Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!? Chapter nine. China Girls, part two Journeys A fan fiction based on the works of Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Ranma 1/2, and, Masaki Kajishima, who I've been told is the creator of Tenchi. Hitoshi Okuda, is the artist and creator of the Tenchi Manga. The characters from M.I.B. are the creation and property of Malibu comics. I have no rights to these characters. Which should come as no surprise to anyone. Perfume is a creation of Wade Tritschler, used with his permission. For more stories featuring her, and other interesting characters check out Wade's altered destinies page, she shows up in many of the stories there. You can find it at. What's going on? This is an alternative universe story. Ranma was trapped as a girl from her first dip in the Nanniichuan. Why? Read the earlier chapters of Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?. See below for some highlights. Nodoka Saotome, along with Akane Tendo and Ukyou Kuonji have visited Jusenkyo, with about the results you would expect. They are now on their way home, each of them trying to come to grips with the changes the trip has caused to their individual worlds. Big thanks to all the people who contributed C+C to this, their help has been greatly appreciated. It is very unlikely the story would be anywhere near as good as it is without their efforts. If you have not read my TARTF side story featuring Ryouga in Space, I recommend you do so before reading this. You can find all of TARTF at, Be sure to check out the other fine stories at the site. T.H. Tiger schell@interlog.com The Jusenkyo springs, an ancient training ground, renowned in legend and story, had seen better days. The pristine valley was a mass of churned up dirt, displaced boulders, and shattered bamboo. Several springs had even been covered over, while many others were churned up and murky. All in all it looked more like a toxic waste dump than a mountain valley. Of course, even with all the destruction, a toxic dump would still be a much safer place for the casual traveler to visit. It was one full day after the three, now four, women and the peculiar pig had left the valley, and Plum's father was home. The Jusenkyo guide was indulging in a common parental habit. The one where, having discovered your precious, darling, loved one is not lying shattered in the ditch along with the car, you proceed to express yourself in terms somewhat less then affectionate. To say he was displeased to find Mint, the person who had been sent to offer help, locked up in the hut like a common criminal was an understatement. His feeling concerning the condition of the valley went way beyond displeased. The current lecture had been going on for over an hour, and Plum's father was starting to repeat himself. He seemed to realize this as well. He ground to a halt and stared in displeasure at her. Finally, giving a nod, as if coming to a conclusion, he walked over to a corner of the hut and lifted up a trap door. Plum felt her heart sink as he turned and directed a commanding look at her. Plum's eyes widened in shock. she protested. Plum had not been completely honest with Nodoka when she told the older woman she had studied all the old scrolls. The truth was she had pretty much skimmed them, only paying attention to those that caught her attention. She blanched at the thought of reading account after account of normal travelers falling into such mundane springs as the spring of drowned dog or deer. Over the centuries a lot had happened at the springs, and despite the magic involved, the vast majority of those cursed had led, and continued to lead, boring lives. Her father merely glowered at her and said, . He looked Plum up and down and reached behind him to a kettle that was simmering over the cookfire. He handed her the kettle and, without another word, walked outside to talk to his guests. Plum was left behind, looking at the open trapdoor as if it was the entrance to eternal damnation. Giving a sigh, Plum set the kettle down and wiggled out of her purloined dress. It had been nice while it lasted, but now it was time to go back to the old boring Plum. Upending the kettle, she let the hot water flow down over her head. Her body shrank, her curves flattened, and a few seconds later, ten-year old Plum slipped into her regular clothes and headed for the ladder to the archives. When the guide got outside he was surprised to find Herb and his men indulging in a hurried packing. They were going over all the supplies they had left in the valley, as well as what they had brought back from the monkey hunt. They were carefully picking and choosing some items and discarding others. When the guide walked up to the prince, instead of the angry scowl he expected, he received a beaming smile. He was not left in suspense long as to the cause. Herb told the guide, his voice gleeful. Herb said excitedly. Herb turned to Lime and Mint who had finished packing and had slung the backpacks onto their backs, in Lime's case a truly massive one. Herb ordered, and pulling on his own small backpack he set out at a trot. The guide was left standing in shock, his mouth gaping open. He held up a hand and started to call out after the prince, but then he let it drop and gave a sigh of resignation. What did it matter? One wild monkey chase was no different than the other. When Herb finally tracked down the group of girls, he would find that the monkey was not there. With any luck, the chase would take a very long time. With real luck, by the time the prince found them, and learned the truth, he would be tired of the hunt and ready to return home. ************************************************** Akane walked along, slightly behind Ukyou and Nodoka, her mind lost in thought. So much had happened in such a short time. She had seen things that she would have dismissed as fantasy if told them. She had seen magic spells transform her companions. Met an alien from another planet, for Kami's sake. Despite how incredible all that was, it shrank into insignificance when compared to the truly major change in her life. The one that was even now walking alongside her, matching her stride for stride, every motion a duplicate of her own. And why not? She was Akane, every bit as much as Akane was Akane. Akane turned her head slightly to the left to take a look at the dark-haired figure walking beside her and met a pair of brown eyes looking at her with the same quizzical expression she knew she had on her own face. She jerked her head back to stare down the path and knew with a sure certainty that the other girl had done the same thing. They walked in silence for some time, and then Akane looked back over to the right and broached the subject she knew must be on both of their minds. "This is strange." "This is strange." Akane looked at the other girl, startled, still not used to hearing her words echoed back to her, even before she had truly spoken them. She felt a familiar rush of heat, feeling the other girl must be mocking her, and fought it down, knowing the self same thought must be running through her counterparts mind. "Sorry." "Sorry." "Damn." "Damn." Akane stopped walking and turned to face the other girl, who, of course, was doing the exact same thing in return. It was a strange experience, looking at yourself like this. You would have thought it would be like looking into a mirror, but it wasn't. The face was reversed from the one she was use to seeing in the mirror. A subtle thing to be sure, but one that seemed to make a great deal of difference. She had been looking into mirrors and ponds all her life. The slight disassociation between the face in front of her and the one she had been used to seeing for all those years was far more jarring then she would have thought. At times, she found herself thinking that the other girl really did not look at all like her. Her right eye was slightly higher then the left, when she knew her own left eye was the one that was the higher. A small freckle on the left side of the other girl's nose should have been on the right. The more she looked, the less like her the other girl resembled her. "We don't . . ." "We don't . . ." Akane gritted her teeth and, going against every facet of her character, surrendered control to the other girl. "Sorry, you go first." "Sorry, you go first." Akane found herself on the verge of screaming. Mindful of the pledge she'd made to herself to try for more control, she counted to ten slowly. Strangely enough, the sight of the other girl's lips moving as she did the same thing did not make her more angry, but caused a slight trickle of humor to infiltrate its way into her brain. If it wasn't so frustrating, it would be funny as hell, she couldn't help but think. She felt a slight tugging as the corner of her mouth quirked up. Her smile widened when she saw the other Akane smiling back at her. Another second and they might have burst out in mutual laughter. Before that could happen, however, a tug on her pants leg distracted Akane. She looked down to see Agent P, the alien pig, sitting beside her. He looked out of breath and thoroughly exhausted. He was also coated in a heavy covering of road dust. "I take it you two are having a bit of a problem communicating?" Akane grimaced, "You could say that." "You could say that." Akane looked at herself, and they both sighed simultaneously in disgust. "I might have a solution." Akane looked at him, an expression of interest on her faces. "Let the one holding the pig talk first." "Nani?" "Nani?" "It might have escaped your notice, but I'm built a bit closer to the ground then the rest of you oversized tree hump . . . huggers. I could use a lift." Akane looked surprised. "Really, you wouldn't find it degrading to be carried like a pet?" "Really, you wouldn't find it degrading to be carried like a pet?" "Shit, yes. How horrible. To be carried like a pet. I'd much rather have a heart attack trying to keep up with you. I love the taste of dirt in the morning, and there's nothing better for a person than to throw up every few miles from exhaustion." "Well, if your going to be like that . . ." "Well, if your going to be like that . . ." Akane turned her faces away from the little pig, and they each took a step down the road. "Hold it, hold it. Look, if you ask silly questions, I'm not going to be held responsible for my answers. If I minded being carried like a pet, I'd never have asked you to do it. Shit, my people were originally bred to be pets. Now would you 'please' give me a lift before I fall over and embarrass the hell out of myself?" Akane looked at herself, and they both nodded at the same time. Turning back, they both bent over to pick up the exhausted agent. "Hold it, hold it. There's only one of me remember? You," he pointed a finger at one of the Akanes, "what do you look like when you're in your other form? Do you have a tuft on your tail or not?" The Akane in question looked startled for a minute. Then, she said, "I do have a tuft." Her face had a funny expression, and her hand snaked around her backside as if reflexively reaching for something that was not there. "Good, then you're Unakane. I'd be ever so grateful if you would give me a lift, Una." There was only the tiniest bit of sarcasm in the pig's words, but the newly named Unakane decided to ignore it. She was beginning to realize that the little pig had a lot in common with some of the old ladies in her neighborhood. It was just the way they were. They didn't mean anything personal by it. A long life had simply left them with little patience. An image of the little pig dressed up in a shawl and a long dress crossed her mind, and she stifled a giggle as she picked him up, but not enough that her counterpart failed to note it. "What's so funny?" the girl who now figured she'd be named Annakane asked. Surprisingly, she didn't really mind having her name arbitrarily changed. For the first time since getting the curse, she felt like an individual again. Looking across at her giggling 'sister', she knew that Unakane felt the same. "I was just thinking of old Mrs. Kimichi." Annakane looked puzzled for a second, then her eyes widened, and she looked at Agent P in Unakane's arms. A giggle escaped her lips. "He does, doesn't he?" "To a T." "Someone care to let me in on the joke?" Agent P asked in a querulous tone that caused both girls to break into outright laugher. "Never mind," "it's just a," "private joke." Unakane suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Anna, who was, of course, looking back at her. "Hey," "We're not," "talking at the" "same time" "anymore." "Cool" "I don't exactly call it an improvement," was Agent P's wry comment. "Why don't you try to talk like normal people?" "But we're" "not normal" "people," the two girls said with a laugh. They sobered up a bit when Agent P sent them both a scathing look, but they still retained silly smiles. "Fine, have your fun. When you're ready to have a serious conversation, let me know." "We're" "sorry." "I have the pig," Unakane said. "So you get to go first," Annakane finished with a grin. Unakane thought about what to say. There were so many things she wanted to ask the other girl, she swiftly ran over them in her mind, trying to think which one to ask first. Slowly, an expression of chagrin crossed her face, and she looked across at her counterpart, who was grinning back at her broadly. "This is stupid. There isn't any point in asking you anything. You're me, or close enough it doesn't make any difference." "So if we can't talk about us," "why don't we talk about" "Ukyou, and Nodoka?" "Not to mention our resident alien." Both girls looked down at where Agent P was comfortably cradled in Unakane's arms. Agent P blinked lazy eyes at them, and said, "Go right ahead. I'll take running my mouth over running my legs any day." Unakane looked thoughtful. "Well, . . . seeing as how Annakane and I know all there is to know about our regular bodies," "why don't you tell us more about our cursed forms?" Annakane finished. Agent P looked at both girls with an unreadable expression, then he shook his head and said simply, "No." Both Akanes' looked surprised at this and slipped back into their old behavior. "Why not?" "Why not?" They both grimaced together and gave each other dirty looks. Unakane shifted Agent P in her arms, drawing attention to who was supposed to be taking the lead here. Annakane glowered a little, but then lowered her eyes and sighed, before saying, "All right, but I get to carry him after our lunch stop." Agent P raised an eyebrow when Unakane didn't mimic or complete Annakane's statement. It looked like giving them a single focal point in the person of him was working out nicely. In more ways than one, he thought as he snuggled more comfortably against Unakane's bosom. Unakane looked down at him and repeated Anna's and her earlier question. "Why won't you tell us about the original Anna and Una?" "Because they were thugs and bullies, who thought that because they were born carnivores, they were superior to all the lesser creatures that lived in the galaxy. They are also considered to be great heros by a large number of people who should know better. I refuse to dignify them by passing on their actions to people who have had the good fortune not to have heard about them before. I told you both only what you needed to know before. In the future, I'll be happy to fill you in on details relating to your particular species, but I will not tell you specific details about those two." While he imparted this information in a level tone, there was a great deal of venom in his voice, and the Akanes realized that there was little chance they could change his mind, at least for today anyway. She found herself with a sudden burning desire to learn about the two girls whose bodies they now possessed. The little pig's refusal just made her desire to find out even more intense. One piece of information he had mentioned did intrigue her, however. "You said they were carnivores? Didn't they eat anything but meat?" "No, and now that you mention it, I'd recommend you avoid eating any plant matter while in your other forms. I'm not sure what the effect would be on you, but I do know that Felicity made a very bad companion when she ate vegetables." "Did she get upset? Or did it just make her sick?" "Neither. She rather liked the taste, actually. It was me who did the suffering. She didn't have the fauna in her gut to digest it properly. I've got a sensitive nose, and spending time in a small patrol craft with her after she'd downed a salad was no fun thing." Unakane and Annakane looked blank for a second, and then the light of understanding crossed their faces, simultaneously, of course, along with a slight blush. "Oh, well, in that case I guess we'll make a point to avoid anything but meat when we're in our cursed forms. What was your partner Felicity like? How did you end up with a descendant of Una and Anna if you hated them so much?" "Felicity was a wonderful person, and I'd like to say I ended up with her because I'm a wise and understanding being who only judges people by what they are and not who they are. "That would be a lie however. The truth is, I'm a sour, vindictive old fart. I'd never in a million years have picked her for a partner, but fate, and a petty, vindictive pencil pusher, threw us together." His eyes took on a distant look as he remembered events long gone. The two girls exchanged looks and grinned in satisfaction. It looked like they would hear a few tales of outer space, even if they weren't about the original wearers of their cursed forms. Agent P's voice came as if from a long distance away. "Felicity was a real hick from the sticks. Hadn't seen an alien in her whole life before coming to Galaxy police cadet training. Me, I was growing back a leg that I'd lost during my last case, so, I was convalescing, and acting as a combination teacher/liaison officer. "It's a common courtesy to assign someone of my rank a senior student to act as a gofer, teaching assistant, and anything else that might come up. They get to learn at the feet of an experienced officer, and the officer gets to grow a fat ass while they do all the running around for him. That's the theory anyway. "Felicity was just out of kitten-hood and was as clumsy as they come. She managed to make a mess out of the admittance office her first day. Disaster area doesn't start to cover it. She had somehow gotten the printer going and couldn't shut it off. It spewed paper all over the place. She tried to get rid of the excess by shoving it down a disposal. Only the disposal had an alarm rigged for that very eventuality. People who shove large quantities of paper down a disposal chute in a major police station usually have something to hide. Felicity didn't even know the alarm existed, let alone the code to disable it. "So, there she was, shoving paper hand over fist down the chute when a security team came bursting in. In full combat gear, I might add. Poor Felicity didn't have a clue as to what was going on. To make matters worse, the jerk-off in charge didn't bother to announce who they were. Felicity jumped to the conclusion they were pirates, raiding Galaxy Police headquarters for some nefarious purpose. "Felicity, I might add, had watched way too many bad movies. To make a long, and sorry, story short, by the time everything was settled, there was not much left of the office. "This disaster got her on the bad side of one of the pencil pushers there, and this is where I come into the story. I'd told the same duffus off for what I considered his slack attitude a week or so earlier. Growing back a new limb always makes me more of a pain in the butt than usual, and I was in rare form on that day. The upshot was he was pissed off at both of us, so when word came down to assign me an assistant, he juggled some files. Instead of one of the senior students, who would have known what to expect, Felicity was the one sent to my office. The pencil pusher knew about my run-in with her aunts. Of course, everyone knew about that. He had high hopes that something nasty would come of it." Akane gave a short laugh. "I can see where this is going. I bet you weren't happy when she showed up." "Kitten, you don't know the half of it. I told you Felicity was a hick, she'd never seen or heard of Brinigins, my people," Agent P added as an aside. "So when she walked in and saw me standing on top of the desk, tearing up a botched effort at an exam I was trying to write for my next class, she thought I was an animal who was destroying an important piece of paper. "After the lecture she'd received for her earlier snafu, she was convinced that every piece of paper at GP headquarters was worth its weight in ultra-dense energy. She grew out of it eventually, but it took some time." The grimace P gave while saying this was a pretty good indicator that it had taken her a good long time to grow out of that habit. "Anyway, she snatched me off the desk, and then heard a noise in the hallway. Thinking that the infamous, and notoriously bad tempered, Agent P was about to walk in, she stuffed me in a desk drawer out of sight. She thought she'd get blamed for my being there you see, and for the damage I'd done. "This happened all too fast for me to protest, but I rectified that soon after. I walked up one side of her and down the other. The poor girl didn't stop shaking for a week. I, of course, got to get snickered at for the rest of my stay at the cadet training hall. The student computer traffic was full of jokes, bad poetry and songs, all memorializing the day the famous P was stuffed." Both girls had tears rolling down their cheeks. "That must have been awful for you," Unakane managed to choke out, while Annakane gave a loud snort at the image in her mind. "It was not one of my finer moments, I'll give you that," Agent P said, while directing a dirty look at the laughing girls. "That might have been it for Felicity and I, but it seemed a certain Pasha with more gonads then sense had decided to set up a special harem. "He sent out crews with very specific instructions to find females from more then a dozen different races who were compatible with his body type, and who matched his impression of what a perfect specimen of each of those races should look like. Felicity happened to match the specifications for a girl of her race to a T." Annakane and Unakane listened raptly as Agent P spun out the tale of his and Felicity's first case together. "And so there the Pasha was, naked as the day he was birthed, surrounded by eleven of the most beautiful women in the galaxy, according to the standards of their individual races of course. Each and every one of them as naked as he was and each armed to the teeth with some of the most lethal looking hardware ever invented. I've never seen a man stand down so fast in my life." Agent P had timed his story well. For just as he finished, Nodoka called out that it was time to stop for a rest. Both girls were beet red, whether from laughter or embarrassment it was hard to say. Unakane set P down, and she and her sister stumbled into the woods to look for firewood. The way they kept looking at each other lent some credence to the embarrassment theory, but the smiles and laughter were equally strong evidence of the other possibility. **************************************************** It had not been a good week for Genma Saotome. Having reached the wrenching decision that Ranma simply was not going to be the boon of his old age he had hoped for, he had set out to make other arrangements. A visit to Soun, and a carefully crafted story of his poor son's heroic death while he saved ten . . . no, twenty children from a burning school bus would gain him a comfortable place to stay. He was sure the tender-hearted Soun would be happy to put him up till he recovered from the terrible tragedy of his son's death. Meanwhile, the notes that he had left for the Princess and Katsuhito should keep Nodoka from discovering the truth about Ranma. He had been very explicit in his explanation of what Nodoka would do if she found out Ranma was not a man among men. A bit of judicious questioning on their part would confirm this. Nodoka had no qualms about her intentions. Asked point blank about her deal with Genma, she would readily confess her intention to force Ranma to commit sepuku if she felt Ranma was not a man among men. That would convince the Masaki household to hide Ranma from her. Meanwhile, he would be able to tell her of Ranma's tragic demise, being sure to mention that his body was never recovered from the ashes of the bus. If by some miracle Ranma should manage to regain her male body, Genma would be covered. If she did not, well, Nodoka could hardly argue that a boy who died saving others was not a man among men. In time, she would get over her grief. A new child would help with that. She was still a young woman, and Genma was as virile as ever. He might yet father the son that would support him in his old age. The plan had been flawless. Except for the men from the zoo. Genma had not paid a great deal of attention to the stories that were circulating about his cursed form. He had always escaped the would be panda hunters easily. Those years training with the master, Genma reflexively made a warding gesture, had not been for nothing. Unfortunately, that had been before his picture had ended up in the papers. Faced with proof that the Phantom Panda actually existed, the local zoos had put some real effort into hunting him down. He had been barely a block from the Tendos' house when they had caught up to him. He'd put up a good fight, but in the end had lost. Only because they had cheated, of course. Genma idly rubbed his backside, which was still sore from the tranquilizer dart that had put him out of action, and looked morosely out through the bars of his small cage at the panda enclosure of the local zoo. He was currently in quarantine while the vets made sure he was healthy and disease free. Unfortunately, none of those tests involved hot water. Fortunately, the quarantine was almost over. Pandas were a big draw, and the mysterious wandering Panda was likely to be an even bigger one. They wanted to get him out in front of the public as soon as possible. That would mean putting him out in the large viewing enclosure. The moat and tall wall might keep a normal panda safely caged, but it would be child's play for him to escape. Just one more day and he'd be able to make his break for it. "Why hello their, good looking." Genma snapped his head around with startled, "Growf." Standing in the entrance to the quarantine room was a lovely young brunette, a large tray of fruits, bamboo shoots, and, Genma's eyes widened, baked goods. "Oh, feeling hungry are we?" the girl asked rhetorically, as Genma shuffled forward to the front of his cage and looked at the tray she held below her substantial bosom with longing. To Genma's delight, she picked one of the baked goods off of her tray, and handed it to him between the bars. Genma eagerly snagged it from her and gulped it down in a single bite. A man who had just entered the room, his arms laden with various medical paraphernalia, said in admiration, "Looks like you were right. Those blueberry muffins really do the trick." "Yep, only thing we've ever found that lets us get medicine down their gullets every time." 'Medicine,' Genma thought in alarm, even as he felt his limbs growing weak and his vision start to blur. Unable to keep his feet, he sagged to the floor of his cage. The last image he had before the lights went out was the attractive girl pulling on a rubber glove that reached all the way to her shoulder, and saying, "Well, lets see if this big boy is as healthy inside as he is out." *************************************************** Ukyou looked up from where she was preparing dinner as Nodoka came up to her. "Ukyou, could I talk to you for a minute?" "Of course, Saotome-san. Just let me finish getting these fish ready and I'll be right with you." In a few minutes Ukyou had a half dozen plump fish staked out around the campfire. She would have preferred okinomiyaki, but had been outvoted. The others had prevailed on her to prepare the fish without turning them into toppings. Ukyou wiped her hands clean, and looked up at Nodoka expectantly. Nodoka looked over to where the two Akanes were listening raptly to another one of Agent P's stories. No doubt featuring his former partner Felicity, the great, great grandniece of the Puma sisters, whose bodies Akane now possessed thanks to the Jusenkyo curse. He seemed to have an inexhaustible store of stories, and both Akanes could not get enough of them. "Could we go off a little ways?" Nodoka asked. "This is rather personal." No longer distracted by her dinner preparation, Ukyou noticed for the first time how grave Nodoka's face was. She felt a twinge of dread. Nodoka had not brought up the topic of sepuku since just after acquiring her curse. Had she decided to go through with it despite Xian Pu's presence, Ukyou wondered? With a feeling of trepidation she followed Nodoka off into the woods to a small clearing. Nodoka sat on a fallen tree and motioned for Ukyou to take a seat on a nearby rock. Once Ukyou was settled, Nodoka frowned, and after gathering her thoughts, began to speak. "Kuonji-san, I have been giving a great deal of thought to the arrangement my deceased husband made with your father." "Deceased!?" Ukyou burst out. "How? I mean, did you find someone who told you this!?" "My husband and son are dead," Nodoka said flatly. "I no longer have any need of proof. I should have accepted that earlier, instead of heading off on a fruitless journey that ended in disaster. What is left to me is to deal with the legacy my husband left me. You." "Me? I don't understand!" Ukyou blurted out, more from reflex then from genuine curiosity. Nodoka's sudden assertion that Genma and Ranma were dead had left her off balance. "My husband made an arrangement to bring you into our family, he even accepted your dowry." "You don't have to tell me that! I've been training for ten years to take that dowry out of his and Ranma's hide!" Ukyou said fiercely. Then she remembered to whom she was talking and blushed very slightly, though her expression remained firm. "I'm sorry, Saotome-san. I didn't mean to distress you, but I've lived with it for too long. Sometimes I forget myself." "You have reason. At first I thought you were mistaken, had misunderstood, or --" "Was lying through my teeth." "I never--" "It's all right. I don't blame you. I wouldn't have believed me either. I don't care. I know it's true, and that's all that matters." "I, too, believe it's true, and that is my problem. I have an obligation to you, above and even beyond the one I owe for allowing you to become cursed." "No! I came on this journey of my own free will. As for the other matter, Saotome Genma and Saotome Ranma have an obligation to me. You are just another of Genma's victims. I do not hold you liable for their actions." "But I do! And as you said, that is all that matters. Genma is my husband, his honor is my honor. My clumsiness has rendered me unable to make recompense as I should for my own actions in regards to you. That leaves me with only one option. I must try to make what amends I can for my husbands actions. It is a poor substitute. Indeed, you may find it a distasteful one, but it is all I have to offer at this time. I ask that you listen." The seriousness with which Nodoka said this caused Ukyou to answer in more formal tones then was her usual manner of speaking. "Of course, Saotome-san. In the last few days I have come to respect you. You have shown yourself to be a person of honor and integrity. I will gladly listen to your offer." "I wish to adopt you." "Nani!?" Ukyou reared up, her face startled. This was the last thing she had expected to hear. "I wish to offer you the Saotome name that Genma promised you. You would become the heir to the Saotome clan, little enough though that may be. As I said, it is small recompense, but with the situation with Xian Pu being what it is, I am restrained from offering more." "This . . ." Ukyou paused and shook her head. "I don't know what to say. I never . . . Can I have some time to think about this?" She said, trying to buy herself some time to think. "Of course. Take all the time you wish. I assure you that I am deadly serious about this. I offer this out of obligation, but make no mistake about it. It would give me great pleasure to call you daughter. You have shown yourself to be a person of honor and bravery. Indeed, if my son had been half the . . ." "Man?" Ukyou finished. "I didn't mean--" "I'm not offended. I've spent more time living as a boy, than I ever did as a girl." A wry look crossed Ukyou's face. "You offered to make me your daughter, but I've never been what you could call ladylike, and now with my curse . . ." Ukyou paused, a calculating look on her face. "I'll make you a counter-offer Saotome-san. I vowed to give up my womanhood until I brought justice to your husband and son. If they are dead as you say, I can't do that now. Your honor demands that you offer me a place in your family. My honor means I can only accept one position. Would you take me as your son? Instead of your daughter?" "I don't . . . Surely not? You can't mean that, Kuonji-san?" "With every fiber of my being!" Ukyou said, her voice rock steady. "You offered me time to think on your offer. I offer you time to think on mine." "I see. Well then, if that is the way you feel." Nodoka looked troubled, but then a speculative look grew on her face. She looked at Ukyou closely, but her mind's eye seemed focused elsewhere, as if she was recalling something. Finally, she gave a nod, and her face grew firm. She sat up straight and stared Ukyou straight in the eye. "I would be honored to take you as my son." Ukyou looked at her flabbergasted. The last thing she had expected was for Nodoka to take her up on her offer. She mentally kicked herself. She knew how serious Nodoka took obligations. She should have known that she would accept Ukyou as a son if that meant she could in some small way expunge part of the debt she felt she owed Ukyou. That left Ukyou in a very uncomfortable position. If she allowed herself to be adopted as a son, that put an obligation on her to be that son, not just to play make believe. Ukyou grimaced. What did it matter? She was already trapped in the role of a boy by her vow regarding Genma and Ranma. If they were truly dead, she would never regain her womanhood. Add the curse on top of that, and she might as well give in to the inevitable. As if reading her mind, Nodoka smiled gently at Ukyou. "Take your time. There is no need to come to a decision right away." When Ukyou would have spoken, she held up a hand. "No. Don't say anything. We should get back to camp. Your fish will be done." Nodoka rose to her feet, and as she did so, her hand lifted to caress the pale wood tiara that was laced through her hair. "Oh, I almost forgot. Agent P tells me that the device he gave me should have done its job by now. After dinner I mean to call up Xian Pu, and see if Agent P's hopes are justified. If this works as he claims, then Xian Pu will be taking my place for the next day or so. You may think on my offer, and your own, while she is here. Whatever you decide, to be, my son or my daughter, will be acceptable to me." There was little Ukyou could say to that, so with her mind whirling from this new development, she followed Nodoka back to camp. "Are you ready for this, Saotome-san?" Agent P asked, looking up at Nodoka, who had a worried expression on her face. Nodoka shook off her uncertainty and straightened her shoulders. "I'm ready, P-san. It is far better I do this here, where we can control events than to have it happen unexpectedly." "You got that right. But you don't have anything to worry about, Saotome-san. At worst, nothing will happen. I don't think that will be the case, however. It should at the very least let you and Xian Pu remain aware of what is going on instead of experiencing a total black out every time you change. At the very best, it will allow you to communicate with each other. I'm not sure about that part, however. It was never intended for that sort of use." Nodoka stopped herself from asking just what the tiara was used for normally. She had wasted enough time already. This had to be done, and if it must be, best be done soonest. She walked out into the middle of the small clearing near their campsite, a canteen of water in her hand sloshing as she moved. She reached her destination and sat down on the ground, her back against a small tree. She knew from her own experience how disorienting it could be to suddenly find yourself in a radically different situation than the last one you remember. She wanted to make the transition as easy as she could for Xian Pu. Draping a towel around her neck, she opened the top of the canteen she was carrying and doused her head with cold water. Xian Pu woke. She felt her heart lurch. Was it time? Or was this an unexpected change? A quick look around herself made it clear which it was. She was sitting in the middle of a clearing and in front of her were lined up her alternate's companions. The strange pig/spirit/wizard, the brown-haired girl/boy, and the last two. The girl, or girls, who bore the cat-demon curse. She found herself staring at them, wondering what sort of person they were. The cat-demons had been fierce fighters; only luck had let her prevail in their battle. Did these girls posses that skill, or did they just have the bodies? They had shown little finesse during their fight back in Jusenkyo. Maybe she could test herself against them, see if she yet retained her skill or whether she would have to spend long years regaining it. "Are you all right, Xian Pu? Is anything the matter?" Xian Pu broke herself out of her reverie. She moved her gaze from the two black-haired girls. Akane? And looked at the brown- haired girl. Ukyou? She had been given their names so quickly, the only one she remembered for sure was the wizard pig. P was a rather simple name to remember, after all. "I am fine . . .Ukyou?" "That's right. I'm Ukyou. Those two have taken the names Annakane, and Unakane." The two girls nodded their acknowledgment at her. "And this is Agent P." "I remembered the wizard. I give you greeting, wise one." "There are many who would dispute that title, but I thank you, and give you greetings as well, warrior. Are you ready?" "This is it then? The talisman is ready to function? I feel no different." "I asked Saotome-san to wait and give you a chance to get ready. She may not be able to make herself known to you. In that case, we will have to change you back to see if she remained aware. If she did, then you will spend a day charging the . . .talisman with your spirit. Then you too will be aware of what is going on." "That will be good. It is not a pleasant thing. . . to be always waking in a strange situation." Xian Pu drew herself up straight and took a deep breath. When she had let it out, she said in controlled voice, "Let us begin. You may speak if you are able Saotome-san." *CAN YOU HEAR ME, XIAN PU!* "Ahhhhh!!!" Xian Pu cried out, as she jerked upright, her eyes wide in shock. Her hands flew to her temples and clutched them tightly. The watchers broke into shouts of "What is it?" "Are you all right?" "I thought you said nothing could go wrong?" "I thought 'you' said nothing could go wrong?" Xian Pu held up a hand to quiet them. When they settled down, she said, "I am fine. Saotome-san, I can hear you, but please, could you speak a little softer? I thought my ears were going to pop off my head." *I'm dreadfully sorry dear. This is so new to me.* The chagrined voice in Xian Pu's head said. *I wasn't sure how to go about doing it. It is so strange here. Is this better?* "That is much better. I give you greetings, Saotome-san." *And I give you greetings, Xian Pu, but please, call me Nodoka. It seems strange to be so formal under these circumstances.* "Very well, Nodoka. Can you see what is going on?" Nodoka's voice hesitated, and then she said. *Not clearly. I can't seem to see you.* "Nodoka say's she can not see me," Xian Pu told the wizard. "That is to be expected," Agent P said. "She is seeing through your eyes. She can only see what you can see." *Oh, I feel foolish. That should have been obvious.* "You heard him then. It would seem you can use my ears as well." *Yes, but it is strange. I'm not seeing, or hearing, like I thought I would.* "How so?" *I thought I would see and hear normally, but would not be able to do anything.* Xian Pu was taken aback by this. She had not really given any thought as to how this would work. The idea of being aware but helpless to do anything, she shuddered at the idea. Then she said to Nodoka, "I had not considered this. I do not think I would have liked that. But you say it does not work that way. How does it work?" *Well, it's the strangest thing. I seem to be home in my own living room, and I am seeing what you see on my televison, and what you hear seems to be coming from the speakers.* "Television?" Xian Pu said, her voice puzzled. "What is a television? And who are these speakers? Are there others in there with you as well?" *Oh dear. This could take some time.* "Well, looks like it worked," Agent P said with some satisfaction as he watched Xian Pu apparently talking to herself. "We might as well leave those two to get acquainted. Why don't we go back to the camp and wait for them?" He trotted off ahead of the others. Both Akanes started after the small pig, only to be brought up short by Ukyou, who asked, "So, Akane . . . er Annakane and Unakane, what's the deal with you and the pig? How come he's still among the living? I've seen him leer at you, make suggestive comments, and outright order you around. How come you haven't used a large rock on him yet?" "That's" "Silly" "Ukyou!" "You make" "it sound like" "we're some sort of" "Monsters" "We--" "Stop that!" Ukyou broke in. She had started to get dizzy from moving her head to look at first one girl, and then the other. "The two Akanes looked at each other, and giggled. Then they said. "We're sorry. Is this better?" "We're sorry. Is this better?" In perfect harmony, of course. "Oh great, now we're back to stereo." "Oh great, now we're back to stereo." They said with a mutual laugh, then they sobered, and said, "Seriously" "Ukyou . . ." The two Akanes stopped, and Annakane looked at Unakane, who gave her a nod, and firmly shut her mouth. "Don't you find him incredible? He's an alien! He's from outer space! He's had adventures we can only dream of. And the best part of it is, we're aliens now too." Unakane could not resist and broke in at this point. "He said we were nothing like the original Puma sisters. We remind him of his old partner. She was a great hero. He says with a little training, he's sure we could be great intelligence operatives." "Yes!" Annakane broke in. "He's says with our former bodies reputation, we would be perfect undercover operatives." Both girls turned their faces up to stare at the stars, a dreamy look in their eyes. "To go out" "there, and" "to meet people" "from other" "planets." Ukyou shook her head in disgust and walked off, muttering as she went. "Star struck. Literally. The pair of them." Agent P reached the camp site and flopped down beside the campfire. He heaved a sigh of relief. Despite his reassuring words, he had not been completely sure the device would work. After all, he had disabled more then half of it's circuitry. But it would not do to put a fully functioning _ Better Than Life _ game on an unsuspecting person's head. For one thing, it carried the death penalty on several worlds and long incarceration on many others. Not that he disagreed with those laws. He'd put his share of bootleggers out of business. That was how he had come to have one of the insidious devices in the first place. Developed over five hundred years ago, the Better Than Life game worked by completely downloading a copy of the players mind. It would then put the person into a deep coma, leaving the downloaded mind conscious. Using feedback from that consciousness, in conjunction with interactive circuitry, it then built a fantasy world where every dream and desire of the player could, and would, come true. In short, it created a world that was literally better than real life. When the player was ready to quit the game, it would stop the electronic interference that kept them in a coma, and upload the mind in the game back into the player, leaving them with the sensation that they had really been in that world. The game's manufacturers had claimed that the player could exit whenever they wished, and that was true. The problem was that over sixty percent of first time users did not wish to, and if not found and disconnected, their real bodies often died of neglect. The death toll in the first month of release had been staggering. However, despite this, because it was in effect the ultimate drug, to this day there was a market for the things. Agent P had gutted the one he had given Nodoka and Xian Pu. It was no longer able to generate the mental white noise needed to disconnect the player's mind. P had counted on the curse supplying the triggering shutdown when it was activated, and apparently it had worked. As soon as Nodoka's real mind had stopped functioning, the machine had woken her downloaded mind. When Xian Pu changed and Nodoka 'woke', the device should seamlessly reconnect to her mind, and the memories of her downloaded mind would seem as real as if they had happened to her real one. He had disabled the vast majority of the game's interactive circuits. It would be able to manifest settings that were already in the two girls' minds, but it could no longer create fictional worlds based on their dreams, or generate other people to share the world with them. The actual memories of the places people lived and grew up were much more solid and real then the phantasms that make up their dreams. Actually, things had worked out much better than he had hoped. It had always been a long shot that they would be able to talk to each other. He had hoped that the curse would fool the device into linking the downloaded mind with the mind of the girl who was currently active, but it had only been a hope, not a guess based on any knowledge he possessed. That at least was one problem out of the way. Now he could concentrate on the new and improved Anna and Una. They were nice girls, but they were so much like the originals in some ways, it was scary. If he did not watch out, they could be even more of a scourge then his Anna and Una had been. Fortunately, they were young and malleable, and with any luck, he could direct them into a positive life style. If he could just teach them to temper that anger of theirs that is. He also had to find out what the deal was with this strength of theirs. They were far more powerful than the originals. From what he had observed, the same held true for their other form. The girls were stronger by far than their fellow humans, and that had apparently predated their dip in the spring. That ruled it out as far as being a result of the spring's curse. He did not think, however, that the strength was natural to them. They were too careless and unaware of the consequences in their use of it. He had seen them break camping gear, not to mention landscape, when not paying attention. That would have to be addressed. They might not be the criminals he had made it a life-long goal to catch years ago, but he still felt a certain responsibility for their actions. He closed his eyes and dozed off, making plans for the next day and for his eventual rescue. He grimaced. When that happened, he'd have to face a board of inquiry over his presence on a restricted planet. He hated those. Which in a way was funny, because one way or another he seemed to end up in front of one on a fairly regular basis. ****************************************************** Shampoo lifted her head, brushing her purple tresses from her tired and dirty face. She looked over at her great-grandmother and got to her feet. It took a great deal of effort for her not to show the effects of 36 hours of nearly constant activity without sleep. She managed, somehow. She would not give the curious watchers the satisfaction of seeing her looking worn down. Shampoo ducked her head and entered the council chamber through the low door in the outside wall. She found herself effectively blind in the dim light inside after the bright sun of the afternoon. Not giving any sign of this, she made her way by memory to a position in front of the council. She sensed her great- grandmother taking a position beside her, but she did not move her head to check. Instead she remained standing, stiffly her eyes focused on where she knew the acting senior elder would be sitting. As her eyes adjusted, she could slowly made out the row of five diminutive and wrinkled elders. They sat in their places, staring at her, their expressions giving away nothing of their decision. Shampoo had been dismayed at the welcome she had received when she had arrived at the village. She supposed that in the back of her mind she had imagined all the warriors of the village rallying behind her as she led them on an assault against the demon Ryouko. Instead, she had been treated like a coward and a fool. The plane she had commandeered was an important link with the outside world. One that was to be used for only the gravest of emergencies. Her actions had compromised its existence. Her protests of justified usage had gained her a hearing, but it had not gone well. She had been dismissed an hour earlier, while the council came to its decision as to what to do about her, a decision they apparently had now reached. The elder in charge did not leave her in doubt for long as to the attitude of the council. Her voice was malicious, despite the bland expression she wore on her face. While she talked, she looked more at Shampoo's great-grandmother than she did at Shampoo. For her part, Shampoo's great-grandmother snorted in derision. Shampoo kept her anger at bay with difficulty. It was her great-grandmother's task to speak for her, a duty that was looking more and more difficult. The faces before her that she had thought so impassive now looked petty and vindictive. Bii Ter brought her staff down on the table in front of her with a crash. Shampoo perked up; that was not so bad, there was no warrior of the village she could not defeat in honorable combat. Shampoo blanched, while her great-grandmother stiffened in shock. Khu Lon protested. Bii Ter said, her tone gloating. Khu Lon looked back at her with loathing. To refuse the orders of the council in this matter would be cause for banishment from the tribe. There was no choice in the matter. Khu Lon's eyes glared promises of vengeance at Bii Ter, but they both knew it was an empty threat. No matter what her words on the subject, Bii Ter knew Shampoo would not lie about such an important matter as a demon. She also knew that Khu Lon would have no choice but to go and face Shampoo's demon after the trial by combat. If the old stories of the demon's prowess were correct, then without the full support of the village, she was unlikely to return from that battle. After Khu Lon and Shampoo were well gone, Bii Ter turned to a shadowy figure standing at the back of the hut and to the side of the council. "Enforcer," She said, not bothering to keep the contempt from her voice. When the figure came to attention, Bii Ter gave her orders. "You will follow Khu Lon and her Granddaughter. You will see that they obey the orders of this council." The figure brandished twin, one handed, double-bladed, battle axes, in a salute that, in its own way, reflected every bit as much contempt for Bii Ter as Bii Ter's voice had earlier expressed for the enforcer. Bii Ter flushed with anger and jerked her head in dismissal of the figure, who slipped out the back of the hut as silent as the shadow she seemed. Bii Ter's face still held an angry glare, but inside she was delighted. With Khu Lon's disgusting charity case gone, there was no one left in the village who would stand against her quest for the leadership. She told herself that she had done great deeds for the village this day. She had gotten rid of an anchor around the tribes neck this day, one that held them in the past, refusing to let them advance into the future. She had also gotten rid of a defective, who should have been at the very least cast from the villages ages ago. It was a pity about Shampoo. She had the making of a warrior out of the legends. Yes, it was sad, but to do the right thing, sometimes sacrifices had to be made. It was the duty of a true leader to make the hard decisions when they were needed. Bii Ter felt very proud of her first day as the new leader of the village. ******************************************************* A day had passed, and Nodoka was once again in her own body. They had made good time during the day and were camped only a few minutes away from where a bus would be passing by first thing tomorrow morning. The bus would take them to the train, which would take them to the airport, which would take them home. It was going to be a long day, but at the end of it, they would be sleeping on futons, under a roof, inside a warm house. It was still early, and the companions were entertaining themselves, each in their own way. "Arrrhhhggggg!! I'll NEVER get this right!" Annakane screamed. She tossed down a pair of three-foot by one-inch metal rods she had been holding, one end of each bar wrapped in leather. Unakane smirked across the campfire at her. She had a similar set of bars in her hands. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it. It's not that hard." "I haven't seen you manage it yet," her sister replied. "Just watch." Biting her upper lip in concentration, Unakane reached out with the two bars, placing the end of each of them on either side of an egg that was laying on the ground. She slowly brought them together till they lightly touched the egg. Steadying her hands, she drew a deep breath, then slowly started to pick the egg up. She got it about two feet off the ground and started to move it sideways, toward a pot of boiling water that was sitting on the fire. There was a loud crunch, and what was left of the egg fell sizzling into the fire. Annakane gave a snicker, and said, "See? It's impossible." "You'd better hope not," a gravely voice said. Agent P reached out with an artificial hand and plucked an egg out of a basket that looked like it contained the entire output of a village's communal chicken coup. For a good reason. It did. P had insisted they buy them in the last village they had passed through, along with the four bars of steel stock. He had not explained his reasons until they had made camp, and he had declared that his two students would be making their own dinner tonight. Now he looked at the two girls as he set a second egg down in front of Annakane. "If you two expect to eat tonight, you'd better get some of these into the pot. That is, unless you like your eggs raw?" Both girls groaned, and with a sigh of resignation, they both picked up their oversized chopsticks and went back to trying to move the eggs from ground to pot. Over on the other side of the campfire, Nodoka sat staring into space. *This is very interesting. If I did not know better, I would swear I was back home at my special place.* "Special place?" Nodoka asked Xian Pu, who was speaking to her from inside the tiara on her head. *It was a small clearing high up in the mountain above the village. It was on the edge of a cliff and edged all around with heavy bushes. I always felt as if I was the only person in the world when I was there. It was a wonderful place, you could see for miles. It had a small basin that was always full of water that seeped from a spring farther up the mountain. It was clear and perfect, and the water was so cold it hurt to drink it straight.* "How are you seeing and hearing?" Nodoka asked curiously. *It just seems as if you all were just on the other side of the bushes. As for seeing, I see what you see when I look into my pool. I used to dream that it was a magic spring, and that if I only looked hard enough, I would be able to see other places in it. It looks like that is true in this place.* "It sounds like a very lovely spot." Nodoka said. She looked around their campsite, and a small smile quirked at the corner of her mouth as she watched Anna and Una try to cook their dinner. Frustration was evident on their faces, and there was now a large pile of broken eggs littering the ground in front of each one of them. There was one person missing, however. "Xian Pu?" she said softly, not wanting to distract Annakane, who was just about to finally get an egg to the pot. *Yes.* "Did you see where Ukyou went? She left before you and I changed places, and I'm afraid I was cleaning and did not notice." *Cleaning?* Xian Pu said in surprise. "Well, I had been away from the house for some time, and it needed a good going over." *But . . .* Xian Pu started to say, meaning to point out that Nodoka's house in this place was not real. At that point she noticed the handful of bracken she had gathered up from around the edge of her pool and was about to throw off the edge of the cliff. She had always had to clean up the clearing a little whenever she came to visit, and she had not even noticed she had been doing it while watching the outside world in the pool. She hastily revised what she was about to say. *I saw Ukyou going off to the west after we set up camp.* "Thank you." Nodoka started off in that direction, and then paused. "Xian Pu?" *Yes.* "I wanted to say we . . . I, am sorry I did not consult with you before leaving. I know you must want to visit your old home. As soon as I get the girls home, I'll make arrangements to return so you can visit. I suppose we will have to decide how we are going to accommodate each others lives when that is done." Silence answered Nodoka, and after a minute she was ready to call out Xian Pu's name, to ask what was wrong. Before she could do so however, Xian Pu answered her in a hesitant voice. *That will not be necessary. I will not be returning to the village.* "What? But why? It's your home. Surely you must--" *No! It is not!* Nodoka winced slightly at the volume of Xian Pu's mental voice. She felt great relief when the little redhead continued in a quieter voice. *Please, you must understand. I have her memories, and her body, but I am not Xian Pu. Xian Pu died three hundred years ago. I am simply you with her body and memories. Fate has created me, and I must live with that, but I will not try to pass myself off as the real Xian Pu.* "Xian Pu," Nodoka said in a sad sympathetic voice. *Don't feel sorry for me,* Xian Pu said in a cheerful tone. *I have a new life, and that is not to be despised. There are many wondrous things in this world, and I look forward to seeing and experiencing many of them.* Nodoka nodded at this. "That is true, and I look forward to showing you this new world." Nodoka hesitated for a moment. "This is awkward to say, after offering to show you the world, but I have a favor to ask of you." *Of course.* "Do you suppose you could maybe take a nap, or go for a walk or something. I do not wish to exclude you, but I need to discuss something with Ukyou that is a private matter between us. I suppose I will have to get used to you sharing my life, but this involves Ukyou's life as much as mine, and I'd like to give her as much privacy as I can. *It is no problem. It will be interesting to see how large this place is.* "Thank you." Nodoka resumed her walk, making a mental note to explore her own world when next she was there. "Haaiiiyaaa!" Ukyou screamed, bringing her baker's peel around in a vicious arc that splintered the piece of dead wood that was her target. She had originally set out to cut and gather some wood for the fire, but that goal was long forgotten. Sometime during the act of breaking up the dead tree she had located, she had found everything going red. The inoffensive wood had suddenly become a stand in for all that was wrong with her life. Her blows were not aimed at the tree, but at images of Genma, Ranma, her own father, Akane, and last, at a brown-haired boy wearing her face, who seemed to be laughing at her. Sweat ran down her face, matting her hair to her head. Her clothing was soaked with the perspiration from her body, and it was becoming more and more difficult to hold on to her weapon, but still she lashed out. There was no longer any style or technique to her moves, she was simply bashing away as hard as she could. Blisters formed on her callused hands and then burst, but she ignored the stinging pain. Genma, Ranma, Akane, her Father, all had been vanquished, leaving her with one last opponent. No matter how hard she lashed out, no matter how hard she swung, she could not make that laughing brown-haired boy go away. The tree was reduced to pitiful shattered remains, and still she battered at it, grinding the shavings into the heavy wet earth. "No! No! No!" She screamed aloud, in time with her baker's peel as it rose and fell. At last the time came when she could no longer raise her weapon, no matter how hard she strained with her aching arms. She wrapped herself around the oversized spatula, its edge embedded in the dirt, and slowly slid down till she was kneeling. She leaned her forehead against the leather wrapped handle, and tears mixed with the sweat running down her face. She held that pose for what seemed like forever, till a gentle hand took her by the shoulder and turned her to face its owner. Arms went around her, and she resisted for a moment, but then Nodoka pulled her into an embrace, and she buried her head in the older woman's shoulder and let out her grief. A little while later, Ukyou pushed herself away from Nodoka, who let her go with visible reluctance. "I'm sorry for this. I don't know what came over me," Ukyou said. Nodoka raised an eyebrow at this. "In the last three days you have witnessed magic, seen a space ship crash, met an alien, learned that your quest for justice is over without resolution, and the last, you have been cursed to turn into a boy. Frankly, I'm surprised you are still sane." "Who says I am? I don't see you smashing up the landscape, and you have at least as much of a reason as I do." "Just because you don't see it, does not mean I'm not reacting." Nodoka raised a hand and touched the wooden tiara that was entwined in her hair. "While I was in here I discovered a room in my house that was not there before." "Your house?" Ukyou asked in surprise. "Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know. When Xian Pu is here, the talisman builds a copy of my home for me to stay in. It is just like I remember it." "Strange," Ukyou said, the information giving her something other then herself to think about. "But very comfortable. Xian Pu tell me she is in a favorite place of hers from when she was still alive." Ukyou suddenly looked embarrassed. "Xian Pu, oh great, just what I needed, one other person to see me acting like a jackass!" Nodoka frowned a little at Ukyou's rough language, but said. "You needn't worry. I asked her to give us some privacy. She is off exploring her new world, seeing how large it is." "You can do that?" "Apparently. I did something similar myself. As I started to tell you, I found a room that was not in my original home. A Kendo Dojo, complete with practice dummies. I told Xian Pu I was inattentive because I was cleaning, but in truth, for most of that time I was doing something very similar to what you were doing here." "Maybe so." Ukyou snorted. "But at least you did it more or less in private. For a while there the whole Red Army could have walked by, and I wouldn't have noticed." She got to her feet and dusted herself off. "Anyway, one good thing came from it." "What is that?" "I learned that I can't make what I am go away, no matter how hard I hit something. I stopped being a girl a long time ago. If I'd never been cursed, maybe I could have gone on fooling myself that I could someday go the other way, but now I know the truth." Ukyou looked Nodoka straight in the eye. "Ukyou Kuonji, girl, disappeared a long time ago." Ukyou carried a water bottle fastened to her belt. Now she pulled it free, and after taking the top off, she dumped it over her head. "I won't hide from the truth anymore. For the last ten years, I've had no true identity. I've left my family behind, cut myself off from them. They had a daughter, that daughter is long dead. If you will have me, I would be proud to be Ukyou Saotome, boy." Nodoka looked at him. She felt a brief feeling of guilt at going along with this, but she could not keep a smile from showing on her face. It was true that a daughter would make her happy but it was a son she wanted more then life itself. She looked at Ukyou more closely thinking what a fine boy he was, what a fine man he could become. The mannerisms that were so inappropriate in a girl were fine and good in a man. She suppressed her feelings of guilt, and said. "Very well. As of this minute, I consider you my son. When we get back to Japan, I will start the paperwork." "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" When Nodoka and Ukyou got back to the camp site, both Akanes were dancing around the campsite, slapping hands and shouting out in glee. When they spotted Nodoka, they shouted out in happiness. "We did it! we did it!" A part of Nodoka noted they were once again speaking in perfect harmony, the other part looked into the boiling pot, at the two eggs rolling over in the hot water. She then looked at the large pile of broken shells on the ground. "Congratulations," she said rather weakly. Those eggs had not been cheap. Later on, both Annakane and Unakane ate their single boiled egg with every indication of satisfaction, even if they glanced rather wistfully at the large quantity of broiled fish the rest of their group was eating. "Never thought they'd do it," P whispered out of the side of his mouth at Ukyou. Ukyou gave a short laugh. "That's not the miracle here. The real story is that they managed to boil an egg without ruining it." Both Akanes had made good on the original's offer to cook dinner for the group some time ago. Only the fact that they'd tried their cooking out on each other first had saved the rest of their party from a long delay in their trip while they recovered. The two Akanes' stomachs seemed to be as strong as the rest of their bodies, but even they had a hard time handling what they had put in each other mouths. ************************************************** Plum swallowed nervously and looked across the hut at the grim-faced old woman, who was currently heating up some water while a sodden and very unhappy pink and white cat sat at her feet. The elder did not look to be in the mood for casual conversation, but the scroll Plum had recently found had made what she had to say anything but casual. But how to broach the subject without getting her head torn off before she got to the important point? Start with the important point she supposed. < "Xian Pu is alive,> she said, and held her breath. The old woman shot her an angry look. she snapped out angrily. Khu Lon finished with a snarl, pointing at the cat. Plum abased herself, bowing so low her hair brushed the floor. Plum swallowed nervously and almost took the suggestion in the face of the elder's obvious anger, but her instincts told her that this was the one she should be telling her tale to. For a second Plum was afraid the old warrior was going to strike her, but she settled back with an angry scowl. Almost absently, she picked up the small cat at her feet and began to stroke it. Plum swallowed nervously once again and then began her tale of the three recent visitors, and how one of them had fallen into the spring of drowned girl. She got as far as telling how the girl from the spring claimed to be Xian Pu, before she was interrupted. Khu Lon leaned forward, her eyes wide and her body trembling with emotion. Plum obliged, and as she did the elder nodded her head, as if checking off each feature she mentioned from a list in her head. Neither one of them noticed the eyes of the cat on the elder's lap getting wider and wider as Plum described the girl in great detail. When Plum finished her description, the old woman was silent. Steam started to escape from the kettle, and without looking at what she was doing, she plucked it from the fire and upended it over the cat, and fell over backward as a full grown and very naked teenaged girl manifested in the position formerly held by the cat. Shampoo shouted. She was answered by a muffled voice under her. Shampoo slipped into her now dry dress with pleasure, it was a little chilly for wandering around in the all together. Her great- grandmother was lost in thought, so Shampoo joined Plum in a cold lunch while they waited for her great-grandmother to tell her what they were to do next. Shampoo was fully involved in the intricacies of the quadruple layer chicken, fish, bacon and tomato sandwich, when Khu Lon started to laugh. It started out soft and gentle, but soon became a roar of glee. Shampoo bigsweated and wondered if her great-grandmother had finally lost it. Khu Lon noticed Shampoo and Plum's faces and broke off suddenly, coughing slightly behind a raised hand. She looked up at Shampoo with a grin on her face that made Plum shudder. Shampoo was rather disgruntled to hear her new curse described as a beneficial thing, but her curiosity overrode that feeling. Shampoo shook her head. Shampoo exclaimed in shock, Plum coughed slightly and handed Khu Lon a slip of paper she had retrieved from an old envelope. Khu Lon looked at the numbers written on it in curiosity. Khu Lon said, beaming in pleasure at Plum, who repressed a shudder. A happy smiling Khu Lon was almost as scary as an angry one. Still, she felt a warm glow at the elders praise. Khu Lon said, A quite voice said from the door. Shampoo shouted out with glee, throwing herself across the room and glomping her cousin in a strong, but tender hug. Khu Lon looked at the tall brown-haired girl with pleasure. Perfume flushed. Khu Lon mused, then added, Despite her words, Khu Lon felt a great sadness in her breast. There were few people she loved, and she was leading two of them to what could be their deaths. She prayed that Xian Pu would be the ace they needed to win the hand fate had dealt them. ************************************************** Xian Pu had made a mistake. It had not seemed like that at first, but she was now realizing how bad a one it had been. When she had left her small pool and gone walking, to allow Nodoka some privacy, she had not had a destination in mind. Lacking any specific direction to go in, she had let her feet follow a familiar path, one that lead to her home village. Or rather, the village that resided inside the mystic talisman that was her current home. At first it had been a pleasant surprise, and she has spent an enjoyable time exploring, amazed at the fact that the talisman had been able to duplicate the village so well. There were blanks, of course. The little wizard pig had told her that the talisman could only create things that were already in her mind. There were places she had never been in the village, such as the hall that housed the council of elders. She had been a month shy of her sixteenth birthday when the attack that ended in her death occurred, and she had not yet been declared an adult. When she had entered the building, with just a touch of guilt, she had found an empty room. The walls, ceiling and floor, were the same as most of the village homes, but that was all there was; no decorations and no furniture, just a bare room. Even some of the homes she had visited were mostly empty, as she had not visited them often enough to remember then clearly. Then, she had come to her own home. That had been a very different situation indeed. She had spent hours going through the clutter inside, finding things she thought lost forever. Her favorite sword, her favorite set of throwing knives, an outfit she particularly liked, the bright green one with the light armor sewn into the lining. She had doffed the clothing she had been wearing, one of Nodoka's kimonos, which fit her like a sack, and had hurriedly dressed herself in true Amazon style. For some time she had been happy and content, rummaging through memories that to her were only days old. It was not long, however, before she became very aware of what was missing. People, and more than that, the noise that people make. As suddenly as that, the joy went out of her, and a chill ran up her spine. The village was just as she remembered, it was true, but only in a visual sense. There were no sounds, no movement, that she herself did not make. Not a bird chirped or flew, not a child laughed or played. No fathers calling their families in to dinner. There were not even any elders grumbling to each other on the deplorable lack of character in the young warriors of today. Nothing. Xian Pu tried to convince herself that it was nothing to be bothered about. Of course, the talisman could not duplicate real people or animals. Try as she would, however, she could not keep the fear that was growing in her mind at bay. She suddenly became desperate to hear a noise not made by herself, any noise. She stilled herself and listened with all the concentration she could muster, trying to hear something. Nothing! Only the wind sighing through the bushes and trees . . . Wind? How could there be wind? Nothing was moving, not the trees, not the tall grass. If there was wind, why did she not feel it on her skin? She listened closely to the sigh of the wind, Hoooooooooo, which then died down, for just a second. Then, it resumed, Heeeeeeeeeeeee. Xian Pu frowned; there was a different tone to the second breeze. Then it too died down, and in a second, when it blew again, it has the same tone as when she had first noticed it, Hoooooooooo. She listened carefully, trying to pinpoint a source for the sound, and as she did, she began to anticipate the rhythm of it. Her breath started to move in time with the sound. She inhaled on one gust of, Heeeeeeeeeeeee, exhaled on the next one of Hoooooooooo. This went on for some time as she tried futilely to locate the source. Then, she made the connection. Xian Pu paled. By the gods, it was breathing. Not wind, but the sound of some giant beast inhaling and exhaling. How? How could it be here? The pig had said no other creatures would share this place. But one was. She could hear it. Xian Pu looked around wildly, staring at every bit of cover that could possiblyF conceal the creature. Even at cover that could not possible cover anything as large as what was making that relentless noise. Sweat started to bead on her face, and old childhood terrors reared their heads. Her secret shame once more making itself known. Xian Pu was a coward. Oh, she had managed to conceal it from the tribe and from her beloved parents, but always the knowledge had eaten at her like a canker. Now her old fears were back in full force. Coward, her inner voice taunted her. Afraid of the dark, afraid of the monsters the dwelled there. That girl, Plum. She had said the village thought her a hero. That was a joke, a lie. The other warriors spoke of the thrill of battle, the joy of bathing in your enemies blood. She felt none of that. When she had fought the monsters, and the outsiders who commanded them, she had been sick with dread, literally. No joy, no rush, just a ball of terror in her guts that would not go away even when she paused long enough during a brief quiet moment during the chase to spew her guts. She had killed ten of them, counting the two cat-demons, and still she had felt nothing but fear. Only at the end, when she knew she was dead and it was too late, had her fear fled. Even then she had not felt the warrior's joy at a death well earned, only a numb thankfulness that it was finally over. "Xian Pu," a soft voice said. Xian Pu screamed in fright and whirled around, bringing her sword out of its sheath in one smooth, lethal motion. Facing her, looking greatly startled, was an older woman. Taller by a good margin than Xian Pu, she had brown hair with a slight red tinge tied up behind her head and soft brown eyes, eyes that were open wide in surprise at the moment, staring at Xian Pu. Familiar eyes. Eyes she had seen reflected in a stream just a little while ago. She was wearing a traveling kimono, one that Xian Pu recognized after her heart stopped pounding in her chest. "Nodoka-san?" she asked hesitantly. Incredulity in her voice. The other woman gave a relieved sigh, and said, "That's right, dear. Goodness, you gave me such a start. My own fault, I imagine. If you had suddenly spoken from behind me in my own home, I'm sure I would have been very startled myself. . ." Whatever else Nodoka might have said was lost as she suddenly found herself locked in a rib threatening embrace by the small red- haired girl she now shared her body with. Nodoka stood, her hands out to the side as Xian Pu hugged her fiercely. Despite her sense of personal space being seriously compromised, Nodoka could not bring herself to remonstrate with the girl or to try and move her away. After a few seconds, she brought her arms in and tentatively returned the hug, if with a lot less pressure then what the other girl was exerting. "I'm glad to meet you too, dear, but do you suppose you could give me a chance to breath?" Nodoka said finally, after what she felt was a long enough span of time. Xian Pu broke her hold immediately and moved back quickly, her face blazing red. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. You were just so suddenly there, and I . . .Well, I was just glad to see you," she trailed off lamely. "There is no need to be embarrassed. You startled me, that is all." Xian Pu shook her head in denial. "I should not have reacted so. My grandmother would have laughed to see me in such a state . . ." Xian Pu suddenly trailed off, realizing she was talking too much. Then a look of puzzlement crossed her face. "Nodoka-san, what are you doing here? How are you here?" "I'm not sure myself. I know I lay down to sleep some time ago, and I don't remember waking up. I think I may be dreaming, and somehow I ended up in your world. Unless of course I'm dreaming I'm in your world and am not really here at all." Xian Pu shook her head and held her fingers up to her temples. "Please, don't make me any more confused. I know I'm not dreaming. If you have doubts, you can ask me tomorrow when you are sure you are awake. . ." Xian Pu trailed off again, and she frowned. "That is, if you do wake up. The sorcerer did say that he was not entirely sure how the talisman would work. Maybe it's drawn you into my world, and we are both now trapped here." "Now it's your turn not to borrow trouble," Nodoka chided her lightly. "I think that the easiest explanation is that somehow I can visit you in my dreams, and that maybe you will be able to do the same when our roles are reversed. If, on the other hand, I'm merely dreaming this, then no harm will be done, and the real you will be able to confirm that when I wake. I see no need to search for any other explanation for now. Let us enjoy this time together. I've wanted to truly meet you for some time now." "And I you," Xian Pu said, but then she paused, and her face took on a worried expression. "Nodoka-san, do you hear that?" she asked. "What, dear?" "That breathing," Xian Pu said, then lowering her voice, she added in a worried tone, "I think there is something in here with us. Something big. But I can not find it. Listen, and you will hear it." Taking Xian Pu's advice, Nodoka listened closely, and soon she could make out the noise the young girl was referring to. For a minute she looked puzzled, and then surprised, and finally, just a little embarrassed. In a gentle voice, she said, "That is Ukyou, dear. I'm afraid she . . .he, is having trouble sleeping, but does not wish me to know, so sh- he, is breathing as he believes a sleeper breaths. My husband often did the same thing." "Ukyou? But how . . .? Oh, I see," Xian Pu said, blushing lightly. "I was foolish. I forgot that what you hear, I hear." "Foolish? No, this is a very strange situation, and we both have much to learn of our new lives. Look at the fact that we are here, together, something we neither expected to happen. It is good, however. I have been most eager to learn more of you." Xian Pu brightened at this. "That would be a good thing. We are to be together for many a year. We need to know each other well," she said, looking Nodoka up and down, her eyes resting for a minute on the sword slung behind her back. "I see you are a warrior." Nodoka followed her eyes and shrugged her shoulder slightly, causing the sword to settle more comfortably. "Not really. I was trained by my uncle, but that was many years ago, and it was never serious. I have kept my hand in, but I have only practiced alone. I'm only a pretend warrior, unlike you." She smiled and looked over her shoulders at the sword there. "In a way, that makes this the proper weapon for me. I gave my real weapon to Ukyou to hold. This one only exists in this world. A make believe sword for a make believe warrior." Xian Pu flinched. Nodoka's comments were hitting a bit close to home. "My sword, too, only exists here," Xian Pu said, trying to cover her lapse. "So they are a good match. Shall we see which of us has the stronger imagination?" she added with a quirk of her lip. For a minute, Nodoka looked uncertain, but then a small smile crossed her own lips. "I would like that." Reaching her hand over her shoulder, she drew her sword. She dropped into the familiar ready posture of her uncle's style, and waited for Xian Pu to make her move. For her part, Xian Pu appeared startled. A strange look appeared in her eyes, and she assumed a position that was a mirror image of Nodoka. They moved toward each other and exchanged blows, not in combat, but in the stylized form of a Kata. Xian Pu paid close attention to Nodoka's style, a style she was intimately familiar with. Nodoka lacked the fluidity she remembered, and some of the forms were not just so, but there could be no mistaking it. It was the same style her father had taught her. Xian Pu backed off. Nodoka surprised, lowered her own sword. "Is something the matter, dear?" "Your style. You said your uncle taught you. May I know his name? "Katsuhito Masaki," Nodoka answered. "Why do you ask?" Xian Pu did not answer immediately; she seemed to be in the throes of some powerful emotion. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and tears were streaming out from under the lids and running down her cheeks. Then, without opening her eyes, she said, "Does your family keep a shrine in Japan?" When Nodoka confirmed that yes, they did, the tears began to run in even greater quantity down her cheeks. Concerned, Nodoka moved closer to the stricken girl. She reached out and gently touched her shoulder, while asking, "What is it, dear? What's the matter?" Then she grunted in surprise as for the second time in less then half an hour the air was driven from her lungs by a powerful hug. Xian Pu's muffled voice floated up from where it was pressed tightly into Nodoka's chest. "Family, we're family." This comment startled Nodoka enough that she placed her hands on Xian Pu's shoulders and pushed her gently away. "I don't understand. What do you mean dear?" She asked the little redhead. Xian Pu wiped tears from her eyes, and said, "My father's name before he married my mother was Masaki, and his family kept a shrine in Japan. Don't you see? That's why I was called forth from the spring after so many years. Your blood is my blood. We're family." Nodoka could only stare at her, her mind whirling with the implications. Part of her was ready to deny Xian Pu's claim. The evidence was too circumstantial. The vast majority of her mind, however, grabbed onto the concept like a life line. Ten years of solitude had made Nodoka a very private and insular person, more so even then the typical Japanese. While she had been prepared to do what was right in regards to Xian Pu, her soul quailed at the thought of how intimately connected the two of them were. If they were family though, that made a great deal of difference. They were still closer then two people had any business being, but at least this would make it easier to deal with. Nodoka moved forward and, for the first time, initiated contact between the two of them. She gathered the excited Xian Pu up in a hug and kissed the top of her head. It was her turn to strain ribs, and she did so. This time, the feeling of the other girl's warmth pressed against her did not feel like an intrusion, but was comfortable, fanning an ember in her that had long been just a dim coal. Family, someone to love, this was something Nodoka had craved for years. Breaking the hug, Nodoka drew Xian Pu down to the ground beside her, and said, "Tell me of your father and of his family, and I will tell you of mine." Xian Pu readily agreed and eagerly launched into an account of her immediate family, close relatives, distant relatives, the lady across the way who's husband made the best cookies in the whole village, and more. Nodoka was overwhelmed, but soon realized that the young girl was not talking so much to her as she was trying to lock her entire childhood into her own memory, to keep it bright and shiny for as long as she could. It brought home to Nodoka just how terrible this situation must be for Xian Pu. For her, less then a hand of days had passed, but in that short span of time she had lost everything. The youngest child in her memory would be over two hundred years dead. So Nodoka added nothing to the conversation but her presence. She simply sat and kept the younger girl company as Xian Pu went over every tiny detail of her home and family. After what seemed like hours, Xian Pu started to taper off, her voice hoarse with use. The pauses between bursts of descriptions became longer as she had to search her brain for more details to mention. Nodoka waited for one such gap and interjected her own voice into the monolog Xian Pu had been maintaining. "My, your home sounds wonderful. Now that I know I have family there, I really must visit it once I get us and Ukyou settled." Xian Pu's happy expression vanished. She tucked her head down till her chin nearly touched her chest, and her hair fell over her face. She said in a soft voice, "If you wish, of course you may, but . . . if you go, please don't tell them about me, or let me out while you're there." Tears streamed down her cheeks, clearly visible despite the veil of hair that hung forward to hide her face. The girl's pain struck through Nodoka's heart like a knife, and before she thought about what she was doing she had moved over to Xian Pu and drawn her to her chest. Just as she had done for Ukyou earlier that day. Stroking the red-haired head that was tucked just below her chin, she whispered, "Tell me what it is." "I want to go home," Xian Pu whispered into Nodoka's kimono, "but home is gone. Everyone I knew, everyone I loved, gone. If it were miles away, I could walk it. If it were across an ocean, I could swim it. How do you cross time? How do I swim back three hundred years? I want to go back so badly, but I am not me. The people there would not, could not, greet me." "Why? You said something of this before, but why would they deny you?" "It is our law. The curse is not important, it is the person that matters. If a person is cursed to turn into a pig, you may not cook them and claim it was nothing but an animal. If a person changes into another person, or another sex, it is the original that matters. To them I would be just you, not Xian Pu. Xian Pu died three hundred years ago. All that is left is Nodoka Saotome, who sometimes looks like, and thinks like, the dead Amazon child, Xian Pu." "But that isn't the case. You are an individual, unique. You may have been born of my body, but there is nothing of me . . . ." Nodoka trailed off, a strange expression on her face. Xian Pu pulled herself back slightly and looked up at the older woman with tear stained eyes. She brushed at her eyes with the back of her hand, angry at her show of weakness, and asked. "What is it?" For a second Nodoka did not answer, but then she shook her head slightly and looked down at the young girl. "It's nothing," she said, with a slight smile. "I just realized that after living ten years on my own, I have suddenly, in less then twenty four hours, acquired both a son and a daughter." "What!" Xian Pu blinked, and then enlightenment dawned. "You mean me?" she asked, in surprise. "But I don't understand. I'm a curse." "No!" Nodoka said vehemently. "You are a unique person, yourself and none other. One who was born from my body as surely as if I had given birth to you in the normal fashion." Xian Pu shook her head in denial. "No, that can't be. I told you. The person who received the curse is the person that is there. I am a shadow of the past." "You are wrong Xian Pu!" Nodoka said, putting her hands on the girls shoulders and looking deep into her eyes. "Those are laws. Laws made by people. Fallible people. Maybe they would not acknowledge you, but those laws have no binding on me. To me you are my daughter." As Nodoka spoke, her voice grew firmer, and more commanding, and she finished with such a tone that Xian Pu could not bring herself to argue with her. Instead, she was aware of a sudden unclenching in her chest, as if a great pressure had suddenly been relieved. She leaned forward till her head was once again pillowed on Nodoka's breast and wept, but this time the tears were not of sorrow. For long moments the two women, one old, one young, held that pose, till Nodoka finally said in a hesitant voice. "What do you think of Ranko?" "What?" Xian Pu said, her voice puzzled at this question. "I don't understand. Who is Ranko?" "You are, if you like the name," Nodoka said, and as the other girl looked at her in continued puzzlement, she continued. "You have said over and over again that you are not Xian Pu, but only her shadow. Well, if that is the case, maybe you should have a new name, one that is your own and not that of the girl who died so long ago. My son's name was Ranma. It would be something to keep of his, now that he is gone." For a few minutes Xian Pu considered the idea. "Ranko," she said, tasting the name. She grimaced slightly. It sounded strange and rough. Not at all like her own smooth and silky name, but then she stopped that thought. Xian Pu was not her name. Shadows do not have names. She could see in Nodoka's face that this meant a lot to her, so she put on a cheerful expression, and said, "Ranko! Yes, I think I could get used to it." When Nodoka's face broke into a wide smile at her words, Xian Pu decided, that she could indeed get use to it. The newly-named Ranko could not help but smile with her new mother, but then a thought occurred to her. "You said a son and daughter. Who is the son?" "Oh, that is Ukyou. I asked him the other day. My husband made a promise to him, and it was the only way I could keep his word." Ranko gaped at her. "But Ukyou is a girl." "Yes, I know, he was, but I when I offered to adopt him as my daughter, he would only agree if I took him as my son. He had made a promise to himself, and with my husband gone, he did not feel he could return to being a girl." "But that is stupid. Why would she wish to become a boy? Boy are, are, well, they just are. No right-thinking girl would ever want to be a boy." "I agree," Nodoka said with a smile, "and I would not have gone along with it but for one thing." "What was that?" Ranko asked. Nodoka suddenly looked a lot less certain, and instead of answering Ranko's question, she asked one of her own. "Ranko, how old are you?" Ranko looked surprised, but answered. "Well, I . . . I mean, Xian Pu was almost sixteen. In another month she would have gone through her adult ceremony and become a full warrior of the village." Nodoka considered this, and then, her face still slightly red, said, "well, you see, Ranko, there are some girls who are fond of other girls . . ." Nodoka continued explaining why she felt Ukyou would do well as a boy, and she grew particularly enthusiastic as she described him standing in the Nyanniichuan in his soaking wet tights, which were very tight indeed when wet, and stretched over his larger masculine body, and how manly he had reacted when Plum had come bouncing up. Ukyou stared up at the top of the tent, invisible in the dark. He wondered if it was possible to die of terminal embarrassment. Beside him Nodoka continued to talk in her sleep. Ukyou was surprised that the glow from his burning cheeks did not light up the tent like a lantern. ****************************************************** Shampoo sat in front of the evening camp fire, sharpening her sword with a whetstone. She was paying particular attention to the truncated end where the Demon Ryouko had chopped off ten inches during their fight. A simmering anger filled her as she tried to put some sort of edge on the blunt tip. She was not having much success at the task. The weapon was as good as ruined as a long sword. That was one of the reasons for her current feelings. The sword had been her mother's. She felt great shame over her poor showing in the fight where it had been damaged and burned to redeem her honor and reputation. The skepticism and derision she had met in her home village had wounded her deeply and had served to reinforce her determination to do better next time. When she had time she would have to rework her damaged weapon into a short sword, altering the pommel and blade to get the correct balance. There was no time for that now, and her mother's blade had one last task to accomplish before it was consigned to the blacksmith's forge: revenge on the demon who had damaged it. Shampoo went back to working on the tip with renewed effort. A flicker of movement reflected in the glistening blade caught Shampoo's eye, and her mood suddenly shifted. She smiled as she looked closer, taking care not to give herself away to the person who had just emerged from the bushes behind her. she said in a casual voice. Shampoo turned and looked at her cousin Perfume. The attractive, muscular, brown-haired girl acknowledged Shampoo's greeting and question with a short nod toward several rabbits hanging from her belt. Shampoo grinned. It might not be obvious to most people, but to her Perfume's chagrin was clear to see. The fierce village enforcer was not use to being detected when she chose not to be. Born with senses a dozen times more sensitive than a normal human, and without the ability to dull them, a stubbed toe could leave Perfume curled up in a ball of misery. A scratch from a thorn could reduce her to tears. As a result, she had learned from an early age to move with great caution through the woods and was usually somewhat quieter then smoke. A fact that Perfume enjoyed using, both in her line of work as village enforcer, and to satisfy her rather warped sense of humor. Shampoo thought there was nothing the brown-haired girl enjoyed more than to have someone turn to find her standing inches away. Her role as the village enforcer only added to the pleasure as very few people had a truly clear conscience. It was the rare person indeed who did not startle seriously when they discovered Perfume standing beside them. The rather disgruntled Perfume tossed the rabbit carcasses in front of the campfire and turned to walk away, saying as she did so, Shampoo only grinned at her cousin's retreating back, not even the familiar jibe from Shampoo's first disastrous attempt at outdoor cooking ten years before diminishing her good humor. Licking a finger, she made a mark in the air. she said. Then she bent over the three plump coneys in front of her and started dinner. Perfume's bad mood lasted about ten steps into the bush and then disappeared. She gave a soft chuckle as she thought to herself, 'I really must talk to great-grandmother. It took Shampoo half-a- minute to spot me standing there. I thought I was going to have to snap a twig or something.' In any case, the plan had worked, and her absence for the next two or three hours would be but down to bad temper on her part. Great-grandmother had gone to secure their transportation to Japan and would not be back for at least half the night. Perfume did not intend to waste the opportunity that circumstance presented. She liked her cousin, she really did, but they were going off on what might be a death mission, and Perfume could think of at least one thing she'd much rather be doing then sitting around the fire listening to Shampoo gripe about that cursed boy and the stupid village laws that meant she had to marry the stupid fool. Because, of course, he must have been a fool to fall into Nyanniichuan. She didn't know what her cousin's problem was. Girls were ever so much nicer then boys, at least compared to the louts Perfume knew. In Perfume's opinion, Shampoo had lucked out. And speaking of nice girls, she'd better hurry if she was going to get to Lin's house before the dairy maid retired for the night. Perfume was something of a Don Juan when it came to the girls in the various villages surrounding the Amazons. In the last two years, since turning sixteen, she had cut a wide swath through all the girls in the vicinity. It was not that boys disinterested her. It was simply for the most part she did not want to get tied down to one as they were often so possessive. Then there was that sticky matter of children to be concerned with. Great-grandmother had been very graphic in describing what a pregnancy would mean to her with her heightened senses. It had been days before Perfume could even bear to be in the same room with a man. Great- grandmother had assured her that when the time came, steps could be taken to allow her to manage, but they would have to be implemented before the pregnancy began. To do them afterwards would endanger the baby. Not that Perfume cared, after her great- grandmother's little talk, she'd not be letting any guy get anywhere near that close to her. No, for her, at the moment, women were much more appealing and far less dangerous. Of course, she could have searched for companionship among her fellow Amazons. She had noticed one or two showing an interest. She might have even tried something with her cousin if not for the fact that Shampoo was such a stick-in-the-mud over the issue. However, when it came down to it, Perfume much preferred the company of those 'weakling' outsiders, who were so inclined, to that of any Amazon female. The warriors in her own tribe had, for the most part, despised her when she had been young. Labeled a coward and a crybaby, she'd been an object of derision to others in the village. Her life might have been bleak indeed if great-grandmother had not listened to the pleas from Perfume's mother, and taken her in to train. For that reason, Perfume never really bothered looking among her fellow Amazons for a bed partner. While she might now be an object of respect, and fear, she still remembered all too well the way those same girls had treated her back then. There were lots of young girls in the surrounding villages who were more than eager to share a bed with a warrior maid, if you knew what to look for, or in Perfume's case, what to smell for. Perfume's condition might have left her vulnerable to pain, but in compensation it also gifted her with heightened senses. Senses that were every bit as keen as any animal. Unlike others her hearing, and other senses were not atrophied by an overdose of evolution. Any Amazon could tell when she had attracted the attention of an interested male. It wasn't like the poor fools could hide their interest. Perfume could every bit as easily tell when she had impressed a female. As she was fond of saying, the nose knows. Perfume's rapid motion through the bush was suddenly halted when those self-same heightened senses picked up the presence of other people just ahead. It was unlikely any other human could have detected the whispered conversation coming from the two individuals ahead of her, but once she stopped moving Perfume had no problem making out their words, or the slight scent that marked them clearly as being Musk warriors. The Musk had been thought a dead legend, bogie men to frighten children, until just recently. That was when Shampoo's mother, Comb, had found an injured man on a high mountain trail and had nursed him back to health. The man had turned out to be the emperor of the Musk, and suddenly the Amazon's legendary foes were once again present in their world. Only this time as tentative allies. Many Amazon's looked with disfavor on this. Perfume was one of them. It was not so much who they were, as it was that the ones she met had a fondness for wearing the scent of various animals as some sort of macho display. To her sensitive sense of smell their stink was nauseating. She was always very careful to stay downwind when a delegation came to the village. These two were not that bad, but there was still that lingering odor of tiger and wolf to tell her that they were indeed from the Musk. Curious, she listened to what they were saying. Perfume felt a shock go through her system at the mention of titties. The sudden splashing noise she heard made matters very clear. Some poor girl was bathing, and these louts were sneaking up to peek and to do the gods know what else to the poor thing. All at once her intention to work her way around these fools vanished. 'I have to stop those perverts,' she thought to herself virtuously. 'It's the duty of every Amazon to protect those weaker than them. Of course,' she thought with a grin, 'if the possessor of the before mentioned titties were to prove grateful for Perfume's aid, it would be churlish of me to refuse to accept.' Perfume's hands crept into her bodice and came to rest on the hafts of her battle axes, but then she reluctantly withdrew them empty. Some girls were put off by the sight of blood. Better to do this a bit more quietly. Her left hand searched for and felt a slender rod in the seam of her bodice. Giving a pull, she extracted a short pipe, not much bigger then a drinking straw. Her other hand felt at her collar and grasped two decorative tufts. A gentle pull removed what proved to be a pair of darts. Carefully, not taking her eyes off the silhouettes that marked the location of her prey, she brought the small weapon to her lips. Lime was in difficulty. Both he and Mint were past masters of skulking. The monkey hunt they had recently participated in had heightened an already considerable talent, and that was as nothing when compared to what their attempts at sneaking peaks at Herb- sama had taught them. After all, monkeys did not fry you with Chi- blasts when discovering your presence. Both he and Mint had outdone themselves this time and were within inches of a view of heaven. They just had to get around this one last bush, and it would be clear viewing. That was where the trouble started. Lime had divested himself of anything that might make a noise or snag on a bush. All except for one thing, the Chiisuiton. Lime was under orders to not let the thin magic bucket out of his sight, and it was currently snagged on a branch, impeding his progress. Moving with exquisite care, he stood and started to free the bucket. At that point a bug bit him just behind the ear. His only reaction was a slight wince as he continued his task. Lime blinked his eyes as the bucket in front of him seemed to blur, along with the branch it was snagged on. He raised a hand to his face to wipe away the blurriness, but to no avail. Lime turned to ask Mint for assistance, only to find his partner was sprawled out on the ground. His legs started to get weak, and he was finding it harder and harder to keep his balance. All his attention focused on the bucket. The only thing he could think of was how important that it not make a noise and reveal their presence to Herb-sama. Lime tried to thank the boy with the long brown hair who took the Chiisuiton from his numb hands, but he was unable to make his mouth work. His eyes traveled down the form of the boy as he sank to his knees. The last thought to cross his mind before the lights went out was that this boy had titties even bigger then Herb-sama's. Herb, prince, currently princess, of the Musk, was nervous. Not that she would ever admit to that condition. She was currently taking her first bath as a female without a chaperone. She had never realized how much hassle the presence of the Jusenkyo guide had spared her. With him nearby to give a warning if Lime and Mint took it into their heads to 'guard' her, she had always had complete privacy, or nearly so. Now, alone except for her two companions, she found herself starting at each and every sound. She was torn between bathing facing the shore, or away from it. Facing, she had a better opportunity of spotting the two perverts, but if she should fail to spot them, she would also present them with that which they most desired, an unrestricted view of her chest. Turning her back to the shore would deny them that, but make it less likely she would spot them. She finally decided on facing the shore, trusting in her ability to spot them before they got too big a peek. She focused all her attention on the shore while she hastened to wash her long white and green stripped hair as quickly as she could. This led to problems. The heavy lather she was working up slipped down her face and into her wide spread eyes. Eyes she had been afraid to shut for fear of missing a tell tale sign that would indicate the presence of peepers. Exclaiming in pain. Herb tried to rub the soap out of her stinging eyes. This only worsening her condition as all she succeeded in doing was shoving more irritant into her eyes. Herb stiffened in shock, a small ki ball forming in her hand. Only the belated realization that the speaker was female saved whoever it was from becoming crispy fried. She allowed the ball of energy to dissipate as water sluiced over her head. The process was repeated several times, until the stinging in her eyes subsided. Holding up a hand to forestall any more rinsing, Herb blinked her eyes to clear the last of her blurred vision. A vision swam into sight, a brown-haired girl with a smile on her face and wearing nothing else. Herb's lightning quick mind realized the girl was naked. That meant if she looked down, she would be able to see the other girl's titties. Herb looked down. Perfume frowned at the slight-bodied girl in front of her. Everything had been going just fine, and then the girl had completely zoned out, her large, slanting green eyes glazing over. Perfume waved a hand in front of the glazed eyes of the other girl. Nothing. The girl merely continued to stare blankly at Perfume, or more specifically, at Perfume's chest. Perfume was starting to wonder if the girl was mentally defective, when she finally moved. A hand slowly came up, and tremulously reached forward. Perfume stifled an urge to back away and allowed the exotic looking girl to touch her. A soft hand, slightly chilled from the river water, touched, and then caressed, Perfume's breast. The girl said, in an breathy, worshipful tone of voice. Perfume felt a familiar heat rising in her loins and decided that it would be most impolite not to reciprocate this strange girl's welcome. Subsequently, she reached forward herself and stroked the other girl's breasts with both hands, saying, She then added under her breath, Perfume's touch seemed to break the girl out of her stupor. She jerked her head up to stare into the slightly taller girl's eyes. Perfume was happy to see a fierce intelligence now burning in the slanted green eyes staring into her own. The dull glaze that had filled them was no longer present. While Perfume was glad to see the pretty girl was not a lack- wit, that did not mean she was going to let her use that brain. Before the other girl could react, Perfume's right hand relinquished her hold on the girl's firm, succulent breast. Perfume's arm slipped down and around the girl's slim waist. She pulled the other girl in close, and taking advantage of her upturned face, lowered her head slightly, and captured the girl's dainty lips with her own. For a second the girl struggled in her arms, but as Perfume's experienced hands, and lips, had their way with her, she slowly relaxed and to Perfume's immense satisfaction, began to tentatively return Perfume's attentions with some of her own. Perfume stood in the water, drinking in the lips of the girl in her embrace, till finally the need for a slightly dryer, and warmer, location could no longer be ignored. She swung the girl up in both her arms, cradling her against her substantial chest. The girl's murmured protest ended when she found her face pressed up against one of Perfume's generous brown-tipped mounds. Her eyes glazed over once again, and with a happy sigh, she lay her head against its warm softness. Perfume looked down at the exotic girl in her arms. Her pointed ears, large slanted eyes, and long silky, green and white hair that was currently falling down over Perfume's left arm, came together to make a most fetching picture. 'Oh yes, this was going to be 'fun', Perfume thought, as she carried the girl out of the river. ****************************************************** Shampoo looked up some two hours later as Perfume sauntered into the campsite, a happy cat-eating-the-canary expression on her face. Shampoo had seen Perfume returning from enough late-night rendevous to have no difficulty discerning the reason for Perfume's self-satisfied expression. Holding out some cold skewers of rabbit meat to her cousin, she said, , Perfume asked with a laugh, taking a healthy bite from the skewer in her hand. Despite the harshness of Shampoo's words, they were spoken with a tone of humor. This was old territory for the two cousins, who had long ago agreed to disagree on their respective attitudes toward romance. Therefore, Perfume merely grinned at Shampoo, and said, Both Perfume and Shampoo turned to see their great-grandmother looking at them, a testy expression on her face. Seeing she had their attention, she continued, ****************************************************** Herb-chan sighed and rolled over on her back, letting the early morning sun wash over her nude body. She felt _ wonderful _ . Better than she could ever remember feeling in her life. Herb's voice took on a sly tone, and she turned to her left. She trailed off when she discovered the space next to her was vacant. she called out. Then again with more intensity. Herb rolled to her feet and frantically looked around the campsite for her companion of the night before, but there was no one present. An ache started to form in her chest, but she fought it down. Perfume-chan had likely only gone down to the river to bathe. That was it, nothing unusual in that. Herb smiled. She'd just sneak on down there and join her. Herb yelled with great enthusiasm as she jumped through the bushes into the river, causing a great splash of water. She wiped her eyes and looked around. Her spirit fell as she saw she was alone, only to rise when she heard a crashing in the bush behind her. Turning with an expression of joy on her face, Herb's spirits plummeted once more when Lime burst from the brush and into the stream. Lime's voice trailed off as he took in Herb's unclothed status. His eyes glazed over and drool started to drop from his mouth as he focused on her bare chest.> Herb glared at the massive boy in disgust. A ball of chi formed in her hand, and a second later blew the tiger-skin clad boy back through the bushes he had emerged from. Drawing as much of her dignity as she could around her in place of the clothes she lacked, she stalked back to camp, not even pausing as she fired a chi bolt straight up. A second later Mint came crashing to the ground, the tree branch Herb had severed landing on his head. Herb reached their camp and placed a kettle on the remaining coals from the fire the night before. She'd get no help from those two idiots as long as she was female. And disgusting as it was, she needed their help. She had to find Perfume-chan. The lovely Amazon might be in trouble and need rescuing. Herb slipped into a daydream while she waited for the kettle to boil. A dream in which she, in her male form, rescued the lovely maiden from her peril, and was suitably rewarded. Her face took on an expression quite remarkable in its resemblance to the one Lime had worn only minutes before. Soon, though it seemed like hours to Herb, the kettle of water heated to the correct temperature, and Herb poured the water over her head. Shaking the water out of her hair, she walked over to her clothes, only to pause when it finally registered that she was still female. Looking down at herself in stunned shock, her mind froze up. For a second she could not think, then, frantically, she refilled the kettle and placed it back on the coals, this time adding fuel to the fire. Obviously, she had not let the water get hot enough. Herb let the kettle come to a full boil this time. She gasped in pain when she poured the hot water over her head. It was no good, two very attractive and feminine breasts still decorated her chest. Now thoroughly panicked, Herb cast around the camp frantically. When Mint and Lime emerged from the bushes, she screamed at them. She got no answer from the drooling boys, who only stared at her naked form. Almost screaming in frustration, Herb searched the camp, tearing it to pieces in her frantic search for the magic ladle. For once, she was completely oblivious to the imbecilic state of her peeping companions. Two hours later, Herb finally had to admit defeat, the Chiisuiton was no where to be found. How was that possible? It had to be here. One of them always carried it with them. They never left it behind. They were here, so where was it? A sudden sensation of dread filled Herb-chan's mind. There had been one other person here last night. No! She refused to believe that! Perfume-chan would never do that to her. There was peace between the Musk and the Amazons at the moment. There was no reason for her to do such a thing. Was there? A sudden memory filled Herb's mind. A wash of water rinsing soap from her eyes. With a dull ache in her stomach Herb raced back to the stream. This time she looked carefully at the stream bank, and felt her gorge rise in her throat as she spied the missing Chiisuiton laying on it's side. Herb said in a weak voice, picking up the narrow bucket and clutching it to her stomach. She staggered back to camp muttering over and over to himself. She reached camp and fell to her knees, still clutching the bucket. Tears rolled down her face. It couldn't be. Not Perfume-chan. She wouldn't do this to me. A cough behind her broke her out of her grief, and she turned her tear stained face toward her two companions. Both Lime and Mint were standing there, their gaze directed upward. Herb felt a sudden burst of affection for the two clods. They were fools, but they were trying their best. In her time of need they suppressed their desire to peak to offer her solace. Herb said in a hoarse voice. The two men exchanged looks, clearly wanting the other to speak for both of them. After a bit of subtle body language, involving elbows and ribs, Lime was selected spokesman. The nausea in Herb's stomach increased, but she needed to face the truth. She nodded, and said, Mint and Lime once again exchanged looks, Mint glared, and Lime backed out of elbow range, and said, Mint nodded vigorously in agreement. The explosion was most impressive. Two charcoal colored figures staggered down the road. The smaller of the two spoke in an aggrieved tone of voice. He was cut off when his companion elbowed him in the side and shushed him, all the while looking around frantically. he said in a very worried tone of voice. " Despite his words of bravado, Mint was looking around himself. His expression might have been worried, but it was hard to tell considering his face was as black as the rest of him. Lime, who had continued to look for possible witnesses, nodded his head in agreement. He was about to offer a 'me too,' when a thought plowed through his rather dense mind, bringing all other activity up there to an abrupt halt. Mint paused as he noticed Lime was not moving. The larger boy was frozen in place, rivulets of sweat washing the char from his face, which was screwed up in intense effort to follow a certain idea through to its conclusion. Mint asked. Lime jerked and broke out of his frozen posture. He looked down at his friend, and said, Mint looked startled at the question. The idea of leaving Herb- sama was strange to him. He and Lime had been with the prince since, as he had said, Herb had been hatched. Giving him a little distance to cool down, that was one thing, going off so far . . . Mint's face hardened as he remembered Herb-sama's reaction to a simple and justified grievance. 'Why not,' he thought. 'It would serve Herb-sama right. Maybe he would be nicer to them if he had to get by on his own for a while.' Mint nodded in agreement to Lime's suggestion. Without a backward look, he started out for Jusenkyo. Lime followed after him eagerly, a peculiar look in his eyes as he looked at Mint from behind. Almost as if he was seeing the other boy for the very first time. Back at the campsite Mint and Lime had so precipitously departed, a brilliant, pulsating ball of energy filled the area formerly occupied by Herb. The surrounding area was a shambles. What was left of the camping gear was a charred ruin, while nearby trees had either been reduced to splinters or, in the case of the larger ones, charred and uprooted. Inside the ball of energy, Princess Herb, former heir to the empire of the Musk, raged. Trapped as a female, she had lost whatever status her curse would have left her. She saw it all now. The Amazons had planned this. Her father was infatuated with that Amazon healer. He would marry her, and their child would be the new ruler of the Musk, while Herb would spend the rest of her life in the woman's quarters, first her father's, and then those of whatever man he choose for her Husband. Herb's anger kept her from considering the unlikelihood of the scenario she imagined. She was a person scorned and betrayed, and logic had nothing to do with her current thought processes. Herb's rage continued to grow as she imagined the treacherous female laughing as she told her friends of how easily she had duped the foolish prince of the Musk. Her body began to glow, then as Herb's anger continued to grow, to twist and change. Herb payed no mind to the transformation her body was going through. Only one thought filled her mind, and she screamed it to the heavens, even as her physical form vanished as the glow from her body blocked out any possible observation. *************************************************** "Ahchoooo!" Perfume sneezed powerfully in her seat beside Shampoo. She quickly rubbed her nose in embarrassment and carried on the conversation she'd been having with Shampoo before her sneeze. Raising her voice to be heard over the clatter of the ancient single engine, she said, Perfume shrugged her shoulders. Perfume added hastily, when Shampoo looked at her incredulously, "Oh, and just how would you know that? I remember that once upon a time you wouldn't let a boy get within twenty feet of you. You even broke poor Soap's arm when he came up behind you by surprise that one time.> Perfume blushed at the memory and hastened to offer excuses. Perfume said with complete frankness, easily confessing her disability to Shampoo, something she would do with no other person in the world. Shampoo asked in genuine curiosity. Shampoo only snorted in scepticism and asked, Perfume suddenly looked uncertain. After a minute of thought, she said thoughtfully, Her eye's suddenly widened, and she said, Shampoo smirked at her, and said, Happy to have notched up another coup on Perfume, Shampoo went back to reading the twenty year old magazine she'd found tucked in the pouch in the back of the seat in front of her. Perfume stayed silent, her furrowed brow evidence of her deep thought. Lotion had been a bit vague when she'd explained that lemon with sugar and water was a powerful contraceptive. ************************************************* M.I.B. Headquarters, New York, New York. Agent J made his way with great care through the many back halls and passages that made M.I.B. headquarters such a warren. He was dressed in his usual black on black suit, but was wearing a new addition to his wardrobe. The top of his head was covered by an oversized red toque. It was so oversized in fact, that he verged on the need to cut eye holes in the thing, which would have given him far more of a resemblance to a Bill Cosby character than his already damaged dignity could handle. J's face clearly showed the strain he was under as he checked each doorway and cross passage with the utmost of care. It was vital he leave headquarters without being seen, by a single soul. Only a few more feet and he'd make it. "I am so smooth," he purred to himself in self-satisfaction. At that moment, a soft, feminine voice said behind him,"There you are, J, Z wants to see us." "Aaaahhhhhh!!," J cried in surprise, nearly leaping out of his skin in surprise. "Don't do that, L!" he cried, turning to face the person who had addressed him. The icy blond who was facing him merely cocked an amused eyebrow. She fixed a curious gaze on the outlandish piece of headgear J was currently sporting. "An interesting fashion statement, but not within the dress code. Or are you planning on trying out for this year's Santa?" "Oh ha ha, very funny. As it happens I was just . . . ah." J's normally agile mind froze up as he tried to think up some logical reason he would be wearing a large red stocking hat in the middle of M.I.B. headquarters. "No time. Like I said, Z wants to see us, and right away," L said. She grasped the sleeve of J's jacket and took off down the hall at a brisk walk, dragging J behind her. Her path took them right through the middle of the main concourse. J's face darkened at the many comments on his new apparel that rose from all sides as he was dragged through the busy alien arrival terminal. If anything, J's complexion became even darker when they finally reached Z's office, and he found himself suddenly under the exacting scrutiny of not only Z, but his own partner K. Z glowered at him, and said, "Care to explain, rookie?" But before J could even start to explain himself, Z continued, "No, don't bother. We have trouble. Take that silly thing off and sit down." J hesitated for a second, but then giving into the inevitable, reached up and took off the large red hat. Long tangled cords of black hair fell around his shoulders and down his back. Everyone in the room stared in surprise at the matted hair that covered the top of J's normally well groomed head. Looking sheepish, J started to explain. "You see, I thought if I used a Rigelian healing machine, I could sort of make that chunk of hair the crystal shaved off grow back a bit quicker, and . . ." He trailed off and gestured helplessly at his head. Z glowered at him for a second, and then waved off any further explanation. "People, we have a problem. In the last week we've had several incidents in the orient. As you know, we stream all official immigrants and travelers through the base here. This allows us a level of control we could not manage if we let them arrive wherever they wanted. This also means that if not all, the majority of illegal incidents also occur in North America." "Because even illegals need a support structure of some kind, such as Jeeter's pawn shop," L said in a contemplative tone. "Exactly. By restricting almost all of the legal immigrants to this continent, we manage to concentrate most illegal alien activity here as well." "So what about little Miss Destructo and the flying chicky who trashed Japan last week?" J asked. "That is one of the incidents I was referring to," Z said, while delivering a quelling glance J's way. "It and several other incidents are outside the normal framework we work with. Which is why I've called you all here. You three are going to set up a temporary M.I.B. operation as near as we can safely get to the non-interference area, and monitor the situation." "Yo, that's bogus! Why don't we just go in and kick some alien booty." "Can't, Slick," K said. "Why not?" L asked, when it was apparent K was not going to say anything more. "No, let me guess," J said. "Need-to-know, right?" "You got it kid." "Oh man, that is so --" "The way it is," Z broke in. "K is fully cognizant of the reasons. He will be in charge. Listen to him 'and' obey him." K delivered a speaking look in J's direction, leaving no doubt as to who he was directing his last remark at. Turning to K, Z gave his final instructions. "K, I want you and Junior to visit your old friend, G. Seems he had an unexpected visitor the other day. The cleanup crew is leaving in an hour. You, J and the L.T.D. can hitch a ride with them. Once you talk to him, you can head over to Japan." Z then turned and spoke to L, "You will head directly for Japan. We've made arrangements for you to work as an English teacher. You'll start work at the school attended by our one client in Japan. She's been getting a bit out of hand lately, boyfriend trouble I hear, and needs a bit of settling down. We've rented a large house for you to set up in. It was built over the entrance to a large World War II bunker. The plans of which have gone missing from the local zoning office. There's a crew working on it right now, moving in everything you'll need. K and J will join you when they are done in China." Z looked at all three of them, grunting as his eyes passed over J in a god-I-hope-I'm-doing-the-right-thing way, then he snapped out. "That's all people. Move out." And yet another chapter comes to a close. Next chapter, we rejoin Tenchi and Ranma as they and the girls take a relaxing trip to a hot spring. After that. What ever happened to poor Ryouga, and will he ever find his way back to earth, and to the cute little red-head who was so kind to him that one time. Tune into chapter two of Ryouga Hibiki, Lost In Space, to find out. Think I'm taking too long to come out with chapters. Be sure to drop me a line and let me know. Nothing motivates me, and I'm sure other authors, so much as having readers writing up to tell me how much you enjoyed the story, and to get off the stick and write more.^_^ The Hungry Tiger. schell@interlog.com