Subject: [FFML] [fanfic][Ranma] Three Souls, One Heart Chapter 12
From: "David A. Tatum" <desaix@sysnet.net>
Date: 5/31/1999, 11:27 PM
To:

I hope you all still remember this thing- if not, well, it's available on
my web page for review.
First off, I want to apologize to the prereaders who I told I would give
until tomorrow to get me additional comments- it turns out I won't be able
to do ANYTHING tomorrow (see below) and so I figured I'd send it out a
little early.
It's been a tough couple of weeks- I figured I would have four fanfics out
by today, but it was not meant to be.  A day after sending this thing out
to my prereaders, my grandmother went to the hospital and has been in and
out ever since.  When she's been out, she's needed constant, er,
supervision (and that's been tiring me out more than anything else I've
done in my entire life- long story as to what she's been making us do, and
I don't have time to tell it).  It's getting on my nerves (if it wasn't for
the fact that my girlfriend is back home after spending several months in
college, I'd have snapped and probably gone on a homicidal streak where I
killed everyone over fifty, just to put them out of everyone elses
misery...) and taking up ALL of my time (this is the first time I've been
home and not asleep for more than a few minutes in more than a week, I
think, so... well, basically, all my fanfics are suspended, and anything
that people might be expecting me to preread will probably not be preread
for a while (that doesn't mean don't send it to me- I may decide to try and
relax by editing something).  My available time is limited... I've been
looking into borrowing a friends laptop to write on so I don't go crazy
doing nothing but dealing with the relatives, but I don't know if or when
I'll get it, and if I do I'll only be working on new projects and not on
anything I've already started.
The long and the short of it is that I'm exhausted and have no time.  This
means that, while I would DEARLY love your c&c, I may not be able to get
back to all of you who send me it... but please send it anyway.  I probably
will get back to you anyway (though maybe not for a long time).  It also
means don't expect anything from this, Patlabor: Personal Files (no, it
hasn't been abandoned), or anything else you may have already seen a
portion of (like that Kenshin teaser available on my homepage) for a while.
 I may start that Edutainment fanfic, but I haven't even completed the
course myself yet, so if I do I doubt the future parts will be coming in a
particularly, er, orderly manner.
Well, I've been babbling long enough... here's the fanfic.
Chapter 12

Nodoka smiled, pouring herself a cup of tea.  Suddenly, she felt an intense
tugging coming from her feet.  It traveled all the way up her body, through
her head, and finally the Oni was free.

"I'm afraid there is a problem," the Oni, slightly stronger than it had
been after leaving Akane that night, said.  "I'm no longer going to be able
to help you punish your husband for his treatment of Ranma."

Nodoka scrunched her toes, trying to readjust the empty space in her
slippers so that they would no longer be compensating for the tiny horns
that had been acting as a set of sixth toes.  "And why is that, Mr. Oni?  I
hope you aren't worried about those Amazons showing up.  You made a
promise, you know..."

The Oni nodded.  "Yes, I know.  I hope you will release me from it, or else
I may be punished for violating an oath.  Cologne worries me a little- I
think she knew I was here, but wasn't willing to say for some reason.  But
that is not my major concern- no, I have a previous deal conflicting with
it."

Nodoka blinked.  "Oh?  What conflict is that?"

"Well, Akane included in my vow a promise to never harm her, Ranma, or any
member of her family," the Oni answered.

"Ah, but my husband is not a member of her family," Nodoka pointed out.

"That was true when I made the promise to her, and it was still true when I
first made the promise to you, but it is not true any more.  Halfway
through your conversation with Cologne, the powers granted me to prevent
conflicts in my contract with Akane told me that she and Ranma swore vows
of matrimony, bringing both you and Genma into her family..."

Nodoka's eyes widened.  "They... WHAT?!"

"Ranma and Akane are now married.  They swore vows and signed the legal
documents needed... congratulations, Mrs. Saotome, you now have a new
daughter."

Nodoka was shocked.  She'd pretended to be overly happy about Ranma and
Akane's new sex life in order to shock the other fiancees, but she truly
was delighted that they were drawing so much closer.  But this news...

"But... why?  I realize Ranma is attracted to Akane, and she to him, but
after seeing what you showed me about their relationship and upbringing, I
didn't think they could possibly love each other enough to want to get
married voluntarily- especially after I found out that Akane has done
nothing about Ranma's fear of cats."

The Oni snorted.  "I can't believe you think that...  Akane loves Ranma and
he loves her, I assure you.  Enough to almost sicken me, at times... and
Ranma has been spectacularly loyal.  Other women have been trying anything
they could think of to land him in the sack, yet he has resisted each
attempt despite being quite attracted to most of those women.  And Akane
might have been oblivious to certain things, but when she noticed that
Ranma needed help, she did everything she could think of to help him.  I
agree with you that she didn't do enough, though," it said with a snort.

"I... well, maybe that's true... but without their families present?"
Nodoka said, grasping at straws.  "I mean... I wanted to be there..."

"I do not pretend to know their motives behind what they do, just that they
have done it.  I am sorry, but I should leave now- if I don't soon, then
the Amazons may return and attack me."

Nodoka opened her mouth, many questions on her mind.  However, she soon
realized the Oni would not be able to answer any of them.  "I... very well,
then.  Good-bye, Honorable Oni.  I hereby release you from your promise..."

*	*	*	*	*

Akane sighed, watching Ranma put on his shirt.  The honeymoon would
continue in her bedroom that night, but she didn't really want to leave the
hotel room right then.  "We've been here twice in two days...  I'm going to
miss this place."

"I just wish our home offered us as much peace as this one room does.  I
think if we could rely on our not being interrupted at just the wrong time
there, we wouldn't feel too bad about leaving here."

Akane nodded.  "True," she agreed.  "What ARE we going to do about that? 
Your fiancees and enemies, my suitors, both of our parents- any one of them
will just burst into our private moments whenever they feel like it.  We're
married now, but will that get them to leave us alone?"

Ranma shook his head, buttoning his last button.  "No.  Maybe our parents
will slow down- AFTER they're certain we're really sleeping together- and
Shampoo has given up, but... well, Kunou will be even more determined to
kill me, and... you remember how Ucchan acted when she first showed up in
Nerima?"

"Vengeful, determined to kill you, obsessed?  At least until you called her
cute..."

"Right.  Now that I'm unreachable, she'll be mad enough to kill me, too. 
And, well... there's Nabiki..."

Akane frowned.  "Ranma, why does she hate you so?  And how do you KNOW that
she hates you?"

Ranma snorted.  "Like I'm supposed to know why.  All I know is that she
does... I can't really explain it, but I'm pretty sure you'd realize that
she did if you knew all of what she's put me through."

That didn't exactly satisfy Akane, but she took it in stride.  It was
obvious Ranma wasn't going to say any more than that, and besides... she'd
rather discuss other things.  "Okay, so what do we do about it?  Our
marriage is just going to make a lot of things worse for you- the pig and
the wannabe samurai will be even more out for your blood, and Ukyou might
be as well if she ever finds out.  Plus, our fathers are going to be
overbearing until our wedding celebration, and... well, what are we going
to do?"

Ranma thought for a moment.  "I dunno.  Maybe if we had a little more time
to think about it, we could think of what to do with the Kunous, and I
could let Ukyou down a little easier... but our parents?  They'll be
hounding us from the moment they hear we've gotten married to hold the
formal celebration, and that'll attract EVERYONE who might want to attack
us..."

Something of a plan formed in Akane's head.  "Ranma?"

"Hmm?"

"What if we didn't tell anyone we were already married?  Not our parents,
not our friends, no-one..."

Ranma shook his head.  "Now that it's happened, I don't want to hide this
from the world.  I love you, Akane, and you are my wife- if anyone wants to
object to either of those things, they'll have to deal with me."

Akane sighed.  "I wasn't thinking about hiding it forever- just until we
dealt with all the people who we know will try and stop us.  Our family,
which already knows we're sleeping together, isn't going to smear our honor
by accusing us publicly of anything improper.  Then, when we manage to stop
everyone from pursuing us, we let people know that we're married, and hold
the ceremony."

"We'd be hiding it for our entire lives.  At SOME point, our rivals and
parents need to know that we got married, or else they won't stop- but I
was hoping to soften the blow before they found out."

Akane thought about that for a moment.  "Okay.  I think I've  got an
idea... we tell Auntie Saotome... er, that is, 'mother,' about our
marriage.  We ask her to secretly arrange for the wedding celebration,
making certain that she doesn't let on to anyone else we know about the
wedding until we're ready to hold it.  While she handles that, we take care
of 'softening the blow' for the others?"

Ranma frowned.  "I still don't like it...  What if one of our rivals finds
out we're having sex before we tell them."

"Well... as long as they don't go spreading rumors about us, we try and
keep the problem between us and them.  If they go trying to ruin our honor
with it, we let them know we've gotten married, and pray our parents don't
find out and try and take over the wedding celebration from us."  Akane
grinned lasciviously.  "Don't worry, we can still sleep together."

Ranma rolled his eyes.  "Like I'd care if I couldn't sleep with a tomboy
like you," he said teasingly.

Akane, however, failed to note the humor in his voice.  "Wh- what?  You
mean you-"

"Whoa!" Ranma cried, seeing the tears forming in her eyes.  "Akane, calm
down- I was just teasing you."  He grabbed her into his arms.  "I told you,
I don't want to spend another night without you in my arms, and I meant
it."

"Then why did you just say that?" Akane growled angrily, shoving away from
him.

Ranma sighed.  "Akane, learn to take a joke.  If you can't, we're going to
be having a lot more fights than we should as a married couple, because I'm
gonna be teasing you a lot.  And I expect you to tease me, too."

"You shouldn't be teasing me about things like that," Akane sniffed.  "Even
if you don't mean what you say, it hurts."

Ranma sighed, looking at the clock.  "I'll try, Akane, but I'll probably
slip up a lot.  Sometimes my mouth works like my martial arts- if I see
anything I can take advantage of, I strike."  He picked up his school bag
and gestured with it.  "Ready to go?  They're about to kick us out."

Akane grabbed as hand full of condoms and stuffed them in her purse.  She
felt a little guilty about taking so many, but she decided she would rather
feel guilty taking some free condoms from a love hotel than feel
embarrassed buying them in a convenience store where she'd be surrounded by
other customers and store clerks who could see exactly what she was
purchasing.  "I guess.  So... are we going to keep our marriage a secret or
what?"

"I guess we can try it your way for a while."  He put his arm around her
and led her out the door.

Once out the door, Akane shrugged his arm off her shoulders playfully. 
"Hey, we just had a fight- we have to make up before you can cuddle!"

Ranma blinked.  "We did?  I do?"

Akane nodded, smirking.  "Sure we did- you expect me to just forgive you
like that for the tomboy comment?  No way!"

"Er...."

"Now, let's see- what can I get you to do to make it up to me, hmm?"

As Akane started listing the ways Ranma could satisfy her whims, he sighed.
 'Ya know, I think I liked it better when she just hit me and got it over
with,' he thought.

*	*	*	*	*

Ukyou was boiling mad.  She wanted to find Ranma and Akane so that she
could... she could... well, she wasn't entirely sure what she would do when
she found them, but she was certain that whatever it was would be a hell of
a lot more productive than wasting her time with the China gang as they sat
eating in the Nekohanten.

"Why aren't we out looking for them?" she growled.

"Them?" Cologne asked, knowing exactly what Ukyou was talking about.  "Them
who?"

"Ranma and Akane, of course!  We need to stop them!"

The Amazon matriarch favored her with a placating smile.  "Stop them from
what?  If what Mrs. Saotome told us is true, they have already slept
together.  Nothing we could do would change that."

Ukyou gawked at her.  "B- but..."

Cologne's expression hardened.  "If you want, you can deal with them later.
 Shampoo has already given up, however, and I suggest you do the same...
but for now, we have more important things to worry about- like that Oni."

Ukyou snorted.  "Bah!  How do you expect us to find it?  Since Ranma and
Akane apparently gave it what it wanted, the Oni probably traveled half-way
across Japan by now, already."

"It was at the Tendou dojo as recently as a half hour ago.  I doubt it's
gotten far," Cologne said over Ukyou's protests.

"And another thing, we need to... er, what was that?"  Ukyou blinked.

"While we were at the dojo, I was able to sense the Oni's presence.  I
believe it was inhabiting Mrs. Saotome at the time, but I couldn't be
absolutely certain.  At any rate, it was there when we left, and I doubt an
Oni could run very far in just a half hour- assuming it has even tried to
escape.  I doubt it would, considering it has an apparently willing host
right now."

Shampoo chose this moment to enter the conversation.  She had been moping
about silently since hearing Nodoka confirm that Ranma was beyond her
reach, but that did not mean she was inattentive.

"If Oni in dojo, why we no get it when there?" she asked.

Cologne smiled.  "What makes you think I didn't try?"  Everyone looked at
her oddly.

"I may have bad eyesight," Mousse said, entering the conversation.  "But I
don't think I would have missed a battle between you and a powerful being
from the spirit world."

"You wouldn't.  There wasn't one.  However, I did issue a spiritual
challenge with my chi.  There was no answer, and thus no battle, but I did
try."  Cologne frowned.  "It probably knows I saw it- I doubt it would have
missed what I did."

"Why would Oni ignore great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked.

Cologne thought for a moment before saying, "I'm not entirely sure. 
Perhaps it was sensing something else that effected it more powerfully, and
was too distracted or confused to safely enjoin in battle.  Or perhaps it
had been too weakened by Happosai's curse to confidently engage me.  Or
perhaps I made a mistake in issuing the challenge, or it didn't recognize
it as a challenge due to the differences between the protocol of demons
that the Amazons deal with and the demons of Japan.  Regardless of the
reason, it ignored the challenge, and so we must consider additional
action."

"Great-grandmother no explain why we no fight Oni- we know it in airen's
mother, so why we no just hit her and no bother with challenge?"

"Because, child, I want to find out if what the Oni said was true- that
Happosai was able to place a curse on it, and that Ranma and Akane removed
it from him.  I also want to find out WHY it was dangerous to place a
spirit ward on Akane.  If I were to harm Ranma's mother, I doubt he would
be very willing to answer my questions."

Turning over what Cologne had said in her mind, Ukyou sighed.  "I suppose
it would be forgivable for Ranma to... do it... with Akane if he thought
her life would be in danger.  Bur he's going to have to do a lot to make it
up to me..."

Shampoo looked over at her.  "Shampoo see Spatula-girl no know when to give
up.  You no have chance be first wife."

"So you're just letting him go?  Doesn't seem like you...."

Shampoo's eyes twinkled.  "It not.  Shampoo no let Ranma go- just realize
he no hers.  Yet.  Can no go home without Airen, but perhaps Shampoo
convince Pervert-girl let Ranma take second wife."

Ukyou looked at her like she'd grown a third arm.  "That's sick.  You'd
sleep with him, knowing he'd probably slept with another woman only days or
even hours before you?"

Shampoo smiled.  "Good man rare in Amazon village.  Not uncommon find many
women marry same man- what difference if other wife not Amazon?"

Ukyou just shook her head.  'She didn't even realize what I was saying... 
Two women with one man?  Yuck... I'm not going to share my Ranchan with
anyone.'

"None of this matters now," Cologne boomed.  "Come, we must find Ranma and
Akane... and perhaps we may want to collect Ryouga, as well- if this thing
with the Oni ever does come to a battle, we'll need all the help we can
get."

*	*	*	*	*

"Well, we're effectively out of money, now... at least until Nabiki gets
back home," Akane said, looking at the few coins from her and Ranma's
pooled financial resources- the change from two separate trips to a love
motel and the movie they had just departed from (a rather sappy one
imported from America and poorly dubbed that Ranma had to 'endure' with
Akane as part of his penance).  "Barely enough left here to buy a can of
soda from a machine."

Ranma looked slightly relieved, remembering that the other thing Akane
wanted him to 'endure' watching for her was a live performance of some
Kabuki theater- which he knew would really bore him to tears.  At least he
was able to stay awake through the movie- there were a couple of
half-decent jokes he could laugh at, and the music was mildly entertaining.
 He suspected Kabuki would put him to sleep rather quickly.

"Then do you want to go home?" he asked hopefully.  A nice, relaxing (or
possibly exciting, depending on your attitude going in) bath, a delicious
meal prepared by his mother, and a night of, er, Akane would certainly be a
delightful end to his wedding day, if Akane decided to head back.  'Well,
my first wedding day,' Ranma reminded himself, thinking of the ceremony his
mother would have to plan for them.  'Though it will probably be a good end
for the second one, as well.'

His new wife raised a defiant eye with a humorous twinkle at him.  "Oh, you
aren't getting out of your punishment that easily.  You'll STILL have to
promise to take me to see the Kabuki theater, once you can afford it, and
there were a couple of things that I wanted you to do for me that didn't
require any money at all..."

Ranma sighed, but smiled at Akane.  "Yes, dear.  I promise," he said in a
voice which made it obvious he was only humoring her.  "So, which do you
want to do first, the walk in the park or the hospital visit?"

Akane glanced at a nearby street sign and thought for a moment.  "Let's go
to the hospital first- I haven't visited Marie or Hideki in several days,
and it's on the way to the park from here, anyway."

Ranma put his arm around Akane.  "Sounds like a plan.  Le-"

He was unable to finish.  Instead, he was forced to dodge the strike of a
bokken wielded by an angry young would-be samurai.

"Ranma Saotome, how dare you-" he began, but was stopped before he could
finish by a rather powerful blow delivered by Ranma's free arm.  Kunou went
flying and collapsed into the wall of a nearby restaurant, slid down to the
ground, and fell unconscious.

Akane sighed.  "Oh, great.  He's been quiet since we got back- why does he
have to show up on our wedding day?"

Ranma shook his head.  "I dunno, Akane, but I've got an idea how to get him
off your back.  Actually, I've had it for a while, now, but this is the
first time I've ever felt like actually trying it."

"Oh?  What idea is that, and why haven't you done it before now?"  Akane
sounded dubious- Ranma's plans were usually pretty ridiculous.  They rarely
worked right, but every now and then they succeeded in doing what was
planned.

"Well-" Ranma began.

"Ohhhhh...." Kunou moaned, slowly sitting up.

Ranma turned to him, mouthing the words 'play along' to Akane.  "Hiya,
Kunou... welcome back to the land of the living."

"Ranma Saotome," he growled.  "Must you stand there and gloat?"

Ranma smirked.  "Yep.  Say, Kunou... there's been something that's bothered
me since the first time I met you.  I heard you once said that whoever
defeated Akane could date her- what if the person who defeated her was not
someone who either you or she approved of?"

Kunou frowned.  "Well, I could not go back on my word- I would not be
allowed to stop the man from dating her.  If, however, she decided that the
prospect of dating someone other than myself was too repulsive for her,
than I could act as her champion and drive the fellow out- though she would
have to bond herself to me in order to give me my right to act."

'Huh,' Iria thought.  'You know, Akane, his plan actually made sense.  If
someone you hated beat you, the only way out for you would have been to
engage yourself to Kunou.'

'Hmph,' Akane replied angrily.  'Maybe so, but it had one fatal flaw: I
can't think of anyone who I would pick Kunou over- even Happosai would be
easier to accept.  At least I wouldn't have to put up with all that crappy
poetry.'

"But if Akane made no such request, then you would have to accept it, and
NOT interfere with the two of them dating?"

"Yes, I suppose," Kunou said doubtfully.  "But I cannot imagine Akane being
willing to date anyone other than myself, so she'd surely ask me."

"Hmm," Ranma pondered.  He turned to face Akane, a twinkle in his eye. 
"Say, if I beat you in a formal challenge and demanded the right to date
you, would you ask Kunou- or anyone, for that matter, to intervene and stop
the date?"

"Of course not!  I'd rather date you than him, any day!"

Kunou looked stricken, but Ranma smiled.  "Oh, good.  Akane, I hereby
challenge you to a contest in Anything Goes Martial Arts.  If I win, then
Kunou must accept you and me dating.  If I lose, then... well, I guess
Kunou won't have to."

Akane frowned.  "Are you sure you want to do this, Ranma?  I know you can't
bring yourself to hit me, and I don't think Kunou will accept you dodging
every blow of mine as you beating me..."

Ranma's smile grew.  "Yes, I'm sure."

Akane nodded.  "Then I accept your challenge."

Ranma turned to face their observer.  "Say, Kunou- do you want to referee? 
I want to make sure this battle is acceptable to you?"

Kunou nodded numbly, and Ranma took a position facing Akane, settling back
comfortably and nodding his head to indicate he was ready.

A look of determination crossed her face as she took her fighting stance. 
'Okay, a sparring match.  Haven't had many of those since we got back...
but I can't afford to beat him, and I don't see how he's gonna beat me.  I
don't even know how to convincingly throw the match- what does Ranma think
he's gonna do, anyway?'

"Ready?" Kunou called nervously.  It had only just started to sink in to
him what was going on, but he couldn't see any way of preventing it with
his honor intact- he'd let the crowds at Furinkan make their attempts at
Akane without interference every day before Ranma had arrived, so
interfering now would make him hypocritical.  He could not let Saotome get
away with this- but what else could he do?  "Begin!" he cried.

Akane threw a couple of weak punches Ranma's way, which to her surprise he
blocked.  She looked into his eyes, which seemed to show disapproval.

"Akane, just go all out.  I'm not sure Kunou will think this match is
official if you don't."

Taking a few steps back, she nodded, grimacing with determination.  "All
right, here I come!" she announced, and charged in.

This time, her blows were at full strength and Ranma was dodging them.  He
smiled as Akane got more and more into the fight, throwing her punches
harder and faster.  Before they got too far away from Kunou, he leapt over
her and waited for her to turn around.  She spun swinging, but Ranma snaked
in past the blow and was right up in her face.  He smirked, gave her a
quick kiss (infuriating their referee) and rolled behind her.  As Akane
recovered from her missed punch, Ranma grabbed her from behind and put his
arm around her neck in a slightly modified sleeper hold.

Akane struggled ineffectually for a moment.  Ranma, deciding enough was
enough, lean in and whispered, "Relax- I don't think you can get out of
this.  Just let yourself fall asleep, and we'll go visit Marie and Hideki
when you wake up."

Sighing, Akane decided to listen to Ranma and relaxed.  "Okay," she
whispered back.  A few minutes later, she continued with, "But you'll owe
me another favor."  Then, smiling, she fainted.

Ranma gently laid her on the ground and rolled her over.  Alarmed at a
small bruise forming on her neck, he checked her pulse.  Once he was
convinced she was fine he smiled.  "Okay, Kunou- I fulfilled your stupid
little condition.  I beat Akane fair and square- and she's already said she
wouldn't ask you to stop me from dating her.  Are you going to live up to
your end of the bargain, or," and here Ranma's eyes got fierce, "Did I hurt
her for nothing?"

The would-be samurai's anger flared, forcing a train of thought bordering
on dementia into his mind.  "Your defeat of her could only be brought about
by evil sorcery!  For that reason, your match is forfeit!"

Ranma's fury increased.  "And why is that?"  Kunou froze, his jaw forming a
word that would never come.  "Look, Kunou- I'm not admitting to using any
evil sorcery.  I don't have any evil sorcery- or any magic of my own, for
that matter.  If I did, my life would probably be a LOT easier....  At any
rate, whether I beat her using 'dark sorcery,' pure skill, or just plain
ordinary luck it wouldn't matter.  Anything Goes Martial Arts- which is
what I challenged Akane to- means just that: ANYTHING goes.  Dark sorcery
included.  Akane accepted the terms of her own free will, and you had no
objection at the time, so you shouldn't have any objection now.  I won, and
now you have to leave me alone.

Kunou opened his mouth and closed it a few times, but eventually gave up. 
Sighing, he turned.  "Very well, Saotome... you may date with her.  But if
you ever mistreat her, I shall kill you."  He slowly walked away.  Ranma
was astonished at his quiet departure, until, at the top of his voice,
Kunou called out, "But wait!  If Akane is no longer in my grasp, then the
true path is clear!  Now I must find the pig-tailed girl, for surely now
that I can devote my whole self to her she will date with me!"

Ranma shook his head at the would-be samurai's fleeing back.  Some things
never changed.
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