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Hearts' Healing Interlude - Wedding
A Ranma 1/2 - Tenchi Muyou! Ryou-ou-ki FanFiction
By
D.F. Roeder
__________
This and other fanfictions can be found at
http://home.flash.net/~dfroeder/index.html
C&C very welcome. Post to the FFML or privately to
dfroeder@flash.net
----- Continuity -----
This is a Ranma divergence fic, the divergence occurring at
the beginning of the Ranma storyline, the day before the
fateful trip to Jusenkyou at the end of the 10-year training
trip.
This is also a continuation of the TM! OAV storyline,
although the concentration will be on one character, with
the remaining cast coming in as appropriate.
----- Acknowledgments -----
My sincere thanks to T.H. Tiger for excellence in
prereading. ^_^
----- Disclaimers -----
Ranma 1/2 and its characters are the property of Takahashi
Rumiko, Shonen Sunday comics, Shogakukan, and Kitty TV
(Japan) and Viz Communications (USA).
Tenchi Muyou! Ryou-ou-ki is the property of Kajishima Masaki
and AIC/Pioneer LDC.
This work of fiction is for free entertainment purposes
only. No compensation has been or will be received.
NOTE: You will need to have read "Hearts' Healing" for this
to make much sense. This is also considerably lighter and
more humorous in tone than the previous. Blame it on Washuu.
____________________
[June 23, 1998]
Their kiss -- an untraditional element insisted on by the
bride -- broke, and the couple rose from their kneeling
positions and turned to face an audience. A man, a Shinto
priest, elderly in appearance, stood behind them, a hand
resting on one shoulder of both the man and woman in front
of him. The woman was radiant in her snow-white wedding
kimono, and the man was firm and strong in his brown wedding
kimono top and black hakama. The centuries-old shrine behind
them beautifully framed the picture.
The priest spoke. "May I present... Mr. and Mrs. Hakubi
Ranma."
The audience of friends and family broke into applause, and
some of the less decorous members hooted and whistled. Crown
princess Aeka pulled her two forefingers out of her mouth
and joined the majority in clapping, surreptitiously looking
to see if anyone noticed her breach of etiquette.
Intermittent flashes of camera light added to the sun's
illumination, and Masaki Nobuyuki jockeyed for a good
position with his video camera to get a shot of the bride
and groom when they walked back down the aisle.
"HOLD!!!" a voice commanded from the front row. The applause
quickly died down, and everyone looked quizzically at the
short woman with the spiky red hair stepping into the aisle.
"I want to see..." she paused for effect, "the *brides*
kiss!" She snapped her fingers, and a quantity of cold water
appeared over the groom and drenched him.
A bundle of short, chesty, and redheaded fury stood in a wet
and baggy top and hakama, glaring daggers at her new
Mother-in-law. "Waaaashuuuuu-chaaaa-- URK!!"
The "groom" suddenly found herself swept up into her wife's
arms, arms that could, if she were so inclined, destroy the
very planet on which she'd stood. Her wife's mouth swooped
down and captured the redhead's lips with her own. The
smaller woman fanned her arms and kicked her legs for a
moment, but they slowed until they stopped moving, although
remaining tensed. The audience was spellbound, waiting for
the inevitable explosion.
Instead, the smaller woman melted into her wife's embrace,
her arms slowly snaking up and around the taller woman's
neck. She matched her wife's vigor with her own.
Everyone blinked, and the applause and whistling returned
twofold. Nobuyuki gave himself a black eye from the eyepiece
on the camcorder.
The little Mother-in-law stood in the aisle, hands cocked on
her hips and smirking. <I am ALWAYS right!>
____________________
The reception in the Masaki home was lively, and Ranma and
Ryouko were buried under wedding gifts, many from places
outside of the solar system. The first dance was, of course,
for the newlyweds, and there were few dry eyes in the house.
Several people then danced with the bride and groom, and the
atmosphere was joyful.
Everyone's conversation and movement died down, but the
music played on, accompanying the descent of an unusual
sight on the stairway. Ryou-ou-ki, very tall and very adult,
paused and looked at everyone nervously. She was dressed in
one of Aeka's Juraian kimonos (somewhat retailored), her fur
and hair had been brushed smooth, and ornaments had been
worked into the white shocks on both sides of her face. The
jewel in her forehead glinted as she steeled herself and
continued down the stairway.
When she reached the floor, she began walking towards Ranma,
and the crowd parted before her. Ranma looked over at
Ryouko, some distance away, and she smiled at him and
nodded. He looked back to see that Ryou-ou-ki was now
directly in front of him. She had her hands clasped in front
of her and was looking down.
"Ryou-chan?"
Ryou-ou-ki looked up and smiled at her friend's new husband.
She opened her mouth.
"M... M... Miya!" Ranma winced. Ryou-ou-ki shook her head
and concentrated. "M... Maaay IIIII-ya." She cleared her
throat. "M... May I... ha... haaavee thisss da...
daaannccce?" Every syllable was enunciated slowly and
carefully, and Aeka looked on proudly; she'd worked very
hard with Ryou-ou-ki.
Ranma graced her with one of his deadly smiles. Every woman
in the room felt her pulse rate go up at least a little bit.
Hearing a few gasps, Ryouko glared at several of the other
women present, while Aeka hid a snicker behind her hand.
"I would be honored." Ranma held out a bent arm.
"Miya!" Ryou-ou-ki shouted in her glee.
Ranma grimaced. <Not a cat! Not a cat! Not...>
Ryou-ou-ki shyly looped her arm around his, and Ranma led
them to the dance floor. The music abruptly stopped, and
some argument could be heard coming from the direction of
the stereo. Eventually, a song for a slow but not *too* slow
dance came on.
Ranma had received some *interesting* dance lessons from
Katsuhito and Nobuyuki a few days before. The lessons had
quickly degenerated into teary-eyed reminiscences of dancing
with their deceased wives, but Ranma had managed to eke out
the basic forms. He guided Ryou-ou-ki into the proper
position, and they began to move around the floor.
Ryou-ou-ki had a silly grin overlaying a slightly dazed
expression.
All too soon, from Ryou-ou-ki's perspective, the song ended,
and Ranma bowed to her. She bowed back and struggled with
her final word for the day.
"A... Ariiigaaatoouuuu."
Ranma smiled widely again, and Ryouko glared around her
again. Ryou-ou-ki ran around, skipping and miya'ing, and
Ranma's smile cracked a little. He felt a tap on his
shoulder and turned.
A very pregnant Masaki Tsunami stood there, looking at him
with a small smile. "May I have the next?"
Had he been facing the right direction, he would've seen
several small logs materialize around his furious wife and
the whole mess suddenly disappear. This moment had been
planned for.
~~~~~
In the depths of Washuu's lab, Ryouko, Aeka, and Washuu
appeared out of thin air. Ryouko was glaring daggers at her
friend and mother. With a serious expression on her face,
Washuu stepped up to Aeka's forcefield.
"Ryouko, calm yourself and listen to what I have to say."
The former space pirate crossed her arms and tried to drill
Washuu with her stare. Washuu ignored it.
"Listen to me. Tsunami, or Sasami, or... whatever, got what
she wanted. What's going on out there is just social. As
hard as it may be for you to understand because of your love
for him, Ranma has *nothing* Tsunami wants; she's not
planning on stealing him, too. She's just being social and
trying to fit in."
Aeka stood quietly, while Washuu stepped a little closer,
leaned forward, and matched her daughter's glare. "And don't
you *dare* take it out on Ranma! One angry slap from you and
he could be dead. I can *not* bring the dead back to life.
Do you understand?"
Ryouko wilted and suddenly looked very frightened. Washuu
motioned to Aeka, and the containment field disappeared.
Washuu walked up and hugged her daughter, and surprisingly,
Ryouko returned it.
"What am I going to do, Mother?" Ryouko whispered.
Washuu felt herself go all warm and gooey, but she refrained
from bringing attention to Ryouko's slip. She leaned back,
looked Ryouko in the eye, and said with a straight face,
"Never get angry."
Ryouko did a passable imitation of a fish out of water.
Washuu snickered. "Just kidding," she said.
"Ooooo!!" Ryouko's hair started to fray, but Washuu held
something out in her hand. "Ara?"
"Put it on." Washuu bounced a wide but paper-thin bracelet
in her hand.
"What is it?"
"What's the matter? Don't trust your Mother?" Washuu
smirked. Ryouko raised an eyebrow. "Please?" Washuu went all
kawaii. Ryouko rolled her eyes and took the bracelet,
slipping it onto her left arm.
"Okay, now what?"
"See that partition over there? Go over and punch a hole
through it."
Ryouko looked at her strangely. Washuu sighed in
exasperation. "Please?!"
Snorting, Ryouko walked over and casually hit the thin sheet
of metal. Nothing happened. Miffed, she hit it hard enough
to puncture a hundred times the thickness. Nothing. Ryouko
looked down at her fist and then at Washuu.
"What did you do?" Ryouko asked.
Washuu smirked and ignored the question. "Levitate." Ryouko
did.
"Energy sword?" Ryouko's saber flared into life.
"Phase through the partition." Again, success.
"Teleport to in front of me." Ryouko appeared, looking down
at Washuu, who had pulled out two victory fans. "Excellent!
Your other abilities are not affected at all!"
"Washuu--"
"Now, daughter, that bracelet limits your strength to about
1.8 times Earth norm. Need more, simply take it off. The
bracelet won't fall off by itself; you have to physically
take it off. I suggest, however, that you leave it on until
you *need* to remove it for some reason."
"Washuu, Ranma doesn't mind that I'm stronger than--"
"This is not about what Ranma minds, ne?" Washuu quirked an
eyebrow at her stubborn daughter.
Her head down, Ryouko picked at the bracelet. "No..."
Washuu closed her eyes and nodded. "About Tsunami..."
Ryouko's head snapped up, and her hatred twisted the
features of her face.
"Daughter."
Ryouko focused on Washuu's eyes again. "What's past is
past," Washuu said. "It has no hold on your present." Washuu
smirked again. "Be nice and play well with others."
Ryouko let the jab pass and relaxed. "Hai."
Aeka walked up. "Shall we rejoin the party, Ryouko-san,
Washuu-sama-- EEP!" Aeka was looking down the barrel of a
high-tech particle weapon. "Er, um, Washuu-*chan*?" Aeka
said sweetly while bigsweating. Ryouko didn't bother hiding
her snicker.
A broad smile ate Washuu's face, and she dispelled the
particle weapon. She grabbed both women by an arm and
started dragging them to the lift. "Let's go! I haven't had
a dance with my Son-in-law, yet!"
~~~~~
"Ranma-san!"
Ranma, who had been looking around for his wife, turned and
then smiled. "Mihoshi-san! How are you?"
Mihoshi giggled, remembering that her job was to keep Ranma
occupied while Washuu had her talk with Ryouko. "I'm just
fine, thank you for asking. Ryouko's very lucky to marry a
handsome man like you. How does it feel to be married?"
Ranma grinned lopsidedly and scratched the back of his head.
"I think I'll be able to answer that question better
tomorrow."
Mihoshi put her hand up to her mouth and giggled. A blush
rose up and engulfed her face. "Ranma-san!" She looked down
and then looked back at him, bursting into a fresh spate of
giggles.
Ranma was beginning to bigsweat. "Ah, yeah. Anyway, how is
your grandfather? I never did get a chance to ask about your
trip you were on when I, er, met Ryouko. What is this, the
third time we've actually talked?"
Mihoshi's giggles died away and she frowned. "Grandfather is
just fine."
"Uh..."
"Old lech! I was so worried about him. You see, grandmother
died about ten years ago, GP calendar, and he was sounding
so lonely when I went to visit, I just had to stick around
and cheer him up, but Oooo! THEN I find out he's been
sneaking around and seeing this little Catgirl in
Communications, the one with the big--"
"CA-CA-CATGIRL?!" Ranma was mortified.
"Huh?" Mihoshi blinked. "Yeah, from planet, er, um, I
forget. Anyway, I'm so mad I could spit, so I give
Grandfather a couple pieces of my mind and come home." She
sighed and said nothing for a moment, but Ranma sensed
something shift in the woman. "And look what happens when
I'm gone for a few months," she said slowly, staring at
Tenchi and Tsunami dancing.
Ranma put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I wasn't here
when all that happened, but from what I can gather, it
rattled everyone badly."
Mihoshi sadly smiled, and Ranma could see her eyes become
very sharp and intelligent. "It's okay, I guess. I was a
distant third, at best." Mihoshi smiled broadly. "I want
some sake. Do you?" she asked giddily.
Ranma blinked at the mercurial changes in her. "Uh, no,
thank you. Anou, have you seen--"
Two arms snaked around his waist, and he received a kiss on
his ear. "Hiiii," Ryouko said throatily. Ranma shivered,
while an amused Mihoshi watched and sighed in envy.
"Boy, are you two going to have fun later," she said
wistfully and walked away, stalking the sake.
____________________
After the reception wound down, Ryouko helped Ranma put a
thoroughly besotted Katsuhito and Nobuyuki to bed on the
downstairs couches. Everyone else had more or less
disappeared, leaving the place a wreck. Even Toufuu had gone
off with Washuu somewhere, their heads together deep in
medical discussion.
Ranma looked over at Ryouko. "Say, uh, Dear."
"Yes, um, Honey?" Ryouko had little stars in her eyes. Ranma
bigsweated, but felt a warmth wash over him, anyway.
He moved some used cups around on a table in a desultory
manner. "How long will it take us to get to... ah..."
Ryouko smirked at him. "Nice try. Like I said, it's a
surprise."
"I know, I know." He threw some trash into a can. "But it's
usually the man's job to plan for the honeymoon, and I just
thought I could help or something." He lazily kicked at the
wastebasket.
"Come here." Ranma looked up to see Ryouko's arms beckoning
to him. He smiled and moved into her embrace.
"I want it to be a surprise. There's a whole part of me
you've never had the opportunity to see. Can you wait? For
me?" she asked sweetly.
Rolling his eyes and smiling, Ranma nodded, moved forward,
and kissed his wife. They went at for several minutes as the
two unconscious witnesses snored away.
____________________
"Ah! There you are." Washuu hopped down from her floating
cushion and walked to where her daughter and son-in-law had
just appeared in the lift. "All packed?"
Ranma scratched his head. "Ryouko-chan says we won't need
anything. I don't see how, but there it is." He looked at
Ryouko and saw that her eyes were unfocused and that she had
a silly grin plastered on her face. The Ryouko-*chan* had
gotten to her.
Washuu snorted and snapped her fingers in front of Ryouko's
face, bringing the woman back to Earth. "Oi! Kawaii
Ryouko-chan." Ryouko glared at her. "You two follow me. Time
for your wedding gift." Washuu turned and went back to her
cushion.
"Here." Washuu tossed an object at Ryouko, who deftly caught
it. "Don't put it on, yet."
"A plain ring?"
"Where's my gift?" Ranma asked with mock petulance.
Washuu ignored him. "Hai! Take your clothes off."
Ryouko and Ranma blink-blinked. "Nani?" Ryouko asked.
Washuu crossed her arms. "Take your clothes off. There's
nothing there I haven't seen a million times, and Ranma *is*
your husband now. Besides, since when has nudity bothered
*you*?"
"Fine!" Ryouko willed her clothes away in a huff, but she
was pleased to see Ranma ogling her.
Washuu glanced at Ranma. "It's your gift, too, but
Ryouko-chan has to be the one to wear it, and it'll only
work for her. It may, however, be a while before you can
appreciate the gift. Now, Ranma-chan, your turn: clothes,
please."
"Eh?! No way!"
Washuu sighed theatrically and then snapped her fingers.
Ranma's clothes disappeared.
"Ack!" Ranma had both hands down, covering his
unmentionables. He blushed when he noticed Ryouko giving him
an appraising stare.
Washuu snapped her fingers again, and cold water once again
drenched the newlywed husband.
"ACK!!" Onna-Ranma left one hand below and covered her
breasts with her free arm. "WASHUU!!" she screeched.
Washuu ignored her. "Now, Ryouko-chan, you may wear your
ring," she said with no little amount of expectation in her
voice.
Ryouko glanced at Ranma and back to the ring in her hand.
Shrugging, she slipped it onto the ring finger of her right
hand.
"ACK!!!" Ryouko squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her body
shifting and restructuring, inside and out. The process only
took a couple of seconds, and Ryouko's eyes blinked after
they opened. She looked down and took distant note of the
fact that she was now a he.
Washuu was giggling in delight and waving her victory fans.
"I am SUCH a GENIUS!!" She abruptly stopped. "Ryouko, take a
moment and observe your, ah, spouse."
Too stunned to argue, Ryouko looked over to see Ranma
staring with dinner-plate eyes. He (Ryouko) managed to lock
eyes with Ranma, and they stared at each other for a couple
of minutes, both noticing an odd pressure building in their
bodies.
Finally, Ranma could stand it no longer and turned her gaze
downward slightly. Her eyes swallowed her face and then
rolled up into her head. Ranma hit the floor in a faint, a
rush of strange and powerful feelings causing sensory
overload.
Ryouko blink-blinked and looked down to see what Ranma had
seen. He found that *his* body had strongly reacted to *her*
presence. Ryouko staggered for a moment. "Oh, Kamisama!"
Washuu had lost it and was draped over her cushion, howling
in laughter. Her fists beat the floor, while her feet
kicked. "HOO-HOO-HOOOOO!! It's so MARvelously SYMMETRICAL!!"
____________________
On the observation deck just outside of Tenchi's room on the
top floor of the Masaki home, a smallish figure with spiky
red hair watched an odd crystalline ship disappear with a
twinkle straight up into the evening sky. Smiling, she
reached up and dabbed at the moisture on her face.
====================
End Hearts' Healing Interlude - Wedding