If you saw yesterday's version, just skip down a couple of pages...

(Previously:  Nodoka Saotome came into possession of the remains of the 
Nanban Mirror and turned it into several brooches which she's given to 
Ranma's various love interests.  Shampoo used hers to look at a future 
where she married Ranma.  It wasn't quite what she expected....)

			DEEP REFLECTIONS
			by Scott K. Jamison
			(Takahashi disclaimer)

		Chapter Two:  Kodachi

	Kodachi sang a happy tune as she tended her roses.  To the 
untrained listener, it would be indistinguishable from her usual 
high-pitched laugh, but be assured, the tune was there.  Some people 
might also have thought a black sundress odd.  She managed to pull it off.
	A gentle throat clearing let her know that Sasuke had entered the 
room.  She busied herself with the flowers for a long moment.  It was 
ritual; a master did not hurry to a servant's call.  At last she turned, 
and found the ninja holding a box out to her.
	"A package for you, Mistress.  From the mother of Master Saotome."
	"Have you checked it for boobytraps?"
	"As always, Mistress.  None were found.  It is apparently an 
actual gift, and not a plot by one of your rivals."
	Kodachi took the box.  "You are dismissed."
	"Thank you, Mistress."  Sasuke bowed and backed out 
respectfully.  Pity there didn't seem to be servants of his loyalty but 
greater competence.
	She decided that the greenhouse was not the appropriate place to 
open a present, and retired to her receiving room.  She had a ritual for 
opening packages; it took a bit more time, but form was important.  One 
of the corners tore as she removed the paper, and that vexed her, so she 
carefully cut away the offending bit with scissors.
	The brooch struck Kodachi as rather tacky.  Obviously homemade, 
and from recycled materials at that!  "Each of Ranma's female 
friends..."  She supposed that meant the annoying pigtailed girl too.  
She'd never quite fathomed what the minx's relationship with Ranma was, 
or why she was so dead set against Kodachi's suit.  Tatewaki raved about 
Ranma using sorcery to possess her soul, but that was probably just 
poetic metaphor for something he'd misheard in the first place.  Still, 
she owed the girl badly, the only one who'd ever truly defeated her.
	Strangely enough, the other fiancees seemed to get along fine 
with the pigtailed girl, especially that peasant Akane.  Maybe that rumor 
she'd heard about them being cousins was true.
	The Nanban Mirror...something about that name tickled at her memories.
	The door slid open abruptly, and Kodachi's father entered, the 
palm tree on his head bobbing slightly.
	"Aloha!  How is my favorite wahini today?" he said, as he 
nervously checked under the furniture.
	"Fine, Father.  What are you looking for?"
	"Mene--I mean money.  Never enough spare change. Wahaha!"
	"Hoohohoo!  By the way, have you heard of something called a 
'Nanban Mirror'?"
	He frowned in thought.  "I believe it's a Chinese legend, 
something my father mentioned.  Something about the Saga of Lo Shon.  We 
have the book in the library.  Aloha!"
	Principal Kunou left as he entered, muttering something under his 
breath.  Much as she liked her father, there was something odd about the 
man.
	The library did indeed have the book she was looking for 
(Grandfather had been as big on China as Father was on Hawaii) so she 
carefully rearranged the shelf to look proper and brought the book to the 
receiving room.
	The Saga was of course in Chinese, and poetry to boot.  The 
latter made it more her brother's province, but she flipped through the 
pages till the proper passage caught her eye.  Apparently Lo Shon, 
greatest of the Amazon warriors ("Lotion".  Of course.) had been given 
the Nan-Ban for saving the Empress (before the time of the First 
Emperor?  Confusing.) from some monster.  The next passage was difficult, 
something about "tears of time," but the gist of it was that Lo Shon had 
used the Mirror to see the future of her village and protect it from 
harm.  There were no further references.
	So somehow it had gotten from Shampoo's village to Mrs. Saotome, 
who'd turned it into junk jewelry.  The note implied it had already been 
broken, though, so she couldn't really be blamed.  Kodachi decided the 
brooch merited closer examination.  
	She was startled to find Shampoo staring back at her.
	"What th--" she dropped the brooch, but quickly regained her 
grasp before it hit the floor.
	Shampoo was still visible, but no longer looking into the 
brooch.  Instead she was gazing off and smiling as a tear splashed on the 
glass.  Though she could not hear the words, Kodachi immediately knew 
what the other girl had asked.  The surface of the glass rippled, then 
clouded.
	Several minutes crawled by, yet Kodachi knew that she should 
stand by.  She did some stretching exercises to fill the time, then began 
juggling clubs in increasingly intricate patterns.  At last the glass 
cleared, and Kodachi saw Shampoo's face again.  This time the Chinese 
girl was not smiling.  Indeed, she looked as though she'd lost something 
dear to her.
	Kodachi felt a moment of schadenfreude.  "The little tramp 
couldn't keep him, eh?  Well, I'll do better.  The Black Rose always 
wins."  She took up the brooch.
	"Mirror!  You will take me ten years into the future, when I am 
married to my faithful Lord Ranma!"
	The Nanban Mirror had never been known to care about the quality 
of tears used to activate it.  Crocodile tears worked fine.  
	Not that Kodachi was sure of that at first.  Her receiving room 
had changed very little, and she was about to toss the brooch aside as 
useless when she noticed that she could see her breath.  Then the cold 
made itself felt through her light clothing.
	It must be winter, and Tatewaki had forgotten to pay the heating 
bill.  No, she could hear the muted hum of air conditioners.  Perhaps he 
was living out one of his chambara movie fantasies again.  Certainly her 
father wouldn't be doing this; he favored a tropical environment.
	Kodachi rubbed her arms to warm up while looking around.  Yes, 
there were a few changes, but they fit the pattern of her ritual 
arrangement so exactly that she had missed them at first.
	The greenhouse would be warm, of course.  She'd go there, then 
search for Ranma.  Her very own Ranma...
	As she passed through the hall, something made her freeze.  What 
was that *sound*?  It sent a chill through her blood far colder than the 
air.  Finally she realized what it was.  Laughter.  Her own laughter.
	Of course, she'd heard her own laughter before, on recordings.  
But there was a new quality to it, somehow harsher, like broken glass 
being drawn across a blackboard laced with sandpaper.  And it was coming 
closer.
	She calmed herself.  Of course her future self was here, that was 
why she had come.  What matter is her laugh had changed a bit?  The 
laughter came closer...
	At last the future Kodachi turned the corner into view.  She 
moved slowly, one leg dragging slightly.  She wore a formal winter 
kimono, blood red silk embroidered with black roses.  The hairstyle 
matched the dress, and strands of silver glinted in the glossy do.  Very 
stylish.  As she came closer, the younger Kodachi noted her complexion 
was unnaturally pale, and her pupils dilated.
	The laughter stopped as Kodachi-Future realized someone was in 
the hall with her.
	"You look familiar, girl.  Are you the new maid?  I told you to 
dress warmly."
	"I am not a maid!  I'm you!  The Kodachi of ten years ago."
	"The older Kodachi waved her hand in front of her eyes.  "Visual 
and auditory hallucinations.  Fascinating.  The new drugs have made 
matters worse, not better.  I shall have to have that doctor flayed."
	"I am not a hallucination!"  She took her counterpart's hand.  It 
felt like ice.  "I'm flesh and blood, traveled through time.  We married 
Ranma, did we not?"
	"That we did."  The older woman smiled, and her face warmed.
	"How did we do it?  And why is it so cold in here?"
	"It's better for Ranma's health.  As for the rest, discussion 
would be best in the tea room, I think."
	"Yes.  Shall we?"  They moved slowly to the tea room, laughing as 
at a shared joke.
	A serving girl silently brought out the tea ceremony things, and 
a winter robe for the visitor at the elder Kodachi's command.  She snuck 
a nervous glance at young Kodachi before respectfully retreating.  The 
ceremony began, and each woman played her part exactly according to 
ritual, with no reference to the bizarre circumstances that brought them 
together.
	When tradition was satisfied, the future Kodachi straightened and 
scrutinized her counterpart carefully.
	"The maid saw you.  Good, that means you're not a hallucination, 
or that you're a very consistent one.  I shall presume you to be as you 
claim.  How come you here, my past self?"
	"By virtue of the Nanban Mirror, to see what the future held."
	"Oh, that thing.  I had forgotten it.  Now I suppose you wish to 
know how we came to marry Ranma?"
	"Oh yes, if you please, m'lady."
	"It's really quite simple.  I kidnapped him and persuaded my 
lover to stay in my room with me."
	"Ranma agreed to that?  He's always seemed quite shy."
	"Not at first.  It took some time to persuade him, but drugs and 
a little fib about a poison I'd fed Akane needing a continuing antidote 
only I could provide made him come around eventually.  The harder part 
was keeping everyone else from figuring out where he'd gone.  They even 
dared to search the mansion eventually, and I had the devil of a time 
getting him from one hiding place to the next in time."
	"Didn't he object to being hidden?"
	"A little, at first.  But soon he realized that his love for me 
was more important than the worries of a few commoners and vagabonds, 
and he vowed to stay with me forever."
	"How romantic!"
	"Sadly, Tatewaki eventually caught on, and objected in no 
uncertain terms to Ranma's presence in the house.  So he had to 
be...dealt with.  It was much more difficult than I had imagined.  Our 
brother was nigh-immune to poison, insensible to pain (something Ranma 
had helped him develop, unintentionally of course) and so stubborn 
delusional about his battle prowess he just wouldn't die properly.  His 
body flailed about for over four minutes after the head was removed.  
Quite amusing, actually."  She began to laugh again.
	"You killed Tatewaki?!"
	"It was necessary.  He would have taken Ranma away.  Fortunately 
Father had already returned to Hawaii by that time, and as long as I 
send him a small allowance is likely to stay.  Shortly after that 
incident, Ranma fell ill.  He wasn't used to living indoors so much.
	"I finally had to call in a specialist.  A very discreet 
professional.  He was able to prevent Ranma deteriorating further, but 
my husband's health remained poor, and he needs the cold to keep 
complications from setting in."
	Kodachi wondered what sort of illness required such cold 
temperatures.  Most lingering conditions needed heat, or so she'd 
heard.  
	"The only other person to find out Ranma was here was that 
strange Ryouga boy.  He just happened to wander in one day.  He was very 
upset to learn Ranma had been hiding here all along, and threatened to 
tell everyone.  We stopped him, of course.
	"He managed to shatter my leg with one of his techniques, but 
then his chivalry did him in.  Apparently he was a bit of a feminist.  I 
used those ridiculous-looking fangs of his to make a back-scratcher."
	Kodachi was uncertain whether to be appalled or admiring of her 
future self.  Outright murder was a step she hadn't taken yet, one she 
was afraid to, but the older Kodachi discussed it as casually as the 
weather.
	"Where's Ranma now?"
	"Probably in the study.  He usually is this time of day.  Would 
you like to see him?"
	"Yes, please, if I may."
	They proceeded to the study door.  Future Kodachi made a ritual 
knock, then listened.  What she heard pleased her, so she opened it.
	Ranma sat in a throne-like chair, garbed in dark robes that gave 
him a grave quality Kodachi had seldom seen from his younger self.  He 
stared fixedly at her as the older woman walked up to him and began 
fussing with his clothing.
	"Ranma-sama, look who's here!  It's my younger self!  She 
traveled through time just to see us!  Isn't that sweet?  What?"  She 
bent in closer.  Kodachi could not hear Ranma's replies.  "Yes, she is 
lovely.  I always was a pretty girl."
	Kodachi-Future motioned Kodachi=Past closer.
	"Come, come!  Ranma wants a good look at you!  Hohoohohhohoo!"
	Kodachi noticed now that Ranma wasn't blinking.  Indeed, he 
seemed to have to reaction to her at all.
	"G-good afternoon, Ranma-sama."  He made no reply.
	"Yes, beloved, she does look chilled.'
	Kodachi suddenly realized that her counterpart was hearing things 
she herself wasn't.  She moved in for an even closer look at Ranma.
	She had to admit, he was a prime example of the taxidermist's 
art.  Very lifelike.
	For the first time, she understood that her future self was 
truly and completely mad.  And she was laughing again.
	"Take me home."
	Her cold tears fell like sleet.

	To Be Continued....

	This chapter dedicated to EC comics.

SKJAM!
"Good Lord! *choke*"