Lightbirds, chapter 1.3

What has happened before...
	After Ranko's successful attempt at the Caller at the end of 
TCP, Phaeron was brought back to life permanently. However, 
before anyone could stop them the Emerald and Crimson Stars 
"abducted" every person who had a Brindstone Gem and took them 
to their "Endless Realm." While Cologne and the others plan on a 
way to rescue their friends from the Stars, another mysterious figure 
arrived at Tokyo, bent on finding the user of the Caller before he/she 
disturbed the ascension of Saffron, prince of Mt. Phoenix.
	And so, since the Stars gave their warriors one month to 
decide whether or not they would like to stay on their planet, Ranko 
and Phaeron have had enough time to catch up on the 1500 years of 
separation. But, curious as always, Ranma and Akane began to 
wonder just _how_ those two first met, 1500 years ago...


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

The way we met... 
<FPN, Ranko+Phaeron+Yuannyan>

The foursome walked around the valley, atop the grass-covered hills 
that separated it from the sea. It was already the afternoon, or so it 
seemed, and nighttime was close to arrive. With a snicker, Ranko and 
Phaeron said, "Okay, where should we start..."
	"Oh, I know," Ranko said...	

R [[ It began about two years after Mom and Pop had been 
killed by Dysithal, in that landslide. Yuan-chan... I mean, Pandi-chan 
had been sick then, but she got better a few days later.
	I can't tell you how we felt when we found out. I... I thought 
Pandi-chan was going to get even worse. Some of our relatives 
wanted to take care of us, but all those guys wanted was to get us 
engaged with some other guys. I mean, it was ancient Japan, and we 
were already... how should I put it... _growing_. You got any idea 
what would've happened to us?
	Anyway, we felt awful, but we didn't want to get hitched 
just like that. And right after our parents died? Yeah, right.]]

	"You never told me they wanted to engage you," Phaeron 
said, briefly interrupting.
	"Now you know why I _hate_ being engaged like that," 
Ranko said. "Where was I...?"

	R [[ Me and Pandi-chan had to leave our house before our 
"loving relatives" found us. We were lucky enough to find a fishing 
ship that was about to leave for Shikoku. But we knew from the start 
that we wouldn't get there.
	"But Zhaodi-chan!" Pandi-chan said, "We can't just board 
it!"
	"You want to get engaged to someone you don't even 
know?!" I had to be strong with her, even if it hurt to talk like that to 
my twin sister. "Look, it's not like we're leaving for good. Once we 
get there, we'll find some work at a farm or something and stay there 
until they forget that stupid marriage thing, right?"
	Pandi-chan was still unconvinced, but I got her to follow me 
and we boarded the boat. Some of the sailors saw us, but I don't 
think they cared anyway. And I _don't_ wanna think what some of 
them had in mind when they saw us.]]

	"Okay, my turn," Phaeron said...

	P [[ Around that same time, Raphael and I were living in a 
town near Jerusalem. But my brother was also very ill. Most of the 
people of our town were sure he wouldn't make it. Some said he had 
fallen sick after our parents died, about three years earlier.
	I'll never forget how he died.
	He was finally getting better, even if he wasn't able to leave 
the house. Back then, I used to take care of our farm, even though I 
liked more to shepherd our animals. But my real dream was in 
traveling all over the world, and meet other people. You know, I was 
barely fourteen then, so I fantasized about those things all the time.
	Anyway, I was bringing the sheep back to the stable when a 
kid, the son of a villager, came running to our house.
	"Bar... Barbarians!" he yelled, even as he ran towards me. I 
frowned and grasped my staff tighter, then told the boy to get the 
sheep into a shelter. I just took a sling and a couple of rocks and ran 
to the town.
	"W-wait..." I heard Raphael's voice. He was trying to get 
out of the house!
	"Stay here," I told him, hoping to convince him that his 
condition was still too delicate to run out fighting some barbarians. 
He just snorted at me, but I took that as a yes and I left.
	By now, I better tell you exactly _how_ I managed to learn 
chi techniques. I've always been a bit on the religious side, so I liked 
to pray. When Raphael got sick I prayed even more. But with time, I 
found out that I could use my spirit and just let it out, especially 
when fighting or when concentrating. So, when I saw those thugs, 
the first thing I did was concentrate on my staff.
	"Hah!" I swung it straight into the gut of one of them, then 
pulled up and threw him away. Another one pulled a dagger from his 
belt, but I tripped him with the staff and batted the blade away. The 
third was more trouble. He had a whip. So I tied the sling to one of 
the ends of the staff and concentrated, focusing my chi into the 
pouch. I swung the staff around and smashed it against this guy's 
head, letting his whip wrap around the pole. Unfortunately... I didn't 
knock him out. He threw his whip away, leaving me unarmed, and 
grabbed a sword. He gave me a hard time, and finally got me against 
a wall. I tried to use my chi again, with my fists, but he was just too 
damn big. He just slapped me silly a few times, then grabbed me by 
the neck and pushed me into the wall. I think he was rearing back his 
sword when I suddenly felt someone push me away.
	As soon as I recovered, I... I was shocked to death. Raphael 
had pushed me out of the way, but... but the sword had gone through 
him all the way. I don't know how I managed to stay conscious. The 
thug just drew back his sword, and I stared as Raphael slid off it, 
pouring blood everywhere, and looking at me all the while. I looked 
up at the barbarian, and he sneered at me and walked away. The 
damn brute was actually making fun of me. I tried to stand up, but 
my legs wouldn't move. I could only stare at Raphael, watching all 
that blood come out of him. I almost blacked out. But before that 
happened, I just bellowed something and rushed for the monster, 
crashed against his belly and pressed my palms as hard as I could on 
his chest. My hands felt awfully hot, and the next thing I know there 
was a large green ball coming out of them. I felt as if my body was 
made of lead, since I got heavier all of a sudden. But I didn't care. 
The maniac was flying off into a boulder. He must have broken 
_something_ when he crashed into it, because he didn't move 
afterwards. But the other thugs were frightened, I think, so they 
simply grabbed their boss and ran away, while I ran back to check up 
on Raphael.
	It was too late, I guess. He had lost too much blood already, 
and I can't imagine the kind of injuries he got. I... I think you know 
what happened after that...]]

	"Don't worry, Phaeron-kun, I know what you mean," Ranko 
put a hand on his shoulder, recalling how he had narrated this to her 
when they were in China.
	"Then that was Raphael-kun..." Akane thought. "But how 
did he become Coldfire? How did Dysithal...?"
	Phaeron and Ranko swallowed hard, "We were about to get 
to that point..."

	R [[ The boat swerved like crazy. Waves crashed all around, 
hitting the hull and threatening to push us into the sea. Of course, 
trust a drunken captain to sail us right into the middle of a typhoon!
	We didn't have the slightest idea where we were, but we 
were sure as heck we weren't headed for Shikoku anymore. The boat 
had been sailing from storm to storm to hurricane to typhoon for the 
last two weeks. We could've reached Australia, as far as we knew... 
of course, we didn't _know_ Australia existed, but never mind...]]

	P [[ While that happened, I was taking care of the farm 
again. I had given up shepherding since Raphael died, and that had 
happened about two months before the girls left Japan.]]

	R [[ Pandi-chan and I were huddled up below the deck, 
where the cargo was. We were twelve years old, but Pandi-chan was 
scared, crying  like a baby. Don't get me wrong, I was scared too, but 
then again, I knew how to swim. Pandi-chan didn't. She was terrified.
	You think the sailors would be running all over, trying to 
save the ship, right? Guess again. I had to "scare them off," if you 
know what I mean, especially those who were giving Pandi-chan 
weird looks. Man, I still can't believe those jerks! Couldn't they see 
that my sister was suffering!?
	"Zha... Zhaodi-chaaan!" Pandi-chan cried out, clutching 
onto my clothes as if we were sinking already.
	"It'll be all right, Pandi-chan," I said, hugging her, since I 
also needed some support. Yeah, I was pretty scared, but Pandi-chan 
had always seen me like someone she could trust. I had to pretend 
nothing was wrong or else she would die of shock. I don't think I 
could have even survived if she had left me.]]

	P [[ I felt something. I didn't know what it was, but I 
suddenly felt very cold, and very afraid... It was as if someone were 
pushing into my soul... But at the same time, it was as if I were being 
called by someone far away.]]

	R [[ A wave crashed into the ship, right into the cargo bay. 
Since Pandi-chan was hiding her face in my chest, only I could see 
the water rushing for us. "Help!!" I cried out, but those bastards were 
already jumping ship. Sure, they hound a pair of girls that they think 
are helpless, but when their ship sinks they don't give a second 
thought. But then I realized that Pandi-chan heard me call for help. 
She slowly pushed away from me, and turned around. I swear her 
heart stopped for an instant when she saw all that water.
	"Kyaaaaa! Zhaodi-chaaaan!" she held on to me like I was 
the only stable thing aboard. I think I was losing it too, but she held 
me so tight I couldn't even shudder. But then it happened. Since she 
was practically squishing the life out of me, I couldn't stop that 
support beam when it swung loose, smacking her in the back of the 
head.
	"Pandi-chan! Pandi-chaan!" I tried to wake her up, but she 
was completely paralyzed. I tried my best to push the beam away, but 
it was too damn heavy! Not only that, but the crash had tossed her 
away, and now the water was reaching her head!
	Another wave crashed in, and the beam fell completely. 
Then the whole ceiling caved in, and I was buried in wood. I coughed 
a lot, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a barrier of wood between 
me and my sister, about ten feet wide at least. Some of it had fallen 
on top of us, and now she was trapped up to the chest while I could 
only sit up. And I could already see how her hair flowed in the water! 
It would cover her face in a minute!
	"Pandi-chan!" I screamed, trying to pull myself out of the 
wood. But it was useless. I felt even more desperate when I saw faint 
red water around her head. That bump must've been stronger than I 
thought!
	"Pandi-chan! Wake up! Please wake up!" I yelled again, but 
the voice of a twelve year-old can't beat the sound of crashing waves. 
"Wake up!"
	I pushed the wood, but I was already straining myself. You 
gotta remember, I had trained in martial arts, but I was a wimp 
compared to what I am now. Besides, I was still a bit woozy after 
being buried alive by what used to be the deck of the ship.
	"Pandi-chan..." I was starting to lose myself by then, "Please 
wake up..." The water was splashing on her cheeks.
	But if my sister died... My parents were dead, she was all I 
had in the world. My twin sister was gonna die, and there was 
nothing I could do to stop it. If she died... I would've died too...
	I couldn't give up, but what could I do now? I was already 
exhausted anyway. We were going to die. I sighed, and I 
remembered that I had convinced Pandi-chan to board this boat. I 
thought about how stupid that was, and looked up. Since the deck 
was gone, I could see the storm outside. How ironic, the typhoon 
was over, and there was only a light drizzle falling... Heck, I could 
see the moon already. To think that the ship would sink with us only 
after the storm had ended.
	But no... It couldn't end like this. It _wouldn't_ end like this! 
All of my body felt like a dead weight, but somehow I managed to 
pry loose some of the boards that were on top of my legs. "Yeaagh!" 
I cried out when I felt cramps running all over my arms, but there 
was no way on earth I would give up now. For a second, I looked 
down at my chest.
	You know, when we were six, Mother had given me and 
Pandi-chan a present. It was a pair of gold bells, and she said they 
would someday bring us luck. We kept one each, and wore them in a 
chain around our neck. We never understood what they meant, but 
we always took very good care of them.
	So, I looked down at the bell that Mother gave me. It was 
wet, probably since Pandi-chan had cried on my chest. I promised 
myself I would get out of there and save my twin sister. I promised 
Mother I would.
	But when I looked up again, I felt some kind of warmth 
inside me. I didn't know why, but I felt very calm. Suddenly, I saw a 
bright light in front of me, and the warmth _moved_ into me. I had to 
close my eyes, but when I opened them again, the light was gone.
	"Zhaodi..." I looked around when I heard someone call my 
name.]]

	P [[ Meanwhile, the cold I felt was increasing rapidly. I 
couldn't go on working anymore. I saw the boy from before, and he 
offered to continue in my place. I agreed, and went back indoors.]]

	R [[ "Eh?!" I looked up, down, everywhere! Who was it?! 
Who was calling me?!
	"Zhaodi, my little sister..." There it was again!
	"Who... Who's there?!" I yelled, but I saw how the water 
was reaching Pandi-chan's nose. "Whoever you are, please, help us!"
	"I will help you, little sister. I'm sorry for taking so long." 
All of a sudden I felt stronger, at least strong enough to push away 
the wood that buried me. But I noticed that I was glowing white.
	"Gyaah!" I cried out. I had turned into a ghost!
	I heard a girl laugh, and the voice told me, "No, you're not a 
ghost." But this time, I heard it coming from... from _myself_! The 
voice was coming out of me! And I didn't even move my mouth!
	"Don't worry, little sister," she said again, "Just let me help 
you."
	"Who are you!?" I yelled, but then jumped down to Pandi-
chan's level and took her out of the water. God, she was bleeding so 
much!
	"You don't know who I am, but I've always been a part of 
you," she said. I think I gulped. "I'll introduce myself properly later, 
but right now, we have to save her!"
	"Right!" I said, and smiled when I heard _someone_ would 
help us. "What do I do?"
	"Just take her out of the wood and stand still. Relax your 
body and your mind, and I'll do the rest."
	I was still not sure about this, but since I was not out of the 
shock yet I did as she told me. But before "relaxing," as she said, I 
tore off a piece of my clothes and tied it around Pandi-chan's head. 
At least she wouldn't bleed that much. Then, I held her in a 
piggyback and ran up on top of the wood, then jumped up to what 
was left of the deck.
	"Okay, now what?" I said.
	"Now..." the voice said. I opened my eyes as far as they 
could go when I felt that warmth again, but then it expanded inside 
me. I saw the light again, and inside the light was a girl. Who was 
that?
	"Ah..." I saw the girl run into my own body. I felt dizzy, as 
if I had just woken up, and suddenly my body moved by itself! I tried 
to scream, but my mouth opened and the girl used it to speak to me!
	"Calm down. It's all right."
	How could I calm down when I was being possessed by a 
demon!?
	"I'm not a demon." There was a bit of sadness in that voice. 
Did I insult her or something?
	"I'm sorry," I said, using my mouth. She did help me save 
Pandi-chan, after all.
	My body smiled, "It's okay. I'll explain on the way. Right 
now, just let me do the work, and rest. You're very tired."
	I would have nodded if I was controlling my body. But then, 
this girl, whoever she was, used it to run along the deck and leap 
down to the water. We swam away from the ship, with Pandi-chan 
on our back. It felt _weird_, seeing my body moving without me... 
"Now I'll explain," the voice said. I listened.]]

	P [[ My brother...  I heard my brother's voice... He was in 
such pain... But there was someone else. Someone who was hurting 
him!
	"Who--" I tried to say, but suddenly, I felt a searing fire 
surround me and consume me.
	I heard a voice, but only vaguely:
	"It is complete... Now let my Coldfire destroy those girls, 
and Cordis with them!"
	I heard myself laughing, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't 
control my body anymore. All I knew was... there was somebody else 
inside me. And there was no way I could fight back...]]

	"So _that's_ how it happened..." Ranma said.
	"I never knew you... Cordis really appeared like that?" 
Akane asked.
	"Yep," Ranko said, "We would have died if not for her. 
After we escaped, she explained everything about her being my sister, 
but she didn't tell me Mom was an angel," she smirked, "What she 
did tell me was that she was our Guardian."
	"And then..." Akane turned to Phaeron.
	"Ugh... I... don't feel like talking about it right now," he 
looked up at the starry skies, "At least, not tonight. How about we 
call it a day?"
	"Will you continue tomorrow?" Akane asked, eager to find 
out how the twins and Phaeron met. After all, they had only told 
them about how they met Cordis and Coldfire.
	"Sure, oneechan, tomorrow," Ranko said, taking Phaeron's 
hand without her brother or Akane noticing.
	"Okay, then, we'll talk later!" Akane said as she and Ranma 
walked away, waving, and leaving Phaeron and Ranko alone atop the 
grassy hill.
	Esper and redhead stood there for a moment, watching the 
couple head off. The night was clear, with a bright moon; crickets 
chirped around them, together with the crashing of waves nearby and 
the ocean breeze they brought. With a smile, Ranko and Phaeron 
turned to each other.
	"Man, I thought they'd never leave," she said, "It was a 
good idea to shoo them off like that."
	"You know..." he said, "That narration of yours got me 
worried."
	"Hey, it's okay..." she said softly, taking his other hand. 
"You know we wouldn't be here if it hadn't turned out all right. 
Besides, I told you this back when we were in China, just like you 
told me about Raphael and Coldfire."
	"Yeah, I guess it's all right. But it still hurts to hear about 
that sort of thing happening to you."
	"Then..." she said, a bit nervously, "Should we tell them... 
about Jusenkyo?"
	He sighed, "Only if you want to." He knew that the accident 
at Jusenkyo had always been a difficult topic for them. They had 
suffered so much because of it... And although he wouldn't say it, lest 
he depress her again, he knew that being trapped in Magicite could 
never compare to being inside Nyannichuan for fifteen hundred years.
	"Well..." she looked downwards for a moment, but then 
chuckled, "Oh, what the hell. I mean, we're okay now, right? And I'm 
beginning to think... Maybe... in a way... maybe thanks to Jusenkyo, 
we..."
	"Maybe you're right," he smiled, and drew her in for a quick 
peck on her forehead. "I can tell you, those fifteen hundred years 
were worth it."
	"Exactly," she smirked, then detached from him. "Okay, see 
ya tomorrow, Phaeron-kun!" she said, beginning to take up speed as 
she ran downhill. "Remember, tomorrow at the crack of dawn, at the 
beach!"
	"Right!" he waved back, then sweated visibly, "Wait... at the 
crack of dawn...? But we never got up that early... Even Ranma and 
Akane are sleeping like rocks at that time, if we train at that time, 
we'd be all..." his voice faded, with a smirk appearing of his face.

			*	*	*

The ocean shone, its surface a perfect mirror for the roseated dawn 
and the golden disk that slowly awoke. The surf, slow and peaceful, 
continued its tranquil lullaby as it crashed against the warm sand of 
the beach. Very few sounds disrupted this idyll, as only a pair of 
seagulls dared squawk overhead.
	Smiling at this paradise, she chuckled a bit to herself when 
she recalled the "legend of the Brindel" that the Espers had narrated 
on the way back from Esper World. At first, they had thought that 
the Brindstones would grant their wearers long and prosper lives 
after the Ring were complete. Of course, there was only a little 
misinterpretation, as the long and prosper lives would be carried out 
here, in the Stars' "endless realm." Well, in a way, the legends were 
not that far off.
	Still, she frowned. "Where _is_ he?"
	Ranko tugged at her pigtail in impatience. She only wore a 
white, long-sleeved Chinese shirt with black ties, which was slightly 
open to reveal the swimsuit beneath. It was modest, just a pale red 
one-piece with white edges and wide gray lines on the sides. Standing 
in the compressed sand of the shore, she felt the next wave cover her 
feet and pass all around her ankles.
	"Ranko-chan!" She turned around at the sound of his voice. 
For an instant, she thought he had come out from their memories of 
China. He wore a set of dark-green trousers and crimson jacket, 
reminiscent of the uniform he always wore during training exercises. 
She smiled a bit at the thought, but then fumed and replied, "About 
time you got here, you jerk!"
	"Sorry," he said, but all of a sudden tripped and fell downhill 
towards the beach. Ranko nearly called for him, but laughed instead 
when she saw he was alright. Snickering, she came out to the dry 
sand and joined him, but stopped short just a few feet away from 
him.
	"Ready?" Ranko asked, smirking. He groaned from the fall, 
but then smiled and nodded, taking her hand...

"Why that little..." Phaeron fumed as the waves crashed against him. 
"'Meet me at the beach,' she says. How was I supposed to know she 
brought me here for _this_?"
	"C'mon, keep your balance!" Ranko ordered, seeing from 
afar how he was waist-deep in the water, standing on one leg while 
the waves trashed all around. She laughed at his fruitless attempts to 
remain steady, then simply left to go for a swim.
	"This isn't what I had in mind..." he thought. He had 
expected to witness the sunrise with her, NOT come for a special 
three-hour training session to bolster his endurance. Not that she 
wasn't without her reasons: despite being an Esper, Phaeron's skills at 
real martial arts were next to nil, along with all the abilities that came 
with those skills. But now, here he was, trying to maintain his balance 
against a raging ocean while _she_ played with the squealing 
dolphins. Why that...
	"You can do better than that!" she taunted, White Touching 
the water to send a couple tsunamis at him.
	"Are you crazy!?" he stared at the giant waves, then crossed 
his arms and braced himself for the impact. As expected, he was 
easily swept ashore, with most of his body aching after the impact.
	Ranko laughed, "You know, Ucchan would've stood there 
like a statue."
	"That's because she trained all her life!" he splurted out, 
taking a fish out of his tank top.
	"Oh, and what did _you_ do during those five hundred 
years?" she asked, mocking him.
	"I'll tell you later..." he mumbled, not in the mood to 
reminisce about that right now. "Anyway, what are you trying to do, 
kill me?!"
	"Hey, you should've seen how Pop trained oniisan. It was 
way harder than this."
	"Like the pit of hungry cats?"
	"Yeah, like the pit of-- Hey!" she flung an empty seashell at 
his head. He smirked at his victory. Annoyed, she came out to the 
beach and tossed aside her pigtail, then stood there with her arms 
crossed, waiting for him to resume the training. He groaned and got 
up, then entered the water and assumed a horse-riding posture.
	"Half-step," Ranko commanded with a domineering voice. 
He frowned and stretched his left leg forward, so his weight rested 
on the bent right leg and his left toes barely touched the ground. The 
position was uncomfortable by itself, but the waves were making it 
even harder to stay in that posture. But all of a sudden, he felt his 
shoulders jerk forward very slightly, with an added weight. Looking 
up, he noticed that Ranko was sitting across his shoulders, with her 
feet crossed in front of his collarbone and her crossed arms resting on 
his head.
	"Comfy?" he asked, sarcastic.
	"Quite," she joked. But afterwards she just fell silent, resting 
her chin on her arms as the waves began to grow weaker and the tide 
rose a few inches. Phaeron blinked, puzzled, but didn't interrupt her 
thoughts, knowing it was rare for her to just be silent, immersed in 
thought. But he also felt there was something amiss. He knew that 
because he had only seen her like this when he was Hou-chan, while 
she mourned his death. Yes, she had been pretty thoughtful during 
those days.
	With a sigh, she came back to earth and sat up, pushing 
down on his head with her hands to boost herself. "Well, enough of 
this for today. I'm probably getting heavy anyway," she said. But 
before she slid down, Phaeron grabbed her ankles and looked up. 
"What's wrong?" he asked.
	"Uh? Oh, nothing..." she sighed again, "It's just that I 
remembered something when I was out there in the water."
	"Jusenkyo?" he guessed.
	"Mm-hm..." she nodded, then paused for an instant. 
"Phaeron-kun... how was it like being in Magicite?"
	Oh, so that's what it was. He knew there was something 
bothering her. "It was hell, Ranko-chan. You know how it feels like 
being trapped in magic. But... back then, I thought you had died 
thanks to me. I only wanted someone to come by and crush my 
Magicite."
	She fell silent again. She already regretted asking that 
question, and was thankful he wouldn't try to ask her about 
Nyannichuan. Those memories were far too painful to bring back to 
life, even if she had agreed to tell Ranma and Akane about them.
	Phaeron noticed her absent character once more. Deciding 
to cheer her up, he smirked and suddenly pushed up her ankles. The 
redhead slid down and splashed into the water with a surprised look 
on her face.
	"What'd you do that for?!" she splurted out, trying to sit up. 
"No fair, you... you..."
	"Aren't you always telling me to be on guard at all times?" 
he smirked, assuming a comfortable fighting stance.
	"Why, you..." she smiled, reaching for his hand.
	A voice reached them without warning, "So here you are!"
	Ranko let go of Phaeron's hand as soon as she heard 
Akane's voice, and she was already wearing the Chinese shirt in the 
blink of an eye. He blinked at her, but then shrugged and got out of 
the water.
	"We've been looking all over for you," Akane stopped at the 
bottom of the hill, without stepping on the sand of the beach. "What 
are you doing?" she stared at Ranko.
	"Isn't that my shirt?" Phaeron also stared at her.
	"Huh? Ak!" she quickly took it off and put on her own shirt. 
Akane giggled at her. Everybody knew what Ranko and Phaeron felt 
for each other, so why keep hiding it? Akane and Ranma, on the 
other hand... She turned bright red when she recalled what they had 
_almost_ said to each other on that day. _They_ were the ones who 
had to hide their emotions from other people.
	"Hey, you didn't show up for training today," Ranma came 
following his fianc�e, but he did come out of the grass and onto the 
sand. "Whoa, look at that!" he pointed at the slow ascent of the sun.
	"We did train, you're the ones who arrived late," Ranko and 
Phaeron smirked, thinking, "...and thank God you didn't get here 
earlier."
	"So, will you continue where you left off?" Akane asked.
	"Yeah, that was quite a cliffhanger you left us with," Ranma 
added.
	"Sure," Ranko said, "Why don't we go back to the house 
first? I think I'll take a bath anyway." She turned to Phaeron, "You 
tell oniisan your side of the story, I'll tell Akane, alright?"
	"Huh?" Ranma blinked, "Why?"
	"Because there are things only another girl would 
understand, that's why," Ranko smirked. Besides, given how 
interested her brother and Akane were about how she met Phaeron, 
she knew that they would probably get together later to listen to 
what the other had discovered.
	Shrugging, Ranma and Akane agreed and followed the pair 
as they began to walk uphill. Noticing there was nobody looking at 
him, Ranma sent a brief, nervous glance at Akane. She felt his eyes 
on her, and a light pink blush was all she could offer in reply. 
Hesitant, she stretched a small hand for him, but he gulped and 
tucked his hands in his pockets. Akane frowned and clenched her 
hand into a fist, snorting away from Ranma. He hung his head slightly 
before turning away also, looking annoyed.
	Overhead, a seagull shuddered, then relaxed.
	Akane laughed as Ranma received the seagull's "gift" right 
on his nose. He quickly wiped it away, then shot a venomous glare at 
her. She shut up but continued to giggle lightly, showing the tiniest 
of smiles. Ranma fumed and turned away, but... Man, he sure loved 
to hear her laughter. Ever so slowly, he spun his head to catch a 
glimpse of her again. She noticed. He darted his gaze back to the 
road at once, pretending he wasn't interested. She smiled a bit at him, 
then again she tried to take his hand. He felt her fingers brush against 
his wrist, and all of a sudden the ocean breeze seemed to be hotter 
than the Sun. Turning as red as his sister's hair, Ranma slumped 
down and took Akane's hand in his own.
	Just as they headed for the house's front door, they heard a 
smart rap at the gates. Ranma and Akane let go immediately, gulping 
as they thought it was Ukyou or Shampoo. They turned around to 
discover a rugged-looking youth, with white trousers, blue tank top 
and blond hair, which was short at the sides and the top but sprouted 
into a tiny ponytail at the back. Nope, it wasn't Ukyou, nor Shampoo.
	"Huh?" Phaeron blinked quizzically, recognizing the martial 
artist of the Returners from the World of Ruin. "Sabin?"
	"Yo," Sabin smirked and lifted a hand in greeting. "How're 
you guys doing?" They replied simple OK's. "You know, lately I've 
been watching you train..."
	"You have?" Ranma smirked in pride. He had heard from 
the Returners' premier martial artist before, and he couldn't keep his 
ego from swelling when Sabin said he had watched them train.
	"I've been thinking, how's about a match? Not a duel, or 
something like that. Just a friendly match to test our skills." He gazed 
specifically at Ranma.
	"A fight, eh?" he snickered, cracking his knuckles a bit. 
"You're on." This might be interesting.
	"Okay, how does next week sound for you?" Sabin reacted 
just as the Japanese fighter. Like Ranma, he wasn't one to turn down 
chances to show his skills, and with his homeworld having been too 
peaceful lately, he was itching for a fight.
	"Sounds good," Ranma replied, "Right here, at the dojo, 
right?"
	"Right," Sabin chuckled, then began to walk away, "Oh, that 
reminds me. One of the other guys that was brought here is also a 
martial artist. I think his name's Yang. I hear he's an expert in aerial 
combat."
	"Bring him along, I can fight both of you," Ranma said 
proudly, while Akane frowned at him and Ranko tried to shrink away 
when she recalled that she still had her brother's ego. Sabin just 
laughed to himself and nodded, then left for his own town.
	"Hmm, Ranma's being challenged by another super-powered 
martial artist," Phaeron said, "Now all we need is for another fianc�e 
to show up and we'll feel right at home."
	"Very funny," Akane said, threatening with her Mjollnir 
stone hammer.
	"Oh, you're done training?" Nodoka said, hearing them 
come into the house. "Ranko-chan, if you and Akane-chan want to 
take a bath, Yuan-chan already prepared the water."
	"Okay, thanks, Mom," the redhead said, "C'mon, oneechan, 
I'll tell you what happened," she took Akane's hand and lead her 
away, to the bathroom, while both giggled slightly in anticipation.
	"Girls," Ranma rolled his eyes.  He caught a glimpse of 
Phaeron sitting at the table. "Anyway, where did you leave off...?"

"So, you're telling them about how we met Phaeron-kun?" Yuannyan 
asked as she got in the tub along with her sister and Akane.
	"Yup," Ranko replied, squinting her eyes to see whom she 
was addressing. "By the way, for how long did you leave the water 
running, Yuan-chan?" she asked with a scolding voice.
	"Um, maybe a bit too long..." she said. The entire bathroom 
was immersed in the deepest fog anyone had seen. The steam from 
the water was so dense they could barely see themselves.
	"Anyway..." Ranko snickered at her twin's naivet�. "Last 
night, we told you how I met Cordis and how Phaeron-kun was 
possessed by Coldfire, right...?"
	Yuannyan's eyes widened in delight, "Can I tell some of it 
too?"
	"Well..." Ranko dragged the word out of her mouth. 
Yuannyan clapped her hands together. Not that her sister would 
_see_ her, but... "Oh, okay. Besides, there are parts where you had to 
say something anyway." Yuannyan cheered to herself. Rolling her 
eyes, Ranko laid back against the side of the tub...

	R [[I must have fallen asleep while Cordis introduced 
herself. Well, actually, I didn't really sleep, I was kinda between 
sleeping and resting. But anyway, I still felt how she used my body to 
keep swimming. After a few hours, I did fall asleep. It had been one 
hell of a day.
	I heard a woman's voice, then I felt warm sand below me. I 
woke up, and tried to get up, but then there was that voice again and 
someone put a hand on me. I opened my eyes. Pandi-chan was lying 
on the sand next to me, and she had clean bandages on her head. 
Then I remembered about the shipwreck.
	"Wha...!" I got up on my hands and knees, but I was so tired 
I had to lay down again. I rolled on my back, and I saw her.
	"How you feel?" I couldn't believe it. That voice sounded 
just like Mother's! I squinted to look at her, hoping that I was right. 
But I saw a girl, about eighteen or twenty, I guess, with this long 
white hair that reached her waist. Then I saw a little troll next to her 
and--
	"Gyaa!" I got up and tried to punch it away, whatever it 
was. But then the troll pointed at my fist... and stopped it!
	"She seems to have some strength left," the troll spoke!
	"We take them to village?" the girl asked. I was still staring 
at how that little old... thing had stopped me. Then it nodded and 
looked away. It said something to another girl and she walked over 
to us. She took Pandi-chan and carried her away before I could 
move.
	"Ch-chotto..." I tried to stand up. Where were they taking 
my sister?
	"Shh, don't move," the troll said to me, "We'll help you."
	I was very tired. Everything was happening so quickly, and I 
didn't understand half of it. But if they wanted to help...]]

	P [[I would have killed myself if I had the chance. This... 
Coldfire... he was causing too much pain all around me... using _my_ 
body. People from my own town couldn't believe _I_ was destroying 
their homes. I heard their cries and demands, but Coldfire didn't want 
to listen. It was as if he... if I... as if _we_ were inside a red cloud of 
anger, and I didn't even know what Coldfire was angry at. But I 
would find out soon enough. After we destroyed my town, we left 
Eastward. Suddenly the cloud was cleared, and Coldfire knew 
exactly what he was looking for. But he wouldn't tell me. Our minds 
were fighting to override the other, and Coldfire always managed to 
have at least a small advantage over me. But I knew his intentions 
were evil. In my mind, I prayed he couldn't reach his goal. I prayed 
that someone could kill us before we destroyed more lives. But for 
the first time, I also knew nobody was listening to me.]]

	R [[As it turned out, we hadn't arrived at the beach. Cordis-
oneechan had arrived at the mainland, then she took us further into 
the continent until we reached a river. She took a raft and took care 
of Pandi-chan while the river took us to a place with many 
mountains. Yep, it was Quinghai.
	When the raft reached a village, she put Pandi-chan on the 
shore and laid my body next to her. That's when she left. Looks like 
she knew there was a village of warrior-women in that place, that's 
why she took us there.]]
	Y [[Like oneechan said, these women took us to their 
village. I woke up a few minutes after we got there.
	"Zhaodi-chan!" I hugged my sister as soon as I saw her. 
"The water...! I thought we were going to die!" I did, because the 
last I remembered was seeing all that water coming into the boat.
	"It's okay, Pandi-chan," oneechan told me. I saw we were in 
a house, so I tried to calm down and just rested my head on her 
shoulder. I was so afraid... My head hurt...
	Then I noticed two more people in the room, and a little old 
thing with a staff. I hugged oneechan tighter, hoping those women 
weren't going to hurt us or something like that.
	"I see you've awakened," the little thing said. If she spoke 
Japanese then maybe we made it to Shikoku after all!
	"Pandi-chan," oneechan said, "Listen carefully. We're not in 
Japan anymore--"
	"Eh? But Zhaodi-chan--"
	"Not now. Look, that storm... it brought us here, to..."]]

	"Wait, let me handle this part," Ranko said. Yuannyan 
shrugged and sat back.

	R [["Not now," I said. "Look, that storm... it brought us 
here, to China."
	"China?!" Pandi-chan looked at me with those big eyes of 
hers. "How...?!"
	"Never mind that," I wasn't sure about telling her what 
happened with Cordis. I didn't want my sister to misunderstand and 
believe I was possessed by a demon. I would tell her, but not now. 
"You see them?" I pointed at the two women and the troll. "They 
saved us. We're in their village now. They're Joketsuzoku."
	"Nyuuchiezu," the troll corrected me and smirked.
	"Fighting women?" Pandi-chan looked at me, "What does 
that mean?"
	"It means we gotta be careful here," I whispered. After what 
happened with our "family" and those sailors, I still didn't trust them. 
I pulled Pandi-chan out of bed and helped her up. She was still dizzy, 
but I guess it was because of the blow to her head. "Now, I'll 
introduce you to them."
	I pointed at the girl with white hair, "That's Xingyi. She's the 
champion of the village, and she speaks a bit of Japanese."
	"I married too," Xingyi said with a big smile, "And I 
pregnant!"
	"Uh, nice to meet you," Pandi-chan stared at her.
	"That's Tangbei," I pointed at Xingyi's sister. She was taller 
than her, and her hair was black and only reached her shoulders. She 
only nodded when she heard I was mentioning her name. "Only 
Xingyi is better than her, but they say she's always thinking up new 
techniques. She's also three years older than us"
	"Hi," Pandi-chan said. Tangbei smirked at her.
	"And that is Zhae-sama," I didn't point at her because I 
realized I was being rude, but Pandi-chan understood that I was 
talking about the old troll.
	"'Sama'?" Pandi-chan looked at me.
	"Zhae-sama is the leader of the tribe. She's two hundred 
years old and nobody has ever defeated her. Tangbei and Xingyi are 
her descendants."
	"And I speak Japanese like a natural," Zhae-sama said, "I 
know quite a great deal about this world we live in."
	"I already told them what happened," I said. Of course, I 
didn't tell them about Cordis-oneechan. "They say we can stay here, 
in their village, but we have to follow their rules if we want to live 
here."
	"Rules?"
	"There's nothing to worry about, dear," Zhae-sama said, 
"What we mean is that we're a tribe of fighting women. If we are to 
take you into our society, you need only to learn the Arts from us."
	"Outsiders are valuable for Nyuuchiezu," Xingyi said, "We 
want meet outsiders, especially women outsiders so we can teach 
Arts to all people. But they difficult to learn." I saw her grin a little, 
"If Zhae-sama want teach you, you very very lucky. She no teach 
often."
	Tangbei muttered something in Chinese. Zhae-sama blew a 
vein and bonked her with her staff. I smiled a bit. Tangbei had 
probably joked about Zhae-sama.
	"Zhae-sama see something in you," Xingyi said, "I no know 
what, but it probably important if she want take you into our tribe."
	I turned to Pandi-chan. Neither of us was completely sure 
about this, but what the heck. Besides, we both had Chinese names 
anyway. Might as well give it a shot.]]

	Akane snickered, "I'm starting to pick up a pattern here."
	Ranko shook her head. "Nope. Zhae-sama was very 
different from that old ghoul. But that's because they hadn't thought 
up those stupid laws of theirs."
	"You mean those that make an Amazon kill or marry the 
one who defeats her?"
	"Those ones. I still don't know why they even wrote those 
laws..."
	Yuannyan smirked, "Oh, you sure about that?"
	"Anyway..." Ranko cleared her throat, the thick steam 
preventing Akane from seeing her blush, "The only thing Cologne 
and Zhae-sama have in common is their skill. Man, you shoulda seen 
her fight! She even taught us enough Chinese to get by. And no, 
Xingyi was _not_ an old version of Shampoo. She was already 
married to this guy Wengquing. And _he_ was not like Mousse."
	"But you stayed at the village, right?" Akane inquired.
	"Sure," Yuannyan spoke before Ranko could reply. "You 
know how oneechan _loves_ martial arts, right? What do you think 
she did when she saw all those women practicing impressive forms?"
	"Yuan-chan!" Ranko frowned at her. "Okay, so I happen to 
like martial arts, so--"
	"Oneechan, you were practically hanging onto every one of 
them trying to get them to teach you."
	"I was not!"
	"Well, when Tangbei showed off with that Eagle Claw form 
you drooled all over the place."
	"Why, you..." Ranko lunged for her twin. Akane giggled at 
them.

	"And just when did you get to China, anyway?" Ranma 
asked, taking a bite out of the watermelon Mrs. Saotome was 
offering him and Phaeron.
	"Thanks, Mrs. Saotome," the Esper smiled in gratitude, then 
turned to Ranma, "I was just going to tell you..."
	"Yes, please tell us," Nodoka sat down with them, "I know 
how you met my little girls, but I want to hear how you felt."
	Phaeron blushed brightly, but then smirked and continued...

	P [[It took me more than a year to travel from the Middle 
East to China. Heh, it's ironic. Thanks to Coldfire, I picked up a lot 
of useful techniques along the way. For one, I learned how to use my 
chi more effectively, even if Coldfire only used anger and hatred to 
fuel our blasts. But then, being in "intimate" contact with a demon 
made me realize I had been right all along about these spirits. So, if 
Coldfire could come to exist, then it was very likely there were real 
angels as well. I could only hope _my_ angel showed up soon.
	And on April 23rd, exactly one and a half years after I was 
possessed, she _did_ show up.]]

	Y [[Zhaodi-chan and I were very happy back then. We 
learned all sorts of techniques at the village. And since we were still 
very young, it was easy for us to adapt to their styles. But talk about 
strict! Zhae-sama started teaching Xingyi's baby even before she 
learned to walk!
	We found out there was a tournament at the village every 
five years. Since we'd finally get to participate, we decided to do 
some extra training. But Zhae-sama couldn't train us, because she 
couldn't have favorites if she was the tribe's leader. Xingyi and 
Tangbei didn't help either, because they could only represent their 
family. So, we decided to train by ourselves. We left the village about 
two weeks before the tournament. Just to make sure we'd be all right, 
Zhae-sama gave us some Joketsuzoku artifacts, like a fan that blows 
gale winds and a fire-breathing staff, and other normal weapons.
	We trained hard those days. But I didn't like fighting as 
much as Zhaodi-chan did, so we decided she would represent us. 
That's why she's better.]]

	"You could've trained too you know. I could've used a 
sparring partner," Ranko frowned at Yuannyan. "Anyway, I tied my 
hair and began using those Amazon uniforms that they wear for 
combat--"
	"She really looked like a boy," Yuannyan whispered to 
Akane.
	"Will you stop interrupting already?! Where was I? Oh, 
yeah. I tied my hair. _Yes_, I kinda looked like a boy, alright? We set 
up camp near a waterfall, so we had water and I could practice 
against it. Pandi-chan coached me, but we both agreed to cook and 
take care of the camp. Of course, Miss Happy Homemaker here 
wanted to do all that stuff."
	"Try to be a little helpful..." Yuannyan looked away. 
"Anyway, oneechan should be grateful I wanted to take care of the 
laundry. You know why? Because that's how we met Lael-kun."
	"Lael-kun?" Akane blinked.

	P [[We were in a deep forest. Fortunately, we didn't run into 
any animal, so Coldfire couldn't harm anyone. And he was getting 
bored with slashing at trees, so he didn't do that anymore either. 
>From the looks of things, we were pretty far from home by now. I 
didn't recognize anything from the surroundings. And since we hadn't 
run into any villages since we crossed the lower regions of the 
Himalayas, we didn't even know what language they spoke here.
	We heard a waterfall. But then, I froze. We were also 
hearing a little girl's voice, humming a song near the falls. Oh, God, 
don't let Coldfire hurt her. We've caused too much pain already! But 
Coldfire wouldn't listen! He just knew this was his goal. That made 
me worry even more. What was Coldfire going to do to this girl!? 
She couldn't be the reason he possessed me! If... If Coldfire hurt her, 
I'd...]]

	Y [[I was just finishing the laundry when I heard it. There, 
across the river. The trees shook a lot, and then, all of a sudden, this 
guy with black eyes just jumped at me!]]
	P [[I heard her shriek when we fell on top of her and pinned 
her to the ground. God, she was even younger than me! So... so 
beautiful, and so scared of me! Damn you Coldfire for making me do 
this!
	"Now calm down..." I heard my own voice, speaking to her 
with Coldfire's sadistic tone, "Everything will be over soon... the 
pain, your life, your soul... but first..."
	No. He couldn't...! He wouldn't dare...!]]
	Y [[I... I screamed as loud as I could. I thanked kamisama 
that these Amazons made their uniforms so resistant, or else that 
creep would've torn them off already! I looked back and tried to 
reach for a dagger, but he noticed and took it before I reached it.
	"Now..." I didn't know what he said, since it wasn't Chinese 
or Japanese. But I had never been so afraid in my life.
	"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"]]
	P [[We were hit by a mountain, I think. Nothing could have 
been that strong. The impact was so brutal Coldfire was forced to let 
go of the girl and roll away. We held our head as we tried to block 
out the pain, but it didn't work.]]
	R [[Okay, that did it. Whoever attacked my sister was as 
good as dead. And whoever tried to force himself on her was asking 
to be killed slowly and painfully. I didn't even think when I punched 
the bastard as hard as I could in the back of the head. He immediately 
let go of Pandi-chan and got off her.
	"Zhaodi-chan!" Pandi-chan clung to me like glue again, like 
on the boat. I saw the bastard get up and hold his head, so I took her 
in my arms and leapt away, hiding her in a tree.
	"NO! Don't fight him!" Pandi-chan pulled at my clothes.
	"After what he was gonna do to you, he'll be lucky to keep 
his head!" I said. "I don't know who that is, but no one hurts MY 
twin sister!"
	"Wait!" I didn't listen to Pandi-chan anymore. I just jumped 
down from the tree and landed in the pool of the waterfall, which was 
just a few inches deep. This guy was _dead_.]]
	P [[Our head still swam from the impact. Heh, Coldfire had 
it coming for trying to hurt that girl.
	"You son of a bitch!"
	I heard somebody yell at us. It was probably Chinese. I 
barely knew how to speak Chinese. But we still turned to see who it 
was. It was a young boy with red hair and blue eyes, wearing baggy 
clothes. He was shorter than me... He was probably that girl's twin 
brother!
	"Stay out of this, boy!" Coldfire taunted with my voice. "No 
interfere!"
	"B-boy!?!?" he shuddered even more.]]
	R [["Boy"?!?!? How dare he call me "boy"?!?!?! That's it, 
start digging a new grave!]]
	Y [[Zhaodi-chan ran towards that creep, already rearing 
back to kick him in the head. Well, whoever he was, he sure stunk as 
a fighter. He could barely keep up with Zhaodi-chan's speed. That 
should teach him to hurt a girl!]]
	P [[This guy was good! No, he was incredible! Nobody had 
ever managed to pin Coldfire against a wall before!
	Uh-oh. No... We were going to use chi blasts!]]
	R [[I got him against the wall. Hmph, for a jerk he sure 
didn't know how to fight. But all of a sudden he aimed his palm at 
me...
	"What the..." I started, but then I felt a solid ball of air slam 
into my chest and knock the wind out of me. I don't know what hit 
me, but I was pushed away into the water. The next thing I saw was 
this guy punching towards me, but then these glowing knives 
appeared on his arm. I rolled away at the last second, but then I 
stood up and grabbed him from behind, then bent backwards and let 
myself drop.]]
	Y [[Zhaodi-chan got him in a backdrop, then got up again 
and slammed an ax kick on his back. He still got up!]]
	P [[We were taking a lot of damage. Finally... maybe 
Coldfire had finally met his match... At last someone would kill us...
	What the... No! He wouldn't do that! Not the Bird of 
Prey!]]
	R [[I finally understood when the bastard crossed his arms. 
Zhae-sama had told us about chi, and that some people could use it 
to fight. Then _this_ is what she meant...
	He aimed his palms at me again, but this time I saw a big 
purple bird come out of his hands! I leapt away from it, but he just 
fired another one! Okay, time for serious measures. I reached into my 
clothes and took out the Feng Shen Shan, the gale-wind fan in other 
words.]]
	P [["Birds of Prey!" Coldfire shot out. But then the red-
haired kid blew them back with a fan! The Birds slammed back right 
into us!
	And it hurt, you know...]]
	R [[Uh-oh. This guy looked _really_ pissed now. Now there 
were glowing knives on both of his arms.]]
	P [[No, this time Coldfire wouldn't hurt anyone! I made use 
of all my strength to fight him. He resisted, but at least I kept him 
distracted. Now! Kill us before I lose control of him!]]
	R [[What in the... This guy was losing it! He just kept 
holding his head and yelling!
	"Zhaodi..."
	I heard Cordis' voice calling me again. She didn't say 
anything else, but then I felt warm all of a sudden and I looked at the 
man again. But he... I still remember how wide my eyes opened when 
I saw him again.
	"Pandi-chan!" I yelled, "Look! He's not really... He's 
possessed by an Oni!"
	"An oni!?" Pandi-chan stared at me. "How do you..."
	"Just trust me, okay!" I said. Sure enough, I could see that 
dark aura around the poor guy's head. So, an oni...
	"Hah!" I took the chance to run towards him at top speed. I 
almost reached him, then bent down and slammed into his face with a 
butterfly kick.]]
	P [[I was so busy fighting Coldfire I didn't even see the boy 
run for us, then bend down and fling his feet upwards in a cartwheel, 
whipping each of them into our temples. The world went black for us 
afterwards.]]
	Y [[Yes! The guy went spinning through the air as Zhaodi-
chan kicked him. I came down from the tree and hugged her.
	"That was great, Zhaodi-chan!" I said.]]
	R [[Yeah, it was great. But... this guy... If he was possessed 
by an oni... we had to help him!]]

	Akane snickered as she wrung the water out of her hair, 
"Not the typical way for a couple to meet if you ask me."
	"Oh, and I suppose running into a bathroom while a guy is 
just coming out is the right way?" Ranko, wrapped in a towel, glared 
at her. Akane just blushed fiercely and said nothing.
	"Hmph," Yuannyan snorted. Akane and Ranko instantly 
turned to her, knowing it was unusual for her to show irritation. 
"Well, I for one would have liked it if they had met some _other_ 
way." She shivered for an instant, "I get the creeps thinking what 
could've happened if oneechan had arrived two minutes later." And 
then, forgetting the issue completely, she smiled, "But what I'll never 
forget is what happened next."

	Y [[We took the guy into our tent. I was still scared of him, 
but knowing onnechan he'd be out for a couple of days. And if what 
she said was true, then maybe, just maybe, it wasn't really his fault. 
Maybe.
	Once we got him inside, we sat down next to him. Well, 
now that he wasn't _attacking me_, he did look kinda cute. But the 
first thing we saw was that he wasn't Chinese. His face was more 
angular, and with his tilted eyebrows he looked like a cat, or a hawk, 
I don't know. Oh, right, he had a very small ponytail, too.
	"You're sure it was an oni, oneechan?"
	"Well, not exactly..." Zhaodi-chan grimaced. "I don't know 
why, but something just _tells_ me he didn't really want to do all that. 
Something made him do it."
	"And that 'something' is an oni?"
	Zhaodi-chan sighed, "Look, you gotta trust me on this, 
okay?" I nodded. "Because... Oh, what the heck. What I'm going to 
tell you is something very, very important. Please promise me you 
won't speak about this to anyone but me, and maybe Zhae-sama. 
Alright?"
	"Huh?" What was Zhaodi-chan talking about?]]
	R [[I just looked at Pandi-chan. She didn't seem to be afraid 
of the guy in our tent, but now she was staring at me. Great. I didn't 
want to tell her about Cordis this way.
	But I had to. So I looked her in the eye and began to tell her 
about what happened in the boat. It was hard at first, but later the 
words just came out easily. And from the looks of it, Pandi-chan's 
eyes were also going to come out easily of their sockets from how 
wide she opened them. When I was through, she just looked at me 
like... like the way _you_ saw oniisan when you two met in the 
bath.]]

	"Will you cut it out already?!" Akane yelled.

	Y [[What can I say? My sister, my twin sister, having met 
_our_ guardian angel?
	"Zha... odi-chan..."
	"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she said, "Hmph, it's 
been two years already anyway, and I hadn't even heard from her 
until now."
	"But are you... sure?"
	She stared at me, looking a little indignant, "Pandi-chan, she 
was _inside my _body_. She moved it like it was her own. Now, 
unless I got a really serious problem and I'm going crazy, it means 
she _did_ possess me."
	"Our angel..." I looked away. But then I thought about what 
she had just said. This... Cordis... had possessed my sister's body. Oh, 
Zhaodi-chan, you must have felt awful...
	I turned around and took her hands, but then I couldn't stop 
and hugged her altogether. "I'm sorry, Zhaodi-chan."
	"Eh? But I'm the one who didn't tell you--"
	"But it was _you_ who was, well, possessed...!"
	"It's all right. She explained it to me anyway. And right now, 
I feel like I can somehow call her."
	"Call her?"
	"I think she wants me to help this guy," Zhaodi-chan pointed 
at the sleeper in our tent. "I hear her voice in my head, and looks like 
she _does_ want me to." She sighed, "I'll have to let her."
	I looked at her, worried that she might be hurt, "Will it be all 
right? She won't do anything to you, will she?"
	Zhaodi-chan smiled at me, "I don't think so. No, she won't." 
But then she looked serious, "Do you want to wait outside?"
	"I... I'd like to stay. Is that okay?"
	"Sure!" Zhaodi-chan beamed at me.]]
	R [[Well, that much was over. At least I had finally told her, 
but now we-- I mean, Cordis-oneechan, had to help this guy.
	"What do you need?" Pandi-chan asked.
	"Uh, nothing, I guess..." I said. It was the truth, after all. 
The only time Cordis had "possessed" me was in the boat, and I 
wasn't exactly in my best back then. But maybe... Maybe if I just 
relaxed then she'd come down herself. It was worth a shot.
	I was still sitting down, and then I pressed my palms 
together, just in front of my chest. I began to do some breathing 
exercises that Zhae-sama had taught me. Supposed to help me 
manipulate my chi or something like that. Anyway, when I had 
finished, I felt _relaxed_. I mean, I had never felt like that before. I 
was already out of myself. And _that's_ when Cordis returned.
	I still remember how it feels. It's like you get this warm 
tingle all over you, but then the tingles become some kind of cover 
that stretches over your body. I can't really describe it, but maybe 
Yuan-chan can.]]

	"It feels as if you were made of light," Yuannyan said 
cheerfully.
	"Well, that was a big help," Ranko glowered at her.

	R [[Where was I? Oh, yeah. I'm pretty sure Cordis just came 
into my body without any flashy entrances, 'cause Pandi-chan didn't 
look surprised at first. Nah, Cordis saves the flash until she's inside 
me. But this time, I felt good. It wasn't like in the boat, because back 
then I was desperate. Then I felt sleepy. I didn't give in, though. This 
time I _wanted_ to see what Cordis was going to do with my body.]]
	Y [[Zhaodi-chan had her eyes closed, so I couldn't tell 
whether this angel had come or not. But then, just as she opened 
them, I saw a bright glow come from my sister's body. I almost 
turned away from how strong the light was, and I'm sure that the tent 
looked like a lamp from the outside. All I could see was her eyes, and 
they were a different shade now, like they were light blue or 
something.
	"Hi," she said. I think I gulped at her voice, because she 
_did_ sound different from Zhaodi-chan. I was still very shocked, so 
she just explained to me how she was going to try and take the oni 
out of the guy. I had to agree, and then she told me that I could go to 
sleep, because it would take a lot of time. Sleep? No way. At least 
not until I was sure my sister was safe.]]
	R [[ Pandi-chan fell like a rock after half an hour. I didn't 
mind. I knew she had been through a lot that day, and she needed to 
rest. And when I thought about it, I noticed I was pretty tired too. 
This was strange, since Cordis had used my body to swim the Sea of 
Japan and didn't even stop to rest. But maybe what she was doing 
was making her tired.
	She was-- we were-- whatever, we were holding him in my-- 
our arms, and Cordis looked like she was using her light to cover 
him. I don't really remember how long it took, but it was way past 
midnight when this weird purple aura came out of him and flew out 
of the tent. Then Cordis stopped. We just slumped down in 
exhaustion. I felt _so_ tired...
	"I've done everything I can," Cordis said through me. "His 
soul should be more than strong enough to recover, but it will take 
time." She must have noticed I was curious. Hell, she was _in_ my 
mind. Of course she noticed. "It's because the demon made him do 
terrible things. He's... he's really very kind, and he's bound to feel 
guilty after what happened." She didn't say anything for a while, but 
then she sighed and told me, "I'll be counting on you to help him. 
Right now, he will need someone with a strong heart to help get over 
this awful event. He had been possessed for almost two years, and 
I'm afraid his spirit will be a shambles. He might try to kill himself for 
what he thinks he has done. Please... Don't leave him. You're the only 
one who can help him now."
	"But how do I know he won't try anything?"
	"I told you, he's not like that. He is a good person. And even 
if I couldn't banish the demon completely, I can always come to help 
you against him, at any time. I am a part of you, little sister. I will 
never leave you."
	I would've smiled at her if she weren't the one in control. 
But I think she got the message. Next thing I knew, I felt like 
something was being pulled from me and then I was suddenly back in 
my body, I looked up just in time to see a beam of light fade away 
from me.
	I looked at the guy in my arms. He was different now, he 
seemed to be simply sleeping. He sure was different from the people 
at the village, but at the same time I felt I knew him already. He... 
well, yeah... he was...]]

	"What was that?" Akane asked, mocking, Ranko mumbled 
something very rapidly.
	"I didn't catch that," Yuannyan smirked, "Did you, Akane-
chan?"
	"Uh-uh."
	Ranko turned beet-red, "Good-looking, okay?! He was 
good-looking!" She fiercely pulled the sash over her Chinese jacket 
and muttered something about nosy tomboys. Yuannyan and Akane 
just snickered at Ranko's timidity.

	P [[The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the weird 
tingling all over my body. You know, the kind of tingle you feel 
when your arm or leg is asleep and the blood begins to flow again? 
Imagine your whole body like that.
	It was like waking up from a weary dream. My head was 
clear, though, and it felt something was missing. I opened my eyes, 
and stretched my arms out of reflex. When I tried to yawn, I 
suddenly realized something: I was moving. I was actually moving 
freely, controlling my _own_ body!
	I looked at myself and checked my body with my hands. I 
could barely believe it. I was not under Coldfire's control anymore, 
and he wasn't even in my mind! I felt like I could run all over China 
out of joy.
	Then, the third thing I noticed was that I was not alone. I 
was looking around so much that I realized there was someone lying 
next to me. I... you won't believe this, but... at first I really _did_ 
think it was an angel. I mean, she was sleeping so calmly, and she 
looked so beautiful... So I got a good look, and then I thought it was 
the girl Coldfire had attacked, but I saw her clothes and the way her 
hair was tied. Coldfire must have been so _blind_ to think that this 
small girl was a boy.
	I looked around again, and noticed that her sister, the girl 
that _had_ been attacked, was also inside the tent. I just stared at 
them for a little while. I didn't know what they had done, but... even 
after what Coldfire had done, they still helped me... I would be 
forever in their debt. I just hoped they could forgive me.]]
	R [[I heard someone move around next to me, and I woke 
up. I didn't feel tired anymore, just drained. Calling Cordis does that 
to me. I yawned and sat up, rubbing my eyes.]]
	P [[I became a statue when she sat up straight. She rubbed 
her eyes, and when she opened them I was the first thing she saw.]]
	R [[I stared at him. None of us moved or anything, we just 
looked at each other like a pair of idiots. I almost moved away so I 
could defend myself, but I remembered what Cordis said and decided 
to wait and see what he would do. Out of reflex, I tried to ask in 
Japanese, "O-omae wa--"]]
	P [[I saw her flinch for a second, as if she were going to leap 
away. I felt awful. She didn't trust me, understandably, after what I 
had done to her sister. I knew I couldn't be trusted anymore.
	She asked me something, but neither could I understand nor 
listen. I only remember apologizing clumsily in Chinese before 
running out of the tent and into the forest.]]
	R [[I stared at him speechless. Here I was going to ask for 
his name and the jerk runs off like he's afraid of me? I didn't even try 
to follow him --if he didn't trust me then suit himself. I had other 
things to worry about anyway.
	Then I thought about what Cordis had said. I quickly stood 
up and tried to follow him, but he was already long gone. How was I 
supposed to find him? He needed my help and now... he was simply 
gone.]]

	"So that's _it_? You just took off?" Ranma asked, cocking 
an eyebrow.
	Phaeron sighed, "I wasn't very sure about talking to the girl 
that Coldfire nearly had me kill, okay?"
	Nodoka took his hand, in a maternal gesture, "I understand. 
It must have hurt to have a demon controlling your body. But it 
wasn't you who did all those awful things."
	"I know that now," Phaeron nodded, "but back then I didn't 
feel too happy about what had happened, even after being freed from 
Coldfire."
	"And where did you go, anyway?" asked Ranma.

	R [[ After a few more days, we went back to the village so 
we could show Zhae-sama our new skills. The tournament was only 
one week away, so we needed her advice. We found out that both of 
us would have to compete, though.
	"I don't like fighting," Pandi-chan said.
	"Don't worry too much about it," Zhae-sama said, "There 
are many cases like you among the Joketsuzoku, but they always see 
the tournament as a ritual. By competing in it, you honor your 
heritage and your ancestors."
	"Our ancestors, yeah..." I thought about Mom and Dad, and 
how they had taught us about martial arts. "Come on, Pandi-chan. 
They'd be proud of us."
	"I think so..." she held her gold bell in her hand and looked 
at it. "Okay, I'll do it." She looked at me, "I'll do it for my family."
	Zhae-sama smiled at her, "That's the spirit. Now, what was 
that other thing you wanted to talk to me about?"
	I looked down at her, and remembered that I wanted to tell 
her about that guy we had met. Even if Cordis was right, and he 
wouldn't come back to hurt us, maybe there other people like him, 
and we needed to learn how to defend ourselves from them. So, I 
told her about how this weird guy used chi blasts against me.
	"Hmm," Zhae-sama rubbed her chin, "Interesting. He was 
possessed by an oni, you say? That is unusual... And he was able to 
focus his chi into fireballs and blades?" I nodded. That bird-like 
fireball packed a punch, and I wouldn't forget it. Zhae-sama thought 
about it for a while, and then she just went back into the house. 
Pandi-chan and I waited outside, where we had been training, until 
she came back with a scroll in her hands.
	"Listen to me very carefully," she said to us. "Chi is a very 
useful tool in battles, and a potent weapon when used correctly. If 
what I'm thinking is right, then this warrior you faced has tapped into 
his innermost chi. Although it was a demon what made him reach 
into it, he will probably retain that power now that he is free. And 
just in case you need to fight him again, you must be in equal terms."
	She showed us the scroll, "Here I have collected all my 
knowledge regarding chi. I have never shown this scroll to anyone, 
not even to Tangbei or Xingyi. I know they are both very powerful 
warriors, but there is something special about you two. I had planned 
to give you this scroll as a wedding present, but with the current 
events I think I should wait no longer."
	Zhae-sama handed me the scroll. I really didn't know what 
to say, I mean, Tangbei and Xingyi were her own family and now she 
was giving it to Pandi-chan and me. Of course I felt proud, who 
wouldn't? I thanked Zhae-sama and told her I'd take very good care 
of the scroll.
	"I knew you would," she smiled at me, "Now pay attention. 
That scroll also contains the basis for techniques you might call 
Shiro-shou and Haiiro-shou --White and Gray Palms. I designed both 
techniques myself, as my contribution to the Joketsuzoku heritage. 
So far, only I know them, although I believe Xingyi is close to 
developing them as well. I want you to train in these techniques, 
starting today if you can. They're both very powerful, but you should 
use them only for self-defense."
	"What exactly are they?" I asked. I've always liked to see 
new techniques.
	"Let me show you," Zhae-sama stood between me and 
Pandi-chan, and aimed her hand at a rock. It was about three times 
larger than she was, and it was about five yards away. We saw how 
her hand began to glow white, and all of a sudden the rock went 
flying, and landed about fifteen yards away from us.
	"That was the White Palm," she said, "The Gray Palm does 
the opposite: it pulls your opponent's chi, weakening him." She 
looked up at us, and said, "These techniques were hard to develop. 
Please train well, and don't let me down," She smirked at us, "I hope 
you learn them soon."]]

	"Wow," Akane said, sitting on the bed in her room, "You're 
right about her being different from Cologne."
	"They're different, but not _that_ much," Ranko said, 
leaning against the wall. "Remember I spent three years training with 
the ghoul? I found out she's not that bad, once she sees you as a 
student. But I think that what happened with Zhae-sama is that she 
sort of adopted us, since we were orphans."
	"We felt like she was like our grandmother," Yuannyan said, 
"Sure, she got pretty serious whenever we trained, but she would 
always listen to us and help us when we needed her."
	"And why can't Shampoo's grandmother be like that...?" 
Akane wondered, "But what happened to Phaeron-kun?"

	P [[ About a week after the twins freed me from Coldfire, I 
arrived at a strange village, full of fighting women. I was still 
depressed by what happened before, but when I saw all those people 
preparing for a martial arts tournament I decided to stick around for 
a while. I like martial arts a lot, you know, maybe not as much as 
Ranko-chan but I'm very interested in them.
	As I walked through the village, I noticed that everyone was 
staring at me, especially girls about my age, but they just looked at 
me for a second and went back to practicing or to setting up the 
combat area. I thought it was probably because I didn't look very 
Chinese, and that's why I stood out like a sore thumb.
	Nobody seemed to worry about an outsider, though, so I 
could freely stroll around the center of town. I saw there was a large 
log suspended by chains, holding onto a pair of tall posts. That was 
probably where the warriors would fight, since it had lots of 
decorations to the sides and was surrounded by circular trench.
	I stood there, watching, when I heard voices coming to the 
battle ground. I looked around, and then I saw that the voices 
belonged to the twin sisters that had saved me from Coldfire.
	I was shocked to find them here, but I was also grateful. I 
still didn't feel it was right to talk to them, but at least I had another 
chance to apologize. But before they saw me, I went to hide next to a 
nearby house and watched them.
	They were both wearing the outfits of female warriors, the 
kind that the Joketsuzoku use, but one of the girls was wearing a 
pure-white one and the other a light green one. The one in white also 
had a ponytail while her sister had her hair loose.
	They leapt onto the log, and it didn't even swing from their 
momentum. Then they stood sideways, so they were both turning 
their back on me. They did a few practice exercises, and the girl with 
the ponytail stood on her left leg and stretched her left palm forward. 
Her sister crossed her arms in front of her and strengthened her legs, 
as if she were preparing to receive a hit. But the ponytailed one didn't 
even move. I think I saw her hand glow for a second, and then her 
sister was struggling against something. I had no idea what was 
happening, but all of a sudden I felt a peak in the chi I could sense 
from the environment. Was that girl using a chi blast or something 
similar?
	I tried to walk forward, but there was something next to my 
feet. I looked down, and I nearly had a heart attack. There was this 
little, withered troll with long white hair standing next to me, holding 
a crescent spear like it was a simple staff. I moved away from it a 
little, but then it looked up at me. I don't know why I stayed there, 
but it was looking at me very closely, like trying to decide where I 
had come from. And before I knew it, it was smiling at me and 
speaking.
	"Hello, there. Are you here on a business trip or is it 
leisure?"
	"Huh?" I stared at... her (it _had_ the voice of an old 
woman) but not because she actually spoke, but because she had 
spoken in _my_ language.
	"Don't be surprised, I know very well where you come 
from," she said, "Byzantine Empire, perhaps, Eastern coast of the 
inland sea? City called Jerusalem?"
	"Uh, close..." I answered. "How do you...?"
	"I've traveled quite a bit in my life. By the way, I can sense a 
very strong aura around you. Are you a warrior?"
	"Not by choice..." I muttered. I _wanted_ to be a warrior, 
but it had been Coldfire who forced me into it.
	"Ah, I see," she analyzed me with her eyes again, "Would 
you mind if we continued this conversation somewhere more 
private?"
	I looked back at the twins, who were practicing with more 
physical martial arts now. I wanted to stay and watch them, but 
maybe I should speak to this old woman. She seemed to be very old, 
and she was probably the elder of the village. Besides, it would be 
nice to speak calmly with someone, after more than a year of not 
doing it.
	We went into a large house. Judging from how prominent it 
was, I was assured that the old woman was indeed the elder. Also, it 
was full of odd weapons and magical artifacts.
	"Wait here for a moment," she said, motioning towards a 
room. I walked in, and I saw a Chinese man, about two years older 
than me, and wearing a large yellow cape. "He's another visitor to the 
village," the woman said, "He doesn't speak your language, though. 
Try to make yourself comfortable." And she left the room. I looked 
around a little before sitting down by the window. I could see the 
battle ground from there, and I noticed the twins were still training.
	Then the guy approached me. He was tall, and had long red 
hair. His eyes were golden and bird-like, and his face was also more 
angular than a normal Chinese. What I'll always remember is the 
intense chi that came from him, almost bursting into a flame around 
his body. Since he was going to speak to me, I prepared to reply in 
the best Chinese I could manage.
	"You're an outsider?" he asked. I nodded, and he smirked, "I 
thought so. You don't look Chinese."
	"I'm not Chinese. Name is Lael."
	"Lael?" he looked at me for a moment, "I am Hidama of 
Mount Phoenix."
	"Mount Phoenix?" I repeated. I had always been fascinated 
by the legends about Phoenix birds.
	"It's a mountain south of here, past Jusenkyo." He noticed I 
was more confused, "You don't know about Jusenkyo? It's an ancient 
training ground, made up by dozens of springs. Supposedly, if you 
drown in a spring, whoever falls in it will take your shape 
afterwards."
	"That sounds terrible."
	His face grew dim, "That isn't all. The terror of Jusenkyo 
lies in that the springs capture your spirit when you drown in them. 
Some of the springs have been cursed like that for thousands of years 
already. I can't imagine how terrible it is for the souls trapped there." 
He looked up, "Mount Phoenix has its own curse, because of the 
birds that drowned in the spring there. Now all of its people are..."
	He looked at me, stopping himself. He looked at his hands, 
which were covered in gloves, and looked out the window. "Never 
mind, I'm just rambling. But what brings you to this village? Do you 
want to learn the arts of the Joketsuzoku?"
	I shrugged, "I simply found village, but if they teach how to 
fight then maybe I stay."
	He smiled, "You will stay, indeed."
	After that, we just fell silent and looked out the window 
again. I saw the twins again when they came down from the log and 
talked to each other. Man, I felt so lowly after what happened, even 
if it had been Coldfire who made me do all that. Those girls were 
so... beautiful... And the one with the ponytail...
	Hidama looked at me and snickered, "Do you know those 
girls?"
	"Huh?" I was startled a bit, "What?"
	He looked out again, "I've been watching them train for the 
last few days. They're very attractive. Especially the one with the 
ponytail. And she seems to be a very strong warrior, as well."
	"How... how you know? They twins."
	He laughed to himself, "Only on the outside. I can tell 
they're very different from each other. Look at them."
	I did, and I noticed what Hidama was talking about. "You 
right. The girl with the ponytail moves looks more confident, like she 
own place, and her sister act more like small girl." I remember my 
face heating up as I saw them. "She's probably the one who freed me 
from Coldfire, then," I thought.
	"From the way you look at her, I would say you like her," 
Hidama said. I didn't respond. "In any case, you would have troubles 
with her."
	"Eh?"
	"I've been here for quite some time now, and from what I 
learned from the villagers that girl is a tomboy somewhat. They say it 
has been a long time since they saw anyone with that much 'spirit.'" 
He snickered, "Just the kind of women I like."
	I looked at him immediately, wondering if he meant that, but 
before I could ask anything he said, "I never thought I'd get to see 
her. I've heard a lot about those twins, and now that they're out there 
I see that they're more attractive than I imagined."
	I didn't know why, but upon hearing his words I felt jealous. 
I had barely known the twins for a few minutes --none of which had 
left a good impression on them-- but I didn't like to hear this guy 
talking about them that way. It was as if he were boasting about how 
he'd woo them or something. It annoyed me.
	Fortunately, the twins walked out of sight, and Hidama 
stopped talking about them. While we waited for the old woman to 
come back, we just talked about fighting styles and that sort of thing. 
I found out much more about chi from him, and he gave me a few 
suggestions on how to focus it properly.
	Finally, she came back. For a woman of that age, she was 
sure agile. She bounced into the room leaping at least four times her 
height. Then she landed on the table and sat there, watching us.
	"You'll excuse me," she said to me, "But I have to speak 
with him about important matters." I nodded, and before I knew it 
she was speaking in a language I couldn't understand, but which 
Hidama apparently knew very well. Bored, I just looked around 
again. It was then that I noticed a weird fan on the table, and 
familiar-looking clothes on a chair. I was shocked when I realized 
that those were the clothes of one of the twins, and the fan was what 
she used in our fight. I felt a chill. If this was their house...
	Suddenly Hidama stood up, and bowed to the elder. He 
turned to me, and said, "Good luck with your training, 'Lael.' I won't 
leave town, so we will probably meet again soon." He bowed to me 
and left.
	"Very well, and now to deal with you," the woman said with 
a sly grin. I didn't notice her, though. I could hear Hidama talking 
with the twins, just outside the door. Again, I felt jealous, but at the 
same time I wanted to leave the house. I didn't want the twins to see 
me here, at least not yet.
	"You look troubled," the woman said.
	"I am," I replied, "Could we talk someplace else?"
	"I can't see why we should," she shrugged, "This is my 
house. No one enters without my permission." She lit a small pipe, 
completely ignoring how I was looking nervously at the door. She 
turned to me and introduced herself, "I am Zhae, leader of the 
Nyuuchiezu. Did you come to our village to learn the Arts?"
	"Uh, yes..." I was still looking at the door.
	"Even after what happened with that demon?"
	Now THAT got my attention. "Wha... How do you  
know?!"
	Zhae smiled, "The twin sisters you met are my... prot�g�s. I 
heard of you from them."
	I panicked. "B-but I... I didn't... I mean, it wasn't--"
	"Calm down, boy, I didn't even tell you what I heard." I 
calmed down a little. "On the other hand, they _did_ tell me about 
the fight you had..." She took the spear in her hand, loosely, but 
letting me know she could have me impaled before I could blink. 
"Now, while I usually punish the outsiders who attack one from the 
Nyuuchiezu, I might wait in your case. Tell me, is it true you were 
possessed by a demon?"
	I looked at the sharp crescent blade, and nodded. For a 
moment, I thought she didn't believe me, but after looking closely at 
me she relaxed her grip on the spear. "Your aura is out of alignment. 
Perhaps you are telling the truth." She put the spear away, and I 
sighed in relief. "But what should we do with you now?"
	I looked at the door, and then to the ground. "I don't know. 
All I want is to apologize to them. But how can I do that after almost 
having killed them?"
	Zhae nodded, "Quite a hard situation you're trapped in. 
Frankly, I don't know what to do either. However, I have a 
proposition for you." She looked at me in the eye, and spoke slowly, 
making sure I got the message. "You _will_ stay here, at our village, 
for the duration of the tournament, which will be two weeks. I will 
decide what to do then. You will have to share a room with Hidama, 
behind the stables, but you are free to go anywhere in the village. Do 
not, however, try to escape. I will be watching you."
	I stared at her for a few moments. I understood why she 
was... _imprisoning_ me like that, but I felt awful nonetheless. What 
could I do, anyway? I had nowhere to go, and the only goal I had 
was to apologize to the twins. I had no other choice but to agree.
	Zhae gave me the directions to the stables, and a few 
advices regarding how I should behave in the village. I looked at the 
door again. Hidama was gone, and the twins were about to come in. 
The old woman looked at me and said, "Leave through the back 
door. Remember my words. You might be a good person, and in that 
case I will apologize by the end of the tournament. But don't try to 
test me. You would regret it."
	And I left the house.]]

	R [[ We were really making progress with the White and 
Gray Palms, and it was a good thing, too, since the tournament was 
about to start. Even if we couldn't use chi techniques in it, they 
helped us become stronger, and we learned a lot from them also.
	One day, after training, we finally found out how to use 
them properly, so we went to Zhae-sama's house to show her. But 
when we came in, we ran into a strange guy that was also a warrior, 
and that had come from Mount Phoenix.]]

	Akane looked at Ranko closely, "Mount Phoenix? What's 
that?"
	"It's a tall spire south of Jusenkyo, with its own cursed 
spring," she explained, "but it's so high only birds drown in it. Also, 
the people who live there use that water for everything, so they're all 
born with wings and claws like a bird's."
	"Are they monsters?" Akane asked.
	"Not really," Ranko shrugged, "They all use either 
Nanniichuan our _our_ spring to turn into normal humans, anyway." 
She looked out the window. She could recall, from her other life, 
how the people from Mount Phoenix were supposed to arrive in 
Nerima soon, and the battles that they would cause. A sly smirk 
appeared on her face: now that Phaeron was back, they would get to 
face a real Phoenix.
	"Oneechan, do you want to bore Akane-chan to death or do 
you wanna tell her about how you and Phaeron-kun _really_ met?" 
Yuannyan asked, smiling mischievously.

	P [[ I guess it began during the tournament. Like Zhae said, 
it would last two weeks, to give the combatants enough time to rest 
and prepare their strategy. It also gave me enough time to get to 
know the village and its people.
	I could tell everyone in that village was already on a master 
level, or beyond. I hate to say it, but I felt like a wimp among all 
those people and their incredible martial arts. The only place where I 
was at least up to par with them was in the battles with staves and 
spears, since I always practiced with my old monkey stick.
	I made friends with a lot of people there, especially Hidama. 
Perhaps it was because we were both outsiders, but we found it easy 
to train together in chi techniques and a little weapon practice, only 
that he used a Chinese sword, and he also left me behind in the hand-
to-hand department.]]

	"That's not hard to do," Ranma snickered.
	"Ranma, that's enough," Nodoka scolded him, and then she 
turned to Phaeron, "Then you made a friend?"
	The Esper smiled, "Yeah, and I really needed it back then. 
Hidama was my first friend after Coldfire, and we probably would 
have become best friends over time. He's the one who taught me 
about chi techniques anyway."
	He leaned back, and sighed, "But who I really admired were 
the girls. They just breezed up the ranks in the competition..."

	P [[ I finally found out what their names were during the 
competition. From what I could hear, Pandi was the more reserved 
one, and Zhaodi was the real warrior. She was also the one that I first 
saw, and when I did I realized that she had been the one that helped 
me. Man, you should've seen her fight back then. Sometimes, she 
looked like she was just dancing on top of that log, and before I 
knew it she was coming down on top of her opponent with a storm 
of punches and kicks. I had never seen anyone fight like that, and if 
she was just competing in a tournament, I couldn't imagine what 
she'd have done in a real fight. Pandi was very good too, probably a 
couple dozen levels above me, but nowhere near Zhaodi's level.
	It was confusing to see them fight, though. Back then, I 
couldn't believe how a pair of fourteen year-old girls could pack so 
much power, to let loose with a kick that could shatter stone, and the 
next second move as gracefully as if they were made of water.
	I... From seeing her fight, and the way she would smile after 
winning... I think that was when I began to fall in love with her.]]

	R [[ The whole tournament thing was only about two weeks 
long, but it went by pretty quickly. All I remember is a few fights and 
things that happened in between, but actually it wasn't very difficult, 
at least not for us.
	I remember something else, though. Every time I showed up 
at the site of the tournament, I could swear someone was watching 
me. First I thought it was just the guy from Mt. Phoenix, Hidama, but 
he was pretty obvious about looking at me so it had to be someone 
else. But now that I think about it, you'd think Hidama was attracted 
to me or something. He never said anything, but _all_ the time he 
was just staring at me. It made me a little uncomfortable, even if I 
liked the attention. Anyway, where was I? Right, it was someone else 
who was watching me. Whoever it was, he sure knew how to hide. I 
finally got to see him until the sixth day of the tournament.
	The minute I saw him I realized that it was the foreign guy 
that Cordis and me helped, well, exorcise. I was in the middle of a 
fight, so I couldn't just walk up to him, but I made sure he didn't get 
out of my sight until it was over. The minute I came near, though, his 
face got all red and he disappeared, just like that first time. I saw 
Hidama stare after _him_ for a change, and then he followed that 
weird guy.
	During the night, Zhae-sama had me and Pandi-chan go to 
Xingyi's house. She said it was because she would have a guest come 
in later. I imagined who it could be, and I was glad I hadn't told her 
about having seen him at the village yet. I decided to stay behind and 
eavesdrop a little.]]

	P [[ I was still a little shaken from what happened earlier. It 
wasn't a coincidence that she should turn to see me right when I was 
thinking of her -- I mean, I have a "heavy" gaze. If I stare at 
someone, he or she will notice right away. And things were getting 
worse now. Not only was I still unsure about apologizing, but I was 
really beginning to fall in love with her. I didn't know what to do, so I 
went to ask Zhae for advice.
	"So, boy, you're back," she said, smiling at me, "One week 
early, I might add. If you're nervous about my decision, there's no 
need to worry: I have seen that you're a good person indeed." Her 
face brightened, even for a withered old woman, "That reminds me: it 
was wonderful what you did to help Hongmei's baby. The poor 
creature would have died if not for that balm you brought with you." 
She snickered and said, "But now Hongmei insists of naming that girl 
'Ointment,' in honor of what you did." Then she chuckled, "What an 
odd name. I hope it doesn't start a trend of naming people after 
medicinal products." She realized I was a little impatient, "So, what 
really brings you here tonight?"
	"Uh, if it no bother, can I speak in Chinese? I need to 
practice."
	She looked at me for a few moments, and snickered, "Of 
course. I'll speak slowly, and if you get stuck just tell me. Now, what 
is it that you want to talk about?"
	I took a deep breath. How to explain that the girl I probably 
loved was the one I almost killed two weeks earlier? Not only that, 
but she was also Zhae's honorary granddaughter. What to do?
	"Well I... I need to apologize to Pandi and Zhaodi..."
	"Yes, you've told me that before."
	"But... these days, I see them at tournament..."
	Zhae smiled in pride, "You can see why they're my prize 
students."
	"Yes, I can see. But what I say is... Twin with tied hair... 
Zhaodi? Yes, Zhaodi. She... how you say? She very good fighter."
	"Probably the best in her age group, yes," Zhae began to 
look at me out the corner of her eye. She had probably realized what 
I was driving at.
	"She... she different. She Chinese?"
	"No, she's not Chinese. She and her sister are from a place 
called Japan, far to the East."
	"Oh... And where parents?"
	Zhae sighed and sunk her chin, "I'm afraid they're orphans."
	I felt something cold pass through my chest. I knew from 
experience what it was to be an orphan, and I wouldn't like to see 
other people pass through the same pain. "That... I am sorry. I not 
know." I sighed.
	"Don't worry about them. Pandi and Zhaodi are very strong-
hearted. Which reminds me, perhaps they have forgiven you by now."
	"You think so?" She nodded, and I felt more confident. "I 
try to apologize soon, then." I looked away, and then back at her, 
"You know twins well?"
	"Why do you ask?"
	"Well I... Zhaodi... she is very good, strong. I think she's 
who helped me."
	She nodded, "Probably. Though both of them seem to enjoy 
helping people."
	"I want thank her. What... what do she like? How I can talk 
to her?"
	From the way Zhae looked at me, I was sure she had 
realized what I talking about. I suddenly felt as if it were summer 
already, since it was hot and I saw sweating like crazy. Zhae just 
stared at me for a few minutes, but it sure felt like ages to me. I 
wondered what she was thinking. Was she shocked? Was she angry? 
Or was she going to burst out laughing at me any second? All I knew 
was that I wanted to get as far away as possible before she said 
anything. But I couldn't move. I was screaming at my body to get up 
and leave, but it was practically stuck in its place.
	I heard a noise outside, and I was so tense I immediately 
turned to see what had caused it. But then Zhae took the chance to 
speak, "I take it you... you like Zhaodi?"
	Well, the cat was out of the bag. And "like" didn't quite 
describe it, so why not go all the way already. "No, no like. Other 
word..."
	Zhae smiled, "Ah, I see. The 'other' word. I have to admit, 
this is very interesting. I can see why you were so nervous before. I'll 
have to think about it." She jumped onto the windowsill and looked 
down, then up at the stars. When she spoke, her voice was so loud it 
seemed she wanted the neighbors to listen, "I have an idea, why not 
stay with us longer? With the tournament going on, I doubt you 
would get a fair chance to even talk to the twins, much less 
apologize. I'm sure there will be plenty of time afterwards." She 
turned around and looked at me, "What do you say?"
	That's what I didn't know. Of course I'd be happy to stay 
longer, especially since I had friends in the village. On the other hand, 
it would be hard to keep hiding from Zhaodi all the time, and I'd have 
to come out sooner or later. What the heck, I agreed --again-- to stay 
in the village.]]

	R [[ I just stayed hidden under the widow for a while. I 
couldn't believe what that guy had said! And what's more, his voice 
really sounded sincere back there. I didn't know what to think, and I 
just kept hearing his words over and over in my head. This was just 
so crazy!
	I saw him and Zhae-sama come out of the house. She lead 
him away for a moment, then sent him off to wherever it was he was 
staying. I stared after him, thinking about what he had said. He 
looked very different now... More confident, for one thing. He 
walked like he didn't have a care in the world. He looked back for a 
second, without noticing me, and then the moonlight... I dunno, it 
sort of made his face glow or something.
	I was thinking about what that was supposed to mean when 
all of a sudden Zhae-sama was standing in front of me, smiling. "So 
what do you think now?"
	"Huh?" I was confused for a moment, then I stood up and 
tried to look away, "Wh-what do you mean?"
	She chuckled a little, "It seems you have an admirer, 
Zhaodi."
	I crossed my arms and turned away, "Admirer? Yeah, right. 
Like I'd _want_ an admirer."
	Zhae-sama looked where he had gone to, "I don't know. He 
sounded very sincere to me. He also wants to apologize for what 
happened earlier --which I don't think he even had a say in. But he's... 
shy about talking to you, it would seem."
	"Well, he could try," I didn't want to listen. "If he really 
wants to apologize, what's stopping him? He almost killed my sister, 
for all I know."
	"Don't you _also_ know that it wasn't his fault?" she looked 
at me. "In fact, didn't you _help_ him get rid of that demon?"
	"Well, yeah, but..."
	"Just out of curiosity, have you heard what happened with 
Hongmei's one year-old daughter?"
	I shook my head. I knew who Zhae-sama was talking about, 
though. Hongmei was another of her students, but about eight or 
nine years older than me, and she had had her baby six months after 
Pandi-chan and me arrived. Everyone loved the baby girl, and since 
nearly all of the town was arguing over how to call her, she still didn't 
have a name. But what did she have to do with this weird guy?
	"You were too concentrated on your training to notice," 
Zhae-sama told me, "but Hongmei's daughter had become ill while 
you and Pandi were away. Our medicine had no effect on her. But 
then, he shows up with an ointment that he had learned to make from 
roots and leaves. It worked like magic on the poor creature." I 
looked down at her, and she went on, "Afterwards, we tried to repay 
him for what he did, but all he said was that he had always liked to 
help people, even before he was possessed. Apparently there is much 
more to him than just a demon's victim."
	I looked away from her, and looked up at the sky. I had no 
idea he had done all that. I mean, Cordis had told me he was really a 
kind person, but well, after seeing him trying to kill me I guess I 
never really believed that. On the other hand, Zhae-sama had actually 
_seen_ him. Some part of me still wanted me to see for myself that it 
was true, but somehow I felt I should give him another chance. And 
Cordis had asked me to help him, after all.
	But on top of that, he liked me!
	"I never knew... How... What's his name, anyway?"
	Zhae-sama smirked like a cat, but I didn't know why, "His 
name is Lael, and he comes from a town far to the West." She looked 
up at me, "Suddenly interested, hm?"
	"What? Of course not!" I couldn't believe what Zhae-sama 
was saying! "I was just curious, that's all!"
	"Then tell me, Zhaodi... "Zhae-sama said slowly.
	"W-what?"
	"Why are you blushing?"]]

	"Oooo!"
	"Will you cut it out!?" Ranko tossed a pillow at Akane, 
annoyed.
	"You never told me about that, oneechan..." Yuannyan 
smirked mischievously at her twin.
	"Well gee, could it be because the guy who tried to kill you 
was interested in me?" came the sarcastic reply. The younger twin 
snickered and looked away.

	R [[ Anyway, the next few days were very weird. It's not 
that I was _looking_ for him or anything, but whenever it was my 
turn to compete I just turned to the sides and there he was, watching 
me. The first few times he tried to hide from me, but eventually he 
just blushed and looked down. It was funny, sometimes, but it made 
me feel nervous. I mean, that guy Hidama was also looking at me all 
the time, but he never made me feel like that.
	Also, I managed to find out more about this Lael. I spoke 
with Hongmei, and she confirmed what Zhae-sama had told me 
before. Then I noticed that everyone in the village had also met him 
and _they_ thought he was a nice guy. Well, if he was so nice how 
come he hadn't even talked to me or Pandi-chan? I tried to figure it 
out, but it always went back to him being... well, attracted to me.
	We went on like that for couple more days. He still looked 
at me all the time, and before I knew it I was looking for him before 
each fight. At least now he didn't look away or anything. In fact, 
sometimes he made sure he stood in a place where I could see him. 
Oh, and since he knew I had found out about him, he actually 
cheered for me whenever it was my turn to fight. It felt... I dunno, I 
guess it felt nice to have someone watch over you like that.
	And then, just the day before the end of the tournament... 
well...]]

	P [[ I really don't know what happened, but something had 
happened to Zhaodi. She actually knew I was watching her, and not 
only did she not mind, but eventually she tried to find me before 
beginning each fight. I felt all warm inside whenever she did that. 
Sometimes, once she began to fight, I just smiled to myself without 
realizing it. But then I started to notice how the other people of the 
village was looking at me whenever Zhaodi fought. They didn't 
know, did they? Zhae would have never revealed something like that. 
Then again, maybe they had noticed how I looked at Zhaodi and 
began to make connections. It made me very nervous, but then I 
would think about how Zhaodi looked at me and I'd feel proud, 
somewhat.
	Then something special happened, on the day before the 
finals. It was the day when the last two fighters of each category 
would be chosen, and of course the twins were going to compete. 
Everyone was very excited about who the finalists would be, myself 
included.
	I spent most of my time looking for Zhaodi, trying to be as 
inconspicuous as possible. Finally, I found her and Pandi training 
behind Zhae's house. I just looked at them from afar, as I always did, 
but something kept telling me that this was the perfect time to go and 
apologize. Then I got nervous and tried to think of an excuse not to, 
and when I finally made up my mind I heard Zhae ringing the village's 
bell to summon the combatants. Since Zhaodi was one of the first 
ones scheduled for that day, she took off immediately. I wanted to 
follow, but then I realized that Pandi, the one I _really_ had to 
apologize to, was still practicing.]]

	Y [[ Zhaodi-chan had run off to the tournament a few 
minutes ago, while I stayed behind to train a little more. I knew that 
it'd be a miracle if I got past this round, especially since most of the 
other girls were very good, and what's worse, I was supposed to 
fight Tangbei since she was still in our age group. But I wanted to 
make Zhaodi-chan proud, so I decided not to think about how hard it 
would be and practiced harder.
	But just when I was training, I felt someone watching me, 
and I looked all around. I saw someone walk towards me, and when I 
realized who it was I almost screamed. Then I saw how nervous he 
was, and he even stopped walking before he got close.
	He just stood like that, not even looking at me, and started 
to fiddle with his hands. He really _was_ nervous. I realized he 
wouldn't attack me, so I calmed down just a little. I looked at his 
face, and I saw how different it was now, compared to what he 
looked like when I saw him for the first time.
	"What... are you...?" I stuttered a little, "Go away or I'll call 
oneechan!"
	Then he stammered a bit, "I no at-attack you. I... want to 
apologize."
	Now _that_ threw me off. "Apologize?"
	He looked a me for a sec, "I apologize for what happen 
before. I really no wanted to do that." He gulped, and said, "I really 
sorry."
	I stared at him for a moment. This was so weird. Here he 
just comes out of the blue and apologizes? And he apologizes 
_sincerely_? Where had he come from, anyway? Had he been staying 
at the village all this time?
	"You mean that?" I asked.
	He nodded, and I saw how ashamed he was. I didn't like to 
make anyone feel like that. Besides, if Zhaodi was right --which she 
probably was, after all I _had_ seen Cordis take over her body once-- 
then it really wasn't this guy's fault.]]

	P [[ One thing I have to say about the twins is that they're 
very open-hearted. I mean, it's hard for them to make an enemy since 
they have this quality that makes them trust anyone they meet, and 
with Pandi this quality was even more obvious.
	I just talked to her for about an hour, and when I explained 
what had happened she really believed me, she even felt sorry for me. 
I don't like to be felt sorry for, but in this case it was a very good first 
step. I had finally apologized to her, and now she knew what I had 
been through. I was glad it had worked out, and I was thankful for 
Pandi's forgiving nature. I just hoped Zhaodi was the same way.
	"I hope she forgive me," I said, looking at where she had 
run off to.
	"Oh, she will," Pandi smiled at me. "She doesn't like to hold 
grudges anyway." She looked thoughtful for a second, "But she's 
been acting odd lately..."
	"Odd?"
	"Yeah... She's getting distracted in the middle of her fights, 
and she's always looking at the people in the audience... It could be 
Hidama. He's the type that she'd like."
	"Huh?" I felt cold at hearing that. Did Zhaodi like 
_Hidama_?
	"Well, he's a very good fighter, and he's pretty dreamy..." 
she started to wander off, but then she must have realized I was 
beginning to frown. "What? Something wrong?"
	I felt very hot all of a sudden, "No, of course not."
	She looked at me in silence, and then she smirked, "Don't 
tell me you..."
	I think my exact words were "Uh... Um..."]]

	Y [[ You should have _seen_ his face! It was so funny! He 
was red, _real_ red. But then I remembered that most of the guys in 
the village got that way when they talked to a girl they liked, and all 
of a sudden it stopped being funny.
	"You mean you _really_ do...?" His face got red again, "Oh, 
I see... Then you _are_ the one she's been looking for all this time."
	"She look for me?"
	"Sure. You know, she looks for you at the fights, but when 
she's done she goes all over town asking people about someone 
called 'Raeru' or something like that. Are you..."
	"M-my name is Lael..."
	"It sounds like it..." I stared at him all wide-eyed, "Oh, then 
you ARE him! You know my sister has a crush on you?"]]

	P [[ I almost fainted at that. A crush on me? How?
	"She'd never show it, of course. But I'm her twin sister. I 
can tell when she's interested in something..." she smirked like a cat, 
"...or some_one_..."
	"B-but I..."
	Suddenly she stood up, "I almost forgot! The tournament!"
	"Huh?"
	"Come on!" she pulled my hand, "Zhaodi's going to fight in 
a few minutes!"
	I was too much of a wreck to resist. My head was spinning 
from what she had said, and I could barely believe someone like 
Zhaodi could have a crush on me. Confused as I was, though, I had 
to follow Pandi as we ran back to the tournament area.
	When we got there, Zhaodi and her opponent were already 
waiting below the giant log, while Zhae gave them the final 
instructions. I felt Pandi tug at my wrist, but this time I couldn't 
move. I was paralyzed, just looking at Zhaodi. I think Pandi spoke to 
me but I didn't listen, and after a few tries she let go and ran towards 
her sister. _That_ snapped me back to reality. Oh, God, she wasn't 
going to tell her that... She couldn't... Oh my God, was she...]]

	R [[ Zhae-sama was explaining to us the special rules for 
this stage of the tournament. But I wasn't really listening this time. I 
had looked _everywhere_, where _was_ he? I thought he'd be 
interested in watching this...
	Just then, seconds before I got up onto the log, I saw Pandi-
chan run at me with a big grin on her face.
	"Pandi-chan, wha..."
	She just zipped next to me, whispered, "He likes you," and 
ran off without a single explanation. I was confused for a moment, 
and I was about to leap onto the log when...
	Oh.
	I don't know _why_ I felt that way, and I really don't know 
why I thought about it, but something inside me must have found a 
meaning to what Pandi-chan said. All of a sudden I felt some sort of 
warm chill inside me, and I felt _really_ good. I remember my face 
heating up and my hands trembling a little, and when I looked 
forward there he was, looking as red as I probably was, and even 
more timid than before. I don't know for how long I looked at him 
but I came to my senses when Zhae-sama poked me with the rear end 
of her spear. I looked down at her and forced myself to get onto the 
log. I tried to control myself. I didn't want to lose the tournament 
_now_ just because I had never felt like that before. And... in a way... 
I guess I tried to show off a little... you know.]]

	Akane smiled at seeing her friend clutch a pillow in her 
arms, pausing her story for a moment. She had never seen this side of 
Ranko before; the red-haired girl had a light blush, and her smile was 
very tiny. She was really opening up because of this tale, and Akane 
was certain that it brought Ranko happy memories.
	She was glad she had asked her and Phaeron to describe 
their meeting. The Ranko that sat in front of her, on the bed, was 
nothing like the sad shadow she had seen in the days after that painful 
Christmas. She was actually happy, in a way that Akane had never 
seen before, in a way that the pigtailed tomboy would never _let_ 
anyone see.
	Then, more than ever, Akane hoped that everything worked 
out for Ranko and Phaeron. After all that they had been through, 
especially those fifteen hundred years of separation, they truly 
deserved a break.
	Looking at her "little sister" again, Akane smiled again when 
she heard Ranko release a short sigh and continue the story.

	R [[ I gave it everything I had in that fight. I knew I had 
great chances, but the other girl was really good! It cost me a lot of 
trouble to get past her defense and get a few lucky shots in. But it 
was no cake walk for her, either. We were about equal in skill. 
Finally, after fighting for about fifteen minutes, she got impatient and 
threw a haymaker at me. I ducked, grabbed her arm and planted my 
foot between hers, then I pushed her stomach with my other hand 
and threw her right off the log.
	I was still panting by the time Zhae-sama pronounced me 
the winner. Something came over me, and the first thing I did was 
looked straight towards Lael.
	He was smiling. He was smiling at me.]]

	P [[ I just couldn't stop smiling. After seeing how difficult 
it'd been for Zhaodi to win, it was hard not to feel glad for her. I 
didn't even feel nervous about her seeing me, and for the first time I 
actually wanted her to see me. And then something happened. 
Something I'll never forget.
	Zhaodi smiled back.]]

	R [[ Y-yeah, I guess I _was_ smiling at him. It's just that... I 
felt proud that he saw me win, that's all. But I felt real good when we 
looked at each other like that. I liked that feeling. Before I knew it, I 
was jumping down from the log and headed right towards him. Pandi 
hugged me for winning, and then she went to the fighting area 
because it was her turn and I tried to get past the crowd so I could 
reach him and all I knew was that I wanted to talk to him.
	But before I could get close, Hidama appeared right in front 
of me. He was also smiling, and congratulated me. I thanked him in a 
hurry, looking past him and trying to keep walking, but he insisted on 
giving me words of encouragement. In the end, the crowd got 
together again to watch the fight and I lost sight of him. All I could 
do was give in and talk with Hidama.]]

	P [[ The minute I saw her come walking towards me I felt 
like I was about to burst into flames. I was starting to feel nervous 
again, but this time my feet were wiser than my brain and they stuck 
to the ground like glue. I wouldn't run away this time. Not anymore.
	But then all the people closed in around the battle and 
Zhaodi disappeared among them. I looked around, trying to look 
over the people, but she was too small for me to find her. I was about 
to walk into the crowd when I heard who the next combatants would 
be.]]

	R [[ I wasn't really listening to what Hidama was talking 
about, but I woke up when I heard Zhae-sama call Pandi-chan and 
Tangbei up to the fighting area. I frowned, since I hadn't found Lael, 
but I decided to wait and watch the fight. There's no way I'd miss my 
sister's match, anyway.
	The fight started. Tangbei shot forward like lightning but 
Pandi-chan was also very agile. It was more like watching a martial-
arts gymnastics combat since they barely touched each other, and 
they were leaping all over the place. But I knew Pandi-chan could do 
better than that, and so could Tangbei. It was like they didn't want to 
hurt each other.
	Then they started to get desperate. I guess Tangbei had 
underestimated Pandi-chan, because she got more serious with her 
attacks. Then, suddenly, she leapt with a strong kick that Pandi-chan 
avoided. But the kick was so powerful that when Tangbei landed she 
lost her balance and fell on top of the log, with her back to Pandi-
chan. Everyone was sure she would have kicked Tangbei from that 
position, but that's because they didn't know Pandi-chan like I did. 
She doesn't like to hurt people, much less when they're down. So 
Tangbei had time to recover and stand up. She nodded to Pandi-chan 
and then charged. She moved _real_ fast. _I_ didn't see her throw 
that punch. All Pandi-chan could do was pull up her arms to defend 
herself. When Tangbei finally stopped, she had her fist extended one 
inch away from Pandi-chan's face.
	Then Tangbei said, in Japanese, "Arigato," and immediately 
dropped for a foot sweep that made Pandi-chan fall off the log and 
land on her feet. Zhae-sama then said the fight was over.
	I went to help Pandi-chan even though she didn't have a 
scratch. I understood why she hadn't attacked Tangbei back there, 
but she had practically let her win!
	"You okay?" I asked.
	"Sure," she said, shrugging. She just looked up at Tangbei 
and said, "She won, huh?"
	"Pandi-chan..."
	"Don't worry, it's okay," she smiled.
	"Okay? You lost!"
	"No, I didn't. We both won."
	"Huh?"
	Pandi-chan sighed, "You've been too distracted lately, 
Zhaodi-chan. Don't you know? The tournament means everything to 
Tangbei-san. While you were asking around about Raeru-kun, I 
heard from Xingyi-san that if Tangbei-san reached the finals Zhae-
sama would consider her as a successor"
	"Then that means..."
	Pandi-chan smiled, "Tangbei-san deserves that, Zhaodi-
chan, wouldn't you say?"
	Of course I had to agree. Tangbei lived for martial arts even 
more than oniisan does. And she'd make a great successor to Zhae-
sama. I looked at Pandi-chan again and she giggled like a little girl. 
No wonder she had let her win.
	"All right, Pandi-chan..." I said, leading her away. I didn't 
see Lael again that day. Pandi-chan had spoken to him, though. "So, 
exactly what did he say?"
	"Who?"
	"You know..."
	She just smirked, making me nervous, "Ooh, I see..."]]

	P [[ The next day was the final stage of the tournament. So 
many people attended the fights that Nabiki could've charged a 
fortune for front-row seats. But this time I learned my lesson and I 
made sure I was closest to the battle grounds.
	Most of the fights went by pretty quickly, but that's probably 
because I wasn't very interested in them. I was wondering about what 
would happen with Zhaodi, though, since she would fight Tangbei 
for the final round. Everyone was whispering about who they thought 
would be the champion.
	Finally, she came up. It had almost become some sort of 
ritual for us to look at each other before her fights, but after what 
happened the previous day this time we even _waved_ at each other 
without thinking. I thought about that much later, and decided it was 
the best thing I could have done.
	Zhaodi and Tangbei leapt onto the log and bowed, then they 
took up their battle stances. They didn't move for quite some time, 
and I thought they were analyzing each other.]]
	R [[ I had too many things to think about before beginning 
the fight. I was lucky Tangbei was also just standing there, waiting 
for me to begin, because I'd have lost immediately if she had 
attacked. First of all, I didn't know what to do about the fight. I 
wanted Tangbei to make a good impression on Zhae-sama, and she 
_did_ deserve to be her successor. On the other hand, he was 
watching and I didn't want to lose in front of him. Not only that, but I 
had actually waved at him and when he saw me, he waved back!
	I had an idea. Maybe I could get the fight to end in a double 
knockout or to make both of us fall off the log. That would work, 
since I wouldn't have to lose in front of him and Tangbei would still 
get to beat me. So...]]
	P [[ I sensed another peak in the chi nearby, and I realized 
that both Zhaodi and Tangbei were flaring their auras. They were still 
faint, nowhere like Hidama's fire chi or my own, but I could tell they 
were about to attack.
	Suddenly, they dashed at each other, but before anyone 
could blink an arrow flew out of nowhere and shot right through the 
space where Tangbei had been seconds ago. They leapt off the log 
and everyone turned around.
I can only remember how wide my eyes went.]]
	Y [[ The whole village was stunned. When we looked at 
where the arrow had come from, we saw an entire tribe of barbarians 
coming at us like a landslide. They howled like animals and swung 
their swords and spears and clubs around like crazy.
	Almost instantly I felt Zhaodi-chan pick me up and leap 
away right before an arrow was shot at me. We landed on the log and 
she immediately dropped again to kick the brute that attacked me. 
Let's just say he never played the piano again.
	From that spot, I saw that most of the people were already 
fighting the barbarians. It was a pretty even battle, except for those 
of the villagers that had taken their children to the tournament and 
had to defend their family as well. I saw that they needed help and 
went into the fight.]]
	R [[ With Pandi-chan focused on the battle, I knew she 
would take care of herself, so I could concentrate on my own fights. 
Whoever was the leader of these thugs, at least he had some brains. 
First he had sent some brainless minions at Zhae-sama and the 
strongest fighters in the village to wear us down, and then the more 
powerful fighters surrounded us. We didn't have much trouble with 
any of the attacks, but if they kept us busy then the other barbarians 
would raid the village and probably set it on fire.
	Then again, in this battle I could use the new techniques I 
had learned. I hadn't gotten the White Palm to reach Zhae-sama's 
level but I could hold my own with it, and when Tangbei saw what I 
was doing she placed herself so I could just blast the idiots right into 
her fists.
	During a small break, I tried to see what had happened to 
Lael. He was fighting like he was possessed again, his eyes were 
blank and his body was glowing bright white. I had heard he wasn't 
very skilled in martial arts, but the way he knocked the thugs away 
with his stick was incredible.]]
	P [[ I was completely out of myself. I don't understand what 
happened, but something inside me snapped when I saw the 
barbarians. It was probably the memory of my twin brother being 
slain by them what flipped the switch in my head.
	I loved to fight with a staff, and thanks to Hidama's training 
I had gotten very good at it, so I didn't have much of a trouble 
defending myself. Neither did Hidama, from what I could see. 
Remember how I told you that his aura was made of fire? Well, when 
he got into a serious battle he just took out his sword and it burst 
into flames. The more sensible barbarians took one look at the sword 
of fire and walked away without even trying to fight it.
	Once I  made an opening for myself, I looked around for the 
twins. I recognized Pandi, from her hair and uniform, and saw that 
she was doing quite well. But when I looked for Zhaodi, I saw that 
the toady for the barbarian's leader had captured her white-haired 
friend with a rope and was threatening her. Then Zhaodi aimed her 
palms at him and he went flying into a wall. But she was distracted, 
and just then this big and burly jerk slammed the pommel of his 
sword on the back of her neck.
	I remember shouting, and when I came to I was running full 
speed towards them. Zhaodi was still too dizzy to stand up, 
especially from that kind of blow, and the barbarian was planning to 
take advantage of that. All I know is that when he raised his sword, I 
gripped my staff tightly and thrust it into his gut for all I was worth.
	I kept on running and pushing, until I slammed him into the 
same wall where his toady had crashed. I leapt back immediately and 
I realized I had left a deep dent in his armor.
	He was wearing armor.
	I looked up at him, and I saw he was wearing a bronze 
mask. He was laughing beneath it, I could see that. When he took it 
off, he laughed even more, because he was someone I _knew_.
	"Who would have thought..."
	I couldn't believe my eyes. No, I _really_ couldn't believe 
them. The barbarian that had tried to kill Zhaodi was the same one 
that had murdered Raphael!
	"Who would have thought I would get another shot at you!" 
he slashed at me with his sword. I was thankful they had metallic 
monkey sticks at the village, or else I would've been killed when I 
stopped the sword with my stick. I was trapped, though. He was 
much heavier than I was, and he hadn't fought before, like I had. It 
would only be a matter of time.]]
	R [[ I was dizzy, but I saw very clearly what Lael had done. 
I didn't have time to think about it, though, 'cause I was already 
running towards them. I charged up my White Palm and dove under 
Lael's legs, then I pushed up with my hands and blasted the other guy 
into the air. Me and Lael jumped out of the way before he landed 
hard on the ground. When he recovered, he stood up and growled at 
us.
	Lael looked at me, "Th- thank--"
	"Later!" I told him. This was not the time. I ran towards that 
big creep and leapt over his sword to kick him in the face. He just 
staggered a little and tried to slice me in two, but then I realized his 
sword had been stopped by Lael's staff again. He twisted to a side 
and stuck one of the ends inside the jerk's armor and pulled him over 
his head, throwing him to the ground. It was amazing how he did 
that.
	But then the barbarian stood up again, and punched Lael 
away. I looked at him, and he was unconscious. I didn't like that at 
all. I caught the next punch with my hands and pulled, then I tried to 
kick the bastard in the chest but all I did was dent his armor. He just 
shook his arm and threw me to the ground.
	He took his sword and just stood in front of me. Man, that 
guy was at least as tall as the Dojo Destroyer!
	He was about to attack me when he yelped and I heard a 
hiss of something burn. I looked up and saw Hidama standing on that 
guy's shoulders, using his sword to cut the straps of his armor. But 
then he just grabbed Hidama and tossed him away!
	"No!" I yelled, then I leapt at him again and blasted his face. 
Now _that_ made him angry. He just slashed around like a whirlwind 
with that sword of his. I think it clipped my clothes a few times, I 
don't remember. What I know is that just when I finally caught his 
sword in my palms, something glowed bright red and sliced right 
through the blade.]]
	P [[ I was amazed at having recovered so fast, and even 
more at how I had created a chi blade around my hand, but it 
probably had to do with that bastard trying to kill Zhaodi. But as 
soon as it solidified I used it to split his sword in two and cut the 
remaining straps of his armor. While he was confused, I thrust my 
staff into his chest while Zhaodi gave him a hard push to his gut. He 
landed hard on his back and immediately stood up, scowling at us 
like a demon.
	I turned to Zhaodi. For the first time since the day she saved 
me, she was less than one feet away from me. But at the moment I 
didn't pay attention and I told her, "At same time."
	"Right," she nodded, and we both dashed at him. Disarmed, 
and angry, he didn't have much of a chance when I thwacked his head 
while she punched his gut rapidly. Then she leapt straight up with an 
uppercut and when she reached the peak she kicked his face. "Grab 
my hands!" she shouted, and I was so confused I obeyed. I caught 
her hands, and when she came down I understood and used her 
momentum to swing her in a circle so her heels slammed right into 
his chin. Then she landed behind me. I saw her hands glow again and 
I panicked for a second. "Go!" she yelled, and suddenly I felt a 
tremendous pressure pushing me away from her and towards the 
barbarian. I knew what to do then, and just as I was about to reach 
him I charged up my staff with all the chi I could muster and thrust it 
straight into his stomach.
	I kicked away from him to place a distance between us, and 
when I landed he was still groaning from the attack. He scowled at 
us, took a step forward, and collapsed on the ground.]]
	R [[ Finally, we beat that idiot. We stood next to him for a 
moment, ready to fight him when he recovered, but fortunately he 
was down and out. Since we had a time to recover, I looked up and 
smiled at Lael. He coughed a little and smiled back, but then we 
realized what had just happened. We had fought together! We--
	"Zhaodi-chan!"]]
	P [[ We didn't have time to become more nervous, since we 
both heard her sister scream. We looked ahead and saw Pandi, 
caught by another thug who was holding a dagger against her throat. 
She didn't have much room to struggle, and since he was holding her 
hands in his arm she was completely paralyzed.
	"Pandi-chan!" Zhaodi shouted, and almost immediately ran 
towards her. But then that guy pulled up the dagger and Zhaodi 
stopped. He looked around, making sure no one followed him, and 
began to walk away with Pandi in his hold. None of us could do 
anything at the moment, at least not while he held that blade to her 
neck. But we wouldn't let him take her hostage either!
	I saw Hidama out the corner of my eye. He was closest to 
the barbarian, and he was conscious again, but what was he doing 
taking a flask of hot water out of his clothes? This was no time for 
tea!
	He was about to splash himself with the hot water when we 
saw Pandi whisper something like "Haiiro-shou," and then her captor 
had some sort of spasm. She tried to run away but he recovered 
quickly and kicked her back, pushing her to the ground. He was 
angry now, and was rearing up his dagger to strike her.
	I felt that anger again, as when the leader tried to kill 
Zhaodi. There was no way I'd let anyone hurt the twins, and Pandi 
was my friend! I'd never let anyone hurt my FRIENDS!
	Before I knew it I was pushing forward with my right hand 
and all of a sudden a large blue ball shot out from it and blasted him 
several yards away from Pandi. Zhaodi was next to her sister even 
before he crashed into the ground, from which he wouldn't get up for 
at least a few hours.
	I was glad they were both safe, even if they --and even 
Hidama-- were looking at me like they saw a ghost. I was so tired I 
just sighed and looked around. Most of the barbarians had been 
defeated, and the biggest pile lay next to Tangbei and Zhae. There 
was also a rip in the elder's clothes, and Tangbei held the spear that 
had torn away that piece. From the way they were talking, I thought 
Tangbei had just saved Zhae's life!
	I looked back at the twins. Pandi was all right now, but they 
were still looking at me with worried faces. I was about to try and 
explain when Hidama said:
	"So, I knew you were a chi master after all."
	The twins just repeated his words, "Chi master?!"
	"Huh?"
	"It seems we have a lot to talk about," Zhae said, coming 
towards us.]]

	"So he saved your life?" Akane asked.
	"Yes," the twins answered in stereo, then blinked at each 
other.
	"Well at least you didn't think of him as a bad guy anymore, 
right?"
	"After seeing what he did to help us?" Ranko smirked, 
"There's no way anyone would fake that. Lael put himself in real 
danger for us, you know. Only a total idiot wouldn't be thankful for 
something like that." She sighed to herself, smiling, "C'mon, let's go 
downstairs."
	Meanwhile, in the living room, Ranma asked, "You always 
get mad when someone hurts them, don't you?"
	"It's not that I get mad," Phaeron frowned, "It's just that I 
don't want them to be hurt. That's why I lose it when someone hurts 
them or _wants_ to hurt them. When I became an Esper, that was 
'written' into my brain."
	Nodoka smiled, "I'm sure Ranko-chan appreciates it, 
Phaeron-kun, even if she complains about wanting to defend herself."
	He blushed, "Uh, yeah... that's why I used the aura shields 
when I first arrived here. I was hoping they'd remind her of me."
	A voice came down, "And they did, you know. I knew there 
was only one person stubborn enough to keep protecting me even 
when I ask him not to."
	Nodoka looked up to see her daughters and Akane come 
into the room, "Oh, we were just talking about how you and 
Phaeron-kun met, Ranko-chan."
	"I know," the redhead blushed a little, "Did you reach the 
part where we begin to..."
	"No, not yet," Phaeron blushed more brightly, "I was about 
to."
	Yuannyan smirked mischievously, "Well, I don't want to get 
in the way here. 'sides, Herb-chan is waiting for me, so I'll see you 
later!" And she cheerfully left the house. Ranko and Phaeron gulped 
loudly now that their tales' "moderator" was gone.
	Akane leaned towards Ranko, "What _did_ you begin to 
do?"
	Phaeron cleared his throat, "Um, you see, it's like this. After 
that raid on the village..."

	R [[ We were in Zhae-sama's house, and for once we were 
all together. But I'm sure both me and Lael wanted to get the heck 
out of there. I felt so nervous I just didn't feel like being there yet. ]]
	P [[ While we waited for Zhae to tell us what she brought us 
here for, we learned from Xingyi that her sister _had_ saved Zhae's 
life, as we first thought. It was a good thing to hear, since I was 
aware of that succession business also. But we could barely think 
about it. Just seeing Zhaodi sitting across the table...]]

	Ranko blushed, "Y-you felt that way too..?"
	"I thought you knew already," Phaeron looked away timidly.
	"Phaeron-kun..." she smiled and took his hand.
	"A-HEM..." Ranma cleared his throat. Nodoka and Akane 
looked annoyed at him while the couple came down from that cloud.
	"Oh, right," Phaeron straightened himself. "Where were 
we?"

	P&R [[ When Zhae finally came back, she just looked at us 
like she had heard a joke. She was barely containing her snickers. It 
didn't help matters any, and since she already knew what my feelings 
were then I felt a little peeved at her.
	"My my, you two were very good out there," she said. "It 
was wonderful teamwork you used against that warrior. And to think 
you barely know each other!"
	"Uh, yeah," we both said.
	"But it seems that you finally got a chance to be together," 
she smirked at us. I know we could've just melted away right there. 
"Lael, wasn't there something you wanted to say to Zhaodi?"
	I froze up a little. He wanted to say something? What was 
it?
	I suddenly began to sweat so much I thought I was going to 
dehydrate. Sure, I wanted to apologize, but I had never really talked 
to Zhaodi before. I swallowed hard and tried to give it my best shot.
	I listened carefully when he began to talk. And the funny 
thing is I did it involuntarily. Something was _making_ me listen.
	"I, uh..."
	"What?"
	"I... I very... sorry for what happened before."
	"Sorry? Oh, you mean what happened at the waterfall?" He 
nodded shamefully, "D-don't worry about it. We know it wasn't your 
fault."
	"Y-you do?" those words opened up a gate of light for me.
	"Well... I, I mean, we knew what was wrong. We got rid of 
that demon."
	"Then it _was_ you?!"
	"Uh, yes..." I felt strange at seeing Lael look at me like that, 
as if I had saved his life or something.
	"Th-thank you," I just shut my eyes and took her hand. God, 
it felt so good to hold her hand. I wished I could do that forever.
	"Huh?" I began to feel strange when he took my hand.
	Afterwards, we just explained to Zhae-sama how Pandi-
chan and I met Lael, and we listened to _his_ side of the story. God, 
I heard Pandi-chan start crying but I had never felt so bad about 
anyone. I never thought he had been possessed by a demon for over a 
year, and I guess I felt guilty of not listening when Cordis told me to 
look after him.
	After I had told them everything about Coldfire, I felt like I 
had taken the weight of the world off my chest. I had already told 
Pandi about it, but this time she looked like she was crying because 
of what had happened. Even Zhaodi looked upset. Well, at least they 
understood now. I hoped she could also understand the way I felt for 
her.
	Everyone started leaving after a while. First, it was Pandi-
chan and Xingyi who left, then Zhae-sama and Tangbei had to decide 
what to do about those barbarians. Hidama stayed for a while, and I 
thought he felt a little jealous that I was talking to Lael and not to 
him because he left us alone too.
	That's when _we_ didn't know what to do. Here I was, in 
front of Zhaodi, and I had no idea about what came next. Thank God 
she started talking.
	"So..." I said, but I didn't look at him in the eye. "T-thanks 
for saving my life."
	"Uh, it all right," I must've sounded like an idiot, but hey, I 
didn't know enough Chinese, alright? "Thank you, too."
	Zhaodi smiled at me again, "No problem. You saved me, 
after all." She leaned towards me a bit, "You like martial arts?"
	"Yes. You like them too? You very good. Best I ever see."
	I liked that compliment, I think I even blushed, "Thanks. But 
you were great too. I saw how you handled that brute with that staff 
of yours. And then those blasts..."
	"I, uh, I practice that every day. I no really know how they 
work, but I use them all the time."
	"Can you do one now? I mean, if that's okay?"
	Lael said yes, and he showed me a small blast. I had never 
seen anyone do that before, and it was great. Then, we just had some 
small talk about what the village was, where he had come from, and a 
bit about martial arts.
	We finally stopped talking when we realized it was nighttime 
already. I guess I was so engrossed to be finally speaking with 
Zhaodi that I lost track of time. Zhae nearly had to shoo me out.
	"It... it great talking to you, Zha... Zhaodi," I said, bowing 
before I left the house.
	"Same here," I said too. I couldn't believe I had spent all day 
just talking to Lael. I _did_ feel good. I mean, he had turned out to 
be so nice and friendly I liked being with him after all. Man, I 
should've listened to Cordis from the very beginning.
	I too felt wonderful. I had wanted to talk with Zhaodi for so 
long that when I finally did I couldn't help but smile. She was great to 
be with, that's all I cared about. So, when we finally said good-bye, I 
even forced myself to say I'd come back tomorrow -I had to break 
my nervousness again--, and that maybe she could teach me a little of 
her martial arts. I can't tell you how I felt when she said yes.
	Well, yeah, I said yes. I knew I would like to see him again. 
But somehow, I knew that wasn't the only thing. When I saw him run 
off, I felt as if something had started between us.]]

	Ranko sent a sidelong glance at Phaeron. He noticed, and 
blushed out of habit. With a smile, she said, "And I guess I was 
right."


--To be continued in "Bie liao, shifu..."

The Zephyr
al709382@campus.ccm.itesm.mx