Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war
How to divide the conquest of thy sight;
Mine eye my heart thy picture's sight would bar,
My heart mine eye the freedom of that right.
My heart doth plead that thou in him dost lie--
A closet never pierced with crystal eyes--
But the defendant doth that plea deny
And says in him thy fair appearance lies.
To 'cide this title is impaneled
A quest of thoughts, all tenants to the heart,
And by their verdict is determined
The clear eye's moiety and the dear heart's part:
As thus; mine eye's due is thy outward part,
And my heart's right thy inward love of heart.
William Shakespeare
Sonnet XLVI
Thy Inward Love
by Richard Lawson
Comments and Criticism welcome!
sterman@sprynet.com
Part V Worth Killing For
Prolog: Council of War
"They are making their move. This is unexpected. Already they have beaten
two of the others. I did not expect such ruthlessness in them."
Shampoo beamed proudly. "Ranma is strong and quick. He can beat anyone. Did
you think he would fail?"
Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter with suprise. "You do know he is
coming for you next, don't you?"
"Yes! Oh, great-grandmother, I am so happy! Soon he will declare our love
to the whole world, and our marriage will be so beautiful!" She sighed and
stared dreamily into the distance.
Cologne, balanced on her fighting staff, bounded over to Shampoo. She leaned
forward to look into Shampoo's eyes. "Shampoo, he is coming to fight you.
He thinks he has chosen Akane for his bride, and he seeks to eliminate you as
he did the other two."
Shampoo's face lost her dreamy look. Slowly, her eyebrows lowered, and an
angry glint appeared in her eyes. "Shampoo no allow that, Ranma," she said,
slipping into Japanese as if speaking to him. "You will not leave Shampoo
without her promised husband."
Cologne grunted in satisfaction. This was the mood she need Shampoo to be
in. "There is only one way we can accomplish this, great-granddaughter. We
need to remove the source of his...distraction."
Shampoo grinned wickedly. "Violent tomboy pervert girl."
Cologne bounded back over to the kitchen. "If we remove Tendo Akane from the
scene, Son-in-law will have no choice but to accept you, Shampoo. We must
take no half-measures this time. The final battle is upon us. If we are to
win, we must be prepared to give our all. The glory of our tribe is with us;
the pride of the Amazons is at stake. We will not fail them." Cologne moved
through the kitchen gathering various ingredients. "There is nothing you
and I cannot accomplish together, Shampoo."
Shampoo was lost in another dream, this one more vicious. "Shampoo no forget
you, pervert girl," she said, still speaking Japanese. "She no forget giving
you kiss of death. Is time to make good on promise. Obstacles is for
killing."
In the back of the restaurant, something glinted among the shadows. There
was a sound of cloth rustling, but it may have only been the wind.
***
Ranma stood in his ready position, assessing his opponent. She was focused
and determined. She was good, in a way, but not really in his league.
He saw her shift her balance onto her left foot. He leaned aside to dodge
the kick of her right leg. She followed with a quick left jab, but he leaned
back; her reach was not great. She continued with a series of kicks and jabs
in rapid succession, faster than he had ever seen her execute before. It made
no difference. He bobbed and weaved and leaned back; none of them touched him.
His opponent made a loud, frustrated sound. "I hate it when you do that!"
"Whaddya expect, Akane? That I should let you hit me?" Ranma shook his head.
"This is training. We don't go easy on each other." To prove his point, he
launched a series of counterattacks. Akane jumped back and tried to dodge
them, but her reflexes weren't quick enough. She started retreating, blocking
his blows when she could, stepping back when she couldn't. Soon she was up
against the dojo wall. Ranma pressed his attack, hitting her in her arms,
legs and shoulder in very rapid succession. Not nearly at "Amiguriken"
speed, but fast enough that Akane could do nothing to stop him.
He stopped and put both of his hands against the wall on either side of her
head. "You're getting better, Akane, but you let me have my way too much.
When I started attacking, all you did was to defend and retreat. You got to
use some countermoves, or your opponent will do with you as he wills. Never
let your opponent develop a rhythm; find ways to disrupt it."
Akane smiled, slowly brought her hands to his face, and brought his head down
for a kiss. Ranma was pretty sure what was going to happen next, but didn't
try to stop it; her kisses were good enough to be worth any price.
She kissed him for a while. He could feel the edge of her bandage tickling
his cheek. She put one of her hands on his neck and the other on his
shoulder. She turned him slightly to the side. While thoroughly engrossed
in her kiss, he waited for her body to tense and shift. It did soon enough.
She snapped back her head, grabbed his tunic in both hands, and threw him to
the side.
Ranma flipped easily in the air, landed, bent into a deep crouch, and launched
himself back at Akane. She clearly wasn't expecting this, and could only
gape at him as he tackled her.
They rolled around on the ground a couple of times. Ranma ended up on Akane,
holding her arms pinned to either side of her body. He smiled at her, their
faces a few inches apart. "You tried a good maneuver for an artist of the
Anything Goes School. Only, another thing you gotta learn is to never
underestimate your opponent."
Akane could only stare at him, her eyes wide, her face turning red. At first
he thought she was getting angry. Then he realized how good she felt under
him. He wondered how he could ever have called her unfeminine; there were
some *very* feminine curves that he could feel underneath him. Her smell
filled him - sweaty, yes, but intoxicating nonetheless. He lowered his head
and kissed her again. She made a small sound and kissed him back ferociously.
He let go of her hands and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him
close. The feel of her was so good, this felt so right, he felt his reason
slowly leaving him. He moved his hands to her head, stroking her hair, then
moved one hand down to her neck.
It was either a case of very good or very bad timing, Ranma was never able to
figure out for sure. The dojo door slid open. Ranma bounded up from Akane,
rolling over and leaping to his feet faster than thought. He looked up at
his father, who blinked at him in surprise.
A sly smile crept over Pop's face. "Ah, my boy, practicing up on your arts?"
This made Ranma angry. "Shut up! You were supposed to be here an hour ago!"
His father only smiled enigmatically. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner..or
later." He bowed and entered the dojo. "Your mother and I were doing some
shopping. She has some big plans for your wedding."
The pleasure of the thought of his mother and father doing something together
was quickly washed away by outraged embarrassment. "Hey! We never said
nothing about that! Don't you guys ever check with me first? Who said
anything about marriage!"
"Who, indeed." Akane's voice sounded very small, and very quiet. Ranma
withered at its sound. He turned around to see Akane kneeling on the floor,
the tears just beginning to come from her eyes. "I wouldn't want you to
be forced into something you don't want to do, Ranma."
Ranma cringed inside. He'd done it once again. He'd ran off at the mouth
without thinking of the consequences. When was he ever going to learn?
He ran over to her and crouched in front of her. "Hey, Akane, I didn't
mean - "
This one he never saw coming. He was lifted off his feet and landed on the
ground several feet away, staring at the dojo ceiling. He could hear the
sound of feet running out of the dojo, but he could do nothing but notice
the discolorations above him indicating the many times the roof had
been repaired.
His father stood over him, bending from the waist to look down into Ranma's
eyes. "Remind me sometime to tell you of how your mother attacked me with
a bokken when you were three. She was not very skilled, but she was quite...
determined."
Ranma looked at his father, saw the amusement in his eyes that he never
allowed to show on his face. What was so funny about the situation, Ranma
didn't know. He wanted to pound the amusement out of his father, but didn't
seem to be able to find the strength to lift his head. Damn, she could hit
when she wanted to.
Pop grabbed his arm, and Ranma allowed himself to be pulled off the mat. His
head spun for a moment. He clutched his father's shoulder and stared at
him. "Was it this difficult for you and Mom?"
The amusement flickered out. "Your mother and I got married too quickly,
Ranma. The problems we had arose afterwards. In a way, it is good your
marriage did not take place when it did. It is good to see you two resolving
your problems first."
The old man sighed, then turned and grabbed both of Ranma's shoulders. "Boy,
you must learn discipline. I have taught you patience in combat. You wait
for the enemy to attack, and learn from the enemy's style how best to achieve
victory. The patience you use when evaluating an enemy is not something you
discard when the battle is done. Use it to constantly evaluate what is
happening around you and how best to respond to it. Discipline means never
forgetting the values you have been taught and applying them to all facets
of your life."
Ranma's head continued to reel, whether from the affects of Akane's blows or
his father's words he wasn't sure. Treat your entire life like you're in
combat. That sounded hard. It also didn't sound like the kind of thing Pop
usually said.
He was about to snap at his father, ask him what he knew about discipline.
He stopped himself just in time and considered. He hadn't seen his father
become a panda in the past week or so. Well, except that time at the Kuno
residence, but that wasn't his fault. Maybe, just maybe, Pop did know a
thing or two about stuff like that.
Ranma looked steadily at his father. He then nodded and turned to leave
the dojo. "Let's hold our planning session tomorrow. There's some things
I gotta work on right now."
His father grasped his shoulder. "You must not waffle with her, son.
Indecision is the worst way of expressing your feelings. You'll end up
hurting her and yourself. Trust me."
The old man was just full of advice tonight. Ranma grimaced; Pop was only
trying to help. Maybe he did know a thing or two. Ranma nodded, then walked
back towards the house.
Where was he going with Akane? Could he want to kiss her - and more - but not
want to marry her? How did he feel inside?
He found himself standing in the hallway, staring at a picture of the Tendo
family taken when Akane's mother was still alive. They all seemed so happy.
He examined the picture of little Akane. She had been a toddler, but he could
see the lines that would make her face the beautiful thing it was today.
Ranma flushed at the thought. Calling Akane "uncute" had always been a relfex
action. At first, he hadn't wanted to admit to his father that she was at all
attractive, so had calling her uncute in a very public way. Then, over the
past year, he had begun to be frightened by the way his feelings towards her
were changing. Whenever an impulse ran through him that admitted to her
attractiveness, physically or emotionally, he had shoved it aside and resorted
to his familiar insults. That kept the strange feelings at bay. That they
hurt Akane at all was a small price to pay.
Or it had been. He turned away from the picture and moved down the hall, lost
in thought. More and more, his greatest anguish had come from seeing
Akane hurt in any way. The sight of blood spurting from her face had driven
a stake through his heart. The sight of her kneeling on the dojo floor just
now, tears in her eyes, had been no less agonizing.
This was definitely something he needed to get right. He was pretty sure
what he needed to do, he just wasn't sure he had the courage to do it.
He found that his feet had taken him upstairs. He stopped outside Akane's
room, listening, but he heard nothing. He continued on down to Nabiki's room.
Gathering his willpower, he knocked on her door.
***
Akane grumbled. Walking home by herself was boring. She had wanted to talk
some things over with Ranma, but he had run off right after school, telling
her he would see her at the dojo after dinner. Nabiki had also left in a
rush, mentioning plans with Tatewaki.
Akane smiled; if given a thousand years to think on it, she would never have
imagined those two together. The less charitable of her classmates still
attributed it to his wealth, but Akane knew her sister. She was much more
interested in making money than marrying into it. She really liked Tatewaki.
Akane couldn't see it. Except he had been very helpful with Kodachi. In
fact, according to Nabiki, he had very probably saved Ranma and Akane from
death, or a fate worse than that. Maybe there was more to him than his silly
speeches and arrogant presumptions. Akane trusted her sister's judgment
implicitly; Tatewaki had to be a good guy underneath.
Akane laughed. However good he was, he was nothing compared to Ranma.
Her smile faded. Ranma was a good guy, but he could be such a jerk. He had
hurt her badly last night. She had been lost in the feel of his body. She
had felt his hands begin to roam and had welcomed their touch. And then he
had once again expressed his reluctance to getting married. Akane wasn't
sure if he just didn't want to get married, or if he didn't want to get
married to *her*. She needed to know. She desperately needed to know.
She gritted her teeth in anger. "Where are you when I need you, you jerk!"
She glared at the empty street, daring Ranma to show his face, hoping he
would. It was deserted.
Or almost. As Akane looked further down the street, she saw someone leaning
against the wall. The figure was hidden by shadows, but it was definitely
female, with long hair. And a sword.
Akane stopped short, her heart pounding. There was only one person that could
be, and only one reason she would be carrying a sword. The only other time
Akane had seen her with a sword was when she had tried to kill Ranma.
Shampoo stepped lazily into the street, her eyes glinting. She was as
beautiful as ever, if you were into the purple-haired, slim, athletic,
perfectly proportioned type. She was wearing a form-hugging purple outfit,
the kind she usually wore when trying to tempt Ranma. "This Shampoo's lucky
day. She very prepared to meet Ranma and ugly tomboy, but ugly tomboy is all
by herself. This make Shampoo's job much easier."
Akane dropped her book bag onto the ground. They were supposed to have a
planning session last night on what to do about Shampoo. They had put it
off until tonight. Somehow it had never occurred to anyone that Shampoo
would move first.
Akane glanced quickly around. Shampoo had chosen her spot well. The canal
was to Akane's left, an empty playground to her right. There was no one in
sight; this was an out-of-the way place, well off the well-travelled roadways
unless you were going from Furinkan High School to the Tendo Dojo. In crowded
Nerima, Shampoo had found the one place where it was quite possible that no
one would hear Akane if she screamed.
Akane considered running, but she had no illusions about her speed. Shampoo
was nearly as fast as Ranma, and quite capable of cutting down Akane as she
ran.
Shampoo raised her sword in front of her face, its edge perfectly bisecting
her face. "Akane has bewitched Ranma too long. Shampoo no understand how
violent pervert like Akane put spell on Ranma, but it end today. Shampoo
give you kiss of death many months ago. Is time to kill."
Shampoo lept into the air, her sword raised over her head. Akane sprang
sideways, turning to watch Shampoo land. As fast as a snake, Shampoo cut
at Akane with the sword. It tore part of Akane's skirt as she fell backward.
Her heart in her throat, Akane knew she could not stay still. As soon as she
landed she began rolling to the side. Shampoo's sword hit the ground where
Akane's face had been a moment before.
It had been a while since Akane had single-handedly and routinely defeated
twenty boys each morning as they attacked her en masse before school. Her
reflexes had been good then. She had countered their moves instinctively,
feeling where the attacks were coming from. When Ranma had become her fiancee
and his obvious martial arts ability became apparent, the attacks had stopped.
Akane had lost some of her edge, but Ranma had been helping her over the past
few weeks to regain some of it. That she still couldn't lay a finger on him
was disheartening, but she knew that he had no problems beating Shampoo,
either. She had to believe she was good enough to beat Shampoo, or at least
hold her off long enough until help arrived.
Trusting in herself, using the confidence she had felt each morning during
the mass attack, she reached out and grabbed Shampoo's arm. She used her
strength to keep Shampoo from lifting the sword while Akane's other hand
formed a fist and launched itself at Shampoo's jaw.
Shampoo didn't allow the blow to land, instead dropping the sword and
wrenching her arm out of Akane's grip. Akane aborted her attack, instead
grabbing the sword and leaping to her feet.
As she felt the unfamiliar weight of the sword in her hands, she remembered
Ranma's words about weapons. They limited your attacks and hindered your
defense. All she was likely to do with it as cut herself, while Shampoo moved
in for the kill.
If she couldn't use it, she knew a way to make sure Shampoo couldn't use it
either. With a grunt, she threw it over the fence, where it landed with a
a splash in the canal.
Shampoo's faced looked grim. "Very good, ugly tomboy. Shampoo underestimate
you. But Shampoo no need sword to finish off pervert girl."
With that, Shampoo launched a furious set of attacks. Akane attempted to
fight them off, retreating backwards as a hand punched her arm, a foot
connected with her hip, an elbow clip her jaw. She could do nothing but fall
back, trying to weather the storm.
"You got to use some countermoves, or your opponent will do with you as he
wills. Never let your opponent develop a rhythm; find ways to disrupt it."
Ranma's words came back to her. She was glad for them.
She planted her feet. Doing so cost her a vicious blow to her knee. She
leaned forward into Shampoo and wrapped her arms around her. Shampoo tried
to leap out of the way, but Akane held her in her arms and wrestled her to
the ground.
Akane landed on top, and was gratified to see Shampoo grunt in pain. Akane
grabbed each of her forearms behind Shampoo's back and began to squeeze.
"I may not be as fast as you and I may not be as skilled as you," Akane
said through her teeth, "but I am stronger than you. All of you stupid fiancees
have called me ugly and fat and tried to kill me, but you have never
succeeded. And you never will. I love Ranma, and none of you can have him."
Shampoo had a wild, helpless look in her eyes. She appeared to be having
trouble breathing, which suited Akane just fine. She tried to kick her legs
but they found no purchase. Her arms were pinned to her sides by Akane's
grip. Shampoo gritted her teeth and gave Akane a hateful look. She could
feel Shampoo using the last of her strength to try and break Akane's grasp.
Shampoo was strong, Akane could feel that. But there was just no way Akane
was going to let go. Staring into Shampoo's eyes, exultation coming over her,
she tightened her grip one last time.
Something touched her high on her back, just at the base of her neck. And
all of sudden, Akane couldn't feel a thing.
Shampoo threw her off like a rag doll. Akane landed in a heap several feet
away, but she couldn't feel the ground, didn't feel the pain of bouncing on
the pavement. She couldn't even more her eyes, although she could still see.
What she saw was Cologne, pulling her staff back. In her other hand she
carried Shampoo's sword.
Shampoo was on her hands and knees, trying to get her breath back. Cologne
went over to her and poked her in the ribs in a few places with the tip of
her staff. Shampoo's breathing got easier. There followed a quick exchange
in Chinese, which ended with Shampoo nodding and taking the sword from Cologne.
Cologne turned and looked at Akane. "You surprised me today, Tendo Akane.
Few can these days. You would have made a worthy Amazon. I would honor you,
but you still remain an obstacle to our plans for Shampoo and Ranma. I have
freed you from pain, though. Your death will be quick, and soon you will
be with your ancestors."
Akane tried to move, tried to feel something, but she couldn't even cry the
tears of the helpless fear she was feeling. She watched as Shampoo, her
hair dishevelled and her form-hugging outfit dirty and torn, approached her
slowly, the hate and anger in her face made more horrible by the smile she
wore.
Shampoo kicked her shoulder. Akane felt nothing as she flopped onto her back,
staring at the sky. Shampoo lifted Akane's chin with her sword. She rested
the edge briefly on Akane's neck, then raised the sword over her head in a
two-handed grip.
I'm sorry Ranma, she cried in her head. I'm sorry, I failed. You'll
never know how much I wanted us to be married, never know the ways I planned
to prove my love to you. Even if you didn't want to marry me, that's okay.
Be happy and strong and protect my family. Please, know that I loved you.
Then came: the sword blurring, the sound of metal slicing flesh, and blackness.
END PART V