CH 4, Ryo-oh-ki, Death and rebirth.

    Nodoka Saotome was going over the arrangements for her upcoming trip when a knock on her front door broke her concentration. Setting her tickets down on an atlas of China, she made her way to the door. "I wonder who that could be?" She said with a small frown. She was not expecting anyone, and her next door neighbor had already been over for her morning cup of tea.
    Reaching the door, she opened it and smiled pleasantly at the young man on her stoop. "Hello. May I help you?"
    "Saotome-san?" At Nodoka's nod, the boy went on. "I am most grievously sorry to intrude on you in this manner, but I have no alternative. My name is Kuonji Ukyou, and I need to talk to you about your son and husband, and a matter of honor." He bowed low, and waited for her reply.
    Nodoka's eyes had gone wide at the mention of her son and husband, and she stepped aside. "If the matter is as you say, one of honor, then you must by all means come in. I am always happy to hear word of my son and husband, and most especially eager to hear of any matter of honor concerning them."



    A bedroom in a typical, if slightly oversized suburban family dwelling. A curvaceous form slipped silently through one of the outside walls, leaving no sign behind to indicate how it had penetrated a solid wall. Once in the light, the form was revealed to be an attractive young lady with coarse, cyan colored hair. She wore a look of smug self congratulations.


    Ryouko smiled in anticipation, this was going to be good. Tenchi was going to be so happy to see her. Her imagination in full overdrive she dropped to her knees and grasped at the pant legs of an imaginary Tenchi.
    "O, Tenchi, you have defeated me in battle. I have no where to go, no where to turn. I am," her voice caught in her throat for a second, " . . . utterly your's, please . . ." Here she lowered her head and bit a finger, before looking back up, artistic tears running down her cheeks. "Please . . . be gentle." She lowered her head and gave a little sob. Then she quickly stood up and assumed the role of Tenchi.
    "Ryouko-chan." Ryouko-Tenchi said, a catch in her voice. She reached out and gathered an imaginary Ryouko to her chest, stroking her hair with a gentle hand. "You are so very beautiful. It will be hard to resist the great desire burning within me, but I will try to be gentle."
    Ryouko stood there for a minute, eyes closed, smiling, then she threw back her head and laughed like a maniac. "Yes, oh yes, just like that. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA" In a quick motion she drew back the covers on the bed in the corner, and slipped under them, pulling them back up, and over her head, covering herself completely.
    Ryouko settled herself down to wait, stifling the laughter that threatened to give away her hiding place. The expression on Tenchi's face when she had confronted him at school had been priceless. She had gotten him back good for treating her like some sort of monster, and running off and leaving her in that cold dank crypt.
    Not that everything had gone quite as planned, she thought to herself, frowning under the covers. Tenchi's sister had come as a complete surprise. She had no idea Tenchi had one. There was no mistaking those Juraien features, however. She had to be Tenchi's sister. Well, that just added spice to the situation. She was almost as cute as Tenchi, and what a firecracker. Ryouko worked her jaw back and forth. It was still slightly sore from the blow she had received from the little red head.
    Imagine, she thought, someone that young, and untrained in the power of her heritage, landing a blow that hard. It was almost as impressive as the fact that she had managed to figure out how to do it. The girl had excellent instincts.
    O, yes, she thought with glee, it was going to be almost as much fun playing with Tenchi's little sister as with Tenchi himself. Maybe after she had worn Tenchi out to-night, she'd pay Ranma a visit. A little spice to go with her sugar.
    Ryouko's thoughts were suddenly disrupted as a connection that had not been active in nearly seven hundred years suddenly came on line. Ryo-ok-ki's passive sensors were picking up a Jurain craft moving into near earth orbit. Automatic systems analyzed the signal from the on board beacon that was required by law to be carried on every ship in space, a law Ryo-oh-ki had somehow always neglected to follow. The craft was the Ryuu-oh registered to the first princess of Jurai, Ayeka.
    "Damn," Ryouko swore, "Seven hundred years, and I'm not out of that damn cave one full week and they're here already, and Yosho's sister on top of that."
    So much for fun and games with Tenchi. She needed to up her firepower, and quick. She sent out a command to Ryo-oh-ki, ordering her to activate and get her furry butt over here now! Nothing happened. Again she sent, this time with all her strength, again nothing. She did not have sufficient power to order Ryo-oh-ki to full activation. That could only mean one thing, this was not her Ryo-oh-ki. She must have been damaged sufficiently in their last battle to require regeneration. So it was Ryo-oh-ki's daughter/sister's auto functions that were feeding Ryouko telemetry.
    Ryouko swore long and imaginatively under her breath. She needed the power jewels in Tenchi's hilt to re-establish the connections required to order Ryo-oh-ki to full activation. The faux one in her earring would not do. It was fine for drawing power, and manipulating power on a small scale, like at the school earlier, but not for this job. Only the originals had the range and power for this.
    As if on cue she heard someone opening the bedroom door. Tenchi, speak of the devil, she thought. Ryouko resisted the urge to burst out at him. She might not have time to play the way she had hoped, but she could at least do a little flirting, and who knows, it might make it easier to talk Tenchi into handing over the family jewels.

    Ranma had been on her way to bed, a very much desired thing after her busy day, when she had been pulled up short by a cry of alarm coming from Tenchi's room. For a second she hesitated, pulled by the siren call of her warm bed, but then she recalled that they still did not know for sure what had happened to the demon girl. So she turned and hurried towards her 'fiancee's' room.

    "What was that Noboyuki?" Genma asked. Looking up toward the ceiling. "Did you hear something?"
    Noboyuki had indeed heard something, and the last thing he wanted was for Genma to get inquisitive. He had gone out of his way to give Tenchi and Ranma enough privacy to do whatever they wanted. The last thing the two lovers needed was Genma interrupting them at a crucial moment. If he had been alone, he would have been discrete, a little window peaking, being very careful not to distract them, but alas, he had to sidetrack Genma. Tenchi was on his own. "It's just the house settling. Come, try this Sake, it's a particularly good brand, and I'd like your opinion on it." Genma forgot the noise, and reached for the warm bottle of Sake Noboyuki was holding out toward him.
    
    Ranma was about to barge into Tenchi's room, but she stopped. No point in rushing into an unknown. Not when a light around the door gave indication of a gap big enough for a little reconnoitering. Lowering an eye to the crack, she peered inside, and blushed furiously.

    Ryouko looked up from her position astride Tenchi when the door slammed open and an outraged voice exclaimed.
    "What the f*** are you doing to him, you old mummy."
    Ryouko stifled her annoyance at the mummy crack, time enough later to show Tenchi's sister she was anything but dried out. Instead she directed a languorous look at the fuming red head. "Don't worry cutey, your brother and I are just playing a grown up game." Both Ranma and Tenchi turned red, and blurted out
    "DON'T call me cutey . . . Brother?"
    "She lying, she wants the sword . . .Brother?"
    Both Tenchi and Ranma exchange puzzled looks, and Ryouko looked between the two of them. "She is your sister. Isn't she?" Ryouko asked Tenchi.

    A split screen formed, on one side was Tenchi's imagination, on the other Ranma's.

    Over Ranma's head an image appeared, in it, a SD Ryouko and Tenchi are in the same position the real one's are in, but Ranma- chan is now Ranma-kun. Ranma-kun minces over to the pair and glomps Tenchi. He says, in a sickeningly kawaii voice, "why no, Tenchi is my fiancee. We're going to get married and have lots and lots of Babies, Tee Hee!" Under the thought bubble the real Ranma shuddered and looked nauseous.
    "Yea sister, right, I'm his sister. You bet," she said quickly.
    
    Meanwhile over above Tenchi's head, in his thought bubble, a SD Ryouko is advancing on a SD Ranma-chan who is cowering in the corner. "Well, if she's not your sister, than I guess the sword won't protect her," SD Ryouko says. She grins an evil, fang filled smile and raises her sword to start slicing and dicing. SD Ranma screams in denial and covers her head with her hands.
    "Sister!!! She's my sister." Tenchi shouted. Then a little quieter when both Ranma and Ryouko stared at him in surprise, "he, he. Of course she's my sister. What else could she be?"

    Ryouko looked from Tenchi to Ranma, and back again, a puzzled frown on her face. Both Tenchi and Ranma big sweated, and tried to look nonchalant, without much success. Ryouko was about to say something, when a new data burst from Ryo-oh-ki put an end to all unnecessary talk and speculation.
    "We don't have time for games," Ryouko said. "Tenchi, give me your balls. Now!"
    "Nani, no way!" Ranma cried. She leaped at Ryouko and wrapped herself around the larger girl, trying to pull her away from Tenchi "No one's going to lose anymore balls around here, not if I can help it!," she shouted in Ryouko's ear.
    "Aaa Ranma," Tenchi said, blushing fiercely. "She means the power jewels in the hilt."
    Ryouko turned and smirked at Ranma, who's face was inches from her own. "That feels soooo good Ranma, but we'll have to do this later. Right now I have a devil to stop." Ranma looked at her blankly for a minute, then even as Ryouko looked down at her chest in a meaningful way, Ranma became aware that she was gripping something other then hard muscle. With a rather stunned look in her eyes, she gave a slight squeeze, and discovered that the large object she was gripping, while firm, was not in the least hard. Following Ryouko's gaze, she looked down to where one of her hands was currently groping one of Ryouko's substantial breasts.
    Ranma released her hold as quickly as she could, falling off of Ryouko's back, and on to the floor. Feeling very flustered, she tried to explain. "I didn't mean nothing. Tt was an accident. I'd never . . ." She broke off, blushing furiously, and then said loudly and emphatically. "We're both girls dammit!!" Ryouko, despite the situation, noted Ranma's reaction, and felt quite pleased with it. Oh yes, her and this little fire cracker were going to have lots of fun.

    Down in the dining room Genma was happily on his third bottle of warm sake, while Noboyuki was on his second. "This is very good," Genma said, "but I think the first brand was a little better. I'd better try some more of that, just to double check."
    "Certainly, we must be sure," Noboyuki said. He reached for another warming bottle of sake, but was interrupted by a voice that seemed to come from everywhere. It was accompanied by a heavy thrumming from overhead, and a brilliant light that flooded in through all the windows.
    "Ryouko-san, come out."
    Both Genma and Noboyuki rushed outside, and froze, staring in shock at the massive wooden craft hovering overhead. The voice came again.
    "Ryouko-san, Ryouko-san. I know you are in there. You cannot get away from me now." Then in a much quieter voice, the stranger asked. "Are you sure this is on?"
    A different voice started to answer, but was cut off halfway through what sounded like, "yes."
    Genma and Noboyuki continued to stare, still frozen in place. They were soon moved however. A brilliant beam of light flashed into life and hit a nearby vacant lot. The blast that resulted picked up both of the men and flung them into the side of the house, even as it blew out all the windows in the neighborhood. For a minute their bodies stuck to the wall, like dead frogs on a road, then they slowly fell forward, to land heavily on the front lawn.
    Above them Ranma stuck her head out the shattered bedroom window and screamed at the ship overhead. "You goddam bitch, come down here and fight fair. Even the mummy fought face to face."
    "Who's a mummy?" Ryouko yelled from inside, and a book bounced off of Ranma's head almost knocking her all the way out the window.

    "What'd you do that for?" Ranma yelled, pulling her head back in the window and glaring at Ryouko. Ryouko paid no attention to her. She was standing there, her eyes closed and her arms stretched out toward Tenchi. Tenchi was holding the hilt of Yosho's sword toward Ryouko, in an attitude of prayer, his eyes closed as well. Even as Ranma watched wide eyed, a gem disappeared from the hilt, and re-appeared on Ryouko's wrist.
    Ryouko opened her eyes, a smile on her lips, a smile that disappeared as she stared at both her wrists. "Hey, what's the idea? You only gave me one."
    "Uh, hu," Tenchi nodded, a 'what type of fool do you take me for', expression on his face.
    "Good going Tenchi." Ranma said approvingly.
    Ryouko laughed out loud at Tenchi's caution, then said, "well, no matter." She closed her eyes and held her hands close together. After a moment of concentration, she spoke in a soft but intense voice. "Come, Ryo-oh-ki. Awaken." for several seconds she held that pose, then she relaxed and smiled. "She's coming."
    Tenchi and Ranma exchanged glances. Now that there was no turning back, they could not help but wonder if they had done the right thing. What had they unleashed?
    For a minute, all was quiet, then from overhead the whip crack of air shattered by the passage of plasm beams, was followed by distant explosions that came closer and closer until they were directly overhead and the noise was almost deafening.
    A white light flooded the room. It seemed to come in not just through the window, but through the very walls. Ryouko said, "lets go kids." Ranma and Tenchi both let out startled cries as their feet left the ground, and they started to float toward the ceiling. They faded from sight, and a second later, the entire house and part of the yard followed them. Overhead, a massive crystalline starship moved out of the shadow of the even larger wooden ship, and flashed toward the horizon.

    Saotome Nodoka raised her tea to her mouth and took a sip. To look at her, you would never know she was suffering torments. Or that it was taking all her efforts to keep her hands from trembling and revealing her disquiet to her guest.
    She looked across the dining table at Kuonji-san, who she now knew was a girl, and not the boy she had first taken her for. At first she had not wanted to tell Nodoka the complete story, wanting only to learn of Ranma and Genma's location. Nodoka had insisted on hearing the entire matter, and reluctantly she had complied. Now Nodoka was wishing she had not insisted. Lowering her cup to the table top, she said.
    "I hope Kuonji-san, that you will understand that I can not take your word alone for this matter. I must find and talk to my husband and son before I can make any determination."
    "That will not be necessary Saotome-san. I wished only to learn the location of your husband and son. It rests on me to satisfy my own honor."
    "Unfortunately, that is no longer an option. This matter is serious, and as Ranma's mother, I must address it." She looked up and smiled at Ukyou, "besides, I don't know where they are." She reached down and picked up her cup, while Ukyou looked at her thunderstruck.
    Ukyou started to simmer in rage. "You mean Saotome-san," she ground out from between her teeth, "that I spilled my guts for no reason?"
    "I would not go that far dear. As his mother, hearing this news of my son was very important to me. I hope you will accept that reason for my insistence on knowing the entire story of your engagement and abandonment by my husband and son. If it is any consolation, while I do not know where they are now, I do know where they were going four months ago. I was planning on leaving in two days to go in search of them. They were due at the Tendo training hall three months ago, at least according to the last letter Genma wrote me. I recently visited his old partner Soun Tendo, and he had heard nothing. I intend to find them, and when I do, I will contact you, and we can settle this matter."
    "I'm going with you!" Ukyou said suddenly.
    "I beg your pardon?"
    "If I had managed to find them on my own I would never have bothered you, but now that I have, I'm not going to lose the first lead I've had. Besides, I can't let you go on such a dangerous trip by yourself."
    Nodoka pulled herself up straight, "I am perfectly able to look after myself, thank you," she said in a frosty voice, that did not deter Ukyou in the least.
    They argued back and forth for a while, and finally Nodoka allowed herself to be swayed. Ukyou with a satisfied look on her face left to get her belongings. The frown on Nodoka's face disappeared after she closed the door behind the departing girl, to be replaced by a smile. "There now, that should give me a chance to get to know my future daughter-in-law, and to talk her out of extracting vengeance on Genma." She looked over at a narrow cloth wrapped bundle. "That I reserve for myself. Imagine setting such a bad example for Ranma. How will he ever become a man among men with that behavior as an example." A wistful expression crossed her face. "Still, imagine Ranma being a heart breaker at such a young age."

    Five minutes later a knock sounded on the door. "Surely Kuonji-san is not back so soon," she thought. "Come in dear," she said out loud. The door opened behind her, and she turned with a smile, "my that was quick . . ." She broke off in surprise as her visitor came into sight, "Akane? What are you doing here?"

    Ranma was in the bottom most level of her own private hell. It had not seemed like hell when she and the others had arrived. Then it had been like some sort of crystal fantasy land. Everywhere you looked was crystal, the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and in between all of that crystal, numerous smaller shards hovered in mid-air. Despite herself, Ranma had gawked like a tourist at the Tokyo tower for the first time.
    Then Ryouko had ordered her ship to leave, and Ranma discovered the truth. At Ryouko's command, a hideous sound had reverberated through the room, a sound so awful, so horrifying, that Ranma was currently curled up in ball in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped protectively around her head, and her face pressed between her tightly clenched knees. Her distress went unseen by her companions, who were looking elsewhere. Ryouko had her eyes on the stars, long missed. As for Tenchi, his eyes were focused in horror, at the miniaturized house that had been his home, and the doll like figures of his father and Mr Saotome on the front lawn.
    "Meow," had been the sound, and it had come from everywhere. Just like before. Just like in the pit. Above, below, to the sides, the cries had come, and soon after the sound, the claws and teeth had come. The first time she had been thrown in the pit she had learned, cover your face, protect your eyes. And so she did, they wouldn't get her, not this time.
    It had been a long time since Ranma had been this far into her phobia. The first few weeks after the pit, it only took the sound of a cat to throw her out of her mind. Then she learned that she could run, run faster than the monsters, faster than their hungry cries, and so, she kept her mind. Now there was no where to run. They were all around her, everywhere. She could feel them nudging at her arms, could hear their soft cries as they tried to get under her body, tried to shove her hands away from her face. If she had looked, she would have seen that it was the small floating crystals that were nudging her, that the soft murmuring of cat voices was coming from hard crystal, and not from soft flesh, armed with fang and claws. She did not look. She knew better. Protect the face. Guard the eyes. She pulled in tighter, clenched her legs and arms, and prayed for release, for death, for her mother. Prayed for anything and anyone who might make them go away. She only had enough control left to keep from shamming herself by screaming in blind terror, showing Tenchi what sort of a coward she really was.
    With her face hidden between her legs, she missed seeing the tangle field that condensed around Ryouko, holding her immobile while an upright log appeared and absorbed her. She did not take note of the other log that appeared and treated a panicked Tenchi in a similar fashion. Even when that log turned and addressed her.
    "Never fear my lady, I will be back momentarily to rescue you."
    She did not hear, did not care. Her mind dived deeper and deeper, seeking escape, and at last found it.
    
    Ayeka, first princess of Jurai, looked up as Kamidake, one of her pair of guardians appeared. She arched a delicate eyebrow in surprise when he disgorged a young boy from his interior. The boy, an inhabitant of this primitive world from the look of him, slumped bonelessly to the ground once he was out of Kamidake's tangle field. Something fell from his waist as he dropped, and the understated expression on her face gave way to a much less lady like one.
    "WHAT IS THAT?!? She screamed. Forgetting all pretense of dignity, she hiked up her dress and ran the few feet to the fallen boy. Kneeling down beside him, she picked up a short length of carved wood. Eyes disbelieving, she turned it over and over in her hands, before finally clutching it to her bosom.
    "Yosho." She said softly. Tears streamed down her face from her closed eyes. After a minute she looked up at Kamidake, who had kept quite, giving her a moment of privacy.
    "Was. . . was there any sign of my brother?"
    "No my lady. But there was a lady of Jurai on board."
    "A lady . . . of Jurai. Are you sure?"
    "Indeed, my scan showed her to be quite clearly of Jurain descent."
    "This is a colony world, most of it's inhabitants will have Jurain ancestors."
    "She had the genetic traces that are part of the royal families code. All royal guardians are equipped to register that particular code string."
    "Is she. . . I mean . . . Yosho's . . .?"
    " I am not equipped to make that close a diagnosis. It is possible, however."
    "Was she a prisoner."
    "I believe she was my lady, that is why I scanned her. She was surrounded and being kept prisoner by some of Ryo-ok-ki's sub units. The tangle field had immobilized them, and I assured her that I would be right back."
    "What are you waiting for? Take this boy to a holding cell, and go and get her at once! We can't leave her in that foul ship one moment longer then necessary! Who knows what she has suffered at the hands of that woman!"
    "HAI!" Kamidake shouted, and faded from sight.
    Ayeka turned to her other guardian, Asaka, who had been patiently waiting. "You have that 'woman' secured," she said, venom dripping from every syllable. It was clear that if she had not been a lady, she would have been using far different terms to describe Ryouko.
    "Hai!"
    "Take her to the small dining nook, we can wait for Kamidake there." Ayeka practically glowed with satisfaction as she followed Asaka. "Your nature has run true, Ryouko. The stupidity that allowed the charges against you to lapse, may keep me from arresting you for your former crimes against Jurai. But kidnaping a lady of Jurai has put you in my power. The statute of limitations will run out on that crime while you are rotting in prison. You will tell me where Yosho is Ryouko, oh yes you will, or else, you will be very, very sorry." Ayeka lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed long and hard.

    A few minutes later, Ayeka was pacing back and forth impatiently, "Where is Kamidake? What is taking so long? How long does it take to make a simple pickup and delivery?"
    As if on cue, a very battered Kamidake suddenly appeared, swayed for a second, and then like a felled tree, he leaned far to the left and fell to the ground with a crash, raising a cloud of dust, interspersed with splinters of wood.
    Ayeka looked at him in shock. His entire right hand side was gouged and splintered, with heavy curls of wood draped at the end of each long score mark.
    "Kamidake!!" Ayeka cried out in shock. "What happened to you!?"
    "My apology my lady," Kamidake said in a labored voice. He slowly, with aid from Asaka, levered himself upright. "I will be fine." he said in a slightly stronger voice, but with a quiver still present in it. "The shock was extreme, but my self repair functions are on line. Repairs are being implemented."
    "What happened?" Ayeka repeated, "Where is the lady, is she all right?"
    "I would have to say that she is very healthy, at least in body." Kamidake said hesitantly.
    At Ayeka's blank look, he turned slightly to the side, and a small beam of light sprang from the jewel in the middle of his forehead, or rather where his forehead would be if he had a head. It started scanning right to left at ever increasing speeds until it was moving too fast for the eye to follow, and it disappeared. A hologram image of the interior of Ryo-oh-ki appeared. The image slowly scanned across the bridge, past, and then back, as a figure of a young girl crouched on all fours appeared. The image stabilized, and the image of the young girl started to expand as Kamidake advanced on her. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in a snarl, and a second later she sprang. The image disappeared at that point in a burst of static.
    Ayeka blinked. "Nani?" She turned to Kamidake, "What is it? What has that monster done to her?" An angry look filled her face. She turned to Asaka, "Get her out here, NOW!! Kamidake? Are you well enough to help Asaka hold her?"
    "Hai!" Kamidake shouted, but as he moved into position a few feet from Asaka, it could be seen by his less then steady movements, that he was still unsettled by his experience. Once in position, they concentrated, and a field of force extended from each of them. When the two fields merged there was a moment of instability, and Ayeka could see Kamidake strain. She almost ordered them to desist, but then the interference stabilized, and the two fields merged seamlessly, and Ryouko phased out of Asaka, hanging upside down.
    "Sorry." Asaka said in a contrite tone of voice. "I'll fix that now."
    "Wait!" Ayeka said, then smiling a wicked smile, she added, "I like her like that. Leave her!"

    Ryouko had never lost consciousness, but she knew better then to forfeit an advantage, so she played dead, and waited for an opening. Slitting her eyes, she took stock of her situation. The fact that she was upside down caused no distress to a flyer, and she had no problem adjusting for the different perspective. Across the room, a figure that had to be Ayeka, sat calmly sipping tea. As Ryouko watched, Ayeka gave a gentle smile, and said.

    "It's been a long time Ryouko. I've been wanting to talk with you for a while. I have some questions for you." Ayeka got up from her table, and clutching Yosho's sword in her hand, approached Ryouko. "Who is the girl on Ryo-oh-ki? What have you done to her? Who is the boy? Why did he have this sword?" Ayeka snapped out. Each question emerging like a bullet aimed at Ryouko.
    Ryouko's eyes snapped fully open, and she grinned insolently at the blue haired princess, causing her to take a step backward.
    "I've done nothing to Ranma." She finally said after a pause to let Ayeka stew. "As for your other questions," she flipped her hair out of her eyes and directed a smirk at Ayeka, "only a bonehead could fail to know the answer. I was never one to waste my time educating fools, so, get stuffed!" Ryouko turned her face from Ayeka. Who had reared back in surprise at Ryouko's answer, her mouth open in shock. No one had ever spoken to her like that. An angry frown crossed her face. She nodded at both Kamidake and Asaka, and they responded. High voltage current surged through the tangle field holding Ryouko, and her body arched in pain.

    Ryouko gasped as pain washed through her body, but she refused to cry out. Refused to give this spoiled brat the satisfaction. Her resolve waned as the next surge tore through her body. The pain was too much, too severe, she had to cry out. Then . . . inspiration! She opened her mouth and screamed, not in apparent pain, but in ecstacy. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She cried, her body trembling with seeming pleasure.
    Almost immediately the shocks ceased, as the badly flustered Ayeka ordered the Guardians to cease and desist. Ryouko grinned, and mentally marked down one for her side. She hovered in the tangle field, and waited for the princess's next move.

    
    Ranma-neko prowled the dim empty reaches of Ryo-ok-ki's bridge, wailing mournfully. She was frightened and lonely. She did not like this strange place. The smells were old and musty, and there was nothing to chase. Always there had been something to chase when she had woken before. This time there had only been the strange moving tree, and it had vanished before she could do more then barely sharpen her claws on its bark. Since then she had been alone.

    Deep in Ryo-ok-ki's mind, a segment that had ignored Ryouko's call, was now finding itself unable to equally ignore the wailing of the small girl presently prowling her deck. To think was to act, and the section that had kept itself separate when the rest of her mind had woken, merged with the small segment that had been controlling her body up till now. Using her inner sensors, Ryo-oh-ki scanned the interior of her bridge, and what she saw filled her with a sweet sorrow. So like her little lost ones. Unable to leave the small girl in the pain of loneliness, she over rode the Jurain tangle field on one of her subunits, and morphed it into a body she had vowed never to wear again.

    A sudden shift in the air caused Ranma-neko to whirl, her back arched in threat, ready to spring. On the other side of the room a figure knelt. Human? The visual cues were confusing, some said nice person, source of food, source of ear scratches. Other cues said animal, also source of food, but not in the same way. Distrusting her eyes, Ranma-neko moved closer, trying to sniff out this newcomers scent. If Ranma-neko's other self had been in control of her body, she would have seen what looked like an attractive woman, maybe in her early thirties, but with a face completely covered in fur. The fur on her face was a light brown and was short enough that in the dim light of the ship, it might have passed as dark brown skin, but the heavy mane that covered her head and ran down the side of her head could never be mistaken for hair. Brown with white highlights, it framed a face of surpassing sweetness. So distinctive was that heavy mane, it made an observer look closer and recognize the facial covering for what it was.
    Ranma-neko noted none of this. Not for her to say, this looks like a person, but with fur, sharp fangs, and a face with more then a little feline in it. She classified other creatures in three categories. Threats, to be dealt with as rapidly as possible. Play and food, to be chased and tossed, and eventually devoured, and last, and very rare, soft laps and gentle hands to give comfort and pleasure.
    There were certain things about this particular creature that made Ranma-neko think it might have a very soft lap. A stillness to its body, denoting no fear, no threat. The eyes following her motion were soft and gentle, not narrowing in calculation at her approach. Finally after following a round about route, Ranma-neko came close enough to the kneeling figure to risk a cautious sniff. She registered the clean scent of a freshly laundered Kimono, and underneath that a strange smell that was equal parts animal and mineral. The kneeling figure made no move and she inched forward, smelling the hands that lay cupped in its lap. Extending a small pink tongue she licked the palm of one of the hands, and tensed as the other one moved. She crouched, ready to fight or flee, waiting to see what the creature was going to do. Slowly the hand moved toward her, no threat implied. It reached her head and softly stroked her cheek, causing pleasurable sensation's. Ranma-neko pressed her cheek against the stroking hand and a purr rumbled deep in her throat. This was most definitely a warm lap creature then, she thought with more then a little satisfaction.
    Lowering her head she nudged the hand that was still laying in the strangers lap. When its owner lifted it, Ranma-neko flowed into the inviting resting place. Tucking her arms and legs under her body, and laying her head down on her front paws, she purred in pleasure, as the owner of her resting place gently stroked her head and back. Tired, she let her eyes shut, and as the creature continued to fulfill its function in life of supplying her with pleasure, she slipped into sleep.

     With a deadly hiss the thin black whip arced through the air, then landed with a wicked 'crack' parting the thin cloth and leaving a thick red welt behind.
     "AAHHHH" Ryouko screamed out in pain. As the whip lay a band of fire across her already much abused back. "Please, mercy, mercy." She cried out, but Ayeka paid her no mind, only drawing back the subtle leather lash for another stroke.
     "Please Princess, my lady, no more, no more, I'll tell you what ever you wish to know. Only no more please." The figure hanging between Kamidake and Asaka, was facing away from Ayeka. Her back a mixture of tattered cloth and abused flesh. Now, after her entreaty for mercy, she lowered her head and began to weep piteously.
     "To late for mercy Ryouko-san, you have to long escaped justice. For what you have done to my family, you must pay." Ayeka lifted a hand to decorously cover her mouth as she laughed long and loud. Her laughter was abruptly cut short by a voice speaking from the shadows.
     "Aki-chan, time for bed, but down your toys and come with mommy."
     A suddenly five year old Ayeka looks up at the tall figure of her mother Misaki and pouts, "Do'n wanna."
     "Little girls need there rest, now come to bed right now. You don't want to make mommy cry do you?" Little Ayeka flinches as hot tears suddenly start to rain down on her head, soaking her nice new dress. Misaki bends over and picks her up. As she is being carried away, Ayeka looks back over her mother's shoulder and sees Ryouko, free of her bonds and completely undamaged walking away hand in hand with her brother.
     "Onisan, onisan, don't go, don't leave me," she cries out, holding her arms out toward Yosho, but her brother does not turn. Instead he fades slowly out of sight as she is carried farther and farther away. Just before they fade completely from sight, Ryoukot urned back and said.
     "That's a good little girl, you go off with Mommy. Your brother and I are going to go and play some grown up games." She grins at Ayeka, showing all of her sharp and predatory teeth. She throws back her head and lets out a full throated laugh, that goes on and on, as Ayeka is carried away.

     Ayeka tossed on her bed, and Tenchi froze, his hands inches away from the Tenchi Ken. Sasami had sent him here to get Ayeka's controller. With that, Sasami said, she could send Tenchi and his home back to earth. She had not mentioned that Ayeka did not take it off when she slept. How he was suppose to get the headpiece off her head he had no idea, but when he had spotted the Tenchi Ken, gripped tight in her hand, he had decided to recover that first. Slowly he reached for the wooden hilt, only to have the princess roll away from him.
     This was no good, he had to recover that sword, he carefully got up on her bed and straddled her body, and once again reached for the sword hilt.
     Ayeka turned on her side, tossing in her bed, Yosho she murmured.
     "Yes little sister, what is it?"
     Ayeka sat up in her bed and looked at the doorway to her room, and the figure standing in it, in incredulous joy. "Yosho?" She breathed out, "Is it really you onisan?"
     He laughed. And her heart fluttered as he stepped into the room, as tall, and as handsome as she remembered. "Of course it's me. I should be the one who is asking whether it is you or not. You have grown up to be such a beautiful lady."
     Ayeka blushed, and looked down at her bed spread. Doodling with the thin covers with one finger she said, "Do . . . Do you really think so?"
     The mattress of the bed heaved slightly as he sat down beside her. "How can you doubt it? You are the fairest flower of Jurai." He leaned forward, she closed her eyes and turned her face up toward him, pursing her lips. Then she has a sudden urge to see his face, opened her eyes, and stared straight into the face of the boy Kamidake had brought on board, she started to scream, and he clapped his hands over her mouth.
     "It's not what it seems" He said in a panicked voice.
     For a second, they held that pose, then she brought one slim leg up between there bodies and kicked him away from her. He tumbled over the end of the bed, and took off running.
     "Kamidake, Asaka!!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The two Guardians appeared almost instantly, fading into sight beside her bed.
     "Hai?" they asked in a questioning tone.
     Pointing a finger in the direction Tenchi had taken off in, she screamed. "Put that Intruder to death!!!

  Ryo-oh-ki looked down at the small girl sleeping in her lap. Emotions she had not let herself feel in nearly six hundred years flooded through her. Gently she stroked the red hair that flowed down over the girls back, and tried to remember the last time she had held a child like this.
    "Ken-oh-ki, my little Ken-oh-ki was the last. So many years ago. So many lonely years."
    "Who are you little one? Where did you come from?" Ryo-oh- ki used her hand as a remote sensor unit, and scanned the sleeping figure as she stroked her. "Jurain,' she murmured. "Then you are of Yosho's line. I do not know if I should hate you, or bless you. If not for Yosho, I would not have spent the last six hundred years in mourning, but I also would not have had anything to mourn, or even have had the capacity to do so."
    The girl in her lap twitched, and gave a small cry of distress. Ryo-oh-ki's slowly stroked the sleeping girl in an effort to calm her. Then when her motions grew more frantic, she pulled the small girl up into her arms and cradled her against her chest. She was not entirely successful in her attempts to calm her, but the girl did settle down a little, and did not seem quite as distressed.

    Ranma was standing in water up to her thighs, leaning back against a pole. Without looking, she knew somehow that the pole was bamboo, and that water she was standing in was a Jusenkyo pool. At the moment she was looking at her chest, more specifically at her hand, which was clutching at a source of mind numbing pain. Her hand moved, though she had not willed it to, and she saw that there was a charred hole in her chest, just below her left breast. She looked up, at a log, that was hovering in the air. Strange Kangi covered it's front, and a small jewel sputtered and fized as the thin rain that was falling splattered across it. Again without knowing why, she knew that the jewel was the source of the hole in her chest.

    "Well, brought to bay at last. You've led me a fine chase my pretty barbarian, but the outcome was never in doubt." Ranma's field of vision shifted, and she found herself focusing on a rather foppish figure as he stepped out of some nearby bushes. He walked over to the floating log, and gave it a fond pat. "Imagine old Jakaaha succeeding where those mercenaries failed. I really must thank you for that by the way. The twins had become, how should I put this? An embarrassment. Sooner or later the attempt on the empress would have been traced to them, and the Count no longer wished them in his employ. You made me a pretty penny when you disposed of them for me."
    Ranma felt more hatred for this strange man she had never before seen, then she had ever felt for any other living soul. The hatred burst through the rather disconnected feeling she had been experiencing up till then. She tried to spring at the figure, angry curses on her lips, but her body did not move, nor did her voice cry out her insults. Ranma strained, growing panicked by her inability to move her own body, but then a presence seemed to lay a hand on her, and she felt the hatred and anger diminish, and once again become vague and dream like. Dream like, that was it, this was a dream, it had to be. The last thing she remembered was the crystal room and . . . her mind shied away from the next thought, and she focused instead on the dream image in front of her. He was still speaking, just where he had left off when Ranma had lost her temper, no time having passed in this dream realm.
    "In a way it's a pity your going to die. Now that is," He qualified. "Of course you would have had to die eventually, just like your sister is going to have to die. But it would have been pleasant to have your company on the trip back. I'll just have to consol myself with all the money your death will bring me."
    Even through the veil that separated her from the events in her dream, Ranma felt energy drawing in from all parts of her body, and was conscious of her mouth silently forming words she did not understand. Her eyes focused on the face of the man who was talking, with a terrible fixity, narrowing her own personal world down to just that face. He did not notice, or did not care.
    "And then of course there is your sister, a little young I know, but she will supply a bit of fun before she has to leave us. Oh yes, this has been a most profitable venture, who would have thought your father would have been so foolish as to have come here out of all the planets he could have hidden on. No doubt the fault of his barbarian sensibilities."
    A new voice broke in at that point. "Caution, unknown energy reading, caution." Ranma realized it was the log when it shifted over to stand in front of the speaker.
    "Really, where from, surely not from this half drowned little wretch. You have got to be kidd....? Wait, what are you doing? Jakaaha!! Stop her, stop whatever that is she's doing with her hands."
    Up till this point Ranma had been focusing on the speaker, but now she once again felt the sense of unreality from before as her hands lifted into her field of view, glowing with an intense white light, and again she had nothing to do with it. The jewel in the log sparked, and a beam of light flashed toward them. To be stopped by one of three, serrated edged triangles, that centered on the glow in her hands.
    "Impossible, nobody can generate the Wings of the Light Hawk!!" The foppish man cried in fear. "Kill her, kill her!" He cried, pushing at the log, trying to shove it toward Ranma.
    "I regret that I am unable to comply with your order sir. My energy beam is useless against her shield."
    With visible effort the man controlled himself, straitening his disarranged clothing. "No matter," he said in a shaky voice. "She's as good as dead, let her waste her energy on a useless defense. The wings of the light hawk are flashy, but they won't save her, or her sister. I'd love to know how you do that my dear, but I have a date with your oh so sweet sister. So I'll be going now, I leave you to your bath."
    "Not hawk wings." for the first time Ranma answered the stranger, much to her surprise, because it was not her voice. A flood of warm thick fluid entered her mouth, and she recognized the taste from countless bloody noses and split lips. But never in this quantity, never this strong, and she knew that she was dead, it was only a matter of time. But the knowledge seemed to be a distant thing, unimportant in comparison to what she must do now.
    Again her voice said in that bubbly tone that denoted a punctured lung. "Dragon wings"
    The man had jolted when Ranma had spoken, but he sneered at her now. "Well whatever you say my dear, far be it for me to argue with your cultural idiosyncracies." Then his eyes widened as the serrated wings furled around each other and formed a fat bellied tube pointing straight at him.
    "Hiryuu!!"
    "Master beware!" The log shouted, moving once again between her and his master.
    "Shouten!!"
    "Don't just stand there, get me out of here!!" the man screamed, his voice high with panic.
    "Ha!!"
    A storm of light flashed from the end of the tube, blinding Ranma. When her vision cleared there was nothing, nothing but a floating cloud of red tinged, wooden slivers. A feeling of great satisfaction filled her. She slumped forward, the water closed over her head, and she slipped down into the darkness.


    Ryo-oh-ki had been drifting, remembering other times, other memories, and other moments she had held small forms in her lap, a small tear trickled down one furry cheek. Her private musing were interrupted when the figure in her lap stirred, thrashed, and fought against Ryo-oh-ki's hands. Fearing that her hug was contributing to a bad dream she released the small girl from the embrace she had holding her in, and hoped she would be calm when she fully awoke.
    "Where?" The girl finally said in a muzzy confused voice. Ryo-oh-ki felt her stiffen, and she knew that the girl was now fully awake. She could almost follow the processes of the redhead's mind. She would be analyzing the situation, trying to reconcile it with the dream she had just had. Ryo-oh-ki's own children had all been trained fighters, and they would often awake in just this manner when in a strange place, or after a bad dream. This girl was in both of those situations..
    A soft, "oh man, not again," floated up to her ears, and the girl rolled off her lap, leaving it empty, and cold.
    "Sorry about this," the girl said, getting her feet under her and standing, but still not looking at Ryo-ki-ki. What could be seen of her face was almost as red as her hair. "I hope, I didn't scare you or nothing?" She looked up, and for the first time saw Ryo-oh-ki. An expression of stark fear crossed her face, and she leaped across the room in panic. "C . . . c . . . cat." She stuttered out in a voice shaking in fear.
    Ryo-oh-ki stayed still, but inside she drew certain conclusions. In a gentle voice, she said. "I'm not a cat little one, there is no need to fear me. Have you ever seen a cat like me?"
    "N . . .no." The girl said in a long drawn out way. "I ain't seen nothing like you, ever." She did not come any closer however. "What are you?"
    "I am Ryo-oh-ki."
    "The other demon," The girl said in surprise. "You don't look like no demon. You're strange and all, but you don't look, . . . I don't know bad, I guess."
    "Thank you." Ryo-oh-ki said. "And what is your name?"
    "Ranma."
    "Well, Ranma, I'm not really the same creature your ancestor fought. That was my mother/sister."
    "Mother/sister?" Ranma asked, a puzzled expression on her face. Her face grew even more puzzled as a thought occurred to her. "I thought the other demon was some sort of giant flying thing? I thought, this," she waved a hand to indicate the room they were in, "Was Ryo-oh-ki?"
    "It is, and I am," Ryo-oh-ki said. Before Ranma could voice the question that was immediately obvious on her face, Ryo-oh-ki continued. "I am a, . . . shape shifter would be the best word. I can change myself from one form to another, and I can also split myself into several discreet entities, but if I do that, only one of them carries my core personality, the others are merely mirrors. That is what I am doing now. I am here." She waved a hand at her body, "but I am also here." This time her wave encompassed the entire room. Seeing that Ranma was still looking blank, she said. "Do not worry, just accept that there are two of me at the moment, one small, one very large. Now, as to your first question."
    "Huh?"
    "Mother/sister."
    "Oh, that, ya, what'd you mean by that?"
    "It is simple really. If I am so badly damaged that there is no hope of repair or healing, I can create a small clone of myself. It will be a baby, but it will eventually grow up to be just like me, but without my personality. Memories and instincts can be passed on, but personality is what grows from how you were raised. It was not me who fought Yosho and his ship, but rather the Ryo-oh-ki who came before me. I have all her memories, but I was not raised as she was, and am not the same person. So she is not precisely my mother, and is not quite my twin, so Mother/sister." Seeing Ranma's expression, she laughed. "Don't let it give you a headache, it will come eventually. You do not have the knowledge at the moment to understand completely. Think of it as a fairy story come to life."
    Her laughter was not derisive, but was filled with joy and pleasure, and Ranma felt the last of her fear melt away under its warm glow. She moved closer to this strange woman, then for the first time, realized that there were people missing. "Tenchi? Where's Tenchi?" She said, looking all around the bridge.
    "The sword, I believe it was with the boy the Juraien Guardian took on board Ryuu-oh."
    "What sword, I'm talking about Tenchi." Ranma said in puzzlement. "The guy I came here with." Ranma elaborated. "Ryouko brought us on board at the same time." Mention of the girl demon drew Ranma's attention to her absence as well. "Damn, that mummy has him I bet." She turned a fierce gaze on Ryo-oh-ki. "Where is she? Where's Ryouko? What's she done with Tenchi?"
    Ryo-oh-ki held up a hand to forestall the flood of questions. "Just a minute, accessing records." After a minute she lowered her hand and smiled at Ranma. "I'm sorry, I was not fully awake when I picked you up before, I was running on automatic, sort of like animal instinct. Tenchi, both the boy and the sword, and Ryouko have been captured by Yosho's sister, the princess Ayeka."
    "Yosho's sister!?" Ranma said incredulously. "I thought Yosho was a just a warrior. How could his sister still be alive? Was he really a god? I've heard lots of stories about gods marrying humans, but I thought those were just stories."
    Ryo-oh-ki smiled at her. "First, I think I had better clear up some things. It will make it easier for you to understand. Ryouko and I are not demons. Ryouko is a an alien, a space pirate, and I am her spaceship. Yosho was the crown prince of Jurai. He fought us because we raided Jurai and caused much damage. He chased us to Earth, and I and his ship both crashed. I was so badly damaged, I needed to create a clone, who is me. I learned later that Yosho fought Ryouko and imprisoned her in a cave."
    "And Tenchi let her loose." Ranma said, nodding her head. "Still, this Ayeka must be one old lady."
    "Juraiens live for a very long time, and keep their youthful looks for most of their lives. Still, I would guess that if Ayeka has been pursuing us, she has kept herself in stasis. She might have been able to survive the years of searching, but the boredom would have been unbearable. She is more then likely still very young."
    "Are Tenchi and Ryouko alright?"
    "Ryouko is, . . . rather drained, but nothing she can not withstand. Strange," Ryo-oh-ki mused, more to herself then to Ranma, "she has changed. She is not the Ryouko of my memories. That Ryouko I never wanted to meet. That is why I hid myself away when she called, and let my memories run the ship."
    "Tenchi I do not know about. I am linked to Ryouko, but not to him, and she has not seen him since she was taken to the ship." Seeing Ranma's worried expression, she hurriedly reassured her. "Do not worry, I think it very unlikely Ayeka would harm Tenchi. She has reason to be angry with Ryouko, but there is no reason I can think of that she might want to harm Tenchi. . ."
    Ryo-oh-ki broke off, and a large sweat drop formed on her forehead. "It would seem I spoke too soon. Tenchi has apparently angered the princess in some manner. She has just chased him into the area where Ryouko is being held. Oh my," Ryo-oh-ki said in a faint voice, "this is not good."
    "What, what?"
    Ryo-oh-ki swallowed nervously, "it seems she believes Tenchi tried to ravage her."
    "Tenchi!?!?" Ranma practically screamed. "You have got to be joking?"
    "I wish I was. This, is not good . . . wait." Ryo-oh-ki suddenly stiffened. "Brace yourself Ranma, we're going in."
    "Going in. going in where!?" Ranma yelled. She received no answer, as soon as Ryo-oh-ki had finished speaking, she had popped out of existence, literally as the air rushed in to fill the space she had just recently vacated with a loud bang. The deck under Ranma's feet shuddered, and she barely managed to keep her feet as with a tremendous crash, Ryu-oh-ki lurched upward, and though Ranma could not see it, drove one of her massive stabilizing spikes up through the bottom of Ryuu-oh. The sudden stop that followed after the rapid upward movement, tossed Ranma off her feet, and before she could regain them, Tenchi and Ryouko appeared in the cabin.

    "We can't leave her up here Tenchi!" Ryouko shouted. "She'll never let us alone. I"m taking her down."
    "No! Ryouko you can't!" Tenchi shouted, grasping the girl's sleeve. Ranma gasped at the venom in the gaze Ryouko turned on Tenchi. So different from the way she usually looked at him. Even in the attack at the school there had not been that much . . . evil, in her look.
    "Who's side are you on!?" Ryouko yelled in anger, and maybe a little hurt. "If you want to be on their side so much, go back to them. I'm not stopping you." She turned her back on Tenchi and ordered, "Ryo-oh-ki, get moving. Now!!" The artificial gravity kept their orientation the same, but the stars in the view screen whirled around, and the image of Earth which had been below them was blocked out by the massive form of Ryuu-oh. Tenchi turned to Ranma and yelled.
    "We have to stop her, she's gone crazy!"
    "Ranma," a soft voice said. Ranma turned, and found a small crystal floating beside her, the image of Ryo-ok-ki's face in it.
"Don't worry, the girls will be fine."
    "What girls? What the hell is going on?" Ranma yelled
    Tenchi by this time had reached Ranma, grasping her by the shoulders to hold himself steady in the now shaking ship, he yelled in her face. "There are two girls on the other ship, Ryouko's going to kill them, she's gone crazy!!" He repeated.
    "No! She has not!" Turning toward the voice, Tenchi started.
    "Nani?" Tenchi said, staring at the furry face in the crystal.
    "That's Ryo-oh-ki, she's the other demon from the story, only she's not, she's the daughter of that demon, but she has all her memories, so they're the same person, only they're not." Ranma babbled in her hurry to get to the important stuff. Like, were they all going to die? She hated this, not having any control over her own destiny, having to place her life completely in some one else's hands.
    Tenchi looked blankly at Ranma, trying to figure out what she was talking about. Then giving up on that, he turned to the crystal and demanded. "How can you be sure of that? I can't just stand here and do nothing."
    "What can you do!?" Ryo-oh-ki snapped out. When Tenchi stepped back as if he had been slapped, she softened her tone. "I'm sorry, but there is nothing you can do here. Please, just trust me. The girls will be fine, and so will Ryouko. I can't explain, don't ask me to. Just, please, trust me." She looked at the both of them with wide brown eyes, moist with unshed tears. Tenchi melted, and though Ranma fought the mushy feeling, she too found it hard to deny those eyes.
    "All right," Tenchi said, "but if anything happens to them . . ."
    "Nothing will, on my honor." Ryo-oh-ki said in a soft voice. "Now, you and Ranma should brace yourself, it's going to be a bumpy ride." There was a deadly serious tone in her voice that left no time for anymore questions.
    Ranma and Tenchi looked at each other, then dove under the central consol, that being the only permanent fixture on the bridge. They linked arms, braced their legs against the overhead panel, and waited.

    Ryo-oh-ki watched them for a minute, then with a sigh, turned all her attention on controlling the upcoming crash. She had wanted to explain to them so badly, why this was happening, but it was a useless desire. How could she explain to two teenagers, what it felt like to have memories six hundred years old, that were as clear as the day they happened? How could she explain how much pain it caused, to one by one have all your loved ones ripped away from you by a foe neither they nor you could fight? A foe she would never have to face for as long as she was careful, and kept herself from damage.
    Human's were so frail, so short lived, they could not imagine the burden life could become, to one who need never die. Her mind flashed back once again, the memories as clear as could be. There was her husband Toriki so kind and gentle, the brother who had become her lover. Their children, Ryou-oh-ki so big and strong, so fierce and angry at times. Mich-oh-ki, who should have been named 'why', for at times it had seemed like the only word she knew, and finally the baby, Ken-oh-ki, who had barely started to discover the wonders of life, when he had been taken from her.
    The Shoguns warriors had not even been attacking them. A war with a neighbor had washed over their little village, and left death and destruction behind it.
    Oh she had gotten her revenge. The dragon that burned the Shogun's castle to the ground was remembered to this day in the small village that had been built on its ruin. She had allowed the servants to evacuate, but the callous Shogun and his warriors had provided fuel for the fire. It was the first and last time she had taken up her Mother/Sister's ways. None of that did anything to eliminate the void her family's absence created however. Not even Ryou-oh-ki and Mich-oh-ki's surviving children could sooth her aching heart. She could not bear the thought of watching them grow old and die, as her husband and children had. So after burning the Shogun's castle to the ground, she had retreated to the lake created in her crash landing nearly one hundred and fifty years before. There she had rested, asleep and dreaming, till woken by Ryouko. That rest would be denied her now she knew. Ryouko would not allow her to sleep, to live in her dreams. Ryouko was a creature of action, and Ryo-oh-ki had no interest in that.
    That had left her with only one option. Which was why she had taken all the memories she possessed of the former Ryouko, and had distilled them down to their very essence. And when that vile concoction was seething and bubbling, she had shoved it down the link between her and Ryouko, driving the none too stable former pirate over the edge. It was but a shadow over her new personality, and it would not last long, but it would last long enough to put Ryo- oh-ki out of her misery. There was just one other thing to do.
    "Ranma?" She said in a soft voice, for the red head's ears only.
    Ranma looked up from where she sat beside Tenchi under the central consol. She saw a small crystal hovering inches from her face. Taking her cue from Ryo-oh-ki, she spoke in a quiet voice. "Is everything alright? Nothing's happened to the girls has it?
    "No, they are fine. I just wanted to ask you something."
    "What?"
    "Would you help look after my daughter/sister, let her know the love I grew up with, but that my mother/sister never knew."
    "Huh, sure I guess, I'd be glad to help you raise her, long as I'm around anyway, long as Pop has this bee up his butt about me marrying Tenchi I guess. Don't know how much help I'll be though. I'm not good at that sort of stuff."
    "You'll do just fine. Thank you Ranma. Good-bye" With that her image faded from the crystal, and it moved to join the others circling the central consol.
    The floor started to jolt and bounce as the turbulence the two unbalanced ships were generating started to overcome the compensators. Ranma forgot the conversation in the more immediate need to keep from getting her brains bashed out. In the distance she could hear Ryouko laughing like a crazy woman, as Ryo-oh-ki headed for a crash landing in the ocean.


    Nodoka opened the door, and smiled at Ukyou, "Kuonji-san, you''re back. I have a surprise for you." Leading the puzzled girl to the dining room, she smiled at the small girl with the long black hair who was sitting there, then turned back to Ukyou and made the introductions.
    "Kuonji-san, I'd like you to meet the daughter of my husbands old friend Tendo Soun. She will be accompanying us. It appears you are not the only one needing to seek out my Husband and Son in the name of honor."
    Both girls looked at each other, Ukyou with an expression of surprise, and Akane with a look of distaste so strong, Ukyou was left wondering what she had ever done to the other girl.
    "'He's' coming with us?" Akane said, the distaste in her voice, making the expression in her eyes seem mild in comparison.
    "She is indeed."
    "She?" Akane's expression shifted to one of surprise. She looked intently at Ukyou, and then leaned back with a much less daunting expression. She seemed to be satisfied that Nodoka was correct as to Ukyou's gender, if her demeanor was anything to go by. "Well, that's much better, I was afraid I was going to have to spend two months with a 'boy'!" The amount of venom Akane managed to put in that one word caused Ukyou to arch an eyebrow in surprise. She began to wonder what Ranma had done to this girl. If it was as bad as Akane's attitude indicated, would the other girl be willing to allow Ukyou her vengeance first, before taking her own. Well, one way to find out.
    "If you don't like boys, why are you looking for Ranma?"
    The expression of distaste on Akane's face was, if anything, even more pronounced as she answered. "I have no idea. My father went into this big song of dance about how I had to find this Ranma, or the Tendo dojo would be doomed. I either had to go look for him, or Daddy would have killed himself."
    "He would have committed suicide?" Ukyou asked in shock. Even at her worst, she had never considered that option.
    Akane looked disgusted, "No, he would have died of dehydration." at Ukyou puzzled look, she said. "Let's just say that spending my summer vacation tramping around China was much more tempting then staying home and watching Daddy soak the floor. So, when do we leave? And where are we going?"
    Nodoka spoke up. "The last letter I had from my husband said that he and Ranma had one last destination, and that he would be going to your father's after they finished there."
    "Where was that?"
    "A place called Jusenkyo."


    Ranma sat on the roof top and stared out over the valley that was the new home of the Masaki house. The small lake that filled the middle of the valley, was currently filled itself with the wreckage of two space ships. A tear trickled down her cheek as she gazed at the few small scraps that were all that were visible of Ryo-oh-ki's remains. She cursed herself for what had to be the twentieth time. "Baka, baka, baka!! She told you what creating a daughter/sister meant, why didn't you listen? You could have stopped her." Ranma had an ache in her gut, that for once had nothing to do with eating her Pop's cooking. She had never had any one close to her die before. She had only known Ryo-oh-ki for a few hours it was true, but she had connected with that strange creature, even her Neko form had liked her. She knew that for a fact. Her Neko form was very picky about who's lap she fell asleep in. A fact that had no doubt saved Ranma a lot of embarrassment since she had acquired the Neko-ken, and even more so since she has also acquired her other curse. She shuddered at the thought of waking up to find that her other self had decided to cuddle up to some guy. She shook off the image that thought created.
    She was on the roof, instead of downstairs eating, for a very good reason. She wanted no one to see her acting like a girl. No one was going to understand why she was crying her eyes out over a hunk of glass getting smashed, least of all her father. She just could not bring herself to face the old man like this. He would say something, and Ranma would have to do something to prove she was not a wimp. Right now, she didn't care if she was a wimp or not. She only wanted to mourn her lost friend, not fight with her Pop.
    A motion near the lake drew her attention. Wiping her face with a sleeve, she looked at the small figure of a girl who was trying to prop up the giant disk that was all that remained of Ryuu-oh. Of course she had no hope, and the plank she was using soon slipped, and she landed on her hands and knees in the mud. As the massive disk gave a gurgle, and slowly sank into the lake, the faint sound of crying floated up to Ranma. A day ago she might have felt derision for some one crying over a hunk of broken wood. She no longer felt the least inclination to mock.

    Ayeka, first princess of Jurai, the flower of the empire, radiant sun of the imperial court, around whom all the courtiers and lesser nobles circled, knelt in the mud clutching a shattered plank in her arms and crying her eyes out. No one understood, not even Sasami understood, no one who was not bonded to a ship could understand. They all thought she mourned a piece of transportation. But a part of her had died with Ryuu-oh.
    "Here,' a voice said at her side.
    Blinking back tears, she turned and saw it was the wild woman from Ryo-oh-ki, the one that had mauled Kamidake. She was very nearly as grubby as Ayeka felt, and her eyes were red and puffy. She was holding out a grubby cloth to Ayeka.

    "For your face," Ranma said, then explained further. "You got mud on it. Ryo-oh-ki said you was a princess, guess you ain't used to having mud on your face, so here." Once again she offered the cloth to Ayeka.
    Ayeka normally would have sooner whipped her face with a handful of leaves, complete with bugs. Right now she could care less. She reached out and took the cloth from the red headed girl, and gave her a smile as she did her best to repair the damage, mud and tears had caused to her face.
    "You're, Tenchi-sama's sister, are you not?"
    
    Ranma blinked, and took a moment to understand the question. So much had happened in the last few hours, she had completely forgotten the lie she and Tenchi had told Ryouko. She almost blurted out the truth, but then she paused. She had been looking for an out of this crazy idea of Pop's. This might be the wedge she needed. No reason to clear it up, she'd let it ride and see what came up.
    "Ya, I'm Tenchi's baby sister." She told the Princess.

    Ayeka winced at the other girl's crude speech, but let nothing show on her face. "I understand you have been raised by men all your life."
    Ranma blinked at this sudden change in topic. Still, she was not used to offering comfort, maybe this was how girls handled grief, by talking about something completely different, that had nothing to do with the matter at hand. "You could say that, Pop and I've been on the road for a long time, seems like forever sometimes."
    "Well, as your Aunt, I would consider it an honor if you would let me teach you those things that men can't seem to grasp."
    Ranma blinked again, her effort to offer a little comfort was taking off in a direction she was not sure she wanted to go. Not to mention she just seemed to have acquired an aunt. Her first inclination was to tell the older girl that she had not the slightest interest in learning the things guy's didn't know. Then she looked at the face of the girl in front of her, smiling through eyes puffy and red with crying, and did not have the heart to tell her she didn't need no help in how to be a girl. That being a girl was the last thing in the world she wanted to be. Instead she said, "Sure, that sounds fine, we'll do that sometime. You want to come inside? They're having something to eat, and I know I always feel better on an full belly."
    Ayeka smiled at the little barbarian if front of her and shoved herself to her feet. Her grief already receding a little as she started to contemplate the things that would have to be done to turn this little ragamuffin into a proper princess of Jurai. "I am feeling a little hungry. Will you lead the way."
    The two girls walked off toward the house. Ranma acutely aware of the eyes of the other girl on her back. She wondered if she might not have made a mistake, but dismissed the idea. After all, how could a puny little thing like the Princess make her do anything she didn't want to.
    
Authors notes: Not very many, just a request that you let me know what you think. And about the Hiryuu Shouten Ha, I realize that this it Ranma's whirlwind attack, that relies on the heat from his opponent to work, but in this universe, the name was used for a different attack. However, if anyone can suggest a name with three words that sounds good, I'd be glad to use it.


Many thanks to my Pre-readers. They keep me in line, and readable, I hope. Tzigane Wade Tritschler Jim Nutley, Green Eyes
Eimii, and new to the crew LechLord who has no idea what he's letting himself in for.

Till the next chapter. T.H. Tiger