Ki Cutters: 41
The Posthumous II
Ranma dialed the first number she could think of under the circumstances, wondering if the analogy could possibly carry so far. The Nekohanten line was busy. She tried Ucchan's. Busy. She tried the Saotome number. Busy. She tried the Kuno's; busy.
"Arrgh! What good is it if you can't get anyone?"
"Perhaps they are on the line, Ranma," Kasumi suggested.
"What are you saying?"
"Well, this is a dream, isn't it? Perhaps they are awake."
"Nuts!" Ranma looked at her horrified. "You're right. If Akane is as bad off as I think she is, everyone will be awake and waiting for news." She glared into space. "I can't think of any other numbers to call! Who can I call?" she ranted. She paced back and forth, if one can call hurling one's body from one point to another pacing. She stopped. Wait! There was another number. The number of someone... someone who would be on the other side of the earth. But could she reach over that kind of distance? She dialed.
"It's ringing! It's ringing!" She waited, four, five, six rings…
"Hello?"
"Barry, I need help!" Ranma screamed.
"You need…?" the puzzled voice responded. "Who is this?"
"Ranma! It's Ranma! Ya gotta help me, man. Akane's hurt bad. I can't reach anyone else."
"Who? Someone's hurt? Who is this; and how did you call me here?"
"It's Ranma! Ranma Saotome! Don't you remember?"
"No." It was said simply, as if to say 'Duh-uh!'
Ranma gulped, her throat closing up. Barry didn't remember? He'd been here for four months and he didn't remember?
"Look, this is a dream, okay?" came Barry's voice, almost cheerfully. "So, why don't you tell me what's wrong, and I'll see what I can do."
Quickly, Ranma summarized what had happened and what she was doing.
Barry looked out the window of the dream construct of his parents' house. Within were those things he most treasured from his childhood and his life. The green rolling plain, so different from the wooded, rolling slopes the real house sat on, represented the infinite potential of imagination. He listened to the tale of woe and wondered how he could help. The dream seemed very real, very intense and the cause was good. Usually, with dreams of this sort, he found himself along for the ride or in the scene. He'd never been called into a dream before. If only there were a way…
"Ranma, I want you to try something for me. Can you get to a window with that phone?" came the voice from the handset.
"No." Ranma wondered what Barry was up to. Apparently, he hadn't gotten the same Barry that had been here before, but instead one from another alternate universe or perhaps even the one native to his own. He hoped he was as cooperative.
"How about one of the ahhh… analog characters you've been talking about?" Barry suggested. "They could go to the window and wave. You could describe what the scene looks like. I think if you're vivid enough in your description, I might be able to come to you."
Ranma blinked. She had nothing to lose. She turned to Kasumi. Outside the sky was darkening. "Okay. Kasumi, go stand in the shoji to the garden and look over the wall. Start waving if you see something."
"But, Ranma, it's getting late…"
"Just do it!" Ranma struggled with feeling of guilt. He'd never spoken to Kasumi that way.
The analog girl flinched then nodded. "All right."
Ranma began describing the house and grounds as it would look from outside. "The wall is dark gray, its shingled on top with ceramic shingles to match the house and dojo. The house is two story and 'L'-shaped with a very wide roof compared to western roofs. We don't use gutters. The dojo is a square building with a high roof…"
Outside it got darker and darker.
Barry looked out into the swirling mist of possibility that replaced the field of green. He was bringing the entire house along because it had greater resources. In this dream state, he could have flown faster, but that might have broken his link to Ranma's dream.
Barry had been in the habit of controlling his dreams since he could walk. In fact, since his oldest sister teasingly suggested that a Tyrannosaurus Rex might still be alive and ready to reach through the window of his second story bedroom to eat him. His dreams had possessed an unusual vividness, engaging all of the senses. The T-rex had been horrific and nearly successful. He had awoken, the spatter of hot saliva still itching his skin and the deathly stench of a carnivore's breath fouling the air.
He had resolved to learn to control his dreams. He became adept enough that he often would let a dream nearly resolve itself before taking control, enjoying both the feeling of power and the curiosity of an active imagination. In his dreams, anything was possible… which included the possibility of failure. This felt like a challenge.
"The shingles along this edge are kinda broken and the shoji to the koi pond…"
"What are shoji, again?"
"Sliding doors made of framed wood with rice paper windows. One is leaning up against the wall outside. It's getting dark here, too. I don't know how much longer I can hold out."
"Don't give up, Ranma."
"Right… Kasumi — the girl who's standing out there— she's about 170 centimeters…"
"Wait! What's that in inches? Never mind — got it! Around five feet, seven inches."
"Whatever, and her hair is in a ponytail over her right shoulder. It's dark brown and she's wearing a cream frilly apron over a green dress…" Ranma thought a moment. What did she need to add, besides details? "We're Japanese! She's Japanese!" Damn! What a thing to forget to mention.
Kasumi analog blearily peered into the mist and gasped as something dark and huge formed beyond the wall, its sharp peak was like a giant tooth standing eight meters above the wall. "Oh, my..." she murmured. If this was death come for them, she might not be awake to see its face. She was so tired.
"Hold on, Ranma. I'm putting down the phone. The outside lights are by the front door, but I think maybe I've found you!" Barry's voice faded as he apparently put the phone down. Ranma leaned as far into the common room as she could manage, trying to see. White glare suddenly bathed Kasumi's silhouette as light poured over the wall.
Kasumi's hand jerked up. So bright! "Ranma?" she called doubtfully. She moved toward the light. She heard pounding footsteps, then knocking somewhere to her left. 'The gate...' She hurried toward the entryway trying to ignore the dark closing in. She heard a baritone voice call out, then ducked as something came leaping over the wall.
Barry ran out the front door and across the street. It was indeed like night here, and it was closing in tighter. He knocked on the gate when he found it locked, and then saw the bell pull. "Hello! Anyone home?" Since he didn't get an answer, he flew over the wall. As he landed, he heard an exclamation from behind him.
A tall girl with Asian features stood there hesitantly. "Barry Barlowe? Oh, my! You didn't come in the gate, did you?"
"You must be Kasumi. No, I didn't. I'm sorry, but I've come to help."
She frowned as if not quite understanding him, then her face cleared and she smiled. "Of course. How rude of me. That was very considerate of you. Please come in."
She ushered him in past the garden and through the room. He noticed her leaving her shoes behind and did the same. In the kitchen, Ranma was shouting into the phone. "Barry? Barry are you there?"
"Right here, Red." Ranma jerked and turned.
Barry looked a little different than the last time he had seen the face in the mirror. Older somehow. 'Well, if he wasn't the same Barry, he might well look different,' Ranma thought. "Thank kami! Look, you have a wallet, right? I hate to ask it, but right now, this analog, which is Akane's body, is running out of power. She's dying. Barry, I know it sounds stupid, but can you loan me some yen?"
Barry blinked. "Lets not talk about loans right now. What can I…?"
"Barry!" Ranma's voice rose. "I… I just need ki. You might not call it that, but that's the help I need. If I have the resources, I can heal her. But I'm outa power. That's why it's night here."
"How do we do it?" Barry asked, immediately yanking out his wallet.
"Follow me." Ranma led the way upstairs and into the room labeled Nabiki. She banged through the door and shook the form lying in the bed. "Wake up!" she screamed. Barry winced. The form winced and rolled over. She apparently slept nude.
"Jeez, can't you take a hint and just…" Nabiki-analog noticed the stranger behind Ranma. Her hands swiftly drew the sheet up to cover herself. "You better have a good reason to bring…"
"It's Barry! He wants to help us. Now verify his credit and prepare for a transfer!" Ranma pushed Barry's wallet into her hands.
"Can you get me a robe out of the cupboard?" she asked. Ranma ran for the cupboard, yanked out a robe and threw it at her. Seconds later, the computer was booting up. Nabiki tapped into her network and then counted the money. She whistled. "How much are you offering?"
"Why not all of it? If there's any left over afterwards, you can give it back." He shrugged unconcernedly.
She nodded and finished punching in numbers. She whistled again. "Are you rich, Barry?"
"Poor as a church mouse in my waking moments, why?"
"You've got an impressive portfolio here. You might want to consider moving." She met his eyes. "All of it?" He nodded and she punched in some numbers. Light flared through the windows making them gasp. "I'd say that bought us some time," Nabiki-analog commented dryly.
oOo
They sat down at the table in the main room. Ranma peered nervously at the 'sun' and noted Nabiki's half-empty coffee mug. Just after breakfast, then.
"So you don't remember your time here?" asked Kasumi.
"It's sort of like, 'If you say so!' No… sorry. I think I'd remember a dream with you four in it."
"Oh?" asked Nabiki sipping her coffee and stretching out just a little.
Barry grinned and shook his head. "You are fishing for compliments, young lady." He turned back to Ranma. "When was I supposed to be here?"
"Last year. After you fell off the horse, Buddy."
Barry looked at them. "I hate to tell you this, but that was more than five years ago." They regarded him with shocked silence.
"That's impossible," Ranma exclaimed. "I was there for a week. You were here for four months! If anything only a week or two should have passed."
"Maybe I'm not the same Barry Barlowe you knew," the other considered. "Or maybe time doesn't run in a linear fashion between our worlds." He looked from Ranma to the dark-haired girl beside her. "It's funny. Something about you is familiar though."
Ranma looked thoughtful. "I'll do it. If Barry can remember what he did here, it might give us an advantage." She got up and lifted her teacup. Hot tea poured.
In Akane's hospital room, the attending doctors and Cologne jerked, alarmed. Ranma had reverted to male before their eyes, without hot water. Cologne darted forward and touched Ranma here and there on his body. "He's still alive. What's more, his energy has somehow been replenished."
"That's good, isn't it?" Tofu asked.
"I don't know… I suppose so." She thought silently for a long moment. "I certainly hope so."
"Ha-ha-ha, ha-ho!" Barry fell over backwards as the boy turned girl blinked, astonished at his reaction. Ranma started to get angry. "I don't believe it! Such a little thing!"
"What the hell are you talking about, Barry?" Ranma demanded.
"In a word, I think I remembered where I came across you. Incredible."
"Where?" came out the belligerent challenge.
"Ranma, One-Half." Barry smirked.
"Say what?" Having himself referred to that way was not flattering or expected.
"I'll tell you while we work."
oOo
They set to with an amazing degree of teamwork. Whenever they needed supplies, they ran over to Barry's house and garage. Barry also had an annoying habit of pulling tools out of thin air as if he were doing hidden weapons. As they worked, Barry finally stopped chuckling enough to relate what he knew.
"In my waking life, you're a Japanese comic book. A manga, I think you call it."
"A manga?" Ranma twitched. He thought about his life being intimately known by thousands. He out and out flinched. "Uhhh… Is it very popular?"
"I don't really know - though considering I saw it in America..." He left the rest unsaid. "I only saw a brief description of it in an entertainment magazine. Oh, and I think there's a Nintendo game, too; but I'm not sure. A gender-changing, pigtailed martial artist and a panda can't be too common in literature."
Ranma shrugged uneasily. "So… How much do ya know about my life?"
"I know you fell in some magic pool that turns you into a girl. I know someone you were fighting fell into another pool that turned them into a panda. A bad enemy of yours?"
Ranma chuckled. His Pops was his worst enemy, sometimes. "Ahhh… Sort of."
"And your girlfriend is Akane, right?" Barry asked. Ranma nodded. "That girl in the yellow martial arts suit?" At his additional nod, Barry added, "She's cute. She had long hair before though, didn't she?"
Barry actually had very little knowledge of this world and began to deluge Ranma with questions as they worked. The Gaijin was just as competent as before in carpentry, and just as annoying curiosity-wise. The advantage now was that Ranma could refuse to answer questions. Still the other soon had the story behind their work here.
Barry knew how to repair shoji, after he saw one, and explained his mother had a liking for Japanese art and persuaded him to research shoji in order to make lanterns for a hospital benefit dance. Ranma got nervous though, when after he cut some wood using Nekoken, Barry noticed and discarded his saw, duplicating the technique for all intents and purposes. He also started simply pushing nails into place like Ranma had been doing.
"What are you doing?" Ranma demanded finally. Barry, a non-martial artist shouldn't be able to do that.
"Fixing things?" Barry offered.
"Can you please do it normally? With tools?"
"Why? You aren't," shot back Barry agreeably.
"I'm a martial artist, for kami's sake!"
"So?" Barry said loftily, "This is a dream. I can do whatever I want."
Ranma went from anger to shock. 'Anything you… want?' He eyed Barry apprehensively. "So… Watcha want?" If the other being started treating this dreamworld carelessly, things could get ugly.
"A cola. It's hot working like this." Barry pulled a soft drink can out of the air, popped the top and slugged some back. He looked at the gaping martial artist and produced one for him, too. Ranma caught it and blinked. "If you don't like cola, imagine whatever you like. It's a dream, right?"
Ranma stared at the can in his hand. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again, he blinked. He held a tangerine soda. It was ice cold. It tasted wonderful. "Ahhh…"
(BAM!)Akane's hammer brought them both back to that reality.
"I think what she's saying, guys, is stop fooling around," Nabiki commented from the front door.
"That wasn't very nice," Barry commented. Akane reversed her grip and backhanded them both across the yard.
'Oh, well, the fence needed replaced, anyway,' Ranma thought groggily from dent in the compound wall.
Barry struggled out of the koi pond. "Now just a minute!" he shrilled in anger. He blinked. He cleared his throat and tried that statement again. "Now… just a minute?" It came out two octaves too high. He patted his chest, hefted the load, gulped and looked down at himself. "Awww, come on, now! That just wasn't necessary!"
Barry had been 'girled'.
oOo
They took a minute to regroup and get some hot water. Barry was considerably relieved to regain his normal form. "That was different," he remarked.
"Not for me," said Ranma, taking the kettle from their visitor. She became he. "Happens all the time."
"Well, yeah, but that's you. That almost woke me up." Barry shuddered. "I wonder if…? Nah…" He considered again and frowned pensively. "I'm gonna be peeved if I bring a curse back with me."
"I doubt you'd actually change into a girl, Barry-san," Kasumi said. "Dreams rarely translate into reality."
"Yet this is a dream where Ranma is trying to do just that," Barry replied, nodding toward the boy. He reached out and took the checklist and wrote down 'hole in yard', crossed off 'fix fence' and changed it to 'replace fence'. "So Kasumi, is the laundry done?"
"Barry, is it ever? I've caught up with it."
"Nabiki, how's our resources?" he asked the middle daughter.
"All right, I guess. Just don't do any more fighting. It's hard to judge our surplus, or lack thereof, if you keep adding to the damage."
Barry looked archly at Akane. "Y-y-yeah." Akane glared back. He flinched and looked for that damn mallet. "Could you please calm down? We're trying to help you, you know." The short haired girl slowly subsided.
"I've been up in the attic," Barry announced. "While it looks good from the outside, the ridge beam is cracked and damaged. Ranma, how do you go about fixing something like that?"
"The beam is cracked?" Ranma was horrified. That beam was critical to the roof. He didn't need to look at Nabiki to know they couldn't afford to replace it. He scowled. "I guess we'll have to do it the old fashioned way."
Barry blinked. "What way is that?"
Up under the rafters, Ranma moved through the recently disturbed dust to check the spot where Barry had found the damage. As he moved, he stroked his fingers along the wood, sneezing occasionally. "Next time I have a dream like this, I'll remember to forget the dust."
Barry watched him closely. "What dust?" he asked. Ranma turned to glare just as Barry went into a series of violent echoing sneezes.
"Right," the martial artist said smugly. "What ya said." He went back to trace the damage in the beam. Taking a deep breath, then releasing it slowly, he began to heal it with ribbons of ki.
"So the old fashioned way is laying on hands?" Ranma shrugged. "You know, Ranma," Barry said a bit stuffily. "I've been thinking about your analogous construct here. Do you know what everything represents?" He dusted off and box and gingerly sat down.
"Heck, no!" Ranma retorted. "Cologne… That's the old woman who taught me this technique, said that knowin' everything was beyond anyone and that this was to let me fix things I couldn't understand anyway." Painstakingly, he moved along repairing as he went.
"Well I think I understand what some of this stuff is. Do you want to hear it?" Barry offered.
Six months ago, Ranma would have refused. Martial arts was usually a matter of doing. His father taught that knowing too much about a technique actually diminished its effectiveness. You had to feel it with your gut, make it something you did without thought. Since then, he'd learned that knowing didn't mean you couldn't feel it as well. Besides, Barry was wearing him down. "Go ahead," he said. "Just don't expect me to believe it."
"Fair enough." Barry laid his hand gently on the ridge beam. "This is the spine. The rafters are her ribs. The windows are her eyes; the shoji doors, her teeth. The garden is her spirit, her soul, and the dojo is the seat of her knowledge. The outer wall is her skin…"
"I dunno about the dojo being 'the seat of her knowledge'." Ranma pondered. "Akane's real good in martial arts. Maybe as good as me, but learning?" He shrugged. "She usually studies in her room." He pointed below before continuing to look for damage. "I think I can agree about the roof and her spine though. I remember the doctor sayin' somethin' about that. And if you're right, then the rafters are her ribs." He slid back into the dark behind stacked boxes.
Barry peered back into the dark. "Looking for something?"
"Hold yer horses."
"I don't do that anymore."
"What? Ow!" The thud of a hard head hitting a rafter and Ranma's voice came from a different point all together, causing Barry to re-orient.
"I don't do horses anymore. Lost faith in the owner." Ranma stuck his head into view from still another part of the roof, making Barry jump.
"Ya don't… Why didn't ya go somewhere else? I know ya felt you had promise."
"A couple of different reasons. My age, the fact that I knew more than most of the people I would have been working for. My family life had been suffering and I made a choice. Besides, I wanted a change. So I got a job working for this TV repair place where my wife also worked. We started repairing our relationship. And I began studying art again."
"Wow…" Ranma huffed and considered the exchange. "It's hard to think of ya as anythin' but a horse trainer."
"There are a lot of times I miss it." Then Barry grinned. "But not when I consider my family. We have an addition there as well. A little girl called Mara."
"Did ya say Marller?" Ranma exclaimed, shocked at the idea.
"No! Mara. It's an alternate form of the name Mary."
"Oh. Whew…! Is she cute?" Ranma grinned and wondered if Barry's hope he'd 'have a little girl just like Akane' would come true.
"She's a doll!" the older man confirmed. "Two years old this October."
"Maybe she'll turn out like Akane."
"Ranma, with all due respect… Bite your tongue!" Barry grumped. "I can take a tomboy, but your Akane is altogether too violent for my liking."
"You're not meeting her at her best. She's real special." Ranma exited the shadows looking perplexed. "I can't find nothin'."
"Should you have?" They began to push boxes back into place and tidy up. "Oh, well look at it this way. No news is good news."
"No!" Ranma negated that thought with a gesture. "I distinctly remember that she had broken ribs that were through the lung and almost into her heart." He ignored Barry's shocked look. "I know because I helped fix it. But it still should've left some trace." He huffed and indicated the shadows of the attic. "But I can't find it!"
Barry frowned and rubbed his chin. "If her room represents her thoughts or seat of learning like you said…" He tapped a nail against a tooth. "You know - the house isn't the only place with rafters."
"The dojo could represents her breathing and the dojo roof has rafters, too! Ribs!" exclaimed Ranma running downstairs and out the door.
"I guess then, you could agree Akane lives and breathes martial arts," Barry said to no one in particular. He rose to his feet and wandered downstairs.
oOo
He found Akane with a searching expression on her face, coming out of what looked like the bathroom. "Hi, there. Can I ask you some questions?" Akane looked guarded. "I was wondering. If I understand right, Ranma has joined dreams with you in an attempt to save your life." She looked puzzled and shrugged.
"Okay, let's try this… Are you consciously Akane Tendo?" Akane paused a long time then nodded ever so faintly. "Good!" Barry exclaimed. "Do you know what's going on?" She shook her head no, frowning.
"Here's what he's told me, in a nutshell. You're hurt real bad. Maybe dying. He's talked to some old gal named Cologne and found a way to maybe heal you. If he fails, though, he's dead too." Her eyes grew huge. "Now, what are your thoughts on this?"
She dithered, hands fluttering nervously, her lips moving. Finally, a husky whispery "No…" forced its way between her teeth.
"I didn't think you'd like that. Now, what are you going to do about it?"
"Make him go." The words were a whisper.
"Sorry, I don't think you can, and I want you saved almost as much as he does. I have — God help me — become involved in your problems. I want my cut. That, my dear, is for you to live. You love him, right?" Tears and a nod answered his question. "Then live for him, my dear." He patted her on the shoulder. "Now let's find your psuedo-sisters, here. I have some questions for them, too."
oOo
A little later, Akane and Barry entered the dojo. Ranma was on a ladder checking the beams above the drop ceiling.
"I was right!" exclaimed the martial artist. "There were cracked beams here. One must have come down through the ceiling and hit the floor of the dojo."
"It did," Barry confirmed. "Nabiki and Kasumi say that there was in effect an earthquake that wrecked the place. The beam that hit the dojo floor, nearly took out something else." He glanced to one side at Akane. Ranma frowned not getting it. "I have additional if still incomplete observations for your benefit," he added pompously. Akane giggled faintly.
Ranma glanced at her and then scowled at Barry. "Don't be like Kuno."
"The swordsman you mentioned? I hope I'm more on track than that," Barry smiled at Akane then glanced at Ranma. "Remember we agreed the parts of the house and grounds represented different parts of Akane's body? Well, the people here represent things, too. Kasumi cooks and cleans and does the laundry and the domestic chores. In a word she handles the digestive system. Nabiki said she deals in fiancés or resources. Try the nervous system. You, Ranma, slid into one ready made. You're the immune system. Akane here is the circulatory system — the heart. She travels every where within the boundaries but is most often found here, as she nearly was when that beam came down."
Ranma looked pale. "What about the muscles?" Ranma asked.
"Soun Tendo. I know he's up in his room most of the time, but let's face it, he's pretty much out of it at this point just like Akane is in life."
"What about Mrs. Tendo?" Ranma saw Akane's look and wished he could bite his tongue. "Um…"
"Who?" Barry looked perplexed. Then he smiled. "Is that the crazy woman with the sword who wants to kill you?"
Ranma winced. "No… That's my mom. And, uh… she reallydoesn't wanna kill me. It was a big misunderstandin'."
"Oh…" Barry looked suitably embarrassed.
"Baka…" muttered Akane.
"You can talk?" Ranma exclaimed, the hair standing up on his head.
"Baka, baka, baka…" Akane repeated dismally. Tears dripped down.
"Oh," Ranma almost looked relieved, though. "And here I thought there was something wrong. I wonder why she just says 'baka' though?" He eyed Barry as the latter produced a glass of water out of thin air and upended it on his head, going girl. "Wadja do that for?"
"There have been times I've been embarrassed to be a man. This is the first time I could do something about it."
"Baka!" Akane screamed in Ranma's ear. "I'm right here! You don't have to talk about me as if I wasn't!"
"Akane?" Ranma whispered.
"Yes… Akane! I can't believe how insensitive you are! You spent all of ten minutes crying on my shoulder and then pretended I wasn't here! Oooh!"
"Akane?" Ranma gulped. "You're not just a… an analog?"
"You stupid, stupid… Boy!" Akane snapped. For a moment, Ranma was sure the mallet was coming out. "I just found out what you've done and I'm mad!" Tears flowed freely now. "How can you be so… so… when I've been such a miserable bitch! It isn't fair!"
"I love you," Ranma said. "Akane, I love you. I should have told you what I was feeling…"
Akane stared at him. Her mouth worked.
"She loves you too," Barry piped up.
"Will you shut up?" Akane snarled. "How am I going to get him to leave if…" She glanced guiltily at the pigtailed boy.
"Fat chance, getting' me ta go, even if I hadn't heard that," Ranma commented. His lips smirked but there was a sad hangdog quality about it. "Barry, can we have some privacy?"
Barry shrugged. To her eyes, though they were not touching, they might as well have been in a passionate embrace. "Have fun, kids. And remember, this is a dream." She wandered out and back to the house.
"Akane, I…"
"Ranma, if…" They kissed lightly then, by common consent. Then they embraced and did it again. As the second kiss broke, Akane whispered, "What did he mean 'a dream'?"
"To Barry, it is." Ranma kissed her hungrily again, very certain now where this was going. "But since you're awake in it, I wanted to tell ya somethin'."
"What?" asked Akane, a little breathless. Though Ranma's hands were firmly on her back, the slight kneading motions were beginning to send hot flashes through her.
"When we... did it..." Ranma gulped. "When..." 'Damn this was hard.' "...When you made love to me, it scared the hell outa me."
"What?" Akane looked hurt. She had tried so hard. "But I tried to make it as nice..." His finger silenced her lips.
"I know. And it was. Very nice. Too nice." He took a deep breath. "Ya know, Hiroshi and Daisuke used to ask me what it was like bein' a girl. I never paid no mind -- I mean balance is different. Yer boobs hurt if ya jump around a lot..."
"Ranma..." Akane giggled, her hand on his firm very male chest.
"But anytime they talked about sex..." He quieted her again as her temper flared. "I dodged the question. Wouldn't think about it. It wasn't gonna happen. But then it did happen. And it wasn't what I expected at all."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning in and tucking her head under his chin.
"Nah... That's not right. I think I knew. Underneath it all it was the difference between guys and girls. And its a big one."
Akane looked up questioningly.
"Guys want control. We want to lead in the dances. Ya know? We feel good when we're in charge, or think we are.
"And that especially deals with... sex. Girls want... I dunno... not controled, but..." He looked down in her eyes. "Cherished..."
Akane hugged him hard. "Cherished..." she agreed. She stiffened even as he spoke on.
"You made me feel cherished. Protected." She reached up and touched the tear that finally broke free. "But I'm the one... The one who's supposed to protect! To defend!" He shook his head slightly. "A guy reacts; a girl responds."
"Shhh..." Akane put a finger to his lips. "I think I understand now. But just so you know, I've always felt that way about you."
"Huh?"
"I am cherished. I cherish you," she responded simply.
He crushed her against him, relishing everything about her. He felt her hugging back and it was enough. It was the answer he needed.
After a long undefined moment he broke their mutual hug a little and said, "By the way, Shampoo and Cologne declared you an Amazon with full rights and privileges just before I came in here. That's why Granny could tell me how to save you." He kissed her lightly on the nose, making her eyes cross. "I never woulda thought I'd be willingly marryin' an Amazon."
Akane looked puzzled then smiled. "Just so long as it's this Amazon, Airen…" Her smile grew pixyish. "Wo ai ni…"
"Now stop that!" he chuckled. But she kept repeating the phrase Shampoo had plagued him with in a high-pitched, baby-girl little singsong, interspacing each phrase with a kiss to cheek, lower lip, nose, neck… whatever she could reach. "Grrr!" He captured her mouth with his own again, and they sank toward the floor. Neither was surprised when clothes seemed to vanish.
oOo
In the house Barry was waiting for hot water. "Kasumi, how does Ranma do that trick with his eyes?" Kasumi looked puzzled. "You know the x-ray vision thingy he does that lets him find damage even when it's out of sight."
"His ki-vision?" Kasumi finished putting away some cleaning supplies. "I really don't know. I can't do it myself."
"Can we talk beyond your role, dear? You're also a part of Ranma and Akane's vision and I think they're a little too busy to tell me right now." Barry huffed, then 'huffed' again feeling the odd pulling at her shirt front, her legs clasping tight at missing pieces. "I never thought of doing this before," she muttered.
"I think you'd have to understand about yin and yang, first," Kasumi offered as a starting point.
"Taoism? I've read a little about it. It never really impressed me though," the neo-girl said.
"Yin and yang are symbols used in many Eastern philosophies, Barry. Even the Amazons use it. It signifies balanced principles rather than gender-specific roles, principles that are in harmony in all of us, or not. If not, there are problems."
"Okay. As a philosophical concept that seems pretty reasonable. Sort of like, law vs. chaos."
"It also defines the harmonies of our spirits," she added with a slight rebuke. "What Ranma does, he says, are projective ki techniques flowing out of the astral level of his aura. The aura has five parts: physical, humors, astral, mental and spiritual. They are represented by the five elements…"
"Four," Barry said automatically.
"Five," she corrected gently. "Remember, in Eastern philosophy you are dealing with totality and concepts, not observations of physical reality. We don't mean quite the same thing by 'element'. Earth, water, air and fire do very well describing physical states of matter, but are soulless. We use, earth, metal, water, wood and fire. Remember, these are philosophical concepts that are applied to many different things."
"Okay…" Barry conceded and subsided.
"Earth and metal are very substantial. Changes made to earth tend to be permanent. If a rock is broken, it cannot be reformed. Changes made to metal can also be permanent but are often reversible, just as metal is malleable, melt-able and flexible. Water… is water." Kasumi took the steaming kettle off the stove and changed Barry back. "It can be shaped by rock or metal, yet it is ultimately malleable. It is difficult to hold it to a form but it permeates everything. It represents our emotions as well. It also is the boundary, or the glue if you like, between body and spirit. Wood is the mind. Memories are carved on its surface, a record of the life you live, growing, living and ultimately dying in the fires of the spirit. The ashes are offered up to new life in the next generation. Wood is like metal. It is workable and changeable, if in a different way. Fire is like earth…"
"How? You can't break fire like a rock," Barry protested.
"No, but earth can smother fire. Fire can crack the rock. Both changes are undoable.
"Hmmm…" Barry thought about her ideas. "But how does this relate to that ki vision?"
"Ranma's ki vision grew out of philosophies like these. I really only gave you a very simple… summary."
"How do Oriental elements relate to yin and yang?"
"Think of the elements as spokes on a wheel."
"Five spokes?"
"Four, the axle is usually considered to be earth."
Barry considered that. "But does that fit? I mean… If earth represents stability… Ranma's life seems anything but stable."
Kasumi nodded and sighed moving back toward the sink. "That's true enough. Perhaps in Ranma's life, he has somehow been given a different center than the rest of us?" She paused considering that idea. "Perhaps for Ranma, water is his center. His axle is made up of his emotions rather than his flesh?"
"I never noticed water being good for an axle," he quipped.
"Barry…" she chided. She added more water to the kettle and adjusted the heat on the stove.
"Sorry. Ice could make a good axle… at certain temperatures."
"Actually, it might be a very good analogy," she said with uncustomary heat. "It's the same yet different. Earth, metal, wood and fire lend themselves to water in the wheel of life. They all strengthen it. Water lends to them certain characteristics and buffers them from each other. Earth can bring forth life with water and the application of wood or metal. Metal becomes tools with fire, quenched by water. Wood can be warped into new shapes by water, then dried and hardened by fire, or shaped by the rough surface of earth." She nodded as he frowned. And the Taoof yin and yang overlay these like a cover on the wheel of a parade cart." A deep sigh left her as they considered the odd arrangement of Ranma's being.
"Urrr…" Barry rubbed his temples. "This feels familiar somehow."
"You were here before, Barry," Kasumi reminded him. "And I think it was you personally, not some alternate version of you. You changed when you hit water just like you did when you were using Ranma's body."
"That makes sense of a sort," he grudgingly admitted. "But why can't I remember?"
"Perhaps the writing is too fine for you to read?" she suggested. "You spent four months here compared to one week for Ranma. Try packing twelve times the amount of information that you normally do, onto one page of paper. He couldn't remember anything that happened in the time he'd been gone, until he read the journal you left him."
"I see. It gave him the perspective to regain his memories." Barry let his head sink on his hands. "And Gwen said I was acting weird that week. I put it down to being upset with Bob. But if Ranma were controlling my body and just left memories of what was done, not memories of why… It would fit." He groaned and rose to his feet. "I can't waste time then. If this is reality as opposed to a dream, their lives are at stake."
"So you've decided it's not a dream?" asked Kasumi.
"I'm going to go fix that privacy fence," Barry said noncommittally. "Can you come out there and talk?
"Of course. I have some sewing to do."
Once there, Barry immediately began running his hands over individual panels of the fence, smoothing the breaks and refitting pieces back together. "It's funny. I have all this lumber from my place, but we've never used it for anything except bracing. We've always repaired the original. That's not how I would have done it."
"Rejection, perhaps?" Kasumi commented from her seat by the pond. "You are from a different world. I would trust Ranma's instincts."
"Better his than mine." Slowly the fence came up.
Barry was almost finished repairing the fence when the scream rang out from the dojo. "RraaANNMMAAaaaa…!" It ended on a high warbling note that trailed off into silence.
Kasumi leaped to her feet, eyes huge. "Akane!" she gasped.
Barry listened to the tones. "Ummm… Yeah, I guess so," he said a bit awkwardly. Grinning, he went back to work. Kasumi stared at him in confusion. "Don't worry; Ranma's with her. Sounds like they're mending a few fences of their own."
In Akane's hospital room, Tofu, Shampoo, Nodoka and several nurses struggled to keep the two bed-ridden teenagers from tearing out their monitor leads with their thrashing. "What's happening?" Nodoka demanded of Cologne, who stood nearby, quietly. "They were doing just fine! What's wrong?"
Cologne's eyebrow cocked up and she considered her words carefully. "Nothing, I think. Children do require some time to play."
They continued to stare at her as she left the room. Nodoka was the first to finally understood, and brought her hands up to her face. "Oh, my! He must have been very 'manly' with her." Shampoo and Tofu exchanged glances and colored. The others slunk out, very embarrassed, followed by Ranma's mother, who was exuberant. Kasumi met them in the hall and glanced, puzzled, at Tofu. He tried to brush off her inquiry, but Shampoo, somewhat aggrieved, put her two yuan's worth in. "Ranma and Akane fool around in dream world! Aiya! Must go at it like rabbits!"
Kasumi blanched, then snickered, both at her own reaction and Tofu's.
"Like rabbits," Nodoka smiled. They all began to attempt to regain their public faces and their serenity. But they did it in the hall. This was a little too much for them to take.
Which was unfortunate. A shadow slipped in from the window...