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 33
Sunday january 3rd. The Saotome estate, 12:00 PM.
The new year had been a good one, spent with friends and family. All three of them had noticed the feeling of being watched now, and had compared notes on that. Akane hoped that Ranko might have some idea of what was going on, to see if there was any reason to be alarmed. Another new thing that had started to happen, they had all sworn they had heard a cat growling and mewling somewhere in the mansion, but none of the servants had heard it, and their searches had all come up empty.
Now, Akane stood and watched the engaged couple saying their last goodbyes before she would get to see her Ranko again. She clutched at the little box in her hand as she glanced down at the ring on her finger once more. Soon, she would be able to give Ranko her answer, and ask a question of her own.
As Ranmo stepped into the mirror, and his sister fell from it Akane caught her in her arms and smiled down at the blushing redhead in her arms.
"Welcome home, Ranko." Akane said.
"It's good to be home, Akane." Ranko answered.
The lovers stood like that for a while, As Akane held Ranko close to her before their reverie was broken by a discreet clearing of the throat. The pair blushed as they looked at Ukyo, and Akane grinned sheepishly.
"I don't mean to interrupt, sugar, but didn't you have a couple of things to say?" Ukyo said with a wry grin and a little shake of her head.
Akane blushed again and gently placed Ranko into her chair. "Well, yeah.. I do." Akane took a deep breath and gave Ranko a serious look. "About what you asked me…"
Ranko bit her lip and slowly wrung her hands together as she watched her lover intently.
Akane took a deep breath and then smiled as she presented her hand with the ring on her finger. "Yes. Yes, a million times yes." Akane smiled at the relieved look on Ranko's face then knelt down so she could be on eye level with her. "That said, I have a question of my own to ask you."
"Anything, dear. Ask me anything." Ranko said happily.
"Since we are not a traditional couple… I wasn't sure about the proper etiquette on who should ask whom. So… Ranko Saotome, will you do me the great honor and pleasure of marrying me? Of being my partner and loving idiot for the rest of our lives?" Akane said as she placed the small box in Ranko's hand.
Ranko opened the box with shaking hands as she looked at the simple white gold ring inside, set with an emerald and two small diamonds. She looked up at her blushing lover and smiled. "Happily, as long as you will have me. I just… Wish we could actually marry."
"I know dear, but there aren't that many places that allow such things, and Japan is not one of them." Akane said sadly as she took the ring and placed it on her fiance's finger. The pair once again got lost in each other's eyes until another discreet cough reminded them that they were not alone.
"As incredibly sweet as this is, shouldn't we head in and ask her about what has been happening while she was gone?" Ukyo said to remind Akane of the other things that they needed to talk to her fiance about.
Akane blushed and nodded as she stepped around to take hold of the handles on Ranko's chair. Ranko just rolled her eyes and allowed her fiance to dote on her a bit as she looked at Ukyo.
"Has something strange happened while I was gone?" Ranko asked Ukyo as Akane pushed her towards the main house.
"Well, all of us, including Ranma, have felt like we are being watched more and more often. We haven't seen anyone, and so far none of the staff have said they have experienced anything like that. Could it be from the exercises and mediation we have been doing? Some sort of strange side effect?" Ukyo asked.
Ranko pondered that for a moment. "Well, being more aware of the world and a sensitivity to chi can make you more aware of things that others miss. It is handy to handle surprise attacks. It saved me more than a few times from my parents."
Akane sighed and rested a hand on Ranko's shoulder as Ukyo nodded. "I see. That makes sense. Oh, and one other odd thing. We keep hearing a cat…" She started to say, then stopped as Ranko went deathly still, her eyes darting around.
"D...DId you say you saw a C...C… that C word?" Ranko asked in a near panic.
"We haven't seen one, but we have heard one around the mansion. Why, have you seen it?" Akane said as she leaned forward a little, then saw the panicked look on her fiance's face. "Ranko? Are you okay?" Akane cast a worried look towards Ukyo, who also stopped and moved closer to the panicky redhead.
"I… I'm fine! Who would be afraid of c...c… Those fluffy little terrors? I.. I mean, it's not like they have sha...sharp claws… An...and vicious teeth or anything…" Ranko stammered out, then laughed the fakest laugh that either of them had heard while rubbing the back of her head nervously.
The two other ladies got a horrible, sinking sensation in their guts as they looked at each other and Akane mouthed 'Her parents again?'.
Ukyo looked at the nervous wreck of a young woman and sighed as she looked at Akane and nodded sadly and mouthed back 'Probably'.
Akane grit her teeth and tightened her grip on the chair. "Don't worry, dear. We will keep it away from you, okay? At least… Until we can figure out how to fix this, okay?" Akane said as calmly as she could through gritted teeth.
Ranko shrank a bit into her chair. "Sorry… For being a bother again…"
Akane took a deep breath, let it out and laid a hand gently on her love's shoulder. "You are never a bother, dearheart. Mind you, i get this odd urge to find your parents in whatever horrible little world they live in and give them a bit of my mind…." She took another deep breath, then let it out as she calmed herself again. "But, as far as I am concerned, you are my precious, beloved Ranko and that will never change. Now, let's head in and get you caught up on what's happened since the new year, shall we?"
Ranko smiled and nodded as the feline threat was forgotten for the moment. None of them noticed the glowing eyes that peered at them from under the bushes as a long, shadowy purple tail swayed back and forth. As the trio entered the mansion a low, feral voice growled out.
"Xian Pu hungry, is want eat good things." The not quite cat growled out.
It watched the trio of humans as the door closed and slinked after them, as it stalked after them only partially in this world before it faded from view once more.
Inside the manor, the pair of women had managed to get Ranko calmed down and distracted by telling her about the New Year's. They showed her pictures from the shrine visit, including a rare one of Ranma smiling as the other two posed with a small girl. It was rather obvious that Ranma had no idea that the picture had been taken. You could even see the photographer who was taking the picture the ladies were posing for standing to the side of Ranma.
"How did you get such a candid shot of my brother? I've never seen a picture of him smiling before." Ranko said softly as she tenderly touched the photo.
"Nabiki put her photo ninja skills to use, and caught him relaxed like that." Ukyo said with a fond smile on her face.
"You wouldn't know it now, but my sister was quite the shutterbug back when we were in high school together. She was always taking candid pictures of people. I'm just glad that she never got any embarrassing ones of me!" Akane said as she hugged her favorite red head from behind.
"Not that you know of. I'm sure that she probably managed a few. Maybe it's a good thing you didn't date much in highschool? I'm sure that your dates would have been shown all the most embarrassing pictures she had!" Ranko said as she laughed and settled back into Akane's arms.
Ukyo smiled as she cupped her chin in her hand and watched the couple wistfully. "I wish that Ranma could be here to see this." Is all that she said as the other two got a thoughtful look.
"Well, how about we start taking pictures and videos then, of what is happening in our little world to show the other half of the Saotome and Saotome traveling show?" Ranko suggested as she smiled at the others. "I'm sure that if he knows it was my suggestion, even that dour old sour puss brother of mine will get on board. I mean, we won't get pictures of him doing anything as scandalous as smiling, but maybe… Together we can start to really build a feeling of one family."
Ukyo brightened up at that and nodded. "That is an excellent idea! How about we start now, then? Let me go grab my camera and tripod, and we can take a picture for Ranma?"
Akane laughed and smiled at her excited friend. "You got those for when you have a baby, didn't you? You're going to be one of those parents that fills a photo album every year." Akane said with a little smirk on her full lips.
Ukyo blushed as she stopped at the doorway to look back. "I don't think I will be that bad!" She said before she hurried out.
Akane and Ranko shared a look before they broke out laughing and holding onto each other. "You know she is going to be at least that bad." Akane said as she tried to regain her breath.
"I'm thinking worse." Ranko said as she leaned up to kiss her partner. "You know, we might not be able to have a kid the traditional way, but there are other options, if we do decide to start a family of our own."
Akane nodded and hugged Ranko tight again. "I know. I could even have a kid without having to… You know…. Do THAT." Akane said as she stuck her tongue out.
Ranko nodded with a thoughtful look on her face. "Adoption is also an option."
Ukyo walked in with a large camera bag over one shoulder. "You know, if you decide to do the in vitro route, I'm sure that Ranma would agree to be the donor. That would be about as close to having Ranko's baby as you could get, right? I mean… They are different versions of the same person, right?"
Both of the others turned to look at Ukyo with stunned looks on their faces. It was Akane who spoke first.
"You… Would be okay with that? It would be the same as if Ranma and I… Had a kid together." Akane said while still looking a bit stunned.
"How much of that did you hear, anyhow? I didn't think you were gone that long." Ranko said as she shook her head and took the hand of her stunned fiance.
"Okay, to answer your questions. Yes, I would be okay with it, as long as there are no bodily parts being inserted. I don't think that would happen, but I'm just saying. And just the bit where you two started talking about options. I had the camera bag down the hall anyhow, since I had planned on taking some pictures of the grounds later anyhow." Ukyo said as she started to unload the camera bag, laying out a nice selection of lenses and two seperate cameras.
The two lovers laughed as they watched her setting up. "Oh yeah, she totally is going to be that bad." Akane said with a snicker.
Ranko just nodded and blushed as her mind was still on the conversation they had. She glanced aside at Akane, as she pictured her carrying around a baby. Ranma's and hers, but still Ranko's and Akane's baby. The blush deepened a bit.
Akane grinned down at her fiance who matched her hair. "I think that she is imagining things again."
Ukyo shook her head and laughed. "And what would make you think that? Since she is about the same color all over."
Akane nodded and grinned evilly as she leaned down and whispered something softly into Ranko's ears. Whatever she had said seemed to have an immediate effect as Ranko blushed even brighter and clutched at Akane's hand tightly.
"I'd ask what you just said to your better half, but I already know I don't want to know." Ukyo said as she finished setting things up. "You know we can't take the picture until she isn't so tomato colored." She said wryly.
Akane laughed and Ranko pouted a bit. "Okay, how about we take a walk and let Ranko here cool off in the cold outside, then we can come back and take that picture?" Akane suggested as Ukyo nodded and finished setting up the camera as she referenced the booklet more than a few times.
"Sounds good. It even has a timer, so we can all be in together without me having to hold the remote!" Ukyo said as she poked at a few things to make sure she understood it, then walked to the door. "Come on, you two! Lets go let Ranko calm down so I can get a picture of all of us!"
The two lovers laughed and nodded as they shared a look, with Akane once again taking the handles of Ranko's chair.
"I know that was the 'She is totally going to be that bad' look. Well, fine then! I will! Happy now?" Ukyo said as she threw her hands in the air and walked out.
The pair smiled at each other and then said in unison. "Yes!" Before they laughed and followed her out.
A few minutes later, the camera flashed from where it sat on it's tripod and a rather unhappy mewl of protest filled the empty room as something dark and shadowy dove off the table and into the shadows.
The camera cycled and advanced to the next frame of film, ready to take another picture.