Chapter 9: Making Amends

The night following the battle was just as disheartening as the day had been. It was clear at a glance just how much the house had suffered from the attack. Soun had taken ill and had gone to bed and Nibiki had taken it upon herself to look over the damage. The power was out so she, Kasumi, and Nadoka inspected the house with flashlights.

"Perhaps we should have taken the police officer's advice and gone to a hotel tonight," Nadoka said as they started their walkthrough of the house.

"The men wouldn't hear of it," Nabiki sighed. "Leaving the field of battle after a victory is unthinkable… or something like that."

"Now, now," Kasumi gently chastised. "It has been a terrible night for everyone. After something so terrible a familiar setting is more comforting right?"

Natsumi and Kurumi were performing the outside inspect. The damage the dojo had been absolute. The heart of the household was gone leaving nothing but burnt lumber and wreckage. The yard and outer wall had gaping holes throughout, as if it had suffered an artillery bombardment. The pond had survived intact as had the plumb trees so there was at least a small ray of light. Repairing the pond would have been a painstakingly delicate operation.

Nabiki opened the door to Akane's room and frowned when she shined the light inside. "Somehow I don't think our insurance is going to cover martial arts brawls and ki damage ladies."

Akane's room had taken the brunt of the damage inside the house. Her window and part of her wall were gone. She wouldn't be using the room until the structural integrity was verified at the very least.

"What about all those other times we've had fights around the house?" Kasumi reminded her.

Nabiki turned around in the dark hallway to face the other two women. "Insurance didn't cover that either." She put her hand to her chest. "I gave father the money to repair it."

Kasumi couldn't contain her surprise. "You did?!"

She smiled with faint amusement. "I keep some of the money I get off Kuno and other deals but I also put a lot into the upkeep of our home. I'm not entirely heartless you know."

Kasumi put her hand on her sister's shoulder and shared her smile then the two got back to work. Despite some structural cracks and a few missing windows, the rest of the house seemed to be ok. Since it was summer, the last thing they needed to worry about being cold.

A knock came from the front door and Kasumi went to answer. When she saw who was calling on her family, her jaw almost dropped. "Oh! Herb! I mean, Emperor Herb. Good evening."

He nodded solomly. "No need for any kind of formality Ms. Tendo."

"Kasumi is fine."

"Kasumi," he corrected. "I was hoping I might speak to the entire family. Would that be possible?"

A few minutes later he was sitting at their table with a cup of green tea in front of him. Akane had roused Soun and now both families sat around the room and gave their guest time to speak.

Herb had taken the time to inspect the house before he had knocked. First he felt guilt for not having sensed the changes in Mint and Lime before they'd gone to China to become twisted experiments. Then he felt shame for not having caught up to them in time. Everything that had transpired was partially his fault. His former guards had destroyed the place and here they were being ever so kind enough to give him tea. Overcome with emotion, he stood up and backed away from the table to address the two families.

"If you will all permit, allow me to do this."

Suddenly Herb did something he had never done before. He bowed in apology. But not from the waist. Instead he dropped to his knees and bowed low until his head was touching the floor. Everyone was so stunned by the display that no one spoke.

"Please forgive me. This is my fault. Mint and Lime were my guards and as their emperor I am prepared to take full responsibility."

"It wasn't your fault," Soun started to say.

"It is!" Herb cut him off rising and then frowned apologetically. He wasn't much for social graces. "For what it's worth, I've destroyed them personally. They will not be bothering any of you ever again."

Ranma looked at Akane and she lowered her eyes to stare at the ground. Having suffered at their hands perhaps more than any of them she had certainly wanted revenge. She brought a hand up to her heart and felt the twin emotions: vindication and guilt vying for control of her brain.

"Please try not to bear them ill will. I've discovered they were brainwashed. Though they had wanted to settle the score from our first meeting, neither of them would have abandoned their post nor forsaken their humanity to accomplish it. I'm going to start up an investigation to find out who is really behind all this."

"We've been attacked a lot in the last eight months," Ranma said. "That's unusual, even for us. I'm really beginning to think someone has a serious grudge against the Anything Goes School."

Herb rubbed at his jaw line. "You believe someone is orchestrating all these attacks? I see. It is not outside the realm of possibility, though it simply could be that you've just made a lot of enemies over the years."

Ranma wanted to protest but he knew it was true. Either he or people in his life had created a myriad of problems since he'd moved into the Tendo household. The weakest link in his idea was that all the recent situations seemed to be separate from one another.

"But the main reason why I came was to repay you directly," Herb said, cutting into Ranma's musings. "I will pay for the restoration of your home. In fact I'll increase its size and buy as many of the surrounding houses as you wish."

"That won't be necessary," Soun said waving his hand. "The Tendo dojo is big enough. But I will take you up on your offer to repair it. I'm grateful."

Soun looked over at Natsumi and Kurumi, both of who were a bit down for failing to have stopped Mint and Lime preemptively. They deserved a better home than a storage shed. He made a note to prepare the master's old room for their use. He knew Happosai would have approved.

"It is the least I can do. Your dojo will be rebuilt; your yard, wall, and house will be restored to pristine condition." He looked directly at Ranma and said "I swear on my honor that never again will your life be plagued by problems caused by the Musk Dynasty."

"I have a question." Akane stepped forward, folding her hands in front of herself. "Did they… suffer?"

Herb met her gaze. "Mint only briefly. Lime endured agony until he told me what I wanted to know."

Akane paled and nodded, clinging to Ranma's arm. Her expression was clear; it was plain to see that she wished that she'd not asked.

Herb reached down and drank the tea that had been offered to him, raising the cup in tribute to Kasumi. "Thank you for the tea. I'd best be on my way. I"ll see to it that construction and repairs begin first thing in the morning. Good night."

Herb turned to go when Ranma called his name. Turning around, the two locked gazes.

"Thanks man. Seriously." Ranma chided himself for not having anything else to say so he settled for bowing necessitating one from Herb as well. Herb saw himself out.

There was silence as everyone in the room looked back and forth at one another. Finally Soun cleared his throat. "We had a tragedy today. Now we need to start recovering and picking up the pieces of our lives. Genma and Nadoka, please arrange for the Master's funeral arrangements first thing in the morning. In the meantime, let's start getting his old room ready for Natsumi and Kurumi."

Stunned at his sudden decisiveness everyone stared. Soun clapped his hands to regain their attention. "Let's go. There's not much else we can do tonight without power so let's get moving. Kasumi please bring out any additional flashlights."

Everyone began to get to work and Soun took private joy in being able to focus their energy on busy work. It would prevent any of them from sulking. The last thing anyone needed time to do right now was think. With luck the work would keep everyone busy until they were exhausted. Things would be a little better after a good night's sleep.

What Soun did not realize was how much respect and admiration he'd gained. Rather than continue to sulk and cry he'd shown his family and the Saotomes that he could get the job done as the head of the household. It was a sharp departure from before and even Ranma marveled at the transformation. In their minds, each member of the household wondered if it had in fact been Happosai's honorable sacrifice that had truly helped them to find a sense of unity.

Like lush vegetation arising after a fire, perhaps the fiery tragedy in their lives would give rise to a better future for everyone. Akane and Ranma walked outside hand-in-hand. If nothing else, their bond had again proven to be unbreakable. That alone gave them the strength and courage to wait for the coming day.

The bloody and battered male Amazon was dropped like a bag of trash in front of Herb. The two guards who had dragged him into the throne room stood ready in case he tried to assault the Emperor as he rose from his throne and approached. As his figure loomed, the Amazon whimpered and bowed his head. Herb noted with no small amount of distain that the front of his pants was wet.

"Make this easy on yourself," he said evenly. "Did you defect only to cause me harm? Was it your intention to turn Mint and Lime against me?"

The Amazon looked uncertainly back and forth between Herb and the guards. Herb knelt down until he was looking eye-to-eye with the captive. "If you tell me the truth, I'll release you. I am a man of my word."

Licking his lips, the Amazon hesitated before finally responding. "Yes Emperor. I was ordered to infiltrate and cause whatever damage I could. When it was discovered that Mint and Lime were weak links I was given orders to exploit that."

"We caught him just inside our borders," one of the guards said. "He came damn close to slipping back into Amazon controlled territory."

"Then all the pieces fit together," Herb muttered, pacing back and forth. "All it cost me was the lives of my two oldest friends. Tell me Amazon, are there any other operatives working behind the scenes in my empire?"

"Not that I am aware of. However I should tell you that we aren't often informed of other agents to protect the network in case one of us is captured."

"I see. I expected as much. Thank you for being so cooperative with this investigation. Without you, it would not have gone nearly as well as it did. The quick wrap up will allow us to accelerate our plans."

Herb stopped pacing. "Right then. Now to release you."

More than a little hopeful, the Amazon looked up at Herb, awaiting the command to be set free. He was caught unaware when Herb struck him hard in the face, knocking him to the ground. A blast of ki struck his body a moment later, liquefying his chest cavity and heart in one foul swoop.

"It would seem that wasn't quite the action he'd hoped for." General Maelic moved away from the wall he'd been leaning against to come stand beside Herb.

The Emperor shrugged his shoulders. "I told him I would release him. His soul is released. Let it never be said that I am not a man of my word."

"What comes next, my lord?"

Herb turned to look at the taller man. "War. Prepare our army. The Amazon's will not be allowed to get away with such treachery. Also, have our intelligence division continue to hunt out for any possible spies. I do not want our plans interrupted again. This feud between our two societies has lasted long enough. It is high time for a reckoning."

"Yes my Emperor."

"How long will it take to prepare for the invasion?"

"If you wish all preparations to be kept secret," Maelic trailed off a moment as he calculated information in his head. "Two weeks, maybe three. I'll contact general's Faing and Haower and inform them of our plans. All three corps of our army will be prepared after that."

"Good. Make it happen General."

The general and guards saluted. "Rise up in the name of the Dragon Emperor!"

Satisfied, Herb made his way to the balcony looking out over the vast lands of Jusenkyo and stared off in the direction of the Amazon village with a vengeful look. Justice would be handed out. It would not be pretty, nor bloodless, but it would be right. War was vindicated and soon the Amazon's would know the full price they treachery had wrought.

The tense yet peaceful balance in Jusenkyo was about to shatter in front of a chorus of marching, murder, and battle.

To be continued.

Authors Notes:

I'm halfway through revising the first Nightmare Saga side story I've renamed "Redemption". I'll be posting that later this week.

I want to take the time to thank everyone who has read and followed along with this series. I want to thank linkgold64 for his reviews. An author is little without readers and the only way we can grow and improve is to receive feedback from you all. Please feel free to leave a review, or, if you don't want everyone reading your words, you can PM me in private. I welcome all constructive criticism and praise. A little of both goes a long way.

The series is progressing and the next story is pretty much planned out. The first two chapters have been written and are waiting for revision. I hope everyone will enjoy it when the story debuts. I'm expecting the next story to be closer to the length of Warrior of Shadows. This will be due to the fact that many things will be happening at once. The story will be a tree with each branch a separate piece of plot. I'm quite excited to write and develop my ideas for all of you to (hopefully) read and enjoy.

See you next time!