
"Figures it would be something messed up like that," Ranma-chan scowled, feeling miserable. She turned inward trying to figure out how this mess had been created. After a moment, she had poured though all the things that had been discussed with Cologne and an idea hit her. "Oh, I see now."
'What?" Fa Shen stared at her, coming out of her own reverie.
"When we were trying to figure out why my ki was bleeding and how to stop it, we discovered that the three of us have enough energy for two people circulating through us. Cologne thought it was strange that I would have that much power, even with developing my chi abilities as much as I have," Ranma-chan revealed. "I wondered where the power came from, but I didn't have much time to think about it then. But earlier, Cologne had said that a part of the soul of the original victim remains in the springs when they are created, along with the mind and spirit. The ghost of the spring." Fa Shen stared in confusion. "That's where the extra ki comes from," Ranma shrugged and referred back to what she had learned studying the ki flow of the trio. "I am the center, the heart of me and my reflections, and you are, well," Ranma-chan shrugged. "You are the ghost of Fa Shen. I mean, you are Fa Shen, but you're the center, the heart of that second pool of ki."
Fa Shen thought about that and nodded slowly. "It is said that a person only taps a fraction of their total psyche in life. There was enough of my soul, probably a much greater part than what was captured by Jusenkyo's magic, to go on to have other incarnations. To become you. So, when you fell in the spring, you had all of me and all of you combined," she rephrased, working it out for herself. "I suppose, then, that if your body dies—dissolves, whatever—our ki would be divided between Ranma and Ranko. In a sense, we would become them, but… the process would shatter us. The threads of our consciousness would just unravel. Neither of us would really continue to exist, but all the parts of us would in them."
"That's really depressing. Like dying and being reincarnated, but skipping that whole being born and growing up thing," Ranma-chan sighed.
"I don't want to die again, Ranma," Fa Shen confessed. "I don't want to kill you either, since you are me, in a way. Same soul and all. I don't understand how I can be two completely different people, but things of divine nature, even the human soul, always seem impossible for a mortal mind to understand. If this here is possible, if your reflections are possible, if there is a separate embodiment for every aspect of the soul, then we both have every right to survive. Can you think of anyway we can work together, and not fight over who gets to go on living and who has to die?"
"I already made the promise to myself about Ranma and Ranko," Ranma-chan sighed, giving her a serious look. "We're one short in the way of bodies, or one up in bodies, since there's really only you and me when it comes to ki. I don't know. Since you're a ghost, you might be able to move from one of us to the others, sort of follow the flow of ki I guess. Maybe if I can do that too, we can each pick a reflection and let my original body evaporate." Ranma-chan shrugged. Fa Shen was not the only ghost she had ever dealt with, and of the various ghosts she had, one had actually been the astral form of a man who had not died yet. The concept of jumping out of her body and into another that belonged to her was not beyond her. She had no clue how to do it, but it was the only notion that implied some way to keep her consciousness intact. She knew there was some kind of psychic connection between her and the reflections. However, unless she could find some way to test and confirm the possibility, she was not about to let go of her current existence, her original body, with any haste. "Whatever it takes, I don't want anyone to have to die for a solution."
"Alright," Fa Shen nodded. "I won't try to take over your body, and I'll try and help come up with a solution that we both can live with. I wish I could be aware of what is going on while you are in charge, so, I don't know, I hope we can work on that somehow too."
"I should probably let Cologne know about this, and maybe she can help. I'll see if she has any ideas about letting you remain awake or something when I am in control, and," she shrugged. "Maybe for me too, since I am sure she will want you to take over so she can talk to you or work with you too. As weird as things have gotten now, the idea of sharing my body with someone else just isn't as spooky as it ought to be. Besides," she grinned, "I can't wait to see your reaction to the curse."
Fa Shen swallowed in discomfort. "Ugh. You mean, turning into a boy!"
"Oh yeah, I definitely don't wanna miss that!"