Romalov smiled and slipped along the shadows. Meeting Kodachi today
was a surprise, but such a delight, as well! He had known that she would be
perfect, just the right combination of innocent seduction, beauty and
sauciness, no girl to be taken lightly, but a woman in her own right. Ah,
it was wonderful to be so smitten once again!

        He slipped in through the window of Kodachi's bedroom. In his
fingers, he lightly grasped one of her roses, so deep a red as to seem
black, light droplets of water clinging to the tender petals as if it had
been freshly picked from the autumn garden outside and not stolen from her
precious greenhouse. He smiled at the outline of her body in the bed and
slipped closer, tugging back the sheets to reveal... Huh?

        "Surprised, dear man?" Kodachi purred throatily. "I thought you
might be." Her hand twirled the razor sharp ribbon idly as she inspected
him, her gaze cynical. "You stole something from me last night, something
very precious meant only for Ranma-sama. You should be ashamed of yourself,
sneaking into my bedroom in such a manner!"

        An expression of... was that guilt? ... crossed Romalov's face.
"Indeed, madam, and I must admit 'twas mighty -strange- making love to a
woman who cried another man's name." No, not guilt; more like jealousy.

        Kodachi raised a dark eyebrow and glared at him. "Really,
Romalov-darling. When you didn't properly introduce yourself, I'm afraid
that I made several rather appropriate conclusions, all things considered.
You look exactly like him," she finished in a whisper, fascinated by his
expression.

        "No," Romalov answered sulkily. "HE looks like ME. Kodachi," he
breathed softly, "Kodachi, do you not know how I love to love you? Can you
begin to imagine how it feels to suffer knowing that you love another and
not me?"

        "You've barely known me hours!"

        "I've *known* you an ETERNITY!"

        Both broke off and listened for someone to come and investigate the
noise as soon as they realized they were shouting. After a short time,
Romalov leaned forward and took her hand in his. "Will you listen to me?
Will you allow me to relate to you my tale?"

        Kodachi was still suspicious; indeed, she felt advantage had been
taken of her and yet... and yet... "Oh, all -right- but this had best be
-good-, Romalov."

        It took nearly an hour to tell her the whole of it and when he was
done, she looked at him as if he were mad. "You've lost your mind if you
think I'll believe such a bald-faced lie as that, Romalov!" Kodachi
murmured bluntly.

        "You want proof?" he asked huskily. "What can I say to you to prove
myself? What can I do? The apparitions, the hypnosis? You want to see me
make things from thin air or disappear before your very eyes? Kodachi,
that's not what I want! That's not what I'm asking! I don't want' to be a
-vampire- before your eyes! Only me," he whispered brokenly. "Only me, and
if I could be human again for you, I would be. Don't you know? Can't you
see? The blood tears welled and spilled over his cheeks as he took his hand
from hers in an attempt to hide his face from her, the sheer hideousness of
the whole action.

        His motions tugged at the strings of her heart and she wrapped her
arms about him in an attempt to soothe, to bring comfort to him. "Romalov,
Romalov, shush, shush, 'tis no use weeping so..." With her fingers, she
brushed his chin up so that she could see him and stopped there. Bright
sparkling red droplets lay on the back of her white hand and her heart
filled with trepidation. "Oh. Oh. Oh."

        "I told you," he whispered brokenly, turning to her suddenly,
taking her hands into his own. "I told you. Oh, Kodachi, I wish... I wish
I... But no, now could anyone love a creature such as I?"

        Perhaps it was with those very words that Kodachi's heart warmed to
him, melted to reveal a love that was, without doubt, centuries old;
perhaps it was the sheer hopelessness in his voice, an emotion that had
filled her heart many times o'er the years; perhaps, finally, it was
kindred soul meeting kindred soul and bursting into flames with the heat of
the emotion. "Romalov, Romalov! I can, I can, I will! I do!"

        Her impassioned burst of words made him look at her and she seemed
to glow in that moment, a glow that encompassed her entire heart and his as
well. "You will love me, even if it takes months, years for us to be
together, always, forever?"

        Her response sent shivers down his spine. "Even if it takes CENTURIES."

        With those words, he lifted the gymnast's tender wrist to his lips
and drank.

* * * * *

        Kuno bit his lip worriedly. It had been nigh on three weeks since
he had seen the relief of Ranma's shape in the moonlight and he had not
seen it since though the sounds of passion had echoed from Kodachi's room
each night past. That, in and of itself, worried him; but upon arrival in
her room, there was nought to be seen but curtains billowing in the wind
and he would close them and lock the window quietly before shutting the
door behind him on his way out once again, being sure to leave the tiny
light in the corner of the room on as he had always done. He worried that
the night air was what was making her ill but he was unsure. It had been
two full weeks and the beginning of this, the third, and again today she
was not well enough to return to school. Instead, she was pale and tired
and seemed but a shadow of her former self, the laughing and beautiful
Black Rose of the Kuno household.

        Kuno sighed heavily. The joy of her days seemed to be the visit of
the suspicious creature, Romalov. Ha. He looked quite like that Sorcerer,
Saotome, and the vague suspicion that Romalov (and not Ranma) was the man
who had been loving his sister SHOULD have filled his mind and yet it did
not for Kuno's thoughts were so centered upon Ranma that the notion of
others holding such potential "evil" did not truly cross his thoughts.

        As for Ranma, he had recovered from his bout of jealousy after
seeing Kodachi's happiness during the afternoons he had visited her with
Romalov. Romalov's very presence seemed to brighten her face, bring color
to her pallid cheeks. All were worried for her seeming illness and yet
there seemed to be nothing to be done for her. Even the other fiancees
worried over her decline despite their former controversies. The time spent
visiting with Romalov and Kodachi in the late afternoons had made him think
(for once). All things told, Romalov wasn't so bad, for a cousin. He was
even sort of glad Romalov had come, because he seemed to make Kodachi happy
and it was nice to see her that way. They were going on some kind of date
tonight and Ranma wished them well. It was kinda nice to know he wasn't
alone in the world, too, that there were other family members out there
someplace.

        Still, the weeks had passed and dancing in the air was something
strangely familiar, something that no one seemed to be able to put their
fingers on. The winds of change blew through the small town of Nerima, but
no one paid heed.

* * * * *

        Kodachi stood still as Romalov pulled the zipper up the back of the
black velvet chiengsom[2]. The thought of his piano player's fingers
tickling up her spine made her close her eyes so that the image, the feel
of it, could linger in her mind.

        "So beautiful," he whispered softly, kissing the bare nape of her
neck. "How warm and full of life you are!"

        A light flush crossed Kodachi's features as she turned to touch his
cheek. The silky black hair was loose tonight and it felt good to slide a
hand into the wealth of strands and lean up to press her lips gently to his
own. "And you, beloved, are so handsome I doubt not that every woman in
Tokyo shall feel most bereaved and anguished that I am the one on your arm
and not she."

        Romalov leaned close and brushed a tender kiss across a bare ear.
"Your dress is lovely," he murmured quietly, "and yet it lacks something."
He held his hand open before her to show that it was bare and waved it
before her eyes, once, twice, before opening it again. In the palm lay a
pair of exquisitely tiny earrings, the diamonds sparkling in their silver
setting. With a smile as if to ask permission, he leaned forward and
carefully placed each one upon her before stepping back and waving his hand
once again. This time, a bracelet appeared to match the earrings and he
slipped it onto her wrist with a smile, kissing the inside before letting
it go. "A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things." [2]

        Kodachi looked at him uncertainly for a moment before flinging
herself into his arms with a loud cry, something between pleasure and
sorrow that filled his soul as he stroked his fingers down her back gently,
soothing her. "Darling, love... Don't cry, I thought you would like
them..." he whispered.

        Her voice and the expression on her face were fierce as she lifted
her visage to him. "They're lovely! Thank you."

        "Come away with me," he whispered in her ear, holding her tightly.
"Come away, to the mountains in the north, I own a temple there, old,
abandoned. We can stay without being disturbed. Come away!"

        "But..." she paused momentarily, the look on her face wistful as
she turned to look at herself in the rounded mirror of her dresser. "What
about Tatewaki? What about your family?"

        "Ah, love, they can be your family, too. Come away with me." The
urge to use all of his power to seduce her into agreement was difficult to
resist but this must be her decision and her decision alone.

        She whirled to look at him once again, placed a delicate hand
against his chest and looked into the depths of those sapphire eyes. "You
want me, then?" she whispered softly. "You desire my presence in your
life?"

        "For an eternity," Romalov whispered fervently. "I..." He broke off
by gently kissing her mouth, cupping the back of her head with his hand as
he did so. "I want you to marry me, Kodachi. Marry me, be mine, always
mine! Come be my bride," he whispered, shivering.

        Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her cry was muffled
against his chest as she gave him her answer, the answer of a woman well
and truly in love.

        They snuck away from the Kuno mansion that very night, she carrying
a small valise containing no more than a simple green dress, a leotard and
clean underthings, he carrying no more than her. They would be together and
no material thing in the world could be more important than that.

* * * * *

        "She's gone! Master! The Mistress is gone! She's not in her bed, I
can't find her anywhere! She hasn't returned from her date!" Sasuke's voice
was frantic as it worked its way through the sludge of Tatewaki's morning
mind.

        "Huh? Whatdja say?"

        "KODACHI IS GONE, MASTER!" Sasuke shrieked. The little man was in a
coil of turmoil, trembling and afraid for the girl. They didn't know this
young man, this Romalov! He could be anyone and he looked exactly like
Saotome Ranma, certainly no good indication in Sasuke's opinion.

        "Kodachi?" Kuno asked, dumbfounded. "Sh..she didn't come home?" A
thousand conflicting ideas ran through his mind. "Sasuke! My clothing! I
must go, I must..."

        "She left nothing to follow, Master!"

        "I must go to Saotome. Saotome will have some idea, surely! Indeed,
'tis likely that rascal who is the very culprit!" That decision made, Kuno
dressed frantically. So little time in which to find her and so much to be
done!

* * * * *

        "So, Pop, what is it that yer sayin'?"

        "Weren't you -listening-, boy? Are you stupid? Look! Look at all of
the pictures, the drawings, look at this old scroll drawn by your
grandfather Christaven, many times removed, of course. Don't you see what
this is? Don't you see what this Romalov IS?" Genma asked angrily. He was
frightened, truly frightened for the first time in his life. Oh, certainly
he had thought himself to be frightened before but he now knew that nothing
he'd felt before had even come close. "Don't you see what he IS? And we
invited him into our -home-, boy! Our -home-!" he hissed between clenched
teeth.

        "Oi, Pop, what is this, some kinda bad vampire joke? Halloween's a
gaijin thing and it ain't 'til next week," Ranma scoffed.

        "READ IT!!"

        Ranma jumped, waving his arms. His father had obviously developed
the same "demon-head" technique as Akane's dad. "Geez, I'm readin', I'm
readin' already!"

        Ranma certainly wasn't known for his scholarly aptitude; however,
"Grandfather" Christaven had been deadly accurate and highly descriptive as
he wrote down the old tales from his mountain home a quarter world away.
The suspicions he had concerning his brother's unnatural behavior came to
light quickly, almost as if Ranma could see the words bouncing from the
page into his notice. "Pop..." he whispered quietly as he rifled through
the drawings, "these all look like *ME*!"

        "You and Romalov, boy. Romalov, your Grandfather Christaven's
brother! Romalov, who comes through the centuries!"

        "SAOTOME!!!!!!"

        The cry caught the attention of everyone in the house as Kuno came
barreling in. "Saotome!" he cried once more. "She's gone! Kodachi's gone!
What have you done with her!?"

        Kasumi dropped the kettle to the floor, her hand going to her mouth
as her eyes became round "o"'s of surprise. "Oh, MY!"

* * * * *

        The discussion had lasted an hour or more and Ranma's frustration
grew with every passing moment.

        "We MUST search them out!" Kuno cried insistently. "If what your
father dares to suggest is true, Saotome, then e'en as we sit at this
table, my sister's very life is in jeopardy!"

        Ranma scowled at Genma; his father didn't even have the guts it
took to look guilty for blurting out the notion of Romalov's vampirism
before the passionate and easily led Tatewaki. Ranma wondered if his
father's usual greedy nature had anything to do with his sudden
confession.[4] "Now, maybe it ain't as bad as you think, Kuno. Maybe she
came home an' just went out early again."

        "Nay!" Kuno refuted angrily. "She did not sleep in her bed nor did
she leave the lamp in the room on as she has always done. Her dress lay
crumpled on the floor, upon investigation, and her small valise has been
taken from the closet. What else could it be but that she is gone, stolen
away by the evil magic of your family? I always KNEW that you were a
sorcerer!"

        Ranma groaned silently. What a wreck his father had made of this.
Ranma knew Genma well and while he did not doubt that Genma felt fear for
the "unnatural" Romalov, Ranma also knew that Genma lusted after what
appeared to be Romalov's wealth. Disgust pooled in the pit of his stomach
and he closed his eyes to the chaos that had erupted in the Tendo
household.

        "Ranma, you have to -do- something!" Akane cried.

        The look of apprehension on her face caused him to come to a
decision. {Might as well. If Kuno goes alone, somebody'll get hurt for sure
and I ain't gonna want that on my conscience.}

        "Oh, all RIGHT. We'll go. Pop, you an' Mr. Tendo are comin', too.
If I hafta suffer, *SO* do you!" That announcement made, he left the men
weeping hysterically at the table and went upstairs to pack warm clothes.

* * * * *