"They are in China, Kuonji-san," Fey answered her, turning around. He smiled upon seeing her, his expectations confirmed. Her long hair was bound low, at her neck, in the manner of a man's ponytail, and her breasts were not in evidence, likely bound, but the absence of an Adam's apple was not needed for him to confirm her gender. Though ki attacks would be beyond her for a while yet, she was a martial artist, heavily trained, and the swell of her feminine ki was unmistakeable.
"They?" Ukyou queried, looking at the unfamiliar man, and noting the irritation in the eyes of the man minding the desk which said he was no agent of the school. She fingered one of her mini-spats nervously.
"Genma, and Ranma," he responded. "Come, let us speak of this elsewhere."
Numbly, she followed him. After so long searching, to come upon a forthcoming source of information so unexpectedly, and then to have him tell her that they were in China! China? Why would they be in China? Had they learned that she was hunting them?
Fey led her to the outdoor patio of a nearby restaurant. He had already ordered for them both when she came back to herself and lunged across the table, grabbing his shirt in her hands. "What do you mean, China? How can they be in China?"
He covered her hands with his own, and gently, but inexorably loosened her grip. "I have much to tell you," he said, smiling softly at her.
Ukyou's face reddened. "Who the hell are you, anyway? How'd you know I was looking for them? How do you know where they are?"
"All in good time," he placated her. "Genma took Ranma there to train, to search out ancient, forbidden training grounds."
"Forbidden?"
"Cursed. Genma lost Ranma there."
Ukyou paled, a sudden and sharp contrast to her earlier visage. "Lost?!" Her anger fled, replaced by a sharp pain in her chest. "Ranma . . . Ranma is . . ." Though she had pictured his death almost nightly, the possibility that it was real, that he had already died, shredded her dreams. She had dreamed about killing him and returning to the warm embrace of her father, but she had never truly hated him. The Ranma that she pictured killing was a hard-faced liar and a thief, a cheat with no feelings. The Ranma she saw dead when the man she faced spoke of his loss was the smiling boy she had loved with all her heart, the boy she had been going to marry.
"No, not dead, Kuonji-san. Ranma is alive, but he is no longer with Genma. Genma sold him . . . to me."
Ukyou stood suddenly, snatching her battle spatula from her back, horrific visions of slavery and abasement dancing in her eyes. "You bastard!" she screamed. In spite of the apparent similarities, she did not see the parallel between Genma's engaging Ranma to her and his selling of Ranma to the man before her.
"Calm yourself," Fey commanded, catching the lethal edge of her battle spatula in his open palm without the least sign of strain.
"What have you done with him?" Ukyou sobbed, as she jerked on her spatula, vainly trying to remove it from his grip.
"I? I saved him, Kuonji-san. I accepted Genma's signature as a way of freeing Ranma from Genma's promises. You should know, Kuonji-san, you are not the only girl to whom Genma promised Ranma. He has sold him for less than you would believe, and left Ranma to pay the price."
"But . . ." Ukyou collapsed back into her seat, losing her grip on her spatula, which Fey set on the floor by his chair.
"Unlike Genma, I gave Ranma a choice. He chose to stay with me."
"But you said he was in China!" Ukyou protested vehemently, casting him an accusing glare. "Where did you leave him? In some brothel?!"
"No. He is making his way back to Japan under his own power, while I help deal with some of what he will face when he gets here."
Ukyou paled again, realizing the implications of his statement, and the earlier comment about freeing Ranma from Genma's promises. "But . . . but they took my dowry!!" she protested, suddenly all too certain about why the unnamed man was here.
"Ranma did not even know you were a girl," Fey told her gently.
Ukyou shook her head in disbelief. "No, no, that can't be true!"
"He knows you as one of his first, and only friends. He does not know you as a woman."
Ukyou firmed her chin in spite of the tears still trickling down her cheeks. Neither paid any attention as the waitress set tea before them both. "I'll make him see me as a woman."
Fey shook his head sadly. "I am afraid that will do you little good. He knew nothing of the arrangements made for him, and in his ignorance, he has fallen in love. Will you deliberately break his heart, as Genma broke yours?"
Ukyou's eyes widened and she gasped. "I am not like that man!" she screamed at him.
"Good. I am glad to hear it." Fey reached out and took her hand again. "That does not mean you will be alone, however. Nor does it mean you must forget him. You can still be friends, and you will find another to love, in time."
"It hurts," Ukyou whispered, choking back a sob.
"I know. But you have a month yet, maybe more, before he returns. You must let go of your anger towards him, for he knew nothing of Genma's plans or promises. He knows now, for I told him everything, and his heart is pained for you. If you lash out at him when he arrives, he will be hurt badly."
"What about Genma?" Ukyou said petulantly.
"Ah, Genma. He will follow Ranma, for he still seeks to have him back, under his control. You need not seek for him now. When Ranma comes I will find you again, and lead you to him. When Genma follows, you may do with him as you see fit. But you must work on forgiving Ranma and accepting that he has found love. If you do not, then you will lash out when he comes. Whichever you strike out against, the other will hate you for it, and you will lose them both. She too could be a good friend to you, if you let her."
Ukyou swallowed hard at the thought of Ranma hating her. Not the hard-eyed image she had imagined killing, no, this was the young boy she loved, whose eyes she pictured now filled with hate. "What is she like?" Ukyou stammered. "Does she love him?"
"She does. You need not fear for his heart from her, for she knows everything about him. And she knows it from his perspective, for she has seen his memories. The feelings he has for you, of friendship for a young boy, and pain for a young girl he never really knew, she shares also. She will be your friend, if you allow it."
Before she had a chance to respond, Fey's head jerked up, his eyes unfocusing. Ukyou suppressed a shiver when his eyes snapped back down to focus on her. "Something's come up, I've got to go," he said. He pressed something into her hand, dropped yen on the table, then turned and walked away.
"Wait!" Ukyou stood up, then looked down at her hand. Her eyes widened as she stared at the thick roll of yen he had pressed into her hand. "I don't even know your name!?"
---
Bastet glanced nervously at Shen Long as Ranko began to murmur a chant to summon the Dragon Lord Fey. She had gone along with Shen Long's testing, though she had not yet taken an active part. She had taken responsibility for the Neko-ken upfront, of course, and given them at least a beginning of an explanation as to why she had done nothing about Ranma's experience with it. She had not, however, made any sort of promise or even the implication of a promise to grant them any powers.
Still, she was present, and she had stated that they would, under other circumstances, have at least possibly been her champions. How would Fey react to such a statement? Her nervousness flared as the gorgeous little redhead finished her chant and fell silent. Such beautiful children, and so much potential! She would dearly have loved to have them for champions, but this . . . risking the fate of the entire world seemed a bit much, even for such delightful champions.
She held her breath when the air stirred, and a figure appeared that was a near-copy of Ranma, except for the two large white wings on his back. She could sense Shen Long's nervousness as he stood tensely watching, and she remembered suddenly one of the crucial tidbits she had gleaned from the few pages of the report she had managed to scan. Her heart-rate tripled as she considered that not only was she facing a man who if he took offense to their actions, could leave her world defenseless, but he was exempt from the doublet system! He could slay her and Shen Long both, without further repercussions!
"Bastet." The winged man bowed towards her in acknowledgement.
She nearly fainted with relief, and quickly bowed back, deeper still. He turned to Shen Long, who stepped forward and introduced himself. Again they bowed to each other.
Then Fey turned to his avatars, to Ranko, who had been waiting nervously, unsure what his reaction to being summoned would be. After all, he was a god, not a servant to be called for on a whim. When he opened his arms towards them, Ranko rushed in to hug him, babbling with relief as she tried to explain in one breath why she had summoned him.
He waited her out, grinning at Ranma, who was smiling back at him with relief, until her breath gave out and she finally wound to a stop. To their surprise, he did not ask for a more intelligible recap. Instead, he merely nodded to Ranma and Ryouga, and turned to face Shen Long and Bastet, still holding Ranko as she caught her breath. She stepped away from him, blushing, shortly after he began speaking.
"So, you've found a loophole in the rules that allows you to take action? Why were you unable to do so before?"
Shen Long shook his head. "You misunderstand, I fear, Lord Fey. I was not incapable of acting. I am not bound by the same strictures. These two," he answered, gesturing to Ranma and Ryouga, "would have become my champions in time. Indeed, they had both already passed the first trials, but the scale and timing are not sufficient. In two years time or so, Ranma would have become strong enough to defeat the Undying Pheonix, with Ryouga's, and a few others', help along the way, if they did not falter and fail a test before. But that would have been the peak of their testing and challenges. More would have followed, but lesser. In thirty years, they would have passed well beyond the peak of their skills. They would be dust in the wind before what is coming."
"And I," said Bastet, not wanting to wait for an inquiry to have to be directed specifically to her lest she seem reticent, "had not had Ranma brought to my attention. I thought the flawed Neko-ken a lost art after we managed to force the demons to add a page of truth to the manual. Certainly, it had not been taught in many years."
"I see. And now?"
"Bastet was here but to observe. I have no champions aside from these two, but this village begged me to give them a champion to save them. The scent of the feast they lay before us as an offering drew the young wolf off his course and the others followed. We did not interfere, merely observed. Your champions' actions speak well of their character. By virtue of their actions, they have earned my gifts. By virtue of their experience, your avatars may be gifted by Bastet, if she so chooses," Shen Long explained.
"But they would not even consider accepting such gifts without your approval," Bastet added, smiling softly at the two cat-souled youths.
Her smile fading, she turned her attention back to Fey as they all waited for his reaction.
---
Ukyou sat back down when the waitress came out with a tray of food. She waved away the other man's food, saying that he had to leave, but accepted the plate meant for her, grinning as she looked at it. She had been too preoccupied to hear what he had ordered for them both, but she did not often get the chance to eat quality eel, expensive as it was, and she was not about to pass up this opportunity. She dried her eyes on her handkerchief, then snagged an eel sushi in her chopsticks and lifted it to her mouth.
As she moaned appreciatively around the mouthful of sushi, she pondered what she should do now. Up to this point, her life had been dominated by training and searching for the Saotomes. Now, she had been told they were entirely out of the country, but were heading back. She did not know for certain that the unnamed man had given her the truth, but he had definitely known something.
No simple con-man could possibly have known why she was looking for Ranma, or what kind of man Genma was, and besides, he had not taken her money, he had given her more!
A month was little enough time to wait to test his words, given that she had been on her revenge quest for years. If he was lying, she would have lost a month. If he was not, then she would finally get to meet Ranma again. A smile crossed her lips as she consumed another bite of sushi. To have a friend again, that would be worth celebrating indeed, but was it really possible that Ranma had not known she was a girl?
Even if it was, could she really get past the hurt that she had taken that day, from him, his father, and worst of all, her own family? She shuddered, then deliberately forced that image away in favor of remembering the little boy she had played so many games with. She did not even notice the tears that once more began to drip from her eyes as she lost herself in the pleasant memories of the distant past.
---
"I leave it to you, my children. Listen to what they offer you, and accept it or not as you will. Know this first, though. I have given you all that you need to become what you will need to be to defeat the coming threat. You may make your decision by how you feel and on what you want, without concern that it may affect the fate of the world. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to get back to a friend of yours."
Ranma looked around, puzzled. A friend of his? All his friends are right here, aren't they?
"Ucchan?" Ranko cried out in delight. She had been planning on finding the last of Ranma's former friends and trying to reconcile her to Ranma, but she had dreaded the effect on Ranma if she reacted poorly. But if Fey had already found her, if he could prepare her . . .
"Yes," Fey answered with a wry grin. I should have known she would guess, I shouldn't have said anything. "I was speaking to Ukyou when I received your summons."
Ranma's eyes were wide with wonder. "Really? How's he doing?"
Ranko snorted, then covered her mouth, and grinned at the twinkle in Fey's eyes. Though the memories she had received from Ranma were the same as those he held, she had been seeing them fresh, from the perspective of a near-adult female, and she had not missed the clues that spoke to Ukyou's true gender.
"Ukyou looks fine," Fey assured Ranma, then he took his leave.
Ranma, Ranko, and Ryouga turned back to Shen Long.
Shen Long glanced at Bastet, knowing that he was shortly going to be paying for the tension she had felt. She did not look happy with him. Right now, however, he had three teenage champions to deal with.
"Well, now, as for my . . ."
Shen Long had barely gotten five words out before Ryouga interrupted with a startled yelp, his eyes alight with surprise, "A trial! That's what that five year exile was about! You're giving Jiaohou a trial, just like your champions!"
Ranma's mouth twisted, as though he had just tasted something unpleasant. "Is . . . is he one of your champions?"
"No, silly," Ranko chided him, "Shen Long said he did not have any."
"You are correct, Ryouga. What he does with this exile will determine whether he will be able to reconcile the village to himself, and return to his home, or whether he will have to find another home. He will find opportunities before him. If he takes them up, he may yet become a hero in the eyes of his village. But no, he is not my champion."
"You three, on the other hand, have all passed my trial."
"What, by killing that youma? That was kid's stuff," Ranma scoffed. Seeing the two deities nervousness when Fey had arrived had worn away some of his own fear, and now the thought that he even might be placed in the same class as Jiaohou, in spite of his earlier inner admission that he also would have gone to any lengths to save or bring back Ranko, if she were lost to him, left him feeling ill at ease and uncertain whether he was even willing to accept a reward for such a minor thing.
"No. As I told Bastet, defeating the youma was not part of the trial. It was the decisions you made, before and after; to help people to whom you owed nothing, to remain open to the possibility of Jiaohou's innocence in the face of such tales, to care about his fate even after your part was done, these were the tests you passed."
"And to accept their simple fare, knowing that there were far richer foods but a short distance away, were you willing to violate the temple, to ignore their beliefs," smirked Bastet, raising an eyebrow at Shen Long with vindictive pleasure.
"What?!" Ranma shouted, angered that they would think he would even consider such a thing.
"You have to admit, that is exactly what your father would have done," Shen Long responded calmly, glaring at Bastet, who merely smirked back at him.
"Damned old man," Ranma complained. "I'll never be rid of him."
"And these gifts?" asked Ranko, nudging Ranma to cease his mutterings.
"The first." stated Shen Long, holding up a small brown bag. He untied the lacings and opened it. Reaching it, he pulled out what looked like a small bean. "You will have to find someone with a green thumb, someone truly gifted with plants, and growing things. Give them this bag and have them plant these seeds. These are senzu beans. One is enough to bring you back from the brink of death to full health. If you can find someone capable of growing them, then you will have a powerful resource to keep you in the fight without using up your strength in healing spells. Especially since they also restore your reserves."
"Wow!" commented Ranko, accepting the bag and looking at the small beans it held. "That's great!"
"You'll have to keep an eye out for someone to grow 'em," pointed out Ryouga.
"Yeah, but we have to build a support base anyway," answered Ranko, taking out a bean and examining it before returning it the sack and tying it carefully.
She turned back to Shen Long. "You said that was the first?"
He nodded and Ranma's eyes widened, his fists clenching, when Shen Long held up a thick scroll, tied about with a purple ribbon. "Had these events not come to pass, you, Ryouga, would have come upon a miner's technique for using depression as a ki attack. Ranma, you would have learned your own variant of it using confidence. Unfortunately, emotion based ki attacks have severe draw-backs, and will not be suitable to what you are going to face. This is a training scroll that will guide you in developing pure ki attacks."
He handed it to Ranma, who took it reverently, eyes shining. Then he turned to Ryouga, and held up a thin book. "You get lost very easily, Ryouga, but you do more than that. When you followed Ranma to Jusenkyou, how did you cross the South China Sea?"
"What?" Ryouga asked, looking flustered. "I just walked. I just followed their trail."
Ranma and Ranko both stared at Ryouga in disbelief. Shen Long continued, "You suffer from two afflictions, not one. You lack a sense of direction, and that you have partially cured. But you would still lose your friends. It is suppressed somewhat by the form you are wearing now, but you have an ability from your heritage, to move instantly from one place to another. Up till now, it has been triggered by your wandering thoughts, as you thought of one place or another, and for the last while, your thoughts have been fairly strongly focused on the here and now, and who you were with. Further, as I said, your current form suppresses this ability to a degree, though I suspect you could still make conscious use of it.
"This," he continued, holding up the thin book, "is a training manual for your ability. Master it, and you will never have difficulty getting anywhere you want to go."
Ryouga took the book from him, tears running unnoticed through his fur as he stared at what to him was his salvation.
---
Ukyou jerked, her eyes flying open, when a soft cloth brushed her face. "Who, what?! Oh, you're back . . . I thought you were gone . . ."
Fey brushed the tears from her other cheek, shaking his head. "Just something I had to take care of."
"I . . . I realized when you left," Ukyou blushed, "I never got your name."
"Ah . . . remiss of me, not to have introduced myself. I am Fey Ranma. Ah! Yes, I see the question in your eyes. No, I am not your Ranma, but I look enough alike him that with the name and all, it was inevitable that he came to my attention. After all, having people suddenly out to kill or marry you rather makes one sit up and take note."
"Umm, right. I bet that must have been a surprise," Ukyou laughed shakily.
"Yes," he said, taking his seat, "quite."
Ukyou blushed again. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you were coming back, so I declined your food."
"Ah, no need to blush, Kuonji-san. I should have explained my leaving better, but I'm afraid it was quite urgent and most unexpected."
"Please, call me Ukyou," Ukyou protested, while thinking to herself that if this is what her Ranma looked like now, it was a damn shame he had already found someone to love. She held out the wad of yen he had left her. "I don't quite understand what this is for," she whispered more than said.
"I wasn't certain that I would be able to return immediately," Fey informed her. "I wanted to be sure you were not too terribly inconvenienced by my sudden departure."
Ukyou set it on the table and pushed it towards him, but he covered her hands with his immediately, folding them back over the yen. "Keep it," he said.
"But," Ukyou began to protest.
"It is not without reason, Ukyou-san," he asserted. "You have spent a great deal of time searching, and I think it's about time you have a goal that you can reasonably achieve. Find Ranma's mother, Saotome Nodoka. Use that money to set up a restaurant near her home. Get to know her. Ranma will be returning shortly, and he will be greatly hurt if she cannot accept that he has left Genma. Tell her your story; let her see another side of her husband, and let her hear a least a bit of Ranma's childhood. I am sure she will be most grateful for anything you can tell her about him. Will you do this? For me, and for Ranma?"
"I . . . you want me to open my own restaurant?" Ukyou stared at him in disbelief.
"You are an okynomiyaki chef, are you not?"
"Of course I am!"
"Good. You will do well, I am sure. You will get to know the neighborhood and the people, and his mother. When he returns, you will be in a position to help him settle in, and to help quell rumours that might spring up about his return. You'll understand better why I'm doing this when he returns, but I hope you'll agree to it even without that understanding."
"So . . . find Saotome Nodoka, get to know her, tell her about Genma," Ukyou stated, counting off on her fingers, "tell her about Ranma, tell her my story, and set up a restaurant. In a month?!"
"Heh. Well, he should reach Japan within the month, but it will be a bit longer before he reaches Tokyo, and longer still before he finds his mother. Up until a very short while ago, he believed her to be dead. Genma never spoke of her to him."
"That's awful!"
"Quite. So, will you do it?"
"You'll make sure he finds us? And you'll warn me ahead of time, before he gets there?"
"I will."
"Then I'll do it! I tracked Genma and Ranma for years, I can find his mom! No problem!"