The Royal Servant
Chapter 3, The Queen And Her Sister...

Author's Notes: I was planning on working on The Scarlet Trail after the Scarlet Phoenix, Blue Dragon sidestory, but changed my mind. I haven't been on lately, school sux now, what with mid-terms coming up and all. Anyways, no more excuses. Sign my guestbook and e-mail me at silverflame_maiden@hotmail.com.

Disclaimers: Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
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Kasumi heard the voices before she opened her eyes. Voices drifting through the hazy mist that was currently her mind. She opened her eyes and tried to sit up, but a shooting pain streaked through her head. Dizziness and nausea threatened to overwelm the beautiful Queen. Yet, Kasumi still remembered the reason why she fainted...and that was all the motivation she needed.
"...Akane...get Akane..." Kasumi said in a hoarse whisper, her throat suddenly very dry.
"Sh, sh, Kasumi, lay down," Kasumi heard her husband say beside her in what would usually be a soothing tone, but now was only an annoying disturbance.

Kasumi fully opened her eyes and sat up in the bed, the pain still pounding in her head, "I saw her, Tofu, go get her for me, before I lose her again. She looked so much like mommy, so much..."
Her voice drifted off as she noticed the faces around her and the expression they held. Inside the large velvet bedroom was her husband, Tofu, her Auntie Nodoka and Uncle Genma. To a corner of the room stood Ranma, the boy she knew since a child that she loved as if he was truly her blood brother. Beside him stood his fiancee, Ukyo and Kasumi felt something was wrong. That was her gift. When...when she was 6, she had heard her father say that each sister had a gift besides beauty. They were the three things of life, Kasumi was spiritual, Nabiki was mental, and Akane was supposed to be physical...but something else. Each sister had a special gift besides spirit, mental, and physical.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kasumi asked everyone desperatly.
Tofu gave his wife his patient look, one he rarely had to use on Kasumi and said, "She's not Akane, Kasumi-chan. That was just a servant you saw with a certain similarity to her."
Kasumi's eyes narrowed, her hope fading with each second, "How do you know she's not Akane, Tofu? What if...what if she lost her memory and didn't know who she was so she became a servant?"
The King sighed at his wife, "She's two years older then our Akane."

Kasumi looked around their faces and saw the pity and sympathy in their eyes. Yet, hope still clung at her heart, but she must not let them know this. Making her face show reluctant acceptance, she asked, "Can I see her?"
Nodoka smiled and patted Kasumi's arm, "Of course sweety. We knew you would want to so we had her wait outside for you. Call her in."

The guard opened the large doors and in walked Akane. The girl had thick, wavy, dark blue-black hair and the clothes she wore were the servants dress, but there was something about her. The others didn't notice, but Kasumi did...the way the servant-girl held her head high and proud...the intelligent, blazing deep brown eyes...the innocent, little sister...

Akane gave one of her awkward curtsys and turned to look at Kasumi. She knew that this well-pampere, bautiful lady was a queen and was royalty so therefore she should hate her...but she couldn't. Akane felt the love and compassion glowing from the great Queen and she for the first time in her life felt like a child eager to get the adult's attention. She felt heat build up in her and her nervousness increased. She was in a room full or strangers, not very strange, but this time...this time...Akane actually believed there might be a friend amongst the crowd.
Kasumi finally spoke softly, her voice like fluttering silk, "What is your name?"

Akane kept her eyes on the floor as she said, "Akane, your highness."
"Look at the Queen when she speaks to you," the guard ordered Akane. Akane scowled as she looked up, but as soon as her eyes met Kasumi's smiling face, she felt a warm smile grow.
"Akane, that's a magnificent name," Kasumi said kindly.
"Thank you, your highness," Akane replied.
"Don't call me that, I want you to call me Kasumi," the high Queen said sweetly. Akane, for the first time, suspected or noted any motive behind the Queen's kind words.
"Yes, Kasumi."

"Auntie," Kasumi directed her attention towards Nodoka, "I wish for Akane to be my servant while I'm here."
Nodoka was about to say something just when the prince broke out saying, "No! She's my servant." Everybody turned their questioning gaze towards Ranma after his outburst.
Shifting uncomftorably Ranma said, "Um...I mean...Kasumi wouldn't want such an ugly, flat-chested, masculine, tomboy for a servant. She'll probably ruin Kasumi's hair and rip her dress or somethin'. Kasumi's maid is already nice, she's way better then that tomboy right there. That's why I'm doing the brave thing and enduring this tomboy. Right, tomboy?"

Turning to the "tomboy" his conversation was currently on, Ranma saw a tiny hammer fly past his face...missing it by a mere centimeters.
"Hey!" he yelled at the trying-to-look innocent girl, "You're not supposed to injure the prince!"
Akane turned large kitten-like eyes at him, yet only Ranma noticed the underline of held anger beneath, "Ooops, it flew out of my hand. I'm sooo sorry, maybe next time you won't get hurt if you're mouth stayed shut. I mean no disrespect by this, of course, me being a tomboy and all."

Ranma just resorted to glaring at her when Kasumi burst out in bell-like laughter.
"Alright Ranma, I can see how brave you are, you may keep you're servant, but she must come and visit me now and then," Kasumi laughed.
"Yes, Kasumi," both Ranma and Akane replied before they glared pointedly at each other again.

After awhile of glaring at each other Akane said in an amused tone, "I spent years as a child perfecting the art of no-blinking. I can go way longer, give up rich-boy."
Ranma had a hald-grin on his face as he said, "No way, tomboy, I gotta show you what getting your butt kicked by a 'rich-boy' feels like."
"What, might I ask, are you two doing?" Ukyo asked confused.
Ranma and Akane just broke into huge grins,
"Ask the tomboy."
"Ask the rich-boy."
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The days after seemed like a daze to Akane. Visiting her friend, the accursed Ranko, working and talking with the Queen Kasumi, laughing and fighting with the Prince Ranma didn't even seem so terrible. Life in the palace didn't seem so unbearable and tortorous anymore. The only thing that seemed to always mar her good mood was seeing Shan Pu's escapades at trying to win the Prince and seeing the Prince with his betrothed, Ukyo. The feelings always confused her and she dealt with as she did with anything she couldn't understand...she fought it. The idea of jealousy was so proposterous that she didn't even allow it to seep to her mind.

One day, weeks after Akane's and Shan Pu's stay at the castle, Akane was brushing Kasumi's glorious hair, smiling to herself when the young Queen voiced the question that has plagued her for some time.
"Akane," Kasumi said softly as Akane, "have you ever been to a place called Jyuan?"
Akane scrunched her eyebrows together in that way that Ranma found so endearing, "Jyuan? No, I've never been, is it a country or..."
"It was a country," Kasumi said sadly, her eyes wistful. Akane stopped brushing and looked at her Queen in the mirror subtely catching the *was*.

"It was a very, very beautiful country Akane. The lands rolled on and the people loved it. I loved it. They destroyed it, though, those invaders! They went in and destroyed everything as soon as the King died..." at this Kasumi stopped, unable to continue, her tears and spit choking her.
"That was your kingdom wasn't it, Kasumi? You were going to be it's Queen," Akane stated quietly.
Kasumi smiled and shook her head as her eyes twinkled with mirth, "Oh no! I was the Crown Princess and I was going to inherit the kingdom, but Jyuan was never mind. Oh no, the land and people of Jyuan was never mind."

Akane turned her puzzled eyes to Kasumi, but the other older girl didn't elaborate so the servant continued brushing the Queen's hair.
Suddenly Kasumi spoke, "Aren't you going to ask who Jyuan belonged to Akane?"
Akane smiled, "I sensed you probably didn't want to talk about it."
"Ah, you're very observant, Akane," Kasumi noted.
"You have to be if you were raised by the gypsies," Akane answered.

"Who named you Akane?" Kasumi asked trying to hide her interest in the matter.
"Hiba-chan did," Akane lied. Strangely, she didn't want Kasumi to know of her being an orphan that was abandoned. She felt ashamed for some reason that she couldn't comprehend as if it was her fault...her fault for being born...her fault for being abandoned...her fault for being not good enough. Akane knew that one reason that she had loved the gypsies so much was because they were the only people that loved and needed her. They were her family, her friends, her home. Nobody else needed or wanted a lost, amnesia-filled little girl in rags...but the gypsies...the gypsies...they weren't too high-classed...or too good to aid anybody...rich or poor, young or old, wanted or not...and Akane would give up her life for them.

"Hiba-chan?" Kasumi asked sounding indifferent.
Akane smiled, glad to be able to share her family with the one person (who wasn't a gypsy) that she felt kin to as a sister.
"Yeah, hiba-chan's my and Shan Pu's great-grandmother. She's the leader of the gypsies. Her name's Cologne...or at least it sounds that way in this language. Did you know Shampoo's name is really Shan Pu and mine is Ne-ne or just Ne. You acting weird today, Kasumi, is anything wrong?"

Kasumi sighed and managed a tremulous smile, "Nothing Akane. Nothing's wrong. I'm just a little nervous, what with the baby coming and all-"
Akane spun the Queen around, forgetting her position in life for a minute as she said joyously, "You're pregnant, Kasumi?! Wow! Congratulations, have you told anyone yet?"
"Only you so far," Kasumi replied.

Akane smiled and began fixing Kasumi's hair up in a high, fancy, sophisticated ponytail.
"How long are you going to stay here Akane?"
"Only for a couple of months at best until my work is over then I get to go back home to the gypsies," Akane replied.
*Then we won't have much time to make you remember...* Kasumi thought to herself.
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As Akane walked through the fields wooded forests in the Terian kingdom, she twirled a tiny violet flower and thought of her peculier conversation with Kasumi. She had felt a connection with the Queen ever since she first saw her and knew that there was more that Kasumi was keeping behind that sweet, oblivious face. The question was: What was she hiding? Suddenly Akane heard a sound and her martial arts instincts told her to duck behind a bush. Peeking up Akane saw a sight that made her jaw drop.

There was his Royal Highness, Crown Prince of Teria, Prince Ranma Saotome...in a pair of ordinary, dirty, black, silk, chinese pants and a large blue, silk, chinese shirt... commoner's clothes...and doing martial arts! To top it all off...he was good at it...very good! Ranma was performing an extremely complex kata and Akane couldn't pinpoint the martial arts he was using. Whatever it was...he was way better then anyone she knew... *maybe he could even beat hiba-chan...* Akane thought then inwardly laughed at her foolishness *nah!*
In that moment, Akane noticed the muscles move over Ranma as his eyes were filled with determination. She felt an unwelcome, though common feeling everytime she looked at the Prince engulf her. The warm sensation was so shocking it left Akane staggering.

Ranma landed gracefully on his feet after the kata was finished, his back to Akane as he yelled out, "Come out, tomboy, I know you're there."
Akane's eyes already huge eyes grew even larger at his sensing her presense. *How did he...what the...how could he...* but she dutifully stood up and flashed him a cheeky smile.

Ranma gazed at her innocently, a mischievous smile on his face, "Guess I'm not the stereotypical, weak, pathetic, pampered, given-everything, don't-do-anything prince after all."
Akane smiled at him as she retorted, "You're still arrogant, overconfident, and insensitive, though. Now, tell me what's the style of arts that you study?"
Ranma shrugged, "Anything and everything, I guess. I learn wherever and from whoever that I can."
Akane's smile turned into a huge grin, "You mean Anything Goes?"
"Yeah."

Before Akane could tell Ranma that that was her style of martial arts also a familiar voice broke out behind her, "Hey, Ne-ne, guess I didn't get lost again, huh?"
Ranma's smiled broke into a scowling frown as he watched Akane turn around and ran to hug the guy behind her. Her eyes were filled with happiness and joy as she kissed the guy all over the face.
Akane grinned at her best friend and betrothed as she yelled out, "Ryo, you came!"
Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki locked eyes at that exact moment and an unspoken word passed through them as an understanding took, *...mine...*
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Author's Notes: I shouldn't have wrote this. I shouldn't have wrote this. Not with mid-terms coming and studying to be done. I shouldn't have wrote this. I'm not even going to bother asking people to e-mail me since nobody does, but can you at least sign my guestbook. I would be the most grateful.