The Light Hawk War
By: Chaos Lord
Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to their respective owners. The concepts dealing with the Time Gates the Ultimate Good and Evil and the Forbidden belong to PacMan.
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Chapter 3
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Clapping his hands together Ranma exclaimed, "Well that's it. So, when do we start training?" He wanted, no needed to do something besides sit there and talk some more. He needed to banish the thoughts that were now running there way through his head and the best way to do that was to train. His hope for training was dashed when Tenchi shook his head.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but it's too late to start any training now. Besides, I don't know about anyone else, but I need to clear my mind from what we just talked about," he was backed up by a round of assents by everyone in the room. "So, why don't we wait till tomorrow and we can begin your training then, ok," he asked with a smile.
Ranma's shoulders drooped in disappointment, and while nodding his head, he said, "Ok, I guess you're right. If you don't mind I'm going to go outside and practice some, I don't want to get rusty, ok" He then started to head out side but before he walked too far he turned back to the still sitting group, "Does anyone want to ask me anything." He didn't want the to ask any questions but he figured that it was only polite to ask.
Hell yes did they have questions. His story, for the most part, was generalized and had huge gapping holes. But they all realized that he might not ready to tell them everything yet, if his entire life was as bad as what he did describe they understood.
So, to calm the obviously nervous Ranma, Ryoko said, "I don't now about the others, but I'm willing to wait until you're ready to tell us more." She knew what it was like to have a painful past and to not want others to know about it. She was amazed that a human was able to survive such tortures and remain sane. He had defiantly earned her respect for even being able to discuss what he endured when undertook the Neko-Ken training.
At seeing the rest of the group's nods of agreement, Ranma continued on his walk to get outside. Just as he reached the door he remembered something and headed back to the living room. When he got there he saw that Washu was already gone and that Sasami and Tenchi were cleaning up the table. Ranma walked up to Tenchi, "Hey, Tenchi."
At hearing his name called, Tenchi looked up to address Ranma. "Yeah Ranma, what's up?"
"Well I was wondering where my pack is."
Tenchi looked at Ranma in confusion, "I'm sorry Ranma. But when Mihoshi brought you here she wasn't carrying any packs and she really hasn't told us where she found you. You might want to ask her ok." "I hope this works," he thought. During their earlier conversation and before that when Ranma came out of the lab, Tenchi saw how he and Mihoshi were interacting with each other and Tenchi was overjoyed. If he could get Ranma and Mihoshi together then that would be one less girl after him, although in the last few months she hadn't been pursuing him like she had in the past. But the real benefit of getting those two together would be to Ranma, he would be able to have someone stable to live his life with. It also helped that she was a babe. "Although she has nothing on Ryoko," he thought. He then began to think of all the times he had seen Ryoko in a less than clothed state, and he began to mentally drool.
When Tenchi's face went blank then formed that goofy expression he had seen other guys get when they're thinking of some naked girl, Ranma felt that their conversation was over. "Hopefully he wasn't thinking of my girl form, that would be gross," thought Ranma. Seeing that Tenchi was less than helpful he turned to the still seated Mihoshi, and walked over to her. When he reached her he found that, like Ryoko and Ayeka, she was staring at him blankly. But unlike Ryoko and Ayeka her stare seemed to carry a deeper meaning that Ranma was unable to divine. So, he tried to snap her out of whatever kind of trance she was in. He waved his hand in front of her face and called out her name. When that didn't work her gently shook her by the shoulder and called out her name even louder, this finally broke her out of her trance.
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Even though Ranma had finished his tale of his life, Mihoshi's mind was in turmoil. In her mind there was a argument going on, an argument between a representation of her dead lover, her newfound desire for Ranma, and a dark shadowy form that represented her fear. Fear of abandonment, fear of being alone and most significantly fear of loving again.
"Dammit Mihoshi, what's the matter with you? Don't you love me anymore," asked Lover.
Before she could answer Desire interrupted, "Of course she does, idiot. How could she not? You're the one that taught her how to express her love, both physically and emotionally, and she could never forget that. But you're dead, and she isn't, do you think she deserves to suffer like that? Besides did you see his butt. And those breasts on his girl form, didn't they just call to you," she asked while drooling
Lover looked at desire in disgust, "Yes I did, and it took every once of strength I had to keep you from fondling them."
Before Desire could respond, Fear interjected, "But what if he doesn't like us? What if he leaves us like she did," she asked in a timid voice.
Desire rolled up her nonexistent sleeves and got in a boxing stance. "Then we'll fight. We'll move on, what's the purpose of life if we spend it moping around." She then pointed to Lover, "The real you would have wanted Mihoshi to move on, not stay in this oblivious, idiotic state."
Before anyone could respond, Mihoshi felt herself being shook. She the focused in the one who was shaking her. When her eyes focused on the deep blue-gray eyes of Ranma, all the factions in her mind called a temporary truce so that they could fully take in the eyes in front of her. Even Lover looked, because even though she represents all the loyalty and memories Mihoshi had for her, Lover was still a part of Mihoshi.
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When Mihoshi's eyes finally focused onto Ranma he asked, "Mihoshi are you ok? You kind of zoned out there," he said with a smile.
She nodded her head, "Yeah I'm fine. Do you need something?"
"Um, yeah. Tenchi told me that you know how to get to that clearing where you found me. My pack, with all my stuff, is still there, and I was hoping that you would be willing to take me there," he asked with a smile.
Mihoshi quickly stood up and knocked her head into Ranma's, causing them both to fall to the ground. As Mihoshi laid there, nursing her bruised cranium, she didn't realize the compromising position they were in.
Ranma, on the other hand, did realize this fact since his face was firmly planted between Mihoshi's breasts. As she lied there on top of him he inhaled to take in her soft smell, cinnamon and a hint of some sort of body oil.
When Mihoshi was convinced that her skull wasn't seriously injured she then felt something lodged between her breasts. She then remembered that she had landed onto Ranma, sat up to see if he was all right. When she looked down at him she saw a glazed expression on his face and some drool running down his cheek. Thinking that this was because of her injuring him, Mihoshi began to cry and apologize, shaking Ranma back and forth.
Ranma was knocked out of his cleavage-induced mini-coma by Mihoshi's shaking. When he focused on her and saw that he was crying, he got panicked. During his training trip he had seen what happens if a girl cries for too long, her family comes out of the woodworks to deliver a major ass whooping. So to diffuse this potential bomb, Ranma began to wave his hands in front of him and say, "I'm ok, really, I'm ok."
Mihoshi's crying slowed and she look down at Ranma, "But I knocked you unconscious."
Ranma looked at her in confusion, "You did. When?" And the he realized what she was talking about, "Oh that. Um. . . well you just stunned me." He then brought his hand up to his head and hit himself a few times. "See, no damage done. So I was wondering if you could get up off me now." It wasn't as if he really wanted her off, it's just that he realized where they were at and that Ryoko and Ayeka were still sitting on the other couch. Besides it was getting a little hard to breathe with her sitting on her stomach like that.
Mihoshi looked down at Ranma and realized the position that they were in. She quickly got off of him and helped him up. "I'm sorry about that Ranma."
Ranma waved off her apology, "Hey no problem. As long as no blood is gushing I'm fine. So, how 'bout that clearing, huh," he asked, hoping to get her back to the reason that he started talking to her in the first place.
Mihoshi looked at him in confusion for a few moments until she remembered his pack, "Right, you wanted to get your pack."
Ranma nodded his head, "Yeah, it's got all my stuff in it, so I need to get it back."
"Ok." Mihoshi then pulled out her control cube, "Put your hand on my shoulder and I'll try to get us there." When Ranma did she told him, Mihoshi looked down at the cube and said, "Now what was that combination? I think it was left twice then spin." When she entered the combination she and Ranma disappeared.
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From where he had been watching the entire event Tenchi was grinning. As soon as Ranma and Mihoshi disappeared he began to countdown from five, "Five, four, three, two," before he could say one he heard a loud splash outside. "Well at least Mihoshi is getting back to normal," he said with a grin. He then looked over to the still forms of his two loves, "Ryoko, Ayeka, you two can get up now, you know."
In unison the girls in question swiveled their heads to face Tenchi.
Seeing that they were still somewhat out of it, Tenchi continued, "You know we're done talking, right. You can do something else you know."
This seemed to break Ryoko out of her disbelieving trance. She the looked over at the princess beside her and said, "I could sure use a work- out right about now. How about you Ayeka?" She needed something to release her frustrations on and fighting with Ayeka was always so much fun.
Ayeka nodded her head, "Yes I believe I need a work-out as well." Like Ryoko, Ayeka was feeling the stress from that discussion and the events shortly thereafter, and she needed some stress relief. And Ayeka found that the best stress reliever was to try to beat Ryoko up. Oh sure, she didn't go all out, most of the time, when she fought Ryoko, but it was still fun, sometimes.
So, their course decided, the two of them got up and headed for the room for them. The room that Washu had designed for when people wanted to try out really destructive things but didn't want to destroy the surrounding countryside. It was where Washu tested all he new weapons, why just last week she had tested a device that she saw on an old anime, a Reflex Cannon. Ryoko had said that it would be cool to have one of those and Washu decided to try it out. All her other experiments had been in a hands off phase, so Washu had been bored and boom, you've got a truck sized super weapon. Well, Washu had opened this space up to everyone, especially Ryoko and Ayeka, to use and abuse as they saw fit. The introduction of this room dramatically reduced the amount of time Washu spent repairing the house.
Tenchi stood there and watched the entire exchange with mild confusion. He shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, at least they are treating each other civilly." Over the last few months Ryoko had been trying to fight with Ayeka less and less. This bolstered Tenchi's meager hopes of marrying both women. He then broke himself out of his stupor and continued clearing the table so Sasami wouldn't be mad at him. She could be scary at times.
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Inside the meta-tech battleship Yukinojo materialized Mihoshi and Ranma, a very wet Mihoshi and Ranma.
As Ranma stood there he grumbled, "Damn water based curse, can't go five minutes without getting wet, rasa frasa." He might not mind changing into a girl anymore but he did mind being a water magnet. It's hell on clothes, he always had to worry about them mildewing on him. After wringing out his shirt of some excess water he turned to Mihoshi to see how she fared. When he saw how her hair glistened and her shirt was stuck to her chest, he froze. And although his danger sense was screaming at him to look away, he was unable to budge a single muscle.
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Mihoshi was in the same predicament. When she teleported in she found that she was soaked to the bone, a state that she regularly found herself in when she teleported onto her ship. She turned to look at Ranma to see if he was ok. What she saw gave her pause, Ranma was facing away from her and his pants were plastered to his, now very feminine, butt. And if that gave her pause, then when showed her how the wet clothes looked on his front, well that floored her.
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Mihoshi and Ranma were broken out of their wet clothes induced stare by the screaming of the ship's main computer, Yukinojo.
"Mihoshi," nothing. "Mihoshi," a grunt this time. He then brought himself as close as he could to the staring pair. After the head felt that it was at the right distance, he opened the panels that covered the speakers that he had installed to wake Mihoshi up. "MIHOSHI!!!"
Said girl was quite startled by this yell. She was so startled that she jumped into Ranma's arms.
On the other hand, Ranma wasn't startled by Yukinojo's scream. No, what startled Ranma was that his once empty arms were now filled with Mihoshi, again. He quickly looked around him to find the reason for Mihoshi to be in his arms, not that he minded. He just wanted to know why she was in his arms. As he looked, he quickly came across a floating mechanical head. Before he could say anything to it Mihoshi climbed out of his arms and addressed the wonder.
"Yukinojo why did you scare me liked that," asked a very crossed Mihoshi.
"Because you would not listen to me," he replied, his ire just as great as Mihoshi's. "Now what I want to know is, who is this unauthorized woman and what is she doing on board?"
Mihoshi looked a little confused, "A woman, where?" She then looked at Ranma and realized who the irate computer was talking about. "Oh, this is Ranma and he isn't a woman," she answered as if that explained everything in the world. She then felt someone tapping her shoulder. When she looked to the one who tapped her she saw, the still female, Ranma.
"Uh Mihoshi, I do look like a girl right now," said Ranma as he gestured to his female body. " So you might want explain me a little better to you ship. It looks kinda, off."
Mihoshi turned back to Yukinojo and saw that steam as coming out of the computer's head. "Oh, um let me see," she said as she put her index finger against her cheek and tilted her head. "I know, Yukinojo, because of a curse Ranma now turns into a woman when wet." She then pointed to Ranma, "As you can see, he is very wet right now so therefore he is a woman."
Despite Mihoshi's rather confusing explanation, Yukinojo went with his other question. "Yes, yes, but what I want to know is why he is on this ship"
"We were going to get his back pack and I teleported us here by accident. Besides he's a Juraian royal, I think. Well any way, we must get going," she then grabbed Ranma arm and pulled out her cube. "So bye Yukinojo," and with that the two of them disappeared.
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In a forest clearing there was silence. Some woodland creatures were scurrying about and all was calm. That was until Mihoshi and Ranma teleported in, then all those creatures disappeared as quickly as the duo appeared.
Ranma looked around for a few seconds then turned to Mihoshi, "So. Is this where you found me at."
Mihoshi nodded her head, "Yes, this is where I found you." She then pointed to a spot in the clearing, "That is where you were you lying when I materialized." As she said that, Mihoshi's voice became thick with sadness. Yes Ranma had forgiven her, even thanked her, but she still couldn't completely forgive herself.
Ranma, who was staring at the spot that his life might have ended, heard the pain in her voice and turned to Mihoshi. "What's wrong? You sound upset."
"I was just remembering how I hurt you when I was trying to save you," she replied, tears making their silent journey down her face.
"Hey I forgave you, you don't have to be upset now," said a slightly panicked, Ranma.
"I know, I'm just having problems forgiving myself."
"Hey now, stop crying. You don't have any reason to cry. When you rescued me you not only saved my life, you saved my soul."
Mihoshi looked at him oddly, "What do you mean?"
"When I was lying there, I knew I was dying, I could feel it. And instead of fighting it with every fiber of my being, like I should have, I gave up. I wanted to die to ease my suffering. When you came and saved me you gave me a second chance. I now realize that what I did was stupid and I have you to thank for that."
Before anything else could be said he quickly began to look for his pack. After a few minutes of search he finally found it, when he did he began to go through it to see if anything was damaged. When he was finished he grinned, the only things messed up were the perishable foodstuffs. Everything else was in good condition, "Yet another plus to using Ki," he thought. Ever since he had been using his Ki for everything like he does now, he found that his clothes were not as susceptible to bugs as before. As near as he could figure it, all the Ki he has been using had left a lasting impression on his clothes and it acted as a kind of bug repellent. He put all of his stuff back into the pack, making sure to leave all the perishable food that had spoiled behind. He then picked up his pack and turned back to Mihoshi, "I'm ready to go when you are."
Mihoshi, who was still thinking about what Ranma had said, wordlessly put Ranma's hand on her shoulder and teleported them back to the house.
When they arrived at the house, Ranma began looking for Tenchi so that he could ask where to put his pack. Before he could more than a few steps from Mihoshi her voice rang softly out.
"Thank you."
Ranma turned back to her and fund that despite the newfound tears running down her face, a bright smile still graced her lips. Not being able to say anything when faced with this scene, Ranma merely smiled and nodded his head.
To Mihoshi this simple action comforted her more than a trillion you're welcomes. In her happiness, her smile got a lot bigger and her whole face became radiant.
When Ranma saw this he was stunned by her beauty. He was so stunned that he could not say a word. So he would not make a fool of himself he turned away from her and continued on his quest to find Tenchi.
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In the middle of the training room that Washu built sat Ryoko and Ayeka with their backs against each other's. Surrounding them was ruble and craters as far as the eye can see. Apparently they had a great many frustrations to work out. Since they were still wearing their clothes, we can assume that they haven't worked out all their frustrations, but suffice it to say they have calmed down from Ranma's tale. For a long while neither said a word but finally Ryoko decided to get a conversation going, and so she asked a question that had been nagging her since they discovered that Ranma was Juraian. "So Ayeka, do you think that Ranma should be part of the royal family?"
Ayeka was silent for a while in thought. That was a good question, should he be a member of the royal family just because of a Washu-induced fluke. The part of her that still was mired in court politics answered stringently, "NO!" But the part of her that loved Tenchi, and to a lesser extent Ryoko, the part that had been slowly growing since she started her stay with Tenchi, said yes. So she had a very important decision to make, would she choose everything that she learned in the royal court, or would she embrace love. She decided that for the time being she would take a neutral stance on the subject, less questions that, for the most part, been left unanswered be answered. "I do not know. Right now, I do not know enough about him to say whether he should become a member of he royal family or not. Although if he did, it might solve some of the problems he has with multiple suitors."
For Ryoko, this was a perfect opportunity to bring up an issue that she had problems with finding the perfect time to ask about. "So Ayeka, Tenchi is a member of the royal family and he might even end up the emperor. Does that mean that he can get married to more than one woman," she asked hopefully.
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When Ayeka heard this, her heart dropped into her stomach and grew cold. She knew what Ryoko meant when she asked her question, and Ayeka knew that she was nowhere close to being able to answer that question. A part of her heard the hope in Ryoko's voice and wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Another part of her was repulsed, women are not supposed to love other women especially Ryoko, the woman that attacked her beloved Jurai. Her mother and Auntie Funaho didn't act that way so why should she. At the same time she couldn't say no to Ryoko, not now at least. If she had asked several months ago, then Ayeka could have said no, but over the past months her defenses were crumbling and it was getting hard not to encourage her more than she has to date. And so, as to let the matter drop for now she stood and began to walk away, but before she could get out of hearing range the part of her that was in love with Ryoko stopped her so she wouldn't crush her spirit. "It is possible," and with that she hurried away.
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After Ryoko had asked her question her confidence left her and was replaced with self-doubt. "You idiot! How could you have asked that, you know what she thinks of you, she would never want to be in a relationship with you." Another part of her rose up to meet the challenge, "Who cares, at least she asked. How would she know if Ayeka cared if she didn't ask. At least this way she might get some sort of resolution to this conflict. I know I don't like how we are in pain all the time. Do you?" With that, Ryoko's mind went silent in anticipation of Ayeka's answer. As time went by she became sadder and sadder and her sorrow was only increased when Ayeka stood and began to walk away.
All of Ryoko's sorrow vanished when Ayeka stopped and said, "It is possible." And in sorrows place appeared hope. Ryoko knew what Ayeka could have meant by her statement. To her, Ayeka said, "I'm not ready yet, please give me more time. And since Ryoko was, for all intents and purposes, immortal, she could what for something as important as love for a long time indeed.
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Back in the house, Ranma's search for Tenchi finally ended when he found Tenchi in his spacious room. Before Ranma entered the open doorway he knocked. "Hey Tenchi, can I come in?"
Tenchi, who had been sitting at his desk, was startled out of his idle thoughts by a knock at his door. As he was turning to see who was at his door he heard Ranma asking to enter. "Sure, what's up," when he saw that Ranma had his pack he forgot about his first question and started on a different topic of conversation. "I see that Mihoshi was able to help you find your stuff." As he was talking to Ranma, Tenchi was having a hard time keeping his thoughts straight. This was because Ranma's shirt was still somewhat wet and he was still a woman. "Heh, I guess some of dad did rub off on me," thought Tenchi.
Ranma, who was oblivious to the direction that Tenchi's thoughts were taking, answered Tenchi's second question first. "Yeah she did. We had to take a trip through the lake to get it, but oh well," he finished with a shrug. He then shifted to the reason he had looked for Tenchi in the first place. "Hey, do you know where my room is at."
It took Tenchi's mind several seconds to process Ranma's question. This was because that it was still reeling from when Ranma shrugged his shoulders. But after the question was able to penetrate the fog of perverted thoughts, Tenchi's mind immediately shifted into helpful mode. "We don't have a room for you yet, but Washu did say that she would be done with your room by the end of the day."
"She doesn't have to build me a room. I can just camp outside, I don't want her to do a lot of unnecessary work on my account." He didn't want to be burden to anyone, especially people he just met.
Tenchi waved aside Ranma's protest, "It's no trouble. In fact, when she heard that she would be able to mess around with the fabric of reality she got real excited. I haven't been allowing her to do that recently and I think she has been getting bored."
Ranma was slightly confused, "What do you mean by, mess around with the fabric of reality?" While he wasn't completely sure what that meant, Ranma was pretty sure that it didn't sound like a good thing.
"She'll probably just build a door and construct the room in subspace, that way your room won't take up that much space. So why don't you just put your stuff somewhere while you wait for her to finish."
"Ok, I can do that. If anybody comes looking for me I'll be outside practicing," and with that he headed back the way he came.
As Ranma left the room, Tenchi was shaking his head in disbelief. Here he had given some time off before they start their training tomorrow and what does he go and do, practice martial arts. "Oh well," he shrugged, "to each his own." With that he sat back at his desk and started daydreaming about Ryoko and Ayeka wrestling in a tub of chocolate. As he pictured this scene a line of drool began to work it's way down his chin.
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After placing his pack in the entryway to the Masaki home, Ranma went outside and began to warm up. As he did this he encountered something odd, Washu and Tenchi said that it has been days since he was injured and yet he wasn't in the least bit stiff or sore. This was especially odd since for the last week he had been laying on a bed, unconscious. Not one willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, he shook off the oddity and started one of his katas.
As his body flowed from one form to the next Ranma's mind went over recent events. As his mind muttered over everything that happened, he came to several conclusions. The first was that he was supremely lucky to meet such good and generous people. Why, this is the first time that he has met others on the right foot. This could mean one of two things, either nothing bad will happen, or the universe was setting up something truly huge to screw his life over. The second thing he realized was that out of the lot of them, Ryoko was probably the best equipped to handle a full accounting of his life. Sure, Tenchi has killed before, but it seemed to him that Tenchi has no remorse for the act. And the third item that Ranma came up with was "What the hell." For some reason, that he couldn't fathom, when he was around Mihoshi he couldn't think straight. When he had been talking to Tenchi and Washu in her lab he was perfectly normal. But as soon as Mihoshi latched onto him his thoughts turned in a direction that would have gotten him beaten in Nerima. When she was around and he thought of her, two emotions took control, protectiveness and lust. The first he could understand, when she latched onto him she appeared very vulnerable and that caused him to want to protect her. The second, lust, he couldn't understand. He had seen many girls in various states of dress, or in Shampoo's case, undress, and that never effected him. But with Mihoshi he seemed incapable of suppressing that desire. He knew that since he would be living with these people for at least the time it will take for him to learn how to control his Juraian power, he would have to learn control over those feelings. "Hey, if I can go all that time in Nerima and not do anything, I can do the same now," he confidently thought.
As he was in a precarious position that required him to be balancing on one hand and do an amagruikan with his legs he heard Mihoshi's voice calling out to him. That was more than enough to break his concentration and send him head first into the ground.
*********
As Mihoshi sat in the living room she thought and went over what Ranma had told her. She had felt like that once, the complete letting go of life. After her lover died, Mihoshi had spent two months in a almost catatonic state unwilling to live and yet unable to take her own life and join her lover in the world beyond. But luckily her mother and her lover's mother got together and convinced her to live, if not for herself then at least for them. Mihoshi could never repay that kindness, because of them she was able to go to Earth and associate with such wonderful people
As she was looking about the living room and reminiscing, she came to the large glass wall overlooking the lake. While looking out the widows she saw Ranma practicing his art and her breath was taken away at the beauty and grace that he was displaying. As he moved from one form to another, a singular thought entered her mind, "I want to do that." Ever since she was a little girl Mihoshi had been moderately clumsy and while it was annoying she could live with it. She had always been fascinated with how graceful some people could be and she always envied them for that. But here was a very good martial artist and she wanted to learn from him. So she headed outside to ask Ranma to teach her his art. When she got outside and up to him he was in the middle of an especially complicated looking maneuver. Mihoshi was in awe of the skill necessary to execute such a move and in her awe she spoke out Ranma's name.
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After Ranma's head impacted with the ground Mihoshi rushed to all the while apologizing for what she had done.
On the ground Ranma was waving off her apology, the only damage that was inflicted onto him was the damage to his pride. Never in his entire life had someone just calling his name caused him to do that but, "What the hell," he thought, "at least it was Mihoshi and not Akane. If she had seen this she would never let me live it down." To make sure that Mihoshi would believe that he was unhurt Ranma quickly jumped up and started to bounce up and down. "See I'm fine. No harm no foul," he said with a large smile.
Mihoshi's crying abated at seeing Ranma's antics. "Oh, ok, I'm still sorry about that though."
"Hey, no problem, really. So was there something that you wanted to ask me?"
Mihoshi nodded her head, "Yes there was. I was hoping that you would be willing to teach me to your art. I'm a little clumsy and I think that this might help me to get over that," she said hopefully. She really hated looking like a fool when she tripped over objects that others just walk over.
Ranma stood there and thought about Mihoshi's request. His first thought would have normally been, "No." Normally that is, but here, now, standing there and looking at the hopeful look on Mihoshi's face the word would just not come to him. So, he heaved a sigh of defeat and answered the hopeful woman.
"Since I don't have a license to teach Anything Goes Martial Arts my answer would normally be no, but I think I know a way around that rule," he said with a smile at his ingenuity.
When Mihoshi heard that Ranma would say no she grew disappointed, but that disappointment quickly changed back to hope when he said that he had a way around the rules. "What way do you mean?"
"Well, first off, you wouldn't be my student, you would be someone that watches what I do and copies that. That way I can teach you without actually teaching you."
Mihoshi was giddy, "That's great! When do we start."
Ranma looked around to see if the area was big enough to practice martial arts. Seeing that it was he said, "Well, right now. That is, if you feel up to it."
Mihoshi was shocked and delighted, "Now? That's great," she then looked down and saw what she was wearing. "But I don't think that I am wearing the right clothes for training," she said as gesture to her pink tank top and khaki pants.
Ranma made a dismissing gesture, "Training in a gi is ok, but you should also practice in clothes that you often wear. That way you won't be in an unfamiliar environment in your own clothes. Now lets get started shall we."
And so, Ranma began to each Mihoshi the ways, as he saw them, of his art. They practiced long into the night, only stopping for the dinner that Sasami cooked.
*********
There is a clearing near the Masaki Shrine. In this clearing there were a number of poles embedded into the ground at various heights but no higher than two feet. Into this clearing stepped Ranma and Tenchi. Their styles of dress greatly contrasted each other, Ranma's blue long sleeved Chinese style shirt and black pants showed a more laid back view on things. Whereas Tenchi's formal brown gi showed a greater emphasis on a more rigid style of fighting. When both fighters were in the clearing they faced each other and they took up fighting positions.
"Ranma, this is to see how good you are and how much physical training you need so that you may start your spiritual training. Now, let's see what you've got," and with that Tenchi charged at Ranma and readied his bokken for attack.
Ranma saw that the attack was coming and redirected it.
As Tenchi flew past him Ranma he lashed out with a kick and was able to tag Ranma in the arm. He quickly landed and attacked Ranma again with similar results. This continued for several minutes until Tenchi finally grew too frustrated to continue. "Ranma, why won't you fight back."
"I was fighting back," stated Ranma.
Tenchi shook his head, "I left openings a mile wide and yet all you did was block and redirect my attacks. That isn't fighting, that's what someone does when they are afraid to get hurt," he goaded. Tenchi knew that something was off about Ranma. If he did all he said he had done, he would have to have fought.
When Ranma heard what Tenchi said he got angry and turned away from him, "You wouldn't understand."
"Then make me understand. How am I supposed to teach you how to use your Juraian power if you never really fight back?"
Ranma sighed, he knew that he would have to tell them about this. He just didn't think that he would have to tell so soon. "One of my last adventures was to a place called Jusendo. I won't go into why we went there, but suffice it to say I ended up having to fight the King of the Phoenixes, Saffron. It was the most difficult battle of my life, no matter what I tried against him he would just regenerate. It finally came down to me having to kill him so that I could save, what was at the time, my fiancé and the rest of my friends. After that, I vowed to never use my art to hurt anyone else."
Tenchi walked over to Ranma and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You did what was necessary to save your friends. It's not your fault that Saffron is dead, it's his."
At that Ranma grew furious, he shrugged off Tenchi's hand and spun around to face him. "His fault, HIS FAULT! We came, we woke him up before he was supposed to. He woke up and defended himself and though he went to far, it's because we woke him up before he was fully mature. You want to know how I killed him huh, HUH! I didn't cut him in half like you did with Kagato. No, I froze his body solid and then blew him up. And this wasn't some truly evil man like you killed, he was the driving force, the very life, for an entire species. You might think that killing Kagato was ok because he was a bad man and that makes you somehow more righteous than he was, but face the facts Tenchi. YOU. KILLED. HIM! And no matter how you slice it, he is still dead and you can never change that fact." When he finished his triad he wasn't in the right frame of mind to block the punch across the face that came from Tenchi.
As Ranma went deeper and deeper into his tirade Tenchi's anger only grew. It continued until he could no longer hold himself back and he decked Ranma. "You arrogant bastard. How dare you insinuate that I felt nothing after killing Kagato. I was in agony for weeks after that, I went over the entire event so many times I thought that I would go mad. Do you know what I finally came with after all that thinking, I couldn't do it any different. Kagato was a real and lasting threat to the entire universe, but more importantly he was holding Ryoko and Ayeka hostage. I don't know how much you loved your fiancé when you killed Saffron, but I do know how much I loved the two of them at that moment. The sound of Ryoko' begging for my life and her sorrow filled scream will forever haunt my nightmares. But despite the fact that I killed, I keep on training and fighting, and you know why? To keep them safe and happy. So you go and continue not fighting back and one day someone you care for will not possibly die, they WILL die. And when that happens you will feel a million times worse than you do now." Tenchi then turned away from Ranma to regain his composure. He hadn't meant to yell like that but in his anger the words just rolled from him.
On the ground Ranma was in shock. Not from Tenchi's punch, "Hell Akane hit harder that," he thought wryly. No, what shocked Ranma was Tenchi's words. When he vowed to never use the art to hurt others again he never thought of the possibility that because of his inaction someone that he cares about would get injured, or killed. He quickly flashed to all those that he cares for and then overlaid their images with one of them in various states, beaten, dead or dying and he promised them that he would make sure that they never got like that. Ever. He stood up and placed his hand on Tenchi's shoulder. "Tenchi, I am truly sorry. I had never thought of it in that way. I had been so mired in my father's teachings about killing that I never thought about the other side of that equation. Also, I would like to say that I'm sorry for my harsh words. I had been bottling all that up ever since I killed Saffron and I guess your helpful prodding brought that out. That's no excuse for what I said, but still, I'm sorry."
Tenchi turned so that he could face Ranma. "I'd also like to apologize, I had meant to say what I said much gentler. But you thinking that I didn't care about killing Kagato caused me to lash out at you."
"Hey it's ok. We Saotomes are naturally thick headed and when we get an idea in our skull we tend to stay with it unless someone brings us down to earth. So thanks." He then slipped into an aggressive stance and with a grin on his face he said, "Let's try this again."
Tenchi brought up his bokken and slipped into his own stance. "Yes let's," he said with a grin to match Ranma's.
With that the two of them rushed each other and did battle.
*********
"That was two months ago," thought Ranma. He was now sitting under Katsuhito's tree-ship Funaho. After he found this spot, he kept coming back whenever he had any free time, whether it was to meditate or practice the techniques.
Over the past two months Ranma had a pretty regular schedule. Start the day by training with Tenchi to harness his Juraian power, and for the most part the training has been successful. He might not be able to create those energy shields that Tenchi and the old man could, but he can use the Tenchi-ken pretty well for a guy with two months of sword training. After lunch, he teaches Mihoshi in Anything Goes. He was amazed at the level she reached in just two months. Though she wasn't as strong as Akane, as far as he could tell she would probably be able to take her in a fight because she was so much more skilled. And after he was done teaching her for the day he would come to this clearing and do some personal training.
That was why he was there now. He had just spent several hours training is some of the more esoteric Amazon techniques and he was now resting against Funaho. As he sat there, all the intense training finally caught up with him and Ranma took a long needed rest. So he lay there, between two of Funaho's large roots and as he lay there he began to glow a soft translucent blue. And then, he disappeared.
*********
Shortly before Ranma's disappearance from the base of Funaho, Sasami was reading in the Masaki living room. For her, the last two months had been fun. She spent her mornings cleaning and doing any other chore that had been assigned to her for that day. In the afternoon, she watched as Ranma taught Mihoshi his style of martial arts. At one point she had asked if Ranma would teach her along with Mihoshi but he shook his head and replied.
"I'm sorry Sasami, but I can't teach you. I'm not really allowed to teach others Anything Goes without a license, so I might get into serious trouble if the Master of my school finds out. If I could teach others then I would be more than happy to teach you, but as things are now I can't." He had then paused in thought, "I also can't stop you from watching us, but you wouldn't have me there to correct any mistakes you make."
And so, she practiced and mimicked Ranma and Mihoshi's moves. She even started to practice Ranma's teaching of anything can be training. The broken plates can attest to that. Also several little instances during the last two months have brought Sasami some amusement. Why, all the mishaps Ranma experienced with the baths were a riot. While in the middle of remembering a particularly funny moment when a naked female Ranma running came out of the onsen with various bathing supplies being thrown at him, Sasami heard a voice. A voice belonging to her other half, that of Tsunami Goddess of Jurai.
"Sasami, it is time. Are you prepared."
"I have to tell Ayeka and go to my room, and then I'll be ready," she mentally replied.
"Very well, I will be waiting," and with that Tsunami retreated from Sasami's mind.
As soon as Sasami felt Tsunami go back to the area she normally stays at, she stood and walked over to where Ayeka and Ryoko were sitting. "Ayeka."
Ayeka, who had been so engrossed in the program she and Ryoko were watching, hadn't heard Sasami's approach. So when Sasami called her name she was startled. Ayeka quickly let go of Ryoko's hand and stood up. She didn't care that Sasami had seen her willingly holding Ryoko's hand, it would have been virtually impossible to keep her's and Ryoko's relationship from her. Especially after Sasami told her that she had been moaning Ryoko's name in her sleep. She just stood so that her sister could have her full and undivided attention, "Yes Sasami. What is it?"
"Tsunami came and spoke with me, so I need to go upstairs and lay down so that she can interact with Ranma. I wanted to tell you that if you go looking for me you will know where I'm at, ok."
"Thank you Sasami, that is most considerate of you. Do you know why Tsunami wants to talk to Ranma," asked Ayeka in concern. The goddess of Jurai doesn't call someone up to say, "Hi." There is always an important reason for her to talk to someone and Ayeka wanted to know if everyone's new friend, Ranma, was in some sort of trouble.
Sasami nodded her head and had a secretive smile on her face. "Yes I know why but I'm not going to tell you, it's a surprise. I can tell you that Ranma is not in trouble with Tsunami." With that she ran upstairs so she could help Tsunami help Ranma.
*********
Back in the living room Ayeka was talking to Ryoko. "What do you think Tsunami wants with Ranma?"
From her spot on the couch Ryoko shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows. She isn't the most frequent visitor we get around here." She then patted the couch beside her, "Come sit back down. We're missing the movie."
Ayeka quickly sat back down beside Ryoko and intertwined her hand with Ryoko's, "Sorry about that. It's just whenever Tsunami shows up it means that Sasami has to be unconscious and I get worried about her."
Ryoko squeezed Ayeka's hand, "I know you do, but Tsunami merged with Sasami to save her, I don't think that she anything to harm her."
Ayeka smiled at Ryoko, "I know that but I don't think that I will not ever be at ease when something like this happens. I am her sister after all." And with that Ayeka settled in and watched the movie.
In her seat beside Ayeka, Ryoko was having a hard time concentrating on the movie they were watching. She was so giddy that it was practically illegal. Half of her master plan had already come to fruition, she and Ayeka were now a couple. They were not as much a couple as Ryoko would have liked, but truth be known, Ryoko wasn't really ready for a relation ship as physical as she wanted. But they were a couple and adding Tenchi to their relationship was only a matter of time. As she sat there and thought about the day that would change her life, the smile that graced her lips only got larger.
*********
For all the residents of the Masaki home that day two weeks ago started off like another. That is for all the residents but Ryoko, because today she had a plan, a plan that if successful could see the realization of some of her dreams. So as to not alert her prey to her master plan she acted perfectly normal. As her pray went about her daily tasks, she had no idea that Ryoko was watching her. She definitely had not the slightest inkling of what Ryoko had in store for her.
So Ryoko did something that many that knew her would never think she was capable of, waiting patiently. Waiting for the moment when her pray would be in the perfect position to spring her trap. It wasn't till one o'clock in the afternoon that Ryoko felt that her plan was ready to go. When it was she quickly teleported near Ayeka and started up a conversation. "So Ayeka, you look bored why don't we go to the training room and have some fun."
Ryoko mentally grinned when Ayeka replied, "Yes I believe a little exercise is just what I need."
So the two of them headed to the training room, one to get some exercise, and the other to take a chance and bet on love. After they entered the room, Ryoko disabled the door so that they wouldn't be able to leave the room until she said so. As soon as she was done with the door she joined Ayeka and they began to fight.
After about twenty minutes of fighting stopped fighting and put phase two of her plan into motion. "Hey Ayeka, can we talk?"
Ayeka dropped her shield and took up a position more conducive to talking. "About what?"
"Us. As you know, I love Tenchi very much. It was so easy to fall in love with him, he was the only companion that I had for seven hundred years and despite the fact that I knew he couldn't see me, I always felt that he could somehow sense my presence. And after he freed me from that cave I was able to see other things about him that caused my love for him to only grow.
But then you came along and Tenchi became attracted to you along with me. At first I only saw you as competition in a battle for Tenchi's heart, but after awhile something began to change my mind about you. Through all our battles and my studying you to find an advantage, I began to fall in love with you along with Tenchi. As time went by and we went on adventures or worked around the house that love only grew in intensity. But at the same time I was afraid of you, I still remember the way you looked while you were torturing me on your ship and every time I would work up enough courage to tell you that image would appear in my mind. So I would wait some more and try to rebuild my courage. Then to my amazement you started giving little hints that I took to mean that you might share the same feelings that I have for you. So I ask you, no, beg you to consider a relationship with me. We both know that Tenchi loves both of us, so why don't we get together so that he doesn't have to choose."
"Ryoko what you suggest is difficult for me. Yes I do love you, almost as much as I love Lord Tenchi, but I don't think it will work, I'm sorry."
At those words Ryoko felt her heart crack and tears come to her eyes, but she had come this far and wasn't willing to give up without a fight. "Why? Why wouldn't it work?"
"It's not proper, queens should not feel those types those feelings for each other."
That got Ryoko angry, she had seen the way Misaki and Funaho treated each other and it was definitely not a platonic relationship. "Who filled your head with that idea, it's utterly ridiculous. I saw your mom and Funaho and they looked awfully friendly."
"That's just for show."
"So they sleep apart."
"Of course not. They sleep with my father."
"And you don't think that they have sex every now and then, come on Ayeka get with the program. Just because they don't have mad passionate sex on the royal throne doesn't mean that they don't love each other. You have been gone from Jurai for seven hundred years, things might have changed. I'll bet that if you ask your mother about this she would probably say something like, "Yes, queens aren't supposed to show any romantic feelings for each other, but co-wives can.""
"Fine, let us suppose that you are correct, but what about Yosho and Sasami, what will they think about us partaking in the kind of relationship you want."
Ryoko smiled at her foresight, she had known that Ayeka might try this excuse. "I think they would approve. At least they did when I asked them yesterday."
"You already asked them."
"Yup," Ryoko grinned. "In fact Sasami even said that she would then have two big sisters." She then folded her arms across her chest, "Well that gets rid of two of your reasons. Do you want to come up with some more, or do you want to end this and accept my proposal?"
Ayeka smiled at Ryoko and shook her head, "No, there are no more that I can think of, so I accept. But I have a few conditions, the first is that we go slow. I am not ready for a relationship as serious as you want. The second condition is that we wait on sex until I can speak with my parents. Whether they give their blessing or not is irrelevant, I just think that it is proper to let them know our intentions. Do you think that you can handle those conditions?"
At hearing Ayeka's acceptance, Ryoko's heart soared. "Of course I can. I'd do anything to be with you."
Ayeka slyly smiled, "Oh really." She sauntered over to Ryoko and placed her arms around he neck. "Anything?"
Now Ryoko was nervous, Ayeka had never acted like this before, all she could do is gulp and nod her head.
"Good," and with that Ayeka began to move her head towards Ryoko's.
*********
"Oh yes," Ryoko thought with a smile, "that was definitely a great day." And while they didn't have sex, they did have a rather heavy-duty make-out session. Just thinking back on that day made Ryoko blush. Ayeka then made a noise in response to something that she saw on screen and Ryoko decided to start paying attention to the movie.
*********
When Ranma woke from his nap he instantly knew that something was amiss. He was in a dark room, with what little light that was in the room provided by glowing blue trees that looked similar to Funaho. Despite the fact that he was in a strange place, he stood as if he had awoke in his bed at the Masaki house. He looked around and quickly spotted the room's sole occupant, a blue hared women wearing elaborate robes. Her face was kind and Ranma felt a sense of peace just looking at her. She opened her eyes and focused their pink-hued gaze unto him. As a smile graced her lips she spoke, "Hello Ranma, I am Tsunami."
*********
Authors notes: Well this is the end of another chapter, if you have reached this point then give yourself a star. If you have gotten here without stopping and sending a response then give yourself two stars. Seriously though, as you can see I have jumped this ahead two months. Anything that might have happened during that time will be gone over as a flashback, but there shouldn't be too much more about that time. About Mihoshi being able to beat Akane, her SKILL level is higher than Akane's and she is much more emotionally controlled during a fight. If anyone thinks that I rushed the relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko, then tough. It is not a vital story component and it was not necessary to go too in-depth into it. Sorry that this chapter is shorter than others, but this is the point that I had come with to end this chapter and I like to have a place that looks like it could end a chapter. I can't wait to hear what you think.
Chaos Lord
By: Chaos Lord
Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to their respective owners. The concepts dealing with the Time Gates the Ultimate Good and Evil and the Forbidden belong to PacMan.
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Chapter 3
********
Clapping his hands together Ranma exclaimed, "Well that's it. So, when do we start training?" He wanted, no needed to do something besides sit there and talk some more. He needed to banish the thoughts that were now running there way through his head and the best way to do that was to train. His hope for training was dashed when Tenchi shook his head.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but it's too late to start any training now. Besides, I don't know about anyone else, but I need to clear my mind from what we just talked about," he was backed up by a round of assents by everyone in the room. "So, why don't we wait till tomorrow and we can begin your training then, ok," he asked with a smile.
Ranma's shoulders drooped in disappointment, and while nodding his head, he said, "Ok, I guess you're right. If you don't mind I'm going to go outside and practice some, I don't want to get rusty, ok" He then started to head out side but before he walked too far he turned back to the still sitting group, "Does anyone want to ask me anything." He didn't want the to ask any questions but he figured that it was only polite to ask.
Hell yes did they have questions. His story, for the most part, was generalized and had huge gapping holes. But they all realized that he might not ready to tell them everything yet, if his entire life was as bad as what he did describe they understood.
So, to calm the obviously nervous Ranma, Ryoko said, "I don't now about the others, but I'm willing to wait until you're ready to tell us more." She knew what it was like to have a painful past and to not want others to know about it. She was amazed that a human was able to survive such tortures and remain sane. He had defiantly earned her respect for even being able to discuss what he endured when undertook the Neko-Ken training.
At seeing the rest of the group's nods of agreement, Ranma continued on his walk to get outside. Just as he reached the door he remembered something and headed back to the living room. When he got there he saw that Washu was already gone and that Sasami and Tenchi were cleaning up the table. Ranma walked up to Tenchi, "Hey, Tenchi."
At hearing his name called, Tenchi looked up to address Ranma. "Yeah Ranma, what's up?"
"Well I was wondering where my pack is."
Tenchi looked at Ranma in confusion, "I'm sorry Ranma. But when Mihoshi brought you here she wasn't carrying any packs and she really hasn't told us where she found you. You might want to ask her ok." "I hope this works," he thought. During their earlier conversation and before that when Ranma came out of the lab, Tenchi saw how he and Mihoshi were interacting with each other and Tenchi was overjoyed. If he could get Ranma and Mihoshi together then that would be one less girl after him, although in the last few months she hadn't been pursuing him like she had in the past. But the real benefit of getting those two together would be to Ranma, he would be able to have someone stable to live his life with. It also helped that she was a babe. "Although she has nothing on Ryoko," he thought. He then began to think of all the times he had seen Ryoko in a less than clothed state, and he began to mentally drool.
When Tenchi's face went blank then formed that goofy expression he had seen other guys get when they're thinking of some naked girl, Ranma felt that their conversation was over. "Hopefully he wasn't thinking of my girl form, that would be gross," thought Ranma. Seeing that Tenchi was less than helpful he turned to the still seated Mihoshi, and walked over to her. When he reached her he found that, like Ryoko and Ayeka, she was staring at him blankly. But unlike Ryoko and Ayeka her stare seemed to carry a deeper meaning that Ranma was unable to divine. So, he tried to snap her out of whatever kind of trance she was in. He waved his hand in front of her face and called out her name. When that didn't work her gently shook her by the shoulder and called out her name even louder, this finally broke her out of her trance.
*********
Even though Ranma had finished his tale of his life, Mihoshi's mind was in turmoil. In her mind there was a argument going on, an argument between a representation of her dead lover, her newfound desire for Ranma, and a dark shadowy form that represented her fear. Fear of abandonment, fear of being alone and most significantly fear of loving again.
"Dammit Mihoshi, what's the matter with you? Don't you love me anymore," asked Lover.
Before she could answer Desire interrupted, "Of course she does, idiot. How could she not? You're the one that taught her how to express her love, both physically and emotionally, and she could never forget that. But you're dead, and she isn't, do you think she deserves to suffer like that? Besides did you see his butt. And those breasts on his girl form, didn't they just call to you," she asked while drooling
Lover looked at desire in disgust, "Yes I did, and it took every once of strength I had to keep you from fondling them."
Before Desire could respond, Fear interjected, "But what if he doesn't like us? What if he leaves us like she did," she asked in a timid voice.
Desire rolled up her nonexistent sleeves and got in a boxing stance. "Then we'll fight. We'll move on, what's the purpose of life if we spend it moping around." She then pointed to Lover, "The real you would have wanted Mihoshi to move on, not stay in this oblivious, idiotic state."
Before anyone could respond, Mihoshi felt herself being shook. She the focused in the one who was shaking her. When her eyes focused on the deep blue-gray eyes of Ranma, all the factions in her mind called a temporary truce so that they could fully take in the eyes in front of her. Even Lover looked, because even though she represents all the loyalty and memories Mihoshi had for her, Lover was still a part of Mihoshi.
*********
When Mihoshi's eyes finally focused onto Ranma he asked, "Mihoshi are you ok? You kind of zoned out there," he said with a smile.
She nodded her head, "Yeah I'm fine. Do you need something?"
"Um, yeah. Tenchi told me that you know how to get to that clearing where you found me. My pack, with all my stuff, is still there, and I was hoping that you would be willing to take me there," he asked with a smile.
Mihoshi quickly stood up and knocked her head into Ranma's, causing them both to fall to the ground. As Mihoshi laid there, nursing her bruised cranium, she didn't realize the compromising position they were in.
Ranma, on the other hand, did realize this fact since his face was firmly planted between Mihoshi's breasts. As she lied there on top of him he inhaled to take in her soft smell, cinnamon and a hint of some sort of body oil.
When Mihoshi was convinced that her skull wasn't seriously injured she then felt something lodged between her breasts. She then remembered that she had landed onto Ranma, sat up to see if he was all right. When she looked down at him she saw a glazed expression on his face and some drool running down his cheek. Thinking that this was because of her injuring him, Mihoshi began to cry and apologize, shaking Ranma back and forth.
Ranma was knocked out of his cleavage-induced mini-coma by Mihoshi's shaking. When he focused on her and saw that he was crying, he got panicked. During his training trip he had seen what happens if a girl cries for too long, her family comes out of the woodworks to deliver a major ass whooping. So to diffuse this potential bomb, Ranma began to wave his hands in front of him and say, "I'm ok, really, I'm ok."
Mihoshi's crying slowed and she look down at Ranma, "But I knocked you unconscious."
Ranma looked at her in confusion, "You did. When?" And the he realized what she was talking about, "Oh that. Um. . . well you just stunned me." He then brought his hand up to his head and hit himself a few times. "See, no damage done. So I was wondering if you could get up off me now." It wasn't as if he really wanted her off, it's just that he realized where they were at and that Ryoko and Ayeka were still sitting on the other couch. Besides it was getting a little hard to breathe with her sitting on her stomach like that.
Mihoshi looked down at Ranma and realized the position that they were in. She quickly got off of him and helped him up. "I'm sorry about that Ranma."
Ranma waved off her apology, "Hey no problem. As long as no blood is gushing I'm fine. So, how 'bout that clearing, huh," he asked, hoping to get her back to the reason that he started talking to her in the first place.
Mihoshi looked at him in confusion for a few moments until she remembered his pack, "Right, you wanted to get your pack."
Ranma nodded his head, "Yeah, it's got all my stuff in it, so I need to get it back."
"Ok." Mihoshi then pulled out her control cube, "Put your hand on my shoulder and I'll try to get us there." When Ranma did she told him, Mihoshi looked down at the cube and said, "Now what was that combination? I think it was left twice then spin." When she entered the combination she and Ranma disappeared.
*********
From where he had been watching the entire event Tenchi was grinning. As soon as Ranma and Mihoshi disappeared he began to countdown from five, "Five, four, three, two," before he could say one he heard a loud splash outside. "Well at least Mihoshi is getting back to normal," he said with a grin. He then looked over to the still forms of his two loves, "Ryoko, Ayeka, you two can get up now, you know."
In unison the girls in question swiveled their heads to face Tenchi.
Seeing that they were still somewhat out of it, Tenchi continued, "You know we're done talking, right. You can do something else you know."
This seemed to break Ryoko out of her disbelieving trance. She the looked over at the princess beside her and said, "I could sure use a work- out right about now. How about you Ayeka?" She needed something to release her frustrations on and fighting with Ayeka was always so much fun.
Ayeka nodded her head, "Yes I believe I need a work-out as well." Like Ryoko, Ayeka was feeling the stress from that discussion and the events shortly thereafter, and she needed some stress relief. And Ayeka found that the best stress reliever was to try to beat Ryoko up. Oh sure, she didn't go all out, most of the time, when she fought Ryoko, but it was still fun, sometimes.
So, their course decided, the two of them got up and headed for the room for them. The room that Washu had designed for when people wanted to try out really destructive things but didn't want to destroy the surrounding countryside. It was where Washu tested all he new weapons, why just last week she had tested a device that she saw on an old anime, a Reflex Cannon. Ryoko had said that it would be cool to have one of those and Washu decided to try it out. All her other experiments had been in a hands off phase, so Washu had been bored and boom, you've got a truck sized super weapon. Well, Washu had opened this space up to everyone, especially Ryoko and Ayeka, to use and abuse as they saw fit. The introduction of this room dramatically reduced the amount of time Washu spent repairing the house.
Tenchi stood there and watched the entire exchange with mild confusion. He shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well, at least they are treating each other civilly." Over the last few months Ryoko had been trying to fight with Ayeka less and less. This bolstered Tenchi's meager hopes of marrying both women. He then broke himself out of his stupor and continued clearing the table so Sasami wouldn't be mad at him. She could be scary at times.
*********
Inside the meta-tech battleship Yukinojo materialized Mihoshi and Ranma, a very wet Mihoshi and Ranma.
As Ranma stood there he grumbled, "Damn water based curse, can't go five minutes without getting wet, rasa frasa." He might not mind changing into a girl anymore but he did mind being a water magnet. It's hell on clothes, he always had to worry about them mildewing on him. After wringing out his shirt of some excess water he turned to Mihoshi to see how she fared. When he saw how her hair glistened and her shirt was stuck to her chest, he froze. And although his danger sense was screaming at him to look away, he was unable to budge a single muscle.
*********
Mihoshi was in the same predicament. When she teleported in she found that she was soaked to the bone, a state that she regularly found herself in when she teleported onto her ship. She turned to look at Ranma to see if he was ok. What she saw gave her pause, Ranma was facing away from her and his pants were plastered to his, now very feminine, butt. And if that gave her pause, then when showed her how the wet clothes looked on his front, well that floored her.
*********
Mihoshi and Ranma were broken out of their wet clothes induced stare by the screaming of the ship's main computer, Yukinojo.
"Mihoshi," nothing. "Mihoshi," a grunt this time. He then brought himself as close as he could to the staring pair. After the head felt that it was at the right distance, he opened the panels that covered the speakers that he had installed to wake Mihoshi up. "MIHOSHI!!!"
Said girl was quite startled by this yell. She was so startled that she jumped into Ranma's arms.
On the other hand, Ranma wasn't startled by Yukinojo's scream. No, what startled Ranma was that his once empty arms were now filled with Mihoshi, again. He quickly looked around him to find the reason for Mihoshi to be in his arms, not that he minded. He just wanted to know why she was in his arms. As he looked, he quickly came across a floating mechanical head. Before he could say anything to it Mihoshi climbed out of his arms and addressed the wonder.
"Yukinojo why did you scare me liked that," asked a very crossed Mihoshi.
"Because you would not listen to me," he replied, his ire just as great as Mihoshi's. "Now what I want to know is, who is this unauthorized woman and what is she doing on board?"
Mihoshi looked a little confused, "A woman, where?" She then looked at Ranma and realized who the irate computer was talking about. "Oh, this is Ranma and he isn't a woman," she answered as if that explained everything in the world. She then felt someone tapping her shoulder. When she looked to the one who tapped her she saw, the still female, Ranma.
"Uh Mihoshi, I do look like a girl right now," said Ranma as he gestured to his female body. " So you might want explain me a little better to you ship. It looks kinda, off."
Mihoshi turned back to Yukinojo and saw that steam as coming out of the computer's head. "Oh, um let me see," she said as she put her index finger against her cheek and tilted her head. "I know, Yukinojo, because of a curse Ranma now turns into a woman when wet." She then pointed to Ranma, "As you can see, he is very wet right now so therefore he is a woman."
Despite Mihoshi's rather confusing explanation, Yukinojo went with his other question. "Yes, yes, but what I want to know is why he is on this ship"
"We were going to get his back pack and I teleported us here by accident. Besides he's a Juraian royal, I think. Well any way, we must get going," she then grabbed Ranma arm and pulled out her cube. "So bye Yukinojo," and with that the two of them disappeared.
*********
In a forest clearing there was silence. Some woodland creatures were scurrying about and all was calm. That was until Mihoshi and Ranma teleported in, then all those creatures disappeared as quickly as the duo appeared.
Ranma looked around for a few seconds then turned to Mihoshi, "So. Is this where you found me at."
Mihoshi nodded her head, "Yes, this is where I found you." She then pointed to a spot in the clearing, "That is where you were you lying when I materialized." As she said that, Mihoshi's voice became thick with sadness. Yes Ranma had forgiven her, even thanked her, but she still couldn't completely forgive herself.
Ranma, who was staring at the spot that his life might have ended, heard the pain in her voice and turned to Mihoshi. "What's wrong? You sound upset."
"I was just remembering how I hurt you when I was trying to save you," she replied, tears making their silent journey down her face.
"Hey I forgave you, you don't have to be upset now," said a slightly panicked, Ranma.
"I know, I'm just having problems forgiving myself."
"Hey now, stop crying. You don't have any reason to cry. When you rescued me you not only saved my life, you saved my soul."
Mihoshi looked at him oddly, "What do you mean?"
"When I was lying there, I knew I was dying, I could feel it. And instead of fighting it with every fiber of my being, like I should have, I gave up. I wanted to die to ease my suffering. When you came and saved me you gave me a second chance. I now realize that what I did was stupid and I have you to thank for that."
Before anything else could be said he quickly began to look for his pack. After a few minutes of search he finally found it, when he did he began to go through it to see if anything was damaged. When he was finished he grinned, the only things messed up were the perishable foodstuffs. Everything else was in good condition, "Yet another plus to using Ki," he thought. Ever since he had been using his Ki for everything like he does now, he found that his clothes were not as susceptible to bugs as before. As near as he could figure it, all the Ki he has been using had left a lasting impression on his clothes and it acted as a kind of bug repellent. He put all of his stuff back into the pack, making sure to leave all the perishable food that had spoiled behind. He then picked up his pack and turned back to Mihoshi, "I'm ready to go when you are."
Mihoshi, who was still thinking about what Ranma had said, wordlessly put Ranma's hand on her shoulder and teleported them back to the house.
When they arrived at the house, Ranma began looking for Tenchi so that he could ask where to put his pack. Before he could more than a few steps from Mihoshi her voice rang softly out.
"Thank you."
Ranma turned back to her and fund that despite the newfound tears running down her face, a bright smile still graced her lips. Not being able to say anything when faced with this scene, Ranma merely smiled and nodded his head.
To Mihoshi this simple action comforted her more than a trillion you're welcomes. In her happiness, her smile got a lot bigger and her whole face became radiant.
When Ranma saw this he was stunned by her beauty. He was so stunned that he could not say a word. So he would not make a fool of himself he turned away from her and continued on his quest to find Tenchi.
*********
In the middle of the training room that Washu built sat Ryoko and Ayeka with their backs against each other's. Surrounding them was ruble and craters as far as the eye can see. Apparently they had a great many frustrations to work out. Since they were still wearing their clothes, we can assume that they haven't worked out all their frustrations, but suffice it to say they have calmed down from Ranma's tale. For a long while neither said a word but finally Ryoko decided to get a conversation going, and so she asked a question that had been nagging her since they discovered that Ranma was Juraian. "So Ayeka, do you think that Ranma should be part of the royal family?"
Ayeka was silent for a while in thought. That was a good question, should he be a member of the royal family just because of a Washu-induced fluke. The part of her that still was mired in court politics answered stringently, "NO!" But the part of her that loved Tenchi, and to a lesser extent Ryoko, the part that had been slowly growing since she started her stay with Tenchi, said yes. So she had a very important decision to make, would she choose everything that she learned in the royal court, or would she embrace love. She decided that for the time being she would take a neutral stance on the subject, less questions that, for the most part, been left unanswered be answered. "I do not know. Right now, I do not know enough about him to say whether he should become a member of he royal family or not. Although if he did, it might solve some of the problems he has with multiple suitors."
For Ryoko, this was a perfect opportunity to bring up an issue that she had problems with finding the perfect time to ask about. "So Ayeka, Tenchi is a member of the royal family and he might even end up the emperor. Does that mean that he can get married to more than one woman," she asked hopefully.
*********
When Ayeka heard this, her heart dropped into her stomach and grew cold. She knew what Ryoko meant when she asked her question, and Ayeka knew that she was nowhere close to being able to answer that question. A part of her heard the hope in Ryoko's voice and wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Another part of her was repulsed, women are not supposed to love other women especially Ryoko, the woman that attacked her beloved Jurai. Her mother and Auntie Funaho didn't act that way so why should she. At the same time she couldn't say no to Ryoko, not now at least. If she had asked several months ago, then Ayeka could have said no, but over the past months her defenses were crumbling and it was getting hard not to encourage her more than she has to date. And so, as to let the matter drop for now she stood and began to walk away, but before she could get out of hearing range the part of her that was in love with Ryoko stopped her so she wouldn't crush her spirit. "It is possible," and with that she hurried away.
*********
After Ryoko had asked her question her confidence left her and was replaced with self-doubt. "You idiot! How could you have asked that, you know what she thinks of you, she would never want to be in a relationship with you." Another part of her rose up to meet the challenge, "Who cares, at least she asked. How would she know if Ayeka cared if she didn't ask. At least this way she might get some sort of resolution to this conflict. I know I don't like how we are in pain all the time. Do you?" With that, Ryoko's mind went silent in anticipation of Ayeka's answer. As time went by she became sadder and sadder and her sorrow was only increased when Ayeka stood and began to walk away.
All of Ryoko's sorrow vanished when Ayeka stopped and said, "It is possible." And in sorrows place appeared hope. Ryoko knew what Ayeka could have meant by her statement. To her, Ayeka said, "I'm not ready yet, please give me more time. And since Ryoko was, for all intents and purposes, immortal, she could what for something as important as love for a long time indeed.
*********
Back in the house, Ranma's search for Tenchi finally ended when he found Tenchi in his spacious room. Before Ranma entered the open doorway he knocked. "Hey Tenchi, can I come in?"
Tenchi, who had been sitting at his desk, was startled out of his idle thoughts by a knock at his door. As he was turning to see who was at his door he heard Ranma asking to enter. "Sure, what's up," when he saw that Ranma had his pack he forgot about his first question and started on a different topic of conversation. "I see that Mihoshi was able to help you find your stuff." As he was talking to Ranma, Tenchi was having a hard time keeping his thoughts straight. This was because Ranma's shirt was still somewhat wet and he was still a woman. "Heh, I guess some of dad did rub off on me," thought Tenchi.
Ranma, who was oblivious to the direction that Tenchi's thoughts were taking, answered Tenchi's second question first. "Yeah she did. We had to take a trip through the lake to get it, but oh well," he finished with a shrug. He then shifted to the reason he had looked for Tenchi in the first place. "Hey, do you know where my room is at."
It took Tenchi's mind several seconds to process Ranma's question. This was because that it was still reeling from when Ranma shrugged his shoulders. But after the question was able to penetrate the fog of perverted thoughts, Tenchi's mind immediately shifted into helpful mode. "We don't have a room for you yet, but Washu did say that she would be done with your room by the end of the day."
"She doesn't have to build me a room. I can just camp outside, I don't want her to do a lot of unnecessary work on my account." He didn't want to be burden to anyone, especially people he just met.
Tenchi waved aside Ranma's protest, "It's no trouble. In fact, when she heard that she would be able to mess around with the fabric of reality she got real excited. I haven't been allowing her to do that recently and I think she has been getting bored."
Ranma was slightly confused, "What do you mean by, mess around with the fabric of reality?" While he wasn't completely sure what that meant, Ranma was pretty sure that it didn't sound like a good thing.
"She'll probably just build a door and construct the room in subspace, that way your room won't take up that much space. So why don't you just put your stuff somewhere while you wait for her to finish."
"Ok, I can do that. If anybody comes looking for me I'll be outside practicing," and with that he headed back the way he came.
As Ranma left the room, Tenchi was shaking his head in disbelief. Here he had given some time off before they start their training tomorrow and what does he go and do, practice martial arts. "Oh well," he shrugged, "to each his own." With that he sat back at his desk and started daydreaming about Ryoko and Ayeka wrestling in a tub of chocolate. As he pictured this scene a line of drool began to work it's way down his chin.
*********
After placing his pack in the entryway to the Masaki home, Ranma went outside and began to warm up. As he did this he encountered something odd, Washu and Tenchi said that it has been days since he was injured and yet he wasn't in the least bit stiff or sore. This was especially odd since for the last week he had been laying on a bed, unconscious. Not one willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, he shook off the oddity and started one of his katas.
As his body flowed from one form to the next Ranma's mind went over recent events. As his mind muttered over everything that happened, he came to several conclusions. The first was that he was supremely lucky to meet such good and generous people. Why, this is the first time that he has met others on the right foot. This could mean one of two things, either nothing bad will happen, or the universe was setting up something truly huge to screw his life over. The second thing he realized was that out of the lot of them, Ryoko was probably the best equipped to handle a full accounting of his life. Sure, Tenchi has killed before, but it seemed to him that Tenchi has no remorse for the act. And the third item that Ranma came up with was "What the hell." For some reason, that he couldn't fathom, when he was around Mihoshi he couldn't think straight. When he had been talking to Tenchi and Washu in her lab he was perfectly normal. But as soon as Mihoshi latched onto him his thoughts turned in a direction that would have gotten him beaten in Nerima. When she was around and he thought of her, two emotions took control, protectiveness and lust. The first he could understand, when she latched onto him she appeared very vulnerable and that caused him to want to protect her. The second, lust, he couldn't understand. He had seen many girls in various states of dress, or in Shampoo's case, undress, and that never effected him. But with Mihoshi he seemed incapable of suppressing that desire. He knew that since he would be living with these people for at least the time it will take for him to learn how to control his Juraian power, he would have to learn control over those feelings. "Hey, if I can go all that time in Nerima and not do anything, I can do the same now," he confidently thought.
As he was in a precarious position that required him to be balancing on one hand and do an amagruikan with his legs he heard Mihoshi's voice calling out to him. That was more than enough to break his concentration and send him head first into the ground.
*********
As Mihoshi sat in the living room she thought and went over what Ranma had told her. She had felt like that once, the complete letting go of life. After her lover died, Mihoshi had spent two months in a almost catatonic state unwilling to live and yet unable to take her own life and join her lover in the world beyond. But luckily her mother and her lover's mother got together and convinced her to live, if not for herself then at least for them. Mihoshi could never repay that kindness, because of them she was able to go to Earth and associate with such wonderful people
As she was looking about the living room and reminiscing, she came to the large glass wall overlooking the lake. While looking out the widows she saw Ranma practicing his art and her breath was taken away at the beauty and grace that he was displaying. As he moved from one form to another, a singular thought entered her mind, "I want to do that." Ever since she was a little girl Mihoshi had been moderately clumsy and while it was annoying she could live with it. She had always been fascinated with how graceful some people could be and she always envied them for that. But here was a very good martial artist and she wanted to learn from him. So she headed outside to ask Ranma to teach her his art. When she got outside and up to him he was in the middle of an especially complicated looking maneuver. Mihoshi was in awe of the skill necessary to execute such a move and in her awe she spoke out Ranma's name.
*********
After Ranma's head impacted with the ground Mihoshi rushed to all the while apologizing for what she had done.
On the ground Ranma was waving off her apology, the only damage that was inflicted onto him was the damage to his pride. Never in his entire life had someone just calling his name caused him to do that but, "What the hell," he thought, "at least it was Mihoshi and not Akane. If she had seen this she would never let me live it down." To make sure that Mihoshi would believe that he was unhurt Ranma quickly jumped up and started to bounce up and down. "See I'm fine. No harm no foul," he said with a large smile.
Mihoshi's crying abated at seeing Ranma's antics. "Oh, ok, I'm still sorry about that though."
"Hey, no problem, really. So was there something that you wanted to ask me?"
Mihoshi nodded her head, "Yes there was. I was hoping that you would be willing to teach me to your art. I'm a little clumsy and I think that this might help me to get over that," she said hopefully. She really hated looking like a fool when she tripped over objects that others just walk over.
Ranma stood there and thought about Mihoshi's request. His first thought would have normally been, "No." Normally that is, but here, now, standing there and looking at the hopeful look on Mihoshi's face the word would just not come to him. So, he heaved a sigh of defeat and answered the hopeful woman.
"Since I don't have a license to teach Anything Goes Martial Arts my answer would normally be no, but I think I know a way around that rule," he said with a smile at his ingenuity.
When Mihoshi heard that Ranma would say no she grew disappointed, but that disappointment quickly changed back to hope when he said that he had a way around the rules. "What way do you mean?"
"Well, first off, you wouldn't be my student, you would be someone that watches what I do and copies that. That way I can teach you without actually teaching you."
Mihoshi was giddy, "That's great! When do we start."
Ranma looked around to see if the area was big enough to practice martial arts. Seeing that it was he said, "Well, right now. That is, if you feel up to it."
Mihoshi was shocked and delighted, "Now? That's great," she then looked down and saw what she was wearing. "But I don't think that I am wearing the right clothes for training," she said as gesture to her pink tank top and khaki pants.
Ranma made a dismissing gesture, "Training in a gi is ok, but you should also practice in clothes that you often wear. That way you won't be in an unfamiliar environment in your own clothes. Now lets get started shall we."
And so, Ranma began to each Mihoshi the ways, as he saw them, of his art. They practiced long into the night, only stopping for the dinner that Sasami cooked.
*********
There is a clearing near the Masaki Shrine. In this clearing there were a number of poles embedded into the ground at various heights but no higher than two feet. Into this clearing stepped Ranma and Tenchi. Their styles of dress greatly contrasted each other, Ranma's blue long sleeved Chinese style shirt and black pants showed a more laid back view on things. Whereas Tenchi's formal brown gi showed a greater emphasis on a more rigid style of fighting. When both fighters were in the clearing they faced each other and they took up fighting positions.
"Ranma, this is to see how good you are and how much physical training you need so that you may start your spiritual training. Now, let's see what you've got," and with that Tenchi charged at Ranma and readied his bokken for attack.
Ranma saw that the attack was coming and redirected it.
As Tenchi flew past him Ranma he lashed out with a kick and was able to tag Ranma in the arm. He quickly landed and attacked Ranma again with similar results. This continued for several minutes until Tenchi finally grew too frustrated to continue. "Ranma, why won't you fight back."
"I was fighting back," stated Ranma.
Tenchi shook his head, "I left openings a mile wide and yet all you did was block and redirect my attacks. That isn't fighting, that's what someone does when they are afraid to get hurt," he goaded. Tenchi knew that something was off about Ranma. If he did all he said he had done, he would have to have fought.
When Ranma heard what Tenchi said he got angry and turned away from him, "You wouldn't understand."
"Then make me understand. How am I supposed to teach you how to use your Juraian power if you never really fight back?"
Ranma sighed, he knew that he would have to tell them about this. He just didn't think that he would have to tell so soon. "One of my last adventures was to a place called Jusendo. I won't go into why we went there, but suffice it to say I ended up having to fight the King of the Phoenixes, Saffron. It was the most difficult battle of my life, no matter what I tried against him he would just regenerate. It finally came down to me having to kill him so that I could save, what was at the time, my fiancé and the rest of my friends. After that, I vowed to never use my art to hurt anyone else."
Tenchi walked over to Ranma and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You did what was necessary to save your friends. It's not your fault that Saffron is dead, it's his."
At that Ranma grew furious, he shrugged off Tenchi's hand and spun around to face him. "His fault, HIS FAULT! We came, we woke him up before he was supposed to. He woke up and defended himself and though he went to far, it's because we woke him up before he was fully mature. You want to know how I killed him huh, HUH! I didn't cut him in half like you did with Kagato. No, I froze his body solid and then blew him up. And this wasn't some truly evil man like you killed, he was the driving force, the very life, for an entire species. You might think that killing Kagato was ok because he was a bad man and that makes you somehow more righteous than he was, but face the facts Tenchi. YOU. KILLED. HIM! And no matter how you slice it, he is still dead and you can never change that fact." When he finished his triad he wasn't in the right frame of mind to block the punch across the face that came from Tenchi.
As Ranma went deeper and deeper into his tirade Tenchi's anger only grew. It continued until he could no longer hold himself back and he decked Ranma. "You arrogant bastard. How dare you insinuate that I felt nothing after killing Kagato. I was in agony for weeks after that, I went over the entire event so many times I thought that I would go mad. Do you know what I finally came with after all that thinking, I couldn't do it any different. Kagato was a real and lasting threat to the entire universe, but more importantly he was holding Ryoko and Ayeka hostage. I don't know how much you loved your fiancé when you killed Saffron, but I do know how much I loved the two of them at that moment. The sound of Ryoko' begging for my life and her sorrow filled scream will forever haunt my nightmares. But despite the fact that I killed, I keep on training and fighting, and you know why? To keep them safe and happy. So you go and continue not fighting back and one day someone you care for will not possibly die, they WILL die. And when that happens you will feel a million times worse than you do now." Tenchi then turned away from Ranma to regain his composure. He hadn't meant to yell like that but in his anger the words just rolled from him.
On the ground Ranma was in shock. Not from Tenchi's punch, "Hell Akane hit harder that," he thought wryly. No, what shocked Ranma was Tenchi's words. When he vowed to never use the art to hurt others again he never thought of the possibility that because of his inaction someone that he cares about would get injured, or killed. He quickly flashed to all those that he cares for and then overlaid their images with one of them in various states, beaten, dead or dying and he promised them that he would make sure that they never got like that. Ever. He stood up and placed his hand on Tenchi's shoulder. "Tenchi, I am truly sorry. I had never thought of it in that way. I had been so mired in my father's teachings about killing that I never thought about the other side of that equation. Also, I would like to say that I'm sorry for my harsh words. I had been bottling all that up ever since I killed Saffron and I guess your helpful prodding brought that out. That's no excuse for what I said, but still, I'm sorry."
Tenchi turned so that he could face Ranma. "I'd also like to apologize, I had meant to say what I said much gentler. But you thinking that I didn't care about killing Kagato caused me to lash out at you."
"Hey it's ok. We Saotomes are naturally thick headed and when we get an idea in our skull we tend to stay with it unless someone brings us down to earth. So thanks." He then slipped into an aggressive stance and with a grin on his face he said, "Let's try this again."
Tenchi brought up his bokken and slipped into his own stance. "Yes let's," he said with a grin to match Ranma's.
With that the two of them rushed each other and did battle.
*********
"That was two months ago," thought Ranma. He was now sitting under Katsuhito's tree-ship Funaho. After he found this spot, he kept coming back whenever he had any free time, whether it was to meditate or practice the techniques.
Over the past two months Ranma had a pretty regular schedule. Start the day by training with Tenchi to harness his Juraian power, and for the most part the training has been successful. He might not be able to create those energy shields that Tenchi and the old man could, but he can use the Tenchi-ken pretty well for a guy with two months of sword training. After lunch, he teaches Mihoshi in Anything Goes. He was amazed at the level she reached in just two months. Though she wasn't as strong as Akane, as far as he could tell she would probably be able to take her in a fight because she was so much more skilled. And after he was done teaching her for the day he would come to this clearing and do some personal training.
That was why he was there now. He had just spent several hours training is some of the more esoteric Amazon techniques and he was now resting against Funaho. As he sat there, all the intense training finally caught up with him and Ranma took a long needed rest. So he lay there, between two of Funaho's large roots and as he lay there he began to glow a soft translucent blue. And then, he disappeared.
*********
Shortly before Ranma's disappearance from the base of Funaho, Sasami was reading in the Masaki living room. For her, the last two months had been fun. She spent her mornings cleaning and doing any other chore that had been assigned to her for that day. In the afternoon, she watched as Ranma taught Mihoshi his style of martial arts. At one point she had asked if Ranma would teach her along with Mihoshi but he shook his head and replied.
"I'm sorry Sasami, but I can't teach you. I'm not really allowed to teach others Anything Goes without a license, so I might get into serious trouble if the Master of my school finds out. If I could teach others then I would be more than happy to teach you, but as things are now I can't." He had then paused in thought, "I also can't stop you from watching us, but you wouldn't have me there to correct any mistakes you make."
And so, she practiced and mimicked Ranma and Mihoshi's moves. She even started to practice Ranma's teaching of anything can be training. The broken plates can attest to that. Also several little instances during the last two months have brought Sasami some amusement. Why, all the mishaps Ranma experienced with the baths were a riot. While in the middle of remembering a particularly funny moment when a naked female Ranma running came out of the onsen with various bathing supplies being thrown at him, Sasami heard a voice. A voice belonging to her other half, that of Tsunami Goddess of Jurai.
"Sasami, it is time. Are you prepared."
"I have to tell Ayeka and go to my room, and then I'll be ready," she mentally replied.
"Very well, I will be waiting," and with that Tsunami retreated from Sasami's mind.
As soon as Sasami felt Tsunami go back to the area she normally stays at, she stood and walked over to where Ayeka and Ryoko were sitting. "Ayeka."
Ayeka, who had been so engrossed in the program she and Ryoko were watching, hadn't heard Sasami's approach. So when Sasami called her name she was startled. Ayeka quickly let go of Ryoko's hand and stood up. She didn't care that Sasami had seen her willingly holding Ryoko's hand, it would have been virtually impossible to keep her's and Ryoko's relationship from her. Especially after Sasami told her that she had been moaning Ryoko's name in her sleep. She just stood so that her sister could have her full and undivided attention, "Yes Sasami. What is it?"
"Tsunami came and spoke with me, so I need to go upstairs and lay down so that she can interact with Ranma. I wanted to tell you that if you go looking for me you will know where I'm at, ok."
"Thank you Sasami, that is most considerate of you. Do you know why Tsunami wants to talk to Ranma," asked Ayeka in concern. The goddess of Jurai doesn't call someone up to say, "Hi." There is always an important reason for her to talk to someone and Ayeka wanted to know if everyone's new friend, Ranma, was in some sort of trouble.
Sasami nodded her head and had a secretive smile on her face. "Yes I know why but I'm not going to tell you, it's a surprise. I can tell you that Ranma is not in trouble with Tsunami." With that she ran upstairs so she could help Tsunami help Ranma.
*********
Back in the living room Ayeka was talking to Ryoko. "What do you think Tsunami wants with Ranma?"
From her spot on the couch Ryoko shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows. She isn't the most frequent visitor we get around here." She then patted the couch beside her, "Come sit back down. We're missing the movie."
Ayeka quickly sat back down beside Ryoko and intertwined her hand with Ryoko's, "Sorry about that. It's just whenever Tsunami shows up it means that Sasami has to be unconscious and I get worried about her."
Ryoko squeezed Ayeka's hand, "I know you do, but Tsunami merged with Sasami to save her, I don't think that she anything to harm her."
Ayeka smiled at Ryoko, "I know that but I don't think that I will not ever be at ease when something like this happens. I am her sister after all." And with that Ayeka settled in and watched the movie.
In her seat beside Ayeka, Ryoko was having a hard time concentrating on the movie they were watching. She was so giddy that it was practically illegal. Half of her master plan had already come to fruition, she and Ayeka were now a couple. They were not as much a couple as Ryoko would have liked, but truth be known, Ryoko wasn't really ready for a relation ship as physical as she wanted. But they were a couple and adding Tenchi to their relationship was only a matter of time. As she sat there and thought about the day that would change her life, the smile that graced her lips only got larger.
*********
For all the residents of the Masaki home that day two weeks ago started off like another. That is for all the residents but Ryoko, because today she had a plan, a plan that if successful could see the realization of some of her dreams. So as to not alert her prey to her master plan she acted perfectly normal. As her pray went about her daily tasks, she had no idea that Ryoko was watching her. She definitely had not the slightest inkling of what Ryoko had in store for her.
So Ryoko did something that many that knew her would never think she was capable of, waiting patiently. Waiting for the moment when her pray would be in the perfect position to spring her trap. It wasn't till one o'clock in the afternoon that Ryoko felt that her plan was ready to go. When it was she quickly teleported near Ayeka and started up a conversation. "So Ayeka, you look bored why don't we go to the training room and have some fun."
Ryoko mentally grinned when Ayeka replied, "Yes I believe a little exercise is just what I need."
So the two of them headed to the training room, one to get some exercise, and the other to take a chance and bet on love. After they entered the room, Ryoko disabled the door so that they wouldn't be able to leave the room until she said so. As soon as she was done with the door she joined Ayeka and they began to fight.
After about twenty minutes of fighting stopped fighting and put phase two of her plan into motion. "Hey Ayeka, can we talk?"
Ayeka dropped her shield and took up a position more conducive to talking. "About what?"
"Us. As you know, I love Tenchi very much. It was so easy to fall in love with him, he was the only companion that I had for seven hundred years and despite the fact that I knew he couldn't see me, I always felt that he could somehow sense my presence. And after he freed me from that cave I was able to see other things about him that caused my love for him to only grow.
But then you came along and Tenchi became attracted to you along with me. At first I only saw you as competition in a battle for Tenchi's heart, but after awhile something began to change my mind about you. Through all our battles and my studying you to find an advantage, I began to fall in love with you along with Tenchi. As time went by and we went on adventures or worked around the house that love only grew in intensity. But at the same time I was afraid of you, I still remember the way you looked while you were torturing me on your ship and every time I would work up enough courage to tell you that image would appear in my mind. So I would wait some more and try to rebuild my courage. Then to my amazement you started giving little hints that I took to mean that you might share the same feelings that I have for you. So I ask you, no, beg you to consider a relationship with me. We both know that Tenchi loves both of us, so why don't we get together so that he doesn't have to choose."
"Ryoko what you suggest is difficult for me. Yes I do love you, almost as much as I love Lord Tenchi, but I don't think it will work, I'm sorry."
At those words Ryoko felt her heart crack and tears come to her eyes, but she had come this far and wasn't willing to give up without a fight. "Why? Why wouldn't it work?"
"It's not proper, queens should not feel those types those feelings for each other."
That got Ryoko angry, she had seen the way Misaki and Funaho treated each other and it was definitely not a platonic relationship. "Who filled your head with that idea, it's utterly ridiculous. I saw your mom and Funaho and they looked awfully friendly."
"That's just for show."
"So they sleep apart."
"Of course not. They sleep with my father."
"And you don't think that they have sex every now and then, come on Ayeka get with the program. Just because they don't have mad passionate sex on the royal throne doesn't mean that they don't love each other. You have been gone from Jurai for seven hundred years, things might have changed. I'll bet that if you ask your mother about this she would probably say something like, "Yes, queens aren't supposed to show any romantic feelings for each other, but co-wives can.""
"Fine, let us suppose that you are correct, but what about Yosho and Sasami, what will they think about us partaking in the kind of relationship you want."
Ryoko smiled at her foresight, she had known that Ayeka might try this excuse. "I think they would approve. At least they did when I asked them yesterday."
"You already asked them."
"Yup," Ryoko grinned. "In fact Sasami even said that she would then have two big sisters." She then folded her arms across her chest, "Well that gets rid of two of your reasons. Do you want to come up with some more, or do you want to end this and accept my proposal?"
Ayeka smiled at Ryoko and shook her head, "No, there are no more that I can think of, so I accept. But I have a few conditions, the first is that we go slow. I am not ready for a relationship as serious as you want. The second condition is that we wait on sex until I can speak with my parents. Whether they give their blessing or not is irrelevant, I just think that it is proper to let them know our intentions. Do you think that you can handle those conditions?"
At hearing Ayeka's acceptance, Ryoko's heart soared. "Of course I can. I'd do anything to be with you."
Ayeka slyly smiled, "Oh really." She sauntered over to Ryoko and placed her arms around he neck. "Anything?"
Now Ryoko was nervous, Ayeka had never acted like this before, all she could do is gulp and nod her head.
"Good," and with that Ayeka began to move her head towards Ryoko's.
*********
"Oh yes," Ryoko thought with a smile, "that was definitely a great day." And while they didn't have sex, they did have a rather heavy-duty make-out session. Just thinking back on that day made Ryoko blush. Ayeka then made a noise in response to something that she saw on screen and Ryoko decided to start paying attention to the movie.
*********
When Ranma woke from his nap he instantly knew that something was amiss. He was in a dark room, with what little light that was in the room provided by glowing blue trees that looked similar to Funaho. Despite the fact that he was in a strange place, he stood as if he had awoke in his bed at the Masaki house. He looked around and quickly spotted the room's sole occupant, a blue hared women wearing elaborate robes. Her face was kind and Ranma felt a sense of peace just looking at her. She opened her eyes and focused their pink-hued gaze unto him. As a smile graced her lips she spoke, "Hello Ranma, I am Tsunami."
*********
Authors notes: Well this is the end of another chapter, if you have reached this point then give yourself a star. If you have gotten here without stopping and sending a response then give yourself two stars. Seriously though, as you can see I have jumped this ahead two months. Anything that might have happened during that time will be gone over as a flashback, but there shouldn't be too much more about that time. About Mihoshi being able to beat Akane, her SKILL level is higher than Akane's and she is much more emotionally controlled during a fight. If anyone thinks that I rushed the relationship between Ayeka and Ryoko, then tough. It is not a vital story component and it was not necessary to go too in-depth into it. Sorry that this chapter is shorter than others, but this is the point that I had come with to end this chapter and I like to have a place that looks like it could end a chapter. I can't wait to hear what you think.
Chaos Lord