Somehow, most of the chapter went POOF the first time.  Lemme try again.

Wheel of Anime:  Book 2 - The Hunt Is On
Chapter 4:  A Day in the Life

By John Biles

http://www.thekeep.org/~wombat/Stories/Jordan/


**********

 	"You will wait until Mabriam's Day, and then you will quietly slip 
out with a group of guards chosen by you, and then you will take the horn 
to Illian," Nabiki said to Setsuna.

 	"Can we afford to wait over a month?" Setsuna asked.

 	"We must.  By then, no one will be paying attention.  Also, as you 
know, a fair number of Aes Sedai quietly leave just before Mabriam's Day 
in order to avoid the pranks."

 	Setsuna said, "Or to set up a truly impressive one."

 	"Yes, exactly.  No one will notice.  I am having the men Lord Parn 
sent remain here so that they can join you; the few Tower personnel who 
have to be involved, the easier it will be to keep secret.  They don't yet 
know why they're waiting, of course."

 	"Of course," Setsuna said.  "I wonder which of the two boys will 
be the Hornblower."

 	"We shall see," Nabiki said.  "Probably Kurz, as I imagine the 
Pattern would not want the Hornblower getting lost."

 	Setsuna winced.  "Kurz with the ability to call dead heroes back."

 	"It pains me as well, but the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, 
daughter.  And sometimes, it seems to get drunk first."

 	Setsuna sighed.  "I know, I know."

*********

 	Life in the Tower gradually fell into a weekly routine; it was 
easy enough for Ranma and Ukyou, who were used to working every day, day 
in and day out.  They got the impression Usagi was having a harder time of 
it, while they didn't see too much of Hinako, as being Kohai kept them 
very busy.

 	For example, Ranma-chan's day on the twenty third of Amaline 
opened with the ringing of bells as the sky outside was starting to light 
up.  Ranma-chan jumped down out of bed, slipping on one of Usagi's stuffed 
animals as usual.  The sound of her crying out in pain caused Usagi to 
start, sit up, bang her head on the top bunk, and pass out.

 	Ranma-chan got up and sighed, then threw the stuffed lion (which 
in some vague and academic way resembled the Lion of Andor, if it had 
accidentally been exposed to heavy amounts of gamma radiation over a 
period of years) at Usagi, who yelped and woke up.  "Five more minutes."

 	"If you don't get up, you won't eat," Ranma-chan said, slipping 
out of her nightclothes into one of her white Kohai dresses, which was 
more or less a sack with sleeves attached.

 	Usagi sprang out of bed like all the Fanboys in the Blight were 
after her, and quickly changed into a dress, then was out the door, 
leaving Ranma-chan to amble over to the next room and knock.

 	Ukyou was dressed and ready, dragging a still-groggy Hinako along. 
"Hey, Ranchan," she said.  "Where's Usagi?"

 	"Hungrier than usual," Ranma-chan said, heading off to the dining 
hall with Ukyou and Hinako.

 	Ryouga, Kurz, and Nanami were already there by the time the three 
of them got to the dining hall.  Usagi was into her second bowl of stew. 
The cooks seemed to love stew, especially for feeding to Kohai and Warder 
Trainees.  Still, it was pretty nourishing if not especially tasty, and 
everyone ate up.

 	"So, how was the trip?" Ranma-chan asked Nanami.  "You being a 
city girl and all, I expect you're not used to the countryside."  The 
Warder Trainees took periodic trips out into the countryside to get them 
used to travelling in wilderness and surviving there; one of the classes 
had just gotten back from such a trip.

 	"Master Yupa was quite pleased with my progress," Nanami said a 
little stiffly.

 	"She only fell in two rabbit holes the second day, and one the 
third," Kurz translated.

 	"How many the first?" Ranma-chan asked, grinning a little.

 	"Kurz!"

 	"I don't know if they make numbers that big," he said.

 	"Only five," Ryouga said, just to be fair.  "And she didn't ride 
into a tree branch because of riding without looking where she was going 
the way a certain blonde man from the Two Rivers did."

 	"Hrmph."

 	"I wish I could have gone," Hinako said.  "The Tower is nice, but 
I kind of miss the countryside."

 	"They've got me herding sheep on Firstday mornings," Ranma-chan 
said ruefully.  "It's like I never left home.  Stupid chores."

 	"Working in the gardens is kind of fun," Usagi said.  "I like 
plants and the gardens are really beautiful."

 	"I like sleeping in on Firstday mornings," Ukyou said, grinning.

 	"I wish we got a day mostly off like you guys," Kurz said.  "They 
work us hard."

 	"But you get the whole evening free and we have study hall," Ukyou 
said.  "And we have to do all those chores."

 	"Oh yes, like making you cook will kill you," Ranma-chan said. 
"You get to do something you like instead of things which suck."

 	"If we had to do chores on top of everything else, I would DIE," 
Kurz said.

 	"The best thing about those chores is that I've been able to make 
some pocket money doing them for Kohai for pay," Nanami said.  "As some 
people really desperately want more free time."

 	Ukyou's eyes widened.  "Belldandy will...she won't be pleased if 
she finds THAT out."

 	"I am discreet, and so are my clients," Nanami said.  "I'm not as 
in love with poker as Kurz is, so I've got to find something to do with my 
evenings."  She wolfed down a mouthful of stew.  "And I'm not like Ryouga, 
who keeps going down to the forges and letting them use him for free."

 	"Hey, I like forgework and they let me have free materials in 
return for working for them," Ryouga said.  "I've got to practice if I'm 
ever going to become a master."

 	Hinako nodded.  "It's a good way to get the experience.  The White 
Tower has some of the best blacksmiths in the world."

 	"And Hanajima Sedai will probably expect us to memorize them all," 
Usagi said, finally pausing in gulping down food.

 	Ukyou groaned.  "All those Amyrlins.  How can anyone CARE?"

 	"She cares," Ranma-chan said, sighing.  "Which means we have to."

 	 "BORING," Usagi announced, then began working on a loaf of bread.

 	"You ready to be glared at by Sayoko Sedai?" Naru asked, coming up 
to Usagi.

 	"Ugh," Usagi said.  "The bucket was an accident!  An accident!"

 	"Doesn't like you much?" Kurz asked.

 	"She doesn't seem to like any of us for some reason," Ranma-chan 
said.  "Although I think with me and Ucchan it's because we sort of slept 
through our first day of class with her."

 	"She seems to think Kanako is just great," Ukyou grumbled.

 	"Sempai Kanako isn't THAT bad," Naru said.

 	"She's got that dead stare, and if she gets mad, she goes and 
disguises herself as you and does things to get you in trouble," 
Ranma-chan said.  "I can't stand her."

 	"She's good at teaching, though," Naru said.

 	"She's a good channeler," Ranma-chan said grudgingly.

 	"I understand the Reds have their eyes on her," Hinako said.

 	Ranma-chan shuddered.  "Figures."

 	"We'd better get moving so Sayoko Sedai doesn't send us to scrub 
the hallway again or something," Ukyou said.

 	"But...food..." Usagi said.

 	Ranma-chan rose and grabbed Usagi by one of her trailing 
ponytails.  "You ate enough for three people, c'mon."

 	"Ranma!!!!!!!"

**********

 	"Archery practice AGAIN?" Ryouga asked.

 	"We practice archery most mornings," Nuriko said, longbow in hand. 
"I'd have thought you'd have figured that out by now."

 	"I don't mind," Kurz said.  "It's fun."

 	"You can shoot an arrow into my target any time, Kurz," Nuriko 
said, grinning.

 	Kurz turned red and Ryouga laughed.

 	Sousuke said, "You don't have any targets of your own, Nuriko."

 	Nuriko turned to face Sousuke.  "Brother, it's a metaphor."

 	"It's not a very good metaphor," Sousuke said, "If people can't 
tell what you're trying to be symbolic about."

 	"You could tell, couldn't you, Ryouga?" Nuriko asked Ryouga.

 	Ryouga laughed.  "Yes."

 	"I wish I couldn't," Kurz mumbled.

 	Nanami listened and grinned and lined up to start shooting.  She 
was not the world's greatest archer, and spent a lot of her time missing.

 	"Obviously, this was not an invitation for him to kill you," 
Sousuke said.  "So what was it?"

 	Nuriko leaned against a tree and laughed and laughed.  "Oh, 
brother, you are so utterly hopeless."

 	"Less laughing, more shooting," Mistress Rei, the archery 
instructor, said to Nuriko.  She was a tall, skinny woman with long green 
hair tied into long twin braids; she was Kandori, and her parents had 
named her after the famous heroine of the sagas, or so the students had 
heard.  She certainly shot well enough to BE the legendary heroine in the 
opinion of many.  She stopped at Nanami.  "Your stance is bad.  Like 
this," she said, taking her own bow and posing.

 	Nanami did her best to match the stance.  "Like this?"

 	"Better.  Now, clear your mind and shoot."

 	It was hard to clear her mind when everyone was staring at her, 
but she tried, then fired.  She hit the target, though only barely.

 	"A good start," Mistress Rei said.  "Now, keep working on it."

 	"Yes, Mistress," Nanami said.  The things I do for love, she 
thought.

********

 	Sayoko Sedai and Sempai Kanako drifted through the class like 
ghosts, watching and observing as thirty girls tried to open themselves to 
the Source and to work several simple weaves.  Some were doing well, like 
Himeko and Naru, who had already grasped the Source and were now making 
little tongues of flame hover in the air in front of them.  Some were 
struggling, like Shinobu, who was trying too hard to open herself and as a 
result was fighting the Source instead of embracing it, as if she was a 
man instead of a woman.  And the Wondergirls (Usagi, Ukyou, and Ranma, as 
Sayoko had dubbed them in her mind) were playing around irresponsibly, 
juggling multiple tongues of flame back and forth between each other, in 
the delusion that she would not notice or care.

 	Sayoko gestured to Kanako, who nodded and glided silently towards 
the Wondergirls.  Sayoko took a moment to once again be impressed by 
Kanako's silent footfall trick, which rendered your movements silent, 
while still enabling you to speak.  It was very useful for a class like 
this, so that she could move around without disturbing people's 
concentration.

 	Usagi had two flames floating over her head and was making weird 
faces.  "Ooooh, I am the ghost of Low Chasaline..."

 	Kanako quickly wove a disguise weave, taking on the appearance of 
a rotting, floating corpse surrounded by tongues of ghost-flame.  "I am 
the ghost who devours Kohai who don't follow the teacher's instructions."

 	There was a moment of awful silence.

 	And then Usagi screamed, leaped to her feet and ran howling out 
the door.  Ukyou jumped up, a spatula in each hand.  Ranma-chan stared for 
a moment, then said, "We got a little carried away.  Sorry."

 	"Go find Usagi before she panics anyone.  Then come back here and 
get a mop and bucket.  It's hall scrubbing time," Ghost-Kanako said.

 	Ranma-chan sighed, got up, and went after Usagi with Ukyou in tow.

********

 	Hinako sat behind the counter, reading Peterson's Guide to 
Shadow-Induced Injuries, one of the books Hotaru had assigned her to read 
and report on this week.  She'd learned to grab every spare moment she 
could for working on her reading, or she'd never keep up.  This was why 
she was 'reading at work'.  Since there weren't any new patients yet 
today, she didn't have anything else to do except wait for someone to get 
sick or injured.

 	She did her best to ignore the scraping noises; Mimori Sedai was 
rearranging the furniture again; it never seemed to quite satisfy her. 
Being small and not very strong in her child form, Hinako was excused from 
the necessity of helping, for which she was grateful.

 	Anderson was not so lucky, and she could hear him grunting as he 
shoved a bed across the floor; he was her designated 'battery', a duty 
which he was not very fond of.  Hinako regretted the necessity of it, 
which was why she never charged up off him until she had to.

 	Hinako turned the page and a softly glowing tangle of threads 
appeared several inches over the book, depicting the weave used to treat 
wounds from Thakandar Steel, used by the Shadow to make weapons for 
Lagmen.  She slowly rotated the book, studying it from several angles.

 	As she did so, Drake entered, carrying Yomiko Sedai, who had her 
head stuck in a bucket, which was now bent and twisted around her skull. 
"Can someone get this thing off her?  I'm afraid to use my blade, given 
it's on her head."

 	Hinako stared.  "How did this happen?"

 	"Well, we were moving some books to her quarters, and she wasn't 
watching where she was going and I couldn't see very well through all the 
books.  We turned a corner and it turned out some of the Kohai were 
scrubbing the hallway.  She slipped and managed to get her head in the 
bucket, tried to get up and banged her head into the wall, and then one of 
them tried to get it off her and made it worse."  Drake shook his head. 
"Those friends of yours from the Two Rivers and the Daughter-Heir of 
Andor."

 	Hinako sighed.  "Anderson, come over here, I need to charge up."

 	"You can use me," Drake said.  "I should have been able to keep 
this from happening in the first place."

 	Anderson gave a sigh of relief and Hinako hopped over the counter 
to the ground, then pulled a coin and drew just enough energy from Drake 
to charge up for a short time.  She was starting to learn to be more 
precise in how much she took.

 	Adult-Hinako then quickly wove flows of Earth and peeled the 
bucket apart with them, followed by a quick weave to help Yomiko get her 
senses back.  "Are you alright, Sedai?"

 	"My books!  They must all be getting wet!"  She took off running.

 	"She's alright," Drake said a little weakly.  "Thank you."

 	Adult-Hinako looked over at Mimori Sedai.  "How long do you think 
until she'll be back when she falls down on the wet floor trying to get 
the books?"

 	"I'd say about fifteen minutes.  Here, move that couch while 
you're big."

 	"Yes, Sedai," Hinako said, sighing and going to work.

*********

 	Class with Hanajima Sedai was always a little surreal.  Her hair 
tended to move in non-existant breezes, and you always heard her voice 
RIGHT next to your ear, even if she was far across the room from you. 
Even if she had her back to the class and her face to the blackboard, she 
seemed to hear everything and see everything which happened.

 	 "We have, in past weeks, discussed the early history of the Tower 
up through the Fanboy Wars in broad terms.  We will now be focusing for 
the next few weeks on a few specific issues from this first period of the 
history of the Tower," Hanajima Sedai said.  "I hope you've all done the 
reading."

 	Usagi and Ranma-chan both shifted uncomfortably in their seats. 
Ukyou shook her head at them slightly, while Naru engaged in a quick 
search through the stack of papers on her desk until she found several 
scribbled sheets.

 	Several pieces of chalk flew into the air and began to write 
things on the board while Hanajima Sedai began to lecture.  "As was 
covered in our discussion of the period between the Breaking and the 
Convocation of Jennshain, the Ajah first originated as sisterhoods of Aes 
Sedai in the various nations which were forming after the Breaking. 
Today, we're going to look at how these groups shifted from being 
nationally based to being focused on specific purposes."

 	Sara put her hand up; she was a short, cranky blonde from Andor. 
She could generally be counted on to be alternately the most disruptive 
person in the class	and the most informed, because her father was a 
historian of some note.

 	"Yes, Sara?" Hanajima Sedai asked with her usual cool tone of 
voice.  She was mostly unflappable, even by Sara, the Kohai had learned.

 	"But there are nine Ajah, and there were ten nations before the 
Fanboy Wars, right?" Sara asked.  "What happened to the Tenth Ajah?"

 	"We will get to that," Hanajima said.  "In short, the tenth Ajah 
had to be destroyed."

 	A ripple of whispers ran through the class at that.

 	"To tell the full story.  As you know, ten groups met at the 
Convocation of Jennshain to form the White Tower.  However, the early 
years of the Tower were deeply troubled, for new Aes Sedai tended to flock 
to the Ajah founded by sisters from their nations, and they often competed 
to push the Tower to further the interests of those nations.  While each 
of the Ajahs had taken a color for its name instead of retaining their old 
names, their old identities were not forgotten."

 	"Thus it was, when Queen Mabriam of Arnor negotiated the Second 
and a Half Compact, also known as the Compact of the Ten Nations.  She was 
an Aes Sedai of the Gray Ajah, which had once been the Sisterhood of 
Peace, founded in Arnor's earliest days and a major factor in its rise. 
She it was who first proposed changing the basis of the Ajahs to a model 
resembling the current state of affairs, although she identified twelve 
areas where the Tower ought to have experts.  Her measure failed by a 
single vote."

 	Hanajima paused for a glass of water.  "The transition to the 
'modern' structure didn't take place until the Fanboy Wars.  The chaos of 
the Fanboy Wars and the collapse of the Covenant was matched by increasing 
tensions inside the Tower as Sister fought with Sister over where the 
Tower should pitch in and help.  Two events were crucial in the 
reconfiguration of the Tower:  the Fall of the Black Ajah and the 
near-simultaneous Betrayal of Tomobiki."

 	More whispers ran around the class at that; they'd heard rumors of 
the Black Ajah, but all such rumors tended to contradict each other and be 
confusing.

 	"The Black Ajah began its existence as Noir, the sisterhood of the 
Aes Sedai of Aridextradry.  There, they worked in secret, concealing 
themselves among the population and rooting out the servants of the 
Shadow.  The collapse of Aridextradry during the first century of the 
Fanboy Wars cut off the main source of new recruits, and apparently sent 
the Noir into new heights of paranoia about the Shadow.  In addition, many 
Aes Sedai came to think little of them, for they had been unable to save 
their own nation from corruption.  It remains unclear exactly what 
happened, but the leaders of the Black Ajah apparently came up with a very 
foolish, dangerous plan to try to redeem themselves."

 	She paused to take a sip of water as her students watched her 
intently; many seemed quite nervous about what they would hear next.

 	"They decided to try to infiltrate the army of the Fanboys from 
the inside and thus destroy it, to risk the darkness to save the Light. 
They sent a portion of their members to join the Grateful Deadlords who 
lead the Fanboy armies, in the hopes they would rise to positions from 
which they could betray those armies."  Hanajima paused to sip her water 
again.

 	"What they did not understand was that their plan had been 
betrayed and had likely been impossible, anyway.  Those sent to infiltrate 
were turned to the Dark One's service by blackmail, compulsion, or means 
so dark and dreadful I will not describe them.  They were then used to 
draw in most of the rest, so that by the time of the Betrayal of Tomobiki, 
most of the Black Ajah had been corrupted by the Dark One."

 	Hanajima began to sweep her cool gaze across the classroom, 
meeting the gaze of each of the students in turn.  "At that time, the Red 
Ajah was linked to Safer, an ancient rival of Tomobiki, linked to the Blue 
Ajah.  These national rivalries led to rivalries between the Red and Blue 
Ajahs, which sadly continue today, long after they have ceased to make 
much sense.  Amyrlin Ran of the Red Ajah was an old enemy of Queen Shinobu 
of Tomobiki, and when the Dark One put forth his full strength to destroy 
Tomobiki, she delayed the onset of relief forces until it was too late and 
Tomobiki was destroyed."

 	"With the fall of Tomobiki, little remained to prevent Fanboy 
armies being able, with some effort, to raid all the way to Aesclepia and 
Nexus on the southern coast, and such raids soon began.  Worse, the Tower 
teetered on the verge of all-out war, for many in the Tower condemned the 
Amyrlin for her failure to send aid in time.  She struck back viciously. 
Then the Black Ajah, at the Dark One's command, began to murder key 
figures on both sides, to provoke the Ajahs into all out war."

 	"Unfortunately for them, Serenity, the head of the Blue Ajah, 
survived the attempt to murder her and captured the assassin.  She led the 
purge which captured and stilled most of the Black Ajah.  Those who had 
not been corrupted, few as they were, posed a problem as to what to do 
with them.  She proposed a reworking of the Ajah system, turning the Ajahs 
from national groupings into teams of experts in various areas.  The fact 
that this would necessitate a massive reshuffling, combined with various 
vested interests meant that this quite logical proposal faced far more 
difficulty than it should have.  Her opposition to it, however, was the 
final seal of Amyrlin Ran's doom.  She was deposed and stilled and 
Serenity elected in her place, becoming Amyrlin Serenity I.  Under her 
rule, the Tower recovered and began to work to end the Fanboy Wars more 
effectively, but we'll get to that later."

 	Hanajima paused for breath now, then said, "Does that answer your 
question, Sara?"

 	"But what about the rumors it exists now?" Sara asked.

 	"There have been many efforts to create a secret society of Aes 
Sedai sworn to the Dark One over the centuries.  Many such have taken the 
name of 'Black Ajah' to mock us.  Such groups flourished most between the 
Fanboy Wars and the War of a Hundred Years.  Inevitably, their members 
make a mistake within a few years of their foundation and they are exposed 
and rooted out.  So long as the Dark One exists, some foolish souls will 
turn to him, but you can rest assured that they cannot hide for long among 
our ranks before they are caught."

 	Sara seemed relieved.  "Thank you, Sedai."

 	"You're welcome," she said.  "Now, we will turn to discussing the 
rise of the Second and a Half Covenant and Queen Mabriam Sedai in more 
detail..."

********

 	"That wasn't too bad," Ranma-chan said as she and Usagi headed for 
the library.  Three days a week they both spent several hours helping the 
librarians shelve books as part of their chores.

 	"I thought it was pretty neat," Usagi said.  "Mabriam's day is 
coming up, so learning more about Queen Mabriam was pretty neat."

 	"It isn't for several weeks, isn't it?" Ranma-chan asked.

 	"Well, I never really got to do much for it because Mother hated 
it and would have Sousuke spy on me and Nuriko to ruin all our pranks," 
Usagi said.  "She thought it was undignified."

 	"Oh man, Nuriko's going to prank Kurz, I bet," Ranma-chan said.

 	Usagi giggled.  "I haven't seen Nuriko have it this bad for 
someone in quite a while."

 	Ranma-chan shook her head.  "Too bad Nuriko isn't really a woman; 
Kurz has no interest in men."

 	"So, who are you going to prank, hmm?" Usagi asked.

 	"I, uhh...I dunno.  Never done it before."

 	"Really?" Usagi asked in surprise.

 	"Yeah, we, uh..."  Usagi didn't know about the curse, and 
Ranma-chan wasn't quite ready to tell her.  "Just haven't."

 	"Well, we'll have to see what we can cook up," Usagi said.

 	They reached the library, and found Yomiko and a not very happy 
Drake waiting for them and the four other girls who had the same duty. 
"Hi there!" Yomiko said cheerfully, removing some of Ranma-chan's worries, 
although Usagi froze like a deer in headlights and remained frozen.

 	Drake said, "Ahh, there you two are.  I've got work for you."

 	"You two will be nice and help Drake out, won't you?" Yomiko 
asked.

 	A request was as good as a command, unfortunately, so they 
followed him deeper into the library.  Ranma-chan had to drag Usagi, who 
was vibrating like a fault-line in mid-quake.

 	"So what are we going to do?" Ranma-chan asked.

 	They rounded a corner and came to where six bookcases had fallen 
down, spilling books everywhere.  "There was a little accident here a few 
days ago, and they've been saving cleaning up this mess for someone who 
really deserved it.  Like you."

 	"I don't think we can do all this in just two hours," Ranma-chan 
said.

 	"That's fine," Drake said.  "Miss Haruna already approved for you 
to come and do this instead of coming to Basics of Research I today.  So 
you can work until you're done."

 	"..."

 	Drake smiled.  "I'll bring you lunch, too, so you won't have to 
leave for that."

 	Usagi paled.  "Noooooooooo!!!!!!"

 	"Yes," Drake said.  "See you later."

 	Ranma-chan sighed.  "Right, let's get to work.  You stack the 
books while I get the bookcases set up."

 	Usagi began piling the books into stacks, while Ranma-chan quickly 
got the bookcases set up.  "Now we can just start putting the books in 
them," Ranma-chan said.

 	"But we have to put them in alphabetical order," Usagi said. 
"Sorted by topic."

 	Ranma-chan looked at the masses of books.  "How are the topics 
organized?  Are the topics in alphabetical order?"

 	"I seem to dimly remember Haruna Sedai said something about the 
books being sorted by Ajah relevance, then by sub-topics," Usagi said. 
"Most of these look like geography books, so this must be the Purple 
section, and I guess maybe...by country?"

 	"Sounds good to me," Ranma-chan said.  "Which means...Arad Doman 
is first, right?"

 	"_Andor_ is first," Usagi said.  "No, wait, Altara is, but Andor 
still comes before Arad Doman."

 	"And Amadicia before Andor too.  Maybe we should put up one book 
from each country at intervals, so we don't get them in the wrong order."

 	"Good idea," Usagi said, rooting through the pile.  "Here we go."

********

 	Ukyou's early afternoon class was full of somewhat older Kohai 
than most of her other classes.  Her financial background (such as it was, 
from being an innkeeper's daughter) had gotten her, along with the fact 
that her advisor was teaching it, into Accounting II.  She found it to be 
only slightly more interesting than bashing herself in the face with her 
giant spatula, although Sarasa Sedai was a reasonably good teacher.  About 
half of the other students seemed interested, the other half looked ready 
to fall asleep.

 	Ukyou listened to the lecture, feigning interest as best she 
could.  After what seemed like three thousand years, the class was finally 
over, and she headed off to Introduction to Ethics, taught by Afura Mann. 
Naru was there, but not Usagi or Ranma-chan.

 	She sat down by Naru.  "Have you seen Ranma and Usagi?  They 
weren't at lunch."

 	"I hear Drake dragged them off into the depths of the library, 
never to be seen again," Naru said.  "After they got Yomiko Sedai's head 
stuck in a bucket."

 	Ukyou sighed.  "I was there for the bucket."

 	Afura Mann entered.  "Good afternoon, students."  She looked 
around.  "Ranma and Usagi will not be joining us today, as they are doing 
special duty in the library.  But everyone else is here, so we can begin."

 	There was the sound of running feet, and then Ranma-chan and Usagi 
came sprinting in.  "We're not late, are we?" Ranma-chan asked.

 	"Only slightly, and I was not expecting you to be coming, as I had 
the understanding you were being punished."

 	There was the sound of heavy lumbering feet.

 	"Umino stumbled on us while getting a book on Illian, and he 
helped us get the books picked up," Usagi said.  "You don't mind if he 
sits in, do you?  He likes ethnics."

 	"Ethics," Afura Mann said.  "While it is unusual, I do not mind if 
the Builder joins us.  He may have some interesting perspectives, and it 
is not necessary to channel in order to have ethics, thankfully."

 	"More like, it's necessary not to channel in order to have ethics, 
far as I can tell," Sara whispered a little too loudly.

 	"To address Sara's point," Afura Mann said, "Before she is sent 
out to clean the hallway for being snide in class..."  The whole class 
laughed at that, except for Sara, who grumbled.  "Those with greater power 
are far more tempted to violate the dictates of ethics.  After all, the 
weak can neither do as much damage nor have as much power to do evil as 
the strong.  This makes ethics much more essential for us, the most 
powerful beings who do not serve the Shadow.  If we fall to temptation, if 
we cannot resist the blandishments of the Shadow, how can we expect anyone 
else to?"

 	Umino now came in and looked for a suitable chair.  The desks were 
not well designed for one of his height, unfortunately, so he simply 
lumbered to the back wall and leaned against it.

 	"Sara, go get the Builder a chair from the Storehouse.  And get 
yourself the supplies to start scrubbing the hallway."

 	Sara grumbled, got up, and left.

 	"These last few weeks, we've been looking at two broad traditions 
of ethics, deontological and utilitarian.  As we've seen, they often 
conflict with each other; aspects of each are embedded into the life of 
every Aes Sedai.  If you persevere in your studies, one day you all will 
be Aes Sedai and will have to make daily ethical decisions.  Next week, we 
will be starting to study the works of some of the great Aes Sedai and 
Warder philosophers, but this week we're going to pause and examine some 
common ethical dilemnas in the light of what we've studied already, so 
that you can keep these examples in mind as we delve into various 
philosophers."

 	Umino flipped open his notebook and began scribbling; the other 
students had started scribbling from word one.

 	"Let us take a hypothetical situation.  Let's say that Murandy has 
been raiding Andor."

 	Usagi nodded in a manner indicating this wasn't all that 
hypothetical.

 	"So the Queen of Andor decides to invade Murandy and conquer it in 
order to stop the raids," Afura Mann continued.

 	"Mother would never invade and conquer another country!" Usagi 
protested.  "No Queen of Andor would!"

 	"Such, as, say, Queen Morrigan II of Andor, who tried to conquer 
Murandy in the years 188-203 NE," Afura Mann said.

 	Usagi fell silent and stared at her notes.

 	"Or any of a dozen or more other queens of Andor who tried to deal 
with Murandy in that matter.  But we'll call this queen 'Serena' for 
convenience's sake, and name the King of Murandy 'Darien', just so as to 
avoid anyone getting too tied up in real people."

 	Afura Mann paused and wrote the names on the board, then 
continued.  "We could debate the ethics of war here, but we'll move on to 
the central issue.  Due to the usual round of Murandian anarchy, the 
Murandians are defeated in the first battle.  King Darien now appeals to 
the White Tower for help.  Imagine you are the Amyrlin...what would you 
do?  Should the Tower help?  If so, how and why?  If not, why not?"

 	"Andor has always been a staunch ally of the White Tower," Usagi 
said.  "If I was Amyrlin, I'd turn down the request and tell them they 
should have stopped raiding Andor if they didn't want to be attacked."

 	"And the fact that you're the heir to the Andoran throne doesn't 
bias your thinking at all," a dark-haired Arafellin girl named Kari 
Thalassas said with just a little bitterness in her voice.  Ukyou had 
noticed she didn't seem to like Usagi at all.  "If I was Amyrlin, I'd send 
emmisaries to both sides, reminding them that the war against the Shadow 
is far more important than their petty bickering, and that they ought to 
learn from the example of the Borderlands, where we don't raid each other 
and we don't fight each other, because if we did, the Shadow would destroy 
us all.  The southern countries can only afford to bicker because we risk 
our lives protecting them from the Shadow that some of them try to pretend 
doesn't even exist."

 	Kari paused for breath and Usagi cut in, "We can't just sit back 
and let them raid us!  I know war is bad, but they started it!  And 
Murandy is such a hell-hole, they'd be better off if someone came in and 
taught them some manners."

 	Ukyou tried to figure out how this was congruent with 'Andor would 
never invade another country'.

 	"Murandy is not a hell-hole!" Himeko cut in.  She was Murandian. 
"It may get a little violent, but that's only because we refuse to knuckle 
under to oppression by people who think they ought to be in charge!"

 	"Calm down," Afura said, though she seemed a little pleased to 
have successfully engaged her students.  "We're not here to decide whose 
country is 'better'.  You are to be Aes Sedai.  The Tower, not the land of 
your birth, is your home now.  There are no Murandians, Kandori, Altarans, 
or whatever here.  Now, would anyone else like to express an opinion on 
this issue?  Once we've hit the major options, we'll start analyzing 
them."

 	"Isn't this exactly the sort of thing the Gray Ajah is for?  Going 
into wars and ending them and so on?" Ranma-chan asked.

 	Afura Mann nodded. "Yes, exactly."

 	"I would offer to help the King of Murandy if he would agree to 
swear fealty to the Tower and pay tribute.  Then I'd let the war last long 
enough to get my people into place so as to ensure he doesn't renege as 
soon as the war ends.  I'd also use the most rebellious of his nobles in 
the van of all combat, so as to ensure they get killed off.  Once the war 
was over, I'd then make sure Murandy stayed in my pocket," Lillith Ivori 
said, a red-haired Altaran girl from a minor noble family.  Everyone 
stared at her, some in surprise, others thoughtfully.

 	"What, turn it into something like Amadicia is to the SubNazis?" 
Ukyou asked.

 	"Exactly," Lillith said.  "And if he wouldn't pay up, then I'd go 
to Andor and threaten to help him anyway if they didn't make appropriate 
concessions.  Say, ceding part of their conquests to the control of the 
Tower."

 	"That's all pretty selfish," Ukyou said.  "We're supposed to be 
better than that."

 	Lillith began to laugh, then said, "That's politics, farmgirl. 
You have to be willing to swim in the deep waters if you want to struggle 
with the sharks."

 	"Any other opinions?" Afura asked.

 	"I would help the Murandians drive the Andorans back to their own 
lands." Kari said.

 	"I would help Andor because it has always been friendly to the 
Tower, while Murandy is a chaotic pit, which would be better off if 
someone restored order," Naru said.

 	"I'd send the Gray Ajah in to negotiate, but I would mostly stay 
out of it unless the Andorans or the Murandians started asking the Dark 
One for help," Ranma-chan said.  "Never get in the middle of someone 
else's fight if you can help it."

 	More people chimed in, some for Murandy, others for Andor, and a 
fair number for sending in the Gray Ajah to negotiate a peace.

 	Shinobu, a usually shy girl from Cairhien, finally said, "So the 
war is because of Murandy raiding Andor?"

 	"The usual round of raids across the border," Afura Mann said.

 	"But don't the Andoran lords also raid into Murandy?" Shinobu 
asked.

 	"Only in retaliation for Murandian raids!" Usagi said a little 
heatedly.

 	"We can assume the usual level of raiding by both sides is in 
place."

 	"Why is the Queen invading NOW?" Shinobu asked nervously.  "I 
mean, it goes on all the time, so..."

 	Afura Mann said, "A very good question.  We'll say for this 
exercise that Queen Serena has been consolidating her rule the last six 
years after a somewhat disputed Succession, so she wasn't free to address 
the issue, and one of her major lords who had opposed her succession 
requested her help in dealing with the raids.  She is hoping to both solve 
the raiding problem and build support among the nobles who had previously 
opposed her, to restore Andoran unity."

 	"Alright.  I would say the Tower should stay neutral and send in 
the Gray Ajah, then," Shinobu said.  "Since neither side's done anything 
really unusually bad."

 	Afura looked across the room at Umino.  "Would you like to offer 
any comments, Builder?"

 	He blinked, then slowly scratched his chin, then tried to put his 
notebook down and couldn't find anything to put it on.  He then stuffed it 
into a coat pocket and said, "Well, it might be noted that the Tower has 
not intervened in any wars between just two nations since the War of a 
Hundred Years.  All of the Tower's interventions to support one side of a 
conflict or another have all been in response to the request of at least 
two nations, such as the assistance given during the SubNazi War thirty 
years ago.  The Tower has not initiated a war itself since the war with 
Tenchi Hawkwing."

 	"Secondly, the record of nations and conquests these last thousand 
years is not good.  Past Andoran efforts to conquer Murandy have all 
failed.  In general, all the major attempts at conquest have failed.  Even 
nations which were far further into anarchy than Murandy generally 
couldn't be successfully conquered; within a generation or two, they just 
slipped away like sand between fingers.  Cairhien could not hold Hardon. 
Tear could not hold Mar Haddon, nor Illian Maredo.  And so forth.  Such a 
war is likely to only weaken both sides."

 	"And finally, the Last Battle is coming.  At such a time, we can't 
afford to fight with each other."

 	He paused for breath, then said, "So, knowing that, I would say 
that it is probably best the Tower keep its neutrality and send the Gray 
Ajah to negotiate a peace settlement."

 	"Very well put, Builder," Afura Mann said.  "In general, the Tower 
would be unlikely to intervene directly in such a struggle as this, for a 
variety of reasons.  We remain neutral in most conflicts to preserve our 
moral authority.  If we became imbedded in political conflicts, the Tower 
would soon seem just another state, rather than the unique body it is. 
However, we're looking at this as an ethical question rather than a 
political one.  So..."

 	She paused for a breath, then said, "Alright, now, let's get into 
our philosophical analysis..."

*********

 	After ethics came Fundamentals of Healing.  Ukyou had quickly 
decided that this class was basically an excuse to draft the Kohai to help 
put all the Warder Trainees back together again after a hard day of 
practice.

 	As usual, the class trooped down to the infirmary and got a brief 
lecture on some particular health problem, followed by hordes of battered 
Trainees limping in and having to be put back together again.  The Kohai 
darted about, alternately healing what they knew and being shown by Hotaru 
and Hinako how to heal what they did not.

 	Nuriko was here; Nuriko always seemed to be here when Ukyou had 
this class.  Usually for the same reason.  "You really need to stop 
hitting on Kurz before he kills you," Ukyou said as she knelt down by him 
and started washing away his pain.

 	Nuriko sighed.  "He draws me like a moth to a flame."

 	"And like a moth, you get burnt," she said.

 	He convulsed briefly, then relaxed.  "Thank you, Ukyou."

 	"If you're really grateful, you'll stop getting yourself 
pointlessly pounded flat by Kurz.  Find yourself someone who, well, wants 
a man."

 	"Not as easy as you would think," Nuriko said, sighing.

 	Ukyou glanced across the room at Ranma-chan, who was busy treating 
Kurz.  "I suppose not."

 	"Sousuke didn't pound him too hard," Nuriko said.  "I stopped 
him."

 	"He beat up Kurz?" Ukyou asked.

 	"Sousuke takes it as his duty to protect Usagi and I, even when we 
can take care of ourselves."  There was a strong note of affection in 
Nuriko's voice.  "Usagi doesn't get along with him well because he's such 
a stick in the mud and he's always turning her in for being naughty, but 
she just doesn't seem to realize he'd lay down his life for ours in a 
second, without hesitation.  Even though we're only half-siblings."

 	"Who else was your Mother married to?  Before Megane Bryne?"

 	Nuriko shook his head.  "Before Mother was Queen, Asuka of house 
Mizunokoji was Queen of Andor.  She married Shutaro Damodred, nephew of 
the famous idiot King Ramen of Cairhien.  Queen Asuka gave birth to 
Sousuke, then shortly afterwards, basically vanished.  There's some reason 
to believe she just...ran away for some reason.  Anyway, once everyone was 
sure she was gone, there was a disputed succession and Mother ended up on 
the throne.  She married Shutaro Damodred and they had Usagi and I.  Then 
Father was murdered when we were very little and Mother hasn't married 
again since.  She and Lord Bryne are just lovers."

 	"Oh," Ukyou said.  "I'm afraid we don't know much about Andor back 
in the Two Rivers."

 	"Well, you should; the Two Rivers is part of Andor," Nuriko said.

 	"Maybe technically, but we haven't seen anyone from the Queen in 
generations if that recently," Ukyou said.  "Alright, I think your wounds 
should be alright now."

 	Nuriko took Ukyou's hand and kissed it; she blushed a little. 
"Thank you, kind lady."

 	"You...you flatter me," she said.  It was very strange to her; she 
knew Nuriko was a man, but he dressed and looked like a woman, and it was 
like being kissed by another woman.  But she was suddenly very intensely 
aware that he was in fact male.

 	"You are a lovely and gracious woman," Nuriko said.  "I think you 
will make a very good Aes Sedai one day.  My sister will have need of 
friends such as you, when the time comes for her to take the throne.  It 
has been a long time since any Aes Sedai ruled openly in a nation."

 	"Hasn't Andor always sent the heir to the Tower, though?" Ukyou 
asked.

 	"Mother was the first Queen who could channel at all, and she was 
too weak to even become a Sempai, let alone a full Sister.  But 
Usagi...she will go far.  If she doesn't convince everyone around her to 
kill her first."  He sighed.  "She is kind and gentle, but she is also a 
little too aware of being a princess, if you know what I mean.  And I have 
noticed that the great strength of you and your companions has made some 
envy you.  And my sister as well, for she matches your strength."

 	Ukyou nodded.  "I think even some of the full sisters are 
jealous."

 	Hotaru came up to them.  "You can flirt with Prince Nuriko later, 
Ukyou.  There's more people who need you."

 	She hustled Ukyou off as Nuriko waved farewell.

*********

 	"C'mon, you can sneak out just this once," Kurz said to 
Ranma-chan.  "We've got a hot game going down tonight."

 	"I can't afford any more trouble today," Ranma-chan said, picking 
at her dinner.  "Meiko Sedai doesn't get as pissed when we miss Study Hall 
as Shayla Sedai does on her days, but I've spent most of today in 
trouble."

 	Kurz looked hopefully at Ukyou, who shook her head.

 	"Hmm, I can't stay the whole time as I have reading to do," Hinako 
said.  "But I think I could spare an hour or two."

 	"Sweet.  Maybe Soun will come after all if you do," Kurz said. 
"He needs to gamble more.  It would be good for him."

 	"I don't think humans need to gamble to be healthy," Ryouga said.

 	Nanami laughed.  "Well, have fun in study hall, then."

 	"Oh yeah, more fun than I can survive," Ranma-chan grumbled, then 
set upon her food with a will.

**********

 	Soun was both a great and a terrible poker player.  He was great 
in the sense that it was nearly impossible to tell what he was thinking. 
He was terrible in that he lacked experience in the game, and thus was in 
a constant state of surprise as to how well he was doing or not doing.

 	"Why did you raise fifty crowns on just three fives?" Hinako 
asked.

 	"Everyone seemed to be bidding more conservatively than last 
time," Soun said.

 	"Three people were bluffing last time," Woodchuck said. 
"Normally, I'd be happy to let you lose all your money to me, but it makes 
me sad to see a grown man play poker so badly."

 	Ehto nodded.  "Even I am better than that."

 	Soun frowned.  "If I am that bad, I can leave."

 	"No, no, stay, stay," Kurz said.  "Only way to get better is to 
play.  Watch and learn from the master."

 	"The cards do seem to turn your way a lot," Gim observed.

 	"So, how long are you guys staying?" Ryouga asked.

 	"Setsuna Sedai asked us to stay, saying she would need our help 
with something soon," Gim said.  "But she's being mysterious about it."

 	"You need not concern yourself with it yet; just be ready to leave 
at any time," Soun said, shuffling the deck.

 	"Don't be concerned, but be ready to leave at any time?" Woodchuck 
asked.  "That sounds contradictory to me."

 	"Not at all," Soun said, beginning to deal.  "The wise man is 
always prepared for danger or to suddenly leave."

 	"Will you be gone long?" Hinako asked.

 	"Weeks at minimum," Soun said.  "I am not sure if we are going to 
go somewhere and stay a while or just go and return."

 	Ryouga looked over at Nanami, who said, "Don't worry, Hinako, 
he'll make it back alright."

 	"Are you sure?" Hinako asked, a little worried.

 	"He's unlikely to be putting a crown on your head before he 
leaves, so..." Nanami said.

 	The whole table fell into silence and stared at Hinako, then at 
Soun.  There was the sound of thoughts clicking into place in many heads, 
and then the Shienarians all grinned.  Ryouga said, "Hmm, that could be 
tricky, since her head changes sizes, and a crown can't stretch like cloth 
or leather."

 	Soun stared at Nanami for a moment, then said, "There are things 
perhaps best not announced before many people."

 	Etoh began quietly humming a tune to himself.

 	"Going to deal anytime this year, Soun?" Woodchuck asked.

 	Soun began to deal.  Nanami said, "I'll...sorry.  I just wanted to 
reassure her."

 	"With an ability like yours, I would have thought you would have 
learned discretion already."  Soun's voice was tense.

 	Nanami sighed.  "Next time, I'll just let her fret herself to 
death, then."

 	Kurz looked at his cards.  "Woo hoo!"

 	Hinako was staring at Soun instead of her cards.

 	Gim looked at his cards and sighed.  "I have to open with this?"

 	"Yes."

 	"One Silver shield, then."

 	"Garbage?" Kurz asked.

 	"I'd rather have a handful of Fanboys, who at least I could kill," 
Gim muttered.

 	"Yep, garbage," Kurz said.  "I'll see your one silver shield and 
raise you eight."

 	And the game went on into the night.

**********

 	Study hall went quietly, for which Ranma-chan was grateful beyond 
measure.  At nine, Chloe Sedai showed up and took Ranma-chan back to her 
quarters for their nightly lessons, which usually involved weapons 
fighting.  Unlike most Aes Sedai, Chloe was not willing to entirely rely 
on her Warders to handle that end of things.  Neither was Ranma-chan, who 
wanted to be able to protect herself in situations where she couldn't 
channel for some reason.

 	Often, Nanami would come and spar with them, but she was in the 
middle of a poker game right now, so Ranma-chan got stuck doing drills 
while Chloe and her warders Miriya and Kirika observed her and made 
commentary.  Still, it was kind of soothing to do something where she was 
unlike to end up out in the hallway.  And the exercise helped her sleep.

 	"I understand you had a bit of a run-in with Drake," Miriya said.

 	"You could say that," Ranma-chan said as she tried the sword kata 
again.  "If he and Yomiko Sedai had been looking where they were going, it 
would have been fine."

 	"I heard you didn't warn them," Miriya said.

 	"I assumed they weren't blind and could see the floor was wet 
without me having to tell them," Ranma-chan said.

 	"Best never to assume," Chloe said.  "You can rarely count on 
others to do the wise thing."

 	"Sure seems so," Ranma-chan said, sighing.  "Well, did I do it 
right this time or did I just distract you with talking?"

 	Miriya said, "You did it right.  Now do it ten more times."

 	Ranma-chan groaned and went to work.

*********

 	Asuka shook her head sadly as Usagi poured them both tea.  "Your 
performance today has been, to say the least, pathetic.  You got sent out 
in the hallway for irresponsible channeling, setting a bad example for the 
others in the process.  You then got Yomiko Sedai injured while serving 
your first punishment.  You called in outside help to deal with your 
punishment for that.  Then you made an ass of yourself in ethics class, 
engaging in the sort of blatant favoritism to your own nation which will 
both antagonize your fellow Kohai and which no Aes Sedai can afford to 
indulge."

 	Usagi was trembling, her cup of tea shaking in her hand.

 	"Fortunately, Afura decided to defeat you with logic instead of 
sending you for a good switching, as she might have," Asuka said.  "And 
now you are responding to my summary of your mistakes by preparing to cry 
like a five year old."

 	Usagi burst into tears at that, then spilled her tea on herself 
and howled.

 	Asuka sighed and wove a flow of Water and pulled the tea out of 
Usagi's clothing, then shoved it into a bowl for later disposal.  "Fatora 
warned me you were childish and proud, but it is only now really sinking 
in how much this is the case.  Do you think Ranma-chan is blubbering to 
Chloe Sedai right now?"

 	"N...no," Usagi said, trying to pull herself together.

 	"You will never make Sempai, let alone a full sister, so long as 
you cry like a little weakling baby all the time," Asuka said.  "The Tower 
does not tolerate weakness; we cannot afford it.  When the Shadow comes, 
those who run away or break down crying are useless.  Those who cannot do 
what must be done, to cause a little pain to avoid a greater, are useless. 
You will become stronger, or else I will throw you away.  Do you 
understand?"

 	"Yes, Sedai," Usagi said, finally managing to make herself stop 
crying.

 	"Good.  Now, today, we are going to begin our study of the wars 
caused by the False Ronin Turin Turambar, who was a truly tragic figure, 
and a major influence in the rise to power of Tenchi Hawkwing, a second 
thing for which he can be condemned."

 	"Tenchi Hawkwing was a good and just king," Usagi said, a little 
shocked.

 	"He was a madman who sought to wipe out the Aes Sedai.  If he had 
succeeded in his war against us, there would be no more Aes Sedai, and the 
world would be doomed to another Breaking.  Now, the story of Turin 
Turambar begins in Darmovan in 939 FY..."

*********

 	"Why can't you tell me?" Hinako said angrily to Setsuna Sedai.

 	"Because it is not your business," Setsuna Sedai said.  "You are a 
student here, and you should not stick your nose into the business of a 
full Sister without invited.  Go home, go to bed, and do not bother me 
further on this."

 	"But he..."

 	"He will be fine," Setsuna Sedai said.  "Your place is here now, 
until you finish your training.  Do not tell anyone of this; it is not 
their business either.  Goodnight, Sempai Hinako."

 	Hinako clenched her fists, then stormed out.

 	No violence, Setsuna Sedai thought.  She's learning.

*********

 	Ranma-chan ambled down the hallway, eagerly looking forward to 
sliding into her bed and sleeping deeply.  Instead, she opened the door 
and heard Usagi sobbing on the bottom bunk.  Ranma-chan's face twisted 
into a frown; this happened far too often after one of Usagi's sessions 
with her advisor.  Of course, it didn't help that Usagi cried far too 
easily, but...

 	"What happened this time?" Ranma-chan asked, coming in, closing 
the door, and starting to change into her nightclothes.

 	Usagi sat up and managed to stop sobbing.  "Asuka Sedai was really 
mad at me for how much trouble I got into today."

 	"Yeah, we did kinda have a lousy day," Ranma-chan said, pulling on 
the long shirt she usually wore to bed.  "Getting to hang out with Umino 
wasn't too bad, though."

 	"He was a lot of help," Usagi said.  "I learned more from him than 
I have from Haruna Sedai in weeks."  She flopped back down on her bed. 
"Sayoko Sedai hates me.  Haruna Sedai hates me.  Afura Sedai thinks I'm an 
idiot.  Half the other students hate me.  What am I doing wrong?  Why does 
everyone get mad at me all the time?"

 	Ranma-chan came over and sat down by her.  "It would probably help 
if you didn't cry so much.  It makes them think you're a little kid or 
something.  And some of them are just jealous.  Sayoko Sedai doesn't like 
me or Ucchan either.  And, well, Afura Sedai doesn't normally think you're 
an idiot.  She just kind of hit one of your weak points."

 	Usagi sighed.  "Maybe I should just leave like Mother did once I 
can channel reasonably well.  It's starting to look like it's going to be 
hard to be Aes Sedai and a Queen."

 	"Don't give up," Ranma-chan said.  "No one's asking you to leave, 
and I'd miss you if you left."

 	Usagi sat back up and hugged Ranma-chan.  "You're such a good 
friend," she said.

 	Ranma-chan felt a little embarrassed, and a little aroused.  Usagi 
was pretty cute and very female and it was very obvious when they touched 
like that.  She was pretty sure Usagi didn't think of it that way, though. 
"You too," he said.  "I never thought I'd get to be good friends with a 
princess."

 	"I was hoping to make friends, here at the Tower.  Real friends," 
Usagi said.  "Who would like me for me.  Like you and Naru and Ukyou do." 
She leaned her head on Ranma-chan's shoulder.  "Now I wonder if a lot of 
people hate me back home, but won't say anything because I'm the heir."

 	"Probably," Ranma-chan said.  Usagi winced at that.  "Everyone's 
afraid to be honest with nobles and royalty because they might get mad and 
have you punished or killed."

 	"I wouldn't punish someone for being honest with me," Usagi said 
firmly.

 	"Well, that makes you pretty unusual," Ranma-chan said, sighing. 
"Lot of people would."

 	"I don't want to be like that," Usagi said.

 	"Me neither," Ranma-chan said.  "You feeling better?"

 	"Yeah," Usagi said.  She leaned over and kissed Ranma-chan on the 
cheek.  "Thank you."

 	Ranma-chan blushed a little and got up.  "You're welcome."

 	"Goodnight, Ranma."

 	"G'nite, Usagi."




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