Special Thanks to: MJ Maurice Phillip Tony Loco Dream and Angel Jourdan Bickham Jose Aragao Byooki Desu Anno Nimus C. Jones Richard Robinson David Bateson David Stanley Jitou King Chan Lawrence Chu Bert Miller The Dragonbard Darthcwader1 Erin Outlawone1 David Calvarese Larry F And to the person reading this. Revision Notes: 09/11/04 -- Some grammar revision. All minor. Took out the nasty parenthesis that was making it look weird. Some mention of sex but that's it. If you're below 13 it might not be adviceable. Standard disclaimer here :) I own nothing :) There Happy??? A nicer more detailed disclaimer below. Little note before you start anything: Ranma, Ranko and Nabiki... Nabiki in her cursed form will be referred to as Nabiki-kun in scenes that show the perspective of people who know about the Jusenkyo curse. (Ranma-chan in Ranma's case). When this is shown in Akane's point-of view, Ranma will be called Ranko and Nabiki will be called Ranma. I hope this doesn't cause confusion. I also switch from gender to gender in the middle. (Arghh sorry, sometimes Ranma gets referred to as he when in cursed form and Nabiki gets referred to as she in cursed form.) Rendezvous with Fate V.2 To thee I'll return, overburdened with care; The heart's dearest solace will smile on there; No more from that cottage again will I roam; Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. ~~ John Howard Payne Home Sweet Home ~ Chapter 5 ~ _...Ranko -- or should I say Ranma's family is an unusual bunch. Nabiki... I don't know what to make of her... she made it so hard for me to understand her... such a complex person..._ Nabiki watched as Ranma trained her only son in the Art that only the Saotome Clan possessed -- the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. Nabiki, although apt in the Arts, was not good at teaching on the said topic. Since her brother was better than her, she let him instruct Sei whenever he was doing so with Hanae. Ranma had decided today he would further their knowledge in the arts, Nabiki shrugged as she watched in the sidelines, physical fighting wasn't her specialty. She sighed as she watched her son. He looked so much like his father... his father... ||---------------------|| Nabiki looked at the dead man in shock... 'This cannot be happening to me...' she thought, rising from the blood soaked tatami. She tried to call for one of her samurai escorts, but her throat seemed mysteriously dry. Her husband, Sugoshi, found her later staring at the dead body. It was his brother with... with Nabiki's sword through his back. He looked at her for a moment then at his brother, Omoi. It was well known both had not been agreeing lately. Sugoshi said a few words and he shook her, but she heard only one question. "What reason had you for killing him?" Nabiki gulped. Her voice had not yet returned. Everything was just a haze surrounding her. Another blow came. 'Oh... Kami... what will I do... he will order me to commit seppuku! Sei... I'm sorry...' Shortly, Sugoshi carried Omoi out and left her alone with two samurai guards just outside her shoji, far enough for her not to see but close enough to catch her if she escaped. She wondered briefly if her husband would go to their liege lord... He probably had. She snapped out of her stupor when she felt the trickle of water against her face... and she looked at her son... her three year old son... with a rag and a bowl of water... washing her face... "Okaasan... I don't believe that you killed uncle... you couldn't have," The child whispered the damp rag moving across the caked blood on her face... She would have to teach him how to wash a wound properly. This would never do for a son of a samurai... "You always told me that uncle was that way because he cares for us... and you wouldn't have killed him." His voice melted in the sea of voices, Nabiki was utterly convinced she would go crazy, and she held her son's little hand against her face, She licked her cracked lips, "Go on Sei... go to your father... if he sees you here... does he know you're with me? Did any of the guards see you enter?" The guards were loyal to her husband first and foremost. Her son was expected to adhere to that same allegiance. Sei would be charged treason if he was found with her, especially tending to her wounds in such a time as this. It didn't matter that she was his mother... It would be very bad for Sei to be found with her. "No, okaasan, Foster Mother Sewa (1) said she won't tell father that I came here, she'd cover for me like when I get lost in the forest. No one was guarding the window so I used it. It was just enough for me to squeeze through," He smiled a little, and Nabiki's heart went out to her son, he was only trying to cheer her up. "It's been some sticks since you were supposed to check on my writing and when you didn't visit me, I thought something was wrong... so I came here. You were hurt and..." "Sei, if your father sees you here..." Nabiki's eyes went to the shoji, her impeccable hearing picking up the footsteps of her husband. She stood up and opened the shoji window opposite her, hugging Sei, as she whispered, "Listen to me, my son. Remember everything I tell you. Go to the forest, take the fork in the road less traveled by... do you know that?" He nodded. Nabiki was relieved. It would lessen the problems. It was good that her son loved the forest, "At the end of that road, you will find a hut. It belongs to one of your uncle's old samurai. Tell him that you're my son and that you're to go to Ranma Saotome. Wait for me, if I don't arrive within a day flee as fast as you can to Ranma, tell him everything you know. Run as fast as the wind my son." 'He's just a little boy... and yet he has to grow up too soon...' He leapt out of the shoji. Nabiki frantically shut the door and sat in the middle of the room taking the bowl and the cloth into her hands just as Sugoshi entered the room, "The Lord Kintaro (2) has ordered your presence immediately." Kintaro was the head of the clan and the local daimyo. "As you wish..." Nabiki answered setting the bowl aside and trying to stand up with as much dignity as she could muster. She swayed a little but refused help from her maid or the samurai that flanked her. Sugoshi grasped her shoulder as she passed him, "Tell me Nabiki, did you kill my brother?" There was a pleading in his eyes, "If you say yes, Lord Kintaro might be able to permit to you seppuku... admit it Nabiki and you will not be cast away or put to death like a common criminal." She shuddered at his offer, and yet she truly had not killed Omoi and hell would freeze over before any woman like Nabiki would admit another person's crime. She looked him in the eye, "I never touched Lord Omoi, my lord. Although it is my shame that my sword was stolen from me and used against his murder, I will not claim any act that I have not done. I still have my honor." The days that followed had been long and tiring and six days flew by before she noticed. Yet, she was not hanged like some common criminal. On the seventh day, Ranma came and visited her at the dump, the newly instigated prisons, to try easing matters for her. She stood before him as a man and not as a woman. Someone had knocked a stupid bowl of water onto her face. Another annoying fact was that she had also been ordered to leave all her garments before entering the cell, not only was she dirty, but she was freezing because of the lack of clothes. Nabiki-kun flinched at the sudden rush of cold air, but welcomed it. It was a drastic change from the fetid smell of the cells. She started to shiver and restrained her muscles to do so. To show discomfort at her current situation would be to lose what scraps of pride she had left. It was good her brother did not comment on the small cringe, he was close enough and fast enough to notice it. At least her pride was still intact. She still had that... if nothing else... she *will* keep whatever shards of it. "Do you want me to buy you out, Nabiki?" Ranma asked concerned, it wasn't common practice to buy prisoners. Hell, it wasn't common practice to *have* prisoners at all. The jail was a new sanction, before it was trial and then your death. It seemed pointless. Confinement was only there to prolong the inevitable. After all, their belief was that prison did not stop crime but merely abated it for a time (3). Prisoners were ultimately killed. "I didn't do it, Ranma, and you know as hell I didn't either." She spat out. "I know... It was Kodachi." It was her testimony against Nabiki that solidified the case... she had used Nabiki's brother-in-law to get into Lord Kintaro's stronghold for some ingredients she needed for a potion, after she had sex with him ... in Nabiki's room ... she killed him off. It was perfect. It was known that her brother-in-law was secretly in love with Nabiki, Nabiki the only person not knowing that and openly hating his guts. She was the perfect scapegoat. Ranma had known this from Sasuke who he had told to keep watch of Kodachi's maneuvers. Of course, Sasuke managed to report after Sei managed to reach his house. Since ninja weren't the most reliable thing to testify against your veracity... and Sasuke being the only one who knew the truth... Nabiki was in very deep trouble. When it was out in the open, there was silence. Nabiki had a sneaking suspicion about that. Kodachi was the last person she saw before she lost her precious sword. The sleek katana had been her mother's gift when she had mastered all the styles required to use it. "It seems your wife always is at the thick of things. I wonder why that old man ordered you to marry the woman in the first place." "This isn't--" "I know. Is... my son alright?" "He is." "Teach him to be a good samurai, and the family art." She hesitated for a second, she wanted the best for her son, and she believed that her brother could give him that. "Refuse him to his father, change his name if necessary, and tell him he's a Saotome. ADOPT HIM." Nabiki gave him no time to protest. "Ikkasei (4) Nabiki?" The guard called from the gate. Ranma's eyes moved towards them, "Do you want me to come with you?" Her hand sought for his, he squeezed it and she let it go. "Please." Ranma requested some hot water from the guards, who obliged him without question. Fortunately for her, she wasn't sentenced to death like a common criminal. Unfortunately, she wasn't permitted to seppuku. Her name was stricken off the Ikkasei Clan. She was also forbidden to become a nun. She was shocked. The only other solution was for her to go back home but if Happosai turned her down what life would she lead then? She could only be ronin now. "She must be branded (5) first before she leaves. She never steps in our domain again." One of the old men said as he took out a metal rod and laid it out on the fire. Her screams of agony were shameful... even to her ears, her tears flowed freely. Ranma stood in the distance, in a ready stance, which to anyone not practicing Anything Goes looked like he was just watching the proceedings. With his eyes he asked her if he should attack Kintaro and save her... she refused. To this day Nabiki wondered what lunacy persuaded her to refuse her brother's offer... war between the clans maybe, possibly because she didn't want Ranma to die, even he could not defeat Kintaro amidst hundreds of vassals alone, but most of all because she needed to see her son alive and well. Not to be ordered the same shame that his mother received. She knew that from the moment the boy had escaped from his foster mother to help her, that she had damned her son to the same fate as herself. That was why she had ordered him to seek sanctuary in Nerima. Ranma could protect her only son. She had lost her first child. She was not going to lose another. Against her prediction... Happosai had grudgingly taken her back into the household, on strict order that her conduct was under review and that she was under Ranma's jurisdiction and not to leave the boundaries of Nerima unless he saw it fit. When she got her hands on Kodachi, she had drawn her knife at her, willing to kill her then and there, for her life could be forfeit once she did so, Kodachi wasn't much of a fight, she hadn't kept up with her training, her form was lousy and her movements slow, jerky and predictable. Nabiki had her knife on her throat easily. "You lying, scheming bitch! Tell me why I shouldn't end your life right now?" "Because you can't." Blood trickled from the knife, which had already broken skin. Kodachi looked up to her eye to eye. Nabiki held the knife at the throat for a moment then threw Kodachi down on the tatami, damning herself for the move she couldn't make. Her foster father was right. He had raised the twins too soft. She turned to talk to Ranma who was standing on the sidelines... mindful of the rules. "I knew it." Kodachi rasped her hand clutching her bleeding neck, she was extremely lucky for her the wound was only superficial. She wiped the line of blood before speaking, "For all your bravado, you can never kill in a duel of honor." Steeling herself Nabiki turned back, her eyes slowly regarding Kodachi, "There's nothing honorable about killing an honorless woman like you Lady *Saotome*, but that wound will be just like the kanji on my back. I prefer that you suffer here, a hell on earth, rather than be reborn or go to whatever seven hells Christianity believes in. I still have my honor... and though in scraps... it will keep me warm -- and *you* are nothing but a cheating liar. You *have* no honor." "If I'm the one who has no honor," Kodachi drew out madness present in her eyes again as Sasuke helped her up. "Then why is it you who has been banished?" "But I was accepted back! If you were thrown out Kodachi... would anyone care enough to accept you again?" There was a ringing in her ears that she wished would die down. The reason probably was that she knew... she knew that some intervention had happened in her case. Exile... somehow, she knew Happosai would not take her in again. After this, Ranma went to his sister's side, looking at some of the cuts and bruises Kodachi had managed to inflict. She may be out of shape, but she still had some semblance of skill, they rounded the corner of the house before she finally took his offered arm. "I'm sorry for being weak, Ranma." "It wasn't weakness... Kodachi would still scoff us in her death, at least alive... alive she suffers mortality just as we do." Ranma offered his sister a smile, "You were right Nabiki, killing Kodachi won't remove the past... making sure she lives through it will... it will sting her pride to know she's beaten. Beaten by a woman who she had damned." "No, nothing can erase our past." She said it with regret and yet the will that her brother was happy to see back. And he knew that Nabiki would live on and not waste away. She then took up the smile in his face, it was good to be home... exhausting, but good. And Ranma, feeling that the mood has gone too sour wiped the drying blood on Nabiki's cheek. "Is this the way you return? Soaked in blood and letting Kodachi get to your nerves?" "It's hard not to, Kodachi always grates my nerves." Nabiki whispered, and then maybe because she was exhausted, or maybe because she was completely numb from her encounter with all the people she has seen the past few days, Saotome Nabiki collapsed in her brother's arms for the first time in so many years. For the first time in days, she had found respite for her wounds, a time not to worry about the stinging sensation in her back, or her lost husband and son. She did not need to worry about the woman who had sullied her name, for now she was safe. She was safe in her brother's hands. Nabiki didn't worry about her son's disappearance from her husband's fief, the foster mother she had chosen was loyal to her and not her husband... and smart. She would cover for her son's disappearance, and would probably weave up something like he had been lost in the forest, which was, in a way, true. Her son would be forever lost to the forest to the Ikkasei. Forever lost to them. Sugoshi sought for her one day and asked Happosai her whereabouts, Happosai had told him he had ordered her killed. She never heard from Sugoshi again. How *had* she managed to flee him for this long? Nabiki had Jusenkyo at her side, the curse, which her husband never found out, was her savior. ||---------------------|| "Hey, Nabiki, you alright?" Ranma waved his hand in front of her face, worry breaking out clean into his deep blue eyes. Nabiki forced a smile. "Yes... I'm fine. Really, Ranma, thank you for your concern, but shouldn't you be watching the children spar?" He cocked his head to the side then sat down beside Nabiki. "I let them take a break some time ago Nabiki, I've been trying to talk to you ever since." She mumbled a weak apology, but Ranma waved it off, he was sure she had remembered her husband again. Her son was growing up to be the spitting image of his father. "Would it hurt so much to share so great a burden with me?" She sighed as she folded her hands neatly on her lap. "How come Happosai agreed on letting me in the clan again? It's against practice, most women would turn ronin (6) against lesser instances... and yet I wasn't, when it was obvious that I am his most despised samurai. Why?" "Oh..." Ranma said lamely staring off to the same distance as she did. "Well, I really don't know Nabiki." "Liar." She accused softly. Ranma had never been a good one, especially with her. Ranma's faith in his sister's ability to find out the impossible was absolute, but this was one of the instances that he wished she wasn't so damned sharp. There was a small pause before she voiced out the only thing she could think of all of those years that she had wondered. "You convinced him didn't you?" "Nabiki... it's been four years. Why bring this up now?" He pleaded. He really didn't want to talk about it. "Because it's only since your last leave that I've had proof." Her eyes shone glassily the sheen of tears threatening to pour. "How could you take my punishment for me?" "It's not a punishment, just a consequence." Ranma reasoned out, and not for the first time, Nabiki wished that when she was in a serious argument with her brother he wouldn't be so ... smart. "How could you have done something so STUPID?" "Nabiki... I don't think..." "That's it! You don't think at all!" Her temper was controlled, but she was still seething inside. 'Why did he have to ask to share this? Why?' "You could've gotten divorced from Kodachi, Ranma. You could've... don't you see? With me as a ronin, the Kunos' bind over Kodachi is worth null. You could have divorced her and then claimed Rose Brier. With me in the picture, back as a safeguard, Kodachi *can't be killed off*." "Because I feel responsible for you, Nabiki! It was Kodachi's fault that you were in that mess. It was my *duty* to get you out." "But it is mine to see you live." Nabiki sighed then turned to question something other than the obvious. After she had visibly calmed down she took a deep breath and began again, "So tell me, what used to bribe Happosai to get me back on the clan? And don't tell me you didn't bribe the old bastard, because I'm sure he hates my guts just as much as I do his." "I bought him the contract of one of the better courtesans (7) in Nerima... acquired a couple of his 'silky darlings' for him... do you know how hard it is to get an under-kimono (8) in Nerima? And... He had Ranko publicly wash the penitentiary. That's all." Ranma fidgeted under her scrutiny, he wasn't used on them being on opposite ends of an argument, at least not in an argument this serious. "Ranko did it naked, no doubt. I still don't believe you." Nabiki brandished one of her knives from her obi. Ranma eyed it wearily. He believed that Nabiki wouldn't kill him off. Within a blink of an eye, she had turned him around and cut a circular hole in the back of his silk shirt, she suppressed a gasp. "Damn you Ranma, why do this?" "You know you could've asked. Silk is hard to come by (9)." Ranma joked a little. She glared at him, although he could not see her face for the glare to take effect. She traced the kanji-scar across his back. Most of the scars there were brought about by the sword, this came from a hot poker... It was also identical to the scar on her back. "Why?" Ranma sighed as he turned to face Nabiki. "It was this or your son's back. I kept it from you because I don't think it would've mattered. You were too upset to take my problems, and when you weren't... it was just too long to care for it anymore." Nabiki hugged her brother, menial labor was a terrible blow to his pride, but the scar had to have been more, it was an ever-present mark to be carried to remind him of his suffering on her behalf. She suspected as much, Happosai was a demanding leader. He was not a man satisfied with half measures and compromise. A demand that only he could make and does not apologize for, clearly signifying that he held them all. He was a man who didn't give out his favors lightly, but could be persuaded... with the right amount of persuasion. Apparently, even though Ranma was his favorite among his descendants, public humiliation would be worth her return. She swore, someday, Happosai was going to pay, and her brother... he was going to take that perverted fool's station in the Saotome clan. "No... Nabiki... Don't." Ranma whispered. "Don't what?" She let go of him and then turned his face to her, so she could see his eyes, his deep blue-gray eyes. He took her gaze head on, and he smiled faintly, switching to Chinese for fear of being overheard, "" "And what makes you think..." "Because I'm your twin." He reasoned out, he took her hand in his. "" Her hand tightened against his. "You fool, you sweet, stupid, fool." Ranma never noticed that she never gave her word. Ranma had decided to lock himself up at the dojo with that girl named Nabiki and throw away the key. What they did there, Akane could only guess. But she could hear the whispers from both, the sobs, which she mistook for laughter, and the occasional thuds that were distinctly flesh against wood. Even the constant honor guards the two kept were limited to the parameters. Apparently, the brother and sister had dismissed them to be alone. Hanae and a boy she did not recognize were playing along the koi pond. From the hostile glances of the samurai around them, speaking to them would not be advisable at the moment. The dojo kept from her, her training was limited to running across the beach. But even she couldn't do that all day. Once she had been tempted to demand entrance, she had chickened out after a particularly loud fall against the floor and Hanae's giggling upon hearing that. Finally she decided to move towards the library and sat before one of the shelves to pick out what seemed to be a good read. Ifuku came later to inform her that Ranma had suggested that she visit the seamstress some time that week and that a stable hand, Ko-uma (10), had been sent to make an appointment already. Akane was surprised about her husband's sudden interest in her wardrobe; but Ifuku supplied her with an answer. "I don't suppose you remember that the Lord Happosai has ordered all his important samurai to his fort in the Kanto Mountains?" That came as a shock to Akane and the number, close to a hundred, surprised her even more. "It's to honor the day of birth of Lady Nodoka -- that's Lord Ranma's mother." Ifuku supplied. Now she was in panic, it was one thing to have Ranko's family over, another to learn that it was a yearly affair, and yet another to learn Ranma's family would probably be here as well seeing as it was his mother's ball. They'd probably be hostile to her. It would be a great challenge to her. For two months, she had been secluded in Rose Brier, with only Ranma, Hanae and Ranko as contact with the real world. Both their family and his brood of friends were going to make her seem like an outcast -- in her own home! She didn't know how to act towards anyone. Ranma's reaction to her shorts and shirt was proof that she knew next to nothing about medieval Japan. Amnesia would be her salvation in some places, but it still meant keeping her temper, watching her dress code, leaving the good things to do to the men and biting her tongue. Those restrictions were going to be hard. She had grown up into a time where she could do anything, where she was any man's equal. She was sure she was going to shock a lot of people with her behavior if she couldn't. She could never rein her temper or her tongue, though it was light, it was damn hard to hold. It seemed like she was going to have to start learning. Akane finished up with her lunch the next day, which was composed of some sushi and yakitori, she missed some of the modern foods, but she introduced some healthy menus to the cook when she looked at the recipe books. Briefly, she wondered why the cook wouldn't let her come near the kitchen after she tried to cook the food, but dismissed it when she heard a commotion outside. Apparently, one of the two families had arrived. She gave her reflection in the mirror a once over before she headed towards the garden. She frowned at the dark kimono and patted a stray hair back to the edge of her ear. She practiced a smile that quickly turned into a frown when she ran out to the garden. As she moved the last shoji blocking her way, she gulped down her anxieties. 'This is not going to be easy.' She was not part of the happy family she saw in the garden. The woman, who presumably was Ranko's mother from the uncanny resemblance they shared, was in her early forties, and remarkably beautiful. Ranma, Ranko -- both were slightly damp and wore identical clothes -- and the two children bowed, and the woman pleased bowed back as well. Then she hugged the two little kids. Akane frowned at Ranko, she hated the fact that in feudal Japan consorts to samurai were allowed, that meant she had to share her husband. One of the things she really didn't want to share with anybody. Now she was being disregarded in her own house by his consort and her daughter... She wrung her outer kimono unconsciously waiting for someone to notice her. When they did, she wished they hadn't. The woman cleared her throat and motioned towards her, both Ranma and Ranko turned towards her direction, Ranma matching Ranko's expression when they saw her. "Ranma?" The woman asked with one eyebrow raised. Curiously, she was looking towards the redhead of the two. She fidgeted a little, all eyes turned to her. She felt her embarrassment rise and forced her reluctant feet down the garden, her face growing hotter with each step. She smiled at the three scowls set in her way. She turned towards the kids and was about to usher them out so the grown-ups could talk, when Ranko put herself between them and her, just as she had done that morning with Ranma and Hanae, just as Ranma had done with Hanae when he arrived, in a manner that was clearly protective. "Kodachi, please, we need to talk." She said sternly. Angered by this Akane stepped back. "What is it with you guys? Kodachi was stupid -- I know but she really wouldn't have hurt the children would she?" It had been done twice to her and she was angry, upset and hurt. When she realized she had talked in the third person again, she muttered a soft oath. "Damn." At their confusion, Akane looked at them questioningly, "Ranma didn't tell you?" At that, Ranko rolled her eyes. "Kodachi insists that she has amnesia and quite *conveniently* has no memory of you, or her misdeeds." She said it in a way that clearly meant she did not believe a word of it. There was a moment of silence as they took that in. Nodoka was the first one to speak. "Well then Ranma," She paused. Akane noticed that oddly enough, Nodoka was looking at Ranko when she said this. "Introduce me to your wife, then." Akane found this situation weird since both Ranko and Ranma piped up, Ranma gave the woman a warning gaze before he continued with such stiff formality, "Saotome Nodoka, my mother, and let me formally introduce you to Saotome Sei, Nabiki's son, Saotome Hanae my daughter. I'm sure you know Ranko." Ranko just glared at Ranma, while he smirked at her, Akane wondered what by-play was happening then she turned to Sei, "Saotome... so Nabiki is part of the family?" "Oh? Didn't you know?" Ranma drawled, the cocky smile never leaving his face, "Nabiki is my twin sister." This came as a shock to Akane, then the words of Ifuku came back to her _She runs the household as our lord likes it._ She stared at him in shock, '*I* don't run the household because his sister does... what kind of...' She hardly saw Nabiki, just that one time when she first stepped out of her room. The house was uncanny that way, there were always samurai, but she did not see them... the household melted into the shadows, and it seemed that Nabiki could as well. Another fact that struck her as odd was that Sei took up his mother's maiden name. Surely, he would have taken up his father's... after all he was a boy... and potentially an heir. But she put it in the back of her mind. She would never understand how this society worked. "I... ah... didn't know." She turned to go but then stopped another thing dawning on her, "Saotome... Nodoka, you're Ranma's mother?" Nodoka frowned at the impoliteness of the girl, "Yes? Why?" "Well... I ahh... thought you were *Ranko's* mother, you look so much like her." She looked at the uncanny resemblance... if they were related... "I am Ranma's mother and I am Ranko's mother. Have these two not explained the matter of Jus--" "It's just that Ranko's been consort to me since I married you and mother thinks of her as her own daughter -- the resemblance is to the fact that --" There was a queer pause in his statement, before Ranma continued, "-- Master Happosai is known for his 'indiscretions' and Ranko's one of them, he ordered me to take her so... you know she'd be under my wing (11)." She looked at the two of them disgust showing in her face, "So you're related?" "Very far apart." Ranko glared at Ranma. Akane wondered at this but spent no time to think about it. If she wondered at every little thing... like the fact that if Ranko was one of Happosai's indiscretions and that Nodoka looked like her... and Nodoka was married into the Saotome name... Akane shouldn't be related to Nodoka at all. If she thought over every single thing, she wouldn't get much done. There was a pregnant pause. Akane then forced a smile. "Well, I'm going out to see if Nabiki's near, then I'll leave you to... ah... talk. Then, shall we have dinner at... seven (12)?" There was a pause... all of them looked at her weirdly and she almost cursed... she had forgotten that time was said differently now... Still, Ranma assumed it was the time and he shrugged. "We're going out for dinner." That stunned Akane, it not only implied that *she* wasn't coming, which she could take, but also said that *Ranko* who was Ranma's *consort* was coming along. She mentally seethed, her fingers cracked in anger and had she been holding a pencil, she was sure it would have broken into two. But she didn't do anything about it... after all it wasn't like she could bash Ranma's head for taking Ranko who was all chummy to his mother, right? Right... but damned it all, she wasn't going to like the redhead hussy. "And you don't have to look out for Nabiki. She uses the queerest doors." Ranma added as an afterthought. Something Akane barely heard as she tried to calm herself. "I'll see you tomorrow then." She said with forced cheerfulness that even to her, didn't sound natural. She turned her back at them and tried to climb the stairs. By the time she reached the last step, she was crying. Ranma-chan watched the back of her wife as she went and turned to her family, "Why do I suddenly feel bad about that?" Nabiki-kun looked at her incredulously with a hint of exasperation. "Don't tell me you're actually sorry for her, Ranma. She deserves even worse than that." "Besides you know she won't be admitted anywhere, amnesia or not." Nodoka put in, trying to comfort her son --- currently daughter. "Do I need to remind you everything she's done?" Nabiki-kun asked. She was a little worried at his brother's show of emotion towards his wife, as small though as it was. Little things tend to blow up to large ones. "No." Ranma-chan said in a controlled voice, "I know enough already." But Nabiki noticed that his brother's eyes were drawn back to the stairs Kodachi had walked on. "This reminds me..." Nodoka said as she looked at the twins, "Will you please tell me what is *really* going on here?" ~~~ Nodoka watched her daughter stare out to the bay, watching the calm of the night, and the stillness of the house. Before, that had been a sure sign that Kodachi had not been home... the silence today had been different. Very different. There were traces of worry on Ranma's face when they had left. It was not readily apparent but showed enough for both women to pick up on it. On the way home Nabiki heard him mutter that he hoped Kodachi had already gone to their Nerima residence. Kodachi had been home, opened their doors and smiled for them. She had even asked them about how the evening went. Not your typical Kodachi behavior and Nabiki was starting to doubt Kodachi's actions. Whereas before Nabiki was always one step ahead of her sister-in-law, now she was second-guessing her, and that probably scared her more than anything else. "Nabiki, aren't you going to sleep?" Nodoka asked as she joined her daughter on the roof. She sat down beside her. Her old bones were not up to the task of taking care of her children. "I can't sleep." Nabiki grumbled in the dark, swinging her feet in time with the waves. She had already checked Sei five times and her mother was sensing another trip coming on. "What is it?" She asked, concerned, it had been the first restless night Nabiki had since she was three. And Nabiki usually didn't step out of character. There was a long pause before Nabiki answered, "It's Kodachi. I don't trust her." "What else is new? Have you thought about her actions, then?" Nodoka looked out to the bay. "Not much." Nabiki answered distractedly, averting her eyes from the questioning look her mother was giving her. "Are you going to tell me or are you going to let me keep guessing?" She asked patiently, sitting closer to her daughter. She was robbed of the chance to see them grow up... all mothers were robbed of the chance to see their children grow up. Their duty was to their husbands... the children were for the foster mothers... in their case... foster father. "She's actually trying to win the children over, and she has never done that! She tried to be *polite*, and when have you ever seen Kodachi being polite? This amnesia thing, it's new, it's unpredictable and its unpredictability is its greatest danger -- and we don't even know if she really *has* amnesia. She's being spontaneous! I've never seen her spontaneous! She has this twisted mind that manipulates everything she says! She's actually dropped her laugh--" "Haven't thought about it, huh?" Nodoka joked a little interrupting her line of thoughts. "Nabiki, you think too much. And though you think Kodachi's this little puzzle you have to decipher, she won't go away for the night." "No, we're not that lucky." Nabiki muttered, closing her eyes to feel the soft breeze against her face. It was something she'd once heard Ranma say. "Let's just hope that we learned something from seven years ago." Akane paced around her room, fidgeting. It had been a restless night for her. She was hurt that she had not been invited to dinner but she could take that. She had also been hurt since Ranko's nature in the house was more obvious to her now, still she was satisfied that Ranma and Ranko kept their... nightly intimacies quiet. 'At least the pervert isn't forcing himself on me.' She thought indignantly. She understood that they would not comprehend easily, but it was hard. She needed patience, and that had never been one of her best assets. She could only ask how many questions before she became too overwhelmed by it. How long until everyone treated her with respect? How long until the people realized that she was not Kodachi? How long until they knew that she was trying so very hard to be a part of everyone? But it was no use to ask questions that no one really had answers to. She looked around the room worriedly, but nothing in the room gave her comfort. In fact, it added to her sense of dread. For every bit of accessory there was plainly Kodachi's, her smell pungently strong in the room -- and her face -- the face that stared back at her that told her about the wrongness of everything. Every turn she faced the mocking picture of either Kodachi's mirror, or the portrait of eyes looking out in the dark towards her. Accusing eyes they were, and she could take it no longer. She pulled a black shawl from the drawer and threw it over the weird portrait and across the full-length mirror. Only to stare back at the sketch of eyes this mocked her. She took another shawl, this one, lighter than the other and covered that image as well. "Oh, Akane, how long until you go insane, huh?" She asked herself, rubbing her shoulders. Another question ... this time, she didn't want an answer. She sighed again and left the unsettling room to roam around the house. As usual, it was just before dawn. Usually at this time, she trained, but since Ranma's family was here for the moment and she was confined to her own room. She muttered a curse under her breath as she went out to drink some tea, trying to tread lightly across the tatami. When she reached the kitchen she saw Sei was up and moving about. She was surprised to see him up early. He was hovering over a kettle. Akane frowned, 'What is with these people and hot water anyway? They don't use it for tea, or I would have seen them take cups... this is ridiculous!' She thought as for the second time she was greeted by someone who was boiling water. By the sound of her steps, Sei's head shot to her. This surprised her, she hadn't been that noisy at all, yet the child had sensed her. "Ohayou, Oba -- Aunt Kodachi," The boy greeted tentatively, "Sumimasen, I did not mean to wake you." At this Akane's automatic reply was the vigorous waving of hands in front of her, negating the thought. "Oh, no, no Sei. I'm always up this early." She assured him. Then looked at him before clapping her hands happily. "Nabiki has taught you some martial arts?" "Oh no... that's father's work. Okaasan wants some of the family's knowledge passed down to me." He trailed off after a while. "She wants us to keep other things too..." For a second Akane dwelled on whom exactly Sei's father was, it seemed like Nabiki's husband wasn't around too much for her to see. She concluded that maybe he was just like his wife that he took to the shadows. "How far are you into your lessons?" Akane asked as she sat down bringing a mug with her and the cocoa and sugar, Sei seemed to be boiling a lot of water. She hoped he wouldn't mind if he shared it with her. "Okaasan says I learn almost as quickly as father at his age." Sei answered he almost seemed proud, yet it was well hidden. She sensed a few more years to that child and that proud shine in his eyes would disappear in a thick emotionless face. Saotomes seemed eager to hide their emotions. Too eager. "You're a morning person too, Sei, aren't you, would you like to watch the sunrise with me?" She asked, the house had seemed much too lonely for her tastes, and though sunrises were good to watch alone, it is always better when you have a memory shared with someone in return. The child hesitated a moment then looked at her straight at the eyes, they stood there for a moment each looking at each other ... questions left unsaid and unanswered. The whistling of the kettle drew him out of it. "My father needs the water." For one so young, that boy already has such strong loyalties. And his loyalties were tugging him to his family rather than to an aunt he hardly knew. She wondered, again, how long it would be before he would watch the sunrise with her willingly. She smiled faintly then looked up at the rustle of noise behind her. "Good Morning, Nabiki." She greeted her sister-in-law, smile wavering in her face. She didn't know how it looked now. "Sei and I were just ... talking." The boy nodded at his mother while he took the kettle off the brazier. Akane just sat there, she was just now fully aware of how deep her sister-in-law's hatred was for her. "Sei, the hot water is needed, quickly now." Nabiki said ignoring Akane, patting her son's brown hair. How she could look so kind to her son and so fierce to her was such a big mystery. The boy nodded in acquiescence and ran through the garden towards the house, hot water in tow. "Careful, Sei, that water can burn!" After her son's footsteps disappeared through the main house her gaze turned to Akane, she almost wished she wasn't under that fierce look. "I know what you're doing Kodachi. I'm warning you, stay away from my son." "He shouldn't fear you Nabiki," Akane offered quietly. "That isn't any way to raise a child." "When have you known anything about raising children? Have you ever even tried to raise Hanae?" Nabiki shot back, her gaze was just as scorching as before. "As much as you think you do, you don't know how to raise children, Kodachi. You don't associate with my son you don't talk to him, and now that you have decided to do so I am forbidding it." Similar words, Akane's ire rose. "What gives you the right to forbid me - to actually forbid me to do anything with whom I please?" "When the subject of talk is my son!" Nabiki's voice never rose from that of which she started with, it made Akane furious how she could argue like that and make her seem so inferior. "He is my nephew." "You lost the right to call them that after you cost me my first child." Nabiki answered as she turned her back to Akane. "You will never refer to him as that again." ~~~ "Thank you, Sei." Ranma-chan said gratefully as she poured the water over herself, while the child watched in fascination. "I could've gone down there myself you know." "Aunty Nabiki is right, if Kodachi tells everyone your girl-form is your -- " Hanae chose her words carefully, "you know what, then you shouldn't very well show everybody 'Ranko' in your clothes." Nodoka made a negating sound, "You could have stopped any inquiry by showing everybody the curse. It would make fewer complications that way." "I don't go telling any person about my weird curse you know." Ranma defended himself crossing his arms in front of his chest, and succeeding in looking very much like a spoiled brat. "Besides, what the *Lord Happosai* orders, we must obey... and the curse is something he has ordered to the 'strict confidences of only the most trusted of all people'." The fact that Kodachi found out makes him simmer in rage already... the only reason he hasn't taken it out on us is because it was his fault. That was the scene Nabiki saw when she opened the shoji towards the room they were all gathered in. She hardly paid attention to it though, "Oh GOD! That woman infuriates me!" "Calm down Nabiki, don't give her the satisfaction of seeing you like this." Nodoka said in a soothing voice. Everyone knew that her son's wife left a lot to be desired. "Sei, Hanae, go about your morning training so you can take a bath before breakfast." With the dismissal from their grandmother, the children scurried out of the library. "And do remember to use a door this time!" Nodoka called out worriedly, she still did not approve of the manner they went about hopping from place to place. Training or no, it made her worry a lot more than she should. When the children disappeared, Nabiki settled on the silk cushion Ranma led her to. "Let's talk of pleasanter things." He smiled as he looked at her. "How are the preparations coming through?" Having her attention diverted from the topic of Kodachi, Nabiki eased her back. She almost sighed, and wished fervently that even though Kodachi was there, everything would go on well enough. She would be let down... hard. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||-----------^_^-----------||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Endnotes: (1) Sewa: means to help or charge (2) Kintaro: 'Golden Wax Rice Field' (wonder what kind of rice this produces, doesn't sound like a samurai name... but... live with it. :) kin -- gold or money ta -- rice field ro -- fireplace wax (3) Before the prisons were instigated, men were often killed when they were found at fault, no questions asked. The prisons, which came in the late 1500s were a temporary resting place before you got killed off. Getting killed after all is the only punishment. It's very rare that people ever come out of those cells. (4) Ikkasei: 'Family Reason' (what I used although it could sound like 'Below Reason'... how much does one letter change the sound of this anyway... a byplay of words if you wish... :) Ika -- less than, under, below Ikka -- (A) Family -sei -- results, influence, reason (5) I'm not entirely sure if they *really* branded them back then... but it's for the story... what? You don't believe me? (6) What are ronin? Samurai without a leader. I won't delve into the topic most of the people know what ronin are. An important fact though are that women samurai become ronin when their husband turns them out. That or shave their hair and become nuns. Or seppuku. Talk about hard choices. (7) Buying the contract of a courtesan, means you particularly own that courtesan. Renting a contract usually is a night... buying a courtesan would probably cost around a thousand koku depending on the level. Kyoto First Class courtesans are the best. The wives are the ones who negotiate for the contract for their husbands. Weird, huh? (8) Of course there still aren't any bras in Japan at 1600s, I had to improvise! I'm not certain what an under-kimono is actually... but it's under the category of underwear. Happosai has to settle for that until he reaches the 20th century. (9) Silk is reserved for the more wealthy of the people :), China produces silk which they trade with the Portuguese for some Japanese products... they didn't trade directly because they can't understand each other and needed the priests as translators (who traded the products with outrageous prices). Japanese students sometimes were sent to China to learn there... why they never picked up the language I would never know. (10) Ko-uma: pony. (He's the stable boy okay! Problem is there are currently *no* horses) (11) Is this legal? Well yes... anything your liege lord says is legal to you... of course if it isn't legal to somebody else... you may get your head cut off... trick here is not to let that particular someone else find out. (12) Measure of time -- well it is measured by: um I'll copy the exact paragraph from Shogun: The day and the night are each split into six equal parts, the day began with the hour of the Hare (5 am-7am) Dragon (7am-9am), snake, horse, goat, monkey, cock, dog, boar, rat and ox. The cycle ended with the hour of the tiger (3am-5am) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||-----------^_^-----------||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ICQ: 51376120 -- (:) I barely use ICQ anymore. The last time I did was 5 years ago. Better chances of reaching me in yM!\ iCe_an6el Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 and the book I based it from is When there is Hope, and if you sue me you can't possibly get money from me. ||-----------^_^-----------|| Author's notes: I must admit Kodachi is turning out to be more evil than I expected her to be :) Also, I don't know if you've noticed but my fave girl character in the Ranmaverse is Nabiki Tendo... who's going around nicely in her role :) Yes... I said I liked her, I didn't mean for her to be Ranma's wife. :) I hope I've done her justice... :) Even if I cursed her, separated her from her husband, banished her... etc. etc. Still there are reasons for this... which I think I explained earlier. :) ~~ iCe ~~ ||-----------^_^-----------|| PS. Please be reminded send mail to me at: siuane@gmail.com (I love recieving letters if just for a pleasant hi, I always answer back,I'm *that* talkative, if not prompt) My homepage: http://iCe.esmartdesign.com/ Mirror site: http://time-arrow.atspace.com/rend_main.htm ** popup less, banner less site :) Packrat's homepage: http://members.tripod.com/the_packrat/anime.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||-----------^_^-----------||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We sometimes tend to forget that criticsm is better than praise, when we criticize we say that the other person has the ability to accept our words and take it as a challenge to become better because of this. ~~~ my teacher (hehehe) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||-----------^_^-----------||~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I write when the spirit moves, and I make sure it moves every day. ~~ unknown