I don't know where I am,

And I don't really care,

I look myself in the eye,

There's no one there.

I fall upon the earth,

I call upon the air,

But all I get is the same old vacant stare.

- Crystal Ball by Keane

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Nodoka spends days looking at the photographs, holding them up so that they fit in the space in her house from where they were taken. Thanking the kami that the new tenants weren't moving in for several months, she knows she has a lot to ponder.

The dates, the photographs, that they're taken in this house and the Tendou dojo, the girl's similar features to her, the closeness the picture of her and the girl shows makes Nodoka long for something. Like there's a hole in her life. The hole there's been ever since the miscarriage and subsequent finding out of her unsuitability to bear children. Genma's cruelty and her finally throwing him out and divorcing him publicly as the honourless cur he is.

But she always felt a hole in her life. Even when Kimiko came round, packed all of her things up and all but frog-marched her to the Tendou home to live there with them and help raise the girls, even raising those three now lovely young women, there was a hole, and she recognises it as the lack of her own child.

The girl. The girl with red hair. She has to be Nodoka's baby, somehow not dead in a miscarriage but alive. But how? She knows she didn't birth the baby, it was far, far too early for any baby to survive birth when the pregnancy failed. Yet this photograph shows a healthy girl with her mother.

With Nodoka.

Nodoka holds the wallet and purses her lips. She feels like reality has slipped. Like it's changing beyond what it should be. Whispers of something off in the world constantly hound her now.

Shaking her head, she stands and then dons her most formal kimono. She should seek the wisdom of someone versed in things like magic. The Elder who runs the Nekohanten nearby probably has some knowledge in magic, and magic seems to be the case. Nodoka isn't someone who doesn't believe in magic; she knows all too well that the supernatural dwells partially out of sight. Some of the things she's had to fight…

She brings the photo wallet and the empty bentou box with her and makes her way. Peeking in, she sees it's a slow afternoon and nods to herself, stepping in with a smile. Seeing the lovely purple-haired girl and her husband manning the room, she bows. "May I speak with Elder Kuh Lon please, dear? It's regarding some strange magic."

The girl smiles at Nodoka and nods. "I will get her. Airen can serve food in meantime."

Nodoka inclines her head and orders a bowl of noodles to enjoy while she waits. Not too long later, a wizened, elderly lady hops up next to Nodoka on her cane and looks sharply at the auburn-haired woman.

"My great-granddaughter tells me you require my assistance, child?"

Nodoka bristles slightly but remembers that the elder lady probably does see her as a child given her age and experience. "Greetings Elder Kuh Lon, I do indeed seek the aid of one with knowledge of magic."

"Oho, magic is it?"

"Indeed." Nodoka finishes her noodles and wipes her mouth. She puts the photo wallet and the bentou on the table, in a carrier bag, but doesn't take them out yet. "Tell me, how can someone have been born and yet not been born?"

Cologne laughs. "Ah, a paradox! Well, there are certainly ways to change things, though none are perfect. The nanban mirror for instance."

Nodoka nods. "I met a girl. A girl I have never seen in my life before, yet my heart sang on seeing her as if there were a hole in the world for me that she slotted into perfectly. A missing piece of a jigsaw. And yet, again, I had not met her before."

Cologne's eyebrows raise. "A remnant perhaps." She muses. Nodoka looks curious but doesn't ask.

"And then there is this." She pulls the wallet out and puts it on the table, opening it. Cologne takes a look, and then understanding dawns in her eyes.

"Oh, it was that Remnant. They're rare enough that I thought it was her."

"Who is she, Elder?"

"She's your daughter." A new voice enters the conversation, and the two turn to see a girl with reddish-brown hair holding a strange little tentacle creature. She wears a lot of purple and her teeth are sharp, bared in a mocking grin at Cologne. "I wondered which of you screwed up my plan."

The girl approaches and Cologne's stick lashes out to bonk her. The girl halts it with a finger that has crystal talon instead of fingernail. "None of that, girl." The brunette's little companion chirps. "You said it, Bob."

"Who are you?" Nodoka asks, trying to stay polite.

"Rachel Turner. Or I guess in your local way of putting it, Turner Rachel. I'm a magical girl angel. If you can believe the angel part anyway. I'm not far off apotheosis but still have a few decades yet to catch up on my mentor."

"What?"

Cologne tries to take her stick back, but Rachel wrenches it off her and inspects it. "Chi reinforced. Nice. Might let you have it back once you listen to me and apologise for messing my wonderfully neat plan up."

"Plan?"

"Oh yeah, you see I wasn't happy with what happened to little miss Ranko. So, I was working in the background, pushing her and her friend together so that she could have some happiness. I didn't expect a child with no more heart than an insect has to screw that up." She looks to Cologne.

"Child? I tell you now, girlie, I am over three hund-"

"Be. Quiet." Rachel's voice is dark, commanding and menacing, a touch of other voices on the edge of them. Reality shivers about her a moment. "I am more than five hundred years old, child, I can call you that, I think."

Nodoka looks to the young-looking girl, then the Amazon elder and can't help but titter nervously. "You look good for it."

"I've aged well." The girl says to Nodoka in friendlier tones. She actually smiles at the auburn-haired woman, then returns to glaring at Cologne. "Questions?" Cologne shakes her head. "Good. Now, if she ever comes here again, feed her and give her a place to stay and let her mother know. She can take it from there." Rachel's eyes shine a dark purple. "And if I hear you haven't done so if she does, I'll be upset."

There's a poof of pink smoke and a tiny girl with pink hair appears. To Nodoka's shock, Cologne immediately bows to her. "K-Kami-sama!" She stutters. "We didn't expect…"

The pinkette smiles softly. "No one ever does, dear." She says. Then she puts a hand on Rachel's arm. "You're bending the limits, Rachel."

"I know, I'm just pissed off. Had a whole plan for those two disasters and everything."

"It will come. For now… Miss Nodoka?" The pinkette turns, ignoring the still kowtowing Cologne. "I'm afraid we'll need to go to your house, and you might be out of it for a month or two, but trust me, it'll be better. Is that OK?" Nodoka nods blankly. "Great!" And the tiny goddess takes her hand and leads her out. Rachel follows behind, throwing rude gestures at Cologne until the pink-haired one tells her to stop in a resigned tone.

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Ranko stares at the bag of oranges as it slides towards her, dropped out of a shopping bag. Her stomach aches and she almost drools. Painfully, she leans down and picks it up. Looking to and fro, for a second, she reaches to open it. Then she sees the person who dropped it and she's filled with disgust at herself.

"E-excuse me?" She asks politely of the woman, who turns and eyes her ragged overalls. Ranko holds out the oranges. "You d-dropped these from your shopping bag, Ma'am."

The lady takes them, eyeing her suspiciously. Ranko bows and moves away, closing her eyes and finding a bench to sit at.

How long has it been now? A month? A month and a half? Like before, all she can do is to count between meals, though even that's hazy now.

Later that evening, she's sat in her cubby-hole and she hears a woman yelling. She leans out and sees her being accosted by two very uncouth-looking gentlemen.

Silently dropping to the ground, she moves nearby stealthily and watches as one of them paws at the woman while she struggles. Ranko's eyes harden. A lady doesn't fight unless needed, and right now it's needed.

She moves in nearby and the men look up, the woman pleading to Ranko to get away as she walks towards them. She still feels light-headed, but the battle-aura running through her seems to be feeding her energy.

"Please let her go." Ranko says in a quiet, disused voice.

The men look at each other and laugh.

Ranko shrugs and walks up to them.

They aren't laughing after she deposits them in a pile on the floor against a wall, pressure points on their legs pressed so they won't be standing anytime soon. Ranko glares at them. "Don't come around here again." She spits. She turns to the lady and smiles. "Hello, Ma'am. Sorry about that. They clearly don't know they shouldn't be here."

The woman stares at the tiny redhead in front of her in the dirty pink overalls, and just nods. "Th-thank you." She says. Ranko smiles and bows.

"Excuse me, I'm going to deposit them at the police box." And Ranko grabs the two by the back of their collars and proceeds to do so, knocking on the door. The woman follows, now curious, as Ranko puts the men down and explains to the policeman that they'd attempted assault on the lady and that she had set off pressure points to stop them walking.

Once the men are arrested and taken away, she turns to the woman again. "Will you be safe, Ma'am?" The woman nods and Ranko smiles at her. "Good."

"Thank you again…" The woman says, bowing, and then looks up. The girl is gone.

Back in the attic above the abandoned shop she'd taken for her own, Ranko curls up. She knows she's probably not going to survive for very long like this. The hunger is so, so painful, and it's taking more effort to run through any exercises to keep her chi flowing.

But on the other hand, she's finding it hard to care. She won't voluntarily kill herself. She promised Ryouga back… when? A month? A year? A lifetime ago? She'd promised her Ryouga that she'd not do it again. And even though he (she?) doesn't exist anymore, at least she can keep that promise.0

But she never promised to not stop herself dying. And she knows she's on borrowed time, on the verge of starvation at all times. The meagre food she manages to get from dropped change won't really fill her belly.

It only staves off the inevitable and she doesn't care. Maybe when she dies, she can see everyone again.

She found this cubby-hole and simply moved her things in. She's helped people around the district when they've been threatened, and she can hear it. Those few moments of helping people remind her of why Ranma learned the Art, and why even if she hates fighting or hurting people she still does too.

At least she remembers pressure points better than Ranma had, else it might get messy, and it won't be long before she'll be out of luck, or energy, or both. And she's made peace with that, looks forward to it even. But she can at least make herself useful by helping people in the meantime.

The next day she takes a walk with her pack. She doesn't know really where she's going until she runs out of energy.

It's still early in the morning, and she's near a park somewhere. She thinks she's still in Nerima, but she sits on a bench and closes her eyes a moment, trying not to let the black morass of her thoughts overwhelm her.

"Hey there, sugar, y'ok?" Ranko looks up from where she's, rubbing her arms to stave off the cold. She looks into the eyes of Kuonji Ukyou. The familiar spike in her heart barely even registers anymore, though she's surprised to see Ukyou here. Wherever here is, she guesses. She hadn't really been paying attention.

She sees a familiar, beaten up yatai and blinks. Of course, without her here Genma wouldn't have run off with it. She can't see Ukyou's father but that might be because she's out here learning her trade alone. Well, not alone, she sees a familiar kunoichi standing in her gorgeous kimono and serving okonomiyaki already.

Is she a she here or has she realised, or is she simply a boy who enjoys cross-dressing? Ranko wonders a moment before shaking her head. It doesn't matter.

"I'm fine." She says softly, looking down. "I'm sorry to have been a bother."

Ukyou frowns, and Ranko looks up at her. Ukyou looks… good. Not dressed as a boy, not having to wear a gakuran. She's dressed very prettily. "Well, can I getcha an okonomiyaki at all? Cute gal like yourself deserves a treat!"

Ranko's stomach grumbles a moment, and she tries to quell it. The gnawing ache gets harder and harder to ignore every day. "I haven't enough money." She says softly. "Sorry."

Ukyou frowns as she takes in the sunken cheeks of the girl, her gaunt appearance and the dirt on her overalls. She looks at the pack the girl has, and the hollowness in her eyes. The air of isolation. Homeless?

Ukyou's eyes soften as she reaches a hand out. "Well, lucky for you I got some batter and toppings that are just shy'a spoilin', so ya'd be doin' me a favour if you had a couple."

Ranko looks at the hand dumbly. Ukyou is still wonderful, lovely Ukyou. Always ready to jump in to help. Guilt wells up in her. "I c-couldn't possibly…"

"Nah, you totally could." Ukyou says and reaches down to help Ranko to her feet. Ranko sways a moment, dizziness washing over her and a whistling sounding in her ears before she shakes her head. Now she has a headache on top of the gnawing pain in her tummy. "Woof, you alright? You're really light."

Ranko nods vaguely as Ukyou leads her by the hand over to the small table set by the yatai. Ukyou all but pushes her onto the fold-out chair and gently boots her pack underneath. "I'll make you a special with all of the toppings that are goin' bad."

Ranko nods, looking at the table, guilt all over her features, though she hardly notices, the cloak of numbness still wrapped around her.

Ukyou heads to the grill on the yatai as Konatsu looks the redhead over as she slumps on the chair, dazed. "She looks a mess, the poor dear." The kunoichi says softly. "Homeless? She looks like she's starving. And I don't mean in the 'I'm really hungry' way, I mean in the 'to death' way."

Ukyou nods. "She refused food as well until I insisted and even then I suspect we'll have trouble feeding her. She's got that air you used to have. The whole 'I don't matter and don't deserve things' one."

Konatsu blushes as she sighs. "Poor girl." She says with empathy in her voice. "It took you ages to break me of the habit, and you were very persistent. That and the hormones help me feel a little less horrible."

Ukyou smiles at her girlfriend. "Ah well, Kona-honey, you know I love you. Least we can do for the poor lass is feed her a bit." She starts pouring the batter onto the griddle, making an extra large okonomiyaki, on which she puts the most nutritious foods she can. Konatsu purses her lips as she sees the size of the okonomiyaki Ukyou's making.

"What is it?"

"We need to ask how long it's been since she ate."

"Why?"

"Refeeding syndrome." Konatsu says, sadly. "If someone is literally starving to death and they eat too much at once their body can't handle it."

"Really?"

"Really. It could kill her if her body's in starvation mode. Trust me, I'm… familiar with it."

Ukyou curses under her breath. "Should we get her to a hospital?"

Konatsu shrugs. "I don't know, Ucchan. She's still moving and walking so I don't know if she's that far gone. But Perhaps give it to her in a box and tell her to eat it a small bit at a time. It should keep a few days at least."

Ukyou nods. "Right you are, sugar." She says, flipping the huge pancake over and continuing to cook it. She puts it into a takeaway box and then makes a much, much smaller one which she puts on a paper plate and slides in front of the girl as she sits down.

Ranko looks at it, trembling hands reaching for the chopsticks Ukyou holds out. Ukyou smiles at her. "You want to be careful eatin', sugar, if you've not for a while. Small bits over time, alright?" She puts the boxed okonomiyaki down. "Eat this over the next couple of days. Slowly, and small bits at a time, or you'll get sick."

Ranko nods, eating the tiny okonomiyaki she'd been given daintily. She wonders if she should feel like she wants to cry – all she feels is numb, empty. She's felt like this for a while, cold. Like something inside her finally broke and now she's just an automaton running on outdated systems that don't know they should have stopped.

Ukyou smiles at her and hands over a card. "I'm Kuonji Ukyou, sugar."

"R-Ranko." The redhead says softly, her voice rusty.

"Pleased to meet you. You got a place to stay?"

Ranko looks up and nods. Ukyou senses she's telling the truth, though she doesn't realise said truth is that she has a hole in the attic of an abandoned shop in which she waits to die.

"Good thing. Well, I'll be movin' nearby and settin' up an okonomiyaki place, it's in my blood. Can't work from a yatai forever!" Ukyou grins at Ranko. "If you need a hot dinner, hit me up alright, sugar?"

No. "O-okay." Ranko says, finishing the last of the okonomiyaki and standing up, bowing. "Th-thank you for the okonomiyaki, Kuonji-san." She says softly, still in that rusty voice.

She makes to walk away but Ukyou stops her and presses the box into her hands. "Eat this slowly, a small bit at a time, over the next few days okay sugar? It should keep a little."

Ranko stammers, but walks off with the box, still feeling numb.

She's still numb as she looks at the box in her cubby-hole when she returns.