Waters Under Earth

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Alan Harnum 
-harnums@thekeep.org
-harnums@hotmail.com (old/backup)

All Ranma characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi, first published
by Shogakugan in Japan and brought over to North America by Viz
Communications.

Waters Under Earth at Transpacific Fanfiction:  
http://www.humbug.org.au/~wendigo/transp.html
http://users.ev1.net/~adina/shrines2/fanfics.html

Chapter 1 : Small Beginnings 

     The talons of her feet clicked sharply on the smooth stone
floor as she walked.  That was a small sound, though, compared to
the others, the scrape of saw on wood and the ringing of hammer
upon metal.  All of Phoenix Mountain had resounded with
construction for the past few days, either to repair the damage
done by the outsiders or to take advantage of the change in the
flow of the underground rivers and the reawakening of the spring.
The halls of the palace and the tunnels of the mountain were
filled with workers, some in human form to take advantage of the
greater dexterity of human fingers and the smaller space a body
without wings occupied.

     Kima walked as if none of it concerned her; she was a
warrior, not one of the workers, and those who passed by her
didn't meet her eye.  She made way for no one, and all of them
made way for her.

     Long white wings trailed nearly to the floor, folded over
her body like a cape now.  The scars she'd received in the battle
against the outsider were nearly faded, but the memory would
remain, as would all the other unpleasant memories of the past
few days.

     Spotting who she was looking for, she strode up to him.
"Loame?"

     A large, heavily-built bird-man with broad brown wings
turned to look at her from where he was talking to a group of the
workers he was in charge of.  "Yes, Lady Kima?"

     "How goes the work?" she asked.

     "Well as could be hoped," Loame said.  "The damage to the
lower halls and the labyrinth was quite extensive, and there is
also the matter of the spring being re-awakened..."

     Kima nodded curtly.  "Yes.  Go on."

     "We have worked on improving the internal plumbing system,"
Loame said, putting the taloned finger of one hand to the side of
his forehead and pushing back a strand of long brown hair.  It
was just beginning to be streaked with grey, although Loame had
passed his sixtieth year.  "We should have running water to all
parts of the mountain within the next few days."

     "Well done," Kima said.  "Is there anything else I should
know?"

     Loame looked uncomfortable for a moment.  "Well... It was
just a thought, but..."

     "Speak up," Kima said.  "I don't have all day."

     "Lady Kima, I am not saying it should be done, only that it
could be," Loame said.  He was a good head taller than her, with
a bulky build and a heavily-muscled body, but there was no doubt
who was in control here.  "But if the Gekkaja and the Kinjakan
were utilised correctly, we could supply hot and cold water to
all parts of the mountain.  There would be no need to heat water
for baths or cooking, and..."

     Kima looked at him flatly, and he trailed off.  "You suggest
using the heirlooms of the royal family for plumbing?"

     "It was just a thought," Loame said.  "Really, only a
thought.  I just wanted to mention it..."

     "It is alright," Kima said.  "It is a good idea.  Draw up a
proposal for it.  We must see what the royal family says, but..."

     "KIMA!"

     She winced, and felt her teeth clench involuntarily.  The
voice was as familiar as it was unwanted.  She glanced back,
dismissing Loame with a quick wave of her hand, as Helubor strode
up to her, wings twitching with agitation.  He was handsome,
almost too handsome, with a slender build, short dark hair, and
crimson wings slashed with black.  The sour expression on his
face took away from his good looks, but only slightly.

     "What is the meaning of this?" Helubor said.  "I want
answers, Kima!"

     "Well, Lord Helubor, this is the construction effort to
repair the damage to the mountain," Kima said.  "The workers are
also reconfiguring the plumbing system, since the spring of the
mountain has begun flowing again."

     "Not this, you foolish woman," Helubor said, waving his hand
disdainfully at the efforts of the workers.  "Lord Saffron.  What
of him?"

     Kima looked at Helubor evenly.  He was of the royal family,
a close relation to Lord Saffron.  He was usually content to
lounge in his chambers, but when he wanted to, he could make
trouble.  "Lord Saffron is in the nursery with the other
children."

     Helubor's face went redder, if that was possible.  "Lord
Saffron is the king of Phoenix Mountain, and you treat him like
just another squawling child..."

     "Lord Helubor, at this moment, Lord Saffron is a squawling
child," Kima said wearily.  "He used up all his heat in the
battle.  It will take years before he is ready to begin his
transformation again.  For now, the best thing to do is allow him
to grow up in peace."

     "Not with the other children, he won't," Helubor said.  He
folded his arms over his body and clicked his talons against the
ornate gold and silver breastplate over his chest, his wings flapping
slightly with indignation.  "They will..."

     "They will perhaps keep him from being lonely," Kima said.
"And from running off as he has done before."

     "This has never been done before!  I will not stand for it!"

     "Lord Helubor, Saffron seems happy in the nursery," Kima
said, refusing to let even a note of pleading into her voice.
"Go and see him if you wish.  Then talk to me again, if you are
still discontent.  The king's welfare is my responsibility; my
family's duty has always been to guard the king, even against his
own family, should the need arise."

     Helurebor's face tightened, and then he looked about to say
something else, but then he turned and strode off, wings shaking
with fury.  Kima sighed and touched her forehead; she was
starting to feel a headache coming on.

     "There goes a troublesome boy," an aged voice beside her
said.  She started, then glanced to the side at the hunched
figure.  He'd been tall once, but the long passage of years had
shrunk him, bent his body down.

     "Hello, Samofere," she said.

     "You seem distracted, Lady Kima," Samofere said.  His eyes
were bright as he looked at her from behind the thin frames of
small spectacles perched on his nose.

     "The last few days have been extremely trying," Kima said.
"You wouldn't know, sitting in the library with all your
books..."

     Samofere snorted softly.  "Books are a greater challenge
than you know, Lady Kima.  Don't think I'm unaware of what goes
on in here; I heard the fighting all the way in the library."

     Samofere was the librarian of Phoenix Mountain, the keeper
of the collections of books and records that encompassed the
thousands of years of history of the civilization within the
mountain.  He was not even a member of one of the noble houses as
she was, but there was no one who knew more about the history of
the mountain than he did.  That gave him a respected status among
the people of the mountain, even to her.

     "Perhaps all of this change will be good," Samofere said,
glancing around at the construction.  "Change is often for the
best."

     He sighed, and peered intently at two workers passing by
carrying a large wooden beam between them.  "Although they
certainly did a lot of damage.  How many were there, again?"

     "Five, plus the Jusenkyou Guide's daughter," Kima said after
a moment.

     Samofere smiled slightly.  "An impressive effort for so
few."

     Kima ruffled her wing feathers with slight annoyance.  "They
were very skilled.  Particularly their leader."

     "Ranma Saotome?"

     She blinked at him, then frowned.  "How do you know his
name?"

     "It's all over the mountain," Samofere said.  "Ranma
Saotome, the outsider who defeated not only Lady Kima, but Lord
Saffron."

     Kima clenched one taloned hand into a tight fist, and her
frown became a deep scowl.  "If we should meet again..."

     "Come now, Lady Kima, there is no shame in losing to a foe
strong enough to beat Lord Saffron," Samofere said.  "He must be
an extremely powerful and skilled fighter."

     Kima nodded, slowly letting herself relax.  "He is that.
But he is also tenacious beyond all reason.  And lucky as well."

     "A good combination," Samofere said.  He coughed for a
moment, then tapped the short walking stick he carried on the
stone floor.  "He is what I came to talk to you about anyway,
Lady Kima."

     Kima was surprised for a moment, but quickly hid it.  "What
about?"

     "Can you spare time to come to the library?" Samofere asked.

     Kima slowly nodded.  "Loame is handling things quite well."

     "Then come," Samofere said, turning and heading off with the
tips of his black wings trailing on the stone floor behind him.
From anyone else of lower station then her, it would have been an
insult, but she had to make certain allowances for Samofere.  He
was old, the oldest person in Phoenix Mountain.  She didn't
really have any idea how old he actually was; he'd never said
and she'd never asked.

     After a moment, she followed, not sure why she had lost her
headache and gained a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.

**********

     "We're off..."

     To school.  As if nothing had changed.  As if they hadn't
nearly been married, as if Akane hadn't nearly died, as if Ranma
hadn't come close to telling her he loved her, as she lay still
in his arms by the pools of Jusenkyo.

     Perhaps he had told her.  Those agonizing few moments when
he thought he'd been too late, that the water hadn't been in
time, had woven themselves together within his mind into one
complicated jumble.  He couldn't remember whether he'd said it
out loud or just to himself.  Or if he'd said it at all, even.

     He was walking beside Akane, not running along the fence as
he often did.  He wanted to be close to her, although he would
have denied vehemently it if anyone had asked.

     A gust of wind blew by them and sent his pigtail fluttering
in the breeze, and the skirt of Akane's school uniform rippling.
He followed the motion up to her face.

     Which didn't look particularly pleased.  "What are you
staring at?" she asked flatly, a slight note of accusation in her
tone.

     "Nothin'," Ranma said.

     "You were staring at me," Akane muttered, turning her head
and looking away from him.

     "Who'd wanna stare at you anyway?"

     "Oh, don't start that again."

     "Start what again?"

     "I saw that look on your face when I was in that dress.
You can't fool me anymore."

     Ranma had no reply, the remembered sight of Akane in her
wedding dress drowning out any quick remark he might have made.
He couldn't see her face, but he was fairly sure she was smiling.

     "Ah, forget it," Ranma muttered under his breath as the
gates of Furinkan approached up ahead.  He could see there were
numerous students gathered in the courtyard, surrounding someone
in a school dress on a raised platform.

     As they got closer, Ranma saw it was Nabiki.

     "Oh hell," he said, knuckling his fist to his forehead.
"What's she up to this time?"

     Stepping through the gate, they began to hear what Nabiki
was saying.

     "...the real scoop, folks.  Ranma and Akane's incredible
almost-wedding, with all the sordid details laid bare.  See the
photos of the disaster!  Read about how it all came together!  We
have only a limited print-run of these special booklets, so get
that money out now!"

     They stopped dead, incredulous expressions on their faces.

     "I'm going to kill her," Ranma said in a cold voice.

     "No.  She's my sister.  I'm going to kill her first," Akane
replied in a disbelieving tone.  They were both standing rigid
near the gate.  The students surrounding Nabiki began to produce
wadded bills from their pockets, holding them up and quickly
exchanging them for a copy of a large, white-covered book with
Nabiki.

     "Hey Ranchan, hey Akane," Ukyou said as she walked up.  She
was thumbing through one of the books.  "Some of these shots are
really good... She managed to get my good side, you know..."

     There was a grinding sound.  Ranma realized it was his
teeth after a few moments.  He turned and looked at Ukyou, and
the expression on his face was far from happy.

     "Ukyou, you are not one of the people I want to see right
now," he said tightly.  "Excuse me."

     With that, he strode off towards the gathering in the centre
of the courtyard.  Ukyou looked stricken, but her face went back
to a weak smile when she saw Akane looking at her.

     "I guess he's still mad about the Nannichuan water," she
said after a moment.  A small quaver came into her voice as she
noticed that Akane wasn't smiling back.

     "Or maybe that you and Shampoo blew up his wedding," Akane
said.  She turned her back and headed off quickly after Ranma
before Ukyou had a chance to respond.

**********

     Ranma pushed his way through the edge of the crowd, students
moving out of his way as soon as they saw who it was, and the
expression on his face.  He reached the quickly-assembled
platform Nabiki had thrown up, and practically shoved the last
student out of his way to get onto it.

     "So this is why you left so early this morning," he hissed
at her.

     "Hi Ranma," Nabiki said.  She smiled at him and looked to
the crowd.  "Let's have a hand for the almost-groom."

     There was scattered, weak applause that died quickly as
Ranma glared around at them.  "You think it's funny, huh?  My
life's just some big joke to you all?"

     There was silence.  "This is just pathetic.  Shelling out
money for this.  I know Nabiki ain't gonna give your money back,
but if I see any of those books around the school, I'm gonna be
real unhappy with whoever's got 'em, alright?"

     There was more silence, uncomfortable now.  Someone coughed.

     "Just get outta here," Ranma said.  He turned his back and
bent down, grabbing up the cardboard box from which Nabiki had
been taking the booklets.

     She put a hand on his arm, smiled at him with false
sweetness.  "Ranma, those are mine."

     The crowd was quickly dispersing.  Ranma looked at Nabiki,
and snorted slightly.  "Not anymore."

     Nabiki's smile got smaller.  "Give those back, Saotome,
or..."

     "Or what?  There's little you can do to me that you haven't
already," Ranma said.  His eyes caught hers, and she saw the hurt
in their gaze for a moment before it went back behind his eyes.
"I didn't think even you'd do this, but I shoulda known better."
       
     He shook off her hand, turned, and hopped off the platform,
taking the box with him.  Nabiki was about to go after him, and
then someone put their hand on her arm.

     "I'd suggest you leave him alone," Akane said from behind
her.  "Because even though I'm mad at you now, he's a lot
madder."

     Nabiki looked back at her, and assumed a wounded
expression.  "I'm just trying to make a little pocket money."

     "You don't ever feel guilty, do you?" Akane said, with a
kind of shocked wonder in her tone.  "About using him as your
personal cash cow?"

     "No one can take advantage of you without your permission,"
Nabiki said with a shrug.  "Ranma sets himself up so much, it
would be a shame not to use him."

     "Just because he's got weak spots doesn't mean you have to
hit them," Akane said.

     Nabiki's face tightened, and she locked eyes with Akane.
"You are the last person who has any right to lecture anyone
about how they treat him."

     The school bell rang, and she turned away from her younger
sister and strode off towards the school.  Akane watched her go
for a moment in half-stunned silence, the wind ruffling her hair
slightly as she shook her head.  Whether for her sister or
herself, she did not know.

**********

     Ranma arrived at his classroom with the box still under one
arm.  He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with it.  He'd
figure out something to do with it at the end of the day,
hopefully.

     He realized vaguely on the edge of his mind that Nabiki
probably wasn't going to just ignore this, but he was too angry
right now to care.  The chaos of the wedding was looping itself
endlessly back and forth in his head.  Shampoo and Ukyou and
their bombs, Kuno and his sword, Happosai and the Nannichuan
water...

     His chance to be a man again.  A full man.  Ruined by that
old fool.

     He clenched his fist, sagged towards the wall and rested his
forehead against it.  After all these past months, nearly a year
now, after all the times he'd been trapped as a woman or forced
to act as one, forced to live in a body that wasn't his own, he'd
nearly been cured.  So close, so close, and then it was gone.

     That was the worst part.  None of the other stuff had
helped, like Kuno alternately trying to kill him or marry him,
or the explosive food Shampoo and Ukyou had cooked up.

     He felt betrayed by that.  He wouldn't have put it past
Shampoo, but he thought Ukyou would've been more responsible.
Someone could've really gotten hurt.

     How many other times had he come close to a cure, only to
have it denied?  Shampoo's one-use-only Nannichuan mix, the dry
spring under the girl's locker room, the flooded pools after the
battle with Saffron...

     So close so many times.

     How many times had he nearly been trapped forever in his
female body?  Cologne's pressure point, the Chiisuiton,
Happosai's super-cold...

     It all ran together in his head.  He shuddered,
contemplating what it would be like to be stuck as a woman
forever.  He couldn't even imagine.

     He realized people were staring, and he drew a single
sharp breath and straightened himself up, gripping the handle of
his schoolbag tightly and hugging the box to his body.  He tried
to find his centre, find his balance, and did, after a moment,
get somewhere back towards control.  But he still felt shaky.

     The bell was ringing, had been for some time.  On top of
everything else, he didn't want to be late.  He began to run,
screeching through the door of the classroom behind someone else
just before it closed.

     He nearly slipped and dropped the box in surprise when he
saw the sight.  The students were paying rapt attention to
something Hinako-sensei was saying, rather than engaging in their
usual morning gossip.  He listened for a moment, and his knuckles
went white on the handle of his schoolbag.

     "...such a big mess!  There was cake everywhere, and it was
so yummy, and people were fighting, and Ranma was unconscious
with all these girls all over him, and..."

     The diminutive child who served as Ranma's homeroom teacher
finally turned to look at him, a bright and perky smile on her
face.  Long hair swung as she hopped off the edge of the desk
she'd been perched on and ran up to grab Ranma by the hand.  "Hi
Ranma!  I was just telling everyone about how fun your wedding
was!  I had a great time!  Thanks for inviting me!"

     There was an innocent joy on the teacher's face that made
him see red.  He half-snarled, pushed down any violent urges, and
yanked his hand out of hers.

     "I'm glad someone enjoyed it," he said as he moved quickly
past her to his seat.  Akane wasn't there yet, and neither was
Ukyou.  If they didn't hurry, they were going to be late.

     Not that he cared.

     He sighed and carefully fitted the box under his desk
before sitting down.  The box made it hard to stretch his legs
out, and he could see several students looking at it with
interest.  He glared back and forth until they looked away again.

     Hinako-sensei perched back up on the desk again, tattooing a
beat against the wooden edge with her heels as she hummed softly
under her breath for a few moments.

     An expression of consternation came onto her face.  "Did I
take attendance yet or not?"

     Half the class called out in the affirmative, the other in
the negative.  The child looked further perplexed, and frowned
cutely.  "Some of you are telling lies.  You know what happens to
bad kids who tell lies, don't you?"

     "Why don't you just check the attendance and see if you did
it?" Ranma said impatiently, leaning forward and cupping his chin
with one hand with his elbow resting on the desk.

     "What a good idea," Hinako said brightly as she hopped off
the desk.  She hunted in the desk drawer, threw out a dozen old
candy wrappers onto the floor, and finally came up with the
tattered book that served as the attendance record for the class.

     By the time she was finished calling out all the names on
the list, Akane and Ukyou still hadn't arrived.

     "I wonder where those two are," Ranma said under his
breath, glancing towards the door of the classroom as if
expecting them to walk in at any minute.

     Hinako got back on the desk, and began to drum her heels
against it again, breaking again into a kind of low, wordless
humming and completely ignoring the class.  The stacatto beat of
her shoes against the wood spiralled into his head and threatened
to drown out any other thoughts he might have.  Which was
something of a relief; he didn't feel like thinking right now.

     He shifted in his seat, and felt the beginning of the small
headache he'd had since he arrived at school this morning burst
and flower into a continual repetition of sharp blows of pain
inside his skull.

     He had the feeling it was not going to be a good day.

**********

     Akane was preparing to follow her sister inside, and perhaps
continue the argument despite having all her points neatly
deflated by that single line of Nabiki's.

     *"...the last person who has any right to lecture anyone
about how they treat him..."*

     She stepped forward, hopping off the wooden platform from
which Nabiki had been making her pitch, a half-formed reply rising
on her lips towards the rapidly retreating back of her sister.

     That died when she spotted Ukyou out of the corner of her
eye.  The girl in the boy's uniform was still standing near the
gates where Akane and Ranma had left her, her back to Akane and
her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her hands trembling
where they clutched her shoulders.

     She paused, torn between the bell and her sister, and Ukyou.
Finally, she made her choice and quickly hurried away from the
school and Nabiki and towards Ukyou.

     "I'm sorry about that," she said as she came up behind
Ukyou.  The other girl didn't turn to look at her.  "I shouldn't
have said that."

     "I'm the one who should be sorry," Ukyou said in a small
voice.  The long, boyish ponytail tied at the nape of her neck
swung slightly as she shook her head.  "I was so stupid."

     "No, you were..." Akane began, struggling to form some kind
of reply.  Ukyou had disrupted the wedding, along with Shampoo,
but such behaviour really wasn't her usual thing, not like
Shampoo.  Akane wasn't one to hold a grudge, and of all the girls
seeking Ranma's affection, Ukyou had always been the one she
considered closest to a friend.

     "Maybe it was a little stupid," she finally said.  "But we
all make mistakes, Ukyou."

     "I just got so scared," Ukyou said.  "Scared I was going to
lose whatever chance I had to be with him.  Scared that he was
going to get stuck into a marriage with someone he didn't..."

     "Someone he didn't what?" Akane said, surprised at her own
sharp tone.

     "Someone he didn't love," Ukyou said, finally turning her
head and looking at Akane.  "That's what I didn't want."

     The pain in her eyes was etched deep, half-hidden beneath
the surface, but there when you looked.  "I wouldn't ever wish
that on anyone."

     "You... you don't think he..." Akane stammered, feeling her
face start to go red.

     "You two fight all the time," Ukyou said, almost
mechanically reciting the words as if they were a list she'd
worked out long ago.  "You always insult each other.  You hit him
all the time.  You both say you never wanted the engagement in
the first place.  Frankly, at times, I'd almost think the two of
you hate each other."

     Akane gaped open-mouthed for a minute, then found room
somewhere in her own confused feelings to reply.  "But he said he
did."

     It was Ukyou who gaped now, eyes going wide and mouth
hanging open for a second before she visibly pulled herself
together.  "No."

     "I think he did," Akane said, growing less and less sure as
she spoke. "He... maybe I was imagining it.  When he... when he
cured me, gave me the water at Jusenkyou, and held me in his
arms... he said things to me.  I'm not sure if he really...
but..."

     Ukyou's face was growing harder and harder.  "So that's
what went on in China.  You and Ranma..."

     "No, no," Akane said, half-angry at her own denial.  "We...
he..."

     She shuffled her feet on the scuffed pavingstones of the
courtyard, nervously clutched handle of her schoolbag. "He fought
for me.  Saved my life.  Like he always does."

     Ukyou drew a long, shuddering breath, half-closing her eyes
for a moment.  "Oh."

     She turned her body fully around, faced Akane with her arms
folded across her chest now, a position of resistance rather
than the one of vulnerality she'd had moments earlier.  "But I
never asked whether he loved you, Akane.  Maybe he does."

     Her face tightened, and her lips curved into a thin, sad
frown.  "But I want to know whether or not you love him."

     Akane had no reply.  She opened her mouth, but no words
came out.

     Ukyou nodded curtly, and a small, half-bitter,
half-triumphant smile stood on her face for a moment.  "I
thought so."

     She turned away from Akane, the quick motion swinging her
ponytail over one shoulder.  She looked back, and with a toss of
her head fixed it behind her back again.  "Maybe you'd better
decide, Akane.  Because if you don't love him, I'm going to fight
you all the way for him.  Because I'm not going to let your
inability to express your feelings stand in the way of his
happiness."

     Then she was gone, striding quickly away.  For the second
time this morning, Akane was left shaking her head and standing
alone.  The wind blew past, and fluttered her skirt in the
breeze, and she unconsciously smoothed it down with one hand.

     She looked up at the sky.  A few clouds gathered there
amidst the blue.  She sighed, and headed towards the school, not
even caring for once that she was late for class.

**********

     Ranma looked up for a moment from the desk when the door to
the classroom opened, and registered vaguely that Ukyou had just
come in.  He listened through the pounding of his headache as
Hinako-sensei admonished her sternly, then sent her out into the
hall with buckets a moment later.

     Akane's entrance only a few moments after that, and her
subsequent identical treatment by Hinako-sensei was only a little
more important to him.  His head felt like a taiko drum, a
rhythmic, dull pounding as loud as thunder rolling down the
mountains.  Hinako-sensei's voice was drowned out almost
completely, a high, sharp thing on the edge of his senses.

     "Mr. Saotome, could you please answer the question?"

     He only realized the teacher had been speaking to him after
a few moments.  "Yes, sensei?" he croaked, his voice sounding
weak even to him.

     "Could you answer the question, please?"

     He sucked in a breath, forced himself to gain control over
the pounding in his head for just a moment.  "Can ya say it
again?  I didn't hear ya the first time."

     "Are you feeling alright?"

     He nodded, slowly, even though he didn't feel alright at
all.  "Yeah."

     "Then please sit up and try to pay attention.  An
attentive student is a succesful student."

     "I'll keep that in mind," he muttered, trying to keep his
eyes on the small figure in the yellow dress at the front of the
room.  He didn't want to be sent out into the hall with Akane and
Ukyou, and whatever might have gone between them that made them
both late for class.  Not now.

     Somehow, he made it through the class, and the one after
that.  The angles and figures Tazawa-sensei drew on the board
seemed to swim before his eyes, curve in the wrong way, and no
matter how he looked at the numbers, they wouldn't seem to add up
in his head.  Thankfully, he wasn't called upon for any answers,
and his seat was close enough to the back of the room that
Tazawa-sensei couldn't tell whether he was taking notes or not.
He wasn't; staying upright in the seat was trouble enough.
Writing would have been an impossibility.

     Akane and Ukyou sat on either side of him now, and the air
of hostile silence between the two of them was palpable.  Both
glanced at him occasionally; both turned away as well, managing
to sense his condition and deciding after the events of the
morning it was best to stay out of his way.

     When the lunch break came, he quickly stumbled from the
classroom, not even caring anymore about whatever looks he got.
He moved quickly through the halls, as quickly as he could with
the pounding in his head, and got into one of the washrooms.  At
the sink, he poured cold water into his hands, splashed it onto
his face, and only realized he was now a she when she looked up
and saw the face of the girl looking back in the mirror.  The
headache was still there, almost unbearable now.

     "Fresh air," Ranma muttered, a few stray droplets clinging
to the bangs of her hair and sliding down her face.  Fresh air
sounded like a good idea, if she could manage the walk to the
outside.  Right now, she didn't even care about turning back to a
man; it would be enough to just get outside, feel the sunlight on
the face and the wind on her skin.  The school seemed stifling
right now, a prison.  Even the thought of the warmth and the
light of the sun made her feel a little better, and the
skull-shattering pain dimmed slightly.  She made her way
carefully through the hallways and out to the main entrance of
the school, passing by the students who stood by their lockers
with their friends between classes or before going to lunch.

     Outside, she made her way carefully to an empty spot near
the edge of the grassy field on one side of the school and sat
down.  One hand brushed against the grass, as the sun gently
caressed her bare arms and face.  It felt wonderful, such a
relief after the dense, packed air inside the school to be
outside again.

     She opened the bento box Kasumi had packed this morning, and
carefully tried a bit of rice.  It tasted good as always,
although she found she wasn't very hungry right now, which was a
rare event.  Her head was starting to feel a little more clear,
and the ache seemed to be vanishing.

     "Just a migraine," she said to herself as she ate a pickle
from her box.  "That's all."

     Laying her lunch aside for a moment, she stretched out on
the grass and looked up at the sky, shading her eyes from the
bright sun with one hand.  The few clouds didn't look like they
were holding rain, thankfully.

     A shadow fell across her vision.

     "Fair one, bathing in the sun's bounty, thy beauty
outshines the solar orb by far..."

     Ranma groaned softly.

**********

     "Hey Akane, looks like Kuno's gonna get his butt kicked
again," Yuka said, gesturing with a chopstick to the spot across
the field where Kuno had just approached the currently female Ranma.

     Akane didn't answer, only continuing to stare off at
nothing. "Akane?"

     "She's spaced out," Sayuri said.  "Thinking about her
wedding."

     "I am not," Akane murmured, even though it wasn't true.
"What's going on?"

     "Kuno's giving his spiel to your fiancee again," Yuka
replied.  "He's so dense."

     Akane nodded and looked to where Ranma was getting up
slowly from the field as Kuno continued to pontificate on her
beauty.  He didn't even seem to be aware of her so much as of his
own voice.

     "Boy, Ranma looks really mad," Sayuri said.

     Akane looked closer, and frowned slightly.  Ranma's face
was a picture of fury, a look she didn't often see when Ranma
was dealing with Kuno.  Usually, when Kuno hit on Ranma as a
girl he just got annoyed and booted him off.

     Akane stood up, and started to head quickly over.  This
looked like it might be bad.

**********

     As Kuno began to speak, Ranma slowly came back to her
senses.  His senses.  His senses.  What the hell was he doing,
lounging around on the grass, sunbathing like some kinda girl?
Everyone was probably staring at him.  And Kuno ranting on was
only making it worse.

     Her headache snapped back, burning fire in her skull, and
she jumped to her feet.  "What do you want, Kuno?"

     "To only bask within your beauty, fair maiden," Kuno said.
"It is my right and privilege as your true love."

     That was what did it.  The fire in the head of the boy
turned girl froze into jagged ice.  "Your RIGHT?  Your
PRIVILEGE?"

     He was sick of it.  Sick of having a claim laid to him by
people, sick of being forced into behaviour he hated by some
stupid promises his father had made years ago.  Sick of it all.

     "Listen, you arrogant numbskull," Ranma hissed.  "I am a
man.  You don't have any right to treat me like you do..."

     Kuno laughed, lightly, as if he'd heard a slightly funny
joke.  "If thou art a man, thine dimensions and thine face art
surely more than adequate to shine your beauty above all women in
the world."

     Ranma looked down, at the soft curves of her chest, and
snarled.  He was, now, it was true, a she.  In every way but in
her own mind, she was a woman right now.

     Maybe not even in the mind; he knew he felt different when
he was a girl.  He acted different as well, although he tried to
curtail it every time he noticed it.  A man never would have laid
on his back in the grass enjoying the sun as if there was nothing
more important to do.

     She felt shaken, but more than that she felt angry.  Angry
at her life, angry at her curse.  And angry at Tatewaki Kuno.

     Very, very angry at Tatewaki Kuno.

     "Okay," Ranma said.  "That's it.  Maybe I can beat some
sense into your head this time."

     Kuno looked at her.  "But my love, though you are a lioness
strong and beautiful, why wish you to fight with me?  I have
proven myself thine equal or thy better innum-"

     Ranma didn't let him finish.  She brought one small,
feminine hand up, fingers extended and stiffened, and drove it
like a knife blade into Kuno's midsection, right under the ribs.
A blow like this, done the right way, could kill a foe.  She
pulled it at the last second, already stepping forward as Kuno
doubled over and pivoting past the tall boy to slam a fist into
the small of his back.  Kuno groaned and stumbled forward, and
Ranma hooked her leg between the boy's ankles and tripped him,
putting him flat on his back and knocking him senseless as his
head struck the ground.

     Ranma smiled triumphantly and stretched up to her full
height, which was about five feet in this body.  Then he was
coming down, or she was coming down.  It didn't matter in that
moment, because all that mattered was Kuno helpless on the
ground, and the fist that was raised back, and that his throat
was entirely open to the blow.

     At the last second, it came upon her, or him, exactly what
he, or she, was about to do.

     She strained, fought momentum and intention, and stopped the
fist a few inches from Kuno's neck.  She could see the crowd now,
the surprised murmurs that let her know just what it had looked
as if she'd intended to do.

     Perhaps not even looked.  Perhaps what she had intended,
only somehow stopping herself at the last second.  She could have
killed him.  She could have killed him if she hadn't come back to
her senses.  His senses.  Whatever.  Whatever senses she had.  It
was so hard to think with all this pain inside her head.

     She looked around, at the faces of the people watching.
People she knew from class, people she'd seen around the school,
but they seemed alien and unfamiliar.

     She saw Akane come up, push her way through the crowd.
"Ranma?  Are you alright."

     She came forward, leaned over and offered a hand.  "He
didn't hurt you, did he?  I couldn't see through the crowd."

     Ranma stepped up, not taking the hand.  "I... I'm not
feeling very well," he said.  "I think I'm gonna go home."

     "Do... do you want me to come with you?" Akane asked.  "I
can help you get..."

     Ranma shook her head.  "No."

     She looked into Akane's eyes, saw only concern there,
perhaps something more.  She didn't want to see what would
replace that when everyone told her what had really gone on.
"I'll see you at home, Akane."

     She turned to go, feeling the weight of Akane's eyes
between her shoulderblades as she started to walk.

     The pressure of Akane's hand on her arm paused her for a
moment.  "Yeah?"

     "Take care," Akane said.  "I hope you feel better."

     She slowly nodded, smiled a bit weakly.  "Thanks."

     She headed towards the gates, a little perturbed to see how
quickly people got out of her way.  She had enough trouble
relating to the everyday population of the school already; the
last thing she needed was for them to be more nervous around her
then they already were.

     As she stepped out of the school gates, a wave of pain
flashed through her head and she staggered, nearly falling
before she was caught by someone.

     "Ranchan, you okay?  Why are you a girl?"

     She looked up at Ukyou through half-closed eyes.  "I just
wanna get home."

     "I'll help you," Ukyou said quickly, concern in her eyes.

     "No," Ranma said flatly. "I'll go myself.  You've gotta go
to school."

     "Ranchan..."

     She wilted a little inside at the hurt on Ukyou's face, but
then she recalled an image of her throwing around her explosive
okonomiyaki at the wedding.  "I don't really wanna talk to you
right now, Ukyou."

     "Ranchan... Please, can't we... I'm sorry about the
wedding,"  Ukyou said.  Her face seemed stuck between being pale
and flushing red from embarassment.  "I just..."

     "Just what?" Ranma said.  "Just decided you knew better than
I did?"

     "Ranchan, I know how your father and mother wanted you to...
they pressured you..."

     "Listen, Ukyou," Ranma said.  "My pop ain't never gonna make
me do something I don't wanna do ever again.  And mom..."

     She trailed off, not able to say the same.  "I have a duty
to my mother."

     "What about the duty you have to yourself?" Ukyou said
desperately.  "And to me?"

     "I'm sorry," Ranma said.  "I... There's lots of times I
haven't done what I should have.  I know that.  But I'm tryin',
Ukyou.  I'm really trying.  I'm tryin' to do what's right.  I
just wish I knew what it was."

     Ukyou's face looked stricken, and she bowed her head,
hiding whatever hurt might be there now beneath the fall of her
long brown hair.  "I know what I did was wrong.  I'm sorry."

     "Yeah," Ranma said.  "I hope so.  Excuse me."

     She brushed by, not giving Ukyou any chance to respond.  As
she walked away, she heard Ukyou take a deep, slightly choked
sounding breath, and she was glad she was gone before she could
hear if it became anything more.

     Away from the school and the pressing crowds of students,
out in the sunlight and fresh air, she began to feel a little
better.  She wished he'd taken some time to change back to a man,
but back at school the most important thing had been to get out
of there.

     She paused, took a deep breath, let it out again and
continued to walk.  The headache was beginning to fade, but it
had done that before, out on the field, and then it had come
back again.  Perhaps it was because she'd been relaxed out there,
until Kuno showed up.

     "Ranma!"

     Someone looped their arm through hers and sidled up against
her.  She could feel the thin, soft silk of the dress, and the
familiar shape of the body underneath against her arm, and her
teeth clenched.  This was, after Happosai, probably the last
person she wanted to see right now.

     "Husband," Shampoo said happily, trying to twine herself
further closer.  "You out of school?  Change back to man and we
go on date."

     Ranma jerked her arm free, and turned to glare at the other
girl.  "Go away, Shampoo."

     Shampoo looked nonplussed by her reply.  "You no want that.
You want date with Shampoo.  Men never make up mind and know what
they want."

     "I know what I want," Ranma said icily.  "I want you to go
away and leave me alone."

     She saw Shampoo's eyes lose a bit of their spark.  "Ranma...
you angry with me?"

     "Yes, I am," Ranma said.  "I'm really angry, Shampoo.  Just
go away.  Go back to the restaurant, go back to your
great-grandmother.  Go back to China for all I care."

     The expression on Shampoo's face showed pain as deep as any
wound.  "I never think ever I hear that from you.  Never from
you.  Thought you better."

     Her voice was sad.  "I come to your stupid country wanting
to kill you, come back again even after you trick me and make me
get cursed because I love you.  That all you can say?  Go back to
China?"

     He saw the struggle on her face, heard the careful way she
formed the words.  She was trying to speak as eloquently as she
could to him, given her trouble with the language.  "I hear all
the time already, Ranma.  Not hurt me much anymore, maybe not
even from you.  Hear it behind back, hear it to face.  See it
written on tables in Nekohanten, see it..."

     She trailed off.  "I hate this place, ailen.  I hate these
cities, all these people who look at me like I an animal because
of how I dress or act... I no want to stay here.  I want to be
home again.  Want to smell air that not filled with smoke, want
to..."

     Shampoo's face hardened, and she locked eyes with him.  "I
no like this place, but I love you, Ranma.  I no can go back
unless you go with me.  So you want Shampoo go back to China, you
marry her.  That only way I can go back."

     "Shampoo..." Ranma said.  Guilt was gnawing at her; she
replayed her words inside her head, realized how they must have
sounded to Shampoo.  "Oh, geez, I'm..."

     "I go back to China tomorrow," Shampoo said, her voice thick
with sadness.  "If you marry me today.  But otherwise, I stay
here in this stupid country."

     She turned, and ran off before Ranma could say anything
else.

     Shoulders slumped, Ranma walked towards home, feeling as if
a great weight had suddenly fallen upon her.  

**********

     Kasumi hummed softly as she worked, stirring the batter with
the wooden spoon.  Father and Mr. Saotome would be glad to come
home to some fresh-baked cookies, and she had the time now that
she'd finished cleaning up the house.  The two of them had gone
out for a drink together, something they did occasionally.
Usually when they were trying to organize some kind of way to get
Ranma and Akane together.  Like a date, or a wedding.  Though
that had sadly not gone well at all.  Still, they were rather
young to be married.  Not even out of high school yet.

     She raised her head at the sound of the front door opening.
It was awfully early for father and Mr. Saotome to be home, and
Mrs. Saotome was out with some of her friends until dinner time.
"Hello?" she called.  "Who's there?"

     "Just me, Kasumi," a familiar female voice called.

     "You're home very early," she said, putting down the bowl on
the kitchen table and walking out to greet Ranma at the front
door as the girl slipped out of her shoes.  "Is everything
alright?"

     "I'm just feeling kinda sick," Ranma said in a low voice.
Her head was bent down as she put her shoes in the cupboard, and
Kasumi couldn't see her face.

     "Hmm?  What's wrong, Ranma?" Kasumi asked.  "I hope it's
nothing serious."

     Ranma looked up, and shook her head.  "Just a bad headache."

     Kasumi was slightly perturbed at the defeated tone of
Ranma's voice; he didn't often sound like that, whether he was a
boy or a girl.  "Are you sure?"

     Ranma slowly nodded.  "Yeah.  I'm alright."

     Kasumi nodded.  "If there's anything you'd like to talk
about..."

     She let her voice trail off, to let Ranma supply whatever
end she might like.

     The girl's face looked even more miserable for a moment, and
then that misery faded slightly.  "Yeah.  I think I would."

     "Why don't you come into the kitchen and change back?"
Kasumi asked gently.  "I'll make us some tea."

     Ranma sighed.  "Okay."

     "And I'll get you some aspirin for that headache as well.
And I have a recipe for tea that should help too," Kasumi said
briskly.  "Come on now."

     Ranma's face broke into a small, hesitant smile as she
looked at Kasumi.  "I'm coming."

     Moments later, sitting at the table in the kitchen and
changed back to a man, Ranma looked a little happier, if not by
much.  A kettle heated water to a boil on the stove; nearby, a
teapot was waiting for the water to be ready.  Kasumi sat across
from Ranma, still mixing the cookie dough as she looked at him.

     "Well?" she said after a few seconds of silence.

     "Huh?" Ranma asked.

     "Don't you want to tell me what's wrong?"

     He looked nervous suddenly as well as unhappy, and he
turned his gaze away from her.  "Maybe it's not..."

     "It doesn't help to keep these things all bottled up inside
you," Kasumi said.  "I just want to help you."

     Ranma slowly nodded.  "Yeah.  I guess you do, at least.  You
don't wanna kill me, marry me, make money off me or try to get me
married to someone else."

     "Oh," Kasumi said, beginning to see where this was going.
"Why don't you start at the beginning."

     "Well, me an' Akane got to school and Nabiki was sellin'
these books..." Ranma began.

     From there, it all came out quickly; Nabiki's latest scheme,
his horrible headache, the near-loss of control with Kuno, his
confrontation with Ukyou, and finally Shampoo's words to him.
That was the part he looked most unhappy talking about.

     "I never realized she felt that way," he said quietly.
"She's always so cheerful, but... she must really miss her home.
I shoulda thought about how hard it must be for her over here...
But she..."

     He trailed off with a sigh.  "I just... it kinda hit me
after I talked to her.  All this mess I'm in, I've never thought
about how everyone else must feel... But Ukyou, Shampoo... I'm
hurting people who I don't want to  hurt.  I thought... I
thought I could keep them from being hurt if I kept my distance,
if I didn't make a decision, that somehow things would somehow
work themselves out, like some kinda puzzle I'd see the answer to
if I just stared at it long enough..."

     His head drooped, and he let it fall into his hands, resting
his forehead against his palms.  "That wedding.  Someone coulda
got hurt.  And in China... Akane..."

     He looked back up at her, and his grey eyes were sorrowful.
"She nearly died, Kasumi.  Nearly died... What if I'd been a
second later?  What if Saffron had killed me... What if... what
if..."

     Ranma drew a long, shuddering breath.  "What would I have
done if she'd died, Kasumi?"

     Kasumi had been watching him silently, her face sad.
"That's a question you never, ever ask yourself until it's too
late, Ranma.  We can't ever prepare for something like that."

     "You're right," Ranma said with a sigh.  "I... She's
alright, that's what's important.  But it's not about that.  What
am I gonna do about...  everything else.  I'm obligated to marry
Akane; I'm obligated to marry Ukyou.  Shampoo can't go back to
China unless she marries me.  There has to be a way... a way that
won't end with anyone getting hurt."

     "There isn't," Kasumi said softly.  "Someone will end up
getting hurt no matter what you choose, Ranma."

     "But... how can I choose, then?" Ranma said, and his eyes
were agonized.  "I don't wanna hurt any of them.  Akane, Ukyou,
Shampoo.  Heck, I don't even wanna hurt Kodachi.  How can I
choose?"

     "Oh, Ranma," Kasumi said.  "Ranma, he who does not choose
makes also a choice."

     Ranma blinked.  "That's..."

     "That's the truth," Kasumi said.  "You've made your
choice, Ranma.  You can make another, though."

     "But which one is right?" Ranma asked.

     "That's not for me to decide," Kasumi said.  "Not for me, or
your father, or your mother.  It's for you."

     "But I can't disappoint mom," Ranma said despondently.

     "Ranma... there is no easy solution," Kasumi said.  "I can't
give you one."

     "I know that," Ranma said.  He clutched his head.  "Damn
that hurts..."

     "Didn't the aspirin help?"

     "A bit."

     The kettle chose that moment to whistle.  Kasumi got up,
realizing she'd stopped stirring the cookie batter a while ago,
and turned off the stove.  She made the tea quickly, poured it
into cups and put one before Ranma and the other in front of her
as she sat back down.  As she'd worked, Ranma had been silent,
just holding his head.  He took a small sip of the tea and
blinked his eyes wearily.

     "That's good," he said softly.

     "It should help with the headache," Kasumi said.  "Now, I'm
sure you'd like to be by yourself for a while.  Maybe you want to
think, or you want to rest.  I don't know.  But I need to put
these cookies in the oven for father and Mr. Saotome."

     She smiled brightly at him and indicated the bowl of cookie
dough as if it were the answer to all life's troubles.  The
unexpected flash of seriousness from her was gone now, and she
was once again Kasumi, concerned only for her kitchen and her
family.

     Ranma gulped down his tea, and nodded slowly.  The misery
was gone from his face, but if anything it had deepened in his
eyes.  "Okay.  Sorry to bug you, Kasumi, it's..."

     "I only hope I helped," Kasumi said.

     Ranma stood up from the table, bowed slightly to her.
"Thank you.  You did."

     "You're welcome.  I'll make sure you're not disturbed,"
Kasumi said as she began to rummage under the counter for a
cookie tray.

     Ranma headed upstairs, hearing Kasumi start humming again as
he started on the first step.  The gradual fading of her voice
accompanied him up the stairs.

**********

     Ranma tried to think.  Really, he did.  As soon as he got to
his room, he took off his shirt and lay down on his futon.
Weariness crept over him, though, and he could barely keep his
eyes open.  No thoughts came but confused, distracted ones.
Soon, he could not even keep his eyes open anymore.  So he slept.
And perhaps he dreamed.

     (...he loosed his arrow, and the eighth burning eye fell
smoking to the earth, and where it fell it scorched the land for
miles around, and the waters boiled to steam in its wake...)

     Or perhaps he remembered.

     (...he drew back his arm and cast the spear, and the great
curving-horned bull bellowed joyously as it took him through the
chest, and the huge beast ran towards the cliffs and the driving
ocean waves, blood like water flowing from him...)

     Or perhaps he did both.

     (...and the shining waters flowed and bore him on...)

**********
     
     The library of Mount Phoenix was a single, cavernous hall
that was made to seem many separate rooms by the tall, blocky
wooden bookshelves that reached nearly all the way to the top of
the ceiling.  Nothing was ever disposed of; when more space
became necessary, more space was carved out of the surrounding
rock.  Some of the books were thousands of years old, carefully
preserved and stored.  Far enough back, the books became scrolls.
And back before that, stone tablets with crude scratches that
resembled the footprints of birds more than anything else.
Tables were scattered throughout the library, providing a place
to sit and study if need be.  This late, though, even the most
dedicated scholar would have been in their bed.

     Not so for one, though she was a warrior and not a scholar.
Kima sat at one table, a single candle providing illumination to
read by.  The table was piled high with books, some ancient, some
recent.  They were all hand-written, most in Chinese, a few in
Japanese, even a half-dozen in the ancient script of Phoenix
Mountain that had died out in the past few centuries except for
use on certain ceremonial documents.

     She ran the sharp, taloned fingers of her left hand through
her short white hair, and stifled a yawn.  Lightly holding the
corner of the age-yellowed page between the nails of two fingers,
she carefully turned it over and looked at the words of the next
section.

     "One born twice," she murmured.  "Of woman and of water..."

     She trailed off as the last stub of the candle burned down
to nothing, the flickering light going out and leaving her in the
dark.  She sighed and fumbled about in the dark for another
candle and the heavy wooden box of matches.

     Another candle burning on the desk a few seconds later, she
read a few more lines silently, and then out loud again, to
emphasize them to herself.  "Once to the mountain he snuffs the
flame, twice to the mountain to raise it again..."

     "Lady Kima, have you been up all night?" an aged voice said
from behind her.  She turned and looked at the white-haired,
balding figure of Samofere.  He absently stroked the small, wispy
beard at his chin and glanced at her appraisingly.

     "All night?" she murmured softly.  "What..."

     "The sun will rise soon," Samofere said.  "You should rest.
Go to your chambers, Lady Kima."

     "You cannot order me around," Kima said.  "I..."

     "Actually, I can," Samofere said.  "You know the laws.
Within the library, only the king of the mountain himself may
overrule me.  You can stay up if you want, but it won't be in
the library.  This place is older than you or I.  It will still
be here tomorrow, I do not doubt.  It will be here long after you
and I are gone."

     Kima nodded slowly, realization finally sinking in of how
tired she was.  She wasn't sure how much she'd slept in the past
few days.  If she'd slept at all.  There'd been too much to do;
organizing the rebuilding and the remodelling, arranging for Lord
Saffron's care, and now this.  This most of all.  How many hours
had she spent reading, how many...

     "I'll sleep," she said, a bit grudgingly.  "But I'll be
back."

     "I wouldn't have shown you this if I didn't think you would
be," Samofere said gently.  "Go.  You need your beauty sleep."

     "Maybe just a little," she said, rising up from the bench
and slowly stretching out her wings to full extension.  Her body
ached from sitting for so long.  Without another word, wings
drooping slightly and shoulders slumped, she made her way out of
the library and out into the main halls of Phoenix Mountain.  She
wound her way through the familiar corridors until she reached
one of the vertical shafts that led towards the upper chambers,
where her quarters where located.

     She looked around, realized vaguely that this was near
where she'd fought with Ranma Saotome and his friends atop the
stone bridge, before the boy had brought it down with the
Kinjakan.  It would need to be rebuilt.

     She settled down at the edge, looked down to where the
shattered rubble of the bridge still remained far below on the
stone floor.  That would need to be cleared out.  So much to do,
so much to do...

     She thought of the books in the library.  And the words in
them, dating back to thousands of years ago, saying the same
things in many different ways.  And page upon page of notes, all
in Samofere's hand, that tied them together to other things.

     She let her legs dangle, carefully gathered her wings around
her body, and sat holding her forehead with one hand for a few
seconds.  She was too tired to make any kind of coherent sense of
her thoughts, but too dedicated to just stop now and go to bed.

     Finally, though, when a few minutes of pondering hadn't done
anything but make her more confused, she stood up.  The acoustics
here were excellent; she could hear the sound of the few others
up this time of night moving about other parts of the mountains,
the clicking of feet across stone or the beat of wings.
Occasionally, one of the birds that cohabited the mountain would
make a small cry that sounded abnormally loud in the still
silence of the chambers.

     "My people, my people," she whispered.  "What have I
brought upon us?"

     She could hear water flowing softly in the background from
the reawakened spring.  Water flowing, flowing on...