A Reflections Mini-Sequel
A. V. Morgan
Part Eleven
Upon his return to camp, while his father summoned the guard to prepare for their visit to the amazon village, Prince Herb was approached by the captain of his personal guard. Setting down the kettle he had used to restore himself to his proper form, Herb allowed himself a congratulatory smirk as he regarded the kneeling form of the man who had recently been the victim of amazon law. In hindsight, they both knew it had not been necessary for Kai Yuan to strike down the amazon Ai Xiadou during their confrontation outside of Jusenkyo. Still, it had proved a profitable misunderstanding. When she had jumped forward in shock at learning about the reincarnation of Fa Shen, the Musk captain had reacted instinctively to the perceived attack on his prince and knocked her unconscious. When she recovered and gave him the Kiss of Marriage, Herb had commanded the man to abide by the amazons' marriage law rather than be distracted from his pursuit of the Saotome offspring. Kai Yuan had accompanied his bride back to her village, and in this way Herb had gained a very reliable informant within the village itself. Combined with the intelligence Herb gained through the jilted master of hidden weapons, there was very little chance Fa Shen and her siblings would be able to spring any surprises on the Musk Prince. Gesturing to his soldier, Herb commanded, "Rise and report."
Kai Yuan straightened gracefully to his full height. "My Lord Prince, I have unpleasant news to present to you."
Herb smothered a scowl. "I have heard much that displeases me of late. I assure you I will not hold you accountable if there is no direct failure on your part, Kai Yuan."
The captain nodded faintly. "I have just learned from my wife this morning that one of the outlanders was not all she seemed. Apparently she has been revealed to be a man in disguise, and actively pursued those you seek to wed for his own bride. As I was finishing my breakfast, a woman visited my wife claiming that he defeated Fa Shen this morning and she gave him the Kiss of Marriage. As per your orders, I departed at once to come warn you of this development."
Herb cursed softly under his breath. "I was led to believe that the one who turns into a pig and a woman was interested in Ranma."
"I beg your pardon, my Lord Prince," Kai Yuan sweated nervously. "The one you speak of, who goes by the name, Ryouga, is not the one I refer to. I speak of the one called Akane Tendo." He then proceeded to relate the story one of his wife friends had relayed in his presence to her, with far less amusement and enthusiasm than she.
Herb tightened his fists. Mousse had mentioned Akane's tendency to lash out at her fiancé, Ranma, and how this habit had been viewed by the amazons. Herb foolishly took the blind boy's word that Akane's attentions were entirely fixated on Ranma, but obviously one mistaken blow was all that had been necessary to foil Herb's pursuit of Fa Shen. Pinching the bridge of his nose, to stave off a sudden headache, he prompted, "What of the other one, Ranko? I was led to believe that she had abandoned her claim to the pig."
"My Lord Prince, if the rumors I have heard are correct, she was accidentally split in two, divided into male and female incarnations. I have not been able to confirm this, however, and that is all I have heard concerning her," the man declared with conviction.
Herb considered that and nodded. "It would be difficult for anyone to keep track of them from a distance. Unless there is anything else you need to report, that will be all," he dismissed the soldier. Kai Yuan bowed deeply and excused himself, leaving Herb to think about this latest problem. Clearly, time was a luxury he did not have any more. Seeing the guards forming up to leave the camp, he shouted for Mousse to be brought to him.
His retainers recognized his tone and made haste.
"You wished to see me, Prince Herb?" Mousse asked timidly, a short while later, straightening his robes and pushing his glasses up after being snatched from his tent and dragged swiftly before Herb by Lime and Mint.
Herb looked up and nodded. "That is correct. I have received news that Fa Shen has been joined to Akane in marriage this morning. As this satisfies your demand that a marriage between her and Shampoo be thwarted, our business is concluded."
Mousse blinked in surprise, though one could hardly tell through the thick lenses covering his eyes, then nodded in understanding. "Well. I never expected that, but I suppose you are correct."
"Furthermore, I wished to apologize to you," Herb added with an evil smirk. The small hand gestures he made to his loyal retainers slipped past the stunned and oblivious Mousse.
"Apologize?" he asked in confusion.
"That is correct," Herb bowed slightly. At that gesture, Mousse was doused from behind by Lime by an all too familiar magic ladle. As the duck struggled to escape the collapsing bulk of suddenly engulfing robes, Mint's hand flashed out to seize him by the neck and thrust him into a small cage. Herb bent close as the duck quacked in angry indignation, and explained, "I remember the way you interfered in my plans in Japan, and I can no longer afford to be thwarted by your misguided and indecisive loyalties. I doubt you would make good on your threat to claim Ranko before I could, seeing that would be counter to your intention to wed Shampoo, but it is still a threat I can not ignore. Once I have secured my bride, I assure you that you will be released with no hard feelings."
With a curt gesture, he dismissed his retainers to arrange more secure restraints for the master of hidden weapons and marched in the direction of his father's pavilion, erected during Herb's absence that morning.
Spice was just emerging from his tent with Cinnamon when Herb confronted him. He delivered a brief summary of the report he had received and asked his father the most pertinent question he could think of. "Father, I am still under your orders to claim a Saotome bride, so tell me, will the outcome of Cinnamon's examination alter your command?"
Spice regarded his son and frowned. He understood the question Herb was really asking. If Ranko was proven to be Herb's niece, did that necessarily exclude her as a bridal candidate? It was a necessary question. Spice had automatically rejected the thought of an incestuous union, but in point of fact, such were hardly uncommon in royal marriages. There had been pairings between individuals even more closely related in the past, in order to strengthen or preserve the imperial bloodline. The Musk had no qualms about culling the defective offspring of such inbreeding, in order to purify the line. Spice met his son's eyes and nodded. "I believe a half niece is suitable for our purposes. Issue your challenge, Son."
Herb nodded sternly, keeping his reaction off his face. He had not lied to Ranko when he confessed that he did not relish the prospect of marrying her. But he had been equally honest about his loyalty to his father. At least Ranko was more of a woman than Ranma had been, and if the second rumor Kai Yuan reported was to be believed, she had even been stripped of the taint of manhood. Another note on the plus side, with Ranma and Fa Shen both married they would be forbidden to interfere in the marriage challenge, which meant Herb would not have to face the devastating power Ranko reportedly gained from her sibling's fornication.
Herb began formulating his battle plans as his party marched to the amazon village. First and foremost, he would be dealing with two opponents, since Ranko's male twin would not be barred from the fight. That would work to his advantage, since it gave Herb the opportunity to kill that twin and guarantee that Ranko would not be able to turn into a man again. Herb had not been told that Ranko had been split with salted twins' water, but that seemed the most likely method. Herb had known of it and considered using it to rid himself of his girl half, until his father threatened to marry his girl half off if he attempted it. Again, for the sake of the bloodline, Herb would never be allowed to simply dispose of his girl half when by herself she represented excellent breeding stock. It forced Herb to realize that he could easily find himself trapped in that body looking out at a cured version of himself. It was pure folly to ignore the true curse of the Chuanshontsuniichuan.
He still shuddered whenever he thought of it.
Herb had become lost in his plotting by the time their party arrived at the gates of the amazon village. The commotion caused by the appearance of an armed contingent of Musk warriors, their emperor, and prince, roused him from his distraction in time to look up and notice the red-headed girl racing toward them from the opposite branch of the road.
As she approached, Onna-Ranko made a quick head-count of the Musk party. To her extreme displeasure, there seemed to be twice as many warriors as she had seen when she stumbled into Herb on the edge of Jusenkyo several days earlier. Cursing under her breath, she shifted her attention to the center of the group, where she confirmed her initial sighting of Herb, and noticed that he was accompanied by strangers instead of the familiar Lime and Mint. Both of them were garbed in the finery and armor she had come to associate with Musk royalty. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man bearing an obvious resemblance to Herb, whom Ranko guessed might be his father. The other could not be identified through the concealing folds of a hood and cloak.
The presence of the man gave Ranko pause. She remembered the story she had been told the day before, that it was possible that Herb's father was also Nodoka's father. It was possible, if this was him, that this visit had nothing to do with Herb's challenge to Fa Shen. Her confusion must have shown, because Herb turned to look right at her and smiled his superior, amused smile. Ranko slowed from a sprint to a jog as he pushed through the guards to intercept her at the gates. His movement distracted Ranko from taking a closer look at the cloaked figure striding along side of Herb's father. Ranko stopped a few meters in front of Herb, shifting into a defensive posture and challenged, "Herb! What are you doing here!?"
Herb spread his arms out, hands empty, and responded, "Greetings, Saotome. I am here for two reasons. First, I am here with my father to determine the lineage of your mother. Second, I am here to change the status of my challenge…" He trailed off with a pointed look.
"Oh? So, you're giving up on Fa Shen?" she lowered her arms from their guard position, relaxing her posture and giving him a suspicious look.
Herb smirked. "You could say that."
"Perhaps you would care to introduce yourself," Emperor Spice prompted stepping up beside Herb. The prince automatically deferred to his father, making a brief introduction and allowing him to take the initiative for the moment.
Ranko shifted her attention to the man who had sired the arrogant prince. The man who might be her real grandfather. At close range, she was engulfed by his powerful presence. Her eyes were captured by the sight of his thick mane of white hair, piercing amber eyes, and stern features. Through the folds of his imperial robes and armor, she could make out the body of a man in his prime, a strong, tall frame corded with powerful muscles. He had all the strengths of a young man, but he exuded the wisdom and experience of an amazon elder. A fight with him, she instantly decided, would be the challenge of a life-time. With those eyes boring into hers, it did not even occur to her to dissemble. "Ranko. Saotome Ranko. I was Ranma when Herb met me," she volunteered.
"So. You are the one who defeated my son and then saved his life. I have been waiting to meet you, Ranko." He gave her a slight nod and the ghost of a smile. "You are not exactly the cocky young man my son led me to expect."
Ranko smirked brashly, "You mean the guy you were planning to force into marrying Herb? You maybe wanna explain that, Old Man?"
"I am not in the habit of explaining myself to anyone, Child," Spice grinned, tightening his fists. The arrogance was so familiar. He was fighting to contain his reaction to the sight of her. Seeing Cinnamon should have prepared him for this meeting. "You are, without question, Kenshin's grandchild. However, it remains to be seen if you are also mine. I believe we shall address that question before we consider your impudence, Ranko. Cinnamon?" he prompted the hooded woman standing just behind and between himself and his son.
Cinnamon did not respond. She had been lost in her own thoughts as Herb moved to meet Ranko, and had absently followed Spice's lead when he joined the dragon prince. She had not even reacted to the sound of Ranko's voice as she challenged Herb, since the same voice had long become rooted in Cinnamon's mind as the sound of her own voice. It took her a moment to realize the words had not merely echoed in her head and look up from the depths of her cowl. Once her eyes fell upon the girl, Cinnamon's breath stopped. The face, the form, she had seen on so many in her long life. The spirit that animated it, however, had too long been absent from Cinnamon's world. Recognition had been instant. The dragon's ki senses unfurled and swept out to taste her, and were stunned to pick up several other presences that also could only be identified as Fa Shen.
"Cinnamon?" Ranko asked, tilting her head and trying to get a look at the woman the emperor had just addressed. "Say, who is this? Herb's big sister?" she asked, as she allowed herself a closer look at the clothing and cloak that obscured the stranger's identity.
"Tsin-Na Minh," the dragon corrected softly.
Ranko's pony-tail stood straight up, and electricity slithered up her spine at the proper pronunciation of that name. It was a familiar reaction, though she had only experienced it first hand when someone uttered the word "cat". It was a primal reaction, one that surged out of the depths of her psyche like tsunami.
Cinnamon lifted her head and pushed the cowl back, "But then, you wouldn't recognize me like this, would you, Fa Shen?"
"It'sa- it'sa- it'sa… You! Y-you're the…" Ranko babbled, pale as a sheet and practically gnawing on her fist as she fought to stand her ground.
"Dragon," Cinnamon smiled. "It's nice to see you remember my name. I was never sure you did, after… well. You were rather traumatized by what happened next." She fought not to laugh at the shudder that rattled Ranko, as she referred to her attempt to eat the amazon girl. She pushed forward through the gap between Herb and Spice. Ranko flinched, but the person approaching her did not inspire any of the terror evoked by her name. If anything, the sight of a slightly older version of herself was faintly fascinating. It was encouraging to think that resemblance meant she might grow as tall. Cinnamon paused at arms length, and scrutinized her carefully. "You're almost exactly the way I remember you. But," her thoughts began to catch up to her, reminding her of what she had overheard but tuned out, "you called yourself Ranko. You ARE Fa Shen, are you not?"
Ranko gulped. Her brain had gone to work, and began to puzzle out exactly how Fa Shen's nemesis could be confronting her now, in her present form. The part of her that was Fa Shen was utterly bewildered by the notion of this particular entity being the only living tie to her past. The very idea was as bizarre as the possibility of her own resurrection. With most of her wits scattered, Ranko answered numbly, "It's… kinda complicated."
Cinnamon's attention was drawn to something behind Ranko, and she gave an odd start before returning her gaze to Ranko's face. "Indeed, it is," she quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, her senses had not deceived her, the dragon noted silently.
Ranko felt the approach of her siblings at the same time, as they raced up behind her and almost tripped in surprise when they took a good look at who their sister was speaking to.
"What the HECK is goin' on here?" Otoko-Ranko demanded.
"Hey, she looks kinda like Mom," Ranma chirped in surprise.
"How extraordinary. They're ALL Fa Shen!"
"We did tell you there were three of them," Spice reminded the dragon, concealing his own surprise at seeing the three he had heard of, yet not seen until now. Knowing of their existence did not prepare him at all to confront them.
"Well, yes. You told me some strange stories, but," she waved her hands at the triplets and shrugged, "I didn't really believe it." As she studied them now, however, there was no denying that the three of them were the same person. Back in the days when Cinnamon was first cursed, as more and more Musk made their brides in the Nyanniichuan, it had been common to see crowds of girls identical to Fa Shen. The dragon had learned to distinguish individuals by their auras. The only substantial differences between the auras of the boy and two girls before her were transient fluctuations of mood. Even then, the auras would occasionally synchronize and resonate, leading her to believe the triplets must experience moments of telepathic rapport. The only thing Cinnamon knew of that would account for that phenomenon was the twinning waters of the Chuanshontsuniichuan. It was all the proof she needed to validate the abridged version of their story passed on to her through Herb and Spice.
"Honestly, I had my own doubts until just now," Spice confessed, while giving the male member of the trinity a disconcerted look. Clearing his throat, he addressed the boy, "From my son's account of the duel at Jusenkyo, you are the one who has adopted the identity of Ranma."
"Uh…" the boy, who was of course Otoko-Ranko, fumbled.
Herb interrupted and pointed up the road that Ranko and the others had arrived down, "It appears there are more than three of them now." Everyone looked in the direction Herb was pointing and saw a third red-headed girl walking along sheltered in the arms of a raven-haired girl. "I believe that is Akane Tendo walking with her, and of course Nodoka following them. How extraordinary. You are like rabbits, every time I turn around there are more of you. How do you manage it, Saotome?" Herb gave Ranko a pointed look punctuated by a sarcastic, knowing smile.
"Er…" Onna-Ranko pulled at her pony-tail and tried to look away.
At this point, Ranma cleared her throat and raised her arm, as if she was in the middle of a classroom. "Uh, actually, I'm Ranma." She had an irresistible urge to add "sorry 'bout this" but managed to crush it before it slipped out.
"Sorry 'bout this," Otoko-Ranko blushed, then let out a yip of pain as Ranma kicked him in the shin and glared at him.
Cinnamon bent close to Otoko-Ranko, staring so hard it seemed like she was staring through him. She reached out and grabbed him by the head and started to turn it in her hands while staring into his eyes. When he was about to complain, she let go and stated, pointing from him to Onna-Ranko, "I think this one and that one are both Ranko. They're much more in synch."
"Chuanshontsuniichuan, this time?" Herb prodded Onna-Ranko.
"It was an accident," she growled, rolling her eyes and slipping away from him to latch on to her other half.
"Isn't that always the case with Jusenkyo?" Spice pointed out. Spice turned his attention to the last girl. As she was led into the crowd by Akane, he examined from head to toe while speaking, "I take it, then, that this must be Fa Shen?" Hearing her name, Fa Shen looked up in bewilderment and then looked over at Ranma. The look of uncertainty there spoke of more than confusion about who was addressing her.
Ranma stiffened for a moment, before a noticeable change passed through her. Her siblings instantly recognized the personality shift that was triggered by the emperor's question. "We are all Fa Shen," she corrected primly, then gestured to herself, "but most of what remains of the original Fa Shen survives in me." A pang of uncertainty ran through her as she said it. As far as the triplets knew, that was literally true. So why, she suddenly wondered, had all of her decisions recently been made from the perspective of being Ranma? A look of perplexity to match Fa Shen's came over Ranma's face.
They continued to look at one another, as if sharing a secret.
That was not too far from the truth, as their minds both raced down similar paths. In spite of having figured out the truth about the body-swapping that occurred during sex between "Ranma" and "Fa Shen", the triplets were only partially aware of the damage that had done to the mirror-born siblings. Both mirror twins had been branded with two personalities, and with each swap they had reinforced the duality of those perspectives. It would have been much worse if they had not become aware of their reflective split personalities, but the foundation for a complete mental schism had been laid in both of them. As long as "Ranma" and "Fa Shen" remained separate identities, as long as those identities were a reason for them to present themselves as different people, the mirror twins would remain in great danger.
Everyone else had noticed the way Ranma and Fa Shen had suddenly zoned out. Neither of them responded to any further remarks or questions from the Musk Emperor, nor did they react to the re-introduction of Cinnamon. While Otoko-Ranko had flinched and presented warding signs against the revelation of who and what Cinnamon was, Ranko had grabbed Ranma by the arm and attempted to snap her out of her trance.
"Hey, snap out of it!" Onna-Ranko snarled under her breath. "What's the matter with you?" She kept one eye focused on her mother, as she stepped forward to exchange greetings with Spice, whom she had met a couple of days earlier. Seeing that no one was paying her or Ranma any particular attention, she shook her twin gently.
Ranma blinked and focused on Ranko's face. "Sorry. I changed gears too fast. I got confused about who I was for a moment," she apologized. Shaking her head, she quickly reviewed under her breath, "For a moment I had the strongest feeling I was really supposed to be Fa Shen, that I'd done something really, dangerously, wrong by believing I was Ranma… Y'know, ever since that night…" Her body tensed.
"…I think I know what's going on. When I tell you, you're not going to like it, either. But we're gonna need some privacy first," Ranko mused, checking carefully to make sure no one was really listening to her. Just then the village elders approached from within the gate to greet the visiting royalty. "Here's our chance," Ranko observed with a cunning grin.
Backed by every warrior in the village, the ruling council of elders took up position within the gates and announced their presence. The Musk contingent shifted their attention toward the shrunken women. Ranko grabbed Ranma and signaled her counterpart to follow. He nudged Akane and whispered something to her before grabbing Fa Shen and slipping her out of the crowd. Akane sped off in the opposite direction, heading into the village. The formalities of a meeting between the leadership of the two great tribes offered the perfect distraction for the teens to escape for privacy.
After fading out of the crowd and slipping into the woods bordering the main path, they waited for Akane to catch up to them, dragging Ryouga, Ukyo and Shampoo in her wake. As soon as they were certain no one else had followed, the group raced off toward the pools Ranma had introduced his siblings to the day before. Once they had determined that they no one was lurking in the area, they settled around the remains of last night's camp-fire and began to talk.
"What's going on?" Fa Shen asked, once she had oriented herself and collected her wits.
Akane finished dusting herself off and perched on a small boulder next to Fa Shen, protectively. "Was Herb here to challenge Fa Shen?"
"Actually," Onna-Ranko replied, taking Akane question first, "Herb said something about giving up on her. I dunno, maybe he has to wait until they're sure about Mom being his sister. I don't know how they're gonna prove that, but from what I can tell that's what they brought Cinnamon here to do…" Beside her, Otoko-Ranko shuddered at the reminder of the shock he had received while Ranma and Fa Shen had zoned out after talking to the Musk Emperor.
"Cinnamon?" Ranma and Akane queried.
"Tsin-Na Minh!?" Fa Shen shouted, guessing the correct pronunciation of the stranger's name and thinking instantly of her nemesis. "Are you saying Herb and his father brought a DRAGON with them to the village!?" It did not even occur to Fa Shen to doubt that Tsin-Na Minh could still be around in the present day and age, nor that he might be an ally of the Musk. What shook her was the notion that she could have missed seeing him.
Onna-Ranko, becoming almost as pale as Fa Shen and Otoko-Ranko had suddenly become, nodded and swallowed hard. "I'm pretty sure that's who she is. She brought up some stuff from when I was you… er… well, you know what I mean."
"She?" Fa Shen looked puzzled.
"She's been cursed. I mean, she looks like us. That is, if we were as old as Kasumi," Ranko clarified.
"That girl is a dragon?" Ranma frowned. She had been so preoccupied with her brief personality shift she had not really taken notice of the cursed young woman. Of course, if she had realized who was being introduced to her while she had been "Fa Shen" her reaction would probably have spelled disaster. "I'm surprised you didn't try and kill her, Ranko," she confessed, turning to the other girl.
"It's sorta funny, but in her cursed form she didn't feel all that threatening," Onna-Ranko explained with a shrug. Just the same, she understood the point of Ranma's question. While Fa Shen's fear of dragons did not result in something like the Neko-Ken, it did spur a powerful fight or flight response. Fa Shen might well have tried to kill Cinnamon on sight, if she recognized the dragon in human form, to take advantage of its vulnerability. "I've changed enough from Fa Shen that I wouldn't react like that. I'm used to suppressing the Neko-Ken. "
Fa Shen shuddered once more. The memory of diving into the dragon's throat to escape from the deadly teeth that were snapping closed around her remained vivid and terrifying. That move had offered only a moment's reprieve, and the panic that gripped her as she slithered into the belly of the beast nearly paralyzed her long enough to seal her fate. Her aura had burst free in the tight confines, compressing into a wall of force that protected her from the crushing force of its rock-filled gizzard and the searing touch of its digestive juices. Even that was not enough to save her, as air was in limited supply. She called on reserves she did not even know she had to generate enough force to send her body rocketing back up the predator's esophagus. She had been fortunate that the pain and shock of this maneuver forced the dragon to open its jaws while triggering the fury of its fiery breath.
Fa Shen had been launched toward the horizon, trailing flames and glowing with furious chi, a living comet that hit the ground and kept running for dear life even though she was already drained nearly to the point of death.
So, no, it was not a mistake to believe she would slay the dragon instantly if she saw the opportunity, purely to guarantee she would never have to go through that horrific experience ever again. Then again, she felt mortified to admit to that level of sheer, animal terror. Clearing her throat, she opined, "Maybe as long as she doesn't look like a dragon, I won't freak out. I mean, she's got my body now, right? What could possibly be threatening about that?"
Ryouga nervously reached out and patted her arm, "Believe me, I know where you're coming from. I've come close to being eaten too many times myself. I mean, really, I was so upset about that I seriously wanted to kill Ranma for giving me that curse!"
"It was Pop's fault!" Ranma and both Rankos complained.
"But YOU knocked me off that cliff!" Ryouga snarled.
"I didn't even SEE you! I told you, Ryouga…"
"Stop it! All of you!" Akane roared, jumping to her feat and leaning over them with her fists clenched. "When are you going to get over this!? I can't believe you'd start fighting about this after all that's happened!"
"Jeez, Akane. Overreact much? This isn't fighting, it's more like foreplay with this group," Ukyo grumbled irritably. Turning to look at Fa Shen, she returned to the main question, "So, Herb's off your case, anyway. Pretty strange, considering I wouldn't have put it past him to try and marry you even if you turned out to be his own sister."
Fa Shen snorted, "He is Musk. I'd be more likely to believe he learned about Akane clobbering me. I wouldn't put it past him to have found out about the Kiss of Marriage that quickly. Thanks to Jusenkyo, he could have all sorts of spies on us and we'd never know it! And, if that is the case, he'd probably follow through on his threat to challenge Ranko next."
Onna-Ranko nodded glumly. "Now that you mention it, Herb was interrupted by his pop before I could get a straight answer outta him." She took a very deep breath and let it out slowly. "If that's the case, I'll deal with it when it comes up. Right now, though, I'm more worried about you guys," she declared, pushing her other concerns aside. "Ranma, Fa Shen… after yesterday, I'm kinda worried about what's goin' on with you."
"Feh," Ranma waved it off, leaning her shoulder against Ryouga's. "There isn't anything to be worried about now. Mom's okay with me bein' with Ryouga. That's all that matters to me. Well, she IS makin' noises about makin' me be some kinda 'Woman-Among-Women' or somethin'. That's a little disturbing, but I think things are gonna get better from now on."
Fa Shen added, with a rueful smile, "And, technically, the pact with the Tendo's has been honored. Our fathers will probably put on a big wedding with me as the groom to make everything legal in Japan. I don't see any way to avoid that now. I am sorry, Akane."
Akane flushed and looked down. "It's not your fault," she muttered through grinding teeth. "Between my temper and jumping to conclusions, there's no way to blame you. You did try to warn me, and you were only trying to help me out. I guess I'm the one who needs to be apologizing." It surprised her how little effort it took to admit all of that. She did not know if she was accepting this so calmly because Fa Shen was really a girl, or because she was also the Ranma she had made peace with the night of the double date. Looking up, she added, "If anything, I should be thanking you. You could have given me the Kiss of Death. I guess I'm pretty lucky I cursed myself after all. It's got the amazons really thinking I'm a man. I'd be pretty screwed if they realized the truth!"
Ukyo stood up and marched to the edge of the water. When she spoke, the others could tell she was close to losing control. "Well, that's just bleeding fantastic. It looks like everything is working out fine for everybody who matters. I'm sure you'll all be really happy in your new lives."
"Ucchan…"
"No! I'm sick of it!" Ukyo whipped around, glaring at everyone through a film of tears. "You never, ever, took me seriously. You've been stringing me along from the very beginning! You call me the cute fiancée, but you always have this excuse that you just can't see me as anything but a friend! Akane and Ryouga go and get themselves curses to go with yours and you just fall for it, but when I promise you I'd do the same for you, you tell me it's wrong! You tell me it won't make any difference in the way you feel about me, and that you 'don't want me to get hurt'!"
"But, Ukyo…"
"Shut UP!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Get a clue, you jackasses! I AM getting HURT! What does it matter that I can't even claim to be a woman unless Ranma marries me!? What does it matter that I'm in love with you, Ranko!? What does it matter that I was understanding, supportive and patient in ways that Ryouga and Akane could NEVER be!?"
No one dared to speak in the pause this time, as Ukyo heaved for breath. It was not just that they felt awkward and embarrassed by this display of outraged heart break. It was not even that they each felt guilty of every wrong that had been done to Ukyo. This explosion had been a long time coming, and there were no excuses anyone could make this time to pacify Ukyo.
"What do I have to do to get any kind of consideration, here!?" The tears finally began to spill over her cheeks. "What the hell is it that makes you so God DAMNED insensitive!?" The others continued to bite their tongues as she tried to rein back her tears. This just provoked her more. "WELL!? What the hell are you waiting for!? Answer me, GODDAMMIT!"
Strangely enough, Shampoo chose then to speak up for the first time. "What you want Fa Shen, Ranma, Ranko say? You want answer, but answer is what you know in heart already. Answer Shampoo know in heart many days. Answer they no give you, 'cuz is answer you no going to like."
Ukyo turned on Shampoo as if ready to pounce on the amazon and rip her throat out with her teeth, "I was not talking to you, you ignorant, air-headed twit!"
Shampoo smirked at the insult, tempted to give her former rival the thorough beating she had longed to deliver since Ukyo had first become an obstacle in Shampoo's quest. Instead, she drove the point she had already aimed at Ukyo's heart home, "You too too stupid to not understand, they can no bring selves to tell you truth. That should tell you, truth really really going to hurt. Shampoo finally understand, she love more and more every day, but Ranma, Ranko, Fa Shen, they no love back. Maybe little. Like they love sister or friend."
"Shampoo," Ranko reached out her hand to intervene, "please don't."
"No. Is necessary, Ranko. Ukyo right, you always just leading her on. You not know how to say 'no'. Not know how to say 'go away'…"
"I ALWAYS said 'no' and I can't tell you how many times I asked you all to just leave me alone!" Ranma suddenly interrupted, glaring.
"Look guys, this isn't even the right time," Ranko tried again.
"It's never time to deal with me, Ranko!" Ukyo accused her.
Finally, Ranko snapped. She stood up and shouted, "Enough! Can't you see I have more problems than I can handle right now!? Do you HAVE to butt in RIGHT NOW and make things WORSE?" The heat of an angry aura boiling off of Ranko was so unfamiliar, so disconcerting, that everyone fell into an open mouthed silence. "Do you think all this getting married off left and right is something I WANT to have happen!? Do you think I planned for Ranma and Ryouga to fuck!? Do you think I schemed to provoke Akane into knocking Fa Shen senseless!? Do you think I agree one tiny bit with the stupid amazon laws that say both of these marriages have taken place!?"
"Wha…?" Ukyo blinked, feeling the edge of her anger blunted by confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? What makes those YOUR problems, Ranko?"
"The same thing that makes whatever happens to HIM," she pointed at her male half, "MY problem! THEY are ME! Do you have any idea what it feels like, being chopped up into a bunch of different pieces just so you can live up to all the things everyone else expects from you!? Here you are complaining about not getting your own piece of me, Ukyo! Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't already grabbed him and run away. I mean, there I am, one male type Ranko ready to go! Is that what you want, Ukyo!?"
"Ran- Ran-chan! That's not fair…" she cried in a tiny voice.
"Of course it's not fair. Since when did anyone care about that!?" Ranko growled. "Do you think Prince Herb would see me, all girl the way he wants, and spare any time worrying about how unfair it would be knock me out, force me to marry him and drag me away from everything I care about forever? Or, do you think he will see how unfair it all is and focus his attention on how best to take advantage of it!?" Ranko marched forward and poked Ukyo in the chest, "Here's an idea, why don't you team up with him? That way you could split the spoils of war and both of you get what you want. Does that sound good to you?"
"H- how DARE you compare me to HIM!?" Ukyo snapped back in outrage. She slapped Ranko's hand away and shouted back into her face, "I can't believe you think I am so cruel and selfish!"
Ranko pretended to look shocked, "You mean, that wasn't you all those times, teaming up with Ryouga to break up me and Akane? You mean you haven't tried to exploit every opportunity you could to try and force me into choosing you, damn anyone else's honor?"
Ukyo flinched back, speechless.
"I may have forgiven everyone for all the stupid crap they pulled, but did you really think I ever forgot?" Ranko demanded, finally allowing a trace of the hurt and frustration she still felt from all that constant abuse to show through. Sagging she tried to put a comforting hand out to her friend, "I know you love me, Ukyo. That really means something to me, and I really do love you back. Stop obsessing over 'how much' and 'what way'. Stop trying to back me into a corner and tie me up with commitments. I've had more of that than I can stand, and all any of that does is give me more reason to fight back. I've had it with people who care only about what I can do for them. I'm having a hard enough time taking care of myself."
On the sidelines, Shampoo nodded and smiled to herself. She had been correct after all. Things had reached the point where the best thing she could have done to win the triplets' love was to step aside. It was kind of a pity the same lesson was spelled out for her rival, but then, if people started dropping out of the race now things would be much less interesting.
"Listen, Ukyo," Ranko relented, disturbed at the way the okonomiyaki chef was withdrawing and closing up on herself. "I never wanted any of this marriage crap to begin with. All it ever did was get in the way and cause problems. Right now, all I want to do is put an end to it all and try and sort out the mess my life has become. I can tell you, Ranma and Fa Shen don't want to be married right now any more than I do. I had hoped bein' amazons would get Cologne and Shampoo and Mousse off my back, but the stupid laws just make everything more complicated and I don't get any say in what happens. None of us do."
"Forget it, Ranko. I just don't care anymore," Ukyo turned her back.
"No. I won't just forget it. And I'm not just going to accept it. That's the real reason I brought everyone out here," Ranko declared firmly, taking a solid, stubborn stance. A few eyes widened, and even Ukyo had to turn and look at her in curiosity. Ranko was staring off into the distance, and nodded to herself. "It's time I reminded everyone here why Ranko Saotome never loses. No matter how often you beat me down, I am NEVER defeated!"
There was a pause, as Ryouga, Akane and Shampoo exchanged glances and Ranma, Fa Shen and Otoko-Ranko took on determined expressions. Shampoo slapped her fist into her palm and uttered in mild surprise, "Shampoo never think of that. Law say, if amazon womans 'defeated' by outsider… That not same as just 'beaten'. It good argument, is saying mans must try hump over womans spirit. "
"The word is 'triumph'," Fa Shen muttered to Shampoo.
"That what Shampoo say," she retorted primly.
Ukyo pushed aside her hurt feelings and frowned. "Isn't it a little late to debate terms, Ran-chan? How can you possible make this fly?" she demanded, feeling faintly hopeful in spite of herself.
"I'll figure out a way, somehow. I am NOT gonna let Herb have his way with me. I'd rather die," Ranko swore.
There was a moment where everyone stared at her in growing admiration, before Otoko-Ranko spoke up. "Uh, we do have one little problem."
Onna-Ranko looked at him in irritation, "Now what?"
"Well, if we stay split, we can't fight with ki techniques and if we merge back together the twins curse could get mixed in with a ki attack and make things even worse," he pointed out unhappily.
"Oh. Yeah. It would be bad if we split Herb in two. At the very least he'd double team me, and at worst, his girl half would try and kill me for 'stripping away' her guy half," Onna-Ranko cringed. She cursed under her breath. She tried to decide which she preferred, being stuck in her split state or facing both Prince and Princess Herb. She looked at her mirror-twins. "If I accept the consequences of the match, do you think it would matter if I had you guys stand in for me? I mean, technically you're both still me. I've seen both of you shift into my personality," she pointed out suggestively.
Fa Shen nodded to herself thoughtfully. "I don't see why not. The laws are kind of vague on this point. Read one way, Ranma and I would be barred from interfering, but you could argue just as easily that the specific body doesn't matter in our case. I mean, the only thing different between me and Ranko-kun here is that I'm trying to function as a different person and he's not. If I wanted, it would be easy to make it so no one could tell I wasn't you," she assured her twin, giving Ranma a look that said she was just as capable.
"Well, as long as you're at risk, I guess it'd be a good idea to trade places. We can do that now, in case Herb is waiting to fight you as soon as we get back," Ranma suggested, shifting from female to male form. He smiled, realizing that mastering their curses also gave Fa Shen and himself a hidden advantage, while guaranteeing that nothing Herb did could expose their ruse.
"It's important that we stay in the right personalities. I think Cinnamon is capable of reading us well enough to identify us by that alone," Ranko warned, reaching up to strip her top off and begin the identity swap. Predictably, Ryouga almost fainted, Akane almost brained her, and Shampoo and Ukyo looked on appreciatively as their favorite people in the world put on an impromptu strip tease. No one really commented on the fact that Ranko's declaration against submitting to the amazon marriage laws, by direct implication scheming to get Ranma and Fa Shen off the hook as well, eased the tensions that had sprung up in all of them and united them in the task of frustrating Herb.
In the initial bustle of inter-tribal politics, the absence of the Saotome teens went unnoticed. That was partly forgivable, the intricacies of diplomacy took precedence over the interests and concerns of individuals. The formalities even obscured the stunned reaction Cinnamon had when Nodoka arrived in her children's wake, allowing the dragon to regain her composure and begin to contemplate exactly what she would say about Nodoka to Spice. She had been caught totally off guard by the flavor of Nodoka's presence, much as she had been by that of the "two-and-two-halves" triplets. Perhaps more so, since the claims that Spice had made had prepared her for the possibility of recognizing the resurrected Fa Shen. The last time she had been this surprised was when her crypt was visited unexpectedly about forty years ago. Admittedly, the visitor had been someone she had recognized instantly, having raised the girl as her own daughter once upon a time, and whom she had trained to communicate using her ki. A cautious and surreptitious examination of Nodoka revealed that her adopted daughter had failed in her stated mission. Ironically, that failure created an opportunity for a new beginning.
Cinnamon kept her optimism to herself, sorting through the few stories she had been told on the way to this meeting and working out unknown and undisclosed details to determine what truly happened two generations earlier. There was also time for her to consider what she would say, and to whom, regarding Nodoka's true identity and nature. Soon enough, the Musk party had been brought to the Council Hall and Nodoka was officially introduced to Cinnamon.
Once Nodoka was clear on the purpose for Cinnamon's visit, the dragon made a request, "The examination I must perform needs to be conducted in private, and given the factors involved, may take some time. Is there a secure structure, well shielded from psychic or spiritual emanations, where we may temporarily reside?"
Cologne considered the request carefully. Clearly, the archival vault was the most ideal location, but there was no chance in hell a dragon allied with the Musk would ever be granted entrance there. The weapon's vault near her manor was also well shielded, and could be temporarily cleared of tools and weapons stored there for immediate need. "Such a place can be prepared for you in a short time," she announced, offering a brief description of the vault and its features.
"That will be sufficient. Once I begin, I would ask not to be interrupted and that this woman and I be attended only by her children. That should reduce the risk of aura contamination," Cinnamon nodded regally and turned her attention to Nodoka. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but you will need to purify yourself before we begin."
"It is no inconvenience," Nodoka bowed, offering her serene smile. Around them the elders and observers were beginning to file out of the meeting hall. "I am as eager to know if there is a relation between us as Emperor Spice."
Cinnamon returned the bow and turned to the elder Po Shen, who had lingered with a look of suspicion on her shriveled face. "I can see you are curious why I insist on these precautions," she commented.
"Indeed. I would think it should be obvious to you at a glance if she is a dragon descendant. Don't you think that would be sufficient to establish a relationship between her and Spice?" Po Shen challenged a touch grumpily.
Cinnamon laughed softly, "Perhaps, if you believe the imperial line of the Musk to be the only humans descended from dragons. Also, there is the interference of the curse and its legacy to consider. She reeks of the essence of Fa Shen, making it almost impossible to detect any other influence."
Po Shen nodded hesitantly, "I suppose you are right. According to legend, it took generations for the offspring of cursed mothers to lose the imprint of Fa Shen. It makes me wish we knew what sort of creature Pa Shen was before the Musk cursed her."
Cinnamon smirked to herself. The Musk knew the answer to that question, and yet the amazons still remained ignorant. How amusing that the secret had been kept for so long. "One has to wonder why Pa Shen never chose to reveal the truth about her origins, no?" she taunted the tiny elder.
Po Shen shrugged, "It seems pretty obvious that she was a dragon of some kind. What else could have sufficed to found a new dynasty of Musk? Why else would a dragon prince like Ergot prefer her offspring over all other potential mates?"
Cinnamon shrugged, "It seems so obvious."
"Exactly," the elder nodded conclusively, before excusing herself.
Nodoka blinked, and seeing that the tribal master of the arcane was the last person to depart, she turned to Cinnamon and smiled, "I beg your pardon, but it seems to me you did not agree with the honored elder."
Cinnamon turned to look at Nodoka. "Oh?"
Nodoka studied the dragon. She strongly reminded Nodoka of herself at the age she had Ranma, even down to the arched eyebrow and coy smile. In the dragon's case, she seemed only pregnant with mischief. "In fact, I would suspect you do not wonder about Pa Shen's origins at all. I think you know exactly what she was, and find it amusing that no one else does," Nodoka offered, growing bolder as the other woman's smile grew longer.
"I have all kinds of secrets, so there is no guessing at what amuses me. Still, I admire you for picking that up," Cinnamon deflected Nodoka's probes gently. Seeing the stubborn line of Nodoka's lips become set, the dragon woman laughed. "Should I take it, then, that you wish to know what Pa Shen was?"
"Who is not curious about their own ancestry? How can one properly honor one's forebears if one is ignorant? This legend of Pa Shen, it is like discovering one is descended from the kami. However, as marvelous as that sounds, I can assure you there are kami I might prefer not to be descended from. It is all relative, you see," Nodoka pointed out imperiously.
Cinnamon laughed again, "Be at peace, Nodoka. I simply wished to confirm my suspicion that you have been kept in the dark about your heritage. You compare it to being descended from the kami, but it is clear you have no idea at all what you are speaking of. There is no shame in that. I was ignorant once myself. Let me tell you how I was cured of my ignorance."
Nodoka inclined her head in an informal bow of appreciation.
Cinnamon smiled and directed Nodoka to a bench where they settled facing each other. Catching Nodoka's eyes with her own, the dragon called upon her heritage to project her voice directly into the matron's mind, ensuring no one could eavesdrop on what she was about to reveal. "This story begins a couple of years after I was cursed in the image of Fa Shen," she began, laughing aloud as Nodoka gave a start at hearing these words in her head.
"In spite of being an intelligent being, it took me about that long to adapt to being human, during which time I had but one real companion. On the day I speak of, I learned the truth about Lo Shen, along with the fate and identity of Fa Shen. I had assumed, since I had yet to learn the true workings of Jusenkyo, that Lo Shen was the same girl with whom I had been fascinated in my natural form. For this reason, even though she had been the bait with which I had been trapped in human form, I took some pleasure in her company and my new resemblance to her. Because she too seemed to be a captive to the men who sought to conquer us, we were allies from the very start. She was the one who taught me to communicate in human speech and advised me in the ways of the Musk. Lo Shen was my first, and at the time only, friend. Both of us were imprisoned in, what I can now perceive as, palatial splendor. Our personal nemesis was Prince Ergot. It was through the prince's attempts to conquer us that I came to understand my attraction to Fa Shen, to understand that my obsession was driven by a desire to mate with her--because Ergot was driven in the same way."
"Mate with her? But surely…" Nodoka blushed, trying to imagine something so absurd as a dragon lusting after a human woman.
Cinnamon blushed too. "It sounds strange from a human perspective, but among dragons attractiveness is more of a spiritual and mental quality than a physical one. I assure you, I am neither the first nor the last dragon to become infatuated with a maiden. Alas, the confusion this attraction causes is responsible for certain dragons developing a taste for woman-flesh."
"Oh dear," Nodoka stared wide eyed, suddenly recalling the trend in dragon legends to that effect.
Cinnamon shrugged and returned to her tale, "Our stubborn resistance had finally provoked Ergot into a rage, in which he ranted at length about the frustrations he had endured in his pursuit of Fa Shen." Cinnamon frowned uncomfortably, looking away to conceal a flash of pain. "It was an unpleasant history, which I see no need to repeat here. All that matters is that Lo Shen was revealed to me as the brother of Fa Shen. I had witnessed several of his battles with his sister in the past, when I noted that he too had a mesmerizing, attractive quality. This magnetism, whatever it was, was not as strong in the boy as it had been in the girl, so I had never pursued him. I should have known it was as possible for that boy to be transformed into the girl I had befriended as it was for me to have been similarly transfigured. In fact, Lo Shen had been the one who tried to explain my transformation to me, but my grasp of the language was insufficient to comprehend the concept of a nyanniichuan curse that was locked by the chisuiiton.
"On that day, it hit me like a lightning bolt.
"I instantly understood that Lo Shen was cursed as I was, and I felt deceived, betrayed, even though my ignorance and misunderstanding was to blame. I also felt alarm. Afraid of the answer I would receive, I interrupted them to ask about the origin of our curses--more specifically, I asked about Fa Shen's fate. Ergot took perverse pleasure in describing her death to me, and the plot that had led to my capture. I hated Ergot already, but I was not prepared to learn of my 'friend's' role in this tragedy. I vowed to kill Ergot, and I promised Lo Shen that I would punish her for assisting in "his" sister's murder."
Cinnamon paused here for some time, sorting out her thoughts.
"It took me some time to design and execute my revenge," she picked up, prompted to resume her tale when Nodoka shifted in her seat. Once again, she elected to skip over the gory details. "Ergot I simply killed. When the opportunity presented itself, I slaughtered him as coldly and cruelly as he murdered Fa Shen. Lo Shen, however, was still the closest thing I had to a friend. At times, I thought the betrayal she had suffered at Ergot's hands was sufficient punishment for the betrayal of Fa Shen. Karmic justice. Ultimately, I could not forgive the whole of the story. Fa Shen's death was the last betrayal, but Lo Shen had tried endlessly to deliver her into Ergot's bed. I decided Lo Shen should suffer the fate he had intended for Fa Shen. It was ridiculously easy to accomplish. I seduced a man and brought him to a room where I had left Lo Shen drugged and naked in bed."
Nodoka tried to conceal her reaction. Even knowing the justification for this punishment, and recognizing the poetry irony that shaped it, it also touched on her deepest fear concerning her children and their cursed condition.
"You must think it too cruel, that I would do such a thing to my only friend, in spite of her crimes," Cinnamon gazed steadily into Nodoka's eyes.
Nodoka shook her head, wincing, "It is not my place to judge. Honor often demands far greater sacrifice than an eye for an eye. Only Fa Shen can say if you went too far to avenge her honor and death."
Cinnamon nodded slowly, "It still is disconcerting to realize I actually could ask her." Dismissing that, she shrugged and pointed out, "I did not intend for Lo Shen to become pregnant, however and neither of us was properly prepared to deal with childbirth. The women of the Musk refused to aid or attend Lo Shen, because of her past. Their indifference and our ignorance killed her. She exhausted herself in labor and she begged me to split her open if that was what it took to save the baby." Again, the memories of the past filled her with agony, forcing her to fall silent. Nodoka waited patiently as she regained her composure and continued. "I considered her death a punishment for my own arrogance, and truly I had damned myself. You see, Pa Shen had taken advantage of the fact that a whole generation of Musk brides were created in her daughter's image to infiltrate the stronghold and free Lo Shen. If she had been just a day earlier, she might have saved Lo Shen's life. Instead she arrived after Lo Shen's father had taken her child and left the Musk, leaving me to attend to her remains.
"Pa Shen begged me to tell her everything I could about her son-turned-daughter. In exchange, I had her tell me about Fa Shen. We mourned together, but I foolishly confessed what I had done to Lo Shen, and she became enraged. She accused me of being just like every other dragon, and we fought. Or rather, I tried to defend myself from her wrath, and I think I only survived that night because Pa Shen could not bring herself to kill someone who wore her daughter's face.
"Pa Shen left as suddenly as she arrived. After licking my wounds, I returned to light the pyre that she and I had built for Lo Shen as we mourned together, wondering about Pa Shen's accusation. She had disparaged me for being a dragon in the way I had heard numerous women disparage men. I reflected on how the mother had struck me as possessing that same, incredible attractiveness as her children--yet which Ergot never had. If anything, Ergot had been somewhat repulsive. Even if I had loved him, it would have been difficult to embrace him with any sort of passion or trust. I imagine sex would have been incredible with him, but that kind of arousal paled in comparison to my reaction to Pa Shen and her offspring. It was like they were a drug, an aphrodisiac.
"I stared into the flames of my friend's cremation, straining my brain for an answer to the mystery. I found it as I sifted through the ashes the next morning." Yet again, there was a long pause as Cinnamon stared into Nodoka's eyes, searching for the glimmer of understanding. It took a moment, but Nodoka eventually tilted her head in faint suspicion and prompted her to explain what she was implying.
Cinnamon took a deep breath, though this mattered little in the projection of her mental voice, and smiled conspiratorially. "I mistook it for a large, smooth stone at first. Then it wobbled, and I all but hit myself over the head. I was a dragon once, after all. You would think I would recognize an egg instantly," she laughed aloud as Nodoka's eyes widened wonderingly. "I blame grief for my addled brains, because the next thing I did was wonder aloud what sort of creature lays its eggs in a fire. So, you can imagine my surprise when the shell cracked at my touch and revealed a baby girl."
"You can't possible be serious!" Nodoka finally cracked.
"I am perfectly serious, Nodoka," Cinnamon smirked, her expression changing to something a bit more motherly as she sighed, "That infant girl born from the ashes of my friend's death was the shock of my life. The answer to a question I barely knew to ask. I adopted her on the spot, naming her for my departed friend, and raised her as my daughter."
"You mean that this little girl was actually Lo Shen," Nodoka pressed.
"Because her mother, or his mother, if you want to be specific, was originally a phoenix. Yes," Cinnamon finally spelled it out. "I did not reveal the truth to anyone else, however. Lo Shen's father had taken her son away, back to the mountain where Pa Shen had been captured in the wild. There was no reason for anyone to think I had not been pregnant myself. Neither I, nor my 'daughter' were of much interest to anyone important. No one was crazy enough to disturb me after Ergot's death. At least not immediately. When my daughter came of age to attract the attention of Musk men, I liberated the kaisuifuu to unlock the curse she inherited and we fled from the Musk. When she left to track down her real mother, Pa Shen, I thought I would never see her again. The closest I ever came was when she returned forty years ago to ask my advice."
Nodoka nodded, in the manner of one listening while thinking things over. Then she started and stared at Cinnamon. "No. Forty years ago! You can't mean…"
"That Kenshin was not lying when she identified herself as Lo Shen," Cinnamon nodded. "Spice told me the story. It took me a while to realize he was talking about my adopted daughter. I had been wondering how I could have missed the presence of this Kenshin, since I'd been roused near the same time by Lo Shen."
"My word," Nodoka put a hand to her throat and swallowed her surprise.