Kowaku wiped her hands with a wet towel. Blood was so hard to get out from underneath the fingernails. A knock resounded in the quiet townhome and Kowaku looked back to Yoko.

"Well," she said lightly, "The plan is underway, you just lie still until I tell you."

A groan came from Yoko as she tried to lift her battered form to protest.

"I SAID lay still!" Kowaku yelled, kicking her in the ribs again.

All the air left Yoko and she lay mercifully still. Kowaku smiled and went to answer the door. Ranma was waiting outside with the girl that had been with him the other night. Kowaku barely controlled her irritation. This girl could be more of a problem than she thought. Yoko had told her that she had a foolproof plan, but Kowaku still had her doubts. And until she showed some kind of prowess, which she hadn't, then they would go with Kowaku's plan. Akuji didn't have any doubts about Yoko's abilities, so Kowaku had given up. Oh well, it would be Yoko's head on a platter if she failed, not hers.

Kowaku appraised Ranma and her companion as she led them in to the seating room. She noticed that both had seen Yoko still lying there in a pool of her own blood. That was good. Build sympathy. Kowaku bit back a smirk. Ranma was wearing a battered robe and some leggings. Both green and both from rough etameran from the look of them. The raven-haired girl, however, had on a black, high quality etameran jumpsuit. From the way it shone in the late morning light, Kowaku thought that it was probably body armor.

"If you'll have a seat, I've got a couple things to take care of first," she smiled at them and pointed to the chairs, "Then my daughter will take care of business for you."

Ranma sat on the loveseat and Rei took position next to her as the mother, Kowaku was her name, went to the other room. Ranma shot Rei a questioning glance and nodded back to the other room.

"The girl?" Rei whispered.

Ranma nodded.

"I don't know," Rei continued to whisper, "But it looked like she had been beaten pretty badly."

"The mother?"

Rei shrugged her shoulders. Ranma's leg began to twitch nervously and Rei put a hand on Ranma's knee to quiet it, which only made it shake worse. Rei chuckled softly and squeezed Ranma's hand. Both of their heads turned as sounds of shouting came from the other area.

"You're a worthless bitch!" Kowaku's voice tried to be quiet and failed, "I should never have adopted you! You can't even do proper magic without those damned powders!"

Ranma strained as he heard the daughter, Yoko, say something, which was met by a slap that rang throughout the small home. Someone then stumbled quickly upstairs and Kowaku popped her head back in the room.

"Yoko will be with you in a moment," she said brightly.

Rei and Ranma just nodded slowly and Kowaku turned back to the other room. Rei looked at Ranma, who just shrugged and shook her head. Ranma couldn't imagine what it would be like to be stuck in a home where you were beaten for every little thing. She caught herself.

Wasn't that what happened at the Tendo household?

No, she thought, Akane may have been a brute sometimes, but she was never openly abusive.

And even when she was abusive, she had never been this abusive. This was just downright wrong. Ranma looked around their spartan surroundings. The loveseat was situated cattycorner in the seating room, with a small coffee table in front of them. A pair of chairs sat across the table from the loveseat and both had the same style. The style was...was...Kasumi had told him one time what this style was. Ranma wished she could remember it. Lots of beiges and pastels, with small ornate flowers on them. The legs of the table were all curvy and stuff and the table had a glass top with an etching of more flowers. Rei got up and walked to the small fireplace on the wall opposite them. It held small figurines of crystal, like her butterfly comb and they fascinated her. If anyone asked Ranma, it would really have been too many flowers for her. But no one was asking.

A single, small wrought-iron looking chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling and illuminated the room with light. For simple merchants, Ranma thought they lived pretty well. Yoko was good, there was no two ways about it, but Ranma wondered if it was all her money, or if she simply supplemented what Kowaku brought in. Another thought struck her then, that they weren't really mother and daughter. It seemed to Ranma to be an even worse relationship than the one that Mousse had with Cologne.

Rei and Ranma turned at the sound of a small, muffled moan. Yoko dragged herself into the room and collapsed daintily in one of the chairs across from the loveseat. She carried a small bundle wrapped in some kind of chamois cloth. Ranma could see that she was breathing heavily with exertion and a light bead of sweat had formed on her forehead. Rei placed a hand lightly on her shoulder, but Yoko waved her off and motioned to the loveseat. Rei looked back to Ranma to get her to help the girl, but Ranma nodded her head and patted the seat beside her.

Rei took her position as Yoko unfolded her bundle on the glass table. On it were a mirror, a small flask and several little bags of differently colored powders. She picked up the mirror and idly began to polish it as her eyes said to Ranma that she was thinking about something else.

Getting out, maybe? he thought to himself, Maybe...

"Um..." Rei began, "Are you oka-"

"Yoko," Kowaku interrupted from the front doorway.

She was carrying a large squarish suitcase and held the door open. Yoko looked up and winced again in pain. She tried to hide it, but Ranma could see that she wasn't very good at that either.

"We'll finish this little talk when I return, do you understand?"

Yoko nodded mutely.

"Okay," Kowaku agreed, "Take care of business, then await my return."

And she turned and left the small townhome. Yoko sighed and winced in pain again. She closed her eyes and finished polishing the mirror.

"Look, if this isn't a good time," Ranma began, "Well, come back-"

"What do you see?" Yoko interrupted, thrusting the mirror in Ranma's face.

Ranma grabbed the mirror and focused on the surface. She yelped in surprise and jumped back, dropping the mirror in the process. Yoko began to pick up the mirror, but couldn't reach it for the pain in her side. Rei picked it up and handed it back to her. Yoko smiled a thanks and held it back up for Ranma. Rei looked into the mirror at Ranma, then back to Ranma.

"I don't get it," she said, "What's the big deal?"

"Huh?" Yoko was confused now.

She turned the mirror back to herself and looked at the reflection. It was her, but without all the cuts and bruises. Just as it should be.

"Well, uh Ranma, you said your name was?" Yoko asked cautiously, "What do you see?"

Ranma hadn't spoken a word, nor taken her eyes off the image in the mirror. She reached out a hand and touched the surface, almost expecting it to shatter or melt away, or something like that. The fingers met and Ranma felt the cold surface of the mirror. The image was her. Or well, it was Ranma. It was the Ranma that she remembered and for so long had forgotten. The image in the mirror was male. Yoko handed the mirror to Ranma as she touched her nose. She pulled at her ponytail. Rei watched this odd little dance with the same kind of fascination.

"It's," she said hesitantly, "It's me. But as a guy! How'd you do this?"

Yoko smiled and took the mirror back and set it gently on the table.

"It's a truesight mirror," she said, "It shows you who you really are. Most people just see themselves. Some people see themselves, as they would be in the afterlife. When mother showed me your image in her mirror, I knew that it might just work on you too."

"But your mother said that she could only see my aura?" Ranma asked.

Yoko nodded.

"She isn't as advanced in the area of seeing. That's not her specialty," Yoko said, "She's more interested in getting me a father, if you catch my drift."

Ranma looked to Rei who just rolled her eyes. Yoko picked up one of the small bags of powder and the flask. She opened the bag and poured a small bit of powder into it. She mixed in a little white powder next, then red, then black with gold flecks, and finally one that had a pinkish hue to it. Just little bits of each. She stoppered the flask and shook it, still wincing in pain.

"I can help with that," Rei offered.

Yoko began to argue, but looked deflated and handed the flask to Rei, who shook it for her while she tied up all the little bags.

"Hey look," Rei said, holding up the flask.

As the dust inside settled, Ranma could see that the powder had turned a coal black, but the little whorls of dust flashed through all the colors of the rainbow as they settled to the bottom of the flask. Yoko took the flask back and struck the side lightly with a small metal hammer. Ranma wondered briefly where that had come from, but let it be as the sweet chime rang through the townhouse. The whorls collapsed in on themselves and Yoko unstoppered the flask. She set it in front of Ranma.

"Okay, now drink it," Yoko said.

Ranma picked up the flask. She swirled the dust-like material around and watched how it slid effortlessly along the bottom of the flask. She gave a questioning look back to Yoko.

"It's all powder, right? How can I drink it?"

"That's what the red powder was for, to liquefy it on contact with your mouth. Now drink, before it loses potency," she explained.

Ranma looked to Rei and shrugged. She tilted the flask back to her lips and the powder slid into her mouth. She bit back a gag reflex as the now-liquid powder lit like fire down her throat. Ranma finished the flask as the fire made tears come to her eyes. She set the flask down and coughed several times, holding her throat. She hadn't had anything that bad in a while. Ranma was able to catch her breath as Rei rubbed her back sympathetically.

Ranma was about the say that she didn't feel any different, but then it became hard to breathe. She held her chest and tried to get up, but something was wrong with her legs, like they weren't built the right way. There was a fire in her belly that felt like it was some kind of acid trying to burn itself out of her. She felt like puking but couldn't. She couldn't speak and her clothes were starting to become very tight. Especially her leggings. She gasped for breath and collapsed on the floor. Finally, the pains began to die away. Ranma tried to center herself and calm the buzzing in her head.

The buzzing died away and she could hear that Rei was shouting something to Yoko. Ranma rolled to his right side and saw that Rei had picked up the battered sorceress by the front of her robes and was trying to shake answers out of her.

"Rei," Ranma choked out, "Put her down."

At that, Rei noticed that Ranma wasn't dead. She dropped Yoko back into the chair and jumped to Ranma's side, which was noticeably bigger. Rei helped Ranma as she rolled him onto his back. Ranma caught his breath and smiled a silly grin at Rei. Without taking an eye from the ceiling, he brought a hand up and felt his chest. A bigger grin ran across his face as he looked down. He opened his robe to find a flat and very masculine chest. He tried to choke out more laughter, but winced as pain shot through him. He rolled back to his hands and knees, despite Rei's attempts to get him to lie still. Ranma pushed Rei away as he crawled slowly to the chair and pulled himself so that he could see Yoko.

"It...Worked," he said slowly, "Didn't it?"

Yoko smiled a weary smile and nodded.

"How can I ever repay you?" Ranma said as he stood.

Ranma gathered his robe around his waist as his leggings had come apart. He was too elated to really care though. He was a man once again. Yoko pointed weakly back to the loveseat and both of them sat back down again. Yoko coughed slightly before she began again.

"This is only temporary Ranma, well, temporary until I can make up a large enough batch to counteract the spell permanently."

"How much money do I need to pay for that?" Ranma said, leaning forward, "We have jade too, I can pay with that."

"Ranma!" Rei exclaimed.

He ignored her and continued.

"Please, I can't go back anymore!" Ranma said, grabbing Yoko's hand, "I'll do anything! Please! Please!"

"Ranma!" Rei shouted, "You're scaring the poor girl! Now sit down for a second!"

Ranma had a sense of déjà vu and quietly sat down again.

"I don't need money Ranma, but I think there is something you can do for me."

Rei sat forward and listened along with Ranma.

"As you can see, I think that she'd probably kill me if she knew I was doing human transformations like you again," Yoko hung her head, "The couple up on stage were both just actors for the trade, but you..."

She looked up at Ranma.

"You're real!" she said, a touch of anguish in her voice, "Handsome too...I don't know if I can ask this of you..."

"Yoko," Ranma said, taking both of her hands and looking her in the eyes, "You can ask me anything. You've given me back my...manhood. And for that, I'll do-"

Ranma looked back to Rei, who just raised an eyebrow. He looked back to Yoko.

"-Almost anything."

Yoko's eyes brightened and Rei had a deep sinking feeling that something bad was going to happen. The last time was that damned ship. Rei's feeling said this was going to hurt worse. Rei hated those kinds of feelings.

***

Ikari sneezed. She shook her head and looked around. The boys across the pool hid their faces and began to speak amongst themselves again. Ikari lifted her sunglasses at them and raised an eyebrow. They were just as bad as Tsute. She growled softly and lay back in the chair. It wasn't her fault that she looked so good in a bikini. And the sun felt so good and warm against her skin. She closed her eyes against the burning thoughts that crossed her mind towards those brats across from her.

She heard another splash from the pool in front of her and she looked as a female pulled herself from the pool. She was wearing a bikini too. The boys followed her as well. Hanasu really could care less, but she set herself in the chair next to Ikari and huffed at them. She seemed to be making a game of all this. Hanasu straightened her top as she sat down and a waiter set a drink down next to her. She thanked him with a smile and a wink. She put on her own pair of sunglasses and sipped at her drink. She nodded in approval and waved to the boys across the pool and she lounged back in the chair.

"Don't encourage them," Ikari muttered, trying to ignore the smiles and greetings from them.

"But, Ikari," Hanasu pleaded sarcastically, "What would be the fun then?"

Ikari growled slightly again, but said nothing.

"You should try and loosen up, or you'll never find a boyfriend," Hanasu purred, sipping at her drink again.

"Who says I need one? Rei certainly doesn't seem to care whether her lover is male or female," Ikari retorted.

"Every girl needs a guy to toy with. I mean, take Peiro over there," Hanasu pointed to one of the more muscular boys and waved, "He's a prince from one of the tribes north of Ullenel. A mountain boy, good breeding material, but not a whole lot upstairs. Like most men. He would do anything for an islandnation princess like me, which means that I can toy with him all I want."

Ikari looked at her as she licked her lips at the poor boy. The other boys teased and laughed together, but the prince turned to keep an obvious attraction from showing.

"You see, Rei would have an extremely hard time with these boys because she can't play the game very well," Hanasu stretched lazily and fixed her top again, "Ranma would probably do well though."

Hanasu looked at Ikari as she burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Ranma as a mankiller," Ikari choked back her laughter, "We never told you did we?"

"Told me what?"

"About Ranma and his gender problems," Ikari said.

Hanasu shook her head.

"Ranma isn't really from this world," Ikari explained, "She is a man back in her world. Back when we first started travelling around, we ran into a guy named Satori Futsuu who was a kind of seer. The only thing he ever saw correctly was the next time we'd get into trouble. We traveled together for a bit, but Satori tried to get Ranma in the sack every night and it got to the point where Ranma would just knock him out and that's where we'd sleep that night."

"Didn't he get the message after a while?"

"Satori saw himself in Ranma's future," Ikari said, shaking her head, "He would never tell us what he meant until about two months later. We were all drinking in a small mountain town out on the middle portion of the rim and he confessed to us what he saw."

"Well? What was it?"

"Satori said that, unless Ranma kept him close, he would die in the next week."

Hanasu thought about this for a moment.

"Sounds like another attempt at getting her to sleep with him."

"That what we thought," Ikari continued, "So we left him in that town. We found out later that some guy with a huge sword came by looking for a red haired girl with a ponytail."

"Ranma?"

"Yeah," Ikari nodded, "Only one like her. Anyway, I guess Satori opened his mouth when he shouldn't have and the guy lopped off his head."

Hanasu raised an eyebrow.

"Nah," she said, relaxing again, "Most likely self-fulfilling prophecy. It was just coincidence that you and Ranma happened by at the time."

"That's what we thought until the bastard that killed him came looking for us," Ikari said, sitting up, "We saw him, but he never saw us. It was kinda odd how he kept missing us, but he never saw us. That's when I bought into the whole prophecy thing."

"Prophecy?"

"Rei's grandfather. He said that it was Ranma's destiny, or something like that," Ikari said, waving her hands, "He only told Ranma what it was and Ranma won't tell me or Rei. Anyway, it's only been downhill since we left Rei's village. Attack and defend, always on the run. I think this is the most relaxed I've been in months. It's like we're being hunted."

"Well," Hanasu said after a moment, "If you were truly being hunted, wouldn't they continue? I mean, even here in the city?"

Ikari kept silent.

"Ikari?"

Ikari remained silent.

"Ikari?" Hanasu repeated.

She took off her glasses and looked at the tall blonde. Ikari had her lips pursed like she was trying to put something to words, but couldn't.

"What's going on Ikari?"

"Whatever it is, it happened last night."

"With the date?"

Ikari nodded.

"Rei brought Ranma in last night and I know they spent the night together, but I don't know what happened," she said, "I'm pretty sure that they never...Ya know...But something big must have happened to make them even get that far."

"So Rei's a lesbian, so what? Let her and Ranma have their fun," Hanasu said, sipping down the last of her drink, "That doesn't prove anything."

Ikari sat up and shook her hair out. She stood, grabbed her straw hat and fit it lightly on her head against the sun.

"Ranma doesn't ever change that easily Hanasu," Ikari said, tying the wrap around her middle, "And if Ranma has changed, then something has happened and dammit, I want to find out what it is."

Ikari began to walk back in the hotel. She stopped in her tracks as a wave of catcalls and whistles rose from the boys across the pool. Ikari clenched her fists, but counted backwards from ten. She took a couple of deep breaths and did it again. Ranma was right, it didn't help. She continued on her short trip inside and resolved not to wear anything Hanasu picked out ever again.

Ever.

***

The scenery was breathtaking. Mikan always wanted to travel, but father had always been a bit protective. With three daughters, she could understand. They had all been a bit wild at times. Mikan was ashamed to say that she was even wild for a while. Hanasu never quit being wild and Kakuji...Well, Kakuji was Kakuji. Mikan hadn't thought of herself as anything but just a normal girl, but her definition of normal was being challenged as of late.

Mikan watched as the sun came up over the horizon. It was a glorious sight, spreading its warm fingers over the valley below and behind them. Mikan loved to get up at sunrise and watch the event. Even as a child, she loved to work the boats with her father for nothing else than the sunrise.

The thought almost brought tears to her eyes. Her father must be so worried about her, but Mikan knew that without Esu and Ijisai, she couldn't successfully control her powers and they might get out of her control. Mikan never wanted to hurt anyone, so she told herself that this was necessary. It was still the first time in a couple weeks that she had seen the sunrise and she realized that she missed it. Like an old friend, she spread her arms out to the open end of the valley in front of her to welcome in the warmth of the rays.

Mikan looked down at her new outfit. Esu and Ijisai had given it to her last night in the initiate ceremony. She was now an imadoushin and Ijisai was quite proud of how far she had come in the last couple weeks. Esu also commented on her progress. Hana remained oddly silent though. Mikan twirled in a short circle and watched the tunic flare outwards. It was a dull black, but was very soft and was trimmed at all the hems in a gold banding. She liked the short sleeves that billowed slightly out from the straight shoulders of the tunic. The pants that were underneath were a kind of red that Esu had called shocking. Mikan liked the red; it kind of matched her hair. It billowed out like the sleeves. She liked that. Simple black slippers finished off the outfit and Mikan thought it was a very fitting outfit for an imadoushin. Not as complex as the acolytes and not as severe as the sister-protectorates.

She felt thrilled to simply be standing in the small clearing in the brilliance of the dawn. Her attention was drawn ahead of their clearing to the road down the valley. There was a small cloud of dust that had kicked up from the road and Mikan watched it. It spread up the hill and stopped, then began again and started a slow procession toward them. They had pulled the wagon and it's supplies off the road and Mikan thought it was well hidden.

The clearing that they had occupied during the night was not well hidden though, and their fire was still smoldering. Mikan kneeled to Ijisai and shook her lightly. Ijisai awoke and began mumbling something about the chores.

"No Ijisai," Mikan whispered, "It's me, Mikan. And someone's coming up the road."

Ijisai rubbed at her eyes and grabbed her staff.

"From the south?"

Mikan nodded.

"Riders most likely," she said as she made her way to the opening in the trees, "I was lucky enough to miss them when I came out last week, but I was afraid we might get them."

"Riders? Bad guys?"

Ijisai nodded.

"Yeah, real bad," she muttered, "Damn. Looks like a big group too."

Ijisai looked to the sunrise and swore again.

"Too damned early for this kind of thing."

She looked to Mikan as she giggled slightly.

"You just sounded like Esu-san just then," she explained.

"I guess," Ijisai smiled, "I'll wake Hana, you wake Esu."

Both were woken up and neither seemed overly happy about it, but Esu gathered herself together and saw the dust cloud that was being kicked up from the roadway.

"Ijisai," Esu muttered, "Cloak the wagon. Hana, get yourself into a tree. Mikan and I will join you later. Mikan, we need to get this area to look like we were never here."

Ijisai gathered their supplies and began to quickly load them back into the wagon. Hana looked through the lower branches for one that she could float herself in to. Mikan began to shovel handfuls of dirt onto the small fire pit, while Esu rolled the blankets back to their bundles. She threw them on the wagon and grabbed her staff out of the back. Mikan stopped shoveling as Ijisai stepped in front of the wagon. She held her staff straight in front of her and chanted several command words.

Mikan marveled as the light seemed to fade around her and the area where the wagon sat. The light and the image of both Ijisai and the wagon rippled into nonexistence. Mikan wondered at the sight.

"Come on Mikan," Ijisai said from the cloak, "The riders won't wait."

Mikan started at the voice from nowhere and began her duties again. She felt hands at her shoulders just as she finished. Esu pulled her towards the bushes and began to chant several command words. The world around Mikan rippled and puffed into an inky darkness. She squeaked slightly, but could feel Esu behind her.

"Keep quiet Mikan," Esu whispered in her ear, "This will cloak us from sight but it can't cloak sound, understand?"

"Yeah," Mikan whispered back.

It scared her slightly to just sit there in the darkness, but she would keep quiet. Mikan could hear the distant sounds of horses as they rode closer. The sound became deafening as the lead horses came to a halt on the road outside their clearing. She heard one of the men as he stepped from his horse and gently step into the clearing. He seemed to be taking great care to keep from making noise. She heard a metal on metal sound and something then crashed through some nearby bushes. She couldn't place the sound as it repeated at regular intervals, but began to shrink back as the sound came closer.

"Keep still," Esu whispered harshly in her ear.

Mikan thought back to the imadoushin trials and the relaxation techniques that Ijisai had taught her. She closed her eyes and thought on the patterns of the little light balls that floated here and there in the training chambers. The geometry of the light patterns on the walls coalesced into various messages that helped soothe frayed nerves. She remembered how the lights were just supposed to play in preordained patterns, but she shocked Ijisai by being able to control the lights.

The crashing from the nearby bushes went away. Her nerves settled and she relaxed against the backdrop of her memories. She remembered the sessions with Ijisai where she learned to breathe water. That was kind of scary, but fun too, being able to breathe like a fish. That brought more memories of her father and her sisters. She wondered what her family was doing at this point. Were they looking for her? She would have to contact them as soon as she-

A sharp pain bit through her left arm and she yelped in pain. She grabbed her arm and could feel the cut that was now bleeding all over her nice uniform. She opened her eyes and was looking up from the bush at a large man.

"Now what have we here?" he said gruffly, "I knew bushes couldn't squeak and your fire pit, my dear, was too well taken care of to simply be old."

He reached down and dragged her out from the bush and threw her in the center.

"Aw Cappin! Look what ya did ta' her?" a younger boy said from his horse.

Mikan looked past the large man to the men that were gathering in the roadside entrance. The man who spoke couldn't have been much older that Mikan herself. He wore an odd kind of hat that flopped about on his young, sandy blonde hair. Twinkling blue eyes matched his dark blue coat that looked nothing so much like fuzz on his slender frame. He wore a beige shirt underneath that had a fanciful bit of lace at the collar. His breeches were made of a kind of leather that matched the blue in his coat and his large, black boots came up over his knee. Mikan's first thought was that he was probably very warm with all that on.

Other men gathered around the first man, who seemed to be the leader. He was a monster of a man, almost as tall as his horse. He had a hideous scar running along his right ear, like someone had once tried to take off his head with something very sharp. He wore a similar outfit of brown, but it didn't look right on his huge frame.

"Shut up Tekido, you twit," the man bellowed, "Suberi, get over here and get her on the back of the wagon."

The man that the leader bellowed to pulled his horse into the clearing. He was a gaunt figure, hunched over in the saddle for some odd reason. He had black, greasy hair that fell in strips from a balding crown. He looked old, but didn't seem to move with age. Almost like something had made him this way. He searched in his saddlebags for something, but couldn't find it and looked back to the young man named Tekido.

"Caun't s'cure th' oman, Cappin," he drawled in a barely audible hiss, "Let youn'n 'Kido watch'er."

And with that, he slithered back up on his horse and trotted backwards out of the clearing.

"Cappin, I protest! You said that I could ride with the group this time-"

"Tekido, shut up!" the man they called Cappin bellowed, "Suberi couldn't do to watch her anyway. Take the girl and tie her to your horse and let's get going. Watch her Tekido. If she gets away, it's your head on my pike."

Tekido began to sweat slightly, though from the heat or from fear Mikan couldn't tell. He dropped from his horse and strode easily to Mikan. He seemed almost annoyed that they had given him this duty. He took several bits of cloth from the satchel at his waist and began to tend to her arm. He stole a glance at Mikan and she could see the blush rise in his face as he turned towards his duty again. He used the rest of the cloth to bind her hands in front of her and he helped Mikan to her feet. Tekido seemed almost gentle as he ushered her towards his horse. Mikan started to back away in fear at having to go with them, but Tekido pulled her close to him.

"Yer friends can't help ya if yer dead, understand?" he whispered harshly in her ear.

Mikan nodded slightly.

"Good," he continued, "Now get on th' horse and I promise no harm to ya, okay?"

Mikan lowered her head. She wondered why Ijisai and Esu remained silent and cloaked. Ijisai had told her that it took great concentration to stay cloaked, but did they know? She nodded her head slightly and Tekido helped her onto his horse. Esu might have known, if she wasn't concentrating so hard to keep two people cloaked.

Tekido swung up into the saddle behind her and grabbed the reins. The group swung out of the clearing and onto the road. Mikan looked back at the clearing as they rode out of sight. One person had known.

Hana had known.

***

"Yoko! Come on!" Ranma yelled up the stairs.

What was taking her so long? Ranma looked to the pieces of luggage sitting in the livingroom. The big trunk would be the only problem, and Yoko had stuffed as much of her lab into it as she could. That one Ranma would protect herself. The others were just clothes and money, which would come in handy when they wanted to get out of here in a few days.

Yoko would have to stay in the hotel, but at least no one would be looking for her, Ranma hoped.

Rei had already taken some things back to the hotel to set up a room for Yoko and to bring back a set of clothes for Ranma, who had reverted back to female form about an hour after her sudden change.

Her, Ranma thought, I can drop that pronoun with luck.

Yoko limped her way down the stairs and stood in front of Ranma. She had a light cloak over her outfit that would cover her from prying eyes, which Ranma thought was a good idea. Ranma nodded and moved to gather the luggage together. There were four sharp taps on the door that Rei had worked out as the signal. Ranma answered it and let Rei in.

"Come on, I've got Yuubi to help us," Rei said, motioning to their wagon outside.

"I was wondering what was taking so long," Ranma muttered.

"Sorry." Rei said softly.

"That's okay Rei," Yoko said, trying to keep them from starting another fight, "Is everything set up at the hotel? Did I have enough money?"

Rei nodded.

"More than enough," she said, grabbing a bag and hauling it out, "In fact, you have about as much as we do, which is quite a feat."

Ranma gently pushed the trunk towards the front of the wagon and went back inside for more. Rei followed with several bags and helped Yoko into the wagon. She went to the area behind the drivers' seat and settled in with a bag on her lap. Her cloak covered her face and the bags should keep attention from her. Ranma didn't know though. It was almost too easy, helping her escape an abusive parent. Ranma didn't like it.

But Ranma didn't really have to like it, did she? She just had to help, as Rei pointed out. And dammit, for a cure which was in sight, it was the least she...Ranma stopped herself. The least HE could do. Ranma smiled as she took the reins and Rei climbed in the seat beside her. Ranma was so close. She wouldn't mess up now.

***

Tekido nudged the girl slightly with his elbow. She started awake and looked around at her environments. Galloping on horseback for the last several hours had gently nursed her to sleep, a feat that Tekido had thought impossible. Mikan, which he understood to be the girl's name, had uttered barely a word since they captured her early that morning. Tekido had been travelling behind the main group, so it didn't surprise him to discover the signs that he was being followed. They were good though, real careful to cover their tracks, but not careful enough. Tekido had counted that there were probably five of them, but not less than two. One person couldn't cover their tracks alone, it took too long.

The clearing where they had found Mikan wasn't that large and neither was the fire pit, so therefore, there were probably three people total, but again, Tekido doubted all three would be following them. He didn't know, it was just a feeling that he had.

Mikan muttered something and tried to free her hands again.

"I wouldn't move ma'am," Tekido said, "We're almost ta the hole and then we get off and then the interestin' part really starts."

"Interesting?" she half turned.

"Yeah," he said, trying to avoid her sight, "Th' boys'll prolly want to fight over who gets ya first."

Mikan turned back around in her saddle and stared ahead in silence. She couldn't believe this. First she gets attacked by a bunch of rabid ketterts, then she gets taken in by a group of sorceress nuns, then attacked again by the walking dead, which she makes disappear. Then one of the nuns decide to take her along on a trip where she gets herself sliced by a sword and kidnapped by a bunch of thugs to be taken back to their hideout and then...She didn't want to think about then. She hadn't even been kissed yet.

Mikan sighed. This was not her year. A thought struck her.

"Are you going to be fighting for me as well?" she asked, half turning again.

Tekido remained silent.

"Because, if you won't fight," she steeled her nerves again, "Then I will. And I warn you to not underestimate my abilities."

She turned to the front again as they came off the road and headed sharply downhill, at the bottom of which they turned northward again towards a small hilly outcropping off to one side of the valley. As they entered the clearing, Mikan could see that it was the entrance to a rather large cave and the rocky outcropping was merely a disguise. Mikan wondered how many of these types of bad men had used this area for a hideout over the ages. She amended herself. Tekido just seemed to be on the wrong track in life, as opposed to being truly bad. Certainly not like that Suberi fellow. Mikan shivered slightly.

There was a small stream that ran from the mouth of the entrance out and into the stream that ran down the middle of the valley. The sides of the cave had been propped up many years ago by huge timbers to protect against cave-ins and such. Mikan looked around as there were soon dozens, then dozens more, then hundreds of bad men filling an entire cavern that had to be larger in size than the nunnery.

Mikan looked up at the small bits of sunlight that filtered down from holes in the ceiling above. She wondered if the timbers were all that was keeping the ceiling up. There were torches placed in increments around the hall and seating arrangements that seemed to come from every type of place imaginable. She saw benches that would be in parks, a couple of captain's chairs that would go on large galleons, even pews from a church.

The man called Cappin gave his horse to a couple of young men that took them deeper into the cave system. He then strode to an area near one end that had been elevated. Tekido helped Mikan from the horse and she was roughly tossed to a seat on the floor in front of the throne that Cappin sat upon. She yelped slightly as pain shot up her arm, but couldn't do much with her hands tied.

Cappin sat there staring at Mikan, the intent clearly written on his scarred face. A girl came from behind the throne and served him a large mug of something. Mikan supposed that everything he did was of the large type. The girl looked at Mikan and she could see the scars that laced her face, presumably from the hands of these bad men. Cappin belched loudly as he slammed the mug onto the arm of the throne.

"Okay fellas," he bellowed, "You know the deal. The man that beats all comers gets this one for his own."

"I want to try my hand for this one," a barrel-chested man spoke from the crowd. He stepped forward and leered at Mikan.

"Uh, excuse me?" Mikan asked.

"I guess then I'll be first," another said from the crowd.

"Uh, Cappin?" Mikan asked again.

"I'll treat you just like a bit-"

"Cappin!"

All three men stopped and looked at the small redhead. Mikan steadied herself and got to her feet. And even though she was a full half meter smaller than the barrel-chested man, she elbowed him aside, to get to the center of the floor.

"Look, I don't mind one of you asking for a date or something," Mikan began as Cappin looked on, "But I will NOT be fought over like some piece of meat! Because if you insist on this course of action, then I insist on fighting for my own freedom!"

Cappin tried to raise an eyebrow, but his scars made it look like his forehead gained several inches instead. He waved off the competitor and motioned Mikan to approach. Mikan went cautiously to his throne, closer than she would have liked to be honest. Close enough to smell him at least.

"What makes you think we allow such things?" he asked.

"Because..." Mikan was reaching now.

"Because it's only honorable," Tekido said from behind them.

Cappin shot him a withering glance and he sat back, trying to decide what to do. He stroked his scraggly beard in thought and began to chuckle. The chuckling grew until the bellowing laugh filled the monstrous cavern. In anticipation of a great something or other from their leader, all the bad men were laughing as well. Mikan dared not turn to see if Tekido was laughing or not, but somehow she knew he wasn't. Cappin raised from his throne and raised his hands. The hall grew quiet and he placed his hands on his hips.

"Here we operate on a champion system, my dear," he said slyly, "So who will be your champion? Hm? Young Tekido? He can barely hold a rapier, let alone fight to be your champion. So who will you-"

"I think we can handle that challenge," a female voice said from the entranceway.

A pair of gruff, large fisted men came charging at the pair. Light flashed away as the pair was left smoking in their boots, stunned but undamaged. The women strode purposefully towards Mikan, who was elated to see them. One was fairly tall with dark brown hair, the other was shorter and chubby, though both were well muscled, Cappin could see that. And both were wearing tight little tops and smallish skirts. Cappin would have sneered and licked his lips, had it not been for what they carried. Both of them were carrying fighting staves that had medium sized gems in the top that sparkled with demon light. Cappin shuddered at the thought that they could possess that kind of power, but he held himself in check to keep appearances up. Both went to the young redhead that had spoke up.

"What did I tell you about running off with strange men, young lady?" Esu said, tapping the top of her staff lightly on Mikan's forehead.

Her eyes grew dangerous as she regarded Cappin. Esu stepped around Mikan to face the Cappin. He held up a hand to stay the rest of his men. Mikan jumped as Hana placed a hand on her shoulder. She flashed a quick, tight smile and turned to cover their rear.

"Two champions, huh? Fair enough," Cappin said, "You'll face two champions of our choosing. One will be Suberi Yasui!"

The slimy man from the clearing stepped, or rather slithered, forward and drew a wicked looking curved knife from it's sheath at his waist. Esu read this one immediately. He had some kind of natural immunity to magics, which explained why he was so deformed. An oddity among oddities. He began to step forward, but was held in check by a hand from Cappin.

"Who is the other one?" Esu asked, readying her staff.

A broad smile passed over Cappin's face as he waved to the back.

"Why, young Tekido Fuyoujou, of course!"

"No!" Mikan yelped.

"I won't do it!" Tekido stepped up to the dais, "You can't make me kill just for your damned pleasure!"

Cappin reached down to the young man and lifted him off the floor. He held him there for a strangled second and flung him to Esu's feet.

"Oh you'll fight Tekido, because you're fighting for your life as well!" Cappin laughed, "If you refuse to fight, we kill you and the fat champion and keep the other two for slaves!"

"FAT?!" Hana burst out.

"Hana," Esu said quietly, "Alright, if that's the deal, then how do we know that you'll stick to your end of the bargain?"

"Because, my dear, you have no other choice. You see, you could fry me and probably many others here, yes," Cappin said, then he waggled a finger at her, "But you couldn't kill us all."

"Esu-san?" Mikan murmured.

"Mikan, he's right," Esu muttered, "Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out of this."

"Next time," Hana muttered, "Put HER in the damned tree."

***

Kowaku entered cautiously through the open door. It wasn't like Yoko to simply leave the door standing wide open; someone might chance inside and stumble upon their operation. The plan was only partially completed though. Kowaku stepped lightly upstairs, just in case Yoko had been in a hurry to entertain. At the top of the stairs, Kowaku stopped and frowned.

All the doors were open and Yoko's things had been cleaned off of her little dresser. Kowaku entered the, now bare, room and looked on the dresser. A little scrap of paper. She picked it up and read it:

"Kowaku-san,

Ten'imuhou-sama did NOT send me on this mission to be beaten by an abusive tutor as part of some inane plan, and I will take it no more. I am therefore implementing my own plan and you can shove yours. Goodbye bitch.

Yoko Renbo"

Kowaku stared at the little scrap of paper as her anger grew and flamed inside her. She read the note again and the flame grew higher.

Oo, that little... she thought, Who did she think she...?

Even whole thoughts escaped her as Kowaku clambered down the stairs to Yoko's workbench. It was empty. Just a light dusting of some kind of white powder. All of her things were gone. Her trunk in which the lab had been packed was gone as well, probably along with the lab. Kowaku screamed in impotent rage. She hated that little brat, she was supposed to be the one that finally got Shiro!

Yoko had beaten her to everything. She hated Yoko. In a fit of rage, she swept the rest of the powder off the table and yelped as something sharp stuck her. She winced as she pulled a small sliver of glass from her hand. It was then that she noticed something was wrong. Very wrong.

Her heart began to beat faster than it should and she began to sweat, even through the rage the burned in her. She frantically looked about. Then it clicked. The powder, the sliver of glass, the note, all to drive her to do exactly what she did.

One of the vertebrae in her lower back spasmed and snapped, throwing her to the floor. Several others followed as white flashes of pain spread inside her mind. She could feel thousands of tiny shards of powdery glass as it ate her from the inside out as the powder worked its' magic. As her consciousness left her, Kowaku wondered idly what would become of the world, now that Shiro was in such deadly hands.

She had taught Yoko well.

***

"You WHAT?!" Ikari screamed at Ranma.

Ranma held up her hands and tried to get Ikari to calm some as they stood in the lobby of the hotel.

"Look Ikari," Ranma said, "She can make me a man again and it was the easiest way to pay her back!"

"I'm sorry to say that it's true," Rei said as she calmly leaned against a nearby pillar, "And he looks even better as a guy, too."

"Aw, what do you care?" Ikari growled, "Ranma, we've got enough strays on this mission as it is. It was bad enough when Rei tagged along-"

"I can whip your ass any day," Rei threw in.

"Then we picked up Hanasu in the desert," Ikari shot a look back at Rei, "I can understand that too, but we just found out that her 'parents' never knew she was gone. Apparently she's not from the rich family that she said."

"Where is she?" Ranma asked.

"Up in her room, still crying. She still believes what she told us," Ikari grabbed the bridge of her nose, "Now we have a battered orphan who can switch peoples' gender. Great Ranma, and how exactly do you propose we feed her? We've got to pay Hanasu's tab now and we're quickly running out of jade and-"

"Ikari, get a grip," Ranma said, grabbing the tall blonde by her shoulders, "It's okay. Yoko has about as much money as we did when we got here. That much, yes, okay? It's going to be okay. Just cool your jets and we'll see what we have to do."

"I'll room with you, especially if you're a man from now on," Rei purred, cuddling up to her arm.

Ranma tried to shake her off, to no avail, so she left it be.

"Okay, we have to stay for a couple more days so that Yoko can get the necessary ingredients and change me back to a guy permanently, okay? But then-" Ranma made a flying motion with her hands, "We're gone! Off to Akamerajh, or wherever, okay?"

Ikari sat down in a nearby chair and put her head down to keep from hyperventilating. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Ranma was right. She always seemed right, even for as much trouble as that got them. She steadied her breath and opened her eyes. Ranma and Rei were both making faces at her, but seeing her eyes were open; they stopped and began to whistle. Ikari sat there for a moment before she couldn't hold the smirk that appeared on her lips, which soon degenerated into laughter. Ranma and Rei joined her.

"You two are asses, let me tell you," Ikari shook her head.

Rei stuck her tongue out in response and Ranma helped the tall blonde to her feet.

"Come on, I'll introduce you."

***

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Esu asked.

"Look, this punk looks like he'll keel over if I breathe on him hard enough," Hana muttered as she watched Suberi take a couple practice slashes, "He's good with the knife, but we'll see what he can do without it."

"Just take care because that blade of his is most likely poisoned," Tekido said from his seat next to Mikan.

"And why aren't you over there helping him?" Hana asked, "You'll be fighting me after I finish him, you know."

"Yeah, but it's not like it's my choice Hana-san," he said softly, "And you have to understand that I can't fight under my potential, lest they kill us anyway."

Hana looked to Esu, who gave him a grim nod in return.

"We understand."

"All right!" Cappin bellowed from the side of the hall, he then took his place in his chair again, "You can begin anytime you set foot in the center here. So get on with it!"

Suberi slithered quickly to the center of the floor and just hovered there.

"And remember," Cappin said, "At the first sign of magic out of you witches, we start the killings."

Hana adjusted her fighting top and twirled her staff, getting the weight of it. Esu wondered if she was going to be able to handle it. Hana stepped in the circle and slowly advanced on the hunchback, who bobbed merrily from one foot to another.

He thrust lightly in a feint and Hana stood her ground, not flinching in the slightest. It was interesting to see that Hana was slowly circling him, perhaps to get him to try and attack on the edge of the circle, where he would have to attack at his side, where he'd be weaker. Esu thought it was an interesting strategy, but the little slimy man didn't seem phased by it. Instead, he kept hopping from one foot to the other, always attacking from the left foot with his right hand.

Hana would block his attack with her staff and try to counter with a different swing, but it was like he was reading two or three moves ahead. Feint, attack, block a swing of the staff, then back to hopping. Hana had tried the upwards counter, the downwards counter, and several other counters she had devised on her own, but nothing seemed to be getting to the little man. Worse yet, it seemed like he wasn't even trying hard, which pissed her off to no end.

Esu saw that it was always the same pattern. The whole of the fight had stretched into several minutes. She noticed that Hana was not only getting frustrated, but tired as well. She hadn't been the best conditioned of fighters, but she had always hung in there. Esu worried that this would take more out of her than she-

Hana thrust at his legs, trying to gain an advantage, to which he hopped in one graceful leap over her head and drove the knife in up to the hilt between her shoulder blades. Suberi smiled a tight sliver of a smile at Esu and withdrew the shining blade.

"HANA!" Esu shouted.

The crowd was on its feet as Esu rushed to her. She held Hana close and could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Esu!" Mikan shouted.

Esu snapped her head up in time to evade a swing from the little bastard's knife. Mikan tossed Esu's staff to her and the head of the sisterhood caught it in her backward somersault. She brought it up and faced off against this demon. She scowled a challenge that was met by his snide grin. Now, it was her turn.

***

Ranma paced nervously back and forth in her room. She didn't know about all this nonsense. Honestly, why couldn't she just get a bigger tunic and some pants and not worry about the whole thing. She stopped pacing and looked at the little vial of coal black powder sitting on the dresser. Her mouth watered in anticipation and her hand shook slightly. She calmed herself with a smile and centered her chi to make the shakes leave. Just nerves. That's all that was. Ranma straightened her little red robe for the hundredth time.

A knock drew her attention and she opened the door. Rei stood outside with Yoko and an elderly lady, who was carrying a basketful of things that she set on Ranma's bed. Yoko closed the door and locked it. She just smiled at the old woman's look and tossed the key to Rei.

"Okay, so I need to get this girls' measurements? But you said there would also be a boy here as well?" the old woman asked.

"Well, just get hers first, then we'll get the guys' measurements, okay?" Rei asked, staying a comment from Yoko.

Yoko smiled and turned away as the old woman nodded in confusion. Ah well, she'd done more odd things in her time. Kids will be kids, she supposed.

A little over half an hour later, she set her tape aside and wrote the final measurement on her little notepad.

Hmph, healthy girl, she thought and nodded in approval.

The old woman turned back to the trio.

"Okay, the girl is done. Now where is the young man?" she asked.

"Just a moment," Yoko said.

Ranma dropped her robe around her waist and tied it loosely as Yoko retrieved the vial for her from the counter. Ranma opened it and drank it down. The fire lit down her throat again and she coughed and hacked back what seemed like a stronger dose. As the pain subsided, he looked to Yoko and his heart jumped in his throat as he saw Akane. Standing there in Yoko's clothing, just as plain as day. He shook his head and looked again and the image was gone. He felt a thousand percent better now that he was a man once more and Ranma figured it was just from the pain of the transformation. He'd forgotten the sensations that occurred when he changed. Ranma thought about it for a minute, but decided to drop it. He'd ask Yoko later.

Ranma looked to the old woman, which Rei was trying to revive and for a second, he wondered if she had a heart attack. He would hate to cause someone's death like that. He tried to help, but Yoko just backed him up and told him just to stand there for a minute. The old woman came back around and shakily got to her feet, not taking her eyes off Ranma. He felt guilty for doing this, but Rei and Yoko said there wasn't any other way.

The old woman shooed the girls from the room and began to take his measurements. Ranma didn't know how often she had to take certain measurements, but he wished that Rei and Yoko had chosen someone with better eyesight. She wouldn't have to get so close then. At least his nerves had subsided.

The door opened an hour or so later and the old matron came out, trying to hide a smile. She nodded in approval and turned to Rei, who gave her half of the needed money. Yoko looked into the room and frowned slightly. Ranma put his robe back on and yawned slightly. He flopped down on the bed and began to study a couple of maps that Rei had left with him.

He's still male? Yoko thought for a moment, Oh damn, that must be it...

Yoko jumped as Rei tapped her on her shoulder. Rei grinned slyly and took a peek for herself, then turned back to Yoko.

"Come on, let's get something to snack on and then we can get out early tomorrow to find the rest of those materials," Rei smiled.

"Okay," Yoko chirped back, "Night Ranma!"

"Goodnight!" Ranma said from his room.

Rei giggled and held a finger to her lips at Yoko.

"Ranma? Can I come in and make love to you?" she said to the door.

"Goodnight Rei!"

Both girls burst out laughing as Rei closed the door. Ranma heard them skip down the hall. He didn't understand what the fascination was with sleeping with him. Sure, what he remembered about his experiences with Akane still made a goofy smile appear on his face and it made other parts of him take notice, but sex wasn't everything.

An itch began in his nose and he scratched it, but soon heaved and sneezed rather heavily. He shook his head and found that her robe no longer fit her the way it did two minutes ago. Ranma shook her head. The changes were coming far too often for her liking. It seemed like the powders were wearing off quicker, but this one did last longer than the last two. So maybe it was just her. She didn't know. Ranma rubbed her nose and went back to the maps.

***

Ranma looked at himself in the mirror with the late afternoon light shining through the open window. The pants were very much like his old ones, except that these were black, but he had his long lost red shirt back. He smirked that Rei had told the old woman to include the little wooden ties as well. It felt good to look like himself again. And now he had enough to outfit himself for a while. He looked over to Rei, who was finishing business with the old woman near the door. The old lady blew Ranma a kiss and skipped out with a light cackle. Ranma felt slightly nauseous at the thought, but cleared it from his mind.

"Damn, he IS a hotty," Hanasu said from the chair across the room.

"Hmph," Ikari huffed from the other chair, "I guess Futsuu was right after all."

She smiled and shook her head.

"How do you feel?" Rei asked as she folded up his clothes.

"Pretty good actually," he said, "I get the shakes slightly if I'm female for any length of time, but Yoko said that it was the painkiller that I asked her to put in it."

"Painkillers?" Hanasu asked.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded, "You see, with my old curse, there wasn't any pain switching between forms. But for some reason, when Yoko's powders force the change, it hurts like Hell."

"Maybe it's because they force the change," Rei ventured, "Instead of letting the curse flow naturally."

"Makes sense," Ikari said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," he continued, "Which is why I asked if there was anything she could do about it. And painkillers mixed in the formula were the only things that didn't affect the final outcome."

"Where is Yoko anyway?" Hanasu asked.

"She assured me that the final ingredients were from a vendor not far from here," Rei said, "So she went alone."

Ranma shook his head. He didn't want Yoko to expose herself in public. He didn't know if her mother would be out looking for her at this moment, but Yoko had assured him that what she needed was just around the corner. So he had acquiesced. As if in response to his question, there was a small knock on the door. Rei opened it and Yoko slid quickly inside. She was panting, out of breath, and ghostly pale. She settled down and Ranma held up a hand to keep questions from being thrown at her.

"I-" Yoko swallowed reflexively, "I almost ran into mother out there."

"Did she see you?" Rei asked.

Yoko shook her head and took several deep breaths.

"No, I saw her from a distance and hid in this nice man's tent for a couple minutes," she said, "I thanked him with a couple coins and then got the last of the ingredients and ran back here."

"So you can make it?" Ranma asked softly.

Yoko smiled and nodded her head.

"Okay, well, you just rest and take your time in preparing it," he said, "I've waited this long for a cure, I can wait a little longer for it to be perfect."

"Oh don't worry, it will be perfect," Yoko smiled, "But you've got to have been reverted for about an hour before you take it. And I can't add the painkillers this time. And I just want to tell everyone that it's going to sound horrible because of what it's doing to his curse."

"You mean, the pain?" Ranma asked, "The pain I can handle."

Yoko thought about it, but decided not to push the issue.

"All of us must leave him alone while the powder works, else we effect the outcome, okay?" Yoko looked to each of the women, who nodded in turn, "Good. Now let me get to work and you all can treat me to dinner tonight, okay?"

Everyone laughed as Yoko left.

Let them laugh, she thought, Let them laugh all the way to the end...

***

Several hours later, Ranma was in her room, alone. She sat on her bed. There was a small candle that burned in the corner of the room, away from the bed and the dresser across from the bed. It was dark in the room except for the ghostly light that the candle cast through the room. Ranma knew that both moons were full tonight, but she had the shutters closed to block as much noise as she could.

She had on one of the new shirts; this one was black with a golden dragon embroidered on the back. Black pants and black slippers finished the outfit. She closed her eyes as she sat cross-legged on the bed. She rubbed her face and looked across the room to the dresser.

The large vial sat on the dresser with a mix of coal black powder inside that contained her future. HIS future. She held a hand up to her breast and thought back to the first time she realized she was a woman. Her hand dropped slowly and came to rest in her lap. After tonight, she'd no longer be able to have children of her own either. Well, to give birth to them at least.

Ranma got up and walked to the dresser. She picked up the vial and unstoppered the top. The contents were still swirling and making little patterns in the mix. Ranma wondered if that was normal, but decided that it probably was since she never really looked at it before. She put her thumb over the top of the vial as she drew in a couple of deep breaths and let them out again. In one motion, she tilted the vial and it's contents back down her throat.

And in that instant, she knew she was fucked.

***

Esu side stepped a swing from his knife and brought her staff down hard. Suberi snapped himself backward into a low roll to avoid having his spine crushed by the blow. He came up and once more paced slowly inwards towards Esu. Once again, as the two squared off, a couple of lackeys tried to pull Hana's body to the side of the arena, along with the lackeys who had gotten in the way of the fighting.

Esu switched the position of her staff, which she knew would draw him in. Sure enough, he pounced over a lackey and went into a slide to try and swipe at her legs. Esu smiled as she brought the staff down on his hand and vaulted over his slide. She pulled her staff into a ready position as Suberi got to his feet.

He shook his right hand idly, and the crowd groaned as they heard the squeaking of the broken bones in his hand.

"If I have to do that to every one of your body parts," Esu huffed as she caught her breath, "Then I will. And don't think that I can't."

Suberi just snarled at her and switched the knife to his left hand. He stuffed his broken hand into the corner of his shirt for balance and stalked slowly towards Esu again. She had to hand it to him, he never gave up. Suberi came in closer, but still stayed out of striking distance for her staff. He then backed up and snuck a glance to Mikan. Esu's heart jumped into her throat. She knew it was to goad her in, but she couldn't let Mikan-

Esu instinctively threw her staff up over her head to block the downward stroke from his knife. Her arms groaned under the sudden shock. Adrenaline surged into her veins at the reaction to his sudden burst of speed. She could feel her strain starting to give and she couldn't understand where he had gotten this sudden reserve of power. The knife inched closer and she swore as she realized that she'd left her middle open.

Esu felt the air rush from her lungs as his kick threw her across the arena floor. She opened her eyes in time to dodge her own staff, which had been thrown like a spear at her head. It had impacted a small clod of moss near her shoulder and stuck there, upright.

Esu brought herself to a crouch and things went into slow motion, though Esu felt no spell was in place. She saw herself grab her staff as Suberi rushed in. He looked simply demonic. His tongue wagged out the side of his mouth in anticipation of the kill, his left hand raised high with his bloodstained knife and his broken hand dangling limply out of his shirt.

Esu closed her eyes and threw herself forward. She felt herself as she pulled her staff out of the moss clod in a high swinging arc. She felt something connect with her staff about a third of the way up, then give weakly. Esu opened her eyes at the silence that greeted her. Adrenaline rushed back into her system at the sight of the end of her staff soaked in blood. Esu ventured a look back towards Suberi and was met by his headless corpse still twitching slightly.

Well, not quite headless, she noted in an odd moment of lucidity, His spinal column is still mostly there.

It was at that point that several heaving noises could be heard around the chamber. Esu looked back to Mikan and threw herself backward to avoid a rapier as it clashed down upon her staff. Disarmed, she scrambled back, but Tekido shook his head and threw his rapier down. He shoved both away with his foot and beckoned Esu to stand and fight.

This boy must be crazy, Esu thought, I just beheaded one of his fighters and now he wants to fight me barehanded?!

I like him...She smiled at her other thought.

Esu got to her feet and took up a ready stance, trying to ignore the pooling blood as more lackeys dragged Suberi's remains away. Tekido was an experienced fighter, Esu could see that, but an alien martial artist hadn't trained him. And Ranma was far better than any one of these thugs. He moved with a grace that belied his strength and Esu thought idly that, as she blocked a kick, it was probably the way these guys fought. Strength through deception.

He spun into a high kick and Esu went downstairs, throwing him from his feet. He countered and spun his arms around until they grabbed hold of her leg and Esu smiled. She twisted her torso in the opposite direction and locked her legs around his head. He might be experienced, but she was better and she'd been training others to be as good as her and Ranma. She smiled inwardly. She would never be as good as Ranma, but then, they didn't need to know that.

Tekido hit her legs weakly as he slowly turned purple. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his free arm went limp as he lost consciousness. Esu let him go and stood shakily. Mikan rushed out onto the floor and helped her mentor to stand.

"Okay, you sick bastard," Esu gulped for air as her adrenaline rush came down, "I won, which means that Mikan and I go free. Now keep your end of the bargain!"

Cappin stroked his beard and looked down to what was left of Suberi. He scowled and stood. He kicked Suberi's head aside as he strode to stand in front of Esu. In readiness for another fight, Esu backed Mikan off a little with her hand. Cappin chewed on a thought and threw his arms around Esu in a hug that almost suffocated her. His laugh bellowed from somewhere near his toes as the rest of the cavern joined in and shouted three cheers for the winner, Esu. Mikan looked to Esu, who just smiled and collapsed.

***

The guard sniffed in the stuffy night air. He was used to pulling third shift duties, but it didn't mean he liked it. Odd things happened at night, especially in a magical city like Kellenel. He strode through town, his light jangling lightly from his pike behind him. He turned the corner and stopped. What was that noise?

He was about to discount it and go on, but he heard it again. Kind of low, yet ugly, like something was being torn out of a person. Slowly from the sound of it too. The noise died away and he waited for it to start up again, which it did, this time in a lower tone.

"Hmph," he huffed into the darkness, "Damned wizards."

***

Yoko barred the door leading to Ranma's room and covered her ears again against the screams that came from within.

"Dammit, I said let me in there!" Rei yelled above the screams.

"No!" Yoko yelled, "If you go in there, I can't even guarantee that he'll live through it! You've got to let it run its course!"

"Then you go in and find out!" Hanasu yelled.

"No!" Yoko shouted, "None of us can-"

The screams stopped as suddenly as they had begun. Yoko waited for any kind of sign. Rei and Ikari hung back and Hanasu rubbed the rest of the sleep out of her eyes. A low, guttural moan issued from whatever was inside.

"Ranma?" Rei reached out to the door, breathlessly.

Yoko held up a hand.

"I'll go in and make sure he's all together, then I'll bring the rest of you in, okay?"

Rei looked to Ikari, who hesitantly nodded in agreement. Yoko nodded and took a deep breath. She opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind her. Yoko dropped her worried expression and replaced it with what she really felt. Elation. Shear happiness that her plan had worked so perfectly. That bitch Kowaku was gone, Ranma would take the both of them directly to Ten'imuhou-sama and she would be his wife and queen. That had been the deal that they made before Kowaku had brought her to Kellenel. Bring Shiro Daiou to him, and it would secure her place as his queen.

She smiled wickedly at Ranma's prone form. The poor boy had flung himself on the bed in fits of agony. She checked for pulse and found one, pretty strong too. That was good. It wouldn't do to just kill him outright. That was the mistakes the others made that she would not. He groaned slightly and she helped him roll over onto his back. His head lolled and he opened his eyes to Yoko. She looked at the pools of liquid gold and silver that swam across his eyes, giving him shapes only he could see. She took a cloth from the dresser and returned to the bed, wiping at his head.

She looked back at the door and her smile grew. She reached down and kissed Ranma. He responded fully and she was surprised to find that he was a pretty good kisser. Certainly not the best, but not just average either. He mumbled something as his head lolled back and forth. It must be whatever he's seeing, she didn't know. She leaned in to his ear.

"We've got to get out of here Ranma," she whispered, "Get your stuff together and get us out of here. There are killers waiting outside the door."

Yoko yelped as she was thrown to the floor as Ranma sprang into action. He gathered his clothes together into one of his little sacks and he went to the window. He threw open the shutters and looked outside, as if studying something. The door burst open behind him and he turned to face the intruders.

Yoko yelped again as she scrambled over the other side of the bed. Rei couldn't speak as she saw Ranma glaring at her. His form. Rei gasped in shock that she couldn't see his female form anymore. Normally, his male form had been an after image that was transposed on his female form. During the first of his transformations, it had simply been reversed, but this-

"My Gods!" Hanasu muttered to her right, "Look at his eyes!"

Ranma pulled his hands back and Rei brought her blade to bear just as a flash hit the shield she was able to throw up. She put her energy into strengthening the shield and she looked at Yoko.

"You idiots," Yoko laughed, "Come on Ranma, or should I say Shiro? We've got a date with destiny…And we can't be late!"

"Shiro-?" Rei eaked out, "Ranma, no…NO!"

Ranma stopped and stepped back. Yoko wondered why he stopped blasting them, but didn't wonder too long as Ranma scooped her into his arms and jumped from the window. Rei and Ikari ran to the window and looked out, only to see Ranma, carrying Yoko in his arms, bounce from rooftop to rooftop towards the bay. Hanasu looked around them at the blackened and charred entranceway that remained.

"What the Hells was THAT?!" Hanasu shouted behind them.

Ikari swung a look back at her.

"Big trouble, that's what," she muttered, "Rei, can you catch him?"

"I can't hurt him-" Rei choked back a sob that was rising in her throat.

"I'm not asking you to kill him," Ikari said, taking Rei by the shoulders, "Just catch him and put him down. Don't take any limbs off and don't kill him and I'll be able to heal any damage, okay?"

Rei stopped sobbing as she understood what Ikari was asking and a dangerous look sparkled through her eyes.

"Yeah!" Ikari smiled, "Now go after him!"

Rei ran out of the room and back to her own room. She knew a couple things that just might give her an advantage and maybe even bring him back. Ikari and Hanasu locked up the rooms and tried to follow Rei as she took off, but quickly gave up outside the hotel as Rei bounced off into the distance after Ranma.

"This is nuts," Ikari muttered, out of breath, "RIDE!"

"Ride?" Hanasu managed to mutter behind her.

An ornate, little, four-wheeled cart pulled up along side Ikari and automatically opened its' door to let her and Hanasu in.

"Yeah, ride," Ikari smiled at Hanasu, "Follow those people fighting on the rooftops."

Hanasu yelped as the cart took off at breakneck speeds through the dark streets of Kellenel.

***

Tekido mumbled to himself again as he felt the bruise on the side of his neck. Esu really didn't have to squeeze so hard. But it was the first time he had been between a woman's' thighs. Tekido smiled, but quickly straightened around and picked up the other saddle that the riders had given them. He also couldn't understand why he was being made to go with them. Especially since they'd be going to Cunec and then to Akamerajh.

"What if someone spotted him?" he had asked, "I'd be puttin' them in danger by going along."

"Well, my boy, they just might put some hair on that chest of yours," was the response he got from Cappin.

Hair. He had plenty of hair on his chest. Not his fault that it was all blonde.

"Now, in taking the young lad with you," Cappin said as he came around the corner, "You promise to bring him back in one piece?"

"Cappin, that was the deal, but we really don't need the services of one of your men. Honestly we don't," Esu said as she began to check the wagon set up.

Cappin looked to the brunette in a mix of lust and admiration. He had to admit, she had balls. He chuckled at his own inner monologue and Esu just looked at him.

"I'm sorry for the loss of one of yours though," he sobered, pointing up the hillside towards the small fire on the top of the hill, "Our custom is barter. And Suberi was a prick anyway. Can I talk openly with you?"

Esu looked at the huge man and tilted her head in confusion. She nodded and Cappin looked back to Tekido, who was taking more time with the saddles than was necessary. He snorted once and Tekido got the message. He turned and scrambled up the hill to the fire.

"I made a promise to the boy's father when he died," Cappin said as he watched Tekido climb the hill, "He was a good man. Strong, dangerous, a real heartbreaker too. The only man I ever wanted by my side in a fight. Anyway, young Tekido has that same quality in him, but I can't train him here and for some reason, he doesn't want to leave."

He looked back down at Esu, who was wondering where all this was leading.

"Take him and train him," he asked, "Get him out of here. Make his life end on a better note than his father's. That's all I ask."

Esu chewed on what he said for half a minute before answering.

"I can't train him," she said, putting her staff in the wagon, "But I know someone who can, if she's still alive that is. We're on our way to Akamerajh to find her and Tekido would be more than welcome to join us."

"My thanks sister," he said, his smile genuine, "And I am truly sorry about the other sister."

Esu hung her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Her emotions had been run raw in the last few hours and she'd finally come to one conclusion. She would have time enough to grieve later.

"Well, Cappin, she's now serving beings greater than us," Esu said as she slapped his shoulder, "I would like to think that she's in a better place."

"Well, just so you know," Cappin said, extending his hand, "If there's ever anything the riders can provide, you've got it."

Esu thought about declining such a dubious offer, but something said to take it. So she did, and shook out her hand as Cappin almost crushed it. The genial giant strode back into the cave complex and Esu looked up the hill towards the gravesite.

***

Mikan sobbed lightly. She looked once again at the gravesite and she couldn't hold it in. The tears came just as easily for Hana as they would have for any other person. Ijisai was stoic as she knelt in front of the grave. A simple collection of stones had been laid over her body. Ijisai wiped the tears from her own eyes and sighed at the grave. She hadn't ever liked Hana, who was snobby, arrogant, mean-hearted, spiteful and several other adjectives that Esu-sama would have frowned upon. But in a fight and when she was needed, Hana had always been there.

Ijisai looked back at Mikan, who was taking it harder, but then Hana had come to her rescue too. Mikan dropped to her knees and sobbed into her hands. Mikan had always been so bright and happy, it hurt Ijisai to see her like this. Ijisai shook her head. She'd keep her feelings for herself and mourn Hana in her own way. Mikan needed her to be strong, and so she would.

Ijisai got to her feet and placed the final raiment on Hana's grave. It was the egg stone that comprised the top of her staff, something that every sister and the top acolytes carried. Ijisai stepped back and brushed her hair out of her face and put her hands on her hips. She sighed once and set a hand lightly on Mikan's shoulder. Mikan quieted and wiped her eyes. Ijisai gave her shoulder a light squeeze and she began back down the hill.

Rounding the first stone, she came upon the young man that Esu had called Tekido. It seemed at odds with his blonde hair to have a large purplish bruise along his neck where Esu had taken him down.

"Oh, ma'am, sorry ta disturb you, but Esu said it's time ta go," he muttered to the ground.

Ijisai wondered at this. She looked at the ground that captured his interest, but couldn't see anything of special significance. She shrugged.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that it would be," she said, "Mikan will be along shortly."

Ijisai began to walk past the young man, when he placed a hand along her arm.

"Mikan, is she gonna be…" he began, then he looked at that spot on the ground again, "I mean, how is she…I mean…"

"Mikan is going to be all right, if that's what you want to know," she said as she began to be amused by this man, "I think she feels like she partly caused Hana's death and that's hard for her, but she'll be better in time."

The young man looked worried, an expression that Ijisai could tell was foreign on his face. He looked up to the grave and his eyes lit at what he saw. Ijisai turned to see. It was Mikan, who was making her way slowly down through the boulders. She had stopped crying, at least and that was good. She stepped down to stand next to Ijisai and gave Tekido her most winning smile, to which he found his spot on the ground again.

"Come on," she said, breathing out a sigh, "We've got to get to Cunec. Oh, and Ijisai? Remind me to tell you what Hana said up there, she thought it was funny, but I don't understand it."

Mikan picked her way past them and went on down the hill, leaving Ijisai to give a questioning look to Tekido, who simply shrugged in response. Ijisai turned toward the grave once more and stopped her mouth open. Tekido saw and swore silently that he knew what the hells was going on.

Above them stood Hana, draped in robes of gold and light. In one hand, she held her staff. She raised the other hand to say goodbye and smiled lightly. She wagged a finger at Ijisai as golden fires erupted around her, transforming her into a tiny ball of light that lifted higher and higher to the heavens. Ijisai and Tekido stood, mouths agape at the spectacle, and watched as the little ball of light traversed it's way to the darkening skies above.

Tekido frowned as he looked at Ijisai. She returned with a smile and began to chuckle to herself in the waning light of the day. Ijisai skipped merrily after Mikan and Tekido looked back up at the sky, wondering what he was getting himself into now.

***

Rei powered up the chi in her legs and made one final leap to the old warehouse near the wharf. The docks in Kellenel were set off a little ways from the rest of the city, so as to discourage raiders from simply docking with the city and invading that way. What it made was a big open space in which Rei felt very vulnerable. She kept her eyes on Ranma as he bounded ahead of her and he never seemed to look back once, like he was so confident of his abilities to escape that he didn't give it a second thought.

Rei had been mulling the fight over in her head and there was always the same consequence. If Ranma could disarm her, then she wouldn't have a chance, but so long as she kept striking him with bladed shots, she could wear him down. She silently hoped that he wouldn't use the Starfire, because of the massive property damage that would incur. She looked down to the docks from the roof of the warehouse and smiled. If he used it, then he and that bitch Yoko would be dunked in the pier-side ocean. The docks were all wooden.

But where was he? He'd made one final leap down to the piers below and she'd briefly lost him in the darkness. His all black outfit didn't make it any easier to follow him either. She heard a thump behind her and cursed her laxity. She turned and brought her blade up. Ranma stood on the other side of the roof, with Yoko holding two bags standing behind him.

Rei fought back tears as she could see the ghostly golden light from his eyes as it burned away in the darkness. He mumbled something, but Rei couldn't hear it and she doubted she'd understand it even if she could. Rei reached a free hand up to her head and straightened the butterfly comb in her hair, so it wouldn't fall out. He switched his stance and jumped. Rei growled lightly and jumped to meet him.

Ranma brought his knee up in an attempt to get her to swing inside. Rei didn't bite as she brought her blade upward towards his face. Ranma knocked her elbow away as the blade skimmed across his cheek. Rei landed and switched positions of her blade, ready for the next attack. She turned and saw Ranma land. He stood and looked at her. He wiped a thin streak of blood that had run down his cheek and sneered at her.

Rei spun as she sensed an attack and whipped her blade around. She brought it up to a ready position again and saw that it was Yoko. She had tried to strike at her head with a knife and Rei had cut along her arm. Yoko yelped as the pain shot through her arm. She dropped to her knees and grabbed her arm, as she shot Rei a poisoned glance. Both of them started at an unearthly roar that erupted from Ranma, who threw himself at Rei.

***

"Oh come on!" Ikari yelled to the automated cart.

The cart simply held out its little box and Ikari dropped in more coins. Ikari and Hanasu jumped as an explosion rocked the night sky in the distance. Ikari put in the last of the coins and jammed the box back into its compartment. The cart chattered to itself for a minute and took off once again.

"Who do you think that was?" Hanasu yelled above the din of the little cart.

Ikari didn't answer, but she knew that for whoever it was, they were going to be too late.

***

Rei panted hard as she landed among the rubble of the warehouse. His last attack had broken a couple of ribs, which weren't healing fast enough for Rei's comfort. He had also gotten shots in along her arms and legs, trying to disarm or disable her. Ranma staggered to his feet and faced her once more. He was breathing hard himself, probably from the cut along his shoulder. Rei huffed to herself and stood, getting ready for his next attack. She thought that cut was deeper than it was.

He began to circle her again and she could see the various cuts that lined his hands and arms from every time he tried to block her blade. Ranma was trying to get her angry enough to support one of those wind funnel blasts of his, but that required a great amount of hot chi, which Rei wasn't giving any. She knew how it worked as well as he did, unfortunately for him, her attacks didn't require that.

Rei sliced outwards and released a blinding shot of chi toward an area about two feet above his head. Just as she expected, he jumped to avoid it and got caught right in the path of the blast. It pushed him higher into the night sky and Rei knew that this was her chance. Now or never.

"Gufuu Dageki!" she screamed.

The chi she'd been building up in her blade released in a squelch of liquid fire that bowled its way right at him. She wasn't going to give him another chance and she followed her own funnel cloud towards its target.

Rei's heart jumped as she lost sight of him for an instant. And she knew the instant was all he needed. He threw some kind of shield under him as her funnel passed and landed in front of her. He grabbed Rei's outstretched arm and bent it backward, breaking it over his own. She yelped, but could escape his grasp. She closed her eyes as he pulled her closer.

Nothing came. He had stopped in his motion. Rei whimpered as pain shot through her arm. She opened her tear-streaked eyes and saw that the golden fire had gone from his eyes. They were back to normal! Something...She saw how the moonlight was casting a reflection through her butterfly comb onto his face and smiled in hope.

"Rei...?" he muttered, sounding like a trapped animal.

"Ranma! I-!"

She gurgled as blood came to her lips. Rei stared down as she felt her blade being driven even deeper into her heart. She looked weakly up at his face and saw that the gold had returned to his eyes. He sneered as he dropped her to the ground and her comb clattered away in the darkness. Ranma looked on as the light faded from her eyes. Rei tried to speak, but only darkness came to answer. She heard a crunch and raised her head to see that Ranma had stepped on her comb as he walked to the ship in the distance.

Her beautiful comb that glittered like a shining hope in the night...

***

The cart pulled up to a huge destroyed building and Ikari saw Rei, slumped over, a pool of darkish fluid seeping out underneath her. She jumped out of the cart and raised Rei. Her body was already beginning to get cold as Ikari pulled her blade out of the girl's heart. Hanasu knelt but couldn't speak at the horrific sight in front of her.

Ikari stood and walked out towards the medium sized boat that Ranma and that bitch Yoko had boarded. She held Rei's blade up to her, but couldn't speak for the tears that came to her. She opened her eyes and saw Rei's butterfly comb lying broken on the ground at her feet. She picked up the shattered comb and looked on as she saw Ranma climb the stern of the boat. He took up airs in the night and Ikari could see the ship pulling slowly away from the dock.

The golden fire in his eyes lit the darkness that he was sailing into and Ikari closed her eyes on Rei's beautiful little butterfly comb. She closed her eyes on Rei's shattered love. And Ranma would pay...