Do I love him?
On the eastern slopes of Fuji-san, four women were asking that same question about the same man.
The man in question was currently sitting on a rock, his eyes hooded yet not fully closed. He seemed to be meditating. With his hair now flowing wild and free, he almost had a feminine cast to his looks despite the very well-muscled body barely hidden by the red-and-blue jumpsuit he currently sported. His hands were clasped in his lap and his feet were planted firmly on the ground. After they had been brought to this place by his flying them there, they knew he could simply leap up, up and away into the heavens.
One mistake by any of them at this point would guarantee he wouldn't return.
Am I willing to do that to stay with him?
They had all been told what had happened.
How one woman's desire to press her claim of marriage to him made another woman react out of jealousy and insecurity to send him flying . . .
But this time, Lady Luck had sent him flying right into the side of an alien starship bearing four natives of a planet named Yiziba. A world where every man, woman and all children above the age of five were "gifted" with metahuman powers, some of whom were as powerful as the great "superheroes" currently resident in the United States and elsewhere. And how, on hearing that a friend from the town of Tomobiki had just been "gifted" the very night before -- and in doing so, gained a very powerful sister along the way -- he chose to risk it himself by going to Yiziba to face the Great Crystal of Power, thus guaranteeing he would be rid of his gender-bending curse and get a sister out of the deal.
He adapted to it pretty well.
He got much more than that.
Experience spanning nine centuries and twelve previous lifetimes. Six of which, ironically, had been spent as a woman!
Physical power that ranked him as a peer of the Last Son of Krypton and the World's Mightiest Mortal.
A sister who was as powerful as he, who loved him and -- because, in effect, she had been born from the "yin" side of his soul and the power of the Nyanniichuan curse of Jusenkyou -- could provide some emotional counterbalance to his life, a tempering he never got from his father or his long-absent mother.
And immersion in a culture that respected the simple fact that it wasn't perfect yet ultimately held as the One Simple Truth that EVERYONE, regardless of who they were or how powerful they were, had the undisputed right to possess educated and informed freedom of choice.
A freedom he had never possessed before now.
He still loves me!
And despite that fact, he had told them the truth of what happened.
In doing so, he gave them an option they could choose to improve themselves.
To be his equal in every way possible.
To ensure that no matter where his eternal story would go, theirs would -- if they chose to do so! -- remain bound to his.
Would they do it . . .?
Nu Shanpu . . .
Great-grandmother likes what's happened to Airen . . .
She trusted Cologne enough to respect her opinions.
Airen promised I would return to the restaurant 'whole and hearty . . . and perhaps, even better than before.'
In the last hour or so, she had learned what that exactly meant. Her Airen was now a Yizibajohei warrior called "Mustang." "The Untamed One" was his popular nickname on that world. The one who would never be caged.
How long have I tried to cage him? A year now? Even more . . .?
And still, he forgave her. He still loved her.
But he had been bound, both by honour and circumstance, to others. To choose one would have, in her Airen's mind, dishonour those others.
Why didn't I see that before?
Thinking that, she shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks. She had never allowed herself to see that before. To her, her three rivals were "obstacles." And as the lament in her village went, "obstacles were for killing." And if she had done that . . .
Airen would never have forgiven me if I had done that!
And that was why she really loved him, she now knew.
Because even before he had become the Untamed One, he still forgave her. He still cared for her. He still wanted the best for her. For all of them that had been caught in this mad love pentagon that had taken up so much of their lives for the last year and more. What he had become tired of, put simply, was the fact that they were still trapped in that pentagon with no way out.
Fate finally handed him that way out through Yiziba . . .
And he wanted to give her that very same chance.
Kunou Kodachi . . .
How could I have made such an awful mistake about Ranma-sama?
At first revelling at the fact that her beloved had become so powerful, so mighty, she had been ignorant of what else he had been telling her. But, just like her late mother had been before she had passed away, he had been gentle with her in explaining certain truths she had denied to herself for so long.
Her Ranma-sama. The pig-tailed girl. One and the same being.
Well, that had been that way until several hours ago when she had been given her own life as Hayashi Kanami, also known now as Wildflower.
That choice of family name hadn't escaped Kodachi's attention. She knew what it ultimately stated, both for Kanami and for Ranma-sama himself should possible choices by his parents force him down that same road. And listening to Ranma-sama's explanation as to why, it certainly made much sense.
And despite all that . . .
He cared for me because I wasn't engaged to him, not like Tendou, Kuonji or Shampoo had been due to tradition or clan laws!
How ironic was that? Despite all she had done to him in the past, despite all the times she had tried to make him hers, despite all her actions against him -- in both forms -- he still liked her! And it was partially because of that, he was willing to forgive and forget all the past times she had tried to force herself on him.
And in doing so, give her something much more.
Mustang, the Untameable One, she lamented as she gazed on him.
Truly an inspired -- yet not surprising -- choice this Great Crystal of Power had made for her Ranma-sama.
And as he wanted to be free . . .
He wanted all of them to be free, too.
Kuonji Ukyou . . .
No marriage on that planet, huh?
For Ran-chan, that would be very appealing. As much as it would have been for Ran-chan's friend from Tomobiki, too . . .!
Can see why Kanami chose a different family name after she got separated from Ran-chan. Look how much being a Saotome's hurt him in the long term!
But it wouldn't hurt him anymore thanks to Yiziba and his becoming Mustang.
Today, he had laid down the law finally.
But not against the people he loved and cared for the most. No, not to his oldest friend. Not to the girl he had literally killed to save from an IMMORTAL of all things. Not to the girl whose laws had forced her away from loved ones in pursuit of the perfect husband. And not to the girl who had seen in him a saviour from whatever it was that had haunted her for so long.
But it was to all the others that he had finally drawn a line. The panda he had to call a father, his tradition-bound wife, his weepy best friend and that underwear-stealing pervert who thought he was the master of them all.
Not Ran-chan. Never Ran-chan. Never again . . .
It reminded her of that poem she had once read.
'Master of my fate. Captain of my soul.'
He had yearned for it for so long. Dreamed of it, struggled for it, fought to get it . . .! And what had she done? She had simply nodded, said she understood his pain, yet turned around and by pressing their engagement, tried to deny him his dreams. Thinking that, Ukyou tried not to scream out.
Some fiancee I turned out to be! Some friend, too . . .!
And still, he wanted her to enjoy that same dream. Be captain of her soul! Master of her destiny! He had finally found his dream. And he wanted her, even now after all they had been through, to share in that dream.
He wanted her to be free, too . . .
Tendou Akane . . .
You've fought so much for me.
It had been an annoyance at first.
Believing for so long that her martial arts skills were unparalleled in Nerima, being forced to deal 24/7 with someone who had been trained in the arts since he had been old enough to walk -- especially since they had an engagement hanging over their heads along the way! -- had been a very rude awakening to her. And while his many shortcomings, especially when it came to his socialization problems after being separated from society for a decade, had just made matters worse, he wasn't all at fault in the long term.
She had much to blame for it as well.
And despite that . . .
You actually went all the way to killing someone for me!
The attempted wedding weeks ago hadn't been the breaking point. It was what had happened just before that which had finally pushed him to his limit.
And what did she do in return? What had they all done in return?
She smiled as she remembered what he had said to her when he first demonstrated his flying abilities:
"You might say this time, she truly gave me a kind hit."
It had not been in jest, not like his many past insults. It had not been to put down her feelings. It had not been even an accusation. It had simply been the truth, a truth he had always strove to tell her even when he didn't have the skill or the knowledge to actually speak that skill.
He had once only had his actions to speak for him.
But not now. Not anymore.
And those actions had, she understood now, spoken one thing concerning her.
Now, she had to ensure her actions would finally speak for her.
Four women took a deep breath, and then they turned . . .
To see the man they loved now asleep on the rock, a light smile on his face. Standing behind him was a man in a white cloak, looking very much like a certain Scottish actor, though his eyes glowed with a burning alien fire that would, under normal circumstances, frighten the very life out of them. But as they felt themselves tense, he looked at him, a knowing smile on his face. Raising a finger to his lips in a shushing motion, he then pointed to a place behind Akane and Ukyou. They blinked, and then turned to see a gateway in the very air open to them, that leading down a dark hallway to a place of glowing light. Staring at it for a moment, they then blinked before they gazed once more on the Doctor.
"The Great Crystal . . .?" Kodachi quietly asked.
He nodded. "The same, Kodachi."
With that, the gymnast looked back, and then she smiled. Bracing herself to attention, she bowed deeply to the Doctor, and then she lunged into the tunnel. Seeing her do that, Ukyou and Shampoo balked, and then they raced in after her. Akane paused for a moment, and then she stopped to gaze on the man who had, even by proxy, changed the lives of so many. Including her own.
"Have there been those who've refused you?"
The Doctor nodded. "Many actually have, Akane. While I do not agree with their stance, to not acknowledge their choice . . . " He shook his head. "I cannot. Perhaps in the future, they will see the error of their ways. For that to happen, they have to see what is being offered to them. You can help, as much as Ranma, Kanami, Ataru, Tariko, Keitarou and Taiko presently help." A light smile crossed his face. "Just as you and your friends have now come to realise that it is time to move on with your lives, evolve them beyond what tradition and your pasts have made you to be, so I believe all of humanity has reached the point in its eternal story to move on and evolve."
Akane hummed. "A lot of people won't agree."
He nodded. "Show them why they're wrong, Akane."
An hour later . . .
"Ranma? Ranma, wake up . . .!"
Mustang jolted on hearing Akane's voice, and then he opened his eyes. "I fell asleep," he muttered to himself before reaching up with a gloved hand to wipe his eyes before he turned around to see one of his fiancees.
"Akane . . .?"
"Well?" she asked as she twirled around, displaying the form-fitting, black-trimmed, blood-red bodysuit normally worn by Cremisi. Slung to her side was the well-carved ruby-and-ebony meson war hammer -- this object, a creation of a mad weapons-maker known as the Weaponeer, was about the same size as her old ki-mallet -- that allowed her to not only smash down whole mountains and crack planets open when she unleashed its full power, but also to manipulate energy into brutal distance attacks. "Like?"
He smiled as he rolled to his feet and took her into his arms. She didn't resist as he leaned in to kiss her. "You're so beautiful," he whispered before gently devouring her lips with his own.
She purred as they kissed, and then, once they separated, she snap-drew her hammer to tap him on the forehead. "No more 'kawaiikune' jokes?!"
He winced. At full power, she could drive him right straight to Earth's core with one blow! "Hai, no more 'kawaiikune' jokes," he vowed.
"Good!"
"Hey, Akane! Cool off with that thing, huh?! Ran-chan's already been hit enough by your damned mallets before the Gift!"
Cremisi smirked knowingly as she glanced over her shoulder. Mustang looked himself to see that Kuonji Ukyou had now become Wandeln. Seeing that, he quietly wondered if the Great Crystal had some warped sense of humour, giving Ukyou the power to literally alter her body -- either as a whole or in parts -- into anything she could dream of, regardless of shape, size or material type. He then winced on seeing his "cute" fiancee's face fall slightly. Oh, damn! Had she seen his reaction . . .?
"I don't mind being this, Ran-chan," Wandeln then admitted as she walked over to slip into his embrace, Cremisi shifting herself aside to give her room. "When I saw how much fun my previous selves had when they got this Gift, I decided it seemed to be the right one for me. After all that time . . . well, you know!" She then shrugged before leaning in to kiss him.
Mustang said nothing as he returned her kiss. After a moment, they slowly parted, and then he leaned his forehead against hers. "As long as you like this, U-chan . . . " he whispered.
"I do!" she admitted.
"Airen?"
The three looked over to see Shampoo -- now Virago -- standing there. As Cremisi and Wandeln moved aside to allow their companion to embrace Mustang, they exchanged a knowing look. Virago was one of the rare "same-gender" lines to exist on Yiziba, very much like Rake and Courtesan. While Courtesan emphasised what normal Terrans would see as a "sexy" woman, Virago was the epitome of the strong female fighter, a classic Yizibajohei version of any warrior of good standing among the Nujiezu. Noting that, both smirked. Before he became Mustang, Ranma had shown very much how he didn't care for normal women. Well, now that he was Mustang . . .!
"You like?" Virago asked.
"Let me show you how much I do like it," he said before kissing her.
They gently moaned as their tongues swirled in each other's mouths. Seeing this, her once-rivals then sighed before they tapped her shoulders. "Hey, Shan-chan, don't hog him that much!" Wandeln said. "You already got an extra kiss from Ran-chan before we came out here!"
Both parted, and then Virago hummed. "They are right about that, Airen."
"I'll have to correct it very soon," Mustang noted.
"In more ways than one, Ranma-sama."
Everyone turned to see Kodachi, now in the leafy green bodysuit of Moolika. "'Dachi, you've been turned into a traditional doctor," Wandeln said as Virago moved aside to allow the last of their group to embrace Mustang. "You won't be diving into many fight scenes from now on."
"I won't be leaving you all behind," Moolika vowed before she leaned into Mustang. "Especially not you, Ranma-sama . . . "
They shared a warm kiss. Once they slowly parted, the others moved to wrap themselves in a group embrace of Mustang. "Ranma, you're not going to be one of those types who goes off and fights when we might want you close to us, are you?" Cremisi asked as they then gazed knowingly on him.
Mustang winced. In those incarnations when he himself had been male, he had given in to the prevalent mood among his male peers to enjoy fight scene after fight scene in lieu of seeking out potential mates. Taking a deep breath, he then said, "Well, given that I have been driven for a long time to improve myself, it is a hard habit to break, Akane . . . "
Wandeln reached up to twist his face to stare into her eyes. "We're gonna make you break it, Ran-chan. That, you can take to the bank!"
"Maybe we should start breaking it right now," Moolika then proposed.
"It might be a good idea," Virago noted.
Hearing that, Mustang gulped . . .
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(Posted Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:37)
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