[Ranma] [TOP/TIL] Definitions of Hell

DEFINITIONS OF HELL

by Richard Lawson


Ranma leaned against the boulder with a sigh.  At long, 
long last, it was over.

The creature, whatever it was, sank into a pool of its 
own blood.  If blood was bright orange and bubbling, that 
is.  Even as the fire in its eyes began to dim, it still 
looked at Ranma with hate.

Ranma grimaced.  This wasn't the first time he'd tried to 
kill an opponent in combat.  Heck, Saffron had survived 
on a fluke.  This was the first time, however, that Ranma 
had succeeded.

The creature opened its mouth and, for the first time, 
spoke.  "A curse."

Ranma frowned.  Despite the many weeks he'd spent in this 
country, he still had a hard time following English.  And 
this creature's mouth didn't seem well suited to verbal 
speech.  "What?"

"A curse."  The creature tried to lift an arm, and 
failed.  "I curse you."

Ranma laughed without humor.  "You not have magic.  All 
used up, all gone.  Sorry."

"Death.  Always magic in death.  I use my death to curse 
you."  The creature was struggling to speak now, making 
it even harder for Ranma to understand.  "To you, Hell.  
To Hell with you."  The light flickered out from its 
eyes.

Ranma shook his head.  So useless.  In the end, it had 
used the last of its life to spew invective.  No regrets 
that its life had brought it to such an end, only a 
desire to try and lash out.

Ranma sighed.  Regrets he had lots of.  Five months he'd 
been running around the Australian outback.  He'd be a 
while getting out and back to Japan.  All this with Akane 
pregnant.  She was seven months pregnant now, and having 
to take care of Nouma on top of that.  Not to mention her 
job.  Surely Kasumi, Nabiki, and the others were helping, 
but Ranma knew he belonged there.  Needed to be at her 
side.

There were times when he really, really hated the curse.

Pushing himself off the rock, he staggered down the hill.  
Time to go home.

---

Ranma walked up to the gates, and stood for a while 
drinking in the sight.  Almost six months away.  He sure 
hoped the curse didn't try to take him away for a while.  
Ranma had had enough for a while.

He opened them and walked down the path to the front 
door.  He tested the door, but found it locked as 
expected.  Akane would be at work, and Nouma at the 
after-school day care.  Akane planned to work right up to 
the time she gave birth, and then would take a month off 
before going back.

He got out his keys and unlocked the door.  The familiar 
sight of the interior warmed him.  Home.  It was *so* 
nice to be home.

He set his backpack on the ground and walked down the 
hallway.  He came to the door that led to the back yard.  
He slid it opened and examined the back yard for a while.  
He let his mind drift.  Peaceful.  Very serene...

After a while, he started slightly, glanced at the clock, 
and realized it was time for Akane to come home.  He 
smiled and wandered into the kitchen.  He'd fix dinner 
for her.  It would be a very nice way to get back into 
the routine.  It would also send her a message - that 
domestic duties would be his top priority, at least for a 
while.  She would need that reassurance, especially with 
the baby due so soon.

He put on one of his aprons - efficient and no more, none 
of Kasumi's frills - and began the task of cooking 
dinner.  He lost himself in the chore, realizing that it 
*wasn't* a chore, it was *family*, and that was 
important.

As he was getting toward the finish, he heard the front 
door open.  He heard two sets of feet enter, one walking, 
one running.  The running steps scampered up the steps, 
while the walking steps made their way down the hallway.  
Ranma felt a huge smile covering his face.  Akane was 
home.  Akane was here.  He had missed her, had lain awake 
at night yearning for her, and now she was home.

Wiping his hands on his apron in preparation for hugging 
her fiercely, he turned towards the door and froze.

He didn't know who was more shocked, himself or the man 
staring at him from the kitchen entrance.  Ranma felt 
something cold settle into his stomach.  The man's face 
was ashen.

"R-ranma."  The man was having difficulty speaking.  
"What happened?"

Ranma couldn't think straight.  Intelligent thought was 
beyond him at this point.  "What happened to what?"

"T-to th-the..."  The man made a visible effort to gather 
himself.  "To the baby."

Ranma could make no sense out of what was happening.  
"What baby?"

This seemed to shock the man even further.  "My God."  He 
walked up and gently put a hand on Ranma's shoulder.  
"Please Ranma, I have to know.  Can you remember?"

"Remember what?"  The man's too-familiar touch allowed 
him to react finally.  He knocked the hand away.  "Keep 
your hands off me, bud.  What the hell are you doing 
here?"

"Ranma!"  The man spoke with real anguish.  "I live here, 
too.  Don't do this."

"You WHAT!"  Ranma grabbed his shirt and lifted him off 
his feet.  "Since when do you live here, jerk?"

The man gently put his hand over Ranma's.  "Since we got 
married, dear."

Ranma was shocked speechless.  He couldn't articulate his 
fury.  But he could express it.  He reached back his 
other hand and made a fist.

"Mommy!"  A six-year-old girl ran into the kitchen and 
hugged Ranma's leg.  She reached up and patted Ranma's 
stomach.  "Where'd the baby go, Mommy?"

The man's shirt slipped from Ranma's nerveless fingers.  
The man fell back to the ground with a grunt, but Ranma 
ignored it.  He ignored everything except the memory of 
the creature's words in Australia.  To Hell, it had said.

Being married to a man, having given birth to one child 
and supposedly being pregnant with another... that quite 
nicely fit Ranma's definition of Hell on Earth.

---

In another kitchen, two pregnant women stared at each 
other.

One gaped at the other in shock.  "Since when did you 
move back in?  Where's Kentaro?"

The other looked very, very angry.  She was staring at 
first woman's distended belly.  "You left me for six 
months so you could hide *this* from me?!  And now you 
come back?!"

More unpleasantness ensued.

---

Ranma's head was spinning about.  He'd been so looking 
forward to resuming life in Heaven - or at least, as 
close to Heaven as he could possible get on Earth.  
Instead, he'd found Hell.  And it choked his heart.

The man reached out to touch Ranma's cheek.  This shook 
him out of his stupor.  He moved his hand, fast as 
lightning, and grabbed the man's wrist.  "I told you, 
bud, you don't ever touch me again like that.  Not if you 
value your life.  Are we clear?"

The man, Ranma was shocked to note, had tears in his 
eyes.  "Please, Ranma.  Tell me what's happened."

"Don't be angry, Mommy."  Ranma looked down to the wide, 
frightened eyes of the girl hugging his leg.  "Please 
don't yell at Daddy."

Ranma looked at her for a while.  He looked back up at 
the man - his husband.  The thought filled him with 
revulsion, but he controlled it.  For the girl's sake.

With a sound of disgust, he flung the man's arm away.  He 
would have stalked away if it weren't for the girl still 
clutching his leg.  "All right, from the top.  Who are 
you?"

He saw several expressions flit across the man's face 
before it finally settled into a sad but neutral look.  
"Kentaro."

Ranma looked down at the girl.  "Kyoko," she volunteered, 
happy to provide an answer before the question was even 
asked.

Ranma sighed, letting out a lot of frustration and anger.  
He looked back up at Kentaro.  "Okay.  And I take it we- 
we're..."

"Married."  Kentaro looked at him closely.  "You don't 
remember?"

Ranma shook his head.  "No, that's not it.  It never 
happened."

"Ranma!"  Kentaro sounded shocked, and afraid.

"Oh, shut up."  He gently pushed Kyoko off his leg.  "Let 
me finish dinner while you tell me the history of my 
life."

He turned and began putting the finishing touches on 
dinner.  The ritual calmed him even further.  He could 
feel Kentaro's stare at his back, but he was able to 
shrug it off.

Finally, he could hear resignation in Kentaro's voice as 
he asked, "What would you like to know?"

"How we met.  How we got..."  the word was still 
difficult to get out, "...married.  What happened to my 
wi- er, Akane."

"Um.  Does this have anything to do with your curse?"

Ranma considered this as he shoveled the rice into a 
serving bowl.  "In a roundabout way, yes.  I think so.  
First tell me your story and I'll tell you mine."

"Uh, yeah."  Kentaro took the bowl of rice and carried it 
out of the room.  Ranma frowned at the domesticity that 
implied.

Kyoko pulled at his leg.  "Do you want me to carry 
anything out, Mommy?"

Ranma winced involuntarily.  "Uh, do you know how to set 
the table?"

Kyoko beamed.  "Yes!"  She ran off.

Ranma shook his head.  What a stupid question.  Of course 
she knew how; that was Nouma's job, after all.  He 
wondered what else Kyoko and Nouma had in common.

He finished the rest of the preparations, Kentaro 
shuttling the food into the dining room and looking very 
uncertain.  They all sat around the dining room and began 
to eat.  Kentaro sat in Akane's place, which made Ranma 
feel quite uncomfortable.

Kentaro took a couple of tentative bites, then looked at 
Ranma.  "Okay.  Um.  When you were sixteen, you and your 
father went on a training trip to Jusenkyo."

Ranma nodded.  "The Nyannichuan."

That seemed to bring a measure of relief to Kentaro.  
"Yes.  Good.  Um, and then you came back to Japan and 
were engaged to Akane."  He paused, and Ranma indicated 
he should continue.  "Um, some stuff happened, and then 
you fought someone from China.  Herb."

Ranma nodded, then froze.  His mind raced.  "I was stuck 
as a girl for a while."

It was Kentaro's turn to nod.  "Six years."

"SIX YEARS!"  Ranma broke his chopsticks in half.  He 
stared at them, then at Kentaro.  "I was stuck as a girl 
for six years?!"

"Uh, yeah.  How- how long do *you* think you were frozen 
in your female form?"

Ranma shook his head.  "Only about a week.  Less than 
that.  I mean, it *felt* like six years, but..."  He 
dropped his chopsticks and leaned forward.  "So, what 
happened to Akane?"

Kentaro took a sip of tea.  "Well, Akane... you and 
she..."  He grimaced.  "You broke off your engagement."

"Oh man."  Ranma gripped his head in his hands.  Akane.  
Akane, lost to him.

Ranma tried to focus on the present situation.  "Okay, 
skip our courtship or whatever, I don't want to know 
about it.  We're married and I'm pregnant?"

"Um, well, yeah."  Kentaro put down his chopsticks, too.  
"Now can you tell me what happened to the baby?"

Ranma shook his head.  "Wait a minute.  You didn't seem 
surprised to see me as a guy.  I mean, you weren't 
surprised I could become a guy.  Did we meet before or 
after I got cured of Herb's ladle?"

"Three and a half years before you were cured.  We didn't 
get married, though, until about three years after you'd 
been cured."

Ranma had difficulty believing his ears.  "You mean I 
wasn't stuck as a girl anymore, that I could have gone 
back to Akane, and we still got married?"

"Dammit, Ranma!"  Kentaro slammed his palm on the table.

"Daddy!"  Kyoko sounded tearfully frightened.  "Don't 
yell."

Kentaro immediately calmed down.  He managed a reassuring 
smile at Kyoko.  "Sorry, pumpkin.  It won't happen again, 
I promise."

"Okay."  Kyoko still sounded scared, but she continued 
eating while watching Ranma and Kentaro with big eyes.

Kentaro's eyes swiveled over to Ranma, and while his 
voice was soft and gentle, his eyes burned with anger.  
"What you and I had was special.  We fell in love, and we 
both discovered that our love transcended, to some 
extent, the boundaries of sexual identity.  You *were* 
given a choice - a choice I stuck my neck way out to give 
you - and you chose me.  Because we were in love and you 
and Akane were not.  Try not to belittle that choice in 
the future.  That's not fair to me, and it's certainly 
not fair to Kyoko, who wouldn't be here if we hadn't 
decided to stay together."

Ranma looked over at Kyoko, then closed his eyes and 
sighed.  "All right, I'm sorry.  It's just..."  He opened 
his eyes again.  "Okay, time for my story.  It's pretty 
simple.  I was only stuck as a girl for a few days, I 
fought Herb and beat him, got the kettle and turned back 
into a guy.  After that... well, lots of stuff happened, 
but me and Akane got married.  We've got a boy about 
Kyoko's age, and Akane's pregnant with another one."

Kentaro stared at him for a long time.  Ranma stared 
right back at him, for some reason feeling that it was 
important that Kentaro believe him.

Kentaro slowly nodded.  "All right, let's say for a 
moment that both of our stories are true.  How... what 
caused the difference?  I mean, my story is more 
demonstrably true than yours."

Ranma glanced over at Kyoko, and nodded.  "Yeah."  He 
thought for a moment.  "Okay, well, a few days ago I 
fought this creature.  It... oh, the details aren't 
important.  I killed it because I had to, but it cursed 
me as it died.  It... changed things, somehow.  I'm 
guessing that it somehow... what is it they say on those 
sci-fi shows all the time?  Changed the time stream?  
Anyway, made it so that Herb beat me, and I didn't get 
the kettle."

"Well, you *did* beat Herb, but not until after the 
kettle had been buried."  Kentaro looked at his daughter 
for a moment.  "So, if your theory is true, where's the 
baby you were pregnant with in this timeline?"

Ranma felt queasy, but managed not to shudder.  "How the 
hell should I know?"  He bit back more invective and 
tried again.  "Okay, well, we gotta go back and change 
things."

A strangled gasp escaped from Kentaro's throat.  Ranma 
imagined that he'd been about to shout, and had 
controlled himself just in time.  He glared at Ranma 
before finally standing up.  "I... need some air."  He 
walked over to behind his daughter.  "Are you finished, 
Kyoko?"

She looked up at him.  "No.  I wanna spend time with 
Mommy."

Ranma tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible.  "I 
am not your mother."

Kyoko looked at him, and tears gathered in her eyes.  She 
began sniffling.  Kentaro shot him a look of disgust and 
loathing before smoothing his features.  "Kyoko, dear, 
let's leave your mother alone for a bit.  She's not 
feeling well."

Kyoko nodded and stood up.  Together, she and Kentaro 
left the dining room.

Ranma growled, mostly disgusted at himself.  He could 
have handled that a lot better, he was certain.

---

"Ow!  Stop that!"

"You - how *could* you!"

"How could I what?  You're not making any sense.  Ow!"

"I can't believe you let yourself stay cursed so you 
could do *this*!  Who is he?  Who's the father?"

"Kentaro, of course.  Dammit, stop with the hammer!"

"Who the hell is Kentaro?"

"My husband of course!  What's with the pregnant costume 
anyway?  Is that something your theater company's doing?"

"Costume!  I'll give you a costume!"

The hammer swung, except this time it was stopped in mid-
swing by a hand snaking out and grabbing the handle.  
"All right, that's enough.  What the hell is going on 
here, Akane?"

Akane glared at Ranma for a long time.  The anger seemed 
to drain out of her, leaving an expression of hurt that 
wrung Ranma's heart.  "My God, Ranma, what's happened to 
you?"

Ranma shook her head, took her hand off the hammer, and 
took a careful step back.  "I don't know.  I mean, I go 
to Australia for a conference, and I come back and you go 
ballistic on me."

"A conference?  You told me you were battling some big 
evil thing.  And you were just at a conference?"

"Big evil thing?  I wouldn't call a conference of dojo 
owners a 'big evil thing'."

"What?"

"C'mon, Akane, the one you helped me prepare for.  
Remember?  I had a big presentation on my flexibility 
training."

Akane lowered the hammer, confusion covering her face.  
"I did no such thing.  You called me three days ago and 
asked me to wire you some money so you could catch a 
plane home.  You told me you'd been wandering the desert 
for months, and that you'd tell me the whole story when 
you got back."

"Months?  I was only gone for ten days."

"You were gone for almost six months, Daddy."

Ranma turned at the strange voice.  A young boy was 
standing in the doorway of the kitchen, watching the 
scene with wide, serious eyes.  He looked strangely 
familiar.  Ranma blinked and shook her head.  "What did 
you call me?"

"You're my daddy.  Why is your stomach so big?  What did 
you do to your hair?  Are you pregnant like Mommy?"

Ranma blinked again.  She had heard the words, but they 
were nonsensical - random words that somehow formed a 
sentence.  She looked up at Akane, hoping somehow she'd 
take the words and turn them into something meaningful.

Akane was looking closely at Ranma, something like fear 
in her eyes.  "You know our son, don't you, Ranma?"

"*Our* son?"  Ranma reached behind her, felt for the 
counter, and leaned heavily against it.  "Akane... I 
mean, the only time we... and... I *know* you didn't get 
pregnant.  I mean..."

"Ranma, start making sense.  We've been married almost 
eight years now.  I'm pregnant with our second child."  
Akane hesitated.  "You d-do remember, don't you?"

Ranma felt dizzy.  "Akane... we... we're not married.  
You broke off the engagement, you didn't want to get 
married.  Remember?"

"What!"  Akane's anger flared up.  "I didn't!  I mean, 
yes, we both broke off the engagement a dozen times, but 
in the end..."  The anger sputtered out, became a 
pleading tone.  "Don't you remember the roof?"

Something froze inside of Ranma.  "Yes.  I remember the 
roof quite clearly.  We sat on it and you told me that a 
marriage between us was not going to happen.  That you 
didn't love me.  You apologized and took all the blame.  
You begged me to get over you.  You told me that I needed 
to accept who I was, and to move on with my life.  Well, 
I did.  So don't you DARE tell me that WE GOT MARRIED 
BECAUSE WE NEVER DID!"

Akane gasped and took a step back.  The boy ran up and 
hugged Ranma's leg.  "Don't yell at Mommy.  Please don't 
yell, Daddy!"

Ranma was shaking from the force of her emotions.  She 
tried to calm herself, and found that it was easy to do 
when looking at the boy hugging her leg.  "W-what's your 
name, kid?"

The boy blinked through his tears.  "Nouma.  It's Nouma, 
Daddy."

Enough irritation remained for the next words to escape 
her lips before she could stop them.  "I am not your 
father, kid."

Nouma's lower lip began to quaver.  He released Ranma and 
fled to Akane, hugging her fiercely and sobbing.  Akane 
reached down and put her hand on his head, staring at 
Ranma with a cold fury that made her hammering seem a 
mild irritation in comparison.  "I don't know you, but 
whoever you are, get the hell out of my house."

Ranma was about to protest that it wasn't her house, not 
any more.  The look on her face, however, stilled her 
protests.

Ranma suppressed a sigh and moved past Akane and down the 
hallway.  It was probably best to give them both some 
time to cool down.  In the meantime, she could track down 
Kentaro and try to figure out what exactly was going on.

---

Ranma gave the counter a final swipe and frowned.  For 
Kasumi, there seemed to be no bad mood she could 
experience that a little housework couldn't eradicate.  
Ranma had found that chores like this only postponed the 
inevitable.  He'd feel all right while doing the work, 
but when it was done, he was right back where he started 
from.

"Ranma."  Kentaro's voice was all business, but Ranma 
could still detect a hint of fear underneath it.

Ranma turned to face him.  "Yes?"

"We need to talk."

"No kidding."  Ranma sighed.  "Okay."

Kentaro turned and led them down the hallway.  To Ranma's 
surprise, he led them upstairs to his bedroom.  Of at 
least, the bedroom he and Akane shared.

Ranma entered with trepidation, looking around.  It 
seemed almost the same.  There were some minor 
differences, a statue where a plant should be, a 
different painting on one wall.

Kentaro turned around.  "All right, first off: Occam's 
Razor."

Ranma rubbed his cheeks.  "What?"

"The simplest explanation is the most likely to be true.  
Time travel seems unnecessarily complicated.  It seems to 
me that some sort of trauma associated with the loss of 
the child you were carrying is the most likely 
explanation."

Ranma thought this over, then reluctantly nodded.  "Well, 
okay, I'll go along with it.  I don't think it's true.  
I've had people try to mess with my mind before; I'm 
pretty sure I'd know if someone were doing it now."

Kentaro spoke in a clinical, detached voice.  
"Fortunately, there's an easy test.  During pregnancy, a 
woman's uterus expands beyond the naval, and the abdomen 
stretches to accommodate it.  This causes reddish streaks 
on the abdomen, breasts, buttocks, or thighs."

Ranma blinked.  He'd found a book to read on the plane, 
to refresh his memory about pregnancy and its 
aftereffects.  The last time, some unpleasant things had 
happened, and he wanted to be as prepared as he could.  
"You're talking about stretch marks."

"Right.  You've got some, and even turning male didn't 
eliminate them.  If you'd let me examine you, we can 
easily determine if you've given birth."

Ranma narrowed his eyes, studying Kentaro closely.  
Kentaro looked back at him calmly.

Ranma shrugged and took off his shirt.  He loosened his 
pants and let them fall to the ground.

Kentaro bent down and examined Ranma's stomach carefully.  
He touched it with his fingers, and Ranma used all of his 
willpower to keep from throwing him into the next 
district.  Kentaro traced the lines of Ranma's lower 
abdomen, at one point rubbing lightly with his fingers.  
He hooked the band of Ranma's boxer shorts and pulled it 
down slightly to get a better look.  Ranma reached down 
and lightly grabbed Kentaro's wrist, not pulling it away 
but making sure he controlled how far down Kentaro 
lowered the shorts.  Kentaro ignored it, instead 
examining the skin closely.

Finally, Kentaro released the waistband and straightened.  
He looked pensive as Ranma rearranged his clothing.  
Ranma raised an eyebrow as he shrugged his shirt back on.  
"So now do you believe me?"

Kentaro looked into Ranma's eyes, then nodded slowly.  
"Yes.  I made the mistake once before thinking that what 
you were telling me wasn't real.  I won't ever do that 
again."

Ranma furrowed his eyebrows.  "Sounds like an interesting 
story."

"Interesting, yes."  Kentaro sighed and sat on the bed.  
"So, Ranma, what are we going to do?"

"I dunno."  Ranma walked over to the window and looked 
out into the yard.  "I don't want things to be this way.  
I have no idea who you are, and I want my wife and son 
back."

"Instead of Kyoko and me."

Ranma lowered a corner of his mouth, still looking out 
into the yard.  "Hell of a choice, isn't it?  Whose life 
if more valuable - Kyoko's or Nouma's?"

"Nouma?  Your... your son?"

"Yeah.  My son that should have been."  Ranma slapped his 
palm against the window frame.  "Dammit, how could I 
leave Akane?  She... she was the best thing that ever 
happened to me.  My life was nothing until she came 
along.  How could I ever let that go?"

"You didn't want to."  Kentaro's voice was quiet.  "She 
let you go.  She... couldn't marry a woman.  And at the 
time, it seemed as if you were going to be a woman 
forever."

"No."  Gripped the window frame tightly.  "It's not 
possible.  She'd never give up on me, never."

"It didn't happen overnight.  She tried, you both tried.  
For almost two years you both tried to find a cure for 
what Herb did to you.  The whole family tried.  Nothing 
worked, and it slowly became obvious that you were going 
to be a woman forever."

Ranma turned his head to glare at Kentaro with one eye.  
"Except it wasn't so obvious, was it?  I got cured, 
didn't I?"

Kentaro ran a hand through his hair.  "Listen, Ranma, 
don't be so quick to judge what people did.  You've had 
less than an hour to think about it.  You - that is, the 
you that I know - and Akane lived it for two years.  
There came a point where the misery you were both feeling 
wasn't worth trying to hope for something that was 
extremely unlikely to happen.  Akane moved on, and 
eventually you did too."

Ranma looked forward again, resting his eyes on the koi 
pond.  "And that's where you came in."

"We met in college, well after you and Akane had broken 
up."

Ranma snorted.  "And it was love at first sight, huh?"

The chuckle surprised Ranma.  "It may have been for me, 
but you... well, you didn't quite hate me, but you made 
it very clear that my attentions were unwelcome."

"Oh yeah?"

"The first time I asked you out, you threatened to kill 
me."

"Good."  Curiously, that made Ranma feel better.  That's 
exactly how he would react if a guy asked him out.  Ranma 
smiled, remembering how he'd reacted to his first kiss.  
He quickly sobered; try as he might, he just couldn't 
imagine himself ever overcoming that revulsion.  "So you 
kept trying, and I eventually gave in?"

"Not quite.  I became your student."

Ranma was genuinely surprised.  He turned and examined 
Kentaro.  The build and muscle tone were right, that of 
someone who took martial arts seriously.  "Really?"

"Yes.  First your student, then your friend."

"And then my boyfriend?"

"Only after an extremely difficult decision for you, one 
that almost sent me to the hospital."

Ranma shook his head.  "No.  I mean, I... I wouldn't ever 
decide that.  I'm sorry."

Kentaro thinned his lips.  "And *I'm* sorry, but you did.  
I'm not about to try and relive everything that happened 
between us - and between you and Akane - for your 
benefit.  While I'm glad that it ended with us married, 
there are things we went through that are too painful to 
recall.  It wasn't easy, and it wasn't instantaneous, but 
we fell in love, and you chose to stay with me even after 
getting cured, and we've built a life together that is 
lovely and wonderful and I want it back so badly, I want 
*you* back and carrying our child and happy to see me..."

Kentaro covered his eyes with one hand.  Ranma could hear 
him breathing deeply in an effort to control sobs.

"Damn," he said softly.  Kentaro obviously loved him.  As 
much as that thought still repulsed him, he still found 
his heart going out to Kentaro, regretting with Kentaro 
the love he'd lost.

And what price was that love worth?  What was Kyoko 
worth?  Ranma wanted Akane and Nouma back with all his 
heart.  He needed to find a way to go back and change the 
outcome of the battle between him and Herb, make it so 
that the kettle was recovered like it was supposed to be.  
But he wasn't sure his sanity was up to paying the price 
of Kentaro's feelings and Kyoko in the process.

Ranma turned his eyes away from the sight of Kentaro's 
misery, and spied a picture on the dresser.  He walked 
over to it, somehow sure what it was and not really 
wanting to see it but unable to stop himself.  It was a 
wedding picture, sure enough.  He was in female form and 
wearing a wedding kimono.  He was standing next to 
Kentaro, and they both looked very happy.

He wanted to deny this whole situation, deny that he 
could ever, ever feel attracted to a man, that there were 
*no* circumstances under which he would ever marry a man.  
Yet the reality of Kyoko and this picture were hard to 
deny.

Ranma swallowed, looking at the picture and not liking 
what he saw.  And yet, it couldn't be so horrible.  The 
person he was looking at seemed to like her life.

Suddenly Ranma furrowed his brow.  Something was wrong 
with the picture, and it had taken him a long time to 
notice it.  He could never imagine himself doing it, but 
then again, there were a lot of things he could never 
imagine himself doing.

Still, it was worth asking about.  "Kentaro?"

After a second, Kentaro lifted his head.  "Yes, Ranma?"

"Have I ever dyed my hair?"

Kentaro was clearly surprised.  "Er, no.  Why do you 
ask?"

Ranma showed him the picture.  "Why is my hair black?"

---

"I'd like to see Dr. Marumoto."

The receptionist raised an eyebrow.  "Are you his 
patient?"

"His wife."  Ranma indicated the phone.  "His extension 
is 627.  If he's not there, I'd like him paged, please."

The receptionist raised his other eyebrow, the consulted 
a phone list.  "I do have a Dr. Marumoto, but she is at 
extension 646."

Ranma shook her head.  "No, Dr. Kentaro Marumoto.  He's a 
surgeon.  Here."

The receptionist shook his head.  "We have no one on 
staff by that name.  You may be thinking of Nerima 
General."

Ranma growled.  "Listen, jerk, I know where my husband 
works."

"Wherever it is, it isn't here, ma'am."  The receptionist 
moved his head to look at the person standing behind 
Ranma.  "Next?"

Ranma stepped away, grimacing.  She'd been expecting 
this, actually.  She'd called his office and someone else 
had answered.  She'd paged him and someone else had 
returned the page.  She had needed to come here and find 
out for herself.

She didn't want to face the consequences, but they were 
getting harder to ignore.  Kentaro wasn't here, he wasn't 
in Nerima.  It was just possible that Akane was telling 
the truth.

She reached down to touch her stomach, just to make sure 
the baby was still there.  That much of Kentaro was still 
present.  She pictured giving birth without him at her 
side, and shuddered.

She needed to find him, need to know what exactly had 
happened to him.  She went over to a pay phone and called 
long distance.

After a couple of rings, a woman's voice answered.  
"Hello?"

"Marumoto-sama?"  She hesitated, then spoke in a rush.  
"Is Kentaro there?"

"Kentaro?"  His mother sounded confused.  "No, he lives 
on his own now.  I can give you the number if you'd 
like."

"Yes, please."  She jotted down the number, thanked her, 
and hung up.  She didn't want to dwell on the fact that 
the number was in Okinawa.  Or that Kentaro's mother 
hadn't recognized her voice.

The phone rang again, and was again answered by a woman.  
"Yes?"

Fear rose up to choke Ranma.  "Um... may I speak with 
Kentaro please?"

"He's at work.  He'll be home this evening."  The woman's 
voice became suspicious.  "Who's this?"

Ranma gulped.  "I'm a friend of his from college.  I... I 
just was checking up on him."

"I see."  The woman's voice was definitely cool.  "Well, 
I'm sure my husband would be delighted to hear from you, 
Miss..."

"Mrs.  Tendo.  Uh, well, thanks, I'll call him later."  
Ranma hung up and stared at the phone, her heart racing.  
Kentaro.  Was married.  To someone else.

She leaned forward to rest her head against the wall, one 
hand on her belly, the other still clutching the phone 
handle in its cradle.  What had happened?  What had gone 
wrong?  Whose baby was she carrying?

She viciously cut off that train of thought.  Kentaro 
*was* the father of her child, of that she was certain.  
It was just... something had gone wrong with reality.  
Something bizarre was happening, like back in the old 
days.

Ranma began to get a grip again.  The trick was not to 
let it get her down.  She'd had these kind of problems 
before, and she had always overcome them.  This time 
would be no different.  Her confidence began to surge.

She felt something stir inside her, and her confidence 
faltered.  She'd never had to fight any battles while she 
was pregnant.

---

"See?"

Kentaro's eyes were wide.  "Wow."  He reached forward to 
finger Ranma's hair.

This made Ranma very nervous.  She quickly filled the 
bucket with warm water and dumped it over her head.

Kentaro shook his head.  "That's amazing.  I think your 
eyes changed color, too."

"They become bluer when I'm female."

"The hair- why red?"

"Well, my mom's got kinda coppery hair.  I always assumed 
it came from her."

"That's not possible."  Kentaro stroked his chin.  "Red 
hair and blue eyes are recessive genes."

Ranma shrugged; he'd heard this argument before.  He gave 
the response that always brought such speculations to an 
end.  "It's magic."

Kentaro smiled.  "Of course."  He sobered.  "So this must 
mean that the point of divergence must have been 
earlier?"

"What, that I fell into 'Pool of Young Woman with Red 
Hair and Blue Eyes' and your Ranma fell into another 
variation?  The curses don't work that way.  I think this 
is a different world altogether.  An alternate universe."

Kentaro frowned.  "More science-fiction terminology."

Ranma shrugged.  "So, *you* tell me what Autumn's Shaver 
has to say."

Kentaro smiled for some reason before rubbing his cheek 
and thinking hard.  Finally, he sighed.  "I don't know.  
'Alternate Universe' will do until I can think of 
something better.  I'm a little beat."

"Me too.  I just flew in from Australia."  Ranma stripped 
off his wet shirt.  "Think I'll go to bed."

Kentaro looked at him strangely.  Then he sighed again.  
"Okay.  I'll watch over Kyoko until she goes to bed."

"Um."  Ranma had forgotten all about her.  "Okay."  He 
walked past Kentaro out of the bedroom and looked down 
the hallway.  "Um, is Kasumi's old room still the guest 
room?"

"Yes."

Without another word, Ranma headed towards it.  He 
entered it quickly and shut the door firmly behind him.  
He then leaned his back against it, fighting off a small 
feeling of guilt.

It wasn't hard.  This was an alternate universe.  It 
wasn't *his* universe.  There was a universe out there, 
somewhere.  In it, Nouma and Akane and her unborn child 
waited for him.  He'd find them eventually.  Of that he 
was certain.

Feeling good, he clambered into bed and fell asleep 
almost instantly.

---

Ranma rested against the wall outside her home.  Or what 
used to be her home.

It didn't matter how well-maintained her physique was; it 
wasn't designed to handle the awkward position carrying a 
child put her body in.  She had backaches like everyone 
else, and walking for long periods of time was a strain.  
Sometimes she needed to rest.  That was it.  That was why 
she was resting against the wall and not going inside.

Had to be.

Ranma sighed and wondered what Kentaro would say about 
the rationalizations.  Nothing good, she knew.  God, she 
missed him.

She pushed herself off the wall and walked over to the 
gate.  She reached over to open it, paused, and pulled 
her hand away.  Was it worth the aggravation?  Akane and 
the boy - Nouma?  - had seemed very upset.  Maybe Ranma 
shouldn't be putting her own well-being above the 
feelings of her best friend.

The baby moved inside her, a none-too-subtle reminder 
that there were larger issues involved.

Giving her stomach a reassuring pat, she rang the bell.

The gate opened soon thereafter.  Akane didn't look 
surprised, but she still looked angry.  She eyed Ranma up 
and down, her gaze lingering on the large bulge under her 
shirt.  "Who are you, really?"

Ranma sighed.  "You know who I am, Akane."

"No I don't.  Ranma called me three days ago from 
Australia.  He had me send him some money.  *He* did.  He 
was male.  Not pregnant."

"I don't pretend to understand what's going on here.  I 
just got back from trying to find my husband.  He's not 
where he's supposed to be, his mother doesn't know me, 
he's m-married to someone else..."  Ranma bit her lip, 
hard, the pain focusing her mind.  "I am eight months 
pregnant and the father of my child doesn't remember me.  
*That's* who I am."

Akane stared into Ranma's eyes.  Finally, her face 
softened.  She stepped back slightly.  "Come on in."

Ranma tried not to feel angry about being invited into 
her own home.  She followed Akane down the path.

They entered the house.  As they sat at the dining room 
table, Ranma idly noted that it had been cleared of the 
dinner she'd prepared.

Akane sighed, and Ranma could hear a hint of desperation 
in it.  "What's going on?"

Ranma couldn't prevent a growl.  "Hell if I know.  Can we 
talk about... what our relationship is?  Talk calmly 
about it?"

A very similar growl came from Akane's throat.  "Okay.  
Not much to tell.  We got married.  I'm pregnant with our 
second child."

"When did we get married?"

"Right before our senior year."

"In high school?"

"Of course high school.  You never went to college."

"Never-"  Ranma broke off, stunned.  Her college years 
were precious to her.  Despite how painful the first year 
had been, the last three years had seen her finally grow 
into her own person, had seen her finally come to grips 
with who she was, and who she wanted to be.  She had made 
many friends, grown in self-confidence, and discovered a 
love of teaching.  So much of what was good in her life 
had come out of her experiences in college.

Not the least of which was her husband and child.  
Children.

Ranma drew a deep breath and tried to get her brain to 
work.  "Okay.  Question.  Was I a woman when we got 
married?"

Akane looked surprised and slightly disgusted.  "No, of 
course not."

"What about Herb?"

"Who?"

Ranma's eyebrows shot up.  "The guy who froze me in 
female form."

"Oh, *him*."  Her eyes widened.  "Are you saying...?"

"How long do you think I was stuck as a woman?"

Akane frowned.  "About a week."

"Wow."  The baby stirred violently inside of her, 
evidently as perturbed as she was.

A week.  And then the restriction lifted.  How different 
life would have been if that had been the case.  No 
months and months of searching for a cure.  No 
exquisitely painful discussions of the engagement, of the 
future.  No years spent adjusting, being alone, 
struggling day to day to find a reason to go on.

My God.  How much things would have changed.  Ranma's 
head swam with the visions of a life without the pain of 
losing Akane.

"Ranma."  She looked up to see Akane looking at her with 
concern.  "Are you all right?"

And suddenly, Ranma's vision shifted.  With perfect 
clarity, she could see Akane as her wife, as someone 
she'd spent her whole adult life loving, and it was 
wonderful.  Ranma's breath caught with the beauty of it.  
Of Akane.

Ranma forced her eyes closed and put her hand on her 
belly again.  She thought of Kentaro, and her love for 
him came surging through.  While life after Herb had been 
extraordinarily difficult, it had allowed her to come to 
know an extraordinary person.  An understanding, loving, 
patient man who had given her a sense of stability, of 
control.  Who had been the perfect yin for her yang.  Or 
vice versa.

Ranma smiled slightly and opened her eyes, the knowledge 
of her ten-year relationship with Kentaro firmly in her 
mind.  Now Akane looked like a good friend, and Ranma had 
no regrets.

"Well, okay, we've got something to work on.  My memory 
says that I was stuck as a woman for six years."

"Six years?!"  Akane looked flabbergasted.

This made Ranma annoyed for some reason.  "Yeah, six 
years.  And it sure wasn't fun.  Especially at first."

Akane's eyes were still wide.  "Wow.  I guess so.  That 
was when we had that conversation on the roof you were 
talking about?"

Ranma nodded grimly.

Akane shook her head.  "So what happened?  What changed 
things?"

"Akane, how many times do I have to tell you I don't 
know?  I don't want things to be like this, either."

Anger began to cloud Akane's features.  "You want us not 
to be married?  For Nouma not to exist?"

Ranma slapped that table.  "Dammit, Akane, let's *not* go 
there."  She rubbed her eyes.  "Damn, I'm tired.  Can we 
just go to sleep and talk things over in the morning?"

Akane glared at her for a moment, then visibly calmed 
herself.  "Okay."

Ranma nodded and got up from the table.  She went 
upstairs to the bedroom.  She spent several minutes 
staring at the subtle differences in the decor, examining 
the pictures of her and Akane and Nouma.  Finally, she 
put together her bath things - those seemed pretty much 
the same - and went to take a bath.

It was clear that Akane was already soaking in the tub.  
Ranma stood in the changing area, considering, before 
calling out.  "Do you mind if I wash up?"

Silence for a moment.  "Go ahead."

Ranma nodded, stripped, entered the bath area, glanced at 
Akane, carefully sat on the stool, and washed herself 
thoroughly.  She dumped cold water over her head, 
shivering under the impact.  "Cold."

Akane chuckled.  Ranma looked over at her, surprised.  
Akane smiled.  "Some things are different, but some 
things are the same.  Among them are the tendency to 
comment out loud about the temperature of the water."

Ranma grinned.  She stood up and walked over towards the 
tub.

Akane's smile vanished.  "Ranma!"

Ranma, about to enter the tub, paused and stared at her.  
"What?"

"The tub!  I've filled it with hot water."

Ranma chuckled.  "Not to worry."  She slipped into the 
tub, relaxing against the side.  She blew out a lot of 
her tension with a deep sigh.

Akane, on the other hand, seemed a little strung out.  
"H-how is that possible?"

"Hmm?"  Ranma looked over at her.  "The hot water thing?"

Akane nodded.

"Well, when Kentaro - my husband - and I decided to have 
another baby, we didn't want to go through all the hassle 
of my first pregnancy.  That was unplanned.  So I went to 
China and found Herb and the Musk Dynasty.  I snuck in, 
grabbed the Chisuiton and quickly used it on myself 
before running away.  It was a fun adventure."

Akane still sounded unconvinced.  "So you're going to be 
a woman forever?"

"No."  Ranma frowned at the vehemence in her own voice.  
She mentally shrugged and moved on.  "I already have the 
Kasuifuu.  Once I've given birth, I can use it to unlock 
the curse again."

"Oh."  Akane sounded uncertain.  "So you still want to be 
a man once in a while?"

"Yeah."  Ranma shifted uncomfortably.  "I don't know if 
you can understand this, Akane, but I'm not a man 
anymore.  Or a woman.  I'm just me, and as fluid - er, no 
pun intended - as my gender is, I don't have much of a 
gender identity.  I spend a lot of time as a woman 'cuz 
that's how I met Kentaro, and that's the kind of 
relationship we've built.  But that don't make me any 
less of a man, in my opinion."

"Hmm."  The sound was a thoughtful one.  "This sounds so 
strange.  I just can't imagine my husband ever being 
pregnant."

Ranma had a brief vision of Kentaro female and pregnant, 
and laughed.  "Yeah.  That would be strange."

Silence for a while as they soaked in the tub.

"So, Ranma, what do we do now?"

"I dunno.  I want to take some time to recover, to try 
and approach this calmly and rationally.  Trust me, I've 
had some experience dealing with problems that had no 
apparent solution.  We'll adjust, one way or another."

More silence.

"Are you saying we should prepare to accept the fact that 
this might be forever?"

"Well, we shouldn't try to pretend that it's not a 
possibility."

"That sounds so... cynical."

"Sometimes being cynical can save you a lot of pain.  But 
we're not there yet.  Let's talk about it tomorrow and go 
from there."

"Oh God, I miss my husband."

"Me too."

---

Ranma snapped awake.  He looked around, trying to figure 
out why he was so troubled.  As he recognized the guest 
room, he realized why that might be.

He got up and wandered down to his bedroom.  Or what 
should have been his bedroom.  This was all so confusing.  
He paused a moment, then knocked on the door.  He got no 
reply, so he entered.

The bed was empty; Kentaro must be up already.  Ranma 
went over to the closet and pulled out a gi.  He also 
spent a minute going through "his" clothing.  It was 
surprisingly similar.  In his universe, he had opted for 
clothes that wouldn't look out of place on either gender.  
This Ranma evidently believed the same thing.  There were 
some differences; this Ranma had a dress.  And bras.

Ranma fingered the bras, frowning.  Evidently this Ranma 
had bigger breasts than he did.  He felt a strange twinge 
of jealousy that he tried his best to ignore.  Then he 
realized - this Ranma was pregnant.  Akane was had once 
complained to him how heavy and uncomfortable her breasts 
were just before giving birth.  Ranma could understand 
why his counterpart might want some support during this 
time.

He put on his gi and went outside to the dojo.  Kentaro 
was already there, working out.  He looked at Ranma, 
smiling almost involuntarily before sobering.  "Good 
morning."

"Morning."  Ranma bowed and entered the dojo.  "So you 
know the School, eh?"

"Yes.  Although you've told me that I'm never going to be 
any good at it.  You've got high hopes for Kyoko, 
however."

Kyoko.  Ranma frowned, wondering about whether or not it 
was acceptable for the heir to the School to be female.  
Certainly Genma would never go for it.  Then again, his 
counterpart was mostly female and ran the school.  Ranma 
should really know better than to think that being female 
meant you couldn't run a school.

Ranma filed the thought away for future consideration.  
He began a kata, watching discretely as Kentaro continued 
his workout.  It was obvious that Kentaro had indeed been 
trained in the School.

When Kentaro finished and grabbed a towel to dry off the 
sweat, Ranma stopped his kata.  "You know, you're not 
entirely awful."

Kentaro smiled.  "High praise.  Thanks."  His smile 
faded.  "I have to go to work.  What are your plans?"

Ranma grimaced.  "Don't really got any.  For now, I'll 
take care of your daughter while you're at work."

Kentaro looked relieved.  "That seems like a good plan.  
Thanks."

Kyoko ran up to the dojo door, bowed hastily, and ran 
inside.  "G'morning, Daddy!  G'morning, Mommy!"  She 
began some stretching exercises that Ranma recognized as 
being of the School.

"Good morning, Kyoko.  Remember, though, this isn't your 
mother."

Ranma shuffled his feet.  "She can call me Mommy if she 
wants.  Less confusion that way."

Kentaro stared into his eyes a moment, and once again 
Ranma could see desire and pain mixed together.  Then 
Kentaro turned and left.

Kyoko finished her warm-up and bounded over to him.  
"Mommy, are you going to tell me what happened to the new 
baby?"

Ranma's heart lurched a little.  "Uh, yes.  I promise.  
Just not right now.  Maybe after school."

"Okay."  She bowed to him, then dropped into a ready 
position.

Ranma couldn't help chuckling.  She was as eager as 
Nouma.  He bowed to the daughter he never had and began 
working out with her.  Still, he couldn't quite expunge 
the self-disgust.  He'd never marry a guy.  Never.

But then, *he* hadn't.  It had been some other Ranma, 
someone whose psyche obviously got all screwed up.  
Nothing Ranma should feel bad about.

Feeling a bit of relief, he focused on training Kyoko.

---

Ranma snapped awake.  She shook her head slightly, trying 
to figure out what was bothering her.

"What's wrong, Ranma?"

She turned to see Akane lying next to her, her face still 
blurry with sleep.  Ranma's gaze moved down Akane's body 
to the distended belly, so similar to her own.

Ranma's heart sank.  She'd been vaguely hoping that all 
she'd have to do was go to sleep and wake up and it would 
all be better.  No such luck.

"Nothing."  She rolled off the bed, glad that Akane had 
insisted she sleep there.  The mattress was just what her 
back needed; the hotel beds in Australia had been quite 
uncomfortable.

She wandered over to the closet and rummaged through the 
clothing.  Somewhat similar to hers, actually.  Except 
that the half of the closet usually filled with Kentaro's 
clothes hung with Akane's instead.  Ranma lightly ran her 
hand over them, for the moment overwhelmed by difference.  
Then she noticed a bra, and grabbed it.  "Hey, Akane, can 
I use this?"

Akane was sitting on the edge of the bed, swallowing 
heavily.  Evidently she still had morning sickness.  
Ranma had gotten over that a couple of months back; she 
sympathized with Akane.  Akane lifted her head, widened 
her eyes slightly, then nodded.

Ranma grabbed a gi as well and changed.  She went 
downstairs and into the dojo, where Nouma was waiting.

Ranma frowned, wondering about it all.  A son.  Akane's 
son, and her son.  They shouldn't be the same person.

Ranma felt her resolve firming up.  Nouma didn't deserve 
to be the target of any uncertainty on Ranma's part.  
Until things got straightened out, Nouma *was* her son.  
No use denying him.

"Hey, kid."  She smiled widely.  "Ready to work out?"

"Yes."  Nouma eyed her stomach thoughtfully.  "Can you 
still work out like that?"

Ranma chuckled.  "I can still beat you up, Nouma.  Let's 
begin with the morning kata, and then we'll train a 
little on how to overcome certain hardships in fighting.  
Maybe I'll strap a brick on your back and we'll see how 
you can alter your attacks to compensate."

Nouma's eyes shone.  "Neat!"  He began the kata, and 
Ranma joined him.

And her mind raced.  As much as she might come to like 
Nouma, she had her own daughter out there, somewhere, and 
she would do everything she could to get her back.

---

Ranma waited.  No response was forthcoming.  He gently 
prompted, "Do you understand, Kyoko-chan?"

Kyoko, in a gesture achingly similar to Nouma, had a 
finger alongside her nose as she thought.  "So you 
switched places with my mommy, and even though you look 
like her and everything, you're not really her, and the 
baby is with her wherever she is?"

Ranma nodded.

Kyoko frowned.  "When will Mommy be coming home?"

Good question.  "Soon.  Soon, I hope."

"You hope."  Her voice seemed to indicate that she 
understood what those words really meant.

Ranma reached out and put his hand on her hair.  "In the 
meantime, I'll be your substitute Mommy.  If you'll let 
me."

The eyes of a six-year-old are frightening when they look 
serious, Ranma decided.  Kyoko's cool regard twisted his 
stomach.

Finally she smiled.  "Okay, substitute Mommy.  Just so 
you promise not to give up on my real Mommy."

Ranma quirked his mouth.  "I promise.  Believe me."

"Okay!"  She jumped to her feet.  "Let's fight!"

He couldn't help it.  He snorted and laughed.  "You mean 
work the forms?"

"Nonono, I mean fight!  You're the little girl in 
trouble, and I come rescue you and beat up the awful boy 
who's kidnapped you!"

Ranma laughed again.  "Does that mean what I think it 
means?"

Kyoko laughed and pulled him down the hallway.  "We 
haven't played it since you got pregnant.  C'mon, Mommy.  
The water pistols are in the kitchen."

---

Ranma wandered around, frowning.  Everything looked 
right, but something was out of place, and she couldn't 
figure it out.  There was something... off.

"What's wrong, dear?"

She whirled and smiled at Kentaro.  "Nothing."  She took 
a step closer to him.  Or, more accurately, took a step 
towards him.  For some reason, he ended up farther away.  
Ranma frowned and took another step, and saw him recede 
even further.  

"Kentaro!"  She ran as fast as she could towards the 
ever-dwindling figure.

"Scary, isn't it?"

Ranma stumbled to a halt and looked at Akane.  A pregnant 
Akane.  "What?"

"Scary, that he's gone.  You should have chosen me while 
you had the chance."  Akane turned and walked towards the 
infinitesimal speck that was Kentaro.  As she approached 
him, she became less pregnant and Kentaro grew larger.  
Finally, Akane stepped up to him and turned to face 
Ranma, as slim as she had been when she was sixteen.  
"You don't mind if I take him, do you?"  She put her arm 
around him and smiled.

Kentaro put his arm around Akane's shoulders.  "Sorry, 
Ranma.  You left and took our baby with you.  But you 
left me Akane.  I mean, you had an affair with her, why 
can't I?  Seems only fair."

"N.  N."  She wanted to scream, she wanted desperately to 
scream, but only half-formed sounds escaped her lips.

"Akane... where are you, Akane?"

Ranma felt the world slipping away.  But that voice... it 
sounded familiar.  It wasn't Kentaro and it wasn't Akane.  
It was somebody, somebody she thought she should know, 
and he sounded as desperate as she felt.

She tried to focus on the voice, but woke up instead.

Ranma stared at the ceiling, cursing her over-imaginative 
psyche.  The details of the dream were slipping away, 
leaving behind only feelings of pain and betrayal.  And a 
voice crying out.

She sighed and carefully got herself out of bed.  Her 
back twinged, and she gasped slightly.

"What was your first time like?"

Ranma could hardly believe her ears.  She looked over her 
shoulder at Akane, still lying in bed.  "What?"

"Your first child... was the birth difficult?"

Ranma relaxed.  "I... it's hard to describe.  I mean, 
there weren't any major complications.  My OB/GYN was a 
little concerned because of how short I am and how narrow 
my hips are for a woman.  He was standing by to do a 
Caesarian all during the birth.  But it worked out okay.  
But it took a long time."

"How long?"

"I think about six hours."

Akane chuckled.  "That's how long it took me with Nouma.  
But that's nothing, really.  Kasumi was thirty-six hours 
with Kikuko."

Ranma blinked.  "Kasumi has a daughter named Kikuko?"

"Yes."

"Wow.  Same where I come from.  Strange about which 
things are still the same."

"Ranma."  Akane's voice was quiet and curious.  "How was 
it that you... decided to have a baby?  Your first one, I 
mean."

Ranma frowned.  "Why do you ask?"

Akane lifted herself so that she was sitting up on the 
pillows.  "I'm just... trying to get a picture.  Of you.  
I can't imagine Ranma *ever* deciding to have a baby.  I 
just want to understand."

"Hmm."  Ranma didn't know what to make of that.  She 
shrugged.  "Well, the first time was an accident."

"An accident?"  Akane sounded incredulous.

"Yeah."  Ranma tried to fight off the strange uneasiness 
that was growing in her mind.  "I don't know how long - 
if ever - I might have gone before volunteering for the 
job of mother."

She turned so that she was looking at Akane face on.  
"But I'm not sorry it happened.  I love Kyoko very much, 
and I'm glad she was born and I'm glad I gave birth to 
her."  She paused a beat.  "I'm glad that I'm her 
mother."

Akane looked down.  "I'm sorry, Ranma.  I didn't mean to 
imply... I... my Ranma loves his son, too.  He was so 
excited when I told him I was pregnant again.  He's a 
good... parent."

That mollified Ranma a lot.  "Good."  She smiled.  "You 
wanna know something?  You helped.  You helped me decide 
to keep the baby, when I was unsure if being a mother was 
what I wanted to do."

"Really?"  Akane thought that over.  "I... it's so hard 
to imagine what I must be like in that world you come 
from."

"You're pretty much the same.  Warm, kind, friendly, 
tempestuous, uncute as hell..."

"Hey!"  Akane tried to glower, but it turned into a grin.  
"And you still can't decide when to keep your mouth 
shut."

"Always been a problem," Ranma agreed, smiling in return.

Akane tilted her head.  "Am I married in your world?"

"Not yet, but you're engaged."

"Really?  To who?"  She raised her hands.  "Never mind, I 
don't want to know.  It's probably somebody like Ryoga, 
and I'd have to spend all my time here staring at him, 
wondering what it would be like to be married to him, 
until it drove me crazy."

Wicked amusement arose in Ranma.  "No.  It's not Ryoga."

"That's a relief."  Akane's smile dimmed.  "Any ideas on 
how to get back yet?"

Ranma chewed her lip.  "I may be coming up with one.  Let 
me sleep on it one more night."

The hope that lit up Akane's face was almost painful to 
see.  "You can switch back?"

"I dunno, Akane.  Don't get too excited.  It may be 
nothing."  Ranma turned away from Akane.  "Trust me.  
It'll only hurt worse if it turns out to be nothing."

Akane's voice was sad.  "I'm sorry again, Ranma.  Didn't 
mean to put that kind of pressure on you.  I know you're 
trying your best."

"No need to apologize, Akane."  Ranma put her hand on her 
belly.  "I know what this means to you.  We'll all do our 
best."

---

Ranma screamed and jumped out of his bed.  He looked 
wildly around, expecting to be attacked by something.  It 
took him a moment to realize that the nightmare was over, 
and in that moment he forgot what it was he'd been so 
terrified of.

All he was left with was an image of a pregnant woman 
reaching out to him.  And though he felt like that woman 
*should* be Akane, he was somehow certain it wasn't.

He calmed the beating of his heart with an effort.  He 
looked at the lightening sky, and decided now was as good 
as any a time to get up.

As he was leaving the guest room, he stepped on a piece 
of paper.  He frowned and picked it up.  He held it at an 
angle so that the pre-dawn light fell on it.  The note 
was from Kentaro, who had evidently been paged and was at 
the hospital.  Ranma was being asked to look after Kyoko 
in the meantime.

Ranma grimaced.  One annoying thing about Kentaro's job 
was that he was often called away with little warning, 
and Ranma was left behind to take care of things.  All 
the while, he needed to do some research, try to figure 
out what had happened and why.  But he couldn't do it and 
leave Kyoko alone.

Somewhere, an annoying part of his brain talked to him 
about irony.  He hated that part of his mind.  It took a 
lot of the fun out of life sometimes.

He went downstairs and padded to the kitchen to prepare 
himself some tea before his workout.  He wanted a moment 
alone to think.

He didn't get it.  Somebody was opening the front door.  
Ranma frowned.  It wasn't Kentaro; he was already 
familiar with the sounds he made.  Whoever it was knew 
the layout of the house, and was walking along the 
hallway in smooth, sure steps.  Ranma ran through a list 
of likely suspects before calling out, "I'm in the 
kitchen, Nabiki."

The steps paused a moment, then moved towards him.  
Nabiki was looking at him thoughtfully.  "Do you have 
mental telepathy where you come from or just super-keen 
senses?"

Ranma shrugged.  "Neither really.  Who else could it be?"

"Akane?"

Ranma flinched.  "No.  We'd both be way too 
uncomfortable.  I... I asked Kentaro to keep Akane away 
from me for now.  I don't think I could stand it, being 
in her presence.  He understood.  I'm sure he's already 
told her about that."

"Oh.  What about Kasumi?"

"Nuh-uh.  She'd knock first.  Common courtesy and all 
that."

Nabiki grunted.  "Tactful as ever."

Ranma lifted a corner of his mouth.  "Same as you.  
What're you doing here?"

She gazed at him.  "Kentaro called me.  The hospital's 
been keeping him busier than usual, and he knows that you 
need some freedom to figure out your little problem, so 
he asked if I could look in on Kyoko for the day."

Ranma raised his eyebrows.  "Hey.  That was actually 
pretty considerate of him."

"He does stuff like that a lot.  Makes you want to gag 
sometimes."

Ranma grinned.  "I take it you're not exactly enamored of 
him."

"Oh, I like him just fine.  You and he get along 
famously.  He's just a little too saintly for my tastes."

Now Ranma laughed.  "Yeah.  I've seen your tastes.  
Saintly doesn't exactly describe Kuno."

Nabiki froze.  "What.  Did.  You.  Just.  Say?"

Ranma raised his eyebrows.  "You mean you're not married 
to Kuno?"

"Kuno.  Kuno Tatewaki, you're talking about."

Ranma was enjoying this more and more.  "Kuno Tatewaki.  
Your husband.  No kids yet, but not from lack of trying."

"Kuno."  Nabiki had still moved nothing but her lips.  
"The obsessive pompous bokken-weilding samurai-wannabe 
airhead that I milked for every yen he was worth."

"Your one true love."

"You're lying."

"Do I look like I'm lying?  You once told me that I was a 
horrible liar, that you could always see right through 
me."

Nabiki stared at him for a long moment.  Finally, she 
spoke.  "Thank God I don't like in your world, Ranma."

Ranma shrugged.  "You seem happy enough."

"Happy?!"  Nabiki but the heels of her hands on her 
forehead.  "How can I be happy married to *Kuno*?  Good 
God, I must be as insane as he is in that universe."

Ranma finally got a little irritated.  "Hey, knock it 
off.  You *are* happy.  So's Kuno.  He's gotten a lot 
better since high school.  Seems like an okay guy.  Hell, 
he saved me and Akane from Kodachi."  He looked Nabiki in 
the eye.  "And you don't seem at all different from the 
Nabiki I know.  And that includes the inability to see 
that people don't always act like jerks, that sometimes 
they can be nice and everything.  If you'd only give them 
a chance."

Nabiki stared at him some more between her elbows.  
Finally, she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheeks.  
"That tea smells good."

"Here."  Ranma grabbed a second cup and poured her some 
tea.

She took it while looking at him.  "Kuno, you say."

He nodded.  "Are you married?"

"Was once."  She sipped her tea.

Ranma started slightly.  "Damn.  I keep forgetting that 
everyone's eight years older here.  Uh, anyway, sorry 
about the divorce."

"Don't be.  I'm not.  Only sorry about the marriage."

"Any children?"

"Yes.  No.  Or were you talking about his maturity 
level?"

Ranma laughed once.  "Anyway, thanks for coming over."

She fixed him with a steely, appraising gaze.  "I had 
planned to interrogate you about who you really were.  I 
was convinced you were some magical creature or something 
that was trying to take Ranma's place and had put a spell 
on Kentaro."

"Oh, yeah?"  Ranma chortled.  "Well, that ain't any 
crazier than some of the stuff I've already come across.  
Go ahead.  Interrogate away."

"No need."  She took another sip of her tea.  "You *are* 
Ranma.  I got to know him - her - very well.  You're 
younger and not as well-educated and a bit less mature in 
some ways, but you're still Ranma."  She quirked a corner 
of her mouth.  "You were the Ranma we were expecting to 
graduate from college.  I wonder how the story would have 
went if it had been."

"Don't you already have your answer?"

"Maybe."  She gestured to the door with her head.  "Go do 
your workout thing or whatever you have to do, then go do 
whatever it take to find a way back to where you came 
from.  I'll take care of things here."

He grinned.  "Thanks, Nabiki.  Something else you have in 
common with my Nabiki is this tendency to do these nice 
things and then get embarrassed about it whenever anyone 
mentions it."

She flushed just to prove the point.  She hefted her 
teacup.  "Get out before I throw this at you."

Laughing, he moved towards the hallway.  He stopped at 
the door.  "Oh, I promised Kyoko she could go to the park 
today."

Nabiki lowered her cup.  "Okay.  We'll make a picnic of 
it."  Her eyes lost focus.

Ranma smiled and ventured a guess.  "Be sure to pack 
plenty of food.  If I remember right, I think he loved 
Kasumi's recipe for seaweed sushi."

"Thanks, Ranma."  She started.  "Hey!"

He winked and ducked into the hallway.

---

Ranma breathed slowly and regularly as she stared at the 
ceiling.  She wanted to get this right.

Akane muttered some sleepy protest, along the lines of 
"put a cork in it."  Ranma smiled in spite of herself, 
and tried to control the volume of her breathing 
exercise.  Three in the morning was not a good time to 
awaken Akane.

The key was in her dreams somewhere, that she was 
certain.  If she entered into her dreamstate with some 
discipline, she might be able to control it better.  The 
key had to be there somewhere.

"Ranma."

She looked over at Akane.  "Yes?"

"Ranma!"

Akane sounded more desperate.  Ranma frowned.  "What is 
it?"

"No!  Ranma..."

Ranma realized that Akane's eyes were closed.  And that 
Akane wasn't calling out to her, exactly.

She carefully turned on her side and reached over to 
caress Akane's cheek.  "I'm here," she called softly.  
"I'm here for you, like always."

"Ranma..."  Akane clutched Ranma's hand tightly, her eyes 
still closed.

Ranma sighed and made soothing sounds, and knew that she 
would be doing no disciplined dreaming tonight.

---

Ranma struggled, searching.  He heard his name being 
called in desperation.  But he couldn't figure out which 
direction it was coming from.  He was certain it was 
Akane who was calling for him.  Or Nouma.  Or both.  
Either way, they needed him desperately, and he had to 
get to them, fast.  But he couldn't, and the anger and 
frustration built until tears came and he was sobbing 
openly.  Oh God, where are you Akane?

He sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, tears still 
streaming down his face.  He glanced wildly around, 
slowly taking in the desert around him.  He wiped his 
face dry before extricating himself from the sleeping 
bag.  He had work to do.

Ranma shuffled through his backpack and came out with a 
phone.  He frowned at it.  Technology in this world was 
significantly advanced in several areas.  He flipped open 
the phone and pushed a button.

After a few rings, a voice floated from the receiver.  
"Hello?"

"Hey, Kentaro.  Dang, these things are good.  I'd almost 
guess that you were in Australia with me."

Kentaro's voice had a touch of humor.  "No, I'm still 
stuck in Nerima.  How far along are you?"

"I'm almost there.  Probably later today."

"Are you sure these people can help you?"

"I'm not sure of nothin'.  These people probably don't 
know me at all.  But I was able to win their trust in my 
universe.  Hopefully I can do the same here.  'Sides, I 
got no other leads.  Remember, we agreed this seemed the 
best idea."

"I know.  I just hope...  Well, you know what I hope.  
Good luck."

"Thanks.  Say hi to Kyoko for me."

He heard a touch of surprise in Kentaro's voice.  "Okay."

Ranma turned off the phone and put it into his backpack.  
He began packing the rest of his stuff, his mind racing 
with how exactly to approach the people who'd helped him 
before.  He wasn't quite sure yet.  He'd have half a day 
to figure something out.

He put on the backpack, turned, and nearly jumped.  A 
short, dark man in jeans and a denim shirt was watching 
him from the edge of the camp.  Ranma hadn't even heard 
him come up.  And Ranma realized he'd have less time to 
figure something out than he'd supposed.

---

Ranma cried out as she woke up.  The baby was moving 
violently inside of her, as perturbed by her dreams as 
she was.  She quickly ran through some calming exercises, 
trying to soothe the baby with her thoughts.

"When are you due?"

Ranma looked over at Akane, who was slowly pushing 
herself up.  "In about a week.  Kyoko was two weeks 
premature, however."

"Nouma was just about on time."  Akane sat on the edge of 
the bed, breathing heavily.  "I'm due in about a week 
myself."

"Hmm.  Wonder if that mean anything."

"What, that we're going to give birth at the same time?"  
Akane thought about it for a moment, then shrugged.  "I 
can't see anything significant in that."

"Me neither, except how inconvenient the timing is.  I 
could be going to China, or Australia, or a few other 
places I know to try and figure out what's going on if it 
weren't for the fact that I'm so damned pregnant."  Ranma 
felt the baby begin to stir, and calmed her thoughts 
again.

Akane reached over and put her hand on Ranma's arm.  
"Don't worry, I'll be here to help.  I've talked to 
Kasumi and Nabiki, and they'll help, too.  They know how 
difficult a time this is for you."

Ranma smiled.  "Nabiki and Kuno.  Who'd have ever 
thought?"  Her smile faltered.  "I... I just got this 
feeling.  That having my baby here would be a disaster."

"Is that what all your nightmares are about?"

Ranma shrugged.  "I dunno.  I can't quite make them out."  
She tried to remember, but all she got was a sense of 
desperate searching, of reaching for something and not 
finding it.

"Did..."  Akane seemed aware of how desperately hopeful 
her voice was, and made an effort to control it.  "Did 
you discover anything?"

"Maybe.  But I have to try something different.  I can't 
afford to gamble on dreams any more.  Too unreliable.  
I've got a plan."

"Oh, I must use the bathroom."  Akane stood up and 
waddled over to the door.  She stopped and looked at 
Ranma.  "What's your plan?"

Ranma grimaced.  "I think... I've got to meditate.  
Seriously meditate."

"What do you mean, 'seriously'?"

"I'll show you.  I'll need to set a couple of things up."  
Ranma slowly got out of bed herself.  "But first, I'm 
gonna race you to the bathroom.  Last one there better 
have a mop."

Akane laughed.  Together they made their way down the 
hall.

---

On his previous visit to Australia, he had somehow been 
under the impression that the native people would be 
living in tents and cooking over a fire.  He had been 
quickly disabused of that notion.  This time, as last, he 
sat at a kitchen table, surrounded by the locals and 
looking across the table at a wizened old man with 
glasses and a cigarette.

The man spoke again.  "You know my name, stranger, but 
I've never met you before."

"Ranma."

"Lamma?"

"Is okay.  You also name me 'Walker Between Worlds'."

The man raised his eyebrows.  "Why?"

Ranma snorted.  "I help you defeat evil that live outside 
our world.  You look into me, see that I cursed to do 
this all time, name me so."

"Interesting.  I've never come across anything like this 
before."  He looked around the room at the people 
gathered there, then shrugged.  "Your story sounds true.  
We do have a legend of the eater of souls, and how it 
came into our world to slay our tribe, and how the Walker 
Between Worlds came and defeated it.  But that is legend, 
and occurred a thousand years ago.  Why do you claim to 
be the one now?"

Ranma shrugged.  "I defeat last week, not a thousand 
years ago.  But, when I beat, it curse me, send me to 
this world.  This world different, not my own.  Would 
like to go back, thank you."

"Hmm."  The man drew deeply on his cigarette.  "And how 
do you think I can help?"

"I don't know!"  Ranma bit his lip, trying to control his 
frustration.  "I have dreams, think maybe help.  You, me, 
work together a long time.  Often we sit outside, stare 
at stars, and you guide me to dream state, where visions 
come."  Ranma chortled.  "I always think useless, until 
we meet evil there.  You call Dreamkiller.  I call 
monster, alien.  I followed it, fought it, killed it.  
But it curse me."

"I've never heard such a story."  The man was shaking his 
head.  "If you did defeat the Dreamkiller, it would have 
been an epic struggle.  The Dreamkiller is the bane of 
our tribe.  Only a powerful one could have defeated it."

Ranma grinned wickedly.  "Hai.  Yes.  Powerful."

The man shook his head in disbelief.  "A Japanese man 
claims to be the Walker Between Worlds, claims to have 
defeated our ancient enemy, and asks us to help him.  
Nothing like this has ever happened before.  Can you give 
me any proof of your claims?"

Ranma sighed.  He'd been afraid of this from the 
beginning.  "I tell you truth, no can tell?  You always 
tell me to know someone is to look into eyes and see 
their soul.  Can you not see my soul?  Know that I am 
telling truth?"

The man grunted.  "That is a truth; I can see much of a 
person by their eyes.  In yours I see desperation and 
desire.  No malice, true, but often those who make 
mischief do not intend to do so.  I need better proof of 
who you are.  That you have the power you claim to have 
to battle the Dreamkiller.  And that you will not bring 
any evil down upon us."

Ranma struggled for an idea.  "Two things I can think of.  
One, I know your name.  True name, one you only show very 
few."

The man lifted his eyebrows.  "Tell me, then.  What is my 
name?"

"Can't tell; *show*.  You show me name out in desert.  
You and me go walk, late at night under stars, I show you 
your name."

The man looked evenly at him.  Finally, he sighed.  
"Perhaps it is enough that you know how to find my name.  
And, perhaps in this other world you claim to be from, my 
name is different, and shouldn't be shared.  What was the 
other thing you were going to tell me?"

"Not tell; show."  Ranma indicated the sink.  "You let me 
use hot, cold water?"

---

Akane slid the door closed behind her.  "Okay, Nouma and 
my father are visiting Kasumi, Nabiki's in the house as 
emergency backup, and all the windows are covered.  What 
next?"

"Sit there."  Ranma indicated the center of the dojo.  
Akane complied, although she had trouble lowering 
herself.

Ranma turned off the lights.  Instantly the dojo plunged 
into blackness.  Ranma waited a couple of minutes, but 
still couldn't see anything.  Satisfied, she walked 
towards the center, touching Akane's head in passing.

"Hey!  Is that you, Ranma?"

"Yeah.  Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."  She sat down 
and grabbed Akane's hands.

"How can you see anything, Ranma?"

"I can't.  That's the point."

"Oh."  Akane sounded subdued.

Ranma kept her voice low and sonorous.  "I learned this 
at the convention in Australia.  We must disconnect 
ourselves from our bodies.  Our bodies are our anchors 
but our spirits can roam free.  Let your spirit drift."

"This won't hurt the babies, will it?"

"No.  Their minds aren't formed enough yet to allow their 
spirits to separate from their bodies.  And our bodies 
will continue to provide them nourishment.  For now, we 
must drift free."

"And what is this going to accomplish again?"

"Well, I hope to find what it is in my dreams that is 
bothering me.  If it's me - that is, the Ranma you know - 
then I want you here to help call him back.  And, just 
maybe, I can cross over there as well."

"They taught you *that* in Australia?"

"Um, no.  I'm improvising."

"How much?"

"Um... it's like trying to use a mirror to travel from 
one place to another."

"Oh, *great* Ranma..."

"Hey, it's a place to start anyway.  I don't have a 
better idea right now.  Can we at least try?"

"Okay.  Sorry.  What now?"

"Just drift.  Draw chi from your body but do nothing with 
it.  Chi fuels the spirit.  We can use it to help lift 
our spirits and allow them to float in worlds above 
ours."

"You sound like a mystic."

"Like I don't know that.  Why do you think I don't want 
Nabiki in here?  Think of what *she* would say."

Akane giggled.

Ranma grinned in the darkness, then spoke once again in a 
soft and dreamy tone of voice.  "Let your mind drift..."

---

"I must tell you, Lamma.  I've never seen anything like 
what you did with the water in the kitchen."

Ranma grunted.  "Try life that way.  We ready?"

The man looked around the desert.  "This is as good a 
spot as any.  Let us sit."

Ranma sat cross-legged and began a breathing exercise.  
The man sat opposite and smiled.  "You *have* done this 
before."

Ranma smiled.  "You taught me."

"Well, not *me*, exactly.  But close enough."  He reached 
over to grab Ranma's hands.

For a while they breathed together in the middle of the 
Australian desert.

"All right, Walker Between Worlds.  I do see hope.  In 
the matter of curses, innocents cannot be trapped with 
the curse.  If they are, the curse can be undone.  We 
must use that."

"You say my other part - other Ranma - she innocent?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that.  If she has the same magic that 
you do, she's surely been a part of other magical 
conflicts and is not completely innocent.  I think 
instead of the life she carries.  That one *is* 
completely innocent, and through it we must find the key 
to breaking the curse laid upon you by the Dreamkiller."

"Ah so.  How?"

"As you indicated: through your dreams.  I think you and 
your counterpart are linked through them.  If you are as 
experienced as you say you are, then enter the dreamstate 
with me."

That sat for a while, going through the rituals.  The 
hours passed, the sun set, and the stars came out.

Finally, Ranma stirred.  "There!  There it is!  I can 
feel it!"

"Easy, Walker Between Worlds.  Do not grab for it too 
eagerly.  Coax it towards you."

"It's her!  It's me!  I can feel... something pulling..."

"No, Lamma, wait!"

A flash of orange lit the night.  When the man's eyes 
cleared, he was alone.

He looked around placidly.  "Well.  That's never happened 
before."

---

She felt herself drifting.  It was a state of 
consciousness she'd never attained before.  It felt 
wonderful.

And then something grabbed her and it didn't feel so 
wonderful.

She was yanked, yanked so hard that her anchor was drawn 
with her.  Her vision cleared; she seemed to be on a 
huge, featureless orange plain.  She turned around and 
froze.

He was there.  He was looking at her, the shock on his 
face evident.  They stared and stared.

As one, they spoke.  "Ranma?"

She swallowed heavily.  It was *him*.  The guy who... 
who'd married Akane.

She examined him closely.  He looked exactly like her.  
Except... his hair was different, shorter.

He spoke up.  "Your hair looks weird.  Feminine."

She flushed, a weird sort of guilt coloring her cheeks.  
"I... I spend most of my time as a woman."

He looked down at her stomach, his lip twitching.  
"Evidently."

Something snapped inside of her.  She reached up and 
grabbed his shirt.  "Listen, jackass, don't you dare 
judge me.  You'd've done the same thing in my position."

He shook his head.  "No, I wouldn't've.  I could 
never..."

She laughed.  "Guy, the one person you can't fool is me.  
I was there, too.  Remember the festival?  The one where 
Mousse performed?"

He winced.  "I was just..."

"Yeah, 'just'.  You wanted to try it out, try going out 
as a woman in a kimono.  And you really liked it, liked 
the looks you got, the way you felt.  Didn't you?"

The look on his face was one of deep chagrin.  "It didn't 
mean I wanted to do it permanently."

"I don't do it permanently.  Even when I was stuck with a 
woman's body, I was a guy.  I still am a guy, in some 
ways."  She released his shirt and took a step back.  
"I'm nine months pregnant with my second child and I'm 
*still* a guy.  And, *you*..."  She eyed him critically.  
"You're the father of one child with another on the way, 
and you are still a woman, at least partially."

He shook his head feebly.  "No..."

She grinned evilly.  "C'mon, I know that look.  It means 
you know what I'm saying is right, you just don't want to 
admit it right away."

He looked evenly at her, a little irritated and a little 
sheepish.  "You sure seem different from me."

She grunted.  "Live my life and see what it does to you.  
You've got no idea of the kind of hell I went through."

"I- I can imagine."  He stared at her some more.  "This 
is me?"

She nodded.  "I think you need to admit it to yourself - 
that the possibility exists that you could have made the 
decisions I did.  Trust me, Ranma-kun - denial gets you 
nowhere."

"Um... what exactly am I denying?"

"That there's a fair streak of femininity in you.  It's 
hard, I know.  I went through it too.  Dad taught us to 
be so masculine - that women were, by their very nature, 
weak and inferior.  Then I was stuck as a woman, and I 
thought of myself that way - inferior.  You don't know 
how close I came to killing myself."

He looked shocked.  "Really?"

"Yeah.  Fortunately, I met this guy.  He helped me 
realize that my self-worth was not tied at all to my 
gender.  He helped me feel good about myself, helped me 
build a life for myself where it didn't matter what my 
'true' gender was."

The look on his face was soft with understanding.  
"Kentaro."

She nodded decisively.  "Yeah.  Kentaro.  Now do you 
understand why I fell in love with him?  How good he was 
for me?  Why I'd choose to share my life with him?"

He stared at her for a long time.  By doing so, she knew 
that he was thinking seriously about it, and that 
whatever answer he gave her would be the truth.  Finally, 
he nodded.  "Yes.  I do see that.  He... I thought he was 
a nice guy.  Real kind, understanding, all that.  Tofu 
without Betty-chan and the fogged glasses."

She laughed.  "I never thought about him like that.  But 
yeah."

"He loves you a lot.  I could see it in his eyes."

"I know that."  Even so, it filled her with a tremendous 
glow, to see that he could see it, too.  "And, you know, 
it was kind of nice to see that life with Akane would 
have been so neat if the whole Herb thing had gone 
differently.  She's so happy.  Content."

His face looked concerned.  "How's she doing?"

"Pretty well, actually.  She wants you back very badly, 
but she didn't fall apart or nothing.  She was very 
understanding and helpful."

He raised an eyebrow.  "She was?"

"Well, *after* she beat up on me for a while."

They laughed together.  It felt good.

She grinned, feeling a kind of relief she'd never 
expected.  "This was good, this was good for me.  Ever 
since I appeared in your universe, I'd been feeling 
defensive.  As if for some stupid reason I had to 
apologize for my life.  Now I know I got nothing to be 
ashamed about.  I am Ranma, and married to a man, and 
that's not a contradiction."

"No, it's not.  This was good for me, too.  I... didn't 
realize how firmly entrenched I still was in Dad's way of 
thinking.  Being a man or woman - that doesn't make a 
damned bit of difference in whether you're a good person 
or not.  I thought I knew that, but I was still thinking 
you were weak somehow for choosing to marry a man.  Sorry 
'bout that."

She grinned and slapped his chest.  "As well you should 
be.  Still, lesson learned and all that.  At least you 
learned it faster'n I did."

"Well, things were a little different for you.  For one 
thing, you didn't have me around to knock some sense into 
you."

She rolled her eyes.  "Fat lot of good that would have 
done.  I probably would have tried to take over your 
body."

"Er, how?"

"I'd've found a way, trust me."

He grinned.  "I'll bet.  I never knew talking to me could 
be so fun."

"Yeah."  She looked around.  "So, now that we've got the 
bonding part down, what next?"

"Um."  He looked around.  "I don't know.  I was told that 
the key to getting back was through your baby."

Ranma felt her belly.  "Really?  Why?  How?"

"Yes, because it's innocent, and I haven't a clue."

"Oh.  Not terribly useful under the circumstances."

Ranma frowned and put his hand over hers.  She felt his 
chi began to flow into her body, towards the baby.  She 
closed her eyes and sent her chi flowing as well.

And she could see it.  A tunnel of light that led from 
the baby.  She could see where it had come from, and 
where it yearned to be.  *Needed* to be.  And the 
light... if she and Ranma could... just...

"No.  I do not permit it."

She flung open her eyes to stare at a nightmare.  The 
shape was strange and alien to her eyes. A mix between a 
bug and a lizard and something else again she was certain 
she didn't want to identify.  Its eyes glowed the same 
orange color as the plain they were on.

Ranma spoke out of the side of her mouth.  "What is 
*that*?  I've never seen nothing like it before."

"I have."  He sounded grim.  "I killed it.  But it cursed 
me before it died."

"Oh yeah?  Is that what caused this switching stuff?"

"Yeah.  It said it was going to send me to Hell."

"I'm not sure it entirely succeeded.  I mean, a lot worse 
could have happened.  And we seemed to have found a way 
around it pretty easily."

"Have you?"  The creature seemed to be trying to take 
control of the conversation.  "You are in Hell.  My 
version of it.  I will make you suffer now.  In ways you 
cannot imagine."

He stepped in front of her.  "Quick, run.  I've fought it 
before; I can hold it off."

She shoved him aside.  "Run to where?  You seem to forget 
I'm as powerful as you are."

He looked at her.  "But you're pregnant."

She looked up at him and flashed him a confident grin.  
"I'll adjust.  It's what I do best."

The smile spread to his face.  "Yeah.  I suppose it is."

Together, they faced the creature.

---

Akane blinked into the darkness.  The dojo had suddenly 
flared orange.  Now it was pitch black again, and Ranma 
was no longer holding her hands.

"Ranma?"

Silence.

She got up and groped her way over to the wall.  She 
fumbled for the lights and turned them on.  Squinting at 
the brightness, she was nevertheless quickly able to 
determine that Ranma wasn't there.

Her stomach sank.  This couldn't be a good sign.  She 
turned out the lights again and sat down against the 
wall, trying to clear her head.  She had to use her 
spirit to find Ranma.  Somehow.  It would work.  It had 
to.

The dojo door slid open.  Akane blinked over at the form 
of Nabiki.  She was holding a phone.  "It's Ranma-kun.  
He needs money.  As usual."

Akane's heart leapt.  "*He* needs money?"

Nabiki smiled warmly.  "Yes, he.  He's in the middle of 
Australia, and he's had some interesting experiences that 
he's dying to talk to you about.  I expect a full report 
immediately after you get off the phone."

Akane jumped to her feet as best she could.  She ran over 
and almost fell into Nabiki's arms.  Nabiki help her up, 
hugging Akane to her.  Akane took the phone from Nabiki 
in a clumsy exchange and brought held it to her ear.  
"Hello?"

"Hey there, Akane."  A decidedly masculine voice, 
sounding tired and full of love and a little mischief.  
"Can you send me some more money?  I'd like to go home."

"You *are* home, Ranma."  She clutched Nabiki close to 
her as she listened to the sound of her husband's gentle 
laughter.

---

Kentaro watched his daughter examine the go board 
intently.  She was only beginning to grasp some of the 
very basic strategy.  Kentaro had left her an obvious 
opening, and was watching to see if she would take it.  
Finally she did, and looked to him for approval.

He beamed at her.  "Very good, Kyoko."

She giggled.  "I'm beating you, Daddy."

He nodded.  "Yes, you are."  He placed another stone, 
well away from the threatening position she was 
developing.

She stared at the position for a moment, then sighed.  
"Daddy, when's Mommy coming home?  My real Mommy, I 
mean."

Kentaro suppressed his own sigh.  He'd been expecting a 
call from the other-universe Ranma all evening.  "I don't 
know.  Soon, I hope."

"Yeah, pretty soon."

They both looked up, startled.  Ranma - female and 
pregnant - was standing in the doorway.  She had 
obviously been fighting, and had bruises on her neck.  
She looked very drained, which Kentaro knew meant that 
she'd been using chi-attacks despite being nine months 
pregnant.  Which meant that the situation had to have 
been dire indeed.

He leapt to his feet and ran to her side.  "Dear, are you 
all right?"  He began to examine her bruise.  It looked 
very painful.

"Mommy!"  Kyoko ran up to grab both of their legs at 
once.  "Mommy's home!"

Ranma looked down between Kentaro's hands.  "Yes, Kyo-
chan.  I'm home.  For good."

Kentaro felt something warm build inside him with those 
words.  Trying to maintain his professionalism, he felt 
the pulse at her neck in an attempt to see how strong she 
was.

Ranma smiled and put her hand over his.  "Ken-chan, I do 
think I need to go to the hospital, but I'm not on the 
verge of death or nothing.  Can't you think of any better 
way to greet me than to give me a physical?"

Kentaro saw the humor and love in her eyes, and smiled 
with it.  "Sorry."

He bent down and kissed her.  She kissed back ferociously 
while Kyoko squealed in delighted laughter.

~*~

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Well, whaddya think?

I deliberately skimped on the details of the battles with 
the evil thing, deeming them unnecessary.

I'm still looking for a better title.  Any thoughts?

I'd like to know how effective the arguments were, and 
whether they can be improved.  I believe they can be, 
considerably.  I'm fairly certain TILma's concession of 
TOPma's points was rather sudden, but I couldn't think of 
a decent way for him to argue against what she was 
saying.  Your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks all for the encouragement to write this.  It 
really was fun.  :)