Tenchi and Ranma, Together Forever!?  Chapter nine.
                        China Girls, part two
                            Journeys

     A fan fiction based on the works of Rumiko Takahashi, 
     creator of Ranma 1/2, and, Masaki Kajishima, who I've been
     told is the creator of Tenchi. Hitoshi Okuda, is the artist and
     creator of the Tenchi Manga.
     The characters from M.I.B. are the creation and property of
     Malibu comics.
     I have no rights to these characters.  Which should come as no
     surprise to anyone.
    
     Perfume is a creation of Wade Tritschler, used with his
     permission. For more stories featuring her, and other
     interesting characters check out Wade's altered destinies page,
     she shows up in many of the stories there. You can find it at.
     http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/attenborough/249/index.htm
    
     What's going on?
     This is an alternative universe story.
     Ranma was trapped as a girl from her first dip in the
     Nanniichuan.

     Why?  Read the earlier chapters of Tenchi and Ranma,
     Together Forever!?.  See below for some highlights.
    
     Nodoka Saotome, along with Akane Tendo and Ukyou Kuonji
have visited Jusenkyo, with about the results you would expect.
They are now on their way home, each of them trying to come to
grips with the changes the trip has caused to their individual worlds.

     Big thanks to all the people who contributed C+C to this, their
help has been greatly appreciated. It is very unlikely the story would
be anywhere near as good as it is without their efforts.
    
     If you have not read my TARTF side story featuring Ryouga in
Space, I recommend you do so before reading this.

T.H.  Tiger
schell@interlog.com

     The Jusenkyo springs, an ancient training ground, renowned in
legend and story, had seen better days.  The pristine valley was a
mass of churned up dirt, displaced boulders, and shattered bamboo.
Several springs had even been covered over, while many others
were churned up and murky.  All in all it looked more like a toxic
waste dump than a mountain valley.  Of course, even with all the
destruction, a toxic dump would still be a much safer place for the
casual traveler to visit.

     <Your behavior has been disgraceful Plum. I leave you in
charge for two weeks and I come back to find the valley very nearly
destroyed.>
     It was one full day after the three, now four, women and the
peculiar pig had left the valley, and Plum's father was home. 
     The Jusenkyo guide was indulging in a common parental
habit. The one where, having discovered your precious, darling,
loved one is not lying shattered in the ditch along with the car, you
proceed to express yourself in terms somewhat less then
affectionate.
     To say he was displeased to find Mint, the person who had
been sent to offer help, locked up in the hut like a common criminal
was an understatement.  His feeling concerning the condition of the
valley went way beyond displeased.
     The current lecture had been going on for over an hour, and
Plum's father was starting to repeat himself.  He seemed to realize
this as well.  He ground to a halt and stared in displeasure at her.
Finally, giving a nod, as if coming to a conclusion, he walked over
to a corner of the hut and lifted up a trap door.

     Plum felt her heart sink as he turned and directed a
commanding look at her. <I think it is time you got serious about
your studies. You will review every scroll in the archive.>

     Plum's eyes widened in shock.  <Every scroll! That will take
months!  Maybe years!> she protested.
     Plum had not been completely honest with Nodoka when she
told the older woman she had studied all the old scrolls.  The truth
was she had pretty much skimmed them, only paying attention to
those that caught her attention.  She blanched at the thought of
reading account after account of normal travelers falling into such
mundane springs as the spring of drowned dog or deer.  Over the
centuries a lot had happened at the springs, and despite the magic
involved, the vast majority of those cursed had led, and continued to
lead, boring lives.

     Her father merely glowered at her and said, <Good.>.  He
looked Plum up and down and reached behind him to a kettle that
was simmering over the cookfire. <Before you start, I want you to
clean up and change into something less blatant.  I don't want the
prince or his men to see you like that.> He handed her the kettle
and, without another word, walked outside to talk to his guests.
Plum was left behind, looking at the open trapdoor as if it was the
entrance to eternal damnation.
     Giving a sigh, Plum set the kettle down and wiggled out of her
purloined dress.  It had been nice while it lasted, but now it was
time to go back to the old boring Plum.  Upending the kettle, she let
the hot water flow down over her head. Her body shrank, her curves
flattened, and a few seconds later, ten-year old Plum slipped into
her regular clothes and headed for the ladder to the archives.

     When the guide got outside he was surprised to find Herb and
his men engaged in a hurried packing.  They were going over all the
supplies they had left in the valley, as well as what they had brought
back from the monkey hunt.  They were carefully picking and
choosing some items and discarding others. 
     When the guide walked up to the prince, instead of the angry
scowl he expected, he received a beaming smile.  He was not left in
suspense long as to the cause.
     <We have found her!> Herb told the guide, his voice gleeful.
     <Who my lord?>
     <The monkey, the monkey!> Herb said excitedly.
     <The monkey, but-->
     <Mint spotted her here. She was with the strangers that visited
while your daughter was here alone.  She's alive!>
     <But. . .>
     Herb turned to Lime and Mint who had finished packing and
had slung the backpacks onto their backs, in Lime's case a truly
massive one. <Let's go.> Herb ordered, and pulling on his own
small backpack he set out at a trot.
     <But . . .> The guide was left standing in shock, his mouth
gaping open.  He held up a hand and started to call out after the
prince, but then he let it drop and gave a sigh of resignation.  What
did it matter?  One wild monkey chase was no different than the
other.  When Herb finally tracked down the group of girls, he would
find that the monkey was not there.  With any luck, the chase would
take a very long time.  With real luck, by the time the prince found
them, and learned the truth, he would be tired of the hunt and ready
to return home.

**************************************************
    

     Akane walked along, slightly behind Ukyou and Nodoka, her
mind lost in thought.  So much had happened in such a short time.
She had seen things that she would have dismissed as fantasy if told
them.  She had seen magic spells transform her companions.  Met
an alien from another planet, for Kami's sake.  Despite how
incredible all that was, it shrank into insignificance when compared
to the truly major change in her life.  The one that was even now
walking alongside her, matching her stride for stride, every motion a
duplicate of her own.  And why not?  She was Akane, every bit as
much as Akane was Akane.
     Akane turned her head slightly to the left to take a look at the
dark-haired figure walking beside her and met a pair of brown eyes
looking at her with the same quizzical expression she knew she had
on her own face.  She jerked her head back to stare down the path
and knew with a sure certainty that the other girl had done the same
thing.
     They walked in silence for some time, and then Akane looked
back over to the right and broached the subject she knew must be on
both of their minds.
     "This is strange."
     "This is strange."
     Akane looked at the other girl, startled, still not used to hearing
her words echoed back to her, even before she had truly spoken
them.  She felt a familiar rush of heat, feeling the other girl must be
mocking her, and fought it down, knowing the self same thought
must be running through her counterparts mind.
     "Sorry."
     "Sorry."
     "Damn."
     "Damn."
     Akane stopped walking and turned to face the other girl, who,
of course, was doing the exact same thing in return.  It was a strange
experience, looking at yourself like this.  You would have thought it
would be like looking into a mirror, but it wasn't.  The face was
reversed from the one she was use to seeing in the mirror.  A subtle
thing to be sure, but one that seemed to make a great deal of
difference.  She had been looking into mirrors and ponds all her life.
The slight disassociation between the face in front of her and the
one she had been used to seeing for all those years was far more
jarring then she would have thought.  At times, she found herself
thinking that the other girl really did not look at all like her.  Her
right eye was slightly higher then the left, when she knew her own
left eye was the one that was the higher.  A small freckle on the left
side of the other girl's nose should have been on the right.  The
more she looked, the less like her the other girl resembled her.
     "We don't . . ."
     "We don't . . ."
     Akane gritted her teeth and, going against every facet of her
character, surrendered control to the other girl.
     "Sorry, you go first."
     "Sorry, you go first."  
     Akane found herself on the verge of screaming.  Mindful of
the pledge she'd made to herself to try for more control, she
counted to ten slowly.  Strangely enough, the sight of the other
girl's lips moving as she did the same thing did not make her more
angry, but caused a slight trickle of humor to infiltrate its way into
her brain.  If it wasn't so frustrating, it would be funny as hell, she
couldn't help but think.  She felt a slight tugging as the corner of her
mouth quirked up.  Her smile widened when she saw the other
Akane smiling back at her. 
     Another second and they might have burst out in mutual
laughter.  Before that could happen, however, a tug on her pants leg
distracted Akane.  She looked down to see Agent P, the alien pig,
sitting beside her.  He looked out of breath and thoroughly
exhausted.  He was also coated in a heavy covering of road dust.
     "I take it you two are having a bit of a problem
communicating?"
     Akane grimaced,
     "You could say that."
     "You could say that."
     Akane looked at herself, and they both sighed simultaneously
in disgust.
     "I might have a solution." Akane looked at him, an expression
of interest on her faces.
     "Let the one holding the pig talk first."
     "Nani?"
     "Nani?"
     "It might have escaped your notice, but I'm built a bit closer to
the ground then the rest of you oversized tree hump . . . huggers.  I
could use a lift."
     Akane looked surprised. 
     "Really, you wouldn't find it degrading to be carried like a
pet?"
     "Really, you wouldn't find it degrading to be carried like a
pet?"
     "Shit, yes.  How horrible.  To be carried like a pet.  I'd much
rather have a heart attack trying to keep up with you.  I love the
taste of dirt in the morning, and there's nothing better for a person
than to throw up every few miles from exhaustion."
     "Well, if your going to be like that . . ."
     "Well, if your going to be like that . . ."
     Akane turned her faces away from the little pig, and they each
took a step down the road.
     "Hold it, hold it.  Look, if you ask silly questions, I'm not
going to be held responsible for my answers.  If I minded being
carried like a pet, I'd never have asked you to do it.  Shit, my people
were originally bred to be pets.  Now would you 'please' give me a
lift before I fall over and embarrass the hell out of myself?"
     Akane looked at herself, and they both nodded at the same
time.  Turning back, they both bent over to pick up the exhausted
agent.
     "Hold it, hold it.  There's only one of me remember?  You," he
pointed a finger at one of the Akanes, "what do you look like when
you're in your other form?  Do you have a tuft on your tail or not?"
     The Akane in question looked startled for a minute.  Then, she
said, "I do have a tuft." Her face had a funny expression, and her
hand snaked around her backside as if reflexively reaching for
something that was not there.
     "Good, then you're Unakane.  I'd be ever so grateful if you
would give me a lift, Una." There was only the tiniest bit of sarcasm
in the pig's words, but the newly named Unakane decided to ignore
it.  She was beginning to realize that the little pig had a lot in
common with some of the old ladies in her neighborhood.  It was
just the way they were. They didn't mean anything personal by it.
A long life had simply left them with little patience.   An image of
the little pig dressed up in a shawl and a long dress crossed her
mind, and she stifled a giggle as she picked him up, but not enough
that her counterpart failed to note it.
     "What's so funny?" the girl who now figured she'd be named
Annakane asked. Surprisingly, she didn't really mind having her
name arbitrarily changed. For the first time since getting the curse,
she felt like an individual again. Looking across at her giggling
'sister', she knew that Unakane felt the same.
     "I was just thinking of old Mrs. Kimichi."
     Annakane looked puzzled for a second, then her eyes widened,
and she looked at Agent P in Unakane's arms.  A giggle escaped her
lips.  "He does, doesn't he?"
     "To a T."
     "Someone care to let me in on the joke?" Agent P asked in a
querulous tone that caused both girls to break into outright laugher.
     "Never mind,"
     "it's just a,"
     "private joke."
     Unakane suddenly stopped laughing and looked at Anna, who
was, of course, looking back at her.
     "Hey,"
     "We're not,"
     "talking at the"
     "same time"
     "anymore."
     "Cool"
     "I don't exactly call it an improvement," was Agent P's wry
comment.  "Why don't you try to talk like normal people?"
     "But we're"
     "not normal"
     "people," the two girls said with a laugh.  They sobered up a
bit when Agent P sent them both a scathing look, but they still
retained silly smiles.
     "Fine, have your fun.  When you're ready to have a serious
conversation, let me know."
     "We're"
     "sorry."
     "I have the pig," Unakane said.
     "So you get to go first," Annakane finished with a grin.
     Unakane thought about what to say.  There were so many
things she wanted to ask the other girl, she swiftly ran over them in
her mind, trying to think which one to ask first.  Slowly, an
expression of chagrin crossed her face, and she looked across at her
counterpart, who was grinning back at her broadly. "This is stupid.
There isn't any point in asking you anything.  You're me, or close
enough it doesn't make any difference."
     "So if we can't talk about us,"
     "why don't we talk about"
     "Ukyou, and Nodoka?"
     "Not to mention our resident alien." Both girls looked down at
where Agent P was comfortably cradled in Unakane's arms.
     Agent P blinked lazy eyes at them, and said,  "Go right ahead.
I'll take running my mouth over running my legs any day."
     Unakane looked thoughtful.  "Well, . . . seeing as how
Annakane and I know all there is to know about our regular bodies,"
     "why don't you tell us more about our cursed forms?"
Annakane finished.
     Agent P looked at both girls with an unreadable expression,
then he shook his head and said simply,  "No."
     Both Akanes' looked surprised at this and slipped back into
their old behavior.
     "Why not?"
     "Why not?"
     They both grimaced together and gave each other dirty looks.
Unakane shifted Agent P in her arms, drawing attention to who was
supposed to be taking the lead here.  Annakane glowered a little, but
then lowered her eyes and sighed, before saying,  "All right, but I
get to carry him after our lunch stop." Agent P raised an eyebrow
when Unakane didn't mimic or complete Annakane's statement.  It
looked like giving them a single focal point in the person of him
was working out nicely. In more ways than one, he thought as he
snuggled more comfortably against Unakane's bosom.
     Unakane looked down at him and repeated Anna's and her
earlier question.  "Why won't you tell us about the original Anna
and Una?"
     "Because they were thugs and bullies, who thought that
because they were born carnivores, they were superior to all the
lesser creatures that lived in the galaxy.  They are also considered to
be great heros by a large number of people who should know better.
I refuse to dignify them by passing on their actions to people who
have had the good fortune not to have heard about them before. I
told you both only what you needed to know before. In the future,
I'll be happy to fill you in on details relating to your particular
species, but I will not tell you specific details about those two."
     While he imparted this information in a level tone, there was a
great deal of venom in his voice, and the Akanes realized that there
was little chance they could change his mind, at least for today
anyway.  She found herself with a sudden burning desire to learn
about the two girls whose bodies they now possessed.  The little
pig's refusal just made her desire to find out even more intense.
One piece of information he had mentioned did intrigue her,
however.  "You said they were carnivores?  Didn't they eat
anything but meat?"
     "No, and now that you mention it, I'd recommend you avoid
eating any plant matter while in your other forms.  I'm not sure
what the effect would be on you, but I do know that Felicity made a
very bad companion when she ate vegetables."
     "Did she get upset?  Or did it just make her sick?"
     "Neither.  She rather liked the taste, actually.  It was me who
did the suffering.  She didn't have the fauna in her gut to digest it
properly.  I've got a sensitive nose, and spending time in a small
patrol craft with her after she'd downed a salad was no fun thing."
     Unakane and Annakane looked blank for a second, and then
the light of understanding crossed their faces, simultaneously, of
course, along with a slight blush.  "Oh, well, in that case I guess
we'll make a point to avoid anything but meat when we're in our
cursed forms.  What was your partner Felicity like?  How did you
end up with a descendant of Una and Anna if you hated them so
much?"
     "Felicity was a wonderful person, and I'd like to say I ended
up with her because I'm a wise and understanding being who only
judges people by what they are and not who they are. 
     "That would be a lie however.  The truth is, I'm a sour,
vindictive old fart.  I'd never in a million years have picked her for
a partner, but fate, and a petty, vindictive pencil pusher, threw us
together." His eyes took on a distant look as he remembered events
long gone.  The two girls exchanged looks and grinned in
satisfaction.  It looked like they would hear a few tales of outer
space, even if they weren't about the original wearers of their
cursed forms.

     Agent P's voice came as if from a long distance away.
"Felicity was a real hick from the sticks. Hadn't seen an alien in her
whole life before coming to Galaxy police cadet training.  Me, I was
growing back a leg that I'd lost during my last case, so, I was
convalescing, and acting as a combination teacher/liaison officer. 
     "It's a common courtesy to assign someone of my rank a
senior student to act as a gofer, teaching assistant, and anything else
that might come up.  They get to learn at the feet of an experienced
officer, and the officer gets to grow a fat ass while they do all the
running around for him.  That's the theory anyway. 
     "Felicity was just out of kitten-hood and was as clumsy as they
come.  She managed to make a mess out of the admittance office
her first day.  Disaster area doesn't start to cover it.  She had
somehow gotten the printer going and couldn't shut it off.  It
spewed paper all over the place.  She tried to get rid of the excess by
shoving it down a disposal.  Only the disposal had an alarm rigged
for that very eventuality.  People who shove large quantities of
paper down a disposal chute in a major police station usually have
something to hide.  Felicity didn't even know the alarm existed, let
alone the code to disable it. 
     "So, there she was, shoving paper hand over fist down the
chute when a security team came bursting in.  In full combat gear, I
might add.  Poor Felicity didn't have a clue as to what was going
on.  To make matters worse, the jerk-off in charge didn't bother to
announce who they were. Felicity jumped to the conclusion they
were pirates, raiding Galaxy Police headquarters for some nefarious
purpose. 
     "Felicity, I might add, had watched way too many bad movies.
To make a long, and sorry, story short, by the time everything was
settled, there was not much left of the office.
     "This disaster got her on the bad side of one of the pencil
pushers there, and this is where I come into the story.  I'd told the
same duffus off for what I considered his slack attitude a week or so
earlier.  Growing back a new limb always makes me more of a pain
in the butt than usual, and I was in rare form on that day.  The
upshot was he was pissed off at both of us, so when word came
down to assign me an assistant, he juggled some files.  Instead of
one of the senior students, who would have known what to expect,
Felicity was the one sent to my office.  The pencil pusher knew
about my run-in with her aunts. Of course, everyone knew about
that.  He had high hopes that something nasty would come of it."
     Akane gave a short laugh.  "I can see where this is going.  I bet
you weren't happy when she showed up."

     "Kitten, you don't know the half of it.  I told you Felicity was
a hick, she'd never seen or heard of  Brinigins, my people," Agent P
added as an aside.  "So when she walked in and saw me standing on
top of the desk, tearing up a botched effort at an exam I was trying
to write for my next class, she thought I was an animal who was
destroying an important piece of paper. 

     "After the lecture she'd received for her earlier snafu, she was
convinced that every piece of paper at GP headquarters was worth
its weight in ultra-dense energy.  She grew out of it eventually, but
it took some time." The grimace P gave while saying this was a
pretty good indicator that it had taken her a good long time to grow
out of that habit. 
     "Anyway, she snatched me off the desk, and then heard a noise
in the hallway.  Thinking that the infamous, and notoriously bad
tempered, Agent P was about to walk in, she stuffed me in a desk
drawer out of sight.  She thought she'd get blamed for my being
there you see, and for the damage I'd done. 
     "This happened all too fast for me to protest, but I rectified
that soon after.  I walked up one side of her and down the other.
The poor girl didn't stop shaking for a week.  I, of course, got to get
snickered at for the rest of my stay at the cadet training hall.  The
student computer traffic was full of jokes, bad poetry and songs, all
memorializing the day the famous P was stuffed."
     Both girls had tears rolling down their cheeks.  "That must
have been awful for you," Unakane managed to choke out, while
Annakane gave a loud snort at the image in her mind.
     "It was not one of my finer moments, I'll give you that," Agent
P said, while directing a dirty look at the laughing girls.  "That
might have been it for Felicity and I, but it seemed a certain Pasha
with more gonads then sense had decided to set up a special harem. 
     "He sent out crews with very specific instructions to find
females from more then a dozen different races who were
compatible with his body type, and who matched his impression of
what a perfect specimen of each of those races should look like.
Felicity happened to match the specifications for a girl of her race
to a T."
     Annakane and Unakane  listened raptly as Agent P spun out
the tale of his and Felicity's first case together.

    
     "And so there the Pasha was, naked as the day he was birthed,
surrounded by eleven of the most beautiful women in the galaxy,
according to the standards of their individual races of course.  Each
and every one of them as naked as he was and each armed to the
teeth with some of the most lethal looking hardware ever invented.
I've never seen a man stand down so fast in my life."
     Agent P had timed his story well.  For just as he finished,
Nodoka called out that it was time to stop for a rest. Both girls were
beet red, whether from laughter or embarrassment it was hard to
say.  Unakane set P down, and she and her sister stumbled into the
woods to look for firewood.  The way they kept looking at each
other lent some credence to the embarrassment theory, but the
smiles and laughter were equally strong evidence of the other
possibility.
    
****************************************************

     It had not been a good week for Genma Saotome.  Having
reached the wrenching decision that Ranma simply was not going to
be the boon of his old age he had hoped for, he had set out to make
other arrangements.   A visit to Soun, and a carefully crafted story
of his poor son's heroic death while he saved ten . . . no, twenty
children from a burning school bus would gain him a comfortable
place to stay.  He was sure the tender-hearted Soun would be happy
to put him up till he recovered from the terrible tragedy of his son's
death.
     Meanwhile, the notes that he had left for the Princess and
Katsuhito should keep Nodoka from discovering the truth about
Ranma.  He had been very explicit in his explanation of what
Nodoka would do if she found out Ranma was not a man among
men.  A bit of judicious questioning on their part would confirm
this.  Nodoka had no qualms about her intentions.  Asked point
blank about her deal with Genma, she would readily confess her
intention to force Ranma to commit sepuku if she felt Ranma was
not a man among men.  That would convince the Masaki household
to hide Ranma from her. Meanwhile, he would be able to tell her of
Ranma's tragic demise, being sure to mention that his body was
never recovered from the ashes of the bus.
     If by some miracle Ranma should manage to regain her male
body, Genma would be covered.  If she did not, well, Nodoka could
hardly argue that a boy who died saving others was not a man
among men.  In time, she would get over her grief.  A new child
would help with that.  She was still a young woman, and Genma
was as virile as ever.  He might yet father the son that would
support him in his old age.  The plan had been flawless.  Except for
the men from the zoo. 
     Genma had not paid a great deal of attention to the stories that
were circulating about his cursed form.  He had always escaped the
would be panda hunters easily.  Those years training with the
master, Genma reflexively made a warding gesture, had not been for
nothing. 
     Unfortunately, that had been before his picture had ended up
in the papers.  Faced with proof that the Phantom Panda actually
existed, the local zoos had put some real effort into hunting him
down.  He had been barely a block from the Tendos' house when
they had caught up to him.  He'd put up a good fight, but in the end
had lost.  Only because they had cheated, of course.
     Genma idly rubbed his backside, which was still sore from the
tranquilizer dart that had put him out of action, and looked
morosely out through the bars of his small cage at the panda
enclosure of the local zoo.  He was currently in quarantine while the
vets made sure he was healthy and disease free.  Unfortunately,
none of those tests involved hot water. 
     Fortunately, the quarantine was almost over.  Pandas were a
big draw, and the mysterious wandering panda was likely to be an
even bigger one.  They wanted to get him out in front of the public
as soon as possible.  That would mean putting him out in the large
viewing enclosure.  The moat and tall wall might keep a normal
panda safely caged, but it would be child's play for him to escape.
Just one more day and he'd be able to make his break for it.
     "Why hello there, good looking."
     Genma snapped his head around with startled, "Growf?"
Standing in the entrance to the quarantine room was a lovely young
brunette, a large tray of fruits, bamboo shoots, and, Genma's eyes
widened, baked goods.
     "Oh, feeling hungry are we?" the girl asked rhetorically, as
Genma shuffled forward to the front of his cage and looked at the
tray she held below her substantial bosom with longing. To
Genma's delight, she picked one of the baked goods off of her tray,
and handed it to him between the bars. Genma eagerly snagged it
from her and gulped it down in a single bite.
     A man who had just entered the room, his arms laden with
various medical paraphernalia, said in admiration, "Looks like you
were right.  Those blueberry muffins really do the trick."
     "Yep, only thing we've ever found that lets us get medicine
down their gullets every time."
     'Medicine,' Genma thought in alarm, even as he felt his limbs
growing weak and his vision start to blur. Unable to keep his feet,
he sagged to the floor of his cage. The last image he had before the
lights went out was the attractive girl pulling on a rubber glove that
reached all the way to her shoulder, and saying, "Well, lets see if
this big boy is as healthy inside as he is out."

***************************************************

     Ukyou looked up from where she was preparing dinner as
Nodoka came up to her. "Ukyou, could I talk to you for a minute?"
     "Of course, Saotome-san.  Just let me finish getting these fish
ready and I'll be right with you." In a few minutes Ukyou had a half
dozen plump fish staked out around the campfire.  She would have
preferred okinomiyaki, but had been outvoted.  The others had
prevailed on her to prepare the fish without turning them into
toppings. 
     Ukyou wiped her hands clean, and looked up at Nodoka
expectantly.  Nodoka looked over to where the two Akanes were
listening raptly to another one of Agent P's stories.  No doubt
featuring his former partner Felicity, the great, great-grandniece of
the Puma sisters, whose bodies Akane now possessed thanks to the
Jusenkyo curse.  He seemed to have an inexhaustible store of
stories, and both Akanes could not get enough of them.
     "Could we go off a little ways?" Nodoka asked.  "This is
rather personal."
     No longer distracted by her dinner preparation, Ukyou noticed
for the first time how grave Nodoka's face was.  She felt a twinge of
dread.  Nodoka had not brought up the topic of sepuku since just
after acquiring her curse.  Had she decided to go through with it
despite Xian Pu's presence, Ukyou wondered?  With a feeling of
trepidation she followed Nodoka off into the woods to a small
clearing.  Nodoka sat on a fallen tree and motioned for Ukyou to
take a seat on a nearby rock.
     Once Ukyou was settled, Nodoka frowned, and after gathering
her thoughts, began to speak.  "Kuonji-san, I have been giving a
great deal of thought to the arrangement my deceased husband
made with your father."
     "Deceased!?" Ukyou burst out.  "How?  I mean, did you find
someone who told you this!?"
     "My husband and son are dead," Nodoka said flatly.  "I no
longer have any need of proof.  I should have accepted that earlier,
instead of heading off on a fruitless journey that ended in disaster.
What is left to me is to deal with the legacy my husband left me.
You."
     "Me?  I don't understand!" Ukyou blurted out, more from
reflex then from genuine curiosity. Nodoka's sudden assertion that
Genma and Ranma were dead had left her off balance.
     "My husband made an arrangement to bring you into our
family, he even accepted your dowry."
     "You don't have to tell me that!  I've been training for ten
years to take that dowry out of his and Ranma's hide!" Ukyou said
fiercely.  Then she remembered to whom she was talking and
blushed very slightly, though her expression remained firm.  "I'm
sorry, Saotome-san.  I didn't mean to distress you, but I've lived
with it for too long.  Sometimes I forget myself."
     "You have reason.  At first I thought you were mistaken, had
misunderstood, or --"
     "Was lying through my teeth."
     "I never--"
     "It's all right.  I don't blame you.  I wouldn't have believed me
either.  I don't care.  I know it's true, and that's all that matters."
     "I, too, believe it's true, and that is my problem.  I have an
obligation to you, above and even beyond the one I owe for
allowing you to become cursed."
     "No!  I came on this journey of my own free will.  As for the
other matter, Saotome Genma and Saotome Ranma have an
obligation to me.  You are just another of Genma's victims.  I do
not hold you liable for their actions."
     "But I do!  And as you said, that is all that matters.  Genma is
my husband, his honor is my honor.  My clumsiness has rendered
me unable to make recompense as I should for my own actions in
regards to you.  That leaves me with only one option.  I must try to
make what amends I can for my husbands actions.  It is a poor
substitute.  Indeed, you may find it a distasteful one, but it is all I
have to offer at this time.  I ask that you listen."
     The seriousness with which Nodoka said this caused Ukyou to
answer in more formal tones then was her usual manner of
speaking.  "Of course, Saotome-san.  In the last few days I have
come to respect you.  You have shown yourself to be a person of
honor and integrity.  I will gladly listen to your offer."
     "I wish to adopt you."
     "Nani!?" Ukyou reared up, her face startled.  This was the last
thing she had expected to hear. 
     "I wish to offer you the Saotome name that Genma promised
you.  You would become the heir to the Saotome clan, little enough
though that may be.  As I said, it is small recompense, but with the
situation with Xian Pu being what it is, I am restrained from
offering more."
     "This . . ." Ukyou paused and shook her head.  "I don't know
what to say.  I never . . . Can I have some time to think about this?"
She said, trying to buy herself some time to think.
     "Of course. Take all the time you wish.  I assure you that I am
deadly serious about this. I offer this out of obligation, but make no
mistake about it.  It would give me great pleasure to call you
daughter.  You have shown yourself to be a person of honor and
bravery.  Indeed, if my son had been half the . . ."
     "Man?" Ukyou finished.
     "I didn't mean--"
     "I'm not offended.  I've spent more time living as a boy, than I
ever did as a girl." A wry look crossed Ukyou's face.  "You offered
to make me your daughter, but I've never been what you could call
ladylike, and now with my curse . . ." Ukyou paused, a calculating
look on her face.  "I'll make you a counter-offer Saotome-san.  I
vowed to give up my womanhood until I brought justice to your
husband and son.  If they are dead as you say, I can't do that now.
Your honor demands that you offer me a place in your family.  My
honor means I can only accept one position.  Would you take me as
your son?  Instead of your daughter?"
     "I don't . . . Surely not?  You can't mean that, Kuonji-san?"
     "With every fiber of my being!" Ukyou said, her voice rock
steady.  "You offered me time to think on your offer.  I offer you
time to think on mine."
     "I see.  Well then, if that is the way you feel." Nodoka looked
troubled, but then a speculative look grew on her face.  She looked
at Ukyou closely, but her mind's eye seemed focused elsewhere, as
if she was recalling something.  Finally, she gave a nod, and her
face grew firm.  She sat up straight and stared Ukyou straight in the
eye.   "I would be honored to take you as my son."
     Ukyou looked at her flabbergasted.  The last thing she had
expected was for Nodoka to take her up on her offer.  She mentally
kicked herself.  She knew how seriously Nodoka took obligations.
She should have known that she would accept Ukyou as a son if that
meant she could in some small way expunge part of the debt she felt
she owed Ukyou.  That left Ukyou in a very uncomfortable position.
If she allowed herself to be adopted as a son, that put an obligation
on her to be that son, not just to play make believe. 
     Ukyou grimaced.  What did it matter?  She was already
trapped in the role of a boy by her vow regarding Genma and
Ranma.  If they were truly dead, she would never regain her
womanhood.  Add the curse on top of that, and she might as well
give in to the inevitable.
     As if reading her mind, Nodoka smiled gently at Ukyou.
"Take your time.  There is no need to come to a decision right
away." When Ukyou would have spoken, she held up a hand.  "No.
Don't say anything.  We should get back to camp.  Your fish will be
done."
     Nodoka rose to her feet, and as she did so, her hand lifted to
caress the pale wood tiara that was laced through her hair.  "Oh, I
almost forgot.  Agent P tells me that the device he gave me should
have done its job by now.  After dinner I mean to call up Xian Pu,
and see if Agent P's hopes are justified.  If this works as he claims,
then Xian Pu will be taking my place for the next day or so.  You
may think on my offer, and your own, while she is here.  Whatever
you decide to be, my son or my daughter, will be acceptable to me."
     There was little Ukyou could say to that, so with her mind
whirling from this new development, she followed Nodoka back to
camp.
    

     "Are you ready for this, Saotome-san?" Agent P asked,
looking up at Nodoka, who had a worried expression on her face.
     Nodoka shook off her uncertainty and straightened her
shoulders.  "I'm ready, P-san.  It is far better I do this here, where
we can control events than to have it happen unexpectedly."
     "You got that right.  But you don't have anything to worry
about, Saotome-san.  At worst, nothing will happen.  I don't think
that will be the case, however. It should at the very least let you and
Xian Pu remain aware of what is going on instead of experiencing a
total blackout every time you change.  At the very best, it will allow
you to communicate with each other.  I'm not sure about that part,
however.  It was never intended for that sort of use."
     Nodoka stopped herself from asking just what the tiara was
used for normally.  She had wasted enough time already.  This had
to be done, and if it must be, best be done soonest.  She walked out
into the middle of the small clearing near their campsite, a canteen
of water in her hand sloshing as she moved.  She reached her
destination and sat down on the ground, her back against a small
tree.  She knew from her own experience how disorienting it could
be to suddenly find yourself in a radically different situation than
the last one you remember.  She wanted to make the transition as
easy as she could for Xian Pu.  Draping a towel around her neck,
she opened the top of the canteen she was carrying and doused her
head with cold water.

     Xian Pu woke.  She felt her heart lurch.  Was it time?  Or was
this an unexpected change?  A quick look around herself made it
clear which it was.  She was sitting in the middle of a clearing and
in front of her were lined up her alternate's companions.  The
strange pig/spirit/wizard, the brown-haired girl/boy, and the last
two.  The girl, or girls, who bore the cat-demon curse.  She found
herself staring at them, wondering what sort of person they were.
The cat-demons had been fierce fighters; only luck had let her
prevail in their battle.  Did these girls posses that skill, or did they
just have the bodies?  They had shown little finesse during their
fight back in Jusenkyo.  Maybe she could test herself against them,
see if she yet retained her skill or whether she would have to spend
long years regaining it.
     "Are you all right, Xian Pu?  Is anything the matter?"
     Xian Pu broke herself out of her reverie.  She moved her gaze
from the two black-haired girls.  Akane?  And looked at the brown-
haired girl.  Ukyou?  She had been given their names so quickly, the
only one she remembered for sure was the wizard pig.  P was a
rather simple name to remember, after all.
"I am fine . . .Ukyou?"
     "That's right.  I'm Ukyou. Those two have taken the names
Annakane, and Unakane."  The two girls  nodded their
acknowledgment at her.  "And this is Agent P."
     "I remembered the wizard.  I give you greeting, wise
one."
     "There are many who would dispute that title, but I thank you,
and give you greetings as well, warrior.  Are you ready?"
     "This is it then?  The talisman is ready to function?  I feel no
different."
     "I asked Saotome-san to wait and give you a chance to get
ready.  She may not be able to make herself known to you.  In that
case, we will have to change you back to see if she remained aware.
If she did, then you will spend a day charging the . . .talisman with
your spirit.  Then you too will be aware of what is going on."
     "That will be good.  It is not a pleasant thing. . . to be always
waking in a strange situation." Xian Pu drew herself up straight and
took a deep breath.  When she had let it out, she said in controlled
voice, "Let us begin.  You may speak if you are able Saotome-san."

      *CAN YOU HEAR ME, XIAN PU!*

     "Ahhhhh!!!" Xian Pu cried out, as she jerked upright, her eyes
wide in shock.  Her hands flew to her temples and clutched them
tightly.
     The watchers broke into shouts of "What is it?"  "Are you all
right?"  "I thought you said nothing could go wrong?"  "I thought
'you' said nothing could go wrong?"
     Xian Pu held up a hand to quiet them.  When they settled
down, she said,  "I am fine.  Saotome-san, I can hear you, but
please, could you speak a little softer?  I thought my ears were
going to pop off my head."
     *I'm dreadfully sorry dear.  This is so new to me.* The
chagrined voice in Xian Pu's head said. *I wasn't sure how to go
about doing it.  It is so strange here. Is this better?*
     "That is much better.  I give you greetings, Saotome-san."
     *And I give you greetings, Xian Pu, but please, call me
Nodoka.  It seems strange to be so formal under these
circumstances.*
     "Very well, Nodoka.  Can you see what is going on?"
     Nodoka's voice hesitated, and then she said. *Not clearly.  I
can't seem to see you.*
     "Nodoka say's she can not see me," Xian Pu told the wizard.
     "That is to be expected," Agent P said.  "She is seeing through
your eyes.  She can only see what you can see."
     *Oh, I feel foolish.  That should have been obvious.*
     "You heard him then.  It would seem you can use my ears as
well."
     *Yes, but it is strange.  I'm not seeing, or hearing, like I
thought I would.*
     "How so?"
     *I thought I would see and hear normally, but would not be
able to do anything.*
     Xian Pu was taken aback by this.  She had not really given any
thought as to how this would work.  The idea of being aware but
helpless to do anything, she shuddered at the idea.  Then she said to
Nodoka,  "I had not considered this.  I do not think I would have
liked that.  But you say it does not work that way.  How does it
work?"
     *Well, it's the strangest thing.  I seem to be home in my own
living room, and I am seeing what you see on my televison, and
what you hear seems to be coming from the speakers.*
     "Television?" Xian Pu said, her voice puzzled.  "What is a
television?  And who are these speakers?  Are there others in there
with you as well?"
     *Oh dear.  This could take some time.*

     "Well, looks like it worked," Agent P said with some
satisfaction as he watched Xian Pu apparently talking to herself.
"We might as well leave those two to get acquainted.  Why don't
we go back to the camp and wait for them?"
     He trotted off ahead of the others.  Both Akanes started after
the small pig, only to be brought up short by Ukyou, who asked,
"So, Akane . . . er Annakane and Unakane, what's the deal with you
and the pig?  How come he's still among the living?  I've seen him
leer at you, make suggestive comments, and outright order you
around.  How come you haven't used a large rock on him yet?"
     "That's"
     "Silly"
     "Ukyou!"
     "You make"
     "it sound like"    
     "we're some sort of"
     "Monsters"
     "We--"
     "Stop that!" Ukyou broke in.  She had started to get dizzy from
moving her head to look at first one girl, and then the other.
     "The two Akanes looked at each other, and giggled.  Then they
said.    
     "We're sorry.  Is this better?"
     "We're sorry.  Is this better?"
     In perfect harmony, of course.
     "Oh great, now we're back to stereo."
     "Oh great, now we're back to stereo." They said with a mutual
laugh, then they sobered, and said,
     "Seriously" 
     "Ukyou . . ."
     The two Akanes stopped, and Annakane looked at
Unakane, who gave her a nod, and firmly shut her mouth.  "Don't
you find him incredible?  He's an alien!  He's from outer space!
He's had adventures we can only dream of.  And the best part of it
is, we're aliens now too."
     Unakane could not resist and broke in at this point.  "He said
we were nothing like the original Puma sisters.  We remind him of
his old partner.  She was a great hero.  He says with a little training,
he's sure we could be great intelligence operatives."
     "Yes!" Annakane broke in.  "He's says with our former bodies
reputation, we would be perfect undercover operatives." Both girls
turned their faces up to stare at the stars, a dreamy look in their
eyes.
     "To go out"
     "there, and"
     "to meet people"
     "from other"
     "planets."
     Ukyou shook her head in disgust and walked off, muttering as
she went.  "Star struck.  Literally.  The pair of them."

     Agent P reached the camp site and flopped down beside the
campfire.  He heaved a sigh of relief.  Despite his reassuring words,
he had not been completely sure the device would work.  After all,
he had disabled more then half of it's circuitry.  But it would not do
to put a fully functioning _ Better Than Life _  game on an
unsuspecting person's head.  For one thing, it carried the death
penalty on several worlds and long incarceration on many others.
     Not that he disagreed with those laws.  He'd put his share of
bootleggers out of business.  That was how he had come to have one
of the insidious devices in the first place.

     Developed over five hundred years ago, the Better Than Life
game worked by completely downloading a copy of the players
mind.  It would then put the person into a deep coma, leaving the
downloaded mind conscious.  Using feedback from that
consciousness, in conjunction with interactive circuitry, it then built
a fantasy world where every dream and desire of the player could,
and would, come true.  In short, it created a world that was literally
better than real life.  When the player was ready to quit the game, it
would stop the electronic interference that kept them in a coma, and
upload the mind in the game back into the player, leaving them with
the sensation that they had really been in that world.
     The game's manufacturers had claimed that the player could
exit whenever they wished, and that was true.  The problem was that
over sixty percent of first time users did not wish to, and if not
found and disconnected, their real bodies often died of neglect.  The
death toll in the first month of release had been staggering.
     However, despite this, because it was in effect the ultimate
drug, to this day there was a market for the things.

     Agent P had gutted the one he had given Nodoka and Xian Pu.
It was no longer able to generate the mental white noise needed to
disconnect the player's mind.  P had counted on the curse supplying
the triggering shutdown when it was activated, and apparently it had
worked.  As soon as Nodoka's real mind had stopped functioning,
the machine had woken her downloaded mind.  When Xian Pu
changed and Nodoka 'woke', the device should seamlessly
reconnect to her mind, and the memories of her downloaded mind
would seem as real as if they had happened to her real one.
     He had disabled the vast majority of the game's interactive
circuits.  It would be able to manifest settings that were already in
the two girls' minds, but it could no longer create fictional worlds
based on their dreams, or generate other people to share the world
with them. The actual memories of the places people lived and grew
up were much more solid and real then the phantasms that make up
their dreams.
     Actually, things had worked out much better than he had
hoped.  It had always been a long shot that they would be able to
talk to each other.  He had hoped that the curse would fool the
device into linking the downloaded mind with the mind of the girl
who was currently active, but it had only been a hope, not a guess
based on any knowledge he possessed. 
     That at least was one problem out of the way.  Now he could
concentrate on the new and improved Anna and Una.  They were
nice girls, but they were so much like the originals in some ways, it
was scary.  If he did not watch out, they could be even more of a
scourge then his Anna and Una had been. 
     Fortunately, they were young and malleable, and with any
luck, he could direct them into a positive lifestyle.  If he could just
teach them to temper that anger of theirs, that is.  He also had to
find out what the deal was with this strength of theirs. 
     They were far more powerful than the originals.  From what he
had observed, the same held true for their other form.  The girls
were stronger by far than their fellow humans, and that had
apparently predated their dip in the spring.  That ruled it out as far
as being a result of the spring's curse. 
     He did not think, however, that the strength was natural to
them.  They were too careless and unaware of the consequences in
their use of it.  He had seen them break camping gear, not to
mention landscape, when not paying attention.  That would have to
be addressed.  They might not be the criminals he had made it a
life-long goal to catch years ago, but he still felt a certain
responsibility for their actions. 
     He closed his eyes and dozed off, making plans for the next
day and for his eventual rescue.  He grimaced.  When that
happened, he'd have to face a board of inquiry over his presence on
a restricted planet.  He hated those.  Which in a way was funny,
because one way or another he seemed to end up in front of one on
a fairly regular basis.

******************************************************

     <Xian Pu, the council has reached their decision.>
     Shampoo lifted her head, brushing her purple tresses from her
tired and dirty face. She looked over at her great-grandmother and
got to her feet.  It took a great deal of effort for her not to show the
effects of 36 hours of nearly constant activity without sleep.  She
managed, somehow. She would not give the curious watchers the
satisfaction of seeing her looking worn down.
     Shampoo ducked her head and entered the council chamber
through the low door in the outside wall.  She found herself
effectively blind in the dim light inside after the bright sun of the
afternoon.  Not giving any sign of this, she made her way by
memory to a position in front of the council.  She sensed her great-
grandmother taking a position beside her, but she did not move her
head to check.  Instead she remained standing stiffly, her eyes
focused on where she knew the acting senior elder would be sitting.
As her eyes adjusted, she could slowly made out the row of five
diminutive and wrinkled elders.  They sat in their places, staring at
her, their expressions giving away nothing of their decision.

     Shampoo had been dismayed at the welcome she had received
when she had arrived at the village.  She supposed that in the back
of her mind she had imagined all the warriors of the village  rallying
behind her as she led them on an assault against the demon Ryouko.
Instead, she had been treated like a coward and a fool. 
     The plane she had commandeered was an important link with
the outside world.  One that was to be used for only the gravest of
emergencies.  Her actions had compromised its existence.  Her
protests of justified usage had gained her a hearing, but it had not
gone well.  She had been dismissed an hour earlier, while the
council came to its decision as to what to do about her, a decision
they apparently had now reached.

     The elder in charge did not leave her in doubt for long as to the
attitude of the council. <It has been many a year since anyone told
me a child's story, Xian Pu.  It has been almost as many since
anyone took me for a fool.> Her voice was malicious, despite the
bland expression she wore on her face. While she talked, she looked
more at Shampoo's great-grandmother than she did at Shampoo.
     For her part, Shampoo's great-grandmother snorted in
derision. <You are every bit the fool you were when I switched you
for running after that Musk boy, Bii Ter.  My granddaughter
brought serious news.  You waste our time with this farce.  We have
no time for you to settle old grudges.>
     <This has nothing to do with old grudges, Khu Lon.  Xian Pu
set out to restore her honor by defeating an outsider female.  She
returned with her tail between her legs, having no evidence of
accomplishing her goal and having squandered an important
resource of the village.>
     Shampoo kept her anger at bay with difficulty.  It was her
great-grandmother's task to speak for her, a duty that was looking
more and more difficult.  The faces before her that she had thought
so impassive now looked petty and vindictive. 
     <The girl told you.  The demon killed the outsider girl.>
     <The girl was duped by a strategy employed by the outsider.
She fell for a trick any true child of the Nyuuchiezuu should have
seen through.>
     <Fools!>
     <Enough!> Bii Ter brought her staff down on the table in front
of her with a crash. <We are not here to go over this again and
again.  We have heard the evidence, and we have reached our
decision.  Xian Pu has been judged to have failed in her quest.  She
is further judged to have harmed the village by revealing an
important asset without just cause.  To atone for these actions, she
must prove herself worthy of retaining her status as an Amazon.
We sentence her to single combat at a place and against a champion
of our choosing.>
     Shampoo perked up; that was not so bad, there was no warrior
of the village she could not defeat in honorable combat.
     <The council selects the matriarch Khu Lon as our champion.>
     Shampoo blanched, while her great-grandmother stiffened in
shock.
     <The place. The Pools of Sorrow.>
     <This is madness!> Khu Lon protested.
     <Do you refuse the charge the council gives you?> Bii Ter
said, her tone gloating.
     Khu Lon looked back at her with loathing.  To refuse the
orders of the council in this matter would be cause for banishment
from the tribe.  There was no choice in the matter.
     <I, of course, accept the charge placed on me by the council.>
Khu Lon's eyes glared promises of vengeance at Bii Ter, but they
both knew it was an empty threat.  No matter what her words on the
subject, Bii Ter knew Shampoo would not lie about such an
important matter as a demon.  She also knew that Khu Lon would
have no choice but to go and face Shampoo's demon after the trial
by combat.  If the old stories of the demon's prowess were correct,
then without the full support of the village, she was unlikely to
return from that battle.
     After Khu Lon and Shampoo were well gone, Bii Ter turned to
a shadowy figure standing at the back of the hut and to the side of
the council.  "Enforcer," She said, not bothering to keep the
contempt from her voice.  When the figure came to attention, Bii
Ter gave her orders.  "You will follow Khu Lon and her
Granddaughter.  You will see that they obey the orders of this
council."
     The figure brandished twin, one handed, double-bladed, battle
axes, in a salute that, in its own way, reflected every bit as much
contempt for Bii Ter as Bii Ter's voice had earlier expressed for the
enforcer. Bii Ter flushed with anger and jerked her head in
dismissal of the figure, who slipped out the back of the hut as silent
as the shadow she seemed.
     Bii Ter's face still held an angry glare, but inside she was
delighted.  With Khu Lon's disgusting charity case gone, there was
no one left in the village who would stand against her quest for the
leadership.  She told herself that she had done great deeds for the
village this day.  She had gotten rid of an anchor around the tribes
neck, one that held them in the past, refusing to let them advance
into the future.  She had also gotten rid of a defective, who should
have been at the very least cast from the villages ages ago.  It was a
pity about Shampoo. She had the making of a warrior out of the
legends. Yes, it was sad, but to do the right thing, sometimes
sacrifices had to be made.  It was the duty of a true leader to make
the hard decisions when they were needed.  Bii Ter felt very proud
of her first day as the new leader of the village.

*******************************************************
    
     A day had passed, and Nodoka was once again in her own
body.  They had made good time during the day and were camped
only a few minutes away from where a bus would be passing by
first thing tomorrow morning. 
     The bus would take them to the train, which would take them
to the airport, which would take them home.  It was going to be  a
long day, but at the end of it, they would be sleeping on futons,
under a roof, inside a warm house.
     It was still early, and the companions were entertaining
themselves, each in their own way.

     "Arrrhhhggggg!! I'll NEVER get this right!" Annakane
screamed.  She tossed down a pair of three-foot by one-inch metal
rods she had been holding, one end of each bar wrapped in leather.
Unakane smirked across the campfire at her.  She had a similar set
of bars in her hands.
     "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it.
It's not that hard."
     "I haven't seen you manage it yet," her sister replied.
     "Just watch." Biting her upper lip in concentration, Unakane
reached out with the two bars, placing the end of each of them on
either side of an egg that was laying on the ground.  She slowly
brought them together till they lightly touched the egg.  Steadying
her hands, she drew a deep breath, then slowly started to pick the
egg up.  She got it about two feet off the ground and started to move
it sideways, toward a pot of boiling water that was sitting on the
fire.  There was a loud crunch, and what was left of the egg fell
sizzling into the fire.
     Annakane gave a snicker, and said, "See? It's impossible."
     "You'd better hope not," a gravely voice said.  Agent P
reached out with an artificial hand and plucked an egg out of a
basket that looked like it contained the entire output of a village's
communal chicken coup.  For a good reason.  It did.  P had insisted
they buy them in the last village they had passed through, along
with the four bars of steel stock.  He had not explained his reasons
until they had made camp, and he had declared that his two students
would be making their own dinner tonight.  Now he looked at the
two girls as he set a second egg down in front of Annakane.  "If you
two expect to eat tonight, you'd better get some of these into the
pot.  That is, unless you like your eggs raw?"
     Both girls groaned, and with a sigh of resignation, they both
picked up their oversized chopsticks and went back to trying to
move the eggs from ground to pot.

      Over on the other side of the campfire, Nodoka sat staring into
space.
     *This is very interesting.  If I did not know better, I would
swear I was back home at my special place.*
     "Special place?" Nodoka asked Xian Pu, who was speaking to
her from inside the tiara on her head.
     *It was a small clearing high up in the mountain above the
village.  It was on the edge of a cliff and edged all around with
heavy bushes.  I always felt as if I was the only person in the world
when I was there. It was a wonderful place, you could see for miles.
It had a small basin that was always full of water that seeped from a
spring farther up the mountain.  It was clear and perfect, and the
water was so cold it hurt to drink it straight.*
     "How are you seeing and hearing?" Nodoka asked curiously.

     *It just seems as if you all were just on the other side of the
bushes.  As for seeing, I see what you see when I look into my pool.
I used to dream that it was a magic spring, and that if I only looked
hard enough, I would be able to see other places in it.  It looks like
that is true in this place.*
     "It sounds like a very lovely spot." Nodoka said.  She looked
around their campsite, and a small smile quirked at the corner of her
mouth as she watched Anna and Una try to cook their dinner.
Frustration was evident on their faces, and there was now a large
pile of broken eggs littering the ground in front of each one of them.
There was one person missing, however.  "Xian Pu?" she said
softly, not wanting to distract Annakane, who was just about to
finally get an egg to the pot.
     *Yes.*
     "Did you see where Ukyou went?  She left before you and I
changed places, and  I'm afraid I was cleaning and did not notice."
     *Cleaning?* Xian Pu said in surprise.
     "Well, I had been away from the house for some time, and it
needed a good going over."
     *But . . .* Xian Pu started to say, meaning to point out that
Nodoka's house in this place was not real.  At that point she noticed
the handful of bracken she had gathered up from around the edge of
her pool and was about to throw off the edge of the cliff.  She had
always had to clean up the clearing a little whenever she came to
visit, and she had not even noticed she had been doing it while
watching the outside world in the pool.  She hastily revised what
she was about to say. *I saw Ukyou going off to the west after we
set up camp.*
     "Thank you." Nodoka started off in that direction, and then
paused.  "Xian Pu?"
     *Yes.*
     "I wanted to say we . . .  I, am sorry I did not consult with you
before leaving.  I know you must want to visit your old home.  As
soon as I get the girls home, I'll make arrangements to return so you
can visit.  I suppose we will have to decide how we are going to
accommodate each others lives when that is done."
     Silence answered Nodoka, and after a minute she was ready to
call out Xian Pu's name, to ask what was wrong.  Before she could
do so however, Xian Pu answered her in a hesitant voice.
     *That will not be necessary.  I will not be returning to the
village.*
     "What?  But why?  It's your home.  Surely you must--"
     *No!  It is not!* Nodoka winced slightly at the volume of Xian
Pu's mental voice.  She felt great relief when the little redhead
continued in a quieter voice. *Please, you must understand.  I have
her memories, and her body, but I am not Xian Pu.  Xian Pu died
three hundred years ago.  I am simply you with her body and
memories.  Fate has created me, and I must live with that, but I will
not try to pass myself off as the real Xian Pu.*
     "Xian Pu," Nodoka said in a sad sympathetic voice.
     *Don't feel sorry for me,* Xian Pu said in a cheerful tone. *I
have a new life, and that is not to be despised.  There are many
wondrous things in this world, and I look forward to seeing and
experiencing many of them.*
     Nodoka nodded at this.  "That is true, and I look forward to
showing you this new world." Nodoka hesitated for a moment.
"This is awkward to say, after offering to show you the world, but I
have a favor to ask of you."
     *Of course.*
     "Do you suppose you could maybe take a nap, or go for a walk
or something.  I do not wish to exclude you, but I need to discuss
something with Ukyou that is a private matter between us.  I
suppose I will have to get used to you sharing my life, but this
involves Ukyou's life as much as mine, and I'd like to give her as
much privacy as I can.
     *It is no problem.  It will be interesting to see how large this
place is.*
     "Thank you." Nodoka resumed her walk, making a mental
note to explore her own world when next she was there.

     "Haaiiiyaaa!" Ukyou screamed, bringing her baker's peel
around in a vicious arc that splintered the piece of dead wood that
was her target.  She had originally set out to cut and gather some
wood for the fire, but that goal was long forgotten.  Sometime
during the act of breaking up the dead tree she had located, she had
found everything going red. 
     The inoffensive wood had suddenly become a stand in for all
that was wrong with her life.  Her blows were not aimed at the tree,
but at images of Genma, Ranma, her own father, Akane, and last, at
a brown-haired boy wearing her face, who seemed to be laughing at
her.
     Sweat ran down her face, matting her hair to her head.  Her
clothing was soaked with the perspiration from her body, and it was
becoming more and more difficult to hold on to her weapon, but
still she lashed out.  There was no longer any style or technique to
her moves, she was simply bashing away as hard as she could.
Blisters formed on her callused hands and then burst, but she
ignored the stinging pain.  Genma, Ranma, Akane, her Father, all
had been vanquished, leaving her with one last opponent.  No
matter how hard she lashed out, no matter how hard she swung, she
could not make that laughing brown-haired boy go away.
     The tree was reduced to pitiful shattered remains, and still she
battered at it, grinding the shavings into the heavy wet earth.  "No!
No!  No!" She screamed aloud, in time with her baker's peel as it
rose and fell.  At last the time came when she could no longer raise
her weapon, no matter how hard she strained with her aching arms.
She wrapped herself around the oversized spatula, its edge
embedded in the dirt, and slowly slid down till she was kneeling.
She leaned her forehead against the leather wrapped handle, and
tears mixed with the sweat running down her face. 
     She held that pose for what seemed like forever, till a gentle
hand took her by the shoulder and turned her to face its owner.
Arms went around her, and she resisted for a moment, but then
Nodoka pulled her into an embrace, and she buried her head in the
older woman's shoulder and let out her grief.
     A little while later, Ukyou pushed herself away from Nodoka,
who let her go with visible reluctance.  "I'm sorry for this.  I don't
know what came over me," Ukyou said.
     Nodoka raised an eyebrow at this.  "In the last three days you
have witnessed magic, seen a space ship crash, met an alien, learned
that your quest for justice is over without resolution, and the last,
you have been cursed to turn into a boy.  Frankly, I'm surprised you
are still sane."
     "Who says I am?  I don't see you smashing up the landscape,
and you have at least as much of a reason as I do."
     "Just because you don't see it, does not mean I'm not
reacting." Nodoka raised a hand and touched the wooden tiara that
was entwined in her hair.  "While I was in here I discovered a room
in my house that was not there before."
     "Your house?" Ukyou asked in surprise.
     "Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know.  When Xian Pu is here, the
talisman builds a copy of my home for me to stay in.  It is just like I
remember it."
     "Strange," Ukyou said, the information giving her something
other then herself to think about.
     "But very comfortable.  Xian Pu tell me she is in a favorite
place of hers from when she was still alive."
     Ukyou suddenly looked embarrassed.  "Xian Pu, oh great, just
what I needed, one other person to see me acting like a jackass!"
     Nodoka frowned a little at Ukyou's rough language, but said.
"You needn't worry.  I asked her to give us some privacy.  She is
off exploring her new world, seeing how large it is."
     "You can do that?"
     "Apparently. I did something similar myself.  As I started to
tell you, I found a room that was not in my original home.  A Kendo
Dojo, complete with practice dummies.  I told Xian Pu I was
inattentive because I was cleaning, but in truth, for most of that time
I was doing something very similar to what you were doing here."
     "Maybe so." Ukyou snorted.  "But at least you did it more or
less in private.  For a while there the whole Red Army could have
walked by, and I wouldn't have noticed." She got to her feet and
dusted herself off.  "Anyway, one good thing came from it."
     "What is that?"
     "I learned that I can't make what I am go away, no matter how
hard I hit something.  I stopped being a girl a long time ago.  If I'd
never been cursed, maybe I could have gone on fooling myself that
I could someday go the other way, but now I know the truth."
     Ukyou looked Nodoka straight in the eye.  "Ukyou Kuonji,
girl, disappeared a long time ago." Ukyou carried a water bottle
fastened to her belt.  Now she pulled it free, and after taking the top
off, she dumped it over her head.  "I won't hide from the truth
anymore.  For the last ten years, I've had no true identity.  I've left
my family behind, cut myself off from them.  They had a daughter,
that daughter is long dead.  If you will have me, I would be proud to
be Ukyou Saotome, boy."
     Nodoka looked at him. She felt a brief feeling of guilt at going
along with this, but she could not keep a smile from showing on her
face.  It was true that a daughter would make her happy but it was a
son she wanted more then life itself.  She looked at Ukyou more
closely thinking what a fine boy he was, what a fine man he could
become.  The mannerisms that were so inappropriate in a girl were
fine and good in a man. 
     She suppressed her feelings of guilt, and said.  "Very well. As
of this minute, I consider you my son.  When we get back to Japan,
I will start the paperwork."

    
     "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" When Nodoka and Ukyou got back to the
camp site, both Akanes were dancing around the campsite, slapping
hands and shouting out in glee.  When they spotted Nodoka, they
shouted out in happiness.  "We did it! we did it!" A part of Nodoka
noted they were once again speaking in perfect harmony, the other
part looked into the boiling pot, at the two eggs rolling over in the
hot water.  She then looked at the large pile of broken shells on the
ground.
     "Congratulations," she said rather weakly.  Those eggs had not
been cheap.
     Later on, both Annakane and Unakane ate their single boiled
egg with every indication of satisfaction, even if they glanced rather
wistfully at the large quantity of broiled fish the rest of their group
was eating. 
     "Never thought they'd do it," P whispered out of the side of
his mouth at Ukyou.
     Ukyou gave a short laugh.  "That's not the miracle here.  The
real story is that they managed to boil an egg without ruining it." 

     Both Akanes had made good on the original's offer to cook
dinner for the group some time ago.  Only the fact that they'd tried
their cooking out on each other first had saved the rest of their party
from a long delay in their trip while they recovered.  The two
Akanes' stomachs seemed to be as strong as the rest of their bodies,
but even they had a hard time handling what they had put in each
others' mouths.

**************************************************

     Plum swallowed nervously and looked across the hut at the
grim-faced old woman, who was currently heating up some water
while a sodden and very unhappy pink and white cat sat at her feet.
The elder did not look to be in the mood for casual conversation,
but the scroll Plum had recently found had made what she had to
say anything but casual.  But how to broach the subject without
getting her head torn off before she got to the important point?
     Start with the important point she supposed. < "Xian Pu is
alive,> she said, and held her breath.r breath.     The old woman shot her an angry look. <What do you mean,
Xian Pu is alive?> she snapped out angrily. <I am not in the mood
for games.  Of course Xian Pu is alive. She is right there,> Khu Lon
finished with a snarl, pointing at the cat.
     Plum abased herself, bowing so low her hair brushed the floor.
<I am sorry, elder.  I did not mean your Great Granddaughter, but
the one she is named for. I have been studying the scrolls and have
recently found a section that said the Amazons were to be notified if
ever one resembling Xian Pu were to come out of the spring of
drowned girl."
     Khu Lon scowled at her. <This is true, but I have little interest
in some man or animal that resembles her. Take your story to the
elders at the village.  It is the sort of issue that will interest them.
One of no importance whatsoever.  They can talk on it for hours
without having to do anything.>
     Plum swallowed nervously and almost took the suggestion in
the face of the elder's obvious anger, but her instincts told her that
this was the one she should be telling her tale to. <Forgive this
unworthy one, but I think you should hear this.> For a second Plum
was afraid the old warrior was going to strike her, but she settled
back with an angry scowl.  Almost absently, she picked up the small
cat at her feet and began to stroke it.
     <Very well.  I am listening.  This had better be important!>
     Plum swallowed nervously once again and then began her tale
of the three recent visitors, and how one of them had fallen into the
spring of drowned girl.  She got as far as telling how the girl from
the spring claimed to be Xian Pu, before she was interrupted.
     <Stop!> Khu Lon leaned forward, her eyes wide and her body
trembling with emotion. <This girl, describe her!>  Plum obliged,
and as she did the elder nodded her head, as if checking off each
feature she mentioned from a list in her head.  Neither one of them
noticed the eyes of the cat on the elder's lap getting wider and wider
as Plum described the girl in great detail.
     When Plum finished her description, the old woman was
silent.  Steam started to escape from the kettle, and without looking
at what she was doing, she plucked it from the fire and upended it
over the cat, and fell over backward as a full grown and very naked
teenaged girl manifested in the position formerly held by the cat.
     <Great-grandmother, I have very important news!> Shampoo
shouted.  She was answered by a muffled voice under her.
     <That is very interesting Shampoo, but for now.  Get Off Me!>

     Shampoo slipped into her now dry dress with pleasure, it was a
little chilly for wandering around in the all together.  Her great-
grandmother was lost in thought, so Shampoo joined Plum in a cold
lunch while they waited for her great-grandmother to tell her what
they were to do next.  Shampoo was fully involved in the intricacies
of the quadruple layer chicken, fish, bacon and tomato sandwich,
when Khu Lon started to laugh.  It started out soft and gentle, but
soon became a roar of glee.  Shampoo bigsweated and wondered if
her great-grandmother had finally lost it.
     Khu Lon noticed Shampoo and Plum's faces and broke off
suddenly, coughing slightly behind a raised hand.  She looked up at
Shampoo with a grin on her face that made Plum shudder. <It
would seem that we owe Bii Ter a debt, great granddaughter.  If we
had not come to Jusenkyo, we would never have learned of this, and
we might have gone to our deaths, and Bii Ter would have been
most 'sad' to hear of that, of course.  How happy she will be to see
us return home victorious.>
     Shampoo was rather disgruntled to hear her new curse
described as a beneficial thing, but her curiosity overrode that
feeling. <I don't understand.>
     <It is simple.  Xian Pu is back.  Xian Pu the demon slayer.
Xian Pu of the legends.  We must seek her out and enlist her aid.
With her by our side, we cannot help but succeed.>

     Shampoo shook her head. <I do not see how great-
grandmother.  I told you that the one who defeated me on the
challenge log and the one the demon Ryouko killed also matched
Plum's description.  How can this one do any better against the
demon?>
     <You did not listen closely enough.  The one Plum saw
claimed to be Xian Pu herself.  What is more, from what Plum tells
me, she behaved in the manner of the Amazons and the woman who
fell in the spring did not even know of our existence.  The one you
chased might have possessed her body, but if she had been the true
Xian Pu, she would have known our laws.  She would not have
challenged you as she did, and even if she had, she would not have
run from you.  Besides, I know one piece of information you do not.
I had a little 'chat' with the guide about that girl.  She could not
have been Xian Pu, she was not a girl originally."  Shampoo
blanched, as she remembered something Plum had mentioned to
her, surely she had not been defeated by a . . .  <Great-grandmother,
tell me I was not defeated by a . . . Monkey!>
     <No girl, close, but not quite.  It would seem that the girl you
chased was a young boy who had the misfortune to fall into the
spring at the same time Prince Herb was visiting with the
Chiisuiton.>
     <A boy!> Shampoo exclaimed in shock, <but that means . . .>
     <You gave her the wrong kiss, something we will have to
rectify, but later, and if the demon has not truly destroyed his soul.>
     <But great-grandmother, I saw her die.>
     <I know, but from the details you told me, I am not so sure she
did.  In any case, it is of no matter.  We will find out one way or the
other later.  For now, our goal is to locate the Demon Killer, Xian
Pu and that will be a tricky enough proposition on its own.>
     Plum coughed slightly and handed Khu Lon a slip of paper she
had retrieved from an old envelope.  Khu Lon looked at the
numbers written on it in curiosity. <And this would be?>
     <That is the phone number and address of one of the girls who
accompanied the woman who has the Xian Pu curse.  She might be
able to help you locate Xian Pu.  Her name is Akane.>
     <Very well done, child,> Khu Lon said, beaming in pleasure at
Plum, who repressed a shudder.  A happy smiling Khu Lon was
almost as scary as an angry one.  Still, she felt a warm glow at the
elders praise. <Now all that is needed is to book passage for two to
Japan.> Khu Lon said.
     <For three, honored elder.> A quite voice said from the door.

     <Perfume!> Shampoo shouted out with glee, throwing herself
across the room and glomping her cousin in a strong, but tender
hug.
     Khu Lon looked at the tall brown-haired girl with pleasure.
<Our luck continues to grow.  I'm glad to have you, girl.>
     Perfume flushed. <I wish I could claim credit, but 'she' sent
me to watch you.>
     <To get rid of you rather, I think,> Khu Lon mused, then
added, <but you need feel no regret.  You had your duty, and it is to
our benefit that Bii Ter is a fool. She thought only to get rid of one
who she despises and who she believes would be an ally in my
camp.  Instead, she has given us a truly great gift.  In truth, I fail to
see how we can be anything but victorious now.>
     Despite her words, Khu Lon felt a great sadness in her
breast.  There were few people she loved, and she was leading two
of them to what could be their deaths.  She prayed that Xian Pu
would be the ace they needed to win the hand fate had dealt them.

**************************************************

     Xian Pu had made a mistake.  It had not seemed like that at
first, but she was now realizing how bad a one it had been.  When
she had left her small pool and gone walking, to allow Nodoka
some privacy, she had not had a destination in mind.  Lacking any
specific direction to go in, she had let her feet follow a familiar
path, one that lead to her home village.  Or rather, the village that
resided inside the mystic talisman that was her current home. At
first it had been a pleasant surprise, and she has spent an enjoyable
time exploring, amazed at the fact that the talisman had been able to
duplicate the village so well.
     There were blanks, of course.  The little wizard pig had told
her that the talisman could only create things that were already in
her mind. There were places she had never been in the village, such
as the hall that housed the council of elders.  She had been a month
shy of her sixteenth birthday when the attack that ended in her death
occurred, and she had not yet been declared an adult.  When she had
entered the building, with just a touch of guilt, she had found an
empty room.  The walls, ceiling and floor, were the same as most of
the village homes, but that was all there was; no decorations and no
furniture, just a bare room.  Even some of the homes she had visited
were mostly empty, as she had not visited them often enough to
remember then clearly.
     Then, she had come to her own home.  That had been a very
different situation indeed.  She had spent hours going through the
clutter inside, finding things she thought lost forever.  Her favorite
sword, her favorite set of throwing knives, an outfit she particularly
liked, the bright green one with the light armor sewn into the lining.
She had doffed the clothing she had been wearing, one of Nodoka's
kimonos, which fit her like a sack, and had hurriedly dressed herself
in true Amazon style. 

     For some time she had been happy and content, rummaging
through memories that to her were only days old.  It was not long,
however, before she became very aware of what was missing.
People, and more than that, the noise that people make.  As
suddenly as that, the joy went out of her, and a chill ran up her
spine.  The village was just as she remembered, it was true, but only
in a visual sense.  There were no sounds, no movement, that she
herself did not make. Not a bird chirped or flew, not a child laughed
or played. No fathers calling their families in to dinner. There were
not even any elders grumbling to each other on the deplorable lack
of character in the young warriors of today.  Nothing.
     Xian Pu tried to convince herself that it was nothing to be
bothered about.  Of course, the talisman could not duplicate real
people or animals.  Try as she would, however, she could not keep
the fear that was growing in her mind at bay.  She suddenly became
desperate to hear a noise not made by herself, any noise.  She stilled
herself and listened with all the concentration she could muster,
trying to hear something.
     Nothing!  Only the wind sighing through the bushes and trees .
. . Wind?  How could there be wind?  Nothing was moving, not the
trees, not the tall grass.  If there was wind, why did she not feel it on
her skin?  She listened closely to the sigh of the wind,
Hoooooooooo, which then died down, for just a second.  Then, it
resumed, Heeeeeeeeeeeee. Xian Pu frowned; there was a different
tone to the second breeze.  Then it too died down, and in a second,
when it blew again, it has the same tone as when she had first
noticed it,  Hoooooooooo.
     She listened carefully, trying to pinpoint a source for the
sound, and as she did, she began to anticipate the rhythm of it.  Her
breath started to move in time with the sound.  She inhaled on one
gust of, Heeeeeeeeeeeee,  exhaled on the next one of Hoooooooooo.
This went on for some time as she tried futilely to locate the source.
Then, she made the connection.
     Xian Pu paled. By the gods, it was breathing.  Not wind, but
the sound of some giant beast inhaling and exhaling.  How?  How
could it be here?  The pig had said no other creatures would share
this place.  But one was.  She could hear it.
     Xian Pu looked around wildly, staring at every bit of cover that
could possiblyF conceal the creature.  Even at cover that could not
possible cover anything as large as what was making that relentless
noise.  Sweat started to bead on her face, and old childhood terrors
reared their heads.  Her secret shame once more making itself
known.

     Xian Pu was a coward.  Oh, she had managed to conceal it
from the tribe and from her beloved parents, but always the
knowledge had been there, a constant pain in her soul. Now her old
fears were back in full force.  Coward, her inner voice taunted her.
Afraid of the dark, afraid of the monsters the dwelled there.       
     That girl, Plum.  She had said the village thought her a hero.
That was a joke, a lie.  The other warriors spoke of the thrill of
battle, the joy of bathing in your enemies blood.  She felt none of
that.  When she had fought the monsters, and the outsiders who
commanded them, she had been sick with dread, literally.  No joy,
no rush, just a ball of terror in her guts that would not go away even
when she paused long enough during a brief quiet moment during
the chase to spew her guts. 
     She had killed ten of them, counting the two cat-demons, and
still she had felt nothing but fear. Only at the end, when she knew
she was dead and it was too late, had her fear fled.  Even then she
had not felt the warrior's joy at a death well earned, only a numb
thankfulness that it was finally over.
     "Xian Pu," a soft voice said.
      Xian Pu screamed in fright and whirled around, bringing her
sword out of its sheath in one smooth, lethal motion.  Facing her,
looking greatly startled, was an older woman.  Taller by a good
margin than Xian Pu, she had brown hair with a slight red tinge tied
up behind her head and  soft brown eyes, eyes that were open wide
in surprise at the moment, staring at Xian Pu.  Familiar eyes.  Eyes
she had seen reflected in a stream just a little while ago.  She was
wearing a traveling kimono, one that Xian Pu recognized after her
heart stopped pounding in her chest.
     "Nodoka-san?" she asked hesitantly.  Incredulity in her voice.
     The other woman gave a relieved sigh, and said, "That's right,
dear.  Goodness, you gave me such a start.  My own fault, I
imagine.  If you had suddenly spoken from behind me in my own
home, I'm sure I would have been very startled myself. . ."
Whatever else Nodoka might have said was lost as she suddenly
found herself locked in a rib threatening embrace by the small red-
haired girl she now shared her body with.
     Nodoka stood, her hands out to the side as Xian Pu hugged her
fiercely.  Despite her sense of personal space being seriously
compromised, Nodoka could not bring herself to remonstrate with
the girl or to try and move her away.  After a few seconds, she
brought her arms in and tentatively returned the hug, if with a lot
less pressure then what the other girl was exerting.  "I'm glad to
meet you too, dear, but do you suppose you could give me a chance
to breath?" Nodoka
said finally, after what she felt was a long enough span of time.
     Xian Pu broke her hold immediately and moved back quickly,
her face blazing red.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know what came over me.
You were just so suddenly there, and I . . .Well, I was just glad to
see you," she trailed off lamely.
     "There is no need to be embarrassed. You startled me, that is
all."
     Xian Pu shook her head in denial.  "I should not have reacted
so.  My grandmother would have laughed to see me in such a state .
. ." Xian Pu suddenly trailed off, realizing she was talking too
much. Then a look of puzzlement crossed her face.  "Nodoka-san,
what are you doing here?  How are you here?"
     "I'm not sure myself.   I know I lay down to sleep some time
ago, and I don't remember waking up. I think I may be dreaming,
and somehow I ended up in your world.  Unless of course I'm
dreaming I'm in your world and am not really here at all."
     Xian Pu shook her head and held her fingers up to her temples.
"Please, don't make me any more confused.  I know I'm not
dreaming.  If you have doubts, you can ask me tomorrow when you
are sure you are awake. . ." Xian Pu trailed off again, and she
frowned.  "That is, if you do wake up.  The sorcerer did say that he
was not entirely sure how the talisman would work.  Maybe it's
drawn you into my world, and we are both now trapped here."
     "Now it's your turn not to borrow trouble," Nodoka chided her
lightly.  "I think that the easiest explanation is that somehow I can
visit you in my dreams, and that maybe you will be able to do the
same when our roles are reversed.  If, on the other hand, I'm merely
dreaming this, then no harm will be done, and the real you will be
able to confirm that when I wake. I see no need to search for any
other explanation for now.  Let us enjoy this time together.  I've
wanted to truly meet you for some time now."
     "And I you," Xian Pu said, but then she paused, and her face
took on a worried expression.  "Nodoka-san, do you hear that?" she
asked.
     "What, dear?"
     "That breathing," Xian Pu said,  then lowering her voice, she
added in a worried tone,  "I think there is something in here with us.
Something big.  But I can not find it.  Listen, and you will hear it."
     Taking Xian Pu's advice, Nodoka listened closely, and soon
she could make out the noise the young girl was referring to.  For a
minute she looked puzzled, and then surprised, and finally, just a
little embarrassed.  In a gentle voice, she said, "That is Ukyou, dear.
I'm afraid she . . .he, is having trouble sleeping, but does not wish
me to know, so sh- he, is breathing as he believes a sleeper breaths.
My husband often did the same thing."
     "Ukyou?  But how . . .? Oh, I see," Xian Pu said, blushing
lightly.  "I was foolish.  I forgot that what you hear, I hear."
     "Foolish?  No, this is a very strange situation, and we both
have much to learn of our new lives.  Look at the fact that we are
here, together, something neither of us expected to happen.  It is
good, however.  I have been most eager to learn more of you."
     Xian Pu brightened at this. "That would be a good thing.  We
are to be together for many a year.  We need to know each other
well," she said, looking Nodoka up and down, her eyes resting for a
minute on the sword slung behind her back.  "I see you are a
warrior."
     Nodoka followed her eyes and shrugged her shoulder slightly,
causing the sword to settle more comfortably.  "Not really. I was
trained by my uncle, but that was many years ago, and it was never
serious.  I have kept my hand in, but I have only practiced alone.
I'm only a pretend warrior, unlike you." She smiled and looked over
her shoulders at the sword there.  "In a way, that makes this the
proper weapon for me.  I gave my real weapon to Ukyou to hold.
This one only exists in this world.  A make believe sword for a
make believe warrior."
     Xian Pu flinched.  Nodoka's comments were hitting a bit close
to home. "My sword, too, only exists here," Xian Pu said, trying to
cover her lapse.  "So they are a good match.  Shall we see which of
us has the stronger imagination?" she added with a quirk of her lip.
     For a minute, Nodoka looked uncertain, but then a small smile
crossed her own lips.  "I would like that." Reaching her hand over
her shoulder, she drew her sword.  She dropped into the familiar
ready posture of her uncle's style, and waited for Xian Pu to make
her move.  For her part, Xian Pu appeared startled.  A strange look
appeared in her eyes, and she assumed a position that was a mirror
image of Nodoka.
     They moved toward each other and exchanged blows, not in
combat, but in the stylized form of a kata.  Xian Pu paid close
attention to Nodoka's style, a style she was intimately familiar with.
Nodoka lacked the fluidity she remembered, and some of the forms
were not just so, but there could be no mistaking it.  It was the same
style her father had taught her.
     Xian Pu backed off.  Nodoka surprised, lowered her own
sword.  "Is something the matter, dear?"
     "Your style. You said your uncle taught you.  May I
know his name?
     "Katsuhito Masaki," Nodoka answered. "Why do you ask?"
     Xian Pu did not answer immediately; she seemed to be in the
throes of some powerful emotion.  Her eyes were squeezed tightly
shut, and tears were streaming out from under the lids and running
down her cheeks.  Then, without opening her eyes, she said,  "Does
your family keep a shrine in Japan?" When Nodoka confirmed that
yes, they did, the tears began to run in even greater quantity down
her cheeks.
     Concerned, Nodoka moved closer to the stricken girl.  She
reached out and gently touched her shoulder, while asking,  "What
is it, dear?  What's the matter?" Then she grunted in surprise as for
the second time in less then half an hour the air was driven from her
lungs by a powerful hug.
     Xian Pu's muffled voice floated up from where it was pressed
tightly into Nodoka's chest. "Family, we're family."
     This comment startled Nodoka enough that she placed her
hands on Xian Pu's shoulders and pushed her gently away.  "I don't
understand.  What do you mean dear?" She asked the little redhead.
     Xian Pu wiped tears from her eyes, and said,  "My father's
name before he married my mother was Masaki, and his family kept
a shrine in Japan.  Don't you see?  That's why I was called forth
from the spring after so many years.  Your blood is my blood.
We're family."
     Nodoka could only stare at her, her mind whirling with the
implications.  Part of her was ready to deny Xian Pu's claim.  The
evidence was too circumstantial.  The vast majority of her mind,
however, grabbed onto the concept like a life line.
     Ten years of solitude had made Nodoka a very private and
insular person, more so even then the typical Japanese.  While she
had been prepared to do what was right in regards to Xian Pu, her
soul quailed at the thought of how intimately connected the two of
them were.  If they were family though, that made a great deal of
difference.  They were still closer then two people had any business
being, but at least this would make it easier to deal with.
     Nodoka moved forward and, for the first time, initiated contact
between the two of them.  She gathered the excited Xian Pu up in a
hug and kissed the top of her head.  It was her turn to strain ribs, and
she did so.  This time, the feeling of the other girl's warmth pressed
against her did not feel like an intrusion, but was comfortable,
fanning an ember in her that had long been just a dim coal.  Family,
someone to love, this was something Nodoka had craved for years.
     Breaking the hug, Nodoka drew Xian Pu down to the ground
beside her, and said,  "Tell me of your father and of his family, and
I will tell you of mine." Xian Pu readily agreed and eagerly
launched into an account of her immediate family, close relatives,
distant relatives, the lady across the way whose husband made the
best cookies in the whole village, and more. 

     Nodoka was overwhelmed, but soon realized that the young
girl was not talking so much to her as she was trying to lock her
entire childhood into her own memory, to keep it bright and shiny
for as long as she could.  It brought home to Nodoka just how
terrible this situation must be for Xian Pu.  For her, less than a hand
of days had passed, but in that short span of time she had lost
everything.  The youngest child in her memory would be over two
hundred years dead.  So Nodoka added nothing to the conversation
but her presence.  She simply sat and kept the younger girl company
as Xian Pu went over every tiny detail of her home and family.
     After what seemed like hours, Xian Pu started to taper off, her
voice hoarse with use.  The pauses between bursts of descriptions
became longer as she had to search her brain for more details to
mention.  Nodoka waited for one such gap and interjected her own
voice into the monolog Xian Pu had been maintaining.  "My, your
home sounds wonderful.  Now that I know I have family there, I
really must visit it once I get us and Ukyou settled."
     Xian Pu's happy expression vanished.  She tucked her head
down till her chin nearly touched her chest, and her hair fell over
her face.  She said in a soft voice,  "If you wish, of course you may,
but . . . if you go, please don't tell them about me, or let me out
while you're there." Tears streamed down her cheeks, clearly
visible despite the veil of hair that hung forward to hide her face.
     The girl's pain struck through Nodoka's heart like a knife, and
before she thought about what she was doing she had moved over to
Xian Pu and drawn her to her chest.  Just as she had done for Ukyou
earlier that day.  Stroking the red-haired head that was tucked just
below her chin, she whispered, "Tell me what it is."

     "I want to go home," Xian Pu whispered into Nodoka's
kimono,  "but home is gone. Everyone I knew, everyone I loved,
gone.  If it were miles away, I could walk it.  If it were across an
ocean, I could swim it.  How do you cross time?  How do I swim
back three hundred years?  I want to go back so badly, but I am not
me.  The people there would not, could not, greet me."
     "Why?  You said something of this before, but why would
they deny you?"
     "It is our law.  The curse is not important, it is the person that
matters.  If a person is cursed to turn into a pig, you may not cook
them and claim it was nothing but an animal.  If a person changes
into another person, or another sex, it is the original that matters.
To them I would be just you, not Xian Pu.  Xian Pu died three
hundred years ago.  All that is left is Nodoka Saotome, who
sometimes looks like, and thinks like, the dead Amazon child, Xian
Pu."
     "But that isn't the case.  You are an individual, unique.  You
may have been born of my body, but there is nothing of me . . . ."
Nodoka trailed off, a strange expression on her face.  Xian Pu
pulled herself back slightly and looked up at the older woman with
tear stained eyes.  She brushed at her eyes with the back of her
hand, angry at her show of weakness, and asked.
     "What is it?"
     For a second Nodoka did not answer, but then she shook her
head slightly and looked down at the young girl.  "It's nothing," she
said, with a slight smile.  "I just realized that after living ten years
on my own, I have suddenly, in less then twenty four hours,
acquired both a son and a daughter."
     "What!" Xian Pu blinked, and then enlightenment dawned.
"You mean me?" she asked, in surprise. "But I don't understand.
I'm a curse."
     "No!" Nodoka said vehemently.  "You are a unique person,
yourself and none other.  One who was born from my body as
surely as if I had given birth to you in the normal fashion."
     Xian Pu shook her head in denial.  "No, that can't be.  I told
you.  The person who received the curse is the person that is there.
I am a shadow of the past."
     "You are wrong Xian Pu!" Nodoka said, putting her hands on
the girls shoulders and looking deep into her eyes.  "Those are laws.
Laws made by people.  Fallible people.  Maybe they would not
acknowledge you, but those laws have no binding on me.  To me
you are my daughter." As Nodoka spoke, her voice grew firmer, and
more commanding, and she finished with such a tone that Xian Pu
could not bring herself to argue with her.  Instead, she was aware of
a sudden unclenching in her chest, as if a great pressure had
suddenly been relieved.  She leaned forward till her head was once
again pillowed on Nodoka's breast and wept, but this time the tears
were not of sorrow.

     For long moments the two women, one old, one young, held
that pose, till Nodoka finally said in a hesitant voice.  "What do you
think of Ranko?"
     "What?" Xian Pu said, her voice puzzled at this question.  "I
don't understand.  Who is Ranko?"
     "You are, if you like the name," Nodoka said, and as the other
girl looked at her in continued puzzlement, she continued.  "You
have said over and over again that you are not Xian Pu, but only her
shadow.  Well, if that is the case, maybe you should have a new
name, one that is your own and not that of the girl who died so long
ago.  My son's name was Ranma.  It would be something to keep of
his, now that he is gone."
     For a few minutes Xian Pu considered the idea.  "Ranko," she
said, tasting the name.  She grimaced slightly.  It sounded strange
and rough.  Not at all like her own smooth and silky name, but then
she stopped that thought.  Xian Pu was not her name.  Shadows do
not have names.  She could see in Nodoka's face that this meant a
lot to her, so she put on a cheerful expression, and said,  "Ranko!
Yes, I think I could get used to it."  When Nodoka's face broke into
a wide smile at her words, Xian Pu decided, that she could indeed
get use to it.  The newly-named Ranko could not help but smile
with her new mother, but then a thought oc