Author�s Note:
I wrote this last August and posted it from my old U of C account.  
It�s been on standby ever since--I intend to get back to it sometime 
soon, but it�s lower in priority than �An Unusual Engagement.�  I�m 
posting this somewhat revised version because I told someone I�d send 
them a copy, but lost their email to Hotmail�s ever so eager 
�janitor� before I could do so.  
To anyone who may have written me regarding �An Unusual Engagement� 
and not heard back from me: I�m terribly sorry, I didn�t mean to 
slight you!  I was in intermittent contact for a few days and Hotmail 
deleted a quantity of mail on me.  Please resend and I�ll be very 
delighted to engage in dialogue!

A Fiancee in the Grass: part 1: The Gathering Storm	

a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction by Andrew Carey <ap_carey3@hotmail.com>
______________________________________________________
          The characters and situations of Ranma � belong to 
Takahashi Rumiko, and I am merely borrowing them for this non-profit 
work of fanfiction.  It may be archived, distributed, and translated 
freely, as long as this disclaimer and my name are not removed.  If 
you care to translate it into Irish, French, Scots, or Old through 
Early Modern English, please drop me a note--I�d love to talk about 
it.

C&C greatly desired, public or private.  Flames deleted, unless 
they�re exceptionally amusing, or written in idiomatic Middle 
English.  In the latter case, I�ll want to carry on a long, boring 
dialogue about the loss of case structure with you.  You have been 
warned.


This work contains sexual situations, although all details take place 
�off-stage.�  In later chapters, violence is an increasing 
possibility.  It is not intended for children.
______________________________________________________

 It was a quiet evening in Nerima, Japan.  Quiet all over.  Ordinary 
folk had for the most part retreated to their houses as night fell, 
gathering around hearths and televisions, closing doors against the 
late autumn chill.  Even the martial artists who made up an unusually 
large portion of the small Tokyo suburb�s population were spending 
their time quietly at home, not out challenging each other or 
searching for lost treasures.  In a small dojo attatched to the home 
of the Tendou family, two young people were engaged in their separate 
divisions of the art.  Saotome Ranma was quietly practicing a set of 
wu shu forms he�d learned in China, some years before.  He hadn�t had 
call to use those techniques in a while, and it certainly wouldn�t do 
for the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts to 
lose his edge in any way.
In the opposite end of the hall, his fiancee, Tendou Akane, was 
breaking bricks.  True, she�d been breaking them since her infancy.  
But it was always pleasant, to see the strong earthen bricks crumble 
beneath her hands.  Anything could be broken, you just had to find 
the right place to hit it.  Her techniques might not be as impressive 
as say, Ryouga�s flashy Breaking Point, but they did the job they 
needed to do, without any great fuss or shouting.
Ranma kept watching her, out of the corner of his eye.  She was 
glorious, there was no question about it.  True, all of his fiancees 
were beautiful women, all of them were strong and talented martial 
artists, but there was something magical about Akane, something that 
made him shrug off her blows and insults with the thought that, well, 
she�d had a hard life, and lost her mother young, and just needed to 
work off some anger.  Ukyou was gorgeous, yes, and skilled, and he 
cared for her deeply, but she was his childhood friend, and he could 
never look at her without thinking of the little kid he�d tussled 
with in Kansai all those years ago.  Shampoo was truly incredible, in 
some respects, but just a little too brazen for Ranma�s taste.  
Kodachi�s beauty was only enhanced by her air of lurking menace, just 
like the short sword that was her namesake, and he sensed at times 
that she wasn�t half as crazy as everyone thought, but somehow she 
lacked Akane�s finer qualities, to his mind.  No, Akane was the one, 
there was no question.
At last, he gave up his own practice and sat where he could watch 
her.  Breaking her last stack of bricks, she turned to him, raising 
an eyebrow.  
�You know, Akane, you�re kind of cute when you�re breaking things.�  
He cringed inside at the sheer banality of what he�d just said, but 
to his surprise she smiled as if he�d written a poem to match the 
best of Basho or Li Po.
�You�ve certainly been being nice to me lately, Ranma.�
He smiled nervously.  She was his fiancee, surely it shouldn�t be so 
difficult for him.  But somehow he always felt like a clumsy peasant 
with her, always about to knock something over, accidentally break a 
delicate piece of porcelain, step on a toe, use the wrong word.  
�Well, Akane, I�ve been tryin�, I guess.�
�You mean you weren�t before.�
�No!  I mean, it�s gotten easier, no that�s not what I mean, no....�
 She was laughing.  �Ranma, don�t worry.  I think I know what you�re 
saying.  You�ve learned, haven�t you?�
�Well, yeah, I guess.  You know I didn�t have much of a proper 
raising, out on the road and stuff.  It�s taken me a while to...pick 
up the technique.�
�The technique?�
�Well, that�s how I think about it.  It took me a while to figure it 
out.  But I think I�ve got it down, now.  Akane, I...like you a lot.  
More than that, I love...�  She cut him off with a kiss, full and 
hard to the mouth; her hands reached behind his head to grasp his 
pigtail, twining it around her fingers in a manner he found 
incredibly erotic.  The kiss seemed to last forever, her tongue 
probing beyond his teeth, seeming to almost reach his throat.  He 
wrapped his arms about her, tried to give as good as he got.  When 
Akane pulled her face away, her smile seemed to indicate that he had 
been more than successful.  
�I wondered how long it would take you to say that.  Let�s go 
upstairs.�
Making love was a delight.  Even if they were inexperienced, they 
were two martial artists, well used to new and difficult exercises, 
strong and tireless, skilled in controlling their bodies.  They got 
through most of Vatsyayana�s basic positions before, exhausted, they 
could only lie in each other�s arms.  Akane smiled, kissed him one 
more time, closed her eyes, and instantly fell asleep.
Ranma lay awake a moment longer, thinking to himself <She never let 
me say it, did she?>  He�d tried several times, but only gotten as 
far as �I� or �Lo...� before she stopped his mouth with her fierce 
kisses.  And she herself had never even begun to confess her love. 
<Ah, well, maybe she thinks it sounds silly.  She surely did show it, 
didn�t she?> he thought as he followed her into slumber.

Kunou Kodachi woke in a sweat.  �Dearest Gods,� she said aloud, �I�m 
much afeared some evil doth stalk my lord Ranma.�  The dream had been 
horrid, and it hadn�t been the first such she�d had of late.  

Ranma lay in the arms of Tendou Akane, both of them nude...Ranma sat 
in a quiet   dell, writing a poem, and she knew it was for 
Akane...Akane stalked Ranma with her mallet, creeping up behind him, 
and Kodachi wanted to scream, cry out to Ranma-sama to run, to block, 
to do something, but she could not utter a word...Ranma lay on a 
pyre, shrouded, only his face showing amid the white 
wrappings...Tendou Akane stood at the head of the wooden stack with a 
torch, a smile of obscene joy on her face...
 Kodachi couldn�t fall back to sleep, so she sat up and turned on a 
small light.  Pen and paper came from her nightstand, and she began 
to write and sketch, to try and analyse her dream-images.  Something 
was deeply wrong.  Not so much the vision of Ranma and Akane in bed�
she had dreamt of Ranma and the other fiancees before, sometimes even 
of herself joining them, and she accepted the possibility, unpleasant 
as she might find it.  �Nay, �tis the image of Ranma on his burning 
mound that likes me not.  Though �tis known a dream may carry naught 
beside the fears of the dreamer, the third night of the same dreaming 
beareth, methinks, a darker reading.� she thought aloud, falling back 
into her cradle speech.  �I greatly fear this Akane doth intend my 
love some injury.� But how could any woman think to do him harm?  He 
was so handsome, so dear, so full of life; she had always assumed 
that Akane and all the others desired him for the same reasons as 
herself.

In a small apartment above an okonomiyaki shop, another of Ranma�s 
fiancees awoke from dire dreams.  �Akane, killing Ranma?� Ukyou 
Kuonji said aloud to her empty room.  �I�ve always realised she had a 
sadistic streak, but to kill him?  Why?�
�Ukyou-sama?� said a soft voice from beyond her door �Are you unwell?�
�No, Konatsu,� she said �I�m fine.  I just had a strange dream�guess 
I shouldn�t have been experimenting with the okonomiyaki so soon 
before bed.  Why don�t you go back to sleep?�
�Yes, m�lady.� the transvestite ninja assistant cook said.  She 
strained her ears, could barely hear his footsteps as he returned to 
his bed. <I guess he wants to reassure me that he isn�t spending the 
night across my door again> Ukyou thought absently.  She lay down and 
closed her eyes, but sleep did not come readily to her.

Even in China, one Xian Pu of the Amazons slept ill on her pallet, 
despite the homey scent of herbs and earth and tea and woodsmoke that 
she missed so much in Japan.  �I think the violent girl intends some 
injury to my husband.� she said in Mandarin.
�What was that?� her younger cousin asked from her own bed.
 �Nothing, Lao Xin, nothing.� she replied.  But though she closed her 
eyes, the dream-image kept haunting her�Akane striking with deadly 
force, striking a blow that the man who had so handily beaten Xian Pu 
could surely have blocked with ease, but him doing nothing as the 
Japanese girl took his life... <But why would she kill her own 
husband?> Xian Pu thought to herself.  Sure, she could understand the 
occasional application of a mallet or a fist; Amazon wives seldom 
needed such measures to control their husbands, but it was accepted 
that a man might require a mild amount of disciplining at the 
beginning of a marriage, especially if he were a foreigner who might 
not understand the natural order of things.  But killing such a 
wonderful catch would be the action of a psychopath, and she had 
always thought that somewhere in her heart Akane did truly care for 
Ranma; why else would she so resist Xian Pu�s claim to him? <And if 
she truly did not want him, she knows that I or one of the others 
would have him in a heartbeat, and she could be free to love whom she 
would.>

But together in Akane�s room on the upper floor of the Tendou home, 
Ranma and Akane slept dreamlessly the sleep of the joyfully 
exhausted.  Akane lay wrapped in Ranma�s arms, her face pressed to 
his muscular chest, and it would have been needful to pry them apart 
if any observer were to see the strange smile on her face, a smile 
that might, at first appearance, have been that of any well satisfied 
woman in the arms of her lover, but a smile which had in some measure 
that quality which is associated with a cat who has just gained entry 
to a nest of helpless baby mice.

The next morning, Ranma and Akane got up early, to avoid shocking 
Kasumi, and took a walk before breakfast.  Their fathers chose to 
have a private conversation by the pond.  �Do you know where your son 
spent last night, Saotome?� Tendou Soun whispered to his old friend.
�Well, he wasn�t in our room, so...did Akane leave him unconscious in 
the dojo again?�
�No, my friend, I think they were in her room.�
�Are you not upset?�
�Surely not.  Don�t you see this is what we�ve been dreaming of?  
We�ll have them married before the week is out!  Our families will be 
united!�  On that last sentence his voice rose from a whisper to a 
shout.
�Daddy, why didn�t you let me make the announcement?� Akane said from 
the gate.  She had an arm wrapped around Ranma, as a child might hold 
a pet or a favorite toy.  For his part, Ranma could seem to look at 
no-one and nothing else, and his face bore the expression of a 
worshipper who has been blessed by his favorite goddess.
�Wonderful!  How soon do you want the wedding?  We could have it 
today if you like.�
�Can�t we wait a week and have a proper wedding?� Akane replied.
�But what about...the others?�
 �Don�t worry, Daddy, I�m sure they won�t be any problem.�
Soun might have insisted, but then Kasumi, who had heard her father�s 
announcement and come out from the kitchen to see, chirped brightly 
�Surely you don�t mean to rush things so, Father?  A wedding should 
be special, and I really don�t see how we can do it right with less 
than a week to prepare.�
Akane smiled brightly at her sister, and they all went in to 
breakfast.  She and Ranma sat down at the table, side by side.  They 
held hands whenever possible, and no-one could help but feel happy 
when they saw the two so loving.  Even Nabiki felt a glow of warm 
fuzziness in her heart.  But somehow, in the back of her mind, she 
thought to herself <This looks just a little too perfect.  Ranma�s 
completely in character; he has all the subtlety and guile of a 
plowhorse, and as near as I can tell he�s been crazy about Akane in 
his own clumsy way ever since we met, but Akane�s being positively 
unnatural.>  As much as she loved her sister, she knew she was a 
violent and temperamental person; this transition from hammer-
wielding fiance-beater to perfect lovebird was just a little too 
quick for her way of thinking. 
Later in the morning, Akane sat under the overhang of the roof with a 
small book, watching while Ranma and his father sparred.  Kasumi sat 
herself down beside her sister, said cheerfully �What are you 
reading, Akane?�					
�Just one of Mother�s journals, Oniichan.  Since she�s not here to 
advise me, I figure that the only way to learn from her is to read 
her thoughts.�
�That�s nice.� Kasumi said, beaming as usual. <But why isn�t she 
reading Mother�s thoughts about marriage or love or good housekeeping?

 Their mother�s notes toward a history of the Tendou Clan were 

interesting, but hardly seemed like the most appropriate reading for 
the times.
In all truth, Kasumi was a little bit puzzled by her sister�s recent 
actions.  She didn�t feel the same suspicions that Nabiki did; Kasumi 
believed in the basic goodness of people, and most particularly that 
of her sister, and she had always expected that someday Akane and 
Ranma would stop fighting, but it did seem to her that Akane had been 
behaving a little bit strangely of late.  This wasn�t the first time 
in the past few weeks that she�d found Akane reading their mother�s 
writings, which she�d never shown an interest in before, and then 
there was the time she�d found Akane practicing her handwriting, and 
she�d been writing in two different styles, neither of which was her 
own, Just last week, it had been:

 �That�s a lovely hand, Akane, but why aren�t you concentrating on 
improving the style you usually use?  You wouldn�t need as much work 
to make it really beautiful.�
�Oh, I just felt like trying this one, Oniichan, that�s all.  Just 
for fun.� Akane smiled  up at her sister from her seat on the floor.
�And why that other one?  It�s really...unusual.� In all truth it was 
ugly and crude, but Kasumi would never say such a thing.
�Oh, that�s just a joke, that�s all.  I thought I�d see how bad I 
could make my characters.  Just for fun.�
�Well, if it really amuses you, Akane-chan.�  Kasumi went back into 
the kitchen.      She was sure her sister didn�t mean anything by it, 
but why was she trying to write so much like their mother, on the one 
hand, and Uncle Saotome, on the other?

The morning�s training ended, as usual, with both Ranma and his 
father falling into the pond.  Also as usual, a panda and a redhaired 
girl stumbled out of the water.  Also as usual, Kasumi called out 
�Your water is just heating up in the kitchen, Ranma, Uncle Saotome.  
Just a few minutes and it�ll be ready for you to change back.�
Akane, however, behaved differently.  Instead of making some remark 
about her sex-changing pervert fiance, she set the journal carefully 
aside and rose to meet him.  And, ignoring the dripping clothing, not 
to mention the female body and the presence of the rest of the 
family, she embraced and kissed him, saying �Have a nice swim, Ranma-
kun?�
�Oh, isn�t it wonderful to see them so much in love?� Kasumi 
burbled.  
�I�d suppose, Kasumi, I�d suppose.� Nabiki said.  Some minutes later 
she found an excuse to go out walking for a while.  As it happened, 
her path took her directly to a local restaurant operated by certain 
members of the Chinese Amazon tribe, certain members whose reasons 
for coming to Nerima had little to do with a desire to sell ramen.
 There was little custom at the moment, it being the midafternoon, 
between the lunch and dinner rushes.  She was able to select a table 
far from the other diners.  Not that she really thought a pair of 
college students flirting with each other or an old man reading a 
newspaper were likely to be spies, but the habits of secrecy were as 
deeply ingrained in Nabiki as in any KGB operative or Yakuza arms 
dealer.  The waiter/cook, a young man with thick glasses and a mane 
of waist-long black hair, smiled to see her; Mu Tsu was genuinely a 
friendly person, except when it came to those who might threaten his 
darling Xian Pu, and he rather liked Nabiki, in spite of her 
mercenary habits and love of yen.  �What can I get you today, Tendou-
san?� he said, in fluent Japanese with only the slightest hint of a 
Mandarin accent.
�Oh, just tea and an order of dumplings, please.�  When he returned, 
she casually commented �I was actually expecting to see Shampoo 
today.�
�Oh, she and her great-grandmother have been gone for a couple of 
weeks now.  I do miss her.  I even find myself missing Elder Ku Lon, 
a little bit.  If nothing else, it�s hard to keep up the restaurant 
completely by myself.  Why do you ask?�
�Oh, I was just wondering.  I don�t mean to pry, but is there any 
chance that some kind of secret Amazon herbs or spices might have 
accidentally wound up in my house?�
�No.  The Elder decided to give such methods a rest some time ago.  
Why?�
�Will you give me your word not to tell anyone?  Including Shampoo 
and Cologne?�
�As long as it poses no threat of harm to my beloved Xian Pu or to my 
people, I swear, upon my personal honour and that of my tribe.�
�Akane and Ranma have been...unusually affectionate towards each 
other of late.  In Ranma�s case, I�m not surprised�all she ever had 
to do was stop beating and insulting him all the time.  But in hers, 
I am. My sister has a good heart, but she�s also violent by nature, 
and this sudden moodswing puzzles me.  I�m curious if you might know 
of anything that could cause something like this.�
�No.  I cannot say that I regret anything which draws Saotome Ranma 
away from my darling Xian Pu, but your concern troubles me.  If some 
wizardry or druggery is afoot in Nerima, without any known source, it 
is potentially a threat to all of us.  I will keep my eyes and ears 
open, and report to you anything which I hear and may honourably 
tell.  I hope you will do the same.�
�I will.�  He went to refill the old man�s tea cup, and then to serve 
another collegiate couple their udon.  Nabiki finished her snack 
quickly, and left an extra-large tip beside her empty dishes.  It 
felt odd to actually pay for a meal; she usually went to restaurants 
with people she could convince to buy for her.  But this was an 
investment.
 <Let�s see.  Eighty percent chance that Mousse is right, we�ll say.  
Who else is likely to have a hand in this?  That little voodoo 
creep?  Unlikely; his magic doesn�t even work that well.  Kodachi?  
That�s worth checking out.>  She hated to draw the warrior-gymnast 
into this matter, especially when it might simply be that her sister 
had experienced a sudden conversion (stranger things had happened in 
Nerima; Nabiki clearly remembered seeing a flock of winged pigs when 
she was in elementary school), but something about this gave Nabiki 
gooseflesh.  She had honed her instincts over the years, honed them 
just as much as the others had honed their martial arts, and she had 
learned to trust them.  When they told her something was suspicious, 
she listened.  And she had never experienced anything as suspicious 
as this, never.  
Kunou Kodachi was the only other party in Nerima who was at all 
likely to use drugs or some form of arcane persuasion.  If she had no 
part in this, it would indicate the possibility of a new player on 
the field.  New players could be deadly; this could just be a feint 
in some elaborate game, possibly one so vast that only Nabiki would 
be able to organise the defense of her family.  And Nabiki did care 
for them, whatever the image she might present to the outside world.  
In her own way, she had a sense of loyalty as strong and deep as that 
of any samurai.  Though a conversation with Kodachi might potentially 
expose them to a bit of trouble, Nabiki was confident that it would 
be nothing they were incapable of handling.  A new enemy, on the 
other hand, could strike without warning at any moment, and might be 
a threat even the combined forces of all the Neriman friends and 
rivals couldn�t handle without preparation.

Saotome Ranma, however, had no such thoughts.  All he knew was that 
his dreams were finally coming true. <And with Akane beside me, I can 
go see Mother again!  Even if she finds out about my curse, surely 
she�ll admit that I have to be a man among men to catch such a lovely 
wife.>  �Akane, after the wedding, how would you feel about visiting 
my mother?  Maybe my father could even go home again!�
�Oh, Ranma,� she said, smiling, �we can worry about all that future 
stuff later, can�t we?  Let�s go take a walk.�  She slipped her hand 
through his arm as they walked out the door.   <Ranma,> she thought, 
<I�ve got you right where I want you.>

 Nabiki knew she must move carefully.  It simply wouldn�t do to 
encounter Kunou Tatewaki right now.  Although he was a good source of 
income, and a rather dear boy in his own peculiar way, he was 
unquestionably less rational than his sister, Kodachi.  <She�s crazy 
as a spider on ice skates, but she at least won�t go running off to 
rescue her beloved from the Foul Sorcerer before I�ve halfway 
explained things.>  This was going to take something more than just 
walking up to the gates of their family estate and asking to be let 
in.  She contemplated several stratagems, finally deciding that she 
would use the offer of photographs of the Pig-tailed Girl, as the 
Kunous insisted on calling Ranma�s female form.  Fortunately, she 
always carried a few new ones that were bound to attract his 
attention.  With any luck he would immediately carry his new icons 
off to his room, leaving her in peace to deal with Kodachi.
<Of course, I can�t tell her about Ranma and Akane sleeping together 
and practically making out in public.  That would make her blood 
boil.  Perhaps to tell her about Akane and the Pig-tailed Girl?  It 
is the truth, after all, at least in one sense.  And she thinks 
Ranma�s two �captors� perverted enough to do nearly anything.  But 
the problem there is she might decide this experiment with lesbianism 
is some new kind of torture, and go try to rescue her �Lord� from his 
durance vile, and we�ve already spent too much on house repairs this 
month.  Well, I can figure that out before I get there, I�m sure...>
�Well, Tendou Nabiki, what brings you to this part of our beloved 
place of birth?  No doubt you intend to sell my brother more pictures 
of his True Loves?�  Kunou Kodachi laughed and twirled her combat 
ribbon about her fingers.  As usual, she wore a leotard beneath her 
skirt and open jacket.  Also as usual, the look in her eye was to 
Nabiki�s mind about one degree removed from utter madness.  The wind 
sported with her black hair, playing it about her shoulders and waist 
and back.
<Shite,> Nabiki thought, <I never did have time to come up with that 
cover story.  Oh well, I guess it�s time to improvise.> �Ohayo, Kunou 
Kodachi.  I was just this moment hoping to meet you.  Is there any 
chance we could find a nicer place to talk than the street?�
�There is a public park just down the road, and the leaves are lovely 
this time of year.  I never thought you to have such a well developed 
sense of aesthetics.�  They walked there in silence; Nabiki had never 
cared for small talk, and Kodachi generally considered herself above 
such ridiculous gambits as talk about the weather and the state of 
the flowers.
�Well, why do you seek the Black Rose?� Kodachi said.
�I seek your company for the sake of asking about the odd behavior of 
certain inhabitants of my household.  Have you been playing with your 
drugs again?�
�Certainly not.  I have sworn off such things, as true love cannot be 
created with chemicals.  If Ranma were to cleave to me of his own 
free will, I would be delighted; however, no potion will aid in that 
endeavour.�
<Yeah, right> Nabiki thought to herself. <Lying through your teeth, 
you are.>  She kept the friendly smile on her face through force of 
long-trained will.  �I�m glad to hear that.  I don�t suppose there�s 
any way you could prove it, is there?  Just for my records, you 
understand.�
 �Is not my word sufficient, Tendou Nabiki?  I swear that I have not 
drugged any resident of the Tendou household in months, I swear it by 
the blood of my ancestors and the Goddess Amaterasu.�
<I may have to take this a little more seriously.  I think that oath 
really does mean something to her.>  The Kunous did believe in 
honour, as much as they might be willing to manipulate and scheme, 
and in their own way they were very devout. <Even if they can�t 
always decide what religion they are.>   
�Tendou Nabiki?  May I ask you a question?�
�Ah, sure.  It may cost you, though.�
�Question for question.  As I see it, you owe me three.  Then you may 
start charging me.�
�Hey!  Only one.�
�Two, then.�
�Done.�
�Very well.  The first: has Akane treated Ranma-sama in any unusual 
manner of late, either unusually well or unusually ill?�
�Ah, well, she, ah...�
�Please, Nabiki?  I swear to you that I will not harm her, no matter 
what your answer might be.�
�Well, she has been a little bit nicer to him these past few days.  
Hasn�t hit him even half as much as usual.�
�My second question: do you think it likely that she might attempt to 
kill him?�
Nabiki couldn�t even answer for a moment. <Why would she kill him?  
She loves him, and he her, and they�re acting disgustingly sappy.>  
But in some strange way the idea stuck with her, and wouldn�t leave 
her.  This sudden change of behavior, this burst of affection, this 
taking him to bed and screwing his brains out, could it be part of 
some bizarre plan to lose this meddlesome fiance?   <Surely not.  My 
little sister�s smart, but she�s never been that good at thinking 
ahead.>
�Please, answer me truly.  I�ll even pay you, if you like.  But I 
must know.  I�ve been having fell dreams of late, dark and evil.  I 
worry for him.�
�No, Kodachi, I can�t believe she�d kill him.  There�s no reason for 
it, none at all.�
�I certainly wouldn�t think so, either.  After all, if she wanted rid 
of him, any of us would take him off her hands in a heartbeat.  But 
my dreams are dark, dark, and I fear for him.�
 �You�re just worried about losing him, that�s all.� Nabiki said, 
half-heartedly.  She was as rationalistic as the next person, and not 
over-given to belief in dreams.  But it was hard to live in Nerima, 
even harder to be a Tendou, and not accept the possibility of 
prophetic dreams, given the ridiculous amount of magic that seemed to 
go on around them.  But Akane killing Ranma just didn�t make sense, 
did it?
�I hope you are correct, I hope you are.  But if not, please, Nabiki, 
will you call me to help him, if you can?  I understand not wanting 
your sister to face the law, but if you called me she wouldn�t have 
to, I�d simply come and rescue him and take him out of your lives and 
you�d never have to see him again if you didn�t want to.  Nabiki, I�d 
happily lose him to a wife whom he genuinely loved, your sister, 
Shampoo, Ukyou...Gods, even you yourself, if you two were happy 
together.  But I will do anything in my power to save his life, from 
anyone who tries to kill him, whether that should be another fiancee 
or even my own kin, for the simple reason that I much doubt that I 
should survive him.  Do you understand me?�
�I guess so.  I still don�t think she�s going to kill him, but if she 
tries I�ll happily call you.  The last thing I want is to have my 
little sister become a murderer.�
�If you wish some sort of retainer...�
�No need, no need.  Ranma�s one of my best sources of income, no?  
The favor of my informing you of any attempt on his life would be 
balanced by your favor of keeping him alive so I could continue to 
make money off him.�
�Very well, then, Nabiki, very well.  I hope to all the Gods that you 
are correct about your sister�s intentions.  Good day.�  Kodachi 
turned and left the park, moving at a brisk walk in the direction of 
her family property.  Nabiki shivered. <I hope I am, as well, Kodachi 
the Black Rose, I hope I am as well, hope to all the Gods.>

After dinner that night, Ranma and Akane went out to look at the 
moon.  Nabiki did something she hadn�t done in a while; she went to 
talk with Kasumi in the kitchen.  �Do you think Akane�s acting 
strange lately, sister?� she said.
�Why, Nabiki, why would you say that?  She�s acting differently, yes, 
but is that strange?�
�I don�t know, Kasumi, I don�t know.  There�s just something odd 
about this.  I went and talked with Mousse and with Kodachi today.�
�And what did they say?�
�Both of them insist that they know nothing.  And Kodachi seemed 
frightened.  She kept asking me if I thought that Akane would, ah, do 
something to Ranma.�
�Kodachi has always been a little bit strange herself, Nabiki.�
 �I know.  But I�ve never seen her so worried before.  I don�t know 
what this means, sister, truly I don�t.�
�It probably means nothing.  Do you really think Akane would try to 
hurt Ranma?  When he�s so much in love with her, and they�re being so 
sweet?�
�I don�t know, Kasumi, I don�t know.  But remember when we used to 
play hide and seek?�
�How could I ever forget, Nabiki?� Kasumi looked more than a bit 
wistful as she stood still for a moment, the dishtowel and wok 
forgotten in her hand.  �How could I ever forget our childhood?�
�Remember how Akane won, that one time?�
�The time she found that little space under the house, and she 
covered herself with the plants?�  Kasumi�s smile showed her thoughts 
were ten years away.
�No, the time she set us up, remember?  All those times that she put 
the pillows under the rug, to make us think she was hiding there?  
And we always found them, and we thought it was so silly of her?�
�Until the one time that we didn�t check the lump under the rug at 
all?�  Kasumi�s expression changed slightly.
�And she was right there all along, hiding in plain sight.�
They found other things to talk about for the rest of the evening.

Ranma and Akane stayed up late in the dojo, sparring. <I haaven�t had 
this much fun in years!> Ranma thought happily as they moved across 
the floor in elaborate patterns, kicking and punching and blocking.  
It was so nice to just have a friendly little bout, the way he and 
Ukyou used to when they were kids.  No anger, no rivalry, 
just...friends.  They moved so well together, and in some ways it was 
closer to dancing than combat. <Akane-chan, I love you...> he 
thought, as her fist moved right through his parry to stop a half 
inch from his nose.
He raised his head and kissed her knuckles.  She hugged him, 
tightly.  �Ready to go to bed, Ranma?�
�I guess so.�
�Come along, then.�
�Akane, ah.... about last night?�
�It was wonderful, Ranma.  Surely you don�t want to go back to 
sleeping alone?�
�No, I don�t.  But I�m worried, Akane, what about your family?�
�What about them?�
�What if they catch us?�
 �Don�t worry.  My father�s content enough that he�ll have us married 
in a week.  Nabiki won�t make any money off it, so she doesn�t care.�
�Kasumi was the one I was really worried about.�
�Don�t worry, Ranma.  She isn�t really as prudish as she seems.  She 
won�t disturb us.� <That sleeping draft I slipped into her tea will 
make sure of that, just as it did last night.>  
�That�s good.  I never want to sleep alone again, Akane.�
�Let�s take a bath, and then we�ll go to my room.  I�ve got a little 
surprise for you.�
The little surprise was a pot of hot water in a teacozy, and a jug of 
icewater.  She switched his form back and forth at least a half-dozen 
times.  Before, Ranma would have said it sounded perverted.  But if 
Akane didn�t mind making love to his girl-form, how could he object 
to her desires?  Everything was perfect, except for the little 
nagging fact that she�d never let him finish saying �I love you,� and 
neither had she even begun to say any such thing herself. <How could 
you think she doesn�t love you?> he scolded himself. <Hasn�t she 
shown it?  How much do a couple of words mean, anyhow?>

�But Great-grandmother,� Xian Pu begged �I truly think she intends to 
kill him.  Shouldn�t we go back to Japan to help him?�
�Nonsense, Xian Pu, nonsense.� the old woman said with a patient 
smile.  �How could she actually harm Ranma?  You�re a better martial 
artist than she, and he beat you, didn�t he?  Son-in-law will be 
fine.  If she actually is plotting against him, so much the better 
for us; maybe she�ll drive him straight into your arms.  Now, stop 
your worrying, dear, it doesn�t become an Amazon warrior.�
�Yes, great-grandmother.�

During the middle of the night, the temperature began to drop.  
Clouds travelled in with the prevailing winds, promising a storm to 
come.  Kunou Kodachi sat and watched the sky through the French doors 
that overlooked her garden.  In her hands she held a rosary, the 
clicking of the beads playing counterpoint to the soft murmur of her 
prayers.  In the tiny bedroom above her restaurant, Kuonji Ukyou 
reread for the fifth time a novel she hadn�t particularly enjoyed on 
the first reading.  Every few pages, her eyes fell again on her 
favorite photo of her fiance.  Xian Pu passed the night in mediation 
at her village temple.  Tendou Nabiki sat up and did figures, a sort 
of mathematical mantra that allowed her subconscious to wrestle 
unimpeded with the question of her sister�s recent behavior.  Even 
Kasumi had strange and unpleasant dreams.
Only Ranma and Akane slept peacefully.  


 
Andrew Carey -- ap_carey3@hotmail.com 
"Mirie it is, while sumer ilast, 
With fugheles song..." 


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