Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, I do not claim any rights to any of the characters or concepts created or owned by Viz Video or Rumiko Takahashi. This is just the work of one fan to the others. The only characters or concepts that I claim are the ones I created or introduced. That said, I bring you:

For Love and Money, Chapter 36

The new normal.

Yaayaa stretched and smiled as she stood outside to greet the sun. From now on, she would spend most of her time in what would be her new body as Hina and her continued to practice and prepare to return to the wider world.

After that, she would never again be trapped in her old body.

Doctor Tofu and Amaya had said that she could stay in this body, except for one day a week so that Doctor Tofu could decide if there was likely to be any long term problems. She appreciated how concerned Doctor Tofu and Amaya had been, and how much they looked out for her, but in the end the decision didn't rest with them anymore.

Yaayaa had already talked to Hina, and they had decided that regardless of what Doctor Tofu said, they would continue on. This was her body now. Nothing anyone else said would matter. It was a decision that the two girls had made, and no one else had the right to make this decision for them.

She knew she would miss her old friends and family, but she would not miss the looks. The pity and sympathy were worse than not being able to stand in her old body. This body was her own now. From now on, it was her body. And no one would be able to take it from her.

Even if that meant living with the rather strange guardian that Hina had assigned to her. Hikaru Gosunkugi.

She would make the best of this second chance at life Yaayaa vowed to herself as she felt the warm and soft hand of Hina's new body slide into her own.

Things would work out.

Konatsu stretched and twisted from side to side. It had been a long day for her, but it was the work she had chosen for herself. She could have turned down Ranma when he had first discussed the idea of the Teahouse with her all those years ago. She could have refused, and never gone to Jusenkyo. She could have remained as she was, and never known this outward expression of who she had always been.

But that would have meant she would never have met any of the Lilies, much less seen them grow into the women they were now. The underworld would not have been forced into a semblance of order, and the only rules would have remained strength and subservience. A rule by strength and violence. Survival of the fittest, and those that were weaker were eaten.

The Teahouse had changed that, even if it had taken more than a little strength and quite a bit of blood to forge the relative peace and prosperity that had emerged. To remake the underworld into a more civilized place, that abided by a set of rules. Rules that the biggest players helped enforce, now that they had seen how much it profited them in the end.

She had made deals with all of the major families, and had helped forge the small gangs and lesser families into a loosely knit coalition. She had been there when Ranma had struck deals with those who dwelt between the waking world and fantasies that would make mortals mad. One such as Hikaru Gosunkugi and his mistress, the cursed doll Hina.

And now someone, something, wanted to threaten that. Wanted to tear down the world that she had helped build.

The attack on the Village had been an attack on one of the pillars that the Teahouse had been built on. She agreed with Ranma on this, that it certainly seemed like more than what it appeared to be on the surface.

One thing that she didn't agree with Ranma on was what it signaled. Ranma had been sure that if this was part of some bigger plan, that there would be other attacks, and other moves taken rapidly. She didn't think so. It was quite possible that the initial attack on Nabiki all those years ago might have been part of the opening salvo in this war. If that was the case…

Then they were in for the long haul.

As she saw it, the key to enduring what was to come was two fold. One, to seek out who was behind this scheme, and see if the threat could be removed directly. To excise the cancer directly.

The second was to prepare in case the first was not possible. Expand, so that one strike could not break them, as it had the Amazons. The new House in China was a start, but she had to look farther than that. A House in northern Japan, and one in the United States were going to be necessary. And for that, she would have to expand. Expand, and take some risks.

Nothing ventured, as it were.

Mother Konatsu sighed and stretched once more before she started to go over reports and memos again. She had to find new Houses, and new Lilies to inhabit and watch over those Houses. She had already started to make some inroads, and to gather information on likely candidates. Some of them were people that had been active in various communities and organizations for some time, some were more recent. And then there were the ones like Koda, who did not yet fully accept just who they were, who had been fighting against themselves for their entire lives.

As the Founding Mother, it was her duty to continue to nurture and grow those who would serve as the Mothers to these new flocks of children.

Nabiki Tendo stretched and twisted as she sat at her desk and tried to focus on the reports and data before her. She had always found sanctuary in numbers, ever since she had been young. She had at one time put money and influence over everything else, but that had been when she was much younger. It had taken hurting her youngest sister to make her realize that she had lost her way, that money didn't really solve everything.

It had taken her some time to fix things between them, and it had driven Akane to leave Nerima, at least for a time. That had caused Akane and Ranma's orbit to intersect, and a very unlikely friendship to be forged. It had also let Akane and Ukyo meet, and their relationship flourish.

How much would have changed, if Gemma had not tried to strike his deal with the Yakuza? If whatever other plans that old scoundrel had cooking had come to pass? How would their lives have changed, if not for that one act?

Nabiki looked over at the pictures that sat on her desk where she could see them, and also where she could easily put them away when she had guests. Ranma and her were in one of the pictures, from when they had first started to see each other. The next one was Chiko and Qiang Pu, a candid shot she had snuck of the two sitting and reading together. The final one was of Ranma, Chiko and her together. When Ranma got back, she would get a picture of all of them together, including Xaph Ti Pyn.

All of their feelings towards the stolen daughter of Ranma and Xian Pu were…. Complex, at the least. And potentially very problematic. What would happen with her was a question that would take what remained of the Council to resolve.

The de facto leader of the new Council of Elders was another enigma. A former outcast who had been trained by one of the former members of the Council, she was a mystery that would decide a great deal of what would come next.

And Nabiki fully expected that she would be meeting Tai Dai sooner rather than later. Ranma had said that they would have a representative of the Council coming to Japan to negotiate directly with the Teahouse, and to retrieve Qiang Pu. It only made sense that it would be Tai Dai herself.

Regardless of what anyone else thought or wanted, she would back up Qiang Pu. Even if that puts her at odds with the Council, the Musk, or anyone else.

It was the least she could do for the young girl who she regarded as a daughter.

Nabiki was pulled out of her thoughts as she was buzzed by her secretary. "Mrs. Hashimaki is here, Ma'am. Should I send her in?"

"Yes, please." Nabiki answered as she put the pictures away, and made sure that she was ready.

It was time for another interview.

Later that night, Nabiki smiled as she ran her fingers through Chiko's hair and let her son sleep while she sat in her recliner and Qiang Pu cooked in the kitchen. Her young ward had insisted, quite vehemently in fact. Nabiki wasn't sure what would come next, but she would have Ranma back home soon. And they would figure out what they would do next, as a family.

With the losses in the village, she knew that they would want Qiang Pu back, as the last child of Xian Pu. They would want to have the link she represented, and the hope for the future that she embodied. A new start going forward, and a future that none of them could have ever seen coming.

And they would do their best to steer it towards happiness. To ensure that another tragedy would not happen, and that another young girl would not lose all the family she had known her entire life. For all of those that she considered family, she would do what she could.

Nabiki smiled at Qiang Pu as her thoughts drifted to yet another daughter of Ranma, and she couldn't help but wonder what the future would hold for her, as well.

Xaph Ti, daughter of Xian Pu smiled happily as she moved through another series of movements with the dark skinned geisha Amaya. Her teacher was strict, yet gentle. Warm, caring and determined. Everything she had found that she needed, to help fill the gaping void that was herself. She had taken to Amaya's teaching like a duckling who discovered the water for the first time. Her body moved fluidly, with a sureness that her mind and heart didn't share.

Doctor Tofu had explained that even with all that she had forgotten, the movement based skills that she had learned were mostly still there, waiting for her to discover them once more. She had never ceased to be surprised when she moved in ways that she had not thought she could, and it brought her happiness and joy.

When Amaya raised a hand, she stepped back and resumed her soft stance as she waited for direction from her teacher.

Amaya watched Xaph Ti with a gentle smile on her lips. The young girl was a joy to teach anything. She absorbed anything like a sponge. There was no detail or fact that she didn't relish and savor. She could easily see Ranma in her, in how she devoured every little thing about martial arts. It had been decided that if she was to be taught anything, it would be a defensive, soft art. And Amaya had happily obliged. It was a true joy to have a student like her, and their morning exercises had been joined by a number of the other residents of the House, and recently by the Lady Tofu, as well.

Amaya suspected that Xaph Ti had figured that there was something going on, from the little looks the young Amazon had cast their way. The warm smile was as sure a sign of Xaph Ti's approval as any open statement could ever be.

But for now, it was time to move on to the next segment again. Time to pass another piece of the Art that her own mother had helped instill into her into Xaph Ti Pyn, and that was exactly what Amaya was determined to do in whatever time they had remaining together. Every moment that she could spare from her other duties she would dedicate to the young lady before her.

All to prepare her young ward as much as she could. There was no way to know what the future would hold for them, and to know how long she would be able to watch over Xaph Ti. She would watch over those that she had chosen as her family, no matter what.

Semper Fi.

Koda stretched as she read over the latest set of numbers and reports and tried to settle her head. She had already made her decision, so there was no point in going back and worrying about it now. There were literally hundreds of things that she needed to get done before she could even think about moving to China and trying to recreate what Mother Konatsu had accomplished here. She just hoped that she would not let Mother Konatsu and the others down. Regardless of what the others thought about her, Koda couldn't help but worry that she was not up to the task ahead of her. Nabiki had already made the preliminary arrangements, the overly capable Tendo woman had a way with numbers and contracts that was almost terrifying, at least if you found yourself on the wrong side of her desk. Two primary sites had already been purchased, and initial work would begin in the coming months. Mother Konatsu had already presented her with dossiers on the influential people that she would be dealing with, and even a few potential recruits to help fill the halls of her new House. The majority of those that would live, work, and learn in her House would be her own responsibility to find and to bring into the fold. Just like Mother Konatsu had done with her, in fact. Mother had always said it was the unknown gems that could be polished to the greatest shine, and it would be her job to not only find those gems, but to bring out their natural light as well.

It was honestly a daunting task.

For now, though, she would focus on making sure that things were in proper order here before she ventured out into the world to create her own place.

Koda looked up at a very gentle knock on her door, and smiled as Tachi entered and set up a bottle of warmed sake and a pair of cups. It seemed that she would have company tonight.

Happosai sat back in his chair and smiled as he surveyed the new batch of lovelies that had been brought to him. They would keep him entertained for some time to come, he was sure. The game had only just really begun, after all. The pieces were in place, and just waited for him to move them.

He would have his revenge on the Tendo's and Saotome's for defying their master all those years ago. He would take his time and crush them, little by little, until there was nothing left. Five, ten years? What did that matter to one such as him? Revenge was a dish that was best when you could savor it. He had destroyed the village, for all intents and purposes. The old crone and her darling granddaughter were gone, and the fruit of their tree was at his fingertips.

He would take his time and enjoy this.