Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale of Two Wallets ❯ Gate of Dreams ( Chapter 69 )

A Tale of Two Wallets

(An Altered Destiny)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

A pair of crimson eyes gleamed with soft intensity as they peered through the gloom of the night and easily discerned the two forms lying closely together. Atsuko smiled as she remained hidden within the shadows, regarding Nodoka and Genma with speculative intensity after watching the two of them go at it for the better part of an hour, only to slump back and rest in each others arms, unaware that the full time spent in "getting reacquainted" with each other had been observed and critiqued by a less-than-disinterested observer.

It had been very hard for Atsuko to remain aloof the whole time, but once she had found the bedroom that had Genma's scent all over it she had made certain to secure herself in one corner, casting an illusion to hide her presence so that she could study the two of them and judge the moment to make her fateful entrance. Only long and careful practice in mastering her instinctive impulses had kept her from revealing herself prematurely, for it was her intention to wait until one or both partners had succumbed to sleep before she would make her move to separate Genma from Nodoka. She was confident that she would be able to achieve this, having done this once before on that occasion when she had gotten herself pregnant with Ryoga.

Atsuko thought back to that fateful night just over seventeen years back, when she had been sent by her mother for a final attempt at getting herself with the future Temporal Nexus. Atsuko had tried everything she could imagine to win over Genma's heart, had indulged in wild and impossible schemes to try and get him to return her desire for him, or to at least make him understand the intense feelings that she had always felt in his presence. Falling in love with a mortal had been one of the most climatic moments of her life, forcing her to choose between her womanly passions and the ambitious designs of her Sorceress mother. Something about Genma reminded Atsuko of her half-Oni father, Razor, but it was for more than this reason that she had first developed feelings for him, which in time led to her downfall when she had turned her back on her past and sought a life with her son far from the watchful gaze of her mother.

The unfortunate thing was that Genma did not seem to love her in the way manner that she loved him, and in the end he had chosen Nodoka, a woman with whom he'd had an arranged marriage, yet he seemed to care for her in spite of this. Nodoka was alternately a quiet and quirky person who was very hard to classify, let alone anticipate, and she came from a moderately wealthy background, so Genma had strong motivation for accepting her, quite beyond the fact that he genuinely seemed to like her for some reason that totally escaped Atsuko's understanding.

Well, qualify that…Atsuko did like Nodoka, but then again it was hard not to like her chief rival for Genma's affections. Nodoka could be alternately sweet tempered and unpredictable, almost the opposite of Comb, who was both volatile and too-predicable in her responses. In spite of much effort on her part Atsuko had never been able to work up a real dislike for Nodoka, who would go out of her way to be nice to people, even those who were less than nice towards her. She was a difficult one to get a handle on, so in the end Atsuko had resigned herself to trying to get along with her rival even as she made repeated attempts to seduce Genma from her clutches.

Only all of that ended the day that Genma had married Nodoka, thus bringing an end to Atsuko's fervent prayers that somehow she might persuade him to choose her instead of Nodoka. Atsuko could remember the tears she had shed that day when it had seemed all hopes of enjoying a normal life honoring her human half were ended. Then her mother had come and laid down the ultimatum to abandon Genma to his fate. She gave Atsuko a special dagger and told her what was to be done to exact her vengeance upon both Genma and Nodoka. She was to steal into their bedroom on their Honeymoon night, take Nodoka's place, seduce Genma and get herself with his child, then kill him. She could take her time killing Nodoka, just so long as the deed was done and would insure that Atsuko would bear the only son of a man fated to be father to a new Nexus.

Atsuko had half-agreed to the plan, stealing into the room of a sleeping couple and assuming Nodoka's outer form while casting a spell to insure that the real Nodoka would not wake in the middle of the evening. She then roused Genma (in more than one sense) using spells to restore his vigor while the charm she wore-that her mother had given for this purpose-would make certain that a child would result from their brief union. Genma certainly responded well to her advances as Atsuko had released three years of pent-up desire for him in a single night of ardor. By the end of the evening she had known success was hers and that she would have a son by her human lover. All that was needed from that point onward was to cast a spell that would ensure that he would sleep and never wake again while she finished off Nodoka, then to escape into the night with Genma's precious seed within her.

The only problem with this phase of the plan was that she could not do it. Though he had jilted her and given her every reason to despise him, their lovemaking had convinced Atsuko that she could never bring him harm, not even in the name of vengeance. Nor could she vent her anger at abandonment on Nodoka, who had never really tried to give hurt Atsuko and whose only crime was in accepting Genma's marriage proposal. Atsuko could not murder two people in their sleep…she had spent too much time among humans to accept the way of the Oni as the only solution for her bereavement.

So she had left them alone, casting a spell to insure that their rest would be untroubled, then returned to her mother without confirming that the threat of a rival Nexus had been ended. She would spend a month with her mother before discovering the truth of what she intended to do with her son, at which point Atsuko was glad that she had been merciful, and she resolved to escape her mother, never looking back again from this day to the present.

It had been hard making a new life for herself and her infant boy, but three years among the humans had taught Atsuko all that she needed for survival, and by crafting the illusion of a husband she was able to escape the usual ostracism that Japanese society visited upon a single mother. It would not be until years later that she would learn that her son was not the much-coveted Nexus and that Nodoka had been with child that very night of the conception. It would provoke Atsuko's pride and lead her to goading her son into his eventual resentment of Nodoka's child, and once Ryoga began resenting Ranma it took little effort on her part to encourage their rivalry, up to the point when her son foolishly ran off in pursuit of his vengeance and got lost for the following three years, prompting Atsuko to have to follow after him and thus leave behind the comfortable life that she had created in the suburbs.

Only now the chance for a new life was beckoning before her. Genma had returned to her after seventeen years of separation, and now the chance to renew acquaintances was nearly overwhelming! All that she needed to do was place a spell that would make Nodoka sleep like before, assuming her shape once again then rouse Genma and she could have a night of bliss such as had filled her dreams during her years of wandering and exile.

Of course she was reasonably confident that both man and woman were near to the point of sleep, for how could they not be asleep with Genma snoring through all that racket that Atsuko kept hearing down the hallway? Nodoka's son was obviously doing his business with Soun's child and (boo hiss) Comb's energetic daughter. Those kids were certainly making enough noise to raise an army of the dead, and that even without the assistance of her Aunt Morgana's necromantic powers!

Atsuko finally judged the moment right and eased out from her concealment, moving carefully on bare feet so as not to give herself away as she approached the sleeping couple. (Not that she expected Genma to wake up should an elephant come storming into the room, but there was never that much certainty with Nodoka) She was already preparing the sleep spell in her mind as she knelt down over Nodoka's recumbent form, stretching out a taloned hand with the proper somatic components ready to be uttered when she felt the press of cold steel gently touch her neck, causing her to freeze abruptly. For the next few seconds the only sounds that she could hear were her heart beating like a drum and Genma snoring like a sawmill.

"I was wondering when you were going to make your move," Nodoka mused softly, and her eyes opened to regard the half Oni in the lingering gloom with a smile of amusement, "I had no idea you could be so patient."

"…?" was all Atsuko could think to utter, moving her eyes to study the slight reflection of a katana gripped in her rival's hand as Nodoka held it near to the Oni's jugular vein. That was the other thing about Nodoka that disconcerted Atsuko…how much she had improved over the years with that thrice-damned katana!

"I thought you might try repeating history when I noticed your shadow early on before Genma and I began our business," Nodoka resumed as pleasantly as if she were commenting upon the weather, "I didn't think you could hold out for so long, but once more you have surprised me."

Atsuko's crimson eyes widened as she stared down in disbelief at her rival. Nodoka had sensed her presence? Impossible! Atsuko's illusions were much too good to be penetrated by any mere mortal! No way could she be that perceptive unless…

Atsuko was suddenly perspiring from more than nervousness at being caught in the act by her nominal rival. Sudden understanding was causing her to totally reevaluate everything that she had thought that she had ever known about the woman before her, and that changed the dynamic chemistry of their rivalry by a large measure!

"Ah…" Atsuko said uneasily, "Maybe I should just go find my boy and let you two lovebirds alone to get reacquainted…"

"You might do that," Nodoka's smile deepened, "Or you could consider staying and keeping me company for a bit. It has been a long time and we do have so many things to catch up about, and it's not absolutely mandatory that you leave here without fulfillment…"

Atsuko's eyes fluttered in her surprise. Could she be mistaken or was Nodoka…? Did that mean she…? Was she…? Atsuko's nervousness suddenly redoubled.

"Ah…maybe later," she said as she hastily backed away, grateful that Nodoka seemed inclined to allowing her to withdraw without protest, "It's kind of late, and I need to get some shut-eye…"

"As you will," Nodoka replied, producing the scabbard for her sword as she slid it back into the sheath, "But think about it if you are still intent on renewing relations with my Genma. There is no reason why we should be enemies, and since Ryoga is Genma's son, I would think it only proper that we come to some…mutually beneficial arrangement."

Atsuko just stared in mute disbelief. Had Nodoka changed this much over the years? True Atsuko had vastly underestimated her, both past and present, but she had never even suspected that her rival…

"Ah…maybe," she stammered softly, turning about so suddenly that she almost walked into a wall before-by some odd miracle-finding the exit. She slid the door open she heard again the sounds of muffled cries echoing down the hallway, followed by Nodoka's approving murmured comment, "My son is SOOO manly!"

Atsuko managed to avoid face vaulting as she slipped into the hallway…

Nabiki's Journal Continues:

That whole business yesterday with Ryoga's wicked grandmother, on top of almost losing my mentor in the crossfire, was causing me to reevaluate my whole outlook on life…mainly my realization of how temporary human existence can be and how easy it is to lose those whom we care about. It was a lesson I had thought that I had learned many years ago when I lost my mother, but now I was having a fresh look on the choices Mom's death had forced on me, and why I had resolved never to care about anyone like that in the first place.

The day Momma died my family was an emotional wreck with Daddy going to pieces and Kasumi withdrawing into her comfort zone, while Akane got mad at the universe for allowing this to happen. I was the one who made an unconscious decision to close down on all feelings, having tried to be the responsible one after seeing how emotions had affected both Daddy and my little sister. I saw Kasumi trying to fill in the role of housekeeper and I wanted to help out in any way that I could, and being good with numbers I naturally took over the family finances, organized a weekly budget and started making deals with local merchants so that I could stretch our yen out between the hospitals bills and utility costs, while Daddy all but stopped running the dojo, our family's main source of income.

Emotions had seemed like a burden that I could deal without back then, so I turned my attention to the bottom line and tried to make do as life gradually fell into a new pattern. Being the smart one in my family (or so I used to tell myself that I was) I resolved to never let myself be hurt by anyone or to permit myself to care the way Daddy had cared about Momma. I honestly thought that I could survive my teenage years without the entanglements of a relationship, and the one time that I had taken on a boyfriend proved such a disaster that it confirmed in me a desire to remain single.

But then I began to feel annoyed on some level, not satisfied simply with making money through the betting and money lending schemes that I was using to supplement the family's income, and even when I tried my hand at more sophisticated games such as blackmail and photography I still wasn't able to fill a certain hole that I felt was in my life, though I refused to concede the fact that I was basically pretty lonely, even resentful of Akane for being so much more popular than me, and with so little effort on her part. It had gotten so bad that when Daddy had announced his little engagement scheme I had found the idea was pretty intriguing, and the chance to meet a cute boy had overruled my longtime resolve of remaining single.

And then Ranma came into my life and that was it…no more resolve to avoid romantic entanglements, no more loneliness and isolation, and hello to a world of aggravation and despair that was flavored with moments of intense joy, a joy that was only redoubled with Shampoo made her resolution to claim both of us for her airen.

And now as I lay in my bed with the pair of naked bookends flanking me on either side I realized just how much I had changed, and how they both had come to mean to me, and how much I would miss having either or both of them around, and not just because the sex part was such an incredibly fulfilling experience. I had opened my heart to them and they had become as much a part of me as my right and left arm, and having them in my life was worth any amount of aggravation that came with the package. As I fondly ran my fingers through both black and purple hair I felt a sense of incredible peace come over me, as if this was so incredibly right, as if there were no other kind of life that I could imagine now, being part of a triangle that was really one unit composed of three different but closely linked sections.

Yeah, I cared about them, more than I had ever been able to admit to them when they were conscious, or to myself without some coercion on the subject. I still couldn't say the "L" word to either one of them without feeling the old hesitation surface up again, as if merely saying the word would somehow change everything, make it more permanent than it was now, and it was frightening to me to think how admitting the depth of my feelings aloud might be the final Reubicon that-once crossed-would signal the end of what was left of my independence. It scares me worse than I can say even now to realize how much my future happiness has come to depend upon maintaining the affections of others.

I used to tell myself that I didn't care what other people thought about me, that what they said behind my back was of no consequence to me whatsoever. I knew tongues were starting to wag and voices were being raised in whisper about my having a three-way relationship with a couple of Jocks, and one of them a foreigner at that, but it didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would. All that mattered to me was the good opinion of my future wife and husband. What Ranma says and thinks of me is more important than all the people in our school combined, and that goes in equal part with Shampoo, whom I know is a lot more intelligent that she lets on in normal conversation.

Yeah…I care a lot about these two, even more than I care about my family, who seem to be acting stranger every day. Daddy now has two girlfriends fighting over him, which almost puts him on a level with Ranma's father. Kasumi is spending her nights in bed with that lunatic, Kodachi, and apparently enjoying herself more than I've ever seen before, while Akane…what do I make about Akane and her weird fixation on Kuonji? She hasn't exactly given Ryoga the hidey-ho, but you can tell that the former Pig-boy isn't exactly happy about having a girl with a Jusenkyo curse for a rival. Of course he's a fine one to complain about flirting, what with that shape-shifting familiar, Shirokuro, now back in his life and expressing a more than puppy-like fascination.

And I could tell just from looking what Akane thought about having HER for a potential rival! One look at the voluptuous "Cruella DeVille" Vamp she turns into and it was Dagger City for Akane's flashing eyes. I could almost enjoy watching these four get into their romantic foibles if it wasn't so utterly confusing, and compared with Akane's new romantic troubles I think my love life is looking pretty stable!

And now there's Kino Makoto in the picture, Ukyo's ex-girlfriend from middle school, who appears to have found out late in their relationship about Ukyo's true gender and stated preferences, which ended their affair on a sour note, though indications are that they still share a great deal of mutual affection. Only now Ukyo turns into an incredibly handsome boy and things aren't simple for her at all, and that means Makoto is probably going to be seeing a lot more of her ex, which doesn't sit well at all with Akane, and I'd just LOVE to see how Kuonji intends to deal with this in the future!

Ah yes, and let's not exclude the adults from this. Comb's husband seems like a pretty nice guy, and he obviously keeps Shampoo's Mom on a tight leash, but the way the Amazon Healer keeps hanging about with Uncle Genma while exchanging barbs with Ryoga's mom makes it pretty plain for all to see that she's wavering in her loyalty and devotion. Atsuko's a real handful by any standard, flirtatious and volatile in a way that makes Ryoga seem mild-mannered, it's becoming a real soap opera just keeping up with the way things are going from day to day, and don't ask me why Nodoka seems to be handling all of this with such a pleasantly even temper. There's something about Ranma's mom that's more than a little weird, and I'm not just referring to obsession with Ranma's "manly" behavior.

I don't know about Kuonji Yumi…she helped out back there, but…well…she's kinda scary. Not a raving beauty, like Ukyo in either gender, but pleasant enough to look at while built like a barracks marine and a tendency to swing that spatula of hers on the slightest provocation. I can tell what side of the family Ukyo gets it from, and I'm finding it real hard to accept that a woman like that was ever Daddy's girlfriend.

And, of course, let's not forget Silk (I've tried to, believe me!), the gentle-voiced dead ringer for my mother, who makes no secret about wanting to claim Daddy for her own and seems more than willing to come to blows about it with Yumi. I don't envy Daddy for being caught in the middle between these two, but I'm not sure exactly how I'd feel about having to someday call either one of them, "Mother."

I think I should go back to Kuonji herself for a minute and mention the other people who seem to be noticing her "manly" characteristics. The Amazon, Ambergris, former friend and current rival (or should that be "friendly" rival?) to Shampoo, seems to enjoy flirting with Kuonji in a way that makes the okonomiyaki chef seem more than a little nervous, while the Enforcer, Perfume (Shampoo's cousin and apparent training partner) seems to enjoy Kuonji's female half, when she's not making goo-goo-eyes with Lotion the Younger (Shampoo's ex, but I'll get into that later).

Oh yeah, and lest I forget we come to the Duck Boy, Mousse, (or as Sham-chan affectionately calls him, "The annoying blind fool who won't leave Shampoo alone!"). Seems the girls caught him while we were away and Cologne seemed pretty insistent that he would stand trial before a tribunal of Elders, just as soon as Lotion could recover enough to defend him against the accusation that he had violated the Amazon code on numerous occasions. Cursing my sister and half-cursing Shampoo were only two of the crimes that were to be made against him, though it seems the charge that he stole Kuonji's Jusenkyo waters will be dismissed on a technicality as new evidence has come to light that implicates Atsuko's mother as the true guilty party. Meanwhile he languishes in a cage, forced to remain a duck until his fate is decided, and I'd almost feel sorry for him if it hadn't been explained to us that he'd be coming after me and Ranma if he got loose to press his suit on the Shampoo issue.

As for the twins, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung, I'm not sure where they fit into any of this, but I mention them in passing as it seems to me to be a prudent subject and one definitely not worth neglecting. Those girls are looking of boyfriends, and this does not bode well for the male half of the local teenaged population.

Getting back to my mentor, I was very concerned about Elder Lotion's state of health after the way she had taken injury defending my sister from Atsuko's mother. Seeing her on a bed in Tofu-sensei's clinic brought back unpleasant memories of Momma, and looking on the sallow complexion of her skin made me fear the worse, that I was about to lose her also. I don't know why the old lady has gotten under my skin this way, but I was starting to believe that she was invincible and would go on living forever. Two hundred years…just shy a century of Cologne's own age group, and shriveled up like a prune with arms that seemed both as thin as willow bark and as brittle as kindling. Hard to believe the way she could manifest such an incredible air of all-knowing power when she was alert and active. It shocked me more than I could say to realize that she was mortal after all, and that I could lose her when I'd started to feel almost like she was my own grandmother!

Tofu was not certain of her status, but Cologne assured us that her fellow Elder would recover from her rest and be up and about to annoy us before we knew it. I wish I could say that I believed this was so, but Shampoo's great grandmother has been known to stretch a truth or two on occasion, so of course I wasn't all that reassured and wanted to stay by her side for a while in case the might wake up and need water or something. I only left after Kasumi urged it, saying I could come back and visit her again, and that Kachu would be looking after her with Tofu to see that her great grandmother was well cared for. I don't know why I trusted my new "big sis" on this, but I could tell Kachu was sincerely worried about her Elder and would do everything in her power to help her to recover.

Concerns about Lotion aside, the rest of the gang was in a pretty good mood after our near brush with Cybelle and the Combat Lawyers. Ukyo's dad was admitted to a local hospital for treatment, so she was away for a while, along with Ryoga and Akane, but the grown ups were in a pretty good mood, so Kasumi, Nodoka, Kodachi and Silk all teamed up to whip up a pretty nice feast around the dinner table. Since Ambergris called off the match between her and Shampoo for the day it was pretty much a party for us as the Amazons joined with our extended clan to devour enough food to keep even Uncle Genma happy. In spite of my worries about Elder Lotion, I amused myself with watching Atsuko attempt to stuff Genma's face while Comb tried to "dissuade" her, and more than once Silk combined forces with Nodoka to restrain them from brawling. Shampoo's dad looked on with evident disapproval but kept his own peace on the matter while Ranma tried to pry the secret out from his father about the Umisenken and Yamasenken, wanting to know how come Uncle Genma had kept the very existence of that system a secret from Ranma.

"Foolish boy," Genma had responded gruffly, "If I had told you about it, then it wouldn't have been a secret."

"But would you at least teach me how you did that?" Ranma wanted to know, always keen to pick up some powerful new martial arts technique to add to his arsenal.

"In time…when I think you're ready," Genma had replied, but from the gleam in his eyes I could tell that he was enjoying Ranma's discomfort, a fact he confirmed by adding, "After all, you're going to be the Master of our School some day, and when that day comes it will be your burden to keep the secret that I've carried all of these years."

"Secret?" Ranma had responded angrily, "You mean that you screwed up and somebody else got killed?"

"That's part of it," Genma had looked away, "The other part is the style itself and the purpose for which it is intended. You're not ready to know that, boy, but when you are, then I'll teach it to both you and Ryoga. Then you can decide what to do with the system, but not before I think the two of you are ready."

"You just want to stay on top and lord it over me that you know such a great fighting technique," Ranma glared at the old man, "Admit it!"

"I admit nothing," Genma had replied, "I may have taught you most of what you know, Boy, but I haven't taught you all that I know, and that's why I'll continue to remain the Master and you the Student."

The relatively amicable air of peace and cooperation was briefly disturbed about that point when Ranma booted his old man into the Koi pond.

Looking back on all of this, I wonder just how much Genma's name suits him, because like a Dark Horse he has a tendency of once in a while surprising you and confounding expectations. Ranma may be the "Wild Horse" in his family, but there's no mistaking that the two of them are cut from the same cloth on some levels, a fact I find altogether quite disturbing.

Anyway, when we retired to bed and indulged in our usual bedroom gymnastics, I felt a peculiar frenzy to my own share of the lovemaking with both Ranma and Shampoo, that "Near Brush With Death" thing probably affecting me a lot more than I usually was. I've heard of the "Survivor Reflex" for people who go through some traumatic event that suddenly makes then conscious of how brief life is and how easy it can be taken away from you, so I guess you can pretty much say that we tested the springs on my mattress, and this caused me to resolve to get a bigger bed for the future. For some reason I was the last of us to pass out from exhaustion, so I lay there for a time cuddled up in the warm space between both of my lovers, feeling incredibly at ease and one with the universe and all of that. Thinking about the events of the day seemed a more productive use of time than counting sheep, and I've done the best that I know how to reconstruct my thoughts on all of that had happened, recorded now hours after the events when I've just gotten up to have breakfast.

It was just about the point where I think that I was starting to nod off that I heard the voice calling out to me…a pleasantly familiar voice that urged me to sit up and investigate the identity of the speaker. I got out of my bed and went reaching for a nightgown when I happened to turn back and look at the bed itself…and there I was sleeping soundly between a naked Shampoo and Ranma. My body…or rather my physical form, which caused me to look down at myself, seeing I still had a body, only it felt lighter than usual and incredibly elastic.

I've heard of "Out of Body" experiences, of course…who hasn't? But this was the first time I could remember the phenomenon happening to me, and so I started to wonder what was happening when I heard that voice again, urging me to leave off questioning what was happening and go investigate the identity of the caller.

I went to the door to my room, but instead of opening it my hand passed through the surface. I was so surprised that I started to lean forward and tumbled through the doorway, emerging out onto the other side, which at first seemed like a field of blinding white until the lighting resolved and I found myself standing in the middle of an open field in a wilderness setting and surrounded by cherry blossoms.

"Nice of you to come, Apprentice," a voice said to me, and I whirled about in surprise to find a young girl smiling at me, her long pink hair done up in an Amazon style while she was wearing a cheongsam, much the same as Shampoo normally wears. She had pleasant amber eyes and was quite beautiful to look upon, even though her face was both unknown to me and yet somehow hauntingly familiar.

"Who…?" I'm not sure if the thought came out of me as words or a mental projection, but the young girl raised a hand and said, "All in good time, Apprentice. I'm not surprised that you do not recognize me in this form. I haven't looked like this in ages, but as you no doubt recall from Cologne's example, appearances are not always to be trusted."

It took a very long instant before I ventured to ask, "Lotion?"

"The same," she smiled, inclining her head with a sage look, "Did you think you were going to be rid of me that easily? Think again! My mortal body may be in need of rest, but my mind is as alert as ever, and there is no way that I am leaving you alone at your current meager skill level."

"Are we dead?" I naturally asked, that being the logical thing to wonder about when you're outside of your body.

"Hardly," my mentor replied, "This is more of an in-between state where our Chi has substance and takes the form of whatever we imagine. As I tend to think of myself as a young girl at heart, I appear as I did in my youth, while you seem much less altered, being well adjusted to your particular age group."

"Ah…" I found it much more difficult to conceal the flow of my emotions on this level, as it seemed that thought indeed had substance and I was much less accustomed to erecting barriers around my emotions in this environment. I saw my mentor smile at me and felt like blushing, only instead of color rising to my cheeks it felt more as if my whole body began shimmering a rosy color.

"Shall we begin?" this beautiful version of my mentor inquired, composing herself as she sat down on what appeared to be a grassy plain that stretched out in all directions, and of course I felt compelled to sit as well, folding my legs under me with no real sense of effort, "To start with, a review of your performance in the current crisis. I noted that you are learning to follow your instincts more naturally, and that you have begun to trust your abilities, even in the face of apparent danger."

"Ah…well," I found my thoughts moving ahead beyond my ability to restrain them, "Ranma and Shampoo couldn't do it, and I saw…a pattern that I knew I could handle…"

"Just so," the young woman before me nodded, then stretched her staff out like a pointer and touched the grass, which formed a kind of pool or TV-monitor like viewscreen, and there was an image of me, Ranma and Shampoo…only not quite like a flat-screen image, but real, and I saw myself leaping out onto the back of a crocodile, vaulting from one back to the other before any of the beasts could chomp me.

"Taken as it was, your actions displayed the sort of heroism and reckless courage that you normally would chide your husband and wife for. As it was, however, you were in less peril than you might have seemed to be on the surface."

The same image replayed, only now the corridor that we were in was reduced to a kind of grid-pattern with the crocodiles shown to be like computer-simulations, only lacking the detail and realism that I could well remember.

I gasped as I realized the implications in this and said, "You mean they were illusions?"

"In a manner of speaking," Lotion replied, "But there is a fine line between reality and an illusion, and these were Cybelle's creations, which means that they could very well hurt you. The risk was genuine, only you saw through the deception, even though you did not realize it at the time. Had you faltered in the slightest, then real or no, those creatures might well have devoured you…or not, depending on the capricious whims of their mistress."

"Son-of-a-!" I caught myself in time, but the thought was formed in my mind anyway. I had thought myself being foolishly heroic, but all along it was obvious that my mind had seen through the danger without my being consciously aware of it. I was still bloody pissed off, though, to think that I could have been had by even so elaborate a deception.

"Another example of where you let your false perceptions override your instincts," the touched another spot of grass and a new image formed, of me and the rest of the gang all dangling from crosses suspended over a floor in a darkened room…only now the image shifted to reveal that we had been suspended up by cellophane strips made to look like steel chains, and separated by bars that were not even solid, just as the chains about our ankles proved even less substantial.

I grimaced as I realized how badly I had been had by the demon sorceress, but then I thought a moment and said, "Why didn't Atsuko see through this? She's an illusionist too…"

"The daughter is not quite the equal to the mother," Lotion explained, "And Cybelle's power is more than just illusion. It can have a very real effect on the physical level, as you have no doubt witnessed."

"Ah…yeah," I admitted, recalling the frightening image that Cybelle had presented, in spite of her behavior being little more than a carnival showman.

"Do not feel too badly," Lotion said gently, "You were not expected to excel against her at your current level of understanding. Part of being a Lore Master is knowing and accepting that you are human and have mortal limits. It can seem at times that we are vastly superior in our abilities to that of ordinary people, and it can be very humbling to discover that we can be taken down as easily as any warrior. The trick is knowing when to exert yourself and when to leave the hard work to those best qualified for menial labor."

"You mean like Kasumi?" I shook my head, still unable to believe that my gentle older sister could have been such a hellcat against the Combat lawyers.

"Your sister is a Tendo," Lotion replied, "And the daughter of Kimiko. As I told you before, she has within her the capacity to be a very powerful Lore Master…all that she has ever lacked is the inclination to broaden her horizons beyond that of a humble domestic."

"I guess," I noted sheepishly, "I'm going to try very hard never to take her for granted again."

"That is wisdom," my mentor smiled, "The first sign of becoming an adult is knowing that all things have their time and place, a lesson your sister learned a long time ago…and I suggest that you should do likewise."

"You mean I'm not an adult yet?" I asked facetiously, only to see her smile in a way that took the wind out of my sails.

"Do you feel like an adult?" Lotion asked me, "If so, then that husband of yours must be an even more talented fellow than even I gave him credit for. Forgive me, child, but I think you have a good deal more growing up to do than even you imagine."

"Ah…" I didn't know what to say to that, so I just glanced down at the grass and wild flowers.

"Don't feel so bad," she urged me, "Enjoy your time of youth, for it may seem all too brief as the years stretch out before you. You have a destiny to fulfill, and destiny can be a harsh, cruel mistress, as I have discovered on far too many occasions. Once innocence is lost it is difficult to recover. Your sister is remarkable in that she retains much of her innocence in spite of all that goes on around her, a quality I find admirable in a way, though it is not for me or you, I fear."

I had to nod to that because it certainly was a pretty fair estimation of both Kasumi and myself. I love my older sister very much, and I cherish her more than I often will say in words, because she's always been there for me when I needed her, but that doesn't mean I want to be just like her.

A curious thing happened, though, while I was staring down at the grass…before my very eyes a patch that I was looking at began to swirl, and then took the form of another image, this time of me and Kasumi when we were both much younger, and I had just skinned my knees skateboarding, and Kasumi held me in my arms and soothed me until I gradually stopped hurting.

"How…?" I had been thinking of the very same image, and all at once the very intensity of that moment came back to me as if I were still only five years old and Kasumi was seven, my older sister by two years but so much more to me than just my sister…

"Something else that you are learning," Lotion's voice drew me back to the moment, "You can view any point in time and space in this realm simply by focusing your thoughts on a given subject. Strong emotion and thought have form and substance on this plane of reality, for this is the Astral Plane of the Soul, the Third Continuum of existence, where time means nothing and distance is all relative."

I looked up at her and said the most intelligent thing that I could, "Huh?"

In reply she drew a circle in the ground with her staff, the tip sliding through the grass as though it were only sand, and then it became sand for real before my astonished…uh…perceptions. Lotion stabbed at the center of this circle and cause ripples to radiate outward, the sand flowing like water as I stared in complete wonder.

"The Aleph," she said, "The center of all things, the source of all creation, the one force that binds us all together. This is the First Principle…or Continuum, of all realities, the source of life and energy for all things and beings in the Cosmos. As I explained to you before, reality is divided into levels of perception, the second being the Plane of Forms where ideas and Archetypes frame and shape this energy of existence to give the illusion that we call form and substance. It travels through the Astral Light and manifests as solid reality in the Fourth Continuum, the physical plane, what those without deep perception call reality in its manifest complexity. If you understand this you are on your way to comprehending the very workings of nature and reality…and you will understand how Mages shape their power, for they have an instinctive grasp of these fundamentals and can work with the archetypes to transform their thoughts into flesh and substance."

Lotion slowly rose to her feet and extended her arms, turning to face the panoramic view that was a world too bright and clean to be the world that I remembered, with colors too vivid to find anywhere but on a painted surface, a canvas of the mind, as she would later call it, though I was just beginning to get the gist of what she was trying to convey here.

"This!" she paused dramatically, "This is Space without Time, Form without Substance, Thought and Emotion in their purest dynamic. This is where our power is borne, where the imagination holds sway and the limits of your ability is the acceptance of what you understand, that which is already in your nature. This is where reality is shaped in both the mind and body…here on the plane where thought is Sovereign and all things have their beginnings!"

"The future?" I asked.

"And the past," she replied as she turned to me with another smile, "That which could be, that which might be, and that which will be…all are found here and all can be accessed. This is what it means to be a Lore Master…to be at one with this plane and the next reality, to be attuned to the rhythms and flow of the Cosmos and sense its sway and currents as they shape themselves around us. Knowing when to act or intervene in these eddies and currents-ah! That is where wisdom and understanding are implicit. It is incumbent for us to not only know things before they happen but to accept what we know and differentiate between that which we can and should change and that which we must allow to stand as a given."

"You make being a Lore Master sound almost…godlike," I said uneasily.

Her smile did not so much reassure me as make me aware of just how much I had to learn before I could even begin to work upon her level, "Does it seem that way to you? Let me warn you…we are very powerful, because power is the potential to achieve an effect, whether great or minor. If a fulcrum can direct energy in such a way that a small force can have a large effect, then we are powerful in this manner, but never mistake this for being all powerful. There are some areas were we dare not trespass, where even the gods can be balked and where our ability to affect change is severely limited. Also too, be mindful that War Masters are far more capable on the physical plane of reality than we ourselves are, while Mages are powerful by definition and should not be crossed lightly. We are Knowledge and Understanding, but they can shape the power to their will in ways that we can only bow to. It is a Lore Master who can define the rules that ordinary people must work with, but Mages tend to set their own rules and can even violate what we would define as the normal laws of time, space and matter. You will learn this in good order, but for now take with you this single most important lesson."

"Which is?" I asked her.

"Emotion has value," he informed me somberly, "You have long sought to control and deny your emotions, to repress ordinary feelings so that you can work on the level of the intellect, but in doing so you have kept yourself apart from that which is the more essential element of being human…feeling! What you feel is as important as what you know…what you truly feel is more important than what you think that you are feeling. Cybelle could create an illusion that would look and feel real enough to your physical senses, but a Lore Master's perceptions are more acute than this and are not so easily deceived. When you understand that emotion is the true source of all power, then you will be that much closer to achieving your status as a Lore Master. Remember this well…what you feel in your heart is the greatest awareness of all, so do not let yourself be deceived by false distractions."

She turned and struck the ground with her staff, and suddenly the pleasant outdoor environment that was so warm and cheerful melted away to a formless gray void that had no up, down or even a horizon, only Lotion and myself, all the rest was gone, and yet the space we hovered within did not feel empty.

"Emotion and Thought are the keys to a greater understanding and awareness," my mentor said to me as she hung there in the void serenely, "Nothing happens without your desire working in concert with your thoughts to form the Will that shapes reality. Thought is King but Emotion is Queen, and through the triumvirate of this dynamic is change itself affected. Think well on this until you next lesson."

As she spoke those words I felt as though the world were closing in on the both of us, and then a tunnel formed around my perceptions, and I felt as though I were being pulled backward by an invisible rope. With a jolt I felt my body tingle all over and I opened my eyes, seeing the darkness all around me, and feeling the soft murmuring noises of two warm bodies huddled snugly about me.

I knew at once that I was back in my own body, and that the electric tingle I was feeling was probably my ki re-linking with my central nervous system to take stock of my physical state now that my soul was back in my proper body. The slight electric tingle that went from my head to the tips of my toes faded out gradually, to be replaced by a kind of languor that helped me to settle in and slowly drift back off to sleep, not even to wonder until much later if I had dreamed the whole thing or if it had actually happened.

Scratch that, I KNEW that it had happened! The clock on the wall only said that maybe fifteen or twenty minutes had elapsed since I last remembered looking, but I knew without a doubt that Lotion had visited me in my dreams and gave me those instructions that I've just related here. I remember it more vividly than I do any dream that I've ever experienced, and I recall the sense of peace that it gave me in knowing she would be all right, that the old woman would still be around to jibe and annoy me with her knowing smirk and confounded riddles, and that I was very much glad of this fact as I wanted more than ever to study everything she had to teach me. I had just learned the hard way that ignorance was far more dangerous than her knowledge.

I'm writing this down in a hurry because Ranma and Shampoo are busy warming each other up in anticipation of the big show down that she and Ambergris are having later this morning. Cologne is going to preside over their feud, while I contacted Ryonami last night and made sure to set up the betting pools and arrange for a decent audience because it sounds like we're in for quite a show between Sham-chan and her former best buddy.

I'll visit the old woman later and see if she's come out of her self-imposed coma. She's resting at the Nekohanten with the Amazons taking their turn looking over her in case she needs something. I'd have offered to put her up here at the dojo just so I could help take care of her, but the place is a bit crowded right now what with Ryoga and his mother staying over, and I don't even want to have to think about where Silk is spending her evenings.

Oh yeah…something else that I remember Cologne warning me as that I had better keep my computer disconnected from my modem for the present because Cybelle might try and hack into my files to read my accounts in these journals. She didn't seem to know anything that I know because of the special encryption programs that I use, but with her ability to hack into normal data systems…well…there's no sense taking any chances!

It's gonna take a while getting used to the idea that I have an enemy who can't be touched in the normal sense of the word, one who's after Ranma because of him being something called a "Temporal Nexus." I'm by inclination something of a rationalist and materialist, but I've already seen enough magic that I no longer have any doubts that the unseen world is just as important. Lotion's lesson from last night struck home pretty well, and I'm going to be committing the gist of it to memory, though I've accepted the basic concept of what she told me.

Emotions matter. I already knew this, but for so long a time I'd chosen to ignore it. Emotions are a complex form of logic that flows through us with the speed of lightning, and-depending on how we handle our emotions-they can make or destroy us. That's one lesson I am never going to forget!

Just watch yourself, lady, if you come anywhere near my Ranma or Shampoo again! I'm Tendo Nabiki, and I don't take squat from any two-bit, second rate hack wizards! I look after my own, and like Kasumi, I'm not somebody you can safely take for granted!

Take that one to the bank…I double dare you!

Continued

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