I finally got this one edited to a decent level, so tell me what you
think, please.
C&C is of course appreciated.
ja ne,
	Suika (who knows she's cheating on her titles, but hasn't come
	up with a better idea (for these ones at least))
-- 
	  	<wrobert2@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu>
Zou-Morrigu, goddess of elephant war.  Yeah, yeah, it's cheesy.  But
why else would I need to know a Celtic goddesses name?  Hmmm?
						--Gin Daizou, atashi no imouto
------------------------------ cut here ------------------------------

	``So, what's for dinner, Miyuki?''  Miyuki looks up at her older
sister, who showed signs that she would soon learn the bakusaitenketsu, mainly
through not being as bruised as she had been the day before.

	``California roll, sliced avocado, and miso ramen.''  She answers.

	``Every time you cook we have avocado, why?''

	``Because I like it, no one else in the house cooks with it, and it's
in season right now.''  There is a loud knocking at the door.  ``That must be
Kodachi, Ukyou and Rie-chan.  Go let them in, please.''

	``Ryoukai!''  She snapped her heels together and slapped her fist
against her chest.

	``You've been watching too much anime recently, haven't you?''

	``No, but I think that one we watched a week or two ago was cool.''
She did not smile as she made the comment, for that would spoil the effect.

	``Why do I even bother showing them to you if you don't care enough to
remember them?''  Miyuki's annoyance with her sister is plain.

	``Because I like them, even the strange ones like Iczer 1.''  Rei
says, walking to the door.  There is a thunk as the designated throwing pot
hits the door frame behind her.

	``Konbanwa, Rei-chan.''

	``Konbanwa.  Come in, please, Miyuki is almost done with dinner.''
She leads the way to the dining room.

	``Ucchan!  To what do we owe your presence tonight?''

	``Miyuki called and said that I was invited over for dinner.  I guess
she neglected to tell you that, ne.''

	``Yep.  Least she was cooking, so I don't have to apologize for not
having cooked enough.''

	``Once was enough, wasn't it Ran-chan?''

	``More than.  `I don't mind if you invite people over and forget to
tell me''

	``But don't just expect me to cook for the lot of them' '' Akane and
Ranma finish in unison.  Ukyou and Kodachi giggle at their aggrieved tone, and
Miyuki walks in with the first load of food.

	``Rei, Rie-chan, could you help please?''  Miyuki asks, her manner
making it plain that she could handle it fine herself, but remembered how
Rie-chan enjoyed to help out.

	``Hai!''  Rie practically flies across the room and through the door to
the kitchen, being careful not to hit anyone or anything as she went over the
table.

	``Your daughter is getting good.''  Akane complements Ukyou, thinking
about the leap Rie had just made, over the table and Ranma's head.  Most
children that age would have hit either the ceiling or Ranma.

	``Place that there, Rie-chan.''

	``Itadakimasu!''

	As usual Kodachi and Ukyou are extremely sappy, feeding each other
and generally acting like the dotting couple that they are.  Rie ignores them.

	A short while later every one makes a point of complementing the cook
for the food.  Miyuki and Ranma are staring at each other over the last slice
of avocado when the younger one finds the way to get it.  ``You didn't finish
the story, you know, kaa-chama.'' Ranma shifts his gaze off of the avocado
slice, and she snags it.

	``Which story?''

	``The one about how you ended up bearing me.''

	``Oh, yeah,''  He looks for the avocado slice, then continues, ``Well
after Tofu-sensei pointed out that we would need to keep me female for the
nine months or so that the pregnancy would take there was a quick
brainstorming session where we went over known methods to keep me female.  The
only one that I judged trustworthy enough to attempt was the chiisui-ton, which
was a bit of a problem, as it had gotten lost during the fight with Herb.  So
had the kaisui-huu, but that was only necessary to reverse the effects of the
first after you were born.

	``We made the arrangements like we were a normal couple who were going
to go in for in-vitro fertilization, and I presented myself in female form as
the surrogate mother.  The doctors thought I was a fine candidate, and
preparations went on as we made plans for an expedition to find the two magic
items.

	``We both made the appropriate donations, and I was really glad that I
wasn't donating the ovum.  _That_ was a really uncomfortable process.  Luckily
better ways have been invented since, but to say it wasn't a fun process would
be like saying swimming to China was a nice weekend's trip.

	``Rei was about two by the time we got the trip underway.''

	``The whole gang, just about, was involved in the search, and we found
the kaisui-huu pretty quickly.  Ko-chan found the chiisui-ton in a large tree
a kilometer or so from where everyone else was looking.''  Ukyou contributes.

	``You helped a great deal, Ucchan.  I couldn't have found it if you
hadn't suggested that we get out of camp if we were going to be making out.
And you were the one who said that that tree looked nice.''  Kodachi's voice
is quite calm, very different from what it had been before she got involved
with Ukyou.  ``We only spent about six months searching, and Ranma made enough
off of that `training trip' he took his students on that it wasn't a loss
financially''

	``Anyway, we got home just in time for the Sakura to bloom.  I had
been female for a couple of weeks, and the lot of us did hanami.  I got
totally drunk for the first and last time in my life, and Akane had to shut me
up.''

	``I remember that.  I thought she just enjoyed sucking face with
you.''  Ukyou giggles as her comment turns both Akane and Ranma a bright red.

	``We set up the appointment to go to the doctor and get an embryo
implanted, and it, in due time, turned into you.''

	``So that's why you have the bucket and the tea kettle in the safe.''
Miyuki's voice shows sudden comprehension.

	``Un.  I don't want to get stuck by accident, but it is occasionally
nice to take a hot bath as a female.''

	``You picked up a lot of habits after being female for four and a half
years.''  Ukyou needles lightly.

	``Four and a half years?''  Miyuki directs the question at Ranma.

	``Un.  Two and a half months before the embryo was implanted, nine and
a half months where it was growing into the baby that would become you, three
years nursing, and six months trying to figure out where I lost the
kaisui-huu.''

	``Oh, and you were to embarrassed to ask?  I thought you had just
forgotten.'' Akane's voice shows that she really doesn't know the answer.

	``No, I just didn't think it was all that important.  You didn't mind,
my students didn't mind, nobody who I couldn't just tell `I'm married' and
have them back off was flirting, chasing, or harassing me, so I figured I'd
just change back when I found the thing.''

	``Ah.  The possibility of my having hid it never occurred to you?''
Akane's question makes Ranma rock back a little, as if from a blow.

	``You did?''

	``The possibility never occurred to me either.'' She sticks her tounge
out at him.  Everybody giggles at it.

	``Oops!  I need to clear the table.  Rie-chan, want to help?''  The
five year old nods eagerly, and they quickly have the table clear.

	``Ano, Kodachi-bachan, why did you challenge Akane to a poisoning
contest?''  Miyuki asks, after everyone had settled down again.

	``I don't know if you know this, but I wasn't very stable then.  My
family was more than a little odd, and I had no one to trust except me and
Midorigame from the time I was very small.  I got into poisons when I was
younger than you are, about seven, and started experimenting with
hallucinogens and other `recreational' drugs when I was about 11.  I don't
remember why, but it might have just been that I was curious and didn't have
anyone to tell me how dumb of an idea it was.  They were easy enough to get,
and nobody noticed the difference, so I thought it was OK.  I got tired of the
needle marks and stopped when I was fourteen, I wrote a diary of that
experience.  Heroin isn't a fun habit to kick cold turkey, but, as all the
actual documentation on it said, totally survivable and the only way to do it.
I am still amazed that nobody except Sasuke knew about it.   My father just
said that I was skipping school and they should just deal with it.  My brother
didn't appear to care that I felt like Zandru's ninth hell warmed over, and
said that I should just go to school anyway.  I'm really glad I didn't dabble
in harder drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, speed, coke.  I had done some LSD, some
pot, some other things, but not much.  I got into a rather nihilistic mood,
and didn't begin to get out of it until I started obsessing over your parent.
I have a bad feeling that if anyone had dared to inquire I would have ended up
in a mental hospital for the rest of my life.

	``Anyway, I was really upset that Ranma had actually said that he
wanted to be with Akane for the rest of his life, and so I challenged Akane to
a contest I was sure she couldn't win.  When I won I was to get to keep Ranma
for six months, an amount of time I felt more than adequate to the task of
making him mine.  Using my superior knowledge of poisons I got maybe 540
people.  I still don't know where she got all of that LSD, but she got all of
Nerima with it.  I was at Ucchan's to try and convince Ukyou to honor the deal
after I won when the LSD started to kick in.  I just assumed that someone had
gotten into my poisons and added a hit or two to my food.  I hadn't done
anything other than order and drink a cup of tea when Ukyou ordered every one
out, locked the door, and started to lose it.  I'd had a bad trip or two, so I
knew what one was like.  I also knew that it was a really bad thing to go
through alone, and not much better with just an alligator for company.  I
dragged her outside, locked the door behind me, and took her to a park and
held her until she started to calm down, at which time I realized that it
wasn't just me who was tripping, but everyone around me.  I took Ukyou to my
house, made sure the filter on Midorigame's tank was working, snagged a couple
thousand yen, and led Ukyou back to her shop, pausing to buy some bottled
water along the way.

	``I still don't know why I did that.  It was totally out of character
for who I was.  Maybe I was thinking back to when I had wished for someone to
hold me during my bad trips, maybe I just thought it would be fun, maybe I
just wanted someone to hold me and I didn't care who, I don't know.  I just
know I am really glad I did it.  I sat and talked to her, telling her that it
was OK, that it was just a hallucination, that she could tell that it was just
a hallucination.  I ended up holding her until we both fell asleep.  After we
woke up I just sort of dumped on her, telling her a lot of the things that had
been bothering me.  She ended up holding me, telling me it was all right as I
cried on her shoulder.  I hadn't cried in years.  We spent the next few days
talking to each other, telling secrets, becoming more and more attracted to
each other.  I don't know how that happened, I still don't find many females
desirable, and Ukyou is only a little broader in her definition.  By the time
we ran out of bottled water I had worked up the courage to risk kissing her.
I am still glad I did.  Very glad.'' Ukyou blushes at the fervent manner this
is said in.  ``I didn't even think about my family until after school started
again.  That afternoon I asked Ukyou to come with me to check on Midorigame,
who was fine.  My father and brother were not.  Apparently they had kept
drinking the water as it came from the tap until the rescue teams showed up
and started distributing uncontaminated water.  They were malnourished,
sleep-deprived, and heavily scrambled by the time the rescue teams found them
and took them to the hospital, and my brother never did recover.  He went and
became a monk somewhere far away, as long as he isn't too heavily stressed he
is fine, and my father went back to scaring people in Hawaii.  I showed Ukyou
where Midorigame liked to be scratched and sat for a long while just holding
her after I found that out.'' Kodachi curls her fingers, her elbow on the
table, curls of white light extending like claws from her finger tips, blue
flames flowing off of them.

	``How do you do that!?''  Miyuki is instantly transfixed by the sight.

	``I don't know.  It isn't very useful, as I can't control it.  It just
appears sometimes when I curl my fingers, and disappears after a bit.''

	``Could you teach me?  The flames from the air burning are really
neat.''

	``Nope.  That is the other thing that makes it useless.  I have this
bad feeling that the only reason I can do it is because I altered my brain far
more than is good for anyone by doing too many chemicals.

	``On the other hand I do have some things that I might be able to
teach you if you want to learn.  You know that trick Happosai has?  The one
where he hits you with a pipe and knocks you across the room?''

	``Un.''

	``Have you ever thought about how he does that?  If he hit you with
the pipe hard enough to do that...''

	``He'd be much more likely to just tear through at the point where he
hit.''

	``Exactly.  What I guessed was happening was that the kinetic energy
was being drawn off, and then dispersed throughout the target.  I was wrong,
but it worked.''  She looks around for something sturdy to demonstrate on,
then asks, ``Rie-chan, could you go get me a rock from outside?''  Rie pops up
smiling, and comes back nigh instantly with a rock, which she hands to her
mother.  She obviously knew what was goint to happen.

	Kodachi closes her eyes for an instant, then, holding the rock on the
palm of her left hand with a clear shot out the door, brings up her right
index finger, mist dropping towards the floor from around her hand.  She waits
like that for an instant, then lightly taps the rock with her finger-tip.
There is a sudden `Krack!' as the rock leaps from her hand and blows most of
the way through the wall around the garden.  ``Oops, sorry.  I'll send a crew
by to fix it tomorrow, I really didn't mean to hit it that hard.''  Turning
back to Miyuki she asks, ``You can see how that might be useful, can't you?
It doesn't take much energy from the user, for most of what is used comes from
the surrounding air, and it can also be used for putting large holes in
things.''

	``Oshiete kureru, Kodachi-sensei!''  Ranma and Kodachi are a bit taken
aback by Kodachi's sudden promotion, and everyone else just giggles.

	``Sure.  You have to teach me how to make those sandwiches that my
daughter adores in return, though.''

	``Deal!''  Miyuki's face clouds for a moment, ``Oh, and one last
slightly rude question.  Which one of you two . . .'' she can't quite finish
the question, her eyes on Rie.

	``Oh!  That question.   I thought Ranma or Akane would have told you.
I bore her, and geneticly she's both of ours.  Basicly the doctors took an
ovum from each of us and fused them together, then implanted the embryo like
what happened with you.''  Kodachi answers.  Rie looks bored, like she's heard
this explanation far too many times before.