This is being sent out for Libby, who's currently not on the list. All
replies can be sent to aduetofpigtails@cephiro.com. You can catch previous
episodes of Duet at http://yogpigs.megami.net/Duet/.
IMPORTANT: Following this Christmas fic is a preview of the much-awaited
Duet 6!
Bai bai,
Studio YOGIPIGS staff
The World of Studio YOGIPIGS: http://yogipigs.megami.net
Sailor Moon AX: http://yogipigs.megami.net/sailormoonax/
A Long Strange Webpage: http://members.tripod.com/nekohanten/ (MOVING SOON)
A Duet of Pigtails: Music Box Dancer
_A Duet of Pigtails_ Christmas Story by Libby Thomas
Based on the characters and storylines of _Ranma 1/2_ by Rumiko Takahashi
and _Magic Knight Rayearth_ by CLAMP
Inspired by "Music Box Dancer" by Frank Mills and an idea by Sakura Edwards
~*~
A brisk winter's day graced the Saotome-Tendo dojo. The world was silent, a
rare fall of snow was drifting towards the ground on still and picturesque
home, and all of Nerima ward was at peace.
*"RANMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"*
*"CUT IT OUT, ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!"*
*"NO WAY IN HELL, YOU BAKA!!!!! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!!!!!!!!"*
Saotome Ranma, Grandmaster of the School of Anything Goes and owner of the
house, was running for his life. ((Gotta hide, or she's gonna beat it out
of me!)) The thought of diving into the koi pond and hiding was instantly
discarded. With his luck, that was going to be the first place she looked,
not to mention the obvious thought that it was cold as hell. Likewise,
diving into the snow was going to do absolutely no good whatsoever, as there
wasn't even enough to make a snowball. Having no other recourse, he leapt
to the roof, hoping to seek solace from the being that was hunting him down
with dogged determination.
Said hunter came out of the house a second later, and she was not happy.
*"RANMA, YOU JERK!!!!!!!! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT THAT
EASILY!!!!"* Hefting the infamous Mallet-sama, Tendo Nabiki raced around
the dojo, determined to find her brother and beat some sense into him. The
irony of Akane's acts from not so long ago was not lost on her, nor was the
fact that Nabiki took a sort of grim humor in watching Ranma get what was
his.
Seated inside the house and watching the whole scene was Ranma's girlfriend,
Shidou Hikaru, who was talking with his oldest sister, Ono Kasumi. Hikaru
turned to Kasumi and said, "Please don't tell me this is normal."
"Oh, not at all," Kasumi was quick to admit, as she poured Hikaru a cup of
tea. "Usually it was Akane who chased Ranma around with a mallet."
"A mallet?!?!"
"Why, yes. It saved wear and tear on our tables, stone lanterns, pots and
pans, and the furo."
"Sorry I asked." The redhead gave Kasumi a weak grin. "Look, I know this
was sudden for him, but maybe they should sit down and just talk. I mean, I
can understand the situation, and...." She left her words unspoken; while
she loved Ranma very much, she was in firm agreement with Nabiki's position
in this case.
Kasumi, ever the scholar of other people's feelings, picked up in that in an
instant. "Everything will be fine, Hikaru. You are, after all, his
girlfriend, right? And he does love you. Nabiki will talk some sense into
him, I'm sure of it. When all is said and done, everything will be back to
normal."
Hikaru merely nodded. After all, she'd been through a lot worse in life.
Watching her significant other have a disagreement with his older sibling
was no big deal. Hey, even she and her brothers tended to solve
disagreements on occasion with blunt instruments. Mind, they were wearing
protection normally, but Ranma and Nabiki were martial artists....
~*~
Hours later...
"Ranma!" Nabiki said, panting heavily, finally having caught up to her
brother. She had to ditch the mallet over by Ukyo's place on the way before
taking a shortcut and racing down to the train station, leaping from one
rooftop to another with a speed and agility she'd never been able to master
before. ((Then again, I'm not usually in the mood to pound Ranma into the
floor so often, am I?)) She managed to catch up to him over by track four,
and the pair continued their chase on the tops of the Tokyo subway system,
eventually taking the chase onto the JR trains, until they were quite some
distance away from Nerima.
Now into its third hour, the duo had finally managed to stop, in an area
vaguely familiar to the young woman. Nabiki ventured a glance at the
nearest sign. ((Minatomirai. Wait a sec...that's all the way in Yokohama!
Oooh, he's gonna pay for this!))
Sitting on a nearby chain link fence, Ranma gave his sister a grin. "Hey,
you managed to catch up to me. Pretty good."
Nabiki shot him a murderous look as she recovered. "You are a dead man,
Saotome, unless you have a good reason for bringing me out this far. And
you still haven't given me a good expla--" Her words were interrupted by
the surprise of Ranma bounding off the fence, walking up to her and putting
a package in her hands. "What the hell is this?"
"Open it." She did, unwrapping the package and revealing a box. In turn
she opened the box and looked at the item inside. Nabiki looked at him in
shock, then looked back at it, and back to him again. Sensing her
vulnerability at the moment, Ranma hugged her, whispering, "Happy birthday,
sis."
Nabiki was, for one of those rare times, completely and utterly lost for
words. "Y-y-you remembered," she managed to stammer.
"Of course I remembered. You remembered mine, you remember Kasumi's. You
even managed Hikaru's, and I don't recall ever mentioning it. How could I
forget yours?"
"I-I-I don't know," she murmured. She looked once more at the gift he'd
bought her: a miniature music box pendant; basically a singing locket.
Since she was a child, it had been something that she'd always wanted, but
had never bothered to buy; something that she'd written off long ago as a
mere child's dream for a woman who never was afforded child's dreams.
Eventually, though she'd written it off as bad for her high school image
(after all, Akane or Kasumi would be more likely to have it than she), she'd
never really stopped wanting one.
Now, finally, she had one, and by the looks of it, it was fairly expensive,
too. Something that he'd gone down to one of the more expensive malls at,
not some simple corner store. Of course it wasn't so much the fact that it
was fairly expensive that counted (though it was a plus) so much as the fact
that he'd gotten her basically something she'd wanted since she was a child.
"I-I-I...." Lost for words, she finally gave up and returned his embrace.
"Thank you, little brother," she said, meaning every word of it. She leaned
against him, cherishing him all the more. It was days like this that made
her happy that she had the best brother in the world.
"Don't thank me just yet. We're still not done," he said, hinting at more
to come.
"We're not?"
"Nope. Why do ya think I had us jog all the way to Yokohama? We're going
to have a nice lunch at this restaurant I made reservations for." Taking
her arm in his, he motioned her towards a nearby passenger overpass towards
the Yokohama Pacific Shopping Center & Hotel. "Hikaru and I found it last
week, and I thought you'd like to come here."
Nabiki couldn't help but smile. "You're hanging around me too much. You're
becoming too sneaky." She paused for a second to smile at him, then
replied, "So, little brother, you still haven't responded about your plans
for Christmas."
Ranma's smile fell immediately. "Um, Nabiki, I...." Now it was his turn to
be lost for words as he stammered, "But I...look, it's not that I mind you
setting up...that is, Hikaru and I would...er, how would be the best way to
say it?"
She gave him her best "kawaii eyes" and said in a pouty voice, "But you
promised me. Besides, you don't want to upset your older sister, right?"
"Nabiki, you know that Tatewaki and I are barely getting along right now,"
he said as they walked into the restaurant. "The only reason we are
managing to get along is because you're my sister and the fact that he still
thinks that Hikaru's his 'Pigtailed Girl'. I'm just not sure the four of us
going to Hokkaido for Christmas week is a good idea."
"Ranma, Kasumi said she'd love to watch Akama, and she's already got Hiro,
so it's not a problem." Sitting at the table and taking the menus from the
waitress, Nabiki rattled off a couple of appetizers before turning back to
her brother. "Tatewaki is looking forward to this trip, and so's
Hikaru--it's a great way for the four of us to get comfortable around each
other."
"I dunno," Ranma commented as he pointed out his choices and handed the
menus back to the waitress. "I don't want to spoil the whole vacation by
getting into a fight with Kuno."
Nabiki in the past probably would have played her trump card, meaning her
looks. However, since such an action was lost on Ranma and the fact that
she would never do that to him anyway, she smiled and merely was honest with
him. "Ranma, this is a chance for you and Hikaru to indulge in a little
romantic time--you know that with Akama, neither you nor I get to spend as
much time with our loves as we'd like to, and we can't always foist your off
on sis. This is a chance that Kasumi's happily giving us." She took his
hand in her and asked, "Ranma, this is important to me, little brother.
Please? For me?"
Ranma sighed in resignation. There was little he would deny Nabiki; in the
past because of her blackmail, or now when she merely asked. Also, if
Hikaru was siding with Nabiki on this, then the decision was already made.
He loved them too much to go against both. "Okay, Nabiki. You win. I'll
go, and just hope for the best that there won't be any trouble."
"Don't worry, Ranma," she answered with her familiar tone of confidence.
"I've got everything under control. What could go wrong?"
~*~
Two weeks later...
"Saotome," Kuno said in his usual haughty tone, "if it were not for the
spell that you hold in thrall over the Pigtailed Girl, I swear that I would
smite you now for your insolence!"
"Awww, c'mon, Kuno! You're pissed at me because I got the last can of
Birdie out of the machine?"
Kuno gripped his can of tea. "I happen to prefer tea, you wretch. I am
filled with the righteous anger of heaven because you were so craven as to
not offer the can to the beauteous and ravishing Pigtailed Girl."
"Um, Tatewaki," Hikaru said, "I've already got a can of coffee. I grabbed a
Georgia out of the Coke machine."
"And you totally forgot to mention me, I see," Nabiki interjected, her voice
holding a dangerous edge to it. "Kuno-baby, I hope you'll like sleeping
alone tonight."
"But my love," Kuno said, his voice on the edge, "I fail to see how either
you or the delightful Pigtailed Girl can put up with such a wretch as
Saotome Ranma!"
"She has a name, you know. And I thought you promised me that you wouldn't
fight with my brother."
"How you can consider that cur your brother is beyond me, my fairest love."
"Simple. He married Akane, which makes him one by law. More importantly,
we've been there for each other through thick and thin, which totally makes
him one to Kasumi and me. Hey, if I knew a way to make him one by blood,
I'd do that too. At least he's a better sibling than, say, Kodachi?"
Kuno nodded and shut up. It would be another year or so, the doctors said,
before Kodachi would be able to function outside of the healthcare facility.
Hopefully by then, she'd forget all about him and the family...and leave
them alone.
"Well, then, now that we're one big happy family again," Ranma grumbled in a
sarcastic tone, "can we go hit the slopes? It's getting cold standing
here."
Hikaru gave her boyfriend a whimsical smile. "Funny, I'm pretty warm right
now."
Ranma whispered in her ear, "Fire magic?"
"Nope, just thoughts of what I plan to do with you tonight." At that
comment, Ranma's cheeks flushed and she said, "See? Works every time."
Nabiki, having overheard the exchange, couldn't help but giggle, though she
didn't understand Ranma's comment about fire magic--((must be something
private between them.)) So far the vacation to Sunigiri Ski Resort in
Aoshima had been a resounding success. Of course, success was measured in
the fact that Ranma and Tatewaki had not had a significant enough fight to
blow the resort into matchsticks. Between Nabiki and Hikaru, the two men
had only come to blows once and with the expected results: Kuno lost, Ranma
punted him a quarter-kilometer up the mountain, and then had to go find him.
Otherwise despite themselves, they were growing closer. The girls were
getting to know one another in closer way, and any doubts that the older
girl may have had about the redhead dating Ranma were completely erased,
though she couldn't help but feel that in some ways, Hikaru was a
toned-down, non-kleptomaniacal Shiratori Azusa. In turn, the men were
finding out that they actually had things in common other than fighting over
Akane and the Pigtailed Girl: they both actually did enjoy sumo, and could
actually talk about it in a sort of camaraderie.
The only problem apparently stemmed from Kuno's occasional advances on
Hikaru. Though, to his credit, he was showing mostly admirable restraint,
there were times when his control slipped and he had to be restrained. One
of those times had been when Ranma had sent him "advance scouting" up the
mountain without the benefit of warning. The rest of the time, though,
Hikaru had actually taken care of it. Between her acrobatic skills at
dodging, some martial arts that she was picking up from Ranma, and her
incredible sword talent (she was far and away better than Kuno), she kept
him at bay until Nabiki could deal with it.
Christmas was in two days, and nothing was going to go wrong, nothing at
all.
The four got on the ski lifts, heading up to the top of the slopes. Nabiki
kept her distance from Kuno just to torture him, while Hikaru leaned into
Ranma, giving him a small kiss and looking up at him with eyes full of love.
Up they went, into the deeper section of the forested area, where they would
take on the expert slopes and spend another day on snowtime fun. Just a
(for a change) normal, uneventful day.
~*~
((Mommy? Are you coming? I can feel you coming, mommy. Are you coming to
get me out of here?
((Mommy, I'm scared. I'm so lonely and afraid.
((Mommy, please come, because I need you.))
~*~
*"SSSUUUUUGGGGGOOOOOIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"*
*"Hey! WATCH IT, WILLYA?!?!"* Ranma ducked at the last second as a pair of
skis raced over his head, missing him by mere centimeters.
"Sorry, sweetheart!" Hikaru called back to him. "I'll make it up to you
tonight!" Seeming to race by at the speed of her namesake, Hikaru tore down
the slopes in her flame-patterned snowsuit; only Ranma knew that it was a
modified version of the Fire Knight armor. The others just thought it to be
very expensive ski gear, and that was the way things were. As Hikaru bolted
past, he watched her with a sense of pride. That was the woman he loved, no
doubt about that. He never thought he'd love again after Akane's death, and
fate had happily proven him wrong. Now, after so many years of pain, he was
happy with another woman.
But happy and marriage was something else in her mind. Six months ago,
Nabiki had gotten engaged to Kuno. That was also the same day that he'd met
Hikaru, and perhaps it was a sign that they were fated to meet. Since then,
his time with her was completely, totally magical. There was no doubt that
he loved Hikaru, but was he ready for marriage again? How would Kasumi and
Nabiki react? Granted, they were thrilled that he was dating, but what if
he wanted to make it more permanent? That was, assuming *she* wanted to.
Would he be betraying Akane? He didn't think so, but there were times when
he was afraid that he might be, however unintentionally. Though Hikaru
meant the world to him, even she knew that she could never compete with his
love for Akane, and to her credit, she never did, instead showing him a new
path to love. Ranma took one more look as Hikaru raced down the slope
before she caught up to Nabiki, also moving swiftly herself, but it was the
redhead who seemed to garner the attention, like moths being drawn to the
force of flame that she so much meant to embody.
"Saotome, isn't she a beautiful sight? Like a fiery angel in motion, a
scratch of glorious red against a field of pristine white." Ranma turned to
notice Kuno standing right next to him, a rapt look on his face. Turning to
Ranma, no malice in his words, he said, "You know, Saotome, I envy you."
"Um, why?" ((Kuno's being nice? Wow--the holidays must be in full swing.))
"You've always had the most beautiful women around you: Akane, the Pigtailed
Girl, that Amazon murderess, your friend Kuonji, my sister, and even more
than I probably know of. I cannot fathom why the ravishing Pigtailed Girl
would deign to fall for one such as you or even how you managed to win the
heart of the lovely Akane, much less the care of her sister; but I suppose
that it is best that it is you in all these cases, and not some other worse
scoundrel. Though I daresay I'd be hard pressed to find one worse."
Ranma thought about it for a second, and decided to take it as a sort of
backhand compliment. "Thanks. I think." Ranma paused for a second. "You
know, sometimes, you're not as bad as you seem to be, Tatewaki. Maybe
you'll make a good husband for Nabiki after all."
"Why thank you, Ranma. I must admit that for once, you've shown a glimmer
of intelligence. Maybe someday, you'll even--" Kuno was interrupted by the
sound of a massive rumble, like the sound of thunder over the mountains.
"What was that? Saotome, you haven't been fooling around agai--"
The sound grew louder and louder, now combined with the sounds of wood
snapping, and a person screaming, *"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!
AVALANCHE!!!!!!!!!!!!"* Both men looked up and saw an awesome wave of white
bearing down on them at breakneck speeds, sweeping up any and everything in
its path.
"The girls! Kuno, find them and get them out of here!" Ranma barked as he
charged up his power. Calling a sphere of blue energy to his hands, he
roared, *"Now move, dammit! MOKO TAKABISHA!!!!"* The lance of blue ripped
from his hands, blasting forward and splashing against the moving wall of
snow with incredible force. However, it did little to halt the advancing
tide, in fact, it was coming closer and faster. *"Kuno, go save the girls,
you moron!"*
"What, and run like some mewling coward?" Kuno countered. "I shall stand by
you and show this mere force of nature the wrath of the Blue Thunder of the
Olympic Kendo Circuit!" Pulling his bokken out of nowhere, he screamed,
*"THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN IS SWIFT AND SURE, AND I SHALL SMITE THEE!"*
Ranma held his tongue in check, not sure which point of stupidity was more
prevalent: Kuno screaming challenges at the oncoming (too close!) snowslide,
or the fact that he actually thought that oversized toothpick of his was
going to do any good. Realizing that arguing was going to get them nowhere,
Ranma turned to face Kuno once more and tried for reason. "Kuno, you and I
can stop this thing, but the girls are going to be helpless? Who's going to
protect them? I need you to go and protect them!" Ranma cut loose with a
second beam; the blast impacted, but much too close. If he was going to do
something to stop this, it would have to be soon or dozens of innocents
could be caught up in the catastrophe now occurring.
Ranma's words must have clicked on a light in the dusty attic that was
Kuno's brain, because he nodded with understanding, murmuring, "I see. Very
well, I shall find the fair Nabiki and the beauteous Pigtailed Girl, and
rescue the--" Kuno didn't have time to finish his statement as the crest of
semi-frozen water slammed into him and Ranma, carrying both in its wake and
dragging them to the bottom of its travails. At this rate, the girls were
in deep, dark trouble, and might not survive.
And as the darkness of unconsciousness began to settle around Ranma, he
thought another sad truth: at this point, he might not, either.
~*~
((Mommy?
((I can hear your heartbeat. Is that you? I love you, mommy. I miss you.
((Please come for me, and take me away from here.))
~*~
"There's another one!" Ranma heard the muffled voices of someone, felt a
dozen hands reaching to pull him free of the mess. "It's okay, miss.
You're safe now. You barely survived."
At those words, Ranma knew she'd changed over to her female aspect. No one
was sure how much snow it was going to take to change him into female form,
but evidently an avalanche's worth was more than enough. Still feeling
dizzy, she muttered a half-felt thanks, then asked for Kuno's whereabouts.
He bristled when they'd referred to the idiot as Ranma's boyfriend, but a
quick explanation of him being her sister's fianc� straightened that out.
He'd been knocked unconscious, and one of his legs had been broken in the
slide.
Once that was clarified, she asked for the whereabouts of Nabiki and Hikaru.
They were nowhere to be seen, the rescue rangers told her. Neither Nabiki
nor her "twin sister" were seen at all, and with some fifty other people
caught in such a major snow slide, there was no evidence that *anyone* had
survived other than those lucky enough to have already been pulled from the
snow.
*"NO! DAMMIT, THEY'RE OKAY!"* she cried. *"SEARCH FOR THEM!!!!"* Her
voice was panicked, caught firmly in the grip of terror at what had just
happened, but fortunately, his mind intervened a second later. ((Get a grip
on yourself, Ranma!)) she told herself. ((Getting terrified about things
isn't going to help Nabiki or Hikaru.)) But something about now just felt
too ominous. She was in her female form, in a wooded area, and her loved
ones were suspected of being.... ((*No!* This is *not* the same, Ranma,
and you know it!)) She slunk to her knees in fear then forced herself back
to her feet. However, she also knew Hikaru's secrets and Nabiki's
willpower, and knew that if there were a way for both to survive, both would
find it easily. And if that was the case, there was no way in hell that
Saotome Ranma would ever give up on them.
However, what to do about Kuno? Ranma knew she could just leave him there
and that the emergency personnel would take care of him, but somehow, that
didn't seem right. So, as the crowds moved to help others, the redhead
picked up Kuno and carried him to the room he shared with Nabiki. Ranma
would make sure that Kuno was at least safe before moving to help the
others. Nabiki would insist on it, and he knew he couldn't disappoint his
sister's wishes, even if she wasn't here to give them.
Assuming, Ranma thought, her heart racing in fear, that Nabiki and Hikaru
were still alive.
~*~
((Whew. She's heavier than she looks.)) Hikaru panted, dragging Nabiki
into the cave that she'd noticed at the last second just as the avalanche
overtook them. If it hadn't been for the older woman's quick attention,
they would have both been turned into gooey condiment on a giant shaved ice.
As it was, Nabiki had slammed her head against a rock at one point while
pulling Hikaru to safety, and was still bleeding from the cut. They'd
finally ended up about five meters from the cave, and Hikaru had pretty much
worn herself out not only digging Nabiki out, but also fireblasting a
makeshift tunnel to the cave's mouth, and then lastly dragging Nabiki to
safety. Now that that was done, Hikaru was tending to Nabiki's first aid
needs with what she remembered from her university courses in medicine, what
seemed a better part of a lifetime ago.
With a dull *whump*, the makeshift tunnel closed behind her and closed them
off. Hikaru looked at the cave's mouth and found it was shut off by a
barrier of felled trees, rocks, and snow. Too exhausted to summon any
significant reserve of energy, she figured that they were stuck there until
rescue teams could arrive; besides, she was more concerned about Nabiki's
health than getting out of here right now. If worst came to, she'd just
power up and use the Fire Sword to cut them out of there. However, she'd
rather not do that; she wanted to appear to her future sister-in-law as a
normal girl and not some powerful person, much less the goddess of another
universe.
But the cave was getting cold, and with the snow slowly bleeding in, it was
only going to get colder. Hikaru knew nothing about how igloos or whatever
worked, but she did know that warming up would be a good idea.
Concentrating, she released what little heat she could into the air; within
minutes, the cave had begun to come to room temperatures. Hoping that the
heat would hold, she took off her small backpack, pulling out the flashlight
and throwing the beam on the shadows. Additionally, she grabbed her cel
phone, hoping that she might be able to call for some sort of help, but to
no avail; she'd forgotten it in her room in the resort.
Nabiki, for her part, moaned and said, "Hi-Hikaru? Is that you?"
"Yes it is, Nabiki," Hikaru answered. "Are you okay?"
"My head hurts like Akane repeatedly nailed it with a hammer," the older
woman moaned. "Now I know how Ranma felt. What happened? And why is this
cave so warm?"
"Um, you pushed me out of the way when the avalanche hit and we got lucky
enough to fall into this cave," Hikaru lied, feeling uncomfortable about
making up the story, but knowing that it would be easier for Ranma's sister
to digest than the truth. "As to why it's so warm, I think it might be some
sort of hot springs thermal, but I'm not sure." ((At least, that sounds
like a good enough excuse.)) As Nabiki tried to get up, Hikaru gently held
her down and said, "Please rest, Nabiki. I'll go looking around in this
cave and see if I can find another way out of here."
"Okay, I will. Just...be careful, Hikaru. This could be a bear cave, and
if that's the case, we'll be in big trouble for disturbing its hibernation."
"Don't worry, Nabiki," the redhead replied. "I'm not the least bit worried
about some sort of bear. I can handle myself." There was something in the
girl's voice that made it seem as though she was actually capable of doing
so, though from what Nabiki had seen, Hikaru was far better at kendo than at
hand-to-hand. Was she better than she let on, maybe as good as Ranma, even?
((Naaah. Couldn't be,)) Nabiki decided, as she looked at the mouth of the
tunnel. ((Well, that's going to take them a long time to dig us
out...assuming they even think of searching this place. Wonder if they're
looking for us? I wonder if Ranma and Tatewaki made it out okay? She
smiled inwardly, knowing those two. Hey, I don't need to worry. Nothing
stops my little brother. And if he's looking for us, then so's Tatewaki.
Who knows? This might be the thing that finally gets them to cooperate.
So, I guess that gives me and Hikaru a few hours or so to bond before our
rescue. Besides, what could go wrong?))
*"MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"* a new voice called. And it wasn't
Hikaru's.
~*~
"Saotome, you must be mad to go out there! The snow's coming down in
sheets, and even the other rescue workers won't go out in that weather!"
Kuno, his leg propped up and in a cast was screaming at Ranma with all his
energy. "Think, man! What good is it going to do to go out there and get
yourself killed?"
About the only thing that was going well for Ranma so far was that he
changed back to male form after a shower. However, there was a freak
snowstorm coming in, and things were getting so bad, the search had been
called off for the night. Unspoken was the fact that since the rescuers had
been pulled back for the night, the chances of survival for anyone still
caught in that mess was somewhere between minimal and negative zero. And on
top of all that, Kuno was trying to convince him not to go outside?
((Since when did I get into the Twilight Zone?)) the martial artist asked
himself. "Kuno, the woman I love and my sister are out in that mess, and
neither you or anyone else is going to tell me to back off of this!"
Ranma's eyes flashed fire, and he was far angrier with the kendo artist than
he'd ever been before. "Damn it, what would you have me do? Sit here and
wait for news of their deaths? I saw Akane die in my arms, you bastard, and
I will not allow anyone I love to ever die if I can do something about it,
you understand?"
"I never thought that, Saotome." Kuno's voice had taken a calm, collected
tone to it, as though there were things he had to say, and wasn't sure how
to express them. Finally, he did something that he never did before:
addressed Ranma as an equal. "Look, Ranma, it's no secret that you and I
are not of the same cut. But I must face the truth that you and I are to be
brothers-in-law someday, and as that, I must caution you to be wary."
"Wary? Why?"
"Because Nabiki--my fianc�e and your sister--and your beloved Pigtailed Girl
are out there, and could be dying. Perhaps you can do something to save
their lives, but I would be remiss in not telling you that you could be
risking your life in vain." Kuno sighed; it seemed to be that talking to
Ranma one-on-one was harder than anything he'd ever done, and possibly more
painful than his broken leg. "You may be good enough to beat Saffron. You
may be good enough to beat Kirin. You may be good enough to beat Toma. But
can you beat nature itself, Saotome, can you?"
No hesitation: "If I don't do something, they're dead, and I'm not going to
allow that at all! You know that!" Ranma's balled his fists in anger. "I
can't afford to lose them, Kuno. Surely you know what it's like to lose a
loved one."
"That I do. I still remember the day my mother...passed on." There was
another painful moment of silence between the two, as though a critical
barrier had been broached. The silence sat for minutes, interminable and
thunderous in its own existence before Kuno opened his mouth again.
Finally, he said, "Ranma, please save them. I'd go with you myself,
but...." He gestured towards the cast.
Ranma nodded in understanding. "Y'know, I believe you would. Take care of
yourself until I get back, Tatewaki."
"And you mark my words, Ranma: be wary on that mountain. I have a dark
boding of what is up there," Kuno said, his eyes somber, "and I don't like
that feeling at all."
~*~
"Hey, Nabiki," the redhead said as she wandered back. "Look who I found."
Nabiki strained to look up. "I see we have a visitor." In tow, holding
Hikaru's hand, was a frightened little girl, perhaps about eight or so. She
was covered with dirt and grime, and looked like she'd been living in the
mountains for quite a while. To the older woman, the young girl had a
passing resemblance to the child form of Ninomiya Hinako, only a bit more
somber, shyer and worse for wear. Managing to get back to her feet without
her head slamming its pain down on her, she said, "So, little one, are you
lost? Where're your parents?"
The girl, her eyes brimming with tears as though she'd been crying forever,
said, "My daddy's...gone. And I haven't seen my mommy for a long time."
Hikaru bent down and whispered in the girl's ear while, "There's no sign of
any others. I think she might have been left here by her parents." There
was suppressed anger and indignation in the redhead's tones. "Look at her,
Nabiki! Her parents just gave her some homespun stuff to live with! I
swear, if I get my hands on them, I'll...." She stopped, thinking it
wouldn't be good to get angry in front of the child.
Nabiki, for her part merely nodded slightly. Giving the child the same sort
of parental look that she gave Akama, she asked, "So, little one, what's
your name? I'm Nabiki, and you already know my friend Hikaru."
The girl gave a slight smile and said in a tiny voice, "My name is Kagura.
Odoriko Kagura."
"Kagura. What a pretty name you have." Hikaru smiled, trying to set the
young girl more at ease. "So, where are you from, Kagura?"
"Near Edo," the girl replied. "I was brought up here with my mother and
father to be presented to the local daimyo. They think I'm really special,
and if I am, I get to be treated like a princess." Kagura looked at the two
ladies and stopped for a second, having a look on her face as though she
shouldn't say what she wanted to next. But she decided that they were
really nice to her and so she told them: "I don't wanna go, though. I want
to be at home with my family."
"Edo?" Hikaru asked, not sure if she heard the child correctly. "You did
say Edo, right?"
"Uh huh," the girl nodded. "Hey, I've never seen anyone dressed like you
before, Hikaru-sama. Are you some sort of geisha?"
Both women looked at each other, then back at the girl, then back at each
other. Of all the things to run into at this time, it had been a ghost that
they had currently encountered. At least she seemed to be a benign sort.
So far.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever stop seeing weird things in my life,"
Nabiki said rhetorically. Turning to the girl, she said, "Er, no. Hikaru's
a...samurai, and I'm a...kunoichi." ((Remind me to look up all that
historical stuff sometime and figure out what it is. Maybe I should call
Konatsu sometime. He might have an answer for that, though it's not going
to do me any good right now.)) "Hikaru's with Clan Shidou, and I'm with the
Tendo Clan, in Nerima."
"Wow...you must be real important. My dad's just a farmer," Kagura
admitted.
"Hey, each person is important, Kagura," Hikaru said, hugging the child; she
couldn't help herself--her heart went out for this lonely little girl. "And
you're important too. We'll help you find your parents, I promise."
"And how are you going to pull that off?" Nabiki whispered to the redhead.
"In case you haven't realized yet, Hikaru, the girl is a ghost! Her parents
are probably on the other side, waiting for their next shot at life. How
are you going to pull that one off."
Not even bothering to look at Nabiki, she said, "Trust me, okay? I know
what I'm doing." Reaching into one of her pockets, she pulled out a candy
bar. "Hey, Kagura, have you ever had chocolate?"
"Um, no. What is it?" Kagura asked, to which Hikaru gave her a piece. The
girl took it, copied Hikaru in putting it in her mouth, and chewed
cautiously. A second later, the remainder of the bar went to the happy girl
ghost, who was dancing and thanking her benefactors for such a delicious
treat.
"She's a sweetheart, that's for sure," Nabiki said. "I wonder what happened
to her in life."
"I don't know," Hikaru answered. "Sometimes ghosts carry marks of their
death on them, but she seems to be so happy and at peace, she couldn't have
been a mononoke or a onyro or the like. She may have just gotten lucky,
died peacefully and became a yurei, even though it seems her parents
abandoned her. But it doesn't make sense why they would have."
"Well, she said she was special," Nabiki responded. "I wonder how?"
As if in answer, the flashlight took that exact time to die. "Oh, I knew I
should've replaced the flashlight batteries. Nabiki, do you have a...wait,
you lost your pack in the fall. Nevermind." Hikaru sat there, trying how
to best reveal her flame magic without upsetting anyone. She promised Ranma
that she wouldn't reveal her powers to his family until he thought it was
time; after her the battle with Ukyo she had two months ago, she nearly
fried the other girl to a crisp--and she'd been holding back most of her
ability.
"I don't like the dark," Kagura said. "It's too scary." With that, the
ghost began to sing. No voice seemed to come from the girl, save a music
that seemed to come from the very essence of heaven itself. As the girl's
wordless creation of music continued, the cave became brighter and brighter,
the light coming from a mysterious power that was too beautiful, to
incomprehensible to describe. Waves of music seemed to caress both women,
dancing around them as though each note was a friendly spirit merely wanting
to play, and it felt to Hikaru and Nabiki as though they were floating in a
giant bubble, rather than sitting down in a barren cave that was now as lit
as the noonday sun.
"That's why I'm special," Kagura said, pleased to show off her talent. "My
singing can do special things, and that's why the daimyo wanted me to be a
princess."
"And you *are* special," Nabiki said, impressed by Kagura's skills, as
recognition of a sort seeped into her features. As though she was
conducting a gentle interrogation, she asked, "Do you like music?"
"Hai, Nabiki-sama!" the girl cheered. "It's so pretty and nice, and I
really liked to watch the dancers and geisha perform."
"Well, maybe you'll like this." Nabiki pulled the music box pendant out of
her shirt and played it for the child. The girl stared, rapt at the small
box giving off the most beautiful music she'd ever heard. Looking at Nabiki
with abject adoration, Nabiki took it off and gave it to the girl, saying,
"Be careful with it; it's a bit fragile. But go ahead and play with it for
a bit. I have to talk to Hikaru for a second okay?" The girl, already
entranced by the tinny music of the small device, nodded cheerfully and
wandered off.
Nabiki gave the girl a smile as she walked off. "So, she's a siren, it
seems. That's a bit unusual for Japan."
"Ano? Siren?" Hikaru asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Western mythology--I did a report on it when I was in 10th grade. If I
remember correctly, it's a woman whose magic comes from her voice, or
something like that. They're very skilled in music, and they were mainly
used to lure ships to their doom or something." Nabiki sighed. "Now it
makes sense. If no one in her time was used to the concept of the power she
had, they might become afraid of her."
Hikaru thought of Cephiro; more to the point, Ascot's beast friends who were
thought to be hideous monsters and instead turned out to be like overgrown
puppies, gentle in their nature. "People become afraid of what they can't
understand," she mused. "So they killed her. Her parents weren't taking
her to see the daimyo, and they may have lied to her when they told her she
was from Tokyo, er, Edo. Why would anyone from there come this far north at
that point in history?"
Nabiki nodded, agreeing. "Well, that's another problem for another time.
Right now, we're trapped in a cave, and there's probably little chance that
any rescuers will be able to find this place. Worse, we're stuck in here
with a ghost. Granted, she's a nice one, but what if she decides that she
wants to go home with us?"
"Then we take her with us," Hikaru insisted. "Ghost or not, she's a
frightened little girl, and she needs help. Maybe afterwards we can take
her to a priest and speed her on to her next life. But I made a promise to
help her, and I will."
"Hikaru, for as long as I've known you, you've been the caring type, but
this is a bit much. I just have to ask: why?"
"Three reasons. One: she's a little girl. After you've helped Ranma raise
his son, you should know how much a child needs her parents. Two: it's the
holiday season, Nabiki. Peace on Earth and goodwill and all that." Hikaru
then turned her gaze to the girl, sitting in the other corner of the cave
listening to Nabiki's charm, and singing along, creating motes of light that
seemed to dance and swirl in time with the music. "And number three: I know
how that little girl feels, what it's like to have talents that you can't
quite describe and aren't sure how to use half the time. I know that
feeling all too well."
~*~
"Awwww, damn," Ranma moaned as the wind picked up, making her momentarily
stagger back. The wind had gotten worse, and the snow had been slamming
against him hard enough to trigger the change, something she didn't need.
It was now far worse going, her female body being far lighter than her
normal one, and would make things an absolute bitch to climb to the last
place where she saw her girlfriend and sister. But Ranma didn't dare stop;
to do so would be a death sentence for them--and her.
*"NABIKI! HIKARU! ANSWER ME! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"* she screamed as loudly as
possible, her voice barely carrying above the whipping wind. The wind was
still picking up, and she'd been warned that there was a snowstorm coming
in, possibly strong enough to set off another avalanche. She was headed
blindly up the hill with a heavy pack of first aid and survival gear, and
there was no way to check the map of possible survival spots that was marked
off.
Swinging around one of the trees that had managed to withstand the first
snowslide, Ranma used it to shield herself from the winds as she pulled out
the plastic-coated map, turning the flashlight onto it and finding his
current location. ((Okay, I should be by the third pylon, which means I'm
halfway to where the girls were last. Hopefully, it should only be a
hundred or so meters more. Hopefully.)) Putting back the map, Ranma moved
away from the tree, steadied herself, and trudged forward back into the
snowstorm, determined to find them at all costs.
The snowstorm continued unabated, an opponent that Ranma had never fought
before but had to defeat against all costs. She was not willing to accept
any other scenario. Not one damn bit.
~*~
"Kagura? Can you come here, please?" Hikaru said. Whispering a hushed,
"Thanks, Nabiki," Hikaru addressed the girl as she approached, "Kagura, are
you happy here?"
The child nodded and said, "I just wanna go home."
"Would you like to come with us?" Nabiki asked. "When we get out of here,
we'll help you find your parents."
"And if I don't find them?" Kagura asked, the look in her eyes one of hope,
holding onto Nabiki's pendant as though it was a lifeline.
"Then we take you home with us, right, Nabiki?" Nabiki nodded in the
affirmative. Nabiki gently took the pendant from the girl's hand and
settled it around her neck, and Kagura positively beamed in delight.
Opening her mouth again, she sang a song of joy, filling the two women with
a mystical warmth that seemed to melt away their aches and pains; Nabiki's
injury healed instantly, while Hikaru's magic reserves began to rejuvenate
at an exponential rate. Within minutes, both women had felt as refreshed as
they had when they'd begun this long day, hours upon hours ago.
When the girl was done, she went over and hugged the ruby-maned goddess,
giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Do I get more choko--whatever that brown
stuff is called?" Giggling, the girl danced for joy and relief, to be free
of this place, rescued and with someone who would take her to her family, or
even take her into theirs. She was sure they wouldn't ever leave her.
A ghost of a smile flittered on Nabiki's lips as she saw Hikaru and Kagura
playing. ((Gotta admit, she's a total sweetheart. Hikaru thinks more of
others than she does of herself, and it's like she can't stop giving. She's
just like Ranma in that respect--although he's a bit rougher around the
edges. I really hope he's thinking about marriage, because those two
deserve each other, completely.))
"Nabiki," Hikaru asked, "Christmas Eve is tomorrow. Do you think we'll be
back in time for it?"
"Count on it. When Ranma gets here and pull us out of this mess, we'll be
back at the resort just in time for Christmas Cake. And you know that he
and Tatewaki are out there right now, looking for us."
"Ranma? Who's he?" the girl said, turning to Hikaru. "Is he your husband?"
Hikaru gracefully blushed at that and murmured in a dreamy voice, "Someday,
maybe. If I'm lucky." Meanwhile, the elder woman took note of that and
filed that little nugget of information for a later time. Say, like two
months down the road, on Valentine's Day, where she could do a little
mischievous cupid-izing.
~*~
Shivering from the cold, Ranma carried on, forcing her way up the mountain.
She was now over by the ninth pylon, much farther up than she thought she'd
have to go, but at least near where the girls were last seen. Sadly, there
was still no sign of them at all. It was as though they'd been swallowed up
without a trace. ((Either that, or they've gone to Cephiro,)) she thought
with an edge of dark humor. But at least she believed them to be
alive--something in the back of her mind felt that way.
An unusually strong gust of wind blew her off her feet, sending her tumbling
back five meters and over a ridge that she'd missed the first time. At
least the ridge was blocking most of the wind, which gave the martial artist
a few more minutes to rest her weary bones before continuing her trudge back
up the slope. Sitting down in its cover, she reached into her pack, pulled
out a thermos that the rescue operators provided her with, and took a couple
of sips of hot tea, just enough to get her going again. Setting it down,
she pulled out the flashlight and map once more, attempting to get her
bearings.
Sitting there for a couple of seconds was not something that she preferred
to do, but there was little choice in the matter. If she didn't take the
time to rest, then she was going to be stopped or led off track by the
snowstorm, and that wasn't going to do the girls the least bit of good.
Whether she liked it or not, she had to stop every so often to warm up and
check the map. Unfolding it in the shelter of the bank, she set it on the
ground, trying to see where she was at the moment. Clicking on the
flashlight to read it, Ranma saw a white ski.
The fact that it was a white ski was a bad enough indicator; that meant
someone was possibly in trouble and in need of help. But this particular
ski had a gold edge on it and a red gem embedded in the tip of the frame,
similar in design to the owner's ski suit...or rather, the owner's Fire
Armor. Turning on the proverbial ten-yen coin, Ranma used her strength and
wrenched the ski out of the snow bank. It ripped halfway, and the
fiberglass' broken end only made her worry that much more. Digging more
only revealed that there had been a massive rockslide of some sort, and that
he had just pulled half of Hikaru's ski out of the snow.
((*NO!!!!!!!!!!*)) Channeling up her ki, she ignored the snow now coming in
droves and threatening to bury her as it had this drift. A second later,
though, as though ricocheting off a force field, whole cascades of
snowflakes being repelled by the cocoon of bioenergy surrounding her.
Raising her palms towards the snow barrier, she screamed with all the worry
and defiance she had within her. *"MOKO TAKABISHA!"*
~*~
The whole cave rocked. Instinctively, both girls dived over the ghost,
trying to protect her. A split-second later, the barricade in front of the
cave's mouth collapsed and was ejected away, forced out by a blast of blue.
"Hikaru! Nabiki! Are you in there!" a voice called out in desperate hope.
*"RANMA!"* both girls shouted joyously in return. A somewhat bedraggled and
windburnt woman nearly identical to Hikaru came in, and both women hugged
the newcomer fiercely, Hikaru almost giving her lover a deep kiss but
stopping as she remembered that Kagura was in the room.
"Hikaru-sama? You have a twin sister?" Kagura inquired.
"It's...a bit more complicated than that." ((Though if Nova was here she
might have qualified for that,)) the redhead mused. Turning back to Ranma,
she said, "We knew you'd come looking for us."
"Yeah, I seem to have a bad habit of chasing after Tendo girls when they're
missing," Ranma droned, winking at her sister. "You just happened to be
along for the ride this time, dear."
"Um, Ranma, we've picked up another stray," Nabiki commented. "It's a
*long* story, and I'll explain later, but this little girl is Odoriko
Kagura. She lost her parents...some time ago, and we're going to help her
find them. If it's okay with you, I'd like to put her up in one of our
spare bedrooms at home for the time being."
Ranma nodded in understanding, saying only, "I trust your judgement, sis."
Hearing the wind picking up even more, she added, "Look ladies, I hate to
break up our pleasant reunion, but the Civil Service reported that there was
going to be an even worse snow storm than the one that caused the
avalanche...and I just came up here in that snow storm now. We've got to
get down slope before it's too late."
There was a deep rumble as the cave shook, catching all off-guard.
"Kusottare...." Ranma seethed between grimaced teeth. "We gotta get out of
here now!" The rumbles grew louder and louder, and the cave began to shake
more and more, the rumbles becoming the loud booming rumble of massive
torrents of white rolling down the mount. To the shock and dismay of all, a
new batch of white slammed down on and into the entrance, forcing the four
back deeper into the cave, to where they had less room to move, and where
the air was staler.
When the damage was done, they were surprised to discover that they'd lost
eighty percent of the space they had, and there was only enough air for a
couple of hours or so. They had to get out of there immediately, or they
would never be getting out again. "Stand back!" Ranma roared, charging her
power up as much as she could; she was already very weakened, and there was
little she could more she could do, but she didn't come all the way up here
to fail. *"MOKO TAKABISHA!!!!!"* The blue lance of energy bored through
the snow with the ease of a heated katana cutting through tofu, but to no
avail, as the hole she created collapsed a half-second later. Four more
tries yielded no further success, and finally Ranma collapsed to the ground,
spent.
Hikaru was at her side in an instant. "Anata, let me do it. You're too
tired, and--" A look from Ranma silenced her; it was a look of outright
determination that she'd seen in those blue eyes only in rare spurts and
when it came up, there was little to oppose it. "Please don't, Ranma.
You'll only hurt yourself."
"I came to save you, and I will!" Ranma's eyes flashed obstinacy. There
was no way she was going to let something as simple as an avalanche doom
them all. She had better things to do. Forcing herself back to her feet
for the umpteenth time that day, she closed her eyes, searching for her
center of focus. She was going to pour everything she had into the next
blast, and she was going to make sure she cleared out the area enough for
the girls to escape. Then she could do something nice...say, like slipping
into a coma or something.
Nabiki, being familiar with Ranma's breaking point leapt in front of the
glowing woman and pleaded, "No, little brother. Not this way. You might
bring the mountain down on us! Remember your battle against Saffron!"
Eyes still closed, she answered, "Please move out of the way, sis. I'm
trying to save you two."
"No," Nabiki said. "Not if it means you're going to be stupid enough to
sacrifice yourself. I don't need that kind of altruism. We can dig our way
out." She glanced at the monolith less than a meter away, and gulped. "I
hope."
"Nabiki, I will not stand by and allow you both to suffocate in this cave."
Sweat began rolling down Ranma's brow, and she began to wobble slightly. It
was clear that the hike up the mountain had taken more of a toll on her than
she was letting on, but Ranma would go down fighting before she would admit
to a weakness. "I have to do something." Ranma's eyes opened, and they
looked tired, but ready to do the job.
"Stand aside, anata," Hikaru said. "I'll do this. You're too weak."
Nabiki arched an eyebrow at Hikaru's words. She was no sort of martial
artist--surely she couldn't focus any ki attacks without some sort of
channeling device like her shainai or something. ((She's gotta be
bluffing!)) But the way that Hikaru turned and stared at that wall of ice
and debris was the same look of challenge that Ranma had on her face, and
Nabiki had to decided what was more unsettling to her: watching the very
face of determination in stereo, or possibly having to see that Hikaru was
not as soft as she appeared to be.
~*~
Kagura looked at the whole scene, watching the three women. There was
something special about them all, she saw, but she couldn't understand why.
She only knew that the taller redhead they called Ranma (wasn't that the
name of Hikaru-sama's boyfriend, too?) was willing to put herself at risk to
save Hikaru-sama and Nabiki-sama. They, in turn, weren't willing to allow
Ranma to injure herself to help them. The three of them, willing to protect
each other, no matter what the cost.
In that small space of time, Kagura had seen something that she'd never seen
in her life, living or otherwise. She'd seen a real family, a trio that
loved each other enough to throw themselves in the path of the wolf for the
others. Her own family, she realized now, never would have done that.
They'd left her here, and it was only by luck that Hikaru-sama and
Nabiki-sama had come by, and offered her hope. Kagura was grateful for
that.
((Nabiki-sama called me special,)) the ghost thought to herself.
((Hikaru-sama said she would take me home with them if they had to, and
Nabiki-sama told Ranma-san that she wanted to give me a room at their home.
They want me to go home with them. I'm getting to go to a home!))
But there was only one way to do that, and that was to help Ranma-san.
Kagura didn't know how she knew; she only knew that the energy that the
woman threw was no longer strong enough to do the job, and that after she
attacked, she would become extremely sick. Kagura could prevent that, but
if she did, she would become as sick, perhaps even sicker, than Ranma-san
would. But, if Ranma-san was willing to do it for the others, and the
others looked willing to do it for her, then the choice was clear.
Kagura sang.
~*~
*"SAOTOME YAMASENKEN ATTACK!!!!! KIJIN RAISHU DAN!!!!!!!"* Punching both
fists forward, Ranma released a pair of crescent-shaped ki-blasts at the
wall of ice and snow. There seemed to be a musical note behind her, and her
whole body filled with warmth as she began to feel less tired and worn. In
front of her attack, a magical field shimmered into view. The two vacuum
blades hit the portal, disappearing into its rippling, 2D-depths. Almost
immediately, on the other side, a great column of energy rocketed from the
portal, slamming and boring through the barricade with an almost impossible
ease. The onslaught continued its mission of coring an egress for the
group, until Ranma lowered her hands, the impromptu beam attack also
stopping as well.
Ranma looked at the hole, dumbfounded. She hadn't expected to be able to
pull off that level of an attack with the power that she had, but she wasn't
going to argue. They were free, and she could get them out of there.
Naturally, it caught her completely off-guard when the girl fell to the
ground with a moan and a thump. Ranma turned around just in time to see
Hikaru diving to the girl's side, a worried look on her face. The martial
artist turned to her sister, but Nabiki looked at him with sad eyes and
whispered, "We failed her, little brother. We failed that girl."
Hikaru gently scooped the girl off the floor, a dismal look in her eyes.
She'd seen this situation too many times before, and never wanted to see it
again. "Kagura-chan, did you use all of your power to save Ranma?"
The girl weakly nodded. "I feel so tired, Hikaru-sama. Am I going to die?"
((How do I explain to her that she's already dead, and been that way for a
while? No,)) she self-amended. ((She never died, her body only gave out.
No one this kind can ever truly die.)) "I don't know, sweetheart. But stay
awake, please. We're going down to the ryokan, and from there we'll start
your journey to a new life."
"I'm so tired, Hikaru-sama. I'm going to miss you and Nabiki-sama, and even
Ranma-san, too." Even if the girl didn't know she was dead, she knew this
was the end of the road for her. Hikaru blinked back tears as the girl
whispered, "I wish I could have you as my family. I love you all." Odoriko
Kagura craned her head and kissed Hikaru on the cheek, saying sotto voce,
"Remember me." With that final note, she faded into nothingness, her body
dissipating like so many notes carried away from the band by the breeze.
Nabiki's pendant, having nothing more solid to cling to, fell to the ground
with a noisy clatter before settling on the cave floor, still as death.
"What the--?" Ranma was about to ask, but was silenced by a hug from his
sister, who began to cry in his arms.
Meanwhile, Hikaru, alone for the moment physically if not in heart, had a
moment of inspiration. Touching the remaining spectral fragments of the
ghost child, she began to speak in a language that neither Ranma nor Nabiki
could comprehend--only one other on Earth would be able to identify the
foreign language that was the tongue of Cephiro. She went on in the strange
chant for a few minutes before she finished it with a Japanese phrase of "I
promise, Kagura. I promise." Getting up off the floor and unable to look
at anyone, she headed for the cave mouth alone.
"Hikaru, love, are you okay?" she asked.
Not bothering to look at her, Hikaru answered, "No, anata, I'm not. I need
some time alone, if you don't mind. I'll meet you back at the room."
Nothing further to say, she walked off into the snowstorm. Oddly enough, a
second later, it completely stopped.
Nabiki let go of her brother, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Why?" she
asked no one in particular, staring at the cave's ceiling. "Why her?"
"I don't know, sis," Ranma answered. "But she was braver than a lot of
other people I've known. She sacrificed herself to save us all, because you
two made her happy. And I think I'm proud of both of you for showing her
that happiness." Giving the brunette a wan smile, she said, "C'mon, let's
go back to the resort. Tatewaki's probably worried about us."
"Speaking of which, where is that baka?" she asked. "And where'd Hikaru go
off to?" Nabiki bent down and grabbed the pendant, nearly putting it on
before she decided that such an action would be wrong for some reason.
Instead, she hung it on a rock outcropping, where it would sit for all
eternity. The music box pendant seemed to be a fitting memorial for the
musical ghost girl, and would play its tune until the day the battery wore
out, sending the final notes into the air beyond.
Watching her sister's action, Ranma paused for a second before continuing.
"I'll tell you on the way what happened to Tatewaki," she said, ushering her
sister to the cave's mouth just as the morning sun began to break over the
horizon. "And as for Hikaru, she'll turn up soon enough. As you might have
learned, my girlfriend can be a bundle of surprises at times."
~*~
It was early afternoon when Hikaru reappeared at the resort. By this time,
Nabiki had changed clothes, Ranma had changed both clothes and gender, and
Kuno had woken up, having been completely worried about them. The three of
them were sitting there discussing the ordeal the two women had gone through
and the final moments of Kagura. Nabiki had also taken the time to tease
her fianc�e mercilessly about his cast, and how it was going to make their
lives rather dull for a couple of weeks--for the remainder of the week, he'd
have to sleep perfectly still and shy away from any activity. But even more
important, the situation seemed to cause a sea change in the way the two men
were dealing with the other. There was still tension between them, but now
it seemed like it was more the tension of two people trying to sort out
their friendship rather than two enemies trying to put up with each other.
"Well, I'm sure you two would like some time alone," Nabiki said as she
watched the redhead walk in, "and no offense, but so would we. C'mon, you
invalid." Jerking Kuno back to his feet, she gave him a small smile as he
winced in pain. "Oh, poor Kuno-baby," she added in soft sarcasm.
"That hurt, you know," Kuno snarled at his fianc�e, without any heat.
"Ranma, please control your sister."
The martial artist laughed. "Tatewaki, I'd have an easier time giving Ryoga
directions through downtown Tokyo than I would controlling my sister."
"Glad to see someone has some sense around here," Nabiki quipped. "We'll
see you two at lunch...assuming any of us is awake by then. C'mon,
Tatewaki, let's go do something vaguely romantic--it is Christmas Eve, you
know." Waving farewell to the pair, the two went off (Kuno, more accurately
hobbling off) in search of some privacy of their own.
Hikaru dropped right into her beau's lap while he was sitting on one of the
couches, sipping Christmas tea. Gently taking it out of his hands, she
leaned against him and said, "I love you."
"I love you too, Hikaru-chan," he said, nuzzling her hair. "Everything all
right now?"
She nodded. "Everything's fine. I just felt so powerless to do anything
about poor Kagura. I didn't realize until today what it really meant to be
the Pillar, and how limited my powers are on this side. I wonder if I could
have done more than I have to help her."
"You did what you could, sweetheart. You made a promise to make her happy,
and you'll keep to it." Ranma pulled her closer to her, relishing the love
that he had for her. "That's what *I* love about *you*, Hikaru. You just
want to make everyone happy."
"That includes you, too, anata." She snuggled closer to him, and sighed in
contentment. "Ranma, sometimes I wonder what it would be like married to
you, and I have to admit, it's a good feeling." She felt him bristle, and
confided, "I know that you still hurt when it comes to that, but when the
day comes, I'm ready for it."
"I love you Hikaru, you know I do. But there's a part of me--"
"--that feels you're betraying Akane, I know. That's what I love about you,
Ranma; you're always concerned about what others are feeling. Well, if we
marry or not, I'm with you forever. I've found the man I want to spend the
rest of my life with, and that'll never change."
"And I'd be lying if I didn't say I felt the same way." Ranma had a
contemplative look on his face, though the redhead couldn't see it.
Instead, he asked her, "So what brought this on?"
"Just a Christmas wish, and a holiday dream," she murmured.
"I see. Well, this is for you." Reaching to the side of the chair, he
grabbed a small box and gave it to her. "Merry Christmas, beautiful."
"Aren't we supposed to be opening Christmas presents tomorrow?" she teased,
smiling. Unwrapping the gift, she opened a small jewel box and her eyes
glowed with surprise. The ruby-and-gold earrings, shaped like musical
notes, glittered in the sunlight streaming into the window. "Ranma, I--"
She kissed him tenderly. "Thank you, anata."
((I don't know if I can marry again,)) Ranma thought to himself. ((But more
and more, everyday, you're convincing me otherwise, Hikaru.)) "Always
welcome, sweetheart." The two kissed again, their lips meeting gently once
more, then deeper as their love shone through. In the background, Christmas
melodies played a simple holiday concerto for the two lovers.
~*~
Years later, Hikaru was tucking her youngest children in their cribs.
Akama, sitting on the back of Hikari, watched. "Okaasan, watcha doin'?"
"Putting your brother and sister to bed, Akama-chan," she replied sunnily.
She was counting herself very fortunate that she would be able to do so.
Earlier today, she'd almost lost her daughter Hotaru because of a mistake
that Ranma had made when he was a teenager and still engaged to Akane.
Today, their marriage had gone through the worst trial that they'd ever
suffered, and they made it through because they loved each other. Loved
each other to wash away their pains and take each other as lifelong mates.
Loved each other enough to start a family together.
Ranma came into the room. "Love, I'm going to take Akama and Hikari for a
walk for a while. Do you want to come?" It was another way he was
apologizing for the mistakes he'd made that day; while the fight against
Piccolet had been a cinch, it had almost come at the cost of his family.
Never again would he ever allow something that inane to tear them apart.
"No, that's okay, love. I just want to spend time with the twins for a
while." Turning to the older ones in her family, she hugged Akama, patted
Hikari on the head lovingly, then gave Ranma a sweet kiss. "I'll be waiting
for you three when you get back--maybe we can have some ice cream, okay?"
Akama nodded eagerly at that, and Ranma gave her a return kiss.
"We'll see you when we get back, dearest," Ranma said.
"Bai, Okaasan!" Akama chirped, as Hikari gave a soft bark of joy. With
that, the three left the nursery, heading down the stairs.
Hikaru watched them leave, smiling to herself. Her family, and all was
perfect now. Her husband, her two sons, and her daughter, along with her
extended family, were everything she'd ever wanted, and finally what she
got. Facing the twins, she gazed lovingly at both her little angels.
Hikama, his hair fiery red and his eyes closed, yawned once and slept,
appearing like an angel. However, his sister Hotaru looked up at their
mother with her sienna eyes, those orbs holding all the love a newborn could
hold for her mother. Hotaru opened her mouth, gurgled once, and made baby
noises that sounded vaguely like a melody.
A melody that would have come from a music box pendant, sitting in a cave in
the far north of Japan.
((I kept my promise, little one. You have a family now, and people who love
you.)) "Sleep well, Hotaru-chan," Hikaru said to her daughter, kissing both
children as she watched the youngest Saotome close her eyes and fall into a
sweet, peaceful sleep.
~*~
Author's Notes
Birdie is a brand of coffee that they sell in vending machines in Japan,
available in various flavors, and in hot or cold cans. Owned by Pepsi, it
is a brand designed to compete with Georgia (Coke), Boss (Suntory), UCC, and
Kirin. Thanks to Misaki Shirano for that information.
Okay, okay, okay, as my friend, editor, and Japanophile Rob Barba pointed
out, Aoshima is not in Hokkaido, but at the far northern edge of Honshu.
Chalk it up to a slight mistake in the characters remembering where it was,
okay? ^_^;
This was inspired by an old friend of mine. She suggested that since I've
made everyone wait forever for _Duet 6_, it would only be fair to come up
with something to make up for it. Additionally, since some have said the
series is a bit too dark, I thought that this might lighten up things a bit.
Hey, it is the Season of Peace on Earth and Goodwill for Otaku, right? ^_~
While thinking of what to write, Sakura sent me a gift from Germany, where
she lives. It's a music box, appropriately playing "Music Box Dancer" by
composer Frank Mills. Something in my mind seemed to click together and one
thing led to another and here we go.
Hope you enjoy this, and Happy Holidays!
===~*~===
C O M I N G ~*~ S O O N:
A Duet of Pigtails
By Libby Thomas
Part Six:
The Return
...another world.
Nabiki scrambled back to her feet and dusted herself off. The landing had
not been very comfortable, and while she didn't blame Hikaru for the travel
arrangements, she was going to have a few choice words with her husband
regarding the subject of making sure she was okay and....
Nabiki stopped dead in her tracks, practically floored by what she was
seeing. The group stood on a beach, with sand so white and pure that it
seemed to shine with a bright glitter of diamonds. The ocean, in one
direction, was a crystal clear turquoise color, revealing the sandy beach
beneath it and the colorful fishes that swam in the shallow waters. In a
second direction lay a long stretch of plains land, verdant and green as
anything they'd ever seen in a dream. It was beautiful, idyllic, and
earthly perfection, but that wasn't all.
Stretching into the beautiful blue sky, covered in the occasional white slip
of clouds and the warm, inviting sun, were several floating islands of
sorts, each containing a massive crystal of some sort in it. They seemed to
pulse and glow with an awesome strength, as though they were solar
collectors, or perhaps magical objects. Either one might not be that far
from the truth, and the whole scene that spread before them seemed so
incredible and enchanting, that it might disappear before them in a flash,
leaving them back in Nerima and the ugly imperfection of the real world,
home that it was.
Still unable to define the beauty that was being unfurled before her, she
used her formidable command of the spoken word and her all-alluring charisma
to utter a single word: "Utsukushi...." Standing next to her, almost the
entire group, save Kuu, was staring at the whole site, completely spellbound
and not being able to do much more than nod in agreement. Kuu, having
already been exposed to this numerous times, was looking around, trying to
get her bearings on the situation.
Ukyo was the first to come back to her senses, followed in turn by Satoru,
Michael, and Ryoga, then the rest. "I-is this place real?" she asked, her
words seeming to barely come out in a breath.
"Sure it is," Kuu answered matter-of-factly. "This is the Jeweled Coast;
specifically the Kia Gulf, if I guess right. Though I'm not sure where the
town of Sephia is in relation to where we are."
Satoru found her knowledge rather unsettling. "Kuu, how do you know so much
about this place?"
"Easy. I've been here before." Seeing the incredulous looks on everyone's
faces, she clarified. "Hikaru and I came here about five years ago for my
sister's wedding. You remember Fuu, ne, Satoru? Well, Hikaru neglected to
mention it, but, um, Fuu's...." Kuu blushed for a second as she admitted,
"She's the queen of this world. Umi's also here. She's a...duchess, if I
remember correctly, though she prefers to use her military title."
Everyone blinked at that, while Ryoga muttered to Ukyo, "Ukyo, our best
friend changes gender in water. He's married to a goddess. One of *her*
friends is a queen; the other's a duchess. Do we know anyone who's normal?"
Not even bothering to look back at him, she quipped, "I dress like a boy
most of the time and most of my suitors were drag queens. You, in turn,
have a wife who's obsessive about pigs, and Chia pets have a better sense of
direction than you. Do we really have to continue this pointless
discussion, or should I recap our high school years up to now?"
"Good point." Brushing the hair out of his eyes, he looked around and said,
"So where's the lovebirds? They got us into this mess."
"Right behind you, Ryoga." All turned around to see Ranma, helping Hikaru
to her feet as she was looking around. He would have said something more,
but she continued to scan the horizon, until she pointed to what appeared to
be the west.
"The town of Sephia's in that direction. That way, about 10 kilometers, on
the other side of that bluff."
"Are you sure?" Ranma asked, which earned him a flat stare from Hikaru.
"Um, right. Sorry I asked, love."
She gave a half-hearted smile herself. "That's okay, anata. Sometimes I
forget what I am here myself. I much prefer my Knight Commander aspect here
than my Pillar aspect any day. I've seen what the power of the Pillar can
do when misused, and frankly, I'm not sure that any one person should have
that sort of power--myself included." Stretching, she began to work the
kinks out of her muscles and said, "Well, we have a sort of long walk ahead
of us, guys, so I suggest we prep for the trip."
"Walk?" Shiki sputtered. "If I heard you right, you're a goddess, ne? Why
not conjure up some cars or something, or even just teleport us to wherever
we want to go."
Hikaru nodded. "I won't teleport us, because I want to see what's wrong
with the land. As for cars, that's also a no. Cephiro, with some
exceptions, is a primarily agrarian world, and cars'll pollute the
atmosphere. I like my world as a beautiful place."
"Ag-agr...?" Ryoga asked.
"Agrarian. It means farm country, just like your place," Nabiki supplied.
"Okay, then, how far is the capital from here?"
"About 700 kilometers or so," Hikaru admitted, a bit embarrassed. "But we
can see about getting some transportation there."
"So we're walking?" Nabiki groaned good-naturedly. "Finally just when I
think I've managed to get on an A-List, too...."
~*~