Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi is the greatest, but then again so is <whoever did SM>. All Ranma ½ and Sailor Moon characters… and the occasional Devil Hunter, as well as any other character that belongs to someone else belong to someone else, not me. I ain’t that good. Jiejie and Tian Huan are my own creations, as are Inago, Kaji, Sansai, and Fusei.

C&C: C&C is both welcome and desired greatly at dancingimp@yahoo.com. This is my first fanfiction work to make it past Chapter Half. Also, though I have certain things set in mind, I am willing to modify the story as it continues if it becomes necessary. If this story is located elsewhere, the original can be found at http://www.geocities.com/dancingimp. Thankies!

Big Thanks: To my prereaders/editors/mallet-wielders, James Thomas <who has written one of the best Dragonball Z/Ranma Half crossovers, http://www.provalue.net/users/heed452/fanfic>, and Greg Beauchamp. Thanks for the mallets to the head and red ink to the paper.

What Went Before: Ranma, Akane, and Ukyo were at college in Juuban. Happosai found a scroll that he used to try summoning a demon. The sacrifice for the ritual was supposed to be Ranma, but Akane interfered and vanished. Now the ‘demon’ appears to be a fifteen hundred year old Amazon with a mild attitude problem.  With Cologne’s help, Ranma is trying to find some way of getting back Akane. They ran afoul of a wizard or demon, which sent his minions to attack them, and now the Sailor Senshi appear to be rather miffed, believing Jiejie to be a demon and Ranma and company her servants. Jiejie has also managed to upset Ryoko, who is still sealed in the cave. The group has been informed about magical gems that may have the power to solve their problem. However, the first gem is in Egypt. Thank heaven for Kuno… They managed to acquire the gem after dealing with the guardians of the tomb, but a prison break by a demon/wizard put a damper on the situation.  The group managed to return to the Masaki shrine and have located the next gem. However, Ryoga got lost and Kuno has been kidnapped. Ryoko is a little too supportive of Jiejie now.

 

Chapter 6

“Awakenings”

 

 

Coast of Japan, near the Sea of Japan, the next day,

 

            Ranma, Shampoo, and Jiejie sat on the beach where the currents were supposed to bring the floating island of Togenkyo sometime that morning. Ranma spent most of the morning running away from the two girls. Shampoo wanted to practice her glomp on him, and Jiejie was growing increasingly hostile with each attempt. It wasn’t until the sun started going down that Ranma finally realized that the island had never appeared. They waited all through the night and the next day, but still no sign of the island.

 

            “Where is it?” Ranma complained once again. Jiejie was growing increasingly frustrated and was about to reach her breaking point. “Well, then… I guess we head back.”

 

            “But what if island come while we go?” Shampoo asked.

 

            Ranma growled in frustration. “Hey, Jiejie… how about you teleporting there while we wait?”

 

            Jiejie shook her head. “Too too weak to teleport safely.”

 

            “Shampoo go, then. Shampoo is fastest here.” Shampoo smiled cutely, pulling out her bike from nowhere.

 

            “All right, Shampoo. Just hurry it up, wouldja?”

 

            “Awww, Ranma miss Shampoo so much? Shampoo hurry back!” Before Ranma could correct her, she was off.

 

            ‘Great, now I’m stuck here waiting with the midget psycho…’ Ranma grumbled to himself. He sat down and pulled his knees up to his chin. ‘Why does she have to act like Akane so much… I still can’t figure out if what happened at the bus stop was a dream or not.’ He rubbed his head where he had been struck by an ogre’s club, feeling the lump there. ‘Akane… you know I care about you… why do you have to keep getting in trouble like this?’

 

            He was disturbed by a sudden slap to the back of his head. “Shampoo back soon. Stop sulking,” Jiejie whispered in an annoyed manner.

 

            “I wasn’t sulkin’ about Shampoo, you psycho!” Ranma yelled.

 

            “So what you sulk for?”

 

            “Like you care.”

 

            “Who say Jiejie care? Jiejie sick of you sulking.”

 

            Ranma started to argue with her, but then dropped it. He wasn’t in the mood. Silence reigned for a while before Jiejie tapped Ranma on the shoulder. “What do ya want now?”

 

            “Want train,” Jiejie whispered simply.

 

            ‘Why not?’ Ranma considered. He stood up and dusted the sand off his clothes. “Sure.” He adopted a loose stance. Jiejie shook her head and made a negative motion with her hand.

 

“Want train other way.”

 

            “Huh?” Ranma responded eloquently.

 

            “Want try train you with something.”

 

            “Train me?” Ranma was both thrilled at the prospect of a new technique, and irritated by the fact that the little girl thought she could teach him something.

 

            Jiejie nodded. “You know how make ki-ball. Want you try different.”

 

            Ranma was a little confused, but he really did have nothing better to do.

 

            “Make small ball. Hold it.”

 

            Ranma held out his hand and concentrated. In moments, a small, blue ball of ki formed above his hand. He wasn’t used to holding one for any length of time, and the effort quickly began to show on his face.

 

            “Good.” Jiejie picked up a piece of driftwood that was on the beach. She closed her eyes, and her hair glowed red for a moment before the wood ignited. She pushed the flaming debris towards his hand, and Ranma flinched back, losing his concentration and causing the ball to dissipate.

 

            “What the heck are ya doin’?”

 

            “No move, stupid.”

 

            “Don’t call me stupid, you psycho.”

 

            Jiejie bared her teeth, but bit back her response. She wanted to see if he could do this technique, even if it meant dealing with Ranma.

 

            “Try again, but no move.”

 

            Ranma held out his hand again, and created the ki-ball. The blue energy crackled just above his palm, and Ranma took a moment to admire it. Jiejie brought the flaming branch closer to Ranma’s hand until it actually touched the ki-ball. Suddenly, the branch shattered as the ki-ball exploded. Ranma and Jiejie were both thrown to the ground.

 

            “What kind of technique is that, you midget psycho?” Ranma growled at her.

 

            “No was supposed do that, stupid,” Jiejie retorted.

 

            “What was supposed ta happen, then?”

 

            “Fire supposed to become one with ball, that what supposed happen. Maybe fire bad for you.”

 

            “Fire’s bad for everyone, ain’t it?” Ranma commented as he picked himself up.

 

            Jiejie cursed under her breath. “Mean fire wrong element for stupid gender freak. Try other element.”

 

            Ranma shrugged. “I’ve always been good in the air. Maybe I’m a wind.”

 

            Jiejie shook her head. “No, you no wind. Wind too smart for you.”

 

            Ranma’s ire rose with that comment. “And what are you, then?”

 

            “Jiejie fire,” she said matter-of-factly.

 

            “Don’t surprise me much,” Ranma commented. “So, how do you figure out what element you are?”

 

            “Practice is one way. Know self is other way. You no know self, so must practice. Try again.”

 

            Ranma held out his hand, once again forming the ball of ki. Jiejie tried pouring sand over the ball, but Ranma slowly lost control of the sphere when she did. She tried having him hold a rock in his hand while forming the ball, but he was unable to do it. Growing frustrated, she tried to have him do the same thing with a tree branch, with no effect. “Trees ain’t elements,” Ranma griped.

 

            “Depend who you ask, stupid,” Jiejie growled. “Try water next.”

 

            “No way! I don’t feel like bein’ a girl right now.”

 

            “Why no?”

 

            “’Cuz I don’t, that’s why, you half-height pyromania-“ Ranma’s comment was cut off as Jiejie’s hand began to glow and a ball of fire erupted over it. “Hey hey hey!!! Cut it out!”

 

            “Show you pyro!” Jiejie hurled the small ball of flames at Ranma’s feet. Ranma dove to the side, right into a wave that was rolling it’s way up the beach.

 

            “Why’dja do that?!” She yelled. Bringing her hands together, she glared at Jiejie and began forming a ki-ball. She didn’t see what happened next, but Jiejie had a perfect view. The water all around Ranma began to swirl as Ranma hurled the Mouko Takabisha at the diminutive martial artist. Jiejie barely had time to block the attack before it struck her. The sand at her feet gave way as she was blasted backwards. Darkness overcame her as her head slammed into a low-hanging tree branch. The last thing she heard was Ranma calling out her name.

 

 

Masaki Shrine

 

            Ryoko stretched out on the sofa, watching an Earthling soap opera with only partial interest. Tenchi was out in the fields, planting carrots for Ryo-Ohki. Ayeka was in her room. Ryoko couldn’t care less what she was up to. Sasami was preparing dinner. Ryoko looked up and smiled as she saw Tenchi walking towards the house. She floated into the air and started to phase through the glass door when she saw something coming up behind him at a demonic speed.

 

            Tenchi saw Ryoko waving at him. He smiled and started to wave back when a strange feeling washed over him. He threw himself off to one side, and started to reach for the sword-hilt at his waist, as a large object suddenly occupied the space where he had been. Rolling over, he looked up to see the last thing he would have expected.

 

            “Nihao, Tenchi! You move fast! Even Ranma usually not see Shampoo coming.” The purple-haired Amazon smiled down at the black-haired youth from atop her bike.

 

            “Geez, Shampoo! You startled me!”

 

            Shampoo just smiled at him, and then hopped off her bike, just in time to encounter a furious Ryoko.

 

            “What do you think you’re doing, trying to run over my Tenchi?” She growled loudly as she reached to grab the Amazon by the collar of her dress. Shampoo wasn’t there any more, though. As a matter of fact, all Ryoko could see at this moment was a small beetle walking through the grass not an inch from her eyes.

 

            “You too too strong, but you no very fast,” Shampoo’s voice drifted down to her.

 

            Ryoko rolled over and started to stand up, but the small smile Tenchi had on his face stopped her. He was laughing at her, and she knew it. A sad look came over her as her head sank, and she slowly faded from view. Shampoo blinked in surprise. “Where she go?”

 

            Tenchi scratched his head. “Not sure… I think she took you flipping her like that a bit badly. Don’t worry, though, she’ll be back. So, what are you doing here? I thought you and Ranma and Jiejie were going to that Togenkyo place.” He looked down as Ryo-Ohki came hopping over and investigated the fallen carrot-basket.

 

            Shampoo nodded. “We wait long time, but island no show. Shampoo come here to find out if grandfather know why.”

 

            “He’s at the shrine office, right now. Come on.” Tenchi led the way to the small building and knocked on the door. Katsuhito gave him permission to enter.

 

            “Grandpa, Shampoo is back.”

 

            Katsuhito looked at the Amazon impassively. “What seems to be the problem.”

 

            “We wait long time, but island no show. Do you know why island no come?”

 

            Katsuhito frowned deeply. “That is extremely odd. Togenkyo should have appeared on the coast by now. This is very unsettling.”

 

            “What Shampoo do then?”

 

            “I do not know, child.”

 

            Shampoo’s face fell, and Tenchi felt a strong tug at his heart. “Hey, it’ll be all right. We’ll find some way of locating the island.”

 

            Shampoo’s face brightened. “You think so?” Tenchi nodded. “How?”

 

            Ryo-Ohki mewed from the door. Tenchi and Shampoo jumped, though Katsuhito didn’t even flinch. The cabbit mewed again, and the three humans looked at it. “What’s up, Ryo-Ohki?” Tenchi asked.

 

            Ryoko stepped into the doorway now. She tried to hide it, but Tenchi could tell she had been crying a bit. “She’s offering to help.”

 

            Shampoo giggled. “How small rabbit-thing help find island?”

 

            Ryoko smirked and pointed outside as Ryo-Ohki hopped into a clearing. With a hideous yowl, Ryo-Ohki leapt into the sky, its body warping and growing until a spiny, organic-looking spaceship floated above them. Ayeka and Sasami came running out of the house with concerned expressions. Their eyes widened when they saw Ryo-Ohki’s new shape. Shampoo blinked a lot. Ryoko just smirked some more before she floated over to Tenchi and wrapped an arm around him. “Shall we go help our freaky friends?” She purred to him as she ran a hand across his chest.

 

            “Yes!” Shampoo grabbed Ryoko’s hand and bounced up and down happily, much to Ryoko’s displeasure. Shrugging, she floated upwards, dragging the two startled humans with her. Ayeka came running up and grabbed Tenchi’s hand just as Ryoko teleported into Ryo-Ohki. Sasami stood in the clearing next to Katsuhito and waved at the departing ship.

 

            Inside, Ryoko growled at Ayeka. “Who invited you, princess?” The last word she said in a mocking tone.

 

            “Where were you planning on taking Lord Tenchi, demon?” Ayeka responded hotly.

 

            “Hey, he asked me for help, princess, not you.”

 

            “Lord Tenchi knows perfectly well that I can help him far better than you can,”

 

            “Oh yeah?” The discussion degraded from that point on. Tenchi tried to pacify the two while Shampoo investigated everything inside the control room of Ryo-Ohki. She found a large crystal that would occasionally turn into Ryo-Ohki, who she petted. The result was a happily meowing ship that was soon floating over Ranma’s head.

 

 

 

            ‘Ow,’ Jiejie thought to herself. ‘That… hurt. Water. Definitely water. Which is actually amusing, considering the curse. Helps explain his endurance too. Water is a healing element. And fire hates water… that’s got to be why he keeps making me mad so easily.’

 

            *Or maybe Ranma’s just real good at making me mad… he’s such an arrogant jerk, I just can’t understand why I love him sometimes.* She commented to herself.

 

            ‘Love him?’ Jiejie was confused. ‘I don’t love that arrogant bastard. Why the hell-‘ She retorted.

 

            *I do love him. Why do I think I don’t? Maybe this is what Nabiki meant when she said it’s okay to talk to yourself, as long as you don’t argue back.* She was confused.

 

            ‘Nabiki? Who? WHO ARE YOU?’ Jiejie was frightened. ‘Gui Huo?’ Had the demon somehow gotten into her mind again?

 

            *Who are you?* the voice that she now realized was not her own answered back. *And what are you doing in my head?*

 

            ‘This is my head, whoever you are. Get out or be purged.’

 

            *What do you mean?* The voice sounded scared. *I thought this was my mind. I mean, how can I be in someone else’s mind?*

 

            Jiejie came to a sudden realization. ‘What is your name?’

 

            *I’m Akane. Who are you?*

 

            ‘My name is Jiejie Fenfen (Atsui (Mejiro))’

 

            Akane seemed to smile. *Atsui? That’s a beautiful name.*

 

Jiejie cursed. She remembered that little could be hidden from someone in your own mind. She tried to build up the walls she had used to protect herself from Gui Huo, but couldn’t. She realized that it must be because she was the ‘hitchhiker’ this time. ‘How long have you been here?’

 

            *What do you mean?* Akane was obviously confused.

 

            ‘How much do you remember?’

 

            *I remember baking a cake for Ranma and finding Happosai in his apartment. Then I remember waking up on a bus bench with Ranma talking about some girl named Gigi. Is that you?*

 

            Jiejie hissed mentally. ‘Do not call me Gigi. It is Jiejie.’

 

            *I thought your name was Atsui.*

 

            ‘That is the name I was born with, not who I am now.’

 

            *Oh, okay. But I like Atsui better.*

 

            ‘Fine! Then call me Atsui.’ Jiejie huffed, and then calmed down. ‘Well, now the question as to whether you’re alive or not has been answered.’

 

            *You mean, they thought I was dead?*

 

            ‘Yes. Ranma has refused to believe it, though.’

 

            Akane felt a swell of pride filling her. Jiejie felt it as well, and it annoyed her. Then she felt herself coming back to consciousness again. She fully expected Akane to begin fading into the back of her mind, but to her surprise she could still feel her presence strongly. Opening her eyes, she saw Ranma’s face hovering in front of her, concern written all over the pig-tailed martial artist’s features.

 

            And screamed silently before fainting.

 

            Ranma looked down at her confused. She looked all around her, trying to figure out what had made her scream like that, but she couldn’t find anything. Slowly, she remembered the first time Jiejie had done that and she slapped her forehead. “I keep forgetting she’s terrified of my girl side.” Ranma took off her outer shirt and put it under Jiejie’s head as she tried to make a fire on the beach. Dusk was falling now. She had only collected a little bit of wood when she heard someone behind her.

 

            “What are you doing, Ranma?”

 

            Ranma spun around. Standing before her was Jiejie. Ranma tried to figure out why the diminutive Amazon was able to stand looking at her now when something clicked in Ranma’s mind. Jiejie was speaking perfect Japanese.

 

            “Hello? Anyone home, Ranma? Why did you scare Atsui that way? Have you been mean to her?” A soft, red glow began forming around the girl’s hands, and a hammer was slowly forming between them.

 

            “A-A-Akane? Is that you?”

 

            “Of course it’s me, you pervert! What did you do to scare Atsui like that?” A look of confusion came over her features. “Uh, Ranma… where am I? Why can you hear me? What’s going on?” The hammer disappeared as Akane dropped to her knees.

 

            Ranma ran across the beach and picked up the frightened girl in a powerful hug. Akane blushed as she felt the warmth of human contact rushing through her. “Akane! You’re back!”

 

            Akane and Ranma held each other for a while. Even though they still protested loudly against it, it was at times like this when their true feelings for each other came back. After a while, Ranma stepped back to look at Akane. Every physical detail was still Jiejie’s, but her aura and the look in her eyes were pure Akane.

 

            “How?” Ranma asked cautiously.

 

            “I don’t know. I was talking with Atsui when she was knocked out. She was going to explain what was happening to me when she started to wake up. She saw you, and this feeling of total fear ran through her, and suddenly she was gone.”

 

            Ranma looked confused. “Who’s Atsui?”

 

            “That’s Jiejie’s real name, I think…”

 

            “Wait, you were talking to her? How?”

 

            Akane was becoming frustrated. “I don’t know! How should I know! She was just in my head! Or… was I in her head… I don’t know.”

 

            “Whoa whoa, calm down, Akane. Can you talk to her now?”

 

            Akane shook her head. “She’s huddled off in a corner, asleep. I can sense her presence, but she won’t respond to me.”

 

            “Great! At least I won’t have to deal with that psycho midget for a while.”

 

            “Stop teasing her, Ranma. It’s not nice.”

 

            “SHE’S not nice.”

 

            “So be a better person than her, Ranma, you arrogant jerk.”

 

            “You uncute tomboy! I tried ta be nice, but she just gets mad. Kinda reminds me of you.”

 

            “Why you-“ Akane’s words were cut off as a strange ship hovered over their heads. The two martial artists looked up in confusion as a cone of light washed over them. A loud “Meow!” nearly sent Ranma running for the hills, but she suddenly found herself and Akane vanishing from the beach and reappearing in a strange room filled with large crystals, a purple-haired Amazon, a purple-haired Princess, a black-haired youth, and a cyan-haired pirate/demoness. Ranma began looking around in a panic as an echoing meow started to send her into a catatonic state. Visions of claws and fangs, biting and clawing filled her mind.

 

            “What’s going on? Who are you people?! Shampoo! What’s going on? Ranma! RANMA!” Akane watched in terror as Ranma slowly dropped to her knuckles and arched her back, letting loose a yowl that sent a shiver through everyone present.

 

            “What’s up with her?” Ryoko asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

 

            “Whoever you are, don’t move! Ranma’s very dangerous right now. And whoever’s making those cat noises needs to shut up!”

 

            Ranma was pacing in circles and looking like an annoyed cat, which is precisely what she was right now. One of the crystals floated over to her and she took a swipe at it. Ryoko and Ayeka jumped back as claws of energy formed and sent the crystal flying across the room. Finding a new toy to play with, Ranma bounded after the crystal, pouncing on it and batting it around. An echoing meow filled the room as the crystal began to bob and weave, as though playing with Ranma.

 

            Tenchi said in a soft voice, “What’s wrong with Ranma?” as Akane slowly moved next to him.

 

            “It’s the Neko-Ken. Ranma has a terrifying fear of cats. If he can’t get away from them, he becomes a cat in his mind. He also becomes extremely powerful.”

 

            Ayeka nodded and Ryoko raised an eyebrow. “That’s interesting,” the pirate commented. “It looks like Ryo-Ohki’s got a new friend.”

 

            Akane looked confused at the cyan-haired lady. “Who’s Ryo-Ohki? And who are you three? And why is Shampoo here?”

 

            Everyone stared at her for a moment. Ayeka spoke first. “Jiejie, are you feeling all right? I see you improved your language skills.”

 

            “Oh, are you friends of Jiejie?” Akane let out a relieved sigh as everyone sweatdropped. “My name’s Akane Tendo. Sorry about this.”

 

            Shampoo was the first to react. She crosssed her arms and pouted. The other three just blinked in confusion. “Akane? You mean the one that Ranma’s been trying to save?”

 

            Akane nodded. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m back… at least for now. I have a feeling it’s only until Jiejie wakes up, though.”

 

            “What do you mean, ‘wakes up’?” Tenchi was as confused as the rest.

 

            “Well, she had a bad scare and fainted. That’s when I woke up and got control of my… her… our body.”

 

            The sudden sound of metal ripping brought everyone’s attention back to Ranma. She was happily shredding the walls of the room like a scratching post. “STOP THAT!” Ryoko yelled at her.

 

            Ranma flipped through the air faster than anyone could follow and batted Ryoko across the room. In her feline mind, a new playtoy had just been found.

 

            Akane acted quickly, dropping to her knees and calling to Ranma. Ranma considered whether to keep playing with her new toy or not. Comfort won as Ranma bounded across the room to land in Akane’s lap. Akane stroked her hand through Ranma’s hair as the redhead purred contentedly.

 

            Ryoko picked herself up, growling, and ready to attack the redhead, but Tenchi put out a hand to stop her. After a little bit, Ranma seemed to drift to sleep.

 

            “Uhm, could you tell me what we’re doing here?” Akane asked quietly. A strange look came over her face as she held up a hand to her throat, feeling the nasty scar there. ‘So that’s why I can’t talk normally.’

 

            “Ranma and Jiejie were trying to get to some floating island, but it never showed,” Tenchi explained.

 

            “Togenkyo?”

 

            “That’s it,” Tenchi nodded.

 

            “I wonder how Toma’s doing… did he ever find a bride? And why are we going there? The water that can cure Ranma won’t be ready for a hundred years.”

 

            Tenchi scratched his head in confusion. “I don’t know about that. I just know that Ranma was looking for something to help you, and he needed to get to Togenkyo to do it. Oh, by the way, I’m Tenchi. Tenchi Masaki. These are Ryoko and Ayeka. The ship we’re in is called Ryo-Ohki.”

 

            “Pleased to meet you. Are you a demon, from Jusenkyo, or from outer space?” Akane asked Ryoko.

 

            “I’m a space pirate,” she answered matter-of-factly.

 

            “You seem to be handling this situation very well, young lady,” Ayeka commented.

 

            “Oh, I’m used to the weird and unusual around Ranma. This is nothing compared to being kidnapped by bird-people and nearly being sacrificed to a demi-god. Or Pantyhose Taro. Or being possessed by an angry little doll. Getting turned into a doll… twice… dealing with a bunch of people with buns for heads… or a fiancee who turns into a girl when hit by cold water.”

 

            “You’re kidding, right?” Tenchi asked, laughing. When Akane shook her head, he sweatdropped. ‘And I thought I had it rough.’

 

            Ranma stirred in Akane’s lap, and she carefully scooted out from under the redhead. Ranma blinked dazedly as she looked around. “Where are we?”

 

            “We’re on some kind of ship, Ranma,” Akane smiled at her.

 

            “Akane? Is that still you?”

 

            “Of course its me. Who else would I be?”

 

            “Jiejie.”

 

            “Oh yeah. Well, I’m still me.”

 

            Ranma noticed Shampoo standing with her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. “Hey, Shampoo. You find out what happened to Togenkyo?”

 

            Shampoo shook her head. “No know. But Tenchi volunteer help us find it.”

 

            Ranma smiled at Tenchi. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

 

            “No problem,” Tenchi smiled. “Actually, it was Ryo-Ohki who volunteered.”

 

            “That cabbit-thing?” Ranma was obviously confused.

 

            “Yes. Apparently, it can turn into a spaceship too.”

            “So there weren’t any c-c-c-c-cats?” Ranma looked around nervously.

 

            “No, just Ryo-Ohki.”

 

            “Good. Hate cats.” Ranma shuddered. “So, where to?”

 

            “Grandpa gave me the route Togenkyo was supposed to take. I guess we’ll backtrack it and see what we find.”

 

            “Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s go.” Ranma cringed as Ryo-Ohki took off with a meow! She managed to keep from panicking by reminding herself repeatedly that Ryo-Ohki was not a cat.

 

            “Ranma,” Akane spoke quietly as she stood next to the redhead,” I was wondering… *what exactly are we going to Togenkyo for?* When Ranma didn’t respond immediately, she turned her head. Or at least, she tried to. Her head wouldn’t move. *Ranma? Ranma! I can’t move!*

 

            She sensed her orientation changing and watched as Ranma’s face into view. She suddenly felt the edges of fear creep onto her as Ranma’s face retreated at a rapid pace. A name echoed through her head, Gui Huo.

 

            Realization dawned slowly on her. *Atsui, are you awake.* She could see Ranma’s face start to get closer, only to retreat again as Jiejie did everything she could to get away from her nightmare. *Atsui! Come on, it’s just Ranma. He won’t hurt you.*

 

            ‘Gui Huo (raging demon)’ Jiejie repeated over and over in her mind.

 

            *Who is Gui Huo?* Akane asked.

 

            She got her answer.