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"Autumn and Spring"
by Angus MacSpon

Based on "Ranma 1/2" created by Rumiko Takahashi.

C&C Welcome!

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- 3 -

Later, as they sat drinking tea and talking about nothing in particular,
Ranma found himself looking at Ukyou again.  With her hair let down she
looked even younger.  She looked like the teenager she'd been when he'd
seen her last.  Sixty-six years ago.

It was impossible.  No cosmetic surgery was that good.

"Can you tell me now?" he said at last.

She looked down, studying the teacup in her gloved hands for some time.
"I couldn't stay," she said finally.  "When I thought about how happy
you both looked at the wedding ... or the idea of facing you again when
you and ... she ... came back from the honeymoon ... it hurt too much. I
just couldn't bear it.  So I went home to my father."

"Where?  The detective we hired --"

"In Kochi.  He tended to move around a lot, but he always sent me his
new addresses."

"Shikoku," Ranma muttered.

"Yes.  He wasn't too pleased to have me back, but ..."  She shrugged.
"Anyway.  I finished school, went on to college.  I studied botany, at
first --"

"_Botany_?"

"Botany," she said firmly.  "But I found myself drifting into the
microbiological side, and after I graduated I went on to get a doctorate
in genetics."

He simply stared at her, mouth open, unable to think of anything to say.

She grinned at his expression briefly, then looked sad.  "I was _done_
with restaurants, Ranma.  Too many ... memories."

Ranma nodded, feeling sad himself.  The thought of Ukyou giving up her
okonomiyaki seemed tragic.

"Anyway," she went on, "I ended up working for one of the big biotech
corporations.  Made a name for myself, got a share in a few good
patents, made enough to retire at fifty."  She shrugged.  "And here I
am."

"No," Ranma said firmly.  "You can't stop there.  What about --"  He
waved his hand at her.  "This?  Why are you still young?  Is that some
new genetic technique you invented?"

"No.  Human genetic engineering is illegal in every country on the
planet.  You should know that.  If anybody's doing it, I don't know
about it.  I'd turn them in if I did."

"Then -- how?"

Ukyou sipped her tea, and made a face.  "Cold."  Then, looking over at
Ranma again:  "How am I still young?  If it comes to that --"

Without warning, she flung her cup at Ranma, splattering him with tea.

"-- I might ask you the same question," she finished, looking with
satisfaction at the young red-haired girl across the table from her.

                **********

"That's different," Ranma-chan said indignantly.  She mopped vainly at
her clothes with a napkin.

Ukyou nodded thoughtfully.  "Tell me," she said, "how is Ryouga these
days?  Still alive and well?"

Ranma-chan nodded, confused.

"Still turns into a black piglet?"

"I ... didn't know you knew about that."

Ukyou smiled.  "Do you know how long pigs live?"

"What?  No.  What are you talking ab --"

"Around twenty-five years, that's how long.  But Ryouga's still a
piglet.  You're still a young girl.  You must have worked this out for
yourself, years ago!  Your cursed forms don't change.  They don't age.
You fell into the spring of drowned girl, and a _girl_ is what you turn
into.  Not an old woman."

"But what's that got to do with -- _oh_.  You've been to Jyusenkyo."

Ukyou nodded, smiling wryly.  "About thirty years ago.  I wanted to
examine the pools, see if I could find any scientific explanation for
how the curse works.  I didn't really expect to succeed, but ..."  She
shrugged.  "Retirement was boring.  I did all my tests on the
nyannichuan, because I thought I was safe that way.  Turned out I was
wrong."

Ranma-chan laughed.  "So you're a woman ... who turns into a girl."

"Right."  Ukyou snorted.  "There was no way to cure it, either.  A dip
in the nyannichuan would hardly help --"

"There's no cure anyway," Ranma-chan said softly.

"Eh?"

"I went back there.  About five years after I got married, when they
opened up travel to China.  I found out --"  She broke off for a moment,
remembering the bitterness of that moment.  "There are no cures for
Jyusenkyo curses.  None of the springs work if you're already cursed."

"Oh."  Ukyou looked at her for a moment, her eyes sympathetic.  "I'm
sorry."

Ranma-chan shrugged.  "I got over it.  Eventually."  She sighed, and
then frowned.  "But you ... I'd have expected you to turn into a girl
who looks ... like me."

"I asked the Guide at Jyusenkyo.  He doesn't think it works that way --"

"'He?'  I thought Plum was the Guide now."

"Don't interrupt.  Plum's _grandson_ is the Guide now.  Plum died
several years ago, and her daughter refused to touch the job.  She
passed it on to her son instead."

"Oh.  Sorry."

"As I was saying, the curses don't seem to work that way.  The Guide
says the effect's more like an adaption to a shape, rather than a
cloning.  So, for example, your female form is the way you'd look if
you'd been born a girl.  Ryouga's cursed form is the closest piglet
analogue possible to his own shape.  And I ... become myself."

"But ..." Ranma-chan frowned.  "It sounds like you're talking about a
kind of immortality.  What's happened to all the people who've been
cursed in the past?"

"No, it's not immortality."  Ukyou smiled.  "Good point, though.  Your
original body continues to age, even if your cursed form doesn't.  For
example, you're ... eighty-five, right?  If you spend the next ten years
in your cursed form, then change back, you'll change back to a _ninety_-
five-year-old body."

"Oh."

"And the curse seems to act as a water magnet ... as I'm sure you've
noticed.  Sooner or later, you can't avoid changing back."  Her
expression changed suddenly.  "Unfortunately."

Ranma-chan chuckled.  "I can see why you'd prefer to stay like that."

"Can you?  _Can_ you?"  Ukyou seemed angry for some reason.  "No, you
don't see at all.  You don't know --"  She broke off suddenly.  After a
minute, she continued in a completely different tone: "No.  It doesn't
matter."  She looked up and smiled at Ranma-chan.  It seemed a bit
forced.  "I'm sorry, Ran-ch -- Ranma."

Ranma-chan studied her face, puzzled.  There was still something that
Ukyou wasn't telling her.  Something that worried Ukyou.  Perhaps even
frightened her.  What?

"So," she said, deliberately changing the subject.  "How long have you
been living here?  Since you retired?  And why China, anyway?  Just to
be near Jyusenkyo?"

"About fifteen years," Ukyou replied, obviously relieved.  "I found this
spot when I first came to visit Jyusenkyo, a bit over thirty years ago.
I fell in love with it then.  Later, I came back to China on ... another
project.  Eventually I realised that I might be here for years, so I
built the house."

"You spent your money well," Ranma-chan said, looking around.  "It's
beautiful.  Um, what was the other project you came back for?"

Ukyou chuckled.  "Money well spent ... you don't know the half of it.
But never mind that.  My current project?  That's ... a long story. I'll
tell you later, I promise."  She hesitated.  "Actually, I was hoping you
might be able to lend a hand with it."

Ranma-chan raised her eyebrows.  "If I can, then of course," she said. A
moment later she regretted it.  [Baka!  What have you let yourself in
for now?]  "Uhh ... what sort of hand did you have in mind?"

With a laugh, Ukyou stood up from the table.  "Don't worry.  Nothing too
arduous.  But for now ... well, you probably ought to get changed, at
least.  That tea's going to stain your clothes ... and do you want some
hot water, or ...?"

Ranma-chan got up as well.  "Yeah, some water'd be good."

Ukyou gave her a quizzical look.  "I'm surprised you don't spend more
time in your female form.  Youth has its advantages."

Ranma-chan shook her head.  "I guess it's different for you.  But I've
_never_ liked this body.  And ... well, being young is all very well.
But I've earned my years.  I'm not ashamed of them.  And I don't want to
start thinking of my curse as a crutch to lean on."

"Oh, Ranma ... nearly seventy years, and you still haven't accepted it?"
 Ukyou sighed.  "Come on.  The bath is through here."

                **********

He bathed, relishing the long, slow heat of the water.  When he was
done, he found clean clothing laid out for him at the door.  He shook
his head in amusement.  Just how carefully had Ukyou prepared for his
visit?

Briefly, it occurred to him that she might still harbour some hope of
"winning" him.  Then he shook his head again.  A fine pair they'd make!
A man in his eighties with a girl in her teens?  Or -- if she changed to
her natural form -- with another eighty-five-year-old?  No, the idea was
ridiculous.

(As always, he refused to even contemplate the idea of intimacy in his
female form.  Some things were unthinkable.)

He emerged from the bathroom laughing at his own foolishness.  He
trusted Ukyou.  That was all there was to it.

He prowled the house for a little, looking at everything and searching
for Ukyou.  He found her at last in a small study, working away at a
computer terminal with a frown on her face.  To his surprise he saw that
she'd changed her hair colour back to its old, familiar dark brown.

As he watched, she sighed and shut down the terminal.  "Problems?" he
asked.

Ukyou started.  "Oh!  I didn't hear you, Ran-chan -- I mean, Ranma --"
She flushed scarlet.

Ranma laughed.  "I think I can bear 'Ran-chan,'" he said.

"I didn't mean --"  She stopped, looking flustered.  After a few seconds
she went on, "I suppose I ... just didn't want to start thinking of you
... that way ... again."

Ranma took her hand.  "Ukyou," he said.  "No, _Ucchan_.  We've known
each other for eighty years.  You are my oldest friend.  You can call me
whatever you want."  After a moment, smiling, he added, "Besides ... I
kinda miss 'Ran-chan.'"

She snorted.  "Don't get maudlin."  But he could tell she was pleased.

They shared a smile, neither of them speaking.  The silence seemed to
grow.  Then, clearing her throat, she said, "So ... you've looked over
the house yet?  What do you think?"

"Impressive," Ranma said, unaccountably relieved.  "Beautiful.  But it's
so large!  What do you do with it all?"  He hesitated for an instant,
then spat it out:  "There's no-one else living here?  No ... husband?
Family?"

She looked away.  "No.  I just like a lot of space.  The household mechs
keep it cleaned, so why not ...?"  She broke off.  Another silence fell,
uncomfortable this time.  Finally she answered his real question.  "I
never married.  No children."

"Oh, Ucchan," he breathed.  "Please ... don't tell me you ... I ..."

"'Ruined my life?'" she said mockingly.  She still didn't look at him.
"No.  It's not like that.  I ... chose how to spend my life.  I have no
regrets."

No regrets?  After having had to admit that the first sixteen years of
her life had been wasted?  After turning her back on everything she'd
built during that time?  He wondered if she believed what she was
saying.

"Ucchan ... why didn't you ever come back?  Or at least let us know you
were all right?"

She looked back at him, finally.  "For a long time I didn't want to.  I
just ... wanted to forget about you all.  But then ..."  She looked
guilty.  "After I finished college, I ... I did come back."

"_What_!"  Ranma was astounded.  "That's nonsense!  I never --"

"Ranma."  He fell silent.  "I came back.  Just for a day or two.  I
wasn't sure how to ... well, how to handle it.  So I spoke to your
mother."

"My --?"  Ranma stopped suddenly.  "I always wondered why she was so
confident you were all right," he muttered.

"I asked her not to tell you I was there.  I ... still didn't want to
see you.  Not face-to-face.  But Nodoka did call Akane over.  We ...
managed to keep civil.  I think she was relieved, actually.  But it was
pretty clear that she didn't want me around.  Nodoka told me that you
and Akane were ... having a few problems."  In a low voice Ukyou added,
"It seemed like the only thing I could really do was mess the two of you
up again.  So I left."

"Ucchan ..."

"I never thought they wouldn't even tell you they'd seen me.  But I
guess it made sense, to them."

Ranma's voice was bitter.  "They never said a word."

"I telephoned, a few years later.  Just to say hello.  Akane answered.
We talked a while ... she seemed quite happy.  One child, another one on
the way.  But she told me she hadn't told you anything about my visit.
And ..."  Ukyou sighed.  "Why fight it?  I told her how to contact me,
if anything serious ever happened, and she promised she would.  That was
all, really."

"That would have been just before Hisao was born," Ranma said distantly.
He wasn't sure how he felt.  Betrayed?  But he could understand why
Akane had done it.  After their tumultuous courtship, it had taken her
years to feel really secure in her marriage.  [Oh, Akane ...]

"I did try one other time," said Ukyou.  "About ... fifteen years later?
Twenty?  It was just a flying visit, but I dropped by the dojo.  As luck
would have it, you and Akane were both away ... some tournament, I
think.  But I met your children."

"You did?" said Ranma, astonished.

She smiled.  "They gave me tea.  We talked for a little, and then I had
to leave.  I suggested they not tell Akane I'd been there.  I suppose
they counted you in that as well.  But that was why I didn't have any
trouble convincing them that you were all right, when I called last
night.  They knew me."

"Heh.  I'll have to have words with those boys when I get back."  Ukyou
raised an eyebrow, but did not answer.  "What?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing really ... I was just thinking how funny it sounds when you
call them 'boys.'  They're both in their sixties, Ran-chan.  They have
_grand-children_."

He huffed.  "Some habits are hard to break," he muttered.  She only
laughed.

- End of Part 3 -

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Angus MacSpon                                                Allen Gainsford
http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon            http://shell.ihug.co.nz/~macspon