This is something a little different from the 
other fusions you've no doubt seen. I've tried to 
catch the spirit of both worlds without making it too 
much like one or the other. Despite the names shared 
by these characters with their originals, the 
characters may not necessarily act the way their 
namesakes would. Keep it in mind. I've tried to make 
it a bit more mature, but still keeping a bit of 
absurdity to keep things interesting. Also keep in 
mind that there are quite a number of cameos from 
various sources. Spot them all and win a prize! (Not 
cash, sorry...) Please send C&C and any suggestions 
on the story to [email protected]

	Standard fanfic disclaimer averring that all 
characters, situations,  places and events with even 
a vague resemblance to the work of Rumiko Takahashi, 
Fujishima Kosuke's, whoever did Koko wa Greenwood or 
any one of a number of works, probably was borrowed 
in the first place. Apologies to all. Rights are to 
whoever owns them. Don't bother to sue, though. I'm 
broke.

I hereby present, for the reader's perusal:
        Sore wa Nibunoichi Megami-sama.
        (That's 1/2 My Goddess.)
        A Ranma 1/2 - Oh! My Goddess meld fanfic by 
Scriviner

That's 1/2 My Goddess Part X: 
Of The Truthful End And A Dreamt Beginning...

	Goddesses as a rule do not dream. All of the 
subconscious processing of the day's data which is 
dreaming is done far more efficiently and without the 
need for images while a goddess rests. So one might 
think that it was most curious that Akane, who was 
dozing lightly, would dream. Or were they dreams?
	Ranko was speaking to Ranma on the stage. Akane 
was in the wings. The comb. The golden comb. The 
memory of it was returning to her. Things made 
forgotten. Not by time, but by someone else. She HAD 
given it to Ranko. Before. When they were so much 
younger. Before things had changed between them and 
they began to fight. But why? Why had she given her 
something so precious? Loneliness? Sadness? Her 
sadness? Ranko's? Akane's? 
	Ranko was proclaiming her love to Ranma, 
casting secret, furtive glances at Akane. The 
audience moved slowly to tears as Akane watched the 
two, her heart grew heavier with every word. She does 
love him. See how fiercely she loves him? It shone 
like a beacon. She couldn't possibly hope to match, 
could she? She would give him up because it would 
make him happy. She remembered. Her intrusion. She 
had stolen him away from her. It was wrong.
	Ranko rose slowly into the air. The twisting, 
hidden runes she was weaving around herself were 
plain to any of the divinities. The Rite of Recall. 
The spell to open a gateway, a portal for home. To 
return to the heavens. It was time enough. Time to 
accept what was. But it did not feel right! She loved 
him! She could not surrender! Akane reached out 
trying to call her cousin back to her. To him. She 
would give him up. She would accept. It was not right 
for the one who stole him away should win.
	The thoughts raced through her mind even as she 
felt her heart begin to break. Only the one who would 
be right for him should stay. It was not her. She did 
not deserve him. Not after she had hurt her so. It 
was her. 
	Next to her a pretty little girl, with long 
black hair and wearing a black dress nodded 
approvingly. The light began to fill the stage. The 
light of heaven spilling out as the gate was opened. 
The little girl, a black balloon in one hand, took 
Akane's hand in the other and spoke to her 
cheerfully. It's time. Your wish is granted. On the 
little girl's forehead a symbol like a V began to 
glow black. It was familiar. She was familiar too.
	Ranko, bathed in the fraction of a second of 
white light as she rose, slowly turned to look at 
them. Her mouth was open in surprise as things 
changed. The balloon in the little girl's hands 
growing incredibly larger, moving to eclipse her 
light... A goddess' wish was granted. A goddess' wish 
was fulfilled. The price to pay is... the one to pay 
would be...
	Akane snapped awake with a start. Ranma turned 
to her, worry plain on his face as she gave him a wan 
little smile, forcing those thoughts from her mind. 
It was just a dream, she told herself. A strange 
nonsensical dream. She knew it was a dream though 
she'd never had any before. She didn't have time to 
dwell on such things. She was with her love and that 
was all that mattered. She placed her hand over her 
heart, feeling its beat slow as her tension fell 
away. Ranko, she knew in her heart, was fine. Perhaps 
it was just worry.
	Ranma drove his van at a leisurely pace 
homewards, savoring the companionable silence with 
Akane. The roads weren't too congested and it was 
actually a fairly easy drive back home. It was only 
early evening, the sun just finishing its descent and 
the first few stars were starting to become visible.
	The play had done extremely well. The standing 
ovation was well deserved he added idly, considering 
all of the hard work they'd all put into it. The only 
item of concern was that the audience, or at least a 
third of it, nearly rioted when Ranko failed to show 
up for her curtain call. Fortunately Ranma was quick 
thinking enough to duck quickly behind the curtain, 
apply some eyeliner to his cheeks and forehead and 
pretend to be Ranko to take her bow for her. Where 
HAD she gone? The way she'd spoken to him, it sounded 
as though she didn't expect to ever see him again. He 
frowned slightly. There was a time when that news 
would've made him happy to no end. But now... now, if 
she had been telling the truth, he realized he'd miss 
her. He'd miss her a lot.
	Trying to shake his growing melancholy mood, he 
glanced over to Akane. She returned his look, smiling 
lovingly at him. She extended a hand, gently 
caressing his cheek. He smiled back, kissing her 
upturned palm lightly.
	"What's the matter, Ranma?" she asked lightly.
	Ranma replied with a shrug, "It's nothing... I 
was just wondering where Ranko went. It's not like 
her to miss a chance to take a bow in the spotlight 
and flirt with a couple hundred guys all screaming 
her name. She would've loved it." He mused.
	Akane giggled lightly, quickly suppressing the 
worrying thoughts that were suggesting themselves, 
"I'm sure she's fine. She's probably home by now."
	Ranma blinked at her curiously, "Do you think 
so?"
	Akane leaned over to him and kissed him 
playfully on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. She's 
fine. You'd better keep your attention on me or I may 
get upset," she added with a saucy wink.
	"Um..." Ranma blushed slightly, still a little 
uncomfortable at how quickly their relationship had 
changed. She seemed so different now. So much more 
flirtatious. So much less tentative and more sure. He 
found he rather liked her like this.
	"How about I keep my eyes on the road for the 
time being?" he replied weakly. 
	She laughed lightly, "Good idea. Then you can 
pay attention to me when we get home." She kissed the 
line of his jaw this time.
	He couldn't help but grin, glancing towards 
her. Her face was very close to his. 
	"If that's what you want," he said.
	She nodded, a playful and almost... hungry... 
look on her face, "You'd better believe it. I want 
you to pay very close attention to me." She added 
softly, "To... all... of me." 
	Ranma blinked in disbelief at her. Was that an 
invitation for..?
	She lightly ran her tongue along her lips. 
"Take us home?"
	He stared into her eyes for a long moment. 
Those loving, hungry eyes. His throat felt dry and 
his palms were getting sweaty at the wheel. Without 
another word he turned his full attention back on the 
road and floored the gas.

	"No, I will not hold." Nabiki spoke into the 
phone in a cold, imperious tone. Light touches of 
frost were forming on the receiver, "You DO know who 
I am, don't you? I expect to be accorded the proper 
respect even on the phone, now what are you NOT 
telling me?" 
	Kasumi looked at Nabiki in slight reproof and 
asked gently, "Nabiki... that's no way to speak to--"
	Nabiki put her hand over the phone and gave 
Kasumi a mildly exasperated glance. She spoke in a 
cool, restrained tone, "This uppity little third 
class goddess is trying to put me... ME of all 
people... on hold." To those who knew her, that very 
tone would've been indicative of just how incredibly 
irritated she was. But underneath even that was her 
growing uneasiness.
	Kasumi looked slightly puzzled and moved next 
to her sister, "How peculiar. Let me try speaking to 
them..." as she extended her hand for the receiver. 
Nabiki shrugged and handed it over to her. Kasumi 
spoke softly into the phone, murmuring something 
sympathetic to whoever was on the other end of the 
line. As she spoke, she nodded every so often before 
replying. Within a few moments she had a very tiny 
little frown on her normally placid face. The first 
time that had happened in recorded memory.
	She put the receiver very carefully back into 
its cradle and said in an even softer voice than 
usual, "Oh my."
	Nabiki blinked at her, "It's that bad?"
	"Worse," Kasumi answered.
	"We're home!" Ranma's voice called out from the 
front door.
	Nabiki bounced lightly to her feet, "We'd 
better tell them what's going on."
	Kasumi nodded her head gently, "Oh my, yes. 
This has gotten quite out of hand."
	"Now there's an understatement." Nabiki 
commented wryly.
	Ranma strode into the room, still holding 
Akane's hand. He paused for a moment and noticed the 
mood the other two goddesses were in and asked, "Hey, 
what's going on you guys?"
	"Have either of you seen Ranko since the play?" 
Kasumi asked them.
	Akane shook her head, "No... she was opening a 
portal wasn't she? Wasn't she coming here?"
	"Portal?" Ranma asked.
	Nabiki replied, "Those were the motions and 
sigils for a gateway to heaven. She was going home."
	"When we arrived here, all of her belongings 
were gone." Kasumi added.
	Ranma gaped in surprise, "Did anyone know she 
was leaving?"
	All three goddesses shook their heads. 
	Ranma frowned slightly at Akane, "So when you 
said she was going home you meant... um..." he 
pointed upwards, "Home as in heaven?"
	"I wasn't sure!" Akane replied defensively.
	"There's more." Kasumi spoke.
	Nabiki continued, "It seems Ranko didn't make 
it back to heaven..." 
	Ranma asked, puzzled, "How do you know?"
	"If she were there, we would feel it. All of us 
would." Kasumi replied. 
	Akane nodded in agreement. She asked, "So where 
is she?"
	"That's what I'd like to know." Nabiki grumped, 
crossing her arms.
	"Well, I've found out why no one seems to be 
able to help us find her, though." Kasumi said, 
smoothly interrupting Nabiki's pouting, "It would 
appear there's been a system crash."
	"A WHAT?!" Akane reeled.
	Nabiki's eyes widened, "Oh, boy. How bad are we 
talking here? An hour to fix? Two hours?"
	Kasumi shook her head, the tiny, tiny frown on 
her face growing slightly, "More like a week or 
so..." her two sisters stared at her in shock, "Files 
were corrupted, contracts were inadvertently 
severed... they're mobilizing the backups, but 
they're not sure how long it will take to fix 
everything."
	Ranma blinked in confusion, "What are you 
talking about?"
	Akane turned to answer him, "The Yggdrasil... 
the mainframe that runs the universe. Where we draw 
our power from."
	"That's the thing you guys work with, right? 
The thing that holds onto the contracts?" Ranma 
asked, beginning to get a glimmer of the situation. 
His eyes boggled, "That can't be good..."
	"Do they know what caused it?" Nabiki asked.
	Kasumi could only shake her head, "They can't 
even get the diagnostics to make sense... 
everything's in disarray in Heaven. They'd recall us 
if they could get the portals to work right. If the 
records that we're down here even still exist..."
	Ranma asked slowly, "Is that why Ranko's 
missing? All of the... stuff you guys do is cleared 
by the Yb... Yurgd... Clearasi... erhm... that 
mainframe thing right? Maybe it went haywire while 
Ranko was trying to cross, that's why she's missing? 
Or maybe she is there, but you just can't tell 
because everything's so messed up?"	
	Nabiki looked thoughtful for a moment, "That 
could be it."
	Akane shook her head, "But what can we do from 
here?"
	Kasumi sighed, "Not much I'm afraid. But we can 
at least try to find her."
	"No system access at all, so we're currently 
just limited to our own power for now." Nabiki mused, 
"Not that much..." She raised an open hand 
thoughtfully as though measuring her own reserves.
	The three goddesses looked at one another and 
began to talk in quick succession, their voices 
overlapping as they discussed possibilities and plans 
using technical jargon well beyond Ranma's 
experience. He backed up a little, seeing that they 
needed to talk this out. He waited until there was a 
break in the conversation before saying, "Look, I've 
got no idea what you guys are talking about, but if 
Ranko's in trouble and I can help, just tell me, 
okay? Any kind of help you need. Anything." Ranma 
said.
	Akane looked sharply at him for a moment while 
Kasumi and Nabiki nodded to him. A puzzled look 
crossed her eyes for a moment as she just stared at 
him.
	Ranma noticed her stare and looked back, saying 
quietly, "Hey... Akane, please... this is no time to 
be jealous... I mean she could need our help, right?"
	Akane shook her head and gave him a faint smile 
on her face, "No... no... I wasn't jealous... just... 
a thought." She leaned over to him and kissed him 
lightly, "Why don't you go get some rest... I think 
my sisters and I are going to be up all night on this 
one."
	"I'll stick around. Maybe make everyone some 
tea. You look like you'll need it." Ranma replied, 
lightly caressing her cheek.
	Kasumi and Nabiki noticed the intimacy the two 
were sharing and paused for a moment. They exchanged 
glances... then shook their heads and returned to 
their discussion. By now the considered angle of 
attack for locating their lost cousin had wandered 
into 12th dimensional variables relating indirectly 
to the derivatives received through Cantorian 
transfinites, in terms of the relativistic placement 
of subclass item 'Goddess', specific item 'Ranko'. 
Which was a fairly simple computation, but Ranma 
couldn't even follow that much.
	By the looks of things, this was going to prove 
to be a long night.
	
	Ranma as a rule, did dream. It sort of came 
with the territory of being human. You sleep, you 
dream. Simple. More often than not he'd forgotten his 
dreams by the time he woke up, but not always. There 
was one particular dream that always escaped him. One 
which he never remembered on waking... The elements 
sometimes got jumbled, but it was usually the same... 
He'd had it for years and never knew. He was having 
it tonight. Considering how strange the day had been 
and how it had ended... and how tired he was, given 
the last few weeks worth of work with the play, it 
was not surprising that he would fall back on what 
was perhaps his most consistent dream. Even one which 
he could never remember.
	Ranma tugged uncomfortably at the ribbon which 
had been wound around his neck in a fair imitation of 
a bow tie. If only it hadn't been pastel pink. He 
fidgeted uncomfortably and kept looking at his feet. 
The ground was a lot closer to his perspective in 
those days. He couldn't have been more than nine and 
he still had a lot of growing to. Somewhere behind 
him he could barely hear someone humming the wedding 
march. The sound was getting closer.
	In front of and before him a harsh whisper 
called his attention, "Hey! Ranma! Quit it! The 
groom's not supposed to take the tie off!"
	He looked up, not quite able to make out the 
person speaking to him. Whoever it was, was tall. 
Much taller than Ranma. The sun was behind the 
person, casting shadows over the face. Ranma could 
make out hair, long and black... maybe the hints of a 
moustache. 
	All around them was a wooded area within the 
grounds of a temple near Ranma's home. He played here 
often as a child. There were many fond memories of 
playmates to be found here for him. But never any 
names or faces.
	Ranma pouted at the figure looming over him and 
replied sourly, "But I didn't wanna play this silly 
game in the first place!"
	The figure chided him in a reasonable, though 
playful voice, "Hey, we played tag like you wanted 
yesterday, so now it's our turn to pick the game."
	"But this is the first time I've ever played 
house with someone who wanted to have a wedding 
before they'd play house," Ranma muttered.
	"Hah," the voice replied airily, "She just 
doesn't wanna live in sin that's all. So we gotta 
make it official before we can play."
	Ranma gave his ribbon another savage tug, "It's 
still silly."
	Whoever it was humming the wedding march was 
practically at his side... Ranma glanced in that 
direction and found himself looking at a girl around 
his height, maybe a bit shorter, wearing a neat 
looking red and white dress that flowed around her. 
In her hand she had a random bunch of flowers that 
had no doubt been picked just moments earlier. She 
wore what looked to be an elaborate veil that had 
originally been a shawl. Only a few details could be 
seen of her face, but Ranma knew that he could 
remember that face perfectly if he had to. He could 
tell she was glaring at him through the veil and 
despite himself quickly shut up.
	The taller individual coughed importantly 
producing a huge book from somewhere and said, 
"That's better... let's start it off." 
	The girl in the veil nodded and hooked an arm 
possessively around Ranma's arm. He didn't mind at 
all. In fact he liked being near her like this. She 
was nice. Actually so was her cousin. Except when the 
two of them got together and ganged up on him for 
being a boy.
	"'Mostly well liked--'" the person in front of 
them began in a loud voice.
	"That's 'Dearly beloved'!" The veiled girl 
playing the role of the bride hissed.
	"Oops! Okay... okay... um... here we go... 
'Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to witness 
the onion of--'"
	"That's 'union'!" The veiled girl poked the 
other person's knee.
	Ranma tuned out most of the droning voice and 
took a glance around him. The small clearing where 
they were holding their 'ceremony' was peopled by a 
few dolls, some stuffed toys and more surprisingly, 
several robots and action figures. He remembered why. 
They had decided that if it was going to be a 
wedding, there had to be people from the groom's side 
of the family, so his toys got drafted.
	He snapped out of his haze just as the girl 
next to him said, "I do."
	"And do you, Ranma Saotome, take my cousin to 
be your awfully bedded--"	
	"Lawfully wedded!" The girl snapped, tugging on 
Ranma's arm.
	The shadows across the taller person's face 
formed into the semblance of a pout, "Geez, if you 
think you can do this better than I can why don't you 
come up here and I be down there saying 'I do'?"
	"Well, you can have your turn tomorrow. Today, 
he's my groom!" the veiled girl replied airily.
	"We gotta do this tomorrow too?" Ranma asked a 
little sourly. He was hoping they'd play tag with him 
instead. 
	"Aww... come on, it'll be fun!" The girl said, 
tugging on his arm again.
	"I guess..." 
	"Now he's gotta kiss the bride!" The person in 
front of them piped up. 
	Ranma erked and backed off, "Hey! Wait! Nobody 
said nothin' about no kissin'!"
	"It's traditional, says so in the book," the 
figure said, holding up the aforementioned book.
	"Ranma!" A voice suddenly called out.
	Ranma blinked in surprise and turned, "Oh, 
man... it's nearly dinner time. That's my mom."
	The voice called his name again, louder this 
time.
	The other two immediately went, "Awwww!"
	"Do you really have to go?" The veiled girl 
asked.
	Ranma nodded sadly, but with just a bit of 
relief, "Sorry guys. How 'bout we pick this up 
tomorrow, okay?"
	"I guess." The figure sighed, "This moustache 
was getting itchy anyway." 
	The girl pulled her shawl off her head, 
readjusting it around her shoulders, revealing a 
cascade of unbound shoulder length red hair. "No 
fair, we were just getting to the good bits." She 
pouted.
	The obscured figure, now having lost its 
moustache, jumped off the rock she was standing on. 
The illusion of height was lost as she brushed her 
long black hair back over her ear. "Ranko, he has to 
go eat dinner."
	The eight year old Ranko pulled at her shawl 
slowly and gave a defeated sigh, "I guess, Akane."
	A young Akane beamed at her cousin and put an 
affectionate arm around her, "Don't be so glum."
	Ranma was about to turn and head out when he 
caught sight of Ranko's expression, "Aww... don't be 
like that. Um..." he forced a smile. Well, some 
sacrifices had to be made. He just couldn't bear to 
see Ranko so sad, "Tell you guys what, let's do this 
again tomorrow... and Ranko can kiss me all she 
likes, okay?"
	Ranko brightened up immediately, "Great!"
	Akane rolled her eyes, "Hey, no fair! When do I 
get a turn as the bride?"
	"Um... you get your chance afterwards?" Ranma 
replied weakly.
	"I better." Akane said mock severely, crossing 
her arms.
	Ranko laughed and hugged Akane playfully, 
"Well, you don't get to be a bride unless I get all 
the kisses I want out of him first."
	"But he'll be all kissed out!" Akane protested.
	The two looked at each other then at Ranma, 
"And how do we know you aren't gonna welsh?" they 
asked simultaneously.
	Ranma laughed, "Hey, quit it you two." He held 
up his hand, little finger extended, "Okay, I pinky 
promise both you guys, okay? Ranko gets all the 
kisses she wants and Akane gets to be my bride."
	The two cousins exchanged puzzled looks but 
extended their own hands, Ranko first, then Akane, 
hooking pinkies with Ranma in turn. All the while, 
the voice calling for Ranma was getting louder.
	Ranma grinned, waving to them as he ran out of 
the clearing, coming closer to the voice that kept 
calling his name. 
	"Ranma..." the voice repeated. That wasn't his 
mom's voice... 
	"Ranma..." 
	Slowly, Ranma let himself wake up. He could 
feel something touching his face. Something soft and 
warm was pressed against his body. He was very 
comfortable. Toasty warm in fact, but at the same 
time it also felt oddly... drafty?
	He blinked and found Akane's smiling face just 
inches from his own, her fingers tracing the line of 
his jaw. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she murmured, 
kissing him awake.
	"Good morning, Akane... um... how'd I get in my 
room?" He asked.	
	"I dragged you in after you dozed off." Akane 
replied quietly, "I'm not sure, but I don't think 
Kasumi or Nabiki got any sleep."
	Ranma nodded, "I see... um... okay, I hope this 
isn't a dumb question, but why are you in the futon 
with me?"
	Akane smiled pleasantly, shifting slightly in 
his arms, "Well, I was getting tired too when you 
fell asleep... and you looked so cold and lonely in 
here, I decided to keep you company."
	"And... all we did was sleep, right?" Ranma 
asked cautiously.
	Akane giggled, "Yes, silly. Just sleep."
	Ranma nodded and then blushed a bit as he 
phrased the most important question, "So... why are 
we both naked under this blanket?"
	She shrugged slightly, "Well, with both of us 
under here, it was too warm to wear any clothes, so I 
took our clothes off..." she grinned hungrily at him, 
"Besides... I thought you'd appreciate the practice." 
She pressed closer against him, "I really need to get 
you more used to feeling my body against yours..."
	Ranma could feel the heat climbing up his neck 
even before the blush reached his face, "Er... I... I 
guess I can appreciate that."
	"Good." She laughed kissing his nose playfully.
	Admittedly her behavior was definitely 
pleasant, but she seemed a little too eager to be 
with him. This was going just a little too fast, a 
little too suddenly for him.
	Ranma shifted, trying to keep specific parts of 
himself from touching specific parts of her, and 
doing a poor job of it. Worse, there were certain 
inevitable reactions on his part. Desperate to keep 
his mind off of things (his things and her things, 
and the things that could be done with those things), 
he asked, "Have... um... have Nabiki and Kasumi found 
out anything yet?" 
	Akane's face suddenly turned serious before she 
replied, "I don't think so, but I just woke up 
myself. Let's find out." She smiled once more, 
bouncing to her bare feet. As she did so, she drew 
the blanket up with her, wrapping it around herself 
toga style. Unfortunately, Ranma who had been sharing 
that sheet with her, found himself exposed rather 
forcibly to the chill morning air by her departure. 
He gave an alarmed yelp and tried his best to cover 
himself up. Akane was at the door when she glanced 
over her shoulder. She paused just long enough to 
take the golden comb she'd worn during the play off 
of the table and use it to pull back her hair. She 
had a grin and a playful twinkle in her eye as she 
gave him a thorough once over. 
	He blushed at her unabashed inspection and 
pulled the pillow over to cover himself up better. 
She laughed once as he did so before darting out of 
the door. Ranma shook his head. If he hadn't known 
any better, he thought to himself, he could almost 
have sworn that that was a disguised Ranko... but 
those kisses weren't the familiar ones Ranko stole 
off of him. There were other differences as well. 
Subtle ones. The way she walked. The exact way her 
lip curled when she smiled. The way she breathed. 
Little clues about how Ranko moved and how Akane 
moved that he'd learned over time. He didn't even 
realize how well he'd gotten to know the two of them. 
Or how closely he'd watched them.
	He shook his head clear of those thoughts, 
reaching into his closet for some clothes.
	"Ranma!" He heard Akane's alarmed voice call 
out to him.
	He'd barely managed to slip into his pants and 
grab a shirt before barreling out the door, running 
towards the sound of her voice. He found her in the 
living room, which opened up to the porch which led 
to their garden. On the floor some strange circular 
design had been chalked in during the night. Next to 
that were reams of paper, with precisely neat, 
handwritten notes had been jotted. Kasumi and Nabiki 
were also there, but there was something odd about 
them.
	Kasumi was kneeling, her hands folded on her 
lap and a small smile on her lips. Her eyes were open 
and stared vacantly out into the garden. She was 
almost eerily motionless. She didn't seem to blink or 
breathe. Even her clothing and hair were totally 
unmoved by the slight draft from the open windows. As 
Ranma caught sight of her, he suddenly felt all the 
worry in him just melt away completely. Everything 
was alright... everything was perfectly fine. After 
all, how else could she be so perfectly tranquil if 
anything at all were the matter?
	He blinked in an effort to clear his head and 
tear his gaze away from her. Not quite looking at her 
now, he felt his normal worry and alarm return to 
him, full force. Something was definitely wrong.
	His gaze fell on Nabiki who was standing just 
beside the door. She stood almost, but not quite 
perfectly still. And certainly didn't radiate quite 
the same feeling of calm Kasumi did. If anything, 
there was a definite expression of annoyance and 
exasperation on her face. Akane was standing right in 
front of her, waving a hand in front of her older 
sister's eyes, trying to catch her attention. But 
Nabiki's gaze didn't seem to waver either.
	"What happened, Akane? What's wrong with them?" 
Ranma immediately asked.
	Akane shook her head, she looked shaken. "I... 
I'm not sure. I think the system crash was worse than 
we realized."
	"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, moving towards 
her protectively.
	She clung to him, answering his questions with 
a deliberate softness, as though trying to calm 
herself, "The marks on our foreheads? They're not 
just there to help identify our ranks... they help 
control who and what we are. Each goddess is an 
expression of something in nature... we can't help 
but show it... except when the system is helping us 
to regulate it."
	"So..?" Ranma glanced at Kasumi then to Nabiki.
	Akane continued slowly, "Kasumi is Goddess of 
Tranquility... that's probably why she's stuck like 
that. Nabiki is Goddess of Transactions... I don't 
think she can do anything unless someone else does 
something to her first..."
	Ranma looked worriedly at Akane, "What about 
you?"
	She took slow deep breaths before replying, 
holding him close to her, "I'm Goddess of Aggression. 
I think... I think I'd lose my temper repeatedly. 
That or go berserk."
	Ranma gulped nervously. "You... you seem to be 
fighting it okay..."
	Akane answered slowly, "Probably because 
nothing's set me off yet... but if anything... 
anything at all looks like it's going to make me 
upset or angry, promise me you'll get as far away 
from me as you can, alright?"
	He looked at her confused.
	She held him tightly, "I don't want you to be 
hurt. I... I don't think I'd much notice what I was 
doing if I lost my temper at this point."
	He nodded, gently stroking her hair, "I 
promise... but let's just hope you don't get mad 
okay?"
	She smiled tentatively and nodded before 
kissing his cheek.
	They looked at Nabiki again and now both of 
them waved their hands in front of her eyes. There 
was no obvious reaction aside from a half irritated 
eyebrow twitch.
	"What if we talk to her?" Ranma asked.
	Akane glanced at Nabiki and said deliberately, 
"I think she'll be able to talk back."
	Ranma addressed Nabiki. "Can you hear me?"
	"What do you think?" Nabiki snapped, perhaps a 
bit tiredly.
	"Are you okay?" Ranma asked.
	Nabiki asked back, "Do I look like I'm okay?"
	Ranma winced a little, "Hey, there's no need to 
be so sarcastic."
	"I'm not being sarcastic, I can't help it." 
Nabiki replied, practically only her lips moving.
	Akane snapped her fingers, "Oh, that's it."
	"What's it?" Ranma asked her.
	The youngest goddess answered, "Don't ask her 
questions, she's going to answer with questions." She 
turned to Nabiki, "You need to sit down."
	"I do, but I can't," was her reply.
	 Ranma was struck by sudden inspiration, then 
dug into his pocket, "I'll give you a hundred yen if 
you'll sit down."
	Nabiki's face broke into a look of intense 
relief as her hand came up snatching the coin. Her 
knees buckled suddenly as she collapsed onto the 
floor. "I accept," she declared with a sigh. Ranma 
could swear he could hear her joints popping as she 
leaned against the wall, sitting inelegantly on the 
floor. She must've been standing there for the better 
part of the night, he thought to himself.
	"I was right about the system crash." Akane 
said to Nabiki, managing to turn the question she had 
in mind into a statement.
	Nabiki spoke wearily, "Yes. Kasumi and I 
managed to set up the portal to get to Ranko... but 
the file corruption got bad enough to affect our 
regulators. We're reverting to base archetypes." She 
looked as though she wanted to say more, but her 
teeth snapped shut, cutting herself off.
	Akane started to frown as she thought. Ranma 
noticed that, edged away slightly. She didn't even 
notice and pulled him against her once more, not 
wanting to let him go.
	"I..." Ranma said to Akane, trying to think of 
some excuse. She looked like she was getting upset. 
Now he had to extricate himself from her without 
upsetting her further. "I just thought of 
something... I'll be right back..."
	Akane looked stricken, "Do you have to?"
	Ranma grinned as he managed to edge a way a 
little, "Ahh... I think I can get Nabiki to keep 
talking. Really!"
	She nodded reluctantly releasing his hand. 
Nabiki seemed to be watching them with a mild 
interested look, but had not moved since she sat 
down.
	Ranma dashed quickly to the kitchen, then back 
with a pitcher of water and a glass. She remembered 
Akane telling him about Nabiki's first arrival to the 
temple. That and considering the fact that the older 
Tendo sister probably hadn't had anything to drink 
all night...
	"Hey, Nabiki," Ranma said, "I'll give you as 
much water to drink as you want. In return, you have 
to talk and move without us prompting you."
	She seemed to mull it over for a moment before 
replying, "Accepted."
	Akane smiled and hugged Ranma, "You're 
brilliant!"
	Ranma smiled back at her, returning the hug, 
"Well, it seemed like the right thing to do."
	Nabiki thirstily drank down her first glass and 
refilled it before rearranging herself to sit a bit 
more comfortably. "Yeah, smart thinking, Ranma." She 
finally said with a breath of relief.
	Ranma looked over his shoulder, then quickly 
looked away before his vision could be caught again, 
"Can we do anything for Kasumi?"
	Nabiki shook her head, finishing her second 
glass, "Not really. We can snap her out of it, but 
not for very long. Trust me, I tried all last night. 
At least up until I couldn't move anymore," she added 
disgustedly.
	Akane asked, "How long have you guys been like 
that?"
	Nabiki looked thoughtfully at Akane as though 
assessing something, "About two hours after you took 
Ranma to bed."
	Ranma blushed.
	The elder Tendo continued, "By all rights, 
Akane, it should've affected you way before now. Do 
you feel any different?"
	Akane shook her head, "No... not really... I 
just thought..." she glanced at Ranma and gave him a 
little squeeze and another smile, "Well, I guess 
Ranma must be keeping me calm..."
	Nabiki looked at them dubiously, "Possible. I 
doubt it, though. Something really weird is going on 
here. Ranko would never have left just like that... 
All of our locator spells keep telling us she's here 
though... Then the system crash happening at the same 
time..." She glanced significantly at her younger 
sister, "And you not being affected by the crash at 
all..." Nabiki peered closely at the pair, before 
adding, "Or are you?"
	"What are you saying?" Akane simply looked 
confused and clung tighter to Ranma for support.
	Behind them Kasumi's spoke in a gentle, near 
inaudible voice. "She's saying they're all 
interrelated. Things are happening in perfect 
synchronicity, all in accordance with someone's 
intentions. It's a lovely harmony, really."
	Ranma turned to look at her, but her face still 
bore no more than a contented smile. He thought he 
could catch a glimpse of her struggling somewhat, 
before the blank, glazed look slid across her eyes 
again.
	"Someone planned this?" he asked incredulously.
	Nabiki nodded, then looked at her pitcher 
meaningfully. "I'm nearly out of water."
	Ranma nodded and took it, "I'll get some more. 
But we need more of an explanation than that."
	When he returned, Nabiki was looking intently 
at Akane once more. The youngest Tendo sibling was 
squirming uncomfortably under her sister's scrutiny. 
As he set the pitcher down, Nabiki reached a hand up 
to touch his and reached a hand out to Akane as well.
	"Well, since you need more of an explanation... 
and you are paying, then I really need to check 
something that's been bothering me. May I?" Nabiki 
asked.
	Ranma nodded. Akane gave him a panicked glance, 
but seeing his assent, she nodded as well, perhaps a 
bit more nervously.
	Nabiki turned her full attention to the two of 
them and closed her eyes as she began to intone, "I 
balance the truth with a lie. I balance a revelation 
by a deception. False face you wear, fall and reveal 
to me the truth I seek. False face you hide, reveal 
yourself."
	There was a swirl of energies as Nabiki spoke. 
Coruscating around both Ranma and Akane. It didn't 
hurt, at most it tingled a little... there was a 
sharp cracking sound, followed by a brief, but 
intense flash of light.
	Ranma blinked his... no... her eyes to clear 
them. He was female again. Her hair now, red and her 
features that of the missing Ranko. "What did you do 
that for?!" She sputtered, her pants almost falling 
off her much smaller frame.
	Beside Ranma, Akane's hair had turned the same 
bright shade of red as Ranko's. In fact... it was now 
past her waist, and braided as Ranko always wore her 
hair, the comb was still there. She reached up, 
feeling the braid, stunned. Ranma couldn't see her 
face, but she seemed totally caught off guard.
	Ranma instinctively took a step back, releasing 
Nabiki's hand as he concentrated, shifting his body 
back to his male form. Where Akane should have been 
now stood Ranko, the sheet wound around her exactly 
as Akane had originally worn it. Ranko looked at 
Ranma, her eyes wide. She looked utterly lost. "How? 
What?"
	Ranma turned sharply towards Nabiki, 
overturning the pitcher of water he'd brought. "What 
did you just do?! Where's Akane?!"
	Nabiki nodded slowly, looking at the still 
confused Ranko. That just confirmed it. "She was 
never here... she's the one that's missing. Not 
Ranko. Ranko was here the whole ti--" she suddenly 
cut off in mid-word as her internal monitor for 
balances caught her. She stopped in place once more.
	"She was WHAT?!" Ranma howled. In a split 
second, he closed the distance between himself and 
Ranko, catching her arm. "You did this? This is all 
your fault again, isn't it?!" He roared.
	Ranko winced, looking fearfully into his 
enraged eyes. "Ranma," she pleaded, "Stop... that 
hurts."
	"What have you done to Akane?!"
	"I... I didn't do anything to her!" Ranko 
whimpered, tears forming in her eyes, "You're hurting 
me..."
	Ranma recoiled, pulling his hand back. Not 
expecting Ranko to look so... so... vulnerable. He'd 
half expected her to dance away from him, laughing at 
the feat she'd just managed to pull. He was even more 
surprised at himself. To lose his composure like 
that. To lose control so totally. Where he had 
grabbed her was beginning to bruise.
	Once released Ranko collapsed to her knees, 
sobbing quietly, holding herself. "It's always my 
fault. Always! Always me. No one thinks little miss 
perfect Akane ever does anything wrong. I don't know 
what happened! I don't know how I got here! It's not 
my fault! I didn't do anything!" she wailed.
	A bewildered Ranma knelt next to her. He 
awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders. "I... I'm 
sorry, Ranko... I just kind of... I lost it for a 
minute..."
	She turned, clutching at him desperately, 
slipping her arms around his bare torso. He could 
feel her tears rolling down his chest. Her voice was 
muffled, but the pain in it was clear, "Sure... it's 
okay for you to go ballistic when Akane's missing... 
but when you thought it was just me that was gone, 
you were just going to sleep." She made a fist and 
hit him lightly on the back, "You can be such a JERK! 
I don't know why I'm so in love with you."
	"R-Ranko?" he murmured nervously.
	She clung tighter to him and he could feel her 
placing small kisses on his chest. "And right now, 
all I can think about it just to be as close to you 
as possible so bad I can almost taste it... taste 
you... you smell nice..." She moaned softly, pressing 
against him, "Just... just hold me for a little 
while, okay?" She asked in a small voice. "I... I 
need to get a hold of myself... I'm... I'm not 
myself..."
	Nodding slowly, Ranma tentatively put his other 
arm around Ranko as well, her embrace tightening. He 
could feel her quivering in his arms, but her 
breathing slowed, becoming more regular and he could 
feel her coming somewhat more in control of herself.
	"Are you okay?" Ranma asked softly.
	She sighed, "Almost... almost... it feels so 
nice here. Don't let go. I don't think I can handle 
that yet." She added softly.
	"Ranko?" he prodded her tentatively, "Ranko, 
what happened?"
	There was a long silence before she finally 
spoke, "The last... the last thing I remember clearly 
was saying goodbye to you onstage."
	"Did you really mean that? I mean, like as in a 
real goodbye for good?"
	"Yes." She replied immediately, "Every word. It 
was going on too long... Me... Akane... you... I 
loved you too much... I didn't want to see anyone 
hurt, especially not you... and you and Akane seemed 
so happy together, I just decided to finally get out 
of your hair. With enforcement down it wouldn't have 
been a problem... by the time things got sorted out, 
I was sure I could have reworded the contracts so you 
two could stay together..." Her voice was sad and 
slow.
	Ranma was stunned... but no more than by any of 
the other surprises he'd had these past twenty four 
hours. He simply nodded.
	"I was opening a gate... you know... to Heaven.
	I could've done it anywhere actually... but I 
had to make a dramatic exit..." she suppressed a 
giggle, "You know me."
	"Yeah..." he answered, half smiling.
	"I could see Akane watching us... watching me 
when I was going... she looked," Ranko's face was 
hidden from Ranma, but he could swear she was 
frowning, "Upset that I was going. She didn't want me 
to leave I think... something like that... then it 
gets hazy."
	"Hazy? How?"
	I remember rising up... I remember the light 
coming out of the gate... then all of a sudden, 
something huge and black got between me and the light 
and... and..." she shuddered in his arms, biting her 
lip.
	Ranma made comforting noises, moving a hand up 
to stroke her hair.
	"It felt like... like I was being torn apart... 
then knit back together... it hurt... and I can't 
remember anything clearly after that. I know I was 
with you... but I don't think I was me... and... I 
think I thought I was Akane... and I wanted to snap 
out of it but I was kissing you and you were kissing 
me back and I didn't want to think anymore... and you 
kept looking at me... That way you look at Akane... 
cause I think I was Akane then... but that didn't 
matter because your eyes... I just..." Ranko shook 
her head as she trailed off incoherently. There was a 
long pause before she finally added, "I don't think I 
wanted to remember who I was."
	Ranma didn't doubt her story at all. The 
sincerity in her voice was unmistakable. And she was 
too upset to even begin to attempt to lie coherently. 
"This wasn't like your usual disguise was it?" He 
asked gently. 
	She shook her head against his chest, "No... 
you always see through that. This was almost like 
someone took a bit of Akane and put it in me. You 
always eventually see through my disguise.  
Especially after I kiss you. I don't think you even 
noticed this time."
	Ranma bit his lower lip and flushed in 
embarrassment, "You didn't kiss like you usually 
did."
	He was sure she was smiling and he could hear 
the faintly the sly tone Ranko usually spoke with, 
"Mmm... and I'll bet you know how that feels really 
well."
	He could only blush in response.
	She whispered softly to him, "Did you really 
mean that? When you said you'd would've done anything 
to help me?"
	"Do you remember that?" He asked.
	She nodded, "Yeah. Kind of. I just want to know 
if you meant it?"
	"Yeah. I did. I do. I was... I was worried 
about you. You keep getting into all sorts of trouble 
you know."
	She pulled away just enough to look into his 
face, a slight smile on her lips, "I know. I'm glad 
you worry about me."
	"Course I do." He answered awkwardly. 
	"Ranma? How do you... how do you feel about 
me?" 
	He blushed and stammered, "Uh... Ranko... now 
isn't really the time for that... I mean... it's kind 
of in the middle of a crisis and..."
	She nodded, "I know. Akane's in trouble... I 
think. No, I'm pretty sure of it. I remember some 
more bits and pieces. There was someone nearby. 
Someone who closed off the gate and switched me for 
Akane..."
	"Do you remember who it was?" Ranma asked, his 
brow furrowing.
	Ranko frowned slightly in thought, "It was a 
little girl in a black dress."
	"A what?" 
	She moved her hand close to his face and 
snapped her fingers. There was a clicking sound as a 
Polaroid photo popped into existence in her hand. Her 
eyes widened in shock as she felt the strain of even 
that minor bit of magic, forcing her to lean even 
more against Ranma.
	"Hey, you okay?"
	"I'll be fine," she replied in a strained 
voice, forcing herself to smile for him, "Here's what 
she looked like."
	Ranma stared at the photo in bewilderment. It 
was a little girl, probably no more than ten years 
old. She was pretty, with large eyes and long, 
straight black hair that reached well past her knees. 
On her forehead was a mark which looked vaguely like 
a V. She wore a cute black a-line dress to her knees 
that had long sleeves which reached a little past her 
wrists. In her left hand she held a large black 
balloon.
	He couldn't help himself and asked. "This... is 
the kidnapper?" 
	Ranko nodded, "I think so. That's what I 
remember."
	Ranma eyed her dubiously, "Are you sure? I 
mean... your memory is still pretty frazzled..."
	"No. I'm absolutely sure of it."
	"Awww... and here I thought you'd have your 
happily ever after." A cheerful voice called out to 
both of them.
	Ranma looked up and Ranko glanced over her 
shoulder. Standing at the doorway leading to the 
porch was a little girl in a black dress who looked 
exactly like the girl in the photo. She stood there 
smiling cutely at them with her hands behind her 
back. 
	"That's her!" Ranko gasped.
	"Wha?"
	The little girl hopped up to Kasumi waving a 
hand in front of her eyes, smiling all the while. 
	"Awww... she's stuck," the girl giggled. 
	Ranma stood up, moving to the ten year old, 
"Who are you?"
	She turned to face him, "Hi! I'm Hinako 
Ninomiya! It's so nice to meet you." She extended her 
hand to him. A bemused Ranma moved to take it, but 
Ranko sprang to her feet, and stood between them, 
glaring at the little girl. 
	"Don't you DARE touch him!" She snapped.
	The girl turned her smile on Ranko, "You guys 
are just tooo smart for your own good. If you hadn't 
done that, he'd've been happy with you already."
	Ranko got weakly to her feet, moving to Ranma 
protectively, "What are you doing here? What did you 
do with Akane?"
	"Me?" Hinako asked innocently, "I didn't do 
anything she didn't want me to."
	"Don't lie to me demoness." Ranko said softly.
	"Um... what?" Ranma asked.
	"I didn't get to finish my introduction, cause 
she interrupted!" Hinako pouted, "I was going to add, 
Demoness First class, unlimited license. And you're 
Ranma Saotome, she's Ranko Tendo... and the lumps 
over here are Nabiki and Kasumi." She giggled, 
"They're funny like this."
	"What have you done with Akane?!" Ranko asked 
again, her voice growing more dangerous.
	The little girl frowned at her. Her voice 
changed for a moment, losing it's childish quality 
and becoming more menacing, a sharp hiss all the more 
disturbing for seeming to come out of the mouth of a 
cuter little ten year old. "Don't presume to threaten 
me little goddess. I've granted your desire, to be 
with Ranma... and I've taken the agreed price. Akane 
Tendo is now one of ours. Forget her and get along 
with the pleasures of your lives..." her eyes glinted 
as she looked at Ranma, "However short and fleeting 
they are."
	Ranma stared in shock at Ranko, "Ranko... you 
didn't... not after what you just told me..."
	"You're lying!" Ranko cried at her, she turned 
to face Ranma, tears in her eyes, "She's lying! I 
didn't have anything to do with this!"
	Ranma bit his lower lip in thought, but gave 
Ranko's hand a comforting squeeze.
	Ranko smiled at him a little, then looked at 
Hinako, "Funny you calling me little when you don't 
even come up to my chin."
	Hinako smiled coldly, her body beginning to 
slowly unfold as he watched, lengthening, broadening, 
the little girl body acquiring curves, more befitting 
of a full grown woman... her body stretching until 
she was several inches taller than even Ranma. Ranma 
blinked in surprise as he looked at her now 
devastatingly sexy form. Her top was now stretched 
tightly across her entire body, the modest neckline 
was pulled open to reveal prodigious amounts of 
cleavage, the hemline of her dress had risen from 
somewhere around her knees to just barely covering 
her bottom. She faced them both a tiny playful smile 
on her face, "Better, Ranko?"
	Ranma merely frowned, unimpressed. He'd seen 
enough of Ranko's shapeshifting not to be 
intimidated, "What are you talking about?"
	"Well, think about it, Ranma," Hinako smirked, 
"After all... doesn't it seem that Ranko just got 
what she wanted? To be the one woman in your life? 
Now you tell me... aren't you just a little 
suspicious, hmmm?"
	Ranma looked at Ranko... his insides churning 
with the agony of indecision. Was Ranko lying again? 
It wouldn't be the first time... but after how Ranko 
had looked just a few minutes ago and she had just 
said... it was difficult to lend credence to what a 
self proclaimed demonness was saying. But what Hinako 
was telling him made too much sense. No. He could 
trust Ranko. In this at least, maybe. He shook his 
head and forced himself to look into Hinako's face. 
"I don't care who's fault it is, I just want Akane 
back." He said in a level voice.
	"But I can't give her to you... there's a 
contract," Hinako smiled coldly, putting her fist to 
her hip. "Unless... you'd like to make a deal for 
her..."
	Ranma bit back a growl, "Contracts! Contracts! 
What is it with you people and your contracts!"
	Ranko held him back, standing protectively in 
front of him. "No... don't..." 	
	"Let me see her!" Ranma shouted at Hinako. 
	The demonness smirked, "Oh, well showing her to 
you is different." she inclined her head, stepping 
across the threshold. "Right this way."
	Cautiously, Ranma and Ranko followed her out to 
the garden. As she stood in the middle of the clear 
area in the garden, she gave a shrug and the front of 
her outfit opened, making it look more like a jacket 
rather than the dress it was originally. Underneath 
it, she wore a series of overlapping leather straps 
held in place by metal buckles, which while keeping 
her modesty... also did a startlingly good job of 
tempting the eye. Ranma however wasn't really paying 
attention to that. She faced them and put a hand 
under her jacket, drawing out what appeared to be a 
bottle of mineral water.
	She gave the bottle a shake and tapped the cap 
lightly. "Wakey, wakey Akane. Your lover boy out here 
wants to look at you."
	There was an outpouring of smoke from the 
bottle, like steam or mist which swirled tightly... 
Ranko and Ranma both taken by surprise stepped back 
as the smoke coalesced into another form... It was 
Akane... but not quite as either Ranma or her cousin 
could recognize.
	She wore dark eyeshadow and her outfit was one 
they never would've associated with Akane. It was 
similar to Hinako's, comprised of alternating strips 
of black leather, which simultaneously covered and 
concealed a great deal of skin, which vaguely 
resembled a swimsuit. On her hands were black gloves 
which reached to the elbow and she wore high heeled 
boots reaching up to her thigh. Held at her throat by 
a silver clasp in the shape of a lightning bolt was a 
long gray cloak. She had one hand at her hip, and 
stood with one leg just slightly ahead of the other. 
She was pretty before. Now... now she was 
devastating. Ranma had trouble keeping his mouth 
shut. It was her and it wasn't... and somehow... that 
only made her all the more exciting.
	"By all of the... Akane! What's happened to 
you?!" Ranko blurted out, clinging tighter to Ranma.
	Akane looked at the two of them through hooded 
eyes, before languidly turning her face to Hinako, 
"Did you need me for something, ma'am?"
	Hinako smiled sweetly at her, "Why yes... 
there's a mortal who's been looking for you oh, so 
desperately..."
	She returned her gaze to Ranma and Ranko, 
looking at the two of them thoroughly. Her eyebrow 
quirked, calling further attention to another change. 
The symbol on her forehead was no longer a diamond. 
It had become a V shape. Just like Hinako's.
	"I'm gone less than a day and already you two 
are all over each other." Akane smirked, "You're 
absolutely disgusting."
	Ranma's eyes widened as he tried to pull away 
from Ranko, who was having none of it. "It... it's 
not what it looks like Akane--" he stammered.
	Akane stepped closer to them, gliding smoothly, 
until her face was practically just inches from his. 
She took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring slightly 
even as her eyes flashed. "Oh... and what's this? You 
practically smell just like her... the only way I 
could think for that to happen is if you'd spent the 
night together... did you do that, hmmm?"
	Ranma stammered, taking a step back, still 
trying to extricate himself from the clinging Ranko, 
"Er... we did... but... not like you're making it 
sound..."
	Akane straightened up, looking coldly at him, 
"I just knew you were waiting for me to leave so you 
could have your way with Ranko... all the way from 
the start... all those kind words... all those loving 
promises... all lies. I suppose I shouldn't have 
expected too much from you." She all but spat out, 
"After all, you're just human."
	Around them the sky was darkening. Clouds 
rolled across the sky with frightening speed and the 
winds were building up. Despite Akane's cool facade, 
all around them the fury of the building storm could 
be nothing more than a pale shadow of the anger 
inside Akane.
	Hinako laughed merrily, stepping next to Akane 
and lightly placed a hand on the shorter woman's 
shoulder, "As you can plainly see, Ranma... she 
obviously doesn't want to come with you. So why don't 
you just keep Ranko and have fun. Akane just isn't 
interested anymore."
	Ranma looked past Akane to Hinako, "What have 
you done to her?! Is this even her? I've seen so many 
people changing shape today I wouldn't put it past a 
demonness to show us some sort of fake."
	Akane sneered, "I'm right here, so why don't 
you ask me if I'm a fake or not? And if I could 
possibly mention it, you're cuddling to the world's 
expert on being a 'fake Akane' why not ask her?"
	Ranko turned, facing Akane, "You made a wish 
didn't you?" She demanded.
	"Of course, I did, you stupid ungrateful cow." 
Akane replied, as lightning began to arc above them, 
"I made the wish for you. The wish you didn't have 
the guts to make."
	Ranma frowned, "Wish? What are you talking 
about? Akane, you told me yourself the Goddesses 
aren't allowed to have wishes."
	Ranko spoke in a level voice, "Goddesses aren't 
allowed to make wishes come true for themselves. 
Wishes are granted. They're always granted. No 
goddess can make a wish come true for another one. 
But demons can grant a goddess' wishes. And the price 
for it is to become a demon."
	"Right," Akane grinned, "And I got my wish 
granted. A wish I made for you. I'd think you'd 
appreciate it more, you stupid idiot. I mean, I only 
gave up everything just so you could have him, the 
least you could do was to at least look like you were 
enjoying yourself. Look, you've even got the dumb 
comb," she smirked, pointing at Ranko's hair.
	Ranko looked shocked, "This... I'm starting to 
remember... this can't be over that, can it Akane? 
You couldn't have possibly done this because of what 
happened so long ago."
	"I made this wish long, long ago... everything 
has been leading up to this. Everything." Akane 
sneered. Behind her, Hinako merely smiled.
	Ranma shook his head, still confused, "But... 
but why, Akane? How could you do this?"
	"Why?" Akane asked, her eyes locked with his 
moving even closer, "Because I couldn't stand to see 
Ranko constantly mooning over you anymore. I was sick 
and tired of it. You wouldn't even think of doing to 
me what you've been wanting to do to her all this 
time... guess I wasn't good enough for you, huh? I 
figured you wanted to be with the red headed chippy 
more than you wanted to be with me, so why not? I 
gave you both what you wanted, didn't I? "
	"No! You're turning this all around!" Ranma 
roared pushing Ranko behind him, "You know how I feel 
about you! Stop talking like that, Akane! This isn't 
like you!"
	"'Like me'? Not 'like me'?! What do you know 
about me, Saotome?!" She literally thundered, the 
howling wind of the building storm taking on her 
words, "What makes you think you know me?!" She asked 
sharply, shoving him back.
	Ranma staggered a step backwards as Akane 
closed in, aiming a roundhouse for his face. He 
pulled his head back, her punch barely missing him. 
she began to unleash a flurry of blows, which he 
began to duck and weave, avoiding them all by the 
narrowest of margins. He couldn't believe how fast 
she was. The more he avoided them, the faster her 
blows came, around them the wind was now roaring, 
thunder rolling ominously close to them. 
	"I hate you, Ranma! For every time you made me 
suffer the humiliation of wanting you... for every 
indignity I've taken since your stupid wish... I hate 
you! I hate you!" She screamed out, the intensity of 
the wind growing even stronger, pounding at all of 
them. Akane's eyes were glowing an electric blue, 
power crackling from her body. "I hate you!" she 
cried aloud as lightning suddenly tore from the sky, 
striking Ranma full in the chest, hurling him back.
	She was breathing hard as she loomed over him, 
her face all the more terrifying for it's familiarity 
as for the expression of unadulterated fury etched 
into it. She raised a hand, electricity arcing across 
her fingertips. 
	"No!" Ranko cried, hurling herself on top of 
Ranma's stunned and smoking form. She was still weak. 
Too weak. Being cut off from the system had drained 
her tremendously, but being so close to Ranma renewed 
her strength. A warmth building up inside her as she 
felt her own love for him burning fiercer. A bolt of 
lightning arced from Akane's hand striking her in the 
small of the back, but it bounced off of the glowing 
aura which had sprung up around her. 
	Slowly, perhaps a little shakily, Ranko rose to 
her feet. Her eyes locked with Akane's. She spread 
her arms to her sides and a shimmering dome of pale 
red energy surrounded her and Ranma. Her eyes had 
tears in them, but they were hard as steel. "No more, 
Akane. No more."	
	A cruel, triumphant smile crossed Akane's lips 
as she spoke, coldly. "A nice effort, cousin... but 
ultimately futile. The system's down, or didn't you 
know? You've got a very limited reserve of power left 
to you, don't you? It's only a matter of time before 
that's exhausted..." she raised both of her hands 
above her head, a crackling ball of energy began to 
form as she continued to speak, "Whereas I... I am 
tapped into the other system. My power comes from my 
anger. And right now, I'm feeling very, very ANGRY!" 
She screamed the last as she loosed the ball of 
energy hurling it at Ranko's shield. 
	There was an explosion of pure force that 
rocked Ranko's construct, staggering her, forcing her 
to one knee. She wet her lips as she rose to her feet 
again, "And you know where my power comes from 
Akane... I'm protecting Ranma right now... The man I 
love. Give it up..."
	Ranma struggled to her feet behind her, "Ranko, 
no... don't fight her. This is between us. This is my 
fault. I think I can see that. Let me talk to her. 
This is between her and me."
	Ranko took a moment to glance at Ranma over her 
shoulder and favored him with a weak smile. A tiny 
tingle of warmth fanned the power within her at the 
sight of him. "No, Ranma... this isn't about you and 
her. It's about her and me." She turned to look at 
Akane, "It always has been. Ever since the day we had 
to make you forget us... ever since the day we made 
each other forget about you..."
	"What are you--?" Ranma began to ask, but 
Akane's cry drowned out the rest.
	"You've never beaten me, Ranko. Not once! Let's 
finish this once and for all!" She called out hurling 
another lightning bolt at Ranko.
	Ranko grit her teeth anticipating the blow... 
she allowed her shield to give a little, catching the 
energy her cousin had hurled within a web of her own 
power. Slowly she drew her hands in front of her, the 
shield around them tearing and flickering as it 
coalesced, enfolding the energy Akane had hurled at 
them as she called back, "That, Akane... is because 
we're always... getting... INTERRUPTED!" She shouted 
as she tensed her arms, suddenly hurling both the 
mingled energies. The blast, tore through the lawn, 
singeing the grass as it passed. Akane was caught off 
guard. She crossed her arms desperately in front of 
her, trying to ward off the blast, but it caught her 
full force, hurling her back all the way to the wall, 
embedding her in the stone. She slumped forward 
collapsing onto the lawn. Ranma screamed her name, 
running to catch her just before she hit the ground.
	Ranma stared in shock as he cradled Akane in 
his arms. She seemed to be breathing, but she was out 
cold. , "Ranko, why did you?!"
	"I had... to stop... her... don't worry, 
she's... not hurt..." Ranko walked towards them and 
teetered for a moment longer before she slumped to 
the ground, almost totally drained. Ranma lunged 
forward, catching her clumsily, since he was already 
supporting Akane with one hand.
	Hinako clapped slowly, "Oh, that was terribly 
sweet. Not too effective, though. Akane's still mine. 
I granted her wish and there's nothing more you can 
do about it."
	Ranma stared at her, his face livid with anger, 
"Don't bet on it. Contracts can get broken."
	"Not this one," Hinako laughed. "I've spent the 
past thirteen years setting all of this up. It's 
totally airtight. You haven't a chance of breaking 
it." she stopped laughing and sauntered closer to 
him, "Unless of course... you'd like to make a deal 
for her. I can be quite generous with the terms."
	Ranma ground his teeth in frustration, before 
setting Ranko and Akane gently down onto the ground. 
He rose to his feet, facing her, "What kind of 
terms?"
	She gestured, "Your willing, complete and total 
servitude for the remainder of your life. In 
exchange, I free Akane of the demonic infiltration 
I've performed on her. I'll even throw in not 
interfering with Ranko, Akane, Kasumi and Nabiki's 
lives ever again, if you like, just to show you I'm a 
fair minded demoness."
	Ranma stared at Hinako. His mouth was opening 
in preparation for accepting the terms of the deal. 
It wouldn't be that much of a price to pay, would it? 
It was for Akane. And Ranko. He could save them. Keep 
this... this monster away from them. They wouldn't be 
hurt anymore. They wouldn't need to keep near him 
anymore. The stupid contracts would be nullified, 
they would be free to live their own lives. Away from 
him. Away from everything he'd ever inflicted on them 
through his thoughtlessness. As these thoughts 
flashed through his head a curious calm filled him. 
He straightened up, as the winds began to die down 
and an eerie silence surrounded everything. As though 
he'd suddenly grown distant to everything. Around him 
a blue aura began to flicker to life, gaining 
strength as he stared at Hinako.
	Knowledge began to pour through him. Memories 
locked away... his dream... it's conclusion... the 
pillar of light that erupted from the forest as he 
left it... the wonder... he understood. He finally 
knew how it all fit together. He felt as though the 
final piece of the puzzle has slid into place and the 
whole picture had simply leapt into shape. The 
interactions. Balance, Peace, Force, Proximity... 
	"No." He spoke. And it was like a book being 
closed. With that one syllable came a force of 
absolute certainty that it would not happen, never 
would happen and nothing ANYWHERE could possibly 
change conditions. 
	Hinako took a step back, gaping in shock as the 
aura surrounding Ranma intensified. He looked to be 
almost transfigured. Even the gaping hole in his 
shirt was mending itself.
	"Akane was never the one you wanted. It was me 
all along, wasn't it?" Ranma asked sharply.
	Hinako took another step back, shrinking down 
to her childlike form, an expression of pure terror 
replacing her surprise.
	"You will answer." Ranma spoke and there was 
something so totally indisputable about his voice. It 
wasn't possible to resist. He wasn't simply making a 
statement. He was telling her how it would BE.
	"Yes," Hinako squeaked.
	Ranma gestured, calling on his newfound 
knowledge. Ranko and Akane both began to stir weakly 
as they felt energy pouring into their bodies once 
more. System energy. Akane rubbed her head. It was 
still ringing. the brand on her forehead was still 
the V shape, but it seemed to slide open and closed, 
shifting shape between that and it's normal diamond 
shape. From inside the house, Kasumi and Nabiki, both 
stepped out, neither looking much the worse for wear.
	"You can't have Akane, Hinako..." Ranma spoke, 
quoting information as it came to him, "It was an 
unselfish wish she asked for. Demons aren't allowed 
to grant those... at least not permanently. Akane's 
not yours."
	Akane lurched weakly to her feet, her face a 
fierce scowl the mark on her forehead now a V. "I... 
it was selfish! I did it to get rid of Ranko! So she 
wouldn't bother me anymore! I made the wish for me!"
	Kasumi shook her head gently, moving to Akane's 
side, touching her gently on the shoulders, "No, 
Akane... you wanted Ranko to be happy. Your wish was 
clearly for her."
	"No! I was winning! You can't do this! I nearly 
had him!" Hinako bawled. "It's not fair!"
	"Funny," Nabiki smirked, "A demon going on 
about fairness. You were hoping you could keep the 
charade up long enough to have him sign over his free 
will to you. Nice ploy. A little convoluted, but it 
might have worked."
	Ranko stood up groggily, "Did the good guys 
win?"
	"Not yet, but we will." Ranma replied with a 
smile, he turned his attention back to Hinako, "Go 
home, demonness. You have no claim on anyone here. 
Between four goddesses and me... you're better off 
going away."
	She pouted up at the lot of them, "This isn't 
over you know..." she sniffled, "You haven't seen the 
last of me."
	The goddesses moved to surround her... 
realizing her position, she gulped nervously and 
pulled a cassette tape out from a pocket, "Well... 
um... I guess I should be going." She dropped it to 
the ground and within a matter of moments her body 
had turned into a thick smoke which poured into the 
tape. As the last of the smoke disappeared into it. 
	Akane blinked unsteadily as the symbol on her 
brow reformed into it's usual shape, stabilizing into 
it's original configuration.
	Ranma took a step forward and crushed the tape 
under his foot. "And that's that." He grinned.
	"RANMA!" Akane and Ranko both cried 
simultaneously, rushing towards him, tackle hugging 
him from two sides.
	He blushed a bit, but had to admit to himself 
he definitely enjoyed it. Especially considering 
Ranko only had a blanket draped around herself, and 
Akane's leather outfit showed so much bare skin that 
her torso was close to naked.
	Kasumi and Nabiki smiled at him. 
	"I almost wasn't expecting you to pull through, 
Saotome... very close. Lucky you owed me enough." 
Nabiki smirked.
	Ranma blinked as he mulled that over. She was 
right. Absolutely right. "Yes. Yes, it was."
	"What does she mean?" Ranko asked.
	"You wanted him in debt to you?" Akane turned 
to Nabiki.
	"'Debtors of sufficient magnitude to the 
Goddess of Transactions are required to repay 
aforementioned debts with these effects to take 
precedence over any subsequent contracts placed, or 
attempted to be placed on the debtor in question'." 
Ranma quoted from their regulation manual.
	 Nabiki nodded, "Precisely. I was worried you 
didn't owe enough, but I suppose it must've been."
	Ranko and Akane were both staring at Ranma. 
	Ranko said to him, "But that doesn't explain 
how you were able to chase Hinako off. Or how you 
woke us up..."
	Akane nodded, "Or how you know so much..." 
	Ranma grinned, "I guess... you could say I just 
figured out my place in the universe."
	Ranko and Akane traded glances.
	"Do you know what he's talking about?" Akane 
asked her cousin.
	"No idea." Ranko replied.
	"You don't suppose he's gone nuts do you?"
	"Hope not."
	"Hey," Ranma mock scowled, "I'm right here, you 
can ask me you know."
	The two giggled, "Yeah, but it's more fun not 
to." Ranko answered.
	Akane was about to say something else in 
agreement, when she suddenly stiffened. She went pale 
and collapsed against Ranma, her face a grimace of 
pain as she felt something like hot knives searing 
through her soul.
	Ranko looked at her in concern, calling her 
name. Ranma cradled her gently, worry plainly etched 
on his features.
	"What's happening?" Ranko asked.
	"Hinako. The demon essence she placed inside 
Akane when she claimed her... it's withdrawn 
completely, but... she must've bound it so tightly to 
Akane that there's not enough left of her to hold 
together..." Kasumi spoke gently, moving closer to 
them. Only the slight quaver in her voice betrayed 
her own anxiety.
	Ranma looked up at her, bewildered, "What does 
that mean?!"
	"She's dying." Nabiki said in a flat tone, 
keeping her emotions under tight control, but she 
moved closer, her own concern evident, 
	"Not now," Ranko muttered, "We already won. 
This can't happen."
	Akane took a ragged gasp of air and they could 
see her body beginning to shimmer, losing its 
transparency. 
	Kasumi shook her head, "I... Ranko, I don't 
think there's anything we can do for her... none of 
us have any capacity for this... and Yggdrasil's 
down... maybe--" she started to say, glancing at 
Ranma.
	Ranko interrupted scowling, "Well it's not 
going to happen!" She took Akane's hand and looked 
fiercely into the dazed goddess' eyes, "Listen up 
stupid! Don't you dare die on us now! Just cause I 
kicked your behind is no reason to give up the ghost, 
right? I mean you've got Ranma... that's a huge 
consolation prize... are you listening to me?! You 
better not die, or I'm stealing him from you!"
	Akane barely shook as she suppressed a laugh. 
The effort cost her as her body seemed to pulse 
briefly into near total clarity. "Maybe... maybe 
that's for the better, huh? No more fighting for us 
at least."
	"No!" Ranko shouted at her, "Not now! We were 
just starting to get along again! I remember 
everything now... why we started fighting... why 
everything! You can't die!"
	Kasumi and Nabiki maintained a respectful 
silence, but their concern was almost palpable, 
reaching out, washing across the others. Almost 
solid. As though through their emotions they were 
trying to hold Akane together.
	"No." Ranma said flatly, rising to his feet. He 
glanced over to the other three goddesses, "If you 
had access to the Yggdrasil you could help her, 
right?"
	Nabiki nodded, "Yes."
	"Upload me." Ranma said, "Do it now."
	Kasumi blinked, "Immediately?
	Nabiki answered at the same time, "We need at 
least an hour to configure for upload..."
	Ranko looked up at him in horror, "No! Akane's 
already fading, don't risk yourself too!"
	"I don't care," Ranma returned, "It can help 
Akane. It's worth the risk."
	Nabiki chewed on her lower lip, doing a few 
quick calculations in her head, "The portal we were 
setting up in the living room can do it with a little 
reconfiguration."
	Ranma nodded, running back into the house, 
still carrying Akane, "We haven't got time, just fire 
it up!"
	Nabiki and Kasumi looked at each other, before 
following him. 
	"Will it work?" Ranko asked them both.
	"Only one way to find out, cousin." Nabiki 
frowned as she gathered her energies together. This 
could get messy... but there was no other choice.
	Ranma stood in the middle of the circle 
inscribed into the floor. Kasumi and Nabiki took 
positions to each side of him, both raised their 
hands, setting up a circuit of energy which would 
activate it.
	Ranko barreled forward just as light began to 
erupt from the fringes of the circle, "I'm coming 
along too!"
	"Ranko, no! This is dangerous enough as is!" 
Ranma called back to her as she grabbed his sleeve.
	Akane looked up weakly, obviously trying to say 
something, but it was too late, as the three of them 
were swallowed by the sudden explosion of light.

	Certain mythologies speak of forty righteous 
souls that walk the Earth. As long as the Almighty 
remained pleased with these forty, the world would 
not be destroyed. Myths tend to have some basis in 
reality. One way or another. There are in fact forty 
souls who are very important to Yggdrasil. These 
forty, by virtue of lineage or quirk of chance are 
essential to the functioning of the System which 
monitored and controlled all of reality. They are the 
backups. Files existing within the Yggdrasil system 
are distributed among these souls, and in the event 
of file loss or corruption with Yggdrasil itself, the 
files could be safely and easily uploaded back to the 
main system from these backups. Think of them as a 
metaphysical safety margin. Unfortunately, the safe 
upload required at least a minimum of three hours. 
Ranma didn't have that much time. He was the backup 
for the Interaction Protocols. He had access to 
portions of the knowledge within him, but he only 
needed one bit of information... how to dump the 
files he had inside him quickly. It could be done. It 
was just going to hurt. A lot. That was a price he 
was willing to pay, though.
	Ranma howled as he felt himself being drawn 
through the portal. As more of him entered the other 
side, he felt his mind beginning to expand, filling 
to encompass the space he was in. A massive emptiness 
that was forcefully drawing all of his newfound 
knowledge out of his head. Like being squeezed and 
torn apart at the same time. Words could not even 
begin to fully describe the experience, as he was 
emptied, he could feel parts of him overwriting 
things,  overlaying others out in the blank white 
expanse surrounding him. He knew he still cradled 
Akane in his arms, but that was the only sensation he 
could be certain of. Nothing else he could be certain 
of as he simultaneously experienced hundreds... 
thousands of sensations... all equally vivid, all 
clamoring at once for his undivided attention. 
	Water across his body...
	The sounds of traffic...
	The roar of the ocean...
	An aria...
	Hands across his body... 
	All sensations of interaction... all at once.
	He tried desperately to focus. To remember. 
Akane. In his arms. That was consistent. The one 
overarcing thread of sensation which he could cling 
on to. How light she felt in his arms. Lighter than 
he would've imagined. Was that because of her fading 
or was she really that light? Or was he just 
imagining that she was light? Even these thoughts 
were beginning to fragment... it wasn't enough... his 
mind reeled, being swept along into the flow of 
information which roared all around him. But he felt 
another set of consistent sensations. Hands... hands 
on his face... caressing, holding, touching... a 
voice that cut through the clamor within his mind... 
calling his name, over and over again. Two voices... 
louder... calling harder... more desperately, leading 
him back.
	Ranma's eyes snapped open. He was on his knees. 
All around him was empty blackness, but he could feel 
a surface underneath him. Ranko and Akane were both 
looking at him worriedly. Both looked to be a bit 
faded, but Akane at least did not seem to be in any 
more pain.
	"Are you okay?" Akane asked him.
	Ranma nodded slowly. He still felt as though 
he'd just been put through a wringer.
	Ranko smiled and touched his cheek, "Well, 
we're in the system... you managed to reboot it, I 
think."
	"How do you know?" Ranma asked weakly.
	Ranko pointed in front of him where a short 
distance away, large glowing green letters spelled 
out the words, "System Reboot Commencing"
	After a few seconds, those words vanished and 
were replaced by the words "System Reboot Successful. 
Now scanning files."
	The words blinked out again after a few seconds 
and were replaced by two icons and two lines of text.
	Akane said, "I guess the source of the problem 
seems to have been isolated."
	Ranma blinked, trying to clear his head. Just 
underneath the glowing words were a pair of smaller 
icons. One appeared to be a superdeformed Ranko and 
the other a superdeformed Akane. The words said:
	"Crosslinkage has occurred between file 
Ygg:\Goddess\RankoTendo.GDS and file 
Ygg:\Goddess\AkaneTendo.GDS at address 
Earth.Nekomi.Temple16
	"File Ygg:\Goddess\AkaneTendo.GDS has been 
corrupted"
	Akane winced as her body became translucent for 
a moment. With an effort of will she pulled herself 
together. It was easier here, but whatever was 
happening to her, hadn't stopped. Ranko touched 
Akane's shoulder and for a moment they both faded a 
bit as Ranko lent some of her substance to her 
cousin. 
	Akane jerked back, "Don't do that!"
	Ranko shot back, "You're going to die if I 
don't, stupid! At least I'm slowing it down a bit 
more!"
	"I don't want to take you with me..." She bit 
her lower lip and glanced at the still somewhat 
stunned Ranma, then back at Ranko, "Who's going to 
take care of him, when I'm gone if you die too?"
	"That's not the point!" Ranko replied sharply, 
"Hinako did something to me too... a lot of the 
pieces of you that are missing... I think they're in 
me." She looked to Ranma, "I can give those parts 
back to you... you should have enough to pull you 
through this."
	"But what about you?" Akane asked with concern.
	"I was leaving anyway," Ranko shrugged, "Maybe 
it'd be easier like this, huh?" she smiled weakly.
	"Nobody's dying on anybody if I have any say in 
it." Ranma frowned, finally managing to straighten 
up.
	The two looked at him. Bot looking as though 
they were going to argue the point when another line 
of text appeared just below the icons. "Do you wish 
to delete the following files?"
	Ranma answered sharply, facing the glowing 
text, "No!"
	The words faded out and were replaced by a new 
string of text, "Do you wish to repair the following 
files?"
	"Yes."
	"Ranma..." Akane looked worriedly up at him, "I 
don't think the System has enough resources to 
allocate for that... it would have to go through you 
to perform it... and I don't think you could take 
another time through..."
	Ranko pleaded, "Ranma don't, please... you 
shouldn't risk yourself anymore. We've gotten this 
far... We can probably get someone to set up the 
proper buffering first. Akane and I can keep swapping 
for another hour or so..."
	"Would that be any safer for you two?" Ranma 
asked quietly.
	Akane replied, unable to meet his gaze, "No... 
it would probably just make things worse. Not just 
for us, but for the entire system. Still... please... 
don't do this."
	He bit back a laugh, "would you rather I listen 
to you two argue about who gets to die? I know what 
I'm doing. I think. I don't want to lose either of 
you..." he stood raising his hands to his sides as 
new text faded into view.
	"Commence repair on the following files?"
	Ranma stared at the words for long moments. He 
grit his teeth in anticipation. He took Akane's hand 
in one of his, and Ranko's hand in the other, looking 
at them both. He took a last deep breath before he 
finally said, "Yes."
	There was a wrenching tug... followed by a 
sensation of motion and speed... rushing... 
rushing... speed... screaming down the wires and 
conduits of Heaven as information once more poured 
through his brain...
	There was a jarring moment as Ranma, with his 
two companions found themselves watching a sketchily 
depicted scene of Ranko and Akane... both only eight 
years old, playing together. Laughing. Happy.
	Both goddesses watched thoughtfully, as the 
scene abruptly changed to a forest. Everything moved 
in a slightly jerky, stop-start manner, but it was 
unmistakable. There was an eight year old Ranma, 
walking down a path, kicking an occassional stone... 
in front of him a beam of light sliced down from the 
sky and as he watched, wide-eyed with surprise. The 
young Ranko and Akane slowly descended down the beam.
	"This..." Ranma started to say.
	"This is when you first met us..." Akane said 
remembering it vividly.
	"It was our first assignment..." Ranko 
murmured, "We were supposed to familiarize ourselves 
with Earth..."
	"That and kind of keep an eye on you since you 
were... you know, a backup," Ranko added.
	There was rush again in Ranma's mine as the 
scene shifted and surged forward... the three 
children playing together. One series of games after 
another. Happily. Scenes of the three enjoying 
themselves as only children can. More often than not, 
the young Ranko would be hugging the young Ranma, 
while the younger Akane would laugh in delight at 
them.
	Ranko smiled as the memories played themselves 
out, "You were so cute back then..." she smiled at 
Ranma.
	Akane tried to suppress a smile, "Even back 
then you couldn't keep your hands off of him."
	Then the day of the mock wedding... the pinky 
promise... and they watched as the young Ranma 
receded in the distance... a beam of light streaked 
down from the sky, bearing a message for the two.
	And the young Ranko crying. And the young Akane 
looking confused. And the young Ranma looking back... 
at the beam as it rose into the heavens... and he 
began to forget.
	With every scene played out the circuit of 
warmth connecting the three of them grew stronger. 
Ranma closed his eyes, his head was already beginning 
to pound.
	The scenes of Ranko and Akane's return to 
heaven began to play out flitting both through 
Ranma's mind and the area around them... hazy, 
indistinct, as though they were memories so long lain 
dusty and forgotten that they would fall apart under 
scrutiny. There was the disciplining... the lecture 
about how they were unauthorized to make contracts, 
and even something so seemingly trivial as a pinky 
promise had carried with it the weight of the most 
iron clad contracts... there was a scramble... and 
confusion as the problems were sorted... and fixed... 
blurry figures, obviously adult deities rushing to 
and fro past the confused children... all they wanted 
was to make their playmate happy. Everyone seemed to 
be so upset... they couldn't understand it.
	Ranma asked them quietly, "What happened next?"	
	"Look..." Akane pointed as the scene shifted 
again to just the young Ranko and Akane again. They 
both looked sad, but Ranko far more than Akane. There 
was no sound, but Akane pantomimed conversation... 
	Ranko spoke, "I was depressed about not being 
able to see you again... Akane tried to cheer me up, 
but it wasn't working."
	The Akane in the scene pulled a golden comb 
from her hair. The golden comb the real Ranko was 
wearing now. They watched the younger Akane gave it 
to the young Ranko.
	Akane smiled slightly, "That's when you perked 
up a bit. You'd wanted that thing for a long time."
	Ranko smiled back, "Yeah. Only that wasn't the 
only reason. That's when I got my bright idea."
	The Ranko in the scene hopped to her feet 
suddenly and dashed off, leaving a baffled eight year 
old Akane.
	"I always wondered how that got into my sock 
drawer..." Ranma mused.
	"It's showing it..." Ranko spoke back, as the 
scene shifted again... the young Ranko moving 
surreptitiously, walking around what appeared to be a 
boy's bedroom... she slipped open a drawer and put 
the comb in carefully. Then with exaggerated caution 
she walked over to the bed, leaning over to what 
appeared to be the sleeping young Ranma and whispered 
something, before kissing him on the ear.
	"Oh."
	Akane smiled at him, "Ranko had this notion 
that maybe if you had something to remember us by, it 
would come back to you eventually."
	Ranko slapped Ranma lightly on the shoulder, 
"Except you gave it to your sister, you bum."
	"Er... sorry. How was I supposed to know? I 
didn't remember that."
	Akane nudged them both and spoke quietly, her 
voice was hoarse. "Here's where it goes wrong..." 
	The scene changed again, and the young Akane 
stood sighing as she watched the young Ranko mope. 
Her lips moved as she seemed to speak something, and 
behind her, a figure in black tapped her shoulder... 
it was Hinako in her young form. Words were obviously 
exchanged between them.
	"I couldn't stand seeing Ranko so sad anymore." 
Akane continued softly, "So I made a wish... I wished 
she could be with Ranma... and they could both be 
happy."
	The scene began to quiver and shake as the 
pressure began to increase on Ranma's mind. This was 
the source of the corruption within the system, he 
realized. The shaking grew worse as the image began 
to degrade into individual motes of light.
	Akane began to fade once more, quicker this 
time... her entire body was all but transparent 
within seconds. Ranma, lost in the confusion and pain 
of the knowledge flowing through his mind, stood 
mute. Ranko held both their hands tightly.
	Ranma screamed, "Hold on you two! We can do 
this! Just... don't give up!"
	Akane grit her teeth, sucking air in, or at 
least trying to. It was growing difficult for her to 
maintain her own hold on Ranko and Ranma's hands as 
her grip became more and more tenuous, her strength 
was leaving her.
	Ranko clutched at Akane tighter, calling on 
what strength she still had, sharing it with both of 
them... lending her substance to Akane, desperately 
trying to help hold her together.
	Ranma pushed with all his might and will. 
Forcing the process to work. Forcing himself to keep 
sane. Every fiber of his being was set entirely on 
the task. 
 	The longer they held closer, the more he could 
feel the weight and pressure of their thoughts... 
they were all open to one another. Akane's love for 
Ranma... her possessiveness... her occasional 
jealousies... his own for her, powerful, but 
unexpressed... his fears... his inexplicable fondness 
for Ranko... there was love there too... not the 
same... different... Ranko's own fierce love for 
him... an almost all consuming passion for him... for 
his happiness... before these feelings, even the 
thirteen years of bad blood between the cousins could 
not help but be washed away in a torrent of 
understanding... 
	Ranma cried out drawing renewed strength from 
them both, "We're leaving together! One way or 
another! All together..."
	There was a sudden cry from one, perhaps all 
three of them as one, as energy surged and pulsed 
within them, drawing them together. Light and energy 
begin to play across their bodies, it's intensity 
climbing as all three stood locked in a silent scream 
or prayer. The light grew... brighter... hotter... 
almost beyond endurance... before suddenly, 
startlingly... it winked out, leaving only a tiny 
mote of light floating within a black space.

	Ranma woke up slowly... his head was pounding. 
The pain was exquisite and almost unbelievably 
intense. If he were the type to drink, this would've 
been comparable to the resultant hangover of a month 
long binge on which nothing was consumed but Tequila. 
Of course, he didn't, so he had no basis for 
comparisson.
	Faintly he could hear laughter and music 
filtering into the room. Faint, but still far too 
loud for his taste. He could feel his head throbbing 
in time to the beat.
	Akane leaned over him, smiling lovingly down on 
him, "Finally awake. We've been waiting for you to 
wake up for two hours."
	He stirred weakly, "You're--"
	"Yes. I'm fine." She murmured, embracing him 
gently.
	He winced at the movement but did nothing to 
discourage her. Even if he could've, he wouldn't 
have. He closed his eyes, relief flooding into him. 
"I'm glad," he whispered. He could feel the headache 
begin to recede as he touched Akane. The pain 
draining away from him with slow certainty.
	"Hey," came a familiar, playful voice beside 
him, "Can I get in on some of that?"
	Ranma glanced in that direction to find a 
smiling Ranko. She looked teary eyed but relieved. 
There was a faint, hopeful look in her eye." Akane 
looked at her and her face broke out into another 
smile as she gave the barest of nods. Ranko moved 
forward, hugging them both.
	She held them fiercely to her, "I'm so glad 
you're both okay!" 
	There was a long moment of silence as the three 
just held their position, enjoying the warmth of each 
other's company. 
	Ranma coughed weakly, a blush creeping faintly 
up his cheeks as they began to untangle themselves.
	"So... I guess... everything's okay now, 
right?" Ranma asked.
	Akane nodded, "Nabiki confirmed the system came 
back up a few minutes after you uploaded yourself. 
But there were some file losses..."
	Ranma blinked at her in incomprehension. The 
clarity of vision he'd had from before, the 
knowledge, was fading. Even his memories of his 
moments within the System were hazy and uncertain. 
The color and power of the emotions he had felt were 
still there, but the details... none of them would 
stay in his mind. That, he realized was for the best. 
	Ranko continued for her, "... certain contracts 
were lost..."
	"Like ours." Akane finished quietly.
	Ranma stared at them in shock, "The contracts 
are gone?"
	They nodded in unison.
	He willed the transformation into his Ranko 
form to come over him and stared stupidly at his hand 
as it remained unchanged. "I'm normal now?" he 
grinned. They smiled back and nodded once more.
	Suddenly a thought hit him, "But... does that 
mean you have to go back?"
	Ranko hopped to her feet and grinned at him, 
"Oddly enough, no. For some reason our old assignment 
from way back suddenly kicked in again."
	Akane quoted, "'The Goddesses Tendo Akane and 
Ranko Tendo are hereby sent to Earth in order to 
maintain a watch on the individual known by the 
nomenclature Ranma Saotome for an indefinite period, 
with the intent of familiarizing themselves with 
Earth and observing the actions of individual Ranma 
Saotome.'"
	"So you're staying?" Ranma laughed, "Both of 
you are staying?"
	Akane looked at him fondly, "You big silly. It 
wasn't the contract that made us want to stay in the 
first place."
	Ranko added with a wink, "Yeah. If that order 
hadn't arrived, we probably would've found some way 
to keep Akane here anyway."
	"Thanks..."
	Ranko walked to the door and threw them a 
backwards glance, "Well, I'll get back to the 
party..."
	"Party?" Ranma asked in confusion.
	Akane grinned sheepishly at him, "Well, 
apparently the Martial Arts Varsity's post-production 
party got a little out of hand."
	Ranko laughed, "Yeah. They've been going strong 
since last night and the survivors managed to stagger 
here for more food and booze after they ran out at 
the dorm." She opened the door, "I'll just leave you 
two lovebirds alone..." she said with a hint of a sad 
smile.
	"Ranko... wait, I..." Ranma began to call her 
back. Surely there was something more he could say? 
Something more he could offer her.
	She held her hand up, "No. Don't say anything 
else. Don't make this harder than it has to be. I 
know enough, Ranma. I know how you feel about 
Akane... and I know you don't feel the same way about 
me and I can take it. I'm a big girl. I want what 
makes you happy, got that? If Akane makes you happy, 
then I'm happy."
	Ranma was silent.
	Akane stood up and gave her a hug, "Thanks, 
Ranko."
	Ranko smiled at her. She inclined her head in 
Ranma's direction, "I'll let you two have some 
privacy." Her grin widened, "You know, a little of 
the wink, wink, nudge, nudge."
	Akane and Ranma both blushed scarlet, "Ranko!"
	She giggled and stuck her tongue out at them as 
she stepped through the door. "I'll have em crank up 
the music so no one can hear the moaning and 
screaming."
	Akane just gaped at her, shocked speechless.
	"You really should reward Ranma for saving your 
life you know, Akane-chan." Ranko grinned just as she 
stepped out and slid the door closed.
 	Akane knelt down next to Ranma and glanced at 
him, her face still burning from embarrassment, 
	"Will she be okay?" Ranma asked quietly.
	Akane nodded thoughtfully, "Yes... I think she 
will be."
	He smiled, "That's good."
	Akane returned it, "It's nice to see her 
chipper again."
	"And nice to see you two getting along," Ranma 
replied.
	"Yes." Akane smiled, looking at Ranma now, 
"Yes, we are. I think we can credit you with that 
too."
	"Er... well, you guys usually end up fighting 
over me, so... I don't think that counts." He replied 
sheepishly.
	She knelt next to him and looked into his eyes. 
She spoke seriously. "There's still more that I owe 
you for."
	Ranma, perhaps feeling a lingering bit of 
Ranko-ness in his soul made him put on a playful 
grin, "So... DO I get a reward?"
	Akane leaned forward, their faces inches from 
each other as she replied softly, "Come and get it."
	He hesitated for a moment. But not a long 
moment. And in short notice, he did. 
	And it was better than either of them could 
have wished.


	Outside, in the hallway, Ranko leaned her back 
against a wall. Her eyes were shut tightly as she 
tried to control herself. 
 	It hurt. It hurt more than she imagined it 
would to give him up. A single tear traced a path 
down her cheek, unheeded. Somehow, despite herself, 
at the same time she was happy as well. It was the 
right thing to do. An understanding of everything... 
and perhaps a resolution. She loved him... no... she 
loved them both too much to do any less.
 	A calm overtook her finally, her heart settling 
back into place. She was at peace with her choice. 
The future still held surprises, perhaps. She grinned 
and glanced down at the blanket she had draped over 
her. she had been so caught up by events that she 
hadn't even remembered to change into something more 
appropriate. She grinned as a thought occurred to 
her. Maybe she should give Tatewaki a call. He wasn't 
that bad... and she could almost imagine his reaction 
to seeing her in this get up. She shrugged. Time 
enough for such thoughts later. But now... now it was 
time to party... and perhaps time enough to forget... 
even if just for a little while.
  	She sauntered confidently into the living room, 
where amidst sprawled and unconscious members of the 
Varsity, Ryouga was half drunkenly arguing with 
Ukyou, while Natsume clung to his arm and Mousse was 
nodding, stupidly drunk to the music, while Shampoo 
was... nibbling on his ear? She smirked. Day light 
was apparently no barrier to a party which had lasted 
over sixteen hours already. This looked like a fun 
crowd to be with right now. It was time to have bit 
of fun. It was time for her to make a little noise.

The End	


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