Best Laid Plans
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, nor am I making money off of this.
….
Akane relaxed feeling Ranma's warmth as he lay across her legs. While his admission did not come as a surprise, she felt more than grateful for it. The affection of his words soothed her.
After several quiet moments she spoke, "I care for you too." Of course she did, how could she not?
Ranma's response was to lean over and lick the corner of her mouth. It must have been an uncomfortable stretch though, for Ranma switched to licking her upper forearm rumbling happily all the while.
Akane found herself rumbling in response as she reached toward her forelegs and licked Ranma's paws in return. He twitched in surprise and returned to nuzzling and licking her cheek now that her head was closer.
Akane enjoyed the sensations for a while before a nagging thought filtered through her happy haze. She slowly stopped licking Ranma's paws. "What is the story with Hibiki?"
Ranma stopped his ministrations and let out an unhappy sigh. Taking a deep breath he told her about how he had accidentally knocked Ryoga into the cursed spring and later vowed not to tell anyone.
Akane listened in silence. Eventually she murmured, "You should have told me. Or Hibiki should have told me. Someone should have told me, how many know?"
Ranma paused before answering, "All the cursed spring victims know. I'm not sure who else. Ryoga would have a better idea."
"I'm more than a little mad at him right now," Akane growled and shot Ranma an angry look, "I haven't completely forgiven you yet either. You owe me for this."
Ranma nodded in silence.
Akane continued as an idea popped into her head, "You could tell me why you are upset with Shampoo."
"What?" That clearly was not what Ranma was expecting.
"Why are you mad at Shampoo?"
Wearily Ranma asked, "Will telling you help you to forgive me and Ryoga?"
Akane contemplated her response, "It'll help, although it will be a long time before I forgive Hibiki." She spat out the last part.
Reluctantly Ranma bit out, "Shampoo… is the one who turned you in to be sacrificed."
Akane again took the news silently. She let out an unhappy growl, "Hibiki betrayed my trust and privacy, Shampoo handed me over to be killed and The Great One stole our bodies and made us His guards." Her tail lashed angrily and she extended her claws into the ground.
"I'm furious too, but we still have each other and your sisters," Ranma rubbed her cheek again and gave her ear a lick. "We'll get through this," He seemed to be trying to convince not only Akane but also himself.
Akane let the tension leave her body and tried to calm down.
"You'll see, Akane, Kasumi and Nabiki will help us turn back to humans, and we'll sort out this mess."
….
The first one to come to them was not one of Akane's sisters; it was the now male Godling. Ranma watched Him warily, wondering why He came. The male shisa felt Akane tense beneath him and could tell that if he wasn't sitting on her legs she would have jumped up.
"What do you want?" Akane growled as the puppet sat down in front of them.
"You don't make very good shisa."
The indifferent statement made both of the shisa stare. Akane answered in a low flat voice, "What?"
"The male shisa is afraid of cats and neither of you are very good at getting rid of evil spirits."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Ranma responded sarcastically.
"You're getting better," He directed his attention toward Ranma, "but your fear is a major setback."
Ranma snapped defensively, "Not when I use the Cat Fist, it isn't."
The Godling shook His head, "Since becoming shisa you no longer possess the Cat Fist." He calmly looked the shisa in the eye, "Now it is nothing but a weakness. I also see my spirit lessons have not been enough."
"You could change us back," Akane suggested.
The puppet ignored her and continued, "I will ask someone to help teach you. Things are going to become busy. The day after the full moon the final ritual will take place, establishing my presence among mortals. The Amazons, and perhaps your piglet visitor as well, will stay for the week and a half to help with preparations." He watched Ranma and Akane as they remained silent, "I will no longer be limited to the Temple-Palace after the ceremony."
"Will you let us go then? And change us back?" Ranma probed.
"I want to keep an eye on you two." The emotionless response sent a spike of resentment through Ranma. "After all," the Godling continued, "while you successfully eliminated a shadow sprite, two other spirits got away and one of you managed to get hurt in the process."
Ranma immediately responded by getting to his feet with a growl. Akane took the opportunity to roll onto her stomach.
"Calm down, I have something that will help." The words sounded very odd when said in a monotone.
Ranma watched suspiciously as the Godling pulled a small jar out of his sleeve. After opening it to reveal a greenish paste, the puppet scooped some onto His fingers and began reaching for Akane's side.
That is where Ranma drew the line. Snarling he positioned himself between his former body and Akane.
The Godling froze, a mildly confused expression briefly filtered across His face.
Ranma growled, "What is that stuff?"
"An herbal salve made from the offerings of my followers," was the emotionless reply.
"What is it supposed to do?" Akane, still lying on her stomach, asked.
"It has been blessed to help wounds heal faster," the monotone voice replied. The puppet then reached toward Akane's side once more.
Ranma shoved the Godling's arm away. He couldn't stand the thought of the puppet ever touching Akane. "Let me do it then," the request came out as more of a demand, and Ranma swiped his paw at the salve in the Godling's hand.
With the soft grainy salve covering his paw pad he turned toward Akane. Gently he began to rub it into her side, watching her for any reaction. Akane just watched him back.
During all this Ranma was keenly aware of the puppet watching them. When Ranma ran out of salve on his paw the Godling silently offered him some more. Since the salve didn't seem to hurt Akane Ranma continued to wipe the salve on her until her cut was covered.
Only then did the Godling give a brief bow as goodbye and left them.
"The salve sort of feels like a bandage," Akane paused before looking up into Ranma's eyes, "Thank you, Ranma."
Ranma wanted to ask why she was thanking him, but the pounding footsteps from the Temple-Palace distracted him.
Akane's sisters, both with giddy expressions rushed to their sides.
"We did it! We found the spell!" Nabiki exclaimed while trying to be quiet.
"The spell I found to put a soul into a new body? There is a way to reverse it to put the soul back into its original form!" Kasumi explained.
Ranma felt his ears perk up as their excitement enveloped him. He barely noticed Akane sit up beside him.
"It has to happen the day after a full moon but that will give us time, about a week and a half, to prepare everything," Nabiki continued.
At that Ranma caught Akane's eye. Akane voiced their mutual thought, "The Godling is planning a ritual the day after the full moon to fully establish Himself."
The sisters paused, considering what Akane said. "Even better then, the Temple inhabitants should be too busy to notice what we're doing," Nabiki grinned as Kasumi beside her nodded.
"We finally will be human again!" Akane gleefully exclaimed.
Ranma couldn't help rumbling happily in agreement.
"How exactly does the spell work?"
"Don't worry about that, Nabiki and I will work it all out," Kasumi reassured her little sister.
…
Happy New Year.