CHAPTER TEN

Allucia woke the next morning, very groggy from her allergy
medication, staggered into the bathroom, and took a shower.  Upon
exiting the bathroom, she got dressed, and fell back asleep on the bed
until she heard the punctual knock at her door.

"Come in, Harry."

Harry entered.  "Use your powers again?"

"Nope.  You're just punctual.  And they're not powers.  I'm just as
telepathic as someone who is half-betazoid."

Harry shrugged, trying to shake off the images of Allucia sprawled on
the bed in other outfits than the modest blue jeans and cranberry tee
shirt with pinned on combadge she was wearing.  "Feeling better?"

"Yes, but the medication really knocks me out."

"I know a lovely young woman who does the same thing to me."

Allucia had to smile at that comment, and lazily proffered a skinny
hand in a request to be helped up.  Harry granted the request, and
watched as a dazed Allucia made her way to a vanity and brushed her
hair and pulled it back into a messy bun.

"So what's our game plan today?"  she asked, putting on earring number
seven.

"We're going to visit some ancient springs.  Legend is, they're
enchanted, and have special powers."

"Ooooo, enchanted."  Allucia giggled.

"Also a martial arts training ground."

That got the relief-pilot's attention.

"Well let's go!"




An hour later, the two entered the springs.  The combadge translated
the sign as reading "Enchanted Springs Training Center."

"It's so peaceful here," Allucia commented, "and beautiful.  I'm
surprised there aren't more tourists here."

Harry shrugged.  "Maybe we beat the crowd."

"Well you did drag me out of bed at only eleven in the morning."

"Only  eleven?  And you were ready when I came to get you."

"I need my beauty sleep."

Harry scrutinized Allucia's face.  "I don't think it's working."  He
got a fist in the stomach for his trouble, and doubled over. 
"Owwww...what did ya do that???"  Allucia merely stuck her tongue out
at Harry, then looked at something behind him.  

"What's that?"  she said, then walked off into the trees.  Harry
didn't follow her, he was looking at some of the other signs.  

In a grove of trees was a beautiful spring.  The sign for it was so
degraded the UT couldn't translate it.  "I wonder why it is seperated
from the others," Allucia commented to herself.  .

Allucia was so caught up in the serene beauty of the place, she wasn't
watching where she was walking; she tripped over a root and fell.

Right into the spring, where she promptly disappeared.




Harry made another comment on how quiet this spring was; when he
didn't get a reply, he turned around and found Allucia had gone.  To
where, he didn't know, until she appeared out of the trees wearing
soggy clothtes.

"What happened?"  he asked.

"Well, I tripped, and fell into the spring, and...well, you wouldn't
believe the rest."

Harry crossed his arms.  "Try me."

"Just let's get out of here first!"

CHAPTER ELEVEN

A while later, Harry and Allucia were walking down the street back
towards the hotel.  The day had gone from sunny to overcast; it looked
as though it would rain at any moment.

"And then, I fall in another spring, except this one has hot water,
and I turn back into a girl, wearing...well I won't tell you that, not
with your imagination."  Allucia explained, looking Harry straight in
the eye, totally serious.  He burst out laughing.

"I knew you were a good actress, but how could you keep a straight
face telling a story like that?  Oh, that's a good one, Lusha..."  he
said, laughing as he did so.

Allucia punched Harry in the arm, who was leaning against a wall with
his eyes closed, laughing..  "I am NOT lying!!!"  As she said this,
thunder boomed above them, and it began to rain.

"REEEOOOWWWRRR!!!"  screeched something.

Harry finally opened his eyes, and dropped his jaw nearly to the
floor.  Where Lusha had been standing moments earlier, now stood a
curious looking creature, that was meowing with a vengence, standing
in a pile of Allucia's clothes.  It had black fur and a purple jewel
centered in its forehead.   It took him a moment to realize that she
had been telling the truth about being turned into a cabbit.

"Lusha?"  Harry asked the cabbit, experimentally.

"MEOW!!"  went the cabbit.  "Rowrr...."

Harry sighed, and picked the cabbit up.  "This is interesting."  The
cabbit hissed back, then squirmed into his arms.  Harry moved her to a
more comfortable position.  "Why is it, when I finally get you in my
arms, you're shedding on me?"  he couldn't resist joking.  "OW!!" 
Allucia-cabbit scratched him for that one.



Tom and B'Elanna watched as a very wet Harry walked quietly underneath
the cafe's balcony and made his way towards their table with a very
sullen expression on his face. He was cradling something small in his
arms, but Allucia was no where to be seen.

"You don't think she dumped him already, do you?" Tom whispered to
B'Elanna, who nudged him none too gently in the side. 
	
As Harry reached the table they saw something small and furry that
resembled a rabbit in his arms. He sat down heavily and the creature
meowed a slight protest to the sudden jar.

"Harry," B'Elanna asked gently, "Where's Lusha?"

Harry sighed and looked down at the animal he was holding; it appeared
as depressed as he, "She's right here," he muttered.

B'Elanna blinked, "Huh?" was all she could manage to say.

Harry grabbed the creature just below its forelegs and held it out
above the table. It growled at being handled so roughly, "This," he
began, faltered, then began again, "this is Lusha."

Tom was unable to contain himself and laughed hysterically, "Oh, come
on Harry. You can tell us. She dumped you and you're taking it pretty
hard," he looked at the creature again and frowned. "Really hard. You
can't possibly expect us to..."

"It is Lusha!" Harry said, visibly angry. The creature hissed in
unison with his words.

The group fell silent for a moment, unsure what to say. Allucia
squirmed slightly in Harry's grip, then suddenly let out a loud belch.

"Well, it certainly sounds like Lusha," Tom said as he sat back and
crossed his arms. He blinked in surprise at the animal Harry was still
holding over the table. Did it just stick its tongue out at me? he
thought in shock.

"H-How?" B'Elanna stammered.

"I'm not quite sure," Harry sighed, finally setting Allucia down on
the table, "We were walking through the streets as she was attempting
to tell me (I didn't believe her) when it began to rain. Next thing I
knew, Lusha was gone and this was standing in her place."

Tom reached out a hand and started to scratch the animal's chin, "I
dunno Harry, I think this is too cute to be...OW!!!!!" He snatched his
hand back as it bit him firmly on the finger. 

"Why you little..." Tom began as B'Elanna burst out laughing. He
looked from Lusha, to his finger, then back at Lusha again, "Okay
Harry, you've got me convinced. But just for that," Tom said, mock
reprovingly, waggling a finger at Lusha, "No chocolate chip cookies
for a week!"

"Come on," Harry said, picking up a pitifully meowing Allucia-cabbit,
"We've got to take her back to Voyager, and see if the Doc can do
anything for her."

"Does this mean we have to paper train her now?" Tom asked as Harry
contacted Voyager.

"MEOW!!" Allucia cried angrily as the transporter beams dematerialized
them. 

CHAPTER TWELVE

The three humans and one cabbit-human materialized in Sickbay.  The
Doc was there, about ready to leave for his shore leave. He wasn't
happy to see he had a patient.  Harry explained what happened {to his
knowledge) to Allucia.

"Hmmmm...this is intriguing...."  The Doctor had the Allucia-cabbit on
the diagnostic bed.  Impatient, the cabbit came out from under the
small arch, meowing.

The HoloDoc roughly shoved her back underneath the scanner.  "Ms.
Banks, if you do not remain still, how do you expect---HEY!!!"  The
Doc removed his hand, and Allucia-cabbit was hanging from his finger,
biting him.  "Fortunately, I have no subroutines that would have me
experience pain.  Now, please disengage yourself from my finger."

Allucia held on for a moment longer, then dropped back down to the
biobed, growling as she ducked back down under the arch.  A few
minutes later, the Doc finished his scans.

Meanwhile, Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry were just observing the Doc. 
Well, Tom was getting on the Doctor's holographic nerves by
continually putting his two cents in about the readings.

"Well, Doc?  What's wrong with Lusha?"  Harry asked.

The HoloDoc turned to face Harry.  "Physically, she's fine."  He
pointed to a display with a few strands of DNA on it.  "But she has
turned into an animal of some sort that carries the characteristics of
both cats and rabbits, but is one single organism.  I'm reading her
human DNA as recessive.  I suspect I will find the cabbit genes
recessive if I scan her as a human.  Also, notice on the right foreleg
is an area of darker fur that matches the tattoo on Ms. Banks' human
right arm.  Tell me, do you know what happened Mr. Kim?"

"Actually, I do.  We went to visit these enchanted springs.  When we
left, she told me how she had turned into a cabbit.  I didn't believe
her at first of course.  Then, it began to rain, and the next thing I
know, Lusha's a cabbit."

Allucia-cabbit tapped one of her hind legs impatiently, then scratched
an ear with it.  They were treating her like an animal and refering to
her in the third person.  She may be acting like a cabbit, but she
still had her own mind.

"Hmmmm...do you know how to turn it back?"

IT?!?!?!  HE CALLED ME AN IT??!?!?!  The cabbit hissed at the
hologram, who held his hands up in apology.  "Okay, Ms. Banks.  Do you
know how to turn her back?"

"Meow."  Allucia said, thanking him.

Harry snickered.  "She said she fell into another spring and turned
back, but there was something else, I can' remember..."

That does it, the cabbit thought.  She jumped from the biobed to
Harry's shoulder and from his shoulder to his head.  She leaned over
and looked him squarely and upside-down in the eye, sticking her
tongue out at him and going "pllllbbbttttt!"  Tom and B'Elanna burst
out laughing while the Doctor merely rolled his holographic eyeballs.

"I believe I should obtain a sample of this spring water."  the Doc
said.  "Ms. Torres, would you please download my program into the
mobile emitter?"

"Sure, Doc.  Then can we all get back to our vacations?"

"Of course, if you and Mr. Paris call throwing heavy objects at each
other vacation."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Harry and Allucia went back to their hotel and respective rooms. 
Harry was playing his clarinet on the balcony when he heard a loud
curse from the adjacent room, and the clarinet let out a pained squeak
because of his surprise.  He was about to return to playing when he
realized it was from Allucia's room and not a meow.

Harry was quickly at Allucia's door, knocking.  "Allucia?!  Are you
okay now?!"

Allucia's human muffled voice came through the door.  "I'm fine,
Harry.  Gimme a minute."  she called.

"Okay."  Harry called back, sighing in relief.  It was so good to hear
her voice again.

A few minutes later, the door opened and a human Allucia stood there,
dressed in cut-off jean shorts and a navy blue tank top, her hair
swirled in a towel.

"I think I got it figured out," she said.  "Why I changed into a
cabbit, that is.  If I get splashed with cold water, I turn into a
cabbit, and hot water turns me back."  she went into her room and sat
at the vanity.  Harry followed her in.

"Do you want to beam back to Voyager and tell the Doc?"  Harry asked.

"Absolutely not!  I've had enough poking and prodding for one day,
thankyouverymuch!"  Allucia let out a loud huff, towel-drying her hair
and quickly brushing it and pulling it back.  "I need a walk.  I'll
talk to you later, okay?"  She was out the door before Harry could say
anything else.



Again, Allucia found herself walking through the park.  She wondered
why she kept returning.

Allucia felt very on edge, she didn't know why.  Perhaps it was her
telepathic powers trying to warn her of something.  She felt like
someone was going to sneak up on her or something.  Being nervous
fueled her temper, and a fist lashed out and hit the tree she was
standing next to.  Allucia winced as she heard splintering, and hoped
it wasn't the bones in her hand.  Then she heard ominous thundering
above her.

"Uh oh..."  Allucia mumured as she realized she had to get back to her
hotel ASAP and took off at a breakneck pace.

She didn't even make it halfway out of the park before it began to rain.

"REOOOWWRRR!!!!"  Allucia the cabbit howled, and took off for the
nearest tree, where she realized she should have stayed in the first
place.

The cabbit reached the tree, and once sheltered by its canopy,
proceeded to shake her fur out.  Then she sniffed the air, through
some instinct given to her by the spring.

Her ears perked up. She smelled food.  The aroma was coming from
around the other side of the tree.  She bounded over.  There she found
a sleeping Ryoga.  She didn't know it was him, since she wasn't paying
much attention the day before.  Resting on his stomach was an opened
package of food of some type.

The cabbit leaned back, preparing to pounce, growling softly.  She
leapt---

---And was caught by a pair of hands.

Allucia-cabbit immediately started screeching, but finding it didn't
loosen the grip on her, she shut up.  Instead, she pouted at who she
had awakened, asking for food and forgiveness at the same time.  She
also realized how big humanoids look to small animals.

Ryoga chuckled at the cabbit who had tried to steal his chow mein
bread and put her down.  "Sorry, but you're not...well...okay."  He
wasn't going to give the bread to the cabbit at first, but it gave him
such an imploring look he had to relent.  Well, a little.

"Sit," Ryoga commanded of the cabbit standing on his stomach.

The cabbit just stared at him as if to tell him "forget it."

"Sit!" Ryoga commanded more sternly.  To his surprise, the cabbit
shook its head, jumped up, and yanked the bread  out of his hand.  She
laid down and proceeded to munch away.  Ryoga chuckled.  "I think I'll
call you MushaOhki," he said.  "It means munching cabbit.  You don't
mind, do you?"  The cabbit smiled and nodded, she liked the name.

Ryoga thought this was one  strange cabbit.  Even more so than Ryoko's
cabbit.  Then a sudden thought hit him.  This was no ordinary cabbit. 
And the dark colored fur on it's arm...Nah, he thought, quickly
dismissing the notion that this was his beloved.  There was no spring
of drowned cabbit.  He knew of every spring there.  But still...

"You're not really a cabbit, are you?"  he asked.  "Just stuck in the
body of one?"

Musha Ohki started nodding excitedly.  Somehow he knew what happened!

Ryoga thought a bit more.  "You turned into a cabbit when you got
caught in the rainstorm, right?"

Musha continued her frantic nodding, and jumped up and down once for
emphasis.

"Oof!  Easy on the stomach!  Now, to get you back to your former
form...c'mon, I know a place where we can get a kettle of hot water. 
I go there myself."  Musha nodded, and leapt onto Ryoga's head.  He
withdrew an umbrella from his nearby backpack, and the two set off
across the park.

"You know," Ryoga was saying, "I have the same problem, except---"

All of a sudden Ryoga wasn't there anymore, and Musha found herself
falling, landing on someone small.

It was a small black pig, wearing a bow around its neck exactly like
the bandana Ryoga wore on his head.  Musha realized what Ryoga's
problem was.  When he got splashed, he turned into a pig.  And a cute
one at that!

P-Chan sighed, and the expression on his face clearly finished the
sentence he had began a few seconds earlier.  Her looked at Musha  for
a moment, then charged after the kids who were puddle jumping in the
rainstorm, leaving a bewildered cabbit staring after him.



Musha returned to her hotel, though easier said than done.  She had to
duck and dodge many of the hotel's employees, as they didn't allow
animals in the hotel.  She finally lost them, and since she couldn't
get into her room, she went to Harry's door and scratched at it.  That
didn't work, so she meowed a couple of times.  Musha growled, then
began to head-butt the door.  She was running for fifth time when the
door opened and Musha ran into a pair of legs.  She looked up at Harry
with a despondent look on her face.

Harry sighed.  "Come in," he said.  "I'll start the shower."

MushaOhki meowed a thank you and bounded in.



A little while later, Allucia emerged from the bathroom.  Harry had
gone to Allucia's room and got more clothes for her.

"It's a good thing you brought so much clothes," Harry said. 
"Otherwise you'd be running around naked."

"Which I'm sure you wouldn't mind," Allucia responded with a snicker,
making Harry turn bright red.  "Besides, MushaOhki has been running
around naked, if you're into that kind of thing."

"MushaOhki?"

Allucia smiled.  "It means 'munching cabbit' in Amirenese.  Someone in
the park named the cabbit me that while I devoured their lunch."

"Very fitting, but I think 'pig' would have been more appropriate."

"True, but it's probably taken already by the person who gave me the
name.  Apparently, he has the same problem as me, or I him, except he
turns into an adorable little pig.  Never did catch his name though. 
And it does have to do with the spring."

Harry shrugged.  "Well, I've prepared us a picnic.  Would you like to
have an early dinner in the park?"  he said, picking up a basket
Allucia hadn't seen earlier.

Allucia thought for a moment.  "Any chance of rain anymore today?"

Harry laughed.  "I took it upon myself to check for you.  None
whatsoever."  He proffered his free arm.  "Shall we?"

"But of course," Allucia agreed, taking the arm.

C&C appreciated!!! Even flames!!!

SuperAkane




==
"Don't think too badly of Akane.  She's really a very sweet girl.  She's just a violent maniac."

"Oh, good, Kasumi.  That makes LOTS of sense.

Kasumi and Nabiki, Ranma 1/2 manga.

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