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:
Broken Mirrors, chapter 24
Sunday, November 29th. The Saotome mansion, 11:00 AM.
Ranma was pensive. He hated it when their rotation was disrupted. It literally threw all of their plans and careful scheduling out the window.
He wasn't sure that it was any better, not having to reschedule with Ukyo and Ranko were currently not seeing them. A heavy sigh escaped the young master of the manors lips as he contemplated the situation again.
They had done what needed to be done, and there was nothing else to do but wait. In a bit, he would swap places with his sister, and she would have two weeks to think on the current situation, just as he had done. He just hoped that her mind didn't go into the kind of places his had.
But knowing his sister, that would probably be as much of a challenge as it had been for him. Early on, they had both accepted the fact that they would be alone, that no one would share their lives except for the sibling across the mirror.
He sighed as he leaned back in his chair, the last of the paperwork he needed to do finished and his side shared journal put away until Ranko would take it up in just about an hour. He started as a knock sounded in the otherwise quiet study.
He heard Shiro speak from the outside "Master Saotome, you have guests. May I show them in?"
Ranma thought about that for a moment. He expected Nabiki to be here soon, perhaps she had brought along Kasumi this time. "Certainly, send them in please."
"As you wish,my Lord." Shiro said with a barely hidden smirk as he opened the door. Ranma didn't look up until he heard the door closed. Whatever Ranma was going to have said died unspoken on his lips as his eyes met those of the woman standing nervously before him.
"Hi, sugar." Ukyo said nervously as she fidgeted in front of Ranma, while a smiling Akane hung back. She cleared her throat as she gazed into the eyes of the man who sat stunned across from her. "I… we… expected Ranko to be here today…'
Ranma smiled softly as he slowly stood. "Our schedules got messed up. I had to be in America, and wasn't able to get back in time." He explained as he stood there with an uncertain look on his face.
"Will you two just hug already." Akane said with an exasperated sigh. "I swear, and people said that Ranko and I were bad…"
The two continued at each other for a moment, before Ranma cautiously opened his arms. Ukyo smiled and stepped into him, wrapped each other in their arms.
"I take this to mean you two . ?" Ranma asked softly.
"We did. I'm sorry, sugar. I never should have doubted…". She trails off as Ranma gently shook his head.
"I...we...both of us, agreed that if you two hadn't had doubts, that might have been a bigger issue. Let's face it, this is all kind of insane. No reasonable person would be able to accept all of this at face value.". He went quiet as he basked in the warmth of Ukyo, before he leaned back, as he looked at both of them before he asked. "Does this mean you both are back?"
Ukyo smiled, then glanced at Akane before she leaned in and kissed Ranma fiercely. The two remained like that for a bit before Akane cleared her throat.
"Not that I want to interrupt you two, but you said that you had missed your transition. What does that mean for you two?" Akane asked with a soft smile.
Ranma blushed and cleared his throat, slowly stepping away from Ukyo as he glanced at the clock. "We have to share our time, equally. So, if we can't make a transition, we wait another week, and then the other has a two week window, then we can be back to one weeks again. I'm glad to say that we will not be stuck one two weeks for eternity. When we started out, it would sometimes be a month before we could transition, depending on my surgery schedules."
Ukyo gave him a sympathetic look and nodded, still with a slight blush to her face. "That can't have been easy on either of you two, sugar." She said softly.
Akane chuckled. "Should I leave the room for a bit?"
They both looked at her, then at each other and all three laughed before Ranma answered. "I...Don't think that will be necessary. I have to trade places with Ranko in just a bit. I...Really wish I could spend more time with you right now, Ukyo."
"It's okay sugar, it really is. Akane suggested that we come today, so that I could spend the week with you, but it looks like things were not supposed to work like that. Before you say anything, it's okay. It really is. I… I plan on making up for lost time, sugar. We both do." Ukyo said as she nodded to Akane.
"We are going to be here more, if that is okay with both of you. Every week, unless something happens, we will both be here. To say goodbye to one, and hello to the other. You two have been alone for far too long, I mean, I know that you had Shiro and Nabiki and the rest… But...Oh, you know what I mean!" A flustered Akane said in a huff at the end.
Ranma nodded and smiled, as he reached out and took Ukyo's hand. "I do. We both will appreciate that. I know that I will. It's going to be nice, knowing that when I return in two weeks, I will get to see Akane, and you, Ukyo my dear. It means a lot, to us."
Ukyo gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she glanced at the clock and sighed. "It's going to be a long two weeks, but I went for a while without you, and I will have your sister to annoy, so I guess I can deal with it. I just… I plan on making up for lost time when you get back…" She said with a blush as Akane laughed.
"Making up for lost time?" Ranma repeated, then he started to blush as well as Akane laughed harder.
"And they say we are bad!" Akane guffawed.
"Oh, hush you! You and your lightweight of a girlfriend are horrible." Ukyo said with a pout.
"You're just still upset that we got to cuddle on girls night, and you still haven't done anything." Akane poked back at her friend.
Ukyo flushed as Ranma chuckled and shook his head.
"So, I guess we really are doing this…" He said with a smile on his face.
"As long as you two will have us, sugar." Ukyo affirmed.
"And probably for a while after that." Akane agreed.
"So, where do we go from here, then?" Ranma asked the ladies.
They looked at each then Ukyo nodded. "I think we start where we left off. We date and enjoy our time together, and we see where things go from there. No trying to rush things, but at the same time, we don't hold back either. We live like normal couples, or as normal as we can be, sugar. We love and live, and make the most out of every day. And, Akane and I support each other when our partner is away. We make this work, because you and your sister are worth it." Ukyo said with a smile and a blush.
Ranma smiled and started to say something when an alarm went off, and all three looked at the clock. Ranma laughed and smiled as he grabbed his cane. "That's my alarm. It's time." Ranma said sadly.
Ukyo smiled and nodded as she took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Then… let's go. So I can say goodbye, and Akane can say hello. We are going to have to have this same conversation again, with your sister."
Ranma nodded as he walked with Ukyo, Akane trailing slightly behind. "Yes you will. Thank you, Ukyo…"
Ukyo leaned in and gave Ranma a gentle kiss. "It's fine, sugar. Thank you, for coming into my life."
Akane walked behind them, a happy little smile on her face.
"I'm surprised that Nabiki isn't here." Ranma said as they arrived at the shrine.
"That's 'cause we told her not to come today, sugar. We kinda wanted today to be just us.". Ukyo explained as they walked in, Ranma's cane sounded gently on the floor. They entered the room with the mirror, and Ranko's chair was already in its place, waiting for the diminutive redhead.
Ranma stopped and stared into Ukyo's eyes for a time before he leaned in and kissed her deeply. "See you in two weeks, dear."
Ukyo smiled sadly and wiped a tear away as she nodded. "See you soon, baby. We will take good care of your sister come back."
Akane waved as she wiped a tear. "See you again soon, Ranma."
He nodded to Akane and approached the mirror. He stared at his sister in the reflection before he reached out, and they swapped places.
Ranko fell back into her chair, and turned to thank who she assumed would be Nabiki. The stunned look on her face as she gets kissed by Akane is quite the picture.
"Hi " Akane said as she smiled at her stunned girlfriend.
After Ranko remembered to breathe, she said a shy, tentative "Hi" back.
The two just kind of smiled at each other like idiots for a while before Ukyo cleared her throat loudly.
"So…." Ranko said as she looked away, her cheeks as red as her hair.
"Yeah… we're back? I mean, we came back, to give things another shot. Not that anyone did anything wrong or anything!" Akane said quickly.
Ukyo shook her head and laughed softly. "You two are horrible, still. We decided that you two were worth all the craziness, and that we were going to be here for you, both of you, sugar. We will be here every week unless something happens. You ain't ever going to be alone again, not if we have anything to say about it." Ukyo said with a smile.
"Does...that mean girls night is back on?" The blushing redhead asked, as she gently laced her fingers into Akane's.
"Yes, it does. Doesn't mean we will let you two drink ever again, though." Ukyo said with a snarky little grin on her face.
"Hey!" Both of the lightweights respond in unison.
Ukyo snickered and smiled as she watched the two of them. "I can leave, if you two want some alone time, you know?"
Ranko blushed as red as her hair as Akane laughed and said "We are not that bad!"
Ukyo chuckled. "Yes, you two are, actually. Not that I am any better…." She said with a blush.
Ranko gave Akane a curious look while Akane laughed and leaned down to whisper in her girlfriend's ear. "Ukyo spent some time picking out just the right lingerie for today…"
Ukyo blushed as she looked away. "I know what you are talking about, sugar! And yeah, I wanted today to be special…" She took a breath and smiled. "Not that it ain't, or anything. I just wanted to spend some time with him. I guess fate had other ideas. Not that I am complaining about spending time with you, Ranko. It's just, I've missed him, sugar."
Akane smiled down at Ranko, then motioned Ukyo over. She resisted for a moment, then walked over and joined into a group hug with the other ladies. "I really did miss you all…" Ukyo said with tears running down her face.
"I'm going to speak for both my brother and I on this… We missed both of you terribly. We.. had pretty much given up on ever finding anyone, much less two wonderful women who could deal with all of.. Well, this. We understand it can be a lot, and that it will never be perfect, but we are more than willing to try." Ranko said as she hugged them both tight.
"And we will be here for each other, no matter what. Whenever one of us is feeling lonely, the other will step in and help." Akane added as she hugged tight as well.
Ukyo laughed and nodded as she enjoyed the closeness for a while, a content smile on her face. "When he gets back I'm going to make up for lost time." She said softly.
The girlfriends smiled at each other and nodded. "I know you will, hun. And he is going to be the luckiest guy in the world." Akane said before the group hug broke up, and the girlfriends are once again holding hands.
The three ladies spent a few hours together as they caught up with each other and Ukyo stayed through a world class supper before she had Shiro drive her home, Akane and a deep red Ranko stayed at the mansion. Ukyo didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what those two were probably going to be up to, and honestly, she didn't really feel jealous.
She knew that in two weeks she would finally get the chance to take her relationship with Ranma to a place that, if she was being completely honest with herself, she had been ready to for some time.
It would be nice to have someone to sleep next to again, even if it was every other week.
She smiled as she puttered about at home for a while before she settled into her recliner with a trashy romance novel and a chick flick going in the background.
It was going to be nice to return to the abnormal life she had missed so much.
*A/N*
Sorry for the slow updates, once the insanity of the elections and holidays are passed, I am hoping to be back on daily updates AGAIN. Just a bit too much stress at the moment to focus as much as I would like.
Thank you all for reading and reviewing! It makes it so much more worth it, to write for all of you.
We are turning the corner in this story, and things will start to get… A lot more interesting.
Major events are coming, ones that will shape the entire Mirrorverse.
Stay Frosty!