A/N: This chapter covers Tatewaki's healing from Tofu's and Kasumi's viewpoint. There's some text (about a third of this chapter) taken from the last chapter of "The Other Side of the Looking Glass" where Tatewaki's viewpoint merges with the newlyweds', but things don't line up exactly. The small mismatches are not errors – rather they are a result of differences (or split personality) of Tatewaki's internal and external perceptions due to his illness (two people will often see the same event differently). There's even a small time sequence that is switched around, which is done to show how loose Tatewaki's connection to the real world is. We also get to see what Tofu and Kasumi really had to do to heal Tatewaki… For more information, see "The Other Side of the Looking Glass".
Chapter 7: Tatewaki (Wednesday Afternoon: January 1st, 2003)
The men piled into the house bathroom for a quick scrub while Ciren and Akari took the bathroom in the dojo basement. The Bride's party was notified of the delay and the dojo defenders were forgiven - so long as no one was hurt. Akane did amuse herself by texting "Dummy" to Ranma every ten minutes or so, but Ranma knew her well enough - as long as she was talking to him, everything was fine. He just texted back "Tomboy" in response, which seemed to satisfy her that he was still alive.
By 12:30PM, everyone was ready and started to climb into the three cars Othan had delivered. Ranma's phone went off just as he started to get in. He looked in puzzlement as Nabiki's number flashed on the screen. "Nabiki?" he answered the phone. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, not quite," she drawled. "Where are you? I need you to come help with me with Kuno. He's out of his mind right now."
"Where are you? Are you in danger? What's he doing?" Ranma asked hurriedly.
"He's standing around sort of talking to imaginary people," Nabiki replied.
"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Ranma prompted.
"Well, he calls me the 'Bridesmaid, which sort of makes sense since I'm in my dress, but he's calling Sasuke the 'Shooting Star' and Cologne is the 'Rose Gardener,'" she answered.
"Cologne?"
"We're outside the Cat Café. She managed to keep him from walking away. Any chance for a pick-up?" she asked.
"Probably - hold on a minute." Ranma looked at Tofu. "Nabiki, Cologne, and Sasuke have Kuno at the Cat Café," he stated. "Kuno's in la-la land."
Tofu sighed and said: "Should have expected that. We have room. Tell them hold on."
Ranma nodded and relayed the info. Then he hung up and said: "Let's go."
Nabiki and the other three were indeed standing outside the restaurant as the three cars pulled up. Nabiki was in her bridesmaid dress, Cologne was wearing her dress robes, and Sasuke was in his normal attire. It was Tatewaki that caught everyone's attention - all his clothes were dyed red. Nabiki was waving her hand in front of Kuno's face, but Tatewaki didn't seem to be responding. "What's up with him?" the doc asked as he got out. Everyone got out of their cars too.
"He just shut down a few minutes ago," Nabiki answered. "He was talking about roses covering everything, and then he just stopped."
"What the hell has him? He's not really here. He's also missing his shadow," Cologne stated while pointing down at the ground. Everyone gave a small start as they looked down - Tatewaki was somehow not casting a shadow in the midday sun like everybody else.
Tofu shook his head in wonderment. "He finally ticked off the wrong person. He crossed a very powerful shaman, and she locked him in a Spirit Quest. I've never seen one so deep before."
"Can you snap him out of it?" Ranma asked.
"Only he can…" Tofu started, but Kuno cut him off.
Kuno turned to Ranma and said: "You were right, King of Hearts. Thank you for bringing the White King to me." Kuno turned to Tofu and said: "Please your Majesty. I only want to go home. Please bring me to the White Queen."
Tofu looked at him, then carefully asked: "Are you sure? You still have to confront your greatest fear."
"I haven't done that yet?" Kuno asked.
"No, not yet. It lies at your very center," Tofu explained.
"The Red King must give way to Tatewaki," Kuno mumbled. Then he shouted: "I RESIGN!" Instantly his clothes changed from red back to more normal blues and blacks.
"He's ready," Tofu said. "Let's go." He and Ranma hustled Kuno into their car. Tofu leaned forward as Daran got in the driver's seat. "To the wedding hall! People are waiting on us. Hopefully their attention isn't wandering yet!"
The cars pulled up to the hall. It was a large, very solid looking building consisting of granite and wood. "Lord Jakaro arranged for the hall, didn't he?" Ranma asked just before he got out. "That building isn't normally here. This is a vacant lot the Martial Artists often fight in."
"Details, details…" Tofu said as he motioned Ranma to get out.
Toshio Kuno ran up to the cars. There was a pretty young woman in her mid-twenties with him dressed all in red. "People are restless, but everyone's still focused on you and your bride," Kuno told Tofu. "Nerima is waiting on you two."
"Olaf!" Tofu yelled. The large blond man looked at him. "Let everyone know inside that we are here and the wedding is due to start shortly. That should keep the focus." Olaf nodded. Tofu nodded at Kuno. "Let's do this."
Ranma pulled Tatewaki forward only to have Kuno freeze at the sight of his uncle.
Toshio came forward and grabbed Tatewaki's arm roughly. "There's no time for that," he snapped at his nephew. "If you want to go home, come with me now."
The woman dressed in red grabbed Tatewaki's other free arm. "You're cutting this close," she said. Tofu led them and Ranma toward a side door. Nabiki also followed along, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Before they reached the door, Akane emerged and exclaimed: "There you are! It's about time!"
"We had to make a slight detour," Tofu answered her. "Lead the way."
Akane nodded and beckoned them inside and then through a small maze of passages in the building until they came to a solid looking door. Tofu knocked on the door and called out: "Love! It's me!"
A voice chimed back through the closed door: "You're not suppose to see me before the wedding!" Kasumi teased.
Tofu grinned and pulled a blindfold from thin air. As he put it on, he answered: "All taken care of, Love."
"Seriously?" Toshio murmured.
"Hey, it's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the wedding," Tofu responded.
"Did they find him?" Kasumi called out.
"Yes! And I think he's in a suitable frame of mind!" Tofu answered.
"All right, come in!"
Nabiki opened the door and led the way in. The party nearly tripped over itself as Tatewaki tried to pause. Fortunately, Toshio was dragging him forward. "Oh my god," the younger Kuno mumbled as he looked at Kasumi.
Kasumi stood before them in a gorgeous wedding gown. The dress was a soft off-white color and was made of silk and lace. It appeared to have two necklines – the first would have made the dress an off-the-shoulder gown that was cut to modestly show the bride's generous bust. Above this false neckline, the fabric became a transparent lace and ran to just short of the bride's collarbone. The transparent lace also ran down her arms. Embroidered silk covered from her bust to her hips where the skirt of the dress fanned out. The skirt consisted of more silk and was overlaid by more lace. She wore a stunning head piece with a veil that had yet to be pulled over her face. Her face had a light application of make-up, although one could have argued that she didn't need it.
"You're b-beautiful…" Tatewaki managed to stutter. Kasumi blushed modestly.
"She does clean up rather well, doesn't she," Ranma agreed with a smirk. Akane doped slapped him for the comment.
"Don't get any ideas," a blindfolded Tofu added with a mock warning to Tatewaki. "She's already taken."
Kasumi raised her eyebrows at her husband. "Better make sure you appreciate me then," she replied smoothly. She sat down gracefully in a large soft chair and beckoned to Toshio and the woman in red. They half-dragged Tatewaki forward. "Tatewaki Kuno," Kasumi addressed him gently. "Your thoughts and actions have brought you to the brink of reality. You're on the verge of losing all touch with the real world. What do you want?" Toshio and the woman in red tried to speak, but Kasumi hushed them with a gesture.
Tatewaki forced his voice to work: "I want my own world back."
"It's not *your* world. You're just one small piece of this world," Kasumi pushed back. "Others live and dream in this world also – and they are not subject to you. You've never been able to accept this. You haven't been able to accept another's will – their own decisions." She gestured at Ranma and Akane.
Tatewaki followed her gesture and then turned to face her again. "I-I-I…" he started.
Suddenly the woman in red leaned forward and put her hand on Tatewaki's forehead. He screamed: "NO!" and then shut off suddenly in confusion.
"Was that necessary?" Kasumi asked the other woman.
"You're a bit too gentle. He needs to see his choices. He needs to understand his madness," the woman in red said firmly.
Tatewaki murmured: "He is hopelessly outclassed, and he can't even see it." He faced Kasumi again. "She's right," he said nodding at the woman in red. "He's mad… I'm mad. I can't stay this way. I can't stay here. I want to be real."
"The real world holds pain as well as joy," Kasumi warned. "Are you sure you can accept the pain?"
Tatewaki's face paled and he dropped his eyes, but he said: "I have to." He raised his eyes and pleaded: "Heal me!"
The Healer Kasumi Tendo responded: "As you wish." She cupped his chin in one hand and placed the other on his forehead.
Tatewaki threw his head back and howled. Tofu leaped forward and also placed his hands on Kuno's head. The woman in red also did the same. All three focused on him and a white light seem to burst from their hands. Ranma and Akane stepped back, taking Toshio with them. Nabiki had stayed near the back of the room and didn't move. The light grew brighter and brighter. When it grew blinding, Tatewaki screamed: "Akane!... Kodachi!... Ranma!… Toshio!.. Dad! – I'm so sorry!... Mother!... MOTHER!...MOM!" With that Tatewaki crumpled to the ground and all three healers shifted to keep their hands on him.
Tofu felt himself running down the corridors of Tatewaki's mind. He was leading Kasumi by the hand, and Kasumi held the woman in red's hand. The woman - Nari - called out: "Open yourselves up. Today - your wedding day - you're the focus of all of Nerima. The Nexus flows through them into you. It's a hell of a lot of power! Use it!"
"This place is a maze!" Tofu shouted back.
"But it's unraveling!" Nari shouted. "Tatewaki's trying to heal! Most of the walls are weak - they're not important. *You* know which ones are important - you've stood up to practically unbearable pain and come through! You know!"
Tofu remembered how Henna tried to destroy him. He remembered the thoughts that got him through the torture and the ones that allowed him to survive. Holding those thoughts in mind, Tofu looked at the walls and found he could tell the walls of delusion from the true walls of Tatewaki's being. With gestures, he started to shatter the delusions, leading his companions deeper into Tatewaki's psyche. Something like black lightning flew from each wall Tofu destroyed. The ground under them shook and rolled.
"I know that! That's Pain!" Kasumi called out. At Nari's nod, Kasumi joined Nari's hand with Tofu's and then took Nari's free hand. Now Kasumi raised her free hand which glowed brightly with Nerima's Power and she drew the Pain to herself, unraveling the black lightning with blasts of brilliant Healer's Light. The ground steadied under the Trio and they ran on.
Tofu lead them steadily towards Tatewaki's Spiritual Center. Finally, he blew through a set of thick delusions and stood looking out over a dark landscape. It was a huge, giant bowl carved into the ground, easily more than a kilometer in diameter. All around the bowl was a dense featureless fog. In the middle of the bowl spun a thick black whirlpool of mist and dust. "What is that?" Kasumi asked in a hushed voice.
"The Center of Tatewaki's Madness," Nari said grimly. "Tatewaki's true Center lies beneath it."
"What do we do?" Tofu asked.
Nari let go of their hands. "You find the Center and fill it with Light. I'm going to destroy the Madness," she said bluntly. As soon as she finished talking, she ran into the bowl, her shape growing larger and more brutish with each step. Meanwhile something arose from the dark whirlpool, looking very much like a black phoenix. Nari let loose a massive roar and the dark shape flew toward her at the challenge.
"Oh my! She's an ogre!" Kasumi exclaimed. "A real ogre!"
"Then it's a fair match!" Tofu yelled. "Let's go!" He pulled Kasumi into a run down into the bowl, angling away from the charging monsters.
The phoenix met the ogre with a terrific booming sound. Nari the ogre immediately grabbed it by the neck and plowed it into the ground. "It's not her Madness!" Tofu yelled to Kasumi as they ran toward the center. More and more of the black whirlpool flowed away into the phoenix shape. "It cannot beat her, but it can keep healing over and over again unless we find the Center." They paused at the edge of the thinning cloud. Tofu held up his free hand. "Flame on…" he said quietly. At that, Healer's Light began shining from his hand. Kasumi nodded and renewed her own light. Together they entered the mist.
As they walked through the timeless landscape, they heard various sounds echo through the cloud. A little boy weeped somewhere. A girl cried here and there. A man groaned in pain. Once Tofu heard Akane's yell of anger. Whispers tumbled out of the dark mist. In response, the two Healers drew from the well-wishers of Nerima and fed the Light. "There!" Kasumi called out. "There's a building over there," she repeated as she pulled Tofu toward it.
Tofu let out a whistle as they approached it. "O.K., that's being generous." It wasn't so much a building as a half-fallen shack. "He really is in a bad way."
As they neared the building, they heard a child crying softly. They looked at each other and Tofu led Kasumi inside the shack. As their eyes adjusted, they saw a small boy, barely able to walk, chained to a decaying female corpse in the middle of the room. The child was sobbing "I killed Momma" over and over again.
"Oh gods," Kasumi moaned. "No."
"The Madness is not outside," Tofu said in horror. "That's only a Shadow. The Madness is right here!"
Tofu let go of Kasumi's hand and drew himself up. A bright sword appeared at his side and he withdrew it from its sheath. Shouting words of Power in the Kitsune tongue, he sprung forward and swung his sword, not at the child or at the corpse, but at the chain between them. With a loud "chink" the sword cut the chain. Immediately, the corpse sprung up screaming to seize the child, but Tofu snatched the child away. The corpse turned to face Tofu, only to stop and peer down at another bright sword emerging out of its rib cage. Behind it, Kasumi said in low tones Tofu never heard from her before: "Masami Kuno was killed by a drunk driver. Toshio Kuno loved his sister-in-law and had the drunk driver killed. Had anyone - and I mean *anyone* - else been responsible, Toshio would have had them killed too. Tatewaki Kuno is alive. Tatewaki Kuno is not responsible for the death of Masami Kuno." With that, she twisted the sword in the corpse and shouted: "BEGONE!"
The child in Tofu's arms gasped, and everything exploded in Light.
Nari called out: "Enough, we got it! He's anchored again!" Tofu became aware of the dressing room again as the Light faded. He started to rise and then had to turn to catch Kasumi, who almost toppled over trying to stand up. Akane helped the doctor guide his bride back to her chair. Then the doc almost fell over except Ranma steadied him. Ranma helped the groom to sit on the floor next to Kasumi's chair. The doctor's eyes were still bound with the cloth to prevent him from seeing his bride.
Nari still knelt by Tatewaki checking his pulse. She glanced at Tofu and Kasumi in their tired states and muttered: "Amateurs… You'll need to build up more stamina if you want to be world class healers."
"So says the immortal…" Tofu returned. Nari just smirked and went back to checking Tatewaki.
"Is he going to be all right?" Toshio Kuno asked.
Nari looked over at the Kuno elder. "Well," she started. "He's got a good shot at it. As you guessed, he's never gotten over his mother's death and he blames himself for it. How anyone could consider a one year old child responsible for anyone's death is beyond me, but you'll have to teach him the truth that he isn't. I see lots of counseling in his future. Be happy that we got the instability though – that's a rare thing to beat."
"How rare?" Nabiki asked.
"It took three healers to do it, Nabiki," Tofu answered while still breathing hard. "And one of them was extraordinary." Nari smirked.
"The patient also has to agree that he is mad too," Kasumi added. "He has to want to be cured." She looked at Nari and asked: "How did you do that?"
Nari stood up. "Live long enough, and maybe you'll learn, child," she said as her shape changed and shrank. Now a small old woman stood there dressed in sack cloth. "Still, maybe you'll get the chance yet." She walked over to Kasumi and picked up one of the young woman's hands in her own. "You did good, granddaughter." She stretched up and kissed Kasumi's forehead. Then Nari turned and dope–slapped Tofu. "Take care of her, idiot, or I'll hunt you down." The blind-folded man just gave her a short laugh.
Nari walked past Toshio (who was now kneeling by Tatewaki) without a word or glance, but she stopped in front of Ranma who was dressed in his tuxedo. She looked him up and down. "How the hell is Genma your sire?" she wondered out-loud.
"You knew Genma?" Ranma asked confused.
"I know Genma, young one. I know who he is, what he is, and where he is," she answered. "If you ever have occasion to speak with him, remind him old Mara never forgets. On the other hand, never mind. Do yourself a favor and never speak to him again." Nari pointed to Akane in her bridesmaid dress. "Meanwhile, take care of this one." Then Nari spoke to Akane as the old woman hooked a thumb at Ranma: "Same goes for you too." With that, Nari opened the door and left the room.
Nabiki walked to the door and looked out. "She's gone," she stated without surprise as she closed the door. Tofu just nodded his head. "Definitely a '10' on the weird old lady scale," Nabiki added.
"And may you never find out how weird," Toshio said while standing up. Then he took out a radio and spoke into it: "All teams: Target achieved. Let's clean up and get out of the way."
Tofu and Kasumi watched Kuno's people bring a stretcher in and place Tatewaki on it. "Take him back to the estate for now," Kuno told them. "We will take him back to Hokkaido this weekend when we are sure he's stable." At that the stretcher bearers nodded and carried Tatewaki away. Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki followed them out. Once the door was closed, Kuno looked at the exhausted couple and bowed deeply: "There are no words for my gratitude. You've given me hope for my nephew. You've asked for nothing in return, but I am in your debt - deep in your debt - nonetheless." He straightened up and smiled then. "Regardless of that, what can I do to help you? I have a First Date I would very much like to start."
Tofu barked out a laugh and Kasumi gave her own light laugh followed by an "Oh my."
The blind-folded doctor slowly climbed to his feet with a small smile. "I suppose we should get on with the wedding. Could you please let everyone know we start in ten minutes?"
"Ten minutes?" Toshio said surprised. "You're going to be ready that fast?"
The couple nodded together. "We are still the Focus of the day - Nari wasn't kidding when she said we would have access to a lot of power today," Tofu explained. "Even now, Nerima is pouring energy into us. We'll be back up to snuff in a few minutes."
"Amazing…" Toshio murmured.
There was a knock on the door and Shizuka walked in. She was surprised to see Kuno there, but not unhappy. "I should have known you'd be behind the delay," she teased him.
Kuno immediately put on an overly courteous persona and bowed to the woman. "Ah, Mrs. Jouda! A pleasure to see you as always!"
The two clasped hands warmly and then Shizuka said in overblown tones: "I'd love to exchange further pleasantries with you, Mr. Kuno, but we do have a wedding to start. You know, you could make yourself useful and take Mr. Ono to be with his groom's party…"
Toshio looked at Tofu who nodded, so Kuno replied: "An excellent idea, my dear lady. Come Mr. Ono, before you're tempted to look. The look would be worth it, but you really should follow tradition." Tofu gave another laugh and allowed Toshio to lead him out.
"How much could you see through the blindfold?" Toshio asked curiously as Tofu took it off as they walked down the hallway.
"Not a thing," Tofu answered. "There's no point cheating myself or Kasumi. I was using my Other sight to respond to people. The wedding dress isn't visible to it."
Toshio smiled briefly, and then he said seriously: "I know you and I don't always see eye-to-eye, but I sincerely wish for you and Mrs. Ono to have a long and happy life together."
Tofu stopped and extended his hand, which Kuno accepted. "I know, Kuno. I'm not your enemy either. We will 'butt heads' again, but let's keep everything 'on-the-field' as it was."
"Agreed. And let's do it *after* the Storm," Kuno added.
"Agreed."
A/N: Next - The Second Ceremony
