Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Big Thaw... ( Chapter 45 )

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.

"This way!" Cologne said as they arrived inside the locker rooms, ignoring the startled looks they received from the scant few women who were presently occupying this space. She headed unerringly towards the Jacuzzi area, Ukyo close on her heels cradling the frozen Perfume in both hands with a fear that made her heart itself feel like an ice block. Cologne pointed to the Jacuzzi and said, "Get in there at once and do exactly as I tell you."

"But…" Ukyo started to protest, but Cologne's gaze prevented her from completing her sentence.

"Listen exactly to what I am about to say, Kuonji," Cologne said coldly, "If you wish to have any hope at all of saving Perfume's life you must follow my instructions precisely to the letter without doubt or hesitation. Do you understand me?"

"Hai," Ukyo replied, feeling like a small child who had been scolded by a parent.

"I think it best if you remove some of the clothing you are wearing while you are inside there," Cologne said with just a touch more sympathy in her voice, "And be prepared. When Perfume enters the pool she will revert instantly to her true shape. It is my hope that the magic will unfreeze her body, but the resultant overstimulation of her nervous system will most likely kill her if you do not stimulate the right nerve endings in the way that I shall outline."

"All right," Ukyo said, bending down on a bench as she lay Perfume on her lap while she unfastened her ice skates then loosened the straps on her tunic.

"Hurry!" Cologne cried, "Every second that we waste diminishes the chance of success! Do not bother taking it all off, just get into that water!"

Ukyo braced herself as she jumped into the pool with her tiny burden, then an instant later that form began to expand dramatically and suddenly it was a naked Perfume that she held, a Perfume who gasped and started to seize up in paroxic spasms.

"Now!" Cologne cried and started to give Ukyo a series of careful worded instructions that Ukyo found herself following to the letter without stopping to think about what she was actually doing. Perfume was going into shock, but with the swift application of Ukyo's fingers in a few key places the Amazon let out another gasp them started to relax, and before too long she ceased to tense up as Ukyo touched nerve clusters in a sequence that helped the girl regain regular breathing and heart rhythm. The more Ukyo applied the nerve-stimulation as directed, the more it seemed as if Perfume's chances of survival were improved, and soon there was no doubt that she would completely recover.

Of course Perfume regained full consciousness before too long and--finding herself in the arms of a half-dressed (and thoroughly wet) Ukyo gave her a different sort of impression altogether. Ukyo was going to withdraw at this point, but somehow she found herself on the receiving end of Perfume's attention as the Amazon girl began to apply her own ample knowledge of touch stimulation. Ukyo's protests were muffled as her lips found Perfume's pressing eagerly against her, and suddenly the warmth of the Jacuzzi was as nothing compared to the kind of warmth that permeated both of their bodies.

Cologne smiled a secret smile of pleasure as she withdrew from the chamber, satisfied that things would continue well enough without any further encouragement on her part. She felt relief flood her ancient body in ways that even she had to admit implied the weight of her years. The thought that Perfume was finally in good hands gave her a sense of peace she had not known in many years, but at the same time she felt slightly deflated as though the cost of her victory had been nearly too high by a substantial measure.

It was with only mild surprise that she found Nabiki and Shampoo waiting for outside the gymnasium, and from the look her other daughter-in-law gave her there was little doubt that Nabiki knew everything that had transpired as though she had physically taped it.

"So," she said casually, "The crisis is passed, I take it?"

"You may assume so," Cologne attempted a serious front, but Nabiki's smile showed that no one was being fooled at the moment.

"I have only one question," the middle Tendo daughter stated, "Just how much of that was really necessary to save Perfume's life?"

"All of it," Cologne said with matter-of-fact precision, then added almost as an after thought, "Except maybe for the last two minutes near the end, which were not precisely needed to ease my child past the crisis point, but did seem to make her life more worthy of living."

"Great Grandmother is sneaky," Shampoo grinned broadly, her tone implying much approval.

"Thank you," Cologne remarked, "I suppose I should go see if Sensenin will be all right or not. He may be an enemy, but this day he has done the Amazons a great service by forcing my Daughter-in-law to confront the issues she has until now been avoiding."

"Well, if it makes Perfume happy, I suppose I could ignore this," Nabiki said with equal casualness, "Just mind how far you take your manipulative arts around my family unit. If anyone's going to be pulling the strings around here in the future it will be yours truly."

"I could hardly imagine a more worthy successor," Cologne actually smiled, "You managed to improvise that containment spell most competently. There might yet be hope for you, if you continue to train with the same enthusiasm."

"I wouldn't have even known what to do without Sham-chan," Nabiki took her wife's hand and smiled, "We do make a pretty good team, ne?"

Shampoo's smile was dazzling as she sighed, "Airen finally see this. Perfume always told you it so."

"I should try listening more often," Nabiki nodded, heaving a sigh, "Well, I guess it's safe to say that Ucchan and Perfume won the match. Even Sensenin will have to concede, once they thaw him out… unless his partner decides he's so Kawai that she can put him among the rest of her trophies."

"That girl is a strange one," Cologne heaved a sigh, "But I am curious where these two received their more advanced training. If I did not know better, I would almost swear that they had Amazon influence."

"Another mystery to solve," Nabiki sighed, "I'll file it with the others…"

"Nab-chan!" they heard Ranma call out as they turned to see him helping a limping Tatawaki Kuno while the rest of their friends filed down the corridor in a much subdued manner.

"Ranchan," Nabiki smiled as Shampoo moved partway towards Ranma and said, "Ranma help friends out, is good sign that boy make good Amazon. Too bad you no girl or you be great Amazon leader."

"That's something to look forward to," Ranma sniffed before surrendering Tatawaki to his sister. He approached Nabiki with a serious look in his eyes then very quietly asked, "Perfume…?"

"She'll live," Nabiki returned his smile tenfold, "And I think Ukyo's going to have her hands full for the next hour or so at least."

"I'm not surprised," Ranma said with a knowing smirk, "Somehow after all of this I don't think she's going to be making as many protests about Sham-chan's cousin. As long as she's happy, I'm happy. I just hope she still remembers…"

"There's no way she'll forget about you, Ranma-kun," Nabiki nodded seriously before looking at the rest of her friends and saying, "What say we all get dressed and get out of here, maybe go someplace to celebrate our victory. When Ucchan and Perfume get done in there they can join us and be toasted as the heroes of the hour."

"Sounds good to me, Oneechan," Akane smiled, still hugging Ryoga, "But first I think Keiko…"

"Right," Nabiki sniffed as she eyed the vulture, "That goes without saying, right Kei-chan?"

The vulture squawked its reply as Kodachi smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find something for you to wear, Darling."

"You understood what she said?" Ryoga asked with a non-plussed expression.

"It's isn't all that hard," Kodachi replied, "I've always had a way with animals, and besides…Kei-chan makes it seem so easy."

She brought her lips up to kiss the beak of the vulture while a recovered Tatawaki looked in dismay at his sister then shook his head and murmured, "Nothing should surprise me about you, dear sister, but this…is something new even by your strange definitions."

"Not half as strange as this," Kodachi turned and gave her brother a kiss on his cheek, which astounded him every bit as much as though she had slapped him, "Thank you for coming to our rescue. Akane and I are most appreciative of your heroics."

"Just don't get too carried away about it," Ryoga growled, causing Akane to smile at him in tacit approval.

"By the way," Nabiki said, "Did anybody see where that Mousse character got off to?"

"Afraid not," Ranma shrugged, "After he fell into the water I sort of had other things on my mind. Unless he's drowned he probably ran off somewhere to nurse his wounds and plot more trouble."

"Is great," Shampoo grimaced, "Something else for Shampoo and Cousin look forward to."

Nabiki smiled indulgently at her Chinese bride. Though it was unlikely that Shampoo would ever be able to master her Japanese to the same extent as Mousse or the Elder, she had improved somewhat from the way she had talked when she first arrived in Nerima. She realized that there was still so much she did not know about the Amazon, but with Ranma's tacit support and approval she could look forward to a long in-depth study of the subject, and somehow she felt certain that the next few years would be anything but dull as she explored the bounds of their tentative five-way marriage…

Meanwhile, at the edge of the pool a figure crawled out from the ice as water flowed off its back in an almost poetic fashion. It made a strange noise that would have meant nothing to a human ear, but had it been properly interpreted would have translated as, "I'll get you someday for this outrage, Kuonji…!"

Derek smiled as he turned away from the monitor and said, "Well, they seem to be making some progress on this timeline. I think we can safely afford to turn our attentions back to the problems in continuities 435687 and 379443, don't you?"

"Not so fast," his feminine companion remarked, "It's true that some progress has been made on this timeline, but it has yet to prove itself fully viable. Never forget the reason why the Saotome boy was cursed in the first place…"

"I know, I know," Derek sighed, "You only have to view the total cluster suck on 574632 if you want an example of what happens when no one winds up with a Jusenkyo curse. That boy simply does not know the first thing about competently making wishes."

"And your point is that this other one does?" Serena pleasantly countered, "True, her intelligence makes her a formidable protagonist, but she is making far too many allies of the chief antagonists who helped to train the boy to be the best fighter in Japan, not just the Nerima province. As she is, she could never withstand all of the challenges that are to come..."

"Are you so certain of this?" Derek asked with a smile, but he meant the question seriously, "What say we look ahead to precisely how she deals with the next series of challenges brought about by her own actions."

"If you think you can stand the disappointment," his companion chuckled, "I'm game if you are."

"Fine," Derek declared, "But after this we tend to those other problems pressing for our attention."

"You're the boss," Serena assured him as Derek mentally called up a new image from the selfsame timeline and saw a new story unfold in the province of Nerima…

Continued

Comments/Criticisms/Exercises in Futility: Shadowmane@msn.com