Here We Go Again

Please recall my school year is americanized.

**************PRIVATE FEEDBACK ONLY**************

Christopher Angel
cja124@mail.usask.ca

Chapter 8: Final Reckoning/A New Family

Tenno sat at the dinner table, marking tests.  He was talking to 
himself.  "Come on, you did that right in the previous question!" He 
laid the paper he was working on down, and watched Kasumi walk by the 
table.  He glanced at his watch.  Five times in as many minutes, he 
thought.  I think I'm due for one of 'those' talks.

Tenno sighed.  One of the prices he had to pay to live here was the 
constant not-quite nagging from Kasumi with respect to his relationship 
with Nabiki.  It was OK at the start, but soon Nodoka joined in, 
followed by Soun and Genma.  The only thing worse than one woman with a 
purpose, he thought, is two.  And the only thing worse than that is two 
women and two meddlesome old men.

As Kasumi walked in for the sixth time, Tenno decided to bite the 
bullet.  "Kasumi, is something wrong?"

Kasumi came and sat down beside him.  "Tenno, are you going to marry 
Nabiki?"  Tenno blinked in suprise and said nothing for a moment.  

"I'm sorry, this was not quite the talk I expected,"  Tenno began.  
Kasumi started to speak again, but Tenno held his hand up.  "Wait, I'm 
going to answer.  I don't know.  I will ask her, yes, but when the time 
is right.  When I do, it will be between her and me."

"She's my sister, I care about her!"

"Kasumi, I love her. More than you can possibly imagine.  But I don't 
want to change our relationship yet.  We're still feeling each other out 
and discovering things about each other."  He smiled sadly.  "You girls 
have a knack for stealing people's hearts completely.  You know Ryouga 
was in love with Akane right?"

"He still is,"  Kasumi said softly.  Tenno nodded.

"I knew you saw that.  You know that he always will be.  But he fell in 
love, suddenly, and hard.  I'm afraid, Kasumi.  Nabs and I fell in love 
the same way.  We fell in love long before we really knew each other, 
and I'm afraid that it might not be something right.  I don't want to 
commit her to a marriage she'll regret."

"Oh, but that won't happen to you and Nabiki!"  Kasumi insisted.

"I want to be sure, Kasumi.  I care about her too much to risk it.  All 
you and the other are doing by pushing is making me more afraid."

Kasumi sat silent for a moment.  "I will stop pushing."  She looked him 
in the eyes.  "But I feel that you are not being fair to my sister.  
Marriage is a risk, Tenno, and it's as much hers to take as yours."  She 
stood.  "By trying to protect her from being hurt, you may be hurting 
her anyway."  She walked into the kitchen.

Tenno looked after Kasumi for a moment, and then lay back.  He stared at 
the ceiling for a while, thinking about what the eldest Tendo daughter 
had said.  I do love her, he thought.  I do want to spend the rest of my 
life with her.  But does she want to spend the rest of hers with me?

Tenno suddenly sat up.  "That sneak!" he exclaimed.

"Did you say something, Tenno?"  Kasumi called from the kitchen.

"Nothing, Kasumi," he replied, a grin on his face. I KNEW she wasn't 
that oblivious, he congratulated himself.

***************************************************

Ranma flew through the door to the Tendo's.  The scene inside stopped 
him like a brick wall.  Inside, at the table, was the almost all the 
household, with the exception of Nabiki and Akane.  Beside it, a 
battered Mousse lay on the ground, being treated by Kasumi.  Tenno sat, 
staring at a note, his face dark and tears rolling down his eyes.

"What's going on?"  Ranma asked.

"Sit down and shut up," Tenno growled.  Ranma started to snap back at 
him, but Ryouga caught his gaze with a fiery stare and slowly shook his 
head.  Ranma swallowed his pride and sat.  "Listen,"  Tenno said through 
clenched teeth.

	"I said it was not over, and it is not.  Meet
	me at the place of training if you ever want 
	to see them alive again."

"Who..." Ranma began, and then his eyes widened.  "AKANE?!"

Ryouga nodded.  "And Nabiki.  And Shampoo.  And...." fire came into his 
voice. "Ukyo."

"WHO?!"  Ranma demanded.

"The ghoul," Mousse said, slowly sitting up. "She came and took 
Shampoo."  Tears started to fall from his face.  "I couldn't stop her."

Ramna cursed an oath that made even his father pale.  "The only 'place 
of training' I can think of is..."

Ryouga finished for him.  "..the forest I learned the Breaking Point 
at."

Ranma nodded.  "Come on, let's go-whoa!"  He shielded his eyes as Tenno 
stood and started to blaze with a white and red aura.

"Not yet."  Still glowing, he walked outside, and faced the target they 
used to practice chi-blasts on.  His aura grew even brighter.  He 
pointed his hand at the target, and a ball of chi-formed around it.  
"HOWLING WOLF SHOT!" he roared, and five small white missles steaked 
from his fingers and hit the target, which shattered.

He turned and faced the watching group.  "NOW we go," he said, his voice 
dead as the glow about him slowly faded.

Ranma and Ryouga exchanged a look.  "It ends here,"  Ranma said, 
determination ringing in his voice.  

Ryouga nodded, his eyes like ice.

**************************************

The four men looked at the path that lead to the clearing.  "It's got to 
be here,"  Ranma said.  "This is where we fought after she taught Ryouga 
the Breaking Point."

"Yeah, and where you showed me the Saotome Secret Technique," Ryouga 
added.  He and Ranma shared a grin at the memory, but the smiles soon 
faded.

"Come on." The four trudged down the path to the great tree.  As they 
got closer, they saw that the four women had been trussed up and hung, 
much like Akane had been so long ago.  They were unconcsious.

"NABIKI!"  Tenno cried, and as his red-white aura burst into being.  
"I'm going to.."

"You're going to do what I say, berzerker."  Cologne's dry voice rang 
over the clearing.  "You are going to stop.  Now."  She appeared on the 
branch where Nabiki was hanging.  "Or this time, she won't survive my 
attack."  A brace of darts appeared in her hand.

Tenno howled and let the rage rush out of him.  "Nabiki..." he 
whispered.

"Good."  She looked at Ranma and the rest.  "Son-in-law.  Lost boy.  The 
traitor.  How absolutely wonderful to see you again."

"I'm not, nor will I ever be, your son-in-law, ghoul,"  Ranma growled.

"You have gone to far, nameless one," Mousse said softly.  "Release them 
now, unharmed, or face the anger of the entire village."

Cologne laughed, her scorn evident in every tone.  "So, they have cast 
me out, have they?  No matter.  This old woman will pay any price to see 
the tribe survive."  She looked at Ranma.  "Unless you want your 
precious Akane to die, son-in-law, you will annul your marriage and 
marry Shampoo."

"NO!"  All eyes turned to Shampoo, who had woken up and struggled in the 
ropes.  "Shampoo no want marry Ranma!  Ranma belong to Akane!  Shampoo 
want..." She looked at Ryouga, who was trying to get closer to the 
hanging Ukyo, and then at Mousse, who was staring back at her.  "Shampoo 
not know who she want.  But Shampoo no want marry Ranma!"

Cologne looked at Shampoo, her disgust clear.  "Shut up, child. You are 
too stupid to decide anything for yourself."  Mousse growled. "Oh, the 
traitor does not like me talking about his precious Shampoo that way?" 
She laughed dryly.  "No matter, once I teach son-in-law a lesson, you 
will be next."

"If you want a fight, come on down and get me," Ranma yelled at her.  
"Let's finish it."

"So eager!  Very well, one moment."  With that, the withered old woman 
sprang off the tree, and like lightning flattened Tenno.  "Foolish boy.  
Throwing away your only advantage."  She smashed her stick down on him.  
"Now stay there.  You will be the first to die after I deal with son-in-
law."  She sprang at Ryouga.  "And you," she said, her stick pressing 
into a pressure point that paralyzed him, "will have to stay out of 
this.  If you behave, I may let you take the okonomiyaki girl home."  
She flew at Mousse.  "Same for you, trait-urk!"  She grunted as a 
lightning attack by Mousse knocked her out of the air.  She landed 
lightly on her feet and gazed at him with her eyes narrowed. "Very good, 
traitor, I didn't think you had it in you."  She sprang at him again, 
and was once again bashed out of the air.

Mousse stood straight.  "For a hundred year old woman, who claims to be 
so very wise, you have some very large gaps in your learning, ghoul."  
He smiled at her, venom seeping into every word as he spoke.  "I 
actually thought you might know the truth about my school, but I see you 
were ignorant all along.  I've taken your abuse for my entire life, 
trying to win Shampoo's love, watching as you've poisoned her heart. It 
ends here.  Now."

"Stupid Mousse!  You get hurt!" Shampoo yelled.

Mousse laughed, and glanced up at Shampoo.  "I thought the ghoul might 
have known, but since she does not, I suppose I should not be suprised 
you do not either."

"Stop speaking nonsense, traitor."  Cologne lept at him again, her staff 
outstreched, and once again found herself flying through the air, a 
chain wrapped around her.

"Very sloppy, ghoul, not knowing learning as much as you could about the 
one technique you were banned from training in,"  Mousse mocked her.  
"Did you not ever ponder why no Amazon woman was allowed to learn Hidden 
Weaponry?"

Cologne cackled, the contempt evident in her voice.  "Because it is a 
cowardly, useless technique that could never defeat a properly trained 
warrior."  The chain around her snapped.

Mousse laughed. "Stupid, ghoul, very stupid.  The reason no Amazon woman 
was ever allowed to learn it is because it is designed to be used to 
DEFEAT Amazon women."  His voice took on a tone that parodied the one 
Cologne used so very often.  "Behold the true power of a technique that 
was passed down through three throusand years of MALE Amazon history."  
Shampoo gasped. 

"Men have no power," Cologne sneered.  "Very good, traitor!  I almost 
believed you.  But it is now time to end this farce."  She lept at 
Mousse again.

As she flew towards him, Mousse's robes seemed to explode with hundreds 
of weapons and chains.  Forced to choose between blocking the edged 
projectiles and avoiding being wrapped in chains again, she was forced 
to choose the former.  The weight of the chains soon dragged her to the 
ground.  Rather than let them tighten on her, leaving her helpless, she 
squirmed out of the chains.  Mousse suddenly stiffened, and all the 
chained projectiles flew back into his robes.

Ranma had decided long ago to ignore the fighting pair and rescue the 
girls.  Starting with Akane, he quickly released the captive girls, 
gently waking up Akane and Ukyo, and leaving the sleeping Nabiki in 
their care.  Shampoo, once released, ran to the combat area.

Mousse had finally trapped Cologne in chains, the heavy coils wrapped 
tightly around her body.  He allowed the chains to tighten, slowly 
squeezing the strength out of the old woman's body.  Satisfied that she 
couldn't fight back, he walked up to her and tapped a pressure point, 
quietly saying "You're not the only one who knows pressure points."  
Paralyzed, the old woman could barely speak.  Mousse removed the chains 
from her, carefully making sure she couldn't recover.  He reached into 
his robes and withdrew something.  It was a long spike.  Cologne's eyes 
widened as he kneeled beside her prone body and held the long spike to 
her chest.  "You do not deserve it, ghoul, but I will give you a 
merciful death."  He positioned the spike to drive it directly into the 
ghoul's heart, but found Shampoo's hand on his.

"No," she said in Chinese.  "If the mercy death is to be performed, I 
will do it."  Mousse looked up at Shampoo.  Her eyes were like steel, 
yet there were tears forming in them.  He nodded, and stood, handing her 
the spike.

Shampoo kneeled beside her great-grandmother and spoke to her quietly in 
Chinese.  "I am sorry I have to do this, great-grandmother.  But you 
will not let it go.  Ranma and I were never intended.  Akane has won his 
heart, and to force anything else is wrong."  Cologne's eyes burned with 
rage, and she struggled to speak.

"Stupid...girl," Cologne hissed, her voice barely above a whisper.  "It 
was for the...good of the tribe...It was...for honor."

Shampoo shook her head.  "No, it was for pride.  The laws are absolute, 
grandmother, you can not pick and choose which ones to obey.  You tought 
me that long ago, before all this began."  Tears fell from her eyes onto 
Cologne's clothes.  "What you and I did was evil, grandmother.  I do not 
think I can ever live it down."

"You are...no granddaughter of mine," Cologne hissed.

Shampoo nodded sadly.  "I am no grandaughter of the creature you are, 
but I was of the kind of woman you were.  It is the loss of that woman I 
cry for.  Farewell, great-grandmother.  May you find peace."  With that, 
she swiftly drove the spike between the old woman's ribs, up into her 
heart.

The old warrioress stiffened, then slowly relaxed, her eyes glassy.  
Shampoo reached up, and closed her eyes.  "May you find the honor in the 
next life you lost in this one, great-grandmother."  She laid her 
grandmother's corpse down.  She stared at it for a moment, until she 
felt Mousse's hand on her shoulder.  She slowly stood and turned to face 
him.

"I'm sorry, Shampoo," was all he said.  Shampoo flung herself into his 
arms, and cried with great heart-rending sobs.  He simply held her.

********************************************************************

The group watched Shampoo at the pyre.  The flames rose high into the 
air, and the smoke from the blaze curled and twisted in the sky.  
Shampoo spoke the formal words of farewell.  And watched the blaze burn 
until the last ember stopped glowing.

Shampoo turned to the others.  "Is done."  She told them in her broken 
Japanese.  "We go home now."

There was a strange calmness about the group as they returned to Nerima.  
It was part a feeling of the sadness of having seen someone die, and 
part the finality of knowing that the last remnant of the previous cycle 
had finally passed on.  

As they walked, some of the cheer returned to the group as the impact of 
the last day's events faded for them.  Tenno was carried home by Ranma 
and Ryouga on a makeshift stretcher.  Of all of them, he was the only 
casualty, a fact that he complained loudly about.  Nabiki merely walked 
by his side, his hand in hers.  

Ryouga's eyes kept on returning to Ukyo's form as she walked several 
meters ahead, his thoughts churning.  Stupid tomboy, getting in trouble 
all the time, he thought.  

Akane walked by Ranma's side, happy to be returned to the man she loved 
and to be going home.

Shampoo walked by herself, with Mousse a few paces behind.  Her thoughts 
would not rest.  Ryouga loves Ukyo, she thought, even if he doesn't know 
it yet.  I'm not so foolish as to be that blind twice.  Mousse used to 
always say he loved me, but he does not do that any more.  Does he no 
longer love me?  Did he ever?  He could have fought me and won my hand 
long ago.  Why didn't he?

She suddenly whirled.  "Mousse!  If you able to beat Shampoo, why you 
not?"

He looked at her sadly.  "In part, because I could not hurt you.  In 
part, because I refused to make you follow that law, even if you chose 
to."

She continued walking, and thought back to her tribes marriage laws.  If 
a woman remains undefeated by any man, and wishes to marry, she can 
choose a man for a husband.

That stopped her whirling thoughts for a moment.  Did Mousse just want 
me to...choose? she wondered.  She turned and looked back at the myopic 
young man following her.  Very slowly, a smile grew on her face.

**************************

Weeks had passed without much action.

The front bell rang, and Kasumi answered the door.  "Why hello, Shampoo, 
Mousse.  They're waiting for you inside."

"Spatula girl here?"  Shampoo asked.

"Yes, she is.  She just arrived a few minutes ago," Kasumi told her.

"Good.  You come too!" 

With that, the beautiful amazon dragged Mousse into the dining area, 
Kasumi right behind her.

"Hey, Shampoo, what's up?" Ranma asked.

"Be quiet Ranma.  Shampoo tell when time is right."  Ranma blinked in 
suprise.  He looked at Mousse, who looked just as bewildered as everyone 
else.  Shampoo looked around.  "All here?  Good!"

She turned to Mousse, threw her arms around him, and kissed the suprised 
boy on the lips.  "Mousse!  You be Shampoo husband now, OK?"  Everyone 
gaped at her in shock and Mousse went pale.

"O...OK." a stunned Mousse replied numbly.  Shampoo yelped in delight 
and gave him a rather more thorough kiss.

She finished the kiss and turned to the suprised crowd.  "Mousse and 
Shampoo married now!"

"That's...THAT'S IT?"  Ryouga asked, stunned.

Ranma grinned.  "Short, direct, and to the point.  Gotta like it.  
Congrats, you two."  He held his own wife tightly.

Soun was in a full fledged wail, tears streaming down his face.  "It's 
so...beautiful!"

Tenno stood, and walked to the two newlyweds.  "Nice ceremony," he 
grinned.  He whispered in Shampoo's ear.  "When did you figure it out?"

She smiled happily and whispered back.  "Shampoo look at tribal laws.  
Laws say woman not defeated can choose.  Shampoo figure Mousse want her 
choose him, not be forced with him.  That make her very happy."

Tenno grinned again, and looked at the delirious Mousse.  "I think you 
made HIM very happy too."  He turned back to the table, and was stopped 
by the look in Nabiki's eyes.  She's envious?  he thought.  As he sat 
down beside her, he finally made his decision.  "Nabiki," he murmered to 
her.  "You're not an amazon.  I'M the one who gets to ask."

Nabiki was shaken out of her reviere and looked at him in shock.  He 
smiled innocently back at her.  She suddenly smiled, and lifted her lips 
to his ear.  "Yes," she whispered.

Tenno stiffened, and turned to her, his heart in his eyes.  She nodded 
to him, her eyes wide.  He whooped, startling everyone in the room, and 
took her into his arms.

"Did I miss something here?"  Ranma asked, confused.

Nodoka and Kasumi exchanged a look.  "Tenno just asked Nabiki to marry 
him, and she said 'yes'."  Kasumi guessed.

"Not quite, but close enough,"  Tenno told them.  He pulled his fiancee 
away from him, and smiled into her eyes.  "You," he said, kissing her 
softly, "cheat."

Nabiki smiled, and kissed him back.  "I have to win sometimes," she told him.

*********************************************

A little later, the family was discussing the earlier events.

Soun was once again in a full fledged wail.  "I can't afford it!" He 
cried.  "Not so soon after the first one!"  Genma edged away from his 
friend.  He really didn't want to go panda right now, and the pool Soun 
was generating was quite impressive.  "My little girl is getting married 
and I can't afford it!"

Nabiki smiled and patted her father's hand.  "It's OK, Daddy, ours 
doesn't have to be quite as impressive as Akane's."

"I suppose I could lend it to you, Mr. Tendo," Tenno mused.  He took 
Nabiki's hand.  "I still have a good chunk of my father's money left."

Nabiki's hand tightened painfully on his.  "No fiancee of mine is going 
to LEND anything,"  she said fiercely.  She loosened her grip.  "We'll 
loan it to them.  At a reasonable rate."

Tenno looked at her in suprise.  "Nabs, this is your own family!"

"So?  Business is business, dear."  She gave him a look that informed 
him arguing would be a VERY bad plan.  

Tenno looked at her in dismay for a moment, and then laughed.  "Why do I 
have a feeling the first thing we're going to do after we're married is 
open a joint bank account?"

Nabiki smiled impishly.  "Maybe not the FIRST thing," she said 
mysteriously, and laughed as Tenno blushed.  

Ranma cleared his throat.  "Uh, guys?"  Nabiki looked embarrased and 
blushed.

Nodoka smiled condecendingly.  "Have you chosen a date?"

Tenno and Nabiki exchanged a look.  "Well, I thought it would be nice to 
have it a week or so after the entrance exams..."

Kasumi gave them a happy smile.  "That will give Tenno's mother more 
than enough time to arrive."

Tenno's face darkened.  "My mother won't be coming," he snapped.

Nodoka looked at him with a frown on her face.  "Every mother wants to 
see her child's marriage, Tenno."

"SHE'S NOT COMING!"  Tenno roared.  The others stared at him in shock.  
Tenno stood.  "I'm sorry.  But she's not coming.  She doesn't have the 
right."  He turned, and ran out of the house into the night, feeling the 
others' eyes following him.

***************************************

Tenno ran into the night, tears misting his eyes.  "They'll never 
understand,"  Tenno said to himself.

"You don't really think that."  Tenno looked up, and saw Ranma leap down 
in front of him, Nabiki in his arms.  "We're your friends, Tenno.  
Nabiki loves you more than anything.  We'll understand."  He set Nabiki 
down, and lept away.

Tenno turned and started to walk away, but fell to his knees.  "You 
can't understand.  How could you?  Your family loves you."  He felt 
Nabiki's hand on his shoulder, and shrugged it off.  "I...I lied to you 
all."

"About what?"  Nabiki asked.  "Tell me, Tenno.  I love you, maybe I can 
help."

Tenno stared at the ground.  "My parents didn't love each other, Nabs.  
They always fought."

"So?  Akane and Ranma fight all the time!  So do his parents!"

Tenno shook his head.  "Ranma and Akane argue.  My parents FOUGHT.  They 
were after blood."  He paused.  "My parents didn't marry out of love, 
they married because of me.  My mother never let me forget it."  Tenno 
swallowed.  "After my father...died, I went to my mother.  She LAUGHED 
at me.  She said the curse was a just repayment for the misery I had put 
her through."

How could a mother not love her child? She wondered as she put her hand 
on Tenno's arm and lifted him to his feet.  But maybe, just maybe, I can 
help, she said to herself.  "They're not your family, Tenno.  Families 
are bonded by love, and caring, and understanding."  She started to 
guide his friend back home.  "WE'RE your family, Tenno."

The two walked back to the Tendo's.  As they entered the gate, Nabiki 
stopped him.  "Just head to your room.  I'll handle our family."  She 
stopped as a sob tore from Tenno's throat.  She turned him to face her, 
and saw him smiling, tears running down his face.  "Tenno..."  He turned 
to her and held her tightly as she guided him to the others.

Should I tell them? she asked in her mind.  He may not want it told to 
everyone.  She shook her head.  We're his family, she answered herself.  
We may not understand, but I think we should know.

They sat at the table, and Tenno was silent as she filled in the others.  
Kasumi's face grew tight with horror, while Ryouga's face went dark.  
Nodoka and Genma exchanged a glance of shared sorrow.  Soun said 
nothing, tears running from his cheeks like rivers.  Ukyo shook her head 
in dismay.  The most violent reaction came from Ranma, who held his wife 
tightly.  His face was red with rage.

"HOW DARE SHE?" he growled, and looked around in fury, and released his 
wife.  "I..I have to go hit something."  He stormed off to the dojo, and 
crashes could be heard as he demolished every practice dummy and target 
they had.  Akane stood up and followed her husband.  She entered the 
dojo to see Ranma on his knees surrounded by the remnants of several 
practice dummies.

"Ranma?" she asked, softly.  He roared and slammed his fists on the 
floor.

"It's not fair, Akane.  My friend's upstairs, with a hurt that I can't 
even begin to understand, and I can't do a DAMN THING ABOUT IT!"  He 
slammed his fists on the floor again, cracking some boards, and looked 
at his hands.  "He keeps on doing so much for us, and I can't do a DAMN 
THING for him!"

Akane went and kneeled beside him, and took her husband into her arms.  
"All we can do is be there for him like he was for us.  He's family now, 
Ranma."

Ranma smiled, as thr truth finally occured to him.  "Yes, we are a 
family now, aren't we."

Just then they heard a crash at the front door.  A feminie voice was 
heard yelling.  "Which one is Hibiki Ryouga?  He must pay for abandoning 
his fiancee!"

Ranma and Akane looked at each other, then back to the source of the 
noise.  They began to laugh.

End Story..for now

Notes:

I ended it here mostly because I was getting tired of this series.  I 
was running out of ideas for this story, and I decided to stop while the 
going's good.

If I do get more ideas, I can always continue.

End Chapter 8