Ayeka blinked her eyes and suddenly found herself standing in the huge royal symphony hall back on Jurai. As she looked out at the impossible scene, the princess wondered what by the goddess was going on. What made this impossible scene all the more bizarre was the choir. Instead of the Imperial symphony, there were thousands upon thousands of Borg drones standing in the choir. This unexpected scene caused Ayeka to blurt out, "What is this place?"
Suddenly Ranma's voice echoed throughout the symphony hall, "This is the Collective Ayeka. Or at least, this is how your mind represents the Collective with your unassimilated experiences. I halted your merger into the collective a little bit above what your position as the Queen demands so that you could come to grips with the true nature of your position. Sorry for assimilating you like that Ayeka, but I figured that you would be too nervous about the process to just lie down and be assimilated."
Ayeka stood where she was and thought about what Ranma told him. After a few moments Ayeka called out, "Can you appear Ranma? I'd like to talk face to face."
The air in front of Ayeka blurred for a second and then Ranma appeared. This wasn't the Ranma that Ayeka had previously met. Instead, this was Ranma's mental self image that didn't have any implants and was wearing his traditional Chinese outfit. Ayeka felt her cheeks warm up as she looked at Ranma. At the very least, Tsunami had given her a hunk for a husband.
Ranma turned his cheek to Ayeka and said, "Punch me Ayeka. I'm sure you want to pound me for all that's happen to you."
Unconsciously, Ayeka's fist clenched and she started to pull back. However, Ayeka didn't strike Ranma and instead got into his face. As she looked into her husband's, Ayeka hissed out, "If you EVER do something like this again I'll make you wish that you had been jettison into space. But", and she paused for a second to get out of Ranma's face, "I do understand why you did this. Now then, what does me being your queen entail?"
Ranma looked into Ayeka's eyes and replied, "As my queen you're my co-head in the Collective. As the royalty it is our purpose to bring order to chaos. Without us, the Collective has now will. We are the Collective."
Ayeka blinked and softly asked, "What do you mean that we are the Collective? How can we be multiple people?"
To Ayeka's surprise, Ranma gently tapped her forehead. Suddenly Ayeka was bombarded by a migraine beyond anything she had ever felt before. The migraine passed after a few seconds and Ayeka found herself huddling in Ranma's arms. Ranma softly whispered to her, "I'm sorry for the pain. You haven't been prepared to handle being the Queen like I've been prepared to be the King. But, all of that's over now and your fully prepared to take your role."
Due to the link in the Collective, Ayeka knew that Ranma was telling the truth. Even more, she now knew that Ranma would make a good husband. The Collective didn't merge their minds or open the couple's memories to each other. But, it did allow Ayeka and Ranma to know that they could trust, respect, and one day love each other.
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(Posted Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:16)
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