Some minor revisions, I'm hoping it is read for RAAC. Please tell me if
you agree, and if not, then why, if you would be so kind.
Dedicated to we who do not know tears for whatever reason: whether
it be because we lack that primal ability, or merely forgot the
secret of their making, or any other reason.
Ranma 1/2 is the work of Rumiko Takahashi. This is an unlicensed
use of Ranma 1/2, and the characters/situations/stories of Ranma
1/2. I do claim credit for this and ask that if you do deign to
pass it on to someone that you do so in whole and not in part,
along with proper accreditation, as I am doing here.
The Memory of Tears
a working title
A birthday. A seventeenth birthday, to be a bit more accurate.
Ranma's seventeenth birthday, if you want to be really precise.
There was a party-- much to his dismay, if you were wondering, but
you would be the only one doing so. Genma insisted there be one,
though. Soun had insisted there be one as well. Even so, there
might not have been one, except that when Kasumi learned of the
upcoming birthday party, and well, you _know_ that there had to be
one if Kasumi wanted one, don't you?
So needless to say, there was a party. Kasumi invited all of
Ranma's friends-- you know, all the ones he constantly played with.
Ukyo, Shampoo, Ryoga, Tatewaki and Kodachi Kuno, Mousse. Cologne
popped in too. You might be wondering, I suppose, about why Genma
and Soun were so enthusiastic and voluble in their desire for Ranma
to have a birthday party. Well, when their joint gift to Ranma was
a ring, and a most unusual ring at that, being nothing more than a
plain gold band, and a ring that Ranma was supposed to give to
someone else, draw the conclusions yourself.
Would you like to know how the party went, or do you think you
can guess? Abysmal would be an apt description, although some might
say that was somewhat of an understatement.
But if that were the sum of it, oho! if that were only it, just
that and nothing more, this would be a much shorter story. These
are well within established parameters of behaviour for everyone,
and the course of it could be predicted and plotted and graphed
quite easily. A shorter story, if that were the sum of it, but it
was not (oho!) the sum of it at all, not even close.
The ring was merely the last straw, the final culmination of
the fiasco that was Ranma's party. "Go ahead boy, give it to her,
give it to her," Genma panted, more eager and desperate than usual,
egging his son on.
"Show some initiative, son," Soun encouraged, though not nearly
to the extent of his friend Genma.
The other party-goers did not hold the same views as the two
patriarchs-- call it a generation gap, if you wish. "If Ranchan's
going to marry anyone, it'll be me!" Ukyo declared, brandishing her
spatula.
Shampoo unlimbered her bonbori, which she just happened to have
on her, and echoed a similar sentiment-- replacing Ukyo's name with
her own, of course.
Akane's vocal response-- the words but not the tone nor, we
must suspect, the sentiment --was of a different nature. Something
to the effect of, "I wouldn't marry Ranma if he were the last man
on Earth!" and in a fit of pique she dismissed Ranma with, "Why
don't you just go off with your two other fiancees?"
And Ranma, who also had an unguarded mouth and was at least as
stubborn as Akane, and perhaps more than a little hurt, especially
on this day, replied, "I ain't gonna marry some girl as butch as
you, Akane."
Ukyo and Shampoo were overjoyed at the pronouncement, and
quickly latched onto Ranma's arms, squealing with joy.
"I knew you'd see the light, Ranma dear!" Ukyo exclaimed.
"Ranma get married to Shampoo now, yes?" the Chinese girl
burbled.
Ranma blinked stupidly. "Marriage? I ain't marryin' anyone," he
said in a bewildered tone.
The loudest and most visible reaction was, oddly enough, from
Genma, who rushed towards Ranma with surprising speed. "No!" the
elder Saotome desperately shouted, fear and panic warring over his
face.
Everyone at the party, Ranma included, looked at Genma,
wondering over the even-for-him sudden and overwhelming outburst of
emotion over what was basically a trivial and meaningless comment.
There are no meaningless comments.
It was not entirely true, about _everyone_ at the party looking
at Genma. Genma, for instance, did not look at himself and did not
wonder why he did what he did. He was not the only one.
A woman, lithe and svelte and veiled, looked at Ranma and one
could see around her eyes that she smiled, detached herself from
amongst the walls and made her presence known. She had been at the
party from the start, mingling with the guests but thoroughly
unmemorable. Her gift had not yet been opened-- in fact it had not
been piled amongst the rest of them. Upon arriving at the dojo, the
woman merely told Kasumi that her gift, "would be saved for last,
and a most precious gift it would be indeed." She did not carry
anything with her.
"The Choice is clear," the woman announced, centring all
attention on herself as she moved with sensuous grace towards
Ranma. "He made his decision, and by right of ancient compact, I
take what is mine." She stood before Ranma, his equal in height,
and wrapped her arms around him in a lovers embrace. No one could
do more than stare dumbly at the scene, including Ranma. "And now,
my gift to you, child of Saotome," she whispered and raised her
veil slightly, to kiss Ranma full on the lips.
The kiss brought Ranma's suitors, intentional ones and not, out
of their stupor. They advanced on the woman and on Ranma, who both
disappeared with a small flickering and nothing more, still
kissing.
***
"He is gone," Genma announced sonorously, shoulders sagging
heavily, defeated.
"We know that, you idiot, what we need to know is where, and
why!" Ukyo said.
"With who, too!" Shampoo chimed in.
Akane glared at Genma, staring him down.
Genma looked up at everyone surrounding him, the trio of his
son's fiancees especially, with a profound lack of purpose and
desolation in his eyes. Always a large man, big and solid and
fleshy, Genma now somehow seemed desiccated, hollow at some basic
level, to them.
"It doesn't matter. She took him. I tried, I _tried!_" Genma
said, more to himself than to the others. He shook his head and
patted the floor in front of him. "Sit, sit. I'm not going to crane
my neck, and it is not a short story."
Ranma's suitors and rivals and the rest of the Tendos sat down
in front of Genma.
"A long time ago, there was a man. He would be a Saotome, the
first of our line when he finally gained a family name. His name
was Ichijin. Ichijin was a young man of no more than sixteen years
of age, but had been wandering Japan for several years already,
having left his parents because they were a poor family, and could
not support themselves and him. He promised them that he would make
a prosperous life for himself, and come back to take care of them,
being unable to do anything more at the time.
"It came to pass that Ichijin found himself in the northern
wilds of Japan, because there were still wilds then, in winter. The
winter was long and hard and killing cold that year, and Ichijin
found himself on death's door, with his face covered in a mask of
ice as he trudged through a forest in the middle of a blizzard,
refusing to die. There was something in him, you see-- he had a
purpose which sustained him.
"There was a cave, in the middle of the forest. Ichijin, even
with his promise to give his parents a better life, collapsed in
front of it. He would have died-- by all rights he should have
died, except...."
"Except?" asked Akane, eagerly.
"Except?" asked Ukyo and Shampoo and Kodachi, wanting to know
what happened next.
"Except?" asked Soun and Nabiki and Kasumi and everyone else,
caught up and enthralled by the cadences and pacing of Genma's
tale. The man, whatever his faults, was a master spinner of tales,
and naturally gauged his audience.
"Except," Genma said, "that the being dwelling in the cave took
notice of Ichijin and a strange feeling grew in her heart. Maybe it
was pity, maybe it was kindness-- she dismissed it as simple
boredom and curiosity and pulled Ichijin into her home.
"She nursed him back to health, all the time wondering why the
young man was out in such weather. On the third day since she
pulled him in from the still ongoing storm, he woke up."
"Love at first sight?" Kodachi asked. That's what usually
happened in these types of stories, at least.
Genma cracked a grin and laughed, low and booming. "No, no
definitely not that. No Saotome man has ever had a good first
encounter with women, and Ichijin was no exception. His first
words, on seeing the woman, were, 'Is that stink you or is it me?'
"She almost tossed him out, back into the winter and another
storm as vicious and as terrible as the one she rescued Ichijin
from, but he coughed and sank back into unconsciousness once more.
She watched him sleep for another day and another night, and by the
time he woke again the storm was over. Ichijin was with fever, and
she-- not used to human contact nursed him to health."
"Florence Nightingale syndrome then," Nabiki supplied,
interrupting Genma and unintentionally breaking his semi-hypnotic
hold on his audience.
Genma frowned slightly at Nabiki. Ukyo, Shampoo and Akane did
more than merely frown slightly, but held off any physical
retaliation, which would only deter Genma from completing his tale
even more. Kodachi's gaze promised retribution at a later date.
Even Mousse and Ryoga and Tatewaki were becoming entranced by the
story at this point, despite themselves.
"Quite," Genma said. "I am sure that you can guess at what
happened next: slowly, gently, almost unnoticeably but certainly
not quietly, they grew to love each other. There is still something
of Ichijin in all Saotome men, because it has always been like
that for us. The winter was long and hard, and Ichijin still frail.
The woman-- she never gave her name though Ichijin gave his, tended
to his sickness while he in turn gathered food and wood when he was
well enough to go outside. Wood more than food was important, for
the girl had the most wonderful of magical sacks of the tastiest
and most nourishing of rices which never emptied. Never for one
moment did he think of leaving her alone in the forest, knowing
full well that he had to go on to keep his word to his parents,
knowing that he had a debt to repay her, knowing full well that she
would most likely die if he did.
"And by the time spring came and the winter let up, he would
not be parted from her for other, stronger reasons-- yet she would
not give him her name. One day, outside of the cave where they had
made their home and with the shining sun overhead and burgeoning
life all around them, Ichijin asked her one last time. 'What is
your name, beloved,' he asked.
"Instead of replying, she smiled and beckoned him back into the
cave, where she put her palm against the back wall. The wall broke
away to reveal another land. And she sang a small, strange but
hauntingly beautiful song:
'Will you come to the Land of No Tears
Will you come and stay with me?
Will you rule in the Land of No Tears
And give your Queen a name?'
"And Ichijin smiled back at his wife, his queen, his dearest,
and went into the land where the cherry trees were eternally in
blossom and eternally bearing fruit." Genma stopped his story
there.
"That can't be it!" Akane protested.
"It can't end there," Ukyo grumbled ominously.
"There has to be more, uncle Saotome," Nabiki supplied. "After
all, that doesn't tell us why this woman took Ranma, or anything
else, does it?"
"You finish story now, or we have panda for lunch special
tomorrow, yes?" Shampoo threatened, bearing down on Genma.
There were general grumblings all around, and people flexing
hands and reaching for weaponry. Soun, on the other hand, was
familiar with his friend's storytelling, and instead of threats,
merely asked, "Kasumi? Could you get Genma a...."
"Some sake would be nice. My throat, you see, is very dry. Just
a little, mind you. A glass of water too, if you please," Genma
finished off, sounding by far more diffident as he resumed his role
of itinerant storyteller. Soun was the only one not surprised by
this facet of Genma's personality, having been exposed to it
before, when they were younger.
Kasumi smiled and nodded, leaving the room. Genma stood up and
stretched. Soun did the same. The fiancees were lost in their own
private thoughts and speculations. Nabiki had a slight frown of
concentration on her face, perhaps trying to decipher the rest of
the story from the clues she had, or perhaps not.
Soon enough Kasumi returned, bearing a glass of water and a
small bottle of sake with a few cups on a tray. Genma poured
himself some sake and downed the small cup in one gulp-- then took
the glass of water and began to sip at it.
"There now," he said, voiced in such a cadence that everyone
immediately directed their attention back to him. "Ichijin named
his wife Aisai, beloved wife, and ruled with her in the Land of No
Tears, a place of constant sun and warmth, with lush land that gave
up its bounty freely, and peopled with those who had a similar
disposition.
"They ruled for a long time, though they did not age, for only
those who wanted to be old were old in this land. After some length
of time, many years since he had become king, and longer still
since he left his original home, he remembered his parents and was
troubled. Aisai, who loved her husband Ichijin dearly, asked him
what troubled him so and caused him to frown-- barest of the barest
of frowns, but still immediately noticeable in this land, by this
woman. And so Ichijin told his wife, the woman whom he loved and
cherished above anything and everything, about why he was in the
woods during the blizzard so long ago. He told her of his parents,
and his resolve to find a means to provide for them, and why he
left them so that he would not be a burden on them. She nodded most
solemnly and smiled and laughed when he was done.
"'It is a simple matter, my love,' she said, 'for we can just
bring them here, where they shall have whatever they desire.' Aisai
pouted a little then. 'I do not know why you did not mention this
before. We shall send out messengers and searchers for them, to
bring them to us where they shall live in happiness so long as they
desire.'
"And Ichijin grew happy once more and the frown left him,
replaced by a greater smile than before. So people were sent back
out into the world, out to find Ichijin's parents and to rescue
them from misery and poverty and bring them into the Land of No
Tears.
"On one day, one of the search parties came back, heads held
low. Too much time had passed. Though they did not age in the Land
of No Tears, the outside world was another matter, and Ichijin's
parents died many years ago.
"When Ichijin was told this, a new feeling flooded through him,
foreign to the land. He howled and he raged. He locked himself in a
room for two days and two nights and screamed and raged and shouted
and destroyed everything in the room. Not even the queen, not even
his wife, was allowed entry. At the end of that time, Ichijin came
out of the room, silent and hollow and dead of expression. Aisai
was there to greet him, and he kissed her once, on the lips. And
then, and then, he did the unthinkable, the unforgivable, the
forbidden. He broke the only rule of the Land of No Tears." Genma
paused once more to sip at the glass of water.
"What?" Nabiki asked eagerly, unwittingly drawn into the story.
"What?" asked Soun, despite knowing this was one of his
friend's favourite ploys and that Genma would tell the rest of the
story after drinking the water.
"What?" asked Kasumi, also finding herself in the story.
"Whatwhatwhat?" asked Akane and Ukyo and Shampoo with one
voice.
Genma placed the empty glass carefully on the tray and looked
up at his audience to once again continue his tale. "He cried, of
course. Tears streamed out of his eyes, and down his face, and they
fell onto the floor, spattering and gushing out obscenely in the
Land of No Tears.
"He had to leave, of course. The land did not want him anymore
and turned against him. The skies grew dark and heavy with
storm clouds; the air grew cold and the plants wilted and the
animals grew fierce or skittish. Aisai looked at him, grief evident
on her face though her tears were dry. 'You have to go now,' she
said, looking at the tears burn their way through the stone floor.
'You have to go now,' she repeated, looking at her love, Ichijin.
"He did not understand though, not overcome with grief as he
was. She explained the rule, and Ichijin nodded. He had to leave
because of the tears, and because of the tears he could never
return. Aisai gave him precious gems and jewels and gold to take
with him, so he could at least live comfortably, and as a parting
gift the magical sack of rice.
"She led him back to where they first entered the world, and
before he left, touched one his the tears still on his eyes with a
finger, and made a most potent spell with it. She kissed the rest
of his tears away and opened up the passage into the rest of the
world. Ichijin found himself back in the cave where he first met
his wife."
Genma sighed. "There really isn't much left to tell. Ichijin
wandered around Japan for a little longer, helping the poor with
money from what he received from Aisai and food from the magical
sack. Because of his deeds, which brought him to the notice of the
Court, he was allowed a last name: he chose Saotome, in honour of
Aisai. Finally settled down in a place that was not too
disagreeable with him. Eventually, he married again, because it was
expected of a young, rich man with a family name and you did what
was expected of you, and his wife-- whom he did not love but liked
well enough --gave him the one thing that Aisai did not: an heir,
which is where we are descended from."
"But that still doesn't help us," Ukyo protested.
Nabiki frowned. "What was the spell she cast?" she asked,
correctly deducing the relevance of the glossed over magic.
"A most strange and potent work, it transformed the tear into a
diamond, to last until it was needed no more. The spell insured
that we would always have at least one child be a son, to pass it
along to the next generation."
"It?" everyone asked with one voice.
Genma nodded. "On the seventeenth birthday, which is how old
Ichijin was when he entered the Land of No Tears, if certain
conditions are not met, then she will return to claim the next
generation, to take him back to the Land of No Tears and have him
rule beside her in that deathless country."
"And those conditions are?" Akane prompted, fearing she already
knew them.
Genma sighed heavily again. "I was to tell Ranma this after he
passed this rite-- another part of the Compact, the spell. If he is
not married by seventeen, she is his. If he does not intend to
marry, she is his. If-- why do you think I set up the engagement to
you, Akane, or to you, Ukyo? Why didn't I try to deny one of the
engagements, declare it invalid, once Ukyo showed up with her
claim? Why didn't Shampoo bother me? _Because I wanted him married,
or nearly so by this day._ I was hedging my bets, allowing for more
chances."
"Was that the only reason for our pledge?" Soun asked hollowly.
"Of course not, Tendo," Genma laughed easily, dismissing the
implied threat in Soun's statement. "You are my friend, my best
friend and after surviving what we have together there was no
better way to seal it than by joining the families together."
"And," Nabiki asked, for Genma's tone implied there was more.
"And," Genma hung his head down shamefully, "I hoped that you
could teach my son what I could not."
"But you trained him constantly for years, Saotome, what could
I teach him that you could not?"
"To cry," Genma said. "Tears, real tears do not come easily to
Saotome men-- I think it is because of the magic of the spell, and
each generation it becomes harder and harder. The tsubo point
Happousai used would be useless, that place would know the
difference. Forcing him away from his mother, the Neko-ken, other
things-- designed not only to make him a better martial artist, but
also to learn tears. Instead, it only made him harder-- tougher,
less likely to cry.
"Soun!" Genma sighed longingly, "do you know what amazing
ability you have? How I envy you. Even before, even back then you
would weep easily-- and after your wife passed on," Soun's eyes
started to mist up at mention of his wife, "I knew it would only
grow. I was hoping Ranma could learn from you-- you were my last
hope." Genma looked at the floor. "Not even Jusenkyo could teach
him, but I thought you might," he said darkly.
"You _knew_ about Jusenkyo?" Mousse, Ryoga and Shampoo cried
out, incredulous.
"No. I knew they were an old training grounds. I knew they were
called the Pools of Sorrow. I did not know what they did, but with
a name like that--! Ah! How could I not pass up taking my son
there, with time running out?"
"But why is it so important Ranma learns to cry?" Akane asked.
Nabiki and Genma focused their gazes on Akane, not saying
anything.
"Oh, right," Akane said, figuring it out. "If he could cry,
then Ranma wouldn't be stuck there."
"I do not see why it is such a problem that sorceror is there.
While it is true he never faced the justice from my blade that he
deserves, that he is gone is enough, and soon enough his power over
my two loves will wither and break," Tatewaki Kuno said. That was
the last thing he was able to say for a long, long time.
***
Ranma stiffened as the woman kissed him-- an instinctive
reaction, based mainly on fear. It was a very good kiss, mind you--
extremely sensuous and long-- nothing like that Mikado bastard's.
When he finally pulled away, Ranma found he was no longer in the
Tendo dojo, but in an old cave instead.
"Who are you? Where've you taken me?" Ranma asked, both
surprised and breathless.
She did not reply, did not say anything, merely took off her
veil and her robe to reveal a beautiful woman in a regal kimono,
silver and gold. Hair artfully arranged in the old fashion, shining
dark and soft. She wore a diamond pendant around her neck, and no
other jewelry. Face perfectly oval. Her beauty was of the classic
sort, elegant and feminine and secure-- it was a fact of life and
nothing else.
Ranma was taken aback by her appearance, which reminded him of
nothing and no one so much as she did of someone from legends.
She smiled, a small and secret grin, about to be revealed. She
placed her hand against the back wall of the cave, and all the
walls fell away, replaced by sun and grass and hills and trees,
heavy with fruit and with blossom at the same time. In the
distance, wisps of smoke from ovens wafted lazily into the air--
the smell of baking bread hinted in the air.
Ranma looked at the world around him goggle-eyed with surprise,
felt the soft earth beneath him and looked back at the woman who
brought him there.
"Well?" she asked, timid and expectant.
"Perfect," Ranma whispered.
And the secret of her smile was revealed in full, outshining
the sun with its brightness and its warmth. "Then that is my name,
Ten'imuhou." Her laughter trilled through the air. "You can call me
Ten," she coyly amended, cocking her head to one side, still
smiling and touching Ranma gently on the nose with her finger. "But
only you can do that."
***
"So," Akane said, starting off the meeting in her room, "what
are we going to do about Ranma?"
"Must rescue him!" Shampoo piped up. "Is obvious!"
"I find myself in the somewhat distasteful position of
agreeing. My Ranma must be saved at all costs," Kodachi agreed,
"even if it means allying myself with lowly ones such as
yourselves." Kodachi gaze swept the room, encompassing the other
women: Akane, Shampoo and Ukyo.
Shampoo stood up, clenching her fists. "What you mean by
'lowly ones?'" she said, looming over Kodachi.
Kodachi stood up as well. "If you do not know what I mean...
well, I should expect that from one such as yourself," she
disdainfully countered.
Ukyo slammed her hand against Akane's desk. "Listen! Ranma's
still gone, and fighting with each other isn't going to get him
back!"
Akane chimed in, "We're going to have to work together if we
want him back, and this isn't a good start."
Kodachi looked slyly at Akane and with hooded eyes said, "We?
You want him back, too, do you?"
"I... I... I...," Akane stammered out, blushing.
Ukyo sighed and rolled her eyes. "Can it. Let's just figure out
what we have to do, right?"
Shampoo nodded. "You make good sense. Truce." She gazed levelly
at Kodachi and said in ominous tones, "For now," promising there
would be a reckoning later.
Kodachi nodded slowly. "For now," she agreed with both the
words and the hidden message implicit.
Akane merely shook her head wearily. This could take a while.
Ranma better appreciate this. "What we need to do is see if we can
find that cave. I wonder if uncle Saotome knows where it is?"
Shampoo cracked her knuckles. Ukyo flexed her hands, gripping
something that wasn't there, yet, and said, "Only one way to find
out." Both girls looked at each other and smiled by far too
toothily.
Genma offered to show them to the cave.
***
Ten'imuhou led Ranma to the Capitol. A wide road made of stone
formed the path, and they reached the city much sooner than Ranma
expected. The city was a strange amalgamation of differing time
periods and architectures-- everything from traditional Japanese
houses and storefronts to an old Viking longship overturned and
converted into housing to flowing silk tents from ancient Araby
making up some marketplace stalls and solid medieval stonework and
>from nearly every other ancient and not-so ancient civilisation in
the world. Women in colourful silk saris with tika on their
foreheads chatted amiably with kimono-clad neighbours and
toga-wearing men as a pair of Jains with their brooms to brush
insects gently out of their path lest they be crushed walked by.
The city was a mishmash of cultures, wide, open and expressive
features mirrored in its smiling, bustling, busy population. Ranma
was slack-jawed trying to make some kind of sense of it all,
standing in the middle of the street and turning around and around
trying to take it all in at once, when he saw the palace. He
immediately stopped turning and focused his sole attention to it.
"Your first view of the Flower Palace," Ten'imuhou said warmly.
"It is where we are headed. It is where we will live."
The duo made their way slowly to the aptly named Flower Palace,
being cunningly constructed to resemble a budding rose of great
beauty. Gently curving walls and buildings and gates of dusky red
enfolded a central, oddly dome-shaped main structure. In between
some of the gates were magnificent and well-tended gardens with
secluded paths and open areas and the occasional bench for sitting
and pools of placid water.
Ranma and Ten'imuhou were walking beside one of the pools-- one
which had a statue of a smiling man vaguely reminiscent of Ranma,
when the inevitable happened: water. Not from the sky, however, but
>from the statue: the man held a staff upright in one hand, and from
the staff a geyser of water shot forth, sprinkling the area and
getting the two wet. Ten'imuhou laughed lightly, pirouetting in
the spray.
Ranma sighed. Of course there would be water-- no place was
safe from Jusenkyo. Looking down though, he noticed something odd
about his chest-- mainly that it was still _his_ chest, and not
_her_ chest. "What...," Ranma asked, "Why?"
Ten'imuhou blinked. "Is something wrong, beloved?"
"I didn't change," Ranma said, astonished. "I mean... the
curse... why?"
Ten'imuhou laughed again. "Outside magics and curses do not
work in our land."
A smile crept over Ranma's face; he suddenly burst into action,
capering and hollering about, diving and splashing into the water
and laughing, and laughing, and laughing gaily all the time.
Ten'imuhou watched Ranma cavort and smiled again, gleeful, in a
predatory kind of way.
***
Genma, Akane, Shampoo and Ukyo stood outside a cave in a
forest, all wearing large framepacks on their backs. Ukyo had her
spatula on her back, as well. Genma and Akane each wore a gi-- Ukyo
her customary okonomiyaki-seller's outfit and Shampoo wore
something similar to Ranma's usual attire, except all in lavender
and pink and dusky purple, and more frills and accoutrements to the
long-sleeved blouse.
"Is this it?" Akane asked Genma, nodding towards the cave
entrance.
"Yes, this should be the place."
Ukyo nudged Shampoo and mumbled, "I was expecting something a
bit more impressive, t'be honest."
Shampoo nodded her agreement. "We all agreed on plan?"
The other two girls nodded in assent.
"What about Kodachi?" Akane asked. "I thought she wanted to
come as well."
Genma shook his head sombrely. "The only way she could get
tears from Ranma is with tear gas, and that would not work."
"Did you really want her hangin' around with us, hon?" Ukyo
asked Akane.
Akane shook her head, and then faced Shampoo. "I still don't
see how you plan to get Ranma to cry, Shampoo."
Shampoo put a hand on her hips and put on a sultry look.
"Shampoo know how to make man weep, flat-chested girl," she
breathed out huskily.
"Why, you--!"
"If you're going to bicker like that, then there really is no
hope for my son," Genma said, immediately halting the upcoming
fight between the two fiancees. Genma walked into the cave, the
three girls following.
"How do you know this is the right cave, Genma?" Ukyo asked,
sceptical of Genma's knowledge.
"I know the story of my family, and I know this is the forest,"
Genma said absently while his hands searched the walls for some
unknown mark or depression or something. "I know that this is the
only place in the area which could be it. I know because I can feel
it in my blood-- it still sings to me even now, ever so slightly."
One hand lingered over a spot. "Found it." Genma turned towards the
three anxious young women. "Do you know what you're going to do?"
Akane frowned slightly. "Of course we do! Aren't you coming
with us, though?"
Genma shivered and shook as he had never done even before his
master's greatest fury. With a great effort he calmed himself down
and soon stopped twitching. "Won't. Can't. Made my choice long time
ago, and now I'm not allowed-- even if I wanted to. You three are
my last hope for my son." Genma took off his pack and rummaged
through it for a couple of seconds before finding a small, thin
object: a thin book, more of a binder than anything else, though it
was made of a durable leather. "If all else fails, if you can't get
him to cry, then give him this. It might do it." Genma held out the
book, something to do with the Saotome family, to Akane, who
gingerly accepted it.
The three young women nodded in unison, and Genma pressed down
on the spot he was searching for. The cave walls, and Genma as
well, fell away, replaced by sun and grass and rolling hills and a
city in the distance.
***
Night-time in the Flower Palace. Ten'imuhou showed Ranma to his
chambers, which were next to her own. A quick tour of the set of
rooms revealed a full bath, which Ranma put to good use.
Afterwards, when Ranma finished his bath and was towelling his hair
dry, Ten'imuhou was still there, waiting demurely on an high-backed
chair next to the bed (a large canopied affair). He came to an
immediate conclusion and began to stammer out, "Ah, er, I... I
mean, we barely know each other!"
Ten'imuhou laughed. "That's what I want to remedy!" she
exclaimed joyfully. Beads of sweat started to line Ranma's brow.
"You already know everything about me, even if you don't realise
you do. Your blood remembers."
He realised this was true as she spoke it, and realised that he
had always known it, somewhere. He stretched out a hand and touched
the omnipresent diamond pendant. "That's the diamond, isn't it? The
tear? The one from the spell, right?"
She nodded and patted the bed beside her. "But I would like to
hear about your life."
And so Ranma sat on the bed and told her his story. He told her
of his childhood, of training, of leaving his mother, of training,
of Ukyo and leaving her, of training, of wandering the world and
training, training, training. Ranma told her of Jusenkyo, and of
wearing a shape not his own, and he yawned, stretching out for it
was now deep into the night. He told her of his wandering in China,
both before and after, of Japan, of the Tendos, seeing Ryoga and
Ukyo again, of the Kunos, of hiding from his mother, of Happousai,
the weakness point, and ever more training. He told her of Akane,
of school, of many things, finally murmuring incoherently until he
was asleep.
Ten'imuhou stood and looked down on Ranma. She adjusted the
blanket to cover him, and then kissed his brow twice. "My poor
Ranma, my darling Ranma, my bright and shining Ranma. You have had
a hard life, haven't you?" She nodded and continued on, saying, "It
will be better now, I will make sure of that. I will help you
forget your past. We shall be happy together here."
* *
Ranma wandered around the Flower Palace, Ten'imuhou ever
present by his side. The people loved him as their ruler's
soon-to-be husband/ruler himself. His innocence from much of the
outside world and forthright attitude was something they
appreciated, and given time his rough edges would be polished. In a
land without death, patience was a common enough trait.
The palace was all very beautiful, with majestic friezes and
tapestries from various cultures and various times. The decor was
magnificent and the taste impeccable and the company nice and
accommodating. Ranma was bored out of his mind, of course.
"Is there something wrong?" Ten'imuhou, noticing the beginnings
of Ranma's descent into ennui.
"Hmm? No, nothing... I guess," Ranma said, distracted. "It's
just-- I keep thinking there's something missing, like I need ta
look over my shoulder, fer something or someone. Feels like I
should be doin' something.
"Maybe you miss training?"
"Who here does practises martial arts? There's no need, right?
I need someone to train with."
Ten'imuhou tossed her head back and laughed, a full-throated
affair without a hint of condescension. "We practise martial arts
here. True, we do not need it for defence, but for many of us it is
a part of our lives. Helps train the body and the mind," she said,
ending off loftily, an effect that would have been more believable
if she had not cracked an impish grin.
Ranma's face immediately brightened.
"In fact," Ten'imuhou continued, "there may be some techniques
you might find interesting."
***
"So, where we go now?" Shampoo asked, half-rhetorical.
"There's a town or something over there," Ukyo pointed towards
the Capitol.
"As good a destination as any, I guess. We can get information
there, at least," Akane nodded.
The trio headed towards the town, each pushing themselves to
walk faster for the lead position. Consequently, they arrived much
sooner than expected, although winded and silent.
The sights were no less wonderful nor strange than when Ranma
walked through the streets; the difference was that Akane, Shampoo
and Ukyo had other things, or more specifically, one thing, on
their minds. They took no note of the beauty and the strangeness
around them, so intent was their focus.
"Well, this is getting us nowhere," Akane complained.
Shampoo nodded, and with a casual brutality reached out and
grabbed the next person they came across-- a white kurta and
pajamaed man, as it turned out. "Where Ranma?" she asked, short and
to the point.
"Ranma?" the mild, but jovial-looking man asked with
understandable confusion. "I do not know any Ranma, and I know most
people in the area. Perhaps you are looking in the wrong place and
need directions? I can help you with that, if you want."
"Ranma Saotome!" Ukyo shouted impatiently at the man.
"Saotome! Oh! Why didn't you say so?" he said with barely a
pause. "Why, yes, of course I know where Saotome is." The man
pointed towards the flower-like palace at the other edge of the
town. "He's there. Where else would the new king be?"
Akane, Shampoo and Ukyo all had the same reaction: faces paled,
and they ran as fast as they could towards the Flower palace. They
ran, heedless of other pedestrians, not seeing the wonders of the
city or the palace, and unchallenged until the final gate of the
Flower Palace, where one woman stood-- a most familiar woman
indeed.
"Aisai," the trio breathed, recognising her despite having only
seen the barest fragments of her face for the briefest of moments
when she kissed Ranma. The woman shook her head.
"No, not anymore," she smiled. "That was the one Ichijin gave
me. Ranma gave me a new one. Now I am Ten'imuhou."
This did not go over well with the trio of fiancees. The least
extreme action was a frown, held by Akane. The most was somewhat
more threatening. Shampoo became their spokeswoman through force of
will-- she spoke, and said what was on all their minds. "Where
Ranma?"
Ten'imuhou's smile widened even further as she gushed out,
"Ranma is not here right now; he went away to train a little bit.
He should be back in a couple of weeks. You can wait, if you wish,
of course. You shall be my guests, and have free run of the palace,
should you decide to stay and wait."
"I think you tell Shampoo where Ranma is now, yes?" Shampoo
said in a quite menacing and intimidating fashion.
Ten'imuhou merely shook her head. "I do not actually know where
Ranma is right now-- you will have to wait, same as me."
"We'll stay," Ukyo said, tired of the conversation and the
adrenaline rush of the run wearing off. Akane nodded her agreement
with Ukyo.
And the trio were bathed in the full radiance of Ten'imuhou's
smile.
Since the max size of an email for me is 45k, unless sent as an
attachment, which is even more undesirable, I am left with no
choice but to break it up into two pieces, and here is a reasonable
spot to cut.
---Cut Here---