You see... well... nothing. 

"Wait, wait. Hold on a sec..." rings Eimii's voice through the darkness.
"Lemmie get the light." 

The room is suddenly lit, and you probably wish now that it wasn't.
Staring directly at you, looking like she hasn't slept in a week, is
Eimii. "There we go." 

Eimii brings her left hand up to her face, grinning madly. Clutched
tightly therein is a bedragled manuscript. "Haha. I finally got it
finished. Here it is, Nezumi-san! Chapter three! You can put away the prod
now..."

"Well, since i promised that this _would_ be out by this week, i won't
dawdle anymore. Here you go, Enjoy! Oh, anything you have to say about
this, I'll be all to glad to hear.!"






                     *SHATTERED HEARTS ON THE ROAD*

                            =CHAPTER THREE=

                             -VIEWPOINTS-

"Aw, c'mon Ryouga! A tree with a computer monitor stuck in it subjects
you to some silly questionnaire, then blasts you when it's done? Now that's
just plain absurd. Things like that don't happen." Ukyou favored him with a
wry smirk, a welcome hint of mirth entering her voice.

"Oh sure. And people in Nermia don't transform into the opposite gender or
animals whenever it rains. A century old pervert doesn't rampage about at
night stealing women's underwear, there isn't an eight-headed dragon
sleeping at the bottom of a spring under a forest of giant animals, and you
can't sometimes see two moons rolling across the night's sky if it's especially
clear." Ryouga crossed his arms with a look of satisfaction.

He was answered by an extremely dubious look from Ukyou. "You can't,
Ryouga. At least, I've never seen two moons when I've looked up at the
night's sky."

"Really?" Ryouga blinked. "But I could have sworn..." Ryouga thought
back to a couple of extremely clear desert nights when, when he had looked
up to admire the distant stars, he had seen an angry red moon traveling in
it's plodding, incontrovertible course alongside the regular, looming,
emerald green moon. *Wait. Emerald green moon?* Ryouga shook his
head. *Naah... That part must have been just some odd trick of the light.*
Once, while traveling through some bizarre ruins, Ryouga could have sworn
that he had seen the _earth_ looming on the horizon while he stood on the
lip of the circular valley in which the ruined city had rested. *Now _that_
was a weird sight...*

Meanwhile, Ukyou had continued speaking. "Now, I'm not sure what to
make of that dragon in the forest part, but you've got a point with the rest of
it. Some truly bizarre stuff has happened in the last year." Ukyou placed a
finger to one side of her jaw in a look of contemplation. "Still, I can't recall
any of it having anything to do with nosy computers imbedded in tree
trunks."

"But that's not saying that it couldn't have happened that way, right?"
Ryouga pressed.

"I suppose not." Ukyou conceded. Then she narrowed her eyes and peered
at Ryouga. "But I still say that I've never seen more than one moon when
I've looked at the sky."

Ryouga sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Never mind. Forget I ever
mentioned it."

Ryouga stole a glance over at Kunou. The pontificationally inclined
kendoist in question still appeared to be completely unaware of them.
Indeed, he seemed to be absolutely oblivious to anything and everything
that was going on around him. This included the sour looks and disgusted
mutterings that his unwashed form elicited from the other passengers on the
train. Most of the people around Kunou had been rather un-subtly
relocating themselves since the trip began.

"Looks like Kunou needs a bath." Ryouga remarked, turning back to
Ukyou. 

"You're one to talk, Mr. 'two months on the road.'" Ukyou quipped, clearly
enjoying needling Ryouga. 

Ryouga snorted and turned away. "Hmph. It's not like I could help it. I
didn't have enough money or time to spare to go to a bath house. I wasn't
even in Japan most of the time, as far as I can tell. He, however, has no
excuse."

Ukyou just nodded and smiled. "Sure hon, whatever you say."

Ryouga gave up trying to justify himself to her, as it clearly wasn't doing
any good. *Still, it's nice to see her smile.* He knew that Ukyou wasn't
trying to be malicious in her ridicule. It helped her forget some of the cold
emptiness that she was feeling; for that, he took her jibes with good-natured
humility. Feeding the small warmth in the bottom of Ukyou's soul seemed
to somehow lighten his own burden, pushing back the cold emptiness in his
own soul. Examining that warmth, and the amusement on Ukyou's face,
Ryouga decided to continue playing along; He scowled for effect and
dusted his cloak off some, directing he gaze out the window towards the
swiftly passing scenery. Ukyou bit back a giggle and looked out the window
as well, seeming to decide that he had had enough, for now.

As the countryside passed in a hypnotic pattern of greens, browns, and
reds, bounded on the horizon by the infinite blue of the sky, Ryouga
allowed himself to relax a bit. He didn't often get to ride on trains. He
couldn't usually afford the luxury; when he could, he invariably got lost on
the way to the terminal from the cashier. There was something comforting
about the idea of a train. To the eternally wandering Ryouga, the set path
that a train traveled seemed to have a concrete certainty that the rest of his
life lacked. No wandering off the path, no unannounced course changes;
just a swift, soothing respite from the chaos of the world. 

But, like every small relief that he received, it was over all too soon. About
an hour after the sun began it's slow, inevitable descent into darkness, the
conductor announced over the comm that their final destination was near.
People busied themselves with the preparations to disembark; retrieving
bags, donning coats and hats. Ryouga drew up the hood of his cloak and
checked all the straps on his pack while Ukyou continued to discretely
observe Kunou from behind the darkened lenses of her sunglasses.

Presently the train drew itself to a stop at Shinohara station. Kunou
disembarked hastily, followed at a short distance by Ukyou and Ryouga. At
a slightly greater distance, Ryouga could feel the disquieting presence leave
the train and resume pursuit. It fell into a seemingly random pattern of
approach and retreat; random at least, until Ryouga determined that it was
varying it's distance in relation to the availability of cover. When they
walked through crowded areas it would come closer, only to fall back again
as the chance of observation grew greater. 

*Damn it! Who the hell is following us?!* Ryouga cast a glance into an
approaching blind turn mirror, but sure enough the presence was being
careful enough to avoid his notice. He couldn't pick out any particular
person in the mirror from whom the feeling seemed to be emanating.

Already ill at ease, Ryouga became even more wary as he tried to ignore the
presence by taking in his surroundings. There was something disturbingly
familiar about this particular small town through which they walked. A
foreboding feeling of deja vu settled over Ryouga. There was something
gravely important about this place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on
what it was.

A passing jogger seemed to pale slightly as he adjusted his course to
circumnavigate the small group that he and Ukyou made. Actually, Ukyou
was again keeping him at around twice arm's length. There was something
about how people kept doing that, that tugged at Ryouga's memory.
Something about that jogger as well. Ryouga had seen him before
somewhere, and he was sure that the jogger had done that same thing
before. *But when...?* Suddenly, unpleasant memories flooded into
Ryouga's over stressed mind. He knew where he had seen this town and
that jogger before. He could remember when people had started avoiding
him as though he had some sort of plague. *No... It can't be. That was only
a dream...*

"Psst. Hey! Earth to Ryouga!" Ukyou prodded Ryouga out of his reverie.
"Kunou just went into that inn down the street. C'mon."

He and Ukyou approached the inn and looked up at the sign above the gate.
A feeling of dread settled over Ryouga as he read the sign aloud. "Doll
Inn."

Ukyou nodded silently, also remembering. "What would compel them to
choose this, of all places, to spend their honeymoon?"

Ryouga shook his head, swallowing the bile that had suddenly risen in his
throat. "I dunno...fate?"

Puzzled by his remark, Ukyou peered into the a shadows of Ryouga's hood,
trying to gauge the lost boy's expression. Though her vision couldn't
penetrate the veil of darkness, Ukyou could almost swear that she could feel
the apprehension rolling off of her companion at that moment. She
shuddered involuntarily, though Ryouga seemed too disturbed to notice. 

"Maybe, or maybe not." She offered, thankful that her voice remained
steady. "Regardless, this is where he went. Lets check it out." Without
waiting for Ryouga to answer, Ukyou strode in through the gate and
towards the front hall. After a moment, Ryouga followed. 


-|-

The vengeful spirit stirred in it's resting place. Something had entered it's
domain. Never before had if felt anything of such...
presence as this which it felt now. It swirled uneasily in it's shell, it's prison.
This presence could mean many things; freedom, peace, damnation. The
stench of destiny hung heavy in the air on this day...

-|-

As the two young people walked down the hall, the desk clerk of the Doll
Inn heaved a sigh of relief. He had just recently received a particularly
disturbing string of customers. The first had been an intense young man in
samurai garb with a serious body odor problem. When he had asked the
man if he needed assistance, he had been caught completely off guard by an
avalanche of near-incomprehensible prose that apparently constituted the
man's method of speech. After a minute or so of ranting, punctuated by
several threatening motions with a bokken, the clerk was able to ascertain
that the man was looking for a particular newlywed couple that had checked
in a bit more than a week ago. Though the couple had requested privacy,
the clerk didn't particularly fancy the notion of being skewered by a raving
madman with a bokken, so he booked a room for the man and informed
him that the couple was out at the moment. Seemingly appeased, the man
had stalked off towards his room. 

Next came an attractive young woman carrying an oddly shaped bundle.
She had walked up to the desk and asked politely if a certain couple of
newlyweds was staying at the inn. Feeling the need to at least partially
honor the couple's wishes, he was about to deny that they were there when
a cloaked figure walked up behind the young woman. The clerk's words
died on his lips as the air temperature in the room seemed to drop several
degrees. He wasn't completely clear on what had happened next, but
apparently he had told them what room the couple was staying in, and they
had checked into a room just down the hall. Whenever he tried to think
about what exactly had been said or done, the memory slid and slithered out
of his grasp like the wind through his fingers.

He shook his head, resigning himself to the loss. Whatever it was that was
going on, the less he knew, the better. He thanked the gods that he would
probably be off duty before the couple returned. As it was, likely only the
gods knew what was in store for Saotome Ranma and Akane when they
returned this evening. 

-|- 

Ukyou pondered what had just occurred as she walked down the hall,
leading Ryouga towards the room. Several things about the lost boy were
beginning to disturb her. The first thing that she had really noticed was how
much stronger he had become since she had last seem him. When he had
fired off his depression into the sky outside of the Ucchan, he had held onto
the blast for a full ten seconds. Now, Ukyou would be the first to admit that
she didn't know a lot about ki attacks, but she _could_ say that she had
never seen either Ranma or Ryouga hold onto a pure ki blast for that long.
Usually, the shishi-houkoudan or the moukou-takabisha techniques simply
projected a sphere of focused ki at their target. Even the first stage of the
perfect shishi-houkoudan only lasted about two seconds before it stopped
building. The technique that Ryouga used at the restaurant had projected a
solid beam of ki of frightening intensity for a full ten seconds. Ukyou
doubted that even Herb could have stood against that. She didn't want to
think about what would happen if Ryouga turned it against Ranma.

Then there was the fact that the "lost boy" didn't seem to be getting lost as
much as he usually did. He actually _followed_ Kunou halfway to the train
station, not losing the trail even when Kunou was no longer in sight. Not to
mention the fact that he found the exact car that Kunou was riding in, and
he hadn't wandered off once since they left the restaurant. While
convenient, this new aptitude was definitely not like him.

But even that didn't bother her as much as the last new thing that Ryouga
seemed to have picked up on his most recent journey. That cloak of his
bothered her. There was just something eerie about it. Part of it had to be
how the hood completely concealed his face, even when they were in direct
sunlight. Then there was the way it tended to swirl about in the wind,
curling and streaming about his legs almost as if it were alive. Ukyou
shoved aside the nagging voice in the back of her mind that kept telling
her that there was no wind. There was something else about the cloak,
something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was almost... almost
like a sort of aura that Ryouga seemed to project whenever he donned the
hood of the cloak. But it wasn't even that, exactly. It was... unsettling to be
near him when the hood was drawn. When he passed, it was almost as
though a cold wind were blowing along in his wake, piercing her flesh and
caressing her soul in a chilling ephemeral embrace. 

It wasn't just her either. Everyone else that came near them seemed to sense
it, seemed to feel the deathly cold hands of the wind reaching into the
center of their being. The desk clerk in particular seemed to have been
badly effected by the experience. He had been pleasant and responsive when
she had entered the inn. He had been about to answer her question about
Ranma and Akane when she had... felt... Ryouga come up behind her. The
clerk had stopped dead, all the blood draining from his face and his jaw
hanging slack in mid utterance. Ryouga had turned to her and asked if
Ranma and Akane were here. Before Ukyou had had the chance to answer,
the clerk had reached into the desk and produced the guest book, his hands
moving with almost zombie-like lethargy as he pointed to a room number
with the name "Saotome" written by it in Ranma's characteristic scrawl. 

"Are they here now?" she remembered asking, trying to bring the clerk out
of the trance-like state that he seemed to be in. He had simply shaken his
head, not even bothering to shut his mouth which had been hanging half
open since Ryouga had arrived. He didn't seem to be improving, so Ukyou
had decided that perhaps it would be best if they moved on. She had signed
them into an empty room a few doors down from Ranma and Akane, then
handed the book back to the clerk and began leading Ryouga down the hall.
She peered at her companion now, his face still hidden by the darkness that
dwelled within, and wondered. What secrets did the shadows hide? Did she
really wish to know?

Suddenly Ryouga stopped walking. He reached up and drew back the hood,
dispelling the hands of ice and scattering the shadows to the four winds.
Again could she see the handsome, honest, be-fanged countenance of the
lost boy. Ukyou began to relax again until she read Ryouga's expression,
one of dread and worry. She followed his gaze a bit down the hall until she
spied the object of his distress. On a small pedestal at the corner of the hall
rested a porcelain doll clothed in a black, floral patterned silk kimono. The
same pattern as the kimono that Akane had worn when they had last visited
here. The vengeful spirit doll gazed back at them in perfect, death-like
serenity.


-|-|-


Ryouga forced down the rising dread as he stood outside the gate of the
inn. *It's just a coincidence. It doesn't mean anything. If it were like the
dream, Akane would be here now.* Ryouga glanced back and forth
quickly, verifying that he was alone. Ukyou had already gone through the
gate to the inn. *She wouldn't be here either, if this were the dream. Neither
would Kunou, for that matter. It has to be a coincidence.* Ryouga latched
firmly onto that thought, driving off the panic and doubt as best he could.
*What about the jogger...?* Chimed the small voice in the back of his
mind, but Ryouga refused to listen. Taking a deep breath, he strode over
the threshold and down the stone path toward the main hall of the inn.

Ukyou was already talking to the desk clerk when he arrived. She stiffened
noticeably as he approached; a mild reaction compared to that of the clerk.
The man had gone white as a sheet, his jaw hanging slack as if he were
about to say something. The pupils of his eyes had dilated until the irises
were all but invisible; empty, dull grey rings like open portals into his 
soul. 

*I wonder what happened to him?* Thought Ryouga as he appraised the
catatonic man, again ignoring the incessant voice that was now telling him
that _he_ had caused this. Ryouga concentrated, focusing his mind and
killing that train of thought right there. *Better things to worry about right
now...* The clerk certainly didn't look like he would be much help. Perhaps
Ukyou had already found out if Ranma and Akane were here or not. He
stepped up beside Ukyou and turned to her.

"Are they here?" He asked, observing the peculiar expression of discomfort
that seemed to be creeping into Ukyou's features. 

Ukyou opened her mouth, but before she answered the clerk backed away
from the desk a bit and began rummaging around under the counter. After a
second he straightened, producing a thick, well worn, wood bound book.
As the clerk opened the tome, Ryouga realized that it was the guest book.
The clerk flipped through the pages very slowly, almost as if his hands
weren't working correctly. Or perhaps the deficiency was elsewhere,
Ryouga mused as he peered into the clerk's blank eyes. Eventually, the clerk
stopped leafing through the book and turned it to face him and Ukyou. He
drug his finger left along the top of the page until it rested by a neatly
written room number. Below the number was a short string of barely legible
characters which, after a moment, Ryouga made out to be the name
"Saotome." He marveled at how Ranma could mangle his own name so
badly; Ryouga had seen second graders with better hand writing.

Ukyou looked into the clerk's face and asked if they were here now,
carefully enunciating her words as if she were speaking to a small child. She
was answered with a simple shake of the head, the clerk's eyes never
moving in their sockets. After peering at the clerk for a couple more
seconds, Ukyou seemed to come to a decision. She took the book from the
clerk's limp hands and grabbed a pen off of the top of the counter,
proceeding to flip through the more recent pages of the guest book.
Looking over her shoulder, Ryouga saw her finger rest for a moment on the
number of a recently vacated room near the room where Ranma and Akane
were staying. Ukyou then turned to today's page and signed in her name
and the room number before handing the book back to the clerk. That
done, she nodded for Ryouga to follow and began walking down the hall.
Casting a final glance at the pitiful form of the clerk, still holding the open
guest book that Ukyou had handed him, Ryouga complied.

As he walked, Ryouga examined his companion. Ukyou seemed lost in
thought at the moment, though she was still keeping him at arm's length.
That tendency was beginning to really bother Ryouga, but he saved that
question for later. He was about to ask Ukyou what was on her mind, when
a somewhat familiar feeling assailed his senses. It was almost like his sense
of spatial awareness, the presence sense that signaled when someone was
nearby, but that wasn't quite it. He was sure it was a presence, but in some
indescribable way, it didn't _feel_ like any person he had ever sensed
before. It was almost... almost as if the physical component wasn't there; the
motion of the air as the person moved and breathed, the slight vibrations
sent through the floor by the person shifting their weight. It wasn't like how
doctor Tofu disguised his presence, erasing from the minds and senses of
the observer any trace of his existence. There was _something_ there, and it
was getting closer; or rather, it was standing still and they were getting
closer. A few meters up, another corridor intersected on the right with the
one that they were walking down. It was waiting in that corridor, he was
certain. 

Ryouga tensed, but kept walking.. He could usually tell if the presence had
hostile intent, and he did not feel that now. Still, this was not exactly a
normal feeling in the first place. He rolled his shoulders to re-situate his
pack for ease of removal, his right thumb hooking into his belt, the nearest
available weapon. Better to be prepared without actually appearing to be so.
As they neared the corner, Ryouga subtly moved around Ukyou until he
was walking on her right, standing between her and the intersection. As they
reached the corner, Ryouga turned his head to search down the hall for the
source of the sensation. At first, he saw no one from which it might have
originated. Then his gaze caught on a small wooden pedestal at the far end
of the hall. On that pedestal rested an antique porcelain doll; the namesake
of the inn in fact. Clothed in a fine silk kimono, and holding a small fan
slightly concealing her face, the vengeful spirit doll surveyed Ryouga
impassively, her cold glass eyes revealing nothing.

There. That was where it was coming from. Ryouga stopped and turned to
face down the hall towards the doll. He pulled back the hood of his cloak,
his mind reeling in remembrance of his last encounter with the ill-tempered
spirit that resided within. Ranma had failed to show it proper respect, and
Akane had paid the price. The spirit had used her body as it's instrument of
vengeance, trapping Akane in the body of the doll. It had not been a
pleasant experience by anyone's account, unless you counted Ranma's
comments that the spirit possessing Akane's body was much sexier than
Akane usually was. But that, like most of the thoughtless things that came
out of Ranma's mouth, could be discounted without much consideration.

For a moment, Ryouga considered what his next course of action should
be. He definitely didn't want to be on the spirit's bad side, and he _had_
assisted Akane in foiling it's revenge the last time. He couldn't know
whether the spirit held him any ill will, or even if it was aware that he had
helped; he had been P-chan at the time. *Damn! Why can't this emotion
sensing thing work when I want it to?!* Try as he might, though, Ukyou's
emotions were the only ones that he could clearly sense at the moment. He
could still feel Kunou and the twisted presence somewhere on the other side
of the inn, but he sensed nothing from the doll. Did that mean something? 

He couldn't feel all of those other people on the street either. Just Ukyou,
Kunou, and... whoever it was that had followed them there. And all of them
were feeling something, some particular emotion that dominated everything
else. Perhaps the spirit wasn't feeling any especially intense emotions at
the moment. Considering how fanatical it had been about killing Ranma,
that was probably a good sign. Still, Ryouga didn't want to take any
chances. Facing the doll, Ryouga returned his hands to his sides and bent
down into a low, formal bow. After a moment, Ukyou did as well. 

-|-

"Do you suppose that did us any good?"

Ryouga turned to face Ukyou, who was currently sorting through the
various complementary robes that the inn provided. "I don't know, but I
think it would be best to keep on it's good side as much as possible."
Ryouga dropped his pack in the corner and removed his cloak, placing it on
top of the pack. "I don't really feel like being possessed any time soon."

Ukyou simply nodded, then began digging through her pack for something.
She paused, hands still in her pack, and looked up at Ryouga. A rather
amused expression crossed her face. "Actually, considering how you usually
carry on around Ranma, I'm not sure it would make much difference
whether you were possessed or not."

"Oh, _thanks_.  I really needed that..." Ryouga snorted and leaned against
the wall. "Well, they're not here now, so what are we supposed to do?"
Ryouga ground out irritably.. 

Ukyou's hand whipped out, tossing something in Ryouga's face. Ryouga
was startled, but still managed to smoothly snatch it out of the air before it
hit him.. Quickly examining it, he saw that it was one of the robes from the
pile that the inn had left in their room. 

"Grab your bath stuff. We have some time, so we might as well enjoy the
outdoor baths. And you _really_ need it, if you want to be even barely
presentable when they get back." Ukyou stood, carrying a robe of her own,
as well as a towel and a small bag of toiletries.

Ryouga sighed, then turned around and began sorting through his bag,
looking for his long-untouched bathing supplies. As he found them, an
unpleasant thought struck him. "Great. Now I'll probably get to see Kunou
again..." Ryouga growled to himself and he finally located his shampoo and
soap. 

Ukyou just smirked at the lost boy, wondering if he'd even be able to find
his way to the outdoor baths from the washing area.

-|-

As it turned out, that wasn't so much of a problem as Ukyou had
anticipated. After washing his hair and thoroughly scrubbing down until he
was sure that he had removed every last speck of dirt and grime, and noting
in dismay that the marks on his face still hadn't come off, Ryouga had
waited in the wash area until he saw someone else who was obviously also
heading out towards the baths. Following the man, Ryouga soon found
himself standing on the men's side of the outdoor baths. Carefully skirting
wide of the cold spring, Ryouga lowered himself into the soothing hot water
of the bath. 

It didn't appear that he would have to worry about Kunou either. He could
_feel_ that Ukyou was on the other side of the tall wooden wall that
separated the men's and women's baths, but for some reason both Kunou and
the other presence seemed to be giving the baths a wide berth. *Ah well,
good riddance. Their loss, though.* Ryouga thought as he sank deeper into
the water. 

For a while, Ryouga just let the hot water soak away his body's aches and
pains, loosening his muscles and cleansing him of the transitory stresses of
the world. It had been too long since he had simply been able to relax; to sit
down and let the world pass him by. Hazardous as it was, this inn did
indeed had a very nice outdoor bath, as Ryouga was coming to appreciate.
Still, though he let his mind wander, it eventually returned to their reasons
for being here.

*Why did we come here?* That was one question that he had been
avoiding since before they had gotten on the train; shoving it out of his
mind whenever it arose, not feeling ready to face the implications of the
answers. *Ranma and Akane are here.* That was one of them. But why
would they want to come and see Saotome Ranma and Akane. At first, he
had almost been able to convince himself that he had only come to make
sure that they were alright, and to keep Kunou from causing any trouble. 

He couldn't completely convince himself that that was the only reason
though, however he tried. *I have to make sure... have to see for myself...*
He was afraid to finish the thought, as though thinking it would make it so.
With a start, he realized that with this strange ability he had picked up, he
might be able to know, beyond a doubt, if it were so. That thought chilled
him to the bone. He had long suspected that the feelings that Ranma and
Akane expressed in public were far from what they really felt. As P-chan,
he had comforted Akane on many a night when she would begrudge the
insensitivity of Ranma's words and actions. Still, it hurt her; the way Ranma
acted sometimes. And Ranma, despite his vocal protestations of
indifference, _always_ came to Akane's rescue; always stood at her side
when it really mattered.

But to _know_, beyond a doubt, that Ranma loved her, and that Akane...
that Akane... returned his love... It was too much to bear. Ryouga didn't
know if he could face that. His mind turned to the tug of Ukyou's
depression upon his soul. He couldn't doubt, after traveling with her all this
way, that those feelings were true. *I wonder how Ukyou is dealing with
this...* She had actually been at the wedding; had actually watched and
listened as Ranma and Akane had proclaimed their eternal love and
devotion to each other. Ryouga doubted that he could have done that. To
stand aside as the first love of his life gave herself to another, and his
greatest rival at that.

But Ukyou had done it. She had even been one of Akane's bride's maids, if
he understood correctly. Even in the state that he had found her in, Ryouga
had to admire her strength of will. Ukyou had devoted her life to Saotome
Ranma, in one form or another, since she was six years old. To have the
pillar of her existence removed before her eyes like that... That Ukyou had
survived it as well as she had was enough to inspire a type of respect that
Ryouga accorded to few people.

His focus shifted to the swirling bundle of sensations that was Kunou. That
one certainly didn't deserve such respect. Ryouga could admit that he had
deluded and lied to himself on several occasions, in order not to see the
painful truth presented to him; but the veil of madness that Kunou erected
around himself was something else entirely. Kunou lived in a world of his
own making, unable to face reality on it's own terms. Ryouga wondered
how they had managed to keep him from interfering with the ceremony. In
fact, hadn't Ukyou said that neither the Kunous nor the Amazons, save
Mousse, had attended the wedding? *I wonder how they managed to keep
that entire lot out of the affair? That would certainly take some doing...*

The twisted presence intruded upon his senses, the sickeningly warped
emotions curdling his stomach and tainting the atmosphere of the baths.
*God damn it! Who the hell is that?!* The presence was still far off,
lingering in the vicinity of Kunou, but it was still close enough to pollute the
air with it's madness. *Nothing good can come of that. Still, at least it seems
to be sticking to Kunou.* A lot good that did him, being that Kunou
showed no inclination towards leaving the inn. Growling to himself, Ryouga
stood and toweled himself dry before donning the robe that Ukyou had
given him. "Damn. I need to clear my head..." He cast one more glance in
the direction of Ukyou's depression. *If I get lost, I can always follow that
back here. I hope she leaves the women's baths before then, though...* He
thought, as he began wandering down one of the paths leading away from
the baths.

-|-|-

Leaning on the railing of the small balcony that opened out of their room,
Ukyou sighed contentedly. So far, this trip had proven to be quite
uneventful. She had enjoyed a nice, long soak in the wonderful outdoor
bath of the inn. Signs of combat on the men's side of the baths had been
conspicuously absent, indicating that either Ryouga was taking care not to
be noticed by Kunou, or one of them hadn't managed to find their way to
the baths yet.

*I led him right to the men's wash room. If it's like the women's side, it only
has two entrances and one leads to the baths. If he can't figure _that_ out,
then I have no idea _what_ I'm going to do with him.* Ukyou had stood
half an hour outside of the men's wash room, waiting for Ryouga to come
out. Eventually, she had gotten tired of waiting. She had gone back to the
room, bound her breasts, tied her hair, and put on a dark green kimono.
After a few other slight appearance adjustments, a very bishounen looking
young man had strode through the men's bathing area. Much to Ukyou's
chagrin however, Ryouga was nowhere to be found.

*That idiot. Why couldn't he have just stayed put?* Ukyou thought irritably
as she walked back into the room. *It'll probably be weeks before I see him
again.* She stopped walking half way across the room as her eyes caught
on Ryouga's dusty and travel worn pack; or, more precisely, on the tattered
and equally dusty cloak that was draped over it. Peering at it warily, Ukyou
remembered all of the unusual changes that had occurred in Ryouga since
she had last seen him. *Perhaps he won't get lost. He hasn't gotten lost once
since he got back, and he _did_ lead us to Kunou.* Were it any other
person, Ukyou would have dismissed this little fact without a thought. But
this was Ryouga. His ability to become misdirected bordered on the
supernatural. For it to have simply cleared up like that; the idea was
unthinkable. 

Tentatively, Ukyou crept towards Ryouga's pack. The sensation that she
had felt whenever Ryouga had donned the hood of the thing was not
present now, but Ukyou wasn't going to take any unnecessary chances.
When she reached her own pack Ukyou paused again, kneeling to retrieve
her combat spatula from it's resting place beside her things. After
unwrapping the large cloth that she had draped around it, Ukyou hefted the
spatula in both hands and continued moving towards the corner in which
Ryouga had dropped his belongings. When she was within range, she
carefully lifted the cloak from it's place with the flat of the spatula, still
keeping it as far from her body as possible. Nothing; no movement, no
strange sensations. She caught it on the corner of the spatula head and
shook it for a few seconds. Still nothing.

Finally, taking a deep breath, Ukyou set the cloak down on the ground and
slowly extended her hand towards it. An errant breeze sent a ripple through
the fabric, causing Ukyou to jump back hastily. *Damn it. Forgot to close
the balcony door.* Ukyou stepped forward again, a look of determination
on her face. *One... two...* Ukyou's hand shot out and tagged the cloak.
_Still_ nothing.

Ukyou examined her hand. It was unchanged, as far as she could tell.
Turning to the cloak, Ukyou knelt and, more evenly this time, reached for
it. Ukyou let her hand rest upon the well worn fabric for a couple seconds
before she carefully picked up the cloak and began to inspect it. It appeared
to be nothing more than a heavy wool travel cloak. It was badly worn and
simple, but appeared to be well made. Hand made probably, Ukyou
guessed as she examined the stitching around the edges. Knowing Ryouga,
he probably bought the wool and sewed it together himself while he was
traveling. 

Ryouga seemed a lot better than Ranma about that sort of thing. Constantly
being on the move had taught him to make and repair his own clothing,
cook, and clean up after himself. To Ranma, many of these things were
simply too feminine for him to be bothered with, although he _was_ an
excellent cook. For Ryouga, they were the simple necessities of surviving on
his own. 

More than surviving, Ukyou thought. As far as she could tell, Ryouga had
no steady source of income. Yet still, every time he would return from one
of his journeys, he would have some sort of souvenir or gift to give to
Akane. The money for those had to come from somewhere. Ukyou suspected
that Ryouga probably sometimes sold clothing or handicrafts to people that
he met on his travels. Still, judging by the things that Ryouga usually
brought, exotic foods or interesting trinkets, he probably didn't save
much for himself.

Ukyou draped the cloak back over Ryouga's pack and returned to the
balcony. Standing in the warm breeze and watching the setting sun, Ukyou
thought back to a few times when Ryouga had arrived at her doorstep
before finding the Tendou dojo. In discussions of courtship strategy over
free okonomiaki, Ukyou had also found out that Ryouga was a rather
hopeless romantic. He would often have poems that he intended to give to
Akane with the various gifts that he brought. Some of them were really
quite good, though it was apparent that none of them ever actually reached
Akane. 

That was one thing that she could never quite understand about Ryouga.
Whenever Akane wasn't around, Ryouga's drive and confidence was
unwavering. The certainty and honesty of Ryouga's emotions was one of his
more endearing traits. But try and get him to admit his feelings to Akane,
and Ryouga would fall all to pieces. Maybe it was that same certainty of his
emotions that was at fault. Ryouga _knew_ that he wouldn't be able to bear
rejection, so any uncertainty of feelings on Akane's part probably scared
him to death. 

*Why couldn't she have fallen for him...?* Ukyou stopped that line of
thought right there. Could-haves and would-haves didn't do her any good;
she couldn't change the past, and she would be damned if she was going to
live in it. She had enough to worry about in the present. Right now she had
to worry about what they were going to do when Ranma and Akane got
back. 

Ukyou couldn't quite describe why she had wanted to come here. Part of it
was to make sure that Kunou didn't endanger Ranma and Akane on their
honeymoon, but that was only a small part of it. There was more to it,
though Ukyou was ashamed to admit that the most likely reason was so that
she could see Ranma again. She... needed this. Ukyou couldn't live in the
past, but she couldn't let go either. She needed to see him once more; to see
that he was happy and well, enjoying his new life with Akane. With his
wife. 

But they weren't here now, and the anticipation was starting to undo all of
the good that her soak in the baths had done. *I guess I have a little more
time to relax. They will come when they come, I suppose...* Ukyou
thought, as she re-entered the room and slid shut the door to the balcony,
cutting off the warm summer breeze and the light of the setting sun.
*Perhaps a walk will do me some good. I might even find Ryouga before he
get's himself _completely_ lost...* With that thought in mind, Ukyou shut
the door of their room and proceeded down the hall towards the entrance,
heedless of the currents of fate flowing around her as the cloak, now
forgotten, began to ripple in the rising wind. 

-|-

"Baka!" <<thwak>>

Ukyou stopped dead in her tracks, turning all of her attention towards the
direction from which the cry of indignation had originated. That voice had
definitely sounded familiar, and Ukyou could almost swear that she could
recognize the sound of a hand hitting the back of Ranma's head. *That's
them. It has to be.*

Slowly, being careful not to make too much noise, Ukyou crouched down
and started to press through the bushes and foliage along the left side of the
path she had been walking along. As she neared the clearing on the other
side, she could begin to make out the low tones of Ranma's voice. 

"ouch... Sorry Akane, force of habit. Umm... if you're _really_ serious
about cooking dinner tonight, uh... How about if I _help_ you cook it." 

"Hmph. Are you suggesting that I can't handle cooking _one meal_ for my
husband. We can't order out all the time, you know." Akane's voice was still
irate, but had seemed to soften slightly after Ranma's sheepish apology. 

Ukyou crept closer, until she was crouching just behind a small boulder, a
bit to the side of the path that Ranma and Akane were standing on. Peering
carefully over the top of the stone, Ukyou saw Ranma, clothed in a blue silk
shirt and loose, black cloth pants, rubbing the back of his head, a slightly
harried look on his face. Standing before him, in a cheery yellow sun dress,
was Akane. The look on Akane's face was something between irritation and
exasperation, and it was clear that she hadn't forgiven him quite yet. 

"NO, no!" Ranma replied hastily, waving his free hand in front of his face.
"It's just that... well, it's our honeymoon. This is probably the only chance
we're going to get to relax. You really shouldn't have to do that sort of work
now."

For a moment, Akane actually appeared to consider Ranma's words before
renewing her efforts. "But I _want_ to do this. I... I know that I'm not very
good at it, but can't I at least _try_ to make something nice for you."

Ukyou marveled at Ranma's new found self control. He was certainly
getting better about knowing when to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately,
at the moment Ranma seemed to be having trouble thinking of _anything_
to say. Split between denying Akane and facing her wrath, or agreeing with
her and facing her cooking, Ranma was spending a dangerously long time
just looking dumbly at Akane, his mouth clenched in what was probably
supposed to be a reassuring smile. Just as Akane was about to deliver the
final blow, one way or another, Ranma's salvation arrived in the most
unlikely form imaginable.

"SAAAOOTOOMEEE RAANMAA!!!! TURN AND FACE THINE
END!!!!"

Ukyou blinked and turned to face down the path. She was met by the sight
of Kunou Tatewaki, screaming in a full battle rage with his bokken raised
high above his head, storming down the path towards them.

In the mean time, Akane was turning a rather ugly shade of red, her fists
clenched in white-knuckled fury. Ranma was just looking down at the
ground, shaking his head and muttering ruefully "why him? why did it have
to be him...?" under his breath. 

Kunou covered the remaining distance swiftly, drawing himself up just
short of the unfortunate couple. He turned to face Ranma, his face a visage
of pure rage and determination.

"Turn unkempt jackal!  Thy smeared, unworthy face shall see 
the most Brave Light of Justice!   I have found thee out, foul sorcerer 
Saotome, and now thy reckoning is nigh!  The poison of thy coward's 
feet shall blight no more the Sun blessed regions of the living!  Behold, 
in righteous wrath, Kunou Tatewaki, Full Mighty Blue Thunder of 
Furinkan High.  And now, the gentle institution of Marriage itself shall 
lift her head, up from the filthy mire where you have pressed her face 
and the face of Tendou Akane!  Reclaim thy Hope, beautiful and beloved!  
This unholy soul now takes his final breaths!  Soon every pure and 
innocent slave who once had suffered the turgid indignities of Saotome 
Ranma's putrid touch shall burst free into new and passionate glory! 
Tendou Akane!  After today, only the tears of Joy shall wet thy cheeks!  
Now in this hour Kunou Tatewaki rescues thee!  Saotome's many 
wrongs upon you now shall be avenged!  And the horrid enchantment 
that was placed upon the house of Kunou shall be washed out with 
the spilling of his FINAL BLOOD!  SAOTOME RANMA!  
NOW STRIKES KUNOU, WITH THE TERRIBLE VENGEANCE 
OF THE HEAVENS IN HIS WAKE!!!" With that, Kunou launched
himself at the spot in which Ranma had been standing, the downward strike
of his bokken cracking the stones of the path and echoing through the night
air like a peal of thunder, shattering the peace once again.

Ranma, from his new position atop the rock that Ukyou was hiding behind,
glared malevolently down at Kunou, an ugly smile spreading across his
face. "I don't know how you found us, but if you thought you could bother
my wife and I on our honeymoon, running off at the mouth and swinging
that stupid wooden sword of yours around like you always do, and still be
able to leave under your own power afterwards, you thought wrong."
Ranma cracked his knuckles deliberately, glancing momentarily over at
Akane's infuriated form before launching himself at the advancing kendoist.

-|-|-

Ryouga knocked the tree out of the way and pressed onward, mindless of
the damage that he was causing the wilderness around him. Seconds ago, he
had heard Kunou shout twice, followed by  what had sounded like a
gunshot. *Damn it, it can't be that much farther now. Hold on Akane.*
Ryouga thought as he plowed his way towards the commotion. He knew
that he was going the right direction, for the echoes of Ukyou's depression
and Kunou's rage were steadily becoming more distinct. The warped
presence was steadily becoming more evident as well, but Ryouga tried to
ignore that one as much as he could. No doubt now that it had come
seeking the same thing that they had. If all of them were in the same place
at the same time, Ranma and Akane had to be there as well. Urgency drove
all questions of what-to-do or what-to-say from Ryouga's mind as the rush
of his blood roared in his ears, drowning out the howl of the wind as he
flew onward, his course more straight and true than that of any arrow.

-|-|-

Akane watched in wonder as the fight raged onward. It was taking much
longer than she had originally expected it to. Kunou fought with the fervor
and tenacity of a man possessed. Though Ranma wasn't holding back, as far
as she could tell, his blows only seemed to enrage Kunou further. Twice
now had the kendoist had been knocked down, so far. Each time he had
sprung to his feet again immediately, roaring epithets and charging again
into the fray. He hadn't yet landed a solid blow on Ranma, but it was
still worrying. 

As she watched the fight, an object dropped down toward Akane from the
tree above her. Instinctively, she caught it. Akane looked down into the
paper funnel in her hands. *A bouquet of black roses? Wait...* Suddenly, a
cloud of fine powder erupted from the flowers into Akane's face. Despite
herself, Akane inhaled sharply in surprise. The bouquet fell the ground,
Akane's hands already going numb. *Paralysis powder. Kodachi.* Akane
frantically tried to wave at Ranma to get his attention, but her arms wouldn't
obey her. A sharp whistling sound was all the warning she had before
something wrapped itself tightly around her neck. The ribbon tightened to
strangling constriction as it pulled taut and lifted her roughly off of the
ground. 

Within a second Akane found herself dangling by her neck several meters
above the ground, the ribbon cutting into her throat viciously. The ribbon
ran over a branch above her head like a gallows, and attached to the other
end of the ribbon, standing on a thick branch and grinning wildly, was
Kunou Kodachi. Akane stared at her in horror, unable to do more than
wriggle painfully as her lungs and throat began to burn. Seeing this,
Kodachi's grin widened yet further. Tying the ribbon to the branch, she
advanced on her helpless captive, taking Akane's chin in her hand and
turning it until Akane was staring directly into her eyes. 

"Why, hello my wicked, wicked child. Did you really think for a single
second that you could steal my dear Ranma-sama? That I would not hunt
you down and retrieve what is rightfully mine? Foolish, foolish girl." As
Kodachi leaned closer, Akane recoiled internally from the madness in the
gymnast's eyes. "Now you shall have to be punished for your effrontery. It
is such a pity that you will not be able to witness the joyous moment when I
liberate my beloved Ranma-sama from whatever horrid enchantments that
you and the red witch have placed upon him, but rest assured that she will
tell you all about it when she joins you."

Akane just barely caught the end of Kodachi's tirade, as she was beginning
to loose consciousness. The burning in her chest had intensified until it was
almost unbearable, and her vision was starting to go gray. But Akane could
do nothing, her body still numbed from the paralysis powder in the roses.
*Ranma! Help me! She's going to kill me! Ranma! Kunou! Someone;
Anyone, HELP MEE!!* Akane's train of thought was cut off abruptly as a
small object whizzed above her head and imbedded itself in the trunk of the
tree. Then she was falling. Before she hit the ground, strong arms caught
her and set her gently on the ground. She was barely aware of the hands
that quickly unwrapped the ribbon from around her neck and checked her
pulse. Struggling to retain lucidity, Akane latched onto the last thing that she
had seen clearly: a small metal spatula imbedded in the trunk of the tree and
Kodachi's expression of surprise and rage.

-|-

The fight was not going quite as well as he had expected it to. Kunou, while
normally possessed of a resilience far above average, should still have been
out for the count long ago. Ranma knew that he hadn't increased his
resistance to damage, for painful looking bruises now decorated the
majority of the kendoist's body. That meant that he was probably running
on adrenaline.

*What on earth could have possibly made Kunou this mad? It _can't_ be
just that Akane and I got married.* Ranma quickly ran through his recent
memories of Kunou, and found that he had neither seen nor heard from
either of the Kunou siblings since several days before the wedding. As
Kunou brought his bokken down again, in another deadly arc that missed
Ranma by only centimeters to the right side, Ranma got close enough to
discover that, in addition to looking like he had just gotten run over by a
herd of bison, Kunou smelled like it as well. Ranma kicked him hard in the
sternum, knocking the Kendoist off the path and into the trees. *Maybe we
should have asked Nabiki exactly how she arranged for them to be absent
from the wedding.*

A feminine cry of indignation behind him caused Ranma to divert some of
his attention away from Kunou, as he turned his head and body slightly to
the side so he could look back. What he saw sent a dagger of ice through
his heart, almost stopping it dead. Akane, lying on the ground, unmoving. A
length of ribbon lay a few feet away from her body, and he could make out
a bit of blood seeping from the angry red band that encircled Akane's neck.
*A ribbon. Kodachi. No!* "NO! AKANE!!!"

"AN OPENING!" Kunou cried as he launched a vicious, upward diagonal
slash across Ranma's exposed side. Ranma, who hadn't realized that Kunou
had recovered and was otherwise occupied at the moment, failed to defend
himself from Kunou's assault. The strike, propelled by the adrenaline and
rage of a madman, opened a ragged gash along Ranma's side and spun the
stunned martial artist completely around before he fell on his back, roaring
in pain and clutching the bleeding wound. Unrelenting and far beyond
reason at this point, Kunou raised his bokken in preparation for the final
blow. 

-|-

"NO! AKANE!!!"

*That was Ranma's voice! Something's happened to Akane!* Thought
Ryouga as he smashed through the last of the trees separating him from the
path that he sensed Kunou was on. When Ukyou and the other presence
had broken off a second ago, he had been tempted to follow them. But
Ranma's cry had emanated from just ahead, which meant that he was still
with Kunou. Perhaps Akane had been kidnapped, and Ukyou was in
pursuit. Ryouga was about to change course when a roar of anguish pierced
the air, again coming from just ahead. Quickly deciding that he could
change course after he reached the path and found out what was going on,
Ryouga broke through the foliage and leapt to the top of a nearby rock.

What he saw was a scene out of his darkest dreams and nightmares.
Ranma, lying prone and clutching his bleeding side, Kunou standing over
him with his bokken raised high above his head. Akane's still form lying off
to the other side of the path, a wet red line traced around her throat. Time
seemed to slow to a crawl as Ryouga looked on, his entire world turning to
ash before his eyes. Then something unexpected entered the silent drama
that was playing itself out before him. Ryouga _felt_ something from
Akane. *She's alive! Thank the gods, she's alive!* This new feeling was a
chaotic jumble of sensations, some familiar and some not. The most
unusual thing about it was that part of it seemed to be coming from
somewhere else. Not just the... otherness... that all the emotions that
Ryouga got from other people bore, but it was similar. It was like an echo
of an echo, as though Akane's emotions were resonating with someone
else's.

As Ryouga glanced around the scene, his eyes locked onto Ranma's
bleeding form. The resonance that he got from Akane resolved itself into
sharp focus as he turned his attention to the prone martial artist. It was
joined by a roaring tempest of emotion that momentarily threatened to
overwhelm Ryouga's senses, but he could immediately recognize the same
feeling of resonance in part of the storm that raged in Ranma's soul. It
was the same part that he could discern in Akane, and the two echoes
seemed to merge with each other until it was difficult to tell them apart. 

As Ryouga felt the sense of warmth, of completion that this link seemed to
provide, realization of what this feeling must be crashed in on his
consciousness. *It's love...* Time, which till now had seemed to have
stopped dead in it's tracks, slowly began to flow around Ryouga again, as if
preparing to wash away the broken pieces of his heart as they fell. Ryouga
watched in personal and shared anguish as the wooden sword began it's
terminal descent towards Ranma's head. As he did so, the pain began to 
fuel a strange resolve that sprang up in the remains of his shattered
soul. *This must not happen...* Unconsciously, Ryouga began to raise his
hands as the blade fell. *I can't let him destroy this...* His
outstretched palms pointed at the swordsman, a nimbus of white light began
to form between his hands. *Have to stop it...* Halfway through the swing,
the light in Ryouga's hands resolved into a tiny, perfect sphere of
blinding luminescence. *Now...*


"SHISHI-HOUKOUDAN!!!" 


Ryouga's roar reverberated louder than should have been possible, shaking
the trees around the path and echoing through the bones of whomever
heard it. Kunou, the immovable wall of his single-minded focus blasted to
dust by the onslaught, has just enough time to glance over at the glare
masked form behind him, before the world went white. 

-|-

As Ryouga yelled, the sphere of white light flew from his hands towards
Kunou. Once it had gotten about a foot away from Ryouga's palms, it
expanded into a two meter wide, vertical ring of... It could really be called
light anymore, as one couldn't quite _see_ it. Nevertheless, one could tell
that it was still there, and still flying rapidly towards the swordsman. When
it reached him, it stopped for a moment, seemed to begin rotating around a
vertical axis centered around Kunou. From the position where it started to
where the ring was currently, a sphere of pure whiteness began forming.
This too couldn't really be called light, as no light existing in this universe
was ever that pure a shade of white. As the edges of the whiteness met each
other and the sphere was completed, suddenly the whiteness exploded
outward in a blinding wash of pure force.

Ranma's body was driven along the ground for about three meters,
displacing the stones of the path and digging a bloody furrow in the
earth. Where the sphere of whiteness had stood was less than nothing. A
gaping void, an basic absence of existence blacker than any black hole and
emptier than deepest space began to pull at the fabric of reality around
it, twisting and warping the space around where the edge of the sphere had
been, until a corona of sucking non-existence began to expand outward,
drawing all of reality towards it's embrace and devouring everything that
came within range. The stones along the path, as well as various small
plants and bits of the earth itself began to gravitate towards the void.

Seeing Akane's limp form being dragged towards the monstrosity, Ryouga
leapt... around... the space destroying void and held her body close to his.
Strangely, the pull of nothingness didn't seem to be affecting him at all. As
he looked down to examine Akane's injuries, Ryouga felt a terrible tearing
sensation grip his soul. Nothing he had ever felt, nothing he had experience
before could have compared with the searing pain that lanced through his
being. It was as though ragged and twisted claws of darkness were ripping
his soul in half. He collapsed to his knees, cradling Akane's body and trying
to block out the tide of pure agony that coursed through him. It was only
when his efforts seemed to be succeeding that he realized that the feeling
wasn't coming from within himself. 

Fighting through the torture, Ryouga peered into Akane's eyes. Reflected
there was one hundred fold the loss and anguish that Ryouga had felt. He
followed her paralyzed gaze towards the path: the corona of advancing
nothingness had expanded past the point where Ranma had been lying, and
suddenly Ryouga realized that he couldn't feel him anymore either. Unable
to do anything else, Ryouga gripped Akane's body more tightly and turned
his body to shield her from airborne debris. *Akane... I'm sorry... I'm so
sorry...*