[FFML] [Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 47 - When Free Is The Severest Price

[Daniel Jess Gibson]

[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 47 -
When Free Is The Severest Price
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.

C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments (AT) worldnet (DOT) att.net
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(these are the most updated versions)

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ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Sem
per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)

What has gone before:
About Book 11 of the Tankoubon Manga, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma
out of the house. Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet
EVA pilots Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffrey
Davis.
With the aid of a narrow board and two sawhorses, Asuka begins
teaching Ranma both sword fighting, and how to teach. Only he believes his
first class with the others was an unmitigated disaster.
Asuka contracts Keiichi and his sister to construct several bicycles
for the pilots. She shoots a bug and has her second clash with Skuld.
All four senators from Wyoming and Massachusetts begin investigating
the Boston incident and Misato's part in it. Admiral Simson scrambles to
begin his own investigation of what has been happening in NERV before and
after the war. Shinji and Rei console and watch over Misato.
Asuka and Ranma wash each others hair, Shinji washes Rei's. They
discuss children while doing this. Asuka doesn't want the responsibility,
Rei appreciates her advice.
Aboard the Bennington, Jeff meets with one of his patrons and receives
an update on Sharon. Nabiki is coming to realize the differences in the
way the military treats her and the other pilots.
Major ggreg and Adam Smith arrive, to cover their `spying` on NERV,
they will teach Nabiki and Jeff about explosives. Ritsuko investigates the
unusual way Jeff syncs with the EVA, she is terrified by the
contact. Later she realizes the spirits power the EVAs. Nabiki and Maya
train to operate firearms.
Jeff and the Scholarly Dragon teach Nabiki about control of her
dreams, the Scholarly Dragon prevents a dream attack by Usagi and company.
Admiral Simson asks about Jeff siccing the Senators on Misato, he did
so because the Navy stonewalled his investigation.
Nabiki adds hand-to-hand training with the rifle.
Nabiki discusses Hiroko's death with several of her
instructors. Ritsuko looks over Jeff and Nabiki as Nabiki comes under
dream attack.
Joma and Ritsuko discuss the desires of made things for their
creators/users.
The pilots and guards reminisce about the events of the previous weeks
with Belldandy, Sora and Megumi while taking a cooking lesson. The day
ends with a bug attack on Keiichi's home being destroyed by the pilots and
their guards.
Usagi and company summon a strike force of Dark Young, dholes,
shantaks and Hunting Horrors. For a short time the EVAs and the pilots are
caught off stride. Once they regained the upper hand, they never released
it. Ranma used baseball techniques, Shinji uses Ranma's accidental attack
on him to lure the enemy in close. Rei guides Asuka to restrain one dhole
until the Navy, Shinji and Ranma can arrive to finish it and the other one
off.
The Twins watches the summoning and draws its own plans against the
EVAs, pilots and NERV.
The pilots go over Misato's head to participate in rescue operations.
Ranma begins teaching the others the insult techniques that are part
of his art. He also senses Asuka growing injuries, cause by ignoring her
own limitations and trying to keep up with him. He disobeys her demand,
and heals her injuries. She accuses him of using his Code of Honor to
justify any action he cares to take. Ranma attempts to discover a way make
things right, while Rei tests methods of returning Asuka to normal.


Jacob's heart bent with fear, like a bow with death for its arrow; in vain
he searched for the final truth, to set his soul free of doubt.
Over the mountains he walked, with his head bent searching for reasons;
then he called out to God for help, and climbed to the top of a hill.

Wind swept the sunlight through the wheatfield; in the orchard, the
nightingale sang, while the plums that she broke with her brown beak,
tomorrow, would turn into songs.

Then she flew up through the rain, with the sun silver-bright on her
feathers.
Jacob put back his frowns and sighed, and walked back down the hill, 'God
doesn't answer me, and He never will.'
Nightingale - Judy Collins

We Are One And Indivisible
July 25, 1947
Rei opened her eyes.
I am Rei, she thought as she examined her hands and arms. She'd
expected something different, something more dramatic.
The bodies strewn about her feet were the only real change.
They live, she told herself, she knew that as well as she felt her
fingertips. Their memories were hers, their power was hers.
"Not they, I," she said, and laughed. Laughed at how ridiculous and
how joyous the world was, laughed at all the tender and foolish moments
that slipped effortlessly, automatically into place. No longer just data,
dry facts, events and dates. But the feelings, emotions of all their
existences. She felt as she had before that terrible day. The world made
an awful, gut-twisting kind of sense, but it was comprehensible again.
"Finally," she said as she surveyed her `kingdom`. That too was
worthy of laughter, and received a full measure. She had foolishly
believed that reducing complex things to their basic parts, and studying
them individually would give her insights into their true nature.
Now as facets of _her_ she'd thought lost or unattainable slid by each
other and into place, she understood that the pieces moving against and
among each other was the key. The key to all of it.
"Now I must go among the others," she told herself. There was no
longer any hint of `they`, only she, one and unified. She wished she could
stay this way forever, or better yet, combine with the other pilots this
way. She knew she couldn't, it was not what was agreed upon and that alone
would spark a rebellion, the others `Reis` would never surrender their
individuality for any length of time. Once the job was done and they
separated, they could decide to reintegrate and leave separateness behind.
----------------------------------------
The old man in the uniform and the G.I. pot helmet looked like he
belonged there in the infirmary waiting room. Except Tomiyo knew the man
made a habit of looking and acting like he not only belonged where ever he
was, but that when he arrived, he was in charge.
"Father." Tomiyo stood, bowed. The man had been a good cop both
before and during the war. He had high hopes that his son would follow in
his footsteps. Now the old man worked with the U.S. Marines, because of
his background and good English, and because they were about the only real
`cops` still around.
"You let them get away from you." His father, Minayo, fixed his glare
on Tomiyo, Sammi and Erin.
"They weren't exactly kidnaped," Tomiyo said quietly.
"And just who are you to be here asking questions?" Erin challenged.
"I'm the translator assigned by Naval Intelligence to assist their
investigations into who did this."
"Cthulhu," Rei said as she walked by the door to the lounge. It gave
Tomiyo a little hope as Minayo jumped at Rei's pronouncement.
"Young lady, Miss Ayanami, would you care to elaborate?" Minayo asked
as he headed after Rei.
"No."
"This is part of an official investigation - "
"No."
"That's - Tendo Minayo . . . my father," Tomiyo explained.
"Oh," Erin said.
"Thank you for clearing that up. Why couldn't I have stayed asleep?"
Sammi asked.
"Oh, don't worry," Tomiyo assured them, "It will get worse."
----------------------------------------
Nabiki chuckled at the uneven contest. She did not want to explain
the neko-ken to Raccoon, but she could still enjoy Mr. 'I am In Control'
getting dragged by the collar of his pajamas across the floor and into the
`nest` of bedding they had. Nabiki wasn't going to explain why Ranma was
dragging him with his mouth and walking on all fours.
The way his pigtail is lashing, it isn't as easy as it looks, Nabiki
thought.
Raccoon suddenly tried to sweep `Ranma-neko's` front legs, the cat
dodged easily, but it prevented him from using them for traction. Now that
he had a slight advantage, Raccoon grabbed Ranma around the waist and
picked him up off the ground. Against a real cat, it might have worked,
but Raccoon had placed Ranma into his art's specialty, the arena Ranma
regularly trained in. Ranma-neko twisted suddenly. Raccoon shouted his
surprise. Both landed in the bed, Ranma curled around to take the majority
of the impact, and to keep Raccoon's head and neck from suffering any
impact or twisting.
She watched Raccoon look around in shock, he'd traveled over 4 meters
and arrived without more than a minor bruise or two. Ranma seemed to hang
in that pose, curled around Raccoon's head like a crash helmet, for quite a
while, then he relaxed, slowly uncoiled and looked around.
"Uh, um, what's goin' on - ?" he asked.
"You don't know?!" Raccoon asked archly.
"Uh, no, not really." Ranma looked at her while he smiled nervously
and tugged at his pigtail, she shrugged. Raccoon stood up and took a step.
"I wouldn't, if I were you," Nabiki warned as Raccoon approached the
edge. Nabiki didn't know why the Neko-ken was so insistent on them sharing
the bed. She'd only seen the Neko-ken before, when Ranma was terrified by
cats, and it was an extremely dangerous combatant. She'd never seen it
spontaneously take control, nor fight in so rational, dogged and careful a
manner. She glanced at Ranma, who seemed utterly mesmerized by the other
boy's indecision. Nabiki wondered why Raccoon taking another step mattered
so much.
Raccoon decided, wisely, not to risk it. He lay down so she was
`sandwiched` between Ranma and Raccoon. She decided she could _probably_
trust them, if either moved alone, they would be facing her and the other
boy. If they acted together . . . she thought, Yeah, right, knowing these
two it could be very . . . enjoyable. She could imagine how their
competitive natures and their 'I don't hurt girls' attitude would -
combined and enhance - things. She smiled at that thought. Not likely,
she silently lamented, But I can dream, can't I?
----------------------------------------
Gendo sat alone in his office. The staff meeting had gone poorly, as
was to be expected. When no one really knew anything, they all guessed and
hoped for the best. He wanted Dr. Akagi to return. She'd been a level
head, and her knowledge of the ways and means of the Elder Things had been
invaluable. Gendo heard his office door open and close, then the soft foot
steps.
"Commander, I need to know about the Mi-Go, their base on the moon,
and their capabilities," Rei said as she walked across the
Sephiroth-incised floor, "And I need to know _now_!_"
Gendo turned to glare at her, and remind her not to take that tone
with him or . . . then he looked into her eyes and the stare faltered, the
words wouldn't come. Her eyes were jet-black with the faintest hint of
yellow, white, red and blue dots scattered through the ebon expanse. He
dragged his mind away from that yawning darkness. It's like looking at a
piece of deep space! he thought as he covered his eyes to avoid falling
into that abyss again. His other hand slipped into his pocket and the
weapon he carried there. "Why do you need to know?" he asked, desperate to
buy time while he figured out what had happened, and what he could do about
it.
"Destroying them will return the pilots to where they belong," Rei
told him, staring at him with her starscape eyes.
Gendo nodded, he understood now, "The Mi-Go, or Fungi from Yuggoth are
a race of interstellar plunderers, if they actually _have_ a homeworld, it
is not recorded," Gendo began. The void of those eyes seemed to demand
that emptiness be filled.
----------------------------------------
Not Recompense, But A Love Gift
Ranko lay in bed. She cuddled up next to Raccoon. She felt the cold
spot on his arm fade, indicating the spell was fading. She ran her fingers
over the area in little circles, adding Ki as she did. 'Healing spells
redirect cell growth, repairing the damage,' Raccoon had explained to
her. The strength of the spell depended, or rather the power of the
healing depended, on the energy that could be left with the cells. Since
Raccoon had used up all but a trickle of his power, he could only do a
minor healing of the extensive burns he had suffered.
But if I can add Ki to the cells, give them more energy, then the
healing can be more complete, she thought. So far it appeared to be
working.
'Gently,' Raccoon had told her when she'd tried to preprepare an
area. It required a painful level of Ki to flood the area. She idly
wondered if she should have taken this current approach with Asuka.
"Don't you need to rest?" Nab-chan asked from her position behind and
with her arms around Ranko. The fear that the Nerimaniacs would find them
had faded. The other had made that clear to one interloper, and it
`insisted` all three of them sleep together. Ranko didn't trust it,
although all it `demanded` was that they sleep in the same bed. It only
`suggested` they do more than sleep, suggestions that would make a sailor
blush. I don't know about that stuff, Ranko thought, How does _IT_
know? Like with Nab-chan pressed up and rubbing against her back, it took
a great deal of concentration to keep doing what she was doing, and not
change to Ranma and do something the other would heartily approve of.
"Not really, this . . . helps," she explained, felt Nab-chan relax and
cuddle tighter against her, which was definitely a test of concentration,
whether Nab-chan intended it that way or not. Ranko knew Nab-chan would
soon be asleep. Doing this did help. The events today had traumatized
Ranko far worse than it had Raccoon, healing the injuries he'd gotten
helped that trauma far more than anything else. So did having two people
who cared about her surrounding her this way.
Today had been a nightmare beyond all imagining. Ranma had been
waiting outside a burning building, an animal clinic. Raccoon had
_ordered_ him to stay out, but was called away before he could explain
why. Ranko realized she should have guessed the obvious reason. The nut
with the laugh and the ribbon had broken off her battle with the baker's
peel-wielder to attack, or attach, 'Ranma-sama'. Said Ranma-sama had
assumed jumping into the spray of a firehose would throw her off the
trail. It hadn't, and had added the nut with the wooden sword to the
chase. The surprise mauling Ranko got from the sword wielder was far worse
than what Ranma had done to Asuka, and now Ranma could understand why she'd
get so crazy about it. One pervert and one homicidal maniac, the burning
building looked a lot more attractive. So she charged in.
The idiots did not, and were quite vociferous about their explanations
of their and her motives. They never guessed it was to get away from
_them_. Ranko thought as she hunted the next cold spot, running her fingers
over the cloth of Raccoon's pajamas.
Raccoon had passed her on the way out, carrying a couple of staff
members. Again he warned Ranko off. Ranko headed into an area not
affected by the fire and relatively clear of smoke. A couple of men
working on a locked/jammed door attracted her attention. Ranko's luck was
running true to form, as always. Ranko easily smashed through the door,
and landed amid the very heart of the abyss.
Cats, she thought and shuddered, Raccoon tightened his grip on her and
Nab-chan snuggled closer, although both were soundly asleep. Frightened by
the smoke, the strange noises, the cries of other animals and the damage to
their cages, they had turned to face this new unknown. They were as
terrified of her as she was of them, and just as ready to attack. If it
_had_ been a fight, she would have released the other. But in a burning
building, filled with smoke and other dangers, she didn't dare, she
couldn't trust what it would do. Even if it could successfully escape.
Raccoon had appeared, clamped his SCBA mask over her face and slung
her over his shoulder, completely blocking out the sight and smell of the
room's other occupants. [SCBA: Self Contained Breathing Apparatus]
She still had enough steadiness of mind to cover the faceplate with
the tails of his suit coat and hum real loud to block the sound. Ranko had
no idea how Raccoon or anyone else had managed to rescue the other
denizens. Since they had not harmed anyone, she couldn't imagine that he
could leave them there or let them run loose into the fire.
But when she'd regained enough emotional control, she had awoken in
the safety of the medical tent. The operation was over, and she was
safe. Raccoon had gotten badly burned in a few places, but had insisted on
returning home.
Typical, she thought as she added Ki to another fading cold-spot, This
would be a lot easier if he just let me take off his shirt, she thought,
What's he afraid I'll see? Ranma's got everything he's got.
Ranko guessed he'd used up most of his magic in the
operation. Although Raccoon healed quickly, but it was nothing like Ranko
or Nab-chan did, unless he could use his magic. And Ranko had clearly
overheard the warnings to Raccoon by the doctors about the dangers of
burns. Ranko wanted them healed quickly and completely.
It also helped her to know she could help him, that he wanted and
welcomed her help. It feels good, she thought of the warm bodies warming
her skin, doing something to help a friend. It helped drive back the
terrifying memories of the day. It wasn't giri, Raccoon would never accept
such a thing, his giri was to protect Ranma and his/her 'hidden
depths'. If that was the case, Ranma felt he'd better damn well prove that
he had them. Making sure her 'knight-in-tweed-armor' survived to fight
another day was a good step. So while the other two slept, she hunted cold
spots, and as they warmed, she added Ki. Eventually exhaustion drained
her, but she felt like she had accomplished something.
----------------------------------------
Rei felt Shinji-kun's lips find her nipple and begin to drink
hungrily. The power she'd taken from him in his blood, she'd mixed with
the power of all the other Reis, and now was flowing back into him, like
milk into a newborn. She idly wished she could have added the strength of
the other pilots, but she hadn't been able to find them. Her fingers
tangled with his hair, holding him to her, she desperately wanted more than
these moments, she wanted him inside her, she wanted some greater proof of
their feelings for each other.
But that is not our purpose, she thought as she grew weaker, her
combining with the others was also failing, It will last long enough.
The exhaustion was now physically painful. Shinji-kun seemed to sense
her weakness, he broke contact and looked at her. She pulled his face
towards hers. He kissed her eagerly, she wanted that to continue, but she
was running out of time.
She broke off the kiss. "This will . . . " she began apologetically,
she hated this, but it was necessary, "Hurt, please trust me."
She waited for him to nod before she continued. She could feel the
power massing at his shoulder blades, her power, their power, it knew what
was needed. She touched his back to release it. She caught him as pain
and the balance change disoriented him. Then she helped him to his feet as
his wings slowly spread and flexed. He picked her up, his arms and wings
holding her tightly against him, in size she was more his child than his
lover.
She was left behind as he raced towards the moon, his next battle
field. She thought it terribly unfair that he would go alone into such a
pit of corruption. She couldn't follow, she felt herself, themselves,
returning from whence they came.
----------------------------------------
It Does Not Grow As You Wish
"Do you know how to cook a frog?" Raccoon asked.
"You always have the most interesting pillow talk," Nab-chan
complained, as she lay between Raccoon and Ranma. Ranma had admitted what
had happened between him and Asuka on the roof. He'd lost his nerve before
he told them about the bathroom confrontation.
"We'll just wait for you to go to sleep, so we can watch the
striptease," Raccoon commented.
Nab-chan blushed, pulled away all the covers and rolled up in them.
Ranma still didn't understand why Nab-chan even bothered with pajamas
or underwear. More often than not, they wound up scattered all over the
room. Raccoon had even plotted which sleeping arrangements were most
likely to induce the behavior. Nab-chan in the middle, Ran_ko_ cuddled up
with her head on Nab-chan's shoulder, Raccoon behind Nab-chan with his arms
holding all three together, guaranteed not only would Nab-chan be naked,
but she'd be wrapped around Ran_ko_ like a creeper. Raccoon called
Nab-chan 'Kudzu-kun' the first time it happened. Nab-chan hid in the
bathroom for over an hour the first time. The next time, they made
Nab-chan wear a bra, a belt with a very complicated buckle and boots, not
the slip-on kind but heavy workboots with lots of eyelets and long
laces. Raccoon had tied the laces into nearly impenetrable
knots. Nab-chan managed to get loose of all of it, and wrapped herself
almost as impenetrably around Ranko, all without waking either of her
bedmates.
Waking to that made Nab-chan hide in the pantry for two
hours. Getting her out from behind all the canned goods had taken another
hour. Ranma hadn't figured out why _Ranko_ elicited that behavior. Ranma
wasn't sure if he should be happy a pretty girl crawled all over him, or
that she only did it when he was a girl and there was another guy around.
One that you like having around, `Ranko` added. He couldn't figure
out if Nab-chan was competing, showing off, acting out what she wanted, or
what. Nab-chan couldn't be made to talk about it and neither Ranko nor
Raccoon had the guts to `accept` the offer or go any further, and Nab-chan
seemed mortified by her actions. Whether it was that she didn't want
anyone knowing how much she wanted to be held, or that she obviously wanted
a lot more than just being held, wasn't something any of the three of them
wanted to investigate. Nab-chan didn't want to talk about it, Raccoon had
confided in Ranko that the behavior was a much younger child trying to get
what it needed with a different set of tools. Offering sex to get
companionship, or just acting out against some standard that she couldn't
oppose, were just two examples of many possibilities, too complicated for
even Raccoon to unravel. Ranma needed no reminder to let Nab-chan work it
out herself. After what had happened with Asuka, Ranma wanted to take it
very carefully with Nab-chan.
"What does cooking frogs have to do with anything?" Ranma asked.
"Do you cook a frog by dropping him in hot or boiling water?" Raccoon
asked.
"I'd think he'd jump out," Nab-chan said from within the cocoon of
blankets.
"Exactly, you cook a frog in warm or cold water, and you warm it up
slowly," Raccoon explained, "So by the time he realizes he's being cooked,
he's already _been_ cooked."
"Fascinating," Ranma yawned, "What does that have to do with
anything?"
"Presentation and preparation. You cooked your frog by throwing her
in boiling water and standing on the lid until she quit trying to get out
after battering herself insensate against the lid. A better approach would
have been to hold her hand, soothing that as best you could, and asked
permission to go further."
"And just let her suffer?! You are supposed to be her friend!" Ranma
angrily shouted at him.
"Yes, because that lets her feel she still has some control. I can't
overpower you, but I can pile facts and informed opinion on top of a
request until you agree to warming the water your froggy-self is in, a
little. Then I start again to get a little more. Politicians and Radicals
have been doing this for years. 'I only want that,' and when you give it
to them, they come back with 'I only want this', until they've gotten
nearly everything they wanted. I know, you couldn't do that. It's not in
your character."
"That's right." Ranma was horrified that he'd suggest letting anyone,
especially a girl, suffer like that, when helping her was something so
trivially easy. "She coulda got hurt real bad, and I was suppose ta sit
there and allow it?"
"No, but destroying the trust between you two, was it worth it?"
Raccoon asked.
Ranma didn't think it was, but couldn't see any other way out of it.
"Zero sum game, how little can you lose," Nab-chan said quietly, "June
15th." She turned away from both Ranma and Raccoon.
Ranma shuddered at that. I'll _never_ forget the fighting that day,
he thought, Then days later, finding out the real cost. "So I have to live
with it," Ranma said morosely, staring up at the ceiling.
"Death is the only alternative," Raccoon said, "And I don't recommend
that."
Ranma frowned. "I think I got that part."
"Fine, you got it," Nab-chan said with her face buried in the pillow
and the covers, "GOTOSLEEP!"
"You know we outnumber her," Ranma said as he raised himself up on his
elbow and gazed down at Nab-chan's cocoon. A singled worried eye regarded
him out of the wrappings, "And she _does_ have all the blankets." Ranma
had practically heard Nab-chan's eyes snap open. She wouldn't know exactly
what they would do, but she'd be thinking about it. All three of them knew
how ticklish Nab-chan was, for example.
"Ranma," Raccoon scolded as he mirrored Ranma's pose, "Don't threaten
her. We should get some sleep. No matter how cold it is and how miserable
we'll be, we can thank her . . . later."
The eye disappeared, its companion was probably studying the other
boy.
Ranma smiled, he suspected that Nab-chan would be waiting for that
punishment on tenterhooks, for _days_.
Nab-chan gasped as both of them independently closed in on her.
"Share the blankets - " Raccoon began.
"And a truce until after breakfast," Ranma completed. There was a
very rapid shuffling as Nab-chan bought herself a decent night's sleep.
Ranma remembered all the `lessons` about the little gifts girls liked
to get, he wondered if Nab-chan would be happy to get - flowers,
chocolates, stuffed animals, etc. - all delivered anonymously, for a couple
of days.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki stared at what looked like a Setsubun festival gone mad. That
it was Raccoon as the primary combatant was further evidence of the
insanity. Ranma sat at the edge of the battlefield, watching intently.
"What's going on?" Nabiki asked the martial artist, then she suddenly
realized the entire `defense` team were all sitting there watching as
Raccoon shouted 'Good luck IN, BAD luck OUT!' as he pelted his targets with
handfuls of beans from a wooden box.
"Ranma," Nabiki said, as she worried about their roommate, "I think
you'd better go help."
"Which side?" Ranma commented, raised a plate to her, "Tea snacks?"
Nabiki looked around the battlefield as a handful of thrown beans
shredded a defender's shield, a huge paper umbrella, like a shotgun
blast. The unconscious bodies strewn about included none of the defense
team, they were all the same wizened figures. The wooden spoons sticking
out of his coat and hat, and tea powder that made Raccoon look like a dusty
porcupine, hadn't diminished his ferocity one little bit.
"He's winning?" Nabiki asked with a mix of amazement and
horror. Ranko had been schooling him every morning and evening in the
art. Mainly as an excuse for a three-way tickle fight, Nabiki thought
disapprovingly, She could at least _try_!_ But this - couldn't be.
"I ain't goin' out there," Ranma said, "Either I'm target, or I'm in
his way." Raccoon chased down one of the gray-hairs who wouldn't stand up
to run, but remaining seated hadn't diminished her speed either.
Ranma explained while Raccoon deluged his target with beans and the
same shout, "I thought they had a pretty good Art, then Raccoon started
tearing them apart," Ranma said, "Tea?" he offered from a thermos.
"This is delicious," Nabiki said as she savored the tea.
"Spoils of war," he said as he sipped tea and munched snacks.
"Until he runs out of beans," Nabiki said worriedly.
"Oh, got the _second_ grandmaster, the rest don't have a prayer now,"
Ranma commented expertly, "The box, naw, he should have emptied it a dozen
times over, I don't think it empties."
"Oh." Nabiki sat down next to Ranma to watch, both Raccoon in combat
and Ranma's rapt analysis. Ranma seemed almost meditating as he studied
the fighting, tactics and techniques.
"I do think you could stop this fight," Nabiki said, she doubted that
Raccoon would attack Ranma.
" 'Kay," Ranma said quietly, obviously disappointed.
"_HEY_YOU_JERKS_!_ _Apologize_and_offer_to_pay_damages_," he shouted
at the top of his lungs, "_Especially_his_HAT_!" Ranma bellowed louder,
"_THEN_he'll_let_you_surrender_!_"
Nabiki took her fingers out of her ears, her head was still
ringing. "That isn't what I meant," she told him angrily.
"You're welcome," Ranma said, smirked.
"What kind of art _is_ this?" Nabiki asked, she thought she knew, but
couldn't believe it.
"Martial Arts Tea Ceremony," Ranma said offhandedly, "Too many holes
though."
"Martial arts tea ceremony?" Nabiki asked, "Then he's throwing . . .
?"
"Yeah, coffee beans."
----------------------------------------
Simplicity May Veil A Subtle Complexity
Ranma looked at Raccoon lying in the middle of the floor, reading a
book. Part of what Raccoon had told `Ranko` was that you got someone used
to something _sllloooowwwly_. Like get them used to it piece-by-piece.
He had tea and some cookies he'd just finished baking. He stopped,
stared around the kitchen. I'm baking cookies to share with another
_guy_!_ Ranma realized, then instantly and mercilessly crushed the protest
and his revulsion at the idea. He paused to analyze what Raccoon and
Nab-chan had tricked him into doing, as he would a fighting
maneuver. They'd set the idea in his head with a series of suggestions,
letting him assemble them, until he jumped to a conclusion without really
thinking about it. I guess it works, he sighed and admitted, then he
continued his preparations. So it should work on Raccoon. He'd decided he
needed to do something about the wary stalemate between the two of
them. He poured the tea into two cups, set them and the plate of cookies
on a tray. He walked into the living room, there he set the tray down at a
point where he and Raccoon could easily reach it, then he lay down, resting
his head on Raccoon's legs. He closed his eyes and began meditating, and
waited.
He felt a slight rise in tension in Raccoon, a slight shifting to
accommodate the weight, then only the sound of turning pages. Ranma
relaxed, he let himself drop deeper into meditation, extending his senses,
to become `aware` of his surroundings without letting the data disturb
him. He'd picked this time because he knew an artillery barrage wouldn't
disturb Raccoon when he was reading, a direct hit would be required and
that was the last thing Ranma wanted. Ranma heard the steady consumption
of the tea, the cookies, and the book. But no other noises.
He waited, unmoving, trying to make himself, if not nonthreatening,
then at least inoffensive.
Then Nab-chan arrived. He was about ready to speak when Nab-chan
walked into the living room, spotted the tea, the L-shaped arrangement of
her roommates, then she locked onto the cookies. She flopped down on the
floor and lay down on Raccoon as well. Ranma froze, if Nab-chan had laid
down somewhere `inappropriate` it would destroy the entire
operation. Ranma kept his eyes clamped shut, tried to act as if he hadn't
noticed.
"And what are _you_ doing?" Raccoon's tone would have frozen a typhoon
solid.
Ranma risked a glance over. Nab-chan had draped herself over Raccoon,
lying face down across his stomach. "Nobody's drinking that tea," she said
nonchalantly, drinking the second cup of tea, "Seems a shame to let it go
to waste." She set the empty tea cup back, then settled in with her head
on Raccoon's hip. "Besides, Ranma's going to tell us something momentous,"
she said as she munched a cookie, "These are pretty good."
"Yes they are," Raccoon added, "Thank you."
"Thank you," Ranma replied and relaxed a bit.
"Besides, throw pillows don't talk," Nab-chan ordered, "Speak, Ranma."
From Raccoon's expression, Ranma guessed that another definition of
'throw pillow' was about to be unleashed upon the world. Then Raccoon
considered a better way to get his revenge, later. "Very well, what is it
you wanted to speak about?"
Ranma relaxed, a bit, just because it wasn't a disaster _now_ didn't
mean it wouldn't be a disaster in a few minutes. "I can't change back, in
the Real World," he said.
"All life can change," Raccoon replied, "Adaptation is one of the
characteristics of living things."
Oh brother! Ranma thought, he glanced at Nab-chan, who seemed equally
disgusted, but she just shrugged at him. Oh, he doesn't want to give up
the game. Well neither do I, he'll just have to keep up. "I mean I'm
stuck as a girl."
"Well, it's about time!" Miss Tendo said.
"Bess, please, can you imagine how traumatic it would be for poor
Ranma to be stuck as, and I quote 'A weak and defenseless little girl'
unquote? Men making lewd remarks, people staring, pawing, groping."
Ranma almost wished Raccoon had turned furry and started meowing
instead, it would have been less frightening. Then he considered _his_
reaction to Ranko getting groped, etc., it seemed Ranko wasn't as afraid of
it as `he` was. And how scared Asuka was about the same activity. It was
definitely something to consider.
"Do you suppose that had something to do with the incident with
Langley?" Raccoon asked.
"I don't see why not," Miss Tendo responded, "Run away, analyze the
situation, then come back and attack it a new way. My dad used to say that
was a tenet of our family's art."
"Makes sense," Raccoon considered, "I did some tests with Ranko, to
examine the bleed over from Nyogtha. She had some very limited stretching
abilities. Sure you were piloting, Ranma not her, so your abilities should
be much greater."
"What are you talking about?" Nabiki grilled Raccoon as she turned and
sat up to stare aghast at Raccoon, then at Ranma.
Ranma liked how cute Nab-chan looked when she was working out a
difficult problem.
"You mean piloting changes you?" Nab-chan asked, now she looked
worried.
"It's impossible to destroy the real substance of a Great Old One, or
an Outer God. That's probably true of an Elder God as well . . . no, bad
thought, Saotome absorbing the essence of Bast, I don't want to think about
it. The explosion would wipe out half the human race, melt the polar ice
caps, destroy the climate, and turn the rest of the population into
obsessed, angst-ridden whiners. No, too terrible to contemplate."
Nab-chan wasn't willing to let go, or be distracted. "Let's get back
to piloting changing you!"
"Piloting changes you slightly, killing our enemies are where the real
changes come in."
"That's why they came to kill you," Nab-chan breathed, then covered
her mouth in horror, glancing at Ranma and Raccoon.
"_WHAT_?_!_" Ranma shouted as he sat up, he could hear the 'other'
yowling in fury, maneuvering to be let out to kill those interlopers.
"A team was sent by the British to deduce my `reliability`, I passed,
or I wouldn't be here," Raccoon said offhandedly, not even bothering to sit
up.
"Would you at least _act_ as if getting killed matters to you?!"
Nab-chan shouted angrily at him while poking his chest to emphasize her
words.
"No," he replied with unruffled calm, "Our job is to hunt and kill
monstrous threats to the human race. If I became one, shouldn't I welcome
my death?"
"No," she said angrily and flopped back down so she was next to him,
not on him. She crossed her arms under her breasts, a fierce expression on
her face as she stared at the ceiling. Ranma recognized the effort to
sidetrack the conversation, as well as the nugget of information left in
the open.
" 'Nyogtha, ever-fluid, ever-changing,'" he said quietly, "That's
about what she said."
"Sounds about right. Nyogtha was without fixed form," Raccoon said,
"It makes sense you would have absorbed part of that, along with Unit 01."
"You mean the EVAs absorb it too?" Nab-chan asked as she sat up again.
"The original assumption was the EVA would absorb the powers, the
pilot would absorb the intellect," Raccoon explained, "Although since that
isn't true, I wonder how much of the intellect the EVA absorbs."
"We're getting off subject," Ranma reminded them, "You're saying . . .
I can change shape . . . that I did this - to myself? But how come I don't
change with water? Or anything?"
"What?" Raccoon sat up to stare at him.
That got Raccoon's attention, Ranma thought. "Yeah, I'm getting
splashed, left, right and center, hot _and_ cold."
"Both hot _and_ cold, now that _is_ interesting." Raccoon stared off
into space, fixed on the problem and the solution, somewhere in the
distance.
"Don't tell me _now_ you believe in the curse?!" Nab-chan said in an
annoyed tone as she turned her back on him.
"I wouldn't consider being able to change genders at will a
curse. But doing it when you can't control it, that I would consider a
curse. Imagine that you're in your ninth month of pregnancy."
Ranma would rather imagine wearing a suit made out of live . . . those
furry things.
"And you get splashed, do you still have the baby when you change
back? It's probably something that would bother Ranko, look how concerned
Ranma is about it," Raccoon said as he pointed at Ranma, "After all, Ranko
wants you to be the father of her children."
Nab-chan obviously remembered the conversation with Ranko months ago,
turning an extremely green color was a dead give away.
"Nab-chan!" Ranma said indignantly, "Two-timing on me! And with
Ranko! I'm hurt!"
The clenching of her fists and the narrowing of her eyes told him that
Nab-chan was back to normal. He quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, yes, I've been getting splashed by water, hot and cold, and I
didn't change. Asuka went through a bunch of household chemicals, none of
those made me change, although they were all hot."
"Well, if you absorbed more of Nyogtha's nature, I'd say that for some
reason you're using that power to remain a girl," Raccoon said, wearing an
expression of intense concentration.
Ranma was aware of a faint chill coursing through him that had nothing
to do with his incipient murder at Nab-chan's hands. Analysis spell, Ranma
thought, then caught the faint shrug from Raccoon, He sees it, but he can't
explain it, Ranma comprehended.
"What does concern me is the water bit. You'd think if you had this
problem, I'd have used a spell or something to prevent that from
occurring. Getting drenched repeatedly is nothing to ignore. It could
result in colds, influenza, minor burns, a whole host of other medical
problems, especially in combination," Raccoon continued.
Nab-chan was frustrated enough to practically twist herself, or both
boys, into the ground. "I thought you said you didn't believe in the
curse," Nab-chan confronted Raccoon face to face.
He pointedly looked down the front of her shirt before replying. "You
ate all the cookies," Raccoon accused back, "Of course I believe in the
curse! Ranma becomes Ranko when struck by cold water. Shinji-the-meek
becomes Shinji-the-maniac when struck with L.C.L., Langley-the-Barbarian
becomes Langley-the-Librarian when struck with math problems, the list goes
on. Immerse her in real responsibilities and people she cares about, and
Tendo Nabiki goes from being a two-bit grifter to a young woman Admirals
and Generals and Heads of State respect and admire."
Ranma backed away from the pair as fast as he could, without
attracting their attention. He wasn't sure if Nab-chan was going to tear
Raccoon into pieces, or burst into tears, she seemed to be seesawing in
between. Right now Ranma's money was on 'both'.
Nab-chan settled for a frown at that, and at Raccoon's continuing
smile.
Ranma suspected that the war had paused, and it would return with a
decision later. Ranma was jealous of Raccoon's ability to drop a bomb like
that and survive the aftermath.
"If we dumped some Jusenkyo water on him, what do you think would
happen?" Nab-chan asked angrily, but still on the verge of tears. Ranma
was confused.
"I get the idea it wouldn't bother him. BUT the
_point_I'm_trying_to_make_," he ended up screaming at them, "Is what
happened, and what do I do about it?"
"What did Langley and Rei-san say about it?" Raccoon asked, ignoring
Nab-chan trying to stare a hole in his head.
Ranma told them, mimicking their voices and postures as he did.
"That's weird," Nab-chan commented, shaking her head.
"No it isn't," Ranma said in Nab-chan's voice and posture.
"Knock it off!" she complained.
"I think he does Rei-san pretty good, but Ranko does her
better. Rei-san also made some good points," Raccoon said, "Can you think
of a reason why you'd _want_ to be a girl, and don't think with just your
instincts, read your body and everyone elses who knows about the change."
Ranma bit back his first reply. He concentrated on how people moved
and reacted, first was Asuka, who went from being scared of `him` to nearly
choking the life out of `her`. Rei went from being standoffishly hostile
to Ranma, to helping with Asuka's experiments, then putting Ranko through
the wringer with `catch`.
"Do you really throw each other off buildings, catch, I mean?"
"No, the dragons carry humans up to a high altitude and try to toss
them through a goal ring. It's considered very bad form to injure them or
each other."
Ranma turned a little green at Raccoon's explanation. "I thought you
wanted to talk about your curse," Raccoon added, almost his last words.
"_THAT'S_WHAT_I'VE_BEEN_TRYIN'_TA_DO_!_" Ranma shouted in frustration.
"Easily excitable?" Raccoon asked Nab-chan, "Isn't he?"
"Not in useful ways," Nab-chan replied in a bored tone.
Ranma closed his eyes, reminded himself that a true Martial Artist did
not kill without a good reason, and the world wouldn't be _that_ much
better with their entrails smeared all over the walls. Besides, he
reminded himself, There's all that paperwork. He `quoted` an oft-told joke
at the rescue agency. "Yes, there was a - very - significant - difference
- between how they acted before, and how they acted after."
"And their actions when you were stuck as Ranko, were they similar to
how they treated Ranko before?" he asked, patted Nab-chan's hand, "He's
thinking in complete sentences, we should encourage that."
Nab-chan lay down so her face was on his leg, she tugged his coat
partially over her head.
Ranma considered, analyzing how his two current roommates moved, then
switched back to how close the others in Tokyo got to and around Ranko
before and after the `Incident.` "They were a lot alike."
"How much? Almost unchanged, one or two significant changes only,
slight changes in everything, one or two major changes _and_ slight changes
in most other things, which?"
That's a tough one, Ranma considered, he sighed, closed his eyes and
concentrated.
"A couple of major changes, but I don't think they are significant, if
anything, they seemed _less_ nervous about Ranko now, than they did
before." Now that he'd said it, it seemed almost unreal. Equally unreal
was that he hadn't noticed the change, although he remembered the changes
and Rei had mentioned it. Making it into a pattern was the bizarre part.
"Hey! No biting!" Raccoon shouted and spilled Nab-chan out of his lap
as he stood, Nab-chan was on her hands and knees growling at Raccoon, like
a dog.
Too much Ki last night, Ranma thought, he'd been working on the
`dosage` to make the repairs permanent. He'd used almost all his Ki last
night, it made him sluggish and thoughtful, it made Nab-chan just this side
of nuts. Although she'd insist, she was just being `playful`. There _is_
an innocence to it, Ranma observed as Nab-chan played, One we so rarely see
from her. Raccoon was completely nonplused by her behavior, he couldn't
figure out what to do. Ranma wondered how much Nab-chan was acting like
this because of the excess Ki, and how much was just she felt safe to act
out around them.
"That's it!" he shouted. Frightening his roommates, so Nab-chan
started barking at him.
"Behave!" Raccoon commanded as he dragged her to her feet, "What is
it?"
"When I say 'I won't do something because I'm a Martial Artist', what
do you think?"
"Considering you and Bess here are the only Japanese martial artists,
legal ones at least, if you two agree on something, that's the new
standard."
"What?!" Nab-chan twisted out of the grip Raccoon had on her. "You
mean if Ranma and I agreed to do something, you think that would make it
okay?"
"If someone bases what is acceptable and unacceptable on the dictates
of martial arts and Bushido, I only have to point out the War crimes trials
to show what is acceptable: genocide, slave labor, conscripting `comfort
women` to be prostitutes, need I go on? All that was supposed to be part
of Bushido, as it was actually practiced."
Ranma had already taken the blow when Langley said much the same,
there was no surprise for him, but Nab-chan looked like she'd been kicked
in the stomach. "You can't be serious!" Nab-chan insisted, almost
pleading.
"Yes," Ranma quietly interjected, "It's what Asuka told me."
Nab-chan was completely serious now, she glared at Raccoon. She
looked like she was ready to physically attack him. "It - is - not - true
-!" she bit off every word.
"By what evidence?" Raccoon asked as smooth and cold as Ranma had ever
heard, "Major ggreg and Adam Smith were already prepared to destroy me if
necessary. You don't think that it's impossible that he might prove a
threat?"
Nab-chan fumed, too angry to say anything.
"That's what I needed to talk to you about," Ranma said quietly, "I
already told you about what happened on the roof with Asuka, but not what
she said later."
"I can't believe you'd - believe - such a thing!" Nab-chan shouted.
"Why? Because it makes him sound like Kuno? Or Happosai? Or Genma,
or Soun, or any of the other `honorable` martial artists we have to clean
up after?" Now he was advancing step by step, driving Nab-chan back. "Did
it ever occur to you that letting Akane get attacked every morning is a
training technique, or that Akane knows what would happen to her if one of
those boys _actually_ knocked her unconscious? I can tell you in graphic
detail the `date` those kinds of boys would take an unconscious girl on,
especially when they have an authority figure's permission," Raccoon said,
showing just a hint of anger, but backing Nab-chan against the wall, Ranma
approached. "If it was _MY_ daughter, and neither the cops, nor the school
nor their parents would put a stop to it, I'd go in there and emasculate
every single one of them, in public, probably right there in the school
yard. So do I think that's the standard set by martial artists?" he asked
Nab-chan, driving her back with the force of his anger. Ranma put his hand
on Raccoon's shoulder, Raccoon shrugged him off. "Yes, it is. I may not
have grown up there, but my dream of Nerima is little different from what
all three of us here have gone through here. Those `honorable` martial
artists attacked my home, not delivered a challenge and fought in the dojo,
but struck the living quarters, time after time. Until I had to kill
them." Ranma quit trying to intervene.
Nab-chan blanched at that. Ranma thought it was completely in
character for Raccoon. If someone challenged him to a battle to the death
away from bystanders, he probably wouldn't hold a grudge. If you harmed
his family, you were a dead man/woman/thing. No matter where he had to
find and kill you.
"Kuno . . . "
"No, not the Kunos, they fell to more subtle manipulations. I threw
Shampoo at Tatewaki and a healing spell at Kodachi. But Ryoga injured
Misato-Kasumi the first time, claimed it was an accident, and he kept
coming back. His `honor` seems to mysteriously vanish once the fight
begins. Can you imagine him attacking a home with a child or children in
it?"
Ranma could, they rescued people from those kinds of disasters on a
weekly and sometimes daily basis, and that was just collateral damage. Now
he did pull Raccoon away from Nab-chan by the shoulder. When Raccoon
stared at him, he just put his hands up, and moved away, but Raccoon didn't
close on Nab-chan again. Against a truly ruthless opponent who
intentionally put innocents or family in harm's way? Ranma shuddered at the
thought, If the actual _target_ was in the home . . . "I can imagine,"
Ranma said. That I'd do my best to limit and avoid, if not prevent that
kind of danger to others . . . Ranma thought, Raccoon would rather
eliminate the danger at the source. He glanced at Nab-chan who had gone
silent and shaking, and was paler than Rei. He could see, besides the
shivering, the slight motions she was making. He tried to remember what
she did the last time she was moving like that.
She's thinking, and she doesn't like what she's thinking about, he
realized, then he began studying the stances of the people arguing in front
of him, ignoring the words. They were in combat as much as if they were
exchanging blows.
"Then you think Ranma would do something like that?" Nab-chan said.
All-out desperation attack, Ranma thought.
"Listen carefully," Raccoon replied.
Resolute defense, perhaps a spoiling attack, Ranma thought.
"He has given us no _evi_-_dence_ to disbelieve it, that his current
behavior is not a ruse or a temporary aberration."
"That doesn't answer my question."
Trying to maneuver to find weakness, Ranma analyzed, The spoiling
attack must have worked.
"The answer to your question is, I am not sure. What he _says_
doesn't jibe with what he does. So that leaves the question of 'WHICH is
the truth'? If I don't know, I assume and prepare for the worst."
Double envelopment, Ranma remembered the term, A Cannae.
With the battle clearly won, Ranma asked what he hadn't been able to
bring himself to ask Asuka, "So what do I have to do different?"
Tension, another fighter enters the arena . . . _NO_, he realized, A
noncombatant has wandered onto the field, they want to keep fighting, but
they don't dare, they no longer have a clear field of fire, he thought as
he watched the glances and the subtle movements. They called a truce, he
concluded.
"What is the real core of Saotome Ranma?" Raccoon asked, his posture
disciplinedly nonthreatening.
"You know I'm not good at explaining things," Ranma offered and
watched the hostility between the pair drop further, but they also acted as
if Ranma had landed a serious hit on Raccoon. They're still doing `katas`
to impress the other with their skill, but they don't want to hurt the
newcomer and are watching the other to make sure the other doesn't become a
threat. It irritated him that they treated him as weak and fragile, at the
same time he was glad they were working hard not to hurt him. They could
hurt me in ways I could never strike back, he thought.
"I'm waiting."
"You speak of honor, which is just a set of rules defined by people,
and therefore are changeable," Raccoon said, "Character is who you are when
no one is watching. I wouldn't trust Bess here not to cheat an opponent
out of his eye teeth, but she'll always keep a contract, because she gave
her word. You've seen what I do to lethal threats. Why don't I apply that
solution to any threat or inconvenience?"
"Why?" Ranma asked. He never expected Raccoon to kill
indiscriminately, it seemed an impossibility.
"Because it's wrong," Raccoon said.
"That's it?" Nab-chan asked.
Ranma thought he finally understood. With his God looking over his
shoulder, if there is something that's 'wrong' he'll automatically get
caught and punished. Raccoon always knew that somebody with a really big
stick was watching him. But they assume I don't have the same kind of
limit on my behavior. Okay, then how do I explain I do? That I'd _NEVER_
hurt one of them that way, the way they're afraid of. Because it was
wrong. But I've got no nebulous All-Father to point to, and pointing to
`society` would just get a laugh. He was at a loss, he needed to tell
them, but the words didn't seem to make it from his brain to his mouth as
he intended, not like movement, not like Martial Arts. Words were more
like smoke, he couldn't catch and hold them, couldn't mold them to serve
him.
"How do I do that?" Ranma asked.
"Why are you stuck as a girl in the Waking World?"
Ranma was going to retort that the two had nothing in common, then he
realized that Raccoon was saying they were related, and what Ranma had just
been complaining about was the key. But he couldn't find it.
"Quit assuming that thinking is words and math, thinking is processing
information. Learning a martial art's move is as much thinking as Linear
Algebra," Raccoon said, "Do you know what the verbal portion of your IQ
is?"
Ranma shook his head.
"You got a 79, that's a fair degree of mental retardation. But your
spacial relation and . . . well, let's call it your eye-hand organizational
skills, all those puzzles you did."
"Yeah, real easy." That had been the only part of the IQ test that
didn't make him feel stupid.
"Your score on those parts was better than mine, or Langley's. You
took _half_ the time we were allocated to do the entire series, and neither
of us even _finished_ all those puzzles. I also suspect that the proctor
flipping the pages slowed you down."
"Tell me about it." Ranma remembered, it was the funnest `test` he'd
taken, he could have gone faster if he could have seen the next puzzle
faster.
"Your composite score gives you a genius IQ 167. My honest opinion is
that _Ranma_ Saotome is autistic. I did the research I could on Autism and
Asperger's Syndrome in 1947, Rei suffers from the later. It's a disorder
that inhibits your linguistic skills, use of the spoken word, but it
enhances your mechanical skills." Raccoon walked over to his briefcase,
extracted a file folder. "In this time, there's a lot more research. In
the DSM-III-R, it discusses the failure to form peer relationships, share
others' enjoyments, interests, or achievements, use of stereotypical or
repetitive language, and an inability to initiate or carry on conversation,
a restricted area of interests with abnormally intense focus. As well as a
delay or diminished functioning in social interaction or social use of
language, symbolic or imaginary play."
Ranma had little idea what all of that meant, but Raccoon always
talked that way, if he let himself go. What worried Ranma was the way
Nab-chan was revealing that _she_ thought it was uncannily accurate.
"So?" he asked, hoping Raccoon would wise up and translate it, or get
to the point.
"Ranko _isn't_," Raccoon said, "So if you could change back and forth
between Ranma and Ranko, and you had the abilities of Nyogtha, even a small
portion, and you were in a jam that only social skill could get you out
of. What would a master of 'any tactic to win' do?"
That Ranma had no trouble figuring out. "I'd become Ranko and stay
that . . . way . . . " Ranma stared at his two roommates. He took a few
moments to find his voice again. "_I_ did this . . . to myself?" He still
couldn't believe it, although this time he understood the how, and the
why. It was a good plan, he thought, And it seemsta work real good. He
was still more than a little horrified at his own `cleverness`. He saw
both Nab-chan and Raccoon rushing forward to catch him, then they jointly
lowered him to the ground. He overheard the two arguing, Nab-chan accusing
Raccoon of teasing Ranma about the curse, or something like that, and
Raccoon's comments about humoring Ranma, encouraging his abstract thinking
and that it was Nab-chan, or `Bess` they were teasing.
He was trying to imagine how he could - why he would - what he hoped
to accomplish as a girl, in words, but they kept running through his
fingers. He understood the hows, the whys, but there was no way to explain
it, no way to talk about it, no way to analyze it that the others would
understand. And most importantly how did he tell - himself - to change
back? He could feel the wordless thoughts swimming around, easy to catch,
impossible to `land`, the plan made sense. Asuka wasn't as torn up as she
had been, Rei seemed bemused by the entire episode, Shinji just took it
with his normal level of apprehension about _everything_.
Maybe being a girl for a while _is_ a good thing, or at least
survivable, if I can still be a guy in dreams, he thought, Okay, for
everybody _except_ me, it _is_ a lot better. But how did I figure that
out? It's as sneaky as one Raccoon, Nab-chan or Asuka would come up
with. And why didn't I `discuss` it with myself? Ranma, Ranko, even the
other were all as shocked as anyone. He shook his head, he still felt that
it was too impossible.
Nab-chan and Raccoon, with the noncombatant off the field, were back
in full verbal/intellectual battle mode.
"Shut up!" he shouted at them, his head was hurting enough.
Both fell silent, looked apologetic and then separated. Raccoon
picked up Ranma and placed him in the bed. Nab-chan put a cold cloth on
Ranma's forehead and the two of them withdrew. Ranma could feel them
glaring at each other, despite that he couldn't see or hear them argue. He
let the coolness of the cloth seep into his overheated mind, and still the
words would not come.
----------------------------------------
Lonely Roads, Long And Winding
July 26, 1947
Sarah sat up, she immediately lay back down. Everything hurt, even
breathing, everything was too loud, too bright, it all stank. She could
hear the other noises of the old house, empty except for her. She'd felt
the same when all the Reis had separated and `awakened` in Reis'
dreamscape. She had moved then, as had all the others, and then thought
better of it. Awakening in the same condition a second time, gave her the
chance to avoid the painful and disorienting mistakes she'd already made
once.
I hope Rei's plan worked, she thought silently, settling back into her
bed, Because I don't want to do that again. She got as comfortable as she
could, then burst into tears. The pain of separation and loss overwhelmed
her, the Reis were closer to her than sisters, then having Shinji-kun with
her, touching her, wanting her, now knowing she would probably never see
him again. She wanted to be with them again, and at the same time she
treasured her independence. It was a cruel dilemma, one she saw no
solution for.
----------------------------------------
"What is this?" Ranma asked about the strange table Raccoon had
finished assembling.
"A drafting table," Raccoon said as he adjusted the height and slant
of the table. Nab-chan carried in the chair that fitted into the
table. Then Raccoon brought out a number of very strange tools.
"What's drafting?" Ranma asked.
"Drawing," Nab-chan said as she carefully bolted an L-shaped ruler on
an arm to the edge of the table. While Raccoon set out a box of paper and
another one of pencils, rulers, and a few erasers.
"With your spatial intelligence, you should be very talented with
this, and it also will let you make a very good living."
"Not everything is about money," Ranma said.
"True, but don't you want to do something to help Langley, or do
something _nobody_ is going to say isn't `intellectual`. It's also a step
towards drawing."
"And I'd want to do that, why?" Ranma asked.
"If you are going to pass on your knowledge, and you can't write well,
a drawing of the move will allow the information to be preserved. Also,
drawings will communicate. 'A picture is worth a thousand words', although
supposedly the Chinese value is ten thousand words, so it is even more
important for teaching the Chinese," Raccoon told him.
----------------------------------------
Jacob And The Nightingale
Ranko hurried about her task, but did not scurry. She wanted this to
be proper, dignified, a clear end between who she was, and who she would be
in the future. Raccoon had healed from the attack Ranma had made on
him. With 'remarkable rapidity', Ranko shuddered at the remembrance of the
clinical tone the doctor had used about Ranma nearly murdering his teammate
for the `crime` of not letting him race out and kill someone else. And
probably die in the execution, Ranko thought. It took several long moments
before her hands quit shaking from her current shame and her remembered
rage. She let the tears fall unhindered, girls were allowed to cry after
all.
Now he's coming home. Bed rest was still indicated. Ranko was still
on her leave of absence. Only Nab-chan was at work, she would not be here
to interfere in events.
The tanto was clean and purified, as was the kimono she would
wear. The paper for wrapping and writing, fresh ink and a brush awaited
the contract, or the death haiku. She smiled at that. Her `penmanship`
was much improved, the drafting/drawing was fun, and relaxing, and Ranma
could sketch out something in less than a minute, a machine, an animal, or
a person, and make it look like _he_ wanted it to look.
She felt as if she were preparing for a play, which in a sense she
was. Words would not serve well, they never had, she would have to _show_
what she was saying and doing. What she was offering Raccoon. There were
words that went along with the costumes, the makeup, the props and the
setting, but they were only part of the message.
She heard the car door, followed by the door of the building. She
knelt next to the low table with the tanto, brush and paper on it. That
would be the first thing he saw as he entered, then the beautiful girl in
her white kimono. Whether the white would have an Asian or a Western
connotation would depend on Ra . . . on Jeffrey. She was glad she heard no
other voices, no other footsteps. He was returning alone.
The tread was slower and heavier than usual. Exactly what this meant
she would have to wait to see. She stifled the urge to fidget, her hair,
makeup and clothing were as perfect as she could manage, a last minute
change in a state of near panic would not help. She slowed her breathing
and relaxed. She knew she was a coward, the makeup just so to enhance her
beauty, and the hair brushed soft and styled as Jeffrey liked it, was
proof. She was a bribe, to cheat Raccoon of the retribution Honor
demanded. Ranma should have simply met him on the roof and begged him to
serve as kaishaku, the one who would administer the final stroke to prevent
him from dishonoring himself by crying out during seppuku. But she
couldn't, she loved life, as painful and frustrating as it always was, she
knew it would get better, and most of all, she didn't want to leave behind
the joys she constantly encountered that made it all bearable, even
wonderful. So my experiences remain, and a different person can better
enjoy and make use of them, she thought placidly, Let them enjoy the
beauty. Let me take the pain and end it.
I am dead, all that awaits is my next incarnation, she thought to
quiet her heart, That is out of my hands. The thought calmed her, she knew
which of the alternatives she wanted him to take, she didn't want to die,
but she couldn't live with who she had been.
She considered Jeffrey, and that she had, if not faith, she could
trust him to do the right thing, to be fair and gentle with her. So she
sat and waited, feeling a calm she hadn't known, fear and expectation were
gone, she was beyond all concerns and controls. Waiting became more
bearable. The door opened, Ranko extended her senses. She could feel
Jeffrey extending his analysis.
Probably had a hand on his gun, Ranko thought, for some reason she
thought it was fitting. He was prepared to kill, and she was awaiting
death, yet perhaps not in the way either would normally understand. Who
she had been would die, by her hand, it was already accomplished. Who she
would be reborn as, was in his.
He opened the door all the way. Ranko had her head bowed, but she
stared up through her bangs to see his expression. There was none, not
like Rei's expressionless expression. This was schooled and disciplined,
nothing would escape until he understood what was happening.
She reached over and picked up the tanto, carefully unsheathing
it. "For what I have done. My life - " She swallowed, trying to keep her
voice level. "To take, to do with as you see fit. My honor is lost. I
ask you to end it, one way or another." She bowed low, the naked blade
still in her outstretched hands. She touched her forehead briefly on the
ground, then sat up and looked him in the eyes. It would insult a
Japanese. But he has a different code and culture, she thought, I hope I'm
communicating clearly. She felt the beginning of tears. She would neither
stifle nor encourage them. Her life, her future were no longer hers, she
could - she had to - let the events unfold. She had let her instincts lead
her, rather than thought or reflexes. She knew that Jeffrey would
understand the Japanese implications and would take her words as the
meaning he chose for them. The words and the sentiment behind them were
true. She prayed Jeffrey would see the direct interpretation as murder,
and would not let her take that route.
Jeffrey knelt before her, looking intently at the pretty girl. "And
you believe running away is the appropriate answer?" he asked softly, "Into
death or servitude?"
She wanted to turn away. He has to understand! she thought as he took
the tanto from her hand, then the sheath.
"You have made a mistake. The mistake of all mistakes," he said
softly as he ran the tip of one finger over the sharp edge, drawing his own
blood, as his reminder drew the blood of her soul. She wished he'd simply
driven the blade into her heart, rather than bring up her shame
again. "But here, now," he said gently, holding the finger, with blood
welling out of it, in front of her. "It is only a mistake, not the
disaster you believe it to be." The bleeding stopped, the blood was
reabsorbed and the cut healed over. "But you've made it. Now you
understand what we feared, now you understand what _you_ feared. Now you
understand why it must never - never - never happen again." His voice grew
deeper and softer as he spoke.
Ranko felt her heart trembling within her, she didn't know what to
say, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to abandon everything, to take
the blade from him and just end her life. Doesn't he understand?! I
_want_ to make sure it never happens again! She felt the tears coming, she
let them flow. Shame, remorse, anger, frustration all welled up from
within. This was supposed to serve as repentance for what she'd done, for
what _Ranma_ had told everyone who would listen, was impossible. Yet, he'd
done it.
"The war does not end here, life does not end here," he told her, his
voice barely above a whisper, as he cleaned the tanto. He resheathed it
and placed it back into her hands. "You must take the experience, however
painful, and learn from it, as a _man_ does. There has been a mistake, it
will not happen again." He rested his hands on her shoulders, waited until
she looked into his eyes. "We need you, Ranma and Ranko both. I know your
character, you will fight to the death to preserve and protect others. You
are, despite all that's happened, still an innocent. Langley and I have
treated you so poorly because we long ago lost our innocence. Maybe we
have been so hardened we can barely see it in others anymore. I ask you to
be patient, with both of us."
"I will," Ranko said softly. She moved closer to the boy, gathered
him up in her arms. "I forgive you," she told him. She felt no tension
from the contact or her pulling them together. "I forgive you," she told
him as he laid his head on her shoulder. She felt cool, clean and
refreshed, more alive than she had in such a long time.
"I forgive you." She'd forgiven the others for their slights and
insults, their teasing, but she'd never told them. It made a difference,
one she couldn't put into words, 'good' seemed inadequate. But she felt
good, so good she thought she was flying.
Maybe I did die, she thought, Just not the way I intended.
The kiss was unexpected, not because of the tender ferocity of it, but
because she was doing the kissing, and `Ranma` didn't seem to
object. Another rapidly followed, there was a third. At some point,
Jeffrey started kissing her back, tentatively at first, but soon matching
her.
----------------------------------------
"Do I even want to ask?" Nabiki said as she arrived home and found
Ranko in a white kimono and Raccoon, in a rather languid embrace. The lack
of destroyed furniture and disarranged clothes indicated the embrace was
probably as far as things had gotten. "Were you two waiting for me? Or
are you two still too cowardly for . . . " She cut herself off, offering a
challenge to Ranma or Ranko's courage would have him or her rise to the
challenge immediately. She was glad none of the fiancees had ever
considered the possibility, or accused him of being `unmanly` because he
was so uncertain about that part of male-female relations.
She did not want her first `experience` with Ranma to come out of a
sense of aggrieved masculinity, nor was she certain she wanted her first
experience with Ranma to be with `Ranko`.
Ranko had raised her head from where it had been pillowed on Raccoon's
shoulder, and Raccoon had raised his head off Ranko's arm on the
floor. Both of them regarded her, not vacantly, but without discernible
expression.
"Okay, I'm jealous," she admitted. Why did I say that? she wondered.
"Of?" Raccoon asked.
"_YOU_ - " she shouted. "Two," she nearly whispered, "All right?" She
understood why she'd said it. She'd been slipping away to look at her old
home, close enough to see and overhear. She had done it today, and it
twisted in her guts like a knife. She had walked away, because of how they
had treated Ranma, because it had offended _her_ sense of honor. She could
have walked back in, swallowed her pride and let them welcome her back . .
.. home. Then she came back to the apartment, where two boys who
congenially despised each other, and a girl and boy who danced around their
flirtations, all `three` worked to make her feel welcome, to make her feel
wanted. Worse, all they demanded was a laugh, a smile, or an insult that
acknowledged they were there and making an effort.
What hurt worse was that even between Ranma and Raccoon there was a
level of trust and even intimacy that she couldn't find within
herself. Ranma and Raccoon knew what the other would do, would protect
each other as they would protect her, but she kept too many critical pieces
away from the others. That Ranma wasn't instantly threatened by Ranko's
actions towards Raccoon, that he didn't treat it as a death knell to his
masculinity mystified her. She couldn't let so much of whom she was go,
even if it would be returned a dozen-fold. So she was jealous, and lonely,
surrounded by `three` people who would be happy to do as she asked, who
would be delighted to make her happy. She longed to be able to trust, as
they trusted each other. Despite all the opportunities they had to take
advantage of her, they never had, not because they were afraid of
reprisals, but because they valued her. Even her family had not valued her
so, she was the throwaway. Mabiki, `thinning out`, a polite euphemism for
throwing away unwanted, usually girl, children. A cruel, and she hoped an
unintentional, twist on her given name. She hadn't been the
lady-of-the-house, she hadn't been the heir, so she didn't matter in the
grand scheme of things. She was disposable, whatever would do good for the
family, she was expected to do. But not to `Rit-chan`, Raccoon, Ranma, or
even the other pilots, not to those who only months earlier had bent their
every waking thought to destroying Japan as a people and a nation. To them
she was `Nab-chan`, `Ice Princess` and `Miss Tendo`, valuable to them,
respected, even slightly feared.
Maybe that's why I can't let them love me, she thought, Those who
`loved` me, didn't value me. But I want both.
She looked up at her roommates who were both staring intently at her,
once she became aware of them, they glanced at each other and by silent
accent, they stood simultaneously. The unspoken communications and
synchronization between the two, and between Ranma and Raccoon, was
something she had envied, now it frightened her as they coordinated their
surrounding her. She tried to take a step back, and only succeeded in
closing the door behind her. She wasn't sure she liked the unreadable
expressions on her roommates' faces.
"Why jealous?" Ranko asked and smiled, "We share."
The smile had Nabiki worried. It wasn't one of her 'I'm a shark,
you're prey' grins, nor one of Raccoon's 'I know it all and I'm going to
make you ask' smiles. The closest she'd seen was Rei talking to Gendo, the
two of them smiled the way Ranko was smiling now, smiling _at_ her now.
----------------------------------------
I Cannot Grasp Why You Care
"Better?" Ranko asked as she idly played with Nabiki's hair.
"Yeah," Nabiki breathed. She was glad she'd let her hair grow out in
back, keeping her pageboy-style sides, but growing a ponytail in
back. Ranko had that ponytail in hand and was delicately tickling Nabiki's
shoulders with it. It just caused her to nestle herself more tightly
against Ranko, with her head pillowed on Ranko's breasts. "Is nice," she
commented on the foot massage Raccoon was still giving her. Anything that
felt _that_ good had to be evil magic.
The massage that Ranko had started had reduced Nabiki to
putty. Nabiki had been right about the roommates' competitiveness. Ranko
had worked on her shoulders and back, Raccoon on her calves and feet.
Oh Kamis, had that felt good! she thought, she didn't care who heard
her moans from that, nor did she care what they thought had elicited
them. She'd never felt that good in her life, and they'd only tapered off
because 'I'm afraid we'll kill her', but they refused to completely stop.
I doubt I'd care if Godzilla stepped on us, she thought as she ran her
fingers through Ranko's silky, soft hair, I'd die happy.
The only nagging doubt that hadn't been smothered by the fluffy cloud
that her mind currently resided in was why they hadn't gone further, she
probably would have said 'yes' if they'd asked, either of them. That bit
was silenced by the happiness that they hadn't. While they had competed,
it had been entirely about her. She didn't have to do anything except
enjoy it. She drowned the rest of her doubts in the sea of contentment she
rested in. She could worry later. Tomorrow, both would be gone on
vacation, she'd have the long nights alone in bed to lie awake and worry
about why they gave and gave, and didn't expect her to give back equal
measure. Or they thought she did.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki lowered the binoculars. Ranma and Raccoon were on their
`vacation`, a train trip to Fukuoka. Nabiki had expected Ranma to demand
to walk there, or due to Raccoon's delicate condition, carry the other boy
there on his back. But they'd purchased a stateroom, and Ranko insisted on
seeing 'Jeffrey' safely aboard and tucked in before returning to 'Nab-chan'
as Ranma, and giving her not the good-bye peck on the cheek she expected,
but a tonsil massage most of the fiancees would have _killed_ to get. Then
he gave her the same clueless, befuddled smile as he walked back to the
train. She said a silent prayer that Raccoon knew what he had gotten
himself into.
She could carry out her plan without explaining it to them. The
deliveries were paid for with cash and thus untraceable.
She'd seen the state of the house. Kasumi had far more mending than
the house ever had before, so she was taking in needlework to get
money. Her fat - _Soun_ and the panda were cheating at shogi, not adding
anything to the household. Akane had her practice, homework, and of
course, her social life, so she couldn't be bothered. With anything like
the mundane necessities of life, Nabiki fumed silently.
Nabiki glanced at the heavy binoculars hanging around her neck, the
finest German optics, the heavy things that cost 80000 yen, but she was
earning enough that it was merely an extravagance, not a bank breaker. She
felt oddly guilty about doing this. The trucks arrived, the delivery men
were met by Kasumi. The barrels of rice, soy sauce, and other large
containers of relatively imperishable food stocks continued to arrive. If
Kasumi stretched it out, it was enough food for a year.
Through the binoculars, Nabiki saw that neither Soun nor Genma helped
the workman, or Kasumi, although they did salivate over all the arriving
food. Kasumi was initially nervous about the `wealth` being delivered, and
was slowly approaching panic. Nabiki kept watching through the binoculars,
she wished she could read the lips of the various participants. The
delivery men couldn't tell her anything, Kasumi's growing worry and
frustration were apparent to her younger sister. It was an extremely
subtle revenge. Ranma and Raccoon had used the technique on her weeks
ago. They'd left her alone for almost a week of growing paranoia at their
politeness. She'd never underestimated Ranma's intelligence, when it
applied to a battle. Then, on her desk one morning, she found a pink
stuffed bear with its arms around a coffee cup that read 'I wuv U', she
didn't think calling the team's bomb squad was over the top. They needed
the practice anyway. The fact that the ticking was a clock in the bear's
stomach wasn't her fault, the coffee cup had hidden it from her.
The arriving chocolate, flowers, balloons, etc. usually pink, all
sickeningly cute, all anonymous, all eliciting an immediate
'KAAAAWWWAAAIIII!!!' even from otherwise reasonable and rational female
coworkers, and even the men thought her having a secret admirer was
`romantic.` Raccoon and Ranma had both acted jealous. Her counterattack
had failed completely, so she had been . . . made the decision to . . . she
ate crow. While she planned her eventual revenge, she profusely and
immediately apologized.
Now she was finding out how effective it was. Nabiki had arranged for
a friend to make the order and pay, they didn't give a name. So no one
knew anything to point back to the source. Kasumi kept fluttering about
where to put all the food. She knew enough to store the least edible where
her father and the panda could get at it.
She isn't stupid, Nabiki thought as she watched. Finally the
unloading ended, papers were signed. Soun and the panda were celebrating,
assuming they'd eat their way through half of it tonight. I'd put them on
plain rice and boiled cabbage for a month for saying that, she
thought. She could easily read the panda signs through the binocs.
At last, she saw what she'd been waiting for, Kasumi putting her foot
down about not being prodigal in using the gift. Nabiki waited long enough
to know they wouldn't argue her out of it, then she turned to head
home. She resisted the temptation to stop in at the Nekohanten or
Ucchan's, even though she honestly had no idea where Ranma and Raccoon were
at the moment. They could have easily boarded the train to Fukuoka, and
Raccoon could have teleported them to Perth for all she knew.
What's special about Fukuoka, anyway? Nabiki wondered. She couldn't
have gone with them anyway.
She nearly ran into Raccoon's walking stick a meter or two from where
she'd been standing. "Go away. Shoo!" She gestured at the stick. Great,
now I'm talking to it, she thought. It went from vertical to horizontal at
about hip level.
"I am not going to ride you home," she told it, then muttered,
"Pervert."
It swung around behind her, so she could sit down on it like a swing.
"Oh, side saddle." She sat down and almost expected it would dump her
off. Instead, the ride was steady and safe. No marital artists were
flying through the air to intercept her. She didn't really resent Raccoon
looking out for her by remote control, but she did wish he'd left something
that wasn't so smug about it.
----------------------------------------
Ranko scrambled over the loose stone and took in the view. She spared
a glance at Jeffrey as he stepped up beside her a moment later. The Strait
of Tsushima, the town of Fukuoka and the villages surrounding both laid out
around them.
Surprised about Jeffrey being able to keep up, Ranko thought to
herself. "You know how to climb rocks," she said after they had spent
several silent minutes enjoying the view, and each others presence.
"Wyoming is like this, biggest state in the Union, once you iron it
flat," he joked, "I am curious why here. Fuji-san is taller, and there are
other tall mountains."
She smiled at that, but she had her reasons.
"And not Jusenkyo, I do know where it is," Jeffrey added. They stood
together for several minutes, just looking at the vista. A few airplanes
in the distance, but no other evidence of human activity.
"I thought about it," Ranko said, "What's weird is . . . I can think
better as Ranma, clearer, faster, but I . . . I can't get it out to others
as well as I can as Ranko. If that makes any sense."
"I keep saying Ranma and Ranko aren't the same person," Jeffrey said
as he put a hand on her shoulder, "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"
Ranko stepped up beside him, resting against him. The last few days
of simply riding the train, climbing mountains, walking the trails, simply
being, had helped. So had the lessons on combining _Ranma's_ Ki usage and
Jeffrey's healing spells to bring him back to full health, and studying the
shoggoth regeneration methods, and the beginning of the Ki techniques to
duplicate the basic healing spells. At night, in the tent, and more often
than not in the same sleeping bag, Jeffrey and Ranko talked. I talked, he
asked questions, Ranko thought. It had helped, she'd talked about all that
had happened, all she was afraid of, how she felt she'd been treated, both
well and unfairly. Mostly she talked about the rooftop `incident` and
about the Martial Artists and the damage they caused, the rescues they
forced others to perform. She'd cried herself to sleep more than
once. Then during the day's walking, Ranma would think about what was said
the night before, and what would be said that night.
But there's still one question I haven't had the guts to ask, she
thought of the man beside her with the companionable arm on her shoulder,
who'd shared a bed with both Ranko and Ranma for several months, Although
neither of us had the guts to do anything about that either. "Sleeping
with two beautiful women, and you never took advantage," she said jokingly,
then grew more serious, "You also didn't take my offer either . . .
why?" She wasn't sure if she was hurt or relieved by the `rejection`. It
frightened her now that Ranma had accepted what she planned, as she had.
"What? Take my choice of pointed objects and shove it into your
body?" Jeffrey asked, "Either of the two immediate options would have
killed Ranma."
She frowned at his crude yet confusing phrasing, and at the
implications.
"I don't _hate_ Ranma, I despise how he treated you, he disappointed
me, he even worried me, he still irritates me, but I no longer hate
him. Most of the time he was like an active volcano who kept saying,
'Nope, I'm just a pile of rocks with the hiccups.' Then where's all this
lava coming from?"
"So . . . it wasn't that you didn't like me - want me . . . it was . .
.. I'm not sure what I mean," Ranko admitted.
Jeffrey knelt down so he was eye to eye with her. That was one of the
irritating things about him, he was so tall, it always made Ranma and Ranko
feel like a kid when they had to talk to him. "When I was researching
Ranma's condition, I came across another one. Schizotypal Personality
Disorder is a pattern of social deficits, especially discomfort with, and a
reduced ability to form close relationships, friendships, dating, and so
on. As well as certain cognitive or perceptual distortions, and
eccentricities of behavior. It typically begins in adolescence to early
adulthood, say between 10 and 20 years of age. At least five of the
following symptoms are required for a clinical diagnosis. That's the
`dictionary` definition."
Ranko nodded, swallowing. "What's the translation back into
Japanese?"
"One, odd beliefs or magical thinking that influences behavior, and is
inconsistent with cultural norms, such as bizarre fantasies or
preoccupations. Like someone who goes looking for powers from the Great
Old Ones he's eaten, because he knows they're there. Just because I was
right, doesn't mean I didn't start from an insane premise. Two, odd
thinking and speech patterns, for example: overelaborate. You can chuckle,
I don't mind. Three, Suspiciousness or paranoid ideation. Just because
they are out to get you, it doesn't mean you aren't paranoid. Four,
constricted affect, that means doesn't outwardly show strong emotion when
it is warranted, staying apparently calm. Five, behavior or appearance
that is odd, eccentric, or peculiar."
Jeffrey reached up and adjusted his hat on his head. "Like always
wearing a three-piece suit and fedora, even when going into a burning
building or while hiking in the mountains. Six, a lack of close friends or
confidants. Seven, Unusual perception, but I'm not sure if that one
applies. Do I sense all that weird stuff, or do I only think I do?"
"I sensed it, when we were all mixed in with Rit-chan," Ranko said,
wondered how any of that related.
"You only really need five," Jeffrey reminded her, "The point is, I
don't have a lot of friends or close relationships, except relatives. But
in the dream of Nerima, I wasn't me, I was you. All the blocks were down,
all _your_ usual emotions were running around in my head. I formed
attachments with my wife, Ritsuko-Nabiki, and my kids, you, Ranma, and
Nabiki, and others. I still have _those_ attachments, and they are a lot
stronger than any attachment I formed on my own."
"So, I'm your daughter," Ranko smirked at that, people had told her
that, but she hadn't believed them. "And incest, 'Is just not done',
right?"
"Precisely," Jeffrey said formally, "That isn't to say you aren't a
beautiful, young woman, and under other circumstances I would be
flattered. I also thought you were running away. Abandoning who you are
without examining how you got there only leads to disaster. The idea of
purifying yourself by ignoring everything that went before is, frankly,
dumb. Like that fighting game you and Ranma like so much, going back to
the last saved game does eliminate the mistake, but not the learning from
it. So, what have you learned?"
"I . . . I'll have to think about it," Ranko said.
"Do you want me to heat up some water? Or use a spell?" Jeffrey
offered as he stood up.
"No, I'll think about it as Ranko for a while. By the way, I've
caught _you_ playing that game too."
"Guilty as charged, although I wish there were more options. If I
thought Aeris was going to wander off that way, I would have chained her to
a tree."
"Yeah, that was dumb," Ranko said, "So do you like her or Tifa?"
"That's a very personal question," Raccoon evaded her question and her
grab, "And dangerous, until I know who you see yourself as."
"Neither, both mooning over the same clueless guy."
"Not like you at all, declaring your feelings openly and honestly to
me and Nab-chan." Raccoon was running down the trail with an angry Ranko
in hot pursuit.
"You _WILL_ tell me!" she shouted, "I have ways of making you
talk!" Finding a way to get you to shut up, she thought, That would be the
real trick.
----------------------------------------
Acceptance Rather Than Understanding
The dojo was in need of repair. Ranko had cleaned up and was wearing
a formal kimono. Jeffrey, showered with a fresh hair cut, was in his best
suit. Ranko thought, outwardly, they made an elegant couple, inside she
was terrified. She'd come here on `vacation` without telling Jeffrey why
here in particular. Now that she was here, she felt like she was walking
into a lion's den.
"Are you going to challenge them, dressed like that?" Jeffrey asked,
shocking her out of her worries.
"No, I . . . you rather, are going to get us an invitation to speak
with the teachers here. If anyone challenges, it will be you. Although
you aren't at the standard of the Nerimaniacs, you'll acquit yourself
well. Good grief, now I'm talking like you!"
"There are worse habits to pick up," `Raccoon` said as he rang the
chime over the gate and opened it for her. The sign had said to ring the
chime and enter the Saotome-style Kempo school.
Ranko examined the place, it vaguely reminded her of the Tendo
homestead. She knew Nab-chan would kill her for spying the place out, but
she'd watched Nab-chan spy on it herself so often, Ranma had to know what
the fascination was. He still didn't know. Maybe they're her descendants,
Ranko thought, anything to put off thinking about this coming
confrontation, Mommy Nab-chan looking in on her grandkids maybe. Naw, even
a wizened old lady would have the spine to set those three idiots
straight. The fact they also had another pair of idiots by the name
Saotome as frequent visitors, did nothing for Ranko's current composure. I
mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away! she reminded
herself, she prevented herself from reaching for Jeffrey's hand.
"Would you - like some tea?" the voice that started behind her, and
was now below her, asked.
Ranko stared down out of the tree she had leapt into. She wondered
how badly she had scared everybody, or embarrassed Jeffrey and
herself. The crowd that had come out of the home and the dojo were all
staring at the now barefoot, kimono-clad nut in the tree and the elegantly
clad gaijin who alternated staring down at her shoes, and up at her. She
noted a redhead or two among the observers.
Jeffrey broke the dilemma by extending his hand up to her.
Just pull me out of the tree and let me run away! she thought as she
stepped down on his hand. She felt the firm grip around her foot. He's a
lot stronger than I thought, she thought as he lowered her towards her
shoes. He positioned her so she could step off his hand and slip into her
shoes as he straightened up.
"Some tea would be lovely. I and my companion have walked over the
mountain and would welcome refreshment," Jeffrey Kevin Davis said, evoking
some tittering among the younger girls who watched. His Japanese was still
letter perfect, but he had adopted some _extremely_ feminine phrasings.
Ranko took the hint and would also play `girly-girl`, although it was
already clear she was no wimp.
They led Ranko and Jeffrey into a large room of the house, centered
around a long, rectangular table. The older adults formed up on the two
long sides while the short side nearest the door was where they were
seated. The speed with which they assembled meant they did this before,
perhaps often. Ranko knelt next to Jeffrey, kept her eyes downcast,
although she glanced up through her bangs to observe their postures. They
were as faceless as the people of Tokyo had been. The elders at the table
gave nothing away. The younger adults and teenagers who arranged
themselves along the walls behind the elders were expectant. It reminded
Ranko of a military meeting, the generals and admirals at the table, their
staffs behind. The side opposite the pair remained empty.
"What did you want?" the oldest male at the table asked.
"Have you ever heard of Saotome Genma?" Jeffrey asked. The
metaphorical temperature of the room dropped. Ranko didn't hide her
worried glance around the room.
"What has my idiot nephew done this time?" came a scratchy voice from
behind them. The facelessness denied Ranko a view of his eyes, but the man
was a Martial Artist, despite his advanced age. He sat down next to Ranko
and Jeffrey, closer to Ranko.
While Jeffrey carefully poured tea for the man, the man took Ranko's
chin in his hands, turning her face this way and that. The man's skin felt
a little scaly from years of callouses from hard work and Martial
Arts. Ranko didn't shy away from the handling, but she didn't meet the
man's `eyes`, keeping her gaze downcast.
"I asked a question," the man reminded them as he accepted the tea
from Jeffrey.
"Have you heard of Saotome Nodoka . . . " Jeffrey asked, "And Saotome
Ranma?"
"We've heard about Inoue Nodoka, so, they finally got married? And
Ranma, they had a son? Then who are you, little one?"
"Ranko," she answered quietly, she suppressed the shivers, "And you
are Saotome Eiji."
The man didn't immediately answer. "What does that matter to me?" he
asked, not completely unkindly.
If it hadn't been for Asuka and Raccoon's habit of asking questions
everyone supposedly knew the answer for, Ranko would have panicked. But
like them, he wants the answer out where everyone can hear it, Ranko
thought. "I am Saotome Ranko, and I want to know my history, and if I have
a family. Ranma also wishes to know."
"Then why isn't _he_ here?"
"She's cuter than he is," Raccoon said matter-of-factly.
Ranko froze, and some of the others choked on their tea. She wasn't
sure if she should pound Raccoon into a thin red paste before or after she
ran away.
The old man's raucous laughter eased her mind considerably. As the
old man regained control of himself, he stood and walked purposefully to
the far end of the table, taking his role as clan head, both in position
and in stature. Ranko had noted that while age had slowed the man, in his
prime he would have been formidable, even aged, he was not to be
discounted. Ranko also suspected the old man's mind hadn't lost any of its
quickness, he seemed to be ready to spar with words against the best
Raccoon could offer.
"What interest do you have in this, Mr. Tall American?" the old man
asked, the joking facade gone. This would be serious business.
"In deference to the younger ladies present, I won't answer that
directly. Instead I beg your indulgence," `Raccoon` began.
Ranko took Jeffrey's hand. Whatever Raccoon was going to spin out of
the facts, Ranko wanted it to be clear she cared for him, both to Jeffrey
and to the others. Again, `Ranma` is silent, she thought, Disturbing, does
he countenance something more than just a pl-at-onic friendship. I don't
want _that_!_ she thought, unable to even think about 'making kittens' with
him and Nab-chan, But I do like having someone around who I can trust, and
who trusts me. That he acts so differently from the pack of idiots who
call themselves Martial Artists and fiancees . . . Ranko didn't complete
the thought, it still shook her too much, made her uncertain.
"Genma had a rather unpleasant habit of selling a child for a
betrothal, or just for a bit of food. While no person with any decency
would fail to accept the agreement, simply to get a child away from someone
so obviously reprehensible, he always stole the child back as swiftly as he
could. However, that did nothing to eliminate the marriage contracts left
behind. I'll leave you to imagine the mess, which he insisted was the next
generation's job to sort out. It was family honor after all."
Ranko risked a glance at the faceless `faces` surrounding the table,
without lifting her head. They were universally furious, although they
disguised it to greater or lesser degrees.
"Between my Sophomore and Junior years at Harvard, I returned to my
family's ranch in Wyoming. One evening a thunderstorm spooked the
cattle. While I and all the other cowboys were trying to turn the herd,
everybody with a horse was involved. My horse stumbled in the dark and
slid into a ravine, with me beneath. I spent the rest of that summer in
traction, and most of my Junior year learning how to walk again. After I
completed my studies at Harvard, I went to Japan. I'd hoped to find a
solution to the problem with my walking. On the ship, I encountered this
young lady, in trouble, and Ranma. I was able to deal with the problem,
and she agreed to train me. Her grace seemed to be amazing, perhaps I
would learn enough so I would be able to walk more than a few hundred
meters before the pain forced me to stop."
Raccoon paused, sipped his tea. Ranko could tell he had them.
He continued, "Genma has never understood the real value of
anything. There's an old American saying, 'To get to Laramie, you rent a
horse, you don't buy the road.' Let's just say that my idea of hiring a
skilled trainer, is closer to his idea of what's required to 'purchase the
whole road.' The young lady said nothing, because she already knew what I
was contracting for. I will not repeat what Genma recently accused me, and
her, of. As you all saw, I can walk quite well. We even marched over the
mountains. I couldn't do that before I met this young lady. When Ranma
came to her defense, albeit crudely, stating that she'd never do such a
thing, things rapidly deteriorated after that. We didn't kill him - "
"I made him promise not to," Ranko quietly interjected.
"When I heard a little more, I regret having made the promise."
"I doubt there's anything you could tell me about my nephew that I
haven't already heard. Not a month goes by when the police from _this_
prefecture, from another, from Interpol, the American FBI, or some other
group don't stop by to ask if we've seen him," the old man told them
angrily, "After he stole some of his father's more advanced training
scrolls, he was cast out of the clan."
Ranko felt her heart sink, They are my relatives. But I have no clan
here. She glanced at Jeffrey, who had opened his pack and was extracting
several large metal tubes, each one was sealed with a screw top lid. He
put them in Ranko's hands with a nod. She stood and took them reverently
to the far end of the table. She had a feeling.
"We wish to return your property, we will trouble you no more," Ranko
said, bowed low after she'd placed the tubes before the old man. She
turned to leave, Jeffrey was already on his feet, with both of their packs
in hand.
"Wait!" the old man commanded, "Please wait in the dojo. There -
there is much we have to discuss."
Ranko bowed low, Jeffrey not as much, and they left the home, taking
the stone path to the dojo. "I don't want to know where you got those,"
Ranko hissed when she thought they were out of eavesdropping range.
"It was a fair challenge. I sent a challenge letter and everything."
"Of course you did! How _else_ would you figure out where he kept the
scrolls hidden?" Ranko shot back.
"Well, I'd already found and replaced them with meaningless
forgeries. I did need verification. After all he thinks he's such a good
thief - "
"I thought a Harvard man couldn't be a thief," Ranko said with
exasperation, "And why didn't you tell me you had them?"
"A Harvard man never goes beyond the rules, since Panda-puffs set the
rules, I beat him at his own game. I didn't tell you because I thought we
were going camping and these would give you something to do while we were
walking or I was resting, I wanted to surprise you. Don't worry, I
memorized them. I'd seen them before in the dreams a few months ago, but
too many of the details were fuzzy when I woke up. This time I already
made copies."
"You really are crazy," Ranko accused, "What are we gonna do?"
"We wait," Raccoon said as they entered the dojo and sat down.
Ranko glanced at her kimono and decided doing katas in it, or in her
underwear, was not a good idea, nor was changing her clothes or gender.
----------------------------------------
"So the mercenary returns to afflict us with her presence?"
Nabiki looked around. Kuno, I guess my luck couldn't hold forever,
she thought. "Sorry, Kuno-baby, I don't have any - "
"I attack!" Kuno bellowed at a charge.
Nabiki silently thanked all the training she'd gotten from Cologne,
Shampoo and Ranma. She rolled out of the way of the first charge.
"You deceived us _ALL_!_" Kuno shouted as he swung around, "I falsely
proclaimed that vile deflowerer of purity as a sorcerer, then I realized
the Fair Tigress spurned my advances before he ever arrived. Then my
intelligence determined _YOU_ continue to spy on the fair Akane!"
There should be a law against Kuno and intelligence appearing in the
same sentence, Nabiki thought as she maneuvered to keep open the distance
between her and her ex-best customer.
"_YOU_ are the sorcerer who has denied me their sweet love and turned
me against Saotome, who has suffered at your hand more than any other
mortal! I shall destroy you and leave him to his sword saint wanderings
while I and my beloveds sip sweetly at the font of our love!"
All the memories of tormenting Ranma, and the realization that even
Tatewaki had discerned it, nearly cost her her head. The cane moved on its
own, parrying the bokken and shattering it. Kuno paused to look at the
shattered weapon, and the slowly turning piece of wood that had managed it.
The cane was now pointed at Kuno, as Nabiki struggled to her
feet. The lightning bolt from the cane's tip hit Kuno, and continued long
after Kuno's hair stood on end and he quit twitching. As Kuno and his
clothes began to smolder, it occurred to Nabiki that the cane was trying to
find out if it was possible to kill one of the Nerima Wrecking Crew.
"Stop it!" Nabiki commanded, and was ignored. You're killing him, she
thought, Except that's what you're _intending_. She found Tatewaki
irritating, but he wasn't the best candidate for a homicide, not with so
many better, more deserving targets. "Look you're trying to electrocute
him," Nabiki told the cane in English, "Trust me, no amount of electricity
is _ever_ going to make him cute."
The cane dropped to the ground and flopped there like a beached fish.
"You're as bad as your master," Nabiki said angrily as she picked up
the twitching walking stick. She didn't want to think about the effect the
stirred up memories would have on her tonight.
----------------------------------------
On Doubtless Wings
"So how long do we wait?" Ranko asked. It's a dojo, it's a dojo that
needs repairs, so we should be practicing or repairing it, she thought.
"About that long," Jeffrey said as he stood and bowed to the returning
elders.
As Ranko bowed, she wondered if she was reading too much into it that
_they_ were coming to her, rather than summoning her and Jeffrey to them.
"I am Saotome Eiji," the old man told them, "But you may call me
'uncle'."
Ranko would have hit the ground if Jeffrey hadn't rushed over to catch
her. Ranko felt him folding her at the waist, to make her collapse take
the semblance of a bow.
"You are welcome to stay at our house," Eiji told them.
'We wouldn't dream of imposing,' Ranko heard Jeffrey insisting. She
couldn't get either her voice or her knees to respond to instructions.
"Well, I guess I can't argue with that. You registered at the Sea
Mist Inn?"
"Yes," Jeffrey said.
"Well, at least the money stays in the family," Eiji said, laughed as
he indicated one of the older women. "She's the manager."
Ranko managed to get to a semi-dignified sitting position. "Repairs,"
she managed, she desperately hoped she didn't look like a complete idiot.
"Oh, Ranko and Ranma suggested since we lately have made our living
doing carpentry," Jeffrey said as he glanced around the decrepit dojo,
"Perhaps you'd like a demonstration of martial arts carpentry."
Eiji laughed, so did the others, "Okay, tomorrow, it will let you earn
your breakfast."
"Earn our breakfast," Raccoon said despondently as he hung his head,
"I guess I can find the plans for the Taj Mahal somewhere."
Ranko managed to stand and bow, without looking like a puppet with
half its strings cut. "Ranma will be here, instead of me," Ranko said, "I
think I can convince him."
Eiji bowed slightly, the other elders more deeply. Ranko knelt and
touched her head to the floor, she doubted Jeffrey came anywhere close.
Probably a courtly, European thing, Ranko thought about the snickers
she heard before she straightened up. She hoped desperately that they
hadn't been laughing at _her_, from Raccoon's smug expression, her guess
was probably right. Her next guess was that he'd done it on purpose, so
any laughter that might have been aimed _at_her_, automatically fell on
him.
They walked out, arm-in-arm, mainly because her knees still seemed
inadequate to support her weight. I have a family, and a clan, when I get
back home, I'll have to thank Hiro, I can finally find out who I am! the
thoughts tumbled through her mind almost too fast to register. She also
knew she'd never be able to really explain it to Jeffrey, no matter how
eloquent she suddenly became. Westerners, especially Americans, didn't
value family and clan as Japanese did. He'd never know how important it
had been that Rit-chan had taken Ranma in, or that Hiro had located
possible relatives. But Rit-chan is still `mom`, she thought as she
stumbled along in a daze, barely aware of the world around her, If this
vision is even half-right, I still have a clan.
"I should congratulate you?" Jeffrey asked her as they neared the inn,
his voice barely penetrated the mental fog that surrounded her, "I never
expected this. You've become quite skilled at keeping secrets on purpose."
"I didn't want to hope," she mumbled, she still felt numb inside, and
guilty, and worried.
"EEP!" she shouted as Jeffrey picked her up.
"If you can't raise your feet enough to step up one step, I'll have to
carry you." As he set her down inside the inn.
Ranko giggled at that. "I think Ranma will be jealous."
"Well, he can come talk to me about it himself," Raccoon replied and
brushed his nose against hers, "Besides, with a simple spell, no one saw
your terrible infirmity."
Ranko giggled again, but said nothing else, she knew anything they
said or did would be spied upon, and she also learned that old ladies were
as bad about grandchildren as the `other` was about kittens. So they would
have to be careful.
----------------------------------------
July 27, 1947
Rei sat with Mein Grossfeldmarschall. She had verified that
Shinji-kun was healthy, and she suspected as soon as he completed his
mission, he would return, but not before. She thought her best efforts
should go to helping the others, she had decided to begin with Mein
Grossfeldmarschall. She believed she would have the greatest chance of
success with her.
"I have lobbied for a full field test. You have repeatedly exclaimed
that a full field test would best demonstrate Unit 02's capabilities. I
concur, my using Unit 02 will have the greatest benefit to NERV." Because
if the idea of 'Wondergirl' piloting 'your' Unit 02 does not induce your
return, nothing I can do will, Rei thought, I do not believe you would rise
from the dead to prevent it, as Shinji-kun has suggested, but this is less.
Since her separation, many of the things that had been so clear had
returned to obscurity, returned to disconnected data, rather than usable
conclusions. She did retain more of the emotional content of her early
memories, especially her time with the Ikari family. But she had lost the
means of controlling her emotions, or expressing them. She considered the
trade off well worth it.
"I did wonder if you had any suggestions how to best pilot Unit 02,"
Rei told the comatose patient, "Perhaps a permanent exchange could be
arranged, if you have no objections . . . " She waited several minutes
before continuing, she glanced at Erin who paced outside the room.
"Since you are going to be Unit 00's pilot, there are some operating
quirks." Krasnyzamok-san arrived while Rei was `briefing` Mein
Grossfeldmarschall on the irregularities of Unit 00, and how she was glad
Unit 02 lacked those problems. "I would like to thank you for the
transfer, I believe I will operate better in Unit 02." Then Rei described
her first field test with Unit 00, simply walking around and picking things
up.
Rei watched Mein Grossfeldmarschall moan in her sleep, she walked over
to her bedside, never pausing in her story, and clamped down on the girl's
arm, to prevent Mein Grossfeldmarschall from pulling out the IVs, or
breaking off the needles in her arm.
----------------------------------------
The tread of something heavy caught Asuka's attention. She couldn't
even raise her head to look, but the huge violet object walked around into
her field of view.
Unit 02, an odd violet in the blue light. She'd heard rumors that the
purple monster, Unit 01, moved on its own. Unit 02 was too 'well-mannered'
for that. It reached down towards her, picking her up so gently. She
couldn't reach out her hands to her `old friend`. Its manner reminded her
of her mutti.
"I have come to help you." She heard from the EVA's speakers.
"Wondergirl?!" she croaked desperately, "You aren't - "
----------------------------------------
" - going to pilot _MY_EVA_!_" Asuka shouted as she tried to strangle
the blue-haired witch who was trying to steal her EVA, all she could manage
was a one-armed headlock. She had no strength to take advantage of
it. She exhausted herself and slumped back in the bed.
She paused to catch her breath, and Wondergirl relaxed her grip on
Asuka's arm. "NERV Infirmary," she croaked, her mouth was still as dry as
it had been in the dream. Misses Krasnyzamok and Carter were in the room,
staring open-mouthed at her and Wondergirl. Wondergirl placed a cold glass
against her lips, she didn't care what was in it, she tried to drink it
all, but Wondergirl would only let her take sips.
"I said describing a test with Unit 02 would awaken her," Wondergirl
said while letting Asuka drink.
Miss Krasnyzamok stood to leave the room. "You really _are_
possessive, I thought she was joking," she told Asuka.
"She was so certain that carefully describing the tests with Unit 02
tomorrow would wake you up. We were all _sure_ she was joking, trying to
keep our spirits up," Miss Carter told her.
"Great, rescued by Wondergirl. Can I get a kimono and a knife, so I
can disembowel myself honorably?"
"I think you're exaggerating," Captain Ramsey said as he arrived,
stared at the two of them, "Welcome back. It's not like she'll ever bring
it up. Even to the others." Asuka noted the rather strange smile on
Ramsey's face, then she noticed how Wondergirl was sitting beside and
cradling her. She sat up suddenly, remained there only by pure force of
will.
"That's worse," Asuka grumped, "_I'll_ know, _she'll_ know, and I'll
know she'll know."
Wondergirl stood, Asuka lowered herself back into the bed. Wondergirl
handed her another glass of water. As soon as Asuka took a drink. "You
have bad breath and you smell funn