Chapter 3 : Battle Plans for an Honeymoon.
On their way back to the dojo, Ranma was uncharacteristically silent. Akane didn't notice at first, that is until she noticed how cold it was getting.
"Brrr… It's cold for the beginning of summer. Weather around here's really weird."
No response.
"Ranma? Did you hear me?"
"Yes."
He kept walking. Akane had stopped then, and noticed the cold seemed to go away the further Ranma walked from her. She ran up to him.
"Ranma? Are you using the Soul of Ice?"
He didn't answer but Akane could see condensation gathering on his brow. His face seemed carved out of ice. She decided now was not a good time for going home, and she took him to a secluded little park, empty at this time of day.
Once there, and after checking that nobody was around, Akane sat on a bench, telling Ranma to do the same.
"What's wrong Ranma? Why are you using the Soul of Ice now?"
"…"
"Oh come on! Don't play the big mighty macho warrior and tell me! You're my husband, remember? We're as one! If anything bothers you, I'm bothered! If there's something that disturbs you, you should tell me!"
Ranma had raised an ear at her 'as one' and filed it away for further use in dealing with Ryoga. Of course, this thought process took him a little while with his concentration and all, and Akane was getting impatient. So he answered.
"I'm afraid I can't release it now without destroying half the park in a fit of anger."
Akane blinked, then sighed in understanding. "You use it to control your emotions."
"Yes. Now it isn't as successful as I though, since while I can control them, I can't deal with them and I'm stuck." All that said with a clinical detachment so unlike Ranma Akane was getting really worried.
"I didn't know the Soul of Ice could have such strong effects around you… Look at yourself, you're freezing to death! You have to let go of it now!"
"Toldja I'm gonna destroy the area in doing so."
Akane could see the reason behind his statement.
"Insult me Ranma."
"What?"
"Insult me! How hard is it for you?"
Ranma took a large breath, grabbed a microphone out of thin air and started a long litany.
"You asked for it." huuuuummph "Uncute tomboy can't kick thighs are too thick pervert girl your cooking's toxic waste play martial artist will ya who'd marry such an uncute gURK!"
Akane had found enough energy to power Mallet-sama and Ranma was now heading towards the horizon line. Five minutes later, an angry purple-red color permeated the clouds over what she evaluated as being Ranma's landing place.
And anyway, Ranma should have leveled Mount Horai completely instead of simply collapsing it last time he was there. Baka!
Ranma dragged himself back to the park a few hours later, obviously grumbling but not freezing anymore. He found Akane slowly crying at the exact place she had been before, and his concern won over. He sat next to her.
"I'm sorry Akane I asked for it-" he started only to be interrupted by her raised hand.
"Don't apologize Ranma I did that on purpose for you to discharge. I'm not crying because of that."
Ranma blinked then realized. Wordlessly he took her in his arms and rocked her gently. She pressed herself into him and cried in earnest for a long time, his hand caressing her hair and murmuring soothing words.
"Shhh… We're gonna make Chinese dumplings… Lacquered Duck… I've heard roasted C-c-cats taste like rabbit… The mummy once naturalized should be a terrific scarecrow for Kasumi's garden… Shhh don't cry…"
Ok, well he tried anyway.
When they finally came back home, they were resolute to get a few answers. They fell upon a waiting Nabiki in the genkan.
"Took you long enough. Now if you want to do something about your… situation, you'd better shut up and follow me. We've got a honeymoon to plan."
"Huh/Wha-?" Nabiki made a shushing noise and beckoned for them to follow her. They complied, this seriousness was unlike any of Nabiki's previous schemes. This meant it must be pretty big.
Silently, the group made its way to a secluded corner of the Tendo garden, when Nabiki shushed them again and leaped up the garden wall, disappearing on the other side. Left gaping for a second, both Ranma and Akane decided to follow. They met with Nabiki on the other side, and she led them away.
Once in a small back street not too far from the dojo, Nabiki sat down on the ground and motioned Ranma and Akane to do the same.
"Before we start, yes, I know your child's been taken from you. No, I couldn't do a thing to prevent it: Father was far smarter than he let on and had been monitoring my activities for quite some time. While I don't think he'd harm me, he's got enough on me to have me jailed for a few years and use that time to scramble my network."
"What? Your so-called 'network' is more important to you than my daughter, your niece?!" Akane was starting to boil dangerously. Ranma made no movement to prevent her, and was glaring at Nabiki.
"Without my network, we'd lose the house and dojo; Kasumi would be forced to marry the first one around (she'd never allow dishonor to fall upon Tofu, so he's not an option), I'd never get to go to college and you and Ranma would be roaming the country looking for a run-down dojo to practice in. I don't event talk about teaching, that would request Kami-sama's direct intervention."
Somewhat mollified, Ranma and Akane waited for her to end. When Nabiki stopped, Ranma asked: "What's this crap about an honeymoon?"
"It's the easiest way for the both of you to go away without raising suspicions and retrieve your daughter." They nodded in understanding.
"Whatcha gonna do? I mean, now that you've told us, the old men are gonna get wild! What's in this for you?"
"Yes Nabiki, what will happen to you and Kasumi?"
Nabiki shook her head. "Father knows about my activities, but he can't know about my talking with you, and I have set up the trip already via proxy: he can't know a thing. Kasumi's been given the Xi Fa Xian Gao, so she's not directly concerned by this. What's in here for me…" Nabiki's face got harder. "I don't like being on the end of a scheme, especially if it can destroy my family. It's a matter of self-respect and professional honor. And also…"
"What?"
"I want my niece back."
Was that a tear lost in the middle of the Ice-queen's cheek? Ranma and Akane decided to solve this matter later.
"Okay, so you merely stay here distracting the old bastards while we're away." Ranma stated.
"Not so fast Ranma, your father had nothing to do with it; as far as I know, your mother goaded him into taking you on that trip. Since I monitor all the phone calls in the house, I have known what would happen far sooner than anybody else, but my hands were tied, and you Ranma were lost in the middle of the wilderness. I'm sure of it, your father isn't at fault here – for once."
"Mom?!"
"According to what I heard, she thinks a female is not a proper heir to the dojo and would prevent Akane and you from raising the real heir, which would be a boy this time." Nabiki's eyes got harder. "If it were only her, she'd have drowned your daughter right at birth. In fact, you could even thank the Amazons, thanks to them your child is alive and taken care of."
The married couple grumbled. Nabiki continued.
"Father agreed with Nodoka saying that a girl wasn't a proper heir, but he didn't want to be as harsh. In fact, he's the one who contacted Cologne; the Elder was fast to agree, and everything was set up. The day you gave birth, they had managed to block all the phone calls. The midwife who performed the delivery had been bribed by Cologne, and she then performed the Xi Fa Xiang Gao on Kasumi, the midwife and you."
They blinked.
"How long ago was it? My memory's a bit fuzzy." Akane asked.
"Exactly eight days ago. Cologne kept you asleep until you had mostly recovered from the delivery, Nodoka managed to have all of your gynecologist and school records edited to say you hadn't been pregnant but taking courses at home while recovering from a rare illness, and during that time Shampoo was alternating between taking care of the child and wiping Furinkan's memories from your pregnancy. It wasn't too hard to do so, you started showing very late, and kept yourself scarce."
"How come they didn't try to erase your memories?"
"Because Father knows I write down and backup everything that happens around here, and doesn't know how many safeguards I have; it was easier to restrain me from action than risking me recovering my memories."
They nodded.
"Okay, now here's the plan; I know the amazon are headed straight to Nyuuchezu, and are most likely going to stay hidden there. I can get you to Hong-Kong pretty easily and have a couple playing your role there while you get out unnoticed; I can buy you a month this way, maybe six weeks. I just don't know what to do from here."
Ranma answered, his mind forming battle plans around what Nabiki had told him.
"I know of several places where Akane and I could train along the road; this should allow us to reach a level high enough to deflect anything the Amazon throw at us. They're supposed honorable" – at this he got heavy-lidded stares, but continued anyway – "except Cologne, and she won't be able to back off in front of their whole Council. As soon as we get there, we challenge them and get our daughter back. By beating them in a formal challenge of honor we prevent them from going after us, and we come back here."
"What about your mother and Father?" asked Nabiki.
"I've been without a mother for ten years, what's a whole life without her now? I don't want a mother who doesn't love her grandchildren; Akane and I are married, we can become heads of the Saotome-Tendo clan. As for your father, we can take the head of the dojo, and he can go get lost wherever he wants."
Nabiki sighed, but had figured as much. "Okay, here's what we're going to do…"
After they had finished planning, they went back the way they came, not noticing a form appearing from the shadows. Two round circles flashed into the night and the form disappeared.
On their way back to the dojo, Ranma was uncharacteristically silent. Akane didn't notice at first, that is until she noticed how cold it was getting.
"Brrr… It's cold for the beginning of summer. Weather around here's really weird."
No response.
"Ranma? Did you hear me?"
"Yes."
He kept walking. Akane had stopped then, and noticed the cold seemed to go away the further Ranma walked from her. She ran up to him.
"Ranma? Are you using the Soul of Ice?"
He didn't answer but Akane could see condensation gathering on his brow. His face seemed carved out of ice. She decided now was not a good time for going home, and she took him to a secluded little park, empty at this time of day.
Once there, and after checking that nobody was around, Akane sat on a bench, telling Ranma to do the same.
"What's wrong Ranma? Why are you using the Soul of Ice now?"
"…"
"Oh come on! Don't play the big mighty macho warrior and tell me! You're my husband, remember? We're as one! If anything bothers you, I'm bothered! If there's something that disturbs you, you should tell me!"
Ranma had raised an ear at her 'as one' and filed it away for further use in dealing with Ryoga. Of course, this thought process took him a little while with his concentration and all, and Akane was getting impatient. So he answered.
"I'm afraid I can't release it now without destroying half the park in a fit of anger."
Akane blinked, then sighed in understanding. "You use it to control your emotions."
"Yes. Now it isn't as successful as I though, since while I can control them, I can't deal with them and I'm stuck." All that said with a clinical detachment so unlike Ranma Akane was getting really worried.
"I didn't know the Soul of Ice could have such strong effects around you… Look at yourself, you're freezing to death! You have to let go of it now!"
"Toldja I'm gonna destroy the area in doing so."
Akane could see the reason behind his statement.
"Insult me Ranma."
"What?"
"Insult me! How hard is it for you?"
Ranma took a large breath, grabbed a microphone out of thin air and started a long litany.
"You asked for it." huuuuummph "Uncute tomboy can't kick thighs are too thick pervert girl your cooking's toxic waste play martial artist will ya who'd marry such an uncute gURK!"
Akane had found enough energy to power Mallet-sama and Ranma was now heading towards the horizon line. Five minutes later, an angry purple-red color permeated the clouds over what she evaluated as being Ranma's landing place.
And anyway, Ranma should have leveled Mount Horai completely instead of simply collapsing it last time he was there. Baka!
Ranma dragged himself back to the park a few hours later, obviously grumbling but not freezing anymore. He found Akane slowly crying at the exact place she had been before, and his concern won over. He sat next to her.
"I'm sorry Akane I asked for it-" he started only to be interrupted by her raised hand.
"Don't apologize Ranma I did that on purpose for you to discharge. I'm not crying because of that."
Ranma blinked then realized. Wordlessly he took her in his arms and rocked her gently. She pressed herself into him and cried in earnest for a long time, his hand caressing her hair and murmuring soothing words.
"Shhh… We're gonna make Chinese dumplings… Lacquered Duck… I've heard roasted C-c-cats taste like rabbit… The mummy once naturalized should be a terrific scarecrow for Kasumi's garden… Shhh don't cry…"
Ok, well he tried anyway.
When they finally came back home, they were resolute to get a few answers. They fell upon a waiting Nabiki in the genkan.
"Took you long enough. Now if you want to do something about your… situation, you'd better shut up and follow me. We've got a honeymoon to plan."
"Huh/Wha-?" Nabiki made a shushing noise and beckoned for them to follow her. They complied, this seriousness was unlike any of Nabiki's previous schemes. This meant it must be pretty big.
Silently, the group made its way to a secluded corner of the Tendo garden, when Nabiki shushed them again and leaped up the garden wall, disappearing on the other side. Left gaping for a second, both Ranma and Akane decided to follow. They met with Nabiki on the other side, and she led them away.
Once in a small back street not too far from the dojo, Nabiki sat down on the ground and motioned Ranma and Akane to do the same.
"Before we start, yes, I know your child's been taken from you. No, I couldn't do a thing to prevent it: Father was far smarter than he let on and had been monitoring my activities for quite some time. While I don't think he'd harm me, he's got enough on me to have me jailed for a few years and use that time to scramble my network."
"What? Your so-called 'network' is more important to you than my daughter, your niece?!" Akane was starting to boil dangerously. Ranma made no movement to prevent her, and was glaring at Nabiki.
"Without my network, we'd lose the house and dojo; Kasumi would be forced to marry the first one around (she'd never allow dishonor to fall upon Tofu, so he's not an option), I'd never get to go to college and you and Ranma would be roaming the country looking for a run-down dojo to practice in. I don't event talk about teaching, that would request Kami-sama's direct intervention."
Somewhat mollified, Ranma and Akane waited for her to end. When Nabiki stopped, Ranma asked: "What's this crap about an honeymoon?"
"It's the easiest way for the both of you to go away without raising suspicions and retrieve your daughter." They nodded in understanding.
"Whatcha gonna do? I mean, now that you've told us, the old men are gonna get wild! What's in this for you?"
"Yes Nabiki, what will happen to you and Kasumi?"
Nabiki shook her head. "Father knows about my activities, but he can't know about my talking with you, and I have set up the trip already via proxy: he can't know a thing. Kasumi's been given the Xi Fa Xian Gao, so she's not directly concerned by this. What's in here for me…" Nabiki's face got harder. "I don't like being on the end of a scheme, especially if it can destroy my family. It's a matter of self-respect and professional honor. And also…"
"What?"
"I want my niece back."
Was that a tear lost in the middle of the Ice-queen's cheek? Ranma and Akane decided to solve this matter later.
"Okay, so you merely stay here distracting the old bastards while we're away." Ranma stated.
"Not so fast Ranma, your father had nothing to do with it; as far as I know, your mother goaded him into taking you on that trip. Since I monitor all the phone calls in the house, I have known what would happen far sooner than anybody else, but my hands were tied, and you Ranma were lost in the middle of the wilderness. I'm sure of it, your father isn't at fault here – for once."
"Mom?!"
"According to what I heard, she thinks a female is not a proper heir to the dojo and would prevent Akane and you from raising the real heir, which would be a boy this time." Nabiki's eyes got harder. "If it were only her, she'd have drowned your daughter right at birth. In fact, you could even thank the Amazons, thanks to them your child is alive and taken care of."
The married couple grumbled. Nabiki continued.
"Father agreed with Nodoka saying that a girl wasn't a proper heir, but he didn't want to be as harsh. In fact, he's the one who contacted Cologne; the Elder was fast to agree, and everything was set up. The day you gave birth, they had managed to block all the phone calls. The midwife who performed the delivery had been bribed by Cologne, and she then performed the Xi Fa Xiang Gao on Kasumi, the midwife and you."
They blinked.
"How long ago was it? My memory's a bit fuzzy." Akane asked.
"Exactly eight days ago. Cologne kept you asleep until you had mostly recovered from the delivery, Nodoka managed to have all of your gynecologist and school records edited to say you hadn't been pregnant but taking courses at home while recovering from a rare illness, and during that time Shampoo was alternating between taking care of the child and wiping Furinkan's memories from your pregnancy. It wasn't too hard to do so, you started showing very late, and kept yourself scarce."
"How come they didn't try to erase your memories?"
"Because Father knows I write down and backup everything that happens around here, and doesn't know how many safeguards I have; it was easier to restrain me from action than risking me recovering my memories."
They nodded.
"Okay, now here's the plan; I know the amazon are headed straight to Nyuuchezu, and are most likely going to stay hidden there. I can get you to Hong-Kong pretty easily and have a couple playing your role there while you get out unnoticed; I can buy you a month this way, maybe six weeks. I just don't know what to do from here."
Ranma answered, his mind forming battle plans around what Nabiki had told him.
"I know of several places where Akane and I could train along the road; this should allow us to reach a level high enough to deflect anything the Amazon throw at us. They're supposed honorable" – at this he got heavy-lidded stares, but continued anyway – "except Cologne, and she won't be able to back off in front of their whole Council. As soon as we get there, we challenge them and get our daughter back. By beating them in a formal challenge of honor we prevent them from going after us, and we come back here."
"What about your mother and Father?" asked Nabiki.
"I've been without a mother for ten years, what's a whole life without her now? I don't want a mother who doesn't love her grandchildren; Akane and I are married, we can become heads of the Saotome-Tendo clan. As for your father, we can take the head of the dojo, and he can go get lost wherever he wants."
Nabiki sighed, but had figured as much. "Okay, here's what we're going to do…"
After they had finished planning, they went back the way they came, not noticing a form appearing from the shadows. Two round circles flashed into the night and the form disappeared.