it all.  The smells, the sounds, she had been here before...
long, long ago.
     "Nabiki." came a small, insistent voice at her side
accompanied with a hand tugging her skirt.  "Nabiki, come with
me.  I want to find some duck eggs."  A little girl who looked
exactly like... Akane when she was 5 years old took her hand and
started pulling her towards the small lake.  "I'm gonna hatch the
eggs and have baby ducks all my own." the girl quipped.
     "Nabiki, honey, don't be gone long.  Your lunch will be
ready soon."  Nabiki froze, jerking the younger girl to a stop,
at the sound of the woman's voice.  Slowly, scared to even
breathe, she turned her head and mouthed the word: "Okaasan?"
     "And try to keep little Akane out of the lake this time.  I
don't want to use all our drinking water to clean her up again." 
the woman sighed as she continued to unpack her picnic basket.
     "Okaasan?...Mother?" Nabiki asked a little louder this time.
     "If you're not coming, I'll go myself." pouted Akane as she
released her older sister's hand and took off towards the lake.
     "What is it Nabiki?" asked the young girl next to her
mother.  "Is there something wrong?"
     "Kasumi, I..." Nabiki sucked in hard as she realized she
knew this place, these people.  She should be only 6 or 7 years
old.  This couldn't be happening.  She looked around frantically
for Jeff.
     "What's the matter, dear?" her mother asked with a slight
tilt of her head.  "Did you lose something?"
     "I...I thought you died.   Yes, you're dead.  I'm sure of
it."  Nabiki said holding her head and shaking it trying to clear
the confusion from her.  Suddenly, she was unsure of what was
real and what was illusion.  She remembered the night her mother
died; the commotion, the overwhelming sadness.  She remembered
listening to all the mourning until she couldn't take it anymore. 
Disappearing to a crawlspace under their neighbor's house so she
could cry without being seen or heard; how she pounded the dirt
with her fists for hours trying to make the hurt go away.  How
she hated her mother for leaving before she had a chance to say
the things in her heart.  How she hated herself for not saying
those things sooner.  She remembered the funeral and how she
alone remained hard-faced, determined to show everyone she could
take it, no matter how bad it was; how she vowed to never allow
anyone to hurt her again.  How she since dealt with others, even
her own family, without care as to who got hurt or what got
damaged.  All that mattered was that *she* benefited.  Did it all
really happen?  Was *this* really happening?
     "I know, dear.  And you're right." the woman sighed.  "In
life, each of us must forge our own afterlife.  We must pick that
which has the most meaning to us; a place or a selection of
people.  When the time comes, we move on to inhabit that which we
created.  This is the afterlife I fashioned for myself."  The
woman turned to the girl kneeling next to her.  "Kasumi, would
you go see to little Akane. Try to keep her out of trouble, won't
you?"
     Little Kasumi readily agreed and scampered off after her
wayward little sister.  Nabiki followed the passing of her
 older' sister, her mouth trying to form words that were passing
through her brain at the speed of light.
     "I guess we need to talk, Nabiki." her mother said quietly.
     "Mother, why didn't you tell me about your shinobi
background?"  Nabiki was, as always, direct and to the point;
even if she wasn't entirely sure what the point was.
     "Yes, I feared you would grow up this way." her mother said
shaking her head sadly.  "Much too direct for a proper Japanese
woman.  You'll never get a husband like that, daughter.  You must
learn to speak properly."
     This brought back all the irritations Nabiki ever had with
her mother.  Be a proper lady.  Learn to be deferential to men. 
Practice to become a good wife.  All the things she used to
bitterly swallow when her mother was alive.  Desperately, she
fought back a wave of anger.
     "Mother, I've already got a fianc‚." Nabiki said with an
irritated edge to her voice.  One a lot like that which she used
often with her mother before. <Why am I acting this way?  All
those years I dreamed of talking to mother, telling her the
things I meant to say before she died and the first time I get a
chance, all we can do is argue.>
     "Yes, but he's not Japanese, is he?" again her mother was
using that irritating condescending tone of voice that often
caused Nabiki to want to run outside screaming.
     "Mother," Nabiki again tried to steer the conversation. 
"the clan."
     Her mother just sighed and paused for a few moments, looking
past her middle daughter towards the lake.  Finally, she shifted
her gaze to take in Nabiki.  Looking her daughter up and down,
she smiled.  "You have grown well, my daughter.  So tall and
beautiful.  I'm glad to hear you have found a husband."
     This, while feeding some long neglected need of hers for her
mother's approval, only frustrated her more.  Her mother was
still the perfect model of a Japanese woman; indirect but firm. 
God! Nabiki hated that.  "Mother, please.  I don't know just how
much time I have here.  Tell me about your relationship with this
clan symbol."  Nabiki held out the amulet she wore around her
neck.
     Her mother examined it carefully and smiled again.  "I had
almost forgotten about that.  I haven't seen it since I was a
child." she said softly.  "It is the symbol of my parents
mountain clan."
     "Yes I know, mother." Nabiki was reliving every frustrated
argument she ever had with her mother.  "The Clan of the Cold
Moon.  But does this make me a member of your family's clan?"
     With a heavy sigh, her mother began her sad tale.  She came
from a poor mountain family, one of seven children.  Her parents
had avoided most of the terrible destruction the last war
delivered on the rest of Japan.  Her distant relatives in Tokyo
were not so lucky.  They lost both sons in combat and their only
daughter to a bombing raid.  As they were too old to have more
children, their home and martial arts training center were in
danger of passing out of the family.  As the youngest daughter,
Nabiki's mother was sent, still a very young child, to live with
these relatives as their own daughter.  When it came time to
marry, a man with suitable martial arts skills was chosen; Soun
Tendo.  From the start, the gods must have been smiling on the
young couple as they fell instantly in love.  This was all the
more amazing as most marriages of that era were loveless arranged
matches that accomplished only the continuation of the male
family's name. 
     Her mother paused, staring off into space, a little smile
creasing her face.
     "You really did love him, didn't you?" Nabiki asked softly.
     Her mother only nodded modestly.  "And now you must prove
your love for this shinobi fianc‚ of yours."
     "You...you know?" Nabiki was stunned.  How much did her
mother know of her life?  Did she know of all the dark things she
did to raise money for the family?  Did she know of all the
things Nabiki would spend an eternity regretting having done? 
The thought suddenly left her feeling small and vulnerable.
     "We...spirits of the afterlife," her mother struggled, as if
she were fighting something to tell her daughter this.  "Know all
of the past and the present.  I know of Ranma and Akane, of sweet
Kasumi and her Dr. Tofu.  I even know of every woman that has
since caught the eye of your father."  She paused and smiled
happily at her middle daughter.  "It matters not.  Eventually, he
will join me here and I will have an eternity to forgive him."
     "And the future?"  Nabiki hesitantly asked, not really sure
she wanted to know the answer.
     "No one knows the future, kitten" her mother answered with a
smile.
     <Kitten?  My God!  I haven't heard that since...> Nabiki's
mind almost panicked.  If she had any remaining doubts about this
spirit, they were gone with the use of her mother's pet name for
her. 
     "Mama, " Nabiki paused, reaching out her had to touch her
mother's.  It was as warm and alive as she remembered it.  "Am I
really a blood member of the Clan of the Cold Moon?"
     "Yes, daughter."  Her mother said with a slight tilt of her
head.  "You are clan bound."
     Delighted, Nabiki leaned forward and kissed her mother on
the cheek (something she had never done).  "Thank you, mother." 
Nabiki got up to leave but hesitated.  There was one task
remaining; something she had always regretted not doing before. 
Turning slowly towards he mother, she smiled painfully, her eyes
watering, almost ashamed to meet her mother's gaze, and said in
an almost little girl voice:  "I love you, mama."
     "I know, Nabiki.  You always had trouble expressing such
things." Her mother lamented while smiling at her middle
daughter.  "But I always knew your love was there."
     The scene began to fade again.  But not before Nabiki got to
express her love for her mother one more time.  As the faded
away, Nabiki was left with the image of her mother's smile.  It
had been long in coming but worth it to know her mother was, at
last, proud of her.

     Nabiki's warm feeling was quickly replaced with terror as a
new scene materialized.  If where she just came from was heaven,
this place was, surely, the opposite.  
     She was in a long cavern, perched on a narrow ledge no more
than a foot wide.  The wall of the cavern climbed vertically from
the ledge only to disappear far above.  Below her, however, lay
the real terror.  Perhaps 50 feet beneath her, an incandescently
hot river of molten rock flowed freely towards an unseen
terminus.  As she looked down, she could feel the heat beating
against the soft skin of her face, screaming its malevolence with
every pulse and wave.  Nabiki quickly pushed back against the
rough rock surface, her arms spread wide looking for hand holds. 
Her breath came in gasps as she tried to fight the acrid
atmosphere of the cavern for shreds of oxygen, only to be teased
into giving up what she could find by coughing on the whiffs of
poisonous fumes that haunted the area.
     She heard a small shower of rocks begin off to her left. 
Slowly, she turned her head to see the ledge disappear a few
meters away around a bend in the cavern wall.  More dislodged
rocks announced the appearance of a human hand as it explored
around the corner looking for a hand hold.  For several seconds,
Nabiki held her breath waiting to see who, first the hand, then
the arm belonged to.  With a small grunt, Jeff Lawrence won his
way around the corner to face Nabiki.
     "Jeff, what...?" Nabiki asked as she tried to reach out to
him with her closest hand.
     "I..I don't really know," he replied nervously as he inched
his way towards Nabiki.  "One moment I was in the cave with the
elders and the next I was clinging to his ledge for life."
     A slight earth tremor caused the two to link hands and hug
the wall a little tighter.
     "We can't get out back that way," Jeff indicated with his
head the way he had just come.  "Let's try working further along
your direction.  Maybe the ledge gets wider there."
     With that, they set out inching their way along the narrow
ledge, stopping frequently to rest.  Quietly, Nabiki was glad
Jeff was there.  She felt safer with him around.  At least, she
wasn't facing this alone.
     That all ended at one stop, a violent earth tremor caused
part of the thin ledge to crumble away, dumping Nabiki,
screaming, towards the fiery doom below.  Jeff's hand shot out
with determined speed and caught Nabiki by her right wrist,
securing himself with a finger hold in a small crack in the
cavern wall with his other.  There Nabiki dangled, grasping with
both hands Jeff's arm while frantically kicking at the side of
the cliff, searching for some toe hold she could use.  With every
attempt, she only dislodged more loose rocks and dirt, never
finding the desperately sought after irregularity that could
spell the difference between life and death.
     "Hold on!" Jeff grunted, the strain of holding Nabiki's dead
weight sending a searing pain up his arm and across his chest. 
It felt like all the muscles in his torso were being pulled
violently away from their anchorages.
     "Jeff?" Nabiki cried, her grip on his arm sliding from the
sweat both produced.  One of her shoes was knocked off her foot
and plunged towards the molten river below.  Nabiki watched in
horror as her shoe hit the surface of the stream and exploded
into flames.  The same fate awaited her should she be unable to
regain the ledge.  Jeff wasn't going to be able to hold on to her
forever.
     Forever.  She looked at Jeff's face; his tear stained cheeks
and clenched teeth from the strain of holding Nabiki, his solidly
set jaw of determination.  It was then she realized the truth.
     <He *can't* pull me up.> She thought, almost calmly. <If I
continue to struggle, I'll only pull him in too.>   Perhaps it
was her Japanese acceptance of death.  Maybe, seeing her mother's
afterlife affected her thoughts.  Whatever the case, she made her
decision.  To Jeff, she suddenly turned from grasping desperately
at his arm to twisting violently in an attempt to slip from his
grasp.
     "What are you doing!?!" Jeff yelled in shock.  "Are you
crazy?!?"
     Nabiki stopped her struggling long enough to look Jeff in
his clear blue eyes.  Something in her expression told him
everything he needed to know.
     "NO!" he yelled in desperation.  "I won't let you do it!" 
He valiantly tried to readjust his grip on her wrist but their
combined sweat made such impossible.  Whatever she tried, he was
*not* going to let her kill herself for him.
     Almost calmly, she said: "I'm sorry, Jeff.  I love you." and
began to claw his wrist with her free hand.  Bloody gauges left
by her fingernails oozed and dripped blood down past the dangling
girl to announce her eventual sacrifice to the molten river
below.  The pain in Jeff's arm increased to the breaking point. 
Jeff, too, knew the end was near.  He was losing his grip at both
ends.  He had only seconds to decide.
     "Nabiki," he said calmly. "I'm sorry..."  With that, he 
released his grip on the cave wall, sending the both of them
tumbling towards the flaming river below.
     Nabiki could feel the heat build until a blinding flash
assigned her to a cool darkness.  For several minutes, she just
lay there, eyes closed, feeling herself breathe.
     <Am I dead?> she thought.  But the familiar smells of the
original cavern and the cool smoothness of the cave floor,
combined with the shooting pain in her right arm and shoulder
assured her she was very much alive.  With a painful groan, her
whole right side was in agony when she tried to move, she rolled
over to look at Jeff.  He was still kneeling on the pillow as
before, his head down and eyes closed as if asleep.  His left arm
hung limply down by his side.  Still visible on his wrist and
hand were the bloody scratches made by Nabiki during her
struggle.  She swallowed hard and tried to sit up.  Grimacing at
the pain in her arm, she finally made it to a sitting position. 
Looking around, she noted that nothing had changed.  They were
still alone and trapped.  Anger and frustration quickly built in
her.  Emotionally, she was near the snapping point.
     "You have done well" came the first voice from the darkness.
     "You proved you were willing to die for our young clan
member." the second observed.
     "But the prophecy.." started the third.
     "...HAS BEEN FULFILLED!" Nabiki roared, gaining her feet. 
She had no idea what the elders were talking about but she was so
angry now she didn't care.  She had won and that's all that
mattered to her.  
     Her arm still hurt like hell but she was beyond angry and
that made the pain bearable.  "I, Nabiki Tendo, claim my
birthright as a full member of the Clan of the Cold Moon.  You
cannot deny me further.  And I WILL marry this man!"  She
shuffled towards Jeff, her whole body actually shaking with rage.
<How dare they!> she thought.
     As if out of nowhere, Master Sato appeared between Nabiki
and Jeff.
     "Get out of my way, old man." she growled.  "We are leaving
*now*."
     "I quite agree." was all he said as the room appeared to
grow black again.  Nabiki lost her footing and fell against the
venerable shinobi master.  He caught her before she could
collapse on the floor and held her as a grandfather would hold
his youngest granddaughter.  At first she tried to wrench herself
free but the pain in her arm reminded her of the foolishness of
such a move.
     Moments later, they were back in the sun, exactly where they
were when all this began.  Jeff was laying unconscious on his
side, Nabiki kneeling next to him.  Master Sato just sat calmly
on a large rock nearby puffing on an old pipe, as if nothing at
all had happened.
     Nabiki eyed him suspiciously as she painfully reached out to
touch Jeff's body.
     "He will recover." Master Sato calmly said between puffs. 
"He has been trained by the best, namely me." He flashed a
satisfied grin Nabiki's way.  "Besides, he still has to marry
Nabiki Tendo, clan daughter."
     Nabiki wasn't sure but she got the feeling he was mocking
her.  She didn't much like being mocked.
     "How much of that was real?" she asked leveling her most
menacing look at the old man.
     "A wise man once said: The power of intention, guided by the
altered perception that sees no obstruction, can create its own
realities."  He paused as if to catch Nabiki's reaction.  "Such
seem to transcend the dictates of conventional natural laws.  In
short, reality is that which you believe in strong enough."
     Nabiki stared at the old shinobi master with a mixture of
loathing and respect.  He was everything Jeff said he was... and
was not.  Clearly, a force to be reckoned with.
     "Nabiki Tendo," the old man said as he shifted positions to
face her.  "Your mother gave you more than life and a trinket to
wear around your neck."
     Nabiki's hand instinctively went to feel for the amulet
bearing her clan crest at her throat.  For better or worse, she
was now fully involved in the shinobi clans.  She thought briefly
of her encounter with the spirit of her dead mother and marveled
at how well her mother bore such a load.  It was then, Nabiki
decided she could, at least, do the same.
     "Did you ever wonder just why you were so successful in your
business dealings?" he asked slyly.
     In no hurry to answer, Nabiki turned to Jeff to see if he
was all right.  His deep, regular breathing told her Master Sato
was correct, he would recover.  Seeing his hand was still
bleeding slightly, she tore a section of her skirt away,
grimacing at the pain such an action caused her arm, not to
mention the thought of destroying an expensive skirt, and started
wrapping Jeff's wounds.  
     "I was *damn* good, that's why." she said, a harsh edge to
her voice.
     "Actually, you had an unfair advantage over your business
associates." the old man calmly assumed a traditional shinobi
position of meditation.
     "What are you babbling about, old man?"
     "A shinobi woman can give only a part of her clan skills to
each of her children.  Only when a shinobi man fathers those
children can they achieve their full potential and become shadow
warriors."
     Nabiki stopped bandaging Jeff's hand and stared at Master
Sato.  Something in what he just said made perfect sense.  She
*could* remember being so in control of some of her business
dealings it was as if she was pulling the other's strings like a
puppet.
     "That's right," the old man laughed. "You got the foresight
that a shadow warrior needs to avoid traps and detect opponents
weaknesses."
     "And my sisters?" she asked, her head cocked slightly.
     "Your older sister got the power of loyalty and compassion;
qualities that bind a shadow warrior to the clan.  Your younger
sister got the reflexes and determination that makeup a warrior's
power." he crossed his arms and closed his eyes in concentration. 
"You see?  All three of you are special." he paused.  "It's a
pity about you and the prophecy."
     "What *is* this  prophecy' you keep talking about?" Nabiki
finished bandaging Jeff's wounds and painfully shifted her
position.
     The old man took a deep breath and slowly let it out before
answering.  "Four hundred years ago a powerful Mikkyo monk,
student of the great Saicho, took up temporary residence in a
mountain cave not far from our village while seeking the
enlightenment of our people's  kuji goshin ho', our 
nine-syllable protection method'.  One day, when some women from
the
village were bringing the monk his rice, they discovered him gone
and his cave sealed.  Our people searched throughout our clan
territories but found no trace of him.  All they ever found was
his empty rice bowl and a small leather bag containing a single
scroll.  On that scroll was a prophecy in the monk's handwriting:
In 400 years, a great calamity would befall our peaceful village. 
Only the intervention of an outsider, a  gaijin', would save us
and our way of life.  It went on to claim that only  he who is of
our protector's legacy and clan wed' can open the monk's cave and
... bring about peace where there was none'."  Master Sato paused
while Nabiki absorbed just what he had revealed.  "It also hinted
of a great secret buried inside the cave, something of great
spiritual enlightenment.  Some interpreted that to mean something 
that would make one the most powerful shadow warrior ever seen." 
He paused with a far away look.  "Many tried to open the cave;
all failed and paid with their lives.  It was if the spirits
themselves were protecting the secret.  So you see, little one,
only he of the prophecy can ever hope to enter the cave."
     "And  clan wed' is where I come in." Nabiki said still
looking like she distrusted the old man.
     "Not so, little one.  This should not concern you as you are
not of our clan."
     "I hate to disagree, but were not the words:  of clan wed'?" 
Nabiki, long accustomed to the intricacies of contracts, was
handling this like a sensitive business deal; dotting all the I's
and crossing all the t's.
     "What?" Master Sato stopped and stared at Nabiki.
     "Don't you see?  I could very well be the one the monk
meant."  Nabiki tiredly leaned forward as she spoke.  "The words
never mentioned *which* clan he would wed.  Just that he would
wed one from a clan."
     Master Sato sat silently for a few moments considering her
words.  Slowly a smile crept across his weathered face.  "What
clan did you clam birthright?"
     "My mother's clan; the Clan of the Cold Moon."
     There was a long pause as Master Sato fit all the pieces
together.  A smile spread slowly over his face.  "Of course! 
Absolutely brilliant!"  Master Sato finally said, slapping his
knee.  "I don't understand why I didn't see it before.
     "Now you lost me." Nabiki said holding her sore arm.
     "You were wise to conceal your clan heritage at first,
little one.  Elsewise, your husband-to-be would have been honor
bound to take your life."
     "Huh?" Nabiki's eyes went wide with surprise.  She had
checked all such things carefully and found no blood feuds
between her mother's clan and Jeff's for the last two hundred
years.   "What are you talking about?  There is no feud between
your clan and mine."
     The old man just chuckled softly to himself.  "The feud I
speak of is over 400 years old and involves more than just our
two clans.  Members of your clan aligned themselves with a
powerful warlord to finish his war against the shinobi people. 
For their treachery, the members of your clan were  blood
hunted', outcasts among all shinobi everywhere, hunted to
extinction.  This was far more than a simple inter-clan squabble. 
It was a genocidal hunting of a people.  I suspect your mother
was sent to live with distant relatives for more reasons than to
help out family members in trouble.  They could have been hiding
a fertile female clan member among an outsider family to escape
detection."
     "Then...I'm also  blood hunted'." Nabiki said, a trace of
fear creeping into her voice.  Realizing just what she had said
and who she had said it to, slowly started sliding away from the
old shinobi master.
     "Perhaps, little one."  Master Sato said thoughtfully, then
catching Nabiki's movement, added: "You no longer have anything
to fear from me.  You are pledged in marriage to a clan member;
my adopted son.  This gives you complete protection from both our
clans.  We can't kill you because of the prophecy and I suspect
you are safe from your own clan; the few that remain."  The old
man sounded almost sad at that.  "Brilliant, isn't it?  Your
marriage will fulfill the prophecy to the letter.  It opens the
cave while bringing peace to your people."
     "How?"
     "Don't you see?  By taking you as a wife, Jeff-san will be
binding our two clans.  You and your people will then be under
our protection.  The feud will be over; all will be forgiven. 
After 400 years, peace will be restored where there was none. 
All as predicted."  He laughed.
     "Prophecy?" Nabiki said marveling at the completeness of it
all.
     "Prophecy, little one." the old shinobi master answered. 
"You are now more valuable than ever."
     Nabiki cautiously went to Jeff's side when he stirred.  He
may have been honor bound to kill her (if he even knew of the
feud), but he proved he was willing to risk his life, even to the
point of dying with her back in the cave.  Besides, she still
loved him.
     "Once you are wed, " the shinobi master advised.  "You must
return to Japan as soon as possible.  I do not wish to alarm you,
but there will be those who would do you harm.  Not everyone has
agreed with my adoption of your fiance.  Some believe he is a
mistake to be...corrected.  We can better protect you and him on
our native soil."  He looked around like a dog sniffing for
danger.  "This paradise can prove... deceptive.  I sense  danger'
from many angles.  Beware, little one."
     "I will," Nabiki promised, then added: "Ojiisan"
     Master Sato chuckled again. <She is wise as well as brave. 
Jeff-san has chosen well.> "Grandpa, huh?  Just make sure I
become a  grandpa', little one."
     Nabiki blushed at the suggestion and looked at Jeff's
stirring form.  They had never discussed children.  Actually, she
had never considered children of her own.  She wasn't sure she
liked the idea.  Children put her off almost as much as old
people.  She reached for Jeff and grimaced noticeably at the pain
it caused her arm and shoulder.
     "The powers of the elders can sometimes result in injuries,
little one.  You are in pain." the master said moving swiftly to
Nabiki's side.
     Instinctively, she recoiled from his touch.  She was not
sure just how much to trust him.  Still, he was bound by clan
laws and, if he was correct, she had nothing to fear from his
touch.
     "There are certain pressure points right here." he said
calmly as his fingers pressed lightly under her right shoulder
blade and near her spine.  His fingers seemed to vibrate slightly
for a second, then were gone.  Almost as if someone had flipped a
switch, her pains disappeared.
     Nabiki freely moved her arm, testing the results of Master
Sato's treatment.  "Almost as good as Dr. Tofu." she remarked.
     "Well, I'm not sure just how long it will last." he said
with a smile.  "It is a technique shadow warriors use to ease
their pain in the field.  You will probably be stiff and a little
sore tomorrow.  Just take two aspirin and call me in the
morning."
     Nabiki shot him a curious look through narrowed eyes.
     "A little English humor." he said defensively.  "I never did
get a handle on English humor."  He chuckled again as his shakujo
staff reappeared as if by magic.  With a wave of his hand, he set
off down the road, humming.
     Nabiki recognized the tune. <The Beatles - Hard Day's Night? 
I think he spent entirely too much time in England.>
     "I heard that."  He called from the road.  "You must learn
some mental discipline, little one.  We will work on that after
the wedding."  He turned again and, in moments, seemed to fade
from sight, gone from her view.
     For several minutes, Nabiki was left to her own thoughts. 
She struggled to focus her concentration to hold on to the images
she had recently seen.  Like the mist in the morning sun, they
were fading from her memory.  She soon discovered that all she
could remember were something about a cave and the image of her
mother.  Perhaps such images were never meant to be remembered in
this plane of existence.  She was determined to hold on to one
image.  Focusing all her energy, she imprinted the one image that
meant the most to her; that of her mother and how she had pleased
her after all these years.
     Satisfied she had secured that memory, caressed it
repeatedly in her mind.  Instinctively, she faced her homeland. 
Bowing deeply, she whispered: "Thank you, mother.  I will not
dishonor you or the name of your...our clan."
     Nabiki Tendo, child of the modern world, the one least
likely to follow the traditions of her ancestors, had come full
circle.  She didn't know exactly why, but with open arms, she
embraced that which she was; a descendant of thousands of years
of tradition.  Never again, would she laugh at the old customs or
rituals.  The ordeal left her without knowing why, the answers as
to what they all meant and why they were important.
     Jeff woke with a jerk and frantically looked around. 
Quickly, Nabiki was at his side.
     "Easy, my love." she cautioned as he sat up.
     "What happened?" he asked looking around.
     "What do you remember?"
     "We were walking.  Then we stopped." Jeff ran his hand over
his head as he tried to sort out sights and sounds that seemed to
scurry towards the dark corners of his mind like so many
cockroaches.  "The last thing I remember is holding you in my
arms.  After that..."  He shook his head in frustration.
     Nabiki smiled and embraced her fianc‚ again.  "Then that is
all you *need* to remember."
     "Why is my hand wrapped with parts of your skirt?"
     "You had hurt your hand and..." she stared as Jeff unwound
her crude bandage.  She neglected to finish the sentence when she
saw that his hand had almost completely healed.  Only four pink
lines remained where she had raked his hand with her fingernails.
     "Jeff-chan," Nabiki started looking around with a worried
look on her face.  "Let's go back to the church.  I don't really
feel very safe here."
     She helped him to his feet and the two started back up the
hill.  Along the way, he handed the torn strip of skirt she had
used as a bandage back to her.
     "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked
incredulously.
     Jeff looked first at her skirt, then at her and answered:
"Sew it back on?"
     Nabiki shot him a  You've got to be kidding' look.
     "Maybe not." he sheepishly said retrieving the strip and
wrapping it around his neck.  "How about a neck tie?  Khaki is a
good color for me."
     Nabiki broke into uncontrolled laughter.  The pressure of
the last few hours finally breaking over her in waves of
laughter.  Her eyes watered as she laughed so hard Jeff was
forced to carry her the rest of the way.
     Whatever really happened in the clearing below had changed
both forever.

     "Sister, dear." Kuno's irritated voice carried through the
bathroom door.  "I hope you aren't going to remain in there for
the entire morning.  We have work to do, you know." 
     "I know, my impetuous brother, but I must look good for my
Ranma-chan." Kodachi replied calmly.
     <I can't believe that woman cackles in her sleep.> Kuno
yawned. <I could have gotten more sleep down in the lobby.>
     Moments later, a perfectly attired and detailed Kodachi
emerged from the bathroom, ready to start the hunt for her lovely
Ranma.
     "Brother dear," she said as she got a look at her brother's
attire.  "Surely, you're *not* going out dressed like that."
     Kuno just looked down at his Bermuda shorts with knee socks
and light knit shirt before asking: "What's wrong with my
attire?"
     "Well, for one thing, we're going to break up a wedding, not
a boy scout camp out.  I would suggest something more...dressy."
     Kuno just scowled at his sister as he rummaged through his
suitcase, holding up various pairs of slacks for her approval
until she decided on suitable garments for him to change in to.
     Fifteen minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom for her
inspection.  By now, she was casually leafing through a phone
book and couldn't care less what her brother was wearing.
     "You know, sister dear."  Kuno said with a sneer.  "Having
to spend a night sleeping in the same room with you will probably
scar me for life."
     "Oh I doubt it will do any lasting damage," she responded
while idly leafing through the yellow pages.  "You're already
about as warped as you can get."
     "You do know, I despise you."
     "Like I care?"
     Figuring that bickering with his sister was getting him
nowhere fast, Kuno changed the subject.  "I don't suppose you've
given any thought as to just how we are going to find the
Saotome-Tendo wedding?"
     "Actually, I have, my hopelessly romantic brother." she held
up a morning edition of the local newspaper.
     "And just where did you acquire this little guide to the
local culture?"
     "Some simpleton left it on the floor outside the room across
the hall.  As we have the greater need, I felt justified in
taking it." she yawned, not used to getting up so early during
school vacation.
     "You stole it." her brother corrected.
     "Such an ugly word, brother dear." Kodachi sniffed. 
"Nevertheless, I have solved our problem.  Inside this paper, is
a listing of all the weddings taking place anywhere in the city."
     "They publish such things in a public newspaper?" Kuno
gasped.  "How vulgar these Americans be."
     "In any case, we shall quickly know the location of the
Saotome-Tendo wedding." Kodachi eagerly opened the paper and
started scanning it page by page.  Having attended a private
catholic girls school, her abilities at reading English were far
better than her brother's.  Still, there were many gaps in her
skills, some potentially disastrous.
     Thirty minutes later, she flung the entire newspaper from
her in disgust.
     "I can't believe it." she moaned.  "Dozens of weddings and
none for a Saotome or a Tendo."
     "Perhaps, sister, they were going to be married privately."
Kuno suggested from his seat in front of the windows.  Secretly,
he was celebrating his sister's failure, in spite of the fact it
left them still in the dark.  "Could they have spelled their
names wrong?  We are dealing with journalists here, not the
brightest life forms on Earth."
     "Or maybe they have disguised their identities in an anagram
or some other falsehoods knowing just how many wish to stop such
a union." Kodachi was slipping deeper into her own brand of
paranoia.  To her, everyone had as twisted a mind as her own. 
All things were possible, even if they were ridiculous.
     While Kodachi busied herself with trying to manufacture an
appropriate wedding announcement from those listed, Kuno idly
rummaged through a small desk over by the windows.
     "Sister, dear." he crowed holding up his discovery.  "I
believe I hold the solution in my hands."
     Kodachi was used to her brother's  solutions' and cast him a
wary look.  In his hand, written in Japanese, was a hotel guide
for the Japanese business traveler.  She quickly replaced her
wary look with one of pure skepticism.
     "And just how will such a document assist us?" she asked
sarcastically.
     "Just observe and learn how a Kuno handles such things."
Kuno said smugly as he dialed the phone number listed on the
front of the guide.  Quickly a Japanese voice answered.  "Yes,
and ohayo to you as well.  I'm Tatewaki Kuno, head of Kuno
Industries of Nerima, I have need of you  business traveler
services' listed in the hotel guide."  Kodachi just wrinkled her
pretty nose at her brother's brazenness.  "Yes, I wish for you to
get me a list of all the weddings being held in this city for,
say, the next week.  What's that?  Yes, I just need to know the
church and the time.  Thank you."
     Hanging up the phone, Kuno arrogantly looked down his nose
at his sister.  She, however, was only shaking her head.  "What?"
he asked.
     "You idiot." she sighed.  "If we only get the name of a
church and the time of a wedding, how will we know who's wedding
is taking place?"
     Kuno just blinked several times and stared at his scowling
sister.  She was right, of course, but there was no way he was
going to acknowledge he made a mistake.  He was looking at more
than loss of face here.  "We will simply have to go to each and
check on the wedding in progress." he stated flatly.  This was
*his* plan and no stupid sister was going to derail it.
     "Fine!" she growled as she started tearing the listings of
churches from the phone book.
     "And just why, pray tell, are you defacing hotel property,
sister dear?" Kuno asked with crossed arms.
     "Since you didn't see fit to ask for the addresses either,
we will have to match up the name's of the churches using this
directory." she spit in his direction.  "Then, all we will have
to do is get in a cab and point to the address we want to go to."
     "I can see some of my brilliance has rubbed off on you,
sister dear." Kuno was getting too smug for even his demented
sister to handle.
     "Are you sure you can spare any?" she mumbled as he turned
to look out of the window again.

     It was late morning when Ranma-chan stumbled into the hotel
lobby.  Looking like someone who had slept under a toilet, she
walked purposely towards the elevator.  All eyes stared as she
entered the first elevator car available and stared down anyone
who tried to get on with her.  All the while, she repeatedly
pulled up the front of her shirt every time it flopped open to
expose her breasts.  This was, obviously, a person who has had a
bad night.  Her hotel key in hand, she rode the elevator back to
her floor and a hot shower.

     Nabiki and the girls were riding in another rented limousine
on their way back from the airport.  This time, Jeff saw to it
the driver spoke, at least, a little Japanese.  
     They had gone to pick up the rest of the wedding party, Yuka
and Sayuri.  Unlike Nabiki, who was looking at unlimited choices
for college, her former business associates had to remain behind
for a few weeks to take the infamous National College Entrance
Exam.  Nabiki excitedly talked with them about their successes
and which college they should choose.  Naturally, Nabiki had
assumed she would easily have passed the exam so felt most
comfortable in dispensing advice.  Whatever Yuka and Sayuri might
have thought about such presumption, they kept to themselves.
     Akane and Kasumi could only listen in quietly; Kasumi
because she never took the test and had no experience at choosing
a Japanese college and Akane because she was still a year away
from taking it.  Besides, since the disappearance of Ranma, Akane
was less talkative than usual.  Even Nabiki, who ordinarily
couldn't resist needling her sister, was most circumspect in
dealing with her.  It might have been because of Kasumi's warning
or because of what Nabiki, herself, went through just the day
before.  In any case, Akane was less fun to be around than usual.
     Even the prospect of doing some  power' shopping with
Nabiki's new  Gold' credit card that Jeff got her, didn't arouse
much excitement in Akane.

     Somewhere up in the hills surrounding Honolulu, two old
farmers were rocking away on their front porch.  A fancy  boom
box' type radio was sitting on the table between them playing
 easy listening' music.
     "Say, Fred, do you think they ever captured those escaped
pandas from the zoo?" the first farmer asked as he spit out a
stream of tobacco juice.
     "Can't rightly say, Willard.  Ain't heard the news today."
his companion replied yawning.
     "I wonder just what one of those panda critters look like."
     "Saw a picture once.  Right cute little critter."
     "Shush, Willard.  The news is coming on."
     "And in local news.  Officials from the Honolulu Zoo
announced the successful recapture of both of the escaped Chinese
pandas last night." the radio announcer droned.  "The two pandas
are healthy and glad to be back in captivity."
     Just then a large panda wandered up the road heading for the
local sugar cane field.  Both farmers just continued to rock
slowly and listen to the radio announcer go on about how the
danger is over and no further pandas were still free.
     "You know what, Williard?"
     "What's that, Fred?"
     "Either that's the biggest damn spotted dog in the world or
that announcer fella's a liar."
     "Yup, I speck so."
     With that, Fred reached over, grabbed a baseball bat and
smashed the radio to bits.
     "Damn lying piece of Japanese crap.  Did I ever tell you of
the time we had to sandbag the beaches to keep those dirty Japs
from invading?"
     "A hundred times, Fred.  What do ya thing we oughta do about
the big spotted dog?"
     "I dunno.  Get a collar and leash?"

     Kuno and Kodachi started out on their great  wedding
busting' crusade.  Armed with a list of potential Akane/Ranma
weddings, the dynamic duo piled into a local taxi cab, pointed to
an address and rumbled off to battle.
     The first wedding was already underway when the pair
arrived.
     "Now, brother dear." Kodachi said looking over the parking
lot carefully. "We don't want to do this the wrong way.  I'll
check around to see if this is the correct wedding.  You wait
here."
     To his credit, Kuno actually waited until his sister entered
the building before doing something stupid.  Hearing the sounds
of  The Wedding March' being played on an organ, he panicked and
bolted for the front doors.
     Bursting inside, he pushed his way past the ushers and into
the church itself, screaming for the wedding to stop. 
Unfortunately, he was screaming in Japanese (no one understood
him), it was the wrong wedding (the bride and groom were two
nice, young but hopelessly white people), and the ushers were
each much larger than he was (this was gonna hurt).
     Grabbed by no fewer than four muscular ushers, Kuno was
hauled to the front doors and used in a world record attempt at
 putting-the-screaming-Japanese-jerk' competition.  Close but the
Russian judge only gave them a 7.5 in the style category.
     Landing face down, Kuno didn't see the approach of his
sister.  However, something in the way the atmosphere changed
told him she was near.
     "Couldn't wait like you were told, could you, my impetuous
brother." Kodachi said as she bent over his body.  "I told you I
would handle this."
     "I told you I would handle this," Kuno mimicked from a face
down position.  "By the time you get around to checking on just
who is getting married, the loving couple will have two
children."
     Kodachi, not used to being told off by her brother twice in
the same day, used a large rock on his head to make sure he
understood that she was slightly miffed.
     "That hurt, sister dear." he mumbled calmly as he tried to
pull his face out of the turf.  "Just for that, I will carry on
the search alone."
     "Fine," she barked grabbing the list from him, tearing it in
half and tossing the lower half back onto his body.  "You do your
search and I'll do mine."  With that, she turned on her heel and
stormed off.
     Kuno finally extracted himself from the soft earth and,
rubbing his head where Kodachi nailed him with the rock, looked
at the part of the list she had left him. <Stupid sister.  Took
the part with all the synagogues on it.>

     Ranma-chan slowly drug her weary body down the hall towards
her room.  As luck would have it, Jeff was just exiting his room
and passed the glowering red-head.
     "Ohaiyo Ranma." he said politely as he walked by. 
"RANMA?!?"  Running back to catch up with the still irritated