Notes : This fic starts six months after the end of the manga, which
means characters are a little more grown up, especially Ranma, and there
are things that happened in-between that you'll find out as the fic goes
on. C&C is greatly appreciated and can be sent at ranma_666@hotmail.com,
or ICQ# 45118495, and flames can go at someone@who-cares.com.

For previous chapters, check my webpage:
http://members.nbci.com/Kuraiko/

Wordwrapped at 72 characters, and terribly sorry for taking so long. ^^;;

*******

Disclaimer

Ranma is not mine.
Sliders is not mine.

*******

What happened before:

Prologue :
Ranma gets the timer from another sliding team, and Nabiki unexpectedly
tags along.

Chapter 1 :
On a world devastated by nuclear warfare, Ranma and Nabiki are forced
into marriage. Ranma learns the breaking point by an enslaved Mousse
before escaping.

Chapter 2 :
On a world where Ukyo was taken over by a demon early on, Ranma and
Nabiki strive to stop her and prevent further deaths, while wondering
what their relationship is becoming.

Chapter 3 :
A force from China is invading Japan in the latest world, and Ranma and
Nabiki are mistaken for their pilot counterparts. Their flight goes
wrong as the enemy is unexpected.

This chapter starts on the thirteenth day of Ranma and Nabiki's travels.


"  "  spoken
'  '  thought

*******

     Slider Ranma

     Chapter 4 : Heaven in Earth's Hell

*******

     The beach was strangely silent, even the waves seemed to come and
go without sound. A woman was sitting on a fallen tree, a few feet
before the sand, her long brown hair flowing in the gentle incoming
wind, looking sadly at the lights in the illuminated sky. She closed her
eyes and lowered her head, her eyelashes shining with tears, one hand
going over her heart as it clutched a tissue.

     The woman sighed deeply and sadly, from the heart, shoulders
heaving with the motion. One tear freed itself and fell, sliding down
her cheek to the edge of her mouth. She brought her tissue and wiped it
off, it alone. Wiping her eyes would seem like a betrayal to the one in
her mind, the one in her heart, the one in her soul. She bit her lower
lip, choking back a sob as she thought of him.

     She looked up, back at the sea, in time to see the sun rise behind
her, illuminating the far waters with shining bright white light as the
waves rolled, as they did as they do as they will, forever onward, not
caring for the affairs of man.

     Another sigh escaped her as she looked at the shining sea in the
distance, the line separating light blue from dark blue water slowly
approaching the beach as the sun rose. She began to calm herself,
focusing on her tasks for the day. She knew that he wouldn't want her to
simply break down, but to continue on living, if life in this world
could be called such in these days.

     Getting up, she brushed away a bang of long brown hair, looking at
the cliff to her left as the sunshine lowered on its facade, its uneven
surface sporting shadows and light, bird nests hidden in the dark while
the parents watched vigilantly, white feathers shining in the sun's
rays. She looked down at the sea, the eternal ocean, mother of all life,
its waters sparkling brilliantly as more and more waves entered the dawn
of day.

     Slowly approaching the rolling white waters, feet trailing in the
white sand, leaving uneven marks of her feelings inside, she stopped
just before wetness reached her toes. Ears filled with the rolling
thunder echoing off the rocky walls surrounding her, one hand wiping her
eyes brimming with tears, crumpled tissue in her hand, she silently made
a wish as her world was suddenly engulfed in the pure light of the
morning rays.

     Blinking her eyes, a sudden gust of offshore-bound winds caught her
tissue to fly away, her hand instinctively reaching for it, one foot
stepping forward slightly, stopping herself despite. Her eyes went wide
as she felt a wave roll on shore, its warm waters going around her foot,
filling between her toes, caressing with its salty and sandy wetness her
exposed skin.

     One hand going to her mouth in slight shock, she looked down as her
foot was engulfed in another wave, the wet sand shifting around,
creating an impression. A single tear rolled down, left alone as it
trailed down her cheek and fell on the side of her sandal, and absorbed
by the ocean. She could almost follow it, as if that one drop shone from
all the others around it, slowly being washed away from her.

     As her head rose, she could see two lumps in the water, like big
rocks that the waves went around yet just barely covered. As the waves
receeded, she could see the lumps were dark blue, and not grey or light
green, and there seemed to be some red on the bottom of one. Her eyes
went wide, worries dissolving, as she recognized what they were.

     Washed-up people.

*******

     Dim light filtered through the curtains, acquiring a deep rose-red
color, tinting the rich, natural wood of the room. The early morning sun
outside shone radiantly, nature all around awakening to its shine, birds
chanting and chirping their happy songs of the morn, squirrels running
about in games, a cat lazily yawning as it stretched on the grass, the
green sparkling with its accumulated dew.

     And into this heavenly morning of sound and light, came a piercing
cry of pure fright and terror. "AAAAHHHHH!!!!! WHAT THE HELL AM I
WEARING?!?!?"

     Ranma Saotome backpedaled quickly into the wall, sheets and futon
sent away in a bundle, her face an expression of the most basic and
animal fear and horror as she looked down at herself, entire body
shaking. Her breath came out raggedly from her throat, eyes wide and
shimmering, hair standing on end.

     Next to her, another figure turned to face the redhead, awakened by
the scream, and looked. A deep intake of breath accompanied widening
eyes, then the corners of the mouth went up as Nabiki fell back on her
bed, eyes closing as from her belly came roaring laughter.

     "That's not funny!!!" Ranma screamed, scowling deeply at her wife,
part of her glad she had been shaken out of her initial reaction at her
clothing, but very far from admitting it. Both hands reaching to her
back, she grabbed the pink nightgown with embroidered floral designs and
frilly white borders and took it off, cramming it without formality into
a ball then throwing it at the now giggling girl next to her. "Would you
stop it?!?" she hissed, teeth clenched in anger.

     Nabiki took a deep breath, her back arcing as she calmed herself,
then she turned to look at Ranma again, mouth open to speak. Seeing the
redhead, her eyes closed as she started giggling, letting her body
rotate completely to lay belly first on the floor, only the lower part
of her still on the futon, her forehead coming to rest on her forearm,
body shaking with giggles.

     The pigtailed girl sighed in frustration. "Would you quit it
already?" she asked, head lowering, tired of being mocked. Her eyes
widened as she saw what she was still wearing. "Ack!" she exclaimed,
hands going behind her back to unclasp the bra, a small, very small part
of her stating that the rose silk and lace undergarment was providing
the best support she had ever had for her large mammaries. That voice
was quickly squashed, however, when her hands found no way of undoing
the bra, the redhead starting to panic, which provoked another fit of
giggles from the brunette.

     Taking a deep breath to calm herself only reminded her of the
garment around her chest, and reluctantly her gaze lowered to stare at
the hated piece of clothing surrounding her flesh. She cursed loudly at
whoever put her in this thing while undoing the clasp between her
breasts, then throwing the bra across the room at the wall.

     A wall which revealed itself as a door as the panel slid open, the
long- haired brunette standing behind blinking in surprise as a bra flew
to her and landed on her head, one cup covering her right eye. She
blinked a few times in confusion, looking at the staring girls, who
stared back.

*******

     Silence. Stillness. Patience. Waiting. The very portrait of
statues, deep in thought, unmoving. The decor ancient, aged, shining
with tradition, inspiring respect in all who behold it.

     "Is that the Master?!?" one suddenly pointed.

     "What?!?" the other looked.

     The first quickly rearranged the board in front of him before
returning to his previous, deep-in-thought position. "Hmm..." he faked,
eyes calculating strategy.

     The second sighed, seeing no one, and returned to the game. And
blinked. Raising one finger, mouth opening to speak, he was cut by his
adversary making his move, and his eyes darted left and right as he
examined his new situation. Closing his mouth, his raised hand went to a
piece, and made it travel across the board. As the black queen stepped
in front of the white king, blocking the only exit, the winner licked
his lips slowly before speaking.

     "Truly, old friend, I admit we do not play chess often, but you are
playing far worse than usual... what is bothering you?" he asked,
concerned, looking at his friend intently, crow marks appearing beside
his eyes.

     The loser stopped in his motion of returning the pieces in their
starting position and looked down, taking his time to swallow, spreading
wetness to his suddenly dry throat. "I... am simply worried about the
children." he started. "I am not sure if letting them go--"

     "The girls will be fine." the other interrupted. "They are going
after Ranma, as they should." he nodded to himself, sure that things
will go the way they are meant to go.

     He shook his head. "This is not like past adventures, old friend.
This is not Ranma going against another rival to rescue a fiance." He
sighed, not seeing the tint of worry creep into his friend's face at his
words. "This is..." he trailed off, words dying in his throat. He licked
his lips, aware of the expectant gaze on him.

     "You don't know my son like I do, Tendo. During those ten years...
When he wants something, he fights for it. When he gets it... nothing
can take it away. If he has indeed chosen Nabiki and taken off with
her... the girls, your own daughter Akane, are not going AFTER Ranma...
they are going AGAINST him."

     Silence returned to the ancient home, both players staring at the
playing table in contemplation. Both faces wore mirrored looks, creased
brows, lips thining, jaws tight. Neither spoke, incredibly still but for
their breathing, thoughts tumultuous inside.

     "And Ranma never loses." one finished.

*******

     Mornings. Akane usually loved mornings, unless Ranma disturbed it.
This one, Ranma was only indirectly disturbing. If he hadn't run off
with her sister, Akane would never have had to wake up in an
uncomfortable tent in the middle of the forest, sun lighting up the
orange plastic around her like a neon light, alone but for the lovely
company of a certain okonomiyaki chef and a gaijin amazon. She grumbled
in a very lady-like fashion as she got up, did a quick change of
clothing and left her tent, squinting under the harsh sun's rays.

     The small clearing the trio had chosen for the night was strangely
still, undisturbed but for the playing of birds and fluttering of
butterflies. The campfire was silent and black, unmoving, yet still
respected, a butterfly giving it a wide berth as it flew across the
sweet-smelling air of the morn. Dew shone everywhere the sun reached,
bringing the clearing to life, making Akane smile as she took in a deep,
calming breath. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all...

     Chatter shattered the dream, and Akane turned to see her two
companions, happily chatting together, the flourishing trees and bushes
perturbing the sound just so, Akane unable to hear. One was holding a
small stack of wood, although moving as if holding leaves, the other
carrying carefully something bundled in her raised shirt. Food, she
supposed. She clenched her jaw, mindful of her anger. She was capable of
helping, dammit, she could gather food or firewood, she could cook!
Those two bimbos didn't think she could help on the road just because
she grew up in the city! It just wasn't fair! Fists clenching, Akane
started to see red, until... a sigh. It was no use, getting angry. Being
told by Kasumi that her anger drove Ranma in her own sister's arms went
some way into telling her that...

     The conversation in the woods abruptly stopped, hearing the short-
haired girl, and it was a silence unbecoming of their surroundings that
fell until the three young women stood together. The two looked at the
one, who looked back, and in continued silence Ukyou set about the
campfire while Shampoo used a few leaves to deposit her gathered bounty
on the ground, separating it in three. Akane looked, lips closed,
unmoving but for the sinking feeling growing inside...

     Old habits die hard.

     Brow furrowing, fists clenching, Akane abandoned her despair for
something more familiar; anger. Not looking at the hussies who were
insulting her so politely, Akane turned on one foot, grass underneath
crushed and twisted, and started undoing her tent with a little more
strength than was good for the tubes.

     "What's with her?" Ukyou whispered to the purple-haired girl,
leaning her way, eyes crooked to look at Akane's back. She could hear
the girl's small grunts when undoing the tubes, and grew more wary at
each.

     Shampoo, on the other hand, looked completely calm and collected -
not unlike, Ukyou noted, a cat ready to spring on its prey - and didn't
even look up from her triage of the various berries and nuts she had
collected as she replied, "Shampoo not know what goes through Akane's
head, and not care, as long as no get in way of getting Ranma." Her
voice was soft as if she had stated the weather, and said how fine and
dandy the day was.

     Eyes slowly turning away from Akane, now folding her tent, to
Shampoo, Ukyou didn't know which one was more dangerous - the unattended
pot threatening to burst out of its cover at any moment, or the one that
didn't make a sound, cover safely shutting the inside from prying eyes,
yet heated by the same flame as the first. Returning to building the
campfire, Ukyou safely decided not to utter a word, so not to add oil to
either burning hearts.

     Fifteen feet away, Akane finished cramming her tent in her pack,
not quite the way the company had folded it, but it still fit, and Akane
wasn't quite in the mood to care. She quickly closed her backpack and
hefted it on her shoulders, sighing as she placed the straps more
comfortably. Was she really going to do this?

     Her face hardened with her resolution. Was there any other
solution? No one believed in her abilities; she had to prove herself,
and if that took going off alone to find Ranma, so be it. Turning
towards the trail, she started on her lone journey, not saying a word to
her companions now turned rivals once more.

     Ukyou opened her mouth to comment at her departure, but stopped
herself. Like any girl after Ranma, being stubborn and not very open to
reason was a prerequisite. Sighing silently, she returned to the fire,
setting up the sticks to hold the pot.

     Next to her, Shampoo wordlessly continued her triage, not even
having seen Akane leave to know to separate her part between the two
girls left.

*******

     The first thing Nabiki did once realizing that being mistaken for
military pilots, forced to fly an experimental plane and crashing it
into a giant flying cat monster wasn't a dream, was hit her husband.

     Hard.

     Ranma surfaced the pond, eyes already glaring at her wife through
the red hair partially covering them, and growled, an eery sense of
familiarity rising inside of the girl. She slowly got out, squeezing the
water out of her pigtail. "It's not my fault." she shot back, almost
sulking in a low voice. "How was I supposed to know there'd be flying c-
c-c- monsters!" she continued, totally losing seriousness with her
scared stuttering.

     Their host, who was just coming back with a tray of tea and
biscuits, suddenly stopped as she entered the family room, managing an
"Oh, my!" of surprise as she saw the dripping redhead in the way too
large blue jumpsuit coming out of the pond. She took the few quick steps
needed to deposit the tray on the coffee table, then looked with worry,
fist over her chest. "Are you alright? What happened?" she asked.

     Ranma only glared at Nabiki for awhile, but was unable to stay
angry for long. "I'm alright," she replied, "just fell in the pond..."
She glanced at the hated pool behind her.

     "Oh, okay..." she smiled, a tad on the oblivious side. "Do you want
a towel?" she offered, already taking a step towards the hall.

     The redhead squeezed her pigtail, then shook her head. "No, I'm
fine. Rather used to it." she added with a rueful smile, walking over to
sit down next to Nabiki.

     The woman blinked. "I see..." she only said, sitting down with the
others, serving tea. "Well, my name is Belldandy." she smiled.

     Ranma, having expected Kasumi in front of him from the start,
blinked to herself, muted for a moment. Nabiki, on the other hand, had
thought this over a bit more. "Pleased to meet you, Belldandy. I'm
Nabiki Ten-" she stopped, about to correct herself, then simply nodded
to herself, "Tendou, and this is Ranma Saotome." She tried to ignore the
weird look she was getting from her traveling companion.

     Belldandy gave a small nod. "Pleased to meet you." she returned.

     "So," Nabiki continued, taking a sip of tea, "can I assume it was
you who found us?" she asked.

     She nodded. "Yes... I found you two washed up on the beach not far
from here. You were mostly fine but unconscious..." Both could hear just
how much she cared in her voice. "Are you sure you're fine? You haven't
rested for long..." she added, tilting her head a bit.

     "Oh, we're fine." Ranma replied nonchalantly. "It's not a little
thing like that that'll kill us." He stopped waving dismissively once
feeling Nabiki's glare.

     "Speak for yourself, Ranma, but you're right about the feeling fine
part. Not what I'd expect after barely escaping an exploding plane,
falling into the sea, getting washed up and only resting for one night,
but I have no reason to complain." she smiled.

     Belldandy acquired the tiniest of frowns. "Hum, Nabiki-san, I'm
afraid you've slept more than one night." she said, one hand half-
closed, nearing her chin, while putting down her tea in its cup.

     Both dimensional travelers froze in place, eyes wide, looking at
Belldandy. "H-h-h-how long?" Nabiki managed to ask.

     A thoughtful look crossed Belldandy's face as she looked upwards,
one finger tapping her chin. "Well, assuming I've found you the morning
after you fell into the sea, I would say you've been unconscious for
about two days and a half." she answered.

     Nabiki's shoulders slumped upon hearing the news. Two days and a
half unconscious meant they missed the slide by some forty hours. Which
also meant they were stuck on this warring world. Unless... "The timer!"
she shouted, rising from her position to lean over the table and grab
Belldandy by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. "Where's
the timer?" she asked, dead serious.

     The woman blinked. "The what? I don't understand..." she replied,
somewhat shaken.

     "The timer! It looks like a TV remote!" she explained, shaking
Belldandy a bit (but not too much, the woman did look like Kasumi after
all).

     Comfortingly putting a hand over Nabiki's own, the long-haired
brunette sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I didn't find anything
else, only you two." she answered, feeling sad, lowering her eyes.

     Nabiki fell back on her seat limply, then fell sideways to lean on
Ranma, who was in a similar state. "Y-y-you mean we're stuck in this
crazy world?" she asked to no one in particular.

*******

     'I'll find Ranma and get him back home, I'll show you all.' Akane
thought, still ruminating on her anger after what had seemed like hours
of hard walking, but was probably closer to only forty-five minutes.
Trying to ignore a rumbling stomach had the tendancy to make the passing
of time seem faster than it truly was. And gods was she hungry. She
should have stormed away *after* eating breakfast.

     The turn in the road showed her her salvation; a town, small,
fitting in the depression of the valley, with a shrine up the northern
mountainside. A quaint and quiet little town, Akane mused, where
everything was simple and life ran smoothly. Inwardly sighing, she
marched down the dirt road to find a restaurant open for breakfast.

     Even if she was pressed to find food, Akane found herself slowing
down a bit to admire the view of the valley and of the old wood houses,
without a doubt dating back from before the Meiji Restoration, if not
the turn of the century. As she entered the village proper, the scenery
gave her some kind of home away from home feeling, that cozy feel that
made someone feel like they could live here. Despite her situation, it
made Akane smile a bit, sighing happily.

     Up ahead, where the road to the shrine crossed the main road she
was walking on, Akane could see a small restaurant, more like a stand,
really, open to the street, with five or six stools, two occupied. She
practically ran to a stool and jumped on it, swinging her backpack aside
to lean on the empty stool next to her. She quickly scanned the crudly
written menu on the far wall and ordered. "I'll have a #3, Tonkatsu
Teishoku, please." she asked the chef with a smile.

     "Certainly." the man replied, leaving the rag he had been wiping
his heating plate with aside to gather the order of the little lady.

     Two seats to Akane's left, an old man with short white hair and
beard turned towards the new arrival, leaning back a bit to better
examine her, lacking his glasses. "Why, hello there, little girl!" he
greeted. "You seem to be traveling, what are you doing coming through
these parts?" he asked, taking a glance to her rather large backpack.

     Akane lost some of her newly cheerful attitude. "I'm... looking for
someone. The last clue I have put him in this direction..." Her lips
tightened, gaze lowering to the counter in front of her, where her arms
lay.

     The man nodded. "I see... and who is this young man to you, for you
to go off all alone in the middle of the school year, hmm?" he asked
with a toothed grin, leaning forward.

     The traveler promptly blushed. "He's... he's..." She took a breath
that returned her face to normal, and let it out in a sad sigh. "He
*was* my fiance... he left on a trip two weeks ago and hasn't come back.
At this point, I only care to know why he left like that instead of just
telling me..." she trailed off, and was saved from continuing by the
chef bringing in her food. "Itadakimasu." she thanked, nodding, and
immediately started with a mouthful of rice.

     The friendly senior let go of a small hum as he thought of the
girl's situation, one hand coming up to scratch his sparse white beard.
It didn't take a genius to figure out, by the girl's emotional state,
that her ex-fiance had taken off with another girl. His own daughter
having experienced something similar, he felt inclined towards this
girl. He calmly sipped his tea, letting her eat her breakfast in peace,
so she could gather herself up again.

     When all that was left was her cup of tea, the old man spoke up
again. "You know, little lady, maybe I can help you. If your fiance did
pass through here, I'm sure I would have seen him. What does he look
like?" he asked.

     Akane smiled. "I was about to ask you if you had seen him... one
minute." She put her tea down and bent to ruffle through a pocket of her
pack, coming up soon with a picture of both Ranma and Ranma-chan. It was
obviously doctored, made by Nabiki on a whim some time ago, on some
money scheme regarding Kuno, but came in handy to search for the boy
sometimes girl; while Akane was looking for male Ranma, girl-type Ranma,
if seen, was bound to be recognized.

     Taking the picture, he leaned backwards again, holding it at arm's
length to squint at it better. "Hmm... that does look like a fella I
know, but he hasn't been here in awhile... oi! 'Toshi!" he calls,
leaning to offer the picture to the other client of the restaurant
stand, to Akane's right. "Does this look like who I think it is?" he
asked, apparently not wanting it to be.

     The other man took the offered photograph and looked, squinting as
well but not as badly. "Hmm... yeah, I think so." he nodded. "Looks like
Amelia's boyfriend... hasn't been around in over a year, visits
rarely..." He looked closely at Akane. "You say he was your fiance? Are
you sure?" he asked.

     She chose to ignore the question. "Who's Amelia?" she asked, jaw
already tightening.

     Giving back the picture, 'Toshi nodded over to his friend. "She's
the shrine maiden." he answered, sticking a thumb towards the shrine up
the mountainside.

     Akane paused for a second, losing just enough anger to regain her
mental focus. "Shrine..." she repeated under her breath, the word losing
the respect usually associated with it. Her head looked up. "The shrine,
you say? Maybe I should visit her to clear things up..." She downed her
remaining tea, and turned to look at said building. "Yep..." She got up
and got out her wallet, counting money to pay.

     The old man to her left stopped her, putting his hand over hers.
"Let me, little lady. You have other things to worry about." he said
with a sympathetic smile.

     Somewhat shocked, Akane looked at the man for a second, then
relaxed into a smile. "Thank you." she acknowledged, really grateful.
She put her wallet away and hefted her backpack to her shoulder before
going up the road to the shrine.

     'Toshi looked at the girl go. "Are you sure you don't want to be
there, old friend? That girl seems... angry." he observed.

     The old man nodded. "Yes... much anger in her... but I'm not
worried, 'Toshi. Amelia can handle herself, even now." he calmly
replied, nodding to the chef as his tea cup was refilled.

     Down the road, Akane made her way to the large oaken door, and
knocked, hard to be sure to be heard. Twiddling the picture in her hand,
she tried to calm herself, preparing what she was to say so she wouldn't
explode in anger. Finally, she heard the door open with a sweet feminine
"May I help you?", the dark shape of the girl hidden inside.

     Akane raised the picture. "Hi, I've been told that you had seen--"
Her prepared speech fell short in her suddenly dry throat as she took in
the girl in front of her, frozen in place. Large robes aside, the shrine
maiden could easily pass for Akane herself, over a year ago, when she
still had long hair. The eye color was blue instead of brown and the
shape of the face was slightly different, but the resemblance was
uncanny.

     But what truly stopped Akane was the girl's incredibly round belly,
visible even through the robe's ample folds.

*******

     Belldandy tilted her head ever so and raised a curious eyebrow no
more than half an inch as she looked at the shocked Nabiki in front of
her. "Excuse me, but what do you mean by 'stuck on this world'?" she
repeated, omitting the adjective, "Are you saying you're not from this
one?" she asked, seemingly only curious, not afraid nor cautious.

     Nabiki, already leaning on Ranma, simply turned her head to bury it
in the smaller girl's shoulder. "Your turn." she moaned/mumbled,
sounding and looking very tired - which was very promising at nine in
the morning.

     Eyes looking down, for she couldn't very well move her neck, Ranma
was pretty much wanting to just drop back to sleep herself, but only
sighed. "The other worlds thing or the whole thing?" she asked the mind
of the two.

     A hand went up to grab her cup of tea and it was upended over the
redheaded girl. "Does this answer your question?" she mumbled into
Ranma's shirt, readjusting her position in his shoulder, not bothered by
the small amount of tea dripping on her.

     "Oh... oh my!" Belldandy exclaimed, bringing a hand to her mouth as
she leaned forward slightly to look at the boy. "Ranma, you're a boy
now!" she observed.

     Another sigh, this time sounding deeper. "Yeah, I'm really a boy. A
year and a half ago I got this curse that has me change into a girl with
cold water, reversed with hot water." he explained.

     Belldandy looked at Ranma a bit more, then smiled fondly, somewhat
amused. "I guess that explains your reaction to the sleeping clothes I
put you in." she said. "But how does that explain your other world
comment?" she looked at him again.

     Ranma scratched the back of his head with his free hand, the weird
feeling he had been getting back there since waking up now having
amplified when he changed back, too strong to be dismissed like before.
"It doesn't, it's just being honest, and I've been itching to change
back since I got up." A small shiver ran up his spine, recalling his
awakening. "Anyways, some two weeks ago I got a device that allows you
to travel to other worlds from a group that had just came home. I
decided to try it and Nabiki here unexpectedly tagged along." He glanced
down at the girl on him, which gave a sniff.

     "On this world we were mistaken for our doubles, and forced to
pilot a plane to go against the enemy... and when..." He took a
steadying breath. "And when I saw just what the enemy was, I kinda
freaked and crashed the plane in one of 'em." he finished, voice
lowering as he went, never happy to reveal a weakness.

     Nodding, Belldandy put her tea cup down. "I see... you lost the
device when you fell into the sea." she said sadly.

     "Yeah... but even if we hadn't, we missed the delay we had to go to
the next world, and we'd be stuck here some 29 years anyway." he sighed.
"So either way, we're..." he stopped, somehow feeling that completing
his sentence wouldn't be right in the presence of the girl before him.
That, added with his already tingling sense of SOMETHING coming from
her, caused Ranma to take another, longer look at the woman before him.

     The incredible Kasumi look-alike smiled softly, nodding sadly. "I
see... I'm very sorry. Don't you have some other way of getting home?"
she asked, wondering at the same time if there was anything she could do
herself.

     Ranma narrowed his eyes a bit as he looked more closely. Trying to
see past the appearance that was so much resembling Kasumi's that it
simply could not be what was triggering his senses. Yet even with deep
observation, there was nothing he could find outside of a simply
naturally cheerful and happy woman. Having known Kasumi, this wasn't
that much out of the ordinary, but it was no reason for his warning
alarm in the back of his head to be flaring so.

     "We don't." Nabiki answered, raising from her position in Ranma's
shoulder. "Unless you know a way to get the timer out of the middle of
the Japan Sea and know someone good enough in theoretical physics to
make another one for us to use." she sighed.

     Belldandy frowned. She had been thinking along the same lines, and
was coming up with only one answer, one that didn't really satisfy her.
She wasn't about to say no to them, that would be lying, but she
couldn't say her idea before consulting with someone. Thankfully, she
was saved from answering as something triggered her own senses.

     Having exhausted all possibilities, Ranma finally decided to shift
his chi to see the woman's aura, even though he hated doing that as it
felt like invading her privacy. He had barely begun when the brilliance
blinded him, and he immediately stopped. "Ack!" One hand went up to
shield his eyes as he looked away.

     "Ranma?" Nabiki blinked at him, unsure of what he was doing or
reacting from.

     'He was trying to look at... my real self? My aura? How could a
mortal do that?' Belldandy wondered, a hand raising to her mouth but
only covering her chin as she looked at the man before her.

     Ranma shook his head, eyes shut, trying to get rid of the sparkles
in them. He finally turned to Nabiki. "She- She's *powerful*!" he hushed
strongly to her. "Stronger than Saffron!" He turned to look at
Belldandy. "What are you?" he asked, the slightest touch of fear in his
voice, uncertain as to what a being capable of hiding such power could
do.

*******

     The picture fell from Akane's hand as she fully registered what was
in front of her. This girl... this girl was her! Ranma hadn't run off
with Nabiki, he'd run off and taken Nabiki to help cover his track! It
all made so much sense now. The reason why Ranma called her a tomboy and
unfeminine and insulted her skills as a martial artist and cook. He had
a girl that looked just like her and  that was incredibly traditional,
maybe more so than Kasumi, except for one little thing that seemed to
suit that perverted Ranma just fine.

     Her heart constricting, Akane just turned and left without a word,
at first a brisk pace but soon began running away, eyes shimmering with
tears. By the time she crossed the shrine gates, those tears were
rolling down her cheeks and sparkling like pearls in the air as they
fell.

     The shrine maiden blinked in surprise, and raised a hand as she
called to the running woman, but stopped as she saw it was to no effect.
Looking down at the picture, she wondered just what would be so shocking
for the girl to just take off wordlessly, though she admitted they had
some resemblance. Carefully using the doorway to lean on as she lowered
herself, she managed to get the picture without losing her balance.

     Her eyes suddenly widened. "But that's--" she stopped, frowning.
"No, that's not Hichiro. Resemblance is strong, though." She looked up
again, in the direction the girl left. "Wonder why she was so upset."
Shrugging, she pocketed the picture and closed the door.

     Down the road, Akane ran, not looking exactly where. She just ran,
wanting to go away from this place that had first promised peace and
tranquility, but proved to be a source of hardship and heartbreak.
Tripping on something, she planted face-first on the dirt road.

     'Toshi turned to look at the woman, replacing his out-of-balance
stool. "Are you alright, miss?" he asked, extending a hand to the fallen
girl.

     She either didn't see or didn't acknowledge his offered hand. Akane
raised a foot to stand again, but faltered as it slipped in the dirt,
her hands slamming on the road to support her. A pained sigh escaped her
as she bit her lip, her left hand shaking a bit as she balanced herself
on her other three limbs.

     Ignoring the repeated offer of help, Akane brought her foot up
again, and once she stood on one knee, removed the the small rock lodged
into her left palm, fist closing over the pooling blood. "I'm fine." she
said with a snarl, teeth clenched as she tried to ignore the pain as
much as she ignored the help, and looked around to orientate herself,
getting up. Without a word, Akane went down the road that brought her
there.

     One old man looked at another at the restaurant stand. "I somehow
don't think she liked whatever answer she found." 'Toshi said, having
the priviledge of looking at the departing girl some distance away and
towards his friend at the same time.

     The other man calmly sipped his tea, not looking up from it. "I
don't think she found any kind of answer at all." he replied. He had
barely glanced at the girl when she had tripped in 'Toshi's stool and
fell, and now he didn't need to look to know what she was doing.

     Akane's temporary anger soon faded, and her brisk angry walk slowed
to a crawl on the upwards trail leading out of the valley. Her mind was
a confused mess of images and feelings, leaving her with nothing but
questions, doubts, and a deep aching in her chest where her heart used
to be.

     The path was starting to flatten and the forest was too thick for
the morning sun to shine when Akane's internal struggles took too much
energy for her to keep walking, and her feet dragged to a stop as she
simply stood there, eyes unfocused and her thoughts primarily resting on
the desire for a walking stick for nearly a minute. Finally, she was
saved from numbly staring at the dirt at her feet when four other feet
entered her vision.

     "Akane, you okay?" the halting Chinese-accented voice asked, as a
slender hand reached over to Akane's shoulder.

     Shrugging the hand away, Akane took half a step backward as some of
her old self resurfaced. "I'm fine." Biting her lip, not liking how weak
and trembling her voice had sounded despite having willed it strong and
angry, she just looked away.

     "Your hand! It's bleeding!" Ukyo pointed, taking two steps forward
to grab Akane's hand and open it. Having forgotten herself, Akane was a
bit surprised and let the okonomiyaki chef take her hand as she looked
at it herself. Accumulated blood left her now opened fingers to splash
on the path, quickly mingling with dry dirt, at this point flowing more
from the cuts her own nails had dug in her palm than from the hole the
sharp rock had made. Akane blinked again, not remembering feeling
anything of her nails on her skin.

     "Akane should get bandage before wound fester." Not waiting for a
response, Shampoo's pack dropped to the road, dirt swirling in the air.

     One strap came off before Akane found her voice again. "No." Hard
and cold, she quickly closed her bleeding hand, slipping out of Ukyou's
grasp at the same time. "I can do it myself." She took a step back,
letting out a sigh of deep sadness that didn't last long as she hardened
her heart, looking up at the two girls. "And you might as well just give
up on Ranma. I found why he left and he's sure as hell not coming
back..." The bitter edge was obvious as Akane bit her lip.

     "You found Ranma/Ranchan?!?" two voices chorused.

     She shook her head. "No, I didn't." She quickly continued so not to
be interrupted in spite of her reservations to breech this subject again
so soon. "I found the girl he's running to." She raised a hand - the
unhurt one - to silence them. "There's no way to win, don't bother..."
she sighed deeply.

     The ensuing snorts were almost in chorus as well. "Honey, just
because YOU were beaten by that girl doesn't mean that we will." she
said seriously, fingering her unusually large kitchen instrument.
Shampoo could only nod at the sentiment.

     Akane hit them with a glare. "I didn't FIGHT her! I'm not that
cruel!" She sniffed. "Honestly. We've ALL already lost! That was what I
was saying, not that she beat me in a fight!" She crossed her arms,
biting down a hiss of pain from her hand, trying to keep her pride.
There was at least a bit of consolation in that fact... that none of the
Nerima girls had won.

     "What you mean, already lost? Shampoo no lose." The Amazon warrior
copied Akane's movement, crossing her arms below her chest.

     Fighting the urge to beat common sense into the foreigner, Akane
grit her teeth, glaring at the girl. "You stupid bimbo! It's never been
about which girl is stronger than the rest!" She pushed past her ancient
rivals, none too gently, determined to just walk away. A few hard steps
and she stopped, hanging her head. "You want to go ahead? Fine! She's a
maiden at the local shrine." she said, not looking back. "You can
recognize her easily. She--" Akane stopped, hearing rushed footsteps
behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the two girls
running down the path, towards the village. "Baka." she muttered, before
continuing down the road, anger quickly dissipating.

*******

     Belldandy sighed. This was not how she had envisioned telling them,
if ever. Yet, somehow, that mortal caught a glimpse of her self, and
chance didn't leave her the time to talk things over with her sisters,
and/if with her father. Taking a steadying breath, she offered her
friendliest smile, and although she desired to apologize or try to
reassure her guests of her good intentions, she knew that blunt honesty
worked better in situations like these. "I am Belldandy, Norn Goddess of
the Past." she explained, voice devoid of pride or boasting.

     The straight honesty and answer took the two travelers a bit by
surprise, and they glanced at each other. "Goddess?" Ranma asked, a bit
disbelieving. "Never met a goddess befo--" Nabiki's tap on his chest
stopped him.

     "Nice one," she said with a smirk, "but what would a Norn Goddess
be doing in Japan? You could come up with something better." she
deadpanned.

     A blink, one hand coming up to her mouth. She had expected some
kind of disbelief, but she had not heard that one before. "Hum, well, I
do suppose it is a bit odd... my presence here is a long story, one that
I..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes looked down, her entire attitude
emanating longing, but only for a second. "... do not wish to go into
right now, but if some proof of my origins and good intentions can help
you believe me, I would gladly offer it." she said, smiling expectantly.

     Nabiki opened her mouth to speak, stopped by a hand on her
shoulder. "Nabiki, if she says she's a goddess, I believe her, she has
the power to prove it." he said dead serious.

     She gave her husband a strange look. She knew Ranma was gullible in
some aspects, but such a thing would be under his sphere of knowledge,
and he was better equipped to determine someone's power. Still, she had
her doubts. "Okay then... being a goddess, there's bound to be a way for
you to help us, no?" she asked, a bit haugthy and demanding.

     Belldandy sighed, having desired to inform herself of that before
deciding to tell them of her true nature. "Well, I am unsure of that,
but I will try my best... I need to talk to a few people before I can
give you an answer..." She looked down and away, a bit ashamed at her
inability to offer more assurances.

     Ranma nodded in thanks, however. "That's more than we had five
minutes ago. Thanks for whatever you can do for us." he smiled. Not
minding the blink he received from Nabiki, Ranma got up, pulling on her
arm to indicate to do the same. "We'll leave you to do the calls you
need, we have to talk about this between us..." With a small polite bow,
Ranma half-lead and half-dragged his barely standing wife outside.

     Also a bit surprised, Belldandy smiled and nodded in lieu of a bow
at the departing Ranma. Finding her guests so nice and understanding,
she rose and went to the kitchen to make the appropriate calls, wishing
there could be a way to help the lost travelers.

     Once the two reached the pond, Ranma let go of Nabiki, who hadn't
stopped looking at him strangely. "What's with you, Ranma?" she asked, a
bit confused.

     "Nothing, Nabiki dear. Nothing at all." he smiled. "I'm just..." He
sighed. "I dunno, really. There's just something about this place, and
after what happened..." His eyes lowered to the still waters of the pond
in front of him.

     Nabiki didn't quite know what to make of Ranma's answer, if not
admit that this place and situation was somewhat particular. But she
happily put such considerations aside when a more urgent question rose
up. "Ranma, what do you remember of the accident?" she asked, at the
same time letting him know that she didn't blame him for it.

     He shook his head, one hand coming to his forehead. "Not much...
after I saw the... the..." He swallowed. "The monsters, it's all a
blur... All I remember is a feeling that I was gonna die then a sudden
rush of wind before it all turned black..." he sighed.

     A quick nod. "Same for me... I guess a bit of panic and fear of
dying can shake someone a bit. I'm not even sure how the ejection system
was triggered, I just know I blacked out right after." It wasn't an
outright lie, but she wasn't about to mention that little thing again if
she didn't have to.

     "Yeah... all the good my martial arts training did me, blacking out
after seeing those things..." he sighed.

     His wife patted him on the back. "Now, now, Ranma, it's not like
martial arts were made to handle situations miles in the air, you know.
It's not like you could have flown out of the plane to fight those
things yourself, after all." she smirked. A little humour would probably
cheer Ranma up, as always, or at least distract his mind long enough.

     Instead, Ranma acquired a thoughtful look. "Flying... now, that's
not a bad idea..." he mused.

     Nabiki acquired a sweatdrop or two. "Now, now, Ranma, this isn't
Dragon Ball, you can't fly..." she said, waving a hand to dismiss it.

     He blinked. "Dragon what?" His face lit up. "Dragon! Of course!
Herb! His Ryuu Sei Hishou technique had him floating in the air! If I
could duplicate and modify that... it's pure genius!" He smiled widely.
"Thanks, Nabiki!" Grabbing her head with both hands, he delivered a big
kiss on her lips.

     Not understanding what Ranma was refering to, since she hadn't been
there, added to his surprise kiss at the end, caused Nabiki to be more
than a bit confused. Luckily, she did not have to reply to Ranma's
outburst.

     "Ano..." came the soft voice of their darling hostess. "I don't
want to disturb you, but breakfast is ready..." she smiled sweetly.

     Ranma's eyes lit up, if possible, even more so than at the idea of
a new martial arts technique. "Breakfast!" His stomach made itself now
at the same time. "Haven't eaten in awhile, hope you made alot!" With
joyful eagerness, Ranma sped inside.

     With a shake of her head and a smiling sigh, Nabiki followed.
"Thank you, Belldandy." she smiled. "And I do hope you've made alot of
food..." she commmented as she passed the goddess.

     Belldandy could only blink.

*******

     Amelia let go of a tired sigh as another knock came from the shrine
main door just as she had sat down. "Of all the times..." Sighing again
to regain her cheerful attitude, she slowly got up and returned to the
door, opening it with a smile. "Can I help you?" she asked.

     Ukyou and Shampoo, who had been about ready to attack and maim
severely the woman as soon as she answered, now stood frozen in place,
eyes wide as they saw just who was answering and her condition. They
somehow couldn't do much else than lower and hide their weapons.

     'Travelers... again. Maybe they're with that first girl?' She
smiled sweetly and took out the picture the other girl had dropped. "If
you're looking for that man, though he does look like my Hichiro I
haven't seen him before..." She offered the photograph to the nearest,
an odd girl with a large spatula.

     The girl took the picture and offered it a quick glance to confirm
who was on it before turning it around for the shrine maiden to see.
"You haven't seen him?" she asked, just to be sure.

     She shook her head. "No... my boyfriend doesn't have a pigtail.
He's in the Self-Defense Force, so he can't have long hair period..."
she smiled, a bit wistfully as a longing look entered her eyes.

     The two travelers seemed to relax and sigh of relief at the words.
Of course their Ranma couldn't have been that girl's boyfriend, it was
just ridiculous. He had been well within their eyesight when the obvious
would have happened, and if a complete stranger could look like Akane,
there certainly could be a boy looking like Ranma as well.

     Still...

     "Excuse Shampoo, but does maiden girl have picture of boyfriend?"
the foreigner asked respectfully, mindful of her great-grandmother's
advice about badmouthing certain people while in Japan. Ukyou could only
nod, having been beaten to the question.

     Amelia only smiled before reaching inside her robe and taking out a
picture. As promised, next to herself in some oddly fitting fatigues,
was a young man in uniform, helmet under one arm, with a fighter and the
air strip behind them. And the boy looked oddly like Ranma, without
pigtail and a bit less wild hair. If one looked closely, it was apparent
that Hichiro's eyes were brown, not Ranma's grey-blue.

     "Well I'll be..." Ukyou muttered as she looked. The boy did look
like Ranma, and with that uniform on he seemed even more attractive.
There was just something about hi-- Ukyou pulled her head back, shaking
herself back to reality. What had *that* been all about? She was in love
with Ranma, for God's sake, she didn't have a schoolgirl crush because
he looked cute! She looked at Shampoo for her own reaction, just in
case.

     The picture would probably be mere atoms by now if Shampoo had it
in her abilities. She was glaring at it so much Ukyou wasn't sure if the
photograph wouldn't burst into flames anyway. The girl lost some of her
angry attitude as she straightened and looked at the shrine maiden
again. "Thank you." she said through somewhat clenched teeth, then gave
a quick bow before turning rather brusquely and walking off, if it
wasn't called stomping.

     Ukyou gave a quick deep of apology, her flat hand in front of her
face, and managed a quick "Excuse my friend." before hurrying after
Shampoo. Amelia, after blinking and looking a bit in confusion, merely
shrugged and closed the door as she replaced the picture near her heart.
Such strange travelers, but then again all outsiders were strange.

     Down at the gates, the chef finally managed to get a strong enough
hold on the amazon to stop her and twirl her around. "What's with
you?!?" she glared.

     And received the glare right back. "Shampoo sure this not Ranma.
Shampoo continue search." she said, dead serious, before wrenching her
arm free and walking off. Ukyou could only blink. What was with her? She
saw the same picture, what the hell could be wrong? She thought this
Ranma look-alike was rather handsome in that army uniform.

     Shrugging, Ukyou readjusted her backpack, and after giving one last
glance to the temple, followed Shampoo down the road.

*******

     Ranma sighed with contentment as he leaned back, clearing his teeth
with a toothpick. In front of him, the dozen or so plates were almost
cleaner than before they had any food in it. A few more were gathered in
front of Nabiki, while Belldandy had a single one, still not empty.

     "You certainly have quite the appetite, Ranma." Belldandy said with
a smile, putting her chopsticks down to take some tea. "Do you want
more?" she offered.

     He waved a hand to refuse. "Nah, I'm full, thanks. You're a
wonderful cook." he smiled, completely missing the glance his wife gave
him.

     Belldandy managed a shy blush with a large smile. "Thank--" she
started, but was interrupted with a sudden flash of light and the sound
of electrity sparks flying around coming from another room.

     Ranma was in the middle of getting up to check on the intrusion
when he noticed the growing expression of happiness on Bell's face, and
decided to stop until he got more information. He was not mistaken.
"That must be my sister!" the goddess exclaimed happily, getting up
quickly. "I'll go get her, wait here please." With a quick bow, she
hurried down the hall.

     Letting himself down with a bit of a swing, the blinking boy
settled next to the blinking girl. "Sister?" the latter remarked. "That
would mean... another goddess?" A sigh, then a glance to her husband.
"Only with you." she muttered, half-annoyed, half-amused.

     "What?" he replied, confused.

     "Nevermind." she answered, this time smirking. To think, Ranma
wasn't even aware that these kind of things weren't exactly normal.
After the initial surprise, he seemed to be able to simply shrug off
just about anything. The only thing she knew of that could shock him for
more than a few seconds was... better not think about that for now.

     Then, from the turn in the hallway, following Belldandy, came a
woman Nabiki could only feel jealous of in spite of her own self-
assurances.

     Sleek black shoes started the journey up incredibly long tanned
legs and full thighs that barely hid inside a tight jet black mini-skirt
just long enough to only show leg. A slim waist was still hugged by a
loose white business blouse that seemed to have exactly the right
numbers of buttons undone at exactly the right height, revealing the
tanned flesh underneath as well as the rise of the two mounds hidden
under the blouse, voluptuous yet firm.

     Long silver white hair flowed behind as they curled softly all the
way to softly swinging hips, framing a delicately beautiful face and
enhancing the slender figure. Sunglasses hid drawing, bottomless eyes,
modernly sleek and curvy, finishing touch to an already stunning and
powerful presence, commanding the attention and respect of anyone,
telling any onlooker that the woman was powerful and sexy.

     And that she knew it.

     Even someone who managed to brush off Shampoo's more than amorous
advances on a semi-daily basis had practically no resistance to such a
sexy aura. Thus, Ranma's jaw was following the laws of gravity has much
as it could, hanging loosely, eyes wide and looking straight at the
*woman* in front of him.

     That is, until an elbow decided to check if it could fit between
two of his ribs.

     Ranma winced, pulling away as he glanced at Nabiki. And pulled away
a bit more at the death glare he was receiving, a few sweatdrops
appearing on the back of his head. He nervously looked at the two
goddesses; one was smiling almost blissfully while the other was
smirking amusedly, lowering her glasses a bit to look over them. "So,
sis, those are the two you want me to help?" she asked, voice also
amused.

     "Yes. They're stuck here, and Father agreed that we should help
them." Belldandy smiled ever-so-helpfully.

     The visitor's confident demeanor suddenly changed to one of doubt
as the goddess took her glasses off to look at Bell. "Father?!? You
didn't tell me He was with this!" she replied, enerved slightly.

     Somehow, the two mortals present could clearly hear the capitals,
and were more or less frozen in place as another element settled into
place. Who would goddesses refer to as Father but... Kami-sama? When
they were asking for help a cheerful and happy woman, they hadn't
expected for their plea to go this far...

     Belldandy smiled in her usual way at her sister. "Oh, I'm sorry,
didn't I tell you? Father is most interested in the well-being of these
mortals." she said in a voice too casual for the words' implications.

     Dropping her head, the other goddess sighed deeply. "I thought
getting to first class meant no longer being tested..." she mumbled,
sounding weary and tired. Taking a deep breath, she let it out quickly
as she straightened. "Well, let's do this." Brow furrowed, a grin
forming on her lips, she looked ready to kill and sexy as ever.

     Ranma and Nabiki gulped.

*******

     Noon was soon coming, and Akane was still walking away from the
village, blood dripping from her hand in small droplets now and then.
She was barely advancing, taking small steps that sent dirt swirling in
the air as her feet dragged on the dry path. Her mind was as blank as
her expression, eyes staring off in the distance, unable to feel even
the most basic of emotions, like the throbbing pain her hand left kept
sending, unaware that for some reason her fist kept clenching and
unclenching, nails constantly preventing her wound to close completely,
stretching the skin and breaking the crust of dried blood.

     All that kept her going was her rapidly beating heart, seemingly
ready to explode at any second as all the emotions contained inside
battled with the cold and empty feeling inside her chest, adrenaline the
only thing giving strength to her muscles as she slowly continued down
the road.

     Then, as if lightning had struck, Akane's eyes closed as she simply
fell forward, limply crashing on the ground, surrounded by majestic
trees, singing birds, and the caress of the wind. And as her mind shut
down, all Akane could feel was a strange sense of peace, a feeling of
detachment from the world as everything turned to welcoming blackness...

*******

     Ranma looked doubtfully at the odd metal construct in front of him,
an odd round shape slightly hidden in the sand. It was a nice day to be
at the beach, even at this time of spring, though Ranma had no desire to
see how cold the sea was. Urd, Norn goddess of the Future, as their
visitor turned out to be, was half-hidden inside the machine, tinkering
with some 'last minute adjustements' for the past hour or so. Ranma
didn't find odd that the mechanical goddess hadn't changed clothes,
staying in her white blouse and black mini-skirt, but that said clothes
never got dirty, no matter how much grease and oil he could see inside
the contraption, was something to wonder about.

     "And how long is this gonna take again?" Nabiki asked once more,
more than tired of looking for seashells and then throwing them back,
even if at first she had been pleasantly surprised of how far she could
throw them - side benefit of a week of Cologne's training, she mused.

     Urd pulled out of her machine, closing the panel she had been
exploring with one hand as she brushed her long hair over her shoulder
with the other. "Done!" she exclaimed proudly.

     "Wonderful!" Bell exclaimed happily, gently clapping hands. "And
what is it?" she then asked in the same breath, smiling as she tilted
her head.

     Not even phased, Urd took out a remote control out of somewhere and
dramatically pressed on its main red button. The metal object vibrated
to life and started rising, panels opening as the oval shape started
sprouting appendages.

     "What the hell..." Nabiki muttered as she saw the thing slowly turn
into a giant, metallic and shiny red crab, facing the open sea. She
blinked, once, though she found the idea surprisingly inventive; a crab
was the perfect animal to go around the depths of the sea and search for
their belongings.

     Slowly walking around the crab, Ranma looked it up and down, left
and right. "A crab, eh? Not bad..." he reached and knocked on one of the
large pincers, getting a hollow metallic resonance. He raised an
eyebrow.

     "Of course it's 'not bad'," Urd replied proudly, trying not to
sound annoyed, "*I* built it!" one hand pointing to the sky. "Now, stand
back!" All three bystanders quickly rushed to her side, away from the
metal animal.

     Nabiki hmmed. Something didn't seem right in her mind, though she
couldn't quite put her finger on it.

     Urd pushed a few more buttons on the remote, eliciting pincers to
close and open rapidly, and the two orbs passing for eyes turning
around, facing forward out to the sea. Then, with a dramatic pose,
finger pointing to the sea horizon, she let out a war cry. "Kani I,
GO!!!" as she pushed the stick on the remote forward.

     The crab did as ordered, and with incredible speed for its size,
cloud of sand rising as it went, rushed sideways, slamming into the
cliff some two hundred feet away. The impact caused some large rocks to
dislodge and fall, crushing the metallic crab, and after a few large
crackles of electricity, a loud explosion signaled the buried demise of
Kani I.

     All four onlookers acquired sweatdrops.

     Suddenly remembering, Nabiki spoke her thought. "Don't crabs walk
sideways?" she commented to no one in particular.

     Ranma and Urd facefaulted.

*******

     Kojiro hated his job as much as he loved it. He found incredibly
joy and happiness with what he could do, but hated the situation there
had to be for him to do it. And for some reason, there always had to be
blood, too. He sighed again, walking up the trail, following the red
pools mingled in the dirt and the coppery scent mixed with the fresh and
pure odor of the forest. Blood always made him uneasy.

     "I'm getting too old for this." he muttered, leaning on his walking
stick for a break. He wiped his brow, pushing his white hair out of his
eyesight. That girl couldn't have gone far, he mused, looking ahead on
the trail. His eyes widened as he spotted a shape on the ground some
distance away.

     Forgetting his tiredness, he rushed to her side, kneeling in the
dirt. The girl looked pale, and her left hand was in the middle of a
large pool of blood. He frowned. This was bad. A small wound properly
tended didn't cause a loss of blood big enough for the body to be
affected, but a wound left bleeding, no matter how small, over a long
period of time, could drain the body beyond a recuperable state.

     Wishing he wasn't too late, Kojiro quickly bandaged the girl's
hand, and put his belt around her upper left arm tightly to lower blood
pressure in it. From his pack, he took out a make-shift stretcher, and
once assembled rolled the girl on it. And after attaching the rope
around his waist, Kojiro tiredly began the trek back to the village.

     "Next time, 'Toshi's grandson is coming to help me." he muttered to
himself. "This is not something for a soon-to-be great-grandfather."

*******

     'You have to admit, this is far from any vision of Heaven ever
conceived.' Nabiki mused to herself as she watched Urd assemble Kani II,
helped by Ranma who was recovering old parts from the buried Kani I. 'So
goddesses can make brainless mistakes too... kinda satisfying in a way.'
She smirked as Urd banged her head as she was getting out of her
machine. 'Really satisfying.' she added.

     Belldandy sat next to Nabiki, putting a holding tray on the sand in
front of them. "Tea?" she offered sweetly, already pouring herself a
cup.

     "Please." Nabiki replied, smiling at the ever-so-happy goddess. She
graciously took the offered cup and took a satisfying sip. "Delicious as
always, Belldandy." she complimented.

     "Thank you." Looking at the working pair as well, the goddess of
the Past could only marvel at Ranma's abilities; the big rocks covering
the first experiment had either been easily put aside or broken into
pieces, and the heavy metal parts seemed no problem for him to carry.
Urd seemed more than happy with her temporary assistant - as long as she
didn't go into too technical terms.

     "So, what is your world like?" she asked, curious. "Is everyone
there like Ranma?" she wondered.

     Faced with such a notion, Nabiki could do only one thing; she
reared her head back and laughed as loud as she could. "Oh, that's
rich!" she exclaimed to the surprised-looking Belldandy. The two workers
some distance away stopped and looked, but soon just shrugged and
returned to building their machine.

     "Did I say something wrong?" the peaceful goddess asked, blinking.

     Nabiki shook her head, still chuckling. "No, no... only something
real funny." She giggled. "No, Ranma is rather unique... our world is
more or less normal, though I'm not well-placed to tell you, our part of
the world is somewhat unique too." She sighed, smiling, but soon
frowned. "The only thing I can see that is different is the war going on
- every other difference I've seen would be a consequence of it..."

     Belldandy nodded. "Yes, the war with China has been going on for
some time..." she sighed, obviously saddened by it. "Although the bit
you've seen is not China attacking... it is something else." she said,
now looking a bit distressed.

     "Oh? What do you mean? Those monsters came from where, then?" she
pressed.

     A shake of her head. "I'm not supposed to tell mortals of this
world..." she gently refused.

     She smirked. "But I'm not from this world, Belldandy, and if
everything works out I'll be leaving soon." she countered. "Besides,
it's not like we can tell anyone." she added, waving her hand to the
surroundings - Belldandy herself had said that the nearest village was a
day's walk away.

     Thining her lips for a moment as she thought, the goddess then
nodded. "Very well. I suppose there would be no harm." She took a deep
breath, let out some of it to relax herself, and answered. "The monsters
come from China, yes, but not from the United States of China..." She
didn't notice Nabiki raise an eyebrow. "They came from the mountain
range in mainland China, from a small valley called--"

     "Jusenkyo." Nabiki breathed out with wide eyes, interrupting the
goddess.

     Blink, then nod. "Yes, how did you know?" she asked, surprised.

     "That's where Ranma got his curse, as well as a number of his
friends... so someone used Jusenkyo to make armies of monsters?"

     "Yes... although it's not the only magic involved. I'm not sure of
the details myself, but a powerful mystical being suddenly acquired
power some time ago and has been accumulating magic ever since... it
seems you've come to our world just as this being decided to take the
world." she said sadly, sounding sorry for the travelers to have come at
such a time.

     "And what happened at the battle two days ago?" Nabiki added.

     Belldandy shook her head and looked down. "The sudden demise of the
scouting plane, which I assume was you two, caused the Japanese army to
attack without restraint and with no concern over their troops on the
Japan Sea." Her voice had been tightening like a vise was applied to her
throat. "They struck with neutron and fission bombs... the attack was
repelled, but all troops at sea were--" Her voice suddenly caught.
"Were--" She buried her face in her hands, unable to continue, crying
freely.

     Caught unaware for a second, Nabiki quickly went to the girl's
rescue, comforting her and rubbing her back. 'Was she... *Is* she in
love with one of those navy men?' she wondered, trying to soothe the
woman.

*******

     Nearly two hundred feet away, Ranma looked up at the goddess of the
Future, face dirty with a number of oil or grease spots, not bothered by
the perfectly clean girl in front of him though she was doing dirtier
jobs. "Are you sure it's gonna work this time?" he repeated for the
twenty-sixth time.

     Urd swallowed her growl and just glared at the boy. "Yes." she
answered, voice tight. "I'm sure." She threw the extra bolt at him for
good measure.

     Catching the incoming object easily, Ranma allowed a smirk. "Okay
then. Well, I attached all eight legs like you asked me to, anything
else?" he asked, throwing the bolt away.

     Stepping away, closing the panel she had been in, she shook her
head. "No, that should be it..." She sighed. "I hope, at least. I really
want to get my hands on this dimensional travel device of yours..." she
smirked.

     Ranma had the strangest feeling that it wasn't the best of ideas to
let Urd work on the timer... but it couldn't be helped, could it? "Well,
alright then, let's give it a shot... can't go any worse than the
first." he finished muttering.

     Suddenly at his side, Urd bonked him on the head with her fist.
"Don't say that, you idiot, you're gonna jinx it!" she angrily berrated
him.

     Rubbing his head, Ranma slowly distanced himself from the sexy
godddess. "Yeah, yeah, sure..." he grumbled. "Let's just get our things
back, okay?" he tried to say nicely with a forced smile.

     "Right." Urd nodded. She didn't care much for her help's comment,
but she'd be damned if she didn't do the job right when He was looking
over things. She took out the remote and activated Kani II. "Everything
seems to be working... let's try only a small nudge forward." She gently
pushed the stick on the remote. Kani II took a few steps forward, the
surf gently lapping at its metallic legs. Two sighs could be heard.

     "Alright then, let's go find that timer device." With grim
determination, Urd sent Kani II forward, slowly disappearing in the
Japan Sea. After a few seconds passed, Urd sighed of relief; no
explosion meant that her invention was waterproof. Unless it simply
short-circuited with an unseen puff of smoke...

     Hurriedly, Urd activated the small screen on the remote and
checked. The crab was going forward rapidly... everything was normal.
She sighed again. With a satisfied smirk, Urd turned on the sensors and
let the thing do its work.

     "So everything's working?" Ranma asked, next to her.

     She nodded. "Yep. Just a question of time." she replied
confidently.

*******

     Amelia sighed as she changed the girl's cold compress. She was near
giving birth, for gods' sake, this wasn't the time to give her such a
hard duty as watching a sick and weak person! What was her grandfather
thinking? So what if they looked the same? That girl obviously didn't
have the thirty pounds she was carrying all the time!

     Sighing angrily, Amelia gave a glance at the girl she was
supervising. She quickly lost her frown. She was much too pale to be
healthy, and according to her grandfather wasn't doing any better
mentally either. So sad...

     Amelia looked up, through the small window, looking at the rose and
red sunset. She hoped... no, she wished that things could go better for
this lost girl. It just was so sad for such a pretty girl to be in such
a situation. Amelia then bit her lip, resisting a giggle. Complimenting
herself indirectly like that was not really appropriate.

     Sighing, the shrine maiden put her hands over her round belly,
leaned back in her chair and looked at the sunset. And hoped that when
the sun returned, the world would be better for this girl.

*******

     Ah, rain. Who doesn't like the rain? Bringer of life, of
revitalization? Who doesn't like standing in the rain, walking, letting
himself be soaked to the bones under the falling water, marveling under
the touch of nature?

     It's a rhetorical question, of course.

     Ranma grumbled as she quickly gained the protection from the hated
water under Bell's house's roof, sighing as she realized it was already
too late. Oh well. Squeezing the water out of her pigtail, Ranma made
her way to the living room, sitting down next to Nabiki, facing Bell.
"Any news from Urd yet?" she asked casually.

     "Nope." Nabiki smirked. "And I told you not to go too far. Didn't
you see the same clouds that I saw?" she teased.

     She hmphed. "Well, the rocks that I needed to practice were at the
beach, so I had to go there." she explained, nodding in thanks to Bell
as she took the offered tea cup.

     "Oh dear, would you like some hot water Ranma?" Belldandy offered,
sounding concerned as she started to get up.

     Ranma shook her head. "Nah, not necessary, I'm used to it." she
replied.

     Chuckling a bit, Nabiki opened her mouth to comment, but was
interrupted by the door sliding open. Urd stood there, somewhat wet and
holding a large pile of clothes and other things in front of her.
Nabiki's eyes widened. "You found it?" she asked excitedly.

     Urd nodded, stepping in. "Yep! And not only the timer, either." She
shook herself of water before sitting next to her sister, putting the
pile on the table. "This is what I found that didn't look too
damaged..." There was Ranma's two outfits, Nabiki's clothes, her laptop
in its plastic bag, though it was clear the bag had been breached and
water had flooded inside, and on top the timer and a golden ring.

     "Oh dear god... my computer!" Nabiki grabbed it from the pile, not
caring if the rest fell. Urd quickly caught the timer before it was
damaged further, and raised an eyebrow as she saw the girl worriedly
check her computer. Then she noticed, and turned to Ranma. "Who are
you?" she asked, confused a bit.

     Ranma rubbed the back of her head. "Err... hehehe." she laughed
nervously. 'I should have accepted Bell's offer...' Sighing, she went to
explain when a wail of absolute sadness rose from Nabiki's throat.

     "Nooooooo!!!" the girl cried, clutching her computer. "We'll never
get home now!" Not caring anymore, Nabiki started crying.

     All three witnesses blinked. "How do you mean?" Ranma asked.

     "The number for our home dimension was on my hard drive! We'll
never get home now!" Grabbing the shorter girl, Nabiki cried on a
blinking Ranma's shoulder.

     Urd sweatdropped. "Hum, if the computer wasn't running when it got
soaked with water, it's salvageable..." she stated like if it was
obvious to anyone, not just her.

     Suddenly stopping, Nabiki looked up at Urd in surprise. "It is?"
she asked.

     "Yep!" Urd beamed. "It's not a little water that can stop the great
Urd!" she modestly praised.

     "Cool then! So you can fix both the timer and the laptop, and we'll
be on our way home!" Ranma summed up everything with a smile.

     Nodding, Urd suddenly realized something, and lost her smile. "And
who are you?" she asked Ranma again.

*******

     Morning came, and just about everyone was happy as could be, except
for one particular redhead. Who, after explaining to Urd the concept of
her curse, found herself practically blackmailed into doing a little
modeling in more 'appropriate' clothes. It hadn't helped when Belldandy
happily added that Ranma *would* look good in more feminine clothing,
nor Nabiki commenting Ranma's previous experiences with such attire.

     And so, Ranma was now sporting the very same nightgown and
underwear as her previous night, though this time it was in a more
'willing' sort of way. Which meant more grumbling, less screaming, and
much, much darker thoughts.

     The lovely redhead flopped on her cushion at the dining table,
sleepy and grumpy, trying to ignore the equally lovely goddess in front
of her, reading the paper. Which promptly folded forward, revealing an
amused smile and shining eyes. "So, Ranma, how was your night?" she
casually asked.

     Ranma answered with a glare. "It's not funny." she grumbled,
forcing out of her ears the chuckle that followed. "Have you fixed
everything yet?" she shot angrily, wishing more than anything to change
the subject.

     "I have." Urd responded calmly, returning the paper to its upright
position as she continued to read. "All that's missing is a small gem
inside the timer, we only have to wait for it to arrive." she said.

     "Really???" Ranma threw the paper away, tearing it from Urd's grip,
looking her straight in the eyes. "For real???" she pressed on, looking
desperate.

     Urd nodded. "Why would I lie?" she replied, smile turning into a
grin. "And now that we only have free time ahead of us, I hope last
night didn't tire you because I have alot more outfits for you." Her
grin was almost feral now, like a predator.

     The model immediately backed away. "Nononono! No need for that! I
have other things to do, hehehe!" she said as she rubbed the back of her
head nervously.

     Raising an eyebrow, the sexy goddess of the Future leaned forward.
"Oh? And what would that be?" she asked.

     "Humm..." Ranma pressed herself for an answer, looking around for
any clue. Nabiki grogginly came into view from the hallway, dressed in
one of Ranma's outfits, expertly cleaned by their generous hostess; the
clothes she had at the start of all this, jeans and sky blue shirt, had
been torn beyond repair. Her eyes lit up. "Nabiki!" she pointed.

     Said girl looked up confusedly when her name was spoken. "Huh?"

     Ranma got up and almost ran to Nabiki's side. "I have to keep up
Nabiki's training, else she'll lose what she's learned on the last
world!" She glomped Nabiki's arm.

     "Huh?" Nabiki repeated, Urd smirking and crossing her arms.

     Pulling her wife outside, Ranma smiled lopsidedly to Urd. "Gotta go
train! See ya later!" she waved, dragging the still sleepy Nabiki.

     "So you're going to train in THAT?" Urd pointed to Ranma's flimsy
pink nightgown with white floral embroidery.

     After looking down at herself, Ranma laughed nervously. "Hehehe...
I, huh, forgot..." Still dragging her bewildered wife, she went back to
her guest room to change.

     Shaking her head, Urd retrieved her paper and returned reading. The
latest war news made her frown. 'It all just means more bugs up there.'
she sighed.

     Down the hall, Nabiki finally regained enough of her senses to work
without a cup of coffee, and looked at the changing Ranma confusedly.
"Are you serious about this training thing?" she asked, frowning a bit
at the idea, though she couldn't refute its apparent usefulness.

     "It's better than posing for Urd again." Ranma only replied,
sighing happily once back into her favorite red and black outfit.

     Nabiki could only shake her head in response. "Can I at least have
breakfast first?" she smirked.

     She gave her a look. "Nope." she told a suddenly confused Nabiki
before taking her arm again and dragging her outside.

     "Err..." She wasn't feeling up to this, but standing against a
determined Ranma was not something she knew to be a smart thing to do.
And Ranma deserved something for last night. "Well, let's go slow,
okay?" she offered.

     She only had a grin as an answer.

*******

     An incredible throbbing pain from her left hand suddenly seemed to
wake Akane, and she grogginly opened her eyes, looking for the reason
why she couldn't move her hand to check. Slowly, her eyes focused,
revealing a small spartan room lit by the early afternoon sun, her
clothes and pack on a nearby chair. Using her right hand, she pushed the
small blanket covering her as she tried to sit up...

     And immediately fell back down, feeling suddenly dizzy as the room
started to spin, her muscles so very weak and tired. "Whoa..." She
closed her eyes, trying to refocus herself.

     "Oh my! Please, don't get up!" A distressed voice came from her
right, followed by rushed footsteps then hands on her shoulders to keep
her down. "You need to rest, you haven't recovered yet." the voice
continued, this time gentle and soothing.

     Akane let herself relax in the bed, nodding a bit though the
movement made her head hurt. "O- okay... what happened?" she managed to
whisper, her mind drawing a blank on how she got there...  or how her
hand was hurt for that matter.

     A surprisingly comforting feeling washed over her as she felt a
cold compress against her forehead, and against her will a slow moan
rose from her throat. "There... you've lost alot of blood, it'll take
time for your body to replace it." the voice said, Akane could hear a
friendly smile in it.

     Slowly managing a swallow, Akane tried a small smile. "Thank
you..."

     "Shh, rest now." the voice replied.

     Akane nodded a bit, and let herself relax to drift to sleep. Even
after being in bed for over a full day, her body happily made way for
her request, and she fell asleep soon after.

     Caringly looking at the weak girl, Amelia sighed as she changed the
cold compress again. She couldn't help but feel sorry for her look-
alike, even if she knew most people did not like that. It also added to
the fact that Amelia had heard many things about childbirth, one of them
being major bloodloss. She feared ending up like this girl.

     "Amelia?" a stern voice rose to her left, and she nearly jumped out
of her skin, caught off guard.

     She quickly turned her head to look, and a sigh of relief passed
her lips. "Yes, grandfather?" she politely replied, having the good
sense of looking a bit shamed.

     "You shouldn't stress yourself, my dear, not in your condition...
go rest, I can take care of her." he gently berated her, walking near.

     Amelia opened her mouth to retort but closed it as she saw the look
on his face. "Yes, grandfather." she finally nodded, and with his help
to get up made her way to her room.

     Kojiro smiled and took the chair once she was out. Amelia was a
nice girl, but tended to forget herself when others were in need.
Looking at his guest, he lost his smile. The girl was recovering, but it
would be a long process. Hopefully, he could help her obtain mental
strength as she regained her physical strength. Hopefully...

     Sighing, Kojiro installed himself for a long watch over the young
girl.

     'I'm too old for these things...'

*******

     After a tiring workout, a much-too-late breakfast and coffee, and
another round of exercises and katas, Nabiki was more than tempted to
call it a day without bothering with a late lunch. However, all her
aches seemed to disappear when she heard the magic words.

     "The timer's repaired?!?" she almost screamed in happy surprise,
looking at Urd with a big smile and large eyes.

     The goddess nodded with a large smile. "Yep! Piece of cake. It was
barely damaged, only had to replace a few short-circuited wires and get
the countdown going again, since it stopped. You're sliding out tomorrow
morning." she explained as she handed the device to its owner.

     Nabiki confirmed the time as she looked at the ticking counter.
"Yes!" she weeped to the heavens, clutching the object of her freedom to
her breast.

     "Yeah, thanks." Ranma added with a honest smile.

     Urd nodded, waving a hand. "No problem." she smirked. "My
pleasure." She passed her hand through her hair. "Your computer's
restored too, by the way." she added. "So, Ranma, how do you like being
a girl now?" she asked, amused.

     Glaring, Ranma hmphed. "You know I'm a guy." she said angrily,
though the statement was odd coming from a girl in a blouse and
miniskirt; Urd had managed to drag her for a quick change right after
breakfast, and she hadn't seen the point in changing for practice
afterwards. 'At least I managed to get her to back down about the high
heel shoes.' she thought, annoyed.

     "Well, you can keep the clothes." she grinned. "I have plenty more
where they come from." She chuckled at Ranma's growl.

     "Oneesan, please." Belldandy frowned the tiniest bit. "Remember
that Ranma is originally male." she told her.

     With a smirk, Urd nodded. "Oh, of course, of course." The amusement
in her eyes didn't leave for a second. "I just thought I'd help Ranma be
comfortable in his female body." she replied.

     "Oh, well in that case--" Belldandy started to say, but was
interrupted.

     "Ahem." Nabiki cleared her throat loudly, fist over her mouth. Once
she had all three's attentions, she allowed herself a smirk. "As much as
teasing Ranma and dressing him up is fun, there is a more pressing
issue. As I understand, this place is a good distance from Tokyo, and
I'd like to be close to home before I slide tomorrow morning. Okay?" she
finished with a smile.

     "Oh, of course." Belldandy nodded. "But it is no problem
transporting you tomorrow morning. My sister and I can manage a
transportation spell to take you then." she smiled.

     Urd perked up. "Huh? Hum, sis, I can't stay here 'til tomorrow
morning..." she sweatdropped. "This war is creating a number of bugs up
there, like always,  and I have to return before they destroy the
place." she smirked a bit, waving an upward finger.

     "Oh... well, in that case, perhaps we should take them now?"
Belldandy looked at her sister, then at the two travelers.

     "Hum... if neither of you mind, I'd much rather travel there
physically." she offered, a few sweatdrops behind her head from seeing
her fate decided so easily by others.

     Ranma looked at Nabiki. "What's wrong, you don't trust them?" she
blinked.

     The short-haired brunette shrugged. "No, it's not that... I guess
I'd just like a nice relaxing trip, after all that's happened..." She
put her hand on her right shoulder and rotated it. "Not to mention I'd
like to unwind a bit..." She winced.

     "Oh, well, certainly then! Oneesan, do you think you can make a
vehicle for them to take to Tokyo?" Bell smiled, sounding happy as ever
even if she was a bit sad to lose her guests so quickly.

     Urd nodded. "Yeah, sure, easily done." she answered seriously.

     The goddess of the Past smiled. "Perfect! Now, would you two care
for lunch before leaving?" she asked sweetly.

     "You bet!" came the synchronized reply from the two mortals.

*******

     The sun was giving its rosy hue to the temple as Amelia went back
to check on her guest. When she noticed the door was open, she quickly
rushed down the hall to look inside, but found the room and bed empty.
'Where can she be?' she wondered as she looked up and down the hall,
then saw the door to the bathroom slightly ajar.

     "Miss?" she called, coming up to the door and knocking gently, not
looking inside. "Are you in there?" she asked, rising her voice a bit.

     Getting no response, Amelia peeked in, slowly opening the door. She
gasped, eyes widening, as she saw; the girl seemed unconscious, probably
from the strain of getting where she was, and in a somewhat compromising
position. 'At least it's not grandfather who found her.' she mused as
she went to help the sitting girl.

     Five minutes later, Amelia herself was sitting down and quite
tired, almost panting as she held her belly with one hand. "On the other
hand, I'm not much better than her." she told herself, closing her eyes
to rest a little. At least she had gotten the girl decent.

*******

     Ranma stretched as she put both feet on the ground. "Ah, geez! Urd
could have given something better than that!" she complained, rotating
her right shoulder, a few pops could be heard.

     "I don't know, Ranma," Nabiki replied, looking at the large
metallic scooter-like vehicle Urd had loaned them, "I think it was a
pretty smooth ride." she smiled. Of course, not having been the one
driving, the trip had been much more comfortable for her.

     "Yeah, yeah." the redhead grumbled, waiting for her wife to get off
their little flying vehicle. "Let's just go, we still have some distance
before getting into town." she countered, hitting the recall button on
the scooter. It soon started shimmering with white light, and vanished
into a bright flash.

     Blinking the spots out of her eyes, Nabiki muttered, "I'll say one
thing about Urd's inventions; they aren't as perfect as their origin
would suggest." shaking her head.

     "I'll say." the well-dressed redhead replied, rubbing her eyes.
"I'd rather forget about her wardrobe, though." she added on a dark
tone.

     Putting an arm around the shorter girl, Nabiki started the two of
them down the path towards Nerima. "Ah, come on, Ranma dear. You have to
admit that blouse and skirt really look good on you." she teased,
smiling.

     "I'd prefer a dress." she shot back. "You just put that cap on."
she added, glancing at the brunette.

     Not liking it, but stuck since it had been her own idea, Nabiki
reached in her new schoolbag, courtesy of Belldandy, and took out a
baseball cap, cramming her short hair under it as she twisted the thing
in place. "How do I look?" she asked once done.

     Ranma gave her an up and down look. With Ranma's red and black
outfit, slightly loose on her body, and what appeared to be a very short
haircut under the cap, Nabiki could pass for a guy... just about. "You
know, if you hadn't those bumps here," she poked, "everyone would think
you're a guy." she smirked.

     Promptly dismissing the blush she acquired at the touch, Nabiki
returned the smirk mischievously. "So, that would make you the wife in
this relationship?" she countered.

     The cute redhead froze for a second, then as she continued walking
looked down at her left hand, shining golden band on her ring finger.

     "Huh?" Grabbing the raised hand, the pants-wearing girl looked at
it closely. "Ranma, that ring fits! Where did you get it?" She knew
Ranma's ring had been found by Kani II, but it was way too big for
Ranma's delicate fingers.

     Rubbing the back of her head, embarrassed, Ranma shyly answered,
"Well, it's a gift from Bell... she made the wedding ring change size
with my curse so I wouldn't lose it." She took her hand back and closed
her fist on her side.

     Nabiki nodded in understanding. "So that's why she asked to talk to
you privately before we left." she mused.

     "Yep." she nodded. 'Plus another private thing...' She looked up at
her 'husband'. "What did Bell tell *you* when she took you aside?" she
returned.

     One hand went up to her left ear. Bending forward, Ranma could see
a small earring, looking like a pearl. "She gave me this." the brunette
answered. "She said it could help us if we had a major problem, but only
once." she explained.

     The redhead raised an eyebrow. "More magic, huh? I wouldn't depend
on it too much, though, even if it's Belldandy's." she said.

     Shaking comfortingly a bit her current 'wife', Nabiki smiled. "Now,
now, don't be mad that she didn't cure your curse." Ranma's darkening
expression only made her smile grow. "She told you she can't directly
intervene, even if we're not from this world." she repeated.

     "I know, I know..." Ranma kicked a small rock down the road.
"Still... what irks me is that she COULD have done it." she grumbled.

     "Ah, be nice." she sermoned. "We're almost in town, try to remember
your act. We don't know if your counterpart has a curse here, even if
it's unlikely." Up ahead, the buildings she could see weren't that
different from the ones she knew back home, at first glance at least.

     Ranma hmphed, straightened, checked her blouse, and held her head
high. "But of course, dear." she smiled fakely at Nabiki.

     "I told you to be nice." She shot a dark look at the shorter girl.

     Ignoring it, Ranma continued, her smile now genuine. "Now, now,
airen, you take wife to restaurant and hotel now, right?" she said in a
sing-song accent, sounding slightly chinese like Shampoo. And quickly
lost her facade to laugh as Nabiki grabbed her hand and, taking large
steps, hurried forward.

     "Hey hey hey hey hey! Watch it!" Ranma complained, barely managing
to keep up. "Damn Urd, why'd she make me put on high heels?!? Slow down,
will ya?!?" she demanded, pulling back on Nabiki's hand.

     "Now, now, airen, be good and follow husband." Nabiki countered in
her best imitation of Ranma's voice, and soon laughed herself at Ranma's
dark glare. She rolled her eyes theatrically and let go, turning to face
the redhead. "Come on, Ranma, the money Bell gave us is going to turn
into paper once we leave here, so we should make the most of it." she
pressed.

     Ranma blinked. "Sliding can turn money into simple paper?" she
asked obliviously, thinking of white strips of blank paper.

     The true woman of the two sighed exasperately and grabbed the
other's hand again, starting down the road with more speed than before.

     "Whoaaa!!!"

*******

     A dinner later, somewhat more relaxed, Ranma was feeling better,
and was a bit swifter in her high heels. The couple was walking down the
street to a nearby motel, side by side. "You know, I can't shake a
feeling that I knew the waitress at that place." she said, rubbing the
back of her neck as she looked upward in contemplation.

     And received a snicker. "I was wondering when you'd show signs.
Geez, I knew you always thought of her as a boy, but to not recognize
her when she's a real girl..." Nabiki shook her head.

     Ranma stopped, and blinked. Then quickly reached to grab her wife's
sleeve to get her close. "Are you saying that that waitress was
Ucchan?!?" she whispered hoarsely.

     A smirk. "Obviously. It took me three seconds to notice because of
the unusually cheerful attitude and the dress uniform, but there's no
doubt in my mind it was her. I'm pretty sure you were seeing the same
things I was, so why didn't you notice?" Sporting her usual confident
smile, Nabiki looked like her old self, clothing aside.

     "Why didn't you *tell* me?" Ranma shot back through gritted teeth,
letting go of the now wrinkled sleeve forcefully.

     Nabiki rolled her eyes and grabbed Ranma by the upper arm, pulling
her forward. "For the simple reason that I didn't want you to start
feeling angsty or acting weird in the middle of the restaurant." She
gave her a look. "I know as much as you do what happened to Ukyou in the
last world, and I'm ready to bet it affected you alot more than it
affected me, so I just wanted to make it easier for you for awhile." she
explained, sounding oddly business-like despite the caring feeling
underlying it all.

     "Th- thanks..." Ranma said after a few moments of consideration,
following best she could, hurrying on those blasted high heels. Her mind
wanted to feel pity and sympathy to the girl she saw, hugging and
comforting her... but the Ukyou back in that restaurant was *not* the
girl who had been corrupted by an evil presence and done all those
horrible things. It was confusing, thinking of alternates as separate
yet they were the same people for the outside observer.

     The two arrived at the small motel, and Nabiki parked Ranma just
outside the door to the office. "Stay here, I'll get us a room." she
said before getting inside, leaving Ranma to her thoughts.

     Slowly mulling over things, Ranma didn't notice someone approaching
her until she was right in front of her. "Ranko-chan! I didn't think I'd
meet you here!" a voice so familiar it made chills run up Ranma's spine
as she looked up...

     "A-A-A-Akane?!?" Ranma blinked in utter surprise, looking in shock
to the girl in front of her. Large traditional kimono, long black hair -
not a shade of blue in them, and makeup on the girl's face, more than
Ranma had ever seen on her.

     The girl nodded. "Yep!" She looked at the redhead up and down. "My,
Ranko, I never figured you one to wear clothes like that, being the
tomboy that you are..." she smiled. "You always looked like a female
version of your brother." she added, giggling.

     That last comment stopped Ranma cold. Brother? That would mean...
"Hum... so, hum, what are you doing here?" she asked hesitantly, not
knowing how to approach this girl so unlike the one she knew.

     Akane giggled. "Oh, silly, you know what I do!" She playfully
batted Ranma on the shoulder, ignoring the person coming out of the
motel office. "The same thing I've been doing for the last two years,
ever since your brother rejected me." She let out a small sigh, sounding
more wistful than sad, sporting a small smile. "Then again, I can't
really blame him, I didn't know as much as my sister back then." Another
giggle from the kimono-clad cheerful creature passing for Akane.

     "So, what *do* you do?" Nabiki asked, stepping close to Ranma,
looking at Akane with much surprise.

     Looking at the stranger, apparently very familiar with 'Ranko',
Akane smiled, and gave a small bow, "Excuse this one, missss-ter," she
said softly, sounding a bit like a serpent, "this one is but an humble
geisha..." The bow seemed more for amusement than true politeness, fact
proven by the giggle that shook Akane once she straightened, hand coming
to her mouth.

     Nabiki froze. 'She said she was... was...' her mind couldn't finish
the phrase, while Ranma next to her was oblivious, not knowing the
word's meaning.

     Giving a quick look around, Akane suddenly perked up. "Oh! My
customer is here!" She bowed to both Ranma and Nabiki quickly. "I have
to go now." She looked at Nabiki. "And you, take good care of Ranko for
me, okay?" she glanced at Ranma and giggled again, before turning and
walking away. "Bye!" she waved.

     "Bye..." the couple chorused, both raising one hand halfway to wave
back, looking at the girl walking away.

     After a moment, Ranma looked up at Nabiki. "Um, what's a geisha?"
she asked a bit embarrassedly, hoping not to sound too stupid.

     Biting her lip, not wishing to be reminded of that, Nabiki grabbed
Ranma by the wrist and pulled her towards their room. "Be happy that you
don't know." she answered. "What irks me is that she didn't recognize
me, even if she knew I was a girl. My own sister." she grumbled,
stopping at one door and fumbling with the key.

     Ranma grinned. "You really look different in those clothes, you
know, and besides..." she trailed, then poked Nabiki's chest. "I told
you those would give you out." she added.

     Starting to blush, Nabiki then got an idea and acquired a wicked
grin instead, pushing the door open and pocketing the key. "Oh really?
I'm not man enough for a girl like you?" she teased, pulling the shorter
girl in, closing the door after.

     Blinking at the sudden turn of events, having expected another
blush, Ranma could only stagger inside, finding balance somewhat
difficult again with the blasted shoes. Which Nabiki took advantage of
to make Ranma fall on the bed with a good push.

     Turning around on the bed, Ranma looked with surprise at her wife.
"Nabiki, what are you--" she was interrupted by Nabiki getting on top of
her, face to face. "Nabiki?!?" this time shocked.

     "Now, now, I was just asked by my own sister to take good care of
'Ranko'... you wouldn't be asking me to break my word, would you?" she
said sensually, leaning her head down to Ranma's until their lips were
but one or two inches apart.

     Ranma's eyes went very very wide. "But like this?!? We ca--"
Ranma's protest was soon cut off. Turns out she didn't really mind, this
once.

*******

     The following morning, it took much probbing and a reminder they
only had half an hour to eat before sliding that took Ranma out of bed.
Nabiki had already showered, and Ranma's own was quick and welcome,
turning him back to male. He quickly put on his outfit, absentedly
noting Nabiki seemed rather fond of his other one, and that it looked
good on her.

     "Alright, let's go eat, I'm starved!" he exclaimed, certainly not
to Nabiki's surprise, and the two quickly got out of the motel room...
to bump into a kimono-clad figure.

     Akane's eyes widened as she saw Ranma and Nabiki, but she quickly
took control of herself and bowed deeply, first to Ranma, "Saotome-san,"
then to Nabiki, "Saotome-san," she greeted both in a soft and very
polite voice, and not straightening completely from her bow, keeping her
head lowered a bit with downcast eyes.

     "Hum... hello Akane." Nabiki tentatively returned, one hand on
Ranma's shoulder telling him to be quiet.

     "This one is pleased to see you both." Akane continued, still in
her soft and polite voice. "The papers did not mention you had returned
to Nerima..." she said, her posture not wavering in the slightest.

     "It's, hum... to allow us some time to rest after what's
happened..." Nabiki explained off the top of her head.

     The kimono-clad girl nodded slightly. "Of course... this one is
pleased to see you both well and in good health..." she commented.

     Nabiki frowned a bit, seeing Akane act like that with her own
sister. What is because of Ranma? In any case, it was very disturbing,
and she could tell Ranma was worried too by the fidgeting he was doing.
"Thanks for your concern..." Movement in the corner of her eye made
Nabiki look, and she almost sighed aloud when she saw a man looking
angrily their way, crossed arms and foot  tapping. She chided herself
for feeling relieved at it but shushed herself. "Akane, I think your
customer is waiting..." she pointed.

     The smallest trace of shock seemed to pass over Akane's face as she
straightened. "This one is sorry... please forgive her..." she quickly
said, bowing low, and taking a few steps backwards before rising and
turning around, doing a few hurried steps before she bowed as deeply to
her customer, apologizing again at his harsh words and gestures.

     Frowning, getting angry, Ranma went to go speak his mind to the
man, but was stopped by the strong grip on his shoulder. "Ranma, don't
bother. Akane chose that life... and we slide in twenty minutes, barely
enough to eat a quick breakfast. Come on." She pulled at him.

     "But..." Ranma tried to counter, looking at Akane disappearing in
another room with the man. "Oh, alright..." He started to go but was
stopped again. "Hey! Make up your mind, will ya?" he complained.

     "I just thought that we should change again, to avoid questions
like Akane's for the little time we have." Out of her bag, she took out
the cap, and then gave the bag to Ranma. "Go change back like yesterday,
I'll order you a breakfast at the diner just ahead." she pointed.

     "What?!? I'm not--" Ranma just sighed, seeing the look in Nabiki's
eyes. "Fine, fine..." he said, going back in the motel room.

     Nabiki smirked, and as she walked to the small restaurant, started
pushing her hair back into the baseball cap. Time was short, she just
hoped the place wasn't packed.

     It wasn't as bad as she had thought, and just over five minutes
later, she was sitting with a newspaper, food paid for and on the table.
She opened it right off to the business section, wondering how this
world was faring on war economy.

     Ranma soon joined her, in the skirt, blouse and high heels of the
previous day, and quite unhappy about it. She immediately began to eat,
not exchanging one word.

     Not bothered by this state of affairs, since they had about ten
minutes left, Nabiki started eating as well, not as fast as Ranma,
evidently. Although, having less food for herself, she ended about at
the same time.

     "Well, we still have a few minutes, so enjoy that tea, Ranma dear."
she smiled widely, reopening her paper.

     "Don't mind if I do." Ranma replied, sipping it carefully, looking
up as she did. Then, in true comical fashion, sprayed said tea out of
her mouth and unto the paper luckily protecting Nabiki.

     Putting the paper down, Nabiki gave Ranma a dead stare. "What do
you think you're doing?" she asked dangerously.

     Taking the paper from Nabiki's hands, the redhead closed it then
showed the tea-stained front page to her wife.

     Nabiki bug-eyed. "What the--?" Grabbing the paper herself, she
stared at it. "But that's impossible! Bell said that the power had been
growing for years, and for us it only happened just over six months
ago!" she said, as much for herself as for Ranma.

     The redhead shrugged. "I dunno... different world?" she offered.

     "Hmm... well, this world HAS been at war for the last forty years
or so... Japan and China, at least." she thought aloud. "That could
explain a faster timetable from certain parties..." she mused.

     "Err... okay..." the redhead replied, not really getting it.

     Nabiki sighed. "Just finish your tea, we're running out of time."
she said, getting up.

     Nodding, Ranma swallowed her tea in one gulp and followed her.
"Can't wait to see what the next jump has for us." she commented
casually.

     Leading the well-dressed husband to a back alley, Nabiki shook her
head. "Home, I hope." she replied. "I'm entering a possibility for home,
and you won't change my mind." she said, sounding dead serious.

     "What? But it's only been two weeks! We can try another random
slide or two!" she tried, but soon abandoned at Nabiki's expression.
"Fine, fine..." she backed down, sounding defeated.

     "Thirty seconds... care to pick a number?" she asked as she entered
the long string of numbers. As soon as her computer had been safely in
her hands and in working order, she had taken the number from it and
written it down - she was NOT going to take another chance with the
possibility of not going home. Carefully pocketing the precious bit of
paper once done, she looked at Ranma expectantly. "Well?" she demanded.

     Giving a shrug, Ranma answered randomly. "Seven." she said out of
the blue, and Nabiki quickly entered it. "Might bring us luck." she
smirked as Nabiki activated the timer, the portal forming in its usual
brilliance of white and blue energy.

     "Don't say things like that!" Nabiki berated her husband, but only
too late. "You might jinx us." she sniffed. "But, oh well, what's done
is done. Here goes!" With a courageous smile, Nabiki launched herself
into the blue vortex, vanishing into white light down the swirling
energy.

     "Here goes..." Ranma repeated, sounding less confident, and with a
silent curse to the creator of high heels, in whichever dimension he
might be, Ranma jumped into the portal as well.

*******

End Chapter 4

*******

     Tonkatsu Teishoku is a japanese breakfast consisting of rice, miso
soup, pork cutlets and shredded cabbage. A more traditional breakfast is
rice and pickles, miso soup, grilled salmon, raw egg, laver and spinach
(so much for wanting to live in Japan...).

     Itadakimasu is said at the beginning of a meal, more or less
meaning "Thank you for this food I am about to eat".

     One might wonder, why waste such a perfectly good plotline as a
pregnant Akane look-alike when the reader knows that Ranma isn't going
to her or has nothing to do to her from the very beginning? Well, it's
because the plotline of this chapter is not about the Akane look-alike,
but Akane herself.

     Spoiler for the next chapter to anyone who can point out all, and I
do say ALL, the differences between mainline Ranma and this world.

_________________________________________________________________________
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