Ranma 1/2: Enslaved, the Bet (final)
chapter 1b: "Wayward son"
by Gregg Sharp, http://members.aol.com/metroanime/main.html
	insert standard disclaimer here. note also the flavor's a bit different...
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	The echoing 'tick-tock' noise of an old clock was the only sound that
could be heard in the Saotome house a few hours later. Still, Nabiki found
that
she could not sleep yet.

	"<Lipstick, are you awake?>" Nabiki didn't think anyone was awake
to listen, but her Japanese was so out of practice that she found herself
avoiding
conversation just so that Saotome-san would not think her stupid. Slipping
back
into Mandarin was simply easier, as was using their Nichieju names.

	Kasumi's voice was just as quiet. "<Yes, Gloss. I am tired, though.>"

	"<What do you think?>"

	"<Of what, younger sister? Of Saotome-san? That she is an honorable
woman. Of her statement that our father knew Ranma's father and that there was
an arrangement that one of father's children should marry a Saotome? That she
is
telling the truth, and that such a fate is much less onerous than continuing
to serve
the women of the Council. In another two months I would have become the
mistress
of that giant lardbucket of a man named Wax. How long could I have survived
HIS
attentions?>"

	"<She plans to engage one of us to her son within one month, when
she has decided which of us is the most suitable match...>" Nabiki's voice had
a curious quality to it. Like she was a little hopeful and a little dreadful.

	"<Whoever she chooses will have her work cut out for her.>" Kasumi
sighed and studied the ceiling. "<Just the mention of husbandly duties and
Ranma
starts falling to pieces. Good warrior, very strong, very brave. Also pretty
damn
naive and not terribly worldly despite his troubles, I'm afraid.>"

	"<True. There were far worse catches to be made in the village. That
half blind idiot Mousse, or that annoying poet Griddle.>" Nabiki smirked as
she
remembered an incident involving both, a beehive, and the champion amazon 
named Shampoo. "<It wouldn't be too bad with Ranma, I think. Plus if one of us
IS his fiancee then staying here becomes even less a problem.>"

	"<True.>" Kasumi paused. "<Little sister, do you want to be the one?>"

	Nabiki considered it. "<I like the idea of security, big sister. I'm not sure
I could bear the thought of being touched again after that giantess Dowel and
that
other amazon. But if I could, and I've never known a MAN's touch, then it
could be 
pleasant. Certainly it would be different to have a partner that was trying to
please
you. Do you want to be the one?>"

	Kasumi fingered her scar, and continued to study the ceiling. "<I don't
know. I feel that I owe him, and greatly, but we have just been freed from the
amazons. Putting on a shackle of any sorts so quickly seems most unfair. I
think
that Saotome-san is fair, we can probably get her to extend the period for a
time.>"

	"<We COULD simply poison the two, take their money and continue
fleeing.>" Nabiki flinched a little at thought. It was an amazon way to do
something,
and it hurt to realize how much of them had rubbed off on her. 

	"<Sister. These two are not the enemy. Calm yourself.>" Kasumi
stifled a yawn. "<Ranma saved us, we would never have been able to escape
alone. To do so he had to abandon his own father. He has a sense of honor,
and so he may be useful to us.>"

	"<I couldn't do it anyway, sis.>"

	"<I know, Gloss.>"

	"<Comb will come for us, you know. It will be a final test of her 
loyalty to the amazons to hunt us down and either kill us or bring us back to
face punishment.>" Nabiki's voice carried the undertone of anger. "<Not that
there is any doubt in my mind that little sister is fully an amazon.>"

	"<It has been eleven years since she was adopted into an amazon family. 
She was only five years old when they came for us. Her adopted sister,
Shampoo, is 
the only one she considers a real sister. Even Shampoo and that elder,
Cologne, are 
a bit put off by the angry and unyielding warrior they themselves helped to
shape. I
hope there is still a little of Akane left. I fear there is not.>"

	"<I'm only a year older, Lipstick, no, Kasumi. It is so easy to fall back
into old habits, is it not?>" Such as using this language, such as using their
hated slave-names. Because in the village to use either Japanese or their real
names had brought punishment, swift and fierce.

	"Yes, Nabiki, it is." Kasumi sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that
sleep would come swiftly. It did not, and so she and her sister did what they
had
done for the past three nights.

	With a glance at each other that communicated the whole story,
Nabiki smirked. Almost as silent as shadows, they made their way into their 
protector's room. Thankful that Ranma was such a deep sleeper, the two
sisters found themselves able to relax near their rescuer, and finally sleep
came.
Also as had happened the past three nights, they would awake before Ranma
and creep away without Ranma being any the wiser for the event.
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	Nodoka looked in through the partially closed doorway and wondered
exactly what the girls had been through. She would have to find out. She
smiled
slightly, this was not proper behavior, but the overall picture was so cute
that she
decided to let it pass for now. It was also further proof, if any was needed,
that
her son had attained the manly quality she had hoped for.

	Besides, it was obvious that her son, for all his travelling and battle
experience, had NO experience when it came to THAT. If those three were going
to do It they would have done so on their way from China. That wasn't
necessarily
manly, but it was understandable.

	Tomorrow would be a big day, she had to get Ranma and Nabiki enrolled
in school, probably Kasumi would have to be home-tutored for all the schooling
she'd missed. Then she'd have to find out what Nabiki turned into. Certainly
the
girl had been reluctant to come anywhere near cold water.

	Nodoka eased away from the doorway after the breathing of all three had
deepened. She'd caught a glimpse as Nabiki had entered the shower of the
younger
sister's back, crisscrossed with old welts and  lines of scar tissue. She had
not 
broken easily, it seemed. It would be necessary to delay her entry into the 
school until she'd recovered from that abuse.

	Nodoka slipped back into her own room, and smiled slightly. It had been
years, since her husband had panicked on hearing that his old friend had been 
hunted down and killed, and had confided in her about the old marriage
arrangement
before going on the training journey. ("A moving target is less easy to hit.")
Now
though, there was a welcome change, and the house was again a home.
----------------------------------------
	Looking out at the ocean, the warrior fingered her favored weapon,
then put it aside. Her sister, Shampoo, was still arguing with some dock
official.
Brown eyes looked across the moonlit waters, and she knew her target was out
there.

	They called her an "Enforcer" which merely meant she was a fairly
high ranked warrior who was trusted with special duties by the Elders. When
the
Elders wanted something done, an Enforcer was usually the first one to do it.
An
Enforcer could kill a baby, or change it, depending on the needs of the
situation.

	Some called her Ko Em, others used the outlander Comb, but there
were two who called her by an old barely-remembered name that stirred strange
feelings in her heart. Akane, they called her, and were punished for it. When
one
joined the Amazons, one took their customs and traditions seriously. Warriors
and champions had the greatest amount of leeway. Males less so. The rare
slave,
always a criminal or someone captured from an enemy tribe, were less than
dirt.

	Comb felt her pride stirring. Though Lipstick and Gloss had rebelled
against the true way, the Amazon way, they had been punished by becoming the
least of the least. By accepting it, and by excelling at it, she had risen
among the
Amazons. Her outlander heritage, and the jealousy of her skills and connection
to 
Elder Cologne kept her from gaining any friends, but friends were a weakness 
anyway. She was not weak, she would never be weak. Being weak was what had
gotten those others, what Lipstick and Gloss told her were her real mother and
father, killed. Being weak and not accepting the True Path was the reason that
Lipstick and Gloss were reviled lowly slaves.

	Comb glanced back to where Shampoo was still arguing with the boat
owner. The Elders had decided that while Shampoo could kill this Ranma for the
Kiss Of Death, that Comb would be the one who punished the two slaves for
escaping. Whether it was bringing them, or merely their heads, back to the
village
was entirely up to Comb.

	Comb walked up to where Shampoo was still arguing with the fisherman
about passage on the boat. The fisherman was demanding money to set out, and
would not do it until tomorrow morning in any event.

	Comb smiled sweetly, put one hand on the surprised man's cheek, and
quickly twisted the man's head past the point it would normally go. She
dropped the
corpse into the boat with a casual sweep and turned to her stunned "sister."

	"<Come, Xian Pu, we have wasted more than enough time dealing with
these...MALES...we should get our mission done, quickly and efficiently so
that
we can go back to the village in honor.>"

	Shampoo looked down in disgust at the body of the fisherman. "<Ko Em,
you let me do the negotiations from now on, okay? We are supposed to kill
Ranma,
maybe Lipstick and Gloss. This is the third one you kill, you are leaving a
trail.>"

	Comb raised an eyebrow. "<Squeamish, Xian Pu? I expected better from
a Champion. We'll just dump the body out at sea. They are just males anyway.>"

	Shampoo watched as her adopted sister went on to the boat. "Shampoo
supposed to watch Comb and make sure she no betray village, no help sisters 
escape? Shampoo think maybe Elders not have to worry about that, just worry
about
not having death toll go into double digits by time this done."

	Shaking her head, Shampoo cast off the lines and jumped on board the
ship. She felt strangely uncomfortable about being the conscience of this
little 
expedition.
-------------------------------------------
	Early morning, waiting for the train in a Kobe station, a young
woman picked a magazine out of the rack at a kiosk.

	Ukyou glanced through the "Kansai Time Out" and noted the lead
news items. Up in Juuban they were having trouble with some sort of monsters,
with these Sailor Senshi doing battle with them on an irregular basis. Robots
in
Roppongi (believed by some to be the work of that master criminal Arsene Lupin
III), extraterrestrial exchange students in Nerima, and this story about a
white
slaver ring being broken up by the infamous City Hunter filled out the
magazine.

	Ukyou smiled to herself. She had earned herself a vacation by now. 
Tokyo sounded more and more like an exciting place to go to get pictures.
Besides, she still had the address of Mrs Saotome. She remembered Genma 
accepting the dowry, and promising to come back for her when the day was
right.
She ought to stop by and surprise everyone. After all, she missed her Ranchan.
========================
	that's it folks. this is one of those pieces that could have wrote itself,
and in fact did, i woke up with this thing at 2am. how would it have ended?
Ranma marries Akane (which would have gratified most of the flames), but
it is a completely loveless marriage resulting from a deal with Cologne, the
amazons will not try to kill/recapture Nabiki and Kasumi, and there won't
be revenge attempts against Nodoka for her injuring Sei Ga. Ranma goes
to China, knowing full well he's a slave whose good behavior is the only
thing keeping people he cares about safe. Akane holds Ranma responsible
for the whole mess, and is mean and abusive to him. It is implied that he
won't live much longer.

Dark, yes, a bit. Reflective of RL, isn't it?

TTFN

gregg
http://members.aol.com/metroanime/main.html