*****************
* Illuminations *
*****************

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* A Ranma 1/2 Fanfiction *
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* By Freemage *
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*Author's Note:  This story draws on both the anime and the manga.

 This is a dark story, with several sexually suggestive scenes,
 although no outright Lemon scenes.  If such material offends or
 disturbs you, please consider not reading this story--Unless, of
 course, you like being offended and/or disturbed....

  Thoughts are denoted by {X}, text/Panda signs by [X].*

                  **************************
                  * Chapter Twenty-Three   *
                  * Some Assembly Required *
                  **************************

     Nabiki led the other two through the streets of Nerima,
 enjoying the chance to watch them squirm as she needled them
 about their stint in the 'slammer'.

     "So, RanKO," she teased, adding the emphasis to the last
 syllable so as to make the redhead wince.  "Maybe you can use
 this little experience to your advantage.  Why, you could take
 everything you've learned and get a part in the next 'Chained
 Heat' movie...."

     "Hey!  I don't watch those kinda flicks!" protested her
 victim.

     She spun around, giving Ranma-chan a look that combined a
 triumphant glow with a raised eyebrow.  "Oh?  Then how did you
 know what kind of movie it was?"

     The pig-tailed girl started to make a bunch of "eep"
 noises, along with a few "er"s and a couple of "you see..."s,
 but for once, her fiancee didn't seem to want to rise to the
 bait.

     Nabiki noticed that Ranma-chan wasn't going home via LEO
 quicker than the pig-tailed girl did.  "Akane, you okay?"

     Akane looked up, as if from deep thought, and said, "Yes,
 I'm fine Nabiki... and I really want to thank you for covering
 for us on this."  Ranma-chan nodded her agreement with Akane's
 statement.

     "Oh, believe me--you two owe me, big time.  And I'm going to
 start collecting as soon as we get you home."

     Ranma winced, but Akane just put on a docile smile, and
 asked, "Is that a promise?"

     The middle Tendou sister, calculating the profit margin on
 the pics she planned on having the two of them pose for, even
 without the largesse of the Kunous to rely upon, failed to
 notice the emphasis Akane had placed on the last word.  "You
 better believe it, Sis--"  She was cut off when Akane threw her
 arms around her in a tight embrace.

     "Oh, thanks, Nabiki--I KNEW you'd be willing to wait!"

     Nabiki hated to be confused--hated it with a passion, in
 fact.  And it seemed to be happening all too often of late. 
 "Have you taken leave of your senses, Akane?"

     Her younger sister beamed at her.  "Nope!  You _promised_ to
 wait until we got home to start making us pay you back.  Since
 Ranma and I aren't GOING home...."  She let her voice trail off,
 allowing Nabiki to react to her implication.

     Nabiki stood, stunned, then scowled.  "Oh, no, little
 sister.  Not on your life.  It's pretty obvious that you and our
 resident aquatransexual here can't go off on your own without--"
 
     Akane cut her off.  "Don't you see, Nabiki?  That's WHY we
 need to keep at this--we were set up!"

     Nabiki thought for a minute, then shrugged.  "I'm not
 following you here, Akane."

     Akane huffed.  "Don't you get it?  If whoever it is we're
 looking for was so anxious to get us off their trail that they
 had to arrange for something this elaborate, then we must be
 getting close, right?  Which means we absolutely, positively
 _can't_ give up now...."  As her voice trailed off, Akane gave
 Nabiki a pleading look.

    Nabiki turned it over and over in her mind, but she couldn't
 find a likely flaw in that reasoning.  Finally, she slumped her
 shoulders, causing Akane to adopt a triumphant grin.  "Okay,
 little sister, you win.  But one more debacle like this, and I'm
 pulling the plug.  Got it?"

    Akane nodded, hugging Nabiki again.  "Thanks, Nabiki, I won't
 forget this."  Before the middle Tendou daughter could change
 her mind, Akane grabbed the somewhat awestruck Ranma by the arm
 and dragged him off at high speed.

    Nabiki shook her head as the pair disappeared from view. 
 "I'm losing my touch.  That's four or five times I've been
 outmaneuvered by one of those two lately...."  Shrugging, she
 turned and continued on her way home.

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

    Nabiki entered her home with a faint prayer for a peaceful
 evening.  For one thing, she wanted to see if she could work out
 some sort of plan with Ryouga for finding out who was behind her
 blackmail, after the total failure earlier that day.  Nabiki
 still didn't know what to make of it all.

    {A charity?!  Somebody's playing games with my head, and I
 REALLY am not in the mood for it....}

    Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of weeping.  What
 seemed strange was that she didn't think it was her father's
 sobs she heard.  Slowing down, she approached the living room
 cautiously, peering around the doorframe and blinking at the
 sight in front of her.

    Nodoka, head down and hand clutching a scrap of note-paper,
 sat on the couch, her shoulders convulsing with the force of her
 sobs.  Next to her sat Soun, one hand on the distraught woman's
 shoulder, gently murmuring to her something that Nabiki could
 hardly make out.

    Abandoning her hopes for tranquility, she stepped into the
 room, moving to the far side of the table as her father saw her
 and motioned for her to take a seat.

    She sat, waiting, while Soun adopted his most austere
 face--one she had not seen since the day of Ranma's arrival,
 when he had explained the "grand plan" he and his friend Genma
 had cooked up.

    Nabiki felt a sudden uneasiness.

    Soun looked at her, his face solemn, with an extra element
 deep in his eyes, one she could only identify as... pleading?

    "Nabiki, I have some terrible, terrible news.  As you know,
 Ranma and his father have been on a training journey for some
 time now.  We just received a letter, from Ranma in Vietnam,
 informing us that...."  Soun's voice broke, even as Nabiki
 understood what was about to be said.  "I'm afraid Ranma's
 father, my dear, life-long friend, Genma Saotome, died in a
 training accident last week.  He was cremated, according to the
 note, and his ashes should be arriving shortly.

    "In the meantime, of course, I have invited your Auntie
 Nodoka to stay with us--I'm sure it's what Genma would have
 wanted."

    Nabiki sat, not having to fake her shock.  {I don't believe
 it.  He actually came up with a plan that works.  Still, I'll
 have to pin him later tonight and work out some of the finer
 details.  Overall, though, this will save her more grief than
 she'll ever know, hopefully.  I'll have to get word to the
 others, though--I'd hate for Ranma to pick the wrong moment to
 confess everything.}

    Finally, she shook herself free of the hold shock had
 produced.  "Auntie Saotome, I offer you my most heartfelt
 condolences.  Your husband was... very devoted to the Art."  Not
 trusting her voice for much more than that, she rose and bowed
 formally to the two of them.  "Daddy, have you seen Ryouga? 
 There were some... private matters I needed to discuss with
 him."

    Nabiki noticed, and was perversely relieved, by the look that
 came into her father's eyes as she said the words "private
 matters"--it was the same he got every time one of his and
 Genma's schemes had started to work: the "my daughter's future
 is assured" look.

    With a concerted effort, he kept down his enthusiasm, as it
 would have been inappropriate.  "Of course, Nabiki.  The boy is
 resting, up in your room, as luck would have it.  He asked if he
 could wait there for you."

    Nabiki nodded, then left the two adults to talk of matters
 grim.  She needed to iron some things out with pig-boy.

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

   Ranma stole another glance at Akane as they made their way
 back their makeshift "HQ" in the doctor's office.  He was glad,
 in a way, that she was so lost in her own thoughts that he
 could observe her like this--he wouldn't want for her to--

   "Ranma, would you stop ogling me like that?  Honestly, you
 haven't stopped staring since we split off from Nabiki."

  {So much for subtlety,} Ranma berated himself mentally.
 {That'll teach you to let your guard down.}

  "Well, Ranma, what is it?" demanded Akane.  "Is my hair
 standing straight up, or the back of my dress tucked into my
 underwear or something?"

  Ranma blinked, almost, but not quite, surrendering to the
 impulse to check and see if the latter option had actually
 occurred.

  Instead, he stammered, "Ah... well, you see... I just, I mean,
 I wanted you, that is to say, I just thought you should know,
 er... YouhandledthatsituationwithNabikiverywell."

  It was Akane's turn to blink.  "Ahh... Thank you, Ranma."
 She gave him a tentative smile--the kind that, unbeknownst
 to her, tended to render his higher thought processes
 inoperative.  "Come on, let's hurry.  I want to get back so we
 can bunk down, get an early start in the morning.  We'll
 have to be more careful, now--I doubt we'll get out of jail
 that easily a second time."

  Still totally mute from the smile, Ranma simply nodded as
 Akane grabbed his hand and pull-led-dragged him back to
 the abandoned office.

   ***********************************************************
   "Damnit!  There's GOT to be an explanation!"

   Ryouga groaned as Nabiki repeated the same outburst yet again.
 "Nabiki...."

   "I mean, I just don't get it!  Why blackmail someone just to
 pass the money along to some charity?"

   He tried again.  "Nabiki, you really need to--"

   "Just what the Hell is going on in this town?  Nothing makes
 sense anymore!"

   Ryouga lay back on her bed, studying the ceiling as she
 stomped around her room, pacing like a recently caged tiger.

   His silence got her attention faster than his attempts at
 interrupting her had.  "Well, don't you have any suggestions or
 ideas?  Anything at all?"

   He looked at her, helplessly.  "Nothing, Nabiki.  We've been
 going around this for hours, and I can't think of a single
 reason for someone to do this to you.  Ranma, I could see, but
 not you."

   Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Not everyone hates Ranma like you do,
 Hibiki.  Most folks would not go to this extent just to hurt
 someone."

   Ryouga chuckled. "That wasn't exactly what I meant. I just
 thought this sounded an awful like what you told me about these
 'Illuminati' guys that he and Akane are looking for--you know,
 the whole double-blind thing.  So it wouldn't have surprised me
 someone was doing something like this to him, too--it'd be just
 their style."

   Nabiki's glare softened a bit. "Not a bad analysis--but this
 dates from before Ranma ever got here.  Still... now that you've
 put it that way, it is a tempting theory."

   She continued to speak as the idea grew in her mind. "But then
 that would mean that they aren't even really focusing on Ranma,
 that even their interest in him is a blind, too.  But if that
 were true, then who could they be targeting for real?"

   Ryouga considered the question.  "Well, I don't think it's
 you, even though you've been hit--there's too much that has
 nothing to do with you, at all.  It's actually a lot like some
 of the softer styles of Martial Arts; all misdirection and
 rechannelling your opponents' blows."

   He paused for a moment, letting the analogy form in his mind
 before continuing.  In order to fight that, you have to look for
 the overall pattern.  Figure out where their center of attack
 is.  Now, the way they've apparently switched their primary
 focus from you to Ranma would mean that it must be someone who
 was close to you before he came, and also close to him after he
 and his father arrived."

   Nabiki considered everything he had said.  She looked at
 Ryouga, and realized from the horror she saw in his eyes that he
 had reached the same conclusion.

   "Akane!"

   They were downstairs and out the front door in a heartbeat.

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

   Ranma and Akane slipped into the dark rooms of the doctor's
 office.  By unspoken agreement, they immediately went to their
 respective sleeping areas.  Akane watched Ranma leave to the
 other room as she lay down on the couch, trying to think of some
 way to break the roadblock they seemed to have hit.

   That train of thought tore at her mind, and she lay awake,
 staring at the ceiling, wishing for some stroke of brilliance.
 Instead, her thoughts were cut off by a loud scream from the
 next room--Ranma's room, and Ranma's scream.  "NOOOO!!! Stay
 away, damn you!"

   Without anything resembling conscious thought, Akane was up
 and across the room in a heartbeat, bursting into the back room
 and dropping immediately into a battle-stance.  And froze at the
 sight before her.

   Ranma seemed to be grappling with some shadowy figure.  Except
 that even in the faint and pale light of the moon that the
 "figure" was only the panda-skin.  A moment later she realized
 that the boy was still asleep, dreaming of some horrific battle.
 "It's no wonder, using _that_ as a blanket," she muttered as she
 approached the thrashing boy carefully.

   "Ranma, wake up!" she called to him, hoping to wake him
 without getting in the way of the strikes and blows he was
 throwing at his chimerical foe.

   The heir to the Saotome (and perhaps the Tendou) school of
 Martial Arts paid her no heed, continuing to punch and kick
 wildly. "Damn it, I told you to get back!" he cried.  "I won't
 let you take Akane, too!  She's all I have left!"

   Akane froze again, almost unable to wrap her mind around what
 she had just heard.  Finally, she snapped out of it, leaping at
 over Ranma's prone form to grab his wrists as they pulled back
 for another round of punches.  At the same time, she began
 speaking to him, soothingly.  "Shhh... it's okay, Ranma, I'm
 here, I'm alright, the danger's over...."

   The boy calmed immediately at the combined effect of touch and
 voice.  He ceased his struggles, going almost limp.  Akane
 carefully released one wrist and reached out to brush the bangs
 that had fallen across Ranma's eyes back where they belonged. 
 Looking down at him, she made two silent vows:  one, she would
 never, ever, tell him what had just occurred; and two, she
 herself would never forget it.

   She waited awhile, then started to pull away.  Immediately
 Ranma began to stir again, his face growing tense.  Akane
 sighed; there was no other choice.  "Ranma, you silly, wake up!"
 she commanded, loudly, shaking his shoulder.

   The cursed boy shuddered for a second, then blearily opened
 his eyes.  "Ak-Akane?  What...?"

   She rolled her eyes dramatically. "You were having a
 nightmare.  I woke you up."  After a brief pause, she went on. 
 "Um... Would you like to talk about it?"

   "Huh?  Oh... ah, no, I can't really remember it."  Akane could
 tell the pigtailed boy was lying, and that hurt, but she decided
 not to press the issue--after all, she doubted she'd be any more
 truthful if their roles had been reversed.

   "Oh, okay.  Do you think you'll be able to get some sleep,
 now?  We've got to stay sharp if we're going to beat this
 thing."

   He gave her an embarrassed grimace.  "Ah, I dunno, Akane.  I
 think I'll just stay up for awhile.  Why don't you get some
 rest?"

   She rolled her eyes again.  "Oh, honestly.  You know as well
 as I do that you need to rest, too.  Men!"  Even as the epithet
 left her lips, an idea flared in her mind.  She stood up and
 moved to his pile of gear, and turned around to face him again,
 obviously holding something behind her back.

   Ranma looked at her nervously.  "Ahh... watchya doin', Akane?"

   She steeled her resolve before replying, "This!"  Her hand
 jerked out, spraying water, cold water, from Ranma's canteen.

   The now-redhead looked at her morosely.  The response was
 almost a reflex.  "Whadja do that for?"

   Akane knelt down beside her, and almost lost her nerve.  Only
 the echo of Ranma's words {"... all I have left."} gave her the
 strength she needed to carry on.

   She smiled at Onna-Ranma.  "Well, it's like Nabiki says: It
 doesn't matter if we're both girls, right?"

   "Huh?" Ranma replied, intelligently.

   Akane took the redhead firmly by the shoulder and pushed her
 back down, lying beside her as part of one motion.  Ranma-chan
 obeyed, mainly out of shock.

   "Akane, are you sure about this?" she finally managed to
 squeak out.

   The youngest Tendou shifted, propping her head up on one elbow
 so that she could look the other girl in the face.  "Honestly? 
 No, I'm not sure about any of this.  I just know that it's what
 is needed, so it's what we're going to do.  Now, go to sleep."

   Ranma-chan blinked, then gave a single, sharp nod, and Akane
 lay her head back down on the pillow.  She spoke once more just
 before sleep claimed both of them.  "Oh, and Ranma?  If you ever
 tell anyone about this, I'll rip out your tongue and serve it to
 you in a stew."

   Ironically, this settled Ranma-chan down even further, and
 they both slipped into a deep sleep, and if either dreamed,
 neither of them would remember them in the morning.

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

   "Ummm... Nabiki?"

   "Yes, Ryouga?"

   "What's that light?"

   "Why, that would be _dawn_, Ryouga."

   "Oh.  Why is it coming up in the south?"

   "It's not, you idiot!"

   "Oh."

   Nabiki snarled, wondering again about her mental faculties,
 letting herself be led around Tokyo by Ryouga, of all people.

   "Look, this is getting us nowhere fast, Hibiki.  I've managed
 to keep you from leaving the Tokyo city limits several times
 now, but that's about the limit of what I can do.  Why don't we
 try another tactic?"

   "Ummm... sure.  What did you have in mind?"

   "Well, when, exactly, did you and Ranma explore this place
 you told me about?"

   "Oh, that's easy," he replied. "We were going back to your
 house after he picked me up from the hospital."

   She resisted the urge to throttle the bandannaed boy.  "You
 mean to tell me that this abandoned doctor's office is somewhere
 between those two points?!"

   "Ahhh, yeah, I guess it would be."

   Her shoulders slumped.  "Unreal.  Utterly unreal.  That's a
 three-and-a-half mile stretch, max.  We could have been there
 HOURS ago, if you had included that one, little, detail."

   "Oh.  Aheh.  Sorry?"

   With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed his wrist and yanked him
 along behind her. "Come on, we need to catch a cross-town
 train."

   Ryouga followed along, meekly.

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

   Nodoka rolled over in her bed, turning on the lamp to help
 the faint light of dawn creeping in through the window.  She
 sighed, stretching to work the kinks out of her joints.

   She slipped out of bed, silently, and walked to the bathroom,
 not bothering to slip on a robe.  She turned on the water,
 stepping into the shower and letting the hot water cascade over
 her, luxuriating in its gentle caress.

   Without warning, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from
 behind, the forearms criss-crossing her abdomen.  She gave a
 gasp of surprise.

   His mustache tickling her ear, Soun whispered to her.  "Any
 regrets?"

   She smiled, softly.  "No, none at all.  I was nervous at
 first, of course, and part of me said I was betraying him; but I
 think... I think part of me has known I wouldn't be seeing him
 again.  In a way, I've been a widow for ten years; I just didn't
 know it.  That's long enough of a mourning period."

   She turned and faced him.  "Do you think the children will be
 alright alone?  I mean, we didn't even leave them a note...."

   He smiled and nodded.  "They are all quite competent--hardly
 children anymore.  And the, ah, room is... well, we don't have
 to check out for several more hours...."

   She looked up at him as the water continued to flow over them,
 and smiled again.  "It would be a shame to waste it, then."

   They embraced, and let passion take control again.

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

                     End Chapter 23

Author's Notes:

Yes!!  Another round of writer's block overcome!!

Special thanks to Lara Bartram, whose single prod once again drove me
to the necessary level of personal terror to complete this thing. 

I'm now going to go out on a limb that I swore I'd never get on again
and predict... three more chapters, plus epilogue(s).  Next chapter
should not take too long, I hope, as the outline is pretty much
completed.  My primary motivation right now is that I've got another
fic in my head that's SCREAMING to be let out, but this thing is still
in the way.  

Previous Chapters (some less-than-perfectly edited/formatted), and
links to other works (mine and others') availible at:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/9118/EastWindow/Illuminations/Illuminations.html

--Freemage





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