[FFML] [Ranma] Hearts and Minds, Part 10 of 10 [2/2]

[Gary Kleppe]

(Continued from previous post)


                                 ______


	Ryoga closed his eyes and concentrated. In his mind he could see
the bright white light in one direction, towards Akari.

	He moved laterally, keeping his distance from where the
Americans still sprawled on the ground, but angling so that they were in
the same direction as the white light. Last year Akari had taken him and
Yoiko to a billiards hall in Tokyo. He hadn't fared very well and by the
end of the day he had owed the owners a healthy repair bill. But the
idea here was the same: He was lining up his shot.

	Ryoga started to walk in the direction of the light, with
measured steps each about a meter long. The cornfield scene came back
into view. He ignored it and concentrated only on the white light as he
counted steps in sets of ten, reaching twenty, and then thirty.

	A giant mass of vegetation lay directly in his path. He ignored
it and kept going. Forty. Fifty.

	A wall of solid stone at least five meters tall stood in his
way. He kept going. Sixty. That wouldn't have stopped him even if it had
been real. Seventy.

	He burst through the wall and came to the edge of a cliff
towering over a vast ocean. He didn't slow down. Eighty. For a moment he
was walking in air -- ninety -- and then underwater. It wasn't real, he
knew, but he still couldn't force himself to breathe and his lungs felt
ready to burst.

	The count reached one hundred. Ryoga ignored what his eyes and
ears were telling him and listened to his inner sense. His finger
stabbed downward. "Breaking Point!"

	At first, nothing happened. Then he was abruptly back in
Mongolia, tumbling clumsily backwards through the air amidst a hail of
debris. He fell to the ground, and saw the two Americans do likewise a
few meters away. They looked unconscious. Ryoga stood, took a deep
breath, dusted himself off, and fired a Shishi Hokodan in their
direction. He felt bad about attacking a foe who was already down, but
considering how good these guys were at creating illusions, he needed to
be absolutely sure that they were really out.

	A siren wailed behind Ryoga; from the sound of it it was
approaching rapidly. More police and soldiers? *Bring them on*, he
thought. He had single-handedly beaten the Musk, some of the strongest
fighters around. As long as Kasumi kept the energy flowing, the only one
who had any chance of beating him was Ha Bu himself.

	He turned to see a long, red truck with ladders on its sides. A
hose was already raised and pointed in his general direction. He
couldn't possibly jump out of the way in time.

	Thoughts flashed through his mind. Obviously these people didn't
know about his curse, or they'd have used it against him long before
now. So this couldn't be an illusion.  There was no escaping the
conclusion: He'd screwed up. But it wasn't his mind that had failed but
rather his character. Back at Juesnkyo, Tatewaki had gotten shot because
Ryoga hadn't had the courage to reveal his curse to Kasumi. And now,
having learned nothing from that history, Ryoga had repeated it, and he
only hoped that he'd be able to find hot water in time to keep anyone
else from being injured or worse.

                                  ______


	"Ha! Take that, ya bum!" Jorgenson cackled. Nearby, a man rolled
off the park bench on which he'd been lying and ran. Wisps of smoke
wafted up from under his long coat.

	"He's not what we're looking for," Wesley said. Reading the
man's emotions had revealed nothing but surprise and fear. From all
appearances he was just what he looked like, some random homeless person
who'd just wanted a little rest. Not that Jorgenson cared. As far as
Wesley knew, he only went on missions because it gave him an excuse to
use his ability to burn people and not get in trouble for it.

	"What *are* we looking for?" asked Jorgenson.

	"I'm-- I'm not sure." Wesley tried to spread his empathic senses
wide, to pick up anything out of the ordinary. They had come to this
park behind the palace because he could feel some connection between
something here and the energy that had powered up the Japanese fighter.
But he still couldn't zero in on whatever it was, and nothing here
looked out of the ordinary.

	"Well, neither am I. So we need to do something to force them
out," Jorgenson said in the tone of one who'd just won an argument.
"Hey, I could'a completely torched the guy. All I did was singe him a
little."

	From seemingly out of nowhere, a garbage can slammed down over
Jorgenson's head, covering him down to his chest. Wesley turned in time
to see the fist that crashed into his face.

                                  ______


	The smaller westerner staggered dazedly. Tofu wasted no time in
turning his attention to the other one. Pausing only a second to aim, he
chopped at a nerve cluster in the burly man's leg. Tofu knew he had to
finish this one quickly. He'd crowned his opponent with the trash can to
keep him from using his power which, from what they'd learned in the
last fight, was obviously pyrokinesis. What he couldn't see, he couldn't
burn, or at least Tofu hoped not.

	The trash can suddenly flew upwards like a Roman candle,
rocketing overhead. Tofu figured he had only a second or two before the
westerner got his bearings and roasted him. He went for the opening with
a barrage of punches and kicks to the man's torso. While he preferred
quieter and more precise methods, he had to admit that brute force had
its place.

	The man fell backward, unconscious. Not even pausing to take a
breath, Tofu turned back to the smaller one and swung his arm back.

	Then he felt the man's presence in his mind and knew he was too
late.

	Vitality and resolve drained from Tofu like a liquid sucked
through a straw. *No... resist it,* he told himself, *Kasumi needs you,*
but the thought was soon no more than a distant memory that belonged to
someone else, and he collapsed to the ground.

                                  ______


	Ha Bu, now female, shook his head to disperse the water with
which Ranma had just doused him. "Was this supposed to accomplish
something?" he said, energy crackling around his fingertips.

	But Ranma could now feel a presence in the room. A familiar
spirit that he hoped wasn't just his own imagination brought on by
wishful thinking. He silently appealed, *Help me.*

	And he somehow knew what the ghost -- Lili -- was thinking. That
she would have stayed out of it and left her two hosts, who had never
wanted her anyway, to fight it out on their own. But one of them had
given her a child. A *human* child, not one of those half-human
monstrosities that the early Musk had created.

	Ranma felt his full strength, speed, and energy returning. His
perceptions and reflexes sharpened. For the time being, at least, he was
his full self -- or maybe selves -- again.

	Having gotten to his feet, Ha Bu gestured, obviously about to
fire off another blast. Ranma kneed him in the chest and followed up
with a rapid-fire series of punches to his face. Ha Bu looked stunned
but still conscious. What did it take to put this guy out? Ranma got
behind him and gripped him under his arms, holding him still. "Blast
him, Akane!"

	She raised a hand, but all that came out was a short whoosh of
air. Of course, Ranma thought; she'd lost the feelings that she'd been
tapping into. Good thing that hadn't happened in the middle of an
attack, or she'd have eaten it herself. He looked around for the serving
woman, but she was gone; obviously she'd decided to slip out, and he
could hardly blame her.

	"Get away!" Ha Bu raised an arm and threw off a wide-angle blast
like he'd done back in the old days. It flung Ranma across the room and
slammed him into a wall, making a sizable hole in the plaster.

	Akane took out the gem peered into it. She flushed a bit as if
embarrassed by something she'd seen in it. A bolt of energy lanced from
her hands and jolted Ha Bu, who looked a bit confused. Had she found a
type of ki that he wasn't familiar with? Ranma made a mental note to ask
her about it if and when they both got out of there with their butts
intact.

     Suddenly a short man with a skunk's tail on his costume was there.
Obviously a Musk. The side of his hand chopped into Akane's arm, and
struck again, and the gem flew out of her grip and into the air.

     "Hey!" Akane said as she grabbed for the gem, but the Musk snatched
it out of the air quicker than Ranma could even see.

	Ranma lunged, trying to tackle the skunk-tailed Musk, but
connected only with empty air; even with his newly-restored speed he was
nowhere near as fast as this guy. In no time at all the Musk zipped
across the room and handed the gem to Ha Bu.

	Uh oh, Ranma thought. A hot, hazy miasma coalesced around Ha Bu
as his eyes turned toward the gem.

	"Akane, go. Get out of here," Ranma said. "No arguments."

	"What are you going to do?"

	Dark stormclouds roiled above Ha's head. Ranma tried to estimate
what chance he would have against whatever attack was coming.

	"I'll be right behind you," he said. "Maybe even in front of
you."

                                  ______


	Kasumi, Wesley thought as he stared at the young woman sitting
quietly with closed eyes on the bench whom for some reason he hadn't
noticed before. Even when he completely drained someone, he usually got
only broad emotions, rarely specific information, and never had he ever
learned anything precisely enough to put specific words to it. Until
now. Her name was Kasumi. Obviously she was very special to the man in
the glasses, and Wesley could see why. Her spirit shone with all the
light and warmth of the sun. Hers was a light capable of cutting through
all of the dark storms of conflicting emotions that Wesley endured
daily.

	Kasumi was directing the transfer of energy to the man in the
bandanna. The man with the glasses had known, and Wesley's own empathic
senses confirmed it; the psychic trail was clear to him now that he knew
what to look for. Taking her down would put an end to it and revert the
bandanna-ed man back to normal where he could easily be handled by the
General.

	But how? It was obvious that his drain power wouldn't be
effective against a spirit of such fortitude. And doing anything to harm
Kasumi would be like cutting off his own leg. Though he barely knew her,
he felt what could only be called love, as if she were the mother he'd
never known.

	But he had his orders, and orders had to be obeyed.

	Wesley stood back and pulled his gun from his pocket.

                                  ______


	Ha Bu's energy streamed outward, coalescing into a gigantic
storm cloud above his head. He was Ha Bu, bearer of the blood of
dragons, so far as he knew the last such person in existence, and that
knowledge provided him nearly limitless energy. His sphere of doom grew
larger, darker. If it ended up leveling the palace, or the city, or even
the entire country, he cared not. Whatever he destroyed was
inconsequential and could be rebuilt. New bases of power could be found
and new alliances formed. He would still have his dragon heritage, and
that was the only thing that really mattered.

	He lifted the Linghungbao and peered at its light. The image
within resolved itself into a dragon. The dragon in a box. He looked
closer and saw its face, which was his own. The face of Ha Bu, bearer of
the blood of dragons.

	Finally he understood the dream, the message that his dragon
ancestors, or perhaps just his subconscious, had tried to send him. He
had been used. The humans that he'd thought of as his allies and
benefactors had used him to subjugate other humans and keep them under
control, just as they'd used those dragons years ago.

	The storm cloud of energy over his head began to press down onto
him. He could no longer own nor control it. The emotional energy that
was now crushing down on his body no longer belonged to him. He had no
right to it.

	The energy cloud festered in the air for a moment, then
exploded.

                                  ______


	Akane and Ranma ran. They found an open window and jumped down
to the ground into a courtyard, open to the sky on top but walled off
from the outside. They kept running, in a direction away from Ha Bu.
This led them to another building within the overall walled block of the
palace complex. Ranma kicked down the door, and they ran into the
building.

	An explosion thundered from behind. A wave of force rocked the
building, throwing Akane forward. She lost her footing and flew forward,
then hit the ground as pieces of demolished building fell on her.
Something struck her head, and she blacked out.

                                  ______


	Even after regaining consciousness, it took Akane a few seconds
to remember where she was and how she'd gotten there. Ha Bu. The Mongol
Palace. She lay pinned under a crossed pair of support beams amidst
various other pieces of building debris. Blood ran over her forehead in
thin rivulets, plopping down into a red stain on the floor. Her skull
ached like someone had been using it for soccer practice, and she had to
struggle to keep her eyes open.

	A ray of daylight poked through as debris began to clear away.
Someone was digging her out? From nearby she could hear Ranma's Moko
Takabisha flash, and the clatter of more rubble shifting. And a moment
later there was Ranma, pushing off the broken beams enough to let her
roll over and out from them. And there was... P-chan? No, she thought,
her brain had to be misinterpreting what she was seeing. Whatever this
was, it couldn't be her old pet pig that was rapidly clearing away
pieces of broken wood by carrying them in his teeth.

	The rubble mostly cleared, Akane stood up. Then, from not far
away, the soft *thwwwip* of a silenced pistol sounded. Everyone turned.

                                  ______


	*I killed the sun,* Wesley said to himself. *I snuffed out the
sun.*

	His reasons, his excuses lay stripped away, leaving behind naked
self-awareness. He'd never really needed to obey orders. He could always
have told his own real emotions from the fake ones that he'd absorbed
from others, for the tide of guilt and despair that engulfed him was
unquestionably real, more real than anything he'd ever felt before.

	Wesley opened his mouth and pointed his gun inside it.

                                  ______


	Days later, when Akane and the others would report back to the
Amazons by telephone, there would be some confusion over what occured
next. Akane would remember Ranma lunging toward the Westerner as he
stood over Kasumi with gun in hand pointed into his own mouth, about to
do himself in. Ranma and Ryoga would both confirm that that was what
happened (though Akane couldn't remember the latter even being there).
But that left the question of what Ranma intended to do when he got
there. Was he jumping over to attack the man, or to stop him from
killing himself? Ryoga didn't know, and Ranma himself refused to
comment.

	For Akane, there was no question. If she herself had known what
the Westerner man had just done she would probably have ripped his heart
out. But at the time she was barely cognizant of her surroundings,
probably suffering from a concussion. Still, she knew her husband. For
better or worse, he was what he was, and always would be.

	"No!" he'd said as he sped through the air towards the man.
"Don't--"

	The gun fired again. The westerner collapsed to the ground
before Ranma could reach him. The reality of the situation began to
penetrate into Akane's addled consciousness. No, he *couldn't* have. Any
moment now, Kasumi would stand up, smile, and explain how she'd used her
spirit magic to fake her death in order to trick her attacker.

	A moment later, of course, any such hopes had evaporated, and
what had happened next was something Akane knew she would always
remember, though she only later understood it well enough to put it into
words. With Kasumi no longer guiding the transfer of spirit power, the
energy backed up and spilled outward like water from a clogged drain. At
the time, it had simply been a feeling, something that couldn't be seen
nor heard but nevertheless indescribably beautiful. It burst like an
exploding star, touching everyone with the warmth of a gentle soul
tinged by the sadness of knowing that that soul would no longer be among
them.

	Then Akane fell into Ranma's arms, and they cried together for a
long time.


                                  ______


	Assistant Deputy Director of Special Intelligence Operations
John Werczynski checked his digital watch as he walked down the office
hallway. In a few seconds it would be exactly two-thirty. He stepped
into conference room 3C-1 and took a seat in one of the plush office
chairs around the oval table. "I'll be in conference with Mr. Michaels,"
he said into the intercom. "No interruptions unless it's something
absolutely urgent."

	"Yes, sir," came the reply.

	Werczynski got up to shut the door, then sat back down. He
pulled out his cell phone, switched the ringer off, and put it back in
his pocket. Switching on his tablet computer, he turned to his
subordinate in the chair next to him. "Bob."

	"John."

	"You look tired. Your body not adjusted back to Washington time
yet?"

	"I suppose not. It used to be a lot easier. Guess I'm getting
old."

	"You need to exercise more." Werczynski prided himself on having
the body of a man twenty years younger, although his strict fitness
regimen hadn't stopped his hair from thinning into a horeshoe-shaped
ring around his head.

	"Anyway, let's get down to it." Werczynski leaned back in his
chair. "I don't need to tell you that there's a lot of interest in this
from higher up. One highly valuable special agent dead, two more
hospitalized. The Mongolian palace blown up, along with the President,
and the public in open revolt against the military. We need you to make
a full report as soon as possible."

	"I'll report what I can," Michaels said.

	"You'll report everything," Werczynski said firmly. "We don't
hold back information."

	"Of course not, John. Jesus Christ, don't you think I know that?
How long have we been working together? But we should at least make sure
that what we report makes some sense."

	"Just report what you saw."

	Michaels sipped from his coffee cup. "I'm not sure what I saw."

	"Let's go over what you've told me already." Werczynski scanned
the display on his tablet. "You said that our agent, James Wesley, that
would be file number 54776974, carried out extreme sanction against
their empath, Tendo Kasumi, file number 4F686D79."

	"Right. That was to stop her feeding superhuman energy to one of
her compatriots, Hibiki Ryoga."

	Werczynski scrolled his touch screen down. "Ah yes, file
4F686D79. You think her death caused the population to riot? How would
they even have known about it?"

	"They knew. Everybody did. With her dying breath, their empath
touched the minds of everyone in the city and maybe even farther out
than that. Even I sensed it, and I'm as insensitive as they come -- just
ask my wife. Everybody was overwhelmed by the sense that an innocent
person, a beautiful spirit, had been snuffed out. Even I felt horrible
about it at the time, probably -- I shouldn't say this, but it's true --
she made me feel worse than I would've if it had been one of my own kids
who got killed."

	Michaels gulped down a mouthful of coffee, then continued.

	"And obviously I wasn't the only one. All over the city, people
came out. They grabbed crowbars, garden tools, baseball bats, you name
it, and they came. The local police and military, the ones that Hibiki
hadn't trashed, some of them hid in fear for their lives. That's what I
did. Others tore off their insignias and joined in. And there were the
ones who did their duty and tried to stem the tide. I saw some of them
take out a dozen or so of the rioters before they got crushed by sheer
weight of numbers. People in the crowds were being gunned down, and yet
more of them kept coming."

	"We know all that," Werczynski said.

	"Right, well, all in all, their empath put ours to shame. And
while ours did manage to take theirs out, it cost him his sanity and his
life. And the kicker is, this Tendo Kasumi 4F6-whatever--"

	"4F686D79."

	"Yes, right, if you read that file it indicates that she wasn't
born with paranormal powers like Wesley was. Up until she was twenty or
so, by all evidence she was just an ordinary young lady. Do you see the
implications of this? In maybe five years or so, through training this
woman got made into an empath powerful enough to depose a government.
Under somebody else's control she could've been our worst nightmare. But
think of how we could use someone like her to calm rioters down and make
them go home, or make them rise up against somebody we don't like."

	Werczynski sighed. "If you're recommending we pursue these lines
further, I can't go along with it. Considering what a massive
clusterfuck this ended up in, I see no reason why it wouldn't be better
to just wash our hands of the whole thing."

	"There was a time when I'd have agreed with you," Michaels said.
"It would sure as hell be better for my career if I just let it drop.
But Jesus, John, I wish you could've been there and experienced what I
did. That feeling... it was so unquestionably real. As if nothing I'd
ever experienced in my whole life had been real until that moment. So
honest, so sincere."

	Werczynski looked him directly in the eyes. "And your point?"

	"Just think of what would be possible if we could learn how to
artificially re-create what happened there."

	"Put that in your report." Werczynski shut down his tablet. "And
be sure to double-check all of the file codes before you file it."
ll of the file codes before you file it."


                                  ______


	Ti Pi walked along the dampened pathway. A short downpour had
briefly showered the Amazon village before yielding to blue skies,
leaving the air moist and damp. To one side, gardeners pulled weeds and
replaced dead flowers.

	She reached the Council Hall just as Shan Pu came out. They
smiled at each other. "Hi," Shan Pu said.

	"How are you?" Ti Pi said. "I heard about what happened."

	"I'm okay. I wanted to go back on duty, but Elder Lan asked me
to take a few more days off. Let's go have a drink sometime and we can
catch up on everything."

	"Sounds great. I'm glad you're all right." Ti Pi smiled. "I'm
glad that renegade wasn't really you."

	She stepped into the building and down the corridor to the Chief
Elder's study.

	"Come in," Elder Lan said.

	Ti Pi entered and sat down.

	"I've gotten word from Akane's group. They're on their way back
here and should arrive sometime tomorrow. I'm also expecting Kasumi's
teacher, Priestess Kaede, by then. The day after that will be our feast
to honor our allies and commemorate those who gave their lives."

	Ti Pi nodded.

	"From information I've gotten I expect that China will retake
the land that it lost in the war. As for Mongolia itself, Ha is missing,
presumed dead. His regime is over, but it's not clear what will replace
it. We have friends who will report back to us on any developments.
They're also trying to recover the Linghungbao, which according to Akane
is responsible for the palace explosion. It's not at all clear how it
ended up there in the first place."

	Ti Pi stared, trying not to look guilty.

	"All of which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about."

	"What is that, Elder?"

	"Kui Ziling, for personal reasons, has resigned from the Council
and from her other duties as commander of our warriors. I want to take
this as an opportunity for some structural changes. I think one of the
issues that hampered our response to the impending invasion was that her
job was too big for only one person. Also, we need to be better
developing our next generation of leaders. I intend to assign many of
the day-to-day responsibilities that she had to some younger Amazons,
with an Elder to be named later in overall command. I'd like you to
coordinate our intelligence and information gathering functions."

	"Yes, Elder," Ti Pi replied, trying not to let too much
enthusiasm show. It was a job she'd been born to do. "Will there be
anything else?"

	"One more thing. I'd like to tell you a story." Lan leaned over
her desk. "Were I to tell you about confidential Council business, I
would be breaking the law. Therefore this is just a story."

	"Understood, Elder." The new assignment *and* Council secrets.
Ti Pi didn't really believe in lucky days, but if there were such a
thing, this would be one.

	"Once upon a time, there were two Amazons. One was a scholar, a
teacher and seeker of knowledge. Another was a warrior, a skilled
combatant and clever tactician who had won many a tournament. Both were
popular, and many thought that either of them could end up as leader of
the village."

	Ti Pi had a pretty good idea of who the scholar was, at least.
She listened as Lan continued.

	"The scholar knew that the warrior would be the more likely
choice for leader, due to her tactical cleverness and because a fighter
was a more prestigious thing to be than a teacher. She also knew that
the warrior wasn't what the village would need, and that some of this
particular warrior's ideas and attitudes would be very bad for the
Amazons. At least that's what she told herself. She didn't like to think
that personal ambition might be what was really motivating her. But
whatever the reason, she called in a lot of favors and did a lot of
maneuvering behind the scenes to convince a majority of the Council of
Elders to vote to refuse this warrior a seat on the Council."

	Ti Pi nodded. While the law didn't actually require it, in
practice only members of the Council had ever been elected Chief Elder.

	"And that was the end of it. Except that it wasn't. The warrior
reacted to this decision by leaving the village. And years later, when
she came back, she caused a lot of trouble."

	Ti Pi waited until it was clear that Lan had finished, and
stood. "Thank you for the story, Elder." Obviously Zhen Biaozi was the
warrior, and Lan herself the scholar. There would be no point in asking
her why she'd decided to reveal this now, and why she'd picked Ti Pi.
"You've given me something to think about."

	Lan smiled. "From one scholar to another."

	Now Ti Pi *really* had something to think about, she mused as
she walked toward the exit. Was Lan really saying that history might
repeat itself? The scholar could be Ti Pi, and the warrior could be...
who?

	Shan Pu?

	Certainly Ti Pi didn't think Shan Pu would ever go rogue the way
that Zhen Biaozi had, and given her popularity no one would be able to
blackball her from the Council when she was old enough. But her outlook
on some matters was very different from Ti Pi's. There would be
disagreements, and they would need to work through them.

                                  ______


	Ryoga sat on a bench at the edge of the Amazon village, watching
the sky as orange sunlight began to diffuse across the horizon. His
group had arrived back late last night, and the others, as far as he
knew, were still sleeping. Beyond the village, hills and mountains
stretched out into the distance. Ryoga almost felt as though they were
calling his name. This place wasn't like Honshu, where he could start
walking and know that he would sooner or later get back to somewhere he
knew. Continental Asia was big enough that if he started walking he
might never see anyone he knew again. And somehow, at some level, that
idea appealed to him. It was a terrible thing to be thinking. He had a
loving wife and daughter waiting for him back home.

	Kasumi was dead. At first, Ryoga had wondered whether it would
turn out to be a trick, as it had with Kodachi. But no. Kasumi was dead.
And maybe Ryoga could've stopped it if he hadn't been stuck as a piglet.
If he'd admitted his curse to Kasumi and had her unlock it, he could've
changed back to human form. But no. Kasumi had to die because Ryoga
didn't want Akane to be mad at him.

	The hills and mountains called to Ryoga. All he had to do was
start walking, and in a matter of minutes he could be completely lost.

	"Hey, Ryoga."

	Ryoga spun around on the bench. "Ranma."

	Ranma took a seat next to him. "Whatcha doin'?"

	"Just thinking."

	"What about?"

	"Nothing much." Ryoga didn't feel like explaining. It wasn't
anyone else's business anyway. "Have you told your father-in-law what
happened? How'd he take it?"

	"I talked to Mom on the phone, and she told him, yeah. Akane
talked to him a little later. He's trying to be brave, but I think he's
in pretty bad shape."

	The two spent several seconds just staring into space.

	"Is your girl side gone again?" Ryoga asked. "The ghost?"

	"Lili? Yeah. She was with me when Akane and I fought against
Herb, but she left after that. I wonder if I shouldn't just let her go.
I figure maybe... maybe she deserves a rest."

	"But-- but you said that a lot of the strength you used to have
came from her."

	"Yeah. So without her I won't be anywhere near as good as I used
to be. So is that so terrible? I'll work at retraining myself, from the
ground up if I have to. Maybe I'll never be that good again, but at
least this time I'll come by it honestly."

	Ryoga shook his head. "And what happens when the next Herb shows
up? Yeah, he'll kick your butt, but at least it'll be an *honest* butt-
kicking. The rest of us will remember that when we're fighting the
people that you can't."

	"Oh, gimme a break," Ranma said. "You don't know--"

	"Look, Ranma, I screwed up. I admit it. I could've asked Kasumi
to unlock my curse and teach me how to change without water. But I
didn't think I'd need that ability. And because I made that mistake,
Kasumi is dead."

	"You think that would've mattered?" Ranma laughed. "Stupid jerk.
The only reason you were anywhere near Kasumi in the first place is that
you went looking for hot water."

	"That's not the point! You can slough off your responsibilities
if you want to. The rest of us will be there to pick up the slack."

	"Why, you..." Ranma stood and dropped into a fighting stance.
Ryoga did likewise.

	Behind them, a voice sounded. "Ahem."

	Ranma and Ryoga turned to see the heavy-set old woman.
"Priestess Kaede?" Ryoga said, not certain he remembered her name
correctly.

	Kaede nodded. "I thought you'd like to know, I have a message
from Kasumi."

	"A message?" Ryoga said.

	"She can communicate with spirits," Ranma said. "Like people
who're, you know..."

	"Sometimes, yes," Kaede said. "When they have something to say."

	"What *did* she have to say?" Ryoga asked.

	"She just told me to thank you both for everything you did. She
said it was especially brave of you, Ryoga, to run in and dig Akane out
after the building collapsed on her."

	"I don't think it was all that brave. I still had the energy
that Kasumi had fed me. Don't think anything there would've hurt me."

	"Some*one* could have," Ranma said. "Remember what you looked
like then?"

	Ryoga instinctively winced in pain. "That didn't even cross my
mind at the time," he said in a low voice. "Does she... does she know?"

	"I don't think so," Ranma said. "She was pretty dazed. I don't
think she was too aware of what was going on. You got lucky one more
time."

	"Kasumi also said she'll be with you in spirit for everything
that will follow," Kaede said.

	Ryoga looked up. "That will follow?" He and Ranma looked at each
other. They knew what it meant: It wasn't over. Maybe it would never be
over.

	"Um, she wouldn't care to expand on that, would she?" Ranma
asked.

	Kaede shook her head slowly.

	"If you talk to her again, tell her we'll both be there and do
everything we can," Ryoga said, "for whatever it is." He looked in
askance at Ranma, who nodded.


                                  ______


	The entire population of the village turned out for the event
that followed. Amazons conversed in spirited voices around picnic tables
that stretched in long rows across the large open field. Servers
deposited trays of food onto a buffet table; there were plates of fresh
fish, pots full of pork buns, red bean buns, assorted fruits and
vegetables, and what looked like it might be a roast pheasant.

	Mu Si watched and couldn't help feeling a bit elated. He'd seen
some banquets of this size before back when he'd lived here. But now he
was seated at the head table along with the Nerima crew, plus the Chief
Elder as well as Shan Pu and Ti Pi. Back then he was just someone who
people put up with because they had to. Now he was a guest, but a guest
of honor.

	He reached over the table to shake Tofu's hand. "I'm so sorry to
hear about Kasumi."

	Tofu smiled. "Thank you. It's good to be among so many good
friends at a time like this."

	"Indeed," Priestess Kaede, next to him, said. "She was a
wonderful student. I suppose I'll have to look for another one now."

	"How about... me?" Tofu said.

	"Hm?" Kaede looked him over. "Well, I'll certainly give you the
chance to prove yourself, if you want it."

	Tofu nodded. "Thank you. I'll do my best to be worthy."

	Elder Lan stood and addressed the full audience. "Before we
enjoy the banquet, I'd like to say a few words." The noise of the crowd
immediately died down. "We're here to honor the heroes among us, our
friends as well as our own people. Firstly," she said, pointing, "Mu Si,
who defeated Zhen Biaozi. Without him, I wouldn't be here to speak with
you today."

	The crowd applauded. Mu Si waved. Ti Pi repeated Lan's remarks
in Japanese. Mu Si looked back at his own table and saw Shan Pu clapping
and smiling, a sight he was sure he would never forget.

	"Then there are our friends from Japan who fought and destroyed
General Ha, liberating a country from his rule. Saotome Akane and Ranma.
Hibiki Ryoga, Doctor Tofu. The Amazons owe you all a debt we can never
repay."

	The audience applauded again as Ti Pi translated for the
Nerimans.

	"Finally, we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Saotome Genma gave his life to make amends for his own error and to
protect the lives of the others. And Tendo Kasumi. It may seem
incongruous for a society of warrior women to say this of a pacifist,
but Tendo Kasumi embodied the highest ideals of the Amazons. After the
death of her mother she gave up years of her life to help raise her
sisters. Then when the call came again, she willingly gave the rest of
her life without a second thought."

	More translation. Ranma and Akane embraced each other.

	"Traditionally when an Amazon warrior dies in battle, we raise
our weapons in tribute. I would ask all of you now to raise an open
hand, a hand of friendship, as a salute to Tendo Kasumi."

	All across the field, everyone's hand went up.

	"Finally, and as previously agreed to by the Council, I declare
our friends to be honorary members of the Amazons. If ever they should
need us, we will be there for them without hesitation, as they were for
us." The crowd applauded again. "Thank you. Please enjoy the food."

	Lan stepped back. The crowd started to murmur again as serving
men began to distribute plates of food. Kuno Tatewaki stood. "A word,
Elder?"

	"Certainly," Lan said. "What is it?"

	"While I am grateful for the honor of membership in the Amazon
tribe, I'm afraid I am unable to accept."

	"Tatewaki?" Shan Pu said. "You were *already* given--"

	"I cannot accept at this time," he continued, "for it is my
intent to challenge the graceful and adroit Shan Pu to a combat match."

	Everyone around the table shot puzzled looks at him.

	"If she should lose, then by Amazon law, as an outsider she
should marry me. If I should lose, then by the traditions of Furinkan
High School, I should date with her. In fact, since I am an adult
graduate of the school, I should marry her."

	Shan Pu laughed. "Your school has *no* rule like that!"

	"It has too," Akane said. "I can attest to that personally."

	"Oh, all right." Shan Pu's face broke into a smile. "I accept
terms."

	"Very well, then I..." Tatewaki's eyes bulged. "She accepted?!"

	Ranma slapped him on the back and shook his hand. "Way to go,
buddy!"

	Tatewaki began shaking hands around the table. When he got to Mu
Si, he paused for a moment, and they looked at each other.

	"Be good to her," Mu Si said. He offered a hand.

	Tatewaki eagerly accepted the handshake. "Always."

	Shan Pu leaned over and kissed Mu Si on his cheek. "Thank you,"
she whispered.

	Mu Si smiled. There was nothing left for him to do but play the
good loser. He would act happy for their sake. Yet somehow it didn't
feel too much like a pretense. He didn't win her love, but he'd known
for a long time that he wouldn't. But it seemed that he had managed to
earn something that he'd thought he'd never have: her respect. That
would do. It would more than do.

	"Wait a minute." Gosunkugi Hikaru looked up. "What happens if
the match is a draw?"

	Shan Pu gave him a friendly pat on his shoulder. "We think of
something."

                                  ______


	The next morning, Elder Lan invited the Nerima group to her
residence for dim sum. Gosunkugi Hikaru sat with Ti Pi, munching down
steamed dumplings and rice noodles while writing code samples on a sheet
of scrap paper. "So my variable gets set equal to whichever function is
appropriate for this particular item, so I can call it later."

	"How can a variable be a function?" Ti Pi asked.

	"You just set it to one. A function is a standard type in some
languages, like this one. Of course, if you set a variable equal to a
function and then try some non-function operation on it, you'll get a
runtime error."

	She stared at the paper, pondering. Hikaru would miss these
sessions, especially since Ti Pi gave as good as she took. In the past
few weeks he'd gotten a fair training in Qi Gong. The exercises she'd
taught him made him feel like he had more stamina. She'd also taught him
some basic concepts of sorcery; he probably wouldn't know enough to
actually *do* anything mystical in this lifetime -- even she wasn't
anywhere near as good as that -- but he at least understood why the
voodoo he had tried long ago couldn't work.

	Elder Lan approached Hikaru. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said.
"Will you be leaving today with Doctor Tofu and Ryoga, or will you be
staying for the wedding with Akane and Ranma?"

	Hikaru thought about it. In the short time he'd been there he'd
blundered into some serious mishaps, but he was pretty sure he'd also
played a major role in preventing the impostor from blowing up the
Elders. Mu Si had gotten all of the credit, but for some reason that
didn't bother Hikaru too much. He was just glad that things turned out
all right. And now he could go back to his safe, boring existence. Or
not. He enjoyed exchanging knowledge with Ti Pi, but still had no idea
whether she was interested in anything more, or whether she would become
interested as time went on.

	He smiled to himself. He'd come here looking for excitement and
risk. And wasn't this what it was all about -- taking a chance on an
uncertain outcome?

	"I'll stay for the wedding," he said. "And maybe longer. Er, if
that's okay."

	"YES!" Ti Pi said. "Oh, I'm sorry, Elder. It is, of course, your
decision."

	Lan chuckled. "No harm done. As I said yesterday, Hikaru, you've
been made an honorary citizen of the village. That means you can stay as
long as you like."

	"Thank you, Elder," Hikaru said.

	"You're welcome, and we're happy to have you here." She added in
a lower voice, "Please, please, stay out of trouble."

	"Yes, Elder," Hikaru said along with Ti Pi, their voices almost
in unison. But he knew they wouldn't.


                                  ______


	"Goodbye, Doctor." Elder Lan bowed. "On behalf of the Amazons,
thank you once again for all the help you've given us."

	"You're welcome," Tofu said. "I'm sorry I can't stay for the
wedding. But I need to get back and help my patients transition to other
doctors."

	"Seeya back in Japan, Doc." Ranma pointed to Ryoga. "And keep an
eye on this guy. Don't let him out of your sight 'til you get back
home."

	"I'll see you soon, Ranma," Ryoga said. "Let's get together with
our families. I know the kids would like to see each other."

	Ranma nodded. "We'll be there. And hey, what you said before,
you were absolutely right. We've got a couple days before the wedding.
I'm gonna go swimming in a certain spring."

	"I'm coming with you," Akane said in a tone that brooked no
argument. Ranma nodded. Akane looked up. "Doctor, before you go, could
we talk for a moment?"

	Tofu nodded, and led Akane and Ranma aside as Elder Lan talked
with Ryoga and Kaede.

	"I just wanted to ask you... are you okay?"

	"I'll live," Tofu said with a twisted smile. He'd never quite
understood why bringing up a painful topic was supposed to help one feel
better about it. It was like thinking that ripping open a wound would
make it heal faster.

	"We're worried about you, Doc," Ranma said. "We know how you
felt about Kasumi. How you used to act around her. No offense, but how
come you aren't flipping out?"

	Tofu's eyes grew distant. "She knew," he said. "I don't know
how, but Kasumi knew exactly what would happen to her. And she still
went through with it, and she even went cheerfully. How can I do any
less?"

	Akane reached up and offered him a hug, which he returned. As a
physician he knew how hard it was to want to help but not be able to.
Sometimes a patient had to heal on his own.

	*People don't like to hurt nice guys.* Someone had told him that
a long time ago, and it was true. But it seemed like life -- the
universe, the gods, or however one wanted to think of it -- did like to
hurt nice guys. Maybe, just maybe, that was because life knew that they
were strong enough to take it.

                                  ______


	Ranma and Akane arrived at Jusenkyo by early afternoon. Ranma
listened with half an ear as Akane talked with the guides. She was
looking for the Niangniquan, spring of drowned maiden. No, she wasn't
trying to rid herself of a curse; she didn't have one, and even if she
did, according to the Amazons that spring wouldn't cure it. No, this was
for Ranma. Yes, he'd already fallen in that same spring years ago. He
needed, er, a booster treatment. We'll check the maps, said the guides,
and they went into their shack.

	A breeze blew damp air over Ranma, and he shivered. In the
beginning he'd considered his transformation a burden, a curse. Then it
was something to be exploited. And it had been a source of power, a way
of enhancing his combat prowess, even though he hadn't been aware of
that at the time. But only after it left him did he realize that it was
more than all of that. It-- she-- was a part of his family. A sister, as
he'd spoken of her long ago. Okay, a sister with whom he'd fathered a
child. It just went to show that no analogy was perfect. But he'd
already lost one sister and wasn't about to give up another if he could
help it.

	The guides came back out. The senior one, Pu Yichi, carried a
map. He moved around the area, comparing the image on the map to the
arrangement of pools on the ground. Then he pointed to one particular
one. "That is spring you looking for, Mr. Customer."

	"Okay, here goes nothin'," Ranma said as he moved toward the
indicated pool.

	"Hold it." Akane grabbed his arm, and he stopped with a jerk.
"Are you absolutely sure that's the one?"

	The teenage girl guide, Pu Lanmu, examined the map. The two
guides exchanged some intemperate-sounding talk in Chinese. Then she
took the map from her father's grasp and rotated it ninety degrees.

	Pu Yichi looked at the map, nodded, then pointed to a different
spring behind Ranma. "So sorry. THIS one."

	Ranma turned and looked, and he no longer needed the guides to
tell him anything. This was unquestionably what he was looking for. He
could feel it in his mind, a sensation like coming back to a long-lost
home.

	He took a step, then another, then held his nose and dove in.





	Tiny air bubbles floated to the surface of the pool. Akane
wondered when Ranma would be coming up. Was Lili the ghost holding him
down? Did she intend to drown him in the same pool so that the two of
them could be together for all time? Or was Akane's imagination running
away with her?

	More seconds passed, and still nothing but bubbles came up.
Akane would have to pull him out. There was nothing else for it. It
might get her a curse of her own, but better that than a dead husband.

	Before she could react, a black shape came up and rapidly broke
the surface. Akane had to duck her head to the side to avoid getting
splashed. Once again Ranma's head was a little smaller, with the
slightly lower cheekbones of a female.

	"Wooo!" he said in his familiar woman's voice. "The water's
fine!"

                                  ______


	The Shan-Kuno wedding went on for an entire day. The next
morning, Ranma, Akane, and Mu Si said their final goodbyes. Worn out
from the previous day's excitement, time passed quickly for them as
feet, busses, planes, and trains carried them into Japan.

	No one greeted the three of them as they arrived in Nerima. The
pale glow of streetlamps illuminated sidewalks as they walked up to the
Saotome-Tendo residence. Setting down his suitcase, Ranma turned his key
in the lock and opened the door. He paused, waving Akane back with a
hand, and cocked his head to listen.

	"There're people in there," he whispered. "It's an ambush."

	"Ambush?" Akane whispered back. Who would possibly...? The
family were obviously all out for the evening, since the lights were off
and it was too early for them to have gone to bed. And she and Ranma had
spotted a figure watching them as they came out of Nerima station, but
the unknown individual had ducked out of the way before they could see
who it was.

	"I'm gonna sneak in the back and hit 'em from behind," Ranma
whispered. "Mu Si, turn into a duck and follow me through the window.
Akane, get their attention. Keep 'em distracted." The two faded into the
shadows.

	*And I'm left as bait,* Akane thought. *Gee, thanks.* She needed
to come up with a plausible reason for not going in the house right
away. "Ranma!" she shouted, looking opposite to the direction he'd gone.
"Come back! It's just a harmless little alley cat, for goodness sake!"

	In the darkness, bodies scuffled.

	"Hah! Gotcha!"

	"Oh!"

	"Gack!"

	Furniture clattered. Glass smashed. Akane decided that any
element of surprise had now been used up and reached for the light
switch.

	The lights came on. "Surprise!" voices chorused. "Welcome home!"

	Mu Si and Ranma gaped in shock as they saw just who it was they
had wrestled to the ground.

	"Mrs. Saotome?!"

	"Mikado?!"

	The skater dusted himself off. "We have to stop meeting like
this," he said with a smirk.

	Akane looked over the crowd. Besides the two children and their
two grandparents, Nabiki was there, along with the three Hibikis, the
Golden Pair, Ukyo, and Konatsu. It was quite a turnout.

	"We're glad to have you back!" Tendo Soun proclaimed. "And to
celebrate, we're going to enjoy a special cake that--" He turned towards
a vaguely cake-shaped glop that lay on the floor beside an overturned
table. "Never mind. But we *are* going to celebrate!"

                                  ______


	Shortly, techno-pop boomed and thumped from Hikaru's portable
music player over spirited conversation.

	"Hey, Akane, take it easy on the sake, willya?"

	"Ha. It looks like you've had a few yourself!"

	"Yeah, well, I'm drinking for two. So there!"

	"Are you pregnant, sir?"

	"NO! Don't be a dope, Konatsu. Do I look female at the moment?"

	"Sometimes it's hard to tell, sir."

	"Mrs. Saotome, I'm terribly sorry about before!"

	"Think nothing of it, Mr. Mu. Why, if I were twenty years
younger--"

	"MOM! Geez..."

	Soun cleared his throat. "May I have everyone's attention? Stop
the music, please."

	Ranma fumbled for a button on the player. The music cut off, and
a deep voice began announcing baseball scores. "Good going, Pop!" Hikaru
slipped over and touched another button, stopping the voice.

	"Thank you." Soun raised a glass. "A toast to my daughter,
Akane, and my son-in-law, Ranma, and to our good friend Mu Si. We give
them a lot of trouble, but we're so glad to have them around." Glasses
clinked, and voices cheered appreciatively.

	"Excuse me, sir." Mikado stepped forward. "May I speak?"

	"Certainly." All eyes turned towards Mikado.

	"I hope it won't put a damper on the festivities," he said, "but
I have an announcement of my own. I am hereby cancelling my engagement
to Kuonji Ukyo. This is not at all the fault of anything she has done.
Ukyo has been a wonderful fiancee and I'm sure would make a great wife,
but I firmly feel I am not ready at this point to marry anyone."

	"Honestly, hon, if you hadn't cancelled it, I would've," Ukyo
said. "Not anything against you either. If I were ready to be married,
you'd be the first I'd call."

	Soun raised his glass. "A toast to our friends who, er, aren't
getting married!" More clinks and cheers sounded.

	"I too have something to say, and now seems as good a time as
any," Nodoka said. "Ukyo, a group of persons have approached me on your
behalf. A Mr. Hakano and his associates. I believe you know them. They
brought up the matter of the okonomiyaki cart that my late husband had
taken from your father."

	"I do know them, unfortunately. Please don't pay any attention
to what they say. I've told them many times in no uncertain terms that
my life is none of their business."

	"I've considered the validity of their argument," Nodoka
continued, unmindful of Ukyo's response. "From what I've determined, the
okonomiyaki cart in question actually belonged to the Gambling King, as
he'd won it from you in a card game. Therefore it cannot be considered
as a dowry."

	"I don't WANT it to be considered--"

	"Nevertheless, our family still owes you. By stealing your cart,
my husband caused you great mental anguish and, more pertinently,
deprived you of future earnings. Based on your obvious acumen and
entrepreneurial skill, I estimate our debt to you at ninety million
yen."

	Ukyo chuckled. "That's a nice sentiment, even if you're never
going to have--"

	Akane sidled over to her and slipped a piece of paper into her
hand.

	Ukyo gaped. "A-- a check for-- Is this for real?" Akane nodded.
Ukyo held it up to where Mikado could see it. "Still want to pass on
that engagement thing, sugar?" She doubled over with inebriated
laughter, and the room joined in.

	"Excuse me," Nabiki said soberly. "Now that your shop is out of
danger, could you use... an employee?"

	"Nope." Ukyo smiled. "But a partner'd be nice."

	"Wow," Ranma said. "I'm sure you two are going to *own*
Okonomiyaki World in no time at all."

	Ukyo blew a raspberry. "Who'd want it?"

	"A toast to--" Soun swung his glass around a bit too forcefully
and stumbled. Ryoga reached over to steady him. The room started to buzz
with conversation once again.

	"Hey, Dad." Hikaru handed Ranma a piece of paper. "I almost
forgot. This is for you."

	Ranma unfolded the note and began to read. "'Ranma, darling,
thank you for a delightful time. I need to be going. Perhaps we can do
it again in another seven years! Kodachi.' Where the heck did you get
this?"

	"I found it on my desk in my room."

	"Kodachi was in your room?!"

	"I guess so. She must've come in while we were sleeping. We
didn't even see her."

	"Great. Just great." Ranma crumpled the letter. "Something to
look forward to."

	"I've got to get going," Ukyo said. "Ran-chan, Akane, you guys
are the greatest. I want your whole family over for okonomiyaki, on the
house."

	"Thank my pop," Ranma said. "It was a deal that he started."

	"You're the greatest too, hon," Ukyo said to Mikado. "Thanks for
straightening out the whole engagement thing. I'll see you later, okay?"

	She stepped toward the door, then came back to him. Her head
tilted, and she leaned over to kiss him. Her technique was a bit sloppy
and awkward, not a great kiss by any objective standard. But he could
tell that there was a genuine affection behind it, from someone who'd
seen a little of the vulnerabilities that lay beyond his everyday facade
and still truly cared for him.

                                  ______


	"Hello, Saotome-Tendo training hall. Yeah, this's Ranma. A
tournament? Osaka, in September? No, sorry, I'm permanently retired from
all martial arts competitions. Why? Because two against one's not a fair
fight. No, that's okay, you don't need to understand.

	"Sure, I know the competitions are good exposure for our school.
The school isn't retiring, just me. You want someone from our school to
enter? Oh yeah, have I got a competitor for you. Hey, Akane!"

	"Hm?"

	"Martial arts freestyle tournament in Osaka in September.
Interested?"

	"Sure, I'll do it. Tell them I'll call them back for the
specifics."

	"Yeah, my wife, Akane, will compete in the women's division.
Yeah, only in the women's. She'll call you back. Thanks. Bye."

	Akane stepped into the living room. Her father sat there,
staring at the television screen, which currently featured what looked
like a talk show about cosmetics advice for women. Empty take-out boxes
lay scattered over the table next to him. They had been there since
lunch six hours earlier; come to think of it, the same TV channel had
been on since then too.

	It was happening again. When Akane was a little girl and her
mother had passed away, her father couldn't bring himself to set foot
inside the kitchen. Kasumi had had to start cooking, because someone
needed to do it and no one else could. Fortunately, she proved to be
great at it, surprising everyone including herself. It had been Mother's
last gift to the family, she'd said. By the time she had left to train
with Priestess Kaede, Father had long since gotten over it. Until now.

	Okay, Akane thought. Someone had to do it. There was food in the
refrigerator that would spoil if they left it there much longer. She
went into the kitchen.

	Akane's knife chopped up meats and vegetables. She threw them
into the heated pan where they crackled and sizzled on the thin layer of
oil. She sprinkled a few spices onto the mixture, stirring it with a
spatula. And she wondered why, why, *why* it had to be Kasumi. What sort
of sickness permeated the world that would make such a thing happen? The
person directly responsible, whoever he was, was dead, but surely the
problem went a lot deeper than just him.

	She shut off the burner, lifted the pan, and slid the contents
onto a plate. Sticking several pairs of chopsticks under one arm, she
carried the plate into the living room and set it down on the table.

	"Thanks, Akane." Father started eating.

	The thought suddenly occurred to Akane: What was she *doing?*
Her cooking had improved to the point where she could successfully
follow step-by-step instructions most of the time. But freestyle cooking
for her was a recipe for disaster. Her father's state of mind was a
problem, but it certainly wouldn't be improved by her trying to poison
him.

	"Akane... who cooked this?"

	"I did," she admitted.

	"It's... it's delicious?"

	"It *is?!*" She tried some. It was. She even remembered what she
had done, step by step, and knew *why* each thing she'd done had been
the right thing.

	"It's just like-- like Kasumi used to--" Her father started
crying. Putting down her chopsticks, she held him as he sobbed into her
shoulder. Silently, Akane said a last goodbye to her sister and thanked
her for passing along their mother's last gift.

	Akane had lived most of her life in her own comfortable little
bubble. The world outside of that had some dark corners and pitfalls.
For now, she'd stay home and take care of her family. But sometime down
the road, someone would need her and Ranma again. When that call came,
they would answer, and maybe with their friends and family behind them,
things might just turn out all right.


THE END

Extended author's notes and omake to follow.