Standard disclaimer applies here.

This is a work of fiction by a fan for fans.  No offense is meant by
writing this or using the characters without permission.  Ranma and cast
are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.  All other characters are of my own design
and are copyrighted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter One

	"What are you doing here?"
	"Why are you here?"
	Everyone watched and waited for the new woman to respond.  Kasumi
and Nabiki watched as they quietly comforted their father.  Genma stood a
pace behind Nodoka, while she stood a few steps away from her son and his
fiance.  Mousse and Shampoo stood in the shadows away from the families,
but watched with equal interest.  Ukyou watched the woman in dark green
turn to her two sisters with a predatory smile.
	"I think you know the answers to those questions, my dear
sisters," she replied casually.  She turned to Life and faced her
squarely.
	"You know full well why I am here.  You of all the Aspects should
know that his life was mine, and mine alone.  I took him in when Haruko
abandoned him.  I gave him a life to live."
	The woman known as the Aspect of Death clenched her teeth.
	"Angela," she said tightly, "I did not abandon him.  Ken left of
his own free will.  How dare you say that I abandoned him?  I gave him
more of a life than you ever did.  You and your occult cast him from our
world, and you dare accuse me of leaving him?  How dare you!"
	Ukyou watched Andrew take slow steps towards Angela.
	"You represent Fate, Angela, not Life or Death.  You have no place
here.  My wife and my sister have responsibilities here.  You have none,
so leave this place.  You are only aggravating the situation."
	Angela turned and stared coldly at Andrew.
	"Impudent Avatar!  You think that Ken meant nothing to me?  I took
him into my clan and gave him something to live for.  Do you think I
enjoyed carrying out my responsibility of branding him one as of the
untouchables?  I loved Ken more than any of you would ever believe," she
spat at him.  Angela turned to stare at her sisters coldly.  "You all
thought that I had a heart of stone, and black as night.  You think I was
incapable of love?  You always had your Avatars.  I had none!  No friends!
Nobody!  My own family regarded me as an outsider.  You think that in all
that time I would never learn to love someone?  Well, I learned to love in
spite of your belief that I would never.  I loved Ken more than anyone
could have ever loved him!"
	Ukyou could feel the bile rising in her throat.  Ken had mentioned
this woman to her many times.  Each time it was with that tone of remorse,
or regret, that he had ever tried to love a woman he thought was made of
stone.  Her role as Fate and her role as a ruthless warrior pushed aside
any chance to reciprocate the love he thought he felt for her.  In the
end, she cast him from her clan without as much as a blink of an eye and
turned her back to him.
	"You loved him?  You never heard the way Ken spoke of you then.
You make me sick.  You say you loved him, but where were you when he was
cast out from his clan?  Where were you the nights that he cried himself
to sleep knowing full well that he had nothing?  He had nothing because
you took it all from him!"
	Ukyou surprised herself with the conviction her voice carried.  It
surprised her to find herself speaking her own thoughts, let alone with
the feeling to back it.
	"You dare ask me where I was?" Angela growled as she turned to
look at Ukyou with contempt.
	"You didn't see the pain he carried with him.  You didn't see the
depression, you didn't hear the shame in his voice.  I took him in and he
was happy, for once in his life.  He said himself that he felt like he was
finally living a life, not a nightmare!"
	Angela's right hand balled into a fist, small blue sparks arcing
across knuckles and fingers.  Ukyou began to wonder just how wise it had
been to speak her mind.
	"I wasn't able to find him, to help him when he needed my help.
Do you think that I didn't try?  You say you gave him a life, then why
would he leave it so abruptly?  If he truly felt like he was living a
life, he would have fought for it with everything he had.  He wouldn't
give it all up in a braggart's show up power.  You didn't give him a damn
thing.  How could a two-bit whore help my Avatar?"
	Ukyou instinctively reached slowly for the sharpened throwing
spatulas in her bandoleer, but found nothing.  Then she remembered she
left it at the restaurant in her haste to find Andrew.
	"At least she cared about him.  Ukyou loved him more than you ever
did.  At least she felt concern when he disappeared.  You sure as hell
didn't give a damn when I spoke to you after you banned him from your
realm," Andrew growled.  "If I knew you were going to abuse him so badly,
I would have kept my brother from joining your clan."
	"And since when did you ever care about my affairs?" Angela shot
back.
	"Since it involved my own flesh and blood!"
	"You never gave a damn when you both were mortals!"
	"We lived separate lives!  Ken was withdrawn from his life and I
was from mine.  We both lived separate worlds.  Even despite that, we
still knew that we were flesh and blood.  There wasn't a time when there
was any question that there was mutual respect and support.  Damnit, we
were family!"
	"Then why didn't you help him when he was going to die?"
	"I couldn't help him!  It was his decision, not mine!  You think I
didn't want to help him?  I could see the pain he was in.  I could feel
the pain he was in!  How dare you accuse me of ignoring him!"
	"Shut up!  All of you just shut up!" Ukyou screamed.
	All eyes turned to her in stunned silence.
	"And why should I even think of listening to a mortal like you?"
Angela asked in contempt.
	"Ken is dead, and you want to sit here bickering about how you led
your lives in spite of him?"
	Angela simply turned her back to Ukyou with a derisive snort.
	"Angela, don't even think of turning your back on this woman.  She
loved him more than you could have ever loved him," Death said quietly.
	Angela whirled around in anger.
	"What did you say?!  I never thought a whipped pup like you would
ever develop teeth, Haruko."
	Haruko steeled herself.
	"I said you could never love him as much as Ukyou did.  Your love
wasn't even close to love.  It was a joke, a farce, and nothing more.  You
used him like a toy and then threw him away as soon as you lost interest
in him.  Look into Ukyou's soul, as I did, and there you'll find what love
really is."
	"You all think I used Ken like a toy?  You have no idea just how
wrong you all are.  I can't believe you all would be so ignorant.  You
live your own lives wrapped up in gold and silver and ignore the pain and
the suffering outside your own worlds.  Ken had to live a reality of
bloodshed and death.  You were the ones to turn you backs to him.
	"You think I never cared about Ken?  Fine, believe what you will.
I see I will have to make my point more obvious."
	Angela turned a cold stare to Ukyou.
	"You say you loved him?" she asked.
	Ukyou nodded solemnly.
	"Would you be willing to die for him?"
	"Angela!"
	Angela held a silencing hand at her younger sister.  Faith was
about to interrupt regardless, but Ukyou's response silenced her.
	"Yes.  Yes, I would.  I loved him with all my heart.  He gave his
life to save me!  Would I do anything less for the man I loved?"
	Angela smiled.
	"Really?  I find that amusing."
	"Angela, you-" Haruko began.
	"I can do whatever I feel will preserve the continuity of this
timeline," Angela snapped at her younger sister.  "And I believe this will
serve to continue this reality."
	Ukyou looked to the woman in the kimono next to her with
apprehension.
	"What's going on?"
	"Whatever you do, don't listen to Angela.  She's a master of
playing with your mind."
	Ukyou looked back to Angela, who had a look of triumph on her
face.
	"You loved him very much, didn't you?" Angela asked Ukyou.
	"How many times must I repeat myself?" Ukyou asked tersely.
	"You say you would die for him.  How hollow that sounds.  You
think you could really give up your own life for him?  I don't.  Your fear
of death is too strong.  I wouldn't die for Ken, but I will kill for him.
I will kill whoever stands in my way of bringing him back to life.
	"I challenge you to a duel of honor.  She who wins, wins the
corpse.  A fitting trophy, is it not?"
	"Why would I want to fight you for a corpse?"	
	"It's not just any corpse.  This is Ken's corpse.  If you lose, I
get to take him back to the life he had before.  I loved him dearly and I
will do anything in my power to get him back - even if it means
eliminating a tramp like you."
	Ukyou bristled under the insult, but reigned in her anger.
Haruko's warning rang in her head.  She couldn't be baited into a fight
with Angela.  The consequences were too severe.
	"You think Ken is just a object?  Some kind of trophy?"
	"Ken's body is the trophy, but through his body, I will regain
that which I lost."
	"A slave?" Ukyou spat.
	"A very willing and enthusiastic lover," Angela said smugly.
	Ukyou could feel the anger in her building up.
	"You can't just make him do whatever you want.  Ken isn't a
puppet."
	"Really?  I've been watching you, you know.  You really shouldn't
talk.  Dressing him up to be like your precious Ranma?  Isn't that a bit
odd?  How about getting him to go to school with you, work with you, say
the thing you wanted Ranma to say.  You treated him like a lump of
moldable clay and you made him into the image of the object of your
desires?  Maybe you didn't even truly love Ken like you say you did.  You
really loved Ranma, after all.  Ken was nothing more than a toy to you."
	"Don't play into her hand, Ukyou!  My sister knows a great many
things, and is skilled in using them against you."
	Ukyou shook her head.  The rage had reached a critical level.  How
dare this strange woman say such things!  Ukyou knew she loved Ken with
all her heart, and the accusation left a horrible taste in her mouth.  Did
she really mold Ken into another Ranma?  Ukyou shook her head to clear it
of the red she saw.  It didn't help.  The insinuating way Angela said
those things, and the nerve she had to say it so clearly for everyone to
see was too much.
	"You think I didn't love him?  I'll prove it!  I accept your
challenge."
	Angela smiled.  Toying with people's emotions made life so easy
for her.
	"Very well.  We begin now.  I trust you have your weapon of choice
ready?"
	Ukyou blanched slightly.  He left her weapons back at her
restaurant.  She cast about desperately.  Her eyes locked with Andrew's
momentarily, and she saw him nod.  It confused her, but she was grateful
when he walked over to her and offered Ken's sword.
	"Long-tzu!  You would give that weapon to a mortal?  Ken was my
Avatar, and his sword is my sword.  That rightfully belongs to me," Angela
said evenly as she walked over to Andrew and reached for the sword.
Andrew pulled it out of her reach and over to Ukyou.
	"Your sword?  Your Avatar?  You know that you lost this sword when
you cast Ken from your clan.  You have no right to wield this weapon - no
right at all."
	Angela grimaced and simply lunged for the sword, snatching it from
Andrew's hands before he could react.  He didn't need to.  To everyone's
horror, a burst of blue flame erupted from the blade of the sword with a
deafening roar.  It traveled the length of the blade to the hilt,
connected with Angela's arm and tore its way up her arm.  By the time
Angela was able to drop the sword, the damage had been done.  The blue
flames had run its course up to her shoulder.  She gripped her shoulder
and grit her teeth in pain.  Faith stepped towards her older sister,
instinctively, but she was waved off.
	"I don't need your help," Angela snapped.
	"Really?  And I suppose you knew the sword would lash out at you?
Long-tzu is bonded to its owner!  You really have become more arrogant
than I thought," Faith managed to say, before being interrupted.
	"Shut up!  Ken and I were lovers.  We shared our souls with each
other.  Long-tzu should never have attacked me."
	"And now you suffer from the bite of the Dragon Emperor.  Ken's
soul obviously did most of the sharing," Haruko said flatly.
	A look of anger and betrayal crossed Angela's face, but only for a
split second.  The retort she had planned to say died in her throat the
instant she saw Ukyou move for the sword - and the moment Ukyou touched
the sword, everything changed.
	"We loved each other so much," Ukyou said sadly, as she gazed at
the bright blade.  She turned to look at Andrew solemnly.  "He gave up his
life when he knew he finally could live again.  Why couldn't he live with
all of us here?  Why couldn't he live here with me?"
	Ukyou gazed at the sword and slowly reached towards it.  All eyes
were watching and she wiped a tear away with one hand and grasped the
handle of the katana with the other.
	"Ken always said this sword told his future," Ukyou whispered.
"Will it tell me mine?  Will it tell me what everything will be like
without him?  He left so many of us behind."
	Nodoka moved to stand next to Ukyou.  She placed a gentle hand on
her shoulder.  The matriarch of the Saotome family could see the seemingly
endless well of pain in Ukyuo's eyes.
	"Ken made a choice based on what he believed," Nodoka said
quietly.
	"Then why didn't he believe in love?"
	"He did," Andrew replied.  "Ken could never bring himself to hurt
any of you, especially you, Ukyou.  I know why my brother chose to act as
he did.  He's always been the overly dramatic type, but this goes beyond
that.  He would have protected you at any cost, Ukyou, and honor dictated
he sacrifice himself to preserve his honor, to reclaim it and make it his
again.  Ken knew he could do both, and he knew he had to do both.  There
was no other solution he could find."  A sad smile played across his face
at the comment.  "I think you were his honor, Ukyou.  It was an honor to
love you and to accept your love.  You embodied everything he sought after
so fervently."
	"Why didn't you finish your duty as the last of his family?"
Nodoka asked after a moment of silence passed.
	Andrew looked towards the body of his brother and then back to
Nodoka.
	"If I had the chance, I would have stopped my brother from making
the choice to destroy himself.  Unfortunately, I will never have that
chance.  Instead, I have the responsibility of completely and utterly
destroying my brother," Andrew said bitterly.  "He watched mother and
father die a death no person, no matter how evil, deserves.  He always
felt responsible for their deaths.  He always said it was a burden he'd
take to his grave.  Now I am the one that will have to carry the burden,
only this time it will be my own brother's life that I will be responsible
for ending."  Andrew looked once more at his brother's body, his own
beginning to shake in rage.
	"Ken gave everything for his family.  Even when mother and father
were constantly at each other's throats in some argument, he tried so hard
to get them to stop.  When I finally chose to become a warrior like him,
he spent all his time helping me learn to live a new life.  We fought at
each other's side, and more than once he'd take a blade in the back or
some arrow in his side to keep me from getting hurt.  He was a fool, but
he always meant well.  Now I'm the one who has to take away everything he
ever had when all he ever did was help me!  Damnit, Ken deserved better
than this!  If he died in equal combat on some field as an Avatar, he
would have died fighting the good fight instead of having to kill himself
to keep himself from going insane!  He should have died a warrior's death,
not the death of a coward!  My brother was not a coward!  He was not a
coward, you hear me!"  Andrew's voice remained strong as his body shook.
Tears began falling down his face.
	"So you couldn't do it?" Akane asked ever so quietly.
	"No!  I will not take my own brother's life.  It is not mine to
take.  How could anyone ask something like that of me?  How dare you ask
me to rob him of his soul when he gave it a hundred thousand times over
before this?  I will not take my brother's head, nor will I cheapen my
brother's death with some damned ritual to give him the honor he had the
entire time!"  Andrew turned a hateful glare at Angela.  "My brother lived
his life so full of honor it sometimes disgusted me.  Now you ask of me to
give it to him?  To heap it on his still body like cheap wine from a
worthless chalice?  I tell you I will not!  Ken needs no ritual to give
him his honor.  As far as I am concerned he had it the entire time, and
anyone who thinks otherwise can go to hell!"
	Everyone's gaze slowly turned to Angela who stood holding her
wounded arm.  She snorted derisively.
	"Shed a tear for the forsaken brother.  Your speech does nothing
more for me, other than giving me something to listen to while I decide
how to return Ken's body to my temple.  I care nothing for your tirade,
nor your incompetence in handling this situation.  You've insulted my
Avatar and my clan by failing to fulfill your duties."
	Ukyou could hear Andrew's knuckles pop as his right hand clutched
his jo.  She was sure everyone could hear it as eyes slowly went from
Andrew to Angela, and then back again.  Faith moved to calm her husband as
Haruko quietly stepped between them.
	"Nothing will be done for Ken's memory if more fighting continues.
I've stood aside for long enough.  Hear me, and mark my words, all of you.
I speak now not only as Ken's sister-in-law, but also as the Aspect of
Death.  Should you choose to ignore me, my wrath will be great.
	"All this fighting will end now.  All claims on Ken's body cease
now.  I will not allow any of you to defile Ken's body by tainting it with
a petty struggle over who loved who more.  Angela, I expected better from
someone who called herself an Aspect, and of Fate no less.  As for the
rest of you, all fighting over Ken's body will cease.  As the Aspect of
Death, I, and I alone, have sole claim to Ken's body and soul.  Such is
the law that has come to be since the beginning of time.  For now, Ken's
body must be cleaned and restored before his soul is released and his body
interred within the halls of my shrine."
	"It must be of neutral territory," Angela added.
	"And of holy ground," Faith continued.
	"Then so be it," Haruko finished.
	All three women looked towards Andrew.
	"Love, we must find a place to hold your brother's body.  We must
find one quickly," Faith said softly.  Andrew nodded in assent.
	"You can use the dojo," Akane blurted out.
	Soun looked at his daughter in surprise.  Ranma looked at Akane,
but nodded in agreement.
	"I think the dojo would be best.  It ain't holy, but I think Ken
would have wanted to have his funeral there.  He was there the first time
he came here, all beat up and stuff.  He said he could heal there for some
reason.  I think it'd be best that if he had to leave, that he left
there," Ranma said.
	Nodoka nodded, and smiled in surprise.  Her son amazed her at
times.
	"Ken's body will be held there until internment in a proper tomb,"
Angela began.
	"It will be known henceforth as holy and neutral ground," Haruko
continued.
	"Interference in this will only result in earning the wrath of the
Three Norns," Faith finished.
	"So be it," all three women said in unison.  All three pulled
small flasks of holy water and cast the water upon the ground before them.
The water soaked into the ground, and as it did, Angela began chanting an
incantation softly.  Haruko placed a ward on Ken's forehead and covered
his body with a black cloth.  She pulled a few strands of hair from her
head and cast them at each corner of the cloth.  Four ninja appeared in
swirls of gray, opaque mist.  Each reached for a corner of the cloth, and
folded it inward, Ken's body somehow disappearing into it as it was
folded.  Faith made her way to the Tendos and Saotomes.
	"Come.  We have a great deal to prepare for," she said simply.
	Nodoka nodded.  She looked over to Soun, who was displayed an
unusual amount of composure.  He met her gaze and nodded as well.
	"What's going to happen now?" Ukyou asked softly.
	Faith sighed.
	"I honestly don't know.  I am only the Aspect of Life.  Ken's body
died, moving him from my sphere of influence to that of my sister, Haruko.
His soul still lives, so I can still try to prevent anything wrong from
happening, but it is precious little.  The only one who may know for
certain what will happen is my older sister, Angela.  Unfortunately for
all of us, she has a great habit of keeping such things to herself.  I do
not think it will help that she harbors a great disdain, and perhaps
hatred for you, Ukyou.  She sees you as a threat to her own plans, that
much is clear."
	Ukyou nodded solemnly.
	"Don't worry, child.  Haruko and I are always meddling in Angela's
affairs.  She interferes so often in ours, it's only fair that we do so in
her affairs.  Haruko and I know how much you loved him, and we will try
our best to keep him from falling into her hands again.  Neither of us
wants that to happen ever again."
	Ukyou managed a weak smile and continued towards the dojo with the
others in silence.  She turned to look back once to see the light fading
from where Angela was standing.  The scarred street and surrounding area
were once again in their pristine state.  As the light dimmed, Ukyou
thought she saw a menacing look on Angela's face as the darkness slowly
enveloped her.
	"Ken is mine," a soft but sinister voice echoed in the recesses of
Ukyou's mind.  It chilled Ukyou to the bone, and she hurried to catch up
to the rest of the group.


*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethan Tsai
1 N. College Street
Northfield, MN 55057

TSAIE@Gridley.ACNS.Carleton.edu
http://public.carleton.edu/~tsaie/ethan.html