The Humble Home of a Strong Heart

Chapter 4   

All characters of Sailor Moon are the creation of Naoko Takeuchi and all
characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi.  Enjoy!!


Even with her back turned, the raven-hair girl's intensity radiated outward,
pressing upon Akane until she was nearly panting for breath.

She kept expecting the bell on her alarm clock to ring through this strange,
troublesome dream and snap her awake.  Not that this wasn't exactly a nightmare
-- the girls had been surprisingly friendly, considering that one of their
friends had vanished and Akane had mysteriously taken her place.  All the same,
she wanted to see Ranma's face again, just before she beat the living daylights
out of it.

Crouching in front of the bonfire, Raye took several deep breaths and pressed
her index fingers together, just as she did before she released that strange
power earlier.  She began chanting under her breath, though the intensity of her
words carried them to all corners of the room.

"Oh, Great Fire, I come before you to ask for the whereabouts of Lita Kino.
Please, Great Fire, hear my plea.  Show me where Lita is!"

Akane shifted slightly on her knees.  Despite the comfortable robes Raye had
provided her, the thin mat she knelt on did little to alleviate the hardness of
the temple's floor.  She cast a quick glance at the others: the girls ("Amy,
Mina, Serena," she repeated silently to herself), sat in the same positions,
staring at Raye's back with the same intensity.  Akane still couldn't believe
that just a half hour ago, these girls were the superheroes of this Tokyo.  What
was even more puzzling was that even though they had switched to their 'normal'
forms, they looked no different than when they were superheroes.  Well, maybe
they were slightly smaller, but still -- any archvillian that was looking for
them would be able to recognize them in their everyday guises.  How many girls
went around wearing ping-pong pigtails for a hairstyle?

When they had changed back, they had shown Akane how to revert the skimpy outfit
she was wearing into normal clothes, and all seemed genuinely surprised when she
actually did it. "This bears looking into," Amy had pronounced solemnly. Akane
didn't care much. She was relieved to see that the school uniform of the
previous owner was longer than the sailor fuku, though this time the skirt was
brown and it still drooped crazily about her.  Serena had laughed.  "You know,
that's the only uniform they could find that could fit her.  Some of the schools
she went to had to turn her away because they didn't have school uniforms in her
size!"

Akane could only marvel about this mysterious girl.

The fire abruptly flared high, flapping Raye's hair behind her. The priestess
was unfazed however; she simply hunched over, repeating her chant faster.  Akane
glanced at the other girls again.  All wore intense frowns.  <All this for one
girl?>

Raye suddenly gasped.  At the same time, the fire died down until it became
sparkling embers.  She turned to face them, sweat pouring from her brow.  "I
tried to get a fix on her," she reported. "But it was hard, very hard. The most
I could get was a fleeting impression of utter confusion."  She fixed her violet
eyes on Akane.  "I also got a glimpse -- a very quick glimpse --of a guy with a
pigtail, but there was something strange..." her voice trailed off.

Akane quickly cut in. "That would be Ranma, then.  She must be in Nerima, if
what happened to me happened to her also."

"Well, then, we definitely know where she is." remarked Mina. "At least we know
she's safe, right?"  she raised her eyebrows questioningly at Akane.

"Umm..."

"Of course she's safe!" Serena sang happily.  "I'm sure that Ranma guy would
take good care of her!  And he's got a pigtail, too? Wow, pigtailed guys are
sooo cute!  I wonder how Darien would look with a pigtail?"  Her eyes turned to
stars and she clasped her hands lovingly.  "Trapped in a different time warp
with a hunky guy.  Ooh, Lita is sooo lucky!  Maybe she'll get a boyfriend this
time!"

On the way to the temple, the girls had enlightened Akane on this Lita's views
on guys.  That combined with Ranma's own 'problem' of beautiful women popping up
to claim him as their own set Akane's blood boiling.  Before she could stop
herself, Akane vehemently snarled, "If she even touches a hair on him, I'll send
them both on a one-way trip, and it won't be China!"

The girls' eyes widened.  Akane clamped her mouth shut, her words shocking even
her.  <What am I saying? Why should I care about him?  Selfish, arrogant
lunkhead...>

"Uhh," ventured Amy.  "This Ranma fellow...he wouldn't happen to be your
boyfriend, would he?"

Akane crimsoned.  "NO! I mean -- uh, well, he's sorta my fiance."

"FIANCE!?!?!"

"But it wasn't voluntary!" Akane said.  "It was arranged.  By our fathers.  You
see, my dad needed an heir for the school.  It wasn't as if I had any choice.  I
don't like him!  He's arrogant, he's dumb, he's egotistical, he's...he's..."
<He's probably ogling over that Lita girl now.  Ranma, I swear to God, if you
wind up being engaged to her somehow, I'll pound you so hard you'll need
binoculars to even look at another woman ever again!>

The girls began jabbering at the same time.

"Aren't you a little young to be married?" gasped Amy.

"That is sooo sad and romantic!" crooned Serena.

"Does he have any brothers? I could use a little marriage arranging myself."
asked Mina.

"Do you mind?" Raye leveled a fiery glare at the three and they meekly subsided.
"I'm sorry about that.  It's not everyday we meet someone our age who's
engaged."

"Aww, that's not true.  What about Darien and me?  We're destined to be together
for ever and ever!"

Raye growled as the other girls developed sweat drops.  "Serena, you two aren't
going out.  He doesn't even remember you!"

Her comment failed to put out the shining stars in Serena's eyes.  "Just a mere
technicality.  It's only a matter of time! He just need to be reminded, that's
all!"

Low groans of exasperation filled the room.

"Uhh, ano," Akane ventured.  "And who is this Darien?"

"My boyfriend!"

"A friend."

"Some guy..."

"Her destined lover!"

Akane slowly nodded.  "Right. Okay."

Raye leaned over to touch her arm.  "Don't worry.  Lita has a straight head on
her shoulders.  Even though you probably hate this guy's guts, I'm sure she
won't do anything to jeopardize what your fathers had done.  Lita has a good
heart.  She never chases after other folks' boyfriends."

"Uhh, Raye," Serena whispered, "what about Andrew? Before Rita came--" her words
were stopped as Raye clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Heheheh...You have *nothing* to worry about!" Raye merrily stated.  "Lita's
decent, isn't she."

As the girls heartily agreed, Akane couldn't help feeling slightly
uncomfortable.  She wished she could get the image of Ranma drooling over this
unknown girl out of her mind. "I should trust him, I suppose." She laughed
lightly.  "But then again, the last time he wound up alone with a girl, she
became another fiancee."

Four jaws hit the floor.  "WHAAAA?!!"

Akane sighed.  It looked like she had some explaining to do.

=====================================================================

"I don't believe it.  I just don't believe it."

"What kind of a freak would do something like that?"

"He's a pervert, Akane! You should drop the dude!"

"What a low-minded, two-faced, snake-in-the-grass!"

The muffins was good.  Not as good as Ukyo's okonomiyaki, but then again, she
could never enjoy okonomiyaki because Ukyo never made her forget that she was
Ranma's "cute" fiancee and when it came to matters of the stomach, Ukyo
surpassed Akane the distance of the South Pole to the moon.  Raye, however,
proved that she was just as good at making muffins as she was reading fires.

As the temple girl poured out tea for everyone, Akane leaned over to say, "These
muffins are quite good.  Thank you."

"Oh, it's nothing." Raye replied matter-of-factly. "Actually, I got the recipe
from Lita.  If you think these are good, wait until you taste it from her."

"Ah!"  Serena leaned back and patted her stuffed tummy.  "Now *that's* cooking!
Lita would cook up an entire feast just for lunch!"

"You said it.  Without her, we'll all have to resort to peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches." Mina concurred.  A thought occurred to her and she said to Akane.
"Hey, if this transference thing is true, then maybe you and Lita have a lot
more in common than you think.  You already proved earlier that you're good at
fighting like her.  Are you a good cook, too?"

Akane hesitated, with good reason.  "Umm, I do cook sometimes, at home...and I
do love to experiment!"  She decided not to tell them about the countless times
she had to call an ambulance after she forced her family to eat her so-called
'experiments'. And besides, what if Mina was right?  Maybe she *could* cook now!
Her face broadened with a smile.  Maybe being here wasn't bad after all!  Of
course, it would be even better if Ranma was here. If it was true, then she
could rub that in his face...before literally rubbing it in his face.

"Cool!" Serena sang.  "Maybe you could make me lunch tomorrow!"

Luna's sharp voice cut in as she and Artemis hopped into the room from the
window.  "Serena!  That's rude!  This poor girl is far from her loved ones, and
all you can think about is food!"

Serena crossed her arms and pouted.  "I was just trying to make her feel
welcome. Geez."

"Did you find out anything?" Amy asked.

"Not really." Artemis explained.  "We checked on the computer for any bizarre
occurrences in the area before Lita's disappearance."  (Akane thought back to
the floating aliens and raised her eyebrows, but she didn't say a word.) "There
was no strange energy fluctuations to indicate something was wrong with this
time continuum.  And we don't have enough data nor enough resources to know if
anything happened in Akane's world.  We can only assume that everything was
fine, based on what she told us."

"As for Lita," continued Luna.  "We ran several simulations of what would happen
if the transference didn't take place.  Each time, all physical activity ceased,
meaning that by all rights, Lita should be dead."  The girls, including Akane,
paled.  "But she isn't, at least I don't think so."

Raye shook her head.  "No.  My fire reading found her alive and well, if only
for a second or so.  Besides, Akane's here, and she's in the exact same
predicament, and she's fine."

"Yes."  Luna walked up to Akane.  "So, now the question is, how do we send you
back to your world and bring Lita here without any complications?"

Artemis stretched and knelt, tucking his legs beneath him.  "We have the
computer working on the problem now, but that may take the rest of the day,
perhaps even tomorrow."

"Hmm.  That's a while." Raye thought for a moment, then looked at Akane.  "Would
it be all right if you stay here at the temple? I have an extra room I can set
up for you."

Akane reached out and began stroking Luna's head out of habit. The black cat
purred happily, then leapt in her lap, settling herself comfortably.  Akane
giggled, then asked Raye, "Would your parents mind?"

Raye shrugged.  "I live here with my grandfather, and I doubt he would mind at
all.  In fact, he'll be ecstatic if you stayed here."

"Oh?" An uneasy feeling rose in Akane.

"Did someone call my name?" A hoarse voice rasped before a small, bald-headed
man wearing the same white and red robe as Raye edged his way into the room, his
pleasant grin spreading even wider at the sight of the girls.  "Raye, I thought
you were going to be helping Chad this after---well, helloooooo!!!! And who is
this fine creature?"

Akane rolled her eyes.  It looked like this universe wasn't spared from leering
old men either.

"Grandpa!  Be nice!" Raye rounded on the old man.  "This is Akane, and she'll be
staying here for a day or so.  I want you to be nice to her and not follow her
about with your silly requests."

"Silly?!" The old man blinked in mortification, then put on the most saddest
face Akane ever saw.  "My own granddaughter, so cruel to me!  All I ever want is
someone who will be by my side in my old age.  Oh, Raye, how can you keep me
from experiencing happiness in my last few days?"

Raye's face was growing as dark as the fire.  "Grandpa..."

Akane found herself actually feeling sorry for the old man.  How could Raye
treat such a sad little man with such disrespect?  She leaned forward and said.
"It's all right.  Really.  I'll try not to..."

She should've known.  A wicked gleam erupted in his teary eyes and he scooted
forward, arms wide. "Now there's a good girl who knows what it's about.  A
beautiful temple lass to keep me warm at nights -- that's for me!  How about it,
cutie? You can move in tonight!"

Akane eeked, her hands rising defensively.  Would it be considered bad form if
she sent her host's grandfather out with a flying whack?

She never found out.  The old man snapped back with a startled "Huh?" and glared
up at his granddaughter, who had a firm grip on the neck of his robe.  Gently,
but firmly, she pushed him to the door, muttering over his protests.  "Grandpa,
for shame! You can't keep hitting on every girl you meet! Go help Chad with
dinner or something."  She shut the door and turned around, her face redder than
a beet.  "I'm sorry about that, Akane.  Grandpa could be so rude, sometimes.  He
constantly gives the temple a bad reputation with him running about trying to
recruit girls to work at the temple.  It's like caring for a child sometimes!"

Akane smiled. "It's okay. Actually, he's quite a nice man.  He's much more well-
mannered than Happosai." She leaned forward, whispering, "Happosai is constantly
stealing women's underwear.  Not a day goes by when he raid's the girls' locker
room.  And he's always coming after Ranma, begging him to wear the bras and
panties he stole!  It's gotten to the point where Happosai would ambush Ranma,
throw  water on him, and latch right onto to his breasts. It's quite a sight!
Sometimes, though, Ranma does wear the underwear, just to trap
that...old...lech.." Slowly, Akane's words faded.

Everyone, the girls, the cats, even the two crows that had landed on the
windowsill, were staring at her.

Serena finally broke the silence in her usual way.  "You mean your fiance is a
crossdresser?!!!!"

"Oh, no, no! It's not that."  Akane waved her hands before her. "Ranma only does
that  when he's a girl. He'll never wear that stuff..."

"A GIRL?!?!?!?!?!?!  EEEEEYYYYYYWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She sighed deeply and placed her hand behind her neck.  "Oh, yeah.  I never did
get around to telling about the curse, did I?"


================================================================

"A guy that can turn into a girl?! That is so gross!!!" Serena expressed with
her usual tact as Amy steered her tired body towards the door.  "No wonder Akane
can't stand him!  I can never fall for a guy like that!"

Her head bowed, Luna followed her mistress.  "Oh dear, I do apologize for her
behavior.  Serena can be silly and rude, especially when's she's sleepy, but she
has a heart of gold. Once you get to know her, you'll see she's a very sweet
girl."

Raye rolled her eyes as she gathered the dirty plates and mugs. "Yeah, she has a
heart of gold but her brains are macaroni pudding."

"I heard that." Serena grumbled.  A second later, she added. "Mmm, I wonder if
there's any more macaroni and cheese at home?"

Akane giggled.  "Thanks, Luna.  It's fine, really."

Mina paused at the door, Artemis draped casually over her shoulder, to throw her
a thumbs-up sign.  "Don't forget, girlfriend.  You and I are doing lunch
tomorrow!"

"Looking forward to it!"  As they vanished into the night, Akane turned to Raye.
"Here.  Let me help you with that."

Raye smiled in gratitude as Akane relieved her of some of the dishes.  "Thanks!
Whenever we hold meetings here, somehow I'm always the one stuck with cleanup."

In silence, they straightened up the temple room and stepped into the yard that
led to Raye's house.  The crescent moon, impossibly huge and yellow, glittered
through the limbs of the blossoming cherry trees, making them appeared to be
covered with snowflakes.  As they neared the house, Raye spoke in a low voice,
"By the way, thanks for clearing up Ranma's curse for us."

"Oh?"

"I didn't want to say it in front of the others.  I wasn't sure if you knew
about it yourself, so I was going to wait until the others left.  You see, when
I was doing the fire reading and I saw him, it was like there was another image
overlapping his--a girl who was the spitting image of him, but smaller and with
bright-red hair.  But it was undeniably him."  She lowered her eyes.  "It was
very confusing to me.  I didn't know what to say."

Akane replied assuredly, "Oh, don't worry about it."

Raye hesitated, then spoke even lower.  "Must be hard for you."

"Hmm?  Oh.  Actually to tell the truth, I've grown quite used to it.  So many
zany things happen in my neighborhood that they somewhat put Ranma's curse in a
more normal perspective.  Even he's beginning to detest it less, though he still
detests it." Akane smiled at a sudden memory.  "He even uses his girl form
sometimes to gain certain advantages."

Raye's eyes widened.

"No, no!! Not like that!  He likes to tease my friend Ryoga a lot.  One day, he
actually convinced my friend Ryoga that he was his sister.  He even wore
makeshift fangs.  Poor Ryoga was convinced that he had a younger sister that he
never knew about because he was rarely at home.  And he's always walking into
the girls' dressing room as if he has the right to be there.  He always comes up
with some excuse but what do you expect from such a pervert?"

Raye chuckled.  "I guess you're right. But that's not what I meant."

"Huh?"

Raye paused at the back door of the house.  The wind lifted her hair a bit,
fanning it in a solid black nimbus as she raised her eyes to the night sky.  "It
must be hard to be suddenly torn from the people you know into a place filled
with strangers. Your family must be out of their minds with worry."

<They're out of their minds, all right.>

"For something so strange as to happen as this, you're being very calm about it.
Are you feeling okay?  Do you need to talk about it?"

Akane blinked.  In all her zany life, what with being chased by princes in ships
and gigantic beasts and being kidnapped countless of times, not once had anyone
asked her if she was feeling okay.  How strange.

She looked at Raye gratefully.  "No.  I'm just very tired.  It's been a strange
day.  Perhaps tomorrow, when it all sinks in."

The priestess nodded with a soft smile, and guided Akane into the kitchen where
they dumped the dishes.  "Don't worry about the dishes.  I'll get Chad to do
them tomorrow."

"Um, Raye?"

"Yes?"

"What about Lita's parents?  Have anyone told them...about..."

Raye hesitated, then replied.  "Lita's parents died in a plane crash when she
was a child.  She's been living by herself for some time now."

"Oh."

"It's nothing, really.  Lita doesn't mind, I think, because all of us is the
same predicament one way or another.  My mother died when I was young, and my
dad's too involved in his political duties.  Ami's mother spends all her time at
the hospital she works at, and her dad is overseas.  Mina's parents never seem
to be around either."  Her voice took on a wistful note.  "In fact, the only one
who has a normal family, is Serena.  It's rather ironic."

"Oh." Akane said again.  For a moment, Raye didn't seem to hear, her eyes hooded
as if they were looking at something far, far away.  She added timidly, "My
mother died too, when I was young."

Raye blinked at her, then laid a soft hand on her shoulder. "Thanks."

Akane frowned, puzzled.

"Come on.  Let me show you to your room."

After walking through a maze of rooms, she threw open a nondescript door.  "I
hate to put you in the smaller guest room, but the other room is being
renovated.  I hope you don't mind."

A warm fire crackled on the south side of the room, casting flickering shadows
on the paintings and mirrors that decorated the room.  The entire east wall was
made of sliding glass doors, overlooking the moonlit gardens of the temple.
Three quarters into the room, the floor dropped slightly, and as Akane stepped
into the room, she saw that the lower half was actually an indoor bathing area,
complete with a sunken bathtub filled with warm water, so one could bathe while
gazing at the serenity of the temple grounds.  Akane gawked.  If this was only
the smaller guest room...

Raye took her silence a different way.  "Oh, don't worry about the bath.  No one
would see you if you decided to bathe here. Grandpa's weird, but he'll never
intrude on anyone's privacy, and if I even catch Chad sneaking about--"
Abruptly, she changed her gruff words.  "Well, anyway, there are curtains you
can draw across the windows, and if you're still uncomfortable, there's a
bathroom down the hall.  You'll find everything you need in the dresser."

Akane turned to Raye, her hands clasped in gratitude.  "Domo arigato, Raye.
You've only met me a few hours ago, but you're treating me so nice.  I don't
know how to thank you."

Raye laughed it off.  "Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, you'll do the same for
me, I know.  I just hope your friends would be just as friendly towards Lita.
In a sense, I'm more worried for her."

A sudden image of her family gawking at a tall, fully built woman in Akane's
clothes filled her mind.  "I'm sure Ranma and the others will treat her fine,"
Akane replied faintly.

"Well, then, good night, Akane."

"Good night, Raye."

When the door closed, Akane leaned against it, letting out a long sigh.

("You'll do the same for me, I know.")

<Would I?>

She wanted to tell Raye so much about her world, and that frightened her.  Not
that Raye would think her world was strange, but the fact she wanted to talk to
Raye.

Never had she felt so...comfortable, around girls.

Guys she automatically hated.  Pig-headed, selfish, idiots.  Oh, there were a
few like Ryoga and Mousse who sometimes were genuinely sincere.  But even they
could be stupidly stubborn, like Kuno and Tsubasa.

And Ranma.

<Darn you, Ranma!  Why did I start running towards you anyway?>

She rummaged through the dresser drawers and found a long, white nightgown and
some towels.  She scooted to the lower part of the room where she undressed and
scrubbed away the dirt from her body. Later, she sank with a sigh into the tub
of warm water.  After a bit, she reached over and opened one of the sliding
doors, letting the fragrance of cherry blossoms waft into the room. She leaned
back, gazing at the moon still visible, though noticeably higher in the sky.

Guys she hated.  Girls were a different enigma.

Akane never really had close friendships with girls.  There were her friends at
school, but they were mainly good for gossip and homework.  She assumed she had
a good relationship with her sisters, but that was because they were her
sisters.  Being with Kasumi and Nabiki was like slipping into a warm wool
sweater and snuggling into an armchair with a book you have to read for class
tomorrow.  Comfortable, but slight irritating.  Kasumi seemed more like a mother
than a sister, and Nabiki always seemed to have motives for making yen up her
sleeve.

Then there were the other girls that were out to get her.  Shampoo. Ukyo.
Kodachi.  And the nasty glares from any girl who thought Saotome Ranma was a
dream and did not deserve such a kawaiikune wretch.  Akane did her best to avoid
*those* girls, though sometimes it would wind up in a fierce fighting match,
usually with Ranma-chan showing up and wrecking the fight completely by jumping
in. Thinking hard, Akane conceded that out of them, Ukyo was the only one who
made some semblance of friendship towards her. But even if she wasn't engaged to
Ranma, there was her restaurant she had to tend to. Not to mention that weird
cross-dressing thing she had.

But these girls were different.  She was confused when she had first awaken to
see them hovering over her, with genuine concern.  No one looked at her like
that...wait, scratch that.  Most of the guys did, but rarely did a girl look at
her like that, save her sisters.

<They were actually concerned for me!>

She didn't know what to make of that.  Perhaps it was the circumstances.  Yes,
that was it.  They were probably being nice to her because one of their number
was in the same predicament.

<No, it's more.  It's so much more.>  She wanted to tell them so many things
about her life, and she had a feeling that they would listen to every word she
said.  And she wanted to hear so much about theirs, like why did they go around
in costumes battling monsters?  What was life like here?  And more importantly,
would they be able to get her back home and get their friend back?

With a sigh, she soaked as the moon climbed higher, then toweled herself dry
before the fire and slipped into the nightgown.  She stared out at the gardens
for a few minutes longer, then slid into the small bed.  She automatically
reached for a familiar warm hump before realizing that, of course, P-chan wasn't
there.

With that realization, loneliness flooded into her.  Raye and the others were so
kind, but would she ever get to sleep in her own bed again?  What about her
family?  Her father would probably be sobbing so hard the dojo would be in
danger of floating away. Though her life was crazy, at least it was her life.
What could all the others be thinking?  She missed them all so badly, Kasumi and
Nabiki and Ryoga, Dr. Tofu and even Mr. Saotome, and...and...

<Go on,> she told herself bitterly. <Admit it.  You miss *him* too.>

He was the one who got her in this mess in the first place.  He could be so
stupid sometimes!  Always butting into her business, making a fool of himself,
assuming that she can't take care things by herself.  Angrily, Akane scrubbed at
her eyes.  <He's always calling me an uncute tomboy, and then he turns around
and treats me like some fragile flower.  Who does he think he is? Why can't he
just leave me alone if he's always confusing me with his words and actions?>

<Why can't he just admit how he feels?>

<Why can't I?>

She sat up and punched the pillow a few times.  There.  That was better.  Think
of something else.  Like poor Lita.  What could she be possibly feeling right
now?  Would Ranma and her family treat her the same way Raye treated Akane?
Probably not.  The poor girl could be on her way to China by now, or she could
be fighting off Happosai's advances.  Or maybe she may have approached one of
the other girls with the thought of her being yet another fiancee...or...or...

Who was this Lita?  Was she lying in Akane's bed or lying in some park.  What
was she like?  Would Ranma take care of her? He better take good care of her,
but he also better watch himself, too, the baka...

<Ranma, I wish you were here.>

<And whoever this Lita is, she's probably just as scared as I am.>

============================================================
LaShawn M. Wanak (tbone_m_jenkins@yahoo.net)
T-bone Enterprises * In Touch With Yours Truly
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