Here's Chapter 4!
In addition to this, I'm also
working on a book (A Christian Allegorical Fantasy, wouldn't you
know) and I'm also writing for *both* my Journalism classes, not
to mention trying to have a life and keeping it from being
sucked into oblivion. Anyway here's chapter four. All
characters of Sailor Moon are the creation of Naoko Takeuchi and
all characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of Rumiko
Takahashi. Enjoy!!
Be it ever so Humble or
The making of a strong heart
Chapter 4
Even with her back turned, the raven-hair girl's intensity
radiated outward, pressing upon Akane until she was nearly
panting for breath.
She kept expecting the bell on her alarm clock to ring through
this strange, troublesome dream and snap her awake. Not that
this wasn't exactly a nightmare -- the girls had been
surprisingly friendly, considering that one of their friends had
vanished and Akane had mysteriously taken her place. All the
same, she wanted to see Ranma's face again, just before she beat
the living daylights out of it.
Crouching in front of the bonfire, Rei took several deep breaths
and pressed her index fingers together, just as she did before
she released that strange power earlier. She began chanting
under her breath, though the intensity of her words carried them
to all corners of the room.
"Oh, Great Fire, I come before you to ask for the whereabouts of
Lita Kino. Please, Great Fire, hear my plea. Show me where
Lita is!"
Akane shifted slightly on her knees. Despite the comfortable
robes Rei had provided her, the thin mat she knelt on did little
to alleviate the hardness of the temple's floor. She cast a
quick glance at the others: the girls (Amy, Mina, and Serena,
she repeated silently to herself), sat in the same positions,
staring at Rei's back with the same intensity. Akane still
couldn't believe that just a half hour ago, these girls were the
superheroes of this Tokyo. What was even more puzzling was that
even though they had switched to their 'normal' forms, they
looked no different than when they were superheroes. Well,
maybe they were slightly smaller, but still -- any archvillian
that was looking for them would be able to recognize them in
their everyday guises. How many girls went around wearing
ping-pong pigtails for a hairstyle?
When they had changed back, they had shown Akane how to revert
the skimpy outfit she was wearing into normal clothes. She was
relieved to see that the school uniform of the previous owner
was longer than the sailor fuku, though this time the skirt was
brown and it still drooped crazily about her. Serena had
laughed. "You know, that's the only uniform they could find
that could fit her. Some of the schools she went to had to turn
her away because they didn't have school uniforms in her size!"
Akane could only marvel about this mysterious girl. *Wow, this
girl must be something else.*
The fire abruptly flared high, flapping Rei's hair behind her.
The priestess was unfazed however; she simply hunched over,
repeating her chant faster. Akane glanced at the other girls
again. All wore intense frowns. *All this for one girl?*
Rei suddenly gasped. At the same time, the fire died down until
it became sparkling embers. She turned to face them, sweat
pouring from her brow. "I tried to get a fix on her," she
reported. "But it was hard, very hard. The most I could get was
a fleeting impression of utter confusion." She fixed her violet
eyes on Akane. "I also got a glimpse -- a very quick glimpse --
of a guy with a pigtail, but there was something strange..." her
voice trailed off.
Akane quickly cut in. "That would be Ranma, then. She must be
in Nerima, if what happened to me happened to her also."
"Well, then, we definitely know where she is." remarked Mina.
"At least we know she's safe, right?" she raised her eyebrows
questioningly at Akane.
"Umm..."
"Of course she's safe!" Serena sang happily. "I'm sure that
Ranma guy would take good care of her! And he's got a pigtail,
too? Wow, pigtailed guys are sooo cute! I wonder how Darien
would look with a pigtail?" Her eyes turned to stars and she
clasped her hands lovingly. "Trapped in a different time warp
with a hunky guy. Ooh, Lita is sooo lucky! Maybe she'll get a
boyfriend this time!"
On the way to the temple, the girls had enlightened Akane on
this Lita's views on men. That combined with Ranma's own
'problem' of beautiful women popping up to claim him as their
own set Akane's blood boiling. Before she could stop herself,
Akane vehemently snarled, "If she even touches a hair on him,
I'll send them both on a one-way trip, and it won't be China!"
The girls' eyes widened. Akane clamped her mouth shut, her
words shocking even her. *What am I saying? Why should I care
about him? Selfish, arrogant lunkhead...*
"Uhh," ventured Amy. "This Ranma fellow...he wouldn't happen to
be your boyfriend, would he?"
Akane crimsoned. "NO! I mean -- uh, well, he's sorta my
fiance."
"FIANCE!?!?!"
"But it wasn't voluntary!" Akane said. "It was arranged. By
our fathers. You see, my dad needed an heir for the school. It
wasn't as if I had any choice. I don't like him! He's
arrogant, he's dumb, he's egotistical, he's...he's..." *He's
probably ogling over that Lita girl now. Ranma, if we ever get
this mess cleared up, I'll kill you. I swear to God, I'll beat
you so hard you'll need binoculars to even look at another woman
ever again!*
The girls, shocked beyond reason, began jabbering at the same
time.
"Aren't you a little young to be married?" gasped Amy.
"That is sooo sad and romantic!" crooned Serena.
"Does he have any brothers? I could use a little marriage
arranging myself." asked Mina.
"Do you mind?" Rei leveled a fierce glare at the three and they
meekly subsided. "I'm sorry about that. It's not everyday we
meet someone our age who's engaged."
"Aww, that's not true. What about Darien and me? We're
destined to be together for ever and ever!"
Rei growled as the other girls developed sweat drops. "Serena,
you two aren't going out. He doesn't even remember you!"
Her comment failed to put out the shining stars in Serena's
eyes. "Just a mere technicality. It's only a matter of time!
He just need to be reminded, that's all!"
Low groans of exasperation filled the room.
"Uhh, ano," Akane ventured. "And who is this Darien?"
"My boyfriend!"
"A friend."
"Some guy..."
"Her destined lover!"
Akane slowly nodded. "Right. Okay."
Rei leaned over to touch her arm. "Don't worry. Lita has a
straight head on her shoulders. Even though you probably hate
this guy's guts, I'm sure she won't do anything to jeopardize
what your fathers had done. Lita has a good heart. She never
chases after other folks' boyfriends."
"Uhh, Rei," Serena whispered, "what about Andrew? Before Rita
came--" her words were stopped as Rei clapped a hand over her
mouth.
"You have nothing to worry about!" Rei merrily stated. "Lita's
decent, isn't she."
As the girls heartily agreed, Akane couldn't help feeling
slightly uncomfortable. She wished she could get the image of
Ranma drooling over this unknown girl out of her mind. "I should
trust him, I suppose." She laughed lightly. "But then again,
the last time he wound up alone with a girl, she became another
fiancee."
Four jaws hit the floor. "WHAAAA?!!"
Akane sighed. It looked like she had some explaining to do.
* * *
"I don't believe it. I just don't believe it."
"What kind of a freak would do something like that?"
"He's a pervert, Akane! You should drop the dude!"
"What a low-minded, two-faced, snake-in-the-grass!"
The muffins was good. Not as good as Ukyo's okiyomiyaki, but
then again, she could never enjoy okiyomiyaki because Ukyo never
made her forget that she was Ranma's "cute" fiancee and when it
came to matters of the stomach, Ukyo surpassed Akane the
distance of the South Pole to the moon. Rei, however, proved
that she was just as good at making muffins as she was reading
fires.
As the temple girl poured out tea for everyone, Akane leaned
over to say, "These muffins are quite good. Thank you."
"Oh, it's nothing." Rei replied matter-of-factly. "Actually, I
got the recipe from Lita. If you think these are good, wait
until you taste it from her."
"Ah!" Serena leaned back and patted her stuffed tummy. "Now
*that's* cooking! Lita would cook up an entire feast just for
lunch!"
"You said it. Without her, we'll all have to resort to peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches." Mina concurred. A thought
occurred to her and she said to Akane. "Hey, if this
transference thing is true, then maybe you and Lita have a lot
more in common than you think. You already proved earlier that
you're good at fighting like her. Are you a good cook, too?"
Akane hesitated, with good reason. "Umm, I do cook sometimes,
at home...and I do love to experiment!" She decided not to tell
them about the countless times she had to call an ambulance
after she forced her family to eat her so-called 'experiments'.
And besides, what if Mina was right? Maybe she *could* cook
now! Her face broadened with a smile. Maybe being here wasn't
bad after all! Of course, it would be even better if Ranma was
here. If it was true, then she could rub that in his
face...before literally rubbing it in his face.
"Cool!" Serena sang. "Maybe you could make me lunch tomorrow!"
Luna's sharp voice cut in as she and Artemis hopped into the
room from the window. "Serena! That's rude! This poor girl is
far from her loved ones, and all you can think about is food!"
Serena crossed her arms and pouted. "I was just trying to make
her feel welcome. Geez."
"Did you find out anything?" Amy asked.
"Not really." Artemis explained. "We checked on the computer
for any bizarre occurrences in the area before Lita's
disappearance." (Akane thought back to the floating aliens and
raised her eyebrows, but she didn't say a word.) "There was no
strange energy fluctuations to indicate something was wrong with
this time continuum. And we don't have enough data nor enough
resources to know if anything happened in Akane's world. We can
only assume that everything was fine, based on what she told
us."
"As for Lita," continued Luna. "We ran several simulations of
what would happen if the transference didn't take place. Each
time, all physical activity ceased, meaning that by all rights,
Lita should be dead." The girls, including Akane, paled. "But
she isn't, at least I don't think so."
Rei shook her head. "No. My fire reading found her alive and
well, if only for a second or so. Besides, Akane's here, and
she's in the exact same predicament, and she's fine."
"Yes." Luna walked up to Akane. "So, now the question is, how
do we send you back to your world and bring Lita here without
any complications?"
Artemis stretched and knelt, tucking his legs beneath him. "We
have the computer working on the problem now, but that may take
the rest of the day, perhaps even tomorrow."
"Hmm. That's a while." Rei thought for a moment, then looked at
Akane. "Would it be all right if you stay here at the temple? I
have an extra room I can set up for you."
Akane reached out and began stroking Luna's head out of habit.
The black cat purred happily, then leapt in her lap, settling
herself comfortably. Akane giggled, then asked Rei, "Would your
parents mind?"
Rei shrugged. "I live here with my grandfather, and I doubt he
would mind at all. In fact, he'll be ecstatic if you stayed
here."
"Oh?" An uneasy feeling rose in Akane.
"Did someone call my name?" A hoarse voice rasped before a
small, bald-headed man wearing the same white and red robe as
Rei edged his way into the room, his pleasant grin spreading
even wider at the sight of the girls. "Rei, I thought you were
going to be helping Chad this after---well, helloooooo!!!! And
who is this fine creature?"
Akane rolled her eyes. It looked like this universe wasn't
spared from leering old men either.
"Grandpa! Be nice!" Rei rounded on the old man. "This is
Akane, and she'll be staying here for a day or so. I want you
to be nice to her and not follow her about with your silly
requests."
"Silly?!" The old man blinked in mortification, then put on the
most saddest face Akane ever saw. "My own granddaughter, so
cruel to me! All I ever want is someone who will be by my side
in my old age. Oh, Rei, how can you keep me from experiencing
happiness in my last few days?"
Rei's face was growing as dark as the fire. "Grandpa..."
Akane found herself actually feeling sorry for the old man. How
could Rei treat her grandfather with such disrespect. She
leaned forward and said. "It's all right. Really. I'll try
not to..."
She should've known. A wicked gleam erupted in his teary eyes
and he scooted forward, arms wide. "Now there's a good girl who
knows what it's about. A beautiful temple lass to keep me warm
at nights -- that's for me! How about it, cutie? You can move
in tonight!"
Akane eeked, her hands rising defensively. Would it be
considered bad form if she sent her host's grandfather out with
a flying whack?
She never found out. The old man snapped back with a startled
"Huh?" and glared up at his granddaughter, who had a firm grip
on the neck of his robe. Gently, but firmly, she pushed him to
the door, muttering over his protests. "Grandpa, for shame. You
can't keep hitting on every girl you meet! Go help Chad with
dinner or something." She shut the door and turned around, her
face redder than a beet. "I'm sorry about that, Akane. Grandpa
could be so rude, sometimes. He constantly gives the temple a
bad reputation with him running about trying to recruit girls to
work at the temple. It's like caring for a child sometimes!"
Akane smiled. "It's okay. Actually, he's quite a nice man. He's
much more well-mannered than Happosai." She leaned forward,
"Happosai is constantly stealing women's underwear. Not a day
goes by when he raid's the girls' locker room. And he's always
coming after Ranma, begging him to wear the bras and panties he
stole! It's gotten to the point where Happosai would ambush
Ranma, throw water on him, and latch right onto to his breasts.
It's quite a sight! Sometimes, though, Ranma does wear the
underwear, just to trap that...old...lech.." Slowly, Akane's
words faded.
Everyone, the girls, the cats, even the two crows that had
landed on the windowsill, were staring at her.
Serena finally broke the silence in her usual way. "You mean
your fiance is a crossdresser?!!!!"
"Oh, no, no! It's not that." Akane waved her hands before her.
"Ranma only does that when he's a girl. He'll never wear that
stuff..."
"A GIRL?!?!?!?!?!?! EEEEEYYYYYYWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She sighed deeply and placed her hand behind her neck. "Oh,
yeah. I never did get around to telling about the curse, did
I?"
* * *
"A guy that can turn into a girl?! That is so gross!!!" Serena
expressed with her usual tact as Ami steered her tired body
towards the door. "No wonder Akane can't stand him! I can
never fall for a guy like that!"
Her head bowed, Luna followed her mistress. "Oh dear, I do
apologize for her behavior. Serena can be silly and rude,
especially when's she's sleepy, but she has a heart of gold.
Once you get to know her, you'll see she's a very sweet girl."
Rei rolled her eyes as she gathered the dirty plates and mugs.
"Yeah, she has a heart of gold but her brains are macaroni
pudding."
"I heard that." Serena grumbled. A second later, she added.
"Mmm, I wonder if there's any more macaroni and cheese at home?"
Akane giggled. "Thanks, Luna. It's fine, really."
Mina paused at the door, Artemis draped casually over her
shoulder, to throw her a thumbs-up sign. "Don't forget,
girlfriend. You and I are doing lunch tomorrow!"
"Looking forward to it!" As they vanished into the night, Akane
turned to Rei. "Here. Let me help you with that."
Rei smiled in gratitude as Akane relieved her of some of the
dishes. "Thanks! Whenever we hold meetings here, somehow I'm
always the one stuck with cleanup."
In silence, they straightened up the temple room and stepped
into the yard that led to Rei's house. The crescent moon,
impossibly huge and yellow, glittered through the limbs of the
blossoming cherry trees, making them appeared to be covered with
snowflakes. As they neared the house, Rei spoke in a low voice,
"By the way, thanks for clearing up Ranma's curse for us."
"Oh?"
"I didn't want to say it in front of the others. I wasn't sure
if you knew about it yourself, so I was going to wait until the
others left. You see, when I was doing the fire reading and I
saw him, it was like there was another image overlapping his--a
girl who was the spitting image of him, but smaller and with
bright-red hair. But it was undeniably him." She lowered her
eyes. "It was very confusing to me. I didn't know what to
say."
Akane replied assuredly, "Oh, don't worry about it."
Rei hesitated, then spoke even lower. "Must be hard for you."
"Hmm? Oh. Actually to tell the truth, I've grown quite used to
it. So many zany things happen in my neighborhood that they
somewhat put Ranma's curse in a more normal perspective. Even
he's beginning to detest it less, though he still detests it."
Akane smiled at a sudden memory. "He even uses his girl form
sometimes to gain certain advantages."
Rei's eyes widened.
"No, no!! Not like that! He likes to tease my friend Ryoga a
lot. One day, he actually convinced my friend Ryoga that he was
his sister. He even wore makeshift fangs. Poor Ryoga was
convinced that he had a younger sister that he never knew about
because he was rarely at home. And he's always walking into the
girls' dressing room as if he has the right to be there. He
always comes up with some excuse but what do you expect from
such a pervert?"
Rei chuckled. "I guess you're right. But that's not what I
meant."
"Huh?"
Rei paused at the back door of the house. The wind lifted her
hair a bit, fanning it in a solid black nimbus as she raised her
eyes to the night sky. "It must be hard to be suddenly torn
from the people you know into a place filled with strangers.
Your family must be out of their minds with worry."
*They're out of their minds, all right.*
"For something so strange as to happen as this, you're being
very calm about it. Are you feeling okay? Do you need to talk
about it?"
Akane blinked. In all her zany life, what with being chased by
princes in ships and gigantic beasts and being kidnapped
countless of times, not once had anyone asked her if she was
feeling okay. How strange.
She looked at Rei gratefully. "No. I'm just very tired. It's
been a strange day. Perhaps tomorrow, when it all sinks in."
The priestess nodded with a soft smile, and guided Akane into
the kitchen where they dumped the dishes. "Don't worry about
the dishes. I'll get Chad to do them tomorrow."
"Um, Rei?"
"Yes?"
"What about Lita's parents? Have anyone told them...about..."
Rei hesitated, then replied. "Lita's parents died in a plane
crash when she was a child. She's been living by herself for
some time now."
"Oh."
"It's nothing, really. Lita doesn't mind, I think, because all
of us is the same predicament one way or another. My mother
died when I was young, and my dad's too involved in his
political duties. Ami's mother spends all her time at the
hospital she works at, and her dad is overseas. Mina's parents
never seem to be around either." Her voice took on a wistful
note. "In fact, the only one who has a normal family, is
Serena. It's rather ironic."
"Oh." Akane said again. For a moment, Rei didn't seem to hear,
her eyes hooded as if they were looking at something far, far
away. She added timidly, "My mother died too, when I was
young."
Rei blinked at her, then laid a soft hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks."
Akane frowned, puzzled.
"Come on. Let me show you to your room."
After walking through a maze of rooms, she threw open a
nondescript door. "I hate to put you in the smaller guest room,
but the other room is being renovated. I hope you don't mind."
A warm fire crackled on the south side of the room, casting
flickering shadows on the paintings and mirrors that decorated
the room. The entire east wall was sliding glass doors,
overlooking the moonlit gardens of the temple. Three quarters
into the room, the floor dropped slightly, and as Akane stepped
into the room, she saw that the lower half was actually an
indoor bathing area, complete with a sunken bathtub filled with
warm water, so one could bathe while gazing at the serenity of
the temple grounds. Akane gawked. If this was only the smaller
guest room...
Rei took her silence a different way. "Oh, don't worry about
the bath. No one would see you if you decided to bathe here.
Grandpa's weird, but he'll never intrude on anyone's privacy,
and if I even catch Chad sneaking about--" Abruptly, she
changed her gruff words. "Well, anyway, there are curtains you
can draw across the windows, and if you're still uncomfortable,
there's a bathroom down the hall. You'll find everything you
need in the dresser."
Akane turned to Rei, her hands clasped in gratitude. "Domo
arigato, Rei. You've only met me a few hours ago, but you're
treating me so nice. I don't know how to thank you."
Rei laughed it off. "Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, you'll
do the same for me, I know. I just hope your friends would be
just as friendly towards Lita. In a sense, I'm more worried for
her."
A sudden image of her family gawking at a tall, fully built
woman in Akane's clothes filled her mind. "I'm sure Ranma and
the others will treat her fine," Akane replied faintly.
"Well, then, good night, Akane."
"Good night, Rei."
When the door closed, Akane leaned against it, letting out a
long sigh.
*You'll do the same for me, I know.*
*Would I?*
She wanted to tell Rei so much about her world, and that
frightened her. Not that Rei would think her world was strange,
but the fact she wanted to talk to Rei.
Never had she felt so...comfortable, around girls.
Guys she automatically hated. Pig-headed, selfish, idiots. Oh,
there were a few like Ryoga and Mousse who sometimes were
genuinely sincere. But even they could be stupidly stubborn,
like Kuno and Tsubasa.
And Ranma.
*Darn you, Ranma! Why did I start running towards you anyway?*
She rummaged through the dresser drawers and found a long, white
nightgown and some towels. She scooted to the lower part of the
room where she undressed and sank with a sigh into the tub of
water. After a bit, she reached over and opened one of the
sliding doors, letting the fragrance of cherry blossoms waft
into the room. She leaned back, gazing at the moon still
visible, though noticeably higher in the sky.
Guys she hated. Girls were a different enigma.
Akane never really had close friendships with girls. There were
her so-called friends at school, mainly good for gossip and
homework. She assumed she had a good relationship with her
sisters, but that was because they were her sisters. Being with
Kasumi and Nabiki was like slipping into a warm wool sweater and
snuggling into an armchair with a book you have to read for
class tomorrow. Comfortable, but slight irritating. Kasumi
seemed more like a mother than a sister, and Nabiki always
seemed to have motives for making yen up her sleeve. And then
there were the other girls that were out to get her. Shampoo.
Ukyo. Kodachi. And the nasty glares from any girl who thought
Saotome Ranma was a dream and did not deserve such a kawaiikune
wretch. Akane did her best to avoid *those* girls, though
sometimes it would wind up in a fierce fighting match, usually
with Ranma-chan showing up and wrecking the fight completely by
jumping in.
But these girls were different. She was confused when she had
first awaken to see them hovering over her, with genuine
concern. No one looked at her like that...scratch that. Most
of the guys did, but rarely did a girl look at her like that,
save her sisters.
*They were actually concerned for me!*
She didn't know what to make of that. Perhaps it was the
circumstances. Yes, that was it. They were probably being nice
to her because one of their number was in the same predicament.
*No, it's more. It's so much more.* She wanted to tell them so
many things about her life, and she had a feeling that they
would listen to every word she said. And she wanted to hear so
much about theirs, like why did they go around in costumes
battling monsters? What was life like here? And more
importantly, would they be able to get her back home and get
their friend back?
With a sigh, she bathed as the moon climbed higher, then toweled
herself dry before the fire and slipped into the nightgown. She
stared out at the gardens for a few minutes longer, then slid
into the small bed. She automatically reached for a familiar
warm hump before realizing that, of course, P-chan wasn't there.
With that realization, loneliness flooded into her. Rei and the
others were so kind, but would she ever get to sleep in her own
bed again? What about her family? Her father would probably be
sobbing so hard the dojo would be in danger of floating away.
Though her life was crazy, at least it was her life. What could
all the others be thinking? She missed them all so badly,
Kasumi and Nabiki and Ryoga, Dr. Tofu and even Mr. Saotome,
and...and...
*Go on*, she told herself bitterly. *Admit it. You miss *him*
too.*
He was the one who got her in this mess in the first place. He
could be so stupid sometimes! Always butting into her business,
making a fool of himself, assuming that she can't take care
things by herself. Angrily, Akane scrubbed at her eyes. He's
always calling me an uncute tomboy, and then he turns around and
treats me like some fragile flower. Who does he think he is?
Why can't he just leave me alone if he's always confusing me
with his words and actions?
Why can't he just admit how he feels?
Why can't I?
She sat up and punched the pillow a few times. There. That was
better. Think of something else. Like poor Lita. What could
she be possibly feeling right now? Would Ranma and her family
treat her the same way Rei treated Akane? Probably not. The
poor girl could be on her way to China by now, or she could be
fighting off Happosai's advances. Or maybe she may have
approached one of the other girls with the thought of her being
yet another fiancee...or...or...
Who was this Lita? Was she lying in Akane's bed or lying in
some park. What was she like? Would Ranma take care of her?
He better take good care of her, but he also better watch
himself, too, the baka...
*Ranma, I wish you were here.*
*And whoever this Lita is, she's probably just as scared as I
am.*
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/===\ LaShawn M. Taylor (shonnie@zeus.anet-chi.com) soon to have a web
|^ ^|\ page later this month. Watch for it, will ya?
\v/\|
|\ Oh, Ladybird, I have heard you have to run to tend your children.
\| No flood can drown nor fire blacken purest longing for Ladybird...
-XTC
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