A Reflections Mini-Sequel
A. V. Morgan
Part Ten
Tsu Pai-Sei slipped his hand into the satchel hanging at his hip to confirm the presence of the Kaisuifuu within, for what must have been the hundredth time since he began his descent into the caverns deep beneath the Musk fortress. For a man not inclined to nervous gestures, this spoke volumes about the agitation and anticipation aroused in him by his quest. Long-lived though the imperial dragon line was, it had been generations since a Musk emperor dared to confront this particular dragon in its lair. Of course, he had been in the dragon's lair many times over the centuries, but it made a significant difference to know that this time he intended to wake it. Many times he had been tempted to risk it, simply to see more clearly what the thick ice concealed. This time, not only did he need to see the dragon clearly, he needed to beg its consultation. To many, the legend of Tsin-Na Minh was a great fish story; a tale of the one that had gotten away. In the way of such things, the third and fatal final attempt by Prince Ergot to claim a bride was turned into a moral lesson to instruct and guide generations of dragon princes in matters of pride and folly.
Spice had come close to writing his own chapter in that story, as a young man. He had been utterly fascinated by the dragon's story, and dreamed of being the man to claim it as his bride. Fortunately, he had been distracted by the appearance of Saotome Kenshin. Spice allowed himself a vicious grin. He had dragged that name out of the cursed boy through a skillful application of pain and pleasure, insulted by the ridiculous claim that he was THE Lo Shen of Musk legend. True, the appearance was correct, down to the curse he possessed, but witnesses had reported that Lo Shen died in childbirth and the Musk knew the identity of "her" only child, as well as that of "her" grandchildren. Spice could guarantee that Kenshin was not even a descendant of Lo Shen--however there was the possibility Kenshin was descended directly from Pa Shen. Her ultimate fate was never known. Spice would hardly be surprised to discover that she, at least, was still lurking around. After all, Cinnamon had endured for fifteen hundred years, and the last emperor to gaze upon "her" human face reported that "she" seemed to have aged not at all--in comparison to the portrait of Fa Shen.
Spice shuddered, remembering the features of Saotome Nodoka. It had not been difficult to obtain confirmation from agents in Japan that she was the daughter of Kenshin, but one look at her face had been convincing enough. Unfortunately, that look had not been enough to determine if she was also his daughter. It was disturbing that a set of features--the crimson hair, the ocean eyes--that would be recessive in the human genome were predominant in those descended from Pa Shen. Maybe seven or eight generations down the line--as proven among the amazons--different, if equally vibrant and extraordinary colorings eventually expressed themselves in the descendants of those cursed in Fa Shen's image. Depending on how many generations removed from Pa Shen this Kenshin had been, it was possible that these persistent traits masked the animal traits that marked Spice and Herb as dragon-spawn. Fortunately, the question would be much less ambiguous to a true dragon, especially when it, or rather she, was the truest enduring portrait of Fa Shen he knew of--with the possible exception of this Ranma that Herb had informed him of.
When he first learned about the martial arts prodigy, Spice could not have anticipated that the matter would end up striking so close to home. Spice never suspected that Kenshin was pregnant when "she" fled back to Japan with the Kaisuifuu. Thanks to the amazons, he had been prevented from finding and capturing his "bride" and when they later informed him of "her" death, he had forced the matter from his mind. Lies and deceptions, he now knew, but it was time to finally set matters straight. With the drop in air temperature, he knew he was almost at his destination. The heart of the dragon's lair was cavern entombed in ice. A kind of annex had been carved out of this subterranean glacier, along with a shaft into which the kaisuifuu could be slid. It would, as always, respond to the presence of water--regardless of state--by heating up almost violently and melting the vast cocoon of ice.
As he carefully made his way into the annex and pulled out the kettle, he smiled. If not for Kenshin appearing and distracting Spice with his curse, and later stealing this key to the dragon's crypt, he would have no doubt first confronted Cinnamon as a callous, arrogant youth--young being a relative term, since Spice was still a young man in appearance. Though several hundred years old by the time Kenshin appeared, as little as forty years ago he had been no wiser than Herb and foolishly confident of his ability to woo the rebellious dragon. With Kenshin, he had only a man's pride to conquer, and failed miserably. The same failure with Cinnamon would certainly have been fatal.
Spice had grown up more in that year than in any hundred years previous. The failure broke his obsession with the sleeping dragon and forced him to move on, find a mate and bear an heir. What he did not learn because of Kenshin, marriage and fatherhood had provided. He could be confident now that he approached the dragon untainted by foolish ambition. He just hoped the answers it might provide did not reduce his son's options for a suitable bride to the dragon itself.
Ranma had humbled Herb, but not enough for him to court Cinnamon!
Letting the Kaisuifuu slide down the shaft, into the womb of ice, he retreated to await the dragon's awakening. If the records were correct, he had until the morning to compose himself and phrase the request he needed to make. The hiss of steam and the thunderous crack of ice was a strong testament to the veracity of past emperors' accounts. It seemed the Kaisuifuu regarded the sheer mass of frozen water as both insult and challenge, and the cavern began to glow with the ferocity with which it replied. Titanic were the forces at magic's command, the searing heat of the kettle caused steam to come boiling directly off the ice, building up incredible pressure that ripped open great fissures in the frozen mantle, allowing the hot gas to vent into the neighboring caverns-- shaking the very foundations of the mountain. Spice retreated with increasing haste. Suddenly, morning did not seem far enough away.
Morning arrived all too soon for more than just the Musk Emperor. The group of talented young martial artists gathered under Cologne's roof met the new day with grumbled complaints. Primarily because most of them had the dubious pleasure of entering slumber through the judicious use of blunt force instruments, either as the natural result of provoking Akane--as in the case of two known as Ranko--or as the consequence of threatening the beauty sleep of a certain amazon matriarch--as Shampoo, Ryouga, Ranma and Fa Shen discovered, when the four of them met up at the front door and foolishly entered the house in a turmoil of questions and quarrelling. Strangely, the last person to get to bed had been Akane. After dispensing justice to Onna-Ranko and Otoko-Ranko, she had grabbed her male counterpart and the bag of sea salt Po Shen left on the dining room table, and marched off into the bath without a word to anyone. Clearly, she had decided not to wait a week before putting herself back together, but no one knew what had provoked her decision. In fact, certain individuals did not even know about it yet, setting the stage for a classic opening shot by Ranma, when he appeared at the breakfast table.
"Say, where's Akane?" he asked blithely, while sitting down between Otoko-Akane and Ryouga. On Ryouga's left sat Onna-Ranko, across from her, left to right, was Otoko-Ranko, Ukyo, Fa Shen and Shampoo. Cologne and Nodoka were at the head and foot of the table, on which the meal had already been laid out. In addition to not seeing Onna-Akane, Mousse was missing too, but before he could voice that observation as well, Akane reacted.
"What! Are you BLIND!?" the youngest Tendo shouted, while crowning Ranma with a cast iron skillet. Both Rankos and Fa Shen automatically swept their plates through the air to rescue flying food.
Ranma winced and rubbed the top of his head while wiggling his little finger in the ear facing Akane to combat the ringing. His siblings bowed their heads respectfully in relief that no food was spoiled, while Shampoo and Ukyo glared at Akane out of habit. Everyone cringed as Ranma once more proved impervious to negative reinforcement.
"Geez, even as a guy you're such a tomboy," he huffed indignantly.
"Where's your girl half?" Ranko quickly interjected, in stereo.
Akane paused in mid-mallet, and blinked, flustered by the reflexive impulse to look at the speaker and finding his attention torn between the boy and girl sitting across from each other at the table. After a second, his mallet faded out of sight and he shrugged. "I'm not split like that any more."
"You're not? But I thought…" Onna-Ranko began, exchanging a look with her male half, who simply shrugged.
"Yeah, I know. Part of me could still be normal that way, but…" Akane looked down in discomfort. He studied his hands for a moment, and continued, "After our fight last night, I got worried. I mean, what would happen to my girl half if I had a surge of defiance? If I'm not split, the real me is still in here somewhere," he patted his chest meaningfully. "I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, I can handle being stuck like this for a week. I AM a martial artist, you know!"
Most of the others at breakfast gave her a sympathetic look, or rolled their eyes at the characteristic rejoinder, but no one knew what to say. None of them had really expected to see the male Akane again, after their recent visit to Jusenkyo. The temporary curse had worn off and Ranko had splashed Akane with the chisuiiton for extra protection. No one imagined that what had happened to Ryouga could happen to any of the rest of them.
"That was probably a wise decision," Cologne finally offered. Short tempered and stubborn, Akane would have been tempting fate had he remained divided. The old amazon did not know if the chi-curse could have activated while it was divided--a normal curse could not have--but why take the risk? "I should advise you, remain vigilant. Do not attempt any chi attacks until we find a way to purge your aura. I am sure you do not wish to have a twins curse anymore than you wanted to have a boy curse, Akane."
There was a round of shudders.
"As it happens, however, I think there is a solution for you and Ryouga that does not involve you using actual combat techniques," Cologne added. "From what I have seen, the ghost of a curse--yes, I'm making this up as I go!" Cologne interrupted herself to address the sudden suspicion of her teen audience, as it suddenly occurred to them that her explanations were always a bit too convenient and always too late. Clearing her throat and glaring, she continued, "A curse that has been shed into the chi mantle--more simply, the ghost of a curse--needs to be charged and released in order to infect someone. Ryouga has not thrown a shishihokodan since he was infected, yet he transforms when hit with a surge of depression." Cologne held out a hand and fired off a small ball of sickly green chi. When it hit Ryouga, he vanished into his clothes with a squeal of indignation. Cologne smirked, "As you see, it is the type of energy that triggers the curse. The opposite energy…"
"I get it! Mokotakabisha!" Ranma impulsively shot off a burst of confident chi, which splashed over Ryouga just as the piglet was struggling through the neck of his shirt. The shocked boy struggled to slide his arms out through the sleeves as he suddenly reverted to humanity. "Yatta!" Ranma jumped up and danced around, "I can cure you! Now you can work on mastering your girl curse!" Ryouga eeped and struggled to get back into his boxers and pants without flashing anyone, blushing furiously.
"Well, that proved remarkably simple," Cologne quipped.
"Yeah. That means there's got to be a catch to it, somehow," Ukyo sighed, setting down her teacup. Actually, the catch seemed pretty obvious. A ki adept could control Ryouga's pig curse, or exploit it in battle. Even if Ryouga mastered both curses, the pig curse would always be a stumbling block. Ukyo wondered if she should point this out or not. There was a grim look to her as she stole another look at Ranma and Ryouga, across the table from her. She could easily picture things coming to a head with her fighting Ryouga over Ranma. There was still a part of Ukyo that wanted to reclaim her womanhood. A part that surged forth whenever Ranma reverted to his birth form and familiar bone-headed behavior. Not that it was easy to reconcile this morning's Ranma, the boy she fell in love with, with the Ranma of last night, who was every inch a young woman in love with Ryouga. Honestly, Ukyo had been surprised to see both of them show up to breakfast in male form. Narrowing her eyes, she asked Ranma pointedly, "Say, did you and Ryouga sleep in the same room last night?"
Ranma blinked in surprise as everyone fell silent at her question. Giving everyone a look, he shrugged and casually declared, "I guess so. I mean, I was in the guys' room when I woke up, so I guess someone put me in there when we all got knocked out."
Akane spoke up, "That was me. After I put Ranko in bed, I discovered the rest of you unconscious so I dragged you all upstairs. Ranko takes up two futons now, but Mousse was gone, so I borrowed his."
"Whatever," Ukyo waved Akane's interruption off without breaking eye contact with Ranma. "You and Ryouga slept in the same room last night--ALONE?" Ukyo demanded with more asperity.
"Well, duh! I just said, Mousse didn't come in last night!" Akane growled.
"Er… yeah, Duck-boy wasn't here this morning," Ranma confirmed.
"Right, so you had the room to yourselves all night." Ukyo set down her chopsticks and crossed her arms before voicing her aggrieved consternation, "How come you are both guys?"
"Huh? Don't you remember? Ryouga got some hot water when we came in last night," Ranma reminded acerbically.
"Yes. I also remember you didn't change," Ukyo nodded before scowling and leveling an accusing finger. "So, if you went to bed with Ryouga as a girl, why would you be a boy when you got up?" Ukyo seemed just shy of retching, and visibly shuddered. Akane looked mortified, mentally kicking herself for thinking nothing of putting Ranma and Ryouga in a room together. Long used to ignoring the state of Ranma's curse and dealing with him always as a boy, she had automatically been treating Ryouga the same. It had not occurred to her that it had become improper for them to sleep together.
"Duh! I obviously changed in my sleep! What did you think hap-" Ranma tipped over in shock as he realized what Ukyo thought had happened. Ranma picked himself up from the floor and shouted, while everyone else feigned deep fascination with their breakfast, "Damn it! Why is it two people can't sleep together without people thinkin' they're sleepin' TOGETHER!?" The hand gestures accompanying this outburst proved too much for Nodoka, who produced the most unusual permutation of a squeak, choked, and sprayed tea from her nose.
The Saotome siblings, at present numbering four, all stared at their mother, stunned by this unprecedented loss of composure from the perpetually poised paragon of feminine propriety. "Mom? Are you okay?" Ranko and Ranko asked, just barely beating out Ranma and Fa Shen.
Nodoka, for her part, was doubly embarrassed. It was not as if she had not been warned by Fa Shen the night before, but she had made the unfortunate mistake of picturing the liaison Ukyo was implying, while quietly lamenting the outcome of the man-among-men pledge. "That was certainly NOT what I intended!" she muttered to herself, as she hid behind a napkin and demurely tried to void tea from her nasal cavity. When she felt able to speak normally, she cleared her throat, "I'm fine, children. Really, Ukyo, that was hardly appropriate for the breakfast table!"
"Sorry," Ukyo bowed her head.
Nodoka accepted the apology with a matronly nod, then turned a measuring eye on Ranma. Because of her adoption by Cologne, Nodoka had been acquainting herself with amazon law. Given that, and what she had learned the previous night, it was a wonder she had gotten any sleep at all. Clearing her throat, she inquired, "I suppose it's no use trying to ignore things at this point. I believe there was something you needed to tell me, Ranma-chan?"
Ranma gulped, managing not to choke only by virtue of the fact he swallowed his food as fast as he shoveled it into his mouth. His eyes met his mother's for a long moment, during which he gradually changed into a girl. She could almost map the mental process that forced the change, starting with the implicit understanding of what Nodoka was referring to. "Mom, I-" she began, but could not find words to continue. Ukyo had hinted last night that the cat was already out of the bag, and Nodoka's prompting confirmed it. Taking a deep breath, she pled, "I can explain."
"In a way, you already have," Nodoka admitted, referring to Fa Shen's personality shift, disclosing the situation to Akane as Ranma. "Please do not be afraid," she begged in a heart-torn voice. "I simply wish to understand what is happening with my so- my child, and find out if- if- or rather," she hated the fact that she was so rattled. Trying another tack, she confided, "I have been studying amazon law. Are you aware of- of the consequences- of the obligations you face by recognizing what you and your f- fr- friend have done?"
Ranma stared back, terror subsiding as the sight of her mother's discomfort perversely restored her composure. Taking a sip of tea and then clearing her throat, she tested, "You mean, do I know that we're married by amazon law?" Nodoka nodded, flushing. Ranma looked at Ryouga and sighed. "I still think they're stupid laws. I don't think I'm ready to be married. Hell, I mean, I'm the bride for cryin' out loud, and there's a big difference between bein' a girl and bein' a--well, GIRL, I guess. I'm more of a tomboy."
Nodoka studied her "daughter's" face for a long moment.
"I remember the choice you gave me," Ranma stated firmly, looking very determined and a faint bit insecure. Motherhood was an implicit consequence of choosing to be female. That was still frightening, but it was something Ranma could cope with because Fa Shen had been prepared for the possibility. "I understand the obligations I have, because of the choice I made. The only thing I didn't know was that I already made the choice. I can't live with myself if I try to deny that."
Nodoka nodded distantly. Her thoughts were well over the horizon, debating matters of honor and family, weighing the remaining options and obligations. Her eyes drifted over to Ryouga, who sat rigid, hope, fear and desperation warring beneath the surface, while studying Ranma at his side. He had such unfortunate short-comings, but then so had Genma. He had a sense of honor, misguided though it seemed to have often been. He seemed to possess a passionate nature and obviously loved Ranma very much. He was a skilled and manly martial artist. Most importantly, he shared Ranma's curse. Having learned how the curse had scarred her children, shattered the boundaries of gender, she could not keep from thinking how difficult it would be for them to find happiness in a relationship with a normal person. Ranma could certainly do worse.
Nodoka spared a glance at Akane, not surprised to find the recently made boy studying Fa Shen shyly. There was another who had made his mark on her children, and been tarred with the same brush. The interaction between Akane and the version of Ranma that came from within Fa Shen had given her some hope that the Saotome-Tendo pact might be salvaged.
Nodoka did not even bother to look at Ukyo. She was painfully aware of the situation there. She had heard the confessions and confusion of the chef and the triplets by turns, and knew the girl would give up her womanhood entirely before giving up her claim to Ranma--she would certainly give that up in order to secure her claim to Ranko. How odd and frightening to see an individual claim that a path of disaster and tragedy was the only one leading to happiness.
Returning her gaze to Ranma, she realized why she could not complain about Ranma's fate. She had chosen it herself. In a sense, it was the final proof of Ranma's manhood. Taking a deep breath, she nodded formally and declared, "Then I shall recognize you openly and formally as my daughter. As such, there are certain conditions I must set, and certain obligations you will have to meet."
Ranma bowed, "I understand."
Nodoka offered a sad smile.
As confrontations went, the words exchanged between Ranma and Nodoka were deceptively reassuring. In spite of the calm and reasonable tones in which the mother and daughter came to an understanding, a thick tension hung in the air over the remainder of breakfast. As careful as they had been to skirt the lingering threat of fatal consequences that once defined the relationship between Ranma and Nodoka, there remained a sense of a ticking time-bomb ready to detonate at the slightest provocation. Ranko found herself, and her counterpart, glancing at Akane between subdued bites. It disturbed Ranko that the tomboy had not blown up over Ranma's defection. From the way Akane kept studying Fa Shen, Ranko decided that she had missed something important last night. Meeting the eyes of her male half, Ranko caught a hint of the same concern, but there were other things going on in his mind that she was not aware of. She felt a sudden surge of annoyance over their separation.
There was really only one thing she could think of that was worth being split in two like this, and because this was the result of an instant curse, she could not afford to indulge in it. Part of her was desperately ashamed about her growing obsession with sex, and part of her found the notion of literally screwing herself--as that seemed the only safe option available--obscene, but neither those concerns, nor the risk of being permanently split, was enough to erase the temptation. So, the rational part of her warned her to avoid her other half, which got the irrational parts of her mind worked up over the fact that she was shut out of whatever went on in his head. She tried to tell herself she just wanted to talk with the one person she ought to have a perfect understanding with--conveniently ignoring that the same rule applied to Ranma and Fa Shen--but really she just had an itch to drag him off somewhere alone.
Ranko noticed that she was staring at him too intently when he began to blush, but refused to look away. Ranko closed her eyes and sighed heavily. The only naked activity she should indulge in with him was a hot bath in salt water. Anything else would just invite more chaos. Forcing her attention back to Ranma, she decided it would be best to confide in her and try to draw Ranma out in turn. The changes Ranma was going through were setting off alarms in Ranko's head. She did not know what exactly was wrong, but the landslide was far from over and she did not want to be buried alive when things finally settled down for good. She also decided to put her other half on Fa Shen, get him to dig out whatever had come up between her and Akane--and conveniently put some distance between herself and him. Ranko conveniently failed to notice how quickly she had shied away from the part about curing her temporary twins curse.
As the meal ended, Ranko nudged her other self and suggested he talk to Fa Shen. The look he gave her before nodding told her his train of thought had not run very far from hers. She gave him a wry smile and then turned to spot Ranma. She frowned as she noticed their mother leaning over to speak privately to Ranma, disturbed by the fact that the disclosure was making Ranma squirm. As Ranko paused to wait, Nodoka turned to see who was approaching and smiled.
Ranko gulped at the look on her mother's face.
"Ah, Ranko, this applies to you as well," she announced, gesturing for Ranko to accompany her as she led Ranma out into the garden. Once they were far enough from the house for privacy, Nodoka continued, "As I was just mentioning to Ranma, I have been giving a great deal of thought to the matter of my daughters."
Ranko resisted the urge to flinch and hold up warding gestures. "Oh?" she squeaked, trying to sound casual. She pasted a sickly smile on her face as she hoped she was not about to hear what she expected to hear.
"Yes. Now, I am well aware that your past experiences are, well, rather extraordinary. I can accept at this point that you are truly both male and female. However… I might as well confess that I find little fault with your masculinity. You two seem to be a pair of fine young men, when you want to be. However, not even Fa Shen is what I would call entirely feminine," Nodoka declared with a hint of despondence. Nodoka tried not to feel too discouraged by the girls' twitching eyes. "Now, as I have said, I would be happy to recognize you as my daughters, but I assure you, any daughter of mine has to meet certain standards. Seeing the situation Ranma-chan has gotten herself into… Oh, my dear child, you have no idea how astute your comment was, about not being ready to be a bride! At least I was able to make a start with Ranko, but truly it is well past time you three were taught how to be proper young ladies."
"Ah…" Ranma and Ranko blurted, stunned.
"Oh dear!" Nodoka broke off, startled by the sound of a body exploding out through the kitchen roof and hurtling up into the sky.
"What did I doooo…!?" Fa Shen demanded as she sailed over head.
"Ba-a-ka!" Akane shouted, storming out of the house, glaring at the girl diminishing to a speck as she rocketed up into the sky. As he passed Nodoka, and encountered the disbelieving stares of Ranma and Onna-Ranko, he paused and snarled at the teens, "What are you staring at?"
Nodoka cleared her throat and smoothed down her kimono. "Akane-chan, is it your intention to marry Fa Shen?" she asked sweetly, giving the "young man" before her an appreciative, measuring look.
Akane almost choked, anger and embarrassment warring for control, retorting, "It's not like that! She was asking for it!" Ranma slapped a hand over her mouth, to contain a bark of laughter, and faded behind her mother. Words like "irony" and "poetic justice" came to mind, as Ranma's eternal protest was quoted by Akane. Better to just stand back and enjoy it, rather than risk provoking Nodoka or Akane further by rubbing it in.
Onna-Ranko's attention was locked on the dwindling form of Fa Shen, apprehension etched on her face, as Otoko-Ranko marched out and pointed at Akane, "Is that how you thank someone for trying to help you out!" He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Onna-Ranma clapping a second hand over her mouth and abruptly bending over, before refocusing on Akane, who was whipping around to meet his accusation.
"Help me out!" Akane raged, "Who said I needed any help from a bunch of sex-crazed perverts like you!" Fortunately, his back was now turned toward Nodoka and her daughters, and he was too worked up to pay much attention to the smothered noises coming from Ranma--as she struggled to contain riotous laughter and a grunt of pain from taking an elbow in the ribs from Onna-Ranko.
"Hey, if you wanna be a guy for the rest of your life…" Otoko Ranko let his retort trail off with an exaggerated shrug and dismissive wave. Catching sight of Ranma on the edge of his vision, squeezing her knees together as she remained bent over by her strange convulsions, it suddenly clicked that his sibling was not about to lose her breakfast. Having no idea what set Ranma off, his irritation swelled in the belief that she was laughing at him. While this added fuel to his temper, Akane's retort promised a real spark of ignition.
"Like I'd have a choice with what you two were planning…!"
"Hold it!" Onna-Ranko interrupted, pushing between the two boys, as they surged forward to get in each other's faces. She had moved the instant her finely tuned senses informed her that the argument was on the verge of becoming a real fight. Thankfully, Nodoka had noticed Ranma's convulsions and pulled her off to the side, giving Ranko a bit of room. Shoving Otoko-Ranko and Akane apart and keeping a hand square in the middle of each of their chests, she demanded, "What are you fighting about?" She turned her face to Akane and chastised, "How could you go and attack Fa Shen like that!?"
"If you only heard what she was saying, Ranko! She really, really was asking for it this time!" Akane heaved a breath and glared at Otoko-Ranko, "As for HIM… This idiot was encouraging Fa Shen to claim me as a husband!"
"Are you insane!" Otoko-Ranko snapped. There was silence from the sidelines, as Ranma and Nodoka paused in their quiet exchange to stare over in surprise. Nodoka's challenge to Akane had been in jest, but if Fa Shen did have an interest in the engagement to Akane, this could not be ignored! They shared a stunned look and scrambled to their feet as the red-headed boy demanded, "Where did you get that idea!?"
"Stop it," Ranko shook her other self, drawing his eyes to her. Turning to Akane she tried to point out calmly, "Akane, after yesterday, all Fa Shen has to do is kiss you and you'd be hers, especially with you like this right now."
"I KNOW that!" Akane fumed, "But, I didn't think she really would. Until I heard her talking to this idiot about how to make me submissive and compliant and aroused at the same time!"
Ranko felt her eyes bulging, and whipped her head around to stare at her other half, "I thought Fa Shen didn't like submissive guys!"
Otoko-Ranko blinked at both of them. A distant whistling sound rising in pitch and volume started to tickle the back of everyone's mind. His eyes narrowed on Akane, "You dope, you don't know what you're talking about! You got it totally wrong!"
Akane lurched forward, hands fisting in preparation to deliver his retort. "Oh? Is that so?"
"Oh, like you have any clue what was going on before you jumped in!"
Onna-Ranko braced her feet and pushed them apart again before she became squashed between them. Part of her mind was screaming about the significance of the increasingly piercing whistle, but she brushed that distraction aside. Giving her other half a shake, she demanded, "Would you just… Tell ME what was going on."
"Huh? Oh, well, Fa Shen was trying to work out a way to reverse Akane's curse during breakfast, and she was going over it with me when Akane burst into the kitchen and booted her out the window. She figured out a couple of things that were the opposite of defiance, but we didn't know how someone could generate a 'compliant' or 'submissive' battle aura…" Otoko-Ranko began to summarize, as the ballistic screech peaked. Everyone jumped at the distant report of exploding rock and shouts of alarm from the terminus of Fa Shen steep, acute trajectory. "Oh shit," Otoko-Ranko blurted and raced off.
The others followed in his wake, soon arriving at the edge of the village where they found Fa Shen lying unconscious amidst the rubble of shattered boulders that had evidently broken the red-headed amazon's fall. As they shoved through the crowd that had gathered around the crash site, a number of amazon warriors seized Akane grimly.
"You not run away this time!" one of the warriors asserted fiercely.
"This gone far enough," another woman warrior agreed, nodding.
"Oh no," Onna-Ranko moaned in concert with Ranma and Otoko-Ranko. As headstrong as Akane usually was, none of them had really expected him to have learned from the previous day's misadventures. The problem had only gotten worse with Akane turning into a boy, but it had not occurred to them until now that Akane had forgotten how her male form increased her already inhuman strength. Even Fa Shen must have underestimated the power of Akane's blow, if she failed to properly compensate for the force of her landing. But really, the worst thing of all was the fact that it was FA SHEN laying unconscious before them. Where Ranma would hesitate, Fa Shen would have only two choices when she regained consciousness, and the "honor guard" that had seized Akane would force her to make it.
It was like watching a train wreck as Fa Shen's eyes fluttered and opened. She lay there restraining the groan that wanted to come out. There was a moment of confusion as she took in the watching crowd, and tried to determine how and why she had lost consciousness. The drain on her reserves, from reinforcing her body mightily with ki, and the jarred memory of rocky ground hurtling towards her suggested recent combat. Then her gaze focused on Akane. There was an audible gasp, and her eyes snapped shut for an instant in disbelief.
A flood of conflicting emotions stormed across her delicate features, as she tried to decide what to do. Sheer habit set her to motion, picking herself up and dusting herself off slowly while she studied Akane through narrow eyes.
Her mind ticked rapidly through all of the options facing her. Should she treat Akane as the outsider female she was in truth? Should she go along with the idea of Akane being a man at heart and accept her defeat, even if Akane's beatings were a bit too one sided to be called combat? Should she reveal her "marriage" to Shampoo in the hopes of dodging this mess? She shook her head, the elders would probably force her to honor both marriages, since an amazon and an outsider were both involved.
But, could she even hold on to being Fa Shen if she was married to Akane? If she reverted to being Ranma, permanently, could she cope with being Akane's WIFE? For that matter, could Akane even deal with being her HUSBAND? Was this, finally, sufficient justification to rebel against her tribe?
Fa Shen felt a shiver run through her and take up residence in her gut. Her mother had defied the tribe, but she had not been born an amazon. The part of her that was Ranma had been screaming for defiance of amazon law from the very beginning. Her siblings had tolerated their induction into the tribe in part because they had assimilated Fa Shen to a greater or lesser degree, but mostly for the sake of Fa Shen herself.
If she rebelled, they would back her up, and together they were powerful enough to cow the elders, even if they did not resort to using their circuit. Fa Shen paused for a heartbeat, thinking about the upheavals she and her siblings kept going through. She scowled deeply, fighting to contain the shakes resonating outward from her gut. They were more fragile right now than they realized, and they had weaknesses the elders could easily exploit. This was not the time for them to go to war with the elders. Was it worth it to resist something that she already had an obligation to do? Part of her, the part that was Ranma, was bound by the engagement to Akane. If Fa Shen cut her ties to the tribe, her only surviving ties to her past, would she even have a reason to remain Fa Shen? It would be pretty stupid to start a war over something that would most likely happen anyway if she burned those bridges.
During her deliberation, Fa Shen had schooled her features to mask her intentions and forced her oddly weakening limbs to maintain a pose of strength and confidence. She did not have anything to spare on regrets. The moment of truth was at hand, no matter how much she wished that Akane had listened and taken responsibility for his actions just for once. In spite of literally cursing himself, though, Akane had not gained the slightest emotional discipline. Would he remain true to form and lay the blame for this fiasco on her? It did not really matter. Fighting to maintain her poise, she stepped forward at last and reached up a hand to cup Akane's cheek.
There was a gasp as Fa Shen seemed to lean in to kiss Akane's cheek, but instead of a kiss of death, the amazon whispered something directly into Akane's ear. Akane stiffened, and his eyes flooded over with sudden tears that spilled over as Fa Shen pulled back, kissed him on the mouth, and proclaimed, "Wo de Airen."
There was instant celebration among the native witnesses, but Nodoka and her children stood silent as Akane and Fa Shen embraced in silence, the red-headed girl's body now visibly trembling. Fa Shen had buried her face in Akane's chest, and the neo-boy was just staring off into nowhere, shock and grief inexplicably stamped on his face as he numbly held onto her. He could not see or hear the people around them. He kept hearing the words Fa Shen had whispered, "Please do not fight this. If I had an option that allowed both of us to survive, I would have taken it." For once, Akane found it impossible to misinterpret what he had heard. He just did not want to believe it.
Herb was initially quite put off when a contingent of his father's guard arrived with a command for him to meet with his father. They had arrived just as Herb was about to leave camp to visit the amazon village. It was just like his father to give new orders that contradicted and frustrated his standing orders to claim a Saotome triplet for a bride. It grated even worse that the new orders amounted to a fool's errand in Herb's mind. Of course, immediately upon arriving at the entrance to the cavern where he was instructed to deliver a change of clothes to Spice, his irritation turned into confused fascination. It had been something of a shock to find his father leading a naked young woman into the sunlight, particularly when at first glance Herb identified her as one of the Saotome women. A second glance revealed that she was a bit too tall to be Ranma, Ranko or Fa Shen, and yet too young to be their mother. His curiosity got the better of him as the girl slipped on the clothes he had brought.
"I assume she is the reason you called on me for such a menial task," Herb prompted, managing to vent his ire while leaving little room for retaliation.
Spice gave his son a dark, measuring look. In an imperious tone, he lectured, "I should not need to enlighten you to the honor I've allowed you, were you to consider your history lessons. Does the significance of this place, and the person I have roused here, truly escape you, my Son?"
Herb took another look at the nyanniichuan victim, and narrowed his eyes. He certainly knew the legends of his people inside and out, and his father's reprisal had stripped away all possible doubt about who this woman was--or more importantly, what she was. Quickly putting together what had happened, he allowed himself an evil smile, while asking innocently, "I see. In order to find out if the mother of Ranma is your daughter, you decided to consult the nearest full-blooded dragon. Naturally, she needs appropriate attire to walk among humans. Which I am sure you realized before turning her human. So, seeing as you neglected to bring any with you… I trust you have been enjoying the view?"
Spice blushed furiously, a mixture of fury and embarrassment at his son's baiting. It was small vengeance for the times Spice forced Herb to remain in female form to "give an old man's eyes something pleasant to linger on". His discomfort increased as the dragon leveled an eye on his back.
To prove the sharpness of her ears, she interrupted, "Though I suspect the same intent, knowing Musk men for the beasts they are, the truth is he left the clothes he brought for me in my nest, where they were ruined by the melting process." She threw a damp and shrunken garments at Herb to illustrate her point, catching the prince by surprise as they plastered themselves over his noble profile.
Peeling the clothes away from his face, Herb noted that they were reduced to a size suitable for a girl of maybe six or seven.
"I noticed you do not have shy eyes, youngling," the dragon accused Herb pointedly, smoothing her hands over the outfit she was now wearing, one of the prince's royal, white, silk outfits. It was an excellent fit, for her height, and certainly hung on her body better than it would on Herb's female form, but it remained quite obviously a masculine garment.
Herb smirked, "I assure you I am all too familiar with female anatomy." Between adjusting to his own alternate form, and the training he had undertaken to prepare for the conquest of Ranma--before learning about Fa Shen--he was now quite impervious to the sight of nude women, especially those cast in Fa Shen's image. "As it happens, I was simply surprised by the subtler differences in your form. If you were human, I'd guess you to be about nineteen."
Cinnamon scowled in faint confusion. "So, you are quite used to ogling women's bodies?" she tried to interpret Herb's declarations. Before Herb could say a word, however, Spice splashed his son from the canteen he was drinking from. Cinnamon's eyebrows rose as she took in the appearance of the girl suddenly before her. "I… see. So, here we have it. Evidence of karma and the repetition of history all rolled in one. Extraordinary," she smiled. Then she shrugged it off, "No matter then. As I am sure you've learned, you cannot stop men from looking, since even the threat of death is sometimes not enough to keep them from actually touching."
"Prince, dragon or emperor, none are beyond the accursed springs' power to humble," Spice intoned, taking a serious air as he put his canteen away and gathered his pack. It did not escape him that the dragon's comment was a warning. The understated threat was actually reassuring, both as a confirmation of his initial suspicions and as an indication of her present disposition. Looking at Cinnamon, he asked, "Are you ready?"
Cinnamon tilted her head, considering the story she had been told after her awakening, as she and the emperor awaited the arrival of his son. It seemed impossible that what he claimed could be true, even if the myths and legends surrounding the pools of sorrow spoke true--but if there was even a chance, it might mean the end of her self imposed exile. "I am more than ready. Take me to the others. I am eager to see if Fa Shen is truly resurrected," she declared. She fell into step behind Spice and Herb, as the dragon "princess" finished squeezing water out of her shirt, and the three of them made their way towards Herb's camp. There, they would pick up their entourage and proceed to the amazon village. Cinnamon tuned out the conversation between the father and female son and tried to soak in the world around her while sorting out her thoughts.
Being awakened had always been somewhat traumatic. Consciousness began returning to her even before the ice began to melt. The mere approach of Spice had been enough to draw her attention. The presence of any intruder would, but he had visited her tomb many times over the years. She had recognized him as distant kin, and tasted the familiar intentions as his mind contemplated awakening her. It had been a while since such a man had contemplated her conquest, and part of her had actually longed for the diversion. The temptation had drawn him to the threshold of her nest two or three times a century, but always he had resisted. She had begun to feel a kind of fondness for him because of his restraint. Strangely, as age finally began to make a mark on him, he abandoned his obsession. Herb was explanation enough for that. She might have guessed it from the last visit he made, prior to this awakening. Thought it seemed to take forever, the boy who had been her only contact with the world for several hundred years had finally become a man.
That was why it surprised her to feel him return. To feel the strength of his intention to wake her and realize he really meant it this time. Most importantly, she tasted something his predecessors had lacked, humility and respect. While no more inclined than ever to be a Musk bride, she did anticipate a most interesting dance would ensue. He would make a fine opponent, but he had surprised her yet again. Of course, he was surprised himself when he entered her lair to find her swimming in the heated water in her present form. As she climbed out of the underground lake carrying the kettle that had created it, he had stammered in disbelief.
"How can you be in this form, the Kaisuifuu…"
"Can no more unlock a mastered curse than the Chisuiiton can lock one," she had replied sweetly. Taking in his shocked expression, she had laughed, lecturing teasingly, "Once mastered, a curse is effectively broken and the change becomes an innate ability--the form as true to the individual as the one they were born to. Surely you did not think a dragon could be locked in a cursed form and not inevitably master it?"
"But, there is no record…"
"There can be no record of a secret if it is properly kept. As for why I kept it a secret in the first place?" she anticipated his question and was rewarded by his eager look. Cinnamon smiled, "Put simply, it amused me to let the last man who tried to claim me believe he had some power over me. It makes the game much more interesting. As you have the wisdom to recognize I am not to be trifled with, I see no need to treat you like a fool."
Spice stared at her a moment before blinking in confusion. It flustered him deeply to be spoken to in the tones of an equal--or even those of a superior in a favorable mood--by a woman. He had to force himself to remember that, appearances aside, this was a full-blooded dragon. "I beg your pardon," he schooled himself sternly, bowing. "I had prepared myself to see you in your full glory. I should have anticipated you would appear as you see fit."
"As it happens, you ARE seeing me in my full glory, as this is hardly sufficient to conceal it," she quipped, kicking the pile of clothes she had fished out before his arrival. When he moved to offer her his cloak, she waved it off. "That is not necessary. I am not that fond of clothing anyway, so you might as well enjoy the view until it is necessary for me to dress."
To her amusement, that actually seemed to embarrass him.
"You surprise me. You do not act like a man intent on conquest," she prodded. While this provoked him, the result was not what he expected. He quickly disavowed any intention of wooing her, explaining his real reasons for awakening her. In the process, he told the story of Kenshin Saotome and the tragic outcome of his bid for a mate, and the deception that concealed the existence of a potential daughter until now. "So, that is all you desire of me? To see this woman born of the Nyanniichuan?"
"I need to know before my son claims one of her offspring for a wife," he clarified, filling in additional details about Ranma, Ranko and Fa Shen. "So, after you, these are the best bridal candidates available to my son. It would be… awkward… to discover they might themselves already be my heirs."
Cinnamon had listened to every detail, but the shock of hearing about the resurrection of Fa Shen left her brain virtually incapacitated. If there was a human who had made a greater impact on the dragon's life than Ergot, it could only be Fa Shen. The dragon had been obsessed with the girl even before being cursed in her image. At one point, driven almost insane by the bizarre fascination and attraction she held for Cinnamon, he--at the time--had gone so far as to try and eat her. Even now it bewildered Cinnamon. Fa Shen just had a- an irresistible taste. An arousing flavor that permeated the dragon every moment she wore the girl's form. As this quality lingered in her own curse, it had existed in the cursed girl Ergot had used as bait to capture and curse Cinnamon.
It was through Lo Shen that Cinnamon had first learned anything of the person Fa Shen had been, beginning with the fact of her demise. Cinnamon arranged for Lo Shen to pay the price for hi- her part in Fa Shen's death, but took full vengeance on Ergot for slaying the object of Cinnamon's obsession. Cinnamon had believed that her curse was all she could ever have of the girl that still haunted her desires. Ironically, her absolute embrace of her curse had proven the key to mastering it--the means to make the girl a part of her, for all she adhered to her true nature as a dragon.
But, Fa Shen's form had never given her an answer to the original question. What did she want from Fa Shen to begin with? Instinct said she wanted to merge with Fa Shen, but not even embracing the curse had not satisfied that desire. It had not been until she had fully adapted to her adopted humanity that she realized she had desired to mate with Fa Shen, in spite of the fact that she was a human girl and Cinnamon was in truth a male dragon. Of course, the realization came too late. When Pa Shen came to rescue her son-turned-daughter, Cinnamon realized she too sparked the same longing. Again, the realization was too late. Pa Shen quickly learned of Cinnamon's part in Lo Shen's fatal pregnancy, and nothing could sate the mother's enraged hatred. Cinnamon could not understand it, how Pa Shen could have loved the son that murdered her daughter and took her place. Only the fact that Cinnamon had acted solely to avenge Fa Shen seemed to have kept Pa Shen from killing Cinnamon when she had the chance.
So many mistakes in the past. It seemed inconceivable that the fates would give Cinnamon another chance. It was just too sudden. It was like a dream. If it was a dream, no doubt it would shatter right at the moment of truth. She might arrive in the village and suddenly things would twist sideways into some other string of events, if the walk to the village itself did not divert into some meandering abstraction of meaning and purpose. Thus, she kept her senses wide open, drinking in the rich textures of the world, clinging to their seeming reality, while agonizing over every interminable step.
Ranko did not know what Fa Shen whispered to Akane before performing the kiss of marriage, but knowing what she knew now, it had not been hard to guess. Most of what she needed to know, to understand either of her twins, had been passed on to her through past unions. The experiences both of her reflections had just prior to assuming the identities of Ranma and Fa Shen had caused Ranko enough trouble second hand. After seeing what Ranma went through, coming to terms with the legacy of her date with Ryouga--well, in specific embracing her femininity and going all the way with the lost boy--it did not take Ranko much thought to understand that Fa Shen had been on the verge of shattering. It was the exact same problem Ranma had faced, for the same reasons. Deep in the pit of her stomach, Ranko recognized that it was her fault. Not entirely, since her parents and Cologne created the problem, but Ranko had instinctively found a solution, and selfishly claimed it entirely for her self.
The problem, of course, was thinking of Ranma and Fa Shen as two different people. It was made worse by the demand for a perfect version of Ranma, imposed by her parents, and the expectation of a perfect version of Fa Shen, presented by Cologne. With her reflections to either side seeming perfectly suited to fulfill those expectations, she had been cast aside--for the first time in her life completely free of constraints and obligations--to fend for herself. It even helped that she had no clue what to call herself or who she really was for a while. That let her take stock of all the things she could be and decide which parts suited her. The discovery of her past life as Fa Shen had been a godsend, though she recognized that identity was as great a threat to her autonomy as going back to being Ranma. Having the life of a boy suddenly balanced out by the life of a girl gave Ranko the ultimate freedom. It blew away any argument that she was "meant" to be one or the other--and she had seen at once that she needed to be a girl in order to become whole.
Ranko had found that really hard to explain to anyone, and it still seemed that everyone thought she had committed herself to being one-hundred-percent girl. No matter how often she stressed that she was both, people had it firmly in their heads that Ranko was a girl now and forever. But the truth was, emphasizing her girl side had simply been necessary to integrate her past life as Fa Shen, to blend all the parts into a new whole, and THAT was who Ranko was.
She knew it never would have been possible without the onus of actually BEING Ranma of Fa Shen lifted from her shoulders. As traumatic as it was to have the ki of Ranma and Fa Shen stripped away, leaving her on the verge of death, the thing that had really frightened her was hearing the designated Ranma suddenly assert that "he" was Fa Shen. She had panicked, fearing she would suddenly be thrust back into the role of Ranma, and unilaterally dumped the name and all the obligations on her other reflection. She had already been itching to lay claim to the identity of Ranko, and as far as she had known it had just been a name to her other reflection. She never imagined that Ranma, stuck as a girl, could ever come to terms with the fact so quickly. That was pretty stupid, since she was the same person and she had done the same thing--if for entirely different reasons.
As it happened, her sister-self had not particularly wanted to be Ranko. It just did not have the same meaning for her. Unfortunately, she did want something that "Ranma, the Man-Among-Men" was forbidden--and if she had not been forced to admit that, her love for Ryouga would have torn her apart. Ranko had no doubt of that, because Ranma's passion had almost taken full possession of her, even second-hand. She still felt it. Just like she felt the passion Fa Shen denied. Neither she, nor Fa Shen, had ever consummated, or even really expressed, the troubled and confused love they both experienced for Akane, as Ranma. That did not make it any less powerful. Where love for Ryouga had burst forth suddenly and unexpectedly, like the sun emerging through a tear in the angry clouds of a thunderstorm, love for Akane had approached stealthily from the abyss of night, bringing color to the whole horizon before swelling into a blinding brilliant orb, rising majestically into the vault of heaven.
It was funny, really. Ranma loved Akane, in spite of the fact that he did not want to. It was tragic, too. Ranko loved Akane, in spite of the fact that she gave up the right to. It was going to tear Fa Shen apart, because she did not love Akane at all--and because she owed her existence as Fa Shen to Ranma, the part of her that was still Ranma, sacrificing his own existence for the sake of a girl whose life was cut tragically short by murder. That was the horrible joke, the flaw Ranko never even imagined. It did not matter to Ranma that Fa Shen was the same person as him. He could not ignore a person in need, particularly not a girl, and absolutely not in the face of terrible injustice--his mandate as a martial artist forbade it.
His own nature forbade it.
It was just so ironic. Ranko had gone too far to ever go back to being Ranma. It had nothing to do with not being man enough. She had just changed too much, too well. Even Ranma had changed too much to be Ranma, and not because she had embraced her womanhood. Ranma and Ranko had both lost everything and started over, each finding the things they needed to move on. Ranko, within herself, and Ranma in her relationship with Ryouga.
In addition to being granted all the rights, privileges and obligations of being Fa Shen, in spite of being miraculously resurrected, she also possessed everything that rightfully belonged to Ranma. The Ranma she evolved from was never forced to give up his identity, his inheritance, his manhood, or even his fiancées. For good or ill, he remained true to himself--even in ceasing to exist to bring an amazon girl back to life. Poor Fa Shen knew this. Just as she knew he still loved Akane, clueless as he was about how to express it, or confess it. Just as she knew he was incapable of assimilating her--the very notion would appall the Ranma locked away in her.
Which meant Fa Shen had no choice but to assimilate him--in the process destroying both of them, not knowing what would rise from the ashes. What choice did she have, now that she was married to Akane? In his own, perversely mule-headed way, Ranma would refuse to believe the marriage applied to him. As far as he was concerned, Akane was married to FA SHEN--however stupid the situation, and amazon law in general, seemed to be. As long as Fa Shen considered the arrangement binding, he would not resist. He might not even feel entitled to protest, especially if Akane did not--in spite of the fact that he would resist--had resisted--such a marriage, himself.
Ranko sighed heavily, her eyes still locked on the sight of her male half helping Akane escort Fa Shen back to the village. He struggled to keep the guilt and grief he felt off his face, but she could still tell he was thinking along the same lines she was, and the turmoil on Fa Shen's face was all the confirmation those thoughts needed. She was afraid. There was no missing that. She knew damn well, from seeing the result of Ranma and Ranko assimilating her, how far from herself she might end up after assimilating him.
Ranko let her attention drift to Akane, surprised to notice that she had reverted back to her normal self. Obviously, this turn of events had stirred up some powerful emotion that suitably countered her defiance, but Ranko could not, for the life of her, guess what it was. Naming it was not really that important anyway. Once experienced, Akane would now be able to revisit the moment and summon that emotion at will--with the correct training and discipline. From her aura, Ranko could tell it was actually an emotion somewhat characteristic of Akane. She had seen much the same aura around her when she was fighting for Shinnosuke's life. Concern or devotion, or maybe sheer, naked determination.
Before she could comment on the change, however, Ranko noticed there was a crowd massing at the gates to the village. Squinting her eyes, she tried to make out what the cause of this new commotion was. She really hoped people were not coming out to "congratulate" Akane and Fa Shen on their union. Neither of them was the least inclined to celebrate.
Suddenly, through a part in the crowd, she made out the distinctive features of Prince Herb, and a flash of his familiar robes and armor. "Shit. The Musk are back," she cursed under her breath. Racing ahead, she hoped she could distract them from the rest of her party, maybe lure him away before he overheard anything about Fa Shen's marriage. "This is so not happening!"