Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma 1/2: The Truth and the Tempest ❯ A New Beginning ( Chapter 43 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[Author’s Note: The characters and setting herein- with the exception of one or two O.C.’s of my own design- are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I don’t own them, I have merely borrowed them. And now, we come to…]

Ranma ½: The Truth and the Tempest

Chapter 43: A New Beginning

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Far North of Tokyo, just outside of Noboribetsu, a man was seated in one of the larger rooms of a secluded estate, poring over a large, flat crystal disk with wave patterns that flowed and shifted like water. A pale blue light emanating from the crystal bathed his face, highlighting the minute flecks of gray in his jet-black beard. As the patterns swirled, they clenched for an instant, doubled back on themselves, then evened out; a notable darker purple vein within the swirls thinned, gradually disappearing as the crystal took on a more uniform shade of blue-green.

A smile crossed the man’s features, his eyes traveling momentarily to the phone lying on a table next to him. “So… it’s just as you said it would be, Reika.” He brushed his hands along his legs, smoothing out the dark blue hakama he wore before straightening the lapels of his white gi top. One hand traveled back to the crystal and traced the moving patterns, while his eyes took in an image shimmering beneath the patterns- an aerial view of the Kanto region, with Nerima ward at the center.

They did it. The chaos stream has all but ceased in that ward. He paused a moment in thought, then chuckled. I suppose perhaps it was a bit much to expect it would disappear completely, what with such a thorough saturation of the region… not to mention its inhabitants. A satisfied sigh escaped his lips. “Who could have imagined it… the two lost Clans not only re-awakening, but coming into their power so soon.” And just in time, it would appear…

A series of footsteps echoed from the corridor, followed by a younger man in serving attire entering the room. “Master Yamashira?”

The older man turned and nodded. “Yes, Akio, you may come in.”

Akio bowed and crossed the room, kneeling near the crystal and presenting a scroll. “We’ve had a communiqué from our Russian associates, Master. It’s regarding the potential possession victims Young Master Shingen had told us about, ones who may still be at large.”

“Ah, yes. I was hoping we might hear from them soon.” Gennosuke Yamashira took the scroll and began to unroll it. “This would indeed be a night of many great achievements if they sent us good news.”

“More routine news than anything else, according to the courier, Master Yamashira…”

The older man smirked. “Akio, you’ve known me long enough to know I’m not that big a stickler for titles. Enough with the ‘master’ references, already…” He pored over the scroll for several moments, then sighed and put it down. “Well, it’s not everything we could hope for, but it looks like they’ve taken steps in the right direction.”

“They haven’t been able to find the victims?”

Gennosuke shook his head. “No, they’ve found several of the ones we were told of. The problem now is taking care of each of them.” He took a deep breath and stood up. “They were able to make contact with the Musk prince- after a great deal of political wrangling just to get in. Reportedly they didn’t have much difficulty in broaching the subject, in fact it was this ‘Prince Herb’ himself who brought it up when the conversation turned to the arcane ways. Seems he didn’t even care about Curse Spirits, but fixated on removing the form shift. If the date on this letter is correct, they’ll most likely be treating him tomorrow morning.”

“That’s good news indeed,” murmured Akio.

“That’s the primary positive point- the other potential Curse victims haven’t been quite as easy to track down.” Gennosuke picked up a water glass resting on the telephone table and took a deep drink. “There were reports of a woman matching the description of this ‘Rouge’ that we were told of, but it hasn’t been easy to find and talk to her long enough to persuade her. Our associates say they’ve got one kinsman versed in scrying looking out for her while they bargain with the Musk. At the very least, the one brief encounter they had indicated her aura isn’t overly disrupted- meaning there’s a good chance her mind hasn’t been corrupted beyond repair.”

Akio nodded. “And what of any others?”

“No news as of yet, but according to the report there’s a slight lull in chaos attraction in the area- which is a good sign.” Gennosuke put his glass down, then chuckled. “And may or may not be due to the events that happened at Phoenix Mountain, courtesy of one Ranma Saotome.”

Akio blinked. “Saotome… the one Young Master Shingen told you about, the bloodline descendent of Junichiro Sagara?”

“The very same.” He turned towards the scintillating crystal, pursing his lips in thought. “A most fascinating young man, indeed… he and his betrothed, both.” A wry smile emerged on his face. “And powerful, too… more so than any Hunter I’ve known in my life, if what I’ve heard and seen tonight is correct.”

“You’ve heard news from Nerima then, sir?”

Gennosuke nodded. “My daughter phoned less than a minute ago; she confirmed what we’ve been observing this evening. The threat has been extinguished, and the chaos stream a shell of what it was before.” He let out a long breath. “A good thing, too… there were moments I thought the stream was turning against us, judging from what I’ve seen in the Owl’s Eye.”

“I know, sir… I felt it, too. I may not have the blood of a Hunter, but it wasn’t too hard for me to feel.” Akio shivered. “Are all Omega Threats steeped in such a quantity of negative ki?”

“Only a few… particularly those involving a Named Spirit,” Gennosuke replied. “I was this close to calling in one of my favors with Ishida Clan; in fact I would have, were it not that my son and daughter were both present, and in the company of a number of great warriors already.”

“Would those have been the flarings of positive ki, sir? The ones that converged in the Owl’s Eye?” Akio queried, pointing to the crystal disk.

“More than likely… but we will have time to discuss this at length later.” The older man brushed his dark hair back and folded his arms behind his back. “Notify our contacts in Clans Ishida and Yamamoto. Make sure they know an Omega-Class Named Spirit has been taken down, and the Archangel Protocol has been completed. Get a confirmation on any subsequent press releases as well; best not to let the general public know everything that transpired.”

“I know the procedure, sir. It shall be done.” The younger man bowed, got to his feet and strode from the room. Gennosuke nodded, turning to a near window and casting a thoughtful eye at the rising stars.

Truly a night of great achievements… we’ve shattered another strand of the spider’s web, and by the hand of those who have not even fully come into their power. He nodded to himself twice. ‘And their union shall overcome the darkness, to confront the chaos at its source’- the prophetic words of our ancestor, realized in our lifetime. Two bloodlines rekindled, and my children on hand to witness it. His smile faded, replaced with an air of stoicism. Still, there is much work to be done. This war is far from over, and we can be assured the demons will not take kindly to the loss of a Named.

I would it could have been different, but sometimes a trial by fire is unavoidable. Great Kami, I knew something dire was afoot from the motions of the chaos stream, but something of this magnitude… the mere fact that Saotome and Tendo were willing to face it speaks volumes of their power and conviction. Shingen was right, they could easily become the greatest Hunters we have ever known- if they haven’t become such already. Reika said they delivered the final blow… perhaps managed to turn the tide single-handedly.

He nodded to himself, his eyes tracking a falling star. “You’ve truly impressed this old man, both of you. It’ll be an honor to welcome you into the fold… but all things in their due time.” Uncrossing his arms, he turned from the window and returned to the crystal disk in the middle of the room. It took the faintest gesture to blur the aerial vision in the crystal’s depths, shifting the Owl’s Eye’s focus to another section of Japan. A deep breath, and the elder Yamashira returned to his work.

So much to watch for… and so much that escapes even the Owl’s Eye. Let us pray nothing else escapes our watch tonight.

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At a small estate in Nerima, the mood had rapidly turned from pensive(and in some cases panicky) to relieved and elated.

Soun had finally roused himself from troubled dreams to find that the rescue team had not returned, Cologne was fuming that Taro had managed to sneak out from under her nose, Akari was practically pacing a hole in the floor and Genma had tried to head out and lend his own assistance- which meant he had re-opened the wounds in his leg, nearly tearing his already-weakened Achilles tendon off the bone. Cologne had re-bound his leg and was applying therapeutic Chinese herbs when Soun woke up… “which is more than you deserve after being foolish enough to re-injure yourself. Imagine, trying to run off and fight in your condition,” the old crone had rebuked, making Genma look even more sheepish.

Akari, of course, brought whatever was needed in the way of clean bandages or cold compresses, but couldn’t stop herself from openly worrying about Ryoga’s well-being. Nabiki had told her repeatedly to stop blubbering, though for some reason there was a catch in her own voice- which, when pointed out by Akari, she vehemently denied. This had brought Soun’s own anxieties into the forefront, and try as he might, he couldn’t completely suppress his own waterworks. Oh, Kami, he had prayed, let them be safe. Please… I know I’m a weak man, I know I haven’t done my best raising our babies alone after Michiko left us… just please, bring them back to me and I swear I’ll put the past behind me! I’ll TRY to be stronger, I’ll do my best to be a better father, only PLEASE let Kasumi and Akane be safe!

It wasn’t more than a few seconds after he finished his prayer, that the front door opened and two familiar voices cried out, “We’re home!” Heads shot up, and everyone who could bolted for the front hallway- save Cologne, who pogo-sticked her way to the hall, and Genma, who half-hobbled, half-dragged himself to the door. Akane and Ranma were there, leaning on one another, looking utterly bedraggled and their clothing torn in places- his shirt had almost completely been destroyed- but they were both smiling, that same victory smile they had worn time and again over the past year. Ranma’s wounds had long stopped flowing, but his chest was still a mess of red smears. Behind them stood Kasumi and Nodoka, uninjured but emotionally drained, with their hands gently supporting Ranma and Akane’s shoulders. Nodoka’s kimono did bear several oddly-shaped bloodstains, marks from when she had found Ranma just after the Furinkan explosion and hugged him so hard he thought his eyes were going to pop out.

Soun immediately ran over and gathered Kasumi and Akane into his arms, thanking any Kami that happened to be listening for their safe return. Nabiki was the next in line to hug both her sisters, an act which caused no small surprise for those immediately present- especially when she actually shed a tear or two, then released them both and pulled Ranma into a hug as well. She tried to make it look hesitant, with a touch of the old Ice Queen, but she couldn’t quite keep her hands from shaking. “You did good, little bro…” she whispered. “You did real good…” A second later, she had to back off as Soun glomped Ranma almost ferociously, blubbering another long stream of thanks coupled with demands for assurance that the crisis was well and truly over. Nabiki groaned in exasperation; Ranma’s groan came more from the wounds that Soun was threatening to re-open.

Nearby, Genma stumbled forward, his injured leg giving out just as Nodoka stepped forward and caught him, bringing him down gently and shaking her head. She had just started to give him a lecture about overstressing his injury, as Cologne had done, when he did something most unusual for him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled close to her and started to cry, thanking her for coming back to him, thanking the Kami that she wasn’t hurt. She sat for a moment, startled beyond all words, then slowly smiled and stroked the top of his head.

At that time, more people began to filter through the doorway… Shingen, using his naginata as a cane, followed closely by Ukyo who had one arm over his back. Ryoga was right behind them, brushing off Konatsu’s efforts to apply a coagulant paste to some of his wounds. “Dammit, I said I’m okay; get that fruity-smellin’ gunk off my face!” he had snapped. Next came Kodachi, with an impatient-looking Ryu next to her, then Mousse and Shampoo, both dressed in the torn remnants of their clothes and several bolts of cloth which Mousse had fashioned into a kind of sarong. Taro was not with them- he had stormed off in a huff when he learned the ‘white-hair’ whose face he had wanted to break was no more. The last person to saunter through the door was Reika, bow in hand and sporting a bemused smirk.

For a few long moments it was near-pandemonium as pent-up stress fell away. Akari ran up to Ryoga and almost bowled him over, crying her relief into his chest. Cologne perched on top of her staff and drew Shampoo into a rare maternal embrace, pressing a draught of tribal restorative into her hands which she quickly gulped down. Shingen disentangled himself from the others and he and Ukyo limped to his rented room, returning a moment later with a handful of medicine which they began passing out, just as Soun’s vision cleared and he realized exactly how many people were in the foyer.

“Now, are you SURE you took care of things, Ranma? If that man comes back and tries to take my baby girls away again, so help me…” “Hey, take it easy, Mr. Tendo, it was nothing! Guy didn’t stand a chance against me…” “You mean he didn’t stand a chance with us backing you up, right, Ranma?” “Ryoga, sweetie, you’re not trying to start that up again, are you? Please, you’re hurt…” “Ran-chan, I hadn’t meant to say this, but you really do look like hell; you sure yer okay?” “Of course is okay! Brother Ranma face worse at Jusendo, Shampoo know he and Sister Akane make it out just fine!” “Ukyo-sama, are you sure you don’t need a bandage or something? My kunoichi secret wound paste works miracles…” “My word, must we descend into a complete disorganized rabble? The unholy catharsis is over; let us calm our nerves and…” “I don’t think anyone’s listening to you, Ms. Kodachi.”

It took quite a while for the babbling to simmer down. Gradually, people stopped crying out or clutching to one another desperately, and slowly trickled from the foyer into the tearoom. Kasumi brushed herself down and tried to offer everyone some small refreshments- a force of habit, she later admitted- but was quickly seated at the table by Cologne. “Child, this has been a long night, and after such an ordeal you shouldn’t be expected to serve. Just sit and rest; I will attend to everything.” The Amazon elder turned and hopped off to the kitchen; a moment later, Kodachi abruptly excused herself and slipped off to offer her own help. “Consider it a small token of atonement,” she had said.

Eventually they managed to get settled; those who had been in the thick of things relating what had happened, while those who had remained listened intensely and in some cases goggled at the details. Ranma lapsed into bravado form briefly, shrugging off the concern of the others- “Hey, ya know I’ve been in this situation a dozen times before; hell, it was practically a walk in the park…” His eye caught the wry smirk and knowing look on Akane’s face. “Well… okay, maybe not exactly a walk in the park… but I knew we’d get outta that mess one way or another.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “And I gotta admit… Akane did real good out there. Really held her own.”

Akane blushed; Soun and Genma gaped, sharing a look that said who is this man and what did he do with Ranma? Nodoka simply smiled. Nabiki shook her head in surprise.

“Sweetie, did you really fight off a whole army of those creatures?” Akari squeaked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say a whole army… but there were a hell of a lot of ‘em. I just did my part, that’s all,” Ryoga replied with a casual shrug. An instant later, he was wincing from a very sudden and painful shoulder cramp. Dammit, guess that third stone-man hit me harder than I thought…

“I swear, I’ve seen some mysterious things in the past year,” Kasumi murmured, “but nothing like this. It was so…” She took a deep breath. “The only place I’ve ever seen such things was in my nightmares; on top of which, I still can’t believe you were able to fight that beast as well as you did, Akane. I never thought…”

Akane shook her head. “I never thought I would either, oneechan.” She paused, then shrugged. “Then again, after everything we’d already been through, I guess there wasn’t much left that would scare me.” She gave a wan smile, which quickly faded as she looked back at Ranma who was discussing something animatedly with her father. Except maybe…

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“Shampoo, is something wrong? Are you still hurt?”

Shampoo sighed and glanced over her shoulder. “Not hurt, Mousse.” She fingered the sheared ends of her hair with a petulant pout. “Shampoo okay… and very glad we all get out, too… but…” A long sigh. “Stupid demon, take away Shampoo’s pride.”

Mousse blinked, rubbing one eye as comprehension set in. “Wait, you mean you’re upset over a little thing like that?”

“Is not little thing and you know it, Mousse.” She rolled her eyes and shifted her position so she could look at him directly. “Is pride of Amazon warrior to wear hair long. Sign of grace in combat; if enemy no can catch hair, one is great warrior in eyes of tribe. Stupid Mousse grow hair long for same reason, even though Shampoo still catch by hair!”

The formerly myopic Amazon nodded slowly, his face sobering. Amazon pride, he well knew, was a tough nut to crack, especially for one who had lorded it over him most of their lives. “I’m sorry, my dear. I wasn’t trying to belittle it… I guess I had more important things on my mind, like the fact that you managed to survive that chaos.” He brushed his own hair back, casting a quick glance at it. “Fact is, after what happened in that blasted maze with the Tengu… something like this doesn’t really seem so important.”

Shampoo blinked and found herself rethinking every word she had just said. Looking back, she quickly realized there had been numerous other times she had faced steep odds, and comparatively these had been the steepest odds yet. Both of them had pushed themselves to the brink, Mousse had sustained injuries that might kill a normal man, and there she was sulking about the length of her hair. “Mousse…” He really not so stupid after all… I the real stupid one, think about pride after come close to losing… Her train of thought derailed as Mousse flipped a dagger out of the folds in his robes; her eyes widened as he grasped his own ebony locks and chopped through them in one slash, leaving him with shoulder-length hair that almost matched hers.

“There,” he said with a soft smile. “I guess… well, I was about due for a trim anyway, don’t you think?”

She stared at him for a moment and shook her head, unable to completely erase the mixed expression forming on her face. “Mousse… you no have to do that, not for my sake…”

“I know,” he whispered, resting one hand on hers. “That’s the point, Xian Pu.”

“Well, as much as I hate to break up a conversation, there’s something I’ve been a little curious about.” Mousse started, then looked up to see Shingen cross the room and sit cross-legged with the two of them. Ukyo was discussing something with Konatsu, and on the periphery of Mousse’s vision Ranma had been cornered by Ryu. Akane was sitting next to Ranma, but from Mousse’s perspective didn’t seem to be paying much attention to their conversation.

“Wha… oh. Yes, what was it, Yamashira?”

Shingen shook his head for a moment as another ache rolled through it. Geez, I got hit with more backlash from that Portal than I did at Jusenkyo; probably take a week and a half to clear out of my system. “Well, first off I did want to thank you both- you really pulled through in a tight spot out there.” He smiled, then glanced at Mousse’s double scabbard which was resting on the floor. “Second… I noticed your swords on the battlefield; they couldn’t have been shedding that kind of light and power just from my charcoal wards. Where’d you say you got those?”

Mousse shrugged. “Like I said, they’re family heirlooms.”

Shingen nodded slowly. “Uh-huh… been in the family long? I mean, I remember Elder Cologne talking about weapons forged by your clan’s elders… swords with legendary powers, savvy?”

Mousse stared at Shingen blankly for a moment before shaking his head. “I… I’m not exactly sure they’d qualify, Yamashira.” He paused again, then looked at the floor almost in embarrassment. “Actually… they’re not quite native Joketsuzoku blades. See, they belonged to my great-grandfather… and we don’t like to bring it up, but he wasn’t born an Amazon. Apparently he came to the village with several other warriors… the others were chased off the land. One of his comrades was killed. But he defeated one warrior in self-defense… my great-grandmother. They were wed not long after.” He heaved a sigh. “That must have been about seventy-eight, maybe seventy-seven years ago…”

Shingen’s eyebrows went up- as did those of Reika, who was listening from a near corner. The two of them shared a look and a surreptitious smile. They didn’t even need an Astral Link to share the same thought. Very interesting indeed…

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For the most part, the mood for the rest of the evening was quite elevated, only dipping once when Kasumi reminded everyone that not everybody had made it through the ordeal unscathed.

A few smiles had dimmed then, culminating in a moment of silence for one elderly lecher no longer among the living. Privately, many of them looked forward to never worrying about underwear pilfering or grope-fests again, but as Kasumi pointed out, “He may have been a dirty old man, and it may be true that most of our troubles have been because of him… but I wouldn’t have wished death upon him, nor any other man. Nobody deserved that.” More than a few people pondered her words and nodded in agreement; even Genma and Soun had begrudgingly admitted she was right. A few people had talked about holding a small memorial for Happosai- “even if he didn’t really deserve it, it’s the right thing to do,” Nabiki had muttered.

It was very late by the time everyone had calmed down sufficiently to say their good-byes and depart. Ryu had left shortly after completing his conversation with Ranma, capping it with a firm handshake and a firmer request to meet him bright and early the next morning. The others had followed suit one after another, each in their own way; the last to leave had been Konatsu, who was looking a bit flustered after Reika had asked him a rather… personal question. “What? All I asked was whether he prefers boxers, briefs or pink lace panties, what’s the big deal?” The archer had laughed it off; Konatsu had merely turned deep crimson and vanished, literally, in a cloud of smoke.

Soun and Genma remained downstairs- Soun was praying quietly at the dojo shrine, while Genma was having his leg treated by Nodoka and Reika, who had stayed behind to visit with her brother some more. Shingen had holed up in his room again with a large glass of water and some herbal painkillers, grumbling about ki overflow. Kasumi and Nabiki were having a talk in Nabiki’s room, getting the last of the evening’s tensions out of their systems.

The last two members of the household were trudging up the stairs, hand in hand.

“I still can’t believe Ryu Kumon came back and jumped into the midst of that mess just so he could ask you that,” Akane remarked, shaking her head.

“Actually, I can believe it. I’m kinda surprised he didn’t show up sooner, to be honest.” Ranma stopped and cracked his neck slightly. “I mean, if you’d lost a match and someone told ya you couldn’t use yer favorite move anymore because of that, what would you do?”

Akane chewed her lip for a moment, then nodded and sighed. “Probably the same thing he just did, come back and ask for a rematch…” She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked up. “You don’t think he actually still wants to go through with that? Not after tonight?”

“Huh? Well, that is what he said… something about trying to build up his own dojo, said he wanted to incorporate the Yamasen-ken into a style of his own, since he knows the damn thing letter-perfect.” Ranma winced and rotated one shoulder, working a kink out. “But he didn’t say anything about fightin’ to regain his right to practice… fact is it’s a moot point anyway, the guy was usin’ it during that free-for-all, right?”

“Well… yeah, at least it sounded like he was using the same moves…”

Ranma chuckled lightly. “I dunno. Ryu an’ me mighta locked horns a bit last time, but it sounds like he did give the others a hand, even if he didn’t mean to… so we talked it over an’ I said to come back in the morning so he could petition the Saotome school head for permission ta unseal the technique. Not that he kept it sealed, but anyway…”

“Wait a minute.” Akane stopped again; they were right outside the door to her room. “You told him to petition… the head of the Saotome school?” Her lips began to curl upward.

“Yep. Of course, I didn’t exactly tell him he was talkin’ to the head of the school, and he didn’t seem too concerned about anything else besides that an’ what just went down, so…” He shrugged. Akane giggled, eventually dissolving into full-blown laughter with Ranma joining in.

“Oh, you are terrible!” She swatted his shoulder lightly, then leaned on him, resting both arms around his neck. “I can just see the look on his face tomorrow morning…”

“Yeah… won’t be too far off either, few more hours and the sun’ll be up…” Ranma replied, stifling a yawn- followed by a hissing intake of breath as pinpricks of pain danced across his abdomen. “Agh…”

“Oh, Ranma…” The smile on Akane’s face vanished and she pulled away, glancing down at his stomach. “Did something open up again? You’re not bleeding, are you?”

“Nah… just a twinge, that’s all,” he muttered, probing his side and flinching when pressure was applied to his earlier impalement wound.

“Here, let me take a look at that; I may still be rusty on the Healing Light technique, but…” She twisted the doorknob and led him into her room, shutting the door behind them.

“C’mon ‘kane, it’s not that big a deal, I already closed it myself…”

“Hey, if you can worry about me incessantly I’m allowed to do the same for you once in a while, right?” There was a slight catch in her voice, and she suddenly seemed to be having a hard time looking him in the eye. With one hand she guided Ranma over to her bed and sat him down, then kneeled by the bed and pushed the remnants of his shirt aside. True to his word, the gashes had sealed but were still a nasty shade of raw pink; Akane nodded silently to herself as she brushed the edges of a few larger lacerations with trembling fingers. She had just begun to extend her aura towards his, when she felt his hand close over hers.

“Acchan… what’s wrong? Geez, you’re shaking like a leaf.”

She shook her head viciously, fighting the moisture collecting in her eyes. “I’m not shaking, baka…”

“Yes, you are.” Gently he placed his hand under her chin and lifted so he could see her eyes. “And don’t think I hadn’t noticed it because of all the people, but you were really in your own little world a few times downstairs. What is it?” He stood up slowly, bringing her to her feet while still clasping one hand. “C’mon, the tough tomboy I know doesn’t act like that for no damn reason…”

“M-maybe it’s because this tomboy isn’t always so t-tough…” She swallowed hard, then wrapped her arms gently about his waist and pulled him close. “R-Ranma… I know I s-said I was ready for anything when we agreed to accept this whole H-Hunter blood thing… but after t-tonight… Kami, I really thought I was g-going to l-lose you…”

“Hey… Akane, it’s okay. It’s over now. An’ we beat that freakshow together… right? You didn’t lose me, I didn’t lose you…” He stroked her back gingerly as a wave of anxiety and guilt lurched up from within. Hell’s bells… she doesn’t want to deal with this, she really DOES hate the weirdness, I’ve gone and pushed her into something she ain’t ready for…

An errant tear trickled down her cheek as she pressed her face to his chest. “I think…”

“Yeah…”

“I think… m-maybe now I know what you felt at J-Jusendo.”

Ranma blinked, then looked down as she continued. “I mean… seeing someone you care for, even if you can’t always say the words… thinking how they might be counting on you… that you might be too late to s-save them…” She sniffled and wiped her face awkwardly. “When we were at the warehouse and Shingen had us do that Astral exercise, I tasted some of what you felt… but I think this might be the first time I’ve ever felt it myself.” She took a long breath.

For a few moments, the two of them stood in silence. Ranma was at a loss for words, so he did little else except hesitantly caress the back of her head with one hand. He moved slowly at first, then more assuredly as he felt her relax in his arms.

“Ranma…” Akane loosened her grip slightly, enough to raise her head and look him in the eye. “I want to marry you.”

He blinked again, then smiled playfully. “Well, I want to marry you too, Acchan, or I wouldn’t have asked you…”

“No,” she interrupted, resting a hand on his arm. “I want to marry you right now.”

Ranma stared in disbelief as she continued. “As soon as the sun’s up. I don’t care if it’s before or after Ryu shows up here, it’s not like we can really go to school after what happened tonight… let’s just do it. Our dads already signed the marriage license, all we need to do is go to the magistrate and get registered.”

“A-Akane…?” He shifted, taking hold of her hands gently. His eyes locked with hers, and he saw a whirlwind of emotion inside- anxiety mixed with fear, a touch of the fiery determination he was so familiar with, and a great deal of the affection that had been held in check by both their egos over the past year. More than that, he felt an overwhelming sense of need… and desire.

“You… you want us to…?” She nodded once, and almost instantly he could see fear building up on her face. He shook himself, his features softening. “Hey now, don’t get me wrong, you know I said any time you wanted was good for me…” The fear in her eyes started to drain away. “But… what about what we talked about? I thought you wanted to take time, put together the ceremony you wanted… wait till we got the rest of the messes sorted…”

“Ranma, after what we’ve been through I don’t think I can wait any longer.” Another lone tear ran down her face, which she brushed brusquely away. “I waited over a year to tell you I love you, and now that we’ve got this new chapter in our lives to deal with, I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste more time on little things.” She reached up and cupped his cheek with one hand. “I don’t need a big ceremony, I don’t even need some fancy dress… I just need you. Please…”

Akane shivered as he lifted his hand to her face, running his thumb along her cheekbone. “Hey… I need you too, ‘kane, you know that…” He brought his other hand behind her back, gently pulling her closer to him. “I just want to make sure this is really what ya want, that’s all. And if you do…”

“I do, Ranma Saotome. If I’m going to be living as a Hunter as well as a martial artist, then I’d rather do it together… you and me. Yes, what happened tonight really freaked me out. Yes, I know we’ll have to deal with more of the same, and by the time we do I’ll be even more ready to face it… and before you say it, yes, I’m sticking with this whole Hunter thing; I’m not going to back out of exploring my bloodline just because of one demon prince.” She sniffled and her voice began to get hoarse. “And… yes, I really do want to be Akane Saotome right now.”

For a long moment, they didn’t do anything else but look at each other in perfect silence… but that silence was quickly broken when Ranma nodded slowly and smiled. “Now, how could I say no to that,” he whispered before capturing her lips in a fierce, passionate kiss. Akane moaned happily into the embrace, kissing him back just as passionately if not more so. One of her hands toyed with his pigtail while the other was gripping his shoulders as if she couldn’t bear to let go; Ranma was caressing the base of her neck with one hand and stroking the small of her back with the other. After what seemed like ages, the two separated, but only just far apart to catch their breath and look each other in the eye.

“You know… yer old man might pitch a fit when he hears we’re not doing things up fancy.”

“My old man can go jump in a lake,” Akane breathed. “This isn’t about him, it’s about us.”

“You know something?” Ranma’s eyes sparkled. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Besides…” Kiss. “If I know Daddy…” Deeper kiss. “He’ll probably pull a wedding reception out of thin air once he hears the news.” Caress. “That’s enough for me.”

“Me too, I guess.” His lips traveled away from hers, brushing across her cheek to plant small, burning kisses below her ear and down her neck. “I still might need to talk to Mom… she might not be satisfied with just a reception.” Akane’s breath caught sharply as Ranma’s hand traveled from her back to her waist, brushing tenderly down to her hip. “Then again, after what happened at our last wedding she might agree with us.” He kissed his way back up her neck, stopping just in front of her lips. “We can talk with her in the morning…”

His thoughts halted abruptly as he felt Akane’s hand close on the hand he was resting on her hip. She slowly wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it away, and for a brief moment Ranma thought she was pulling away. It is pretty late and all, but Kami, some of those kisses damn near blew my mind… The thought that she was asking him to stop, however, quickly evaporated as she took his hand and placed it on her breast. For a millisecond, he froze in place, but shook himself out of it as she leaned up to capture his lips again. He reciprocated readily; Akane gasped as she felt him caress her through the fabric of her shirt. It didn’t take long before the shirt was discarded; the gasp became a moan as Ranma continued his gentle massage. As his lips descended to her neck again, and then lower still, Akane thought her legs would turn to Jell-O.

The two of them gradually sank to the floor, her arms wrapping tight around his shoulders. “Ranma… stay with me tonight, please,” Akane whimpered, every nerve in her body on fire.

He looked into her eyes, seeing the inner fire that was matching his own at that very moment, and smiled gently. “As you wish.”

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It was some time later that they finally drifted off to sleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

The night was peaceful, the skies clearing rapidly as though the recent madness had been nothing more than a bad dream. A lingering calm had begun to settle within the walls of the Tendo estate- the same calm felt many times before, each time after similar trials had been weathered.

They were dreamsharing again… only this time, they intended to, rather than by accident.

They were in the same open field, with the same lone tree overlooking the valley. Akane was even sporting the same sundress she had worn when they had first Linked while asleep, and Ranma was wearing his same favorite shirt. They sat beneath the tree and gazed down at the lake in the distance, holding one another in the same embrace they had fallen asleep in. A pair of birds flew by, looking every bit as real as if they were awake; a few stray sakura petals drifted down from the tree, landing on Ranma’s nose. He tried to look perturbed as he flicked them off, but wound up looking cross-eyed instead, making Akane giggle.

For a long time, they simply sat and gazed at the sky, trying to find odd shapes in the clouds, or stealing occasional kisses from one another. Gradually they began to talk about what to do when they woke up… how they were going to finish school, if they were going to finish school. Ranma mused on talking Soun into teaching again. “We could use the help once we re-open the dojo, assuming he’s in any condition to teach again.” Akane pondered what she should try to learn to cook next, only swatting Ranma once- and playfully- when he joked about making sure they had some antacids on hand. Both of them began talking about the two of them, what their future together might hold; Akane had to giggle when Ranma paled momentarily once the subject of children came up.

As they sat and talked, two pairs of eyes gazed down on them from the tree branches above. One pair belonged to a tiny girl in a red Chinese shirt and black pants, with bright red hair in a pigtail. The other belonged to an equally chibi girl that looked almost exactly like Akane, but in a martial arts gi with a white bandanna over her bangs and a rough, tomboyish bearing to her stance.

“About time we finally got around to this,” Ranko giggled. “Stupid pride aside, you gotta admit, Akane-kun, they really do make a cute couple.”

“You mean we really do make a cute couple, dontcha, Ranko-chan?”

“Well, duh. It’s not like him an’ me are really separable, any more ‘n you and Akane-chan down there are.”

Chibi-Akane-kun stretched her arms over her head before folding them triumphantly. “Well all I can say is it’s about time the big dummy showed some initiative and told us how he feels. If he’d said something sooner, I would’ve been able to relax a helluva lot more! You know how sick the two of us were of always being the tomboy and never just a girl?”

“Probably just about as sick as I was of being repressed by that idiot Pop of ours- not to mention having that succu-bitch curse demon mess with our balance,” chibi-Ranko replied. “Least now he’s not freakin’ out so much about losing his masculinity to me.”

“Yeah, but I get the feeling we’ve still got a ways to go ourselves.” Akane-kun glanced down at her larger counterpart and smiled wanly. “I’m so used to being the one in charge, it’s not that easy to change gears and be a little more girly.”

“And who said Ranma-kun and I wanted ya to be more girly?” Ranko hopped across the tree branch and wrapped one arm around a startled Akane-kun’s neck. “We like Akane the Tomboy, or have you forgotten?” She giggled, and Akane-kun squeaked when Ranko began administering noogies.

“Well, I’ve got a little surprise for you, Ranko-chan…” She pulled the redhead off and pushed her back; Ranko wound up on the other side of the branch, ingloriously landing on her butt as Akane-kun advanced. “Me and Akane-chan… we’re pretty fond of sexy redheads, especially if they also happen to be raven-haired studs as well!” She pounced, and Ranko squealed with laughter as she became a partly unwilling recipient of a massive tickle barrage.

Eventually the torment stopped and the two chibi girls collapsed, gasping for breath and giggling. When they had finally caught their breath, they scooted back to their observation point on the branch and gazed down at their respective counterparts. A smile broke over both their faces when they overheard Ranma talking about training locations he had seen, and expressing a desire to show them to Akane; she, in turn, seemed quite receptive but made a condition that it had to be a trip for them alone, no one else.

“You know something, Ranko?” Akane-kun turned and looked warmly at Ranma’s yin half. “I get the feeling things are gonna be okay.”

“I know the feeling,” Ranko replied. “Something just feels right now. Balanced.”

“Not separate now. Work together,” said a nearby voice in a gentle purr. “All in one… all balanced.” The two girls turned to see a third joining them- a rather pleasant-looking chibi cat-boy, slightly smaller than either of them, with golden feline eyes and black and red striped fur covering his body. He crossed the branch on all fours, padding over to Akane-kun and curling up next to her, rubbing his cheek against her leg.

Ranko chuckled. “Looks like Neko’s taken a shine to you, Akane-kun.”

“Well, I knew that,” the gi-clad girl laughed, stroking the back of Neko-Ranma’s head. “After all… he’s Ranma, too, right?” She scratched the cat-boy under his chin and smiled.

“Pretty much… he just took a little longer to calm down than the rest of us,” Ranko replied, scooting over and petting the boy gently on the shoulder. He mewed happily, and the two girls took turns scratching his back while their larger counterparts continued to snuggle below.

Eventually Ranko stopped scratching and looked down again. “You know something?” She turned and looked at Neko, who was peering over the branch as well. “Watching may be fun, but I think I’d rather be part of it. You know?” The cat-boy gave an affirmative meow, rising slightly as Ranko hopped up. “Besides, I kinda miss bein’ one person right now. Race ya down?” With a giggle, she and the cat-boy jumped off the branch and drifted down, almost floating, towards Ranma’s head. As they neared their goal, their bodies turned translucent, fading until they became two shimmering orbs of white light.

“Hey, no fair getting a head start!” Akane-kun scowled in mock-anger and leaped off the branch herself, aiming for her larger half’s head. As she fell, her outline faded as well, turning from a tiny girl to a twinkling light that drifted down and settled over Akane’s heart. All three lights had soon settled on their respective halves- or in Ranma’s case, two thirds settling on the larger third. With an innocuous wink, each light merged with the two teens, who edged a bit closer to one another and tightened their embrace just a little more.

Ranma opened his eyes just a bit and smirked. About time they quieted down.

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In another place beyond the realm of human observation, two dark beings were in conference.

“This is beyond forgivable. Two of the Hunter bloodlines re-awakening, and my heir dead because of it. I will not deny, the boy’s own arrogance brought most of this to a head, but even so! They defeated him, and they have not even fully grown into their power yet! Lord Asmodeus, this affront cannot remain unanswered, surely you can see that?”

The second daemon shook his head. “My old friend, what happened to Astaroth the Younger is truly regrettable, but, as you said, he did bring this matter to a head. I warned you long ago, your son’s predilection for vendetta and open combat would lead to his downfall, not to mention his own arrogance. And as for those that destroyed him…” He turned away and folded his black-cloaked arms. “It would seem you share his passion for vendetta when it comes to those two.”

“Then you agree with me, Asmodeus. You know that we must move on those whelps as soon as possible!”

“No. We will not take any overt action at this point.” As the first figure’s eyes widened and fists began to clench, he raised one calming hand. “You seem to forget the Convention, do you not? We cannot risk moving on a grand scale, lest the mortal world become too aware of our movements. Not to mention the fact that your heir only recently attempted such a massive troop movement not long ago; a second such movement could prove catastrophic.”

“Are you saying that we do NOTHING?” Astaroth the Elder sputtered. “That we allow the movements of Saotome and Tendo to proceed unchecked? My honor unsatisfied?”

Asmodeus sighed. “This is a war of attrition, as you well know. Yes, I am aware of their potential development; I have seen it, read the damnable prophesies bound in stone in the darkest halls of Hell.” He turned to face his livid companion. “For every Hunter born on that plane, dozens of our brethren are spawned, you know that. There will be no lack of challenge for either of them… nor for their children, or their children’s children. But it would be most foolhardy to challenge them on such a large scale so soon; to do so at this time would bring down the wrath of not only every Hunter in Japan, but possibly the rest of the world.”

The fuming demon lord stopped his pacing and looked at Asmodeus wide-eyed. “You… you’re really serious, aren’t you.”

“Deathly, old friend. We cannot afford to rouse the Hunters and the rest of humanity with a massed attack- and not merely because it would ruin our relations with those humans we have subverted. Know this… for every challenge thrown in the path of Saotome and Tendo, they have always emerged stronger for it. More than that, each of them has escaped death numerous times, despite the efforts of your son and others. And it is more than mere luck; had Astaroth the Younger known this, he might still be alive today.”

The elder Astaroth’s head began to sag. “More than mere luck… so it is true, then. They are favored by the gods.”

“Indeed. The Kami of light… as well as the Kami of chaos. And with those two groups smiling on them, it is highly unlikely that any of our number could truly destroy them. Especially not now that their very souls are beginning to intertwine. We can only proceed with the Convention. We must space our concentrated attacks out over time, lull them into complacency… and perhaps pray that one of our ranks could break them someday.”

“But that could take ages! Perhaps even generations if the Kami are watching them!”

Asmodeus sighed and smiled wanly. “You and your late son are not so dissimilar, old friend. Patience is our ally. PATIENCE. The war will not be won in a day, or a year, perhaps not even for a hundred years or more. Nor will it be won by mass slaughter- but by slow and steady conversion. Tempt those with value to our side, while culling the rest of the herd. Fight openly when we must- and avoid the eyes of the Hunters. We must accept that… and proceed.”

The two daemons nodded to one another solemnly, turning and descending into the darkness beyond.

--------------------
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 220;Ranma…”

Ranma’s eyelids clenched in irritation as a hand gripped his shoulder and gently rocked him back and forth. “Don’t wanna get up yet… long night last night…” The hand left his shoulder and Ranma suddenly squirmed; someone was tickling the underside of his nose with his own pigtail. He fidgeted, half-awake, batting the offending hand away. The owner of the hand giggled. “C’mon, Akane, quit it already…”

“Mmph… wha…” He felt something tighten around him and froze in place, realizing both Akane’s hands were still behind him, resting on his back. His eyes cracked open and he caught a glimpse of her, pressed up against his bare chest, only beginning to wake up herself. “Ranma, what’s the matter…”

Another giggle drifted through the air, and both their eyes snapped open; it took them only an instant to realize they had been too wrapped up in each other’s auras to pay attention to the third aura, which was directly next to them. Looking upward, their faces instantly became beet-red at the sight of Nodoka sitting on the edge of Akane’s bed, hands folded on her lap and a smile that was amused and proud simultaneously.

“M-Mom?” “A-Auntie Saotome?”

The Saotome matriarch shifted her position so that she was kneeling beside the bed. “I had planned to make sure you were feeling well after that nightmarish ordeal last night, Akane, but it would appear I didn’t need to worry.”

Ranma shook his head slowly, one hand on his forehead. “An’ here I thought we were done being embarrassed…”

“Story of our lives, Ranma,” Akane moaned- and then giggled. “Guess we should be glad it’s not Dad, though…”

“He and Genma are still asleep; I thought it prudent not to wake them.” Nodoka straightened up and, noting the redness of both their faces, began to chuckle. “Oh, please; I was young once, too, dear. It’s not as if I don’t approve of you two being together- you are engaged, after all. It’s only natural.”

“Geez, Mom, could ya stop it already? You’re kinda freakin’ me out right now…”

Nodoka quickly composed herself. “Of course, dear. You’re right, and besides it is rather rude for me to intrude on you two like this.” She stood up and smoothed out the light yukata she was wearing. “I’ll go make us all some breakfast while you two get dressed.” She started for the door, then turned slightly and grinned slyly. “Now… whatever may or may not have happened between you two last night, I do trust you’re planning to do the honorable thing eventually… am I right, son?”

The two teens looked at each other; a single thought passed between them silently as Akane took Ranma’s hand in hers. “Um… Auntie, about that…” She smiled, hesitantly at first, then more broadly as Ranma nodded. “There’s something we need you to help us with today. Down at City Hall.”

Nodoka’s eyes widened. Could it be? Are they planning to… oh please, let it be what I think it is… “And, um… what exactly were you planning to do at City Hall today?”

Akane’s eyes locked with Ranma’s, and her smile grew more radiant than it had ever been.

“We’re getting married.”

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Two months later…

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It was late summer, and most people had begun to put the ‘Furinkan Incident’ behind them. There had been countless theories at first, each with their own take on what had happened- the official news broadcasts had reported the school had been hit by a meteorite, but hard-line conspiracy theorists had a hard time reconciling a meteorite with the reports of strange mist and bizarre creatures appearing around the ward. Other reports soon followed, implicating a publicity stunt gone horribly wrong or suggesting rival gangs from another ward were to blame. Gradually, though, the theorists quieted down and construction crews moved into full swing, clearing the debris from the building’s remains and laying out survey markers for the rebuilding.

The Kunos had faded into relative obscurity; both Tatewaki and his father had been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial for their charges, and in fact the younger Kuno had become so violent in his counseling sessions that he spent many days locked in a padded cell. There he paced endlessly, reciting poetry and vowing to free his beloved Akane Tendo. Kodachi visited from time to time, but never for long. She had found a place of her own and was voluntarily undergoing psychotherapy and social interaction lessons. In her free time, however, she had begun a small side project- sponsoring and overseeing the construction of a small martial arts school. She claimed it was the least she could do to repay the dojo’s founder- a young man who had reportedly saved her life during the ‘Furinkan Incident’. Privately, several people claimed she was sweet on the guy…

Things had also changed at the Tendo dojo. A signboard hung just outside the estate walls, announcing the re-opening of the training hall to the first new class of Anything Goes students. No actual date was mentioned, though numbers for inquiry and application were prominently posted.

A small funeral tablet rested in a new alcove just outside the house, beneath the tree by the koi pond. The name Happosai was carved on the same tablet, with the most tasteful photograph they could find sitting next to it inside the tiny shrine. It would have been an ideal funeral portrait if Happosai hadn’t been giving the ‘victory’ sign with one hand while holding a brassiere in the other…

One room on the second floor had been cleared, a slight dark outline on the door indicating the place where Akane’s duck nameplate had once hung. What possessions had been in her old room had migrated, as it were, to a larger room not far away- with a newer, larger bed. Several scrolls were mounted along one wall, next to a rack containing two ornate wakizashi bearing the seals of the Saito and Sagara clans. The door of said room bore a new nameplate carved in the shape of two dragons- ‘Ranma and Akane’.

In one corner of the room, there were several photos arranged on top of a bureau, but one stood out from the rest. A picture of the two youths in question, arms around each other’s waist and smiling ear to ear. Ranma was wearing a black silk shirt, Chinese in design as was his penchant, decorated with gold and silver dragons across the chest and sleeves- probably the best such shirt he had ever worn. Akane was wearing a delicate veil- the only part of her original wedding dress that was really salvageable- but instead of a Shinto wedding kimono or Western dress, she was clad in an elegant, body-hugging silver dress with pale lavender floral designs woven into the fabric. It had been a gift from Cologne; once the word was out about their impending nuptials the Elder had insisted on doing her part for the bride and groom. Akane had balked at first, not wanting to overdo things, but had fallen in love with the dress the moment she saw it.

Thankfully, word about their marriage plans had not traveled farther than a select group of people; Nabiki, true to her promise, didn’t say anything until after the wedding had been completed. She, of course, had known what was afoot before Nodoka, but in deference to her sister and new brother-in-law, didn’t record them and indeed had turned off her surveillance equipment after hearing Akane say ‘I want to marry you right now’.

Few other things had changed in the household; Soun, Kasumi and Nabiki all remained in their own rooms, though Kasumi had begun to venture out of the house a bit more. Shingen was no longer renting the spare room; he had moved out, but rather than return to the Yamashira estate, he had requested an extended assignment to monitor the surrounding Tokyo area and continue Ranma and Akane’s training. He had moved to an innocuous studio apartment further down in Nerima… not more than a block from Ucchan’s Okonomiyaki. Genma had returned to the Saotome estate with Nodoka on the condition that he behave himself- though Nodoka found she needed to press that point only occasionally to keep him in line. Recent dreams, coupled with his injuries, had him doing a lot of re-thinking during his convalescence.

This August day found the estate most quiet- mainly, because nobody was home.

--------------------

“Heads up!” A Frisbee shot through the air so fast it whistled, only to be caught seconds later and returned almost as fast by a short-haired young woman wearing a Hawaiian-print loose skirt over a yellow and orange bikini. A quick slapping sound and a laugh confirmed her tossing partner, clad in long black trunks and a red Spandex tank top, had caught the Frisbee and was about to return it.

“Okay Acchan, go long!” Ranma’s arm whipped back and snapped forward; the disk skimmed over the sand and was caught just before it hit the ground. Akane rolled forward and executed a one-handed somersault before flinging the disk back in Ranma’s direction.

“I thought you said go long, dummy!” she chortled.

“Just keeping you on your toes, that’s all!” Ranma grinned and sprang forward, throwing the Frisbee so that it curved in a wide arc. Akane grabbed it, then tucked her hands behind her back and started to play ‘keep away’ with Ranma, leading him on a silly chase across the sand. Too quickly, he caught her and the two rolled, laughing, across the sand until they came to rest on an empty beach towel.

“Are you two quite finished yet?” Nabiki, who was seated on the beach towel next to theirs in a black one-piece, slapped her laptop closed and looked at them dryly over the rims of her sunglasses. “You two keep this up and I’m gonna need an insulin shot.”

“Oh, lighten up, Nabiki! In case you’ve forgotten, you’re supposed to have fun when you come to the beach, remember?” Akane rolled up to her feet and brushed sand off of her sarong. “You can’t just bury your nose in your laptop all day.”

“In case you’re forgetting, little sis, I’ve got a lot of things to take care of before I head off to Waseda University, and some of it just can’t wait till we get home.” Nabiki sighed and stretched back on her towel. “Not to mention readjusting the family accounts; with the school opening up again- plus the fact that you two are part of this Hunter organization now- I had to do a little reworking of the books.”

“Yeah, but you can’t just work all day and…”

“Akane, it’s no big deal. You know me- I can do these figures in my sleep.” She paused, then smirked. “Besides, it keeps my mind off you two love bunnies frolicking all over the place.”

“Oh, is that so?” Ranma asked, standing up behind Akane and wrapping one arm around her waist. “I think I see what the matter is… she’s still not used to us acting this way, ‘kane.”

“Really?” Akane’s smile became a sly smirk. “I suppose you’d rather have us back the way we used to be, oneechan? Fighting all the time, hmm?”

“At least then you weren’t giving me tooth rot with some of your recent behavior,” Nabiki deadpanned.

“Well, if that’s the way you really feel…” Akane spun around, threw a subtle wink at Ranma and smacked him on the head with the Frisbee. Ranma staggered back in exaggerated pain as Akane strolled towards him, brandishing the disk melodramatically.

“Oh no! Whatever am I to do! My own wife, beating me about the head!” “Well at the very least I’m not hurting anything important, baka.” She batted him again, but this time he grabbed the Frisbee and tossed it away with exaggerated menace.

“Perhaps I’ll have to teach you a lesson, you kawaii tomboy! Anything Goes Tickle Attack!” Akane yelped and dashed away, only to be tackled an instant later; the two erupted in a fit of laughter as Ranma assaulted her ribs with an Amaguriken-type tickling barrage. Nabiki groaned and pushed her sunglasses further up on her nose before lying back to get some sun.

“Okay, Ranma… okay, that’s enough! Uncle!” Akane gasped.

“Oh, very well, I’ll let you off the hook this time.” He stopped tickling and pulled her close, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

“Having a good time, you two?” They looked up, then smiled and waved. Ryoga waved back and jogged over, wearing a black tank top and beige trunks; Akari was next to him in a pale green one-piece suit with two pig-shaped clasps holding her hair back at the temples. Behind them, Mousse was setting up a volleyball net with Shampoo’s assistance; he was in blue trunks and wraparound Oakley sunglasses, while she sported a floral print string bikini. Her hair was still shoulder-length, kept out of her eyes by a silver band not unlike those Cologne wore.

“Good to see ya made it down here, man,” Ranma said as he slapped hands with Ryoga. “Thought maybe you’d take the wrong turn or something.”

“First off, you don’t have to keep reminding me about my map skills,” Ryoga muttered. “And second, we kinda needed something like this after the Furinkan Incident.” He motioned at the net. “Hey, you wanna get in on a pick-up game? We could play a 3-on-3 with you both.”

Ranma shrugged; Akane pondered for a moment before saying, “Why not?”

The pick-up game, of course, quickly turned into near-tournament level playing; first the guys against the girls, then they rotated players so that Ranma, Akane and Mousse were on one team, Ryoga, Shampoo and Akari on the other. Then another rotation, until after the fourth or fifth game Akari begged off, saying she was winded. Which, given the athleticism of her teammates, was hardly surprising. Down one player, they decided to play 2-on-2 with one person sitting out; for the first game, Akane elected to sit out and strolled over to Akari. Next came the team divisions- and oddly enough, it was Ranma who suggested another boys-versus-girls game. Ryoga and Mousse both gave him strange looks… which quickly turned into laughs when he transformed and took position as Onna-Ranma on Shampoo’s side of the net.

“This is really nice,” Akari mused. “I’d really like to thank you for inviting us out here, Akane. I think Ryoga and me really needed this little break.”

“Hey, my pleasure. It isn’t often our family gets to come to Osaka, so we figured we might as well make a party of it. I’m glad you two got a chance to make it.”

“Well, Grandfather’s feeling better, and with some of the work Ryoga’s been putting in, we’ve actually got enough to have someone come by and check on him when we’re away.” Akari ran a hand through her emerald hair. “So… how are you and Ranma doing these days? What’s it like being married?”

Akane looked at her currently female husband spiking the volleyball and sighed happily. “Really nice… better than nice, actually. Sure, we do have our occasional rough points and there’s our responsibilities to the dojo and the clans, but quite frankly, Akari-chan, things just keep getting better every day.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Akari looked back at the game, lingering on Ryoga for a long while before turning back to Akane. “So… um…” She cleared her throat. “Is it, um… hard for you two, living with the rest of the family?”

“I wouldn’t say that. Sure, Daddy can have his moments and so can Nabiki, but the fact is, after what we’ve been through the little things really don’t bother us anymore.”

“Um… actually…” Akane noticed Akari was blushing furiously. “What I meant was… it must be hard to find, um… ‘private time’… if you know what I mean…”

“OH!” It was Akane’s turn to blush. “Oh… well, that does get a little tricky sometimes… but I think we’ve worked it out; we talked to Dad and my sisters and they understand that, well… occasionally we do want some time to ourselves. After all, we’re not in a convent, we’re married, right?”

“Right,” Akari replied with a nervous giggle before turning to watch Ryoga again. I hope I can say the same about us someday soon, sweetie… Her blush began to return as certain thoughts emerged in her mind, each one relating to her and the bandanna-clad young man at the volleyball net. Visions of her own wedding night…

“Looks like they got a pretty good game going on here.”

Akane was aware enough of her surroundings- despite an impromptu daydream of herself and Ranma that Akari’s words had inspired, involving some extended and quite passionate ‘private time’- that she was hardly surprised by the man behind her. “They’d probably be willing to let you jump in if you ask, Shingen,” she said, turning around to face him. “Say… where’s Ukyo? I thought she was with you, right? You were going to go peruse the vendors’ stalls.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’ve been doing,” he replied, sitting cross-legged on the sand next to her; he wore long camo-print surf shorts and a gray tank top in addition to his ubiquitous black bandanna. “Kasumi and Dr. Tofu were with us for a while as well; they’re down the beach a ways right now.” He gestured, and in the distance Akane could see Kasumi leading a blindfolded Tofu over to the watermelon-smash game. Akane had to giggle at the sight of the doctor wobbling around, bokken in hand, attempting to smack the bejeezus out of the nearest watermelon.

“Well, it’s nice to see oneechan having some fun, but what about Ukyo?”

Shingen turned and pointed up to the guardrail at the edge of the beach. “They needed a little time alone.” Akane followed the line of his finger, past a number of beachgoers, one lifeguard chair, the steps up to the vendor’s promenade, until she finally came to rest on the spot he had indicated. She squinted for a moment- and then gasped.

Ukyo was standing at an okonomiyaki yattai, in front of a man at least as tall as Shingen with a full beard. And they were hugging.

Akane’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my goodness… that can’t be… that’s her…”

“Apparently the letter she and Nodoka-san wrote just before the Furinkan incident really got to him,” said Shingen softly. “She got a letter not too long ago, saying he wanted to know more. And I don’t mind telling you, it took some prodding to get her to write him back.” He folded his arms and smiled. “Truth is, he’s been partially regretting what he put her through ever since they parted ways, but he was afraid if he wrote or called, she wouldn’t talk to him. So the letter was kind of a wake-up call for him.”

Akane nodded slowly. “Yeah… of course, I should have realized there’d be a chance she’d run into her dad in Osaka.”

“Actually, she called in advance and let him know she’d be on her way. And then she called up Nodoka-san; she’s up there right now, on the other side of the yattai. I think they’re planning to settle the debt between Kuonji-san and Saotome-san.”

“Well, it’s about time that mess got settled!” piped up Onna-Ranma, who was jogging off the volleyball court towards the others. “About time Ucchan got some sort of recognition from her old man as well, if ya ask me.”

“You can say that again, Ranma,” said Akane emphatically. “I only hope Mr. Kuonji takes it easy on your dad; everything I’ve ever heard indicates he was pretty ticked off.”

“Eh, so long as my old man behaves I think he’ll be safe,” Ranma laughed as he changed back to a male. “And believe me, he’s in no condition to run away this time. Speaking of which… Shin, how long did you say he was gonna have to use that cane?”

The taller man shrugged. “He was wounded pretty deep, Ranma. And a Fury’s claws can do lasting damage; even the Naosu Kousen can’t totally mend those wounds, so he might walk with a limp for life. Just be thankful the nerve damage wasn’t heavier, he could’ve lost all use of his leg.”

Ranma nodded slowly. “Yeah, that would’ve sucked… Pop may have been a bastard, but at least he was tryin’ to do the right thing back then.” He brushed the hair out of his eyes and glanced down the beachfront. “So is he up there with Mom right now, or did he and Mr. Tendo head off to a bar and…”

There was a sudden splashing in the water behind them. A woman screamed, followed by a number of other screams. Feet began to pound the sand as people grabbed their towels, radios and anything else they could, scrambling away from one spot at the water’s edge. The only ones who didn’t run were the party of beachgoers from Nerima. Shingen let out a long breath and put one hand over his eyes in irritation. “Don’t tell me… not when I’m on vacation…”

Ranma groaned. “Like I told ya, man. You get used to it.”

Akane stood up, tiredly brushing the wrinkles out of her sarong. “Let me guess. Sunbathing imps in Osaka, right?”

“Nope,” Shingen replied. “Just a Sea Oni.” They turned around and looked down towards the water’s edge; Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo were already staring at the newest arrival with nasty glares. Standing in the wet sand was something that looked like a typical oni, but with blue-green skin, seaweed draped about its waist instead of a loincloth, and flared gills on either side of its head- which closely resembled a moray eel.

It stomped once and assumed an arrogant, hands-on-hips stance. “I AM THE MIGHTY LORD UNAGI! This land, and the waters thereof, belong to me! WHO will dare to say otherwise?”

Shingen shook his head, fighting back a smirk. “This is too easy,” he chortled. “So… what do you say? Think we oughta tell him otherwise?”

Ranma looked at the beast, snorted, then looked to Akane. “Whaddya say, could be a good workout.”

She nodded and took his hand. “Bet you an Ucchan’s deluxe dinner special he goes down in thirty seconds.”

“I’ll bet you fifteen seconds, Acchan.”

“You’re on.”

Shingen said nothing, but smirked and looked up at the sky. Yep, you said it best, Father… a Hunter’s work is never done.

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The End

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…or the beginning

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Author’s Note 8/13/06: Whew! At long last the chronicle has wound to a close… but, wait, you say! There’s still so much left to tell! What about the other people who were cursed? What happens from here?

Yes, there are many things which I have not touched on, things which people may have wanted me to get to. Well, to put it simply, I couldn’t fit everything in that I wanted to, and I have numerous other obligations weighing on me at this time, so I apologize if parts of the conclusion appear abrupt. My knowledge of the Ranmaverse is still sketchy in places, after all.

You may have noticed this chapter is entitled ‘A New Beginning’. And the reason for that follows thus:

I am deeply grateful for the support this chronicle has received over the past year and a half I’ve been writing… actually, almost two years. I’ve had numerous ideas for side-stories, possible sequels, and the like, but I am NOT going to have the time or energy to write them. Therefore, I am now officially opening this story to the rest of the fanfic community.

What does that mean? It means, if you’d like to write a story directly relating to this one- perhaps a scene I didn’t fully describe, or a sequel, or something that you wanted to see happen at the end of the story which I didn’t mention(like, perhaps, Taro accidentally defeating both Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung when he returns to China, meaning he now has two girls claiming him as their husband… I’m not saying that actually happened, but it’d be funny to see…) Well, anyway, if you’d like use this story as a starting point for a sequel, or a side-story, then please email me with a brief summary of your idea.

Please do NOT send any such story ideas via a review; go to my profile page and send it to the email address listed there. If I like the idea, I’ll let you know. I’m also on the lookout for fanart for this story; I haven’t had time to draw any of my own… yet.

One thing of note- I do have a brief one-shot sequel in the works. Just a humorous little vignette which I tentatively call ‘Costume Party’. Look for it around Halloween when the NWC and their new Hunter friends get together for an informal masquerade party.

Noboribetsu is a town in Hokkaido, home of the island’s most famous hot springs resort and beautifully forested hills. In the context of this story, the estate of Hunter Clan Yamashira is located here.

Lord Unagi- the name Unagi, quite simply, means ‘eel’.

Asmodeus appears in Milton’s Paradise Lost and is also referred to in the Testament of Solomon. Supposedly one who hatches plots against newlyweds… but reportedly hates water. In some ancient religions Asmodeus, or a variant of the name, is listed as chief of the demons. His name also appears in numerous other literary and gaming sources.

I fear I do not have the space to properly thank everybody who has supported my work, especially those who have reviewed practically since Day One. I may not have been very good at responding to all your reviews, but I have appreciated each and every one of them. They’ve given me inspiration, and moreover, kept me wanting to actually finish this story. Now my work is complete, and I have all you readers to thank for it.

Please leave me a review in passing- and as I said, if you wish to continue where I left off(or write a side-story taking place between scenes), email me at the address listed on my profile page. I am a little protective of the O.C.’s I created for this story, after all.

Until next time- and the next story- I remain, as ever,

Neon Ronin