Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ When You Wish Upon A Sword ❯ vacations ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

When You Wish Upon A Sword, Chapter 4

a round robin fic by Skysaber & Gregg Sharp

--------

A beach in Okinawa:

There were times when being a 300 year old Elder, the Matriarch of a hidden village of Chinese Amazons, the singular authority of the village, was boring.

Not since coming to Nerima, though, at least not very often.

Cologne had, and would admit it privately or to someone she considered a social equal, bungled it *badly* when she'd come to Nerima. Then she'd backed off to observe the dynamics, had shaken her head at the whole thing, and had slipped quietly from "enforcer of Amazon Law" mode to "wise Elder" mode. She wondered if Ranma had even noticed. Good kid. Just as mentally agile as a brick and it'd likely take three bottles of Formula 110 to undo some of the grief his father had caused the child's psyche.

There were times that Cologne wished the Nanban Mirror was still working. *Poof!* She'd have gone back to the day that a panda and a girl had visited the village, intervened, and Shampoo would have gone off with her husband and a panda to see the world. Heck, she'd have great-great-grandkids by now, if she hadn't decided not to attend the Tournament Of Arms. All because of a little misunderstanding by Shampoo.

IF the Jusenkyo Guide had remembered to keep an eye on his customers. IF the Jusenkyo Guide had remembered that the Kiss Of Death required only that the victim fight again, more formally, then be inducted into the tribe (thereby ending the Outsider's life as an Outsider, beginning their life as an Amazon) before the party was declared on. IF Shampoo hadn't gotten a feather up her butt, figuratively, from pride and outrage. IF Sash or one of the other Japanese speakers had been present.

IF.

Well, at least it wasn't boring. And certainly Ranma was (had been) a better fighter than that fellow Liao Bing had ended up with. Though perhaps not as useful in noncombat situations.

"Shampoo! I LOVE YOU, SHAMPOO! Let's run away together!"

"I'm UKYO, you JACKASS!" *WHANG!*

"Well, that explains why the breasts were so small. Excuse me."

*WHANG! WHANG! WHANG!*

"Better Spatula Girl than me!"

Cologne let the warm sun soak into her old and tired bones. The gentle sound of the surf, the smell of the ocean on a cooling breeze, ah - revitalizing. "How are you two holding up?"

Shampoo's mother grumbled something about feeling underdressed without some sort of weapon.

Ukyo's mother snored. Which pretty much answered that question.

"Good, good." Cologne could feel the ki resonating, being drawn up into the mothers' chi. Slowly, but faster wasn't always better.

"URK!?"

Cologne opened her eyes, quickly spotting where Mousse had put his glasses back on and had been about to try to glomp *her*. Only to notice Cologne's current one-piece bathing suit. Paraphrasing a green muppet she'd identified somewhat with, Cologne addressed the nauseated Mousse, "when three hundred years old you are, this good looking you will not be."

"That doesn't make it any less QUACK!"

Cologne nodded to herself. The waterproof soap would only last so long, after all.

Where had she been? Oh yes. The surf, the sun, the smell of coconut scented tanning lotion, the squawk of Ukyo catching up and flattening a duck beneath her spatula and threatening to make a duck okonomiyaki if he grabbed her THERE again. Yes, this wasn't bad at all.

--------

A beach on the main island, Hawaii:

"GIVE ME BACK MY BRA, YOU PERVERT!!!"

A disgusting little lecher bounced along the beach wearing a woman's bathing top over his eyes and using an impossibly long tongue to lick it as he ran. "Wehehehehe!! Akane! How did you know that was my favorite flavor of suntan lotion?"

The youngest Tendo was trying to run with one arm clasped over her breasts. Happosai reversed course and passed her like a missle. She tried a swing at him, but bungled it because she was hampered by the arm clasped awkwardly to her chest being the only one situated to swing at the angle he used.

Happosai was good at choosing angles like that.

"Come *back* here!" She shouted, racing off after him. The girl had run through almost the length of the crowded beach before she met Happosai seated under her family's beach umbrella, calmly waiting for her.

Happosai removed his pipe and blew a puff of smoke. Not even wincing as she rushed at him, he spoke. "Akane, you know how much I appreciate this display of affection. But you don't have to give all these other people a free show on my account."

Akane's eyes bugged out to take up ninty percent of her face the moment she recognized the bikini *bottom* he was fondling in his lap was the one she'd put on that morning. And that HAD to have been lost on his last lunge past her, before most of that long chase.

The ENTIRE beach was staring at her.

Akane clasped herself and burned so red she sank into the sand to hide completely from view, disappearing till only her hair could be seen.

"Hotcha! Now the *next* little one in line to comfort an old man for losing his heir and grandson!" Happosai leaped to reach glomp status on Nabiki's bikini top, only to pull several times without moving it.

She looked at him drolly, with sly amusement creeping in. "Well, now I *am* going to have to thank Kodachi. I thought of gluing on my swimsuit this morning myself, but it was *she* that suggested the contact poison on the outside. She didn't even charge me for the chemical-resistant material."

Happosai turned sickly purple and fell off.

Genma and Soun materialized to instantly pack the old master in a crate after tying him in chains. They were about to nail it shut when Kodachi's voice could be heard ringing out in laughter. "Ohohohohoho!! Wait one moment, my esteemed and honored sirs. I have something I want to add to that package before you mail it off. Sasuke!"

The little ninja waddled up to his bikini-clad mistress, laden under the weight of a giant clothes hamper. The lines of used-clothes reek could be SEEN wafting off of the laundry within. Kodachi clapped her hands and a force of large, burly men stuffed the crate full of the largest and smelliest collection of men's underwear that money could buy on an island of resort sports and plentiful athletes.

As the final pair of smelly boxer shorts was stuffed up Happosai's nostrils, Kodachi signed a sales receipt and the crate was nailed shut, disappearing off in the back of an express delivery truck almost immediately as the doors closed.

Kodachi smiled fondly at the now-fading plume of dust. "It was a strategy pioneered by my Ranma-sama. He merely lacked the resources to put it into full effect."

Soun was gaping, nor was he alone, but it was the Tendo patriarch that spoke. "But... but, we were going to mail him Afganistan..."

Kodachi was still smiling softly, gazing in the direction of the vanished van. "And how long would it take him to get free and return? No, good sir, this was better, I assure you."

Genma was still gaping like an idiot, which was appropriate in his case. Soun spoke in his friend's place. "But... where did you send him?"

Kodachi turned away, pausing to bend to pick up a beach ball and flick her long hair out of her face. "Good sir, it appears the man who torments your family has chosen to sign a four-year contract as a male prostitute in a gay bar in Thailand. Seeing as how unattractive he is they would only take him on an extreme bondage clause, in an area where unwholesome disease is almost total."

She ran off to play in the racing surf.

Nabiki was already off to change into less dangerous swimwear, and Tatewaki had produced a shovel and was now digging out Akane with promises of taking her off to provide his manly aid in helping her overcome this horrible and dreadful embarrassment.

Sasuke stood by with a set of private hotel room keys handy.

Genma and Soun were dancing around like happy schoolboys, chanting together. "This might kill the Master!"

Kimiko Tendo lolled her head to look aside to where both Kuno parents were at ease together. "You brought your children up so?"

Kodachi's mother smiled. "It was your husband that engaged the monster as a teacher. Mine were the ones to resolve, not start, the problem."

"True," Kimiko watched the Kuno's boy doting on her exhibitionist daughter. "You know I believe that your Tatewaki finds my youngest attractive. She could use someone to get over her former fiance, Ranma."

"I believe you are correct," agreed Mrs Kuno. "I shall have the papers drawn up. Shall we say in three months?"

"Yes. A wedding would be just the thing to celebrate life and help Akane recover from her loss. Three months to finish mourning, and then on to the happy couple." Kimiko smiled at the way Akane yelled at Kuno and threatened to hit him. Except that she'd discovered upon winding back for the punch, that she'd uncovered herself again. Yes, it must be love.

"Would someone get me some clothes?!" Akane wailed, not realizing what was going on only a few yards away.

If she had, she might have tried to swim back to Japan. Poor swimming skills notwithstanding.

---------

Several thousand miles away:

Lacking the resources of the rich, like the Kuno family, or the connections of a Chinese Matriarch, more ordinary people on a more ordinary budget made do with other methods of getting around and going on vacation.

"A hot spring resort next to a beach?" Ranma asked, back to female form. Mainly because being carried by a twin sister was *far* less embarassing than it would have been were he male at the time.

"Not bad, Mother," chirped Ranko happily. "I'm reading plenty of positive ki. There's a festival of the kami of rice wine going on, and that may contribute some."

Nodoka nodded, adjusting her kimono slightly. "I did some work here a little while ago. There was a... problem... in the shrine."

Naturally, Ranma tried to put this in terms of her experience. "Oh? Crazed martial artists?"

"No. Just some kuei. Though they had some backup from a 3000 year dead oni lich." Nodoka shrugged as if to say it was of no consequence.

"Oh." Ranma spent a moment staring at a mother that couldn't believe initially in a Jusenkyo curse, but took an infestation of flesh-eating ghosts led by an undead demon as "just another day at the office." It certainly didn't sound boring.

Of course, it *had* been tricky, but Nodoka didn't want to worry her son-turned-daughter. Quality time needed to be scheduled, after all. There were other reasons for selecting this particular location.

First, it was cheap. The owner knew her and owed her one. When on an often tight budget, this sort of consideration was quite important.

Second, this was an exclusive sort of place. The only people who frequented it fell quickly into two groups. Very Important People and their families were among the first group, which meant that their security had to be assured. Which led to the second group. Security personnel and other people who were very very good at making sure that other people survived.

Third, which related to the first consideration, was that one could reach this remote location with a simple set of two train connections, a six hour bus ride, and a three hour hike. Unless you had a car or similar transportation, which conceivably could cut the whole thing down to nine hours of travel. Which was one reason that the Kunos and even Cologne were already on their respective beaches by the time that the Saotome party finally arrived at the ryokan (traditional style Japanese hotel). The other being that Ranko had made frequent stops to ask what THAT was or what THOSE were or what did THIS taste like or WHY people would stare just because she'd imbedded some guy in the ceiling of the train who had groped the weakened Ranma-chan.

Nodding her head at a fellow "archaeologist" as she entered the lobby, Nodoka quickly made her way to the front desk as she asked for the owner by name.

When he arrived, he was apologetic, but there was only one room available. They'd set up a privacy screen, but all three would have to share that room.

Which actually didn't bother the three, as each had their reasons for not wanting to be seperated at this point.

When they finally got to the room, after Ranko had been flitting this way and that looking at things and finally had to be pried out of a utility closet because she wanted to know where all the pipes went, the exhausted bellhop let them in and vanished wearing a smile but refusing a tip.

"Oooooohh!" Ranko had put Ranma down and was hanging by the windowframe, looking out over the springs with googly eyes.

"Ain't ya never been in a resort before?" Ranma asked, ignoring that the closest she herself had ever been to one was sneaking in at night stealing food.

That caused Ranko to drop from the windowsill. "Sure! There were the great fire sculptures of wonder in the northlands, and the crystal caves of the eastern escarpment that sang when you made any noise inside them, then the water palace... Oh! It was beautiful!"

Ranma couldn't make up her mind whether her twin sister was happy or so sad she was about to cry. But it was Nodoka, preoccupied with their luggage, that popped the question. "That's nice dear, what did you do there?"

Ranko's face collapsed in tears, and her fists flew to her eyes, bawling. "I BLEW THEM UP!!!" She sobbed, heart wrenching as she threw herself into Ranma's surprised embrace. Ranko went on. "There was a war raging, and they sent me out to destroy them as targets! They NEVER let any of us out unless there was a war on because they were so afraid of us, of what we could do. So I NEVER got to see anything that I wasn't about to destroy!"

The weapon platform turned girl descended into incoherant sobs, clutching Ranma-chan like she was her only link on life.

Soon the sobbing resolved into more words, spoken into Ranma-chan's soft chest by a bitterly trembling Ranko. "Those people weren't hurting anything. They just wanted to play and have fun in areas where everything was built to be as beautiful as it could. Some of them had element lamps and fought me, but I'd already grown too good. They made us that way. Now all those people are burned to ashes. Burned by me... And I never even knew the reason why. They never told me. They only gave me orders. They never said why I had to kill all those millions of people..."

Ranma was just about on the edge of freaking out, but with the weight of Ranko on her chest wasn't able to go anywhere. The phrase 'millions of people' stuck out like neon, along with 'burned to ashes', and had the disconcerting effect of shutting Ranma's mind down.

Nodoka's jaw had closed with a snap.

Apparently her godly son had been correct about Ranko having some problems.

Ranma-chan was, oddly, the first to recover some sensebilities. Maybe it had something to do with being nearly paralyzed, but it made you focus on your wits more when your body didn't have any effort to spare (it was that or the creeping nightmare of a thought that maybe that bit with the Demon of Stupidity looking *exactly* like her dad had more than a symbolic reality. Brrr!). In any case, she clasped Ranko closer to her and said, tenderly (having learned by observation a few quick lessons from her mother) cocking her head to the side. "Couldn't you have said no?"

Ranko's head shook, still buried in her sister's bosom. "No. We couldn't even try. They built us to look human, but we weren't. We were just weapon platforms. They could tell us to do whatever they wanted, and... sob... we'd do it. You could grow extra arms more easily than we could ever disobey those who gave our commands."

The girl was back to trembling full force now.

In a rare moment of insight, Ranma merely enfolded the other girl in her arms, holding her close. It was either by accident or design that she managed to say exactly the right thing. "You don't, you know. You don't gotta do what anyone says to ya ever again, an I'll beat up the first
bastard that tries givin ya orders."

The thought of a weakened Ranma trying to beat up *anyone* gave Ranko a fit of giggles.

Nodoka smiled, the catastrophe seemed to be averted. Oh dear, children were more a handful than the last horde of barbarian berserkers she'd encounted. A spark came to her eye. And a greater treasure than any gold idol she'd ever recovered.

She snapped shut their luggage. "Ranma, Ranko, you two can hold each other while I go get lunch. Your elder brother said that physical contact was what you needed, and I think he really meant both of you."

Ranma blinked up at her mother with an identical face alongside doing exactly the same thing in sequence, half a heartbeat behind. "Sure mom, but ain't we gunna go swimming?"

Nodoka smiled, taking her bundle with her. "Certainly dear. But first we have to purchase swimsuits for each of you. I won't be responsible if nasty hentai Nazis come to abduct you young girls if we don't pick something modest, either."

"Nazis?" Ranma blinked, then pouted. She'd seen enough adventure movies on the side to know what a nazi was. "Ah, mom! There ain't been any nazis since the last world war!"

Nodoka laughed. It was a pretty thing, able to round out demons lurking in dark corners of the soul and banish them. Then she covered her mouth and looked in at the girls. "No dear, that's what the victors in that war agreed to say. The Nazis were never defeated, they just moved south. My heavens, I've been chased all over Africa by them, and they control most of South America and Antarctica as well. That's even if you ignore the rumors about their moon base. But we can all talk shop later. I don't have to teach you the family business all in one day. There's enough time for that after you both recover."

Nodoka, still gladly beaming, bent low at the waist to speak to her daughters. "Now, do you young girls have appetites for anything in particular, or should I just back a truck full of raw fish up to our door and let you both eat sushi till you burst? Hmm?"

When both girls began drooling Nodoka had to laugh again.

-----------

Back in Hawaii:

Ignoring for the moment her brother's joy, Akane shrieking, Sasuke calling caterers and other wedding planners, and the ubiquitous "oh my" from the eldest of the Tendo daughters, Kodachi Kuno wondered at the sea change within herself.

She harbored no ill feelings for the redhaired wench. Well, perhaps still a bit. Part of it was always the odd attraction she'd felt for the girl. Which was unseemly to say the least, so she reacted strongly in the opposite manner - hating her all the more for it.

Strange how a mere 48 hours can change everything.

Her mother had commented that Kodachi's usual laugh had sounded like some demented noblewoman from a samurai drama. One who was typically the evil insane witch manipulating events from behind the scenes. Therefore, her mother had gently suggested she refrain.

Kodachi had listened. Tone down the laugh. Check. She *certainly* did not want to stress her mother. Besides, the words had been one thing. The severe disappointment crossing her mother's gaze had been infinitely more painful.

The Black Rose Of Saint Hebereke had died on the plane trip over. What would her mother approve of out of her current lifestyle? Her gymnastics skills, certainly. Somehow she had drifted away from the little girl that had been encouraged to show "grace, poise, and beauty" upon the balance beam.

Kodachi had come to the painful conclusion that she had lost herself. Her mother had returned, and suddenly she could see in that one disappointed gaze the reflection of herself. Not Kodachi Kuno, graceful gymnast and heir to a wealthy samurai family. No, what had been shown was the Black Rose. The drug-user, the cheat, the friendless girl who had caused her beloved Ranma to choose death before choosing her.

She had, prior to the trip, approached the mercenary Nabiki Tendo. She had never done so before, because she felt it was beneath her to turn to such a Yakuza reject. After her mother's comments, her mind a jumble, she'd wanted more information and had known that the Tendo girl would want extra money for playing tourist. Why had Ranma never returned her affections?

Nabiki had told her exactly what she had observed about Ranma's reactions and opinions regarding Kodachi. Nabiki had seemed oddly reluctant, struggling with some inner demon of her own, but had answered at length. Only one final thing did she refuse to speak of, the relationship between the pigtailed girl her brother obsessed with and Ranma. Stating only that it was something that would have to wait, if Kodachi would even believe it then.

So, bit by bit, over the fourteen hours of flight, the Black Rose had been stripped away. Not only did her mother disapprove of her, but her beloved Ranma had been scared off by her presence. And in death he had paid her a gift beyond anything that she could repay.

"Ranma-sama," murmurred Kodachi, losing interest in the surf and sun and play. There was a brief resurgence of the Black Rose, desiring to blame her rival Akane, to whip out her ribbon and tie the wench up - then pull her behind the boat while looking for sharks.

For a moment the conflict raged, but the memory of that disappointed look from her mother strengthened Kodachi's resolve.

Wiping a tear away, Kodachi headed for the changing booths. Somehow she was not in the mood for frolicking in the sands. Instead she would see what she could do to ensure her brother's happiness. At least he need not suffer as she was. And someone had to ensure that her mother could see grandchildren.

For her, without Ranma, Kodachi doubted anyone would ever occupy that place in her heart again.

Kodachi felt halted when somebody took her hand. Looking back she saw the eldest Tendo girl smiling sweetly. The girl cocked her head slightly to one side, indicating the direction of a grassy hill overlooking the sea.

"Kuno-san, do you have to leave this quickly? We appreciate all you've done for us, and I feel amiss that you don't seem to be enjoying yourself here too."

Something within Kodachi deflated, and she looked downward. Kasumi was still holding her hand, restraining her ever so gently from going away. "Please, Tendo-san, I am not feeling well. I was going to adjurn to my apartment to rest."

Kasumi was very respectful as she declined the unspoken request to let the younger girl go. Though the Kuno mansion on Hawaii was even more spectacular than their one in Japan, and her father was talking about getting one like it! Though the way he lost money on the simplest things it would stay a pipe dream only.

Kasumi gave the younger girl a short bow, then began to drag her over to the grassy dune. "I understand, Kuno-san. But the doctor's prescription for our mothers surely applies to us as well? If you're not feeling well perhaps we can sit on the grass together." The Tendo girl seemed to hesitate for a long thought before she finally said. "I haven't any other friends to talk to."

Kodachi followed willingly. It was a sentiment that she could share.

When they were seated together on the grass, Kasumi drew up her knees close to her chest, smoothing out the skirt she had drawn on over the lower half of her swimsuit, before leaning into the support they gave and speaking honestly. "You're feeling badly about Ranma, aren't you?"

Kodachi was unsure whether to confirm or deny that, but in the end Kasumi gave her no choice, saying. "I do too."

That brought Kodachi's eyes toward the elder girl, and Kasumi went on, whispering with her face only inches above her knees. "When he came to our house to be engaged to one of us, as the eldest it was my responsibility to take him. But I panicked. He seemed so young, and well,
so... rough, uncultured..." Kasumi's eyes closed of their own volition. "I guess I had been reading too many romance books. The handsome hero was always dashing and very poetic, and... all the things that Ranma wasn't, at least so it seemed at first. So Nabiki and I both abdicated our higher claims on Ranma, which left him with our youngest sister by default, as she didn't have anyone to refuse him onto."

Tears now scored the eldest Tendo's face, and she directed her gaze toward Kodachi. "I have never regretted more any choice I've made before or since. In one foolish instant I lost my claim on the best man ever to enter my life. A foolish man, a prideful man, one without a gentle
upbringing or all of the polish that a life of romance novels leads a girl to demand." Kasumi's eyes both closed in inner pain, as she said. "But romance novels aren't right about anything." She drew in a long, gasping breath. "Because what Ranma *was* far outweighed all the things
he wasn't. You knew at once, upon first meeting him, what it took me months to discover living in the same home with him. How brave he was, and how gentle, how deeply he cared and his willingness to sacrifice for others..." Kasumi was crying again, more deeply lost in hurt as she
sobbed out the admission. "You have no idea how much I envied you, how I envied *all* those girls that actually had a chance at Ranma! I could've been the one. It could've been me. None of my sisters could have taken him if I'd said from the start that I wanted him. But I was blind. Of all the girls around him, I think it took me the longest to realize how rare and important that he was. I know Ukyo and Shampoo both fought with him before they came to love him, but they came around to say it in time. I never had the strength to tell him that I loved him."

Kasumi broke down in open tears at this point. Kodachi was feeling recovered, distracted from her own grief by the deeper one in this young woman. She was about to reach out a hand to comfort when Kasumi broke her gasps and went on. "You have no idea how much I envied you, to be able to see, right from the first moment, who he was and what he could mean to you. Then to go after him when you'd had none of the advantages of my family or those girls who'd known him for longer..." Kasumi came very close to collapsing on the grass.

Kodachi gave the older girl a hug.

A wave crashed high up the beach, causing squeals of distant laughter as tourists like themselves played in the water.

Kodachi spoke softly in the other girl's ear. "Every moment that you spent with him, every second in his presence, all of the meals and time you had under that same roof together caring for him, I would trade everything I had to share them. It is I who should envy you."

That seemed to quiet Kasumi somewhat.

Kodachi murmured on further. "Whatever failure you have met, I own its equal." She did not elaborate, but the elder girl seemed to sense the truth in this and her sobs relented further even as pity warred with envy in her breast. She'd known how Ranma feared this girl.

Kodachi seemed to sense that, too, and went on to say. "Please, be at peace, and comforted. If Ranma-sama were to meet you at the gates as you end this life, he would do so gladly. For my own sake, not heaven's command would drive him willingly to greet me."

The Tendo's tears cut off, there was need for reprisal to that comment, and she lifted herself somewhat out of the other's gentle hug of sisterly support - something Kasumi didn't think either of her own real sisters could handle giving to her right now, especially not on this subject. She sat up and wiped at her tears. "That's not true, Kodachi. You know Ranma better than that. He was only afraid because he didn't know how to deal with you. He was so ignorant of all our ways. He needed someone to show him what he didn't know." Kasumi choked out a sigh. "It was not my place to tell him, but you could've. If you went more slowly and taught him how he should act I'm sure there's no other person on this world that he'd rather spend time with."

"Not even... the pigtailed girl?" Kodachi ventured, touching so lightly the source of her present deepest pain.

Kasumi considered long her response before she answered. "There were times when he hated her, times when he tried to be rid of her, and yet... I'm not sure how to say this. But when they got along together he was so happy to be with her. She never threatened him. Well, almost never, only when Happosai made her do it, and then she was just trying to take him with her forever - which is something I might've done if I had the chance."

Kodachi nodded, thinking any sensible girl would've. Kasumi continued. "I guess that it was that happiness that I envied about her - yes, I'd envied her too. You see they were thrown together only months before I met them when they first came to our house, and all he wanted was to be
rid of her, to make her go away. I think that she frightened him back then." There came another long pause, before Kasumi concluded. "But she never once tried to be rid of him. She never, ever rejected him. She was always there for him, even when he didn't want her to be, and I think
somewhere in there they learned to get along with each other. Wherever they are now, I'm sure that they're together."

Kodachi nodded, satisfied. It did something that words cannot express to know that even the pigtailed girl had had her troubles with Ranma-sama at first. It was a healing balm whose warmth was without price to have heard that this girl who had shared his life, his clothes, and his bed (to quote a rival who'd once felt vindictive) had frightened him once.

That meant there was hope for her.

The pair stayed looking out at the sea in silence for the longest time.

---------

"Bwee?" P-chan yawned sleepily, wondering where the heck he was now.

One of the problems with ocean travel with a Jusenkyo curse was, of course, that one would spend most of one's time in that cursed form. If you added to that the problem of being directionally challenged to the extent that all members of the Hibiki family were, ocean travel became even more a problem.

Still, as long as nobody found you and tried to take you to the kitchen for a quick snack, a little piglet was easier to stow away as. Coloration and size made it good for stealth purposes.

Of course, as frequently happened, a piece of Akane's luggage was lost somewhere in the trip to Hawaii. Was it at all a surprise to anyone that this single carrybag had been Ryoga's chosen disguise? Would it strike anyone as being completely out of question that while Akane and the others were on the main island of Hawaii, one piece of her luggage was currently located in Oahu?

Of course, if Ryoga had known that there was a luau planned, or what the main course was, he'd have fled so quickly all anyone could see was a black streak.

As it was, he just wandered the hotel until he got to an area where he could look out over the ocean.

Ryoga had some thinking to do. He'd come to terms, more or less, with Ranma. Hearing the Tendo girls (all of them?) wailing about Ranma's death had forced him into introspective mode. Frequently depressed people did that regularly, but because of their diagnosis it was normal for the more negative side of things to snowball.

Ranma had *died* and in a noble and heroic manner. Self-sacrificing himself for others to benefit, turning himself into a puddle of water but also going out in a blaze of glory.

The perpetually lost pig looked out at the waves, seeing a brief image of Ranma with halo and wings ascending to the heavens.

Ryoga sighed. It had been so much easier to just hate Ranma and blame him for everything. Now there was no Ranma. He had died a hero, and had left Akane to someone who could better appreciate her. Ryoga.

(Ranma. I promise I'll take good care of Akane. Your sacrifice for her happiness shall not be in vain.) Of course this actually came out as "bwee bwee bwee bwee BWEE bwee" but that wasn't registering in Ryoga's mind. Though he'd have to find Akane now.

Ryoga really hated ocean travel.

---------

Shampoo was normally as perky and cheerful as could be. It was as natural a state for her as breathing. At least on the outside.

Shampoo had finally found a moment to get away from the crowds and go off and have a good cry.

Despite the joy of being reunited with her mother, something had occurred to diminish that happiness to a guttering tiny flame. Her Airen had been slain.

How could mere words, even in her native Chinese, convey the depth of emotions she'd kept bottled up? Her happiness at being reunited with a mother she hadn't seen since she was four had led her to leave her weakened Airen behind in the mercies of the Tendo household. Her guilt at her oversight, knowing full well the horrors that Akane Tendo was capable of inflicting out of some misguided desire to prove she could be feminine or masculine or both. Her horror on hearing her Great Grandmother relate that the Tendos thought Ranma had melted into a puddle without his lifeforce.

Great Grandmother had suggested that she had a problem with this idea, but wasn't able to do anything about it yet. If ever, added Shampoo. Bringing back people from decade old graves wasn't exactly covered in Amazon Lore 101 (which she'd mainly slept through anyway, but she was sure she'd have remembered it if the subject had been mentioned).

Mousse was buried in the sand, Spatula Girl wasn't around, Cologne was sunbathing with the two mothers. There was a small stand of rocks over there, where someone could sit and pout and have a decent crying spell without anyone thinking her less a warrior for it. Perfect.

It was HER party and she'd cry if she wanted to!

A muffled sob let her know where Spatula Girl was.

Shampoo peeked over one rock to spy on her rival. Former rival, Shampoo corrected herself with a wince. Ukyo was a picture of dejection, hugging her knees and quite obviously trying to be silent. Failing pretty badly too.

The Amazon was ready to turn away when Ukyo's voice reached her. It was hard to understand, but it involved Ranma's name.

Shampoo wasn't sure why, but she closed the distance, knelt next to the broken chef, and put her hand on the girl's shoulder.

After a moment where two tearful gazes met, the two grabbed each other in a deep crying hug. Bawling their eyes out, but nobody would know. They had been bitter rivals, and each recognized wordlessly that it was that very bond which allowed them to realize what the other was going through.

Guilt. Guilt at having abandoned their love in a moment when they had seemed to be needed elsewhere. Guilt for the happiness of being reunited with their mothers when it had come at such an awful cost.

Hatred. Directed at that strange wishbringing guy and that damn sword for taking Ranma away from them.

Sorrow. Heart-wrenching, hole-in-the-soul, aching sorrow at the loss of someone who had meant so much to them.

Cologne watched the two from a peak of the rock, then turned away as the two went through their anguish with a side order of angst. The kids would be fine, and in her experience Cologne could actually see the two becoming fast friends as a result.

Maybe she ought to see about making the Kuonji girl an honorary Amazon. It would simplify things.

------------

Nodoka couldn't resist getting a few pictures. It was a Kodak moment, even if she was using Fuji film on a Nikon camera.

On the bed were twin girls, wearing similar red Chinese shirts with black pants, their hair in identical pigtails, matching bracers on their forearms. They were also currently asleep and cuddled together.

It had taken quite a bit of time to get everything ready. One distraction had led to another. And it *had* been a long walk to get here.

The owner of the ryokan owed Nodoka in no small manner. There had been four of them in that little matter with the kuei and oni five years ago. Nodoka had been the warrior, a fresh Akuryo Taisan enscribed on her katana, as she had sent the flesh eating ghosts towards an ambush.

It had been the battle with the oni lich that had been the tricky part. Not that she'd mention it to Ranma. Poor thing had enough to worry about.

But the two of them, curled up like that, looking completely innocent and just so darn cute, brought Nodoka to the understanding that her manly son (though looking rather feminine at the moment) was now with the perfect girl for him. That kami that had taken the disguise of a popular television show fictional character had mentioned something about the two being engaged by the rules of Heaven.

Well, she would just have to make sure that the laws of Japan covered this as well. As Head of Clan for the family Saotome, this was easy regarding Ranma. Ranko was another matter, as she had no legal standing at all. Or did she?

---------

Celeste was cleaning it all up again. Though, as usual, she was doing four other things at the same time.

The appropriate records had been easily accessed and modified.

Nodoka Saotome, originally Nodoka Takahashi, had made a schoolgirl pledge with one of her friends - a Momoko Sanguichi. Unite the families of two close friends who had once been bitter rivals. Not that uncommon, and usually forgotten about as the two got older. Momoko had died in in a car accident in 1986 with her husband, the two having no children.

Simple, really. Celeste could almost do this in her sleep.

Momoko now had a daughter - now listed as surviving the wreck. The name: Ranko. School records were altered. Grades were neither very good nor very bad, she was in the background and never managed to do anything remarkable at all.

More typing, more changes. Ranko had recently been reunited with an old friend of her mother's: Nodoka Takahashi now Saotome. The engagement of Ranko Sanguichi - from a centuries old line of devilhunters and psychics to Nodoka's own line, a matter of record dating back to 1971, renewed in 1989.

Databases were updated to show the new stories. Now, if anyone tried to run a background check (such as a news agency or the like) they would uncover all these newly crafted details showing all the signs of having been in place for quite some time.

Fix the past and the present would fall into place, as Urd would say.

-------

Tsubasa had snuck into the Ucchan's having used a coathanger to open a window.

He hadn't seen his darling Ukyo recently, but then he didn't get into this section of Tokyo very often. It had looked as if the okonomiyaki chef of his obsession had just locked up for a while, but the note on the door said they'd be gone for three days. Which was *perfect* for Tsubasa.

Upon seeing the note, he had come up with the Foolproof Perfect Plan to win Ukyo's heart. This would work! Nothing could go wrong!

Which is why he had redecorated most of the shop on the first day. He had done so in typical Tsubasa fashion, which would be horribly bizarre to almost anyone else, but the tasteless transvestite was convinced that love was colorblind at least.

Yes, Tsubasa's foolproof plan was to be running the Ucchan's when his beloved Ukyo returned - proving that he was the perfect guy-dressed-as-a-gaudily-dressed-girl for her!

(NOTE: He was not, of course, merely a transvestite, but enjoyed wearing truly bizarre costumes as well. This was the anime Tsubasa, after all.)

Tsubasa had an image of himself flirting with many sweet young things as they entered the shop, of being greeted by Ukyo, of a darling little wedding with lots of pink and lace...

It was somewhere during that fantasy of the second day that he'd managed to lock himself in the freezer.

After having redecorated the Ucchan's with lots of pink and lace, lava lamps and bric-a-brac, ferns and a large neon multi-colored chicken wall mural, cat clocks with the moving eyes and a jukebox that contained Austrian polkas and Scottish bagpipe music. Tsubasa was quite eclectic in his tastes.

Which was not why Tsubasa was panicked about being stuck in the small walk-in freezer of the Ucchan's. After all, Ukyo would see this and immediately realize that Tsubasa was perfect for her - or at least that was Tsubasa's plan.

Nor was Tsubasa desperate for escape because he was currently wearing clothing that would cause a television viewer to scramble for their controls to adjust the color. The clothing was warm enough as well, as looking like Peter Max's dayglo interpretation of Pippi Longstocking included a bodystocking that helped retain warmth as long as he kept moving.

Tsubasa pounded on the door. "Somebody help! I need to use the little girl's room!"

No, Tsubasa Kurenai had other emergencies to deal with.

----------

Ranko cried.

She wasn't alone. She didn't have to kill. She wasn't immobile, locked into a damaged form that couldn't help but remember the atrocities she'd been forced to commit.

She was free. She was with people who cared about her. She was alive.

She no longer was dependent on a Power Key Staff, nor was she named IFR 103. Her raw power level had taken a nosedive. All of which were things she could live with.

So while she snuggled closer to her fiance and tried to find solace from her memories, something else was occurring.

She had been turned human by the wish, but part of it had been a wish that she be able to understand and be a proper fiancee/girlfriend/potential lifemate for one Ranma Saotome. Which meant that in order to just survive some of his usual problems, she had to be somewhat more competent in battle than Lynn Minmei and capable of withstanding more single-combat-round damage than a typical fashion otaku.

So she was no longer an Ifurita, but she wasn't exactly a Macross bridge bunny either.

A Macross bridge bunny wouldn't have been able to carry Ranma through two train connections, a six hour bus ride, and a three hour hike. Even in female form.

Especially with all the side trips and "wow, lookitatthat" running around to examine things that both Ranma and Nodoka took in stride.

No longer being a Weapon Of Mass Destruction was pretty good by *her* reckoning at least.

She wasn't crying because she was being tormented by memories of being that Weapon.

She wasn't crying in her sleep due to the downgrade of her operational parameters.

The little smile and the tears were all from finding a home.

IFR 103 never had a home. The closest term in modern languages would be a silo or weapons locker where she had been stockpiled against future need.

A home was not simply a place where a unit could be inactive and on call. It was not defined by terms like "active response time" or "combat efficiency" or the like.

A home was defined by caring.

================

ROUND ROBIN: "When You Wish Upon A Sword" is a round-robin story. Which means that no single author controls it, or is responsible for it, and it is open for others to contribute to it. One writer sparks another, whose contribution inspires - etc. People wanting to contribute please keep in mind that this is a Ranma + Ranko fic being written at Phillip Chan's request. Any other pairings/developments are up for development.
Nodoka's father is either James Bond or Indiana Jones, or something like that in this fic.