(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 hje 
nervously checked under the furniture.
	"Fine, Father.  What are you looking for?"
	"Mmene--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.  

More tomorrow!
SKJAM!