------------------
CHAPTER FIVE

	The glass shattered on the black marble floor. The wine staining it red.
The woman kneeling on the floor stared fearfully at the figure standing on
the dais. The figure stepped out of the shadows and walked down the dais.
Anger glittered in those blue eyes. Her lips were curled in a snarl. She
looked ready to use the staff she held tightly on her right hand.
	"My queen...."
	The end of the staff struck her full on the face. The blow flung her
backwards by the blow. She winced at the sting of the open wound.
	"Dark Queen.... I...."
	"Silence!" ordered the Dark Queen. "Failure! That is all you give me." she
told the woman. "and more failures." she added with a hiss. "Let us not
forget about that as well." She stared at the woman who knelt before her
with eyes that burned with rage. "Eliminate the girl or I will eliminate
you, Rei." she told her in the barest of whispers.
	"I will personally see to it this time, majesty."
	She considered those words for a minute, "Leave me."
	Rei stood and bowed before departing the great hall. The doors boomed closed.
	A cloaked figure appeared behind the enraged queen. Its features were
indistinguishable due to the darkness that cloaks its hooded face. Its eyes
glittered -- the only thing anyone could ever see in that face. The Dark
Queen whirled around and the rage leaving her lovely features as she smiled
at the figure. She approached him and offered her hand. A white hand grasped
her slender wrist and guided the hand into his hood. She shivered upon
contact of those cold lips. Her eyes glittered with ecstasy at the contact.
	"Problems, my chosen?" it asked in a voice devoid of any emotion.
	"The girl yet lives." she informed.
	The man laughed deep within the hood. A bone-chilling laugh that sounded
more like a banshee's cry. "So, your child has escaped once more. Surely,
I'd have thought that you'd have succeeded in turning her to our cause."
	"She would have if that bitch, Setsuna, hadn't interfered." She smiled
viciously. "Still, that rescue cost her her own freedom."
	The man smiled as well. "I presume she now serves us whole-heartedly?"
	The Dark Queen laughed. "Yes. Quite right. Should Rei fail, I would send
someone else to take care of her.
	This surprised the man. "You would not want her back here and turn her to us?"
	She shook her head. "No. A nuisance such as her requires disposal. After
all, she has caused us far too much trouble. She may be my daughter, but she
stopped being one the first time she dared cross my path."
	The man stroked the Dark Queen's chin as he probed the woman's mind he had
so delicately twisted for untold years. Here was his greatest masterpiece.
Years upon years of countless toiling had given him his greatest dream.
"Indeed you are the woman I had thought you would become."
	"I am as you had made me." she told him. "Strange to think that I'd end up
being who I am considering my past."
	The man's chilling laughter echoed  loudly in the vast chamber....

* * * * * 


	Saturday morning. 
	The morning sun filtered into Kasumi's room where Mizuki was just waking
up. She yawned. The sound of fighting outside reached her still cloudy
brain. Ranma was everything she had thought him to be-- considering his role
model. He wasn't overly bright – most of the time anyway -- and prone to
getting into trouble. Really indecisive when it concerned women. And an
absolutely insensitive lump when it came to handling Akane or any other female. 
Still, the mystery was what they saw in her brother. They had to be very
desperate to even choose him. Still, like her mother said, love was blind.
In this case, it  was even worse. 
And a great example would have to be her family. And_ that_ was a fact.
	Finding herself all alone in the room, she rummaged inside her travel pack
and fished out her harp. It was small and compact but enough for her needs.
She loved playing it as it reflected much of her inner self. Martial arts
was something she practiced out of necessity. The latter, however; she
cherished.
	 She tested its strings. The sounds it produced pleased her. She closed her
eyes and laid her fingers upon the strings as she surrendered herself to her
music.
	The sound of her playing drifted out into the hall. Kasumi smiled and
listened to it. The sweetness and purity of it made her heart ache with
longing.  Ranma and Genma paused in the midst of their battle. Genma felt
his  heart swell with pride at his daughter. 
	He looked meaningfully at Ranma, "Boy, if you had as much talent as your
sister, you wouldn't be the sorry fool you are right now."
	"Well," Jump. "who do you think was responsible?" Ranma demanded of his
father. He snapkicked Genma into the sky. "If I had known better, I'd have
stayed with mom instead of going with you in that training mission of yours.
Then, I wouldn't have to worry about my neck every time I see her."
	Something hard smacked him on his back, propelling him straight into the
living room. His flight was halted when he slammed into something.
Unfortunately for him, that something just happened to be Akane who had just
returned from her morning jog. With practiced ease, she sent Ranma  straight
through the roof.
	"Hentai!" she screamed at him as he flew out of the roof.
	Soun, sitting by the table groaned audibly. "My house! My roof! My God!"
Virtual rivers of tears flowed out of his eyes as he bewailed the condition
of his house.
	Akane's rage lessened as she heard the masterful playing of a harp
somewhere within the house. "Huh?" Looks around the room. "Who's playing the
harp?" she thought. An answer came in to mind since not one Tendo sibling
had taken up instruments since the time of mother’s death. "Mizuki plays
pretty good." she thought a tad bit envious.
	The partition opened to admit Kasumi carry a tray filled with steaming
noodles and rice. She smiled angelically at Akane as she set the table. A
cry from above signaled Ranma's arrival. 
He came in mumbling at himself. He looked sourly at her and took a seat _far
away_ from her. This move surprised her but paid no heed to it. He could eat
anywhere he chose. She certainly did not mind. <yeah, right!>
	Mizuki came down minutes later carry her harp to breakfast where she is
welcomed by a hearty applause. She bowed before them and took the proffered
seat beside Akane and Kasumi.
	"You play pretty good, sis." commented her brother, Ranma, who still nursed
the tender  side of his face.
	She blushed and claimed she wasn't that good. "Mother taught you to play,
huh?" he asked.
	She nodded.
	"Could you teach me to play the harp?" Akane wanted to know.
	Mizuki remained speechless. Ranma answered for her.
	"Awww.. What would a tomboy like you know anything about music." he said to
her unthinkingly. "You cook toxic food and you probably play even worse. I
---oomph!"
	Akane had picked up the table and used it to mallet Ranma's smirking face.
It struck _ with_  admirable results. 
Ranma was sent flying backwards and into the pond.
	Silence followed all who were gathered at the table. Drops of sweat formed
on everyone save Mizuki who stared dumbly at them all while taking time out
to stare at the pond. She blinked; her internal clock told her that her
brother was spending _far_ too long under what seemed to be a shallow pond....
	Mizuki observed that bubbles coming up the surface of the pond. Acting on
instinct, she jumped quickly towards the pond and fished out her
‘unconscious’ brother --- or so she thought he was. The person she dredged
out from the pond was not her brother. Instead it was a red-headed girl with
_very_ generous attributes. 
She blinked. 
Everyone else  in the living room, save Kasumi, sat rooted to the ground.
Genma looked ready to bolt. Akane just sat there, in a state of shock.
Kasumi had one hand to her lips and was otherwise quite calm.
	The mysterious young woman chose that moment to open her eyes. Said
red-head spat out water from her mouth. She stalked back into the living
room and yelled at Akane, "Geez! What an uncute tomboy you are!"
	That brought Akane out of her temporary shock.  She automatically slammed
the table onto Ranma. "Die, Ranma!" she yelled at him. Akane fished out
Ranma from underneath the table and performed her
Akane-anything-goes-bash-your-fiancee technique. 
It was a surefire way to deal with him since it always worked.
	<POW> 
<SMASH> 
<WHAM> 
<KERPOOOWWWW> 
And finally.......
	"D_I_E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Akane snatched her interdimensional,
multipurpose Ranma mallet out and punted him over the wall and smashing into
the walls of neighboring houses as well as the houses themselves.
	"AAAAAAA!!!"
	Soun had broken down completely and wailed in utter grief and was already
writing something down on a piece of paper. However, no one was actually
paying that much attention.
	It took a while for an enraged and very pissed off Ranma to come back to
hurl insults at Akane. Ranma was tough but not _that_ tough!
	"Uncute Tomboy! Clumsy Girl! Oversexed macho chick! Killer Cook!"
	"R A N M A ! ! ! ! !" yelled a glowing blue Akane. 
	"Uh-oh!" Ranma realized too late what his ..er.. her big mouth brought down
on her.
These series of insults proved very effective at bringing down Armageddon
upon Ranma’s poor head. Everyone in the room sighed in utter despair. 
<*Finish him* said a deep voice.>
After being severely given another helping of mallet food, Akane finished
him of by burying her mallet on her head.  
	Mizuki eyed the rather semi-conscious form of the red-head. Said red-head
was rubbing the back of her head. 
	"Oww!! Did you just have to do that?" she asked acidly. 
	"Ranma?!!!!!!" a very surprised and confused Mizuki asked in a tiny but
very audible voice.	
Akane and girl-type Ranma both blinked twice. 
Thrice. 
Four times. 
Meanwhile, Mizuki was staring at the woman once more. Ranma-chan realizing
her sister's presence, gave an audible, frightened gasp, bodily pain all but
a memory. Ranma-chan just sat there, her heart beating like crazy, as she
dreaded what would come next.
	"R..Ranma?" she asked  again in that quiet little voice before fainting
from sensory overload.

* * * * * 
	

She opened her eyes and noticed everyone huddled around her in a
semi-circle. She got up, stared at her brother and ran her hands on Ranma's
chest. She sighed in relief. She must have passed out and had a dream.
Ranma, a girl! She wanted to laugh but something in their faces warned her
against it. Something was wrong and she felt as if she didn't want to find out.
	"Tell her your secret, Ranma." Akane said to him. "It won't be long before
she found  out about it anyway."
	Mizuki looked confused and puzzled. "Secret?" She turned to look at Ranma
who appeared to be visibly shaking. "Tell me what, Ranma?" Her mind scoffed
at her. It wasn’t like she did not know. 
	Another part protested. 
	Mizuki shook her head clear of those annoying voices and stared at her brother.
	Ranma stood up and gathered his courage. He picked up the bucket beside him
and upended the contents to himself. Cold water ran down his wet form. Water
dripped from hair that had changed to red. The water made Ranma's clothing
to stick to him; thereby giving Mizuki a good look at his.....her  body.
	Her eyes were wide with disbelief. She reached out to touch his/her chest.
Her hand flinched; realizing what she was touching. Ranma was definitely
female now.
	At a loss for any words to describe what she saw, she looked mutely at her
brother -- correction, sister.
	"How?"
	"It's a long story." Ranma told her and began her tale.


	Mizuki found herself staring wide-eyed at her brother. The tale was
extremely unbelievable; however, she had stayed in the Tendo residence long
enough to know that impossibilities were common place here. Still, having
found out her brother's secret came as quite a shock to her. Most
importantly was finding the real reason behind Ranma's avoidance of their
mother. Now she understood.
	"That really was a stupid idea promising to something like that." she
chided her brother who was now in male form. Mizuki shivered. It was quite
unnerving to see one's brother change sex in front of one's eyes.
She noticed that the Tendo's had no such difficulty. "I can see now why you
avoid mom. One little splash of cold water, you and dad's had it." She made
a dragging motion about her neck.
	Ranma groaned while Genma was sweating like hell. Mizuki couldn't help
laugh at their reactions. Both looked at her intently.
	"Sorry." apologized Mizuki.
	Soun looked up from his newspaper. "Be as it may, what do you intend to do
about this information?"
	Dozens of good ideas began popping in her head. She dropped them all. No
matter how good they were, she couldn't do it, not to her own brother,
anyway. She considered what to say. There weren't exactly anything much to
say. She turned to Ranma.
	"I really don't think mom would mind about that little loophole with the
promise you gave her, Ranma. Honor may be important; but, being a mother
outweighs all others." 
*I think.* The last bit, she kept to herself.
	Genma shook her head. "I know my wife very well. I wouldn't put it pass her
to be so generous. She was the one who proposed marriage to me in the first
place. With that sword of hers breathing down my neck when she proposed, I
didn't really have much of a choice."
	Everyone was trying to remove themselves from the floor. Kasumi smiled at
this scene.
	"Well, I'm not the one who's in trouble, Ranma," She pointed a finger at
him, "you are."
	"How well I know that fact." he said to himself.
	Mizuki sighed. She came here to try and convince her brother to go back
home. Or at least visit their mother. Now, with the current situation, she
was not sure anymore. How do you explain to a mother who is bound tightly in
tradition about this? The answer to it was relatively simple since there was
but one logical answer.
	"I don't know about you, Ranma, but I'd suggest you tell her this sooner or
later. Mom will probably..." 
	"...yeah... I know." Ranma said in a tired voice.
	The doorbell chimed.
	Everyone froze, fearing the worst. Surprisingly, by some cosmic miracle,
Ranma somehow noticed the change in mood by almost everyone in the room save
for good Kasumi. 
"What?"
	It was her father who spoke up in a hushed voice. "Boy, did you not just
hear something?"
	Ranma processed the thoughts in his brain. It ran through different
possibilities but came up with a big blank. He shrugged stupidly. "Uh...no.."  
*Cripes!*  Akane thought. *how could anyone ever love a stupid moron like her.*
	Mr. Saotome stood up, grabbing him by the shirt. "Boy, did Akane knock out
one too many brain cells from your brain?  Who, under the heavens, would
ever use a doorbell to ask entrance to the Tendo Dojo?" This last was
stressed as much as was deemed possible.
	"Genma. Ranma." A flat but familiar voice called to them from behind.
	Both turned around and found  Nodoka Saotome looming before them; sword in
hand.
	"Mom!"
	"Nodoka!"
	While the two stood frozen in fear, Akane wondered how Mrs. Saotome gained
entrance. She was not the type to go jumping walls or something like that.
Kasumi was there. So was Mizuki. 
*So who rang the doorbell?* she wondered.
	The answer came when the doorbell rang a second time.
	"I’ll get it." Kasumi told everyone.
	"You don’t have to, dear." Nodoka said to Kasumi. "I just asked a
white-robed young man to ring the doorbell for me."
	Everyone was stunned by this. 
	Nodoka stared at her husband with a dispassionate stare. Genma cowered.  
	"Did you really think I was that stupid, Genma?" she demanded of her
husband in a tone that brook no nonsense.
	"No..Nodoka." Genma managed to say in his shocked condition. "How ....
What.. Huh…."
	"Long enough to have found out about your secret, dear." she told him in a
quiet and very calm voice. 
	"Mom......" Ranma tried to say something else but found his mind simply
refused to work.
	"HOW?!!!!" blurted Genma in a panicked voice. Everyone could almost hear
some sort of weird music in their heads at this apocalyptic encounter.
Nodoka grabbed a glass and threw its contents on her son who promptly turns
into the red-haired Tendo cousin, Ranko. 
"I knew something was wrong when I first came here. It took me a while to
figure it out. But now, I can see clearly just how my husband and son could
elude me so." She took a step forward. "I understand everything."
Ranma-chan felt her heart sink into her stomach. Nodoka unsheathed her
sword. Ranma-chan knew, then and there, that she was going to die. She
closed her eyes as the blade swung down and struck.
	It lasted for an eternity. The silence in the room was profoundly
disturbing. Ranma-chan opened her eyes to see her mother knelt before her.
She noted her mother was holding her tight. Ranma-chan, realizing her close
brush with Death, found herself crying.
	"I'm sorry for everything, Mom." she told her. "I..I couldn't face you
because of the curse. Many times I've wanted to tell but..." Ranma-chan was
unable to continue as a fresh wave of tears flooded her eyes.
	Nodoka just knelt and hugged Ranma-chan tightly.
	"Mother."
	"Sssh! I know, my dear. You don't have to say anything to me. Mother
understands."
	Ranma-chan breathed a little easier. At least, she didn't have to explain
anything to her. Only problem now would be the oath.
	"Genma," she began, looking at her husband fiercely, "You and I need to
have a little talk."
	Genma nodded.
	"Alone." she added, stressing her point by picking up her sword. Genma
swallowed the bile that rose from his stomach.
	"Yes, dear." he relented.
	As the couple left the room to discuss matters in private, everyone
breathed a lot  easier. Ranma-chan stared at the door as if expecting her
mom to come back and finish the job.  She felt the fearful pounding of her
heart. Mizuki took her brother...er, sister in her arms  and tried to
comfort her. Akane stared at the both of them. Soun was back to reading his
newspaper and Kasumi had already left for the kitchen. All in all, things
were pretty much back  to normal in the Tendo residence which was to say,
trouble had come calling once more.
	"Ranma..." she whispered to herself. 	
	A glistening teardrop slides done her cheek and fell on the table......


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