Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Return to Sender... ( Chapter 110 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

Everyone who rushed into her room at the sound of Nabiki's scream was struck by the way that the middle Tendo daughter was behaving, huddled in one corner with the blankets drawn up around herself, shivering as if she had seen a ghost, or something even more unearthly.

"Nabiki, what is it?" her father asked, "Is something wrong? Did something frighten you?"

Nabiki glanced around at the now illuminated room as if expecting the walls to attack her, then she tried to sit upright and compose herself as best she was able.

"Aw geez," Ranma sniffed, "Don't tell me you had some kind of nightmare or something. The way you screamed just now we thought you were being murdered."

Akane thwapped Ranma on the shoulder and said, "Don't talk to her that way, you insensitive jerk! Can't you tell she's been terrified?"

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, "By what? Did you dream the Tokyo stock market fell by another fifty points or something?"

"What is it, Nabiki?" Nodoka asked gently as she knelt down beside the young girl with a kindly expression, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to…"

"Ah-no, Auntie," Nabiki started to say, then caught the slight crack in her voice and cleared her throat before continuing, "It's like Ranma said, I just had a bad nightmare. It's nothing, really."

"Nothing?" Genma asked skeptically, glancing towards the nearest window, which was slightly ajar as if it had been opened and closed in a great hurry.

Unnoticed by these others, the wolf known as Ryoukio sniffed her nose and detected a distinct scent that was more than slightly familiar. Heeding her instincts the wolf trotted off and headed for the stairs, intending to heat up some water in the kitchen while everyone else was so distracted…

Kasumi was not quite certain what exactly had happened when she saw Nabiki wake up and begin screaming. It had been an instinctive thing, the product of her sudden embarrassment at being found in her sister's room without an adequate explanation, coupled with a desire for flight that was compounded by noises from down the hall, resulting in her doing…something by sheer reflex.

It was very curious, really…one moment she was standing over her sister's bed, the next she was hovering in the air like a cloud of mist, invisible to the senses though she could see and hear everything around her with perfect clarity. She found that she could move simply by willing herself to drift in a given direction, and by turns she discovered that the window to Nabiki's room was partially ajar, just enough of a crack for her to somehow slip through.

Kasumi had been struck by the fact that her body seemed perfectly normal to her perspective, as if she really was detached from everything around her, leaving only her barest shadow. Once she was over the roof, however, she found that she was drifting a little too far out into open space due to a faint breeze that she could perceive with her heightened perceptions, but by exerting her will once again she was able to correct this, then hovered a moment above her house until she figured out some way to return herself to normal.

It was like discovering a light switch, she just thought herself heavy and she landed on the roof barefoot. Her toes found it easy to cling to the roof tiles, so she was able to settle herself down comfortably there while she tried to make sense of what all had just happened.

Despite appearances of being detached from reality, Kasumi had a readily able mind and could devote herself to studying a problem when it came to her attention. She was also a devout reader of romance manga novels, enjoying the guilty sin of a gothic story, which sometimes ranged into the realm of horror literature. She was also well aware of the legends concerning vampires and the abilities that they were said to possess, one of which was the ability to turn into mist at will, so she theorized that this might be what had happened.

Only that thought brought her squarely back to the problem that now faced her. She was a vampire, an undead creature of the night, a soulless monster who lived upon the blood of the innocent and slept by day in a coffin…only there seemed to be a lot more to it than she could remember. Thinking as empirically as she could she dismissed the coffin part since she was Japanese and her people believed in cremation. She did not feel particularly soul-less, nor did she believe that she was truly a monster as she had not meant to deliberately upset or threaten her sister just now. In point of fact, she did feel an odd sort of hunger, but that could just be the fact that she had not eaten anything in the past several hours. As for being undead, well…she was pretty certain that she had not really died, and her friends had seemed to think that her condition was reversible, so there might not be any reason to despair and she only had to figure out where she was and why everything seemed so different about her household.

Take Nabiki's room, she reasoned, it was not the aesthetic austerity that her sister and Shampoo lived in, it had all the appearances of being a perfectly normal young girl's room. Then there was the strange way that Nabiki herself had acted, as if terrified by the very sight of her, which certainly could not be the case if this were the Nabiki whom Kasumi had been secretly in lust with for close to a year. She began to wonder if pouring water on this Nabiki would trigger any sort of change, or if it would just leave her younger sister slightly soggy and much less happy.

Thoughts of the handsome Kaneda floated into her minds and briefly warmed Kasumi's breast with unfulfilled desires not extended towards anyone in her young life. She sighed, and in doing so became aware of the fact that she had barely been breathing at all for the past quarter of an hour.

Okay, she decided, so it would be better not to be thinking like that until she could get back to the others and have them undo whatever sort of curse was upon her. That prompted her to wonder how she had gotten from the graveyard to Nabiki's bedchamber in the first place, which finally confirmed in her mind that this was not the world she knew, nor was the house she was resting atop the same home that she had grown up in.

She glanced down at the Nanban Mirror, which she had been holding onto the whole time, then stared at the reflection which did not catch her own image. Obviously this was not her world, she had somehow been exchanged with the Kasumi of a different timeline, much as Nabiki had been exchanged with that weaker version of herself. It was just as obvious that Kasumi had to reverse the process, but how to do this without the full cooperation of her counterpart? Could she induce herself to cry again? That seemed to be what had triggered it the last time…

All at once a sharp object struck the handle of the mirror and knocked it out of her grasp, followed by two more metal blades that whizzed past her head and brought Kasumi around to full attention.

"So!" declared a weird version of Ukyo who had oddly discolored hair, which Kasumi might have mistaken for Shampoo's lavender hair but for the weird way that the moonlight made her seem more pink than purple, "You finally show your true colors! I might have guessed you'd try to sneak into that poor girl's room and seduce her…your own sister!"

"Ukyo?" Kasumi asked in puzzlement, wondering why her friend was behaving in such a totally hostile manner.

The shocking pink-haired Okonomiyaki Chef unslung her baker's peel and stood in combat readiness, then snarled, "I've finally caught you red-handed! Now I can show Ranma how evil you really are! Defend yourself and prepare to get flattened!"

Kasumi stood up and tried to make a peaceful gesture to the enraged Ukyo with her bare hands, but before she could say anything the electric pink haired girl leaped forward to attack her. Kasumi's instinct for self-preservation came to her service once again as she stepped back and away from the swipe by the iron spatula, but as she did so something else occurred to her for Ukyo seemed to be moving much, much slower than normal. Her attack came with the speed of slightly tepid molasses.

Kasumi had no trouble stepping to the side and well out of danger when everything seemed to return to normal as Ukyo went staggered forward, then caught herself and looked around in some confusion. Seeing Kasumi standing to one side she snarled and attacked again, but once more Kasumi found it easy to dodge her even though she knew perfectly well that Ukyo's speed should have well exceeded her own by a long measure.

Ukyo seemed confused as she reoriented on Kasumi once again, her eyes narrowing and she hissed, "You're faster than ever. Obviously you've been working out a lot more than I thought."

"Ukyo," Kasumi said, "What is this all about? What have I done to upset you so much? I don't recall our being enemies, in fact, you've always been very kind whenever you help me out in the kitchen."

"What kind of game are you playing, Tendo?" Ukyo growled, "Whatever it is you won't get away with it, by the Kami!"

She came at Kasumi once again, but now the eldest Tendo daughter decided to take a firmer stance in the matter and moved forward to intercept her. With her speed now increased to the point where Ukyo appeared to be moving in slow motion she was able to catch her by the wrists and halt the baker's peel in mid-swipe. Since her strength seemed to be vastly improved also, she was able to fully immobilize Ukyo using a few simple techniques that she had studied in her childhood. Ukyo struggled as best she could but for all her considerable strength she was like a child wrestling against the might of a vampire.

"Please stop fighting me, Ukyo," Kasumi pleaded, "I don't want you to get hurt…"

"Yeah, right!" Ukyo snarled in frustration, turning to glare at the taller girl as she prepared to spit into her face when the two of them made eye contact.

Without warning Ukyo stiffened, then relaxed, her eyes locked with Kasumi as the eldest Tendo girl somehow compelled her to cease her efforts.

"Thank you," Kasumi sighed without releasing her hold on Ukyo, "I'm very sorry if you thought I had any…improper intentions upon my sister. It was purely an accident, I wound up in her room and…well, I really didn't mean to frighten her. You have to believe me."

Ukyo said nothing but just continued to look at Kasumi with the same oddly fixated expression.

"I am not your enemy, Ukyo," Kasumi continued, "I have always tried to be your friend, and whatever else you may think of me you should try to believe that. I would never deliberately harm you or any other person."

Still Ukyo said nothing, just continued to stare with the same odd fascination.

Sensing that the moment of danger was past, Kasumi released her grip on Ukyo's wrists, only to see the other woman's arms fall limply to her sides as the baker's peel landed on the roof with a clatter. Kasumi risked a smile, hoping that Ukyo would smile as well, but the girl before her just continued to look blankly her way. It slowly began to dawn on Kasumi that this was not a normal situation, even by the strained definition of normality to which she was accustomed from living in Nerima.

"Oh my," she said, "Ukyo? Do you hear me?"

"Yes," came the faintly coherent reply, "I hear you."

"Oh, well…" Kasumi hesitated again, then another thought occurred to her, "Are you hypnotized? Oh my…I didn't know that I could do that."

Ukyo did not immediately answered, but she furrowed her brow for a second before saying, "I hear you."

"Hmmm," Kasumi mused with a thoughtful tone, "Well, it wouldn't be right to leave you like that. On the other hand it certainly isn't in my best interest to have you attacking me again. Oh my…what do to? I wish Nabiki were here…she always has such logical answers to these questions…"

The shocking pink haired girl just continued to stare blankly ahead, not focused on anything as though she were day dreaming. Kasumi sighed again when she noticed something peculiar about the other girl. Ukyo was remaining balanced on the balls of her feet without effort, but there was a slight sway in her movements that-for some strange reason-Kasumi found oddly fascinating.

"Oh my," she mused, "I never really noticed it before, but your hair…it's such a beautiful color."

Ukyo said nothing, just continued to gaze forward.

"In fact," Kasumi realized, "You are a very pretty young girl, if only you dressed more like a lady. I never took the time to pay attention, but in a lot of ways you remind me of Nabiki."

Ukyo still said nothing and just continued to gaze forward.

"Nabiki," Kasumi's breath caught on the word, "Imoutochan…my beautiful, brave younger sister…how I miss her so much, even if she's only been gone for a couple of hours. I do hope we can find a way to bring her back, things just are not right without her."

Ukyo's silence remained steadfast, though there was the faintest twitch of an eyebrow.

Kasumi leaned closer, "I hope this doesn't last. You know, I've never really thought what it would be like to be a vampire. I thought it would be so unreal, yet somehow it is very real, just like you are…so handsome, such a lovely face, so warm and vibrant…full of life…of life…" she glanced down at Ukyo's throat and said, "Such a lovely neck. Oh my…I do hope this is not…I mean…I wouldn't want to impose… this is so…so…strange…"

Ukyo's brows became slightly furrowed as Kasumi leaned close enough to brush their cheeks together, then started to drift down as if to nuzzle her ear. Ukyo was starting to come out of it when she felt a slight nip along the side of her neck, which produced a warm sensation that was erotic and dreamy…

And then Ranma's voice called out, "Hey, what's going on up here-huh?"

"R-Ranma?" Ukyo found that name leant her strength that she did not formerly possess, and all at once she realized who it was who was giving her that hickey. With a sudden burst of effort she pried Kasumi off her and shoved her away, snarling, "Get your hands off me you damned…hentai?"

Kasumi was suddenly quite chastened as she came back to full awareness of her own actions. She blinked her eyes at Ranma, then at Ukyo, then noticed a salty tang on her tongue and at once touched her lips with one hand, pulling it away to find blood upon her fingers. She stared at this as if it were a wholly alien substance.

Ukyo felt the bite mark on her own neck with a hand then stared at the blood on the lips and fingers of the older girl, and then she snarled as she reached down to retrieve her baker's peel and hissed, "You damned VAMPIRE!!!"

Kasumi recovered from her mortified surprise in time to step back out of reach of the spatula, which was a good thing as it would have taken her head off had she remained immobile. Unfortunately, this meant going well beyond the extent of the roof, which caused Kasumi a brief moment of panic as she found her feet dangling over empty space. She windmilled her arms and tried to will herself to turn back into mist but instead found her momentum was halted before she had time to fall more than a couple of meters. All at once she was hovering once again, drifting on invisible currents held aloft by the force of her will as she floated out beyond the walls to her family dojo.

"What the heck was that all about?" Ranma asked as he saw what looked like Kasumi vanishing into the night as though carried off by invisible wires.

"Did you see?" Ukyo pointed to her neck, then at the vanishing figure in the moonlight, "She's turned into a real monster, Ranchan! See here? She bit me!"

"Calm down," Ranma urged, "You're not making sense. What was that all about anyway? Was she really a vampire?"

"That was Kasumi!" Ukyo almost shouted in his face, "Didn't you see the way her eyes glowed?"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "Kasumi? No way! That couldn't have been her, no matter what else she looked like or was doing."

"Why not?" Ukyo felt tremendously frustrated at her inability to make Ranma see his iinazuke for the evil creature that Ukyo knew her to be. He was far too trusting and good natured for his own sake, and even presented with incontrovertible evidence he still seemed to take the stance that Kasumi could never do anything wrong or be anything evil.

"Well," Ranma said with a lopsided smile, "For one thing she was wearing a dress. When's the last time you've seen Kasumi do that?"

"Huh?" Ukyo blinked, then started to think about it.

"With her curse the last thing she'd want to do would be seen wearing something that feminine," Ranma turned Ukyo's head to one side and studied the bite mark. He winced then said, "Ouch! That looks nasty! We'd better get you over to Doctor Tofu so he can do something about that. Like I was saying, that couldn't have been Kasumi, it must have been some other creature that just looked a lot like her."

"How can you be so sure, Ranma?" Ukyo felt herself growing warm and mushy at the attention he was paying her, which made it hard for her to stay focused on her anger.

"I just am," Ranma replied, taking her by the hand as he said more reassuringly, "But just in case, we can call up the restaurant to see if Kasumi's there. It's kind of late, but I'm sure Shampoo won't mind too much if we tell her it's about Kasumi."

"R-Ranma…" Ukyo found herself once again suffering from her habitual tongue-tied status that always hit whenever she tried to tell him about her feelings towards him. Fortunately, this time Ranma supplied his own details as he said, "By the way, what were you doing up here on our roof? I heard a noise and decided to investigate, only I find you with that, um…girl…and I think maybe I've seen something I shouldn't ought to if it was supposed to be private…"

It took a moment for Ukyo to realize what he was implying, and then her eyes went wide and she cried, "No…it wasn't like that…!"

"I guess not," Ranma relaxed a little then added, "Looked more like you were trying to defend our house against that vampire…or whatever it was. You can sure be really gutsy when you want to be, Ucchan. Now come on, we got to take you to see Tofu Sensei."

Ukyo would have sworn it was her cursed form affecting her thinking but she suddenly had an urge to wag her tail as butterflies played tag with the insides of her stomach…

"So let me get this straight," said Frank as he leaned against the huge motorcycle that he affectionately referred to as "The Monster," "You got switched with a counterpart on a different timeframe, one where you aren't a martial artist, but loverboy here is the heir apparent to your family's system?"

"That's more or less correct," Nabiki replied, "It was an odd place where everything was topsy turvy and people were looking at me strangely because I wanted to kick butt rather than sit back on the sidelines."

"Weird," Frank turned to regard the alternate universe versions of Ranma and Akane, who were just then trying to sort themselves out with the differences between their world and this one, "But not without precedent. It's been known to happen now and again that counterparts get switched around, and from the looks of things that Magic Mirror thingie must be an artifact of great power, just the sort of thing you love to get your hands on, Happy."

"Well hey," Happosai remarked, "Everybody needs a hobby, and at my age a guy likes to travel, which is what the Nanban mirror was originally meant for."

"Which is why you stole it from me all those years ago," Cologne glared his way, then went back to smoking on her pipe as she added in a calm and reasonable voice, "Of course I would have given it to you if you had asked. It had been in my family for countless generations, but we never did find it all that useful. You can only get someplace by using tears as an activating component."

"Oh my," said Kasumi as she stared down at the mirror in her lap, "Then how am I supposed to be getting home? I don't want to be stuck here, even if you people do seem to be even nicer than my family back home. I have commitments to Shampoo and the others that I want to live up to, and I'm sure this other Kasumi will want to be restored to her own family, especially since she has that problem you've just mentioned."

"Vampirism," Beatrice nodded, "It is imperative that we summon her back while there is still time to effect a cure, because the longer our Kasumi spends in vampiric form the more difficult it will be to uncurse her."

"I know all about curses," Nabiki sniffed, "Believe me, I wouldn't want my older sister stuck with one, especially of this nature. So how do we get everyone back to where they were going? My return was effected by tears, but it seems in the process I accidentally dragged along with this other version of Akane and Ranchan."

She gazed at where said Ranma and Akane were both having a discussion with other members of the Posse and seemed to be having a difficult time wrapping their minds around the alternate versions facing them of Tatawaki and Kodachi Kuno.

"Yes, Ranma and I have been friends for many years," said Tatawaki calmly, "We met when I was ten and in sore need of a bosom companion. We fought, I lost, then we made up afterwards and he has since been at my side through thick and thin, always ready to lend his support when the demons in my soul should torment me."

Natsume laid a hand on his arm and smiled at him affectionately, to which Tatawaki smiled back, albeit in a shy and hesitant fashion. Ranma was not sure what had stunned him more, to learn that Kuno had a girlfriend or that this version of him seemed to be a fairly likeable and almost normal person.

Akane was having the same problem getting over the way Kodachi kept smiling at her and mentioning things that she would have sworn she had shared with no other living person. The redhead who was always at Kodachi's arm was a friendly and gregarious sort, but there seemed to be an intimacy there as well that went beyond simple friendship. Moreover, they both gave Akane teasing comments that were making her feel more than slightly uneasy.

But the worst by far for her was the discovery that her counterpart was engaged to Ryoga. The scary thing was just how normal Ryoga acted when compared to what she knew, hardly in any discernable way the lonely manic depressive that she knew only as a friend, a different sort from the perpetually lost boy whom Akane considered as no more than a sometime ready ally. This Ryoga shot the same nervous glances her way, made the same funny laugh whenever she asked him a question, but in most other ways was kind, calm and warmly supportive. If Kodachi and Tatawaki Kuno were disturbing for being different, Ryoga was even more disturbing just for being much the same, yet shyly smiling whenever anyone referred to him as her iinazuke.

"Really, Ryo-chan," Kodachi teased at one such moment, "You'll make our guest here blush if you carry on like that. Forgive him for being so forward, dear Akane-chan, he must really be a sweet boy to only think the best of your welfare, even if you are not the Akane that we remember."

"Uh…sure," Akane turned to Kodachi, giving the redheaded Keiko a glance before saying, "So how long have we been best friends here?"

"About seven years, three months, six days, fourteen hours and thirty-eight minutes," Kodachi said with a wink, "Just kidding…about the thirty-nine minutes. Actually, you were the one who reached out the hand to me when I was suffering in silence over my mother. You were the light in my day, the one who kept me from the shadows. I may have been beset with madness in my time, but I never ceased being grateful for having you for my friend. I suppose it is different for my counterpart in your world?"

"Ah…yes, you could say that," Akane said with distinct hesitation.

Kodachi looked down and for a moment it appeared as if there were tears in her eyes before she spoke again, "It…is a hard thing to admit, but being my friend was not always easy for you. For the longest time I was…not fully in possession of all of my faculties. The madness that obsessed me was, in part, drug induced, but I fear on a darker level that it is the curse of my family to be…prone to histrionics. At times it might have seemed that my whole day was a bleak attempt to stave off the shadows, but for the light offered me by my two friends," she gripped Keiko's hand tightly, then snagged Akane's and held if firmly before looking her in the eyes and saying, "For that I thank you."

"And I," said Tatawaki as he turned to regard them both, "Wish also to offer my heartfelt apologies if my counterpart in your world was anything like I once was. I confess that I hounded and beset the Akane of this world with my unwanted affections, and for this I am deeply remorseful. Were it not for the kindness of a gentle spirit who nursed me through my darkest hours…I might never have known real recovery from my sorrows."

He held Natsume's hand, and the tall girl's face all but shone with her affection. Tatawaki turned to lose himself in her eyes and for the moment no one else in the world seemed to exist but these two to each other. About the only one present who did not seem to appreciate this gesture was Kurumi, who pointedly glanced away before giving Mousse an uneasy glance of her own, which the Chinese boy hesitantly met for all of one half second.

Ranma had to force himself to look away, but when he did he found Kodachi's eyes looking at him in amusement. Inwardly he cringed, but instead of her trademark laugh what the Black Rose said was, "Do I detect a note of hesitation in our young Saotome-san? Things must indeed be very different in your world if I inspire such emotions within you. The Ranma I have known was pathetically enamored of me, to which I paid him no kindness, and for that I am most deeply apologetic."

"Uh…okay," Ranma said with a dubious expression before he turned to regard Arigami Keiko, "The thing I want to know is…why do you look so much like me in my cursed form?"

"Your cursed form?" Keiko asked with arched eyebrows, "Like how?"

Ranma just sighed and asked, "Anybody have some water?"

"Allow me," said Mousse, who pulled a flask out of the folds of his shirt then paused when several people glared at him, including Kodachi, "It's not cursed water, just plain tap, honest."

"Never mind," Ranma said as he accepted the flask then dumped the contents on his head and triggered his transformation.

There were gasps from all around as Ranma became a shorter and more compact version of Arigami Keiko. Keiko was the most affected, leaning forward as if to study him better, then with a shake of her head she said, "Weird…"

"They seem to be getting along well enough," remarked Aiko, "From the way he was acting, you'd think that Ranma was expecting these guys to pound him into a puddle."

"Probably because where he comes from he's pretty much isolated," Nabiki observed, "My impression of his world was that Ranma has a pretty tough time of it with everybody always seeking to either kill him or marry him, and in a few cases a little of both."

"I know what that's like," murmured Frank, who frowned when he saw the looks turned in his direction, "What?"

Aiko glanced at her silverhaired companion once again and said, "Hey, Beiko…you used to be engaged to the guy. What do you make of all these rival engagements?"

"I would say that the lad suffers a bit from too much meddlesome parental influence," Beatrice replied before rolling her eyes and adding, "A subject upon which I could well do a term thesis…"

John Talbain shook his furry head and said, "I never thought I'd say this, but you kids almost make my life look tame and rational."

"Be nice, Fang-face," said Tsien-Ko, the blue skinned Chinese Vampire (or so she styled herself, to which several persons present kept eyeing her with wary expressions), "They're just kids, and it's not like it's been that long since you were a pup. It's been centuries for me and I still remember what it was like to go through those awkward teenaged years."

"Oh, like they threw proms in the middle of the Bronze Age?" teased the blue-haired Felicia (who was pointedly standing downwind of Nabiki and Kasumi and out of their direct line of sight conversing with Perfume, with whom she was enjoying a stirring conversation).

"Easy there, Kitty," Frank warned, noticing the way the two Tendo sisters involuntarily shuddered, "I think we should stick to the original program of sending Miss Tendo here back to where she belongs so that we can help the other Kasumi regain her humanity. Tsien-Ko, Donovan, you're our resident experts on the occult. Think you can help her to do this?"

Nabiki and Kasumi turned to regard the very tall man standing apart from the others, the one dressed like a wandering priest and carrying a humungously big sword that was nearly as large as himself across his backside. This fellow never seemed to smile (save when he regarded the silent child standing attentively at his side) and had been quietly conversing with the demonic Bishoman, the undead Samurai with the horrible gargoyle features, but now he turned his focus back their way as if anticipating the question and replied, "It's possible…we could effect the transference, provided we can establish a link with the Kasumi Tendo who has passed beyond the threshold of this world."

"Geez Louise," snorted Tsien-Ko, "Can't you ever just come out and say anything in a simple yes or no, Donovan? He's right, though…like he said, we need to find the other Kasumi to establish a link at her end."

"And how do we do that?" Kasumi asked when a telltale rumble caused everyone to turn their eyes skyward.

"Oh bugger," Nabiki sniffed as the first few drops of rain began to fall upon her head, and in a few moments it came pouring down in earnest, triggering her transformation, along with everyone else who was not currently sheltered.

"Excuse my asking a really dumb question," Talbain groused, "But does the weather here always change like this without any warning?"

"What makes you say that?" asked Nabiki-kun before he exchanged non-plussed looks with the tall man who was now sitting at his side in the place of his sister, "Oneechan?"

"Imoutochan?" that fellow asked, and Nabiki could not help noticing that this fellow was a real heartthrob with looks that belonged on the cover of a romance manga.

Ranma-chan had felt a brief smugness over having for once beat out the rain, which same turned to blanket surprise as Kodachi and Keiko were replaced by a vulture and a black-furred ferret. Mousse's billowing robes were now draped over the body of an ape while Kurumi merely sighed and gave him a look of mild exasperation. He looked back at her with what-on an ape-was a sheepish expression.

Meanwhile, Felicia was recovering from the sudden transformation that Perfume was experiencing, but with a thought she was able to join her at kitten size, which made the surprise a mutual engagement.

Suddenly, the rain stopped falling on their heads without stopping altogether. It was as if an invisible umbrella had opened up for them, and only after a moment of mutual surprise the discovery was made that their benefactor was the silent child with the headless dolly.

"Thank you, Anita," said Donovan as he touched her small shoulders with one of his huge hands, "As I was saying, we need to wait for the precise moment when the portal opens at the other end, in which case we may safely send Tendo Kasumi to her proper dimension."

"And how long could that take?" rumbled the monstrous Bishoman.

"It is difficult to judge without more knowledge," Donavan turned to the now-male Kasumi, "Tell us, Tendo-san, what you were doing at the moment you last recall being on your proper timeline?"

"Ah…" Kasumi-kun replied somewhat awkwardly, "Well…if you must know the truth, I was in my sister's bedroom…"

"You were?" Nabiki-kun blinked, "Why is that?"

"Ah," Kasumi-kun replied with clear hesitation, "I…snuck into your room to take the Nanban mirror away from her, Neechan. Elder Cologne had warned me that the mirror held great power and was dangerous, but Nabiki seemed to think it held monetary value, and since she wouldn't discuss it with me when I asked her…"

"She wouldn't?" Nabiki-kun blinked, "I mean, I wouldn't? Why not?"

"I don't really know," Kasumi-kun replied with a slight frown, "Ever since I came back from my training mission my little sister has acted very odd around me, especially when I am in male form. I think I must upset her somehow, not that I can very much blame her. It must be difficult to admit being related to someone who looks like…this," Kasumi-kun looked down at himself sadly, "Let alone admit to being my sister."

Nabiki-kun did a remarkable job of keeping a straight face, even though her inward reaction was to measure her own responses against what this other Nabiki must be feeling. The male Kasumi before her was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous and a hunk in every sense, and had it not been for her knowledge of what the curse was like Nabiki might have openly flirted to get the attention of such a perfect specimen as this. It was the first time in her life that she had some honest sense of what it had to be like for other girls being in Nabiki-kun's presence!

A good thing he was sitting down, though, as the bulge in his pants was not being caused by his wallet!

"So," Frank remarked, "You were trying to take the Nanban mirror away from your sister by other means than straight diplomacy. I'm not judging you or anything, I might even do the same in your place, but if the other Kasumi wound up where you were standing…"

"Kami-sama," Kasumi-kun whispered, "Oh my…I do hope she didn't upset Nabiki-chan too much. Oh, how dreadful!"

"I just hope she didn't decide to make a late-night snack out of your sister," Talbain groused, then winced as one of Tsien-Ko's wings batted him slightly, "What?"

"Mister Sensitivity," the Chinese Vampire snorted, "For your information we're not all like Dimitri Maximoff. Some of us are perfectly reasonable people who try to get along with regular humans and don't jump at every chance to make a meal out of their necks. I'm living proof that you can be a vampire and still be a productive member of society, so watch what you say or I'll start cracking jokes about werewolves."

"Whatever you say," Nabiki-kun said nervously, "I just want my sister back. I know life hasn't been all that easy for her of late, but it's really not her fault and I've always hoped that we could work through this…uh…little problem she has about me…"

"Oh?" Kasumi-kun turned to look at her in surprise, "You don't get along very well either? Why is that?"

"Ah…" Nabiki-kun paused before saying, "Let's just say we like each other…only in her case a little too much so. She, uh…kind of has a crush on my guy-form."

"Oh," Kasumi-kun replied, then blinked, "Oh? Oh…oh my…oh my…on my…"

"Give the other me the benefit of the doubt when you see her, Oneechan," Nabiki-kun tactfully urged, "You two probably just need to talk this out, and if you do that…well…I think you'll find that she really doesn't dislike you, which may be her entire problem."

Kasumi started to think that one over when she noticed a gleam that appeared within the mirror in her lap. She held it up for closer inspection then said, "Oh my…is it supposed to do that?"

Frank leaned closer then said, "Donovan?"

"It is the moment we have been awaiting," Donovan said, then raised one hand and began ritually chanting…

Kasumi finally found a place to set herself down to make sense of her situation. This levitation was proving to be more taxing than traveling in mist form, and even granted the vitality she had absorbed from her taste of Ukyo's blood she still lacked the energy to go much farther than a few blocks before needing to rest.

Being a vampire was certainly more work than she would have anticipated, yet the thrill of being able to fly was certainly like nothing that she would have anticipated. It also puzzled her how she was able to move so fast that Ukyo-arguably a powerful martial artist-was unable to lay a spatula on her, or perhaps it just seemed as if she were moving faster. Maybe it was just an illusion, such as if she made Ukyo move slower than usual, or Kasumi had gained some strange ability to manipulate the flow of time so that Ukyo moved at her normal speed while Kasumi moved outside the normal time rate. At least that was something she had read in a book once by an American author, and it seemed the best explanation for what had happened.

Of course, this also presented her with a considerable problem. If she were a creature of the night, then the touch of sunlight was dangerous to her, garlic would be something to definitely avoid and she might have a serious problem combing her hair in the morning before a bathroom mirror. Then there was the thing about drinking blood…that simply did not appeal to her in any way. She might also find holy places like shrines and temples difficult to manage, and that was not even dealing with her personal life and how it would affect the rest of her family when she got back, and what must they be thinking about her at this very moment?

Her family, how much she wanted to be back home right now, to pretend that none of this had ever happened! Even given the unhappiness she felt whenever she thought of Nabiki…and how unobtainable were her desires for the male form of her younger sister…she still had a live that she very much wanted to resume, and this being a vampire was likely to make things even more difficult back home. Suppose she could never again do morning chores? Her whole routine would be thrown into disarray, and as for any thoughts of returning to schoolwork one day and becoming either a nurse or a doctor…

She needed to get back home and for that she would need the Nanban mirror. Unfortunately she had lost possession of it during that fight with Kuonji, and if it had been damaged in the fall off the roof of her house…then she might never be able to get back home, and that would be the most perfectly awful capper for a day that so far had been most…inadvantageous…

She knew that she had to risk returning to her family home…or rather the home that belonged to this version of her family, and so she went on foot and crept on bare feet to the spot just beneath that section of the roof where she had been standing prior to Ukyo's assault. It took some time to find what she was after, but with her enhanced visual abilities it was almost as easy as searching by daylight. And…oddly enough…the mirror seemed to stand out against the background as though it had a strong heat signature, which she supposed might be the result of the strong enchantment that it possessed, but whatever the cause she was certainly glad to see that it was reasonably intact and had not been shattered by the fall.

It meant that she still had a hope of returning home to see her loved ones.

She held the Nanban mirror in both hands and stared into its reflective depths, once again failing to see her own face, and wondering if she would ever see her image cast in a mirror surface ever again. The thought of that, and her ardent desire to be restored to her loved ones, caused a tear to roll off her cheek and onto the mirror, and as this happened she saw the face of Nabiki appearing before her, which caused her to gasp as there was another Kasumi standing beside her, and then reality began to twist and distort once again and she once more found herself…elsewhere.

Or rather back in the graveyard, which was now occupied by a number of strange looking people, other than her family and friends, that is.

Meanwhile, another Kasumi-kun now stood in the garden of his own ancestral house, looked around and realized that it was late and that he needed to get back to the San Chens Huang Restaurant that was his home along with Shampoo and Makoto. He had obtained the Nanban mirror as Cologne had asked…or perhaps the mirror he really had started out with, which meant that the transfer had been successful and he was back where he belonged in his own home dimension.

"Oh my," Kasumi-kun murmured aloud to himself, hoping that his cross-dimensional sister had not been too busy during her absence. He could only wonder what might have happened had the other version of herself been detected by Nabiki in her bedroom in the middle of the night. That would certainly stir up a fright and give Kasumi something to explain come the morning.

Nabiki…it was long since past time that Kasumi had a talk with his younger sister. All those times Nabiki had been avoiding her were starting to make sense now, and if Kasumi did not miss her guess, this matter would eventually come to a crisis point between them unless some hasty intervention were affected.

Time enough to deal with that in the morning, however, at the moment he just wanted to get home to see Shampoo and Makoto, the former because of deep affection ties that had been building between them over the course of the last few months and the latter because he had come to value the other girl's company and friendship…and at the moment he very much needed a friend to talk to…very badly. In the case of Shampoo…

Well, that too would require some lengthy explanations, and no doubt his Amazon wife would be worried sick over his absence. All Kasumi-kun really knew for certain was that he was dreadfully tired and the last thing he needed to do was any more heavy thinking…

"So, this is your world, huh?" Ranma asked as he nodded to the Tendo compound, "Doesn't look too different from our home back in our Nerima, right Akane?"

"It's uncanny," Akane agreed with a slow study of their surroundings, "But…I do see a few differences, like over there, the tree over by the wash room? I don't see the mark we put there…remember that one we did when we were little?"

"Oh yeah," Ranma agreed, "The one that was supposed to show how fast we were growing. And where's the additions to the house that I helped Uncle Soun put in so mom would have a place to store food jars and stuff? Lots of little stuff is all wrong…guess this really is a different house than the one where we grew up, huh?"

"Uh…excuse me, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked.

"You talk as if this place you own, Ranma," Shampoo said in worried tones as if dreading that this version of her Airen might reflect badly on the Ranma she knew and loved.

"Heh, in a way I guess that's how I feel about the place," Ranma smiled, "I grew up there, it's been home to me for most of my life, and I've always known that I was gonna inherit the place after I married one of Uncle Soun's daughters. Of course, at the time I thought it'd be you, Akane, but ever since your sister got back…"

"Yeah, lucky me," Akane grinned, "Imagine if I really had to go through with marrying you, baka? We'd probably spend the rest of our lives driving each other crazy."

"Yeah, no fooling," Ranma turned back and gave a nod towards the Nabiki who was watching them so carefully, then at Kasumi and said, "Hey, Oneechan…how's it hanging? Don't tell me you're engaged to some lucky guy here?"

"Oh my, what ever would you mean by that, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked in mild surprise, "I'm not engaged to anyone…at least, not that I know about anyway…"

"Huh, better watch yourself around here with the likes of someone like Genma about, Sugar," Ukyo snorted, "He's done it often enough behind Ranchan's back that there's almost a cottage industry lining up around the block."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo fervently agreed, rolling her eyes as she added, "Just ask Nabiki, she know all about it."

"Ah…" Nabiki winced, not wanting to get dragged onto that particular topic…

"Hey, that ain't too far fetched considering the girls my Pop's engaged me to besides Nabiki and Ucchan," Ranma sniffed, "The latest one was a girl naked Beiko, only she ain't into guys, if you know what I'm saying…"

"Heh, that's for sure," Akane smiled, "She's totally fixated on a friend of mine, and I can tell you frankly that it's a mutual attraction no matter what Aiko might say in protest."

"Ah…say what?" Ukyo blinked.

"Trust me, Kuonji-san," Nabiki spoke up, "You don't wanna know."

"Ah…so, Ranma-kun," Kasumi began, "They say that you and Nabiki are the best fighters in your version of Nerima. Are you as good as the Ranma-kun that we know?"

"Wouldn't know," Ranma smiled, "Does your guy know the Senken?"

"The what?" Ukyo asked.

Ranma smiled and glanced off to the sidelines, seeing the way the local version of his father tensed up upon hearing that word pronounced, "Something my Pop taught me to make me as good a fighter as Nabiki…the Senkens, only I created my own version with the help of Ryoga and another guy named Ryu. The old freak coached us into creating our own systems then had us square off to fight each other, and after I won he showed me how to create the Arashisenken, then gave me a scroll that I used to make the Kamasenken…so there's about seven different variations in all, not counting the one Mousse created for himself to beat Kurumi."

"To beat Kurumi?" Ukyo blinked, exchanging looks with Shampoo, who then asked, "Who is Kurumi?"

"Our cousin-slash adopted sister," Akane replied, "She and Natsume are the daughters of our late Aunt Mariko by Uncle Genma's older brother…didn't he ever tell you guys about that?"

Ranma and Akane shared a private smile together as they both caught the looks that their respective fathers were turning their way. Ranma had noticed how his mention of the Senkens had gotten his father's undivided attention, but when Akane brought up the subject of their mutual relations it brought a look of total shock to the faces of both fathers, who then gave each other a guilty look of mutual astonishment.

Nabiki, of course, had been listening in and caught the complicatory grimaces of her elders, then she frowned and growled out the word, "Daddy…do you have any idea what these two are talking about?"

"No, not in the least!" Soun protested (albeit a bit too hastily), and Genma-panda nodded his head frantically as though to back up his friend's denial here.

Cologne said nothing, but it was plain from her expression that she was taking great interest in these somewhat melodramatic revelations.

"Oh well," Ranma rocked on his heels with his hands in his pocket and affected a nonchalant attitude as he added, "Maybe it's different here…different worlds, different histories, so maybe what we know to be true ain't true here, right Akane?"

"Maybe we shouldn't say anything more about it, huh?" Akane grinned, getting into the spirit of the thing as she, too, was enjoying the way her father and uncle Genma were squirming under the weight of too many secrets held for too long, deceptions that she and Ranma had learned over the course of a year with a great deal of antipathy and resentment.

Nabiki scowled, too smart to miss these clues and hints these two were dropping and silently vowed that she was going to get to the bottom of it through her own resources…one way or another.

"Oh my," Kasumi also sensed that there was a great deal that their father was not sharing, but unlike her sister she was willing to respect his privacy…right up until Nabiki did all the hard work and felt inclined to share her information with her curious older sister.

"Er…about this Senken stuff again, Ranchan," Ukyo ventured, "Is it anything like your Amaguriken?"

"I have been wondering the same thing myself," Cologne murmured aloud, finding this talk by the strange otherworld youth infinitely fascinating.

"Hardly," Ranma smiled, unrolling a sleeve before showing his bared right arm to full view, at which point all eyes swerved to study the marks and curious patterns that flowed up and down the arm, lettering and symbols that seemed to shift from one moment to the next as though projected there by a floating lantern.

Nabiki's eyes were huge as she studied those curious patterns then said, "What…what is that?"

"The results of my training," Ranma replied, concentrating for a moment as his arm slowly began to be surrounded by a swirl of flame that rose into the air without seeming to consume him.

"What…is that?" Ukyo and Shampoo chorused together.

"Oh my…" Kasumi exclaimed, "Doesn't that hurt, Ranma-kun?"

"Not really," Ranma said, extinguishing the flames with a thought, "The Honosenken is the Fire based system, but the Senken is really all about thinking of the human body like a house and working to protect it against attack and-or intrusion…"

"Think of the body like a house?" Nabiki marveled, recalling Shampoo's explanation on that subject.

"Interesting," Cologne remarked, also showing great interest as she studied the young boy who seemed to her like a more intelligent and sensitive version of the Ranma she knew.

"You're such a showoff, Ranma," Akane rolled her eyes, "Why don't you give a demonstration of the whole Senken while you're at it?"

"Not a bad idea," Ranma smiled, bringing his hands together before spreading them out and executing a flying axe kick before landing in a tigerish crouch, then declaring, "Yamasenken…the Earth-based system that uses force to penetrate the defenses of a building…"

"No boy!" Genma the panda held up a sign to warn, but Ranma ignored him and went on with his demonstration.

Ranma then brought his hands down together and tucking his head in before saying, "Umisenken, the Water-based school, used for stealth and quiet penetration…"

"Quiet…what?" Nabiki asked, only to gasp as she saw the outline surrounding Ranma begin to fade from view as though he were erasing his own existence, "Nani…?"

"Ranchan?" Ukyo exclaimed.

"Aiyaa…where Ranma go?" Shampoo stammered.

"Oh my…did he turn invisible?" Kasumi asked.

"Not hardly, Oneechan," Ranma replied as he appeared once again, ignoring Genma's sign that now read, "IT'S FORBIDDEN!"

"The Kosenken is the Wood-based system of defense that's all about protecting a home against unwanted intruders," Ranma continued, "The Morisenken is the Metal-based school that can rebuild a house back up from the foundations, but the Arashisenken…" he rose up from the ground and hovered there in mid-air, folding his legs as he saw the astonished look that came from Cologne as she stared up at him in amazement, "…is the Air-based school…the ultimate expression of the Saotome system."

"Ranchan…you can…" Ukyo began.

"Fly?" Shampoo concluded for her.

"Oh my," Kasumi said in wonder, her voice conveying some of the awe that Nabiki herself was experiencing at the moment.

"And lastly," Ranma said as he set foot down on the ground next to Nabiki, "There is the Kamasenken, the most forbidden technique of the lot."

"Ah…oh, you don't say?" Nabiki tried to feign disinterest, but when Ranma reached down and took her by one hand she almost jumped, especially when the young man casually rolled down her sleeve and bared her arm up to her bicep, "Hey…what are you…?"

Ranma just smiled as he held her by the wrist with one thumb and forefinger then brought the fingers of his other hand to trace a line pattern across the inside surface of Nabiki's forearm, at which point her knees turned to water and she gasped aloud at the pleasurable sensations that this caused her.

Cologne's eyes narrowed a bit as she caught the significance of this gesture, but the immediate reaction from the other fiancées was a predictable cry of outrage with hostility directed towards both Nabiki and Ranma.

Ranma casually released his hold upon Nabiki, who all but swooned in dismay as her body continued to react in a wave of bliss that felt almost like having an orgasm, then Ranma moved with flowing ease to the space between the other two girls and casually brushed his hands against their necks, causing both Ukyo and Shampoo to stiffen in surprise and disbelief…one moment before they each uttered a sigh of unbelievable contentment that lasted for both of them the entirety of the next twenty seconds.

Cologne almost swallowed her gums while Kasumi stood in wide-eyed shock at Ranma's unexpected (and inappropriate) behavior, but Akane just shook her head and grinned before saying, "Some day you've just gotta teach me how you do that, Saotome…I'd love to be able to do something like that to Kei-chan and Kodachi."

"Ranma!" Soun declared in shock, having missed his daughter's inexplicably raunchy side-comment, "What are you doing? How dare you do something like that with another woman besides Akane!"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Dad," Akane snapped, "But stick it. What Ranma wants to do with other girls is his business, not mine, and besides, he's engaged to all these girls back in our world, and better them than me! I had enough of being engaged to him to last me a lifetime."

Ranma turned and stuck his tongue out at Akane, but the two of them shared a laugh that made it seem more like brotherly teasing than the usual sarcasm that passed for "endearing words" between the regular time Ranma and Akane.

Off in the background Miyu-who had been listening in on all of this with a curious detachment-turned an incredulous look towards her silent friend, Larva, and murmured at the level of a stage whisper, "Most curious form of training these people indulge. I definitely want to know who was his teacher."

Ukyo recovered from the wash of hormones that had left her feeling weak and dizzy in time to ask of the equally afflicted Shampoo, "You hear that, Sugar?"

"Aiyaa," Shampoo gasped, "Akane say she no want marry Ranma…but she say that many time before…"

"Yeah," Ukyo replied, "But this time it sounds as if she actually meant it…"

Nabiki finally regained her own bearings and tried to put her mask of aloofness into place, but all she managed to do was to wipe the tears out of her eyes as the sensations of her near-orgasm left her in a state of hyper-accentuated emotions.

"You…" she coughed to get her voice back to a normal level and said, "You…you do this sort of thing all the time with your…Nabiki?"

"Only since we got married a week ago," Ranma turned to her once again, "First thing we did after the fight was rent a room at a resort, then we got down to business for three days, pausing only for room service."

"Three…three days?" Nabiki gaped in disbelief.

"Yeah, but we had to get back home to take care of business, so it wasn't like it was a real honeymoon or nothing like that," Ranma shrugged, "That's why we're planning another trip in a couple of weeks after Ucchan and me formalize our union, then the five of us-plus the kid-are gonna take some time away from the craziness at home to get right down to business."

Dead silence greeted his comments, but after a pause of several long moments Genma lifted his sign once again, which read, "Just what does he call craziness back where he comes from?"

"You sure you want to know, Uncle?" Akane grinned, then paused to glance around before saying, "By the way, is Kodachi around? I'd like to see if your version is anything like the Ko-chan I know…"

"KO-CHAN???" Ukyo, Shampoo, Nabiki and even Kasumi responded in black-faced chorus.

"Ah, maybe we're better off not including the Kunos on this, Akane," Ranma remarked, "From what Nab-chan told us earlier they've probably never even met Keiko and Perfume-chan."

"Nab-chan?" Nabiki repeated softly, her expression even more haunted as she sensed the deep affection in the tone this Ranma used and contrasted it with what she knew about her timeline's Ranma.

"More and more I find this talk to be quite fascinating," Cologne observed as she studied Ranma with a shrewd expression, "Young man…I would love to indulge in a lengthy conversation with you about these Senken maneuvers of yours, but the sad truth is that you do not belong in our world and are obviously quite needed by the family you left back home."

"Guess you're right about that, Granny," Ranma shrugged before leaning closer to the old woman and saying, "But before Akane and me leave…one word of advice, just between the two of us?"

"Yes?" Cologne asked with interest.

"Find a way to come clean with Shampoo about the stuff you've been keeping from her," Ranma murmured softly, "'Cause the Cologne back home…well…she kind of blew it, know what I mean? You don't wanna go there having Sham-chan distrust you all the time...and I don't just mean that stuff about Lotion."

Cologne's owlish eyes became even wider than ever upon hearing this, and she seemed to visibly pale, a fact that was not lost to Shampoo, who arched a purple eyebrow and gave her elder a most curious expression.

"So, how do we get back?" Akane asked, "We need tears to make that mirror work, and if it's all the same to you, Ranma, I don't much feel like crying."

"No," Ranma said before turning a sober look upon Nabiki, "But I know who can help us out there. Nab-chan…I hate to do this to you and all…I mean, I don't know you like my Nabiki, but in the time we've had to get to know each other…well…"

"Y-Yes, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki asked, only to gasp as Ranma stretched out a finger and caressed her cheek, then came away with his hand wet with moisture.

"Try to get along with my Bro once I switch back with him here," Ranma smiled as he picked up the Nanban mirror, "'Cause he must be some kind of idiot if he's pass you up to marry Akane."

"Oh, very funny," Akane sniffed as she came to stand beside him, "Take care of yourself, Oneechan, Nabiki…and tell my double I said hi while you're at it."

"We'll tell her, Akane-chan," Kasumi smiled with a look of quiet sadness.

"You guys look out for each other," Akane winked at her counterpart's nominal rivals, seeing blank looks on the faces of both Ukyo and Shampoo before she turned to see the Ranma whom she knew and considered to be like a brother as he brought his wet fingers in contact with the mirror, and then the both of them felt the rippling sensation of the gateway opening again even as a single sob escaped from her sister Nabiki's counterpart before that world of sorrows faded away from them altogether…

"Oh my," said Kasumi as she looked around at all the strange faces, "Doctor Steinberg, Mister Werewolf, you brought along some friends. I do hope that unpleasant business with Mister Dimitri is over. Is everyone all right? Father, did you…why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"Kasumi?" Nabiki-kun gazed upon her older sister, seeing the strange light in Kasumi's eyes, and when Kasumi opened her mouth there were noticeable canines present. Her voice also sounded a bit more breathy, and there was something ethereal about her stance. Nabiki's ability to read auras was finding her sister's aura was altered from the normally bright halo that usually surrounded her.

Everyone was looking at Kasumi with surprise, astonishment and outright disbelief, but one man stood forward from the rest, the tall man dressed like a wandering priest with the huge sword slung across his back. He came to stand before Kasumi, then without a word lifted the palm of his hand and passed it over her face, moving it down without touching her body.

"She has the taint of vampirism," Donovan pronounced, then his normally flat tones took on a hint of puzzlement, "But the Dark is not within her. I sense no evil in her soul, no taint of corruption. Despite her curious state between realms of life, death and unlife she hovers like a pure light of heavenly grace. In all my years I have never touched a spirit so clean of the normal evils of humanity…"

"Yes, never mind all that," Nabiki-kun said somewhat impatiently, "Can you change her back to normal? We can't leave her like this…it isn't right! Not for my sister…"

"Nabiki-chan…" Kasumi turned towards her transformed sister/brother and for a moment her unvoiced longing was plain in her expression.

"That's right, we can't have Kasumi trapped like this," Soun said with fatherly concern.

"For one thing, who'll help Nodoka-chan make breakfast in the morning and do the laundry?" asked Genma, then when nearly everyone glared his way he winced a little and said, "Just being practical…don't make a big case about it…"

"There should be no problem in reversing the harm that Dimitri has wrought," Donovan informed them, "But before I do this, perhaps you ought to know that your daughter here has not just become any ordinary vampire but a Master Vampire, which is a very rare thing indeed."

"You don't say?" murmured Cologne with a thoughtful expression.

"A Master Vampire?" Talbain reacted, "You're kidding, right? She's not even a real undead!"

"Interesting," Frank remarked, then for the sake of the others he explained, "A Master Vampire has full vampiric abilities and is beholden to no one. Their strength is said to be greater than any other type of undead creatures…"

"So what?" Akane asked, "You can't leave Kasumi like that."

"Yeah," said Ranma, "It just ain't natural! Not for Kasumi of all people…"

"The choice is yours to make," Donovan said as he met Kasumi's gaze with his own steely, unwavering stare, "To cleave to what you have become or to return to what you were before Dimitri laid his mark upon you. You share in some part of his essence…"

"Please," Kasumi asked, "I don't want to be a burden on my family, and it just wouldn't be right, I wouldn't be happy as a creature of the night. I don't mind being normal…"

"Yes," said Tofu as he edged his way closer to Kasumi, "Change her back if you can do it, please. Someone like her shouldn't have to go through life with this terrible affliction…"

"Hey!" Tsien-Ko put hands to her hips while her arm-like wings made a similar gesture, "Being a vamp isn't like having a rare, fatal illness, you know! We're not all creatures out of Hollywood speaking with bad Hungarian accents!"

"Nonetheless," Donovan said, "The request has been made, and it is my duty to take away the curse from this innocent's brow. So it must be, so do I invoke the ritual of banishment."

He raised one hand and held it up in prayer mode while the other was stretched out to make an occult gesture while he began to chant his prayer, which went on for a full minute before he stretched out his palm again and touched Kasumi's brow, calling forth a light that bathed her briefly in a golden radiance, then faded away again as Kasumi sagged, then caught her balance.

"Oh my," she said as Tofu beat Nabiki to the punch, catching her up with one arm to steady her shoulders. Kasumi smiled at the contact and said, "I'm all right…I just feel…very odd, as if something passed through me, but I think I'll be all right now, Doctor."

Donovan's expression did not change but his eyes seemed to express satisfaction as he said, "You had better get some rest then eat a full breakfast in the morning. You will need to recover your strength if you are to be of use to the family that so clearly loves you."

"Better heed his advice," said the fearsome Bishomon, "Donovan Bane can be powerfully persuasive. A pity that charm does not work on those of us who are fully undead, but most of us have made our peace with our cursed status."

"Hey, why be normal?" Talbain asked, "Some of us were born this way."

"And some of us need to wear a flea collar," said Felicia, now restored to human form, as was Perfume beside her.

"We'll take it from here," said Nodoka as she joined Tofu at Kasumi's side, "Thank you for all your help in restoring my niece."

"It was my duty," Donovan replied.

"He means it was a pleasure, Saotome-san," Talbain bowed, "Don't let the big guy's modesty fool you."

"So, are we done here?" Tsien-Ko asked.

"More or less," Frank said, "Are you in a hurry to leave?"

"Damn straight," Tsien-Ko replied, "I left Mei-Ling behind in the middle of an Exorcism. She's gonna be sorry she missed on this since it was right up her ally. You'll excuse me, folks, a pleasure meeting you and all that. Bai-bai."

With that she folded her wings about herself, spun like a top and vanished from the cemetery.

"Showoff," Felicia sniffed with a faint smile, then saw the way that Nabiki and Ranma were eyeing her and growled, "Now cut that out! You'd think I was some kind of a Dog Catcher or something…"

"Now there's only one thing left I gotta say," said Aiko.

"Oh?" Beatrice mused, "What is that?"

Aiko nodded to the ruins of what remained of the graveyard, "Who's gonna explain this to the caretaker? Any ideas on who's gonna pay for all this destruction?"

"See what you mean," noted Frank with a casual glance, "Looks like you kids had one hell of a party."

"The dead should not be disturbed like this," said Bishomon in his gravely voice.

"Agreed," Donovan replied, "I must put this to rights."

He raised his hand again and made a different kind of gesture, then all at once the image of a huge flaming male form took shape above his head as the sword across his back rose up and hovered over his head as if suspended by wires. From the image of the giant came a light that swept over the field of broken and overturned markers and where this radiance passed the ground was restored to normal, the dead bodies littering the ground dissolved like mist and the markers were returned to pristine condition. Within the space of a minute the signs of battle were all gone as if there never had been an awesome struggle between the powers of light and darkness.

When the task was done and the radiance was banished the sword returned to its place across the tall man's back and Donovan gazed silently at his handiwork with some slight satisfaction.

"Impressive," remarked Cologne at the last.

"Not too shabby," Happosai seconded.

"Showoff," Felicia sniffed.

Donovan nodded sagely then said, "A good evening to you all. Come along, Anita."

The little girl with the headless doll nodded silently and fell in step with her huge male companion. At the last minute she turned around and gave everyone a backward glance, then pulled down an eyelid and stuck out her tongue before turning away again and trotting up to match the stride of the dour exorcist with the enormous sword fetish.

"Brat," Aiko commented softly, only to notice the smile her silverhaired companion gave her and said, "What?"

"We're going to have one of our own someday very soon," Beatrice reminded her, "So we both had best get used to being around children."

"I…what?…oh," Aiko glanced down at herself and reflexively patted her own belly.

"That guy's a man of few words," remarked Ryoga as the others watched the priest and his ward casually stride away from the awe-struck Posse.

"Really?" Talbain sniffed, "I hadn't noticed.

"I, too, shall be taking my leave of you," Bishomon remarked before the ghostly samurai faded out, leaving the armor behind to linger a few moments before it, too, vanished.

"That's our cue, care to race me, Furball?" Felicia sniffed towards Talbain before giving Perfume a passing smile one second before she turn back into a blue-furred cat and loped off into the night.

"Don't see why not," Talbain sniffed giving everyone a passing smile before he started to trot off after the cat girl.

"My, such a nice couple," Kasumi remarked.

"Yes," agreed the sign held by Genma-panda, "But a nice couple of what?"

Nabiki-kun and Ranma-chan managed to look forward again, shuddering slightly in passing, but Akane had a clearer mind as she said, "Wait a minute! How are Ranma and me supposed to return to our own world?"

"Hmmm," Frank mused, "Good point. Offhand, I'd say your best bet is still the Nanban mirror."

"Oh yeah," Ranma-chan turned to Kasumi, "Mind if we borrow that?"

"By all means, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said as she surrendered the mirror over to him, "It seems to work on tears…"

"Yeah, we know," Ranma-chan smiled at her, holding it up, "We got one of our own back on our timeline. Now all we gotta do is get some tears. Akane, you wanna do the honor?"

"Me?" Akane reacted, "Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you're a girl, and I just look like one," Ranma-chan replied, "And guys don't cry…"

"Oh no?" Nabiki-kun asked, "Remember what I told you earlier about a cure for our curse being unlikely to come until after some great purpose had been fulfilled? It might not even work after that, meaning that you, like me, may be cursed forever."

"N-Nani?" Ranma-chan's eyes went wide, "N-Not forever…"

"It's a possibility we both must face, Ranchan," Nabiki-kun said gently, "It may be that you'll be stuck like that forever, just like I'll always have this guy curse."

"B-but that's not fair…!" Ranma-chan's voice began to tremble.

"What about life is fair?" Nabiki-kun asked, indicating herself, "We make the best of what we have, which in my case means I can never wear a dress or anything else too feminine for fear of looking silly. This curse has given me a lot of problems, but it's also given me a wife and kid, so I suppose it's been a mix of good and bad from where I'm standing. I suppose it is different with you since you obviously wouldn't want to have a baby in that form, and probably couldn't unless you could stay locked in the body of a really cute redhead."

"B-But that couldn't happen, right?" Ranma-chan asked with even more obvious nervousness.

"Are you forgetting about the Chiisuiton magic ladle, Ranma?" Akane asked pointedly, "That'll do the trick, then somebody like Tatawaki or Ryoga-kun could give you a real experience of what it means to be a woman."

"Don't even joke about that!" Ranma-chan gasped, "That ain't funny!"

"But you must at least concede the possibility," Nabiki-kun suggested, "You're so cute as a girl that I'm sure there won't be any shortage of men who would jump at the prospect."

"You don't understand!" Ranma cried, "None of you could! You all think it's funny when I look like this, but it's not! I'm a guy, dammit! I don't want to look like this forever!"

"Ranma-kun?" Tatawaki Kuno started to say when he saw Ranma thrust a hand in his direction.

"You stay away from me!" she hissed, "I don't care if you are a saner version of the Kuno I know, there's no way I'm letting you get anywhere near me when I'm like this!"

"Ranma," Akane said, "I was just kidding…"

"Obviously he didn't feel that way," Nabiki-kun replied, "I guess things really are different in your world. I never realized how hard things would be for you if you were in my place, Ranma-chan. Times are, I wish you had been the one to go on that trip with your father, but now I see what could have happened and I'm glad my Ranma didn't, or Kasumi here, or even you, Akane. Think about that sometime whenever you think about making fun of my husband, little sister."

"Hey!" Akane protested, "He's my iinazuke…I mean…" she blinked her eyes and repeated the word, "Husband?"

"That's right," Nabiki-kun eyed his younger sister's counterpart directly, "My husband by Amazon law and our mutual consent, and if I were you I'd think long and hard about it before picking fights with the baka over here. If you really do care at all about him then you ought to try giving him the benefit of the doubt and stop throwing your own insecurities his way. He's had a rough life of it and he doesn't need you to make things worse with your suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Akane blurted, "What the heck do you mean by…?"

"I saw the way you were eyeing Ukyo and Shampoo back there," Nabiki explained, "Your jealousy was like a palpable thing to me, and if you don't watch out about that it could eat you alive and leave you a very bitter person."

"Hey, I don't want to marry the baka!" Akane protested, "We may be engaged but it's not like it's my idea or anything like that…"

"A good thing, too," Nabiki-kun sniffed, "I can't think of a worse match than the two of you together. You should stick with Ryoga on your world, assuming he's anything like the Ryoga we know and love on our timeline."

"Ah…" Akane could not help glancing nervously at the lost boy standing close beside her, "Well…Ryoga…he's nice, but…"

"Right," Ranma-chan growled, "But he ain't the same, so why even bring that up? Not like she'd really be happy with the baka."

"Hey!" Ryoga protested, taking two steps forward, "I'll have you know that Akane and I are very happy with each other! That is…she…I…we…we feel good around each other, and I don't see why you should say things like that when you don't really know us!"

"How's that again, P-chan?" Ranma-chan noted dryly.

"P-chan?" Ryoga blinked in puzzlement, "Why did you just call me that?"

"Oh, it's what the baka always calls my pet pig," Akane growled, "I don't know why he taunts you so much back home but he's always trying to pick fights with Ryoga by getting him upset. I don't really understand it, it's all some dumb game you two are always arguing about…"

"Uh," Kurumi spoke up, "Excuse me if I'm out of line here, Cousin, but it almost sounded like she was calling Ryoga-kun a name like Per-chan, Ukyo's pet name for her Amazon wife…"

"The one with the Jusenkyo curse?" Natsume turned to regard the cursed animals, who at present were sitting together in a group listening to these proceedings as no one presently had any hot water to spare them, "Curious…"

"What are you talking about?" Akane was puzzled, "Ryoga doesn't have a…"

Her tone ran out as her face took on a look of dawning comprehension.

"Akane-chan?" Ryoga asked as he turned to look at her in concern and puzzlement.

Akane turned to meet his gaze, then without warning her hand came up and she slapped him.

"Baka!" she snapped, "How could you?"

"W-what?" Ryoga staggered backwards, more surprised than actually hurt by the unexpected gesture.

"That's it, isn't it?" Akane growled as she rounded on Ranma-chan, "That's why you two never get along, why Ryoga seems to hate you so much! You knew all along that he was really P-chan!"

"Took you long enough to finally figure that out," Ranma-chan replied, then winced as he saw Akane's hand rear back for another slap, only to have her wrist grabbed by Nabiki-kun, who whirled her about and compelled her to face her cursed "brother" directly.

"What are you getting angry at him for?" Nabiki-kun demanded, "Sounds to me like you're the one who didn't have a clue about your Ryoga. And you, Ranma…why on earth wouldn't you tell her if you knew that your Ryoga had a Jusenkyo curse?"

"Because I gave my word to Ryoga," Ranma-chan replied, then hesitated before adding, "And…because it's sort of my fault that he got cursed in the first place. I was…the one who accidentally knocked him into the spring when I was chasing Pop around…"

Nabiki-kun barely winced as a vulture flapped its wings and came down to settle upon her shoulder, eyeing her in a way that was almost poignant.

"I get the hint, Kei-chan," he murmured softly, then sighed before adding, "I guess some things are more consistent than we'd like to admit in both of our timelines."

"You…" Akane directed her question towards Ranma, "Did what?"

"I have a curse?" Ryoga looked enormously puzzled, then looked down at the ferret clawing at his shin and picked her up automatically, "You hear that, Kodachi? I wonder what I'm supposed to turn into?"

"A little black pig," replied Ranma-chan as she turned away with a sniff, "Great, Ryoga's gonna kill me when we get back, and you're gonna kill him because the baka never had the guts to tell you he was your cute widdle pet," Ranma-chan made a disgusted noise, "And naturally it's all my fault, as usual. Doesn't matter if I never asked to have Ryoga follow me around looking for a fight because I didn't wait four days for him to show up for a 'man-to-man' fight. It's not my fault you couldn't find your way to a lot that was right behind your own house."

"Ah…" Ryoga blinked, then noticed the way that everyone was looking at him and winced a little.

"Okay," Nabiki said dryly, "I guess maybe some details are a bit different where you come from…"

"Poor dear," said Nodoka as she moved forward, "You really have had a hard time of it."

"M-Mom?" Ranma felt a moment of hesitancy before seeing the friendly look in the older woman's eyes, then she sighed, "You could say that. Everybody blames me for anything bad that happens. Nobody ever listens to me or wants to hear my side of the story. Anything goes wrong, it's my fault. Even Akane thinks that, she says it to me all the time…"

"Ranma…?" Akane asked, hearing the bitterness in the redhead's tone, which momentarily overcame her anger about Ryoga.

"Nihao!" a voice called out, surprising everyone as they turned to see Ukyo and Shampoo arriving, the latter carrying a bundle in her arms while each girl was loaded down with back packs.

"What are you two doing here?" Nabiki-kun asked, her eyes narrowing slightly, "And is that Lylac with you?"

"Well, duh," said Ukyo with a bland smile, "We couldn't exactly find a baby-sitter this late at night, not with Kasumi and Aunt Nodoka gone. Besides, after that big flash of light and the rainstorms we've had lately we kind of thought that you might be needing some hot water."

"Good thinking," said Soun, "Kami knows some of us could certainly use it."

Ranma blinked his eyes, not only at the baby in Shampoo's arms but the fact that Ukyo seemed to have put on a lot of weight since he had last seen her. She looked particularly round about the waist, but there was also a kind of glow about her that he had trouble identifying. In most respects, she seemed like the same girl that he had once mistaken for a boy and she still had her androgynous good looks, but the way she walked and carried herself, it was almost as if her center of gravity had shifted noticeably for some strange reason…

"I thought we had an agreement that you two would stay at home and not put yourselves in any risk," Cologne reasonably pointed out.

"Who's at risk?" Ukyo asked innocently, glancing at Shampoo, "Do you see any risk here? Looks to me more like you guys are just standing around swapping campfire stories."

"Looks like your timing's about right then," rumbled Frank from where he was leaning against his huge motorcycle, "If you'd come any earlier it might've been a different story."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo remarked as she took the big man in at a glance, "What he do here? Big man one who make challenge to Airen?" she paused and did a quick double-take when she saw that Nabiki was in male form, quickly handed her baby over to Kasumi and in one quick bound pounced upon Nabiki-kun for a massive glomp and cried, "Airen! You back!"

"Obviously," Nabiki-kun laughed as she received the buoyant Amazon, "Kami, I've missed you, even if it has only been a few hours. Have you been behaving yourself while I've been away? You haven't been causing trouble for the other Nabiki?"

"What you worry so for?" Shampoo asked with an innocent expression, "Shampoo no violent girl who pick fights over nothing. Shampoo just glad you real Airen this time instead of weak girl who no seem to be much happy."

"In other words, it's good to have you back, Nab-chan," Ukyo smiled as she was handing out thermoses to Nodoka and Doctor Tofu, then paused when she found herself regarding the female Ranma and said, ""Who are you, Sugar? I almost mistook you for Keiko, but that's definitely her riding on Nab-chan's shoulder."

"Uh," the redhead hesitated, "I'm Saotome Ranma…sorry about this."

"You're kidding, right?" Ukyo regarded her skeptically, then gazed into the redhead's eyes as if in belated recognition, "You're not kidding. Ranchan? Is that really you?"

"Well, duh," said Akane with a snort, taking one of the flasks from Ukyo's hand and upending it over the redhead, triggering her transformation back into the male Ranma.

Both Ukyo and Shampoo blinked their eyes, the latter saying aloud, "Aiyaa…when Ranma get cursed with Jusenkyo Nyaniichuan water?"

"It's kind of a long story," Nabiki said as she took another flask out of Shampoo's backpack and restored her own gender, "Guys, meet the Ranma and Akane of my counterpart's timeline, who we were just in the process of trying to restore to their own dimension."

"Airen!" cried Perfume happily as she finished dressing in her Chinese style outfit, then bounded into Ukyo's arms to apply a kiss before breaking off and scolding soundly, "You know that there will be consequences for you disobeying me like this."

"Oh yeah?" Ukyo eyed the Amazon with a look of challenge, "I'd like to see you try and pull it off."

Ranma just blinked his eyes as he watched this exchange, then…very slowly…he became aware of a certain irritation that he was feeling as he frowned in the direction of the brown-haired Enforcer.

"Just as soon as we get home," Perfume said smugly, then turned to regard the astonished Ranma and said, "Better close your mouth before you catch flies. Did you think you had exclusive rights to her in this dimension?"

Now Ranma winced like a guilty boy caught doing something wrong even as Kodachi laughed, her voice a surprisingly pleasant tone that lacked the hint of dementia to which he was used to dreading, "Now Perfume-chan, be nice to our guest. This poor boy doesn't have a clue as to what you are alluding. Where he comes from things appear to be very different."

"Yeah," Keiko agreed as she also appeared while dressing herself in her customary shorts and tank top, "For one thing, this guy is way lots more depressing than the Saotome Ranma we know. Imagine being upset because he turns into another version of me! You really ought to seek professional help for that attitude, Saotome, even if I can't really fault your taste in iinazuke."

Kasumi had been gazing at the baby in her arms, but when the child awoke she pursed her lips and handed the child back to Shampoo, who took the baby and without hesitation presented a bared breast for feeding. Ranma gaped for all of one second before hastily turning around, which was not fast enough to escape an angry glare from Akane.

"Something wrong, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked as she suddenly took notice of his pained expression.

"N-No, nothing's wrong," Ranma steadfastly denied, but when he half-turned to glance her way there was a slight glistening of moisture along his cheek, looking first to Perfume then to Shampoo and her baby.

"Bet you wish you were the father," Nabiki said gently, "If I were you I'd think about it."

"I…" Ranma said when the tear fell from his cheek onto the mirror that was still held loosely in one hand, and all at once a rippling motion emanated outward, catching him by surprise and also startling Akane.

"Everybody stand back!" Nabiki urged as she followed her own advice, placing a hand on Shampoo's shoulder to guide her away from what they each knew was about to occur as Ranma and Akane began to ripple and distort, only to be replaced a moment later by a different Ranma and Akane.

"Wow," Perfume turned towards Nabiki, "You're good."

"Just what do you mean by that, Sugar?" Ukyo asked with a hint of suspicion in her tone.

"Let's just say I played on Ranchan's emotions to effect his transfer," Nabiki replied, then turned to the new arrivals and said, "Hey, Ranma-kun, did we get the right you this time?"

"Nabchan," Ranma grinned as he immediately moved forward to join her and Shampoo, "I was beginning to worry about never getting back to see you guys! You won't believe where Akane and me've been for the last hour."

"Try me," Nabiki said with bland matter-of-factness.

Akane wasted no time seeking out Ryoga, who seemed startled to be hugged with real affection this time instead of inexplicably slapped for no reason, "Ryoga-kun!"

"Glad to have you back, Akane-chan," Kodachi smiled with great fondness.

"Likewise," Keiko added, "But where the heck have you been?"

"Back at the dojo," Akane said as she looked up from the still-astonished lost boy to greet her two best friends with a wide grin, "Only it was a crazy place so different from what I'm used to, and Ryo-chan had a curse that turned him into a pig! You guys weren't even there, and everybody thought I was still engaged to Ranma," she pronounced his name with just a hint of disgust, then flashed Ranma a teasing look and added, "Just kidding!"

"So everything is back to normal then?" Genma asked as he was the last restored to normal.

"Apparently so," Soun remarked, "And about time. I'd say this justifies a little celebrating on our parts, Saotome. It just so happens that I've been saving a bottle of sake for just such an occasion…"

"Do tell?" Nodoka said pleasantly, "Will wonders never cease?"

"Guess that's my cue to make my exit," Frank noted as he turned and remounted his machine, pausing to look back as he added, "I'll check back sometime later to see if you're doing all right, Miss Tendo. Not that I don't expect you will do well, but you can never be too certain with vampire curses. You have my number if anything should come up."

"Thank you, Doctor Steinberg," Kasumi smiled, but then she gave a blank look as her tongue encountered something very odd. Unnoticed by the others she put a finger up to her mouth and felt along the front row of her teeth to confirm for a fact that her canines were still somewhat pointed. She was about to say something when she felt a hand on her shoulders and turned to see a smiling Doctor Tofu.

"I'll be sure to examine you for myself to see that you're doing well, Kasumi," he said in a reassuring voice, "It sure is good to have you back to normal. I don't mind telling you…I was a little worried."

"Really?" Kasumi blinked, surprised at discovering that Tofu was actually behaving around her like a normal person for once, "Why is that?"

"Ah…well…" Tofu began to act nervous once again, "It's nothing, really…I mean…you're always so nice to be around and…"

He took a step away from her only to encounter a headstone marker that caught him just about upper-thigh level and his own forward momentum caused him to tumble over the marker and onto his face as he tumbled into a heap on the other side and groaned slightly, "That…hurt a little…"

Somehow, in spite of her immediate concern for her welfare, there was still something oddly reassuring in Doctor Tofu's behavior, which caused Kasumi to smile, glad to find that at least some things were more-or-less back to normal…

Ranma and Akane looked around at the concerned faces turned their way, finding their surroundings were the all-too-familiar confines of the Tendo garden with Shampoo and Ukyo standing beside a much-concerned Nabiki with Cologne standing to one side wearing a speculative expression.

"Welcome back, Akane, Ranma-kun," came the cheerful greetings of Kasumi, "Did you have an interesting time in the other dimension?"

"Ah…well…sort of," Akane said somewhat evasively when she caught sight of a familiar black shape and took three steps forward to close the distance. Picking the astonished black pig up by his bandana Akane glared him in the eyes and said, "Just the person I wanted to see. You and I are going to have a long talk, Mister, about what it means to deceive people."

With that she angrily stormed off, only tersely acknowledging the hail her father paid as he looked up from his never-ending game of Shogi.

"What got into her all of a sudden?" Ukyo asked.

"It's…kind of a long story," Ranma said somewhat uncertainly, "So…how are you guys doing?"

Nabiki wanted to say something to him but found she could not, a condition that did not apply to Shampoo, who instantly leaped forward to glomp onto Ranma.

"Ranma!" she cried happily, "You come back!"

"Hey!" Ukyo snarled as she reached for her baker's peel, "You get your paws off of my Ranchan, hussy!"

"Uh…guys?" Ranma gasped with a pleading expression.

Nabiki took a deep breath, folded her arms over her chest and said, "Honestly, Kuonji-san, is that any way to act? Ranma just got back from his little jaunt and the first thing you want to do is pick a fight with Shampoo? I'd be willing to bet anything that you'd much rather show Ranma how much you appreciate his restoration."

Ukyo seemed to think about it for a few seconds, then she slipped her giant spatula back into place and instead bounded forward to throw her arms around Ranma with a happy, "Ranchan!"

"Hey, what you do?" Shampoo glared at her, "You no touch Shampoo Airen, Spatula-girl!"

"And who's going to make me let him go?" Ukyo said in a scornful tone as she added, "Sugar?"

Ranma cringed as it looked as if World War III was about to break out with him in the middle when Nabiki spoke again and said, "Ladies, if you both don't mind it's late, it's been a very long day, and I think Ranma would rather go to bed right now than to have to suffer another Cat-fight, isn't that right, Ranma-kun?"

"C-c-cat-fight?" Ranma squirmed.

Shampoo and Ukyo exchanged looks, then took note of the way Ranma was squirming in between them, then Ukyo let him go and said, "You're probably right, Sugar. Sorry, Ranchan, I guess I let myself get carried away, like Shampoo here."

"It very busy day," Shampoo agreed, "First Sneaky girl replaced by strong fighter who look like her, then Airen and violent gorilla girl change place with…other Ranma who act very nice to Spatula girl and Shampoo, and Akane who very nice for once, only she want to know where Pig Boy at."

"Yeah," Ukyo said uneasily, "It was nice…but almost scary."

"I…know the feeling," Nabiki said somewhat evasively, "But like I said, girls, it's getting late and Ranma-kun and me have classes in the morning. So does Akane, assuming she doesn't grind Ryoga into sausage."

"Yeah," Ukyo winced, "Poor guy. I hope she makes it quick and relatively painless."

"Some things even stupid Pig boy no deserve," Shampoo agreed, turning a gentle smile towards Ranma as she said, "You be all right until tomorrow, Ranma?"

"Sure," Ranma said, having recovered his bearings as the two girls seemed about to leave, "You guys take care of yourselves, okay?"

"Sure thing, Ranchan," Ukyo smiled, "See you in the morning."

"Well," Kasumi remarked, "I'll go and make some tea. Are you hungry for some rice cakes, Ranma-kun?"

"Thanks," Ranma said absently, "Maybe later, Kasumi. I think I'd like to be alone for a while. I'll be back later."

Nabiki felt the urge to say something, but she hesitated for a crucial moment and then Ranma vaulted onto the roof of her house, leaving her alone with her thoughts over everything that had happened…

Nabiki sat atop the roof of the dojo, a place where she had found great solace in the past whenever she needed to think away from all other distractions. This was such a time where the experiences of a world very much like-yet-unlike her own world had caused her to reassess certain matters of a highly personal nature.

She had often wondered what life would be like for her had she not been entrusted to her Uncle Genma for that ten-year training mission, if she had been an ordinary girl with ordinary problems. To judge by what she had learned from the impressions given by those people whom she had encountered, her life sounded pretty dull and lacking in that certain zest that made life so interesting for her in Nerima.

A slight disturbance broke her train of thoughts as she turned to see Ranma alight on the roof a short distance from where she was sitting. She glanced up at him with a smile, gratified to see the warmth in his expression instead of the wariness that she had always gotten from the other Ranma.

"Hi," Ranma said shyly, "I'm not disturbing you am I? If you don't want to talk I'll understand…"

"No, Ranchan," Nabiki smiled, "As a matter of fact, you're the person I most wanted to see, now that Shampoo and the baby are finally asleep. I wanted to ask a few questions about that other Nabiki…"

"Ah, yeah," Ranma said as he took his usual place at her side, sitting down cross-legged, "That's kind of what I wanted to talk about. You know…the other you was a real eye-opener in a lot of ways. She was so…different from you…"

"And yet very much like me?" Nabiki said with a slight sniff, "Why don't you tell me about those similarities. I know she wasn't a fighter, but she did have my looks, right?"

"Oh yeah," Ranma chuckled, then touched the warrior's braid that Nabiki wore down her back and said, "She didn't have this, but she was just as pretty as you, even though she didn't quite have your build, and she wasn't nearly as graceful on her feet…"

"Similarities please," Nabiki reminded, but she hid a slight grin of pleasant emotion as she added, "Did she at least have my intellect, my rapier wits and animal cunning?"

"Yeah," Ranma nodded his head, "She pretty much covered all of that, only there was something about the way that she looked at things that was…kind of off, kind of downbeat really, and a lot more cynical and bitter…"

Nabiki rolled her eyes and decided not to remind him again that it was similarities that she was after, "Go on…you're saying she wasn't as confident of herself as me, right? She didn't have anybody who really and truly cared about her, who cared for her the way you care for me, or Shampoo for that matter."

"Really?" Ranma said, "Gee, that's awful. I knew she didn't feel at home around us, but I had no idea she was that much alone. She seemed really sad when she saw Shampoo with the baby…"

"I was sad when I found out that the other me never tried to get close to anyone," Nabiki said, "I guess when Mom died she just retreated into an emotional shell and refused to let anybody get too close to her, with the possible exception of Kasumi. The family was also a lot poorer, struggling harder to get by, and that other me didn't seem to have my resources."

"Well," Ranma said, "Maybe that other you just never had the chance to take advantage of the opportunities you've had. From what you've told me, you and Pop managed to salt a lot of money away, which is a lot better than I think I'd do if I was in your situation."

Nabiki eyed her husband wryly, "Flattery will get you somewhere, Saotome-kun, but you shouldn't sell yourself short. You are pretty resourceful, I think you might have made out on your own. At least that other you was a pretty awesome fighter when you get down to it."

"He was also a real jerk," Ranma sniffed, "I talked with the Shampoo and Ucchan of his world and the impression I got is that he generally ignores them. He seems pretty stuck on Akane, which is hard enough for me to figure. Growing up with Akane, well…it pretty much convinced me that it could never work between us."

"But still they love him, Ranma," Nabiki leaned back and gazed at the stars, "He must be doing something right or I doubt they'd stick with him through all that. Still…I can see your point where that other Akane was concerned. What a temper on that girl…" she shook her head in dismay, "I don't think I'll ever view my little sister in quite the same way."

"That bad, huh?" Ranma asked.

"Actually," Nabiki smiled, "I think we got the better of the deal. It's just that…with all we've gone through, all the pain we've suffered, the sacrifices we've made…I think I'm finally prepared to accept the fact that things could always be a lot worse. Because of Shampoo and Lylac…and you, Ranchan, I think I'm actually quite happy with the way things are…"

"Perfume! At last I've found you!"

"Gak! What are you doing in here, Mousse? I'm dressing!"

"Now you've gone and done it, Sugar! Prepare to get flattened!"

"Mousse, how could you?"

"Uh…Kurumi-chan? It's not what it looks like!"

"Aiyaa! Stupid Mousse! I pound you for messing with Cousin!"

"Go ahead, pound the baka for all I care!"

"But Kurumi-chan-" SPLASH!, "Oook-ook-ook!"

"MEEEEOOOOWWWW!!!!"

"Oh my…I didn't see you two. I'm dreadfully sorry about that…"

Nabiki shuddered slightly as she and Ranma turned to regard the noises coming from the family house, then Ranma murmured faintly, "You were saying?"

"Okay," Nabiki conceded, "Maybe there is some room for improvement around here…"

"Ranma-kun?"

Ranma turned a surprised look towards Nabiki, who was attempting to ease herself out onto the roof in spite of the fact that she was quite obviously less than thrilled about her prospects for balance.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked, not meaning the question to sound harsh but at the moment he was not really all that sure that he wanted the company, especially in light of certain things that he had so recently witnessed.

Nabiki pretended not to be affected by the defensiveness in his tone, but a guilty look betrayed her real feelings, prompting her to say, "Easy, Saotome, I just wanted to…you know…talk a little…if you don't mind, that is."

"Mind?" Ranma seemed to consider it, but turned away with a sigh, "Sure, why not? It's your roof after all, I just live here."

Nabiki heaved a sigh. This was not going to be easy. She sat down as near to him as she dared and said, "It's your home, too, Ranma. Some day all of this will belong to you when Daddy gives it to you as a wedding present…"

"When I marry Akane, you mean," Ranma sighed, his tone betraying a certain sadness.

Nabiki eyed him uncertainly before saying, "You don't have to make it sound like a curse, you know. It doesn't have to be like that."

"Huh," Ranma sniffed but did not elaborate.

Nabiki looked away for a few moments as she struggled to gather her thoughts then said, "It was weird being in that other world. Everything was so different, the people were so nice to each other, and that other me was actually liked and respected. It was…very unusual. That other me…she really must be something."

"Oh, I don't know," Ranma gently snorted, "She was crass, opinionated, stubborn, hard-headed, a real impulsive type, not to mention kind of a nuisance…"

"I see," Nabiki mused, "Sounds awfully familiar. I take it the two of you didn't get alone too well, then?"

Ranma gave her a dirty look, then snorted, "You could say that, but in a way I think it was kind of odd because she was trying to fight my battles, like it was her business instead of me. I guess she's not used to sitting back and avoiding trouble like you do. I wonder how the other Ranma can stand being usurped by her all of the time. I know it'd be awfully hard for me to always live in somebody else's shadow."

"Like you do to Akane?" Nabiki asked, then hastily added as she saw his pained look, "Sorry, that just slipped out. I'm not meaning to criticize you, Ranma-kun. I've a pretty good idea what she must have been like from the way everybody was acting around me. I never figured myself for the heroic type, but if I was the best fighter in Nerima, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't let anybody else fight my battles."

"That's another thing that was so weird," Ranma dared to look towards her, "Seeing you in the thick of action. It just didn't seem right somehow, and it sure wasn't normal. I always figured you were too smart to let yourself get caught up in that kind of action."

"Eh?" Nabiki eyed him in surprise, "If I didn't know better I'd say that you almost sound envious, Ranma."

"I am envious," Ranma snorted, "Envious as hell, but I guess it ain't really your fault. Nobody ever bothers you, Nabiki. No one's out trying to either kill or date you…"

"Uh, yes…exactly," Nabiki murmured faintly, "Guess I really do miss out on all your problems…unlike that other version of me who seems to have taken your place in all the important regards, including your relationships…though I guess she's done what she could to balance out things in that regard…"

"You mean like marrying Shampoo and them having a kid together?" Ranma asked.

"Ah…" Nabiki hesitated, "I…suppose that's…one possibly way of going about it…but I'm not too sure I could make the same choices she did. I'd much rather have one guy who meant something to me, not try and have it both ways by trying to keep everyone happy…unlike my paratime sister…"

"Nabiki," Ranma hesitated before starting again, "I know we ain't always been on the best of terms, but in a way I'm glad you ain't got a curse and all kinds of problems like that. I wouldn't wish my kind of problems on my worst enemy…"

"Oh?" Nabiki jested, "So I'm your worst enemy now?"

"C'mon," Ranma snorted, "You know it ain't like that. I just mean…well…I'm glad you're you, you got that?"

Nabiki lifted her eyebrows, "Was that a compliment, Ranma-kun?"

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "Uh…well…whatever you like…"

"Ranma," Nabiki hesitated again then sighed, "Maybe we got started off on the wrong foot, and…maybe I haven't always been the most pleasant person to hang around with, but I've…never considered you an enemy, and I hope it's the same with you, even if I have…taken certain liberties in the past."

"Oh?" Ranma sniffed in amusement, "I hadn't noticed. Seriously…I know you never meant any harm, Nabiki, not even that time we...um…got engaged to each other. I was…mad at you that first time you sold those photos of me to Kuno, but I never thought you meant nothing by it. It's just your way of taking an advantage of the situation we had back then…"

"That…isn't entirely accurate, Ranma," Nabiki said with clear reluctance, "I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone, not even Kasumi, so do you think you can keep it to yourself?"

"How much is it gonna cost me?" Ranma asked her, then noticed how she winced and said, "Sorry, that was reflex."

"No problem," Nabiki lied, looking down before she continued, "When you first showed up in Nerima…I was kind of hoping to meet a cute guy who might actually want to hang out with me. The other boys at school…well, you know what they're like."

Ranma snorted derisively. He knew all too well what the other guy at school were like, having experienced first hand the way they behaved around a cute female.

"I was kind of hoping I could do better, you know what I mean?" Nabiki shrugged, "I wasn't asking for perfection, but I was willing to settle for any guy who wasn't a creep or an anal retentive. Kami, I was even willing to settle for Kuno-cha-ah…for Kuno, which ought to tell you about how desperate I was feeling."

"Go on," Ranma said, "And then I show up and you find out the cute iinazuke your father had lined up for you was a hentai freak with a curse who can't keep his mouth shut and is always getting into trouble…"

"Are you telling this story or me?" Nabiki's tone had a hint of challenge, but she softened it up again as she said, "Yeah, I was kind of disappointed when we first met. My first look at you and I go, 'Oooh, he's cute!' But the minute I find out you were a girl…"

"You got freaked," Ranma said, then winced as he saw her glare and hastily waved his hands, "Okay, okay! I'll stop interrupting."

"No," Nabiki conceded, "You were right, I freaked. I didn't mind you being a girl, but I was hoping for somebody…well, more manly, I guess. I think it threw me off my usual charming self that I got panicked by you and your father for no good reason, so I…poked you in the breast a little as my way of getting even. I also kind of thought you were cute anyway and didn't want to let on about that. I know it was childish, but we were all behaving a bit off for that day and I wasn't any less affected than anyone else. So sue me."

"Hey, I've never blamed you for that or nothing," Ranma said, "It wasn't much fun getting poked, or reminded that I wasn't very manly. In fact, the only one who seemed to want to be my friend at first was Akane."

"Yeah," Nabiki nodded, "And I regret that, Ranma-kun. I wasn't very sympathetic even after you explained about your curse. It took me a few days to get over the weirdness of you changing, but after a while I started to think it wasn't so bad, but by that time you and Akane were engaged and I was just the annoying middle sister."

Ranma looked at her strangely, "If I remember right you and Kasumi were both eager to foist me off on Akane…"

"Our mistake," Nabiki looked down again, "Sometimes I wish I could go back to that day and do things differently, but at the time we all thought you and Akane would work things out over time. You were both such Macho types it seemed like a natural pairing, but now here it is almost a year later and you two are no closer to getting married than you were those first frantic days of your engagement."

"Well, I dunno," Ranma said thoughtfully, "There have been times when I almost thought it might someday work out. Akane doesn't spend all her time mad at me for stuff I didn't do…or even stuff I did, and she can be really cute when she lets herself be cute…"

Nabiki winced a little and looked away with a pained expression.

"And then there's Shampoo and Ucchan," Ranma said, "Funny how in that other world they were both engaged to the pair of us, huh? I guess I could see Shampoo being happy married to some guy who looked like your male counterpart, but the idea you two having a baby together…"

"Ahah…yeah…funny, huh?" Nabiki replied with a nervous expression.

"Of course, the part I don't understand is where you and me are engaged to each other," Ranma eyed her sidelong, "Kinda far-fetched, dontcha think? The idea that you…and me…well…y'know?"

Nabiki blinked her eyed and turned to look at him with a very curious expression.

"Ah," Ranma glanced away, "Y'wanna know what I was just thinkin'? What if it had been you I wound up engaged with? You think it would have been so bad? I mean, you wouldn't have beat me up all the time and called me names to my face, but I can't help wondering…would you have been happy?"

Nabiki double-blinked then said, "Happy, Ranma-kun? Ah…well…that's kind of an interesting question…"

"You know what was going through my mind that first day we met?" Ranma asked, "After Pop got through scarin' you and your family, that is. You were the first one of the girls who actually approached me and I had a moment where I thought, 'Hey, she's kind of cute…' and that was where your Pop started hugging me, then you poked me with a finger and I started to wonder if I was in some kind of a nut house."

"Ah…yeah," Nabiki paused before she asked, "Anything else?"

"Just that you were the one leading the interrogation, and it was frustrating as hell because all the time I wanted to hit the reverse button and back the whole thing up so I could start introductions all over," Ranma said tersely, "The first time I met you when I was back to being a guy I thought you kind of liked me…then Pop goes and tosses me into the pond and I'm thinking, 'Great, now she'll never want to see me after this."

For the third consecutive time Nabiki's eyes fluttered, then she blushed furiously before she could stifle the impulse. Swallowing thickly she said, "So you're saying…that you were starting to like me back then…?"

"And then you pass me over to that violent Tomboy of a sister of yours and I know it'll never work," Ranma concluded, "And after you sold Kuno those photos…well, I may not be the brightest guy around, but I could take a hint. All I was to you was just a way to make a quick profit."

"That's not true!" Nabiki spoke up before she could stop herself, then she swallowed when he looked at her again and she said, "I mean…you don't know the whole story, Ranma. You're judging me on the basis of a single thoughtless action. Okay, maybe it wasn't an isolated incident, and there were a lot of times when I might have made life more difficult for you than it had to be, but I never did it to you because I didn't like you."

"Oh no?" Ranma asked, "You had a funny way of showing it."

Nabiki closed her eyes and bowed her head, feeling the urge to cry in spite of her legendary self control, and for once not caring, "There was a lot more behind the thing with the photographs than you know, Ranma. Sure I sometimes used my camera to take photos of Akane and sell them to the guys in our school for some quick yen, and when I found out that Kuno was enamored of your female side I thought I could double my earnings by playing on his vanity to pick his fat pockets. I needed the money real bad then, and you know how hard it is for us to come by any money through legitimate means."

"I figured that was why you did it," Ranma noted.

"But it's not the only reason why I did it, Ranma," Nabiki informed him, "Like I told you before, I had a kind of interest in Kuno-chan that was more than filial in nature. It wasn't because he was rich-though that was definitely a plus-it was because he genuinely interested me. I'd known him for years, always thought he was kind of handsome, and his obsession with poetry…well, a girl can be swayed by that kind of language. The problem was that he was ignoring me and obsessing about Akane, but I figured he'd get tired of that sooner or later and finally notice me. Then you show up in your girl half and knock the baka silly, and after I drag him to the Nurse's office he wakes up and puts his arms around me, and for half a second I think maybe he's finally come to his senses, only he starts to call me Akane!"

"Ohh, yuck," Ranma winced, "I'll bet that sucked."

"Not as bad as when he flopped down on the cot then woke up and embraced me a second time calling me Osage no Onna."

"You're kidding, right?" Ranma could not suppress a chuckle, "So what did you do, boot him into orbit?"

"No," Nabiki smiled, "I just bonked him with a basin, snapped him right out of his daze, but after that time I could never get him to pay one whit of attention towards me while he went on and on about both you and Akane. It got a little frustrating, you know? That why I decided to sell him the pictures."

"Excuse me?" it was Ranma's turn to blink, "He made you mad so you started selling him pictures of me?"

"Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?" Nabiki smiled lopsidedly, "But love does funny things to us all, Ranma-kun. I figured if I couldn't have love I might as well get something for me, some small piece of satisfaction. That's why I sometimes play tricks on you and…well, generally play the Queen of Mean. It's sort of an act I've gotten really good at, and I wasn't even aware I was doing it until I met that other you and…well, it was like the past year never really happened. Here was a Saotome Ranma who was kind, brave, considerate and sensitive to me and my feelings. I've never had anyone act like that around me before...and since he was a lot like you, only without the curse...""

"Lucky him," Ranma looked away, "Guess I don't really measure up to those standards."

"I wouldn't say that…exactly," Nabiki smiled, "You're not perfect, Ranma-kun, and you'd need a lot of work to polish up, but under that Macho, pig-headed exterior there's a pretty nice guy that I've been watching on the sly who might be fun to hang around with, if you're willing to let bygones be bygones."

"Ah…sure," Ranma hesitated, "But…what about Akane?"

"Let her get her own boyfriends," Nabiki sniffed, "Starting out with Ryoga, who I know would never do anything to deliberately hurt her and seems to generally get along with Akane…"

"Are you nuts?" Ranma asked, "After she found out about his curse? I'd be surprised if she doesn't skin him alive!"

"You don't know Akane quite as well as I do," Nabiki pointed out, "She may be angry for a while, but deep down you know she'll eventually forgive him, and when she listens to his side of the story she'll come to see that he's really not that bad a guy. A little violent, a little thick-headed and Macho, and certainly no prize in the brains department, and that sense of direction of his…" she shook her head in dismay, "I think Akane'll be the one who'll have her work cut out."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "What a second…are you saying she might? That's crazy! I mean…sure, Ryoga's got a crush on her and all, but Akane's never been able to see him for dust, and besides…"

"You still care, is that it?" Nabiki asked, "Afraid that Ryoga-kun might turn into a legitimate rival for her affections?"

"I ain't afraid of nothing!" Ranma snorted, "There's no way that she'd give me up for him…"

"Then you should encourage her to try," Nabiki said gently, "If you really care about Akane you'd want to see her happy, and…to be perfectly honest, Ranma-kun…I don't think she'll ever be all that happy with you."

"Hey!" Ranma protested.

"You can't wish it to happen, you can't force her to become a different person for your sake," Nabiki replied, "She's too much like you, just as stubborn and prideful, and she doesn't have a clue about her own feelings regarding you. I can see you fighting until you're old and gray without changing the way you are now, not unless you find some middle-ground to compromise with."

Ranma was silent for a long moment, then he said, "You really think so?"

"It's my honest opinion, given free of charge, which ought to tell you what it's worth," Nabiki informed him, "You can take it or leave it if you like, but if you ever want to talk about it again…well, my door is always open, Ranma-kun, and I won't even charge you for an appreciative ear. At least…not for the first visit anyway," she smiled, "I do have a reputation to live up to."

Ranma had to share a private laugh with her on that, but no sooner had he started to relax then he heard the telltale cry of, "RANMA!!! Where are you, you baka? Come here right this minute! I want to talk with you about Ryoga!"

"Sounds like she's shifted targets," Nabiki started to get up, "Think about what I just told you, Ranma-kun…"

"Nabiki?"

She paused as Ranma stood fluidly to his feet, turning to regard her with a very strange expression. She swallowed thickly and said, "Yeah, Ranma-kun?"

He smiled, "Thanks for listening. You want some help getting down?"

"Help?" Nabiki asked, contemplating the treacherous footing she would have to negotiate in the dark, "Ah…thanks, that's awfully nice of you, Ranma, but how…"

"Like this," he smiled, and suddenly he scooped her up into his powerful arms, then with a single leap he vaulted off the roof of the building.

"RAAANNNMMMAAAA!" Nabiki cried in helpless terror, but somehow the trip to the ground proved more enjoyable than she would have imagined, and the sense of security that she felt within his arms made her more than a little giddy, thinking privately to herself that she might, in time, get used to these sensations.

She certainly hoped that she would soon have a lot more practice…

Continued in "Honeymoon Hentai"

Comments/Criticisms/Open Ended Plot Devices: Shadowmane@msn.com