Chapter 62 The Secret of the Forest
Author's note: I have changed the way I handle flashbacks in this story. They are now written in italics.
Ranma grinned as he heard a familiar voice cry, "Where am I now, anyway?" He looked up to see Ryoga wandering toward him and called, "Hey, Ryoga, how've you been?"
Ryoga stopped and asked, "Ranma, why are you in Osaka?"
"Osaka? No, this is Nerima, baka," Ranma said, with a grin, "Glad you're back. Ukyo has been going crazy. So what happened to you?"
"I don't know. I was minding my own business, heading to the market to get some things for the restaurant, and then next thing I knew I was in a small town just outside Asahikawa, where I ran into my parents. They were celebrating their anniversary, a bit late mind you. What was the name of that town? It had this funny tower, leaning sort of sideways, and a real funny name. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I left them and headed here to Osaka, only I guess I ended up here instead," Ryoga replied, a bit sheepishly.
Ranma scratched his head as his wife giggled. "Come on, Ranma, let's get him back to Ukyo before he ends up in a small town outside of Kyoto, with a big bridge over a bay," Akane said, straight-faced.
Ranma grinned back at her and said, "Well, that's a good idea, but I'm not going to hold his hand. Two guys, do you know what that would do…" He was interrupted by a splash, as a rickshaw came roaring by, soaking both Ranma and Ryoga, transforming them into a pair of busty girls. Ranma sighed in resignation, "Never mind." Ranma and Akane grabbed Ryoga by the hand, and the three girls headed off toward the café.
"She isn't mad at me, is she? I have been gone for several days," Ryoga asked, a bit anxiously, "And even with Lime's help, it can't be easy for her to handle school, Yuki, and the café all at the same time. I promised I would be there for her, and I wasn't."
"Angry, no I wouldn't think she was angry," Akane said, reassuringly, "And she said she had hired some girl to help her."
"And Mom stops in from time to time to help out, too," Ranma said, "She does have a granddaughter to spoil, after all. And Genko, oddly enough, doesn't mind babysitting."
"You're letting your father baby-sit my daughter?" Ryoga asked, screeching to a halt.
"No, I'm letting my little sister baby-sit," Ranma replied, "And I wasn't asked anyway. That was all Ucchan and Mom, not me."
"Yeah, you should have seen his reaction the first time he found out about it," Akane said, giggling.
"I can imagine," Ryoga said.
"They had to talk real fast to convince me that it wasn't a bad idea, that's for sure," Ranma said, a bit defensively, "Too many flashbacks to all of the dumb things the old man did to me growing up. But, I hate to admit it, she's actually pretty good with Yuki. She reads to her, plays with her some, and everything. It's really sort of cute."
"Yeah, she'll make a good mother some day," Akane said.
"Now that's just wrong," Ranma and Ryoga said in unison.
They arrived at the café and opened the door, with Akane and Ranma going in first.
Ukyo looked up from her grill when the bell tinkled over the door, and saw two familiar girls walk in. "Hey, Akane, Ranchan, welcome back. Where have you two been?" she asked.
"Had to take care of some business in Ryugenzawa," Akane replied, "But that's not important at the moment." The two girls stepped aside, and Ukyo saw the third girl that had been hiding behind them, gazing sheepishly at the ground.
"Ryoga!" Ukyo exclaimed, exploding from around the grill, and rushing to her wife. Before Ryoga could react, Ukyo hit her over the head with her spatula, and then dropped the spatula and kissed her, several times.
When Ryoga finally had a chance to speak, she asked, "Why did you hit me?"
"For disappearing like you did," Ukyo replied, "I was so worried about you. And you've been gone for days."
"I thought you said she wasn't angry?" Ryoga asked, rubbing the top of her head.
"I guess I was wrong," Akane replied, "Well, Ranma, our job is done. And I don't know about you, but I really want to get back home, and these two have some catching up to do, I bet."
Ranma grinned and replied, "You just want to be able to take a real bath. That barrel just wasn't good enough."
"Not enough room to share, that's for sure," Akane retorted.
"We'll see you two later," Ranma began, only to see that Ukyo wasn't really paying attention as she was pulling Ryoga toward the stairs that led to their apartment. Chuckling, the two girls left the café.
Konatsu turned to Lime and asked, "Who was that?"
"That was Ukyo-sama's husband, Ryoga, Yuki's father," Lime replied.
"But that was a girl!" Konatsu exclaimed.
Lime giggled and then replied, "True. Remember when they told you about Ranma-sama and his curse. Well, Hibiki-san has the same curse."
"Oh, so he's also a guy who turns into a girl," Konatsu said, "That just seems, I don't know, odd, I guess."
"That may be true. The other thing that I am glad of is that they spent some money and soundproofed their room," Lime said, with a wink.
Konatsu giggled and said, "Now that you mention it, so am I." She sighed heavily then as she thought about her own unrequited feelings.
Akane raced through the gate, laughing, with Ranma close behind her, and continued up to the front door. She opened the door, walked in, and kicked off her shoes, calling, "We're home!"
Her father walked around the corner and cried, "Ranma, Akane, you're back! Where have you been? I was so worried about you!" He rushed over and hugged them both, causing Akane to roll her eyes.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed in fond exasperation, "We were only gone a few days."
"Right, and its not like we were off fighting some monster or anything," Ranma quipped, trading an amused look with his wife.
"But the note you left said something about Monster Control calling and asking for your help," Soun said, befuddled.
"It's called a joke, Daddy," Akane replied, rolling her eyes once more at his cluelessness.
"Tell me all about what you two did then," Soun demanded.
"Maybe at dinner," Ranma said, "It's not so interesting a story that we want to tell it more than once."
"What we want to do right now is take a bath," Akane added, "Hopefully we'll have time."
"I'll go turn on the furo, while you two take your things upstairs," Soun said, "And I'll let Kasumi know that you are home."
"Thanks, Daddy," Akane said, as she and her husband headed up the stairs, while Soun headed down the hallway, first to stop at the kitchen to find Kasumi, and then to head to the furoba.
A much happier, as well as a much satiated,Ukyo clattered down the stairs from her apartment, her face flushed, and her lips puffed up, with her now male husband following behind with a silly grin on his face. As they reached the bottom, and walked through the curtain hiding the entrance to the stairs from the café, Ryoga noticed a very attractive young woman wearing a kimono waiting on the customers.
"Who's that?" he asked quietly.
Ukyo replied, "That's Konatsu. I hired her to help out in the café, especially since Lime is getting close to her due date."
"Good, I was worried that you might have been overwhelmed with everything once I wandered off," Ryoga said.
They watched as Konatsu headed over to talk briefly to Lime who was manning the grill, obviously passing on the orders she had picked up. Ryoga started in surprise at something.
"Konatsu has been such a big help around here, and she and Lime have gotten pretty close," Ukyo said, "Though I am worried about her just a little. I've heard her crying a few times in the bathroom, but when I ask her what's wrong or if I can help she just smiles sadly and says there's nothing anyone can do to fix what's wrong."
"Watch how Konatsu gazes at Lime, and I think you'll figure it out," Ryoga suggested quietly.
Ukyo watched for a few moments, and then gasped as she saw the look of yearning in Konatsu's eyes. "Oh my, oh dear, oh my stars," she said.
"Since when did you start channeling Kasumi?" Ryoga teased.
"I never would have thought that could happen. She's in love with Lime, isn't she?" Ukyo said.
"Sort of looks that way to me," Ryoga replied. As Konatsu turned and walked away into the back kitchen, he noticed something else and began to chuckle.
"What's so funny? This is an unmitigated disaster, she's a girl, and so is Lime," Ukyo asked.
"I don't think it's as bad as you think it is. Besides, Ranma and I are both part-time girls ourselves, remember?" Ryoga said.
"That's sort of different. You're still male inside though," Ukyo said.
Ryoga grinned at her, and said, "Only mentally. Physically I'm just as much a woman when I change as you are. But that really isn't the issue here anyway. You've made an assumption about Konatsu. An understandable one, but a mistaken one as well."
"What assumption is that?" Ukyo asked.
"That Konatsu is female," Ryoga said, as Ukyo's jaw dropped. At that moment, their brief quiet time ended as a flood of new customers entered the café, causing Lime to shoot a panicked look of appeal in their direction.
"We'll talk more about it later," Ryoga promised as the two of them headed toward the new guests.
Kasumi finished bringing in the last of the food to the table, as she had prepared a veritable feast to welcome the young couple home from their last adventure. Ranma glanced around at the groaning table and grinned. Akane grinned back at him and said, "You have to save some of this for the rest of us."
Ranma pretended to look affronted and replied, "I'm not my father."
In unison, the entire family exclaimed, "Thank Kami for that," and then laughed.
"You know, it really feels good to be home," Ranma said.
"Sleeping in our own bed, soaking in a real furo, eating a good meal, surrounded by our loved ones, yeah, it doesn't get much better than this," Akane added in agreement.
Soun poured out small cups of saké and handed them out, though Kasumi passed, pointing to her child.
"We are celebrating tonight, the return of my daughter and her husband," Soun said.
"Soun, we were only gone a few days," Ranma grumbled, as he sipped his drink.
"Tell us about your journey," Hinako asked, "The note that Akane left was a bit cryptic. 'Going to Ryugenzawa to fight monsters,' indeed! You had us worried to death."
Akane sighed and said, "Well, in a way this is a story that started a long time ago. Remember that time we spent there, when I got lost in the forest?"
"Yes, your mother and I were beside ourselves with worry," Soun replied.
"I was attacked by a gigantic beast, and a young boy saved me. But in the process, he was badly injured. I helped him return to his grandfather's house, and then he sent me back to the village," Akane said, her eyes bright with the memories of that time. She sighed and said, "I had actually forgotten all about that, it was so long ago, but remember we saw that newscast about monsters roaming near Ryugenzawa, and that night I sort of remembered. Then I got that phone call from Monster Control, and I knew that I had to go and help."
"And I wasn't about to let her go somewhere without me," Ranma said, "She's good, but she was going to get my help."
"I wouldn't expect any less of you, son," Soun said simply.
Ranma blushed and said, "Well, anyway, we took the train to Ryugenzawa, and started making our way into the forest." As he continued to talk, the audience could almost see what occurred as if they had been there.
As the train began to pull into the station, Ranma said, not for the first time, "I'm still not really sure why we are coming out here anyway and I definitely think we should have left a better note."
"Well, monster control is the responsibility of a martial artist," Akane replied, once more.
"Oh, I agree with that, but ever since you got that phone call, you've been just a little off," Ranma replied,
Akane got a pensive look on her face and finally said, "I wonder about that too. But there's something nagging at me about this place, some memory that I can't recall that feels somehow very important. And then there was that hornpipe that we spent a good two hours looking for before we found it in that box of memories. Why did I think that was so important?"
The two of them fell silent as they pondered those questions, only to stop as the train came to a halt. Gathering their things, the young couple exited the train. Ranma and Akane left the train station and headed into the small dusty village, where they found a crowd of people milling around a small building labeled 'RYUGENZAWA VOLUNTEER CENTER.'
Ranma asked, "Someone called to ask us for some help. Can someone tell us what is going on?"
"Awfully young, aren't you, sonny boy?" an enebriated old man asked.
"My husband is the grandmaster of our school!" Akane snapped angrily, her aura visibly glowing around her.
"Gently, dear, don't scare the people, or we'll never find out what we need to know," Ranma chided, hiding a grin at her protectiveness.
One of the men finally answered, stammering, "The monster's been showin' itself at the bottom o' the valley, on the edge o' the forest."
A second helpfully pointed down the dusty street, and said, "Right thar."
After a brief trek, the young couple neared the forest, eyes watching carefully in all directions, for signs of the monsters. Occasionally, one of them would point out gigantic footprints in the hard ground, or the odd steamy pile of dung, sure signs that something large was in the area.
Suddenly, Akane gasped, "This place, I've been here before. This is where I got lost just before mommy got sick." She glanced at the hornpipe hanging on a leather thong around her neck, and said, "A charm, a charm to protect me from the monsters."
"What else do you remember, Acchan?" Ranma asked, his eyes still busy scanning the area.
"There was this boy, a boy who saved me from a gigantic beast, and then gave me this charm," Akane replied, her eyes distant as the memories returned to her of that day so long ago, then she gasped, "I remember, the beast caught him with its claws and hurt him badly. Then he fell into a trap of his own devising. I carried him back to his home, to his grandfather, and then left him there to return to this village and my parents."
Ranma's eyes narrowed as he heard the sound of something tunneling in the ground. He raced over to Akane, and grabbed, leaping high into the sky, as a gigantic beast, with wicked claws on its forepaws burst through the ground where she had been standing. Landing lightly on the ground several meters away, he set Akane down and prepared to do battle, only to find the beast, which he now recognized as a enormous platypus, lying unconscious on the ground, a large knot on its head and a heavily bandaged young man, with short black hair, standing on top of the beast with what looked like a push broom in his hands.
The young man said, "Go home!"
"Wh-who are you?" Akane stammered.
The boy ignored her question and said, "From here onward the forest is filled with traps I've set. So hurry and go home!"
"We've been asked by the locals to fight these monsters," Ranma interjected.
The young man jumped to the ground and said, "I won't say the same thing twice. Hurry and go…" Just then the ground below him separated as he sprung the trap, causing an odd Rube Goldbergian device to dump a load of heavy rocks onto him as he fell into a pit, knocking him out.
"Well, this feels familiar," Akane said, "He may be the same boy that saved me before."
"Well, we can't just leave him here," Ranma said, with a sigh, as he began to move the rocks, "Do you think you can remember where his house is?"
"Yes, I think so." Akane said, "It was further into the forest. About an hours walk, I think, though I was younger then, so it probably seemed further than it really was."
Ranma pulled the unconscious boy out from the rubble and said, "Help me get him up onto my back."
Akane dropped her backpack from her back and helped sling the young man over Ranma's shoulder, and then put her pack back on. "Are you going to be okay carrying him and your pack?" she asked.
Ranma grinned and said, "Sure, I'm a martial artist, aren't I? Seriously, if it isn't too far, I'll be fine."
The young couple headed off, with their new load, towards where Akane thought the house was, based on her memories, as she led them down a path toward the center of the forest. Fortunately for the young couple, they soon ran across a few signs, pointing in the direction they were traveling, all of which read, 'This way home.'
Ranma was starting to stagger as they broke into a clearing, which contained a small ramshackle hut, beside a well.
Akane said, "This is it, the little boy's house." She raced to the door, and opened it, to find a traditional sleeping platform taking up one end of the room, with a door at the other end, and an old man apparently asleep at one side of the platform, covered with many blankets against the cold.
Ranma walked in and set the boy down next to a charcoal brazier, which was warming the inside of the hut. As he did so, the young man groaned and he awoke.
"Who are you?" the young man asked.
Ranma replied, "I am Ranma Saotome, grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and this is my wife, Akane, who is master of that school."
Akane looked at her husband in shock for a moment.
"I'm grateful that you brought me back, but you must leave now," the young man said, "This is no place for a fragile girl like you."
"Aw, Akane is tougher than she looks," Ranma said, with a grin.
"Please you must leave us, Grandfather and I," the boy said.
"Why do you live all alone with your grandfather so deep in the forest?" Akane asked.
"Grandfather doesn't have much time to live," the boy said, "But you must leave!"
The old man sat up, and said, "Shinnosuke, at least serve our guests some tea."
Shinnosuke, since that apparently was the young man's name, simply asked, "Grandfather?" a puzzled expression on his face.
"The tea bin is on the shelf second from the top, the teacups are right next to it," the old man said, with a sigh.
"Second from the top," Shinnosuke said, as he opened a large cupboard.
The old man sank back to his bed and whispered, as if he were on his deathbed, "The sun will set soon. Stay here for the night. Then leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"But," Akane protested.
"Miss, the monsters of this forest cannot be defeated by ordinary measures," the old man said.
"We don't use ordinary measures," Ranma said.
"I, from my youth, and Shinnosuke from his birth, have been battling these beasts. That is our destiny as guardians of the forest," the old mad wheezed.
"Guardians, huh," Ranma said, "Sounds like you could use a little help."
'Here since birth,' Akane mused, 'Then I was right! Shinnosuke was the one who saved me. He told me to play that hornpipe as I went home, that it would protect me from the monsters if I did."
The old man wheezed, "Shinnosuke, go get something to eat for dinner."
Shinnosuke replied, "Yes, sir."
Akane pulled the charm out from around her neck and asked, "Um, Shinnosuke, do you remember this? When we were children, you gave this to me."
Shinnosuke looked puzzled for a moment, and then replied, "I've never seen it. You must be thinking of somebody else." He picked up a wicker basket and slung it over his shoulder and then grabbed his broom and headed out the door.
"Well, I guess we can fix some of what we brought to go along with whatever he brings back," Ranma said, as he looked through his pack for the supplies that he had packed.
"Isn't there a well outside?" Akane asked, "I'll go get water for the tea that Shinnosuke forgot to make."
"Get some in a pot for soup also," Ranma said, absently, "Don't have time to make miso soup from scratch, hmm." He rubbed his chin in thought as he set out the various ingredients and added, "I've got broth though, so I could cheat and use that as the base. And then there's the jar of pickles. Depending on what's his name brings back, I could do a stir-fry.
Akane nudged him and said, "I doubt they care about what we ate, baka."
Ranma grinned back at her and said, "Well, since Pop isn't here, you probably are correct. We can skip that. Where do you want to pick up the story?"
"Is there any point in talking about the incident in the bath?" Akane asked in return.
"Not really, I guess, other than the fact that it proved that Shinnosuke was the little boy that saved you all those years ago," Ranma replied.
"What bath incident?" Nabiki asked, her nose twitching with interest at the possibility of a juicy story.
Akane sighed and traded glances with Ranma, who shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, other than being a little embarrassing," she said.
Shinnosuke finished dinner and went outside. There, he started a fire below the bathing chamber, which really consisted of nothing more than a large oil drum sitting up on cinder blocks, with a fire pit below, and walls surrounding it on three sides, allowing some amount of privacy. He entered the hut, and said, "The bath is hot, get in."
Akane smiled and said, "Thank you. That would be nice." She took a towel from her pack and a change of clothing and went outside and around to the back.
Ranma quickly followed, after he had gotten his towel and clothing. When he arrived, Akane had already taken her clothing off, hanging it carefully on a hook, and was rinsing off with the cold water from the well.
"Hmm, this is a little better than I expected," Ranma said, as he shed his clothing, wrapping his towel around his body to wait his turn. He did spend a few minutes scrubbing his wife's back, but she merely giggled when he suggested he do her front.
After rinsing off, she traded places, while Ranma washed up, and she returned the favor, shivering slightly as the cool evening breeze wafted around her naked body. Her wife stood up, her body shivering as well, and splashed some of the hot water from the drum onto herself, transforming her back. "Wouldn't really do for someone to see me," he said, to her unspoken enquiry, as Akane climbed into the drum to soak. Ranma wrapped his towel loosely around his waist and waited for his turn to enter the drum, since it wasn't a bathtub built for two.
"You know, it's sort of weird," Akane said, "I thought for sure that Shinnosuke was the boy that saved me, but he was so positive that he didn't recognize that hornpipe. His face, it was so honest when he denied it. I wonder if it could be another person."
"Um, actually Akane, I'm not sure I care right now," Ranma said, as he got a mischievous look on his face and he walked over to Akane and kissed her. "What has it been? At least four hours since we last did that," he asked, once they broke.
"I really don't care," Akane said, as she returned the favor. Then her eyes widened in alarm, as she saw Shinnosuke turn the corner and enter the small chamber, with only a towel draped over his shoulder, barely covering him. She blushed furiously.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot," Shinnosuke stammered. He whirled, showing them his naked back, covered with a horrific set of scars. "I'm so sorry! I forgot you were in here!" He ran back around the house.
Akane exclaimed, "Oh! That scar on his back! It can't be a coincidence. That must be the same boy!"
Then they heard through the thin wall of the cabin the old man say, "Shinnosuke, why are you so forgetful? You even get caught in the traps that you set yourself!"
"Well, at least all he managed to see was us kissing," Ranma said.
"Yes, but I got to see much more than I ever wanted to see about him," Akane said, her blush deepening. Then she giggled, and added, "But, I can tell that he certainly doesn't measure up to you."
"That falls in the category of too much information," Ranma said.
"That's it? You got to see him naked, and that's what was supposed to be so embarrassing!" Nabiki exclaimed, disappointed.
"Well it was embarrassing, at least to us, and he did catch us kissing," Akane said, a tinge of red appearing on her cheeks.
"I thought for sure he must have caught you doing something else in the bath," Nabiki grumbled.
"Nabiki Tendo!" her sisters exclaimed.
"Really, we wouldn't be doing any thing that we shouldn't do in public," Ranma said, a bit stiffly, "There wasn't that much privacy!"
"Anyway, let's just jump to the next day," Akane said, changing the subject, "Because that's when we found out about the secret of the forest."
"Well, actually it sort of started the night before," Ranma said, "When we had the best meal that I can remember eating. And then we heard some of the animals running around. When we went outside, we could hear them fleeing. I remember Shinnosuke putting it best when he said the forest was trembling in fear. And when we went inside, the old man was mumbling something about something awakening."
"The next morning though was odd," Akane added, "Remember, Ranma?"
"Sure do," Ranma replied, "It all started after breakfast was over, and Shinnosuke went to get water for tea."
"Yes, I had followed him out for some reason that I can't remember," Akane said.
Akane followed Shinnosuke out of the house, breathing in the fresh scent of the forest, enjoying the light of the sun filtering through the towering trees.
Shinnosuke stopped for a second, once again a bewildered look on his face. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask you," he said, "What's your name?"
Akane looked at him with a matching expression. 'We introduced ourselves yesterday,' she thought. She replied, "It's Akane. Akane Saotome."
"Akane," Shinnosuke said, "I like that name." From somewhere he pulled a piece of chalk and began writing 'Akane' all over the walls of the hut. After about a hundred times, he stopped, and with a bright smile, he said, "There, I've memorized it."
The old man staggered out of the hut and asked, "Shinnosuke, is the tea ready yet?"
"Shoot! Water! That's what I came for," Shinnosuke said, slamming a fist into the palm of his other hand. He lowered the bucket into the well, and then drew it back up. To his surprise, it was empty. "Grandfather, the well's gone dry. Wait a second, and I'll fetch some from the stream." He grabbed the bucket off of the hook and took off down a narrow path between the towering trees.
The old man clutched at his chest, his face aghast, as he crumpled to the ground.
"Ranma!" Akane called, as she ran over to the old man. "S-sir, what's wrong?" she stammered, "Grandfather, what's wrong?"
Ranma raced outside in time to hear the old man stutter, "T-the w-well water's dried up."
"Let's get him back inside," Ranma said, as he stooped down and picked up the old man and carried him back to his pallet.
The old man wheezed, "The scar on Shinnosuke's back, you saw it, right?"
"Yes, we both did," Ranma answered.
"By-by all rights, Shinnosuke's life should have ended back then," the old man said, coughing the words out, "The only reason he's survived to this day is the water from that well."
Akane gasped, and she said, "And now that the well has gone dry, don't tell me?"
"Yes," the old man confirmed, "Shinnosuke will die."
A gasp brought everyone back to the present as an ashen-faced Kasumi was staring at Ranma and Akane, tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's so horrible," she whispered as she buried her face in her husband's chest, "I've never even met him and yet it is so sad."
Akane looked around the room and saw that most everyone was feeling the same way. Even the normally stoic Nabiki was pale, while Hinako was busily blotting up the stream of water coming from her husband's eyes.
"Shall we go on?" Akane asked, gently.
"We have to know," Tofu replied, looking down at his wife tenderly, as he gently ran his fingers through her long hair.
"Where were we?" Akane asked.
"Finding out about the water of life," Ranma replied.
"What do you mean, old man?" Ranma asked, "He will die?"
"The reason that Shinnosuke has been able to live to this day is the water of life," the old man replied.
"The water of life?" Akane asked, "What is that?"
The old man began slowly, saying, "Once this place was just a humdrum little exotic animal park, filled with strange creatures from far away lands, and I was merely an ordinary zoo manager. Then one fateful day, a little platypus escaped. It was soon discovered, however, since it had grown into a giant, and went on a rampage! It destroyed the animal park, freeing all of the other wild animals. One after another, they all became gigantic and settled in this forest. The source of their gigantism is a spring that bubbles up deep in this forest. One of the side effects is that it causes rare animals to grow enormously."
Ranma and Akane traded astonished looks, and she asked, "Um, why would anyone in their right mind put an exotic animal park in a forest with a stream like that? Are they mental or what?"
"Pish tosh, who cares about that?" the old man said, "We were making tons of money from all of the tourists."
Akane rolled her eyes in disgust, and said, "Well never mind then. You'd never understand. Just continue your story."
"Ever since that day, Shinnosuke and I have been the wardens of this forest, protecting the village from these animals," the old man gasped out as if he were on his death bed, "But then, that fateful day, so long ago, I arrived home to find my grandson gravely wounded. Even the doctors threw in the trowel."
"Er, don't you mean towel?" Ranma asked.
"No, they literally threw in a trowel," the old man snapped, "Now do you want to here what happened or do you want to criticize the story?"
Ranma rolled his eyes and replied, "Just get on with it old man."
"Then stop interrupting me, you young whippersnapper, no respect for the elderly," the old man growled, then he muttered something under his breath. After calming down, he finally asked, "Where was I?"
"Throwing in a trowel," Akane replied.
"I begged them not to give up, knowing that if they did, Shinnosuke would die, but they turned me away. In utter desperation I gave Shinnosuke the water of life and a miracle occurred. He woke from his long sleep, and soon became the picture of health. However, if he stops drinking the water of life, he soon suffers headaches, weakness and dizzy spells."
Akane stammered, "Th-then Shinnosuk…." She stopped, horrified.
"Yes, that's right. He can't survive without the water of life," the old man finished for her. He grimaced and added, "He MUST not realize how close to death he is."
Ranma asked, "But isn't there anyway of saving him?"
"There is a way, but such perils," the old man said.
"Please tell me, grandfather!" Akane exclaimed, "I'll do anything!"
"We'll do anything," Ranma interjected, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Akane looked at him gratefully and finished, "Because, he once saved my life."
"Yes, we owe it to him to try to save his!" Ranma finished for her. He pulled Akane into a hug and said, "I owe it to him because he saved her for me."
"Ah, Ranma," Akane said, "That's so sweet. Sappy, but sweet."
Nabiki pretended to gag, breaking the spell of the narration. "Saotome, that was awful," she said, "I can't believe you said something that corny."
Ranma retorted, a bit defensively, "Hey, cut me some slack, will ya? I do the best I can. Not my fault Pop stunted my emotional growth for years."
"I agree, sis. He may be a sap, but he's my sap," Akane added with a smirk.
"Gee, that was almost as bad," Tofu said with a grin.
"Hush, you, I think it's sweet," his wife said. She grinned and added, "Besides, you don't have much room to talk, Mister Dances with Skeletons."
"Hey, I haven't done that in a long time," Tofu protested.
"At this rate it will be tomorrow before we find out what happened," Hinako whined.
"Fine, we can fast forward a little. The next day, we went searching through the forest, looking for all of the springs. There were a lot of them, but every single one of them was dried up. It was almost like something was suddenly blocking the source of the water," Akane said.
"And in fact that is what happened," Ranma said, "The old man actually let that slip. He said that HE is blocking the source to all of the springs. And then that night, he actually dressed up as a woman to go fight this thing."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Akane groaned, "That was the most hideous thing I had ever seen in my life. I almost wanted to scrub my eyeballs."
"Yeah, and all that idiot did was bring the Yamata No Orochi from its lair and chase after us," Ranma growled, "All I can say it was a good thing I was walking around at night looking for him after he ran off."
Ranma walked along the lake shore, wondering where that old fool had wandered off to, when suddenly a huge, seven-headed dragon burst from the cool waters, screaming in anger. "Wha?" he cried when a blob was spat out by one of the heads, soaring high into the sky, and then, in a near perfect parabolic arc, came tumbling downward. As the object neared, Ranma saw that it was the old man, still dressed in that awful dress, the wig on his head, and the extreme case of pancake makeup, and false eyelashes. Nimbly, Ranma jumped out of the way as the old man crashed down in front of him. He squatted down and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Well, actually, I was hoping that you would take me in your arms," the old man said, causing Ranma to shudder.
The monster cocked one curious head in their direction and then angrily the beast shot all its heads at them.
The old man sprang onto Ranma's back, and they raced off, back toward the campsite, where Akane and Shinnosuke were waiting for word. As they neared, Ranma cried, "Run or you'll be eaten!"
The other two sprang to their feet and fled after the fleet-footed young man, who seemed to not be burdened at all by the load he was carrying. "There! The crack in the boulder!" he cried, as a small crevice appeared in the cliffside. The four of them darted into the crevice, which opened up into a small grotto.
Shrieking in anger, the beast rammed into the cliff, causing a rockslide, closing off the entrance, and preventing the monster from even attempting to push one of its heads through the narrow opening.
Ranma dumped the old man onto the ground and then collapsed next to him. "Let's not do that again," he said, with a tired grin.
The old man groaned, "Uhhhhn, I'm done fore!"
Akane exclaimed, "Grandfather!"
"That monster just now," Ranma asked, "What was it?"
The old man wheezed, "A beast among beasts, the Yamata No Orochi!"
"Yamata No Orochi! The eight headed beast of folklore?" Ranma exclaimed.
"So the one blocking the source of the water of life was," Akane began.
"Yes, that was he," the old man interrupted. He paused, fighting for breath, and then gasped out, "Before I die, there is something that I must pass along to you."
"D-don't talk like that, Grandfather!" Shinnosuke exclaimed.
Suddenly, the old man sprang to his feet, and pulling a marker board with a schematic diagram of the lake bed, and the connections to the surrounding springs out of some interdimensional pocket, or at least that's where everyone hoped it had come from, since the other alternative was too hideous to consider. In a crisp professorial voice, the old man said, "The water of life and the Yamata No Orochi are deeply interconnected. The source of the water is in the nest of the beast."
"But," Akane asked, "Weren't you just dying?"
"Dramatic effect, and second wind," the old man replied, in an aside, as he continued, "On the body of the beast is a mysterious moss. The essence of the moss dissolves into the water and pushes upward with the spring. And that's where the water of life is from. To wit, if we can get our hands on some moss from the body of the Orochi then Shinnosuke's life will be saved."
"Life?" Shinnosuke asked, confused, "So I'm going to die, eh?"
"Shinnosuke," the old man began.
"My life, how much of it is left?" the young man asked.
"Don't know," his grandfather replied, "That's why I've been attempting to lure the Orochi out this way."
Shinnosuke looked askance at his grandfather and asked, "The monster likes ghouls?"
"Pah!" the old man exclaimed, "It likes beautiful girls!"
"Okay, and you thought this would work?" Ranma scoffed, "No wonder it was angry!"
"Ranma, we have to do something!" Akane exclaimed, "Whatever it takes!"
Ranma sighed and said, "I agree. We have no choice. He saved you, it's our turn to save him."
"Well, that's enough for tonight," Ranma said, with a straight face, "It's getting late, and Akane and I need to get some sleep."
"Oh no you don't!" Nabiki exclaimed, "You're just now getting to the good part."
"Yes, you have to tell us if you saved Shinnosuke," Hinako said, "If you don't, I won't get a lick of sleep worrying about him."
"Wah! My son-in-law won't finish the story," Soun wailed.
"Ranma," Tofu warned, "You don't want to annoy your doctor, now do you?"
"But it's late," Ranma wailed, "I want to go cuddle with my wife."
Kasumi looked at him sternly and said, "Ranma-kun, I am very disappointed in you. If you don't finish the story, I'll never fix your favorite meal again."
"No tuna and shrimp pizza with white sauce!" Ranma exclaimed, "The horrors! Anything but that!" He shot Kasumi a grin, and began again, "Well, the next day we discussed a plan. Akane would dress up as a guy, and the three of us would dress up as girls and decoy the monster while Akane searched for the moss. I was a school girl, Shinnosuke dressed up as a meter maid, and the old man." Ranma and Akane both shuddered, as he continued, "dressed up as a blushing bride."
The Yamata No Orochi stirred in its watery lair, its heads lashing angrily. It is in a bad mood, its animal instincts tell it that something bad is about to happen, something hostile, something up to no good is approaching, coming closer and closer. Its sense of impending doom grows stronger and stronger. Its foe draws near. The monster left its lair and headed for the surface, as three women stood on the shore, armed with bottles of wine, a meter maid, a bride, and an attractive school girl, in a too short skirt, with black hair.
"Now be tricked into thinking that we are women and come out to eat us!" the grizzled bride cried.
"Eat us? You didn't say anything about that!" the meter maid exclaimed.
"Hush Shinnosuke," the bride said, as the monster drew nigh.
"I don't think this is working old man," the student said, as the monster appeared to be enraged.
The old man capered. "Ho ho, plenty of wine and women here! Your favorites!" he cried.
"Come on men," the school girl, who wasthe male Ranma in a dress, said, "You two take care of four of the heads, I'll handle the rest!" He charged, followed closely by Shinnosuke and the gibbering old man.
Akane stood watching from atop a cliff overlooking the lake, her breasts bound, hiding her feminity and dressed in some of Ranma's pants and shirt, with a cap on her head helping her disguise. 'Damn that thing is huge,' she thought, as she gripped the broom handle tightly to help control her nerves. She watched as the monster was distracted by the three figures on the shore and said, softly, "It's begun. Now's my chance to get the moss." She sprang forward, landing lightly on the back of the monster.
Soun wailed, "My baby's going to die. She jumped onto the back of that horrible beast." The tears began to flow for a moment, only to stop. Suddenly, Demon-head Soun appeared as he roared, "How dare you Ranma? Putting my daughter in so much jeopardy! I thought so much better of you than that, allowing my princess to go in harm's way."
WHAMMM! Akane's slammed the table onto her father's head, her battle aura flaring.
"Oh dear," Kasumi said, hiding a brief grin behind her hand.
"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL!" Akane shrieked, "I'M NO DEFENSELESS LITTLE GIRL! I AM A MARTIAL ARTIST JUST LIKE RANMA!"
"Um, dear, I don't think he can hear you right now, he's sort of unconscious," Hinako said, quietly.
"Let's not break the furniture, Akane. I'd rather not have to buy a new table," Nabiki added, her eyes dancing with mirth.
"I think he had it coming, myself," Ranma said, not even bothering to hide his grin, "Especially since she's sitting here in front of him, alive and well, not a scratch on her."
"Well, I've never thought he was the sharpest knife in the drawer," Nabiki said, "After all, he did train under Happosai, and your father is his friend."
"Don't insult my husband," Hinako said, snippily.
"I don't know, Hinako, she does have a point," Ranma said.
"Stop stalling, back to the story," Tofu said anxiously.
"Okay, we've got Akane on the monster's back, feverishly searching for the moss on any of the heads, which was a little tough to do for her since they kept waving them around," Ranma said, "We're trying to distract them and knock them out, which was sort of difficult also for much the same reason."
"Plus the monster was beginning to get really angry because it had finally realized that you were all males," Akane said, with a grin, "I was running all around, and not finding any of the moss, and then I realized something. There were only seven heads, no matter how many times I counted. And then that foolish old man gave the monster his bottle of wine, and things went from bad to worse."
"Yeee, the wine only makes the heads more violent!" the old man cried as he dived out of the way of a jet of flame.
"Gah, the worst kind of drunk!" Shinnosuke exclaimed, as he evaded a lunging, snapping, snarling head.
"A way to break through this snarl of heads? Any way?" Ranma asked himself desperately as he fended off an attack. Then he spotted a small pavilion with a round table, covered with food and beverages. "Hey Gramps, what's that?" he asked, pointing to the table.
"Oh, you mean the victory party to celebrate the defeat of the Orochi," the old man yelled back.
"Wonderful, Grandfather, how thoughtful!" Shinnosuke exclaimed, dodging once again.
Ranma snapped his fingers and said, "A victory party, that means, maybe?" He jumped over to the table and shouted, "YES!" as he saw a large case of beer bottles sitting on the ground. Grabbing the case of beer, he rapidly shook it, and leapt high into the air. Then tossing the case up and over, he waited for the falling bottles to near him and broke the caps of the bottles off, releasing the pressurized beer. "Take that! Beer-bash Eye-Blast!" he cried as the foamy brew doused all the heads at the same time.
"Splashing with beer?" the old mad asked, astonished.
"Th-that's it?" Shinnosuke stammered, "You wasted the beer on the dragon?"
"That's a real good question, Ranma. Why did you pour beer on the dragons?" Tofu asked, "That seems to be an odd weapon to use."
"I was reminded of the dreaded victory party beer soak that we saw on TV last week. What athlete doesn't know the thrill of victory followed quickly by the agony of beer in their eyes?" Akane explained, "And that's what happened. The heads pulled back and because of that, the guys were able to stun all of the heads."
"Of course, Akane had already found out that there wasn't any moss on the heads that we could see, but then she said that there were only seven heads visible," Ranma added.
"Though it didn't take long for the eighth head to show up. An enormous head on what we thought was the tail, so we had actually been fighting the Orochi backwards," Akane continued.
"That got pretty scary, that's for sure, especially when Akane slipped off. Then the monster caught her scent and realized that the boy dancing around on its back had actually been a girl, so it grabbed her with its tongue," Ranma said.
"Well, it wasn't all bad. As it pulled me toward its mouth, I spotted the moss on the back of its head and scraped some off with the broom, and tossed it to the old man who was able to use it to save his grandson," Akane said, with a shrug.
"Yeah, but when it dove down to the bottom of the lake carrying you, that got interesting, real fast," Ranma said.
"I just used my version of the Möko Takabisha point blank in its mouth," Akane said with a shrug, "Though I was real happy to see you swimming to meet me, I definitely needed the help to get back up to the surface."
"The breath sharing we did on the way up wasn't too bad either," Ranma said, with a smirk.
"Oh, so that's why you were breathing slowly into my mouth," Akane shot back, "I just thought you were using it as an excuse to kiss me."
"Well, that too," Ranma said.
"Unfortunately, while the ki blast freed me, it also made the Orochi very mad, and it followed us to the surface," Akane said.
"And Shinnosuke and the old man were just a bit surprised to see two girls crawl out of the water," Ranma said, with a grin at the memory, "So they weren't much help."
Ranma and Akane lay gasping for breath on the sandy beach, as Shinnosuke and the old man stared at the red-haired girl who appeared to be dressed in a school girl's uniform. The fact that she was female was blatantly obvious through the thin material of the wet white blouse she was wearing.
"Who are you?" Shinnosuke asked.
"Does it matter right now?" Ranma replied, "We need to get away from here!" No sooner than the words left her mouth, the water in the center of the lake began to boil as the furious Orochi breeched the surface. "We don't have time for this, take care of her and get her away from here!" she cried.
Shinnosuke looked at her, startled, but then understood as the girl ran toward the lake, catching the Orochi's attention.
"Come and get it! A nice, deeeelicious girl," she said as she ran up the shore away from Shinnosuke and the still waterlogged Akane. She watched in satisfaction as Shinnosuke helped Akane to her feet and pulled her away from the lake toward the dubious safety of the forest.
"Ho ho ho! Bet you can't catch me!" Ranma called, running just fast enough to taunt the beast.
"She's being the bait!" Shinnosuke cried.
"Oh Ranma! You idiot!" Akane exclaimed.
"Ranma?" the old man asked, puzzled.
"We need to save him!" Akane cried, "Isn't there some way to defeat the Orochi?"
"There is," the old man said.
"Is there?" Akane asked, her eyes widening with hope.
Meanwhile, Ranma continued to taunt the beast. "Just a peek," she cried as she unbuttoned the top two buttons on her blouse, and showed her cleavage. "If you can catch me, I'll show you the rest!" she cried.
"You say there's another way?" Akane asked once more from the safety of the trees as she watched the Orochi chase her wife, bouncing the other heads around, and beginning to wake them up.
"There is and there isn't," the old man replied.
"So which is it?" Akane screamed, her hands clenching into fists to keep from grabbing the old man by the shoulders and shaking him apart.
"There was a secret treasure from ancient times used to control the Orochi," the old man explained, "If we only had it! Made from the horn of the Orochi's mortal enemy—the horned mongoose, extinct for several hundred years."
"A horned mongoose?" Akane asked.
"Yes, I had one, but long ago, I gave it to Shinnosuke, telling him that it was a protective amulet against the monsters, but no sooner did I give it to him then he lost it," the old man replied.
Akane gasped and pulled the charm from around her neck, causing the old man to gasp.
"BLOW CHILD BLOW!" the old man cried.
Akane raced after the monster, crying, "I have to save Ranma! He's my husband!" As she neared the rear of the monster, she blew on the horn, and suddenly the seven heads fell back asleep, allowing her to get closer to the front of the monster.
Just as the monster was about to grab Ranma with its long tongue, Akane blew once more, causing the monster to yawn, showing its yard long teeth, and then wearily it turned to seek its nest back down in the depths of the lake.
"And that's the end of the story," Akane said.
"Well, mostly," Ranma teased, "You left out the part where Shinnosuke declared his love for you. What was it, three times?"
"Four actually," Akane retorted, "I can't help it if he kept forgetting we were married."
"Well, at least he didn't hit on my girl form," Ranma said, with a grin.
Nabiki snorted and said, "That I would pay, well, not actually come to think about it, I wouldn't, but I would have loved to have seen that."
"Anyway, we left the old man and Shinnosuke behind, with their giant animals, and headed home, once they promised to do a better job of keeping them away from the village," Ranma said. He pulled out a small bag and tossed it to Nabiki. "The people of the village wouldn't take no for an answer, so I went ahead and accepted the reward they were offering," he added.
"I can't take this," Nabiki said. Then she gasped, and said, "I can't believe I said that."
"Don't worry Sis, we kept half of it for ourselves. Use the rest of it for the household finances," Akane said.
Finally the café cleared of customers, to the mingled relief and disappointment of the staff. While the brisk trade was good for their bank account, even with four of them working the restaurant, it had gotten entirely too hectic for any of their tastes. Ukyo barely waited until the door had closed behind the last merry couple before she had raced outside and taken down her banner for the evening, signifying that they were closed, while Ryoga and Konatsu had collapsed into a couple of chairs, and Lime had sat down heavily onto one of the stools at the grill.
"Oooh, my aching back and feet!" Lime complained. An odd look appeared on her face and then she giggled as she placed her hand on her distended belly, "Guess there's a football player in there."
"The baby is kicking?" Konatsu asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
"Uhuh," Lime replied, a happy smile on her face.
Konatsu struggled to her feet and walked over. "I can maybe help with your back, if you'd like. I'm pretty good at giving back rubs," she suggested, bashfully.
"Sure, if you can make this pain go away, I'll love you forever," Lime said, as she winced.
Ryoga bit his lip to keep from saying anything at the blush that appeared on Konastu's face as she slid around behind Lime and began to at first gently rub the other girl's back, and then as she felt the knots, began to work harder to loosen said knots.
Ukyo came back inside, carrying her furled banner, and locked the door. She set the banner down in one corner of the room, and joined her husband, puzzled by his look of amusement as he watched the other couple. "Okay, what was that bit about Konatsu not being female?" Ukyo asked, "Just look at her."
"No, you look at Konatsu. And then look at yourself in the mirror," Ryoga replied, with a grin.
"What am I missing?" Ukyo asked still not seeing what Ryoga was seeing.
Ryoga chuckled and said, "Well, first of all, he doesn't walk like a girl. You have a different type of pelvic girdle than guys do, so it is obvious if you know what are you looking for. And then second, guys have a pronounced Adam's apple." He pointed to his, and added, "And girls don't have one at all, see?" He moved her hand up and down his throat and then down hers.
Ukyo looked closely at Konatsu and then gasped. "You're right!" she exclaimed, "How did I not see that?"
"He dresses like a girl, his voice sounds like one, he acts like a girl, so it's understandable that you didn't look below the surface," Ryoga said, "But, I came in with no preconcieved notions and saw through him. My only question is why is he acting like this."
Ukyo grimaced and said, "I think he actually believes that he is a girl though. You haven't heard him when he talks to us, about being raised as a kunoichi."
"Oh joy!" Ryoga groaned, "So the poor guy thinks he's a girl, and looking at how he looks at Lime, fancies her. Can you imagine how torn up inside he must be?"
"What can we do about it?" Ukyo asked.
Ryoga shrugged and said, "Convince him that he really is a guy, I suppose. I don't know what else we can do about it. And then, let nature take its course to see if something happens between Lime and Konatsu."
"Hey, what are you two plotting over there? You been talking pretty quietly," Lime said, as she relaxed quite nicely under the clever hands of the young woman massaging her back.
"Oh, just talking about things," Ukyo replied, "He's been gone for a while, so we were just catching up."
"Ooh, that's the spot, right there!" Lime moaned as Konatsu found a particularly tense muscle.
"Something you might want to consider is to soak in a hot bath occasionally. That will help take the weight off of your back," Konatsu suggested diffidently.
"That's a very good idea. It always helped me with Yuki," Ukyo agreed.
"Speaking of which, she should be waking up about now, shouldn't she?" Lime asked.
"I did sneak off a few times this evening to feed her and check on her, but yes, she should be stirring soon," Ukyo said.
"I'll finish cleaning up," Konatsu said, "That way Ukyo-sama and Ryoga-san can have some time together, and I really don't want you on your feet any more than you have to, Lime-chan."
"I'm pregnant, not sick," Lime said a bit huffily.
"True, but you were complaining about your feet hurting not too terribly long ago," Konatsu replied, a bit forcefully, "And I don't want you sore in the morning."
"Konatsu, why don't you help Lime to her room, and then come down and help me. I'd like to get to know you just a bit better, aside from finding out that you are a hard worker and a very compassionate person," Ryoga said, "That way you'll be done quicker, and I can make up for some of the time that I have been away."
"Don't take too long, Ryoga," Ukyo said, "You need to spend some time with your daughter before I have to put her back to bed."
"Very well, Ryoga-san," Konatsu said, bowing slightly, "Will you allow this one to assist you, Lime-chan?"
Lime slid off the stool, and winced as her feet hit the floor. "Yes, it looks like I could use a hand," she replied, "It's amazing how something I can't see anymore can hurt so much."
Konatsu put her arm around the taller girl's waist, and waited until Lime had slung one arm around her neck and then the two of the headed towards the stairs at the best waddling pace that Lime could make.
"I'll be right up, Ucchan, and after we put Yuki to bed, then I'll put you to bed," Ryoga said, a grin on his face.
"Again, you mean, don't you? Twice in one day, are you trying to make up for lost times?" Ukyo asked, a saucy grin on her face.
"Complaining?" Ryoga asked.
"Nope, just commenting," Ukyo said, with a smirk as she disappeared up the stairs.
Ryoga chuckled for a moment, and then following the familiar lines on the floor, he took the last load of dishes into the kitchen, and placed them next to the sink. He filled a glass with cold water and set it carefully to one side, out of the way of any accidental spilling and then filled the sinks with hot water, so he could start washing dishes.
Konatsu entered the kitchen to find Ryoga puttering around the kitchen, whistling and washing the dishes and placing them in the drying rack to dry. The kunoichi stood there watching, a vague sense of disquiet forming in the back of her head, as something raised the hackles on the back of her neck.
"Ah, Konatsu, why don't you wash while I dry, that way we can get these dishes put away, and then I guess, sweep and mop the front," Ryoga suggested.
"Of course, Ryoga-san," Konatsu said politely as she moved closer to the sink, and began scrubbing the various dishes, cups, and the cutlery.
Ryoga reached for the towel on his arm and began drying. He asked, "How long have you been in Nerima, Konatsu?"
"A couple of weeks, I guess, before Ukyo-sama found me starving in an alleyway and took pity on me," Konatsu answered, "She is an angel from heaven."
"Won't get any argument from me about that, remember, she married me," Ryoga said, with a chuckle. Then he sobered and said, "That reminds me of something I saw in the news about two weeks ago. I was in Kyoto, I think, or maybe Sapporo, for some reason I always get those two towns mixed up. Anyway, they were reporting on a teashop, deep in the mountains, that was run by a group of kunoichi that mysteriously burned down to the ground. Apparently there were no survivors, except perhaps for the young stepdaughter of the owner."
Konatsu didn't react except for the tightening of her fingers on the plate she was holding.
"It went on to say that the authorities had recovered a few documents that were in a metal box. They apparently documented years of abuse of the young girl. The amazing thing that was in the box was also a birth certificate for that girl. Only, the girl was actually a boy. Would you like to know the name on that certificate, Konatsu?" Ryoga continued.
Konatsu turned to him in shock. "M-me?" she asked.
"Yes, it was Konatsu. It seems that you are actually male," Ryoga said kindly, "Though you were raised to be kunoichi."
Konatsu backed away, and exclaimed, "No! It can't be!"
Ryoga sighed and took off his shirt and his t-shirt. "Konatsu, look at me," he ordered.
Konatsu stared at him, unsure what the man in front of him was doing.
"Is this what you see in the mirror before you dress?" Ryoga asked. He then picked up the glass of water and poured it over his head. After the transformation, she pointed to her chest, and asked, "Or is this what you see?" She splashed some of the hot water from the sink onto her body, and changed back. "Which was it?" he asked, very kindly.
"I look like that," Konatsu said, dropping to the floor to his knees. "I really am a boy," he sobbed, "My entire life has been a lie!"
Ryoga sat down and said, soothingly, "I don't know what to say to you, except you have your friends here, and we will see you through this, whatever you need."
"But I was raised to be a girl, I think like a girl," Konatsu whispered. Suddenly he looked up, his eyes filled with tears and asked, "Do you have any of that water? The water that turned you into a girl?"
"No, but are you sure that's what you really want?" Ryoga asked carefully, "I've seen how you look at Lime. Wouldn't things be easier for you if you lived as a guy?"
"I don't know how!" Konatsu wailed.
"I'll help you learn, and I'm sure Ukyo and Lime will also," Ryoga said, "After all, my wife lived as a boy for years, and so did Lime for that matter. And there are some others that can help you. Doc and his wife Kasumi for example are always good to talk things over with. They may not always have advice, but they have a willing ear. And you are welcome here as long as you wish. This is your home, not just a place to stay. And if you'll let us, we'll be there for you."
"Thank you, Ryoga-san," Konatsu whispered.
"No real need for thanks, that's what friends are for. To stand with you in the dark times as well as the good times," Ryoga said simply. Then he grinned and said, "You know, those dishes aren't going to wash themselves."
Author's Notes: Finally, an update. Hopefully, the writer's block that was keeping this story on the backburner has vanished. I hope my Gentle Readers enjoy this latest chapter. As always, reviews and constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged.