Transcending Time

By Lisa Grey

Developed by JohnnyG

Edited by James Axelrad.

Epilogue

---

Cologne was becoming increasingly frustrated. For four days now she had been unable to detect Ranma's ki signature. Not only that, but attempts to move the Nekohatten into Jūban met with dismal failure as building owners refused to sell or lease to her. She suspected that even if she had been able to acquire a place of business, she would hemorrhage money due to lack of customers. Ranma had chosen his allies well.

Consequently, either Shampoo or herself scoured the district each day, forced to remain out of sight on the rooftops due to the general hostility of the community. Even those that hadn't been involved with the mob that had attacked them had seen the footage on TV and recognized the Amazons. The one time Shampoo had attempted to coerce information out of the locals she had been forced to flee the district being pursued by the police. She was now persona non grata in Jūban since the local police had orders to detain her on sight. Jūban was not Nerima and took harassment of its magical defenders very seriously.

Currently, the matriarch was perched on the ledge of a building with her ki senses spread out in hopes of picking up Ranma's presence. When it suddenly appeared behind her, she nearly fell off the building in surprise.

"Not very bright, are ya?" Ranma said as Cologne turned to face him.

"More than a match for you, Son-in-law," the elder snapped.

Without further preamble she lunged forward with impossible speed, jabbing with her staff. To her surprise, Ranma merely caught the end of the staff in an unbreakable grip, seemingly without effort. Cologne struggled to free her weapon as black energy began to crackle and flow long it from where Ranma gripped it.

"Chaos Shear!" Ranma barked as the energy covered the staff completely.

The bonds holding the molecules of the ancient wood together were violently broken. The staff exploded into saw dust which was immediately incinerated by the resulting release of ki Cologne stored in the weapon. Cologne was blown over the edge of the building while Ranma himself was knocked off his feet by the blast.

The Amazon Elder slammed hard into the building on the other side of the street, embedding herself in the wall.

"Whoa," Ranma said, shaking his head to clear it as he got to his feet. "Who knew the old ghoul had so much energy stored in that stick?"

"Did we learn anything from that, Husband?" Pluto asked in an amused tone.

"Not likely," Ranma snorted. "'Sides, it ain't nothin' I didn't deal with on almost a daily basis back in Nerima. Herb's ki blasts were a lot worse."

Pluto arched a dubious eyebrow at her singed and still slightly smoking husband.

Cologne was currently in a daze. The only thing keeping her from falling several stories to the street was the fact she was stuck to the wall like a bug on a windshield. She had also lost more than half her ki reserves. It had taken her years to store up that much ki in her staff and having it violently released like that was more taxing on her than the blast itself was. The loss of her staff was also a grievous blow. She spent more than a century slowly attuning the wood to her ki and then expanding the amount the reservoir could contain.

That wasn't to say she was helpless without the staff, but if she hadn't had a back up she would have begun to feel her years. Being able to draw ki from the staff was one of the reasons she had been able to live so long. Pulling herself together she leapt back to the roof where Ranma was waiting.

"Elder Khu Lon," Pluto addressed her, "You are now faced with a choice: your pride, or the safety of your village."

"Are you threatening me?" Cologne growled angrily.

"I am delivering you a message from my princess," Pluto stated. "Any further attempts to coerce Ranma into returning to your village will be considered a declaration of war against the Senshi. More than one of us has the power to turn your tiny little collection of hovels into a smoking crater. The princess herself has the power to rearrange you minds, making you devoted servants of her court...if she were as amoral and arrogant as you. I personally have the power to go back in time and prevent your much touted three thousand years of history from ever occurring if I think you are a threat to my princess. Think hard, Elder. Is one man worth risking the forced arrayed against you?"

"You're bluffing," Cologne sneered.

"Old ghoul, you know I can't lie to save my life," Ranma said in a grim tone. "She ain't bluffing. The princess is kind-hearted and she doesn't want a war, but she'll do whatever it takes ta protect her friends. As for me, ever since I got my memories back from my past life, I find I have a very low tolerance for your brand of bullshit. I'd draw my last breath before I allow anyone ta dictate how I live my life and who I live it with. Pluto, as someone I love beyond all else, is the only one that has that right."

It was possible that this new aspect of Ranma that had come to the fore also allowed him to lie, but Cologne could only detect sincerity in him as he spoke. Her pride urged her to discount the danger to her people. These hero-types were all the same; they would never intentionally harm an innocent. However, the look in the green-haired woman's eyes was not that of an altruistic hero-type. It was the hardened look of a blooded warrior that had seen war and death. The hard look said she wouldn't hesitate to kill an innocent if it removed a threat to her people. In fact, though it could be a result of whatever trick Ranma was using to change the whites of his eyes black like that, Ranma's eyes now held the same hardness.

"And what of my great granddaughter?" Cologne asked. "If she returns to the village without you, the punishment will be severe—anywhere from loss of her warrior status to being locked in her cursed form for the rest of her life."

"Your laws, your problem," Ranma said coldly. "Don't like'em, change'em. All mollycoddling you people ever got me was headaches and grief. I'm done with it. I'm with the one I want ta be with. Accept it and move on, or don't at the peril of your people."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you became so cold-hearted, Son-in-law," Cologne sighed.

"Probably because you would have made sure I was nothing more than a lobotomized slave whose sole purpose was to produce little arrogant Amazons before I got jaded," Ranma scoffed.

"You would have had a good life," Cologne argued. "After giving Shampoo a daughter, you would have had your pick of the other women in the village to share your bed. You could have spent your days relaxing and being tended to by servants without worrying about having to earn your next meal."

"Sounds perfect for Genma," Ranma snorted. "Why don't you drag him back to your village instead? I have a feeling he'll be looking for some place far from Nerima to hide out. Ya never did understand me, old ghoul. I ain't lookin' for a free ride. All I want is the one thing you wouldn't have allowed me, to progress in the art and reach my fullest potential. You and I both know that allowing a male to achieve those levels would be a threat ta your way of life."

As much as Cologne wanted to argue the point, she knew she couldn't. Sure, Mousse was considered a fighter, but only because he was basically an idiot who was easily kept in his place. Unfortunately with the boy's foolish fixation on Shampoo, he wasn't likely to survive in the village much longer. His attitudes were becoming tiresome to more than a few elders.

"Very well," Cologne conceded. "I must consider my options."

"You do that," Ranma advised.

"Choose wisely, Elder," Pluto added.

With those parting words, Cologne was left alone on the rooftop as the couple ported away.

---

Nabiki was as frustrated as Cologne. Her father had given her a single order: find Ranma. Thus far she had not had even a little success. She had very few contacts outside Nerima. That meant the best way to drum up any information at all was to hit the streets in Jūban and ask around. Unfortunately, she wasn't about to set foot in that district again. One rotten tomato upside the head was more than enough for her. No matter how many times she had washed her hair, she just couldn't get the putrid smell out. That and dealing with Kasumi's insufferably smug attitude about it was almost more than she could bear.

Kasumi was in no way pleased with her family either. The eldest sister refused to leave the house even to go shopping for groceries. She said she was too embarrassed to show her face after members of her own family almost publicly assaulted Tokyo's honored heroes. At least she hadn't refused to cook, although they were eating a great deal of instant ramen noodles. There also seemed to be an inordinate amount to starch in their underwear lately too.

A knock on the front door drew Nabiki's attention from her studies. Kasumi appear in the hallway, going to answer the door. She returned a minute later with two men in rumpled suits that just screamed cops. Rising, Nabiki drifted in that direction curious about what was going on.

"Genma Saotome," the older of the two men stated officiously. "I'm Detective Ishikawa and this is Detective Kobiyashi with the JNPA. I'm afraid we have to place you under arrest."

"What in the world is that?" Genma exclaimed predictably, pointing behind the detectives before taking a running dive into the koi pond.

As soon as the panda emerged a veritable forest of tranquilizer darts appeared on his backside. Genma didn't even have time to hold up the sign proclaiming him to be a cute little panda before he fell face down on the edge of the pond.

"I'm sorry, but private ownership of pandas is prohibited," the animal control agent addressed the family. "I'm afraid we have to take him away. You can visit him in the Tokyo zoo if you like."

The Tendos watched with widened eyes as a platoon of men with air rifles slung over their shoulders trussed the panda up and carried him off to the waiting van.

"Our mistake," the detective said to Kasumi while the other one smirked at the rest of the family. "I guess Genma Saotome isn't here after all. Sorry to have troubled you. However, I should warn the homeowner, should Genma return, harboring a fugitive from justice is a crime. If we find him here and somebody in the household hasn't reported it, then we'll be forced to take you in."

"Understood, Detective-san," Kasumi smiled pleasantly. "Have a nice day."

Kasumi showed the detectives to the door and returned to give her family a stern look.

"Now do you see the results of this foolishness, Father?" the Tendo matriarch demanded disapprovingly. "I expect both of you to forget about harassing poor Ranma-kun. And as for you, Father, you will call up the TV station and publicly apologize for the Tendo family's part in the Jūban n fiasco. If you don't, then I shall simply have to let Akane cook for you from now on."

Soun paled and burst into tears.

"WHAAAA, my eldest daughter wants to kill me!" Soun wailed.

"Oh grow up, Father," Kasumi said curtly as she spun on her heal and went to her room.

---

It was a month later when Ranma met Kasumi at the train station.

"Hiya, Kasumi," Ranma greeted the older girl with a warm hug. "How ya been?"

"I'm wonderful, Ranma," Kasumi smiled, returning the hug. "How are you and your lady love?"

"Never been better," Ranma grinned broadly. "It's everything I remembered it being and more. I've never been happier. How is the family?"

"Father is still moping about the schools not being joined. Akane is doing okay, but her temper is as short as ever. Nabiki says Kuno has been worse than ever now that you're gone. The morning fights have started up again," Kasumi said with evident distaste. "Nabiki is...well...still Nabiki. Oddly enough, I think she misses you, Ranma."

"Yeah, right," Ranma snorted. "More like she misses the patsy that was always around to extort a quick buck off of."

"Now be nice," Kasumi chided with a giggle. "I honestly think she misses the new you. I believe she saw something in you that captivated her right before you left."

"Too little, too late," Ranma shrugged. "How about Ukyo?"

"She told us her father called her home," Kasumi reported. "Because you left the clan, he had no choice but to declare the agreement void. He even agreed to let Genma go on the dowry. Ukyo said he claimed he may have lost an okonomiyaki cart but Genma lost a son and heir. That was retribution enough for him. Ukyo herself was happy to be back in her father's good graces, but she was also depressed over losing you. That nice waitress she has is helping her get past it."

"Good for them," Ranma nodded. "Ya know, I never hated any of them. If they hadn't forced my hand, this would’ve ended a lot better for everyone."

"They were selfish, petty people, Ranma," Kasumi consoled. "You simply did what you had to do for your own peace and happiness. No reasonable person blames you a bit. Most of the people I've talked to in Nerima are happy for you. How are you handling the fame and notoriety?"

"That's the weird thing," Ranma shook his head. "Nobody seems to recognize me as my other persona. They have to know, but it's like everyone just ignores the fact."

"Well, maybe they really don't know," Kasumi supposed. "It was quite difficult to recognize you with your transformation." She slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "How come you didn't tell me about that?"

"I didn't know about it until I had to break the barrier holding that other energy in check," Ranma explained. "We're here."

Kasumi looked up to see a long set of stone steps rising up from the street to the shrine at the top. They proceeded up the steps.

"You looked quite dashing in a 'bad boy' sort of way," Kasumi giggled when they reached the top.

"Flirting with my husband, Kasumi-san?" Setsuna asked as she appeared beside them.

"Of course not, Setsuna-san," Kasumi blushed. "Well...maybe a little, but I know he only has eyes for you."

"I don't blame you, dear," Setsuna smiled. "He is quite a catch after all."

"Oh my, I quite agree," Kasumi grinned back.

"I'm right here ya know," a blushing Ranma protested.

"Yes you are," Setsuna agreed, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Let's go inside. The party is in full swing and we're one half the guests of honor."

"I can't wait to meet everyone," Kasumi gushed. "Thank you so much for trusting me. This is a dream come true."

"No problem, Kasumi," Ranma grinned. "I have complete faith in your discretion."

With that, the trio stepped into the shrine where Usagi and Mamoru's engagement party as well as Setsuna and Ranma's 'together again' party was being held.

---

The End.

A/N: Well, folks, there it is: the long waited conclusion of Transcending Time. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I know I did, even if it took forever to get around to finishing it. And while this ending is admittedly a bit cliche, at least I didn't cop out by having them hide out in Pluto's bedroom for the next thousand years or so catching up on that back log of marital duties until none of the NWC were left to bother them. (wink)