Ranma awoke, but did not stir. He kept his eyes closed and his breathing even, despite the pain that was ripping him in two. He felt that there were bandages on his back. Whoever had him wanted him alive, for once. Well, alive for the time being. His skin also told him that he was on a very plush couch. He decided his situation bore further investigation.
For one breath he changed his breathing to inhale once through his nose to capture the scents in the room. He didn’t smell any rancid fluids; more accurately, he didn’t smell dried or wet blood. “I’m not in any of the Yak’s ‘hotels’.” He thought. “Could still be a Triad or mob place, though.” He mulled over the scents that he had taken in. He came up with one distinct scent, cat hair. “Great, the last thing I need. Good thing the counseling I took got me over my terror and trimmed it down to a mild fear.” He picked up on another scent. “Perfume? What kind of cell has perfume? Must have been captured by the local cat house.” His laugh never made it beyond the thoughtful stage. “Sometimes I crack myself up.”
He decided it was time to use other senses. He concentrated his Ki senses, trying to find if there were any people around him. “One person, very strong fighter, no one else around for a good distance. Should be enough for me to get away once I take out the guard.”
“So you’ve decided to join the land of the living.” A statement rang though his ears.
“Damn it!” He thought. “No one has ever been able to tell that I’m awake when I do this! I could even fool my own mother like this!”
“Come on, Ranma, you’re not fooling anyone.”
He recognized the voice and opened his eyes. “Shampoo?” Indeed it was, dressed in garb like she was when he first met her in the Amazon village, and brandishing a very large sword. “Oh crap.” He thought.
“Yes, were you expecting someone else?” She leveled a severe gaze at him.
“Yeah, actually.” Ranma rose to a sitting position, wincing in pain from the effort.
“You shouldn’t try moving so soon. You could injure yourself further.”
Ranma raised an eyebrow. “And that sword is supposed to be therapeutic?”
Xian Pu turned the blade so it reflected the sunlight coming in through the window. “I’ve got a few questions for you, Ranma. This is just in case I don’t like the answers.”
“Like I haven’t heard that one before. It’s almost as common nowadays as ‘Die Saotome Ranma’ was in the old.”
Xian Pu gave him a calculating look. “I wouldn’t try anything, Ranma. Remember, you’re injured.”
Ranma just chuckled to himself. “How slow they learn…”
“What?”
In the blink of an eye, Ranma was behind Xian Pu, holding the blade of her sword against her throat. “Nobody threatens my life, when they can’t back it up. You should have killed me while I was asleep, but since you didn’t…” Be brought the blade away from her neck and pushed her down onto the couch.
She landed with an ‘oof!’ “So what now? You going to kill me like you killed the ambassador?” She glared at him.
“What makes you think I killed him?”
She started to get an angry look on her face. “I was there. I was one of his chief aides. I lost my job because of you!”
Ranma put the sword on the hanger on the wall that it had obviously come from. He took a deep breath. “If that’s all that this is about then we can drop this whole ‘hostile environment’ we have here.”
Xian Pu was really starting to get mad. “I worked hard to get that job!!!” She jumped up to attack him, only to wind up planted on the carpet with Ranma’s hand on the back of her neck.
Ranma released her and stood up. “I’ll get you your job back, don’t worry about it.”
Xian Pu beat her fist against the floor. “Stupid Ranma! Shampoo can’t get job back when boss dead!!!”
Ranma chuckled. “Careful, you’re Japanese is regressing.”
Xian took a deep breath and distilled her features into a glare of pure hatred. “It slips when I get too excited.”
Ranma decided that she was getting too close to the boiling point. “Relax, Shampoo.” He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s not what you think.”
She swatted the hand away. “The ambassador is dead. You’re the last person to be in contact with him. I can’t get my job back because new ambassador means new appointed staff!”
Ranma nonchalantly sat down on the couch. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Now I know why Akane was always mad at you! You can be so infuriating with your ‘devil may care’ attitude! No wonder she divorced you.”
Ranma’s smile left his face. “Now that was uncalled for. I told you it’s not what you think.”
Xian Pu stood back up and made a quick glance to her sword. “What? It’s worse? You’re killing people for giggles now?”
Ranma stood up and gave her a glare that made her take a step back. “I never enjoy killing. Things are not what they appear to be. All I can say is that you will have your job back within a year, on one condition.”
“Which is?”
“You forget you ever saw me.”
“What’s going on, Ranma?”
“I can’t tell you. I’ve already told you too much.”
She was beginning to get concerned at this point. “What’s going on? Please, tell me!”
Ranma shook his head. “No can do.”
“Tell me what’s going on, you owe me that much.”
Ranma narrowed his eyebrows. “How’s that?”
Xian Pu stepped forward, intruding into Ranma’s comfort zone. “I lost everything because of you. I built my life back up, and I lose it all again. And it’s all because of you. You’ve ruined my work, my life, and my honor. You owe me, Saotome.”
“What?”
It was Xian Pu’s turn for intimidating glares. “Do you really think I could go home after you dumped me? First of all, I was three times dishonored because of you.”
“Three?”
“One, I failed to fulfill the Kiss of Death. Two, I failed to fulfill the Kiss of Marriage. Three, I turned against my own sisters for you. Three strikes. I’m out. And…” She stopped up short, her expression falling.
Ranma got a concerned look on his face. “And?”
“Nothing.” She restored her previous glare. “You owe me. I’m lucky that Great-Grandmother decided to spare my life.”
“The old ghoul would never have killed you. She doesn’t have the heart to kill innocents.”
“But I was an Amazon warrior! I had broken our laws! Death was the only option!”
Ranma smiled at her. “Apparently, I knew the old ghoul better than you did. She knew that you were just a poor kid who got caught in a bad situation. I could tell how much of a softy she really was by the way she kept on teaching me more and more. She could no more kill you than she could herself.”
“She would smack you good if she ever got wind of that.” Xian Pu smirked. “That’s still beside the point. I need to know what’s going on. You owe me my life, and yours. Don’t forget who hauled you bloody carcass back here.”
“Don’t forget who is the reason why my carcass was bloody. If you hadn’t a been poking around in the bushes, I would have been fine.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Okay, but I still want to know what’s going on.”
Ranma finally relented. “You’re right. I do owe you. First I need one favor and then we’ll take a walk. I’ll explain everything.”
“What do you need?”
Ranma lost some of his poise. “Fix the bandages, the wounds reopened from all that movement.”
Suddenly very concerned, Xian Pu rushed over and helped him lay back down on the couch. “Still as overconfident as ever I see.” She pulled up what was left of his shirt and started fixing the bandages. “You really don’t need to be moving. Your lucky to be alive after that blast.”
Ranma chuckled. “You won’t believe this, but my bodies been conditioned to take much worse. Hanging around Ryoga did that to me.”
“I believe it.” She got up and brought in some fresh bandages. “So why do we need to take a walk? Why can’t you tell me here?”
“The walls may have ears.”
A little while later, Xian Pu and Ranma-Chan, walked out the front of the apartment complex where Xian Pu lived. Xian Pu was wearing one of her business suits while Ranma-Chan was wearing one of the Amazon’s sundresses with a wide brimmed hat on to hide her red hair. Ranma-Chan led Xian Pu towards a busy open marketplace. People were everywhere, shouting about their wares, making deals, and laughing to old jokes.
Ranma-Chan made a show of buying an apple and taking a big bite out of it. Xian Pu looked at her. “So what’s this all about? Why are we here?”
Ranma-Chan took another bite, chewed it up, and swallowed. “Noisy crowds make sure no one can use listening devices easily. They also serve as a good cover for anyone trying to pull anything, too many witnesses. Plus, if there are any skilled martial artists around, they’re senses can’t pinpoint us.”
Xian Pu stopped and looked at the redhead. “What are you talking about?”
Ranma-Chan took another bite. “Shampoo, you must promise me that everything I tell you will go no further.”
“I swear.”
“On your honor.” Ranma-Chan added in Mandarin Chinese.
Xian Pu’s eyes widened. “How long have you been able to speak Chinese?” She answered in the same language.
“For quite a while now. Now do you swear?” He kept it in Chinese.
“I swear.”
“Your boss is quite alive and well. He’s in a safe house on the other side of Japan. He’ll be brought back in when I finish my mission.”
Xian Pu looked at Ranma-Chan. “Mission?”
“I’m a secret agent for the JCIA. I’ve been investigating all the criminal organizations operating in Japan. They’ve all been coming together of late, and my mission is to find out why. I’ve been ‘killing’ a few key figures to get in good with them. I’m sorry about your job, but like I said, you’ll get it back.”
“Oh.” Xian Pu wasn’t expecting that.
“As far as your life, I’m sorry, but I can’t give that back to you. You have to know that everything I’ve done was because I had to. Now for yours and my own good, stay away from me.” Ranma-Chan turned to leave.
“I’m coming with you.” Xian Pu changed back to Japanese.
Ranma-Chan stopped in mid-stride and looked back over her shoulder. “Excuse me?”
“I’m coming with you. I can help.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ve been training all my life as well. I can handle anything you can.”
“I don’t think so. It’s too dangerous.”
“Give me a chance. You still owe me. Just give me a chance.”
“I don’t think so. My superiors wouldn’t like that.”
“You’re partner wouldn’t like it, you mean.”
Ranma thought about something. “Maybe I do need you.”
Xian Pu was surprised about his quick change in attitude. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’m about due for a new partner. Just make sure you keep everything professional. Nothing about marriage and Amazon law, or you’re out. Got it?”
“Why the quick turn around?”
“Miko’s a pain in the ass, and I never really trusted her. To tell you the truth, I think she’s a mole.”
“I have another animal name for her.” “Going after my Airen.” She added mentally.
“Now be civil. I still have to get you into the agency.”
“Okay. I just want to make one trip first.”
The next
day, Akane and Shampoo sat across from
each other at the Tendo dojo. Both of
them have teacups in their hands. The Shogi doors were opened and they could
see a young boy, about five, playing on the grass. Shampoo watched the boy play.
In her mind brief flashes of the boy with purple highlights in his hair
appeared. She shook her head and turned
to Akane. “Cute kid.”
Akane nodded. “That’s our son, Chiko.”
“He has his father’s looks.”
“He also has his father’s
stubbornness.”
Shampoo giggled. “So what did he get from his mother?”
Akane smiled. “Her temper. You didn’t think he’d get everything from his father did
you?”
Shampoo shook her head. “No.”
An uneasy silence has filled
the room. Akane looked up at the
Chinese Amazon. “So, Shampoo, what
brings you by? I’m sure you’ve heard
that Ranma doesn’t live here anymore.”
Shampoo let out a breath she didn’t
realize she was holding. “Actually, I
wanted to talk about him. I know about
his ‘job’. I was wondering what
happened with you two.”
Akane sighed. “It was my fault really. The JCIA approached him right out of high
school. They offered him a position and
plenty of salary. He came straight home
to talk to me about it. We were
planning to get married that summer. We
talked about it. He didn’t want to do
anything that I wouldn’t approve of, or would hurt me. He knew that it would worry me. I told him it was okay, that I could handle
it.”
Shampoo took a sip of her tea and
set the cup down. “But?”
Akane took another deep breath. “But I couldn’t. After Chiko was born, and Ranma was gone so much, I couldn’t live
with it anymore. I couldn’t live with
an absentee husband. Sure, he came home
every chance he could, but it wasn’t enough for me. I asked him for a divorce.”
Akane sighed in regret. “I
wanted to be free to find a husband that would be here for Chiko and me.”
“Did you remarry?”
Akane shook her head and laughed a
sorrowful laugh. “Ironically enough, I
couldn’t find anyone who was ‘man enough’ to take Ranma’s place.”
“What happened to Ryoga?”
Akane turned and gazed out the open
door towards the koi pond. “Ryoga and
Akari married before Ranma and I did.
They’re happily married and living on her farm. I’ve heard they’ve had to tie a leash on him
to keep him from wondering off. I
wouldn’t dream of trying to break that up, even if I had the desire to.”
Shampoo chuckled at the memories of the lost boy. “What about the school?”
“I took up the teaching. With Chiko, the covenant of our fathers had
been fulfilled. We had joined schools,
and an heir. Honor was satisfied, so
Ranma was a free man.” Akane started to
get choked up.
Shampoo regarded her with
sympathetic eyes. You’d think she would
have been happy to see her teenaged rival unhappy, but Shampoo had matured a
bit over the years. “You still love
him, don’t you?”
Tears formed around Akane’s
eyes. Her voice was barely a
whisper. “Yes.”
Shampoo walked around the table and sat down beside Akane and put a hand on her shoulder. “Why haven’t you asked him back yet?”
“I couldn’t. I just couldn’t ask him to come back again. I was the one who wanted the separation to begin with. Ranma tried everything he could to try and change my mind, but I wouldn’t relent. He even offered to quit the JCIA. I wouldn’t hear any of it. We both knew that he was too in deep to pull out then, or now for that matter. He couldn’t leave there if he wanted to. We both also knew that what he was doing was the best for our country, even if it wasn’t the best for our marriage. I told him that my dad and I would raise Chiko, and that he would be free to work and not worry about family.”
“But Ranma would never leave you like that.”
Akane nodded her head. “Ranma still comes here every chance he gets. He loves his son.” Akane choked back another sob. “I couldn’t ask him back after sending him away like that. Now I can’t believe how foolish I was.”
Shampoo hugged the smaller woman. “It’s okay, Akane. I’m sure he still loves you too.”
Akane shook her head. “He felt betrayed when I told him I didn’t want him anymore. We barely talk when he’s here. Nothing more than, ‘how are you’, ‘fine, thank you’ ever gets said. I want to say so much, but there’s a wall there.” Akane put her face into her hands and started crying in earnest. “A wall that I created, and can’t tear down.”
Shampoo patted Akane on the back. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out Akane. I’m so sorry.”
Akane managed to choke back her tears. “What happened with you and Mousse?”
It was Shampoo’s turn to sigh in regret. She sat back down, and released her hug on Akane. “We never got together. I didn’t accept your marriage with Ranma for a couple of years after the fact. In the meantime, I kept pushing him further and further away. He went back to China with Great-Grandmother, and married one of the other women of the tribe.”
“Why didn’t you go back to the village?”
“I couldn’t. I was a three-time loser. I would have had no honor and would have been put to death if I had returned. So I stayed here and polished up on my Japanese. I eventually got my job as an ambassador’s aide because I spoke both Chinese and Japanese.”
“But you never married?”
Shampoo shook her head. “No. Like you I couldn’t find someone ‘man enough’. Ranma was just too much of a man.”
Akane nodded her head. “I know. Ranma was so unique. He had that strength and power, but…”
Shampoo sighed. “But a heart of gold.”
Akane looked at her one time rival. “At least Ukyou got out mostly unscathed. She and Konatsu married a year after we did. He helps her run their line of okonomiyaki restaurants. They’ve made it through eight years of marriage and still going strong despite all their problems.”
“Does she come by often?”
“Yeah, all the time. She and Ranma are still friends, and she loves Chiko to death.” Akane slumped in her seat. “God, I must look like the queen bitch. I broke up two other engagements just to get someone to divorce him later.”
“Akane! Don’t beat yourself up over this!”
“But it’s true. I look out at Chiko. I love him more than anything, but he’s a daily reminder of what I threw away. If only I could go back and tell myself how foolish I was being and how much it would hurt with Ranma gone. I thought that I’d stop worrying about Ranma if we were divorced, but I only worry about him more.”
Shampoo laughed a bit and watched the little boy play. “Looks like we’re both fools. We both threw away the best things that could have happened to us.”
“But you held out.” Akane whispered.
Shampoo snapped her head around to Akane. “What did you say?”
Akane wiped her tears off on her sleeve. “You held out for something better. That’s really why you’re here, isn’t it? You’re here to see if I still want Ranma.”
Shampoo sighed. “I’ve changed a little, Akane. I knew that you two had divorced, but I couldn’t just take him. I wanted to make sure that you would be okay with it.”
Akane put a hand on Shampoo’s. “Thank you, Shampoo, but I’ve lost my chances with Ranma. Take him with my blessing. The least I could do for him is give him happiness, even at the expense of mine.”
“You’ve changed some too, Akane.”
Akane dried up the last of her tears. “Yes. It’s called growing up. You can’t be a child and raise a child. I love Ranma with all my heart, but I want him to be happy above all else. Take him, and you better make him happy.” She had a mock anger look on her face.
Shampoo held up her hands in front of herself. “I promise! I promise! His smile will never leave his face!” She broke down laughing.
Akane laughed with her. “Just make sure you let him out every now and then to go to work.”
“Every so often. He’ll need some time to rest, after all.” They both enjoyed a hearty laugh.
Akane settled down and smiled at the purple-haired woman. “Thank you, Shampoo. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to laugh like that.”
“You’re welcome, Akane. I swear that I will make Ranma happy for the both of us. I’ll also make sure that he is still a good father for Chiko.”
Akane nodded her head. “Thank you.”