[FFML] [R1/2] Hearts of Ice, 25/?

[Krista Fisk]

Previous chapters can be found on my website at www.akane.org/heartsofice.

C&C is welcome and appreciated.


Hearts of Ice
Part 25: Phoenix, Part II
by Krista Fisk



	Nabiki couldn’t believe it was over.  Not the 
way she had imagined it.  Oh no, quite the 
opposite.  For Ranma, instead of rescuing her 
sister and returning in triumph to defeat Cologne 
and save them all, was dead.  And Akane


	Akane was not trapped on the Ancient One’s 
mountain with Ranma’s corpse, as Nabiki had 
feared when she and Kuno found the Snow Woman 
weeping amidst the remains of her shattered 
mirror.  As the three of them rushed back to the 
clearing at the base of the mountain, using 
Yuki-onna’s frosted shard of mirror as a guide, 
they had witnessed Akane’s arrival.

	They watched as she gently lowered Ranma’s body 
to the ground, and Nabiki felt her heart twist 
inside her as she realized that what they had 
hoped to prevent – Akane discovering Ranma’s 
death while utterly alone -- had happened anyway, 
even as she felt a surge of relief that at least 
Akane was off the damn mountain.

	They heard her voice through the shard as she 
argued with Cologne, spurring them onward with a 
near panic-induced urgency, fearing the worst as 
Kuno determinedly hacked a path through the 
foliage before them.  They arrived at the 
clearing in time to witness the brief battle that 
left Nabiki and Kuno gaping in amazement; in time 
for Yuki-onna to save Akane from the old Amazon’s trap.

	And now it was over.  Cologne was gone.

	Akane was here, right before Nabiki’s 
eyes.  Taller.  Older.  Battle-scarred.  And as 
Akane finally looked away from where the Amazon 
had left the clearing, their eyes met, their 
gazes locked
 and Nabiki realized with a shock 
that she didn’t know this woman.  She felt as if she was looking at a stranger.

	But then Akane blinked.  The ageless, 
obsidian-hard edge of ice faded from her eyes as 
they grew bright with a sheen of tears.  She took 
a step forward, inhaling sharply, her lips trembling, and said, “Nabiki.”

	And Nabiki knew at that moment that whatever 
else happened, her sister was back, and she 
didn’t even care that Kuno, Ukyo, Ryoga and 
Mousse were staring, she was there hugging her 
sister, and Akane clutched at her, crying into 
her hair because she was taller than her now, and 
it didn’t matter because her face was wet too.

	“You’re back,” Nabiki found herself whispering 
over and over, until Akane finally laughed through her tears.

	“Thanks to you,” Akane said, hugging so tightly 
that Nabiki almost had to gasp for breath for a 
moment.  “Yuki-onna showed me.  Cologne would 
have succeeded if you hadn’t been there to thwart 
her at every turn.  And Ranma never would have 
known how to find me if you hadn’t helped him so much.”

	Nabiki stiffened at the mention of Ranma, and 
she drew back.  “Akane,” she said
 and then she 
found herself at a loss for words.  What could 
she say?  Akane knew Ranma was dead, and even as 
Nabiki looked at her, a dawning look of horror spread across Akane’s face.

	“No!” Akane said, releasing Nabiki and looking 
back at where she had left Ranma’s body, lying at 
the edge of the clearing.  Nabiki braced herself 
for a fresh onset of grief in the face of the harsh reality of Ranma’s death.

	But, to Nabiki’s great surprise, Akane was still 
smiling through her tears.  “No,” she said again, 
and she was shaking her head and waving her hands 
in front of her as she backed towards Ranma’s 
body.  “I need to explain.  I know what it looks like, but Ranma’s not dead!”

	Nabiki felt a sudden sick sense of dread, and 
she glanced over at Yuki-onna to see what she was 
making of this.  The devastated look on the Snow 
Woman’s face as she looked at Akane didn’t 
comfort her in the least.  Had her sister 
returned, only to be driven over the edge of 
sanity by Ranma’s death?  It was a thought echoed 
in the worried expressions of the others in the 
clearing, human and animal alike.

	Apparently Akane was not oblivious to their 
concern, because she stopped.  “Well, yes,” she 
said, looking a bit flustered.  “I mean, he *is* 
dead.  That’s obvious, isn’t it.  I mean
.”  She 
straightened and took a deep breath, looking 
around at each of them in the clearing.  “Look, 
I’m not crazy.  I can explain.  But first
.”  She 
looked at Yuki-onna and once again blinked back a 
wash of tears.  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she 
said, walking over to the Snow Woman and taking 
her white hand.  “I don’t know how or why, but you are
 and I need your help.”

	“Anything, Akane-chan.” The Snow Woman’s voice 
was low and broken.  “Anything.”

	Akane led the Snow Woman by the hand to Ranma’s 
body.  Shakily, she knelt down next to him and 
the Snow Woman followed suit.  “It hasn’t been 
very long,” she whispered, and her voice carried 
in the silence of the clearing.  “But I felt it 
when I held him; his body is already
 he’s
”

	Yuki-onna understood.  “I will preserve him,” 
she said, and Akane nodded tightly, tears 
spilling down her cheeks.  Nabiki felt the knot 
of worry loosen slightly at the sight.  Akane 
didn’t seem crazy, and she was grieving.  And she 
was thinking logically.  She hadn’t known that 
the Snow Woman would be here, but she wasn’t so 
shaken that she couldn’t ask for some much-needed 
help.  Whatever she meant about Ranma not being 
dead
 well, she said she would explain.

	As the Snow Woman spread her hands over Ranma’s 
pale, prone form, Nabiki found herself feeling 
immensely grateful that the winter spirit had 
come.  She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it 
would be like, trekking the three day hike back 
through the wilderness to civilization with Ranma’s slowly decaying body


	She shuddered, but then a soft moan tore her 
attention away from her morbid thoughts.

	Ukyo, still gagged and bound to the tree, had 
tears coursing down her face as she stared at 
Ranma’s body.  Nabiki immediately went to her, 
feeling guilty.  She had been so wrapped up with 
her own reunion with Akane, she had forgotten 
almost everyone else.  “Ukyo,” she said, and Ukyo 
turned her face away, muffled sobs escaping 
through the gag.  Nabiki understood and didn’t 
question
 but she couldn’t just leave Ukyo tied 
up.  She looked at Ukyo’s bonds and realized that 
there was no way she could undo the ropes herself.  “Kuno,” she called.

	Kuno only let his gaze linger briefly on Akane 
and the Snow Woman as they knelt over Ranma’s 
body, before walking over to Nabiki.  He 
understood what she wanted and severed Ukyo’s 
bonds with a slash of his bokken, then freed 
P-Chan from his dangling rope prison as 
well.  “We need some hot water,” Nabiki said, 
pointing toward their backpacks at one edge of 
the clearing.  “Ryoga packed a kettle.”

	Kuno nodded at Nabiki, then looked down at the 
despondent black piglet, and the duck that 
hovered protectively beside the unconscious 
cat.  They looked back at him suspiciously.  Kuno 
cleared his throat.  “I will gather your clothes 
also, if you wish,” he said with solemn dignity.

	Ryoga and Mousse shared an uncertain glance, 
before peering back at the changed 
Kendoist.  Ryoga nodded hesitantly.  Kuno offered 
him a small bow and started on his task, leaving 
the piglet and duck staring after him with wide, 
surprised eyes.  Ryoga looked to Nabiki and bweed 
in a manner that could have easily been 
interpreted as “What the hell?” but Nabiki was 
focused on Ukyo, helping her untie the gag.

	Ukyo coughed and spit once the gag was removed, 
rubbed the back of her hand across her lips, and 
wiped a bit ineffectually at her face with her 
sleeve.  She still didn’t look directly at 
Nabiki, but didn’t refuse her outstretched hand 
offered to help her to her feet.

	“Ukyo,” Nabiki said, and Ukyo cut her off with a raised hand.

	“Don’t tell me it’s going to be okay,” Ukyo 
whispered hoarsely.  “It’s not okay.  Nothing is okay.”

	“Actually,” Nabiki said gently, “I was going to 
ask if you would stoke the campfire so that we could boil some water.”

	Ukyo looked at her sharply then, all her 
frustration and anger and grief open and raw and exposed in her face.

	Nabiki wanted to wince, but her mask was in 
place and she gazed back at Ukyo calmly until the 
rawness in her expression softened 
slightly.  Finally, Ukyo shakily put her face in 
her hands, rubbed at her tears, and 
nodded.  “Yeah,” she said, muffled, then she 
lowered her hands and looked up.  “Yeah, I can do that.”

	Nabiki nodded, reaching out and giving Ukyo’s 
hand a little squeeze.  *You’re right, it’s not 
okay, everything is wrong and backwards and 
twisted all out of shape, but we’ll get through 
this so hang in there,* was the unspoken 
message.  Ukyo squeezed back briefly, then headed for the campfire.

	Nabiki turned to start collecting water from 
their supplies when Akane said, anxiously, “Why 
isn’t it working?” and all attention again turned 
towards the pair kneeling over Ranma’s corpse.  “What’s wrong, Yuki-san?”

	The Snow Woman’s eyes were closed, and her brow 
was furrowed as she held her outstretched hands 
over Ranma’s body.  “There is magic,” she 
said.  “Powerful magic that is blocking my cold 
spell.”  She opened her eyes and seemed to wilt 
slightly.  “I cannot get past it.  I am sorry, 
Akane-chan.  I am too weak here.”  Visibly 
perplexed, she reached toward Ranma’s neck, her 
hand hovering over his grey-skinned throat for a 
moment, before she reached down  and pulled at 
the stiff collar of his red Chinese 
shirt.  Nabiki caught a glimpse of shiny metal 
underneath.  “Ah,” said the Snow Woman.  “This is the source.”

	Akane leaned forward and gently pulled the 
collar back, revealing a skin-tight band of metal 
encircling Ranma’s neck.  “What is *that*?” Akane 
asked, looking upset and confused.  “Ranma didn’t say anything about this.”

	Nabiki felt her eyebrows raise by reflex, and 
her worries about Akane’s sanity began to 
reassert themselves.  How long had Akane been on 
the mountain, alone with Ranma’s corpse, before 
the mysterious whirlwind brought her here?  She 
didn’t miss the worried glance that the Snow Woman gave her as well.

	“It is of oni make,” the Snow Woman 
answered.  “It has the taint of fire devil about 
it, and it seems to
 to serve the same purpose as 
my cold spell once did.”  Her voice lowered with 
shame, but she continued.  “Only instead of 
blocking heat from reaching him, this metal band blocks cold.”

	Akane’s eyes widened.  “A cure?” she whispered.  “For Jusenkyo?”

	“So it seems,” the Snow Woman replied.

	The words fell into the silence of the clearing 
and seemed to reverberate for a moment.  And 
then, behind Nabiki, Mousse and Ryoga began 
quacking and bweeing loudly, making such a racket 
in the quiet clearing that she whirled around and 
glared at them.  Cure or not, now was *not* the 
time for celebrating, or demanding, or whatever 
the hell it was they were doing.  They got the 
message quick and immediately fell silent and 
still, looking as ashamed as duck and pig could possibly look.

	Akane was reaching around Ranma’s neck, feeling 
all around the band.  Nabiki marveled that she 
managed to be so calm and collected about the 
whole situation.  “There’s no clasp, no seam in 
the metal,” Akane said.  She stood, pulling her 
sword from its scabbard.  “I don’t know how it 
got on, but it needs to come off, or you won’t be able to
”

	The Snow Woman nodded, then reached over to pull 
Ranma’s collar away from the metal band.

	Akane lifted her sword, then paused.  “Will cutting it off destroy its magic?”

	“I do not know,” the Snow Woman answered, “but it is a possibility.”

	A very quiet, dismayed bwee escaped P-chan, and 
Akane looked at him.  “I’m sorry, Ryoga,” she 
said with genuine regret.  With those words, the 
little black piglet froze, staring at Akane in 
horror, and paled until he was so grey that it 
looked like he might faint.  Nabiki had to fight 
very hard to not let the shock show on her face.  Akane *knew*?

	“I know a cure is important,” she continued, 
“but this
 I can’t let his body get worse without 
him.  He’s going to need it when he gets back, 
and I honestly don’t know how it’s going to work, 
but I’m pretty sure that letting his body go 
through rigor mortis isn’t conducive to whatever 
he has to do to come back to life.”

	Now *everyone* was staring at Akane in 
horror.  Slowly, the Snow Woman reached out and 
touched Akane’s arm.  “Akane,” she said, “why 
don’t you explain to us what you mean.”

	Akane suddenly looked uncertain as she met their 
gazes.  But then she straightened.  With a flash 
of her katana, the metal circlet surrounding 
Ranma’s neck fell in two pieces.  Akane picked up 
the pieces and gestured to Ranma.  “Please, 
Yuki-san,” she said, and the Snow Woman nodded, 
stretching her hands out once again.  This time, 
Nabiki could immediately see the frost forming on 
the surface of Ranma’s dead, grey skin, and she 
looked away, feeling disconcerted and upset, 
seeing that emotion mirrored in Kuno’s face, in 
Ukyo’s face, even in Mousse’s bird eyes.  Ryoga 
still looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

	She didn’t even realize that Akane had come up 
behind her until she felt the touch on her 
arm.  “Nabiki,” Akane said, “why don’t you go 
ahead and get that water?  I’m cold.  I’m going 
to sit by the fire.”  She looked over at Ukyo, 
who was throwing a sturdy log on the blaze, 
sending sparks up into the night sky.  Ukyo met 
her gaze for a moment, then looked away, 
firelight glinting off the wetness in her eyes.

	Akane closed her eyes briefly as if in pain for 
a moment, then looked at Mousse, still next to 
Shampoo.  “Can you wake her up?” she 
asked.  Mousse indicated that he would try, but 
seemed uncertain.  Akane nodded.  “When everyone 
is ready,” she said, “come sit with me and I’ll 
tell you what happened to me on the mountain.”

	It took longer than Nabiki’s patience – already 
stretched thin with stress and worry – was 
prepared to allow, but she dealt with it.  Mousse 
managed to wake Shampoo, and once the water was 
hot, the Jusenkyo-cursed slipped out of the 
clearing to change back to human form and get 
dressed.  Mousse had the unfortunate task of 
bringing Shampoo up to speed with everything that 
had happened since Cologne had tapped her 
unconscious, and the stream of Mandarin 
conversation emanating from the darkness outside 
the clearing was punctuated with Shampoo’s cries 
of grief and despair.  Eventually they 
emerged.  Shampoo did not look up, and she 
stumbled as if blind.  She would have fallen but 
for Mousse’s protective arm around her shoulder as he led her to the campfire.

	Akane sat and stared into the fire through it 
all as one by one, her friends who had sacrificed 
so much to bring her back from the Kami realm 
joined her around the fire.  Only Yuki-onna, 
after finishing her grim task, stayed outside the 
circle of the fire’s warmth, standing guard by Ranma’s frozen body.

	Nabiki noticed that none of them – Ryoga, Ukyo, 
Kuno, Mousse or Shampoo – could bring themselves 
to look at Akane.  Akane didn’t seem to notice, 
but Nabiki had to wonder if anything at all 
escaped her notice now.  Once again, looking at 
her sister stare into the flames, she felt like 
she was looking at a stranger, and she shivered.

	“On the mountain,” Akane said at last, “there is 
a dimensional weakness between the 
planes.  Through it, demons can escape from the 
Kami realm into this world, but the Ancient One 
uses this barrier to keep them trapped on the 
mountain so they can’t wreak havoc on the mortal realm.”

	She continued, explaining how the Shadowcat had 
lured her to the weakness in the veil between the 
planes with his promise to recapture Ranma.  She 
told of how she called to Ranma, fearing him lost 
in the Nekoken; how she used the dagger of 
Susa-no-o to rend the veil and survive even with 
the blood spell still intact.  She told of 
regaining consciousness to hear Ranma’s voice 
calling her, of how he told her the Shadowcat was 
dead, but there was something terrible in his 
voice, and she knew he was hurt.  How he left her 
with the promise that he would break the blood spell.

	And then it was broken.  And she came through 
the veil and the blood spell was gone, and the 
Shadowcat lay dead at her feet in pieces, in 
shreds, and Ranma’s trail of blood led up the 
mountain and she was so afraid that he was dead


	
but then he was there.  Talking to 
her.  Arguing with her.  Being utterly, 
infuriatingly Ranma until he finally confessed 
that he *was* dead.  He was a ghost.  A kuei, 
doomed to haunt the mountain like the other 
hungry ghosts that dwelled at its base, and 
Shampoo cried out in anguish, and Ukyo wept 
silently, and Ryoga and Mousse and Kuno sat staring grimly into the flames.

	Akane waited until Shampoo’s audible grief 
subsided before she continued.  She told of how 
she and Ranma determined a course of 
action.  They would confront the Ancient One of 
course, and for the first time the listeners 
looked up from the flames at Akane, looks of 
incredulous hope kindled in their 
expressions.  She told of walking up the mountain 
with Ranma’s ghost; of finding his body just 
outside the Ancient One’s cave.  Of going into 
the cave and up the staircase to the gardens 
under the great pillars that held up the domain 
of the gods.  Of confronting the Ancient One.  Of 
telling him their most heartfelt desire, and him 
at last giving them an inkling of how it might be 
done. That it *could* be done.  Of Ranma being 
released from his kuei curse and then being 
spirited away to the afterlife where he was 
currently on his way to confront Emma-O and demand his life back.

	“And then the Ancient One sent me here,” Akane 
said.  “And, well, you know the rest.”

	Only then did she look up to meet the confounded 
gazes of her friends.  “So like I said.”  She 
smiled, and Nabiki, her head still whirling with 
all the information, once again saw her little 
sister in this tall, battle-hardened warrior 
woman.  “Ranma might be dead at the moment,” 
Akane said, “but he’s not going to stay that 
way.  He promised me that he’d find a way to come 
back, and if anyone can do it, he can.”

	There was a long silence as everyone seemed to 
digest what Akane had told them.  Nabiki felt her 
mind whirling with questions, but it was Ukyo who 
spoke first.  “So,” she said.  Her eyes were 
still wet, but her voice and expression were firm 
and determined.  “What do we do next, Akane?  What can we do to help?”

	Akane looked up in surprise at the okonomiyaki 
chef, her former rival, and smiled, the gratitude 
and relief on her face plain to see, and for the 
first time Nabiki realized that Akane was worried 
about this very thing.  “To be honest,” she said, 
“I don’t really know.  I have no idea how long it 
will take Ranma to
 well, work things out on his end.”

	Kuno cleared his throat.  “If I may make a 
suggestion,” he said quietly, “since we have no 
idea how long Ranma’s journey back from the dead 
may take, we should camp for the night and begin 
the journey back to Japan tomorrow.  Am I correct 
in guessing that it does not matter where Ranma’s 
physical form is, for him to complete his return?” he asked Akane.

	Akane blinked at him.  She blinked again, looked 
at Nabiki questioningly, then back at Kuno as if 
he’d grown another head.  Kuno bore her scrutiny 
patiently.  “I
 I think so,” she said at last, 
“or the Ancient One wouldn’t have essentially 
sent me on my way.  I was going to suggest 
something similar
”  She peered at Kuno again, 
obviously trying to figure out just who was this 
strange man with Kuno’s face.  Nabiki decided to put Akane out of her misery.

	“Kuno has seen the light,” she told her 
sister.  “He finally gets it – all of it.  He’s a changed man.”

	Akane looked at Kuno in open astonishment, even 
as the others gaped at him as well.  “You’re 
kidding,” said Ukyo.  “I wondered what the hell 
had happened to him.  I thought maybe Cologne had 
knocked him on the head too hard.”  Kuno looked 
at her, and she had the decency to blush for 
referring to him in the third person right in 
front of him.  “Er, sorry Kuno,” she 
said.  “Akane coming back five years older was a 
shock, but I never thought you’d finally
”

	“No apology necessary,” Kuno said.  “It is I who 
should be apologizing to all of you.”  And 
sensing the opportune moment, he rose from his 
seat, then bowed deeply before them.  “I would be 
most gratified if you all would accept my 
humblest apologies for the atrocities I have 
committed in the past for the sake of my mad 
delusions.  I have treated all of you most 
poorly
 you especially, Akane, and Ranma most of 
all.  I shall do whatever is required to make 
proper restitution, no matter how long it takes, 
and I do so with the hope that I will also be 
able to offer this apology to Ranma once he has 
regained his flesh.  This is my vow.”

	Akane was left speechless, her mouth hanging 
open slightly.  Nabiki once again came to the 
rescue. “And she accepts your apology.  Don’t you, sis?”

	Akane nodded.  “Thank you, Kuno,” she said 
finally.  “And thank you for what you have 
already done in providing the means for this rescue mission.”

	Kuno merely bowed his head in acknowledgement.

	“Well, then,” said Ukyo, getting to her 
feet.  “If we’re really heading back tomorrow, 
I’m going to start making camp.”  As she walked 
toward the supplies, Nabiki watched her, 
wondering just how much of Ukyo’s newfound 
composure was real, and how much of it was just 
keeping busy for the sake of sanity.

	It had been a hell of a day.

	“Akane,” said Mousse.  Shampoo was sitting close 
to him, her hands in her lap, her head bowed, 
eyes overshadowed by her hair.  “If you would 
grant us this request
 Shampoo and I would like 
to build a litter for bearing
 for bearing Ranma back to Japan.”

	Akane nodded wordlessly, tears standing out in 
her eyes.  Then she stood and walked over to the 
pair, leaned over, put her hand on Shampoo’s 
shoulder and whispered something between them 
that Nabiki could not hear.  Shampoo slumped 
over, put her face in her hands and wept, and 
Mousse held her tighter, but as Akane walked 
away, Nabiki could see that Mousse was smiling at her.

	Nabiki stood and joined her as she walked to the 
edge of the clearing.  “What did you say?” she 
asked, burning with curiosity, but Akane just 
smiled and shrugged.  Nabiki rolled her eyes and 
sighed, but wasn’t really all that put out.  “You 
haven’t changed all that much, you know,” she said wryly.

	“Neither have you,” said Akane.  “Trying to eavesdrop.”

	“Hey, if I had been really trying, I would have succeeded.”

	Akane laughed, and Nabiki felt warmed to see 
genuine mirth in her eyes.  But almost 
immediately, Akane’s eyes clouded over 
again.  “Wait,” she said, frowning.  “Where’s Ryoga?”

	Nabiki whirled and scanned the clearing.  Ryoga 
was nowhere to be seen.  The Lost Boy had flown 
the coop right under their noses, and she cursed 
herself for not paying more attention to 
him.  She should have seen this coming.  “Akane, he thinks—“

	“I know what he thinks,” Akane said, “and he’s 
wrong.  Damn it.  Don’t worry, I’ll find 
him.”  And with that, Akane disappeared into the 
thick foliage at the edge of the clearing.

	Ukyo came up behind Nabiki, peering out into the 
forest.  “I didn’t even see him go,” she said.  “That idiot.”

	Nabiki snorted.  “Can you blame him?”

	“He should have told us about his curse.  He 
especially should have told Akane.”

	Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  “So you’re saying 
that if you had a curse that would have allowed 
you to get closer to Ranma in ways you otherwise 
couldn’t, you wouldn’t have taken advantage of that?”

	Ukyo turned away, her lips pressed tight, tears bright in her eyes.

	Nabiki mentally kicked herself.  “I’m sorry, Ukyo.  That wasn’t fair.”

	“It was perfectly fair.  You’re right, Nabiki, 
I’m hardly one to be criticizing Ryoga right 
now.”  She sighed.  “I’m actually jealous.  He 
had the guts to actually run away from
 from all 
this.  I don’t even know why I’m still here.”

	“Yes you do,” said Nabiki, and Ukyo turned on 
her with almost defiant challenge in her 
gaze.  “You stay,” Nabiki continued, “because in 
spite of all the pain you’re in right now, in 
spite of feeling like you’ve lost everything, 
you’re still a good person who can’t just walk out on her friends.”

	Ukyo’s glare softened.  “Are you sure it’s not 
just because I know that if I took off right now, 
in the middle of the Chinese wilderness, I’d get just as lost as Ryoga?”

	“Maybe a little of that too,” Nabiki said 
mildly.  “But my first point still stands.”

	Ukyo just sighed and shook her head.

	“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about 
something,” Nabiki said.  “I figured I could talk 
to you about it when we got to Japan, but I 
suppose there’s no reason we can’t talk about it now.”

	Ukyo looked at her, curious and suspicious all 
at once at the sudden strange shift in the conversation.  “What?” she said.

	Nabiki tilted her head, smiling 
enigmatically.  “Just something to think 
about.  One word, really.  And you don’t have to 
decide right away.  We can talk about it more when we get back to Japan.”

	Now Ukyo was really perplexed.  “What?  What one word?  Just tell me!”

	Nabiki leaned forward and whispered, “Franchise.”

	Ukyo blinked.  Then, almost in spite of herself, 
she laughed and shook her head.  “You want to go into business with me?”

	Nabiki shrugged and said, “What else do we have to do when we get back?”

	Ukyo didn’t have an answer for that, and just 
snorted.  But the half smile she gave Nabiki 
before turning back to setting up camp was the 
first genuine smile Nabiki had seen on her face 
since before the whole blood spell mess began.

	Nabiki looked over to the other side of the 
clearing where the Snow Woman knelt by Ranma’s 
frozen body.  Everyone was giving them a wide 
berth, but the Snow Woman didn’t seem to 
mind.  She sat with her eyes closed, one hand 
resting gently on Ranma’s forehead.

	Nabiki had finished setting up her own tent, and 
Ukyo had set up the rest of the camp and had 
started cooking okonomiyaki, filling the clearing 
with delicious smells, when Akane finally 
returned with Ryoga.  They both looked like they 
had been crying, Nabiki couldn’t help but notice, 
but the look of utter devastation had left the 
Lost Boy’s countenance, though he still looked far from happy.

	“There,” Akane said as they entered the 
clearing, and her tone and her manner struck 
Nabiki as being almost motherly.  “See, 
everything’s fine, nobody’s mad.”  She said it in 
a way that clearly indicated that if, in fact, 
anyone *was* mad at Ryoga for his disappearing 
act, they needed to chill the hell out 
immediately.  “Now don’t worry about it.  You 
should get something to eat, and then try to get some sleep, okay?”

	Ryoga nodded, not quite looking at her.  As she 
turned away, heading towards the Snow Woman, he 
reached out and caught her hand in a bold gesture 
that amazed Nabiki, and she would have stared if 
she hadn’t been trying to be so discreet in her observation.

	“Akane-san,” Ryoga said, his voice low and hoarse.  “Thank you.”

	Akane just smiled.  “What are friends for?”

	Ryoga muttered something that Nabiki couldn’t hear.

	“Yes,” Akane said, gently but firmly.  “We are, 
and don’t forget it.”  She took him by the 
shoulder and pushed him toward where Ukyo was 
cooking and trying very hard not to stare at 
them.  “Now go eat.  Get some rest.”  This time 
he obeyed.  When he reached Ukyo, he looked at 
her, took a deep breath, and said something 
softly that must have been an apology of some 
kind, because Ukyo accepted it with a nod and a dismissive shrug.

	“It’s okay,” Ukyo said, flipping him a fresh 
okonomiyaki that he caught between two 
fingers.  “Might have done the same in your 
shoes, hon.  Don’t beat yourself up over 
it.”  Ryoga gave her a small, grateful smile.

	Nabiki missed the rest of their conversation as 
she got up and moved to intercept Akane on her 
way over to the Snow Woman.  “Okay,” she said in 
a conspiratorial whisper.  “You have to tell me 
what happened when you found Ryoga.”

	“Nothing that you haven’t already guessed,” 
Akane said in her new, infuriatingly calm 
manner.  Nabiki grit her teeth.  This new aspect 
of Akane was going to take some getting used 
to.  She was about to ask Akane what exactly she 
thought she had guessed, when Akane turned to her 
and said, “Hey, Nabiki, can you help me 
out?  I’ve got some wounds that need cleaning and 
dressing.  My foot and my back, mostly.  Do you have a minute?”

	Nabiki couldn’t help but admire Akane’s deft 
change of subject, even as she laughed at the 
absurdity of the question.  “Do I have a 
minute?  I come traipsing across half a continent 
just to get you back, and now that you *are* 
back, you have to ask me that?  Follow me, I’ve got a complete first aid kit.”

	They went into her tent, closed the flaps, and 
Akane carefully stripped off her upper tunic and 
her boots, hissing in pain as she inadvertently 
reopened wounds.  Nabiki looked at her, feeling 
herself pale slightly.  “What,” she asked, “in the hell did that to you?”

	“Spider demon,” Akane said, turning her back to 
Nabiki so that she could have better access to 
the deep, thin slices scattered across her 
back.  “Had really spiky – Ow! Dammit, take it 
easy,” she griped as Nabiki poured half her 
bottle of rubbing alcohol over the worst of the cuts.

	“Big baby,” Nabiki chided.  “Don’t worry, the 
worst is over.  Now hold still.  You squirm around like a toddler.”

	“Only because you have the bedside manner of a 
rabid weasel,” Akane retorted, but Nabiki could 
hear the smile in her voice.  Nabiki surprised 
herself at being able to keep up a constant 
stream of teasing banter that was only barely 
holding back the horror of what she saw on her 
sister’s back as she cleaned off the dried 
blood.  Beneath the fresh wounds, old 
scars.  Deep scars.  Scars that looked like they 
might once have been life threatening.  And 
still, they were chatting, ribbing each other 
back and forth as if they were little kids, back 
at the dojo, and Akane had come to her because 
she had tripped and sprained her ankle or had 
gotten a sliver in her finger.  And of course, 
she only came to Nabiki if Kasumi was off running 
errands, and Nabiki always pretended to be put 
out, but her big secret was that she liked those 
few times when Akane had come to her and she got 
to play nurse for her violent tomboy little sister
.

	
and she didn’t realize that she had stopped and 
that she was crying until Akane turned, wiped the 
tears from her cheek with her hand, and pulled 
her forward until their foreheads were resting 
against each other.  Akane was crying too, but 
she was saying, “It’s okay, Nabiki.  It’s over, and I’m okay.”

	It took Nabiki a few minutes to collect herself 
again, and then, when she resumed cleaning 
Akane’s wounds, including a nasty puncture wound 
in her foot that Dr. Tofu would definitely need 
to take a look at when they got home, she did so 
in silence, struggling to get her mask back in 
place.  Akane didn’t seem to mind.

	When she was through, she showed Akane that 
she’d brought along some of her clothes that she 
could change into, but they both quickly realized 
that Akane no longer fit in any of her old 
clothes.  “I’m going to have to go shopping for
 
for everything,” Akane said.  “Daddy’s going to have a fit.”

	“Not this time, I think,” Nabiki said.

	Akane ended up wearing a change of Nabiki’s 
clothes, which, while still too small, was at 
least more comfortable.  She still had to wear her bloodied boots, though.

	Nabiki fished out a comb and brush from her pack 
and, without being asked, attacked the tangled 
mane of Akane’s hair.  At first Akane protested, 
but it was only a half-hearted protest, and they 
sat together in companionable silence while 
Nabiki worked away the knots and tangles and combed out the dried blood.

	“Wow,” Nabiki said when she was finally 
finished.  “You’re hair’s longer than Kasumi’s.”

	Akane fingered a lock of her hair 
distractedly.  “I wonder if I should cut it when I get home.”

	Nabiki shook her head.  “Wait,” she said.  “Wait 
until
 until Ranma gets back.”

	Akane nodded.  “You’re right.  I will.”  She 
stood and stretched as best she could in the 
small confines of the tent.  “Thanks, Nabiki.  I feel so much better.”

	“Any time,” she said, meaning it.  “You aren’t 
sleeping in here?” she asked, as Akane lifted the 
flap to leave the tent.  “Ukyo and I got a three 
person tent so you’d have a place to sleep on the way home.”

	“That’s okay,” she replied.  “There’s no way I 
can sleep my first night back home.  I’m going to 
stay with Yuki-san and Ranma for a while.”

	The flap fell, and Nabiki laid down on her 
sleeping bag.  She found herself staring up at 
the tent ceiling feeling utterly exhausted, and 
utterly incapable of falling asleep.  But she 
didn’t get up.  She lay there, listening to the 
noises of her friends moving around the camp 
outside, and simply enjoyed the feeling of being 
at peace for the first time in a long, long time.


-------------------------------------


	Akane knew that Yuki-onna felt her silent 
approach, because as she drew close, the Snow 
Woman opened her eyes, smiled sadly at her, and 
made room so that she could take a seat beside 
her in the vigil over Ranma’s frozen body.  They 
sat in silence, watching as her friends 
eventually set up their tents and attempted to 
get some sleep.  At one point, Kuno approached 
her and offered her his tent, informing her that 
he and Ryoga had agreed to share a tent, but she 
smiled and thanked him (silently boggling at the 
idea of Ryoga and Kuno coming to such an 
agreement), and politely refused.  Kuno accepted 
the refusal reluctantly but graciously.  She 
couldn’t help but shake her head as he walked 
away.  If anyone had asked, she thought she might 
be hard pressed to declare which of the two of 
them had been more changed by this whole adventure.

	She wondered just how much sleep anyone would 
get, if any, but then the sound of light snoring 
drifted from the tents in the clearing, 
confirming that her friends were getting a little sleep at least.

	“Yuki-san,” she said finally.

	“Yes, Akane-chan.”

	“Ranma promised that he would come back to 
me.  That he would defeat death itself to return to me.”

	“Yes.”

	“I believe he will do it.  I think he will succeed.”

	“As do I.”

	“But
” she said.  Her voice cracked, 
trembled.  “But there is a small, infinitesimal chance that
”

	Yuki-onna remained silent.

	“How long
” She swallowed, cleared her throat 
and struggled against tears.  Altogether too much 
crying today.  “How long do I wait?  How will I 
know if the reason he hasn’t yet returned is 
because he is still striving for success, or
 because he has failed?”

	“There is no way to know,” Yuki-onna 
whispered.  “Even if I still had my mirror, the 
realm of the dead has always been blocked to my view.”

	“So.”  Akane digested this silently.  “I just wait.”

	“Yes.”

	Akane looked up at small patch of sky visible 
through the clearing.  The peak of the Mountain 
of the Ancient One was just barely visible 
through the clouds.  Every now and then, as the 
cloud masses shifted in their dance across the 
sky, she caught a glimmer of starlight.

	“Forever, then,” she said.  “If that’s what it takes.”

	Yuki-onna closed her eyes.

	Akane reached out and took Ranma’s stiff, frozen 
hand in hers, refusing to flinch from the 
cold.  “You hear that, you stubborn, insensitive 
jerk?” she whispered.  “I’ll wait for you forever.”

	There was no response.  Akane held his cold, 
unmoving hand until the growing pale light of 
dawn began to obliterate the stars from the sky.



-----------------------------------------


Next:  Ranma and Emma-O.


-----------------------------------------

Author’s Notes:

This scene was pretty much the only thing 
standing between me and finishing this 
ever-unfinished fic.  It was just too freaking 
intimidating.  Too many characters in one spot, 
too much to talk about, blah blah blah
 I kept 
looking at what I needed to do to continue the 
fic and balked every time I thought about sitting 
down and working on it.  And now, after, what, 8 
years?  9 or maybe even 10 years of writer’s 
block, something finally shook loose and I wrote this in two days.

As for what shook it loose, I think it’s just 
amazement that even after all this time, people 
still care enough about this story to write me 
encouragement.  I finally decided to post the 
Prologue to Fanfiction.net where HoI has been 
moldering since I posted it there in 2001, and 
over the next hour, I got 55 emails from people 
jumping with glee just because I updated and 
proved I was still alive, some from people 
cursing me for getting their hopes up that there was actually something new.

So I sat down, told my writer’s block “screw 
you,” and wrote this.  And tomorrow I start on the next scene.

I hope it doesn’t suck.

Thanks, everyone, for reading.

-Krista Fisk
5/13/2009