Subject: [PMFFML] [FFML-R] [Ranma][Revised] Hearts and Minds, Part 3 of 10
From: Gary Kleppe
Date: 5/20/2001, 8:59 PM
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	Bad and good news department: I haven't had the chance to go
through all the C&C on this chapter, so this is not a final revision,
and this draft will not be going to RAAC at this time. (Comments will be
nevertheless very much appreciated, as always.) The good news is that
part 5, the new chapter, has finally been sent off to prereaders, so if
all goes well you should see it right here in two weeks.



                            HEARTS AND MINDS
                               PART THREE

                       Ranma 1/2 manga fanfiction
                             by Gary Kleppe

	The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful
property of Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission.
This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered
substantially or used for profit in any way.

	As always, feedback will be greatly appreciated, and public
response is preferred. Preludes and previous parts can be found at
<http://www.akane.org/~gary/comics.html#ham>.



	Kodachi reached in with a hand to test the water. Finding the
temperature adequate, she stepped inside and slid the frosted glass door
closed. Water gushed from the shower head, pouring over her body,
caressing her in its delicious warmth. 

	And she laughed.

	She laughed thinking of 'darling' Ranma, and the reaction she'd
already provoked in him after only a day and a half. It was so
delightful watching him attack her again and again, only to be defeated
easily each time. Yet he always came back for one more chance, each time
more eager and determined than the last, not unlike a compulsive
gambler. And he was afraid of her. She could see it in his eyes. Every
defeat made him fear her more, by demonstrating yet again how
helpless he was against her. She could have her way with him at any
time -- whatever way she wished -- and he would have no way of stopping
her. None of them would.

	Except for Tendo Kasumi. She alone had the necessary training
and skill with which to discern Kodachi's secret. It was possible that
she already knew. Perhaps her sweet and innocent demeanor was a facade
-- a mask from behind which she mocked Kodachi, secure in her ability to
deal with anything the gymnast might attempt.

	Or not. In any case, it might be worthwhile to do something to
divert Kasumi's attention to elsewhere. But what? Kodachi would have to
ruminate on that question.

	A dull thump from outside attracted Kodachi's attention. Quickly
spinning the water control to off position, she peered through frosted
glass to locate the source of the noise. The bathroom door was now open,
and something -- or someone -- which she couldn't make out had entered.

	Kodachi's pulse quickened. For the first time since she had
embarked on the journey, she was in danger. How very like her enemies,
to attack when she was defenseless. Perhaps she could bluff whomever it
was into leaving or not attacking. It was the best chance she had.

	"It's bad manners to enter a room without knocking, you know,"
she said in her confident, semi-mocking voice. She pulled the largest of
the white towels from the rack and wrapped it around her body.

	Nothing answered her. She pushed the shower door open a crack,
wide enough for her to see out.

	"Oh, it's you." She let out a relieved breath. "Wait where you
are until I am finished."

	How sweet, she thought. The pets were lonely for their owner.
She threw the towel back onto its rack, then rotated the dial to turn
the water back on.

	And she laughed, this time more loudly than before.

                                 ______


	Akane's legs swung back and forth idly as she sat on the bed.
She flipped open her pack for the fifth time and checked through it to
make sure she hadn't forgotten something. If they left anything behind
in the hotel room, there'd be no getting it back.

	She wondered what Ranma was doing. Kasumi had phoned their room
early in the morning to ask him to come and visit her, refusing to say
why. It was probably nothing to be concerned about. If there was anyone
he could be trusted with, it was her. Still, Akane couldn't stifle the
curiosity that gnawed at her. What were they up to?

	*So,* she thought. Here she was, in China for the second time.
At least for this trip she had been able to come freely, instead of
being kidnapped and then nearly killed. That had been a trip she would
rather not have taken; though, on the bright side, being used to
christen a new spring was preferable to being cursed by one of the
existing springs. At least *that* hadn't happened to her... yet.

	Ranma was excited about the chance to finally go to Jusenkyo to
remove his curse. Akane kept quiet about it, not wanting to ruin his
enthusiasm, but she was pretty sure that that wouldn't happen. They'd
had too many promised cures already, and each time something had gone
wrong. It was as if there were some sort of power behind Jusenkyo; some
malevolent intelligence wanting to keep Ranma and the others in its
grasp, always keeping one step ahead of them.

	"Hey, Akane!" Ranma's female voice called from the hallway. The
door lock fidgeted and popped open, as did the door itself a second
later.

	"About time you got back." Akane looked at her watch as Ranma
entered the room. "We're supposed to meet the others down in the lobby
in less than half an hour."

	The door clattered shut behind him. Saying nothing, he stepped
over to the bed and leaned his face toward hers. She closed her eyes,
tilted her head, and their lips met. When she pulled back and opened her
eyes, Ranma was male.

	"Neat trick." She stretched her head to try to see around him.
"You've got a kettle behind your back, right?"

	"Wrong." A playful smile spread across his face. He became
female, then went back to male again. The change was so quick that Akane
could barely notice the transition.

	"You jerk!" She took a pillow from the bed and threw it
forcefully into the side of his head. "What's the trick? Tell me!"

	"No trick." He grinned like the cheshire cat. "I can change
whenever I want now. Kasumi helped me learn how."

	"Whenever you...." Akane stared at him incredulously. "No way!"

	Ranma answered by turning female again. Akane jumped into the
air and threw herself into his arms. Both of them shrieked a loud whoop
as he held her above the floor, twirled her about, changing gender every
few seconds as he did so. They bounced onto the bed.

	"I'm really happy for you, Ranma!" They kissed. "I know how long
you've wanted this."

	"Yeah." Ranma became male. "Kasumi taught it to the cat, the
duck, and the panda, too. That only leaves P--" Ranma looked away from
her for a moment; his face dropped slightly, as if he'd just remembered
something.

	"Only leaves?"

	"Uh, only leaves Pantyhose." Ranma grimaced as though he had a
bad taste in his mouth. "Can you imagine that baka-mono being able to do
this?" Akane felt dissatisfied with his answer, but decided not to press
the issue, at least not at the moment. "Anyway, this is just so cool.
I'm all man, except when I don't wanna be." He nudged his body against
hers and smiled salaciously. "And y'know what men do, right?"

	"Yeah." She reached inside the pack on the floor to pull out a
change of clothes for him, thrusting it into his arms. "They smell bad.
Go and take a shower, Ranma. We have to hurry."

	His face showed only a hint of disappointment as he faded into
the bathroom. The fan hummed, and a moment later the muted hiss of
flowing water could be heard. Akane was still amazed at what she had
seen. After all of the false leads and failed cures, for the problem to
be solved just like that... it still seemed unreal. At least this meant
that her idea about the Jusenkyo evil spirit had to be wrong. A powerful
entity like that wouldn't just let Ranma be cured by Kasumi.

	Or would it? Maybe the spirit of Jusenkyo was protecting the
Amazons. Maybe it wanted Ranma and the others to succeed on this
mission, and was giving them a helping hand.

	Or... Akane shuddered as a new thought came to her. What if the
power of Jusenkyo *hadn't* wanted its victims freed, but Kasumi had
helped them anyway, not knowing? What if it was aware of what she'd
done, angered at the young upstart priestess who thought she could defy
its will, and ready to swat her like a fly?

	Akane steadied herself. It was a frightening thought, but she
really had no reason to believe it. There was no dark god of Jusenkyo or
anything like that. Probably. But what if there was? Kasumi with one of
those curses... that was unthinkable. She needed to be kept away from
the springs, because of what might happen to her. No matter what,
Akane had to make sure her sister didn't go there.

                                 ______


	"You wanted to see me, Major?"

	"Yes." Huang motioned Lan toward a chair, and she sat. Behind
him, another soldier stood at attention. Zhen Biaozi leaned on her staff
nearby, watching.

	The room had been Lan's study; now, it had been converted to the
Major's office. Folders and spiral notebooks now occupied the space
where her personal and official items had been; she hoped she would be
able to get all of her things back when this was all over.

	"Now, then." Resting his arms on the desk, he leaned forward.
"Lately there've been a number of incidents of sabotage."

	"Sabotage?" Lan asked neutrally.

	"Yes," Huang said. "Equipment damaged, foreign substances
introduced into food, and so on. In one incident, someone mixed a
contaminant into our motor oil. I don't know how it was done, but it
caused quite a bit of damage to our vehicle pool."

	Lan nodded, not bothering to feign surprise. "Tung oil?"

	"Yes. You no doubt know that when such a mixture is heated, it
vulcanizes into a hard rubber compound. We now have several vehicles
whose engines will need to be completely replaced. Needless to say, my
superiors back in Ulan Bataar are less that pleased." He stared more
closely at Lan. "If this sort of thing continues, I will be forced to
institute more drastic security measures. Your entire village will
suffer greatly due to the acts of a few criminals. But you can help
prevent this."

	"How?"

	"By identifying the troublemakers so that they can be dealt
with."

	Lan forced herself not to smile. The major obviously had no
understanding of the people with whom he was dealing. "I have no idea
who is responsible for these incidents, if indeed they are not just
accidents," she said. "None of the sisters, nor their males, has spoken
to me of acts of sabotage, nor of plans to carry out such acts. I have
nothing to tell you." All of this was the truth.

	"Ah, but you can tell me of your people." The major beckoned to
the subordinate who stood behind him. "Lieutenant." The other soldier
handed a piece of paper to Lan. "This is a list of the village's current
residents. I want you to go through it and identify those who, based on
your knowledge, might be the culprits. Cross out all of the other
names."

	Lan scanned over the names, then gave it to Huang.

	"You can eliminate no one at all?" He eyed Lan dubiously. "I
would have thought a leader would know her people better than that."

	"I am not leader of this village. Zhen Biaozi is."

	"Ah. Yes." Huang saluted Lan with a grim smile. "Still, you are
well acquainted with the residents of this village, are you not?"

	"Very well indeed."

	"Then which could have committed the sabotage?"

	"It could have been any of them."

	He stared at her for a moment, as if trying to see through her.
Then he sighed. "I really hoped you could have helped us avoid taking
more unpleasant measures. On to other matters. Are you familiar with an
item called Linghunbao?"

	Lan nodded, wondering why the major would be interested in such
a thing.

	"I have orders that this item, whatever it is, is to be sent
back to Ulan Bataar. Reportedly, these orders came from the General
himself. Our troops have searched the village to the best of their
abilities, and not found it."

	"I cannot help you," she said, again not lying. "The Linghunbao
has been hidden away somewhere by Elder Ke Lun. I do not know where."

	"And where is Elder Ke Lun now?"

	"She resides in a place about one kilometer southwest of the
village."

	"The burial grounds."

	Lan nodded.

	A slight bemused smile crept onto the major's face. "Among those
who are still living, who might know where this Linghunbao is kept?"

	"Only Elder Ke's great-granddaughter, Shan Pu. She was with Ke
Lun at the time of her passing. If the Elder told anyone, it would be
her."

	"And where would I find this Shan Pu?"

	"She has not yet returned from Japan, to which she traveled in
order to enlist the aid of some friends."

	"Very well." Huang leaned backwards in his chair. "When she does
arrive and is captured, I will question her."

	"That may not be as easy as you think," Zhen Biaozi said.
"Underestimating Shan Pu will be a mistake." Her wrinkled face wore a
secret smile. Lan wondered what Biaozi might know about Shan Pu that she
wasn't telling.

	"I don't plan to." Huang said to her, then turned back to Lan.
"Thank you, that will be all. For now."

                                 ______


	Ranma stepped onto the bus. His friends were in the back,
interspersed amidst a crowd of miscellaneous Chinese nationals. Most of
the seats faced forward, but those were already occupied. He spotted an
empty space next to Ryoga on the three-person bench that ran along the
side of the bus over the back wheel, and he sat there.

	"Ranma, is it true?" Ryoga whispered to him. "There's a way to
change without water?"

	"Yeah," Ranma whispered back. "It--" He took a cautionary look
towards the front, and abruptly began to speak at normal volume. "It's
gotta be my favorite video game. There's over a hundred levels, the
combat moves are about as realistic as this kinda thing ever gets, and
the animation's some of the best I've seen."

	Ryoga looked confused for a moment, then understood. He and
Ranma slid over to make room for Akane to sit. "I, um, tried that game a
couple of times. I didn't last very long."

	"Yeah. You gotta practice to get good at it. I played a lot back
when I was pregnant." Oops, Ranma thought. Shouldn't have mentioned
that. He prayed to any powers that might be that Kodachi hadn't been
listening. "Anyway, it's a great game. The only thing I don't like is
that you can't change the teams. Hikaru always insists on being the
Killer Claw, which means I'm stuck with Lady Onyx."

	"I'll try it again next time I'm over at your place. But...."
Ryoga's voice became edged with tension. "Do you think you could teach
me how to use that special maneuver you told me about?"

	"Sure." Ranma nodded. "I'll try, anyway. Soon as we get a
chance."

	"Thanks. Because I'm not sure what's coming up on the higher
levels." He glanced toward Akane. "I might need that one in order to
survive."

	"Dude, it's a partner game," Ranma replied. "If you get killed,
chances are so do I."

	Ryoga opened up a book and started to read. The bus door thumped
closed, and the vehicle pulled out onto the road. Across from him, the
two Kuno siblings were engrossed in some sort of discussion. Idly
curious, Ranma tried to listen, but couldn't manage to hear over the
other chatter and the frequent blaring of the bus' horn. He would
probably get into another fight with Kodachi when they got to the next
stop. She'd win again, he expected, but still he'd have to try.

	He reached into his mind to change himself to female form, and
smiled at her. Being a woman felt safer around Kodachi. No matter how
strong she was, she couldn't... do what Asuka did to him, if he didn't
have the right equipment. Can't conquer a prize that's not there.

	Kodachi gazed coolly over at Ranma. If his change surprised her.
she let no sign of it show. She leaned over to speak to him, and he
stretched an ear to listen. "That body suits you, Ranma dear. What a
lovely figure! I'm sure all the other young mothers are jealous."

	*Good going, big mouth,* Ranma grumbled silently at himself. Of
COURSE she'd heard. With his luck, was there any chance she wouldn't?
Then he noticed her brother staring at him with a pained look. What was
*his* problem?

	Then he remembered, and it was obvious. Having a guy pledge his
love to the 'pig-tailed girl' had been enough to give Ranma nightmares.
How much worse it had to be for Kuno, finding out that the girl he'd
lusted after for so long wasn't a girl at all. You couldn't blame him
for wanting to crawl under a rock.

	"Sorry, Kuno." Ranma turned himself male. "I won't do that
around you anymore."

	"No, Saotome."

	"Huh?"

	"Use your female form whenever you wish to do so," Kuno said in
a heavy voice. "A man ought to be reminded of his mistakes, in order
that he might avoid repeating them."

	"You're an all right guy, Kuno." Ranma gave him a friendly chuck
on the shoulder, then sat back in his seat and stared out the window.
Fields of yellow and green stretched to the horizon. Tall grasses danced
back and forth in the wind. And he wondered when he would be home with
his kids again.

                                 ______


	The group disembarked from the bus in Cunzhuang. The small
village provided a chance to buy extra provisions and to take care of
other necessities. Then they started walking. Shan Pu, being the
most familiar with the area, led them as they paraded down the long dirt
roads and narrow paths along which she had traveled so many times.

	Before long, night fell. Had Shan Pu been by herself, she would
have kept going. She knew the route well enough to find it in the dark.
Skipping one night's sleep wasn't a bother, and she was anxious to be
back with her sisters as soon as she could.

	But she wasn't alone. And with the current group, she had to
admit that stopping for the night was the only sensible thing to do. If
they went on, some of them would inevitably get separated and become
lost.

	So, choosing a clear spot well away from the road, they set up
camp. After some bickering, arrangements were agreed upon for the
sharing of the seven two-person tents. The group also came to a
consensus that one martial artist should be awake and on guard at all
times. Since there were nine of them, they would alternate in shifts of
three per night, with each of them taking a shift every third day.

	And so Shan Pu, being first on watch, sat on the grass inside
the circle of tents, staring into the vast darkness.

	She wasn't superstitious about the dark, the way a lot of people
-- even some Amazons -- seemed to be. Back home, she had fought in
nighttime combat tournaments, and was the best at it in her age group.
It was nothing but a new set of circumstances. As such, it presented a
challenge, but an opportunity as well. She couldn't see, but neither
could her opponent; and a sound or even the slightest brush of air
against her skin could tell her what her eyes didn't.

	Yes, she knew what illusions were, and how to look past them.
She had her mother to thank for that. Mother had been wrong about so
many things, but the two of them were also alike in many ways. Shan Pu
wondered whether they would ever see each other again, and what they
would say to each other if they did. She still resented Mother for
trying to keep her from taking the Amazon initiation ritual. But even
while Mother herself stubbornly refused to see certain truths, she had
shown Shan Pu that one could discern truths from illusions. The night
wasn't full of mysterious monsters. There were lurkers in the darkness,
but they could be understood and dealt with, just as what you met in the
light could be.

	Now, of course, Shan Pu had a new advantage in the darkness,
thanks to Kasumi.

	Looking within herself, she concentrated and brought her cat
form into being. Her clothes collapsed around her like a deflating
balloon as she crawled out through the collar of her shirt. The world
looked much larger, but dim luminescence now emanated from the stars and
moon, bathing the landscape in an eerie glow. Doing her guard duty as a
cat was a good idea. Not only was her night vision improved, but she
would also be able to take most attackers by surprise. And if she had to
change back to human form to fight, being naked would give her a
psychological advantage against certain opponents.

	She silently padded over to one of the tents. The sounds of
heavy, impassioned breathing echoed from within. Ranma and Akane.
Something within Shan Pu still wanted to run into their tent and get
between them, maybe pull out her claws and scratch them where it would
hurt the most. It was still painful to think that she had given her
heart to Ranma, and he had liked someone else better. But some battles
just couldn't be won. Sometimes striving to achieve a goal just pushed
that goal farther away. If nothing else, Ranma had taught her that
lesson, and surely it would be a valuable one.

	To Shan Pu's cat eyes, the moon was nearly as bright as the
early morning sun. The craters in it seemed to form a face, looking down
on her. In her imagination, the face was Great-grandmother's. She had
come this way fifty years ago, with a similar group, to defend the
village against the Nationalists. It was strange how time sometimes
seemed to repeat itself. Perhaps they, too, had stopped for the night at
this very spot. Kasumi's teacher, Kaede, had been part of that team.
There had been others, too; Shan Pu didn't know who.

	If only Great-grandmother could be there with them. They needed
her fighting abilities, but more importantly, her leadership skills to
keep them focused on task. Shan Pu was a warrior, and that was all she
wanted to be. Let those whom she trusted tell her whom to fight, and she
would defeat them. That was what she was good at. She wasn't a leader.
If she were, she'd be able to keep her group from fighting and arguing
with each other so much. Surely Great-grandmother hadn't had so much
trouble with her own team.

	Shan Pu looked up at the moon again, and saw Happosai's face in
it. *What are you doing there?!* she mentally screamed at him. *You
don't belong there! Get out!*

	She looked again, and the face was Tatewaki's. Okay. He had been
a faithful companion to her over the last several years. She had no
doubts about his loyalty to her. As a fighter, he was quite capable; not
as much so as Ranma, but then, who was? Still, doubts nagged at her,
kept her from fully accepting the love that he offered. She wasn't sure
why that was.

	She looked back up at the moon, as if expecting it to provide an
answer to her question. And the face now belonged to Mu Si. Mu Si, who
had constantly showered her with affection, but who she was sure had
never really loved her. He hadn't really even known who Shan Pu really
was. Never had he been able to look beyond whatever fantasy-person he
saw when he looked at her. No, he wasn't in love with her, just with the
idea of being in love. And that was the problem with Tatewaki. She
needed to know that he wasn't another Mu Si.

	It had been so much easier when Great-grandmother was with her.
Shan Pu remembered the day at the Nekohanten when Great-grandmother had
made the announcement, as calmly as though it were nothing more than her
favorite television program being canceled. "I'm dying."

	Shan Pu couldn't believe her ears. Dying? There had to be
something that could be done. But Great-grandmother just smiled
placidly, as if nothing were wrong, and even laughed a bit. Why?!
Nothing was funny! There had to be a way to save her!

	"Of course there is," Great-grandmother said. "I can think of
half a dozen just offhand."

	"Then tell me," Shan Pu pleaded. "Tell me, and I'll get them for
you, no matter what stands in my way!"

	"No."

	"Great-grandmother, you--"

	"It's my time." She stared wistfully ahead. "When your time
comes, you have to go."

	"Of course you don't have to go!" Shan Pu shouted. "You already
told me that there were ways you could be saved. Why won't you tell me
how to help you?!"

	"Hush, child. My life has lasted more than a hundred years. Now
it's over. I've been the elder. Now it's your turn."

	No. NO! Why didn't she understand? Shan Pu didn't want a turn.
The only thing she wanted was for Great-grandmother to stay.

	But she didn't.

	And as Shan Pu sat in the darkness, she stared at the face in
the moon again. But it wasn't a face -- just a random collection of
hills and craters. There was no one looking down on her from above. And
if her group fell, and the Amazon village fell with it, there would be
no one to tell the story.

	How fortunate it was to be able to see through illusions.

                                 ______


	2:07 AM.

	Ranma stared at the numbers on the small digital watch. His
thumb pushed down on the small stud, turning the display light off, then
back on again. He stared, testing how long his eyes took to adjust to
the darkness when he switched it off. Then he stopped, setting the watch
down. Nabiki would get mad at him if he wore out the batteries.

	His head ached a little. He had been too keyed up to fall asleep
right away, and had lain awake for quite a while. Just when he had
drifted off into pleasant unconsciousness, he'd felt Shan Pu's nudge
jolt him awake. After his turn was done, he'd have a chance to sleep
again, but he knew that he probably wouldn't doze off until right before
it was time for everyone to get up.

	Guard duty sucked. There was nothing to do. Nobody to talk to.
He couldn't go and take a walk around the area or anything like that --
he had to watch the campsite. There wasn't even anything interesting to
read, and even if there were, he wouldn't be able to see it in the dark.

	He could try to get in some practice, but that probably wasn't a
good idea either. He'd end up absorbed in it, and not paying attention
to what was happening. And he didn't feel like doing martial arts at the
moment, either. No particular reason -- he just wasn't into it.

	Ranma sighed. Of course there was a reason. He was tired of
being beaten up by Kodachi over and over. He wasn't giving up, and he
wouldn't be. But he wasn't looking forward to it. It wasn't fun. In
fact, it was fast approaching pain-in-the-butt status.

	Still, he had to keep trying. It wasn't just his ego, though he
had to admit that that could be a small, tiny, fraction of a part of it.
But Kodachi was planning something; Ranma had no idea what, but sooner
or later, she would make a move of some sort, and by then it would be
too late. He had to figure out her secret *now,* before the stakes got a
lot higher. And the others weren't going to be any help. They'd sit and
laugh at that idiot Saotome behind his back as he made a fool of
himself, knowing that it wasn't *their* problem as long as it wasn't
affecting *them* at the moment.

	He sighed again. Maybe Kodachi didn't have a secret. After all,
with something like five trillion people in the world, what right did he
have to expect to be number one his whole life? Maybe she was just
better.

	Nah. Nobody was 'just better' than anyone else. If she was
beating him, there was a reason why. He just hadn't found it yet.

	A breeze kicked up, blowing chilly night air across Ranma's
face. Something tugged at the corner of his memory. *Nobody's just
better.* Where had he heard that before?


	"Forget it, old man! I ain't doin' this junk no more!"

	Pop gazed down at Ranma. "What's the problem, boy?"

	"I keep getting my ass kicked, that's what!" Ranma threw his gi
to the ground near his pop's feet. "If you think martial arts is so
cool, *you* do it!"

	"You got beaten again, boy," Pop said matter-of-factly. "Why was
that?"

	Ranma shrugged. "Dunno."

	Pop folded his arms and gave Ranma The Stare. That answer wasn't
good enough. Ranma didn't really care. He was just sick and tired of
everything Pop kept making him do. He wanted to be a normal kid, to hang
out with friends and do whatever they did; he didn't even know what that
was.

	"I dunno!" he repeated. "That guy's just better than me, okay?"

	"No one's just better than anyone else, Ranma. There's always a
reason. What did he do to beat you? Was he stronger? Faster?"

	"Um...." Ranma thought about it. "Faster, I guess. And a little
bit stronger. But mainly faster. I couldn't hit him in the places you
told me were good because he moved quicker than I could get there."

	"Faster, eh?" Pop seemed to take Ranma's word for it. "Then what
kind of training can you do to make yourself faster?"

	"Run around in a circle?" No, Ranma knew that that was wrong.
Running was a different kind of fast than what he needed. "Um...."

	"You think about it, boy. By morning, I want you to give me some
ideas on this." Pop stepped away, leaving Ranma by himself. Let's see,
he thought. Faster? Maybe he could....


	Ranma had had years after that, of course, to work on his speed,
as well as everything else. He was certain that if he met any of the
same people now, he'd beat them easily, though in truth he had no way of
really knowing, since he didn't remember any names or faces. But it was
an important lesson that Pop had taught him. Being bad at something
wasn't any reason to quit; in fact, it was the only way to start out if
you wanted to get good.

	So what made Kodachi better than him? She was certainly faster.
He couldn't think of anyone else who could match her current speed.
Judging by the force with which she hit him, she was also about as
strong as Ryoga. She also managed to immobilize him with her ribbon,
probably by focusing her ki through it; he'd picked up a spare ribbon
and tried duplicatng the trick just before they'd left for China, but it
didn't work at all.

	Suddenly, Ranma remembered. There had been another time when he
kept getting beaten, and nothing he did seemed to make any difference.
It was when Ryoga had had the goofy face painted on his stomach. Some
old man from the school of "martial arts calligraphy" had given it to
him. Ranma had checked afterwards, and there wasn't any such school, at
least not that Ke Lun or anyone else had ever heard of. But he had no
doubt that Ryoga had told the truth as far as he'd known it.

	So maybe Kodachi now had the same face painted on her abdomen.
That would explain everything. And if that was true, it wouldn't be hard
to get her into a position that would contort the face enough that it
wouldn't work. After all, the gymnastics moves that she did required a
lot of bending.

	Ranma quietly stepped over to Kodachi's tent. With everyone else
asleep, now was the best time to check her out. If she did have the
face, then he'd know how to beat her the next time they fought. Problem
solved.

	He pulled back the tent flap and paused for a moment. The soft
sound of the two women's breathing filled the air. Ranma could barely
make out the outlines of their heads. If Kodachi had the face, he'd
never be able to see it this way.

	For the second time that night, Ranma came up with an idea. He
stretched out a finger, and concentrated a small, steady amount of ki
through it. It lit up with a dim glow. Cool, he thought. Instant
flashlight. Maybe Akane would be able to do this trick, what with her
world's smallest ki blast and all. He'd have to try to teach it to her,
though he'd have to keep quiet about where he'd invented it.

	Kodachi slept flat on her back, her face serene. Shan Pu faced
the side of the tent, her body curled as much as the confines of the
tent would allow. Perfect. Ranma reached over Kodachi's sleeping bag to
pull it back. Finally, things were going his way.

	"Ranma?" Shan Pu abruptly spun around, speaking in a
half-whisper. "What you doing?"

	Ranma froze, trying to think of an explanation that would sound
reasonable. "Huh?" That wasn't it.

	"Hmm?" Kodachi's eyes opened groggily. "Ranma?"

	"This is woman's tent!" Shan Pu said, a little louder than
before. "Why you here?"

	"Uh...." Ranma concentrated for a moment, and shifted genders.
"Because I'm a woman?" He smiled feebly.

	"Ranma, darling, I'd like to get some sleep." Kodachi rolled
over to face away from him. "I'll be happy to beat you up again in the
morning."

	"Damn it, Kodachi!" Ranma blurted out. "I just want to look at
your stomach!" Kodachi laughed.

	"Ranma." He turned to meet Shan Pu's icy glare. "You not the
only one who can change."

	Suddenly, Ranma's face was inches away from the most horrifying
beast in the universe. "AAAAAAAA!" He leapt to his feet and ran, barely
noticing the tent pole he knocked down on the way out. "CAT! CAT!"

                                 ______


	Shan Pu morphed back into human form. Kodachi shone a pocket
flashlight on the pole as she fixed it back into place. Outside their
tent, voices echoed through the night.

	"What's all the noise?"

	"CAAAAAT!"

	"Ranma, what are you doing?! You're supposed to be on guard!"

	"Akane, it's not what it looks like! I just wanted to see
Kodachi's stomach!"

	"You WHAT?!"

	"OWW!"

	"Hey! Be quiet, willya?"

	"Are we under attack?"

	The two women smiled briefly at each other, and lay back down to
sleep.

                                 ______


	4:13 AM.

	Ryoga sat cross-legged on the ground. Ranma stood behind him,
feeling more and more frustrated.

	"Look, man, it ain't this difficult. Just do what I told ya!"

	"You still haven't explained what I'm supposed to do!" Ryoga
grumbled.

	"All right, just hang on a minute here," he said in as calming a
voice as he could manage. *Good going, Saotome, ya bonehead. He'll never
be able to do it if he's pissed off.* "Just relax, and try to feel your
inner pig."

	Ryoga growled.

	Okay, once more from the top. "Look, dude, just imagine yourself
standing in the same place as the pig. Like there's you, and there's
P-chan, and you're both in the same place at once. Got it? Picture that,
and convince yourself that it's true. Can you do that?"

	"Umm... I guess so."

	"Don't guess. Either you can, or you can't."

	"I can do it!" Ryoga said testily. "What next?"

	"Okay, I'm gonna pour cold water on you." Ranma stood behind
Ryoga. "Ready? Here it comes! I'm pouring the water right... NOW!"

	After a pause, Ryoga looked up. "Well?"

	Ranma heaved an exasperated sigh. "Look, this isn't working.
Let's pack it in for the night."

	"Giving up?" Ryoga's tone was a little accusatory, like Ranma
was abandoning him or something.

	"I'd like to get a little sleep, if that's okay with you," Ranma
shot back. "Especially since we might have to fight those military guys
tomorrow. Today, actually. Anyway, we can try again next time. As soon
as we get a chance."

	He walked away toward his tent before Ryoga had a chance to
respond. If it had been just him, he'd have kept going all night until
he'd figured out the technique. But if Mr. Pig-head couldn't learn, what
was Ranma supposed to do about it?

	Or maybe it was his own fault. Maybe he was just a lousy
teacher. So far, he'd only worked with beginners, and they were pretty
easy. And he'd taught Akane, but the results with her had been pretty
mixed. She'd learned the Moko Takabisha, but couldn't generate enough
power to swat a fly. Okay, she did learn it, so he wasn't a complete
flop as a teacher. But he didn't have whatever magic touch Kasumi had,
that was for sure.

	He zipped open the tent door, being as quiet as he could manage.
Akane lay in the middle of the tent, her limbs sprawled out in random
directions. Ranma crawled inside and slipped into a position against one
wall. His head sank into the pillow as he waited for sleep to overtake
him. Just a couple of hours of shuteye, and everything would be clearer.
He'd figure out what to do with Ryoga in the morning.

                                 ______


	5:29 AM.

	Ryoga switched off the lantern, and sat in the darkness,
listening to the sounds of the night. Insects chirped in an endlessly
repeating rhythm. Branches rustled as the wind blew around the trees.
Ryoga had spent enough time wandering around in dark wilderness to know
exactly what they sounded like. If anyone or anything out of the
ordinary tried to sneak up on the campsite, he'd know.

	His instinct told him that he should be walking. It was strange
to be out in the middle of nowhere and not on the move. Standing still
made time run much more slowly. Nothing to do but stay and keep watch
for his friends.

	Yes, friends. He'd never really been in a group of friends
before. Funny to think of Ranma that way, after all of the fighting and
bickering they'd done. And that was pretty typical for this group.
Still, despite all the past squabbles over who was going to date whom,
when Shan Pu needed help, everybody was there. That was better than a
lot of the groups he'd known in school -- people who would hang out
together, but the moment one of them got in trouble, the rest would
disappear.

	Ryoga waited, and watched. Stars were faintly visible in the sky
above. They were supposed to form pictures of bears, kitchen utensils,
and things like that; but Ryoga had never been able to see them. To him,
they always looked like nothing more than a bunch of random dots. He
wondered what it would be like to travel among the stars. Supposedly, it
took at least something like four years to get to the nearest one no
matter how fast you went.

	The stars seemed to become fainter. Then Ryoga noticed that the
sky itself was gradually lightening. From one direction, illumination
encroached onto the darkened sky, like water soaked up by a paper towel.
The orange sun emerged from between deep blue clouds, filling the air
with light.

	Ryoga yawned as he rubbed his tired eyes. Somehow, the scene
reminded him of his parents, when he had been young. *We'll be back home
soon, son. We promise.* He had soon learned not to believe them. Yet
there were a few occasions when they had managed to find their way back
home, for at least a little while, and on seeing them return Ryoga had
felt like he did now. The sun had returned. As promised.

	He stood, wondering how soon he ought to start waking people,
when they began to crawl out of their tents on their own. The sounds of
idle conversation buzzed through the air as tents were efficiently
dismantled. Rice boiled under a portable gas stove, and the group lined
up for much-needed nourishment.

	Hot and moist, the rice melted deliciously in Ryoga's mouth. He
quickly finished his bowlful and sat for a moment, staring at the one
person who could solve his problems. Well, his biggest one, anyway.
Unsure of what he should say to her, he listened.

	"Does it say anything in there about your village?" she asked Mu
Si, whose face was buried behind a newspaper.

	"No, not a thing." He folded the paper and set it down on the
ground. "Strange. I'd always heard that the Congtou was China's finest
news source."

	"Well, no news is good news, isn't it? I guess that means your
people are all right."

	"I hope so. I'm worried about my brothers. If anything's
happening, they'll be right in the middle of it." He scooped rice into
his bowl from the pot.

	"Goodness, I didn't know you had brothers."

	"Three of them, all older. Mu Yi, Mu Er, and Mu San. My parents
weren't very imaginative."

	"Such a large family. Were your parents hoping for a daughter?"

	"Not really. But their parents really wanted a granddaughter."
His chopsticks scooped a clump of rice into his mouth. Ryoga took the
opportunity to step up to where Kasumi was dishing out rice.

	"Oh, good morning, Ryoga!" she said brightly. "How are you
today?"

	"Er, okay, thanks, Kasumi," he said as a second helping of rice
went into his bowl. "How about you?"

	"I'm just fine, thank you." She smiled warmly. "It looks like
it'll be a really nice day."

	"Um, yeah." Ryoga mentally kicked himself. He needed to get to
the point. "Um... do you mind if I... er, that is, could I ask you
something?"

	"Yes?" She stared at him, eyes rapt at attention.

	"The change technique," he forced himself to blurt out. "You
know, the one that Ranma uses to change back and forth when he wants
to?"

	"Oh, that. It's something that my sensei and I developed," she
said with a hint of pride in her voice.

	"How-- how does it work?"

	"It's a little difficult to explain." She looked thoughtful for
a moment. "You see, our theory is that each curse has a spirit that's
responsible for it. The spirits of the various creatures and people who
drowned at Jusenkyo are imprisoned in the pools."

	"You mean like the girl who Ranma turns into?" Ryoga felt a
little horrified at the idea of an innocent woman being stuck in a
spring for thousands of years. "So... so these spirits have to stay in
the pool, until someone else falls in it? Then they get out?"

	Kasumi nodded. "Not all of them, though. A portion of the spirit
is released to bind with the cursed person. The magic of the spring
water locks them together in such a way that water triggers a change of
form."

	Ryoga nodded. He understood, or at least thought he did. He
noticed Shan Pu standing next to him; she seemed interested in the
explanation Kasumi was giving.

	"What I did for Ranma and the others was to unlock their curse
spirits," Kasumi continued. "I did it while I was sitting next to them
on the plane and the bus. Essentially, I talked to the spirits and
convinced them to work with the people, not against them. After that,
they could trigger the change themselves by communicating with the
spirits on a sort of basic level."

	Ryoga's heart sank. "So it wouldn't work for someone if you
hadn't done that first?" he asked, trying to sound just casually
interested.

	"That's right." Kasumi smiled, looking like a teacher whose
student had just mastered a lesson.

	*That's interesting,* Ryoga didn't say. *Because I'm cursed
myself, you see. I slept with your sister off and on for three years as
her pet, P-chan.*

	No, somehow he didn't think telling her that would be a good
idea. She'd probably turn him into a pig and lock him that way
permanently. Could she do that? He didn't want to find out.

	Or... maybe she already knew his secret. If there was a pig
spirit within him, her training ought to enable her to sense it. Maybe
this was her revenge on him for taking advantage of Akane  -- inventing
a technique that could cure his curse, when she knew that there was no
way he could ask her for it. He stared at her, studying her face for any
hint of what lay behind its ever-present smile. Did she really hate him
that much?

	"Yes, I really think it's going to be a nice day." A gentle
breeze blew Kasumi's ponytail over her shoulder. "What do you think,
Ryoga?"

	"Nice... day." He nodded dumbly. "Yes."

                                 ______


	Cleanup began, and within minutes the campsite had been
completely packed away. Akane took a last look over the site. If she
hadn't seen it earlier, she wouldn't have known that anyone had been
here.

	"Time to move out, gang," Nabiki said. She wore a khaki blouse
and shorts, and a safari hat that shaded the sunlight from her eyes.
"Shan Pu will lead us, since she knows the area."

	"We go to village today," Shan Pu said. "No know what we going
to meet on way. You all need be ready for anything." She turned to
Nabiki. "Walk is very far, through mountains. You can keep up?"

	"I'll be fine. I'm no martial artist, but I've hiked a good
portion of the Appalachian Trail. What about you, Kasumi?"

	Kasumi smiled. "I'll be fine, too."

	"Good." Shan Pu looked at Kodachi, clad in her Black Rose
leotard and tights. "You wearing that for hiking?"

	"This is what I fight best in, my dear. You did say there would
be battle today, did you not?"

	"I say might." Shan Pu eyed Kodachi with suspicion. Evidently
she didn't trust the gymnast any more than Akane did.

	"Ah well. If nothing else, at least I can give dear Ranma
another beating or two." She laughed. "He seems to enjoy that. Don't
you, Ranma?"

	Ranma turned his eyes away, ignoring her. Akane seethed with
rage. Her husband was becoming more and more obsessed with another
woman. She was jealous; not only because Kodachi was getting so much
attention from Ranma, but because she was better at fighting. Because
despite all of the training Akane had put herself through, she had been
so completely surpassed by Kodachi.

	Without any more words, Shan Pu began to walk off at a brisk
pace. The others followed.

                                 ______


	"Morning!"

	Ukyo stretched a bit as she stepped out of bed. She picked up
the robe that lay draped over the bedroom chair and slipped into it.
According to the clock, she was awake ten minutes earlier than usual.
That meant she'd be able to relax a bit before opening up for lunch.

	She turned around, now facing the bed and the one who had been
sharing it with her. "Sleep all right, sugar?" With a playful laugh, she
tickled him under the chin.

	His head turned lazily upwards. "Mrrrowwr!"

	"I'll getcha your food, hon." Ukyo stepped into the kitchenette
that adjoined her bedroom. The cat followed.

	Ukyo poured a cup of dried food into the dish that lay on the
floor, and the cat began greedily lapping it up. Just the usual morning
routine.

	"You'd scare the wits out of my old boyfriend, y'know?" Well,
not boyfriend. Fiancee. Whatever. The cat continued eating. His official
name was Kakikizu, but she doubted that he'd even know it if he heard
it; he was always 'honey' or 'sugar,' or 'my cat' when she was talking
to someone else.

	The bowl empty, the cat padded over to the floor near the
window, and curled up for a nap. Ukyo picked up the bowl and washed it
in the sink. Motherhood was a thankless job, she thought with a smirk.

	A paper tacked to the wall reminded her that the bill from her
supplier would be due in three days. She hoped she could scrape enough
money together to cover it. The prices went up just about every month.

	The telephone rang.

	"Hello?"

	"Hello, Ukyo-san." It was Akane's father's voice.

	"Oh, hi, Mr. Tendo. How are you?"

	"Just fine, thank you. Nodoka-san and I were wondering whether
you'd like to join us for dinner tonight?"

	"Sure!" Ukyo brightened at the thought of visiting with Hikaru
and Ririko again. "What time?"

	"Seven. See you there. I've already spoken with your fiance, and
he says he'll come."

	"My-- oh, yes." Ukyo said her goodbyes, and hung up the phone.
She wished the whole thing with Mikado would just go away -- that people
would forget about their 'engagement.' But everybody seemed to believe
that they were going to get married. And neither of them liked it, but
neither wanted to be the one to back out of it. It was like the game
where kids held their feet out on the street, and the last one to pull
his back was the loser.

	Still, it would be worth having to deal with Mikado, just to be
with the children for a while. They were so full of life and spirit;
things which Ukyo herself was running low on.

	The day before, she had read a cheap fantasy novel, the story
of a wizard with the power to animate the dead into zombies. So driven
was the man by his quest that he didn't notice his own health
deteriorating. By the end of the book, he had become a zombie himself.
Only the force of his will kept him walking around while he should've
collapsed into a pile of rotting flesh and bones. And Ukyo wondered
whether the author had known that he was really telling the story of a
girl from Kansai.

	Well, she felt like that sometimes, at least. True, she wasn't a
zombie, but she hadn't felt the joy of life, the kind of life that
Hikaru and Ririko had, since... she couldn't even remember when. Maybe
as a child, when she played with Ran-chan. Maybe that was why she had
been so angry with him, because he had run away with that special
feeling.

	But if nothing else, she did have the same thing the character
in the book had. Force of will. It would keep her going, for the time
being. And maybe there was a spark of life still within her that someday
she could manage to fan into a flame.

                                 ______


	"Guys?"

	Gosunkugi Hikaru's shout echoed slightly through the mountains
before disappearing. Not much of a shout, really. His voice wasn't
terribly loud even under the best of circumstances, and after all the
climbing, little breath remained in his body.

	It had been hard enough keeping up earlier, when they had walked
through mostly flat grasslands. Now the dirt road was zig-zagging up and
down between hills and mountains. The climbing didn't seem to slow the
others down at all; but Hikaru felt like he would collapse if he walked
another step. Each breath of air burned in his chest -- a fire which the
water in his canteen, now lukewarm, could do little to dampen.

	With a supreme effort, he dragged himself up to a seat on top of
a nearby ridge, from which he could see the trail ahead. The others were
barely visible, walking briskly along a plateau down below. There was no
way he could catch up. From the speed at which they continued forward,
they evidently hadn't noticed that he was missing. He was Gosunkugi
Hikaru, the invisible man. The kind of person nobody ever paid any
attention to when he was there; why should it be any different when he
was gone?

	How could he have been stupid enough to volunteer for this trip?
It was already too much for him, and the fighting hadn't even started
yet. Now he was going to be lost, on his own in a foreign country, with
invading soldiers running around somewhere armed to the teeth. Or maybe
he'd end up dead in the mountains, from lack of food and water. Some
local people might find him, and for a moment wonder who he was before
going on with their own lives.

	Some sort of bird swooped through the sky. Hikaru stared at it,
using a hand to shade his eyes from the bright sun. As it got closer, he
saw that it wasn't a bird -- rather, a woman with white, feathery wings.
She wore something similar to Kodachi's leotard, and even from such a
distance it was obvious that she was well-built. All in all, she looked
like a cross between an angel from Christian mythology, and one of the
Lovely Angels.

	For a moment, he thought this might really be an angel, sent to
take his soul away as his body perished. He wondered whether she'd
accept a last-minute conversion to Christianity from him. Then he
noticed that she was headed not toward him, but in the direction of the
others ahead. Whoever she was, they'd have to stop to deal with her.

	Feeling a second wind, he sprang to his feet and began to scurry
down the trail. The rest of the group wasn't moving, and the path
between him and them was mostly downhill. This was his chance to catch
up.

                                 ______


	Panting furiously, Hikaru arrived just as Shan Pu and Kuno were
leaving. He listened to what the others were saying.

	"So what was that all about?" Ranma asked Mu Si.

	"Well...." He looked around, probably wondering where he should
begin. "In case anyone doesn't know, that person was Ji Ma. She's a sort
of captain of the guard for a race of bird-people who live somewhere
near here."

	"Yes, we know," Kodachi said patronizingly. "Ranma just told us
that."

	"Ah. Anyway, according to her, the Amazon village has already
been taken over. It's occupied by Mongol soldiers as we speak. Shan Pu
has gone to scout it out, with Kuno."

	A visible tension swept over the group. Most of them were
probably hoping, as Hikaru had been, that the invaders wouldn't show up
at all, that whatever rumors of an attack they'd heard had been false.
So much for that. Things were going to get very ugly, very soon.

	"Excuse me." Dr. Tofu interrupted. "Mr. Mu, do you know anywhere
in the area where I could get some medicine? It would really help the
young lady."

	Hikaru glanced past Tofu. A woman lay on the ground. Her Amazon
clothes were torn, her face badly bruised. Still, he couldn't help
staring. His eyes ran back and forth over her pretty face, her slender,
well-toned body. She wasn't the knockout that Ji Ma was, but she was
attractive in a quieter sort of way.

	It was almost funny. Years ago, Upperclassman Kuno had lusted
after two girls -- one of whom wasn't really a girl, but he hadn't known
that -- never choosing one because his colossal ego made him think he
deserved each of them. And now Hikaru didn't have to choose who he
wanted, because there was no chance of either liking him. *I would not
have them both!* he said to himself in an imitation of Kuno's voice, and
he laughed, silently and painfully.

	"There's a village named Zhiwu a little ways to the north," Mu
Si said. "They're supposed to have the best healing herbs around."

	"Can you take me there?" Tofu asked.

	"It'd be faster if I went alone. Could you write me a list of
what you need?"

	Tofu took out a pen and notepad and wrote, then tore the page
off and handed it over. Mu Si transformed into a duck and flew off.

	"Right." Ranma's eyes hardened with determination. "No point in
sitting around waiting for them to get back. Let's go kick some butt!"

	"Not so fast, boy," his father said.

	"You scared, Pop?" Ranma eyed his father with a look that
approached contempt. "Don't worry. We'll find you a nice hole to hide in
until this is all over."

	"Yes, I am afraid, boy," 'Pop' said evenly. "So would you be, if
you had any brains. Your usual pattern will get you killed this time."

	Ranma raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I have a 'usual pattern?'"

	"Yes, you do. You start off with a straightforward attack, and
generally get beaten. Then you figure out what's making you lose, and
devise a way to counter it. Normally, that's a good strategy."

	"Uh huh." Ranma paused, probably trying to think of some witty
comeback and not able to.

	"But in this case, it isn't," Mr. Saotome continued. "This enemy
isn't out to 'kick butt' -- they'll want to kill us. We only get one
chance, and we have to win the first time."

	The words seemed to sink in. "Okay then, Pop, you got a better
idea?"

	Mr. Saotome smiled, as if he'd just been the victor in a fight.
"As a matter of fact, boy, I do."

                                 ______


	Rape.

	That was what Shan Pu thought as she stared at the soldiers
standing by the village entrance. That was what they were doing to her
village, to her sisters. Not raping them in a literal sense -- though
for all she knew that might be going on as well. But they had forced
their way into the village with their weapons, violated its most private
areas and made it submit to their will. Her fingers squeezed tightly
into fists. She was going to kill them. Each of them, one by one, would
die. So would the next group, and the next, until they had no more
soldiers to send out, and then she would go after whoever had sent them.
Amazons weren't vulnerable. They were going to learn that the hard way.

	"We cannot." Tatewaki put a hand to her shoulder. "Not yet."

	"I know," Shan Pu said begrudgingly. She wanted to charge in, to
slash one throat after another. How many would she kill before they
stopped her? Fifty? A hundred? But not all, and she'd end up dead and
her sisters still wouldn't be free. Great-grandmother had taught her not
to fight an unwinnable battle -- not unless there was no alternative.

	Turning her back to the village, she began to move away. She
knew that her dreams would be haunted by images of her sisters, crying
out as barbarian invaders ravaged them over and over, and she would
casually stroll off with a promise to be back as soon as it was
convenient. Nightmares were such unforgiving things.

	Tatewaki walked along at her side, silent. From his eyes, it
pained him as much as it did her to leave without doing anything. He was
a man of action, far more impulsive and impatient than she was. Years of
Amazon training had toned down his rashness, but only to a certain
extent. His natural instinct when he saw something that he considered
evil was to attack it, as directly and fiercely as he could. She had
admired that about him, while at the same time finding it inconvenient.
Now she felt the same way that he did.

	They walked away, for now. But they would be back, and the
invaders would pay for what they had done.

                                 ______


	Returning to the prearranged meeting place, Shan Pu and Tatewaki
met up with Ranma, who took them to the camp the group had set up. It
was a small valley hidden between tall hills and mountains.

	A strategy meeting was quickly convened. The group sat on the
dirt, in a circle. "So, what's our first move?" Ranma asked, directing
the question to no one in particular.

	"First, we need a little information on the enemy," Genma said.
"Capturing an officer would help. I've been talking with Nabiki, and it
seems she has an idea on how to do that."

	"I should be going." Ji Ma's wings unfolded as she stood.
"Curiosity has led me this far, but my responsibility is to my people
and to Lord Sa Fulang. I need to get back to them."

	"Won't you help us in the battle that's coming up?" Kasumi
stared at her with big, pleading eyes. "I'm sure that with your great
skill on our side, we'd win easily."

	"Yeah," Nabiki said. "And you'd be doing your own village a
favor, too. Having a bunch of armed invaders in the neighborhood can't
be a good thing. Leave them alone, and you could be next."

	"I shall consider what you say." Ji Ma turned away from the
group. To Shan Pu, it was obvious that she was brushing them off. She
had no intentions of helping them, and only claimed that she would think
about it to get them to stop asking her.

	"Ji Ma."

	At the sound of Shan Pu's voice, the bird-woman stopped and
looked back.

	"Bring your soldiers to fight alongside us," Shan Pu said in
Chinese. "In return, you may call on the Amazons in the future when you
are in need of warriors."

	"An alliance?" A guarded smile crept onto Ji Ma's face. "I doubt
that you have the authority to enter into such an agreement."

	Shan Pu hesitated. What had she been thinking? Of *course* she
had no legal right to ally her village with Mount Phoenix. Only the
Chief Elder or her direct appointee could do that, and only with
approval from the Council. That was impossible under current
circumstances. But she knew that Ji Ma and her warriors might make the
difference between victory and death. If there was a chance to get them
onto her side, she *had* to take it.

	"Madam, this is Shan Pu, great-granddaughter of Ke Lun."
Tatewaki spoke proudly, in badly-intoned but perfectly grammatical
Chinese. "She is respected as the foremost Amazon warrior of her
generation. If she tells you that her people will assist you when you
call on them, it is as certain as the rising of the sun."

	"Our warriors will honor the agreement," Shan Pu said. "If I
have to call in every favor owed to me, I will see to it." Tatewaki's
confidence in her boosted her spirit. She hoped she could live up to the
expectations that he had set.

	"Very well. I shall consult with our leaders." Ji Ma gave a
small nod of approval. "Until next we meet." Her white-feathered wings
spread as she soared into the air, and soon vanished into the clouds.

	"What the heck was that all about?" Ranma asked.

	"Her people will help us." Shan Pu smiled. "Maybe. She go back
to ask them now." They would certainly need any assistance they could
get.

	"That's cool." Ranma turned to Nabiki. "So, you said you had an
idea on how to capture somebody?"

	She nodded. "Want to help?"

	"Um... sure. If I can, yeah."

	"Oh, you can." She flashed an alligator-like grin. "In fact,
Ranma, I think you'll be *especially* good for this job."

                                 ______


	Nabiki walked toward the now-occupied Amazon village. Her
stomach fluttered nervously at the thought of all the trigger-happy
goons she'd be among. Kuno and Ryoga following behind her only made her
feel a bit more at ease. But she was a professional, and wouldn't let it
show.

	"Will you need me to interpret for you, Tendo Nabiki?" Kuno
asked.

	"No, Kuno-chan, that won't be necessary. I happen to speak a bit
of Chinese myself."

	"Oh?" he said skeptically.

	"Yup." Nabiki turned to Ryoga, and spoke in Mandarin. "Mr. Kuno
here is my employee. Be nice to him, for he has the mental capacity of a
squashed apricot." Ryoga nodded his head blankly.

	Kuno laughed. "Most impressive. Where did you learn?"

	"Taught myself, with help from some Chinese-American friends.
UCF does a fair amount of dealing with the Chinese. There are definite
advantages to language skills, especially when no one knows you have
them. So relax. I'll do the talking. You're just the muscle."

	Nabiki strolled up to the village entrance. Two guards stood on
duty. "Halt!" one of them called out at her.

	"Evening, boys." She did her best to exude the kind of sleazy
confidence that streetwise people had, in spite of the two AK-47s
pointed in her direction. "How's guard duty tonight?"

	The guards eyed her cautiously. "What you want?" one asked.

	"Must get dull, being in an Amazon village and all. Girls
here'll rip your face off if you try to touch them. A man can get
pretty... lonely."

	"You lookin' for some action?" the other guard said. "We get off
in a half-hour."

	Oh my. Such wit and sophistication. "Sorry, boys. Not my scene.
A businesswoman like me needs to get up early."

	"Don't be anti-social, Mama." They began to inch closer to her.

	Nabiki stood back, flanked by her two musclemen. "You don't want
to be like that, boys. You'll miss out on the good stuff." She pulled
out several photographs and handed them over.

	"Whoa!" The guards' eyes bulged as they stared at the pictures.
"How does she fit that body into that dress?" one said.

	"Look at this one with the pig-tail," the other said. "Now
THAT'S a woman!"

	Nabiki pointed to the next photo. "The other one here is that
one's lover. I'm sure a threesome could be arranged." The guard sweated
noticeably.

	"What's this stuff this one has?" the first guard asked. "Clubs?
A whip?"

	"Oh, that. She's into gymnastics, acrobatics, that sort of
thing."

	"SOLD!" The second guard grinned from ear to ear. "I'll take ALL
of 'em!"

	Nabiki handed him a sheet of paper. "The price list."

	The guards' jaws dropped as they scanned the paper. "Are you
NUTS?! How would we get THIS kind of money?"

	A voice from behind interrupted forcefully. "What's going on
here?"

	The guards looked, and their hands quickly snapped into salutes.
"Sir! We were--"

	The new arrival was a little older than the guards, with a few
more decorations on his uniform. "Carry on with guard duty, private." He
glanced at the photos. "I'll handle this situation. Personally."

                                 ______


	Lieutenant Batachikhan smiled as he closed the canvas cloth that
hung over the room doorway. The orders that he had left said for him not
to be disturbed under any circumstances until morning. He was going to
enjoy this evening.

	The girl giggled demurely, smiling back at him. His eyes
traveled up and down her body, unable to believe how good she looked.
Her body was muscular yet slender, and her face pretty without a trace
of sleaziness. And she was in her twenties, not one of the usual girls
who barely looked adolescent. He had always turned down this kind of
offer before; but a girl like this just couldn't be passed up, even
considering the price.

	It wasn't like he had any reason to feel guilty about it. He
hadn't asked to be sent out to some backwater hellhole, though he did
understand why they had to be there. Everyone knew the stories about
these 'Amazons' -- how they raided other villages to take their men into
slavery, then killed them just for the fun of it. And of course, they
denied that any such incidents had happened. What else would you expect
them to say? With people this crazy, you had to get them before they got
you. Ignore them, and in no time at all they'd be marching through Ulan
Bataar, chopping people's heads off as they went, just like they had
cold-bloodedly killed private Rou.

	Yes, Batachikhan hated them for making him leave his home. By
rights, he was supposed to be there looking after Tikhtamysh. And Alagh
had just had his tenth birthday, without Daddy there, all because of the
damn 'Amazons.' So if he wanted to have a little pleasure with a local
girl once, that was his business. It was a lot less than they owed him.

	He moved closer to the girl, staring deeply into her eyes. Then
he backed up and took another look. The black pig-tail was the same, but
on the end of it... no, that wasn't right. This was a man, not a woman.

	He blinked several times, unable to believe his eyes. Then a
fist came crashing toward his face, and he blacked out.

                                 ______


	"Here ya go." Ranma tossed the groggy, blindfolded Mongol onto
the ground. "One officer, as promised."

	"Good work." Akane smirked at him. "I guess you really know how
to use your feminine wiles."

	"Hey, the guy picked my picture, not yours," Ranma said. "I
guess that's 'cause I'm cuter." Akane stuck her tongue out at him. "Did
Kodachi get hers too?"

	"Of course I did, Ranma dear." The gymnast dragged a body over
and set it next to Ranma's catch.

	The man's face was uncovered, and his eyes open wide. Ranma
waved a hand in front of his face, and got no response. "Um... is he
alive?"

	"Of course, Ranma-sama. It's just that I was experimenting with
a new drug, and I miscalculated the dosage a bit. I'm sure he'll come
out of it eventually."

	Tofu knelt down by the officer and took hold of his wrist.
"Pulse is slow, but regular. He's alive. I'll see if I can do anything
for him with the Zhiwu herbs."

	Ranma sighed. "C'mere." He dragged Kodachi by the hand to a spot
away from the others. "What the heck were you doin'?"

	"Ranma, dearest, one must try new things in order to learn." She
smiled bemusedly. "If nothing could go wrong, it wouldn't be an
experiment, now, would it?"

	"Damn it!" He glanced back at the Mongol. "This is serious. You
coulda *killed* him!"

	"Killed someone? In a WAR?" Her laughter rang loudly through the
camp, resonating as it echoed against the mountains. "How ill-mannered
of me!" She stepped away from him, continuing to laugh.

	Ranma fumed.  *One must try new things in order to learn.* Easy
to say when you're experimenting on someone else. He wanted to smack
Kodachi right across the face. If she weren't a girl.... Of course, if
he did try to hit her, she'd just dodge and then beat the crap out of
him again.

	He suddenly found himself face to face with a glowering Amazon.
"Shan Pu?"

	"Ranma, what you mean no killing?"

	"Huh?"

	She pointed to the drugged-out captive. "That man invade Amazon
village and kill Amazons. You not think he should getting killed?"

	"I... um...." Ranma fumbled, tongue-tied. "I'd just rather not
see anybody killed, Shan Pu. I will, but only if we have to."

	"And what if Ranma let this man alive, and he come back next
time and kill more Amazon? What if he kill Shan Pu?"

	"Huh?" Ranma was taken aback by the question. "You don't know
he's gonna do that! You can't kill a guy because he *might* do something
bad. That's dishonorable. If we did that, wouldn't that make us as bad
as him?"

	"We as bad as him?!" she spat. Ranma thought the question would
make her think. Instead, her brows twisted in anger. "We not go invade
his city, Ranma. We not attack his people with bombs and make them
slaves. We not do anything to him, and he attack us.

	"You go back to nice, safe Japan when this over, Ranma," she
continued, with a bit of contempt in her voice. "You not have to worry
about more armies come for you. Easy for you to talk about honor."

	She turned and and walked away. Ranma stood as rage built inside
him. He wanted to smash something. But he wasn't sure who he ought to be
angry at.

                                 ______


	"Would you like more?"

	Smiling, Ukyo nodded. Mr. Tendo poured another helping of sake
into her glass. "Thanks, sugar."

	"Perhaps you shouldn't drink too much, dear," Mikado said with
obviously feigned concern. "You don't want to embarrass yourself again."

	"Ah heh. Thanks for looking out for me, honey." Ukyo beamed a
broad smile, though inside she was snarling. "You go ahead and drink all
you like. I know how it improves your kissing."

	Mikado flinched at the last remark. Good. That was Ukyo's goal
-- to make him so uncomfortable that he'd give up on the engagement
thing. Of course, he was trying to do the same to her. It was
psychological warfare; a battle of wills, and she had just scored a hit.
But she had to keep pounding.

	Mrs. Saotome stepped into the room. "Hikaru and Ririko are in
bed. They're such wonderful children."

	"They certainly are." Mr. Tendo smiled as he began to pour
himself a drink.

	Mrs. Saotome gazed at him with a serious expression. "Soun-san,
we need to talk about the television programs that the children were
watching. Do you think they're really appropriate?"

	"Eh?" He set his glass down. "I hadn't thought about it."

	"The violence is bad enough." she said with agitation in her
voice. "But the sexual titillation and innuendo... what sort of thing is
that for young children to hear? And the jokes aren't even funny."

	"Well, I suppose we could watch something other than dubbed
American sitcoms. If you think it's important."

	"Until Ranma and Akane return, Hikaru and Ririko are our
responsibility. We are duty-bound to do what is best for them. I'll not
have their parents come back and find that the children have been
exposed to bad influences."

	"Right. Consider it done." Mr. Tendo smiled with a confidence
that didn't seem to rub off on Mrs. Saotome in the least.

	"I try to get Mikado to watch those shows as much as possible,"
Ukyo said. "He needs to pick up any tips he can that might help his
lovemaking ability."

	Mikado flinched noticeably at the last remark. Ukyo surged,
feeling like a predator who had finally captured her dinner. So sex was
a hang-up of his, was it?

	Mrs. Saotome stared quizzically at her. "Am I to understand that
the two of you have been having sexual relations?"

	"Well, I guess you could say that, yes. Mikado certainly *tries*
his best." She smiled flirtatiously at Mikado, and watched his face
fluster. Time to move in for the kill. "He's such a sweet boy, the way
he tries to pleasure me in spite of his, er, shortcomings."

	"Ukyo-san...." Mrs. Saotome appeared completely unamused. "I
don't think you should visit with the children again until Ranma and
Akane return."

	"Huh? You're kidding!" But one look at Mrs. Saotome's unsmiling
face proved that she wasn't.

	Ukyo looked to Mr. Tendo; his expression was ambivalent. No help
there. *Damn,* she said to herself. Why couldn't different parts of her
life stay separate? She had only wanted to get Mikado to drop his stupid
engagement thing. Now she had to give up playing with the kids -- the
only real fun in her life.

	"Look, Mrs. Saotome, Mikado and I may kid around a lot, but we
*are* engaged. And we love each other. We could get married *next week,*
that's how in love we are. So is what we do so bad?"

	Mrs. Saotome paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Very well. If
that's the case, then I can hardly object."

	"Thanks, Mrs. Saotome," Ukyo said with great relief.

	"Would Tuesday be all right for you? You can do it right here in
the dojo."

	"Huh?" Some rather disgusting images flashed through Ukyo's
mind. "In front of everyone? That-- that would be wrong!"

	"Wrong?" Mrs. Saotome seemed genuinely puzzled. "Well, you could
certainly have a private ceremony if you prefer."

	Ukyo's mind boggled. "Ceremony?"

	Mikado glared daggers at her. "Our wedding, dearest."

	Ukyo gulped, as a large truck drove over her foot.




	AUTHOR'S NOTE-TYPE THINGS: Thanks to pre-readers Matt Posner,
Krista Perry, Lara Bartram; and special thanks to Ed Becerra for sharing
his particluar expertise. Thanks also to "Dot" and Donny Cheng for help
in determining the correct Mandarin/pinyin names for the Chinese
characters, and to all those who sent feedback on the previous draft of
this. Finally, thanks to you for reading this, and I hope to hear from
you. Until next time....


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