Storms of Change
A Ranma ½ - Love Hina Crossover
Written By: Kiikun
With help from: MGSaintz
8/19/2006

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, Love Hina, or the microbes making themselves home in your intestines. I will be using characters, locations, and ideas from both Ranma and Love Hina. The microbes can fend for themselves.

05 – Rumblings from the Past

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Mutsumi and Nanami finding out about her condition was a mixed blessing for Ikumi. She had never expected them to accept her when they learned about it. In fact, even though she was thankful and grateful for their help, she had been trying to not get too comfortable in their home. It would have just hurt more if they had rejected her and thrown her out.

Now, with Mutsumi and Nanami knowing about and accepting the change, she allowed herself to get more comfortable with her position in their home and family. Surely if Mutsumi and Nanami could accept her, then her fears about being thrown out were baseless.

Things were fine the first few days afterwards, but then accidents started to happen more frequently. At first it had been simple things, like a cup of tea getting spilled on her or a hot water pack bursting when Tamami tripped. Then there were incidents like what had happened in the kitchen.

She had been helping Natsumi cook dinner and was stirring one of the pots on the stove for her when the twins, followed by Tamami, charged through. One of the twins had bumped her, causing her to get splashed by the water in the pot. She had to stifle a yelp of pain from the burn and ran out the way the trio had come. She was sure Tamami had seen 'him', even if only out of the corner of her eye. She was just glad Natsumi was distracted by the kids and didn't see the change. While Ikumi was more confident about not being rejected now, she was still afraid of how Natsumi and the others would react.

The hot water accidents were only the start of her problems though. She had been having vague dreams for a while and had hoped they were parts of her memory returning. The doctors had told her she would get her oldest memories back first and she was only a child in the dreams, so she felt safe in the assumption. And she was safe… until the dreams became less vague.

Natsumi had been up late and was on her way to bed when she heard sounds from Ikumi's room. Curious, as she knew her adoptive daughter had gone to bed long ago, she opened the door just enough to see what was happening. When she saw her whimpering and struggling against an invisible foe in her sleep, Natsumi knew the redhead was having a nightmare. Without another thought, she moved into the room and over to the bed to comfort the redhead.

In the dreamscape, little Ikumi was struggling against a pair of hands that were dragging her away from her home and the silent redheaded woman who she thought was her mother. No matter what she did, she couldn't escape the grip of those hands. Panicking, she reached out and called to the woman. The woman, though, just turned her back to the struggling child and entered the house. Feeling abandoned and alone, Ikumi redoubled her efforts to escape the grasp of whatever was taking her away.

As the house faded away in the distance, something else came to her attention. From all directions around her, she could hear someone humming a sweet, gentle tune. Distracted from her struggles by the tune, it took her a moment to realize the hands had released her and were replaced by something else. She still felt restrained, but it was no longer forceful and cold. She felt warm and safe in whatever now held her, like she wasn't alone anymore. With the focus of fighting off the hands gone and this new warmth surrounding her, she let herself go, curling up into a ball on the ground, crying.

Natsumi cradled the sobbing girl while gently humming the tune she found to best calm her children when they had nightmares. Apparently it helped her adopted daughter as well, which she was glad for. While she had no way to know what was really going on in the girl's mind, the redhead calling out 'mama' in her sleep gave her enough of an idea. She stayed until Ikumi was sound asleep, beyond whatever nightmares would bother her.

After everyone had gone off to school the next morning, Natsumi pulled Mutsumi aside into the living room. "Mutsumi-chan, have you noticed Ikumi-chan having any nightmares?" she asked.

Mutsumi blinked in surprise. "Nightmares? She hasn't said anything to me about having any," she said worriedly.

"I had hoped she would have at least talked to you," Natsumi said with a sigh. "Especially since she opened up to you and Nanami."

Mutsumi looked questioningly at her mother for a moment before realization set in and her eyes grew to the size of saucers. "You know what happened in the furo?" she asked, stunned. She had thought only her and Nanami knew.

The Otohime matriarch smiled at her daughter. "Ikumi-chan did call for me when you fainted. Nanami and her were just going back in when I turned the corner. At first I thought something happened to you, because she looked terrified. I heard you talking through the door, though, so I decided to eavesdrop just a bit. I couldn't hear much, but I did hear you promise to keep a secret. And Nanami-chan was right," she said. Her smile faded as the image of the nightmare-griped redhead from last night calling for her mother entered her mind. "No one deserves to be abandoned for simply having a secret to keep," she said in a serious tone.

The Toudai ronin looked at her mother with slight surprise at the change in tone. She wasn't sure what had caused it, but she recognized the tone in her mother's voice. It was the tone her mother used whenever she believed someone had intentionally caused harm to her family. While the woman wasn't overprotective of her children, she was fiercely protective when she felt she needed to be.

That brought a smile to Mutsumi's face once she realized that it was Ikumi that her mother was reacting this way for. It also made her wonder what really caused her mother to fully accept Ikumi into the family. The adoption, while above and beyond simply being kind, was only meant as a temporary situation until the redhead regained her memories and her real family could help her. Somehow, the redhead had managed to endear herself to Natsumi enough that she fully considered her a member of the family. But finding out what happened wasn't entirely important at the moment.

"Yes mother," Mutsumi started. "Ikumi-chan shouldn't have ever been sent away by anyone because of her… condition. Especially since she can't easily control it."

"Mu-chan...," the elder woman said with a chiding tone. "This has something to do with what you promised to keep secret, correct?"

The eldest child nodded. "I won't break my promise, but I believe you should know it as well. I think Ikumi-chan is just scared of how everyone will react when they learn of… it."

"Her secret can't be that terrible, can it?" she asked with a bit of worry.

Mutsumi took on a thoughtful look. "It's nothing really bad. I think it's worse for her because of the questions it raises."

"Questions?" she asked.

The younger woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, mother. I can't say anymore without ending up breaking my promise to Ikumi-chan."

Natsumi smiled and nodded. "I understand. I just hope you and Nanami knowing will be enough to help her with it."

"I do as well."

That night, Mutsumi stayed up late worrying about the redhead. After noticing that it was late and the girl would already be asleep, she decided to check in on her to see if she was indeed having nightmares. What she saw in the room surprised her. The bed sheets were thrown almost completely across the room, Ikumi was curled up in a ball on the bed whimpering, and Midori had apparently decided to find a new, fortified sleeping spot in the bookcase. Both of the room's regular occupants were asleep, so she decided to talk to Midori later and try to help calm the near-sobbing girl.

As she neared Ikumi, she could just start to make out a bit of what she was saying. While most of it was lost within the sobbing, Mutsumi could make out one line that kept being repeated. "I'm not a weak little girl." She reached out to comfort the redhead, much as her mother had the night before, but the sleeping girl recoiled from the touch as if she had been hit. "No more," she whimpered in her sleep.

Mutsumi was worried for her and reached out to her again, only to pause before actually touching her. "Ikumi-chan," she said quietly. "It's me, Mutsumi. I won't harm you," she said before letting her hand fall gently onto the redhead's shoulder. She was glad that the girl didn't pull away again, and she pulled her closer. "I won't let anyone harm you." She heard Ikumi whimper about being weak again. "You're not weak, Ikumi-chan. No one who is living through what you are now and surviving can be called weak. You're too strong to give in," she said and hugged the redhead a bit more firmly. Ikumi's whimpers slowed after that as the nightmare passed. She set the girl back into bed and recovered the tossed bed sheets before kissing her on the forehead goodnight and heading back to bed herself.

Mutsumi and Natsumi both ended up checking on Ikumi on nights they were still awake late. Since neither of them were trying to fall asleep on time, that meant that nearly every night one or both of them would check in on her and helped to derail many nightmares.

While the nightmares and hot water accidents were stressing, Ikumi managed to find some solace in the time she spent at the local dojo and at home sparring with Tamami. The pre-teen girl had kept her promise to the redhead and had taken her to one of her martial arts classes. Tamami, in her normal way of surprising people, neglected to mention that they were arriving well ahead of class time and that she had also asked her sensei if he could evaluate the newest Otohime's martial arts skill.

Ikumi, still unused to the girl's sneakiness, was caught completely by surprise when they arrived to find no class and the sensei was waiting for her. Deciding to figure out the younger girl later, she accepted the offer for an evaluation after explaining her condition of not actually remembering any of the art. He understood and told her how he planned to evaluate her in hopes of identifying her style.

First off, he asked her to just defend herself, while he ran through a number of different basic attack forms. She blocked them all easily, but he wasn't trying to break through. He only wanted to identify what school she was trained in. After a few minutes of this he reversed their roles, Ikumi on the offensive with him defending. Hesitantly, she started coming at him from various attack angles. She wasn't sure of what she was doing while attacking and mostly tried to copy his own attacks while just going with the flow after she started moving.

The sensei was surprised at the girl's skill and would have thought this to be some joke if it hadn't been Tamami that brought the girl in. Each of her attacks started off clumsily, but quickly became a strong offense. He did notice her starting most of her attacks with the moves he had just been using on her and filed that tidbit away for examination later.

He called Ikumi to a halt after a few more minutes. "You are apparently very skilled Otohime-san. I noticed you using defense and attacks from at least a dozen different styles. Aikido, kempo, karate, judo, and tai chi among them. Your attacks started out sloppy, but considering your condition, I guess can't be helped. Also, it seemed like most of your attacks started by imitating the ones I had used on you. I could say you were trained in the art my school teaches, but you used none of the defense from it, so I must conclude you imitated my attacks. Something like that takes a lot of skill, and Tamami-chan has told me you sparred with her before."

"Hai, sensei," Ikumi said respectfully. "She was the one who realized that I must have been trained in the first place."

"Yes, she is a very perceptive student," he said with a smile and slight laugh. "I have no doubts that she will surpass me in skill some day as well. But anyway, I have never heard of a school that had so many different arts blended together. I would normally ask you to limit yourself to a single style if you had trained in as many styles as I see you using, but that is impossible in your case. I may not be able to identify what your school is, but if you're as skilled as Tamami-chan believes, then maybe I can ask around. I doubt that someone as skilled as you might be would be completely unknown to the competitive and non-competitive martial arts circles. All I ask is that we spar for the final part of the examination. We start out slow and build up in intensity until we find out what dan ranking you are. Ok?"

Ikumi smiled and nodded before taking a defensive stance she had seen him using. He laughed lightly as he saw her almost perfectly imitate one of the stronger defense stances he had used. He took and offensive stance and moved in to begin the spar.

Ten minutes had passed and they were still sparing. Tamami was sitting on a mat to the side watching as the contained combat had just passed her own abilities. Class time was nearing as well and the students of the advanced class had just started to show up as well and were mesmerized by the show of skill between their sensei and the unknown redhead.

Class time had already started and the two martial artists were still sparring with the entire class watching them. The two had pushed the level of combat up past the point where all but a fraction of the students could even follow. It was at that point the sparring came to an abrupt end with the sensei hitting the mat hard and staying down.

After a bit of deep breathing, he sat up and looked over at the redhead in admiration. The girl he had been asked to evaluate was skilled well beyond his own level. "Good spar," he said, still a bit breathless and now very sore.

"Thank you sensei," she said, beaming with pride as she helped him back to his feet. She was barely even winded at the moment. "I think I have re-learned a bit as well from this." Once the sensei was back on his feet, she bowed to him.

"Indeed," he said, returning the bow. "I noticed your attacks became less hesitant after awhile and you started using attack forms I haven't even seen before."

"Yeah. I stopped trying to copy your offense once I noticed how my own changed quickly from them and decided to just try different ones that felt… well… right."

"I must say this is one of the most interesting examinations I have ever given," he said and the entire class, except Tamami, gasped in realization that the person who had just shown skill well beyond any of their own was just being examined.

Ikumi, just realizing the group in the room when they gasped, became nervous at the attention.

"While I still can't identify what specific school or schools you practice, I can say that you are very, very skilled. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a master of your school or schools." That elicited another gasp from the crowd. 'Why is a master getting evaluated?' a number of them thought.

"Um... thank you, sensei. That should make it easy to... um... find out, right?" she asked, while glancing at Tamami, who was still taking in how skilled her new older sister really was.

He smiled. "I'll do my best to find that out. If my own contacts don't know, then I'll start calling dojos teaching other styles. But honestly, anyone as young as you with that much skill must be well known. I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard of anyone like you."

Ikumi smiled happily. "Thank you, sensei!" 'Finally! Tamami was right. Maybe he can help me find out who I am!' she thought excitedly.

Class started shortly after that. The sensei allowed the redhead to stay and watch the class in hopes the environment would be familiar enough to help her recall something. While it was a good idea, the girl didn't recall anything new afterward. Though she did pick up a few more of the school's advanced moves.

By the end of class, Tamami had come up with another plan to help Ikumi. She asked the sensei if the redhead could join the class to relearn the mental disciplines, even thought she surpassed them all in physical prowess. After a few moments of thought, he agreed that it was a good idea.

Ikumi was surprised when he made the offer of joining the class, but noticed Tamami grinning in the background. While a bit unsure about the younger girl's thought processes, she knew she meant well and accepted the offer. The other students who had stuck around were confused as to why someone more skilled than their sensei was joining their class, but became sympathetic to the amnesiac girl after her situation was explained.

Ikumi was overjoyed at being able to train properly. She felt like one of the holes in her soul that had haunted her since she awoke was slowly being filled. While at the dojo, she gained more than just skill and discipline. A few of the other students had become sort-of-rival friends to the redhead. Unlike the friend-rivals known in Nerima, these students really did care for her and the only rivalry was limited to sparring sessions where they tested themselves against her skill. While they never really met outside of class, she still considered them friends.

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Its now late September, two weeks after the bathroom incident, and Ikumi has been having a really bad day. It started the previous night with one of the worst nightmares she'd experienced yet, but unlike her previous ones, she could barely remember any of it. Upon awakening, her head felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer repeatedly and nothing she tried quieted the unrelenting headache.

She tried to go about a normal day. Sparring with Tamami ended quickly when she realized how close she had been to breaking the younger girl's ribs. Playing with the twins simply caused her headache to get worse from their joy-filled squeals of laughter. She tried to help Mutsumi with her watermelon garden, but eventually the sun getting in her eyes simply drove her back inside. By then it was nearing dinner time and Natsumi was in the kitchen preparing the meal.

Natsumi smiled as she heard the nearly silent footfalls behind her that she had come to recognize as those of her newest daughter. "Hello, Ikumi-chan. Feeling better?"

"No. It feels like someone keeps hitting me on the head with a log," the redhead groaned as she massaged her temples.

The Otohime matriarch stopped her preparations and turned to the girl with a sigh. "Then why are you still up and about?" she asked sternly, yet softly. She didn't want Ikumi pushing herself too hard just incase this was some delayed effect from her fall. "You should be in bed resting if it hurts that much."

A look of determination came over her features as she winced yet again from the pain. "I refuse to let a simple headache beat me," she said matter-of-factly.

Natsumi frowned for a moment at the girl before letting out a sigh. "Okay. If you're determined to not lose out to it, then… would you like to help me cook?" she said, ending the statement with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, sounding a bit stressed. She swiftly moved in next to Natsumi and began helping the mother of eight chop vegetables. While her help lacked its usual flair, with nothing being sliced in midair, she was no slower in her cutting than usual.

They proceeded along like that, working either side by side or in tandem, and a now familiar sense of nostalgia had come over the redhead. The only time she ever felt like this was when she helped Natsumi cook and it always helped her feel calm. She had started to wonder if she felt like this because she used to help her own mother with cooking. Looking over at the older woman and listening to her hum as she cooked, she couldn't help but feel like she had done this many times before, even before she lost herself.

The nostalgia and calm helped Ikumi finally push aside and forget about the headache. She continued working in the pleasant, pain-free haze for what seemed like days compared to how the rest of her day had felt.

But, it was truly all too short as a piercing wail rang through the house and the headache painfully reasserted its presence on the redhead. Shocked by the wail and the sudden jarring of her peaceful state, she sliced clean through the vegetable she had just been peeling, sending the top half of it falling to the floor. Looking down at the fallen fruit, she placed the knife and the remainder of the fruit on the table. Without a word she stormed out the door in the direction of the crying with her eye twitching and a light red haze beginning to form around her.

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Tsukuro laughed at his lethargic baby sister as she attempted to retrieve the stuffed panda he had just stolen from her and was dangling just out of her reach. "Come on! Even a snail moves faster than you!" he mocked her as she leapt up to try and grab her plushie/pillow back only to have him move it just out of reach again.

"Give Pan-chan back!" Pokari demanded with tears in the corners of her eyes as she jumped to grab at her possession again, only to miss yet again.

The bratty boy pulled down his eyelid with his free hand and stuck his tongue out at her, giving her a raspberry. "Ya gotta take it from me," he said in a little sing-song tone.

The four year old seethed at her older brother's teasing and leapt again for her panda, putting a little more push into her lift off and she nearly had her hand around one of its legs before it was yanked back out of reach. Dismayed by her inability to even touch it, she didn't pay enough attention to how she landed back on the ground and ended up stumbling backwards and falling on her rear.

Existence itself seemed to pause for a moment as the thud of the little girl's fall echoed in the room. Then she began to tremble slightly as tears began to roll down her plump cheeks. Before anything could be done, Pokari started to cry loudly from the surprise, pain, and emotions of the past few minutes.

Tsukuro, who hadn't moved when he noticed his sister start to fall backwards, was too slow in covering his ears as her wail left them ringing. 'Great, the sloth is crying. Nothing's getting through to her now,' he thought while just looking down at her. 'Might as well go and see what the twins are up to…'

He started to turn away from Pokari the exact same moment the door flew open behind him. With his hears covered, he didn't hear it, but the change in lighting caught in the corner of his eye and he started to turn faster towards the open door, expecting Tamami to be there. Before he could even turn halfway towards the door, his arm was yanked up harshly causing him to yelp and release the stuffed animal he had still been holding in that hand.

Ikumi's right hand shot out to catch the falling stuffed panda, her left hand preoccupied with holding the troublemaker by the arm so he couldn't escape. The red haze that had appeared as she left the kitchen only moments earlier was now a thin outline as she tried oh so hard to keep from physically harming her captive. Her eyes scanned over the panda, over to the source of the wail that had shattered the few tranquil moments she had had all day, and then finally back to the one she knew was the cause of it. She glared harshly at the little boy as she held his arm aloft, giving him very little room to escape.

"Hey! Leggo!" Tsukuro demanded as he tried to twist and yank his wrist free from the iron grip of his non-sister.

The redhead griped a bit tighter on his arm. "And just what do you think you were doing to her!"

The brat of the family glared back at her as he continues to struggle. "I was just makin' sure she got some exercise! She sleeps too much!"

She growled at him and glanced over at the panda in her hand again. For a moment she felt the urge to shred the offending object as something in the back of her mind snapped, but instead she just tossed it into the four year old's lap before turning back to her captive. "So tormenting her until she cries is the right thing to do!" she says loudly and angrily in his face. "What kind of man would do such a thing! Men are supposed to protect the weak!"

As Ikumi berated the young boy, Pokari's crying hadn't abated in the slightest. In fact, she hadn't even noticed her panda/pillow drop back into her lap. The wails, now no longer muffled by distance and walls, pushed the enraged redhead's headache even worse, causing something else to jar loose in her mental works.

Ikumi's head turned from Tsukuro to the crying young girl and looked at her sternly, though not glaring like she had been with the brat. "And you, Pokari!" she yelled louder than she had in his face.

Hearing her name yelled loudly snapped the youngest of the family just far enough out of her wailing to notch it down a bit and actually hear what was yelled next.

"Stop cryin' like a weak little girl! If he ain't gonna be a man, then you gotta stand up for yourself!" she said just as loudly while shaking her prisoner a bit to dive in the point she was talking about him. Her glare returned to Tsukuro as the words settled into the four year old's mind causing her crying to almost completely die away.

The bratty boy was about to complain about being shaken around when her felt the grip on him go lax and yanked himself free. He turned back to her to start yelling at her, but his words died at the expression on her face.

Gone was the glare and the eerie red glow that had surrounded her. In its place was a haunted look in her eyes as her face visibly paled. After only a moment of that, she hunched over slightly and grabbed the sides of her head in pain.

By now, most of the family had made it to the doorway to see what the ruckus was about and had been there to see almost the entire scene. They were in shock at the power and anger she had displayed so easily. Mutsumi and Natsumi were even more shocked at the words she had chosen to use towards Pokari.

Ikumi turned away from the boy and moved towards the door still clutching her head. The family quickly moved aside as Ikumi approached, not in fear, but in worry for her. The only sign that she acknowledged their presence was her pained mumbling of "I'm goin' to bed now," as she passed the two eldest females of the group.

Mutsumi looked at the retreating form of the amnesiac girl and then over to her mother with worry in her eyes. Natsumi watched as well and then sighed when she noticed her eldest's look. "Let her rest for now. She doesn't need us hanging all over her at the moment," she said and a smile bloomed on her face. "Plus, dinner is almost ready! So everyone go get cleaned up!" She then quickly shooed them off to get ready for dinner. She was just turning to head back to the kitchen when she felt a tug on her apron. Looking down, she saw her baby girl with tear-stains still on her face and hugging her doll to herself with one arm. She smiled and knelt down to her. "Yes, Po-chan? Are you feeling better now?"

The little girl nodded a bit before speaking. "Mama… Ikumi-neechan is scary," she said with a neutral expression. Before her mother could say anything though, a smile blossomed across her face. "But, but… she's really nice to! Right?"

The matriarch giggles a bit as she ruffled her daughter's hair. "Yes she is. She's just having a hard time and that's what made her scary."

The little girl nods, though not fully understanding. "Pokari wants to grow up to be like Ikumi-neechan!" she said with her eyes sparkling in the way only innocent little children like her can.

Natsumi giggled again, thinking how the newest member of the family has come to endear herself to the rest of the family in different ways. "If that's what you want, dear. But first you have to have dinner, so go wash up now," she said with a smile before gently shooing her off to get cleaned up.

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Dinner passed without much said about the incident, besides scolding Tsukuro for picking on his baby sister again. Tamami did manage to slip in a verbal jab at her brother without anyone noticing by way an offhanded comment about his wrist looking like it might need ice. It had indeed bruised a bit, but he had thought no one noticed until his slightly-older sister decided to point it out.

Mutsumi had been worried throughout most of dinner, her thoughts never landing far from the redhead and the words she had uttered. She knew those words haunted most of the girl's nightmares as she denied them repeatedly. What worried her most was that she would utter them towards someone else. She hoped it was just a result of the stress and the headache, but she felt like something bad was about to happen.

That was why, now, only a short while after dinner, she was walking down the halls towards the room her redheaded neo-sister occupied. As she neared the door with the plaque bearing the name Chinami, she paused to listen in hopes that the occupant was still awake and had calmed down, or was in a peaceful slumber. No obvious sounds emitted from the room to say she was still awake, so Mutsumi slid the door open a crack to peek in.

She gasped as she took in the scene through the narrow opening. The pillow and bed sheets were strewn about the floor chaotically, a few of the stuffed animals had apparently been knocked over by the flying bedspread, and Midori-chan had managed to find herself a safe spot by hiding in one of the gaps in the mangas on the shelves. But worst of all was Ikumi herself. She was curled up in a fetal position while apparently trying to protect her head from yet another invisible attacker.

With her worry now fully justified, Mutsumi opened the door fully and stepped into the room. The redhead tensed for a moment as she entered, but relaxed quickly and began to sob while still curled up. "Ikumi-chan," she said in a comforting tone as she neared the side of the bed. Her only reply was the continued sob and unintelligible whimpers. She started to reach out to comfort the girl before her, but a sound from behind her caught her attention.

"Myu!" Midori-chan sounded from her makeshift barricade with a tone of warning.

The turtle-speaker stood back up and looked over towards the bookcase. "What is it, Midori-chan?"

The turtle's head poked out from behind the books and looked over at the bed, then over to her. "Myuu myumyu myuuuuu myu…" the little creature said while waving a fin in the air as if mixing her chirps with flag language.

Mutsumi's worry etched deeper into her expression as she listened to the shelled resident of the room. 'Her nightmare keeps repeating?' she thought, mentally repeating the turtle's words. 'And she's already gone through it five times…?' She looked back over to the sleeping redhead only to catch the beginning of the next cycle.

Ikumi had just shifted out of the fetal position she had been in and her whimpering had become loud and coherent enough to be understood. "Please, no more… stop… don't throw me in again," she whimpered loudly while thrashing around, apparently trying to free herself from something. "Don't… they want to eat me… no more… I'm not a weak little girl! No! Not the pit!" she sobbed loudly as she curled into an even tighter ball than before and her whimpers and sobs sounded even more pained.

Tears rolled down the elder girl's cheeks as she listened to the girl's cries for mercy from whatever demon was haunting her nightmares. The redhead's thrashing had kept her at bay, but now that she had curled herself up, Mutsumi wasted no time and leaned over to pull her into a comforting embrace. "Ikumi-chan. You're safe, Ikumi-chan," she said softly into the girl's ear. "No one will hurt you here. I won't let anyone hurt you," she said while hugging her close.

Within her nightmare, Ikumi struggled against the grip of the man that held her aloft while yelling and pleading to be let go, only to have her words fall on deaf ears. The man lifted the cover off the dug out pit filled with writhing fur, claws, teeth, and demonic glowing eyes while keeping her writhing form off the ground and giving her no chance to escape, just like the other times. She cried and pleaded loudly as he held her over the open maw in the earth.

"Stop whining like a weak little girl!" the man commanded angrily.

"I'm not a weak little girl!" she retorted just as angrily. That caused the man to laugh and release his grip on her, dropping her into the writhing mass below. "No! Not the pit!" she cried out as she fell and he replaced the lid, shutting off any exit from the now dark pit.

She sank deeper into the mass of starved creatures as they clawed and chewed at her flesh, slowly devouring her. She curled up in a ball to try and protect as much of herself as she could while trying to fight off the furry mass as best she could. She sobbed and cried out in pain as they took bits of her flesh off with each swipe or bite and she thought she would die in this dark hole. She begged for help as she sobbed even though she knew the only person nearby that could help was the demon that had put her in here in the first place. Soon, she was too exhausted to fight them off anymore and she just curled up to await her end.

As she curled up, the mass pulled away from her and a warmth surrounded her. At first she thought it was the feeling of her own blood surrounding her, but then she felt like she was being lifted up. "No one will hurt you here," a gentle voice said, echoing in the darkness. "I won't let anyone hurt you." Ikumi sobbed again, this time in happiness that someone was saving her from this hell, and mentally threw herself to the voice and warmth. The furry mass writhed and yowled in protest before surging forth again and engulfing the girl.

She didn't understand why, but she trusted the voice and its warmth and when the claws and teeth started for her she knew she would be safe and did not fight back. Everything quickly faded away after that.

Mutsumi hugged the redhead tighter to her as she seemed to relax and the nightmare passed. She sat there holding the now still redhead in her lap and petted her back, worried that this might just be some lull in the nightmare because of the sudden change. Her worry was abated though as sleeping girl snuggled up to her in her sleep. She smiled down at her now peaceful expression.

Sure that the nightmare had passed now, Mutsumi rolled the girl from her lap and back onto the bed. As she was pulling her hand away though, the redhead's expression contorted and she started to whimper again. The elder girl blinked and moved back to her side and put an arm around her, only to have the whimpering immediately stop and the redhead latched onto her arm firmly.

Mutsumi pulled slightly against the grip, but realized that it was indeed firm. She smiled down at the redhead and understood what she needed. Without any words, she used her free hand to undress herself to where she could sleep comfortably. With Midori-chan's help, she was able to get the pillow and blankets back on the bed without jostling the sleeping girl around too much and laid down next to her, pulling her back into a hug and kissing her on the forehead. "It's ok, Ikumi-chan," she whispered gently. "I won't go anywhere."

Ikumi's expression softened again and she released the older girl's arm only to latch around her waist. Mutsumi happily encircled the redhead with her own arms which caused her to snuggle closer again. Soon, she too was drifting off to sleep and just as sleep was overtaking her, she would have sworn she heard her adopted sister purring.

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Author's Notes: Sorry I took so long! Writer's block and a few things in real life sorta kept my attention off my writing. So, as an apology, a larger than average chapter! Admitantly it has most of what I wanted in it anyway... but I still had to cut it short otherwise I would have written it up to twice my normal size.

I hope I wrote this chapter well enough to prove Ikumi simply isn't a clean slate and that the memories are resurfacing somewhat. It will be a long time before she can remember everything. And before anyone thinks I'm going to make an Ikumi/Male match up… I have NO match ups planned, but an Ikumi/Male match up is less likely than an Akane match up… and I've already decided this won't be an Akane match up. :P

I'm also working on my own website, linked from my FFnet bio, but am tossing the current version out and trying to come up with a better looking take on it… though the color-scheme will probably stay. :3

Special Thanks To:
The FukuFics Crew