Here's the last bit I have so far.  Looking forward to C&C.

Please send to abrown@imag.net

Chapter 3: Homecoming

        It took them several hours to get back home.  Akane thought that they
spent more time than necessary trying to explain their large 'package'.
It would have been even longer had Nabiki not produced a receipt to prove
the purchase of their statue.  [Where on earth did she get that?] Akane
wondered.  Ranma, unsurprisingly, slept through most of the trip, waking
only when he needed to walk from A to B.
        Warm memories flooded through Akane's mind as they passed through the
gates of her family home.  No matter how long she left, she always felt good
about coming back here.  She was a bit sorry for Kasumi and Nabiki.  Once
married, they would have to move in with their respective husbands. Would
they feel the pain she would feel if she could never live here again?
        As they approaced the front door, she spied a small black shape
sitting on the front steps.  "P-chan!" she exclaimed.  The tiny pig squealed
and leapt up into her outstretched arms.  "Oh, P-chan!  I hope you wern't
waiting here for too long!"
        Ranma, half asleep for most of the trip, roused himself at the sound
of P-chan's squeals.  "Don't worry, knowing him, it probably took most of
our vacation for him to find this place again."
        P-chan growled.  "Would you stop picking on him?!  Honestly, you're
jealous of a pig!"
        "I am not!"
        "Are too!"
        Nabiki sighed.  [They haven't even entered the house yet.]  She shook
her head in disgust.  "Okay boys, put the box in the training hall around
back."  When the box was in hall and the workers had left, Nabiki
opened the box.  "Ranma!  When will the spells wear off?" she yelled.
        Outside, Ranma was busy dodging various items thrown at him by Akane.
He stopped and yelled back, "They should end in a couple of hour - ACK!"
A large pot connected with his head sending him into the pond where he
promptly changed into a girl.  Akane stormed away to her room, and Ranma,
muttering a variety of insults and choice words, stormed to the bath.  By
this time, Kasumi was already in the kitchen, and Genma and Soun were on the
balcony playing Go.
        "A couple of hours, huh?" Nabiki said to herself.  "Oh well.  That
gives me time to get these photos of Ranma developed."  She chuckled
deviously.  "Kuno's going to enjoy these."

        Patricia quailed as she saw row upon row of houses stretching off
into the distance.  She turned in place, looking in all directions.  From
the roof of the Tendo house, she could see for miles.  "Th - there are so
many!" she said.
        Ranma was standing beside her, watching the newest member of his
expanding 'family.'  "Yeah, I suppose.  But that's Tokyo for you.  It's
suppose to be one of the largest cities on the planet, I think."
        Patricia took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.  "Well, the
sooner I start, the sooner I'll finish."
        "Finish what?"
        "Exploring my new home.  If I'm going to protect the area, I should
get to know the place."
        "But we just gave you a tour of the house."
        "No, no.  Gargoyles protect.  It's our way.  When a new clan settles
in an area, they protect the place in which they live.  And since I live in
this city, it's my duty as a gargoyle to protect it."
        "You might want to narrow your focus.  It'd take you hours or even
days to go from one side of the city to the other."
        Patricia paled.  "It's *that* big?" she asked weakly.  Ranma nodded.
"I guess you're right."  She sighed.  Then she chuckled.  "Every time I
feel like my situation is hopeless, I just think how bad it would be if I
hadn't met you humans," she said, giving Ranma a rueful smile.
        Ranma smiled back.  "Hey, you'll do fine."
        [He really is nice and handsome for a human,] she thought.  [I wonder
why he and Akane are always fighting?]  She leapt up into the air and began
to rise on an column of rising air.  "I'll try to be back in a couple of
hours!" she yelled.  Ranma waved back in farewell.

        She flew through the night sky, marveling at the size an variation
of the humans living areas.  They had no protective outer wall, and all the
dwellings were no larger than large two-story huts.  How did they protect
their houses from invaders?
        After an hour of flying in larger and larger circles, she eventually
rested on the roof of one of the larger three-story buildings in the area.
She wondered if she would ever get use to seeing lights that made the night
as bright as day, or the strange metal wagons that carried people without
horses.
        A furtive movement caught her eye.  At the end of the street she
saw what appeared to be a child rummaging outside one of the houses.  She
was just about to dismiss it when she noticed that the child was taking
several objects that were hanging up outside a window.  [What is he taking?]
she wondered.  The diminutive figure moved to a second house and did the
same thing.  This time she saw what it was that was taken.  [Women's under-
clothes?]  She shook her head.  [Probably just some prank.  I guess I should
give him a scare to set him right.]  She jumped off her perch and glided
towards the thief.  Setting herself, she dove, screaming a gutteral
battlecry.
        The thief looked up, gave a startled shout, and jumped straight up
twenty feet.  Patricia checked her descend and stared at the thief in
amazement.  She was so shocked by the maneuver, that she did not see the
small pipe flying towards her face.  She reeled when it hit.  Losing her
equilibrium, she crashed to the ground.
        She almost immediately sat up, massaging her forehead.  "Oww!  What
hit me?"
        "Well now what do we have here, hmmm?" said a wizened voice.  "Why
it's a gargoyle!  I haven't seen one of your kind in years."  The figure
refilled his pipe and took a long drag.  "Pesky critters you gargoyles.
Always butting into other people's business."
        Patricia, by this time, had regained her feet.  "I don't know what
kind of child you are, but you'd better put those clothes back or I'll -"
        "Child!  A child am I?!  Do I look like a child to you?!"
        Patricia looked at the thief.  He was small, almost 2 1/2 to three
three feet tall, with stubby arms and legs.  With the mask covering his
face, it was hard to make an accurate assessment of his age.  "Well... yes."
        "Why thank, m'dear.  I knew that Oil of Olay was good at removing
wrinkles, but apparently it's outdone itself this time."
        "Look, I don't care if you're five or fifty.  Put the clothes back,
you thief!"
        "I am not a thief!" the thief cried indignantly.  "I'm just giving
these lovely bras and panties the love and attention they deserve!"
        "Okay, I warned you!"  With a roar she charged.  She swung a fist at
the little man, but he stepped aside, grabbed her arm, and threw her into a
fence.  It fell apart on impact, leaving her under a pile of lumber.
        "You think you can beat me?  Ha!  Nobody can beat Happosai, founder
of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.  Nobody! Hahahahah - URK!"  A
fallen 2x4 hit him square between the eyes.
        Patricia walked over to the stunned martial artist.  "Then call me
Nobody."  She picked up the bag of clothes.  Instantly, Happosai was up.
        "Please, let me have the panties.  Pleeease!"  He looked up at her
with puppy dog eyes, pity emanating from practically every pore of his body.
        Patricia recoiled in revulsion.  "Look, I don't know what's wrong
with you, but you are *not* getting these clothes!  I'm returning them to
their rightful owners."
        Happosai sat on the ground crying pitifully.  "Fine, ruin an old
man's dreams then!  I'll just <sniffle> sit here and die all alone with
<sniffle> no one left to comfort me."
        Feeling somewhat guilty, Patrica turned back towards the old man.
"Hey, it's not that bad.  You shouldn't be taking other peoples things in
the first place."
        "I'm sure <sniffle> I'll last a bit longer if..." he looked at her.
        "If...?" asked Patricia.
        "IF YOU LET ME SPEND SOME TIME IN THAT PRETTY BOSOM OF YOURS! HA-HA,
HOT STUFF!!"  He jumped up and glomped on to her chest.  "Ahhhh!  Who knew
that gargoyles had such ample assets," he said, his hands and face moving
around her flesh.
        Patricia was frozen in shock for about one second before she dropped
the bag and, with a scream of rage, tried to pry him off her chest.
        "Let go!  Let go!  Damn you, LET ME GO, YOU FREAK!!!"
        "No!  No!  No!  I don't wanna!  I don't wanna!"
        After a minute of twisting, turning, pushing and pulling, Patricia
finally managed to force Happosai off of her.  He tried to jump back up, but
she was ready this time and sent him into the stratosphere.  As he faded out
of view she heard him say, "Almost as good as a brazier."  She quickly
discovered that he had managed to take her top off during the fight.  She
blushed furiously, trying to find a way to cover her chest.  She grabbed the
bag of clothes and held them up so the retreating martial artist could see
it.
     "At least you won't be getting these!" she yelled.  Faintly she
heard him yell back.  "My panties...!"

     Nabiki awoke to the sound of a gentle tapping against her window.
[Sounds like Akane kicked Ranma out again,] she thought.  She turned on
the light by her desk and opened the curtains.  Looking imploringly
inward was Patricia, hugging a large sac to her chest.
     "Could you let me in?  Please?" Patricia pleaded.
     Nabiki opened the window and Patricia bounded in.  "We'll have to get
you a housekey," said Nabiki.  Then she noticed that she was wearing
nothing in the way of a top.  "What happened to your shirt?" she asked.
     Patricia blushed.  "I...lost it," she muttered.
     Nabiki lifted an eyebrow.  "Lost it?" she echoed, unconvinced.
     Patricia looked away.  "Yeah," she whispered.  Then she brightened.
"I managed to get these away from a thief, though."  She put the bag down
and then remembered that she was not wearing a top.  She quickly crossed
her arms over her chest and folded her wings around her torso.
     Nabiki managed to keep her eyes on the bag.  Reaching in she pulled
out a bra.  "Was this thief about three feet tall, old and tried to grab
your breasts?"
     Patrica stared.  "You know him?"
     Nabiki nodded.  "He's my daddy's master.  And a notorious pervert.
His name's Happosai.  Did you really manage to beat him?"
     Patricia shrugged.  "It's wasn't much of a fight.  He was too busy
trying to squeeze me to defend himself."
     Nabiki immediately began to think of ways she could turn this
success into some ready cash, having spent a large amount on the vacation.
[The Mayor will be glad to have someone able to stop Happosai, enough
that I just might be able to convice him to pay for her living here plus
payment for services, and a comission for me...Of course I'll handle all
of her finances...]  Patricia interrupted her reverie.
     "Ummm...you don't happen to have something I can wear, do you?"
     Nabiki sighed internally.  "Well first, open those wings, I need to
make some measurements."  Patricia face burned as she unfolded her wings and
arms.  Nabiki looked her over, making several measurements by eye.  She took
a black and green one piece swimsuit from her closet and gave it to her.
     Patricia took off her skirt and scrambled into it.  It fitted her well
except around her tail, where the fabric stretched around it and over
one buttock.  She felt like half the suit was missing from the waist down,
but it was better than being practically naked.
     "You know you don't need to be so self conscious.  We're both girl...
hmmm...female, and with the way Ranma acts, you're going to see a lot more
of her than you'll probably believe."
     Patricia sighed.  "Sorry, Nabiki.  I'm just not use to being around
people my own age.  On Aval - where I lived - I was the youngest.  Everyone
seemed to think I needed 'looking after.'  Everyone was my superior and I'm
not sure how to act around people who are my equal."  She sat down on
Nabiki's bed and uttered a forlorn sigh.
     Nabiki looked a little concerned.  "What's wrong?"
     "I tried to give that-" she gestured to the bag of underwear, "-to a
human shortly after I retrieved it.  What happened?  She screamed in teror
and ran.  That doesn't exactly inspire self-confidence.  Then my recent...
separation from my clan.  And a few other things."  Her eyes burned as she
remembered the terrible accident that had killed her friends, and the
reaction of the others afterward.  And then there were those other two in
the park...
     "There's something else you want to tell me, isn't there?" Patricia
looked sharply at Nabiki.  "When you do what I do, you get to be good at
reading people."

*****

That's it for chapter 3.  I'm sort of torn between turning it into a lemon
or not (I've never written one I thought was any good, but hey, I'm my own
worst critic).  I really need some help with this so any C&Cs are welcome.

Hope you enjoyed it.


					Zhai'helleva
					(Wind to thy wings...)
					Nighthawke