Despite Ukyo's warning, plenty of food was on the table when they arrived . . . not that it made any difference to Akane. Her attention was centered on the lovely middle-aged woman who looked like an older version of Ranko. Her dark auburn hair was in a high bun, and she was beaming at her like she'd just seen the sun.

"H-hello," Akane greeted, nervously toeing the ground.

"You must be Akane-chan," she welcomed warmly as she stood. "Ranma's been telling me all about you!"

Ranma, mouth still full of food, looked up at his mother in surprise. "I have?"

Nodoka laughed good-naturedly and patted her son on the shoulder. "Just finish eating, dear," she told him as she walked around the table to stand before the two young girls. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Akane-chan. I'm so happy you found your way to our kingdom."

"M-me too," she replied, though so much more was resting on the tip of her tongue. Of course, that was a conversation for another time, not here in the dining room, and certainly not in front of everyone. "Thank you for making me feel so welcome."

The Queen's eyes seemed to glow with mirth as she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "My Ranko tells me you're quite handy with a sword and that you'll soon be training with our beloved knight's guard. If that's true, then you're already family!"

Well. That was news to her.

Akane hadn't quite decided if staying and training here was a good idea or not. But she couldn't exactly correct the Queen. "I'll do my best not to disappoint you, your Highness," she said instead, shooting an accusatory look in Ranko's direction.

Someone had been busy while she slept.

"Of course you won't disappoint us," Ranko sniffed as she sat down at the long table and grabbed some bread and fruit from one of the many overflowing platters. "Staying here to train is a no-brainer. Right, Ranma?"

Without hesitation, he nodded. "She can't leave before I've had a rematch, at least," he agreed, and then tossed Akane a small chunk of bread that she easily caught. "Here, eat something."

Akane almost protested the order, but her poor Aunty was nodding her head encouragingly, her eyes full of pity, like she was staring at a starving waif who hadn't been fed in weeks.

Well. She supposed she may be a little skinny.

Akane forced a smile and took a small bite. "Yumm, its good," she assured her with a nervous titter, and satisfied, the Queen smiled happily and finally returned to her seat.

Ranko pulled Akane down into the empty spot beside her.

"I think a rematch is a FANTASTIC idea!" Ryoga announced eagerly. "Watching her pound you again will be a real pleasure, Ranma!"

"I admit, I am intrigued," Ukyo agreed with a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up," Ranma warned them nonchalantly. "I never lose twice."

"My son. SO virile, so manly," Nodoka praised proudly.

"So pathetic. SO single," Ranko mocked back.

Ranma scoffed. "Oh? Like YOU'RE one to talk!"

"Wait a second," Ranko protested with a shake of her head. "You said a rematch? Does that mean Ranma's so smitten with her already, he's giving her a free pass from the tournament?"

"I mean, she can enter if she wants, but there's really no point," Ranma said with a shrug. "No way we're turning down Master Saffron's disciple—that recluse never trains anyone!"

"Besides, we tested her skills ourselves on the way here," Ryoga added, diplomatic for once. "She has real potential. She beat Ranma easily AND broke his sword. It was pretty epic."

"It wasn't that easy," Ranma muttered. "If she hadn't pulled that stunt, I would've beaten her no problem." Turning to Akane, he stuck out his tongue. "I won't be beaten so easily next time, you tomboy!"

"You're on, jerk!" Akane said, sticking out her tongue right back.

"See? She'll fit right in," Ukyo added with an amused chuckle.

"Best not let Dad hear that story," Ranko reminded him. "He'll throw a fit if he hears you lost to a girl."

"Who lost to a girl?"

Genma Saotome, the official ruler of Wistalia, strolled into the dining hall, every bit as bulky and as intimidating as Akane remembered. He was always kind to her, mainly because of his friendship with her father and her engagement to his son. Still, she also knew he was short-tempered, crafty, gluttonous, and petty.

She didn't dislike him, but she didn't particularly trust him either.

"No one important, dear," Nodoka quickly assured him as she started to ply his plate with food she began to choose herself. Akane noted with amusement how she was being very particular with her choices.

She wasn't the only one who noticed.

King Genma eyed the pathetic plate with disdain. "Really, wife?" He complained, disgruntled, as he took up his cutler. Though they appeared to vanish in his large, meaty hands. "Must you persist on starving your poor famished King? Are you that eager for our ungrateful son to take over my throne?"

"As if I'd want it," Ranma muttered as he paused in his gorging to take a long swill of hot apple cider.

It was clearly a conversation they'd had a lot. Ukyo and the others weren't even paying attention to the adults anymore, and Ranko continued to stuff her face, not sparing her father a single sympathetic glance.

Instead, mouth full, she glanced from Akane to the table plied with food and, with an insistent nod, encouraged her to start eating too.

Dutifully, Akane reached for some steamed rice and pickled vegetables, though she couldn't stop watching the drama unfolding before her at the head of the table. It reminded her of those silly dinner plays her father ordered on special occasions.

She kept waiting for a jester to jump out.

"I do insist, Husband," Queen Nodoka replied as she patiently piled more vegetables onto his plate. "You heard what the doctor said: It's for your health and the kingdom's welfare."

"Which means, 'stop whining and eat already,'" Ranma told him as he chucked a large roasted potato at his father's head.

Genma quickly caught it in the air with his fork and took a large bite. Though his eyes remained firmly on the Queen, big and pleading. "Then, mightn't I have just a small cut of meat? Surely, the old mossback wouldn't protest to that!"

"No meat," she reiterated as she finally reclaimed the seat to his right. But not before shifting her attention back to Akane, and with an indulgent smile, said, "But you, my dear, may have as much meat as you'd like."

Akane blushed under the weight of the kind gesture and did as she was told. Still, fearing Uncle Genma would take an interest in the stranger at his table and recognize her, she carefully ate with her head down and eyes lowered, taking small, cautious bites.

The meat was delicious: succulent and tender, and she could understand why he'd been so upset to be deprived of it. But thankfully, the king was too distracted by his meager lunch of cabbage and sprouts to pay attention to her.

So for the first time in a while, once the nerves had been defeated by hunger, Akane ate with relish, letting the stress of that morning wash itself away right with the bread and meat and cider that went down smoothly and tasted divine.

All in all, her first real meal since she fled Clarines tasted a lot like home.

She could get used to this. . .

(But she shouldn't.)

…

After lunch had been devoured and the king had withdrawn, it didn't take long for the mother-daughter-duo to pull Akane aside to a secluded room, away from the watchful eyes of the others. Once they were alone, the tears came fast and hard for all of them.

"I always knew it," Nodoka wept as she held Akane's face in her palms. "I knew you girls were alive."

"I'm sorry," Akane apologized, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "We wanted to tell you. We-we just couldn't."

The Queen of Wistalia shook her head and gave her a watery smile. "That's not important, dear. What matters now is that you're alright; thank you so much for being alright, Akane. And your sisters?" She questioned with worry.

Akane reassured her quickly: "They're both fine, Aunty, better than fine, actually. Kasumi's pregnant and due in a couple of months."

Nodoka clapped her hands together the same way Ranko had earlier that morning. "Oh, how wonderful!"

"That really is great, Akane!" Ranko chimed in, smiling widely.

"Isn't it?!" She replied, honestly thrilled at the prospect of being an Aunt. "We're all very excited, and she married the nicest man—Doctor Ono's son, Tofu, who's a healer too. If not for them, we might not be here today."

Of course, Ranko wasn't about to miss that perfect opening.

"So, they saved you, is that right?" She asked, leaning forward while trying not to appear too eager.

After this morning, she was trying. She'd give her that much.

"I- I guess so."

Ranko nodded as if she were eating a delicious piece of chocolate and trying to relish it. "And then . . . can you tell us anything else?"

"Ranko," her mother admonished.

"What?" she replied as she turned towards her mother. "We need to know what happened in order to help, don't we?! "Turning back to Akane, she continued, gentler now, "You don't have to tell us ALL of it. I meant it when I said I wouldn't push. But part of it, maybe?"

Akane bit her lip and looked away, her mind and heart racing. This was the part she'd been dreading ever since first discovering Ranma's identity and choosing to follow him.

She hated remembering.

Remembering reminded her how weak she still was. How nothing had truly changed.

And yet, she knew keeping the truth from them was wrong. Every minute they sheltered her put them in further danger. They deserved to know why.

"Alright. I-I just need a minute," she said softly and then stared at the floor for several minutes, uneasily biting her lip. There was so much to cover that she wasn't exactly sure where to begin. Her mother's death? Her father's remarriage? That night eight years ago that changed everything?

It was a lot to cover.

And it didn't help that Akane didn't want to relive any of it.

"Perhaps it would be best if we went first?" Nodoka offered as she gave Akane's arm a comforting squeeze. "How about we tell you the story we've been told, and you can tell us what's true and what isn't. Does that sound fair?"

Akane nodded, thankful for the compromise. The truth was going tocome out regardless, but at least this way, she could pick and choose which parts to tell.

That somehow made it easier.

"Wonderful. Then I'll begin," Nodoka told her as she sat down in a straight-back chair by the unlit hearth and motioned for Akane to sit across from her.

The room was cold and drafty, but the Queen didn't seem to mind. "The story we were told, oh, so many years ago now . . . is that you and your family were all attacked by foreign invaders. That your stepmother and stepsister were the only ones to survive. It was thanks to her family's allies they were able to drive them away."

Akane grimaced at the familiar narrative, having heard it often enough in the following years. Even awful hymns had been written about the brave, steadfast Queen.

But her stepmother was not an innocent victim in this story.

"I always knew it was hogwash," Ranko assured her with utter resolve. "No way all the Tendos would be annihilated that easily! It's ridiculous!"

Nodoka met her eyes. "Of course," she continued, pausing to smile sweetly at Akane, "we now know the part about you and your sisters was inaccurate . . . but is any other part of it true, dear?"

"No. Not at all," Akane told them, trying to keep her feelings under control. It was difficult. The Tendos were from a well-known warrior clan—revered for overcoming impossible odds and equally incredible victories; victories the bards had once sang about. Ruling fiercely and justly had made their kingdom well-loved and prosperous.

To imply they would be brought down by a random group of foreign savages was an insult!

Yet explaining how their defeat had come about was no easy feat either. How could she explain magic to someone who had never seen or experienced it for themselves?

She thought she should start with her fake stepsister.

"For starters, they were wrong about Minako," she told them, and then took a deep breath because she knew she was about to sound insane. "I know it's hard to believe, but the truth is, Minako and our stepmother are the same person. . ."

This revelation brought silence; not that Akane had expected any less.

"Umm, what?" Ranko managed, staring at her blankly.

"I'm sorry?" Nodoka repeated, controlling her surprise much easier than her daughter. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. They're the same person? What do you mean, Akane?"

Akane scowled, staring hard at her clenched fists. "I don't know how to explain it. She-she has some strange power, or-or sickness, or something," she explained, struggling to understand it herself. "To stay in her adult form, she needs some kind of energy—that's why we never saw her and Minako together. Minako never existed at all; she made her up. That child was my stepmother whenever she ran out of energy. . ."

"I never did like that little brat," Ranko muttered, punching her fist.

"I did think it quite odd how they were never together," her mother trailed off with a sad shake of her head. "But to think . . . nobody knew?"

"She was very good at keeping it hidden," Akane replied. Although that was an understatement.

Her stepmother had made an art of deceit.

"You said she needs energy," Ranko continued, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "What kind of energy? How does she get it?"

It was sobering, actually, the fact that neither of them were laughing or dismissing her claim outright like she'd feared. They were taking everything surprisingly in stride.

"She-she drains people somehow?" Akane told her softly, uneasily. "She steals their life force and makes them weak. But it has to be angry energy, like-like a battle aura? I believe that's how Master Happosai explained it."

"How awful," Nodoka gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Akane could think of quite a few words to describe it but simply nodded stiffly in return.

"But, how did you figure it out?" Ranko asked her, a bottomless well of questions. "They were married for two whole years, and nothing went wrong in all that time, right? Why did she suddenly snap?"

Akane cringed a bit at her friend's colorful choice of words. "It wasn't sudden at all, though. She'd been planning to take over our kingdom even before she first approached my father."

"Oh dear, and to think I introduced them. . ." Nodoka fretted, wringing her hands. "She seemed like such a sweet, polite young lady. Lonely. Just like our dear Soun. I can't help but feel responsible somehow. . ."

Akane frowned. Leaning forward, she gave her Aunt's clasped hands a gentle squeeze. "It's not your fault, Auntie," she told her, firm and sincere. "You couldn't have known. She was very good at keeping it secret. If she wasn't, everyone in the eight kingdoms would've heard about it long ago. It took our family over two years to uncover it ourselves, so please don't blame yourself."

With a tired smile and a grateful sigh, Nodoka squeezed her hands back.

Though Akane could tell the guilt was still there, simmering beneath the surface.

"So then, what did happen that night?" Ranko asked, knowing she didn't need to explain which night she was referring to. "What changed?"

Oh, you know, just everything. . .

Akane turned her attention back to her friend. "I was curious," she admitted in a small, broken voice that was filled with shame.

It seemed so silly to put it into words.

To know that something so innocent had led to such horrors. . .

"It wasn't normal how some of our staff would suddenly go missing. At first, we weren't too alarmed. Naturally, we thought they didn't like my stepmother. Hinako could be domineering, bossy, and intimidating when angry. She was so different from my mother, so it wasn't surprising that some of them would choose to leave rather than stay and serve under her."

Akane hadn't liked her much either; at nine, she had tried running away from home.

Minako—who had been her stepmother in disguise all that time—had been the one to drag her back.

How foolish she'd felt when she'd finally made that connection.

"But. . .?" Ranko prompted, obviously knowing where she was going with this but impatient to get there.

"But the more it kept happening, the more rumors began to spread. But they weren't about Hinako. Instead, everyone was saying our kingdom was cursed . . . that my poor mother's ghost was jealous of my father's new marriage. That in a fit of rage, she began spiriting our subjects away."

Ranko sniffed. "No offense, Akane, but all your subjects were idiots. How could they blame your mom? She was one of the nicest ladies I ever met! No way she'd do all that—ghost or not!"

Akane gave her friend a soft, grateful smile. She remembered being upset by the crazy stories, too, when she'd first heard them.

"I know, we didn't understand it either. But at least some good came from the rumors: We finally realized that it wasn't only happening inside the castle but throughout the kingdom!"

Once again, Ranko looked gobsmacked by that news. Her mouth had dropped open like a gutted fish. "Wha—but, why hadn't we heard anything? I mean, I know you guys were pretty isolated up there in the north, but news that juicy should have spread like wildfire!"

"Normally it would," Akane agreed, "but Hinako was smart. She targeted anyone who was spreading rumors first. That way, people were afraid to discuss it openly, so the news never traveled very far."

Though really, it had been easy when the Amazons were everywhere, being Hinako's eyes and ears.

"So what changed?" Ranko repeated as she leaned forward curiously, eyes sharp. A quick look of reproach from Auntie Nodoka had her quickly sitting up, her back straightening once again.

Despite the heavy topic, Akane found herself fighting back an amused smile.

It was nice to see that even now, so many years later, her friend was still being told off for poor posture.

"Everything changed when one of my loyal attendants went missing," Akane explained, recalling Gosunkugi's pale, gaudy face. "He had been investigating the disappearances on my request until he didn't check in one evening. Since he'd been keeping me updated daily—" to the point, honestly, it'd gotten ridiculous! "—I knew right where to find him. He'd been heading beneath the castle that day, deep into the tunnels near the abandoned dungeons. So that's where I started."

And that had been her first mistake.

Akane had only been 10 at the time, the same age as Gosunkugi—what could she have done, really? She should have gotten an adult.

Even now, the horror she'd felt after discovering that first body—a limp, unmoving husk in the corner of a cell, flesh shriveled and dry, ribs poking out like an animal's carcass—still haunted her.

So Akane braced herself for this next part.

"She was keeping them in a secret room in the abandoned dungeons and draining their energy to remain in her adult body longer. And I know that's what happened," she continued before they could ask, "because I saw it for myself. I watched Minako drain an old woman and turn into my stepmother right before my eyes."

Her Aunt looked horrified. "Oh, Akane. . ."

"Whoa!" Ranko exclaimed and leaned forward again as if she couldn't quite help it, as if she were enthralled and listening to a bard's make-believe tale rather than a real-life horror story.

Akane couldn't blame her.

Honestly, it was crazy! If she hadn't lived it, she might not have believed it herself.

"And then. . ." she continued, recalling the confusion and the fear, the pure blinding panic as her stepmother's gaze had turned to meet her own. "My servant had been hiding in an alcove nearby, and he grabbed my hand, and we ran."

Ranko let out a low, impressed breath. "Damn."

"And your father?" Nodoka asked, her eyes sad because that was one part of the story most people hadn't gotten wrong. Even the random sightings had been of the missing Princesses, not a sentimental, aged King.

It was the very thing Akane despised thinking about.

If only she hadn't made Gosunkugi investigate those disappearances. If only she hadn't searched for him alone after he went missing. If only she had found her father first.

If only, if only. . .

Her lips trembled. "Gone," she whispered, staring hard at her hands. "Hinako found him soon after I escaped . . . I-I looked for him too, but-but only found Kasumi and Nabiki . . . Hinako found him first, and I think, to keep me quiet, to hide her secret, she. . ."

She watched as her father hit the floor, his screams echoing throughout the throne room—but not before catching her eye and ordering her and her sisters to run, to never look back. Yet, the sight of him on the burnished marble, his body folding in on itself as her stepmother loomed over him, a strange coin in hand as she drained the life right out of him. . .

She shook her head. Unable to go on.

"Oh, Akane. . ."

Wiping at her eyes—when had they teared up? She wasn't sure if Ranko or her Aunt had spoken, not through the sudden ringing in her ears—but remembering that day always messed with her mind.

And her patience.

Nothing had changed. And that hurt.

But Akane knew intimately what a slow and painful process vengeance could be: Gaining strength and power took time, and it took planning.

"And she's still after you?" Ranko asked. But without waiting for an answer, she shook her head and continued, "But why? She got what she wanted, didn't she?"

"Not yet," Akane muttered with an angry sigh. "She knows her position isn't secure as long as my sisters and I are free. I think that's why she hadn't stopped looking for us after all these years. Not once."

Of course, there was more to it than that, but Akane didn't have the energy to go into it right now. The Amazons and their part in all of this was a story for another day.

Aunt Nodoka had gone pale, her expression weary. "But how did you girls manage to get away? Her power sounds monstrous!"

"We were lucky," Akane admitted with a harsh, dark laugh. Because that day, Tofu's parents weren't even supposed to be there. "Our healer and her son saw the whole thing," she continued, touched by the memory of the kind old woman who had defied a witch and taken them under her wing. "When Hinako was still dealing with my father, they helped us open a secret passage that led to the forest. If not for them, we probably wouldn't be here today."

"I'm forever grateful they were there for you. Truly," Nodoka said again, her sweet gaze haunted. "But why didn't you come to us straightaway, Akane? We would have protected you girls no matter the cost! You must know that!"

Taking a deep breath, Akane focused on the flames of the fire instead, hypnotized by the way they danced and swayed.

The sound of Tofu screaming—reaching for his parents as Kasumi pulled him back, their blood soaking the dirt, a darker red than even her name—still haunted her dreams at night.

They'd lost so many people in these eight years—and none of them deserved any of it.

"I'm sorry. We tried," she said, her voice catching on that last word. "Tofu's mother and father, they—" She paused again to take a breath, trying hard to keep it together. She didn't want to have another panic attack; she needed to be stronger. "They both died trying to get us here. We were caught before we could reach the gate to the city and barely managed to get away. Coming here was never a safe option; it still isn't."

"You poor thing," Nodoka said, pulling her into a hug at last. Akane didn't realize how much she'd needed that. Sniffling, she hugged her back just as tightly.

"But you're safe now," Ranko reminded her softly, moving closer to place a comforting hand on her back.

"You don't know that. Or how long it'll last," she insisted, reluctantly pulling away to look Ranko in the eyes. For all they knew, one of their servants could be working for the Amazons that very minute, reporting her every move to her stepmother. "That's why nobody else can know I'm alive. That I'm here. I can't risk your family's safety, too! Hinako's reach is farther than you could ever imagine. So please," she begged again, looking to the Queen. "Please, don't tell anyone it's me. I think I know how to beat her. I just—I-I need time. . ."

"Of course not, Sweetheart," she assured her. "We won't tell a soul, will we, dear?" She turned her gaze on Ranko, expectant.

The princess glowered. "I still think we can take her," Ranko muttered, but after suffering a stern look from her mother (and Akane) amended, "But sure. Your secret's safe, Aka-Chan. I won't tell anyone. Besides, what's the point? If I did, you'd just vanish again."

Akane rolled her eyes, though she wasn't wrong.

"Thank you," she told them both, feeling shy and relieved now that the worst part was over. She didn't ever want to relive those memories again. "I promise, it won't be forever. . ."

Of that, at least, she was certain.

Eventually, she'd feel ready to take on Hinako once and for all, or set off to find Master Saffron so she could learn his final, secret technique.

Then she'd be unstoppable!

Years ago, Master Saffron had said she wasn't ready . . . but Akane had changed a lot since the last time they'd met, and next time, she was sure he'd find her worthy. But to do that, she needed to keep training. And how was training here any different from training in Clarines, really?

Wistalia was one of the strongest kingdoms in the country! So getting to study here, meeting the famous Generals, training alongside the tournament champions . . . everything this place offered was tempting and exactly what she needed.

And what was so wrong with enjoying a little normalcy in her life, anyway? Maybe she could train in Wistalia, catch up with her friends, and pretend she wasn't on the run from a magical life-sapping monster—and the world wouldn't end because of it!

Surely, she deserved that much? Didn't she?

As if in answer, a cold, biting draft wound its way throughout the small, intimate room—and to Akane, the whistling sound it made as it wrapped itself around her, sounded a lot like laughter.

But she told herself it was only the wind.

End of Chapter 5