Chapter 14 – War of Angels
"I know the answer to our problems," Mousse slowly expelled the breath logged in his throat as Kuno and Ranma turned to him.
The three were still discussing Mousse's answer when Nabiki appeared, wheeled by an attendant.
"Here you are," she snapped, "I've been looking for you all over the hospital," her forehead creased in a huge frown as she stared at Kuno who was on his feet and by her side in the next few seconds. He went to his haunches before her and took her hands in his.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked gently, a soft beautiful smile on his face as he faced the frowning grumpy young woman. Mousse and Ranma leaned forward in their chairs watching the interplay with interest written all over their faces. Nabiki scowled deeper.
"I woke up and you were gone," she said slowly. It was another side of Nabiki that they were seeing, a side normally reserved for her sisters or for Kuno.
"I'm right here honey," Kuno reached forward to take the wheelchair from the attendant and Nabiki snapped back at him, placing her hands on the wheels of the chair, "I can do it myself!"
Kuno just lifted a brow then bent down to gently sweep Nabiki in his arms. She squealed as he picked her up holding her close to his body.
"Better?" came his soft question before he stalked away with his precious burden and Mousse and Ranma spluttered with laughter as they heard Nabiki's answering grunt.
"He found the way with her," Ranma laughed.
"He sure has," Mousse's soft laughter could still be heard.
And when they had sobered up, Ranma turned to Mousse, "Are you sure you want to do it?"
Mousse nodded seriously, "I should have done it a long time ago but I was still blind," he whispered.
"Come on," Ranma touched his shoulder, "Let's go see Akane," and they found Nabiki in bed with Akane and Kuno sitting in the chair next to Akane's bed. Nabiki's arms were around her sister and both had tears in their eyes. Ranma and Mousse stepped in and some time later were joined by Kasumi, Soun, Genma and Tofu. Tofu had not mentioned the Shampoo incident to anyone and everyone else who knew about it stayed silent. There was no need for everyone to worry, each thought in his own way. And it was a family that had dinner in Akane's room. Mousse went back with Kasumi, Soun and Genma. And Kuno took a sleeping Nabiki back to her room. Ranma got in bed with Akane.
He laid his head on her pillow next to hers and whispered, "Akane?"
"Mmm" she turned her head to smile at him.
"I love you Akane. I've never loved anyone like I love you. And... I'm so sorry about what happened," he said.
"I know Ranma," she stared at him, her beautiful eyes smiling into his. He kissed her softly, his lips lingering on hers, trying to keep the taste of her.
And he hugged her gently, settling her to him and closed his eyes. Soon her even breathing told him that she was asleep. And he raised himself on his elbow, staring at her as his other hand traced the contours of her cheek. She was so beautiful – he thought – and my woman. She's my woman and there'll be no more pain, he vowed. No more hurt, no more pain and no more despair and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what I did to you Akane, I promise you. And the promise made him the happiest man in the world. It made him smile softly and feel so much love.
Morning brought Mousse and Kuno. Kuno had told Nabiki that he would be away the whole morning and Nabiki had muttered something intelligible that Kuno had still managed to decipher and that meant, "Go! I need my sleep to get back on my feet," and turned away snuggling deeper under the sheets. And he had left after a soft kiss.
He met Mousse in the corridor and when they knocked, Akane was already up in bed smiling at them when they entered. Ranma came out of the bathroom toweling his face and smiled at them.
"Can I talk to Akane alone?" Mousse looked at Ranma and Ranma nodded gently at his friend.
"Hey, what's going on?" Akane's was healing quickly and her strength was already coming back.
Mousse sat down in the chair and pulled it closer, staring at his feet. His long hair fell forward hiding his face from her and she lifted a hand to push it back, her smile sad.
"You are going to see Shampoo," she said softly and his head jerked up in surprise.
"Mousse, it would have happened one day or another," she smiled at him.
"I need to do it, Akane. It is the only way to end this," he explained.
"Thank you Mousse," tears welled up in her eyes for him and he surged to his feet and pulled his friend in a tight hug.
"Have faith Akane, we'll make things right and one day, we'll all be happy. We'll all be happy," he whispered and her warm brown eyes smiled up to him. His heart squeezed tightly at the faith that shone in her eyes, not faith that he would succeed for her and Ranma. But faith that he would succeed for himself. That he would succeed for his own happiness, for the man that he was and the man that he would be. And Mousse swallowed tightly and smiled down at her as he got to his feet, his hand still holding hers tightly.
"You're strong Mousse. Strong enough to get your life back," she whispered up to him.
"Thank you Akane," he inclined his head slowly and she smiled. And he left then.
Ranma came to say goodbye to her.
"Take care of yourself and don't do anything rash," he teased her gently.
"Everything will be ok Akane. Don't worry, ok. Kuno will bring Nabiki and you two can spend some time together. Kuno has already told her about this morning," he added smiling at Akane.
"Take care of yourself Ranma," her eyes pleaded with him and he smiled cupping her chin, "I will I promise," he whispered before his lips captured hers. Her hands crept up around his neck as she pulled him closer and deepened the kiss.
"Wow," was the only thing he breathed as he broke away and Kuno knocked before entering with Nabiki in his arms.
"Hi sis, they're getting us together so that they can have some free time," she was her perky self again.
Kuno deposited her in bed and dropped a kiss on her mouth.
"See you two later," he said turning away.
"Bye you two," Ranma lifted a hand to wave. And both men stopped in the doorway to mouth, "I love you" back. Akane and Nabiki stared at the men's back before turning to each other and dissolving into laughter.
Kuno parked the car before the Nekohanten. All three tensed instinctively. Cologne tensed inside as she felt their auras and then it all disappeared miraculously as in the car Mousse smiled to Ranma and Kuno. All three relaxed and Mousse nodded. They stepped out and the wind swirled around them, blowing Mousse's hair all over his face as he stood and faced the place where he had once lived but never home. Never had he called the Nekohanten home. They stepped towards it together, strong and secure in their belief.
Cologne opened the door. I was right – she thought and smiled at them and welcomed them in. Their grim expressions, especially that of son in law made her wonder but then Shampoo had assured her all she had destroyed all proof. Could she have been wrong? And there was a sudden flash of grief in Cologne's thought. Shampoo turned from her stove and saw Ranma.
"Ranma," she squealed running to him and only managed to stop when she remembered the role she was playing. But she couldn't stop the hope that shone in her eyes. Yes! – she thought – I've got him!
"You come see Shampoo because Shampoo hurt?" her tone was so innocent that Ranma's hands fisted up and Cologne felt the rage that emanated from his aura for a moment. He turned his eyes to her and shame seemed to flit into her eyes before disappearing as she faced his stone expression.
"I have come to see Cologne," Mousse was the one who spoke up and the Elder slowly came forward from her place in the shadows.
"Mousse," she uttered.
"Hello," he bowed his head but did not bow low as he should. The Elder recognized the gesture for what it was. Shampoo had finally noticed him. He has changed – she thought – gone were the long robes. A shirt and trousers had replaced them. She stared at him and couldn't understand what had changed and he saw it and the soft smile that barely shone on his lips was for the girl who had recognized him and the sadness was for this girl who would never see him.
"What is it you want Mousse?" the Elder spoke again.
"I have come to challenge Shampoo," his words were strong and unwavering.
The elder acquiesced for him to continue.
"I challenge for her hand," he finished.
"What are the rules to the challenge?" she asked.
"Shampoo's engagement to Ranma will be nullified and there will be no other challenge, no threat and no kiss of death to him, his family or any of the Tendos. Those are my rules."
The Elder turned to Shampoo and watched the arrogance and the disdain of the young woman and inwardly she smiled at foolhardiness.
"Do you accept the challenge and the rules," she asked to Shampoo.
"Shampoo accept," she regarded Mousse.
"What are your rules?"
"If Shampoo win, Ranma leaves Tendos and Akane Tendo and comes to China with us as husband of free will," she finished, quirking an eyebrow.
Mousse turned to Ranma and the pure fury and hatred that were in the young man's eyes as he regarded Shampoo was burnt forever in Shampoo's mind. For a moment she faltered. He knows – she thought panicking.
"Ranma," Mousse asked softly and Ranma snapped out of his fury.
"Yes Mousse, I agree," he replied and Mousse smiled at the faith of his friend.
"I agree," he told the Elder.
"Good, the challenge will be for 4.00 tomorrow afternoon. Location?"
"The empty lot used for carnivals," Mousse finished and Shampoo nodded.
"The challenge has been issued and accepted. We all meet tomorrow," the Elder closed the deal.
Cologne stared at Mousse trying to read his aura and not succeeding and he threw her a small smile as he stepped past her on his way out, feeling her eyes on his back. Ranma was retained by Shampoo.
"Ranma, you angry at Shampoo," the Chinese girl pouted painfully as she stared at a tightly controlled Ranma.
"If Akane had not been hurt, you would not even have been able to touch her Shampoo. Where was your great Amazon pride then? Had you none?" Ranma spat at her before walking out without a backward glance and Kuno followed them, his eyes meeting Shampoo's with such fury that the urge to step back almost took her over. She stared at him walking away and her limbs were frozen into place. And then with a sudden sob, she turned and ran.
The Elder watched the scene with interest before turning to Cologne, "You have made many enemies here and powerful enemies too. Mousse is no longer the one he once was. Very surprising, he is," she nodded. Cologne nodded back. Mousse was different, stronger, surer, more powerful. And that surprised her and she had to admit there was not much that surprised her those days. The men stopped to retrieve one more thing and went back to the hospital.
3:45 dawned on the next day and Kuno stepped out of the car and went to open the back seat door, leaning down to pick Nabiki up in his arms. His expression was tight as was Ranma as he stepped out before picking Akane up in his arms. Their coming here had been a fight that the girls had finally won after many battles of pleadings and sheer threats. Mousse stood, strong and silent as he surveyed the grounds. Shampoo was on the other side with Cologne and the Elder and Ukyo came running towards them and faltered when he saw Akane in Ranma's arms.
She had spent the last few days crying and walking around in her restaurant when she was not working herself to exhaustion. But now just when she felt strong enough to face Ranma without faltering, here he was with Akane. And she had counted so much on the fact that he would be alone. She swallowed back the jealousy that rose and came forward.
"Hello," she smiled. Ranma's arms tightened convulsively around Akane and he instinctively stepped back. And then noticed Ukyo.
"Hello Ukyo," he smiled before lowering his gaze down to Akane. But Akane was not smiling. She only nodded to Ukyo and unconsciously snuggled deeper into Ranma's arms. He pulled her closer and smiled softly down at her and dropped a kiss on her lips.
"Don't worry," he smiled and in her smile, shone her trust. Trust that he would protect her, care for her and fight for her. Just as she would for him.
Ukyo trembled with rage as she watched them and it was Nabiki's voice that broke through.
"Is something wrong Ukyo?" Nabiki drawled out and when Ukyo met her eyes, the sharp glint that never missed anything was there. And Nabiki saw. She saw and gasped and Kuno's arms pulled her protectively back and he stared at Ukyo.
Ukyo saw Kuno's reaction and for the first time it hit her that the people she had once lived with and laughed now no longer wanted her in. They saw and something in them made them suspicious. She watched Kuno move away, murmuring comfortingly in Nabiki's ear and Ranma follow him with Mousse by his side. And she stayed where she was.
Mousse was wearing a Gi instead of his white robes. And as he stepped forward, Shampoo drew back in surprise. Her rage at Ranma's kiss to Akane was forgotten for a moment. Gone were Mousse's glasses and in their place, he wore contact lenses. Silently he stood but instead of the lush Amazon, he saw bright brown eyes and a hospital room dawned in the morning sunlight. He saw Akane on her bed as he spoke to her this morning.
"Sometimes, I fear Akane," he had looked away when uttering those words. And her soft laughter had brought his gaze back to her. She had been staring at him, her head tilted to one side, smiling.
"Let go of the fear Mousse, you are who you are and the fear has no place," she gave him her answer and he smiled.
"I fear that I will not be able to what I need to," his smile wilted.
"Then listen to your heart and follow it," And he had smiled at her. If I followed my heart Akane – he thought – I would already be in love with you.
"I have faith in you Mousse, all of us have faith in you. You will not lose that faith if you decide not to something that you would prefer not to. Now you have to have faith in yourself," she had finished and he had felt the fears slipping away as she smiled. Her bright smile, her shining eyes, her belief and the care she gave so freely. It made her unreal, it made her a far off dream and Mousse let her use her special magic and drive away his fear. She was his friend and he would freely give her all he had. Anything that she asked for.
And now he turned to her once more. Drank in her smile before nodding to her and Ranma and doing the same to Kuno and Nabiki.
Shampoo and Mousse drew near and the Elder said, "You fight until complete knock-out. Or if one of the fighters admit defeat". Shampoo lifted her bonboris, pushed back the rage and all feelings and set her jaw for the oncoming fight and Mousse gently lifted up his head. The Elder drew back and uttered a low, "Fight!"
Shampoo went straight for Mousse wielding her bonboris over her head and her slashes were faster that Mousse had ever seen. A second later she threw a quick slash to where he was standing and Shampoo reared in surprise as her bonbori met thin air instead of Mousse. She whirled back and lifted a hard leg from where he was behind her and again he disappeared. Fury rose in her throat and Cologne felt it, wanting to shout out to her, Shampoo calm down! But instead she remained silent. Shampoo flipped over and her kicks and bonbori punches grew quicker and quicker until her movements could barely be seen by the company. But Mousse just kept disappearing before her. Each hit she threw met thin air. And then her left wrist felt a light wind sliding across it and the next thing she knew was her bonbori falling to the ground and her hand went limp. She lifted her head staring at Mousse with rage and she lunged forward with a high kick but he was already by ground level and his foot swept hers off and Shampoo found herself on her back in the grass. Mousse waited until she got back to her feet and she started twirling, moving faster and faster so he would not see her bonbori movements and then she hit and where her killing slash found no one, his punch in her belly lifted her off her feet.
It was time to end it all, Mousse decided. And he lifted his foot, her arms went up crossing themselves in defense and Mousse dropped down sweeping both her feet off the ground. She threw her body backwards using both her hands to hit the ground and their momentum to throw herself back to her feet. And in mid-flight to her feet, she felt the same whispering wind against her nape and then everything went black as she crumpled in Mousse's arms. He let her down on the ground and turned to the Elder. Cologne went to Shampoo to reanimate the girl.
"You have won Mousse," the Elder stated still surprised at the young man's fight.
"Shampoo's engagement to Ranma is nullified and none of the Tendos will never be touched or contacted by her. You are now her fiancée," she stated.
Shampoo's scream made them all turn, "NO! Shampoo cannot lose to Mousse!"
Cologne was the one to answer her, "You have child, now accept your defeat with honor!" she snapped at the granddaughter for the first time of her life and Shampoo shut up instantly.
Mousse turned back to the Elder and his clear strong voice was heard by all, "I wish to renounce Shampoo's hand without any change to the rules of the challenge,"
The Elder regarded him silently before slowly nodding, "As you wish but you lose your rights as an Amazon. Shampoo is neither promised to you or Ranma Saotome anymore. The other clauses of the challenge still stand."
"Why do you do it? I thought she had always been everything you had ever wanted," the question came from the Elder and Mousse smiled.
"She had been but she had also been right when she had called me a blind duck," and the Elder laughed softly. "You are a strong man Mousse but no longer an Amazon. It is worth it?" Again, she couldn't resist and Mousse laughed as he answered, "Being myself and being free is worth anything. And my family are those to whom I gave them my heart to," he lifted a hand to sweep it where Akane, Ranma, Kuno and Nabiki stood.
The Elder stared at them and murmured, "Gave your heart away to the girl, mmm?" And her only answer was as Mousse threw back his head and laughed.
Shampoo's hands had fisted up when she had heard Mousse refuse her but Cologne had laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and had picked up her hand to examine her wrist. A thin pink line could be seen on her skin but her hand was working without problem now. It seemed Mousse had learned the hidden arts well, Cologne smiled. She returned her attention to the Elder but could only see them, their words being too low for anyone to hear. Shampoo bowed her head but fury still raged into her veins.
"How Mousse win great grandmother?" Cologne brought her gaze back to Shampoo.
"Honorably," she answered. "You have misjudged him Shampoo as I have, he is much more the man you or I have ever thought him to be. We thought him weak but he has always been strong. He has always refused to hit you and I have always thought him too weak to ever really look at him. He wanted you to accept him for himself, not his fighting skills and this is why we never knew of the extent of his strength. He never let anyone know." Cologne stared at the young boy but Shampoo's mind was in the past, on the island of Jusenkyo where he had defeated a man stronger than her for her and yet until now she had never thought twice about it. Finally Cologne touched Shampoo's shoulder and motioned forward with her stick. They started off together only to stop by Mousse.
"You're a good fighter Mousse," Cologne gave praise where it was deserved. She no longer feared for the fate of Shampoo. By defeating her, Mousse had released her from the bond that had tied her to Ranma. And by refusing her hand, he had freed her. Now she had her freedom and her honor and Cologne knew that Mousse was the one to thank for that Shampoo was accepted back in her original place in the Amazon tribe. She nodded to Mousse and was pleasantly surprised when he answered her silent thanks with a smile and a "You're welcome". Yes – she thought – he was becoming one exceptional man. Shampoo stared at him with haughty eyes when Cologne stopped by him and he stared right back at her but his eyes did not have any false pride. They were clear, strong and free. He stared never wavering never smiling and finally she bowed her head. He nodded good-bye to Cologne and she told him that she hoped that one day they would meet again which made him smile. And he walked away. Shampoo gasped when he walked away jerking her head up to stare as his broad back. He had not even said good-bye. But this time pride did not rise.
"Mousse!" she shouted and ran to him.
"You... you no love Shampoo anymore?" she asked slowly and his clear eyes were sad.
"No Shampoo, once I did but now I don't anymore. The boy I were would always love you but the man I will be needs more," he explained gently and she realized that the sadness in his eyes were for her.
"Good-bye Shampoo," his beautiful eyes were soft to her and he turned and walked away. And she stood staring at him even as his mind was already engulfed by the waiting group's smiles as his friends welcomed him back and his heart forever caught the joy of one person.
And as Shampoo stared at the leaving man, something deep inside of her told her that the woman she would be one day would forever regret losing this boy who had turned into such a strong man. This man who had never been hers and who now was already gone even as he had stepped into her life.
My Notes :
Thanks for the reviews and the suggestions ^_~
