Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Rendezvous with Fate ❯ February ( Chapter 2 )

Revision notes:
01/22/06 - common grammatical errors in the English language
01/14/06 - punctuation revision, revised hads
10/18/05 - grammar
06/25/03 - fixed discrepancy over scene with Akane looking over the dojo. Added some descriptive lines and fixed the punctuation.
12/25/02 - grammar

Special Thanks to:
MJ, Maurice Phillip, Tony Loco , Tin and Angel, Jourdan Bickham, Jose Aragao, Byooki Desu, Anno Nimus, C. Jones Richard, Robinson, David Bateson, David Stanley, Jitou,King Chan, Lawrence Chu, Bert Miller, The Dragonbard, Darthcwader1, Erin, Outlawone1, David Calvarese, Larry F, khymchanur

And to the person reading this.

Marriage at best is but a vow,
Which all men either break or bow.
Samuel Butler
The Lady's Answer to the Knight

Rendezvous with Fate V.3
by iCe
Chapter 2

...It turns out I was married to this brute named Ranma Saotome. He was completely awful to me...

Shock swept through her body as Akane sat there, trying to take in the situation and silently cursing the pig that sent her there. After she calmed down reasonably, she thought she'd just explain what happened to her.

"What's your name?" Akane asked him, but as he looked at her in a manner that clearly stated she was out of her mind. She scrambled to explain, "Well you see, I'm not Kodachi, not really, I know I may look like her, but she's gone. I'm here to take her place. I really can't explain this to you, since even I don't understand it myself. No one explained it to me. Well... they did but it really wasn't enough... and well, what's your name?"

"Ranma," he answered automatically, not thinking then his scowl returned. "And you damn well know it, Kodachi. I'm sick of your games. I'm not going to fall for it. You might even say I'm sick and tired of you."

She gave him an impatient look. She has always been impatient and has a very short rein on her temper. Ranma was sure she would cut this game and start to rant, but she only took a deep breath and said, "So, I gather we don't have the best relationship in the world right now." She looked at him questioningly, her husband. What was happening to her? A husband! 'This cannot be happening'

"But if you must call me something, can't it be something nicer? I mean Kodachi sounds well... deadly," Akane answered as she thought about the short swords she was named after. "Well does Koda-- do I have a second name or something?"

Ranma looked at her and considered her for a moment, then his scowl deepened. To him, her name suited her perfectly well. "You don't have a second name."

"Oh..." Akane thought for a moment, 'You couldn't even make a nickname out of Kodachi, except by adding honorifics to the end.' "So, well, could we go by another name, say... Akane? Come on be nice. I'm going to be stuck here with you... at least, I think I will be..."

At the mention of her real name, Akane noticed that Ranma tensed. However, whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a brief knock on the door.

What Akane presumed to be a doctor walked in, and for the second time, Akane noted the weird costumes. He was wearing a type of kimono that Akane only saw people wear on extremely formalized occasions. Although Dr. Tofu, Kasumi's husband, wore the formal attire at his clinic, this doctor's was somewhat different. Something brought back from before the Tokugawa period.

"She claims she doesn't know who I am. She claims she doesn't even know who she is!" Ranma informed Doctor Kinzaki(1) as he walked towards Akane. He was a thin, youngish man, with a smooth face and a receding hairline. His kind and intelligent eyes, plus a soothing manner, were a lot of help in calming Akane down. It also helped that his personality reminded her somewhat of her sister's husband.

She panicked as she looked at him though, thinking, 'Why is the doctor here? Shouldn't I be in a hospital?'

"Lady Kodachi, let me take a look at you," he said, noting the long gash at her head. "This looks like a bad wound. How do you feel? Are you nauseated? Did you vomit?"

"She vomited and fainted about five minutes ago," Ranma answered for her ignoring her disbelieving look.

"You couldn't walk that long a distance in five minutes!" Akane said out loud as the doctor felt around her wound. Even the slightest pressure caused her to wince and once her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

He gave her another one of his gazes. She seemed to be receiving a lot of those from him. "You know well enough I could have crossed that in one."

"Her skull is fractured," the doctor informed them, effectively stopping the fight.

"Hello. I'm the patient here," she called, waving her hand at the doctor's face. "You could talk to me you know. Honestly. Don't you guys think I should be in a hospital or something? I think I have a concussion."

Akane looked at the doctor then his clothes. She looked at the seemingly very traditional house that still used futons for beds and then at Ranma.

An idea suddenly struck her. It did not seem possible, but then, after all that she just went through, just about anything could happen. "What year is it?" she asked, afraid of what the answer could be, her heart beating painfully in her chest. "For that matter, where am I?"

"Why, it's the Year of the Dragon in the Eighth Year of the Tensho(2). We're at the border of the Kanto region, at Nerima, your husband's fief," Dr. Kinzaki supplied, looking at her with renewed interest.

She let out a small groan of displeasure. She didn't know the meanings of the years, her history lessons long forgotten but she did know that the Kanto Mountains were in the eastern part of the home island. 'This is worse than I thought.' Suddenly the wave of voices, plus the pig, washed over her again, calming her down as they explained that she was in the year 1600.

Akane repeated it slowly, again and again, disbelieving it and yet... She sighed. She knew nothing of feudal Japan, nothing! She only has the fleeting memories of her high school history lessons. And furthermore, Japan's history was clouded in myths, legends and more myths, rendering anything she did remember from high school useless to her. She suddenly wished for a crash course in history. Bringing her back to the present would be better.

"Hmmm..." The doctor thought a moment then looked at her to ask questions, "Lady Kodachi, have you and I ever met?"

"No," she answered promptly then pointed her thumb over at Ranma. "But I haven't met him either. I explained it all to him after that short guy left but he doesn't believe me."

Ranma rolled his eyes in disbelief. 'Was she still hanging on to that stupid fairytale?'

Dr. Kinzaki just ignored her and cleaned her wound after which he prepared a needle and thread.

"What? I need stitches?" she said, eyeing the needle. Even after she rested, every move caused her pain. Kodachi must have one heck of a fall. "Has that thing been sterilized?" She slurred before she slipped into unconsciousness.

After the doctor finished his job, he motioned to Ranma and moved into the hallway, closing the door behind them. "Spunky, isn't she?" He chuckled then went right to the point, "It was a serious head injury, Saotome-sama. In fact so serious, I don't know what's keeping her skull together. She could have died... in fact, she should have died." He tried gauging the reaction of the young man before him, but there was none. "For the first twenty-four sticks (3), someone has to be constantly with her. She is unconscious right now, and her breathing sounds regular, but she may slip into a coma. If that happens, I don't know if she will wake up. Do you understand all this, Saotome-sama? I always believed in being frank regarding my patients, especially in serious conditions. There is a possibility that your wife may die."

Ranma gave a curt nod. When he saw her fall, she was too far away for him to catch her, not that he wanted to. He gave her specific instructions not to jump the horse and she disobeyed him. It was supposed to be a lesson. Kodachi knew how to fall, gracefully at that. He had not been worried.

The accident replayed over his mind: as she was thrown into the air by the frightened horse he saw her start to alter her movements so she would safely land on her feet, a move he knew she mastered since childhood. Then something went wrong. It was as if she stopped, at the turning point of the jump, when she was still headfirst to the ground. That was when she collided with the ground.

The doctor's words snapped him out of that as he said, "The next two days are critical. I expect swelling, maybe fever. I must be honest. I have never seen someone live through a fall like that. I would suggest you call a priest and any family." The doctor was obviously uncomfortable at giving such a dire prognosis, but as he looked at man before him to see if some emotion touched his face anything to tell him that his wife meant to him he saw none. He might as well have been talking about the condition of a dog.

"As for her memory, it appears as if she has amnesia(4), Not uncommon for her type of injury. It can be very frustrating both for her and the people around her. If she survives, I can give my recommendation that she be sent back to her brother but I suggest you have patience with her. In most cases, memory returns within some hours. Some within days, but there are rare cases that it will not. I'll stay for a few hours, and then one of my lord's servants can take care of her."

Ranma listened impassively to what the doctor's droning. Though he showed no emotion, the diagnosis affected him. Years and years of hating, it seemed, has not erased all that he felt for his wife. Though he hated her completely, he still found a part of him that truly wanted to be her friend. But to the doctor he said, "I have things to attend in two days. I'll be staying until then. While I am gone, I expect you to take care of her. Good day, doctor."

Akane slipped in and out of consciousness, and did not recognize anyone except the doctor. Not once did she see Ranma to tend to her. In her feverish daze, she did manage to talk to a red-haired woman who was about to blow out the lantern lighting her room. Apparently, she had been watching her sleep.

"Tired," she barely managed to say. She could not force all the words out of her mouth.

"Rest," she said curtly as she put a wet towel atop Akane's forehead. "You are in no condition to go mumbling out your tirades."

The girl did not care to hide that she did not like to spend time with her patient. Akane felt her displeasure as much as she did the pain of her head. Though she wanted to follow the woman's curt advice, she placed her hand on her wrist and croaked out, "Why do people hate me so much?"

The woman raised her eyebrows, looked at the hand restraining her, thought for a second then replied, "You are not in a position to ask."

Akane faded into unconsciousness again. That was all she could ever recall of those four days, rising halfway to wakefulness before slipping back down into the blackness, over and over, and the blurry images of those who came to watch over her. On the fifth day, she woke feeling like she came out of hibernation and stretched her muscles out. Looking around the room, another wave of panic engulfed her. 'My God, it's true!' she thought as her eyes touched on every detestable piece of furniture and color in the room, 'It wasn't some wacky dream!'

She sat up gingerly, afraid that the movement would set off a giant headache but was surprised to find out she felt none. As she looked at the spacious room, the bright windows on either side of her futon caught her eye laying golden rectangles across the silken rug.

Bringing her knees up, she rested her arms on them, and was surprised when she found them not her own. It was then that what happened to her dawned on her fully: she completely changed. She was given a stranger's body. Her skin which once was golden because of her daily runs was now Kodachi's delicate, fragile and almost pale against the white linen. At least her hair didn't change much: before, when the sun shone off it, it would show streaks of blue, but now it was just completely black. As she looked down, some of the curls fell forward; 'Another surprise' she thought as she brought her hand up to them, as if testing them. With her hands she explored her face, wincing when she touched the wound. She had the urge to look at herself in the mirror to see what kind of face stared back.

She moved out of the futon then winced as she stood fully erect. Standing, she could see how everything around her seemed so much bigger than it should be. Things that, before, were as tall as her hip now rose to her ribs. She pulled up the hem of her gown and saw a pair of tiny feet. She laughed. She could finally fit in those cute shoes that looked ridiculous in her size... except in this century, those cute shoes probably didn't exist.

Padding across the tatami, Akane went over to a beautiful cherry-wood full-length mirror and stood there, staring at herself. Long, curling black hair fell from a high-set ponytail, while her face held a little nose and a full pair of lips. The blow to her head left part of her forehead swollen and one of her cheeks bruised, the colors having faded to a sickly yellow color. Her body was covered in a black cotton night gown that buttoned up her neck, ending with a scratchy lace under her chin. She lifted her gown to see the body which lay underneath and made a face. Big breasts, big stomach, big thighs. Akane was proud of her body, long, lithe and golden. She was one of those women all other women hate, the type that ran everyday and loved every moment of it.

She looked at her breasts with the detachment of a doctor examining a patient. Big, but nicely shaped. Although she insisted she liked her small, pert breasts, she secretly wished a more voluptuous figure. 'Well, I've got it now... But I wonder for how long?'

She studied her face closer. It was completely unappealing, she decided. Puffy, unhealthy, pasty, the kind of face of a person who abused life and body. She tried to guess how old she was and tried to remember how much that man told her...

'That man!' She thought suddenly. "Oh no, she's married! Oh wait, I'm married, I mean, she's married and I have her husband! What a mess! Oh, God, I hope I don't have to sleep with him!"

She desperately tried to remember more of the scowling man who carried her here, but her mind came up blank. Closing her eyes, she took a deep, calming breath and tried to picture his face. The image of blue eyes, angry and cold, flashed back into her mind. She tried to think of something positive but the only thing she could come up with was that he was handsome.

What year was it again? 1600. A year she knew next to nothing about. 'Obviously Ranma and Kodachi aren't a match made in heaven but they have money,' she thought as she looked at the richly, if gaudily appointed room.

She was about to examine her face closer when a woman came in, all dressed in black. 'What is with this house and BLACK?' "Hello," she offered in greeting to the woman. After all, she needed her friends right now. And she hardly knew where she was.

"Oh, Lady Kodachi!" she said with obvious unease. "I thought you were asleep. I'm sorry. You're awake. That is good."

Akane sighed, it seemed that people either hated her, didn't know what to do with her, or just plaint didn't know her. "I'm OK, but starved."

"Oh, I'll have Sara(5) bring your food here," she said, as if talking to a child. Akane paused for a moment at the name, thinking it was Western, but corrected herself since she was in the past.

'But the only other 'sara' I know is another word for tray,' Akane thought. After awhile, Akane finally realized that she meant 'sara' meaning for 'tray' as a person and not the object walking up the stairs.

"But," Akane started. She really wanted to see the house. "I'll just take it in the kitchen."

"You always take your breakfast at bed, my lady," she said in her schoolroom voice as she wailed towards Akane. She was obviously horrified at the thought of a lady eating food in the kitchen. The kitchen as a rule was limited to the servants.

Akane always hated eating in bed. It was the kind of thing done by the lazy people. It would also be uncomfortable. The bed is a place to sleep. But where did people eat in the 1600's? "I think I'll take my breakfast wherever, uh, Ranma does," she said, testing the name and finding that it rolled easily from her tongue. For a moment she paused, she did not know where people ate in the 1600's.

The woman looked at her questioningly, but informed her in a brisk manner, "He doesn't allow you to go into his room, lady."

"Oh. His room." She was lost, where the hell did you eat in this house anyway? "Well, then..."

"How about the dining room," the woman suggested. She was very uncomfortable now, as if a suggestion from her would cause her to lose her job.

'The dining room? Ah yes, of course,' she thought as she followed the maid to what seemed like a closet. She muttered under her breath, "Let's hope medieval architecture is somewhat the same."

The maid, whose name was Ifuku(6), helped her into a huge, low-cut kimono which, like everything else in her wardrobe, was black, and piled over endless layers. Ifuku called the garment a day kimono.

Akane became uncomfortable at the fact that someone else was dressing her but Ifuku put her at ease. When they were finished, Akane felt ridiculous: the dress exposed too much flesh, hampered too much of her movement and was made up of too many parts for her to just move in, especially because there were laces tied in the knees. She turned to Ifuku and said, "Don't I have anything a little more... modest? Maybe something other than black..."

"Let's see," Ifuku said brightly as she flipped through the clothes, rising a small cloud of dust. Akane coughed, thinking 'Didn't Kodachi know anything about dust?' as she looked behind Ifuku to see if anything promising turned up.

In the end, she wore the black kimono, which was no big surprise, with a light shawl around her shoulders that was held by a big brooch with a big dark onyx carved into an exquisite rose. When Akane looked at herself, she wrinkled her nose and sighed.

"I look like an old lady," Akane commented after she took a look of her new get-up in the mirror. She enjoyed dressing in kimonos during festivals, but she didn't quite appreciate the fact that before she never tied her knees, never needed to deal with the torturous layers and... never owned kimonos that showed this much skin. "Well, at least I look decent. This is way too weird."

"I beg your pardon?" Ifuku asked, not understanding what she said.

"Oh, nothing," Akane replied. She looked out the door and smiled, pleasantly surprised to see that the hallways looked better than her room. She smiled at Ifuku. "Sorry, Ifuku, that knock on the head made me forget things. Would you show me around the house?"

The maid looked at her, eyes wide in surprise. It seemed that Ranma failed to mention to the household help that she has amnesia. The maid did not seem to understand why she has to show her mistress the house which she lived in since late childhood. "If you insist, my lady."

That was the beginning to the tour of what Akane believed to be the most beautiful house which she ever saw. To the right the hall seemed to stretch forever towards a large octagonal window which let in golden light, light which faded into muted yellow where the two of them stood.

Charming oil lanterns were hung outside each shoji, decorated with an exquisite hand of nature. Dark moldings in the same rich hinoki(7) wood that bordered the ceilings bordered the shoji. The corridors and the rooms were richly carpeted with tatamis, soft and kind to the feet. It was of the best quality, more than an inch thick and flawless.

She was delighted when she found out that the lamps were fueled by oil and sometimes, even home-made candles. Ifuku just looked at her skeptically as she examined the lanterns as if she had never before seen such a thing. She immediately saw her error when she saw Ifuku's face. A woman of his time and age would not be fascinated by a mere lantern.

She didn't try to justify her intense interest in what likely was a common object. Ifuku gave her a hard stare as she jerked her hand towards one of the rooms. "These are bedrooms. Most are empty."

Akane gulped at what seemed like a maze of shoji doors. "Which is my -- " She closed her eyes, she couldn't quite imagine anyone other than Ryoga's serious face. Although as she remembered, she did accept that they both have their similarities in the looks department, "husband's?"

Hundreds of her old memories passed through her that it came to a point where the angels needed to brush them away, until she could hardly remember it, a memory that was still there but locked until she could deal with it.

"Are you all right, Lady Kodachi?" asked Ifuku. This time, her concern was real.

She almost felt the smile she flashed; it almost reached to her eyes. Almost. "Yes, Ifuku, I'm fine."

"Lord Ranma's room is at the far end of the hall facing the bay, as your room does." She waved her hands at the direction of the shoji that probably led to her husband's room. "Sometimes, when we're in battle, the rooms are shifted and reshifted. It's procedure, my lady. (8)"

"The bay?" Akane turned back towards the room to look out of her window and saw an endless blue, dotted by large chunks of melting ice.

"It's beautiful," she said, sighing. She loved the water, though she could not fathom why, since, try as she might, she simply could not swim. She loved its uncertainty, its moods, so to speak. So far, this was her dream turned real, a mansion by the sea. She'd been angry at the pig, which she named P-chan. Perhaps P-chan knew what he was doing after all. He at least gave her some compensation...

She turned to Ifuku and asked, "What is it?"

"What is what, my lady?" The girl seemed confused. To her Akane was not seeing anything unusual that needed to be named.

"The water, the bay, what is it?" She just wanted to get her bearings where she was.

The maid was still clearly confused at the amnesia business as she answered, "It's Sagami Bay, my lady. That land there is O-shima, part of the Izu peninsula."

At least that set her location in her head. They were near the North Pacific and Tokyo. "Why don't they connect this with a bridge?"

"A bridge ma'am?" she asked, confused. "I don't think a bridge could go that far."

'Oh,' Akane thought, she still has a lot to learn, 'Wait 'till I tell Ryo -- ' Suddenly, she felt completely alone. Of course she couldn't tell Ryoga. Ryoga wasn't even born yet. She'd be long dead by the time he was born. "Show me the rest of the house, Ifuku." So very alone.

Used to living in three room apartments, she was overwhelmed by the size of the house. She learned its name: Rose Brier; a pretty name. It has twenty-four rooms, more than half of them bedrooms, a sort-of-library, nursery, dining quarters and maid's room. There was a teahouse for the Cha-no-yu(9), a separate lodging for samurai who guarded the house and its occupants and the dojo. Most of the rooms were not touched with accessories, giving the house a casual air despite its elegance, the beautiful shoji walls, the nice carve of the ceiling design and the trim were constant.

"There are three parlors east, west and main," Ifuku said, indicating a charmingly feminine room with a small dais and cushions to the side.

As she moved she saw a maid being scolded by a formidable looking woman. Ifuku bowed to the woman in respect giving a small nod in return, she slipped into the shadows before Akane could get a better look at her.

"Who is that?" asked Akane.

"The Lady Nabiki, my lady," Ifuku said as she straightened up from her bow.

Akane shifted uneasily. "Is she important?"

Again, Ifuku looked at her in surprise. "She is a Saotome samurai, a hatamoto, twin to the heir, my lady. She also runs the house."

A job should be mainly in the hands of the wife. Akane paused thoughtfully at that, wondering what caused these responsibilities to be handed over.

When they reached the dojo with its beautiful wooden panels, the takonama(10) was there with an ikebana(11) arrangement of a black rose standing on the pile of red rocks, the perimeter was circled by immaculate white rocks that contrasted the raven rose. There was some side rooms to the dojo which contained the weapons, and shoji doors pulled aside for spectators to watch a fight if need be. Akane smiled as she breathed it in. "This is my room."

"Oh, this is Lord Ranma's room, my lady," Ifuku countered without thinking.

"Why?" Akane pouted, as she took in the sights, already thinking of how she could practice and tone herself in the dojo. "It's a beautiful room, I can't believe he'll take it all to himself."

She bit her lip, hard, to consider what to say. "His bedchamber, the library and the dojo, are his places. His and the Lady Nabiki's."

"How come?" she asked, puzzled, and excited at the prospect of a library. She didn't realize that one could exist in such a time.

"People never come in those places, ma'am." Akane sensed the girl was about to tell something more, but firmly closed her mouth thereafter.

"You mean me? I never come here?" Akane said as she touched the takonama gingerly. It was a wife's duty to make the arrangement for the takonama... if she didn't do it then... "This is the main room?"

The maid looked at her, startled, then proceeded but stopped when she heard Akane's stomach grumble.

"Oh, I think it's time to feed me." Akane patted it as she looked towards the direction of the kitchen. "I'll look at the dojo more some other time. Thank you, Ifuku."

By the time Ifuku led her to the dining room and left her to eat there, she was wide-eyed and almost open-mouthed. Lady Kodachi never thanked any of the house help. She thought that the compensation of her lodging and "protection" was enough for them. Furthermore, she never addressed them by their given names. This was a sudden change. What was she up to?

Another maid, also dressed in black, brought her platter after platter of dishes: rice, soups and fish; it went on and on. After she was finished serving, Akane turned to her.

"What's your name?" Akane asked, shocked at the frightened look of the young girl.

"Sara, Lady Kodachi," she answered shakily.

"Sara, who else will be joining me?" she asked, gesturing to the food that could easily feed ten starving men.

"No one, ma'am."

Akane stared at the mounds of food then at the maid and sighed, things were going to change. "I need to talk to the cook, Sara. There is a cook, right?"

The maid nodded mutely then went off, towards the kitchen; Akane stood up and followed. It wouldn't do for them to think of her as a princess giving out commands.

As she entered the door, she could smell fresh cooked rice wafting over. Akane was a bit surprised when the people inside were wearing white, a stark contrast to the darkness of maid's uniforms. As her presence was known, the bustling kitchen, which was filled with gossip, stopped. It was as if someone shouted "Halt!", and the people complied. That was how quickly the work and chatter died down.

One woman, obviously in charge, stepped up to her took a deep breath and wiped her hand on a rumpled apron. "Yes, Lady Kodachi?"

"I..." Suddenly her mind seemed blank, and she forgot what she was going to say. She took a deep breath then said, "From now on I'll eat in the dining room at seven o'clock. I'll eat toast, unbuttered, fruit, juice and coffee. That's all. I do appreciate all the wonderful food. Honestly. But there's enough there to feed a lot of people and there are a lot of people who's going hungry, it's such a waste don't you think?"

The cook looked at her blankly. She did not know what this 'toast' was, and butter? Fruit, that could be arranged according to season, juice, that too, but coffee? What was that? And what was this seven o'clock? The mistress was simply mad.

Akane looked around. She didn't know if there were hungry people in this place, but people were mostly hungry... this was getting confusing. "And we don't have a big family," she stated then paused, uncertainly. "Do... we?" Nobody said anything about children. She could live with children, but then... this was getting confusing again.

The cook blinked at her. Twice, much like she did with P-chan. "It was just for you, my lady. Ahh... pardon Lady Kodachi."

"Ahh... yes, also refer to me as Akane, well, what is it?"

"I am sorry, Lady Ko- Lady Akane, but I do not know what this 'toast' or 'coffee' is. And what is this seven o'clock?" The cook tested the unknown words in her mouth.

Akane almost groaned but stopped herself in time. Of course they didn't know that! Those where western foods, a western idea, a western breakfast that she was used to having after Kasumi married and she was left to her own devices. Her cooking skills has never been good. And the time... she didn't know how people told time. "Ahh... well, rice and just one of the dishes, OK? And tea. My meal will be served early in the morning, the hour just after dawn."

She nodded, satisfied that matter of her morning meals was straightened out, but that worried about the issue of children. Akane wished she has children. Unless, of course, Ranma has children with other women... but then...

When she returned to the dining room to finish eating, she ran a mental list of things to do and sighed. She still has a lot of things left to finish.

She mentally cursed the angels who sent her to this century, particularly that little black pig. Really, there was nothing she could do about. She just needed to make the best of the situation before her, and that would require making friends with that brute of a husband, Ranma.

Endnotes:

(1) Kinzaki: 'Golden seated heart'. For the first time, I'm not taking the blame for this name, because this one just popped out of my head. Really. Oh yeah, and doctors are allowed to have nice names too. :)

kin: gold
za: seat
ki: heart, mind, spirit, feelings

(2) What does all of this gibberish mean? OK...since I can't explain this all too well, I'm copying it down word for word:

All years were chosen by the ruling Emperor. A catastrophe or a godsend might end an era or begin one, at his whim. Scholars were ordered to select a name of a particularly good omen from the ancient books of China for a new era that might last a year or fifty years.

Each year was given a number as well as a nameone of the same succession as the hours of the day. The first year of the Tensho had fallen on the year of the cock, so it followed that 1576 was the year of the Rat in the Fourth Year of Tensho.

OK... so I'm not particularly sure if 1600's was still 'the year of the Tensho' of if there ever was a 'year of the tensho', I got this from Shogun, and that's not very reliable, but I have to have SOME thing.

(3) A stick is how they measured time then. It is a rough estimate on how long an incense stick burns which is roughly equivalent to an hour. I still refer to 'hours' when it's the narration though.

(4) Was amnesia known at that particular time? To be honest, I don't really know, but the Eastern countries have proven to be far more advanced in medicine than any of the Western countries, so it is possible they know this ailment, but not to term it 'amnesia'. Still for plot purposes, it's amnesia.

(5) Sara: although it does seam English, it's Japanese, it means dish, plate or tray. (whichever you prefer still suits my needs)

(6) Ifuku: dress, clothes.

(7) Hinoki: Japanese cypress, the best is often used in shrine architecture.

(8) Shoji... um paper doors, if you don't know them, slide in and out of place. In the hot summer days, most move it out of the house to let the cool air come in. When an important daimyo came to town, they rearranged the shoji so the daimyo has the center and biggest
room of the house.

(9) Cha-no-yu: The formalized tea ceremony. Sometimes referred to as chanoyu.

(10) What's a takonama? It's this small alcove in the main room where they place the flower arrangement and a scroll hanging, usually where the swords of a samurai of the house were placed.

(11) What is an ikebana arrangement? It's the art of flower arranging grouped into four kinds (to which I will not delve into in the moment). The goal is to arrange the flowers to represent heaven, earth and humanity. Proficiency in the arts improve marriage
prospects for the ladies.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 and the book I based it from which is When there is Hope, and if you sue me you can't possibly get money from me.

Endnotes:

(1) Kinzaki: 'Golden seated heart'. For the first time, I'm not taking the blame for this name, because this one just popped out of my head. Really. Oh yeah, and doctors are allowed to have nice names too. :)

kin: gold
za: seat
ki: heart, mind, spirit, feelings

(2) What does all of this gibberish mean? OK...since I can't explain this all too well, I'm copying it down word for word:

All years were chosen by the ruling Emperor. A catastrophe or a godsend might end an era or begin one, at his whim. Scholars were ordered to select a name of a particularly good omen from the ancient books of China for a new era that might last a year or fifty years.

Each year was given a number as well as a nameone of the same succession as the hours of the day. The first year of the Tensho had fallen on the year of the cock, so it followed that 1576 was the year of the Rat in the Fourth Year of Tensho.

OK... so I'm not particularly sure if 1600's was still 'the year of the Tensho' of if there ever was a 'year of the tensho', I got this from Shogun, and that's not very reliable, but I have to have SOME thing.

(3) A stick is how they measured time then. It is a rough estimate on how long an incense stick burns which is roughly equivalent to an hour. I still refer to 'hours' when it's the narration though.

(4) Was amnesia known at that particular time? To be honest, I don't really know, but the Eastern countries have proven to be far more advanced in medicine than any of the Western countries, so it is possible they know this ailment, but not to term it 'amnesia'. Still for plot purposes, it's amnesia.

(5) Sara: although it does seam English, it's Japanese, it means dish, plate or tray. (whichever you prefer still suits my needs)

(6) Ifuku: dress, clothes.

(7) Hinoki: Japanese cypress, the best is often used in shrine architecture.

(8) Shoji... um paper doors, if you don't know them, slide in and out of place. In the hot summer days, most move it out of the house to let the cool air come in. When an important daimyo came to town, they rearranged the shoji so the daimyo has the center and biggest
room of the house.

(9) Cha-no-yu: The formalized tea ceremony. Sometimes referred to as chanoyu.

(10) What's a takonama? It's this small alcove in the main room where they place the flower arrangement and a scroll hanging, usually where the swords of a samurai of the house were placed.

(11) What is an ikebana arrangement? It's the art of flower arranging grouped into four kinds (to which I will not delve into in the moment). The goal is to arrange the flowers to represent heaven, earth and humanity. Proficiency in the arts improve marriage
prospects for the ladies.

Author's notes:

Hmmm, this is a revised edition made on June 25, 2003. Mostly I took out the silly looking parentheses in the middle that made it look like a half baked narration.

If you didn't know, originally this was set in the 1600's Virginia etc etc (because it was based in When there is Hope). However I brought on the challenge of changing it into 1600's Japan to add difference because it ran so much like the original book. (I had to research a lot). Anyway, that is the reason why there is a discrepancy on the dojo scene with Akane looking on the dojo. Although the description of the dojo was added, mostly Akane was saying she was looking at a library which threw off the entire sequence. I fixed that.

Also I found a few things that needed explanation.

On references... sigh OK here goes:

Shogun: Minor details. Hey, it's useful.
Kasaysayan ng Mundo: OK so it's my second year text book. So what I'm 15 I'm gonna be a senior, where else will I get it?

Webster's Dictionary: Now you know why I sound like a dictionary Japan Hanbook: Little ittie bittie info I could never do without

All other little ittie bittie info I found will be stated in the endnotes.

If you don't read endnotes, well that's fine with me also. :)

There, now we're finished :)

iCe

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e-mail: siuane at gmail dot com
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I write when the spirit moves, and I make sure it moves every day.