I'm not satisfied with this, even after tearing up three complete drafts.
I'm really not satisfied with my own handling of Nodoka, who seems to be
wandering all over the place.  Comments please. (Beg grovel whine beg)



	"No!  I did my best to make a man of him!" Genma begged as Nodoka
stood over him with the sword.  He was hogtied to a chopping block.  "He's
everything you ever wanted him to be!"

	In the background, Ranma-chan pranced around in a dress, reading
shoujo manga with Kasumi.  How exactly she was prancing and reading at the
same time, wasn't exactly clear.  "Ooooh, isn't he cute?" she said,
pointing to a character in the manga.

	Nodoka, who had apparently grown to be two hundred feet tall with
a sword the size of a M-1 tank, said, "That's NOT what I wanted!"  She
pointed.  "Look what you did to him!"

	"It was an accident!  I thought it was just a training grounds!"

	"You did it deliberately!  You heard the legends about how those
who trained there grew in power!  You didn't care what happened to him as
long as he grew stronger!"  Her voice was booming thunder, her glare like
lighting.

	"No!  If I'd known what would happen to him, I never would have
gone!  Everything I've done for the last ten years has been to make Ranma
the best martial artist and the best man I could!"  Some of the things
hadn't quite worked out like they had been supposed to, but Genma knew
that his intent had been pure.  Well, some of the time.  "He's my son!  I
never wanted to make him my daughter!"  I need to learn this giant trick
she's using, a tiny bit of his brain said to the rest of him.  That's one
move I haven't seen before...maybe it's related to the Giant Demon Head.

	"You failed!"

	"Only at the man part!"

	"That's the part I care about!"

	There was nothing Genma could say about that.  He struggled to
break his bonds, but they were too strong for him.  "I'll do better!  Give
me more time!"

	"Ten years was too much time!  Now, you DIE!"

	He could see the sword descending as time slowed to a crawl.  It
came on, inevitably but slowly, a destiny of doom.  And then...it stopped.
There was a woman standing under the blade, with long blonde hair bound
into braids, dusky skin, and green eyes, wearing a yellow dress fringed at
the bottom with interlocking bronze and black squares.  "What's going on
here?"

	"My wife is going to kill me for no good reason!"

	She clucked her tongue.  "Tsk, tsk.  That's not good.  No good at
all."  She came over with a hacksaw and cut off the chains.  "Why don't
you just come with me and I'll get you some nice relaxing tea.  You'll
feel better with some rest.  Nearly dying is just so stressful."  Her
voice was soothing, and Genma found himself nodding and following her.
Some nice tea and rest would be good.  

	Once they passed into the trees, the Giant Nodoka dissolved away
like the morning dew, no longer needed, along with the chopping block.  

************

Parallel Lives
A Ranma/WOT crossover
Chapter 14: Oath of Fealty

http://www.tass.org/~rhea/Stories/PL/index.html

by 

John Biles

*************

	Nodoka woke up when something struck her in the face.  It was
Genma, flailing about.   A little bit of observation showed he was
apparently 'eating in his sleep'.  She sighed and moved out of the range
of his arms, then rolled over and tried to sleep.  It didn't work.

	She sighed and sat up.  How are we ever going to find my son, she
thought. He could be anywhere.  And I think the king is he flirting with
me.  I hope he doesn't try to do something to Genma.  Ailron seemed to be
a nice enough king, but kings were dangerous when thwarted, she knew.  He
was useful, though; from what she had learned, this world was descending
into anarchy,
and having his army protecting them would be a lot of help.  

	Finally, she sank back into sleep and let dreams claim her.

**************

	Ranma-chan felt mildly confused.  She was wearing one of her Aes
Sedai dresses, the blue one with the knee-length skirt and a gold vest.
It laced up the front from the waist to the high neckline, although by
unlacing it, you could give yourself as low a neckline as you wanted.  She
had it laced up to the top today.  It wasn't the dress which confused her.
It was the fact that she was sitting outside Furinkan High School, eating
lunch with Alyssa, Sayuri, Nabiki, and Yuka.  

	They all wore elaborate dresses with Aes Sedai shawls, while off
across the yard, she could see Akane, Daisuke, Hiroshi, and Ryouga eating
lunch together, all garbed in Ash'aman costumes.  Ukyou was sitting to
Ranma's right, hard at work on an okonomiyaki, garbed in her warder
costume.  One of her masterpieces was sitting in Ranma-chan's hands, in
fact.  Ranma-chan munched on it while she tried to remember how got there.

	"So, what's the principal's plan to break out of the broom closet
this time?"  Sayuri asked.  She was wearing a blue shawl with her orange
and blue dress; it was quite modest.

	"We don't know.  Has your other warder spotted what the Chosen
Club is up to this week?" Yuka sighed and pushed up the glasses that
Ranma-chan didn't remember her needing.  Her shawl was brown, and her
dress was sleek yellow silk.

	"Not that I remember," Ranma-chan said.  Second warder?  She
looked over at the school building, which looked like the White Tower had
been planted in the middle of Furinkan High School, looming over the
entire grounds.  

	A young blonde girl in novice whites walked up, curtseyed to
Ranma-chan, then sat down.  With Konatsu's voice, she said, "It looks like
Gosseael is up to something.  He's been talking to the police.  Probably
going to try to Compel some of them to intervene and let the Principal
out."

	Nabiki frowned.  "We can't allow that.  Especially not after I
spent so much time bribing and blackmailing them.  They   might let
Ranko's father out of the zoo."  She wore the dress Ranma-chan remembered
her wearing on Toma's island, but with a blue shawl that clashed horribly
with it.  

	Sayuri nodded.  "I don't ever want to go back to how things were
before Ranko and Kaneda came back and showed us the true path.  Even if I
haven't been able to get three boyfriends yet like you, Ranko.  And one of
them the head of the Ash'aman club!  Kaneda is such a stud!"  She looked
dreamy-eyed.

	Yuka snorted.  "Don't let Hiroshi hear you say that.  He gets
jealous, you know.  So why don't you two ever get jealous of each other
and Kaneda?" 

	"Well, all of us change sex except for Konatsu, so we just have
wild orgies whenever we feel like it.  Konatsu looks like a woman, but
he's all man when I need one."  

	Ranma-chan's eyes widened.  We've been having wild orgies?  Since
when?

	Alyssa finally spoke up.  "Ranko and I generally prefer to be
girls when we have sex, unless it's with each other, Kaneda likes to be a
guy, Konatsu's always a guy, and Ukyou swings both ways as needed."

	This has got to be a dream, Ranma-chan thought.  It has to be.

	When the giant Ghost-cat ate the sun, her hope was confirmed.

********************

	Akane couldn't sleep.   She wasn't relishing the idea of a
confrontation with her family. None of them were going to support her on
this, although Nabiki and Kasumi wouldn't go as far in opposing it as
Daddy would.  Daddy and Mr. Saotome would fight tooth and nail.  She
wasn't sure what Mrs. Saotome would think.  Only Mr. Saotome knew her
well, and he was terrified of her.  With my luck, she'll demand Ranma kill
himself, and me marry the corpse, she thought, then shook her head.  She's
not that deranged.  But she might disown him.   Assuming she can without
Genma's consent.  Of course, he'll probably do whatever she demands.

	Even more than the marriage thing, she was afraid Ranma would
either have to die or dishonor himself.  He'd find a way to wiggle out if
he could, but there was only so far he could wiggle.  Ukyou would probably
try to help him wiggle out; that would help a little.  They're going to
hate Alyssa, Akane thought, and frowned.

	If only there was some way for them to get to know her before they
know about her and me, Akane thought, and began arguing with herself over
whether Alyssa should come.  She finally decided it was for the best;
Alyssa would look like a coward if she didn't come.  

	For a moment, she was tempted to settle the issue by just running
off and getting married to Alyssa before the meeting, but she dismissed
that.  I need to talk to everyone, she thought.  But if I wake them up in
the middle of the night...well, we can have a conference before we meet
with our folks.

	I wish Alyssa was here, she thought.  I don't feel like being
alone right now.  The nice soft bed back in Cairhien was no longer so
comforting; it was too big and felt empty.  She felt empty.  I need some
loving, she thought, then laughed at herself.  I sound like a bad shoujo
manga.
 
	She finally drifted off to sleep, thrashing wildly; little rest
came.

*************

	Ranma-chan woke from a dozen nightmares a little while later.  Her
brain had gone through just about every bad possible ending to this
situation, from her being forced to live as a woman to committing seppuku,
to her father splitting open and a thousand foot tall sinuous monstrosity
erupting from his flesh and eating them all.  Not that the last one was
very likely.

	She sat up and sighed.  I shouldn't be so frightened, she thought.
It's just meeting my mother.  Who might tell me I have to kill myself.
That was enough to make it reasonable for anyone to be frightened, but
Ranma-chan hated being frightened.  It wasn't her style.  

	Mom's got to understand, she thought.  They need me like this.
And the whole curse was an accident, anyway.  Pop would have never
deliberately done this to me.  I've always done my best to be a man.  And
I can't leave anyway; I made an oath to the Hall, and Ucchan has to bust
that statue, wherever it is...

	She turned and looked at Ukyou, who was sprawled out next to her.
She idly ran a hand across his flat chest, so different from the curves of
his girl body.  It was mostly hairless, as was her own boy body.  He had
faint stubble, though; his boy body grew facial hair quickly, faster than
most men Ranma-chan had known, faster than her own boy body.  I wonder if
somewhere, out there, there's a Ranma and Ukyou who naturally are a girl
and a boy respectively...I suppose there must be with all those
portal-stone worlds, she thought.  

	I wonder what they would do in this situation...I suppose it
wouldn't be so much a problem for them.  As she thought, her hand roamed
up Ukyou's chin and gently across his cheek, feeling the tiny hairs trying
to become a beard, but doomed to die.  It was strangely calming to do so,
as the world faded away, and there was only her hand and a slightly
prickly cheek.  Finally, she had traced out all of his cheeks, and the
finger slid down his neck and along his right arm, feeling the smooth
faint hairs, then sliding against the hairs to ruffle them.  She laughed
slightly for no real reason.
 
	Her finger ran down his right side, feeling his ribs and muscles,
slowly, one by one.  She'd never done something like this before, and she
couldn't figure out why it felt so...good.  Ranma-chan wasn't the type to
use a word like 'erotic', and she wouldn't have admitted that to herself
either.  Her body trembled  in a way that would have confused her if she'd
been paying enough attention to it.  

	She'd never touched him like this before.  Not in her girl body,
and not even in her boy body during sex.  Oh, they'd touched each other,
of course, but it had usually been either fumbled or frenzied groping, a
frenetic effort to bring each other to orgasm, not a slow, lingering
exploration.  Falling out of bed a few times hadn't helped either.  

	She began to notice her own stimulation about the same time as she
reached his belly button, just above his boxer shorts.  It took her a
little while to figure out that it was arousal, rather than some kind of
illness or just a physical quirk; the fact that it felt good was the key.
It was only mild arousal, but it shocked her right into thinking about
what she was doing.  She jumped back, fell out of the bed, and yelped
loudly.

	Ukyou sat up.  "Geez, I've got the most horrendous... Ranchan?"
He looked around.  "Why are you on the floor?"

	"I...uh..."  She nervously put a hand behind her head.  "I had a
nightmare about a monster under the bed, so I was checking for Trollocs."

	"Ranchan, if you have to lie, at least make it plausible," Ukyou
said amusedly.  "Just fell off in your sleep?"

	"Yeah," she said quietly.  This isn't supposed to happen, she
thought.  The Foxes said I wouldn't get turned on by men!  The thought
that the compulsion Nynaeve had broken might have been put there by the
Foxes came to her again, and she frowned.  Damn things cheat, she thought.
Making it that easy to undo.  And I thought they couldn't channel...   I
can't compel myself, either.  Maybe I can get Alyssa or Akane to restore
it.  Yeah, they'd help me and be discreet, she thought.  She scrambled
back onto the bed.  "Had some bad dreams."

	"Don't forget your promise, Ranchan," Ukyou said.

	"I'm afraid Mom's gonna argue promises to family come before
promises to lovers."

	Ukyou smiled broadly, leaned over, and kissed Ranma-chan on the
cheek.  "Thank you."

	"Huh?"

	Ukyou laughed.  "It's a guy thing."  He winked.

	"Then I should have gotten it!"

	"Wrestle you for the secret...if I win, you have to bring me
breakfast in bed."

	Ranma-chan started to say yes, then thought of her earlier
actions, and failed to trust herself.  "I wish I knew what Mom's gonna
think about...everything."

	"After much thought, I have a clever plan."

	Ranma-chan listened to an imaginary thunderclap.  "Which is?"

	"Your mom goes by the old Samurai code, right?"

	"More or less, yeah."

	Ukyou grinned.  "And what's the highest fealty in that?"

	Ranma-chan cocked her head and thought.  "To your lord.  But I
don't have a lord."

	"Yes, you do.  Akane is your lord."

	"Mrr?"

	Ukyou leaned forward.  "Remember how I chewed you out about taking
the oath to the Hall without asking me?  And remember who is the head of
the Hall?"

	"Alyssa and Akan...HEH!"  Ranma-chan grinned.  "Duty to my lord
comes first, over family duties."  With wiggle room came confidence.
"That solves that problem.  The marriages will still be messy, but I don't
have to worry about either dying or losing my honor.  You're a genius,
Ucchan."  She thought for a moment.  "Do you think we're gonna have any
trouble with your father about this?  Are you on good terms?  I noticed
he's never come to visit."

	Ukyou sighed.  "He's dead."

	"�"

	"About six months before I found you.  We'd been staying with my
uncle the last few years after he finally started up his own restaurant."
He fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.  "Father didn't want
me to seek revenge on you.  He would have been ecstatic to see this day.
Although I'm not sure what he would have thought of the curse."

	"He didn't want revenge?"

	"He wanted revenge at first, but as I grew more obsessed, he
didn't like what it was doing to us, and he gave up on it.  But he wasn't
able to convince me to give up�I wouldn't listen.  He was smarter than I
was, but not smart enough to make me stop."  He sighed.  "But I still
don't like your dad."

	"Well, if we get married, you're gonna have to put up with him."

	"It's worth it to get you."  He sat back up and embraced
Ranma-chan from behind, kissing her cheek.  

	Ranma-chan felt a sudden jolt through her body, accompanied by one
of the purest rushes of terror of her entire life.  The only thing keeping
her from screaming and jumping across the room was the total paralysis of
all of her voluntary muscles.  Instead, she simply shivered with a mixture
of desire, disgust, and terror.  "U�U�U�"  

	Ukyou blinked.  "Eh?  Are you cold?  You're shivering."

	"I�yes.  I'm feeling cold."

	"Want another blanket?"

	"Yeah."

	"Okay, I'll get you one."  Ukyou jumped out of bed and went to get
her one.  Ranma-chan watched him walk and struggled with herself.  I don't
want him like that, she insisted to herself.  I'm a boy.  A boy!  But he's
really a girl so it doesn't matter�no, that�

	Her brain spun around and round.  She couldn't defend her own
status as a boy without Ukyou being a girl at the moment.  Which made
wanting her okay.  But Ukyou was in a boy body, and it wasn't right to
want boys like that.  So, was it okay to want Ucchan?  If bodies didn't
matter, just the soul, then it was fine.  It wouldn't really be sleeping
with a boy.  After all, if Ukyou is really a boy right now, then I'd be a
girl, and I'm not one, she thought.  And if I was a girl, and she was a
boy, that would be okay.  

	Ukyou began to root through the wardrobe.  "Which blanket you
want?"

	"Uhh�the red one," she said.  She tried to go over her logic.  If
it WAS okay to�want Ucchan, then why did she feel like it was bad?
Because she couldn't just desire Ukyou.  If she started to like him, she'd
want other guys too, and that wasn't right.  Not if she was really a guy.
And she was, despite the amount of time she had to spend in her girl body
these days.  

	Damn the Foxes, she thought.  They cheated me!  She growled
faintly.  Ukyou blinked as he brought her the red blanket.  "What's
wrong?"  

	Ranma-chan could feel his concern through the warder bond, and an
undercurrent of�something.  Another jolt of terror suddenly ran through
her when she realized that Ukyou could feel at least some of what she was
feeling right now through the bond.  That scared her even more than her
urges.  Ukyou had to know how she felt, but he hadn't said anything.  Did
he not want her?  Was he spared the urges she felt, somehow?  He certainly
couldn't resist it when he was in his boy body and felt she was horny.  

	She wrapped the blanket round herself like a shield.  Maybe
Ukyou's too distracted to notice, she thought.  The warder bond was like
any other sense; unless a really strong sensation came through, you often
didn't notice it if you had other things on your mind.  "Nothing.  Just
cold."

	Ukyou twitched visibly, and Ranma-chan felt a jumble of emotions
through their bond.  One of them was a burst of desire.  He does want me,
she thought.  

	"Ranchan, I can TELL something is bothering you.  I can't make you
tell me, but�"

	"I'm just spastic about tomorrow," Ranma-chan lied, fighting off a
dozen urges to touch Ukyou in various ways she shouldn't.  If only there
was some way to just want her and not any REAL boys, she told herself.
Then I'd be fine.  

	Ukyou frowned slightly, then came over and hugged her gently,
followed by collapsing onto the bed.  "It's gonna be fine."

	Control, Ranma-chan thought. Focus.  Drive these thoughts from my
mind.  "Yeah."  She laid back, feeling a bit hot with the blanket.
Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to admit that now.  So she simply laid
down and meditated on snow.  Sleep was slow to come.

*************

	Abel, a tall blond Aiel now passing into middle age, was not the
happiest of Aiel.  While the hunting had been good in the land the Shaido
now found themselves in, and the wetlanders were no threat, the tribe had
been floundering about purposelessly.  They had simply reacted to whatever
came their way, and now they were doing it again.  Things had been
different when Couladin had ruled them.  Even when they had lost, the
rewards to be gained had been worth the risk.

	While he had no guilt or compunction about attacking the band of
Wetlanders they were about to assault, there was no point to it.  They
already had more gai'shain than they knew what to do with, and they hadn't
made any real progress towards settling in for the building winter.  With
the weather returning to normal, it was getting colder and wetter, but
instead of building a proper hold, they were running off to dance the
spears like children.

	There were rumors of tensions between Sevanna, the acting chief of
the tribe, Couladin's ex-wife, and the Wise Ones as well.  That could only
bode ill.  The same rumors said the Wise Ones had pushed her into this
attack, though why they had changed their mind about aggressive actions,
he did not know.  It bothered him nonetheless.  This would be an ill day,
he felt in his heart.

*************

	Galad stared at the map and frowned.  Valda was dead.  The
Seanchan had caught him and destroyed the forces with him.  Just as he'd
finally located Ailron, the news had arrived that Seanchan forces had
caught and destroyed 3,000 of the Children of the Light, and Valda with
them.  The Children of the Light were now scattered across the Mountains
of Mist, Northern Amadicia, Ghealdan, and various adjacent wildernesses,
not counting the forces near the White Tower, which might or might not
actually still exist. 

	To make matters worse, there were bands of Aiel everywhere.
They'd fought several skirmishes, and had the worse of every encounter.
He had great respect for their skill.  The bands seemed to be converging
between him and the rendevous he sought to make with the other Whitecloaks
heading for western Ghealdan.  Assuming any Whitecloaks not under his
command survived. 

	They had contacted Ailron, who had told him to go away.  He wasn't
sure what to do about that.  He had known there had been friction between
Ailron and Lord Captain Commander Niall in the past, but he wasn't sure
what had been the causes.  Ailron was a bit oily, but he did seem to walk
in the light.  Of course, it was possible that he feared it was a Seanchan
trap.  Galad hoped the man hadn't decided to reject the Light and that it
was only a misunderstanding.  

	The only good news was that the Prophet's men had fought a battle
with the Seanchan and been crushed.  While the Seanchan were relentless,
they were, at least, not insane.  The Prophet had brought only chaos and
death to Ghealdan.  

	And then, there was the mysterious Mayener army.  How it had
gotten to Ghealdan or what it wanted, he didn't know, only that it was
heading south and that rumor claimed the Queen of Ghealdan had given it
her blessing.  Perhaps they had come to crush the Prophet.  He could only
hope.  

	He rose and gave orders to move his army west.  They would pass
near, possibly even encounter Ailron today; as he gave the orders, he
began to plan for that encounter.

*************

	Nodoka was, to say the least, tense.  She hadn't seen her son in
ten years, and now a sentry had arrived saying that he and some friends
had just arrived.  She had already thanked the king for being kind enough
to provide a tent for her and her husband and Soun to meet with their
children.  I wonder how they found us, she thought.  She glanced over, and
saw Soun and Genma were tense as well.  They'd been jumpy the last few
days, except for when Genma had been playing with some of the children in
the camp; it was almost a floating city rather than an army, since it
included the wives and children who had fled Amadicia with the King's
Guard.  

	The tent flap parted, and Akane walked in, along with a skinny
blonde girl in a nice dress, a dark-haired girl dressed as an okonomiyaki
seller--Nodoka thought her name was Ukyou--and a dark haired boy dressed
in a simple white knit shirt and black pants.  His hair was tied back in a
long pig-tail, and he had to be her Ranma.  While Akane and the blonde
looked ready to jump out of their flesh at a touch, Ukyou and Ranma both
looked very confident.  They were also holding hands, which surprised her;
while it was manly to have a mistress, you didn't flirt with her in front
of your fiancee and future wife.  Your wife would accord you the same
courtesy with her lovers.  At least in a successful marriage.

	Not that she had any lovers herself, but she had married Genma for
love, in defiance of her parents' wishes.  She wouldn't give them the
satisfaction of cheating on him, and with all for that he could drive her
completely insane sometimes, she still loved him too much to take another
man as a lover.  But given that Ranma and Akane had been engaged to each
other sight unseen, she could understand if there was no love between
them.  Not that she had any real idea what Ranma and Akane's relationship
was like; everyone she talked to told a different story.  

	She watched Akane carefully, trying to judge her reaction to
Ranma's action.  Two things could be seen easily.  One was that Akane was
very carefully not looking over at Ranma and Ukyou.  The other was that
Akane was holding the blonde woman's hand tightly, their fingers
intertwined.  Both their arms were shaking slightly.

	She glanced over at Soun to judge his reaction, but he was across
the room, crying up a storm and half-crushing Akane to death in the
process.  Glancing at Genma, she could see he wasn't entirely pleased,
although it was hard to be sure, as he also looked very nervous.

	"My son," she said, rising, then running over to him just like
Soun had, losing all sense of decorum and enfolding him with her arms.  "I
have missed you so much."

	For a time, there was naught but tearful reunions, but finally,
the crying was over, and then there was a brief silence; Nodoka could feel
the armies being marshalled.  She decided to break the silence.  "Akane,
would you like to introduce us to your friend?"

	Akane glanced over, then nodded.  She took the girl's hand again.
"This is Alyssa Sedai."  Genma growled faintly.  "She's from Ghealdan, the
country you're in right now.  She's my lover and I'm going to marry her."

	Cuts to the chase, Nodoka thought.  Here comes World War III.

	"WHAT?"  Soun bellowed.  "You are marrying Ranma and THAT IS
THAT!!!"  The Giant Demon Head came out to play.

	Alyssa screamed in horror, then fainted.  Akane slid back a good
three feet, dragging Alyssa along.  Ranma and Ukyou were barely phased.
"And I'm marrying Ucchan.  So get used to it."  His voice was strong and
confident, though a bit rough; Nodoka judged it to be a manly voice.  

	"You're engaged to Akane, and that's final!"  Genma bellowed,
striding over to him and Ukyou.  "Go back to your shop, you hick!" he
shouted at her.

	She shrugged.  "Go back to the zoo, panda boy."

	"Panda boy?" Nodoka asked.

	"I am not a Panda boy!"  Genma shouted.

	"You're a Panda man," Ranma said, laughing a little.

	"Exactly!"  He paused.  "That's not what I meant!"

	Akane helped Alyssa up; she recovered swiftly.  Akane then turned
to her father and scowled.  "You could have given her a heart attack or
something!"

	"She's an Aes Sedai witch come to steal our souls!"  Soun shouted.

	Akane flinched; this was not the place to make that sort of
accusation given they were surrounded by Amadicians.  "She is not a witch
and she doesn't steal souls."

	Alyssa's soft eyes hardened.  "I do not serve the Dark One!  I am
not Black Ajah!  I walk in the Light!"

	"You've warped Akane's mind so that she loves you instead of Ranma
like she should!"  Soun shouted.

	Genma nodded.  "And made Ranma lust after this backwoods hick," he
said.

	Ukyou growled at him.  "Stop calling me that!"

	"She's not a hick," Akane barked.  "And none of us used any magic
on anyone else."
	Time to step in, Nodoka thought.  "Everyone calm down!  We've just
been reunited; this is no place for a brawl."  I wish I had some way to
judge if what Genma and Soun are claiming is true.  Still, I think she'd
control their minds if she could do that to Akane and Ranma.  Probably my
husband and Soun simply convinced themselves that the two loved each
other.  On the
other hand, I can be sure they don't dislike each other...it seems pretty
clear the four of them deliberately planned their entrance.

	"The witch has to go!"  Soun shouted.  "Before she does something
to us!"

	"I am NOT a witch!"

	Ranma nodded.  "I can tell you she sinks in water."

	Akane and Ukyou laughed.  "She didn't turn anyone into a newt
either," Ukyou said.  

	Alyssa looked confused.

	"Do you have ANY proof she's evil and controls minds?"  Nodoka
asked Genma.

	"Ranma and Akane love each other!"  Genma said.  "EVERYONE knows
that!"

	Ranma and Akane both blushed, especially Akane.  Ukyou said, "I
take it that's why she used to hit him all the time for no reason."

	"I did not hit him for NO reason!  He only got hit when he mouthed
off at me!"  Akane shouted back.  Alyssa blinked.  "No one has done
anything to our minds.  We simply both have..."  She paused for a moment.
"Found someone else."  She sounded a little uncomfortable.

	Willingly or unwillingly, Nodoka asked herself, trying to deduce
which one had first decided to break off the engagement.  "Why don't you
tell us the whole story?"

	"This is going to take a while," Akane said.

	She glared at Soun and Genma.  "We have time, right?"

	They both sat down, frowning.  "It's all a trick," Soun muttered.

	"She'll use word magic on us!" Genma said.

	"Word magic?"  Alyssa asked, confused.

	Ranma sighed.  "I guess we'd better start with first things first.
Shortly before we came to Nerima, Pop took me to these cursed springs..."

*************

	Tenobia sat and watched the young man practice.  While he had
swiftly demonstrated he had only the intelligence of a pea, and he still
couldn't explain where he had come from, he was one of the best swordsman
she had ever seen.  Right now, he was thrashing five men at once, two of
them swordsmasters.  With a wooden sword.  

	It wasn't any sort of channeling; her aes sedai advisor had
assured her of that.  Yet, he could shatter stone with a wooden weapon.
She could hardly imagine what he would do with a real one.  He claimed an
evil sorceror named 'Saotome' had sent him here, apparently some sort of
Dreadlord.  He claimed to be questing for his true loves, one of which he
referred to only as 'the pig-tailed goddess'.  For now, he had sworn
himself to aid her as an apology for falling from the sky on her.

	He had to be some sort of idiot savant, she was sure.  Still, when
it came to fighting, he would be useful.  He had the strength and
endurance of a warder, and the skill to use it.  A useful champion, if
nothing else.  And handsome too.

	Not that she was watching him to see his skin gleam with sweat.
No, of course not.  Queen Tenobia would never stoop to that, ever.  She
was sitting, instead.

*************

	Nodoka had reached the point of hoping this was a nightmare by the
time Ranma finished.  In all her nightmares, she had never dreamed that
Genma could fail so badly.  She'd had nightmares where he did a bad enough
job that she had to demand he kill himself.  But the reality dwarfed her
imaginings.

  	On the other hand, it wasn't his fault directly.  He'd made some
stupid mistakes, but Genma had never intended for Ranma to end up in the
cursed springs; he'd meant well.  And this whole Aes Sedai business
couldn't be blamed on Genma either.  The marriage mess WAS his fault, but
that was separate from the entire manliness business.  

	She didn't want Genma and Ranma to have to kill themselves.  On
the other hand, she wanted to preserve her honor and theirs, and be able
to defend this to her family.  I need to talk to Ranma in private, she
thought.  To try and gauge his manliness without everyone screaming and
panicking and hanging over us.  Then we can see what we can work out about
his marriage commitments.

	"Can we talk in private, son?" she asked Ranma.

	"Sure," he said.  "We can just...step outside, I guess."  He
looked around at the others.  "Try not to kill each other while we're
gone."

	They stepped outside while everyone else glared at one another.
Nodoka said, "So, it roughly sums up as that you believe you have to
mostly live as a girl for the next few years, and you want to break the
engagement your father chose for you."

	It sounded much worse when she put it that way.  "Uh... yeah.
Although he also engaged me to Ucchan, so it's really just a case of
resolving conflicting claims."  Ranma fidgeted, teetering back and forth
between his two feet.

	She nodded.  "There is some merit to arguing that.  By arranging
two engagements, your father made it impossible to keep both of them.
It's clear he favors the one to the Tendo girl, however.  How does this
square with your filial duty?"

	"Akane won't marry me, so it's a moot point," Ranma replied.
"Even if I said yes, she says no."

	"And if she said yes?"

	"She ain't gonna say yes.  Once Akane makes up her mind, all the
kamis couldn't move her."  Ranma sighed.  "And..."

	"And?"

	"I shouldn't talk 'bout it.  But it would be trouble."  Memories
of what he had done earlier made him wonder for a moment if it would
really be trouble.  He shoved the thought away, telling himself he'd only
done that because he was groggy.  

	"She would want to sleep with your girl body in her boy body."

	Ranma jumped back.  "You read minds?"

	"I saw her holding hands with the girl...Alyssa?  And she did
announce she was going to marry her.  And she does have a curse as well."

	"Yeah, that's her name.  She's really nice, but I think Pop and
Mr. Tendo are gonna hate her just 'cause Akane likes her, which sucks."
He sounded a little distracted.

	"So you're not jealous at all?"  Nodoka was surprised at that.

	Ranma stared at the ground.  "Well, yes, sometimes.  But I have
Ukyou now, so it doesn't bother me."  He didn't sound entirely sincere.

	"So she was a second choice."

	Ranma winced.  "We get along better than Akane and I ever did."

	"It's not love and hate that are opposites, but love and apathy.
Not fighting may mean there's not enough..."

	"Oh come on, no one WANTS to fight with their lover unless they're
nutso.  I never wanted to fight with Akane.  We just couldn't get along,"
Ranma said a little heatedly.  "And I DO love Ukyou.  I wouldn't sleep
with nobody I didn't love, or I'd have been screwing Shampoo a long time
ago.  Everytime she got naked in the tub with me, I�"  His eyes widened as
he remembered he was talking to his mother.

	"Do you?  Or are you just trying to convince yourself of that
because you can't have the one you really want?"  Nodoka hated to press
him so hard, but she had to be sure.  Her husband had botched up the whole
engagement thing from the start, she knew now, but the best path of honor
was for Ranma and Akane to wed, though Ranma marrying Ukyou would be
honorable if that didn't work out.  If there was no love between them,
though, a marriage to Akane could only lead to disaster under these
conditions.  And she wanted her son to be able to marry for love as she
had.  At the same time, what little honor they had would be lost if the
arranged marriage fell through.

	Ranma twitched more heavily now.  "Look, do you want me to sleep
with guys?  Because that's the only way I could marry Akane.  Unless I
could get rid of my curse, anyway, which I can't."

	"What if she changed her mind?"

	"What if Pop changed his mind?  She's not going to."

	"She won't listen if her father tells her to?"

	"Nope."

	Nodoka frowned.  This puzzle was going to be hard to solve.  "I
suppose Ukyou wouldn't accept being a concubine."

	"Not unless you want to be eating panda okonomiyaki some time
soon," Ranma replied.  "Look, there just ain't no way I'm gonna be
marrying Akane, whether or not I want to.  About the only way would be if
we all became Aiel or something, which ain't happening.  I'd rather try
and show you I'm manly enough to pass muster."

	"My family will never accept your curse," Nodoka said quietly.
"They'll point at it as another sign of my error in defying them and
marrying your father.  I want you to be able to marry whoever you love
most, Ranma, but our family has so little honor left that we can't waste
it."

	Ranma winced at that.  "That bad?"

	"Everything we have but this sword and the clothing we wear
belongs to my parents.  With your father gone, I had to lean on them.
They're expecting him to come back with an honorable, manly son who has a
good marriage."

	"Well, Ucchan's got her own shop.  We could support you."

	"When you come back in a few years."

	"It'll only be weeks in our world.  And even if Akane and I get
married today, we can't leave.  ESPECIALLY if Akane and I get married.
She swore a magical oath not to leave until after Tarmon Gaidon, which
could be years from now."

	Nodoka sighed.  "Any other oaths we should know about?"

	"Uh...I swore an oath to the Hall, so Akane is sort of my Daimyo."

	Nodoka blinked.  "Hmm.  Any others?"

	"Ukyou's gotta bust a statue before she leaves.  And I'm stuck
with my curse forever.  Even if the Foxes ripped me off."

	"They did?"
	
	"Sort of...they cheat a lot."

	"So you've slept with Ukyou?"

	Ranma nodded nervously.  "Yeah.  It was great."

	"How about Akane?"

	"No.  We fought all the time before we came here, we had hardly
ever even kissed."  He sounded regretful.  A good sign, possibly.

	"Well, that's one tick in the manly column," Nodoka said to
herself.  "Ever peeped on either of them?"

	"That  would be a good way to die," Ranma replied.  "And I could
see myself whenever I wanted if I just wanted to see a naked woman."

	"Well, if it wasn't for your desire to be Aes Sedai, I could
clearly say you've met the standard of manliness, even if you lack the
desire to peep."

	Ranma  stared at her, trying to figure out if she was joking.  He
suspected she wasn't.  "My friends need me, and I already swore the oath
of the Hall, and there's just too many people I can't stop without
channeling.  And if we don't stop the Dark One here, ALL the worlds die.
I couldn't go home and spend my days wondering if everyone was gonna die.
And since I can only channel as a woman..."

	"I know.  But I can't tell my family that.  They'd think I made it
up."  And I want my son, she thought.  Not that a daughter would be bad,
but that's not what I've been waiting for.  Nor was Nodoka entirely
convinced that Ranma really needed to stay, although given the oaths made,
there seemed no way out of it.

	"It's only gonna be a few weeks back there.  I was here seven
months, and it was just a week when I came back," Ranma said.

	"Do you WANT to be Aes Sedai?  You talk about how you have to, but
do you want to?"  She had to know.  

	Ranma winced, and stood in silence, then very faintly said, "Yes."

	"Why?  And how is this compatible with being manly?"

	"Well, there used to be male Aes Sedai too, so it's not just a
woman thing.  The problem is that they go mad now.  But I'm really a
guy...I just channel the woman side because of my curse, I think.  Whoever
drowned there musta been a channeler.  And I like channeling.  So it's not
like it means I'm really a woman or nothing."  I hope, he thought.  "And I
have a lot of Aes Sedai friends I can...uh...trade secrets with and stuff.
It's nice having friends I don't gotta beat in the head."

	"A gossip circle."

	"We ain't no gossip circle!  We're fighting the Dark One together!
Elayne's Queen of Andor now!  And Egwene's the Amyrlin and Nyneave is
married to a king in exile, and I just kick ass."  Ranma was frowning now,
and had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

	His mother laughed.  "But it means living as a woman."

	"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."  Anger turned into
discomfort again; she could tell he wasn't comfortable with this, even
though he wouldn't express his doubts to her.

	"Nicely put," she said.  "If a bit cliche."  She stopped and
stared at him, lost in thought.  She wanted a son, not a daughter, yet she
could understand the need for him to use this ability...if the Dark One
really threatened all universes and not just this one.  There was,
however, no way to be sure of that.  On the other hand, Ranma would be
gone only a few weeks from her perspective if she went back to her own
world.  If he lived. That worried her more than the woman thing...she
could live happily with a daughter if she had to.  But either way, she
wanted a LIVING child.  "What guarantee do I have you'll come back one
day?  Alive?"

	"I promise I'll come back once we're done," Ranma said.  "Or at
least that I'll visit as best I can if I can't leave some day."  Ukyou
wants to go back eventually anyway, he thought.  And he had to admit he
missed a lot of stuff only his own world had.  How he'd deal with not
being able to channel...he could worry about that later.  "And you know I
don't wanna die anymore than you."  He thought a moment.  "And what I'm
doing here is part of my Anything Goes in a way...you have to learn to
turn anything, even a curse, to your advantage."

	"Part of Anything Goes is finding ways to turn anything to one's
advantage, yes," she said.  "But aren't you scared you'll end up liking
being a girl better than being a boy?"

	"I ain't scared of nothing," Ranma said instinctively.

	"You're lying," Nodoka said flatly, pointing at the hand he had
put behind his head.  Ranma hastily shoved it into a pocket.

	"Yeah, it bugs me.  But I ran away from this world when they
needed me one time 'cause all I wanted to do was to go home.  This time, I
stayed because I wanted to.  Because I thought I'd do some good."  Because
Akane did, he admitted to himself.  

	"Because Akane did."

	Ranma jumped.  "Yeah.  I thought she'd need me to protect her,
but..."  He sounded wistful.  "She seems to do that pretty well herself."
This didn't please him, she could tell.  And Alyssa was the sort of woman
who did want to be protected.  Nodoka could feel the pieces starting to
fall into place. 

	"Which you don't like."

	"You DO read minds."  He was blushing now.

	"I've spent years training my intuition while you two were off
training your bodies.  If I'd known these shape-changing curses were
possible, I'd have figured out about you and your father, but I didn't
think it was possible, so..."  She sighed.  "Your father and Mr. Tendo are
never going to accept you marrying Ukyou."

	"Well, unless they convince Akane to change her mind, it's a moot
point.  And they'll die of old age before they manage that.  Can't you
tell Pop to give it up?"  

	"It's his place to make such decisions. I could protest and point
out that we defied my parents to wed, but...I think your father has
invested all his honor in this.  He's broken so many promises that he
feels like this is his last chance to keep one.  And I think he and Mr.
Tendo have had bad nightmares about it."  She put a hand on Ranma's
shoulder.  "Let's go back in."

	They entered; everyone was arguing heatedly about whether or not
it was Akane's filial duty to marry Ranma or not.  "I don't CARE if it's
supposedly my 'duty'!  Nabiki or Kasumi could do it just as well!  And I
don't WANT to inherit the dojo anymore!  I'm not going to be a housewife!
I've got other duties!  Stopping the Dark One is more important!"

	"The witch is making you think that!"  Soun said.

	"Dammit, I'd make you LIKE this, if I was going to do something
like that!"

	"You cannot touch me, for my heart is pure," Soun said
righteously.

	"Oh, so my heart ISN'T PURE?"  Akane shouted.  "If you weren't my
father, I'd knock you into orbit!"

	Genma was simply sitting and glaring at Alyssa with the deepest
look of disgust that Nodoka had ever seen him manage.

	Nodoka said, "I have chosen to accept Genma and Ranma's promise to
me as fulfilled.  I don't like this Aes Sedai thing, but he has sworn
oaths which must be fulfilled here and nowhere else and has sworn to
return when he is done.  I will accept that.  As for the marriage, I'd
like to talk to the others as well about it.  I still do not know enough
to give you any guidance, my husband."

	Genma spun, immensely relieved.  "No suicide?"

	"No suicide."  

	Genma began to dance around happily.  Akane, Ukyou, and Alyssa all
visibly relaxed a little.  Soun smiled as well.  "I am happy for you, my
friend."

	Akane went over to Ranma, paused, and reached out and squeezed his
shoulder.  "I knew you'd be okay, Ranma."  Impulse took her and she hugged
him.  "It's all gonna be okay."  

	"If you'll come with me, Akane?"

****************

	"Thank you for releasing Ranma from his promise," Akane said.
"We've all been very worried about it."

	"Given the way everyone conspired to lie to me about it, I can
tell,"  Nodoka said with more acid than she had intended.

	Akane winced.  "I don't like lying to people.  But I didn't want
Ranma to die because of some stupid..."  She caught herself too late.  "I
mean..."

	"You think the promise he made was stupid.  That I'm stupid for
holding him to it."  There was an edge to her voice.

	For a moment, Akane quailed, then she hardened her own voice.
"Yes.  I can't imagine why you did that."

	"It was intended to discourage Genma from taking Ranma away in
the first place.  I didn't think he'd be gone ten years or that he would
get Ranma cursed.  I didn't think..."  She sighed.  "I did not want them
to die.  I hoped...I hoped he would be able to acquit himself in the eyes
of my family.  They opposed our marriage."

	"Then why don't you tell your husband he shouldn't force me and
Ranma to get married?"  

	"So you wouldn't marry Ranma if he was willing to sleep with your
boy body?"  Nodoka asked.

	Akane jumped two feet straight up in surprise.  "He...he said
that?"

	"Would you?" 

	Akane gulped.  Is she testing me, or is he really willing to... 
That wasn't the real thing standing in the way...well, not the only
thing, but it would make a difference, possibly.  "I made a commitment to
Alyssa.  I love her.  I can't just dump her for Ranma."

	"What if that wasn't a problem?"

	"We'd have to be Aiel."

	Nodoka sighed.  "Would you marry Ranma if other things weren't in
the way?"

	Akane looked around as if the walls had ears.  "I..."  She
shuffled her feet, then finally whispered, "Yes.  If he could accept me as
I am now.  But I don't think he can."

	Nodoka asked gently, "What doesn't he accept?"

	"My boy side.  I'm Kaneda as well as Akane, and I like...Kaneda
likes girls."

	"So you want Ranma to embrace his girl side like you've done with  
your boy side."

	"He's got to, with a curse like this.  Especially if he's going
to be Aes Sedai."

	"Do you think he's really needed here?"

	"I need him.  The Hall needs him.  The Aes Sedai need him.  We
need every candle we can light against the rising of the dark."  Her
stance changed, straightening.  Her voice became firm.  "The seals are
breaking on the Dark One's prison, and if he is freed here, he is free in
every world. Our homeworld will die if we don't stop him here and now.  I
have pledged myself to fight against this, to stay here until Tarmon
Gaidon passes and we gain victory or death.  I'll do what I must to bring
about the triumph of the light."  She had transformed without
transforming, in a way, and Nodoka could feel the power of Akane's
impassioned words.  No wonder she's become a leader here, Nodoka thought.
I've never seen her like this before.  She always seemed so ordinary
before, with a bit of a temper and no skill at cooking, but now Nodoka
felt the urge to pledge fealty to her. 
	
	Instead, she found herself nodding.  "You're right.  I see your
point.  Ranma does have a duty to stay and fight for the Light even if it
means living as a girl."  Did she just ensorcel me? Nodoka wondered.  But
no...she could only do that as a boy.  "Would you marry him if he did
that?"

	"I've made promises to Alyssa, and I keep my promises."  

	"What if he married both of you?  He told me that he and Alyssa
get along well."  I can't believe I said that, Nodoka thought to herself.
What has gotten into me?

	And Lady Akane suddenly blushed and faded into normal Akane.
"You're joking, right?  And Ukyou would have to marry all of us as well,
since she loves Ranma."

	"Would you marry Ukyou too then?"  I've gone mad, she thought.  

	Akane turned beet red.  "Well, I've had a few..."  She slapped
her hand over her mouth.

	I can't believe I said that, Nodoka thought.  She looked around
and tried to see if anyone might be doing something to them, but there
were only a few soldiers lounging about lazily.  "Do you love Alyssa?"

	"Yes.  She's sweet and kind and gentle.  And she accepts my
curse."

	Could Ranma accept it, Nodoka wondered.  Should he?  The more she
thought about all of this, the more her brain felt tied into knots.  "And
she's cursed as well."

	Akane nodded nervously.  "Yes."

	"And you're determined not to give her up, though it will hurt
your father and force him to..."

	"It won't force him to do anything.  Ranma could marry Nabiki or
Kasumi and Daddy's honor would still be preserved.  I never personally
promised to marry Ranma."

	"Would Kasumi or Nabiki accept this?"

	Akane sighed.  "No.  He and Nabiki would drive each other mad, and
Kasumi and he would bore each other to death, I think.  I think it's
wicked of Daddy to try to force any of us into this."

	Nodoka's eyes flared.  "It is his right as your�"

	"You didn't listen to your parents.  Why should I?  Don't be
hypocritical."  The last word came out sharply.

	Nodoka could not condone a group marriage, but it seemed as if
nothing else could solve this.  Which meant there was no solution.  She
disliked that.  "Your parents had an arranged marriage."

	"Mother was the one who really arranged it," Akane said.  "Or so
Grandma told me.  It's too bad we can't adopt Ukyou or something.  That
would let us all have what we want without forcing any promise breaking."

	"Is she an orphan?"  That was the most promising thing she'd heard
in a while.  

	"I don't know�"  Akane thought for a moment.  "Can't hurt to ask
her."  

	"That might be the best way.  Although it doesn't solve your
feelings for Ranma.  Are you really willing to let Ukyou have him?"

	Akane wouldn't look straight at Nodoka. "She loves him.  If we
can't be together how I need it to be, at least he'll be with someone who
really cares for him."  Her voice dropped.  "I don't know what I'd do if
he came to me with words of love and said�"  She stared at the ground.
"Alyssa makes me feel strong and confident.  Ranma always protected me,
but we always tore each other down too.  The things we said to each
other�We fought like rabid weasels.  But I loved him anyway.  I knew he
would fight his way into hell for me, and jump down the Dark One's throat
if he had to.  I loved it and I hated it.  I didn't want to be protected,
but sometimes, it just felt so good to let him take care of me."  

	Akane sighed.  "He could be so cruel to me too.  He never seemed
to even understand he had hurt me.  Alyssa never does that.  We have a
much better relationship than Ranma and I ever did." 

	"But would she fight her way into hell for you?"

	"She'd try, but then she would probably panic.  She doesn't know
her own strength.  She used to be picked on all the time, and she doesn't
really understand she's strong enough to take care of herself now."

	Nodoka wished she had more time to think, but time was pressing,
given how urgent her husband and Tendo-san had become about this.  "You've
given me a lot to think about.  I think I must talk to Ukyou next."

***************

	Ukyou did not expect Mrs. Tendo's first question to be "Are you an
orphan?"

	"Uh, yeah.  Pop died about a year before I found Ranchan.  Why do
you want to know?"

	"Well, I was thinking that if the Tendos adopted you, it would
enable everyone involved to keep their promises."

	"�"

	"I don't know if they'd accept it, but it is one solution."

	"If it means getting to marry Ranchan without any trouble, I could
handle that," Ukyou said.  "Although I don't think your husband likes me
very much."

	"So why do you want to marry Ranma if you don't get along with his
father?"  

	"He's strong and brave and the best friend I've ever had," Ukyou
said, pacing back and forth.  "He's handsome and clever and a great
Martial Artist.  Ranchan never ever gives up.  And I like confident men."

	"And you don't care about his curse?"

	"I'm cursed too, but I never really cared about it.  I've lived as
a boy before, so I'm used to it."  Ukyou looked over at Nodoka.  "But it
bothers you."

	Nodoka felt embarrassed.  "I didn't expect Genma to do such a bad
job."

	"Ranma is far more a man than his father, even with his curse!
He's brave and loyal and keeps his promises!"  Well, sometimes, she
thought.  He does sort of wiggle at times, but�

	"Are you saying women can't be brave or loyal or keep their
promises?"

	"No!"

	"So what makes those manly?"

	Ukyou frowned, feeling herself trapped.  She'd never really sat
down and thought about manliness vs. womanliness; it was just one of those
things which was part of her mental assumptions.  What was different?  Or
more importantly, what good things about men and women were really
different?  A lot of manliness and womanliness seemed to rely on bad
habits to tell the difference.  The feeling that she was missing something
important nagged at her.  "He's a good person, man or woman."

	Nodoka paused, having completely lost her own line of thought.
What IS manliness, she asked herself.  "So why should Ranma marry Akane
instead of you?"

	"He loves me, and he was promised to me first."  She frowned.
"And Akane wants to marry someone else, anyway."

	"And if Akane didn't?  If she was willing to marry him?"

	Ukyou's eyes narrowed.  "Did she say that?"

	"Do you want to sleep with Ranma's girl body?"

	Ukyou began to blush.  "Uh�er�"

	"Well?"

	"Yes," she whispered.  "Sometimes, when I'm a boy."

	"You know Ranma doesn't want to do that."

	She nodded and stared at the ground.  "I can hold off for when we
can be together the regular way."

	"Have you told him this?"

	"No," she said quietly.  "He'd freak.  I don't know why he's so
afraid of it.  It's perfectly natural for boys and girls to like each
other like that."

	"Because he's a boy."

	Ukyou didn't know what to say.  She'd thought of herself as a boy
when she'd lived as one, and that had been without physically changing
into a boy at all.  Sometimes, even before she'd gotten her curse, she'd
thought of herself as a boy at times, or an okonomiyaki chef instead of a
woman.  It came easily to her now.  She kept finding herself thinking of
Ranma as a woman when 'Ranko Sedai' was on patrol.  In fact, Ranko Sedai
was more feminine than a lot of women she had known.  "Ranma and I will
work things out."

	Nodoka pursed her lips.  "Never go into a marriage without facing
problems you already know about.  I made that mistake."

	"It'll be a while before we actually get married," Ukyou said.
"But I think Ranma will change his mind like Akane did."

	That's what I'm afraid of, Nodoka thought.  Although Akane seemed
just as womanly now, in fact more womanly, a grown adult instead of a
child, though it came and went.  Ranma seemed more mature as well in
comparison to how he had typically acted as 'Ranko'.  "What do you intend
to do if my husband and Mr. Tendo won't change their minds?"

	"It doesn't matter what they think, as long as Ranchan still wants
to marry me."

	"And if he changes his mind?  I think he only chose to get serious
with you because he couldn't have Akane."  Nodoka watched Ukyou intently.

	"Ranchan loves me.  He wouldn't dump me for Akane!"  Ukyou
shouted, though her voice sounded a little uncertain.  "I'm not just a
consolation prize!"

	"Really?  Then why did he only get serious with you after Akane
became Alyssa's lover?"

	Ukyou turned and stared off across the camp.  "It wouldn't have
been honorable, since he had so many conflicting promises to honor.  But
once Akane ended their engagement�"

	"You're rationalizing.  You were a second choice and you know it."

	"I was not!"  She turned and stared daggers at Nodoka.  "He told
me he loves me, and Ranchan would NEVER lie like that!"  
Well, besides claiming he was Ryouga's fiancee, but that didn't count.  

	"Are you sure he won't end up regretting this?"

	"YES!  He and Akane are OVER!"

	"Which means they were once not over."

	Ukyou winced.

	"He favored her over you, didn't he."  Nodoka didn't mean to be
cruel, but she felt she had to get to the bottom of all of this.  

	"That's all dead and gone."

	"And if Alyssa hadn't come along, they'd still be together."

	"She's here.  And Akane loves her.  So it doesn't matter."

	"Do you want to be his second choice?"

	"I love him, and he chose me.  He never told Akane he loved her,
but he did tell me.  Are you calling him a liar?"  Her voice was fierce;
she looked ready to pounce.

	She would not compromise easily, Nodoka thought.  If the adoption
idea fell through, working out something else would be difficult.  But
what else was there?  No one would bend; really, none of them could bend
without something like a weird group marriage which she couldn't condone.
Perhaps Alyssa will have a good idea.

***********
 
	It would be a while before Nodoka would find out, as a full scale
brawl was in progress when they returned.  Nodoka never did get a clear
answer as to who started it; likely several people had snapped at once.
The only reason that the soldiers hadn't broken it up was that they
couldn't stay conscious if they got too close.  "THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" she
shouted, but no one even noticed.  

	Ukyou sighed.  "This was inevitable."  She unslung her
mega-spatula and got ready to fight.

	Nodoka put a hand on her shoulder.  "Let them get it out of their
system."  

	This took a while; Genma and Soun couldn't match their children
for skill, but they were both frothing mad.  Alyssa was simply watching in
horror.  Finally, after Soun managed to knock Akane right through the wall
of the tent, she took action, grasping the Source and immobilizing all of
them.  "Stop it!  Stop it!"

	They really didn't have much choice.

	"This is pathetic,"  Nodoka said.

	"The witch has warped their minds!"  Soun shouted.

	"Then why doesn't she warp yours?"  Nodoka snapped.

	"Because justice is on my side!"  Soun bellowed.

	"My chi is too powerful for her,"  Genma said smugly.

	I'm increasingly inclined to be contrary just to spite them for
being fools, Nodoka thought.  Her patience was oozing away by the second.
"I think she is innocent of that crime.  Do you wish to accuse me of being
her puppet as well?"

	Genma paled for a moment, then frowned.  "Perhaps her powers are
greater over other women, which is how she forced Akane to fall in love
with her."

	"I did not force Akane to fall in love with me!"  Alyssa shouted,
flushing.

	"Dammit, Alyssa doesn't DO things like that!!!!"  Akane was on the
verge of exploding into violence again.  "I love her because she of who
she is, not beause she did something to me!"

	Genma turned to Ranma.  "How can you stand to see a woman steal
your Akane from you?  And you call yourself a man?"

	Ranma winced.  "I ain't gonna MAKE her marry me!"

	"So, you're going to just sit back and let this witch turn your
true love gay with evil magic?  And make you marry a back woods tomboy
hick?"  Genma sounded outraged.  "You're no real man!  She'll make you
sleep with men next, she will!"

	Nodoka looked over at Alyssa, who looked horrified.  I can't
believe she'd hurt a fly, she thought.  Why are they so berserk over this?  

	Ranma screamed something incoherent, and the brawl renewed itself.
Nodoka collapsed, sighing.  She couldn't break it up;  while she could
fight decently well, they were all much, much better than her.  Quietly,
she drifted over to Alyssa, who was watching the brawl with a horrified
look on her face.  "I am starting to think something has happened to Soun
and Genma, though if it has, I don't understand why I haven't been
affected."

	"They're not always like this?"  Alyssa asked.

	"Not normally." 

	"I can't find any signs of compulsion," Alyssa said after spending
a few minutes concentrating.  "Although if it was skillfully enough done,
I might not spot it."  She turned to Nodoka and sighed.  "You don't think
I enchanted Akane, do you?"

	"Does the curse�make you like people you didn't used to?"

	Alyssa blushed.  "It takes a long time unless you live in the
curse body most of the time.  I hardly get any thoughts like that at all
in my boy body, but I don't use it very often.  But Akane tells me, it
eventually gets to where you switch back and forth like a lever.  I guess
you're wondering if Ranko is going to end up liking boys."

	Nodoka nodded.

	"I think so,"  Alyssa said.  

	"And this doesn't bother you?"

	"It terrifies me.  But I'll do it for Kaneda.  And if Ranma really
loved her, he would too."

	Nodoka blinked.  "You think he doesn't love her?"

	"If he did, he'd come after her, wouldn't he?  I'd be fighting me
tooth and nail for her if I was in his shoes.  And if he really loved her,
he wouldn't care about manliness.  What good is that if you end up alone?"

	"So, you don't like manly men?"

	"Is manliness important if it makes you miserable?  I think maybe
Ranma used to love Akane, but�I just think he'd be coming for my head if
he still loved her."

	"I think you're wrong.  Manliness is an important part of what
makes Ranma happy.  And he had to worry about dying if he wasn't manly."
She frowned.  "So I think he let her go so he could keep his manliness and
his life."

	"So you want him to marry Akane too," Alyssa said faintly, staring
at the ground.

	"I want him to be happy," she said.  "And I'm not convinced this
is the best thing for him.  But at the same time, marrying Akane carries a
lot of baggage I'm not sure is good for him either.  I don't know what to
think of all this."

	"I just know that I want to marry Kaneda.  And that the village
wisdom would be beating us all in the head by now if we were at home."

	Nodoka nodded.  This was becoming ridiculous.  "I can't stop them
when they do this, though."

	"I can, but it'll just make your husband and Master Tendo hate me
more."

	"With the Power?"

	"Yes."

	Nodoka frowned.  "If this lasts much longer, I'll have to ask you
to.  I'm surprised the King hasn't sent his men in already to break this
up."

	The brawlers all suddenly froze in place, and Nodoka found to her
shock that she couldn't move as well.  Alyssa howled.  "I've been
shielded!"  She hadn't even felt the shield until now, when she had
instinctively reached for the Source, only to find an invisible wall in
the way.  Outside the tent, the sound of battle erupted.

	A small squadron of people appeared at the tent flap as if they
had always been there.  The first woman had long blonde hair bound into
braids, dusky skin, and green eyes.  She wore a yellow dress in a
Taraboner style, made of silk and fringed at the bottom with interlocking
bronze and black squares.  Kodachi stood to one side of her, grinning,
while to the other side, stood Ryouga, who looked ready to kill someone.  

	The third woman was blonde as well, and lushly built, shorter than
the first woman, wearing shimmering silk which was currently blue with red
streaks, but constantly slowly altered its color.  It was scandalously
sheer, and more scandalously cut to the point where there was almost no
point in bothering to wear it.  The dark haired, hawknosed man next to her
was dressed in black and yellow in a far more sombre and sedate fashion.  

	Akane stared at him.  "You!"

	The blonde in the yellow dress stared at Ukyou and her eyes
narrowed.  "You look like...interesting."  

	Ryouga ran over to the paralyzed Akane.  "Don't worry, Akane,
we've come to free you from the spell that evil woman has put on you!"  He
glared at Alyssa, who was fortunate that looks cannot kill.  "And we'll
deal with you."

	"Ryouga, she is NOT evil!"

	"You just think that because she's put a spell on you," he said.
"I'm sorry we have to do this this way, but we have no choice."  Akane
could see a light in his eyes; it bothered her.

	Kodachi, meanwhile, had bounced over to Ranma and picked him up.
"Hello, my future husband."

	"I am NOT going to marry you!"

	She waved a hand in front of his face.  "You are going to marry
me."

	"I am going to marry you," he said, eyes glazed over.

	Kodachi cackled.  "The One Power is even more fun than feeding
people to Mr. Turtle."

	Akane said, "How did you learn so quickly?"

	For a moment, Kodachi looked disturbed, then brightened up.  "I'm
a quick learner."  

	Demandred frowned.  "Let's get going.  We don't have all day."

	The less clad blonde gestured and dragged Ukyou over to herself
with the power.  "I want this one.  We'll see what you can do with that
spatula."  She grinned.

	The more clad blonde frowned slightly.  "She looks like someone I
knew long ago."

	You don't look familiar to me, Ukyou thought.  

	Ryouga picked up Akane, Kodachi carried Ranma over to the group,
and Demandred looked thoughtfully over at Genma and Soun.  "You want them,
'Lara'?"

	She thought for a moment.  "Not really."

	"You promised you'd make sure Ranma and Akane got married!"  Genma
shouted.

	"Now, now, I would never stand in the path of true love," Lara
said.  "I never said where that path ran, though, now did I?"  She smiled.
"Still, I feel generous. I will not leave you here to die when the Aiel
find you."

	"The Aiel?"  Akane asked.  She took a look at her captors, then
another one at the man.  "Demandred."

	The man started.  "How do you...So that was you."

	"I told you," Lara said.  "Her and the boy will merit study."  She
opened a small gate behind Genma and Soun and shoved them through it with
the Power.  "This will do for them.  And as for the girl..."  She turned
to face Alyssa.  "Ryouga, take care of her while I deal with the woman."
Turning again, she now faced Nodoka.  "Now, you could be useful.  Perhaps
as a tool to control Ailron if he survives this.  Yes."

	Alyssa shuddered, unable to move as Ryouga advanced on her.  "What
are you going to do to me?"

	"I hate to do it, but I'm afraid you have to die to break the
spell."

	"Ryouga!  Don't you DARE!"  Akane shouted angrily.  "Touch one
hair on her head and I will HATE YOU FOREVER!!!!"

	Ryouga winced at that, and hesitated.  Then Lara said, "It's the
spell talking, not the real Akane.  Alyssa is just making her say that."
He nodded grimly and turned to Alyssa, a sphere of dark energy beginning
to form between his outstretched hands.

	Deep inside, Ranma was screaming, but he couldn't resist the
compulsion he was under.  Ukyou struggled desperately against her bonds,
but the flows of air held her fast as she lay at the yet-unnamed blond's
feet.  Akane exerted every ounce of her strength, but it was of no avail.
Nodoka watched in horror.  

	The build up of energy was slow, and it drew Alyssa's gaze,
pulling her into a void of despair.  She could feel Akane's horror through
their bond, and somehow she could sense the growing ball of energy itself
was made of despair and fear.  It grew inch by inch, drawing ever closer
to her, sucking the heat out of the air around her.  The metal tiara on
her brow grew chill as the heat left it.

	The tiara.  I'm wearing an angreal and I forgot, she thought.  The
problem was that it wasn't much good AFTER one had been shielded.  Still,
there had to be something to be done with it.  She racked her memory in
the seconds she had left; there had to be some trick she could use.

	Akane shouted, "DAMN YOU, RYOUGA!  I HOPE YOU DIE!!!!"  Her face
was contorted with rage beyond anything Alyssa had ever seen on it since
the time she had fallen into the hands of the Whitecloaks.

	Ryouga winced, and the sphere grew even larger.  She could feel
the rush of his emotions, as if the ball was made of them.  It was even
stronger than her warder link.  "This is for your own good, Akane," he
whispered.

	"Hurry it up, boy!  Just stab her or something!"  Demandred said.
"The fighting's getting closer."

	"Go ahead, Ryouga," Ukyou spat out.  "Be a murderer.  Show you
love Akane by murdering a helpless woman.  I always knew you were
pathetic, but I never realized you were THAT pathetic."

	"I am not a murderer!" he shouted.  The ball of energy swelled
more; soon it would have to either be released or it would release itself.
"But it's the only way to free Akane!"

	"I HATE YOU, RYOUGA!"  Akane squirmed frenetically where Ryouga
had put her down by his new associates.  "DAMN YOU!  I LOVE HER!  DON'T
YOU DARE HURT HER!"

	"You're a coward!"  Ukyou shouted.  "Murdering someone helpless!"

	Ryouga twitched.  "I'm not a coward!"

	"Spineless wimp.  The least you could do is to untie her so she
could die fighting," Ukyou said.  

	"We do NOT have time for this!"  Demandred said.  "Kill her now,
or I'll do it myself!"

	Nodoka watched all this silently, trying to wiggle towards the
edge of the tent.  She couldn't move her limbs, but no one was paying
attention to her, so she had managed to fall down and was very slowly,
like an inchworm, heading for the side of the tent.  What she would do,
she wasn't sure, but she had to do SOMETHING.  

	Lara gestured and Ukyou and Akane found themselves gagged as well.
"Hurry, Ryouga!  We have to go before the Aiel find us and kill us!  They
might hurt Akane if we don't hurry!"

	Ryouga hung on the knife edge, and as he agonized, the ball of
energy grew larger.  "I..."

	"Enough!"  Demandred said, forming a blade of flame and striding
forward.  "I will deal with her myself.  

	The world seemed to slow with his every step.  Alyssa watched
Demandred raise the blade, and she scrabbled desperately at the Source
through the shield, but it was too strong for her, being actively held by
Demandred himself, she was sure, since she couldn't even see it.  

	It was at this moment that Nodoka discovered one of the tent poles
was in her way as she tried to roll out of the tent.  The whole tent
shook, and Demandred paused to look up.  "What the..."  He looked around
and spotted Nodoka.  "Deal with her."

	Kodachi whipped out a ribbon, snagged Nodoka, and began to reel
her in like a fish.  "We need to have your mother at our wedding, dear,"
she said to Ranma, who nodded inanely.

	Alyssa seized her one desperate chance.  She was bound so her
limbs couldn't move, but it wasn't a perfect immobilization.  She could
shift her weight a little, and she did, toppling forward into Demandred as
he started to turn back to her.  He fell backwards, and his concentration
wavered.  The shield weakened just enough for her to shove a mental finger
through it.  With the angreal, all she needed was a finger.  Power rushed
through the gap, shredding it.  As Demandred's head slammed into the
ground, stunning him for one crucial second, she destroyed the bonds on
herself and grabbed his head, slamming into into the ground and howling
with a rage she had rarely experienced.

	All that did was to stun him some more; she wasn't very strong.
That was enough for her to shield him.  By this point, however, the three
female channelers present recovered from their own surprise and launched a
coordinated assault on her, driving her back with fire and knives of
spirit at her connection to the source.  "Ryouga, kill her before it's too
late!"  Lara shouted.

	It was too late.  She sliced out with fire and destroyed the tent
supports.  The tent collapsed, rendering them unable to see her to shield
her.  The plan when awry, however, when Ryouga lost control.  The Shishi
Hokodan sent everyone flying, though the tent itself absorbed some of it.
Alyssa sat up, and looked around desperately.  The camp was a boiling sea
of Aielmen and Amadicians locked in combat, a battle the Amadicians were
losing.  She saw Ailron fleeing on horseback; he had Nodoka with him.
Kodachi had opened up a gateway; most of the Forsaken were unconscious, as
were Akane and Ukyou.  Ranma simply looked groggy.  Ryouga had picked up
Akane and was crying.

	"Put her down!"

	"YOU!  THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"  Ryouga bellowed.  

	She had had enough.  "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO TRIED TO KIDNAP HER!  AND
MURDER ME!  I HAVE HAD MORE THAN I CAN STAND!"  Fear was gone.  Despair
was gone.  Anger ruled.  "DIE!"  

	If he had stayed still, she would have severed all of his limbs in
her berserkergang.  Instead, he simply leaped back nimbly through the
portal and put Akane down.  Knives of fire and earth carved empty air.  

	Meanwhile, black tendrils erupted forth at Kodachi's command and
dragged her knocked out allies and Ukyou through the portal as well.  She
carefully put down Ranma on the other side, and said, "I probably should
kill you, peasant, but I have a wedding to arrange."

	Alyssa reached out with the power, and a tiny cloud formed,
dumping down water on Ranma, who transformed and jolted awake.  Kodachi
laughed.  "You won't fool me that way.  I know all about that little
problem now."

	Seeing the stunned Forsaken were beginning to recover, Alyssa
reached out again and sliced the portal which collapsed, leaving only her,
Ranma-chan and Kodachi on this side of it.  Kodachi reached out to shield
her, but with the angreal, she easily swatted the knives of power aside
and shielded Kodachi.  Holding the shield, she sliced the compulsions laid
on Ranma-chan.  "Ranko, go save your mother.  I'll deal with her."

	"Peasant," Kodachi spat.  "You can't deal with me.  I'll come back
for you, Ranma-sama!"  She sprang away into the brawl that was growing
closer to the three of them, and Alyssa cursed herself for not binding
Kodachi physically as well.  Still, she surely couldn't get too far away
without channeling.  

	"You shouldn't have sliced the portal!  Now we can't..."
Ranma-chan began.

	"We know how to trace the residues," Alyssa said.  "And can't you
feel Ukyou through your warder bond anyway?  To find her?  Now go save
your mom!  I'll chase down Kodachi!"

	Ranma-chan frowned, nodded, and charged into the fray, tossing
Aiel and Amadicians about without thought.  It was hard to see anything,
so she jumped up and started going head to head; it was easy for her, and
unpleasant for them, but she didn't care.  Soon enough, she spotted her
mother, who was still trussed with air.  She slit the bonds as she
approached.

	Her mother was on the King's horse, in the midst of a group of
cavalry trying to make a break for it.  She grabbed two Aiel who got in
her way and tossed them behind her, then jumped onto a third's shoulders
and used him as a springboard to leap all the way to her mother's side.
"Mom!"

	She stared in shock.  "Ranko?"

	Ranma-chan winced; habits died hard, apparently.  "Alyssa is
chasing Kodachi.  We've got to get you out of here, Mom."

	"What about your father?"

	"He's gone through a portal.  We'll have to save him later."

	Ailron blinked at Ranko.  "Who are you?"

	"My daughter," Nodoka said.  "I have one of each."  She gave
Ranma-chan an intense look, and Ranma-chan understood.

	"I'm not Aiel," she said.  Looking at the situation, she said, "Do
you want to get out here alive, your highness?"

	He blinked.  "And how do you propose to do this?"

	"Get your men together.  I can get you out of here.  I guess
Mom'll be okay for now; I'll be back soon as we get Kodachi."  She
sprinted off in search of Alyssa, flinging more Aiel and Amadicians about
with a mixture of the Power and the Art.  She found Alyssa, who looked
extremely annoyed.  "Where's Kodachi?"

	"Dammit, she got away.  Once I lost sight of her, I couldn't hold
the shield right.  I suspect she gated out."

	Six arrows arced down at Ranma-chan, who ignited two with the
Power, blocked three with her hands, and got hit in the leg by one.
"Dammit, it's too dangerous to stay here."  There were Aiel everywhere, a
sea of cadin'sor.  "Where did they come from?  And why did Rand send them
to attack?"

	"I don't think these Aiel work for Rand," Alyssa said.  "I heard
something about 'Shaido'.  Which were the ones he had to fight.  But how
they got to Amadicia...I don't know.  But I'm thinking I could get
Perrin's force to come help."

	"That's even better than my idea.  Let's go!"

*********************

	Demandred shook his head.  "What a disaster.  This is YOUR fault,
Mesaana," he said, pointing at 'Lara'.

	"I should have gagged the girls from the start," she said.  "He
would have killed her and irrecoverably commited himself to us if this
Akane hadn't started playing on his conscience."  She frowned.  "Perhaps I
should have compelled him, but this way produces longer lasting results.
Compelled people become stupid and make mistakes."

	"Given that you were knocked down by someone shielded and wrapped
in air, you're in no place to talk, Demandred.  We are too old to waste
time on old regrets and recriminations, anyway," Graendal said.  "Perhaps
if you had better explained the plan to me, I might have been able to
correct the errors made."

	He frowned.  "I want to know how she broke my shield."

	"An angreal," Graendal said.  "I could feel it."

	"And how did she get to it?  Her arms were bound."

	"Probably one made as jewelry.  Perhaps they have learned how to
make them."

	"But the talent was rare, even in our time when they were common,"
Mesaana said.

	"Ta'veren," Graendal said.  "I may not have the Talent to see
them, but I can tell one when I see one."

	"Perhaps," Mesaana said.  "Studying her will be interesting.  I
want to learn how these beings change sex."

	"I want to know where they got their knowledge," Demandred said.
"And keep your pet in check, Mesaana, or I'll kill him myself."

	Graendal looked around.  "Are you sure they won't be able to trace
us, Demandred?"

	"Of course I am.  We travelled three times and cleaned the traces
every time.  They'll have no way to find us.  And since we'll be
scattering our prisoners...So are you going to go back for those two old
men?"

	"Not unless it turns out I need them for some reason."

	"And what about my Ranma-sama?"  Kodachi demanded.

	"I should have let him have you," Demandred said.  

	"I could have let them have YOU," she snapped back.  "The Great
Lord has chosen me; do not treat me as a child, Demandred."

	The ways of the Great Lord were often mysterious, but nothing
baffled Demandred more than the raising of this lunatic to the ranks of
the Chosen, although her skills with the Power were almost as baffling.
Where were all these incredibly skilled channelers coming from?  He
wondered again if she was actually Lanfear given new flesh...no one knew
where Lanfear had vanished to.  Still, if it was Lanfear, she would have
been chasing Lews Therin, not this Ranma person.

	"Now, now, fighting among ourselves will do no good," Graendal
said.  "I suggest we interrogate our prisoners, and see what can be
learned.  We can deal with capturing this Ranma later; perhaps we'll learn
something useful from the ones we do have."

	"And then they must DIE!" Kodachi said.

	"Only if they are useless to us alive.  Only children waste their
energy in petty spite," Demandred said, smirking.  

	They glared at each other in silence, and finally, Kodachi said,
"I will not forget."

	Mesaana sighed.  This was going to be a long day.

*******************

	Ailron slashed away with his sword, and to his surprise, it
actually struck home and slew the Aiel.  Probably because the Aiel was
busy attacking someone else, but you took whatever life was willing to
give you if you were wise.  

	He was, to say the least, quite shocked when about a hundred yards
away, the air ripped open in a great circle, and Mayener cavalry began to
pour through the gate.  The Aiel, equally surprised, fell back, more from
shock than from necessity.  Two more smaller gates opened in the air, and
more cavalry poured from one.  The smallest of the gates disgorged a force
of archers, who began to pepper the Aiel with remarkable skill. 

	Another Aiel leaped at him, knocking him off his horse and giving
him other concerns.  He desperately grappled with the man, but he could
see the end of his life approaching; the Aiel was taller, stronger, and
simply better.  For seconds that dragged to eternity, he grappled with the
youngster for his spear.  When he spat in the Aiel's face, the momentary
blink that followed almost enabled him to wrench it away.  

	Unfortunately, the Aiel followed up with a knee to Ailron's groin.
Agony made him lose his grip, though fear brought him back to his senses
just in time to see the Aiel raise the spear for a killing jab to Ailron's
throat.  

	The blow didn't come; Ailron stared in shock as a blade sprouted
out of the man's back.  A foot came down on his head, pushing him down
onto Ailron as the blade's owner extracted it from the man, then a
feminine voice said, "Your highness?"

	It was Nodoka, who now offered him a hand up.  He stared at her in
shock; he simply wasn't used to women who could fight.  She looked far
more grim than usual.  

	He took the hand.  "Where is your husband?"

	"Gone for now. I hope to find him again."

	Hopefully not, he thought.  He wanted her more than ever now,
though he was not a man to murder someone's husband.  Still, he could hope
the Aiel killed the worthless fool.  "Your daughter serves the First of
Mayene?"

	"The what?"

	Apparently not.

*******************

	Ranma-chan danced through the battlefield, tossing Aiel right and
left.  They couldn't lay a finger on her, and the sphere of wind around
her was deflecting every arrow around her, though it also had a tendency
to unhorse anyone friendly she got close to.  The Aiel were beginning to
retreat, so this was less of a problem.  

	She tried to spot the leaders, but they all looked alike, so she
simply clobbered everything that moved.  Her body moved on autopilot as
she strained her warder senses.  Ukyou was over a thousand miles away.  He
was in good health, but terrified.  

	Sweeping three Aiel off their feet and throwing them back for the
cavalry to deal with, she swore she would rescue Akane and Ucchan and make
the people who had taken them pay.  Whatever it took.

*******************

	The call to retreat had gone up.  Abel obeyed and joined the
stream of Aiel fleeing into the woods.  The woods still stunned him; it
was hard to believe that so many trees could grow in one place.  They made
wonderful hiding places; it was hard to imagine not having them now.  

	But why were they retreating?  While the new arrivals had tilted
the odds, they could still win.  Perhaps this was simply intended to lure
their enemies into the woods where their packed cavalry would be of little
avail.  He hoped that was the case and that their leaders hadn't simply
panicked.  Aiel should not act from fear.

	There was no pursuit.  Perhaps their enemies had figured out the
trick, if trick it was.  The orders went round to move north and rendevous
with more of the tribe which had finally been found by their scouts.  He
felt humiliated.  Running away from wetlanders.  This was almost as bad as
the shame the Wetlander, al'Thor, had brought to all the other tribes.
Still, there was nothing to be done but to obey for now.

*******************

	Rare had been the occasions when the flags of Mayene and Amadicia
had flown over the same field, whether as friends or foes.  The flags
stood triumphant now, though many present feared this was true only
because the Aiel had done what they had come for, then left.  To Perrin's
surprise, Ailron knealt as Perrin approached.  "Stand up, your highness,"
he said.  "I should be the one knealing; you're a king and I'm only a
lord."

	"You have saved me and mine from destruction," Ailron said.  "I
pledge my fealty to you, as Alisande has.  I am only a king in name, and I
know that without you, I will never regain my throne, especially not after
the damage they've done to my army."  He blinked, clearly not having meant
to quite say so much.  "You cannot possibly be worse than Pedron Niall,
and you've already done more for me than he ever did."

	Faile smiled.  "You will find him a generous lord.  Too generous
for his own good at times, perhaps."

	Nodoka watched quietly, standing by Ranma-chan and Alyssa.  "We
have to find your father," she said.  

	"I know.  We'll find them and get you to safety, and then we have
to go try to save Akane and Ukyou."  Once we round up some help.  It
chewed her up inside to not rush to their aid this instant, but she knew
she needed help.  She'd show the Forsaken the RIGHT way to launch a
commando raid.  And then they would pay in full for what they'd done.

*****************

	Genma and Soun hung by their feet from a noose-trap, suspended
from a tree as four Aiel stared at them.  "This is another fine mess
you've gotten us into, Tendo," Genma said.

	"You're the one who thought their dinner smelled good!"

	They began to fight as best they could, while the Aiel stood and
watched and took bets on who would win.  It was the most fun they'd had
all day.

*****************

	Galad stared at his map.  How had this Mayene army crossed
hundreds of miles in a single day?  It had to involve channelers.  Did
they work for the Tower?  Al'Thor?  The Shadow?  They were only two miles
away; tomorrow, he would find out.

	The Aiel were streaming north to join with another band, possibly
several.  And the Prophet's men were approaching, pushed north by the
Seanchan.  Four armies converging in Southern Ghealdan.  Five if the other
major group of Whitecloaks he knew was alive were actually coming from the
west as the rider had told him.  This would be a battle to be remembered
if he survived it.




John Biles
Emperor of all He Surveys
http://www.tass.org/~rhea/falcon.html

"Do I get the hundred gold if I shoot the barbarian leader with a cruise
missle?"
It turned out that he did.