Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective
creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please
don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without
asking me.
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Akane grabbed Ranma in a hug to try and comfort the young genie. She
was aware that she was crying and Ranma was doing her best not to cry.
Looking at the genie, she saw that Ranma's eyes were constantly
blinking, keeping tears from forming. Akane was also aware that Ranma's
body was trembling.
Akane whispered, "Ranma, cry. You need to let it out."
Hearing the order, the genie let her tears fall freely. As she cried,
she held onto Akane. Soon, both were so choked they couldn't speak.
When Akane was able to talk again, she whispered through a tight
throat, "I wish I knew of a way to undo your curse."
Akane felt her genie tense up as she granted her wish.
Ranma gasped through her tears, "There is something that can undo my
curse. It's in China."
"I wish that it was here," Akane said.
Ranma's eyes flickered red for a few seconds and then faded back to
blue.
"I can't. It's too big. We'll have to go to China to use it."
After hearing that, Akane said, "Ranma, go back into the ring. I'm
going to call Kasumi."
Akane felt Ranma turn to smoke and watched as her husband was pulled
back into the ring.
Not wasting a moment, Akane headed for the phone and called the Tendo
home. As she waited, she crossed her fingers.
"Please let it be Kasumi or Nabiki," Akane muttered.
After the second ring, she heard the phone being picked up.
"Hello, Tendo home," came Nabiki's voice.
"Nabiki, this is Akane. I need to talk to Kasumi."
"Something has happened, hasn't it?" Nabiki asked in a concerned
voice.
Akane bluntly replied, "Yes. Someone has managed to lock Ranma's
curse. I need to figure out a way to get to China without everyone
following along."
A long pause came from the other end of the line, finally Nabiki said,
"I'll see what I can do. As soon as I see Kasumi, I'll tell her."
"Thanks, sis," Akane said and hung up the phone.
Akane sat down on the floor and hugged her knees. A knock at her door
caught her attention. Akane stood up and hesitantly went to the door.
Looking out, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Kasumi.
Akane opened the door and let her older sister in. After doing so, she
quickly shut the door and locked it.
"Kasumi, I need to head to China. That jerk has frozen Ranma's curse.
There is something that can undo it in China."
Kasumi shook her head and stated, "You are not going alone. I'm going
with you."
Staring at her sister in disbelief, Akane asked, "You? But what can
you do? You're not a martial artist."
"Remember that wish you made for me a while back? It did take effect
and gave me some abilities. I'm going with you to protect my little
sister and future brother-in-law. You'll find out soon enough what I
can do, Akane."
Akane, still staring at Kasumi, replied, "Not future, current
brother-in-law. We married right before that jerk Hazid showed up.
Kasumi's eyes widened in shock and whispered, "You mean..."
Shaking her head to clear it, the android continued, "Don't worry,
Akane. The two of you will have your honeymoon. By the way,
congratulations. Now, we have to get ready for a trip to China."
The two sisters went through Akane's house and packed what they felt
would be needed for a trip to China. After packing, Kasumi looked at
her little sister. Sighing a bit, Akane rubbed the ring to release
Ranma. The now familiar red cloud of smoke poured forth and took the
form of Ranma-chan.
"What is your wish, master?"
Hefting her pack, Akane said, "I wish that Kasumi, you, and I were in
China near where that object is that can undo..."
Even though Akane's voice trailed off, Ranma's eyes still flashed red
as she teleported the trio to China.
-----------------
A panda and a middle-aged man were rushing towards the Tendo home.
Genma mentally ranted as his son. *Boy, why didn't you tell me? You
break your father's heart by not trusting me. I could have gotten rid
of this curse and removed my baldness as well.*
Looking over to his comrade, he noticed that Soun had stopped his
sudden outburst of crying and was biting his lower lip in confusion..
"Saotome, tell me what happened when we get home. Your son has a lot
of explaining to do."
Genma mentally agreed, *Boy, as soon as we find out where you are, we
are going to have a long talk.*
--------------
Shampoo hurried into the Cat Cafe and called out, "Great-grandmother, I
found out something today."
Hopping out from the back room, Cologne warily asked, "What did you
find out?"
"I found out that Ranma's cursed form is now a genie. Once we get
whatever controls Ranma from the violent girl, Ranma can be brought back
to the village as my husband."
*Ancestors, help me convince my great-granddaughter of the foolishness
of that plan,* Cologne thought. *A bitter genie could destroy our
village within seconds.*
Looking at her great-granddaughter, she said, "What you are planning to
do is very dangerous."
"How so, Great-grandmother?"
"Genies have the abilities to grant wishes and usually twist those
wishes to their own ends," Cologne replied and shuddered. "They are
not something I want to deal with."
"Please, Great-grandmother."
Cologne bowed her head and replied, "I will not help you with that."
"Great-grandmother?" Shampoo blinked in surprise.
Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter and said sternly, "Genies are
dangerous. Bringing an upset genie into our village would eventually
destroy us. No, Great-granddaughter. Call me a coward if you want, but
I want nothing to do with any sort of genie, bound or not. I have heard
too many stories of wishing spirits perverting a person's wishes to feel
safe near one of them."
Shampoo stared at her great-grandmother, who picked a cup of tea and
started sipping it, to calm her nerves.
"If Great-grandmother will not help, then I will get Ranma on my own."
So declaring, Shampoo hurried out the door of the cafe. Cologne shook
her head and sighed.
"Child, I hope that you survive your foolishness. Akane is protected,
because Ranma is willingly serving her."
-------------
In China, a flash of red light heralded the arrival of a trio of
girls. A few seconds later, Ranma shook her head as the trance state
left her. After it had done so, the genie hunched up and shivered.
Akane looked over at Ranma, concerned.
"Ranma, are you all right?"
Ranma nodded, while shuddering a bit. "I'm fine, Akane. Just bad
dreams. That's all."
"Dreams?" Akane asked.
Kasumi interrupted, "I think we have more important things to worry
about Akane. Like finding the object that can undo Ranma's curse."
Akane blushed. "Uh. Right."
Akane examined their surroundings and saw they were standing on a
mountain side flat shelf. Looking down, she saw a huge building, which
she took for a temple.
"Ranma, I wish to know where is the object that can undo the effects of
that ladle."
Ranma's eyes glowed red as she recited, "It is twenty kilometers west
of here."
"Twenty kilometers?" Akane asked. "Let's get walking."
As the three girls trudged along, Akane noticed something about the
genie walking along with them.
"Um, Ranma? Why aren't you changing your clothes?"
Ranma sighed as she replied, "I see no point in it right now. As soon
as I go back into the ring, I'll be in this get up."
Pulling a bit of her silk pantaloons out from her leg, the genie
continued, "Besides, this is the costume I came up with for myself."
Akane rubbed her temples with her hand. Staring at the ruby, she
concentrated. As she did so, she noticed that Ranma's legs had vanished
and were replaced by red smoke. Increasing her mental effort, she
willed her genie fully into smoke form and back into the ring.
Before the last wisp of smoke had faded, Akane said, "Sorry, Ranma. I
could have ordered you to rest in the ring, but I needed practice."
----
"Saotome, what did we just see at that restaurant?" Soun asked as he
moved a piece on the shoji board.
Now in human form, Genma replied, "My son must have been turned into a
genie and was able to grant Akane's wishes."
"Are you sure he is a genie?"
"Ranma was wearing a female genie's costume. He breaks his father's
heart for not trusting me," Genma said as he countered Soun's move on
the game board.
"So what can genies do?"
Genma grumbled and replied, "Grant wishes. If Ranma had told me, we
could have wished for Ranma and Akane to be married and maybe get rid of
the master."
Sound thought and almost broke into tears, as he said, "Akane knew and
didn't tell me. Doesn't she trust me anymore?"
Walking towards the kitchen, Nabiki heard the conversation and shook
her heard.
She muttered, "Oh brother. Won't those two ever catch a clue? I guess
I should try to defuse this situation, somehow. I'll need time though."