Standard Disclosure Applies: This is fanfiction and I do not currently
nor have I ever owned any of the copyrights for this material. I will
not now or ever use these characters in an attempt to make money...
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Reunited We Stand
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Progress was slow. This was not due to caution or any difficulty with the sewer layouts but with Petra's own reluctance. Memories were becoming stronger with every step closer to the gateway she came. So was the battle inside her. She wasn't in any danger of losing control, but she recognized the signs.
Watching Mousse, Petra realized that he seemed to have his own problems. The water level was high enough that some of it overran onto the service walkway. Petra admitted the thought of what might be in the water was pretty scary, but he was acting down right childish. He was treating the water like it would hurt him. He softly padded around as much as he could and when he had little choice he put his foot into the water slowly so that he would cause little more than a ripple in the shallow puddles.
Petra spotted another ward, this one wasn't hers. The writing was more fluid and natural than her own. The characters were definitely kanji written in confident brush strokes, something Petra had never been able to accomplish. Japanese kanji had never been one of her strong suits. She let her fingers brush against the paper and silently thanked whoever had left them.
Pain shot through her senses like lightning and she doubled over under the powerful sensations. While it lasted only a moment it stole her breath away and Petra found herself gasping at the foul air. The darkness inside her apparently didn't like her handling of the ward.
"Want to explain what that was about?" Petra shot Mousse an angry glare, but that was about all she would answer that question with. This was her problem and one that nobody could heal. Besides, she would rather do this without anybody's pity or lectures on recklessness.
"The paper is damp, but not soft. It hasn't been down here too long," she told him instead. "We're getting close." She tried to stand up again and nearly fell into the muck filled trench. Stabilized at last, she looked ahead. It wouldn't be much further at all.
She looked over her shoulder and noted the suspicion and concern on her companion's face. "Look, we're not here to do anything more than to assess the situation. If we're attacked we can run." The former amazon didn't break his silence to reply. He didn't look any relieved either.
"If you're not going to say anything, do yourself a favor and try to hide your contempt for me. I may seem weak now, but I will not fall until this world is no longer threatened by these monsters. It may take another five hundred years, but take me at my word. Now get moving, we've already been down here an hour too long."
The amazon sighed almost as if dealing with a stubborn child. "It's been ten minutes."
A child was suddenly what she felt like. "Oh," she remarked and rather wished that it had been hours too long.
Embarrassed and growling with unspent anger, Petra turned away from Mousse and stumbled forward. Somehow she wasn't surprised that this one would not only ignore her but also find a way to get under her skin without saying much of anything.
That demon was picking a wonderful time to get active as well. It seemed everybody had to try and stop her from reaching her destiny. Petra nearly stumbled over again but she held herself upright by leaning her weight against the interior wall. The darkness was getting stronger the closer she came to the gateway. She could feel its fear threatening to overwhelm her. Why it feared the gateway, Petra couldn't begin to comprehend.
"Come on," she huffed as she managed to stumble forward. "It's not much farther." Petra could think no other thought beyond seeing the gateway once more.
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They sat in the living room drinking tea like this was a daily occurrence. Small talk passed easily between them as if the years had been only weeks. Nabiki could feel how forced this atmosphere was, but she didn't for a minute presume that this was going to be easy. She was grateful for the moment anyway.
Despite the fact she knew that Cologne would have some sort of valid reasoning, Nabiki wished Ranma would turn this fight down. For the sake of friends and family, Nabiki was ready to step in and argue that point with Ranma should he choose to go. The martial artist had too much to lose now. There were far more important things in life than pride and reputation.
Akane seemed so happy with him, why Nabiki couldn't begin to imagine. Akane hadn't changed a bit. She kept her hair cut short and she had grown taller, but it was still the same little sister Nabiki had looked after. Her sister's happiness was the sole reason she hadn't sought them out these past few years. If they wanted to hide from her, intruding into their lives wouldn't make things any easier.
And now they had a daughter.
Why hadn't Kasumi told her that Ranma and Akane had a daughter? The little girl was only a year old, but that meant her life was kept a secret from her for nearly two. Saotome Takami, they said her name was when they first walked in the door. Nabiki felt hurt that Akane would think so little of her, but she wouldn't let that show. It wasn't her turn yet and when it came time she would hold those feelings locked away and under control.
Little Takami just made Nabiki's reasons all the more important. Ranma had to understand that he couldn't take up this fight. Nabiki shifted her gaze to the man who sat beside Akane on the sofa. He hadn't changed much either. Much of that wild look of his high school life had matured into strong looking young man. He was still the same gorgeous, if a bit gullible, man that had introduce them all to the chaos that was his life.
Ukyo leaned over Nabiki's shoulder from where she stood behind the chair, staring dreamily at the baby girl. At least things were peaceful at the moment. A good start.
"I suppose Kasumi told you why I was looking for you," Nabiki spoke up as she set her tea aside. She knew Ukyo was going to mention the pending battle sooner or later and it was better if Nabiki grabbed the upper hand. She figured she would need every advantage she could get. "Cologne called us up late last night and said she needed to speak with you. She made it very clear that this wasn't just a friendly invite to dinner."
Both Ranma and Akane weren't smiling any more and Nabiki wondered if they had forced themselves to look at ease as well. They simply looked to each other and nodded sadly. They had already had this conversation with each other. Nabiki hoped Akane was able to talk sense into the prideful fighter.
"I understand," Ranma answered uneasily. "She promised she wouldn't interfere any more and she kept that promise. I'll see her tomorrow."
Nabiki felt her heart skip a beat. "You're not actually going to go over there just like that, are you?"
Ranma scowled then looked to his daughter. The face he made melted away as if it had never appeared. "Cologne wouldn't look for me without a good reason. You know that, Nabiki."
She did but all the same Nabiki felt her hands curl up tightly around handfuls of the cushioned seat. "You're going. Just like that you're going to start fighting again. I thought you had grown up Saotome. What happens to Akane if you get killed? What happens to Takami?"
The previous scowl turned to outright anger as he directed his glare at her. Akane put a calming hand on his arm that seemed to deflate his moment before he could answer. He breathed in deeply and nodded again, apparently to himself or something Akane told him earlier. "I never said I was going to fight anybody." He even flashed her an odd grin that reminded Nabiki of that confident smirk he used to wear. "You of all people should know the importance of making a decision without knowing all the facts."
"I don't like this," Nabiki grumbled as she tried to keep her voice under control. Last thing she wanted was a screaming niece in her living room. "She knows too many ways to manipulate people into doing what she wants."
"And you don't, sugar?" Ukyo laughed lightly as though this were a game. "You're selling yourself short."
Nabiki grimaced and forced herself to remain silent less she snap at her friend. More to her annoyance, both Ranma and Akane grinned at Ukyo's lighthearted comment.
"Nabiki, we've grown up a lot since then," Akane told her with forced calm. "Ranma doesn't get into fights like back then."
Ranma apparently hadn't changed as much as Akane had implied. "And Akane almost cooks edible food these days. Ouch!" Akane's backhand didn't have much force to it, certainly not enough to hurt Ranma, but it served as a clear reminder that the pair were the same two people Nabiki had once known.
"Akane, would you excuse your sister and I for a moment?" Ranma asked politely as he looked across the table at Nabiki. "I'm sure Ukyo would love to catch up." Ukyo nodded and slipped around Nabiki's chair so that she could slide in for another peek at the little girl wrapped up in Akane's arms.
"Nabiki?" Ranma's voice sounded inviting, but she caught the underlying edge in his voice. This wasn't an invitation she had a choice of turning down. Not like she was going to pass up the opportunity anyway.
She made a show of standing up and stretching as if she had been sitting far too long. "Well come on then, Saotome. I'll show you where Ukyo likes to train."
Nabiki didn't provide the 'tour' of her place as she led Ranma directly to the backyard. Frankly, she couldn't give a damn what Ranma thought of her right now. The fact remained she was going to make him know that his place was by Akane and not gallivanting somewhere in China on the whim of some ancient old amazon.
She opened the back door and held it open for Ranma to go first. He did so without a word, but there was no hostility and little anger as he passed her. Sure, Nabiki couldn't see auras or use ki or anything like that, but it had been her business to read people for a very long time. She was extremely good at what she did.
"Go ahead," Nabiki motioned to the open grass. "Knock yourself out and practice kata or something. Prepare for the big fight." There was so little open space in the city that she wondered if Ranma was able to find such a place. He and Akane couldn't possibly afford to live in like they had at the dojo before the third wedding.
"I'm sorry Nabiki," Ranma said softly without looking her way. Nabiki almost missed it, but the words were just barely loud enough to hear and they wouldn't vanish so easily.
"What?" Nabiki asked, utterly confused by Ranma's apology. She wasn't trying to blow it off, she knew false apologies weren't something Ranma specialized in. The question really came down to why he felt the need.
Ranma looked straight at her and she could easily read the regret. "I shouldn't have made this so hard on you. When Akane and I got married we decided we didn't want everybody chasing us. So we moved and only told a few people where we were going. We made them promise not to tell anybody."
Nabiki, formerly the Ice Queen of Nerima, couldn't meet his eyes suddenly. All those years of hiding her pain and anger, and Ranma of all people seemed to be able to spot it. She looked to the sky to hide the emotions she apparently couldn't keep tucked away.
"Akane wanted to tell you, but I wouldn't let her. I thought you'd just sell the information to everybody and then everything would just start over. It just became easier not to deal with it after a while." While his admission and apology wasn't going to make everything better again, it was a start. She respected his honesty and to a point she could even understand his perspective. That didn't mean she had forgiven him.
Smirking slightly, an expression entirely false, Nabiki tried to relax Ranma or at the very least put him back to the level he had sat when they lived together in high school. "Relax Saotome, as you can see, if I ever really felt the urge, I could find you easily enough. I knew Kasumi would know where you were."
He didn't look like he believed her for a moment. "Why didn't you?"
Funny, Nabiki thought it should be raining. The clear sunset seemed to be the wrong atmosphere for a moment like this. That was probably Ranma's fault as well. "As much as it pains me to admit, I was waiting for you. I figured you didn't want me in your life. I know I would have done the same after the things I've done to you. Rather than make Akane miserable, I left you two alone like you wanted."
"Nabiki," Ranma started, though he trailed off unable to think of anything further to say. Nabiki used the moment to smirk in his direction and land a cheap shot.
"Look, Ranma. I wanted a normal life. Normal wasn't you."
"I didn't want any of that either."
"Easy for you to say." She sat down on the steps and gazed out into the grass. Only a few hours ago she had been out here watching Ukyo. This wasn't one of her better days. "I was angry with you for taking my sister away from me back then. Truth is, I still am. All that doesn't matter any more. I want my family safe. I've been thinking about this all day. You're family too now and I always look after my family. Ukyo has been running about packing up her things and preparing like this is going to be some camping trip. I'm afraid I'm going to lose her too. You've taken just about everybody else away from me. Sounds crazy, right?"
"Not really," Ranma answered intelligently. Nabiki glared at him. It wasn't fair that he was taking this so easily. Then again, Ranma was never very good at barring his feelings so she guessed his simple answer was only right.
The worst part was, she missed that. She missed having him around and she hadn't even realized it. He definitely added a certain something in her life that had seemed to be empty without him.
"I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't want you to get involved," she told him straight up. "I want my family back."
Ranma, for his part, just stood there considering her words. She could see his mind working. He was smart, she had always known that, but often times he couldn't see what was obvious to everybody else. Worse, he was always easy to trick. He was just too honest and trusting for his own good.
There were plenty of good things about Ranma. She would have to be pretty lucky to find somebody like him. Only, she hoped when her soul mate appeared, she hoped that he wouldn't bring a line of fiancées stringing along behind him.
Akane's husband seemed to come to a conclusion on whatever it was that had him thinking. "Tell ya what," he said, his words losing their educated sound giving him a voice from the past. "When I go to see Cologne tomorrow, you can come with me. How's that?"
"Thanks Saotome," she answered flatly. "You really made my day. How could I ever possibly repay you." Even Ranma didn't miss the cold sarcastic tone in her voice. He looked apologetic when he shrugged.
"Well, you wanted to make sure Cologne didn't try something. Who better to watch out for me?"
That was the oddest compliment she had received in a very long time. In a strange way, it made her feel a little more relaxed. Even that fear that something was going to happen faded. "You owe me big for this, Saotome," she told him in that mercenary tone she performed so well.
"I'll make dinner tonight," Ranma promised, a half smile slipping on his face. Strangely enough, that looked more natural than any of his over-confident grins.
Nabiki made a show of considering the offer as if it were in her best interest to reject the idea before nodding. "Deal," she said as she allowed herself to smile.
Perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing after all. Tonight she would celebrate life with her family and new niece and tomorrow they would all go down to the Nekohaten together and tell Cologne to go to hell. Things couldn't possibly be any better.
Mousse wasn't certain that the situation could get any worse. Petra had doubled over again in pain and had actually fallen to her knees. He wasn't about to step forward to help the fallen girl and he felt the strange urge to step back for his own safety. Her aura was reacting violently to something down here.
"I suppose that was nothing as well," Mousse snapped at her, hiding his own fears deep beneath his anger. He wasn't expecting an explanation this time either. As expected, Petra merely waved him off as she collected her wits.
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This was not looking like such a good plan. If Petra was taken out before any fighting began, Mousse wondered just how effective his own abilities would be. She had seemed perfectly fine at street level.
Petra was back on her feet, but leaning heavily against the wall for support. This was not a promising sign. Common sense told Mousse that a retreat would make more sense than pressing on under these circumstances.
"Hey," Mousse called as she started to stumble forward. "Maybe we should go back."
She shook her head rather violently and started a stumbling jog forward. Mousse cursed and chased after her. Without a strategy and Petra almost incapacitated this seemed like an unnecessary risk. It made more sense to wait until she recovered before moving closer to danger.
Mousse guessed where she was going before they reached it. There was a break in the cement and brick. He had no idea how deep they were in the sewers, but the crack was easily wide enough to squeeze through and it seemed better lit in the hole than it was in the sewer. A blue-white glow seemed to bleed into the sewer and reflect off the surface of the water. An eerie sign as Mousse knew the light he was seeing had nothing to do with illumination and everything to do with power.
"Wait!" Mousse called ahead as Petra nearly dove into the hole. She didn't listen. Nobody ever listened to him, he grumbled. In she went. Her aura swallowed up by the energies that swirled about in there. Mousse hadn't lost sight of her for more than half a second before her screams reached him. A loud lung emptying scream that stopped him cold. Bursts of spiritual energy flared out from the opening.
Mousse forced his weighted limbs back into motion as he pressed his body for speed. He turned the corner expecting to find Petra being ripped apart by some demonic creature. What he found instead was Petra being held upright and still by the power of the spirit wards around the entrance. He'd never seen anything quite like it. Wards such as these were not supposed to have an effect on people. Energy arced from the paper to her body in bright flashes paralyzing her under the assault.
Petra's scream ended in silence and she flopped to the floor as the seals released her. Mousse hesitated before moving to help her. She seemed to be breathing still, rather heavily panting at that. Her ki had calmed, the wild storm of energy dispersed by unconsciousness.
Instead of diving in and possibly ending up the same way, he surveyed the room. It was a fairly large room, in fact, but there were no other entrances or exits. As expected, there was some sort of glowing blue-white circle of symbols on the floor. The entire room nearly breathed on its own with such indescribable power. The gateway Petra had mentioned was indeed something belonging to another world.
The surprise came in the way of wards. They had found maybe three of those paper wards along the way. Inside the gateway room had been wallpapered with overlapping wards of various designs. Mousse was able to see that many of them were faded and weakened, but there were plenty of powerful ones left in waiting. If these things did what they were supposed to, there wouldn't be anything coming through that gateway.
That satisfied, Mousse checked his surroundings again. He edged in slowly, keeping a watchful eye on the wards for any sign of attack. If he ended up on the floor next to Petra there would be nobody left to save them. He put his arm through the opening and prepared himself for the assault.
Nothing happened.
Mousse blinked his blue eyes absently and put a foot through the opening. He was fairly certain this time nothing would happen so he wasn't as surprised when in fact nothing did. That brought his attention back to the girl lying on the floor. The wards had targeted her and it wasn't for simply entering the room. That was a question for later, however. First he needed to get her out of here and back to Nerima.
"Who's down here?"
The voice sounded normal enough. Mousse held perfectly still and listened as footsteps made there way closer. It sounded like a young man, but he'd already seen enough today to not take anything at face value. He was quite willing to wait. Mousse touched Petra to pick her up, but even brushing against her caused a half-conscious moan. Lifting her might create even more noise.
"I know you're down here," the voice called out defiantly, though his pace had not picked up.
Mousse abandoned hopes of moving Petra in time. He wasn't going to abandon her though. With a quick look he determined the best place to protect over her, a small rusted pipe just above the opening. From there he could see Petra and whoever was coming and be able to react fast enough. He hoped.
"Damn," the man muttered as he came around. Mousse saw the beam of a flashlight dance about on the floor before it settled on Petra's motionless body.
A young man in a business suit rushed in carrying a flashlight and a wide bag, which he set aside to examine Petra. That's when Mousse made his move. He dropped in behind drawing his steel claws from his robe for a quick victory. Unfortunately the man panicked before realizing the danger, or perhaps maybe he had guessed that his life was in danger. He moved even faster and pressed himself against the wall once he saw Mousse.
And then he looked oddly relieved. "I should have guessed. Mousse." The man's head sank into his chest and he breathed out deeply in a sigh of relief.
Mousse didn't relax. "Who are you?"
Amusement swirled in the man's ki. "Right, nobody ever remembered me. I'm Gosunkugi Hikaru. I went to Furinkan with Akane." The man was thin almost to the point of being lanky and hadn't much ki potential, but Mousse recalled that Gosunkugi had been a rather sickly looking kid. The boy everybody just called Gosunkugi had been among the loons who wanted Ranma out of the way so he could get Akane for himself. He didn't rate high in the eyes of the former amazon.
Mousse greeted this 'old friend' with a cynical look. "I think you should come with me, Gosunkugi." Mousse wanted answers and he knew that the old hag would have questions of her own. There were too many secrets and it was about damn time somebody started talking.
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Notes:
Oops. Gosunkugi's name is now spelled correctly. Rats. I checked that before long before I posted but the corrections never filtered down into the actual story. Thanks!
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Reunited We Stand
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Progress was slow. This was not due to caution or any difficulty with the sewer layouts but with Petra's own reluctance. Memories were becoming stronger with every step closer to the gateway she came. So was the battle inside her. She wasn't in any danger of losing control, but she recognized the signs.
Watching Mousse, Petra realized that he seemed to have his own problems. The water level was high enough that some of it overran onto the service walkway. Petra admitted the thought of what might be in the water was pretty scary, but he was acting down right childish. He was treating the water like it would hurt him. He softly padded around as much as he could and when he had little choice he put his foot into the water slowly so that he would cause little more than a ripple in the shallow puddles.
Petra spotted another ward, this one wasn't hers. The writing was more fluid and natural than her own. The characters were definitely kanji written in confident brush strokes, something Petra had never been able to accomplish. Japanese kanji had never been one of her strong suits. She let her fingers brush against the paper and silently thanked whoever had left them.
Pain shot through her senses like lightning and she doubled over under the powerful sensations. While it lasted only a moment it stole her breath away and Petra found herself gasping at the foul air. The darkness inside her apparently didn't like her handling of the ward.
"Want to explain what that was about?" Petra shot Mousse an angry glare, but that was about all she would answer that question with. This was her problem and one that nobody could heal. Besides, she would rather do this without anybody's pity or lectures on recklessness.
"The paper is damp, but not soft. It hasn't been down here too long," she told him instead. "We're getting close." She tried to stand up again and nearly fell into the muck filled trench. Stabilized at last, she looked ahead. It wouldn't be much further at all.
She looked over her shoulder and noted the suspicion and concern on her companion's face. "Look, we're not here to do anything more than to assess the situation. If we're attacked we can run." The former amazon didn't break his silence to reply. He didn't look any relieved either.
"If you're not going to say anything, do yourself a favor and try to hide your contempt for me. I may seem weak now, but I will not fall until this world is no longer threatened by these monsters. It may take another five hundred years, but take me at my word. Now get moving, we've already been down here an hour too long."
The amazon sighed almost as if dealing with a stubborn child. "It's been ten minutes."
A child was suddenly what she felt like. "Oh," she remarked and rather wished that it had been hours too long.
Embarrassed and growling with unspent anger, Petra turned away from Mousse and stumbled forward. Somehow she wasn't surprised that this one would not only ignore her but also find a way to get under her skin without saying much of anything.
That demon was picking a wonderful time to get active as well. It seemed everybody had to try and stop her from reaching her destiny. Petra nearly stumbled over again but she held herself upright by leaning her weight against the interior wall. The darkness was getting stronger the closer she came to the gateway. She could feel its fear threatening to overwhelm her. Why it feared the gateway, Petra couldn't begin to comprehend.
"Come on," she huffed as she managed to stumble forward. "It's not much farther." Petra could think no other thought beyond seeing the gateway once more.
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They sat in the living room drinking tea like this was a daily occurrence. Small talk passed easily between them as if the years had been only weeks. Nabiki could feel how forced this atmosphere was, but she didn't for a minute presume that this was going to be easy. She was grateful for the moment anyway.
Despite the fact she knew that Cologne would have some sort of valid reasoning, Nabiki wished Ranma would turn this fight down. For the sake of friends and family, Nabiki was ready to step in and argue that point with Ranma should he choose to go. The martial artist had too much to lose now. There were far more important things in life than pride and reputation.
Akane seemed so happy with him, why Nabiki couldn't begin to imagine. Akane hadn't changed a bit. She kept her hair cut short and she had grown taller, but it was still the same little sister Nabiki had looked after. Her sister's happiness was the sole reason she hadn't sought them out these past few years. If they wanted to hide from her, intruding into their lives wouldn't make things any easier.
And now they had a daughter.
Why hadn't Kasumi told her that Ranma and Akane had a daughter? The little girl was only a year old, but that meant her life was kept a secret from her for nearly two. Saotome Takami, they said her name was when they first walked in the door. Nabiki felt hurt that Akane would think so little of her, but she wouldn't let that show. It wasn't her turn yet and when it came time she would hold those feelings locked away and under control.
Little Takami just made Nabiki's reasons all the more important. Ranma had to understand that he couldn't take up this fight. Nabiki shifted her gaze to the man who sat beside Akane on the sofa. He hadn't changed much either. Much of that wild look of his high school life had matured into strong looking young man. He was still the same gorgeous, if a bit gullible, man that had introduce them all to the chaos that was his life.
Ukyo leaned over Nabiki's shoulder from where she stood behind the chair, staring dreamily at the baby girl. At least things were peaceful at the moment. A good start.
"I suppose Kasumi told you why I was looking for you," Nabiki spoke up as she set her tea aside. She knew Ukyo was going to mention the pending battle sooner or later and it was better if Nabiki grabbed the upper hand. She figured she would need every advantage she could get. "Cologne called us up late last night and said she needed to speak with you. She made it very clear that this wasn't just a friendly invite to dinner."
Both Ranma and Akane weren't smiling any more and Nabiki wondered if they had forced themselves to look at ease as well. They simply looked to each other and nodded sadly. They had already had this conversation with each other. Nabiki hoped Akane was able to talk sense into the prideful fighter.
"I understand," Ranma answered uneasily. "She promised she wouldn't interfere any more and she kept that promise. I'll see her tomorrow."
Nabiki felt her heart skip a beat. "You're not actually going to go over there just like that, are you?"
Ranma scowled then looked to his daughter. The face he made melted away as if it had never appeared. "Cologne wouldn't look for me without a good reason. You know that, Nabiki."
She did but all the same Nabiki felt her hands curl up tightly around handfuls of the cushioned seat. "You're going. Just like that you're going to start fighting again. I thought you had grown up Saotome. What happens to Akane if you get killed? What happens to Takami?"
The previous scowl turned to outright anger as he directed his glare at her. Akane put a calming hand on his arm that seemed to deflate his moment before he could answer. He breathed in deeply and nodded again, apparently to himself or something Akane told him earlier. "I never said I was going to fight anybody." He even flashed her an odd grin that reminded Nabiki of that confident smirk he used to wear. "You of all people should know the importance of making a decision without knowing all the facts."
"I don't like this," Nabiki grumbled as she tried to keep her voice under control. Last thing she wanted was a screaming niece in her living room. "She knows too many ways to manipulate people into doing what she wants."
"And you don't, sugar?" Ukyo laughed lightly as though this were a game. "You're selling yourself short."
Nabiki grimaced and forced herself to remain silent less she snap at her friend. More to her annoyance, both Ranma and Akane grinned at Ukyo's lighthearted comment.
"Nabiki, we've grown up a lot since then," Akane told her with forced calm. "Ranma doesn't get into fights like back then."
Ranma apparently hadn't changed as much as Akane had implied. "And Akane almost cooks edible food these days. Ouch!" Akane's backhand didn't have much force to it, certainly not enough to hurt Ranma, but it served as a clear reminder that the pair were the same two people Nabiki had once known.
"Akane, would you excuse your sister and I for a moment?" Ranma asked politely as he looked across the table at Nabiki. "I'm sure Ukyo would love to catch up." Ukyo nodded and slipped around Nabiki's chair so that she could slide in for another peek at the little girl wrapped up in Akane's arms.
"Nabiki?" Ranma's voice sounded inviting, but she caught the underlying edge in his voice. This wasn't an invitation she had a choice of turning down. Not like she was going to pass up the opportunity anyway.
She made a show of standing up and stretching as if she had been sitting far too long. "Well come on then, Saotome. I'll show you where Ukyo likes to train."
Nabiki didn't provide the 'tour' of her place as she led Ranma directly to the backyard. Frankly, she couldn't give a damn what Ranma thought of her right now. The fact remained she was going to make him know that his place was by Akane and not gallivanting somewhere in China on the whim of some ancient old amazon.
She opened the back door and held it open for Ranma to go first. He did so without a word, but there was no hostility and little anger as he passed her. Sure, Nabiki couldn't see auras or use ki or anything like that, but it had been her business to read people for a very long time. She was extremely good at what she did.
"Go ahead," Nabiki motioned to the open grass. "Knock yourself out and practice kata or something. Prepare for the big fight." There was so little open space in the city that she wondered if Ranma was able to find such a place. He and Akane couldn't possibly afford to live in like they had at the dojo before the third wedding.
"I'm sorry Nabiki," Ranma said softly without looking her way. Nabiki almost missed it, but the words were just barely loud enough to hear and they wouldn't vanish so easily.
"What?" Nabiki asked, utterly confused by Ranma's apology. She wasn't trying to blow it off, she knew false apologies weren't something Ranma specialized in. The question really came down to why he felt the need.
Ranma looked straight at her and she could easily read the regret. "I shouldn't have made this so hard on you. When Akane and I got married we decided we didn't want everybody chasing us. So we moved and only told a few people where we were going. We made them promise not to tell anybody."
Nabiki, formerly the Ice Queen of Nerima, couldn't meet his eyes suddenly. All those years of hiding her pain and anger, and Ranma of all people seemed to be able to spot it. She looked to the sky to hide the emotions she apparently couldn't keep tucked away.
"Akane wanted to tell you, but I wouldn't let her. I thought you'd just sell the information to everybody and then everything would just start over. It just became easier not to deal with it after a while." While his admission and apology wasn't going to make everything better again, it was a start. She respected his honesty and to a point she could even understand his perspective. That didn't mean she had forgiven him.
Smirking slightly, an expression entirely false, Nabiki tried to relax Ranma or at the very least put him back to the level he had sat when they lived together in high school. "Relax Saotome, as you can see, if I ever really felt the urge, I could find you easily enough. I knew Kasumi would know where you were."
He didn't look like he believed her for a moment. "Why didn't you?"
Funny, Nabiki thought it should be raining. The clear sunset seemed to be the wrong atmosphere for a moment like this. That was probably Ranma's fault as well. "As much as it pains me to admit, I was waiting for you. I figured you didn't want me in your life. I know I would have done the same after the things I've done to you. Rather than make Akane miserable, I left you two alone like you wanted."
"Nabiki," Ranma started, though he trailed off unable to think of anything further to say. Nabiki used the moment to smirk in his direction and land a cheap shot.
"Look, Ranma. I wanted a normal life. Normal wasn't you."
"I didn't want any of that either."
"Easy for you to say." She sat down on the steps and gazed out into the grass. Only a few hours ago she had been out here watching Ukyo. This wasn't one of her better days. "I was angry with you for taking my sister away from me back then. Truth is, I still am. All that doesn't matter any more. I want my family safe. I've been thinking about this all day. You're family too now and I always look after my family. Ukyo has been running about packing up her things and preparing like this is going to be some camping trip. I'm afraid I'm going to lose her too. You've taken just about everybody else away from me. Sounds crazy, right?"
"Not really," Ranma answered intelligently. Nabiki glared at him. It wasn't fair that he was taking this so easily. Then again, Ranma was never very good at barring his feelings so she guessed his simple answer was only right.
The worst part was, she missed that. She missed having him around and she hadn't even realized it. He definitely added a certain something in her life that had seemed to be empty without him.
"I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't want you to get involved," she told him straight up. "I want my family back."
Ranma, for his part, just stood there considering her words. She could see his mind working. He was smart, she had always known that, but often times he couldn't see what was obvious to everybody else. Worse, he was always easy to trick. He was just too honest and trusting for his own good.
There were plenty of good things about Ranma. She would have to be pretty lucky to find somebody like him. Only, she hoped when her soul mate appeared, she hoped that he wouldn't bring a line of fiancées stringing along behind him.
Akane's husband seemed to come to a conclusion on whatever it was that had him thinking. "Tell ya what," he said, his words losing their educated sound giving him a voice from the past. "When I go to see Cologne tomorrow, you can come with me. How's that?"
"Thanks Saotome," she answered flatly. "You really made my day. How could I ever possibly repay you." Even Ranma didn't miss the cold sarcastic tone in her voice. He looked apologetic when he shrugged.
"Well, you wanted to make sure Cologne didn't try something. Who better to watch out for me?"
That was the oddest compliment she had received in a very long time. In a strange way, it made her feel a little more relaxed. Even that fear that something was going to happen faded. "You owe me big for this, Saotome," she told him in that mercenary tone she performed so well.
"I'll make dinner tonight," Ranma promised, a half smile slipping on his face. Strangely enough, that looked more natural than any of his over-confident grins.
Nabiki made a show of considering the offer as if it were in her best interest to reject the idea before nodding. "Deal," she said as she allowed herself to smile.
Perhaps this wasn't such a bad thing after all. Tonight she would celebrate life with her family and new niece and tomorrow they would all go down to the Nekohaten together and tell Cologne to go to hell. Things couldn't possibly be any better.
Mousse wasn't certain that the situation could get any worse. Petra had doubled over again in pain and had actually fallen to her knees. He wasn't about to step forward to help the fallen girl and he felt the strange urge to step back for his own safety. Her aura was reacting violently to something down here.
"I suppose that was nothing as well," Mousse snapped at her, hiding his own fears deep beneath his anger. He wasn't expecting an explanation this time either. As expected, Petra merely waved him off as she collected her wits.
.
This was not looking like such a good plan. If Petra was taken out before any fighting began, Mousse wondered just how effective his own abilities would be. She had seemed perfectly fine at street level.
Petra was back on her feet, but leaning heavily against the wall for support. This was not a promising sign. Common sense told Mousse that a retreat would make more sense than pressing on under these circumstances.
"Hey," Mousse called as she started to stumble forward. "Maybe we should go back."
She shook her head rather violently and started a stumbling jog forward. Mousse cursed and chased after her. Without a strategy and Petra almost incapacitated this seemed like an unnecessary risk. It made more sense to wait until she recovered before moving closer to danger.
Mousse guessed where she was going before they reached it. There was a break in the cement and brick. He had no idea how deep they were in the sewers, but the crack was easily wide enough to squeeze through and it seemed better lit in the hole than it was in the sewer. A blue-white glow seemed to bleed into the sewer and reflect off the surface of the water. An eerie sign as Mousse knew the light he was seeing had nothing to do with illumination and everything to do with power.
"Wait!" Mousse called ahead as Petra nearly dove into the hole. She didn't listen. Nobody ever listened to him, he grumbled. In she went. Her aura swallowed up by the energies that swirled about in there. Mousse hadn't lost sight of her for more than half a second before her screams reached him. A loud lung emptying scream that stopped him cold. Bursts of spiritual energy flared out from the opening.
Mousse forced his weighted limbs back into motion as he pressed his body for speed. He turned the corner expecting to find Petra being ripped apart by some demonic creature. What he found instead was Petra being held upright and still by the power of the spirit wards around the entrance. He'd never seen anything quite like it. Wards such as these were not supposed to have an effect on people. Energy arced from the paper to her body in bright flashes paralyzing her under the assault.
Petra's scream ended in silence and she flopped to the floor as the seals released her. Mousse hesitated before moving to help her. She seemed to be breathing still, rather heavily panting at that. Her ki had calmed, the wild storm of energy dispersed by unconsciousness.
Instead of diving in and possibly ending up the same way, he surveyed the room. It was a fairly large room, in fact, but there were no other entrances or exits. As expected, there was some sort of glowing blue-white circle of symbols on the floor. The entire room nearly breathed on its own with such indescribable power. The gateway Petra had mentioned was indeed something belonging to another world.
The surprise came in the way of wards. They had found maybe three of those paper wards along the way. Inside the gateway room had been wallpapered with overlapping wards of various designs. Mousse was able to see that many of them were faded and weakened, but there were plenty of powerful ones left in waiting. If these things did what they were supposed to, there wouldn't be anything coming through that gateway.
That satisfied, Mousse checked his surroundings again. He edged in slowly, keeping a watchful eye on the wards for any sign of attack. If he ended up on the floor next to Petra there would be nobody left to save them. He put his arm through the opening and prepared himself for the assault.
Nothing happened.
Mousse blinked his blue eyes absently and put a foot through the opening. He was fairly certain this time nothing would happen so he wasn't as surprised when in fact nothing did. That brought his attention back to the girl lying on the floor. The wards had targeted her and it wasn't for simply entering the room. That was a question for later, however. First he needed to get her out of here and back to Nerima.
"Who's down here?"
The voice sounded normal enough. Mousse held perfectly still and listened as footsteps made there way closer. It sounded like a young man, but he'd already seen enough today to not take anything at face value. He was quite willing to wait. Mousse touched Petra to pick her up, but even brushing against her caused a half-conscious moan. Lifting her might create even more noise.
"I know you're down here," the voice called out defiantly, though his pace had not picked up.
Mousse abandoned hopes of moving Petra in time. He wasn't going to abandon her though. With a quick look he determined the best place to protect over her, a small rusted pipe just above the opening. From there he could see Petra and whoever was coming and be able to react fast enough. He hoped.
"Damn," the man muttered as he came around. Mousse saw the beam of a flashlight dance about on the floor before it settled on Petra's motionless body.
A young man in a business suit rushed in carrying a flashlight and a wide bag, which he set aside to examine Petra. That's when Mousse made his move. He dropped in behind drawing his steel claws from his robe for a quick victory. Unfortunately the man panicked before realizing the danger, or perhaps maybe he had guessed that his life was in danger. He moved even faster and pressed himself against the wall once he saw Mousse.
And then he looked oddly relieved. "I should have guessed. Mousse." The man's head sank into his chest and he breathed out deeply in a sigh of relief.
Mousse didn't relax. "Who are you?"
Amusement swirled in the man's ki. "Right, nobody ever remembered me. I'm Gosunkugi Hikaru. I went to Furinkan with Akane." The man was thin almost to the point of being lanky and hadn't much ki potential, but Mousse recalled that Gosunkugi had been a rather sickly looking kid. The boy everybody just called Gosunkugi had been among the loons who wanted Ranma out of the way so he could get Akane for himself. He didn't rate high in the eyes of the former amazon.
Mousse greeted this 'old friend' with a cynical look. "I think you should come with me, Gosunkugi." Mousse wanted answers and he knew that the old hag would have questions of her own. There were too many secrets and it was about damn time somebody started talking.
.
Notes:
Oops. Gosunkugi's name is now spelled correctly. Rats. I checked that before long before I posted but the corrections never filtered down into the actual story. Thanks!
