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Ice Squared
by Lerris
Smith
Usagi held Luna close as she tried to fall asleep. Everything was okay right? She knew it was okay. She had talked to her, and it was okay. Still, no matter how many times she told herself it, it was hard to truly believe. How could she be okay? She knew Ami was alive. The link between her and her Senshi gave that much comfort. Without a doubt it was Ami, and yet, somehow it was not. It was getting harder and harder to smile in front of the others, yet they counted on her, even if it was mostly to be the one who smiles. “She is okay right Luna?”
“You know more than I. Her bond to you is still there since you said you can sense it, and you did say she contacted you.”
“I know. I know. It's just that we had almost given up hope, and now I feel she has changed somehow, that maybe the Ami I know is gone?”
“We all change Usagi. Even you will grow up in time.” She said the last as if that was a truly wondrous thing. “You're not quite the clumsy fourteen year old girl I first gave the henshin wand to, well you're no longer fourteen anyway.”
“Luna!” And so Luna did her best to distract Usagi from her worries. Setsuna had done what needed to be done, of that there could be no doubt.
Many things were possible now. Some brighter than she had a right to hope for, and some darker than any nightmare in her long existence. That was the cost of choosing, yet a choice had to be made, since the cost of not choosing was so much worse. The cost of this choice could have been the death of a young woman, and in a way two had died, yet another was born. One bright candle to guide and guard the others in the darkness that was coming, and one to guard the guardian lest that light be lost. With that hope Setsuna Meio slept, and for once the ghosts of the past did not haunt her.
After school the girls called Mamoru and Rei and soon everyone met at Crown Arcade, before they began their walk to Ami's house.
“So what did she say again?” asked Makoto.
“She just said she was fine. I'm just glad she is okay. Isn't that enough? Come on, we are almost there, we can ask her,” bubbled a bright eyed Usagi.
“I'm just glad she is okay. Usagi is right, after that it had to be a miracle,” said Mamoru, not needing to go into detail about 'that.' Nevertheless the girls all shivered.
“Well we are here,” interjected Makoto.
Usagi walked up and knocked on the door to be met with no answer. She knocked again, and then a few moments later knocked some more.
“Guess she's not home,” said Minako.
“Yeah. I'd hoped she'd be, but she didn't answer her phone before either,” admitted a saddened Usagi.
“Cheer up Usagi. You said she was okay, right? Why not just call her on her communicator?” Mina suggested.
“I thought Luna said not to use those unless it was an emergency,” reminded Makoto quietly.
“But that's just it. It is an emergency!” The suddenly chipper Usagi looked around and then decided to walk between the houses. It wouldn't do to have Luna mad at her again for using the communicator in plain view of the street while untransformed. She could just imagine the lecture she would get from the black cat.
The others smiled at the display, although Rei and Mamoru tried to hide it, someone had to act responsible after all, right?
Nabiki heard the beep of her communicator, although, she noted that it at least didn't indicate an emergency. She fetched it out of subspace and noted the moon sigil that appeared on the face before turning it on.
“Hello Usagi. How are you guys doing?” Nabiki asked evenly.
“Ami, it is so good to hear your voice. We were so worried about you and you weren't at school,” Usagi insisted.
“Sorry Usagi, some things just came up that seemed important.”
“More important than school? For you!" yelled Minako "And why do you sound different?”
“Come on guys, you know me," Nabiki replied with a smile, "it is not as if I don't have the next two weeks work already done anyway. And as far as my voice goes, that is a really long story, but it really is me.”
“Yes but-” said Minako.
“You never miss school!” added Makoto. It seemed the idea of Ami missing school was far more startling than her voice changing a bit.
“Oh come on. I'm not that bad," Nabiki insisted "Look, next time we meet I'll explain everything okay?”
“Okay, but we'll remember you promised!” said Usagi.
“I bet she has a boyfriend she doesn't want us to know about,” interjected Minako in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Ami! You wouldn't would you?” asked the blond princess. Suddenly Usagi felt Mamoru's eyes on her back. “I mean, you'd tell me right. I'm your best friend.”
“Sure I would Usagi, but really I had better go," Nabiki insisted, "It looks a little funny to be talking into this thing this way. Someone might see.”
“Oh okay, but we will talk soon okay?”
“Sure.” Nabiki flipped the communicator off and returned it to storage.
“That was them huh?” Ranma-chan asked, brushing a little more dirt from her shoulder.
“Why Saotome, a girl has to keep some secrets. You should know that." she added pointedly with a look at Ranma-chan's assets, “At any rate, I'm surprised you didn't comment on my little fib.”
“What little fib?” asked Ranma with a falsely innocent smile.
Nabiki smiled, “I'd almost think being around me a bit is rubbing off. Keep it up Saotome.”
“She will tell us when she is ready. Come on guys, I think it is time to head home. She is alive, and for now that is all that matters,” Makoto suggested.
“I guess magic doesn't solve everything. You're still dirty, and now, so are your clothes,” Ranma-chan said with a smile.
“That is what you think.” She pulled out her henshin wand and transformed again, right in front of Ranma-chan. Ranma knew she should turn away, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was, it was, so mesmerizing, her flawless skin, and, and... Ranma finally regained enough motor control to turn her head away, yet the full body blush remained. A brief blue glow followed and Nabiki Mizuno once again replaced the Senshi of Mercury. While Ranma's patented red silk shirt and blue draw string pants had seen better days, and more importantly much cleaner ones, the detransformed Nabiki was wearing a now spotless cream colored long sleeve blouse and blue jogging pants.
Ranma just stared and gaped, although Nabiki suspected it had little to do with how clean she was now. “Gee, you'd think you'd never seen a light show before...” smirked Nabiki with a twinkle in her eye, “besides, at some point one or more of us might have to change in front of you and I won't have you getting us killed because you're being silly.”
“But...”
“Close your mouth or you'll start catchin flies.”
“But...”
“Or do you want me to tell Akane...”
“No. No, please don't. I'll pay you, just please...”
Nabiki laughed. “Your're just way too easy, you know that?” A part of her was scandalized at the way she was acting. It was so unlike her, yet it was fun, and boy would Minako be surprised at her!
Ranma harrumphed. “How the heck am I supposed to get clean now? They aren't going to let me on the train like this.” A sudden feeling of dread hit her, she looked up and suddenly Nabiki's smirk shifted into a grin, a rather evil one at that.
“Look, um, I'm fine, really I am,” she insisted, backing up a little. At the same time she waved her arms in front of herself in an instinctive gesture of warding. Then she patted herself off, trying to knock some of the dirt off of her clothing. Mercury's grin only grew into a smile, before she pulled a small harp out of nowhere and played a chord on it, while saying softly, “Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.” Suddenly, a stream of cold water almost a foot in diameter shot forth from just in front of her and drenched the pigtailed girl with several hundred gallons of water.
“What did you do that for?” said an irritated, and thoroughly soaked, yet much cleaner redhead.
“You're clean now, aren't you?”
“But I'm also freezing. Jeez.”
Mercury frowned, “I'm sorry, okay? Anyway, can't you just use your ki to dry off?”
“It takes too much ki, and I don't have that much to spare now,” grumbled Ranma-chan unintentionally pouting.
“Oh,” Nabiki replied. Ranma noticed Mercury get that distant look she got when she was trying to figure something out and immediately backed up another step. “I know. Give me your clothes and I'll transform with them on. That should clean and dry them,” she finished, trying to hide her smirk. Yes Minako would be surprised and Haruka would probably cheer, well as long as she kept Ranma away from hot water anyway.
“What!” Ranma screeched.
“Oh come on Saotome, you're a girl right now. Hurry up and strip" she ordered, "before you catch a cold.”
Ranma grumbled, but quickly stripped to the skin. For a moment she thought she heard a soft whistle, but she shrugged it off as her imagination. She quickly handed the bundled clothing to Nabiki who jogged to behind a clump of trees. About a minute later there was a flash of light, followed by a another minute of quiet, and then Nabiki was handing her back her clothing.
“There you go, all magically cleaned and dried. Now hurry up and get dressed. We need to get back.”
“Yes, your highness.”
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
A small smile appeared on Nabiki's face as Ranma hastily donned her clothing. A part of her felt odd, Nabiki had worn her clothes after all, but in the end she shrugged it off and walked over to where her staff and pack lay. She picked up the odd staff and twirled it around, “It still seems a lot of trouble for a fancy stick.”
“That remains to be seen. Why don't you swing it at that tree over there and think about destroying it?” Nabiki instructed. The innocent tree in question was a cedar tree almost a foot in diameter.
Ranma seemed dubious but did as she was told. She went into a brief two handed kata with the staff. The final stroke impacted almost a foot from the ground on the aforementioned tree. A loud crack was heard as the staff impacted the tree. At that exact moment the runes on the staff flared white, the tree caught fire and was broken in half. Ranma hastily dodged the falling tree using the staff to knock it away from herself, a hint of a smile was appearing on her face. Ranma stepped back for a second and then swung again, this time the runes flared and the branch caught fire. The smile got larger. Several more swings occurred with varying results, before Ranma grinned and turned back to Nabiki.
“So it seems it is useful after all,” Nabiki prompted. “At my guess, the damage it adds to the attack is controlled by your intent, right?”
“Yeah, it does what I want. It's still a toy though.”
“Sometimes even touching a monster is enough to kill you,” Nabiki replied. “I think you may find it handy should you ever face one of those.”
“I guess,” Ranma admitted reluctantly. She seemed to shrug as she tried to find a place to tie it to her pack before giving up and shouldering the pack and holding the staff.
“So you haven't figured out Mousse's trick either huh?”
Ranma looked up in irritation. “Not entirely, but then after I noticed the amount of ki it wastes to do that idiotic trick it just didn't seem worth the effort.”
“Tsk. Tsk. The great Ranma Saotome failed to learn a martial arts trick. Just what is the world coming to?” Once again a part of her mind protested at toying with Ranma, but it was just so much fun that it was only a very weak protest.
“Hey, I said it wasn't worth it! For that matter, what did you do with yours?” Ranma asked, looking around the other girl.
“Personal storage space. It comes with the job. Now, don't change the point. You claim that just because the trick was wasteful, that it was useless,” Nabiki sighed. “Just what am I going to do with you?” The last was said as if she really wanted to know the answer.
“Hey, shouldn't we be getting back to the train station or something?”
“Nice try,” Nabiki glanced up at the sky before continuing with, “but unfortunately you're right. We're going to have to really run just to make it to town before full dark.” She reached her hand out and her Henshin stick appeared in it. “Mercury Crystal Power Make Up!”
Ranma-chan glanced away when she started to transform, only to find some very interesting changing shadows at her feet. A few times her head made as if to turn, but she just managed to hold out against the temptation. Luckily for her, soon enough Mercury was dashing past her with her visor covering her eyes.
Mercury paused and looked back, “You're not going to let a little girl out run you now, are you Ranma-chan?” With that statement the chase was on, through miles and miles of forest. The odd thing was, is that it seemed that Mercury was deliberately chosing the most dificult route she could. If there was a hill, she took it, even if there was a shorter way around the obstacle. It was all Ranma could do to keep up, with her pack and staff, and she was chosing her route far more carefully, or as carefully as she could and keep Mercury in sight.
After about an hour they could finally see the outskirts of the town. Mercury was of course in pristine shape, although she was breathing a bit harder. Ranma-chan was dripping with sweat.
“Stupid Senshi powers..” muttered a somewhat jealous Ranma-chan. “You didn't have to run so fast did ya?”
“That is something I'm apt to regret soon, but at least we made it before full dark. Let's walk the rest of the way.”
“Huh?”
“Just, come on.” said Nabiki in an irritated tone. The pace Nabiki set turned out to be little more than a walk. Ranma's face grew worried. Few things irritated Nabiki enough for her to let them show. Why was she walking now, and exactly what did she mean by that comment? The sweaty redhead refrained from asking though, and only occasionally used her new staff to make travel easier.
As they neared the town, Nabiki motioned her to a halt and turned to face her. She held up her right hand and pointed. Her voice was quiet, and Ranma could easily hear the tiredness in it now. “Do you see that brick building in the distance?”
“Yea.”
“I'm pretty sure that is a hotel,” continued Nabiki in a quiet voice.
“Oh, okay..” Ranma turned away as if uncomfortable with the direction her thoughts were taking.
She touched Ranma's face with her right hand and nudged it to force her eyes to meet her own. Her voice remained quiet and obviously tired, yet there was a serious edge to it now. “Just so you know, Senshi powers aren't entirely a free lunch. Now put an arm around me.”
Ranma blushed. “What?”
“Please, just do it.” Such was the entreaty in her words that Ranma complied without thinking, just as blue light flared around Nabiki replacing her Senshi uniform with her ordinary clothing. A fraction of a second later Nabiki Mizuno was unconscious.
Ranma quickly swung the girl into her arms, and once again wished for some hot water. A quick glance with her ki senses revealed the obvious. Nabiki had obviously badly overdone it, and the Senshi abilities had apparently let her do so, and even masked the evidence from Ranma's own senses. Ranma picked up the pace and was soon at the hotel, and for once was glad she was a girl, since showing up with an unconscious girl in his arms as a guy might have been a bad thing. She quickly rang the bell.
A sandy haired, middle aged woman walked up to the desk from the back room. She wore a white blouse and gray slacks, with a silver belt. A simple silver necklace completed her outfit. All appeared to be spotless, yet the lady and her clothing had a rumpled look that somehow managed to convey a refreshing cheerfulness. “Yes?” she asked pausing at the incongruous sight. Ranma-chan, with a full backpack on her back, was holding Nabiki's somewhat larger form in her arms, and carrying with her a very odd red staff. The attendant continued swiftly, “Hello there. Is there something wrong with your friend?” she asked concernedly.
“We were coming back from where we were camping and she fainted,” he replied. “I'm pretty sure she just needs to rest.” Ranma set her down on the little couch in the lobby with the utmost care.
“Are you sure? I can get you something.”
“A glass of cold water would be great.” The attendant left the room and Ranma took the opportunity to set the staff and the pack down. She quickly returned to the front of the couch where Nabiki was lying and set her left hand on Nabiki's forehead and her right on the flat of her stomach. Seconds later a soft white glow formed around Ranma-chan hands and enveloped Nabiki. Then, almost as quickly as it was formed, was gone.
The sound of a glass shattering caused Ranma to turn around, only to see the remains of a glass glass lying on the floor along with ice and a puddle of water. Nabiki yawned, stretched, and blinked her eyes open. “Did I miss something?”
“Oh, now look what a mess I made. Let me go get you another glass,” offered a white faced manager. Nabiki blinked while Ranma looked sheepish.
“You did something to startle her, didn't you?” she accused.
“Why does everyone always blame me?” Ranma replied, trying for angelic. One of the problems with Ranma-chan's “I'm innocent” act was that it was so over the top that no-one even half-observant could possibly believe it. Fortunately, many of Ranma's enemies didn't fit that category.
“Yes you,” Nabiki sighed fondly while poking her companion in the chest. “Let me guess. You did your little glowing hands trick?” She continued, “It would explain why I don't feel nearly as exhausted as I should.”
Ranma nodded as the attendant came back in with two glasses of ice water and held them out. Nabiki and Ranma eagerly took them from her and downed them right away.
Nabiki temporized, “About the trick Ranma did?”
“Well, now that you mention it," the woman reponded, "exactly what is going on?”
Nabiki started to say something, but hesitated, trying to find some way to say this without sounding nuts. Ranma actually looked at her, as if to ask permission causing Nabiki to wince. She nodded minutely before Ranma spoke.
“It's just ki," she explained. "Ki is just a name for the bodies own life energy. Great martial artists can eventually learn how to use their ki to do things, of course usually it's limited to making them faster or more resistant to damage.” Ranma glanced at Nabiki, who for some reason seemed to be paying considerable attention to her words.
“I see," replied the woman "Well not really. Are you saying anyone can learn to do that?” she asked, looking a mix between incredulous and awed.
Nabiki decided to chime in, “Ranma's been training in various arts for over a dozen years, under her dad. Her idiot father may have actually meant well, although no one is really sure about that, and some of it was little more than torture, but the result was that she got good, very good.” She seemed proud at the end, yet it was obviously not of Ranma's father. She reached over, grabbing the other girl's hand. “I was fairly sick awhile back, and well, it must have given Ranma some motivation. She acquired a book from one of her teachers and soon learned enough to heal me.” The pride in her voice was obvious, even with the lie she was telling. “At any rate, I suspect many people could learn, eventually; but it evidently helps to start when young, and I doubt many would welcome the insanity Ranma went through.”
“Oh” the manager frowned, before continuing in a curious voice, “So, where would someone go if they wanted to learn?”
“That's simple. Just look in any phone book. It'll take some time to find the best dojos, and the best won't want you until you get good," Ranma responded. "You'll also want to visit loads of them you have to move around to get the bigger picture. That's how I learned as much as I did.”
“Oh," she replied, disappointed, "so it's the work of a lifetime to do that thing you did?”
“You have to live the art. It is the only way to hope to get that good” said an oddly philosophical Ranma-chan.
Nabiki added, “And the sad part is, medical doctors can often do more with their knowledge, with less training.”
The attendent only seemed more disappointed, before she smiled and said, “Oh. Where are my manners? My name is Ann Karisen.” She glanced at Nabiki who responded on cue.
“I'm Nabiki Mizuno and this Ranma Saotome,” she supplied.
Ann smiled, “Since you have apparently had a tiring journey, and spent so much time indulging my curiosity... ” She moved back behind the counter and tapped a few keys. “Ah here we are. I wish I could do more but...Two single beds, non smoking on the top floor and I can even let you have it for the price of a single smoking room.”
Nabiki said, “We'll take it.” and then fumbled around her clothing before turning a sheepish glance to Ranma who sighed and dug her wallet out.
“I do, but I can hardly pull a purse out of my storage space in front of a stranger...”
Ranma fidgeted a bit as she looked at the nearness of the beds. “Oh. Um, you know. Should I really be in here? I can go back to the woods and camp.”
“Ranma, don't be an idiot. Now, I'm going to get some sleep.”
“What about before?”
“You mean me passing out?”
“Yeah.”
“It is nothing to worry about," she insisted. "All of the Senshi have times they can barely move after using their powers for long periods of time. It was much worse in the beginning though, as our normal bodies weren't conditioned at all, but after awhile it grew less and less. It is not too surprising that, after what happened, I lost some of my conditioning. Annoying yes, surprising no. Partly what I was trying to do on the way back was to recover some of it, but it is difficult to tell how tired you are while transformed.”
“Oh, that's okay then I guess,” Ranma offered, not entirely convinced.
“Don't worry, one of your new jobs is to make me a Master of Anything Goes.”
“Huh?" Ranma spluttered, “Are you crazy? There is no way you can just go and master Anything Goes. Heck, not even Akane thinks it's that easy.” He didn't add just how low his opinion was of what she thought was attainable.
Nabiki's smirk was always irritating, and now no less so, “Think of it as a long term project.”
“Well, okay," Ranma conceded with a yawn. “I think I'm tired too. Maybe we can begin in the morning before we head back.”
Nabiki smiled. It seemed tricking Ranma into promises was no harder than normal, but then perhaps she didn't mind so much this one. She said softly, “Yes, then it all begins.”
“What begins?” came from a sleepy Ranma-chan.
“Just go to sleep Ranma...” Nabiki yawned as she quickly removed all but her blouse and panties before climbing under the covers of the second bed. The sounds of Ranma-chan's breathing was all but inaudible, yet a pleasant background noise nonetheless. She briefly wondered why he had not changed back, but then it is not as if they had separate rooms, so perhaps it was for the best. Still, somehow, she felt slightly cheated, but that lasted only long enough for the pillow to get warm.
She kept going over it. Just why had she allowed her daughter to continue that charade once she had found out about it? Sure she knew more than most the lives her daughter saved. Her patients had told of her of Sailor Mercury's kindness and first aid so many times that she had lost count, yet she never seriously let herself consider the idea of the danger her daughter was in until the truth walked in the door. Still, perhaps this meeting with the Tendo family would be a good thing, although it seemed only this Kasumi and Ranma knew all the truth. She once again considered telling Nabiki's father, but if her daughter did not deem it a good idea, then it probably wasn't.
Yes, Nabiki had changed. The young woman that hugged her during their talk, was so much kinder than she would ever imagine of Nabiki. Oh she knew Nabiki had feelings. You don't grow up with a person and miss such things. It was just so odd to see her sister express them. Then there was Ranma. Ranma had worked so very hard to save her sister's life, yet she knew he had done the same for her in the past. Still she worried. Perhaps all the times that he had saved her had meant nothing at all. Besides, how could she possibly compete with someone as smart, beautiful, and kind as Nabiki was now? It just wasn't fair.
In the end she decided to work out her frustrations in the dojo. It wasn't as if the bricks had ever done anything to her, but the act of destruction was a restful thing for the youngest Tendo.
Dear Diary,
Yesterday my younger sister was returned to us. A young woman named Ami helped return Nabiki to us, and it seems some of that woman's spirit shall live on in her. Perhaps mother even had a hand in it, for not only did Nabiki cheat death's embrace, but some of the kind, cheerful young woman I used to know seems to have returned. Maybe this is a sign that we can all become a family again. I'm not sure what to make of Ami's mother. She seems such a kind soul, and a part of me yearned to be held in those comforting arms, that reminded me so much of my own mother. Oh don't get me wrong, Mrs. Saotome is a very nice lady, but sometimes she is just a little unsettling. I mean, who in their right mind would ever consider holding their only child to a seppuku contract he put his hand print to at the age of five?
Diary, I almost forgot. I told Dr. Mizuno about my interest in medicine and she suggested that I come spend lunches with her at the hospital. I think she is lonely, but to think what I could learn from her, and she doesn't act silly like Dr. Tofu does.
Kasumi on the other hand was actually quite refreshing to talk to, and it seemed in her she had met a kindred spirit who would could understand how she felt now. She really hoped the girl would stop by for lunch like she asked. If she truly turned out to have the aptitude, well getting her into medical school would not be so hard, and there was little point in being owed favours if you never collected on them. Besides, if it came down to it, the Mizuno foundation could easily manage to find a scholarship. There was, after all, little point in being wealthy if you ignored the fact.
The final surprise of the evening was running into Ami's friends on the way back. A mental comparison of their looks, compared to what she knew about the other Senshi was enough to almost confirm it in her mind, but she would respect Ami, or rather Nabiki's wishes here, even though she really didn't like it. Something had to be done though, they took on entirely too much danger. This Ranma was apparently an exceptional martial artist, as she judged by the little she saw through the window, and from all accounts appeared to be content with her little girl's company. Perhaps she should encourage that, even if he was engaged. Her mind wandered back as she tried to remember what Usagi had just said before responding, “Ami left this morning with her friend. I haven't heard from them since then, but I'm sure they are okay.”
“I guess you're right.” said Usagi, obviously disappointed that she couldn't find out more.
Author's Notes: First off, I'd like to thank Ar-Kaos for helping to revise this chapter. I encourage people to check out his stories. Any problems remaining after I did the final revision are of course my own. Lastly, I'd like to thank the people at fukufics dot com for keeping this story discussion active with ideas. The next chapter of this story is mostly done so expect it to be posted in the next few days or so, although I will likely go back and revise and post the last chapter of Kitten's Hope first. At any rate, let me know what you think.
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