Ranma 1/2 By Rumiko Takahashi Oh My Goddess! By Kosuke Fujishima By Steve Pardue http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime Scream! Chapter 1 -- Scream for Ice Cream! The dark haired girl stood outside the window of the ice cream shop. She wore a blue striped, white one-piece swimsuit and had long, dark hair done up in a loose ponytail which fell well below her waist. She had three triangular markings on her face, and appeared to be young, perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old. Sweat poured down her body and darkened her swimsuit in long streaks, but the young girl appeared to feel no discomfort from the heat, or was ignoring it very well. Her face and hands pressed against the frosted glass of the shop. The heat of the mid-summer sun beat relentlessly down from a perfect, cloudless sky and she could feel the chill from the icy delights contained inside against her cheeks. She imagined that she could hear the ice cream calling to her: "Skuld, Skuld, eat me Skuld, I'm so soft and creamy and cold....", and perhaps she could -- she was a goddess after all. Skuld moaned softly as she watched the girl at the table in front of the window. The girl slowly raised a spoon of pristine vanilla ice cream to her face, then slowly slipped the spoon between her lips, allowing the cool creamy delight to melt slowly in her mouth. "Ohhhhhh... icccce creammmmmm...." What she wouldn't do for ice cream right now! A cone, a cup, one of those impossibly tiny sample spoons! Chocolate, Rocky Road, Butter Pecan -- she didn't care. Even sherbet would be perfect on a day like today. What was a trip to the beach if she couldn't have her ice cream?! She was a goddess, after all! If she wanted ice cream, she'd have ice cream! But Belldandy had made it clear that there was to be no more printing of money, coining of coins, or conjuring of currency of any sort. And her magic wasn't good enough to do the job, anyway. Of course, she'd been given an *allowance* by Keiichi before coming to the beach. How humiliating for a goddess to beg for money from a *mortal*. But they'd been at the beach since ten in the morning, it was at least a quarter of twelve by now, and her money was gone. How could they possibly put her through this? She hadn't had ice cream in the last half-hour! The pain!! The agony!!! Skuld closed her eyes and relaxed, allowing her body to press against the glass of the shop. She ignored the dark glances of the man behind the counter, the wide eyed stares of the boys inside and the harsh looks of their girlfriends as she felt the cool air conditioned chill of the shop pass through the glass and the swimsuit she wore and cool her heat ravaged, ice cream deprived body. She opened her eyes and stared again at the dish of ice cream on the table in front of the window. Half eaten now. Soon it would be gone. Skuld snarled at the thought of anyone but her enjoying the icy caress of the sweet and innocent treat. She'd show them -- Urd, Keiichi and Belldandy! She'd have her ice cream soon! Mark her words! Thoughts of revenge melted from Skuld's brain as a new customer took a seat at the table before her. Ohhh -- triple hot fudge and caramel sundae with whipped cream and nuts! Skuld writhed in pleasure and pressed her body against the window as ice cream dreams carried her further and further away into fantasy. -*- Something was disturbing Skuld's reverie. She wasn't sure what it was at first, but gradually she could make out a tune being whistled with vigor, if not skill. As Skuld turned her head to find the source of the noise, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, scraping off the dried drool that had accumulated at the corners. She saw a redhead with a pigtail in a swimsuit jogging up the road towards her. The girl was about Skuld's height, but looked to be a little older, and quite a bit better... developed. The girl smiled brightly at Skuld as she passed the young goddess, then entered the ice cream shop. Skuld leaned her head back against the window and was disappointed to see that the table in front of her was empty again. She rested her forehead against the window and closed her eyes. After a short while, she heard a knock on the window. Slowly Skuld looked up to see the redhead sitting at the table in front of her. The girl was rapping the window with her knuckles as she watched Skuld. When the girl was sure she had Skuld's attention she smiled, and motioned for Skuld to come inside. Skuld considered the girl's invitation for a moment before deciding she really had nothing to lose. She left the window and entered the shop. The wall of cool air in the shop invigorated her sunburned body. Not quite as good as ice cream of course, but better than nothing. As she walked around the corner towards the seating area, the man behind the counter frowned at her. "I thought I told you not to come back unless you have money. I know you don't have any money, I've been watching you stand in the window and annoy my customers for the last two hours!" Skuld spun on the man and was about to let him feel the heavenly wrath of her hammer when she heard a cheery voice behind her. "Don't worry Mr. Manager! She's with me!” This statement was followed by an impossibly high-pitched girlish giggle. Skuld turned her head and saw the redhead at the table waving wildly and generally looking cute enough to attract the attention of every man in the shop. The manager frowned another moment before shrugging. "Whatever, as long as you're with a paying customer." The girl at the table watched Skuld as she approached. When Skuld was standing in front of her the girl smiled, and spoke. "Hi. I'm Ranma." Skuld stared at the redheaded girl for a second then finally found her voice and introduced herself. "My name's Skuld." Ranma's smile got a little smaller. "Are you OK? You looked pretty spaced out." It took Skuld several seconds to process Ranma's words. Finally they seemed to make sense to her sun-addled brain. "Really?" Ranma frowned. "Yeah, really! Sit down and drink something." Skuld stared at the floor and scratched the back of her left leg with her right foot. "Well, like he said, I'm broke. That's why I was standing outside." Skuld looked up at Ranma. "Thanks for the offer, but I really should be going." A strong hand grabbed Skuld's arm as she turned to leave. She looked back and saw Ranma smiling at her again. "I'll treat you if you can stay a while." Skuld's face slowly brightened until she was smiling again. "Are you sure?" Ranma nodded. "I'd really prefer not to eat alone." She looked a little red faced. "Its embarrassing. Besides, if I'm alone all the guys will hit on me. It won't be as bad with you here." Skuld felt happy for the first time today. She hadn't expected a complete stranger, and a mortal at that, to be so friendly. Skuld sat down and smiled at Ranma happily as the girl flagged a waitress down. -*- Skuld pushed her chair back from the table and rubbed her stomach in contentment. She smiled as she looked at the remains of their binge. The table was littered with dishes, spoons and half-empty glasses of soda. Across from her Ranma was intently scraping the last bit of melted ice cream and chocolate syrup from the bottom of a bowl. A streak of chocolate ran from the corner of the redhead's mouth and down her chin. Ranma licked her spoon and winked at Skuld. "How're you feelin' now?" Skuld just smiled back at Ranma and patted her stomach again contentedly. "Great! I thought I'd *never* get enough ice cream to satisfy me." Ranma laughed. "No such thing as 'too much' ice cream!" Skuld was amazed that she had met a human who exceeded her capacity for ice cream. It had been a close battle, but Skuld had finally had to concede defeat to Ranma's superior skill, and stomach. She felt that for the first time since she'd come to Earth, she'd found someone who understood her. Ranma stood and stretched. "Be back in a sec'. Gotta go visit the little boy's room." Skuld laughed. "You mean little girl's room, right? You don't want people thinking you're a pervert." Ranma laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Oh yeah, little girl’s room, right!" As Ranma disappeared, Skuld looked out the window at the afternoon sun. The rays of the sun were streaming through the window directly into her face, so she reached into nowhere and pulled out her spectacles, adjusting the knob on one side to filter out the sunlight. She had built them herself to help locate system bugs, but they also made a pretty mean pair of sunglasses. When Ranma returned a few minutes later, Skuld turned to look at her. She nearly jumped out of her seat at what she saw. Now that she wore her spectacles she could see the ghostly image of a young man superimposed over Ranma. Skuld could see his resemblance to Ranma in his face, and their eyes were identical. For a minute she sat and stared at Ranma. Then Skuld saw the brightly pulsating energy tethers running from the ghost image to the redheaded girl. Skuld reached up to adjust her spectacles again. Ranma, who had taken her seat again, looked at the girl and smiled. Skuld smiled back, a little uneasily. Now that she had reset her spectacles, Skuld was gathering more information on Ranma. Around the ghostly image of the young man, Skuld could now see words, floating in tight spiral lines around the tethers anchoring the image to Ranma. The words were written in golden characters, burning brightly with green flame. Skuld quickly began to decipher the writing. Standard curse headers... hmm... shape shifting... hmm... Ah! Oh, no! Such a horrible fate. It depressed Skuld to think of her new found friend suffering under such a horrible curse. The gods could be unkind. Uh... well... sometimes. After all, she was one. She certainly hadn't cast this curse, and she just couldn't see Belldandy doing something like this. Thinking of all the warped gods and goddesses she knew who could have done something so cruel to such a kind person as Ranma, Skuld decided it must be Urd's fault. No one else could possibly be this diabolical. Besides, wasn't everything really Urd's fault when you got right down to the meat of the matter? Skuld considered her options. Maybe she could help. She couldn't grant Ranma a wish, that would violate her limited license. But, she was the system debugger for Yggdrasil, which left her with a certain amount of leeway. Checking to be sure that Ranma was occupied watching the afternoon sun, Skuld again reached back into nowhere and pulled out what would appear to most people to be a small hand held calculator. It was actually her remote debugging terminal. Skuld quickly downloaded the data her spectacles had gathered to the terminal and set to work. A few minutes later she smiled in satisfaction. There, that should take care of Ranma's problem. Now to upload her changes. Ranma stood and turned to face Skuld, still smiling. "Well, its getting late. I'd better get back in time for dinner. Kasumi's cooking tonight." Skuld stood and took a step closer to Ranma. Skuld smiled at Ranma and hugged her. "Thanks for the ice cream. You really are a lifesaver!" As she hugged Ranma, Skuld pressed her terminal to her friend's back and started the upload. Almost immediately she could see the change take effect in the curse's code. There! It's done! They smiled at each other for a second before stepping out of the shop. They each turned and walked in opposite directions along the street. Skuld smiled and skipped along, singing softly under her breath. It felt good to do a good deed. No wonder Belldandy was always so happy and Urd so grumpy. Skuld liked knowing that for once her skill was really going to help someone. Sure, Ranma might never know who had cured the curse, but Skuld felt her heart beat lightly, thinking of the joy that Ranma would feel when she found out she'd never turn into an icky old boy again. Ranma 1/2 By Rumiko Takahashi Oh My Goddess! By Kosuke Fujishima By Steve Pardue http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime Scream! Chapter 2 -- Scream for Your Sanity! The dawning day found Ranma standing on the beach in front of the Tendo's rented seaside cottage, performing her morning katas. The surf crashed gently just beyond the redhead's bare feet, and she followed its motion closely, surging out towards the ocean and then back again as the waves rushed ashore. Finishing the kata, she held the final position, concentrating on the calmness permeating her body. It bothered her, how comfortable she had become with her girl's body. "My girl's body," Ranma murmured softly, and sighed. Even in her own thoughts she referred to herself as a girl, now. The worst thing, to her mind, was the fact that she didn't even really know when she had stopped being able to change back. She had told Akane it had been after dinner last night, but the truth was she hadn't even tried to change back the entire week. No point when you knew you'd get wet and change back in a few minutes anyway. The beach had too much water to expect otherwise. She was on vacation at the beach, with her family, and it had been perfect, up till now. She hadn't been bothered by any of the fianc‚es Pop had arranged for her, P-chan had disappeared off the train during the trip, the Kunos hadn't found out where they were, Nabiki hadn't been taking pictures of her (that she knew of), and best of all, she and Akane had actually been getting along. It had felt really good not to fight with the youngest Tendo daughter. They had spent the entire day Sunday on the beach together, just lying in the sun, not talking, fighting or sulking. It was amazing how comfortable the silence had been. Ranma was sure that Akane must have felt the same way. At dinner that night they hadn't said anything, but Ranma had felt Akane's eyes on her throughout the meal, and had forced herself not to stare back. On Monday they wandered around the town. Nabiki had distracted the two fathers while they slipped out, and for a small fee had made sure the two men stayed away from them for the rest of the day. Ranma lowered herself to the sand, adjusting her swimsuit. Her fingers traced the word stitched across her chest. She could remember her feelings from Monday afternoon, looking at Akane as they strolled along the boardwalk above the beach. Akane wore a pair of shorts with a multi-colored T-shirt tucked into the top. The sandals she wore slapped the cobblestones with each step. Ranma hadn't been able to pull her eyes away from her fianc‚e, from the way her short hair capered about her face or the way Akane's cheeks blushed when she met Ranma's self-conscious stare. She wanted to reach out and take Akane's hand then, like she had on the road back from Ryugenzawa, and had reached out with her hand. Akane walked on for several steps, unaware that she had stopped. As Akane passed her, Ranma had see her reflection in the store across the street. Cute girl, red hair pulled back into a pigtail, green one-piece swimsuit, baggy, white shorts and a white cotton windbreaker, unzipped. On the beach, Ranma frowned. 'Boy,' the word under her fingers read. Something she had been; and would be again, she told herself. How could she have dared taken Akane's hand when they were both girls? But, maybe... it would have been... maybe. Ranma reached down to the wet sand beside her and scooped up a handful, squeezing it between her fist and watching as it dribbled down between her legs to be washed away as water swirled up the beach and around her. The chill water of the ocean brushed around her and up the beach several feet before it withdrew. She could feel the sand she was sitting on pulled out from beneath her, sinking her a little deeper into the beach. Her feet were already covered halfway. She forced her toes from under the sand, concentrating on trying to keep them uncovered as the tide slowly buried her. To Ranma, cold water was an intensely feminine thing. Cold water softened her, weakened her. It rounded her hips and made her chest grow. It made her feel things that no man should ever experience -- things that were only to be discussed in whispered embarrassment or loud-mouthed bravado with other boys, in hidden places where no girl could overhear. They were secret, unknowable feelings. When she had first been cursed, she had hated the feelings it brought, but now, sometimes she sought them out, sought the understanding that seemed so far away as a boy but was so tantalizingly close as a girl. Ranma shook her head at her thoughts, and stood, struggling for a second to escape the grasp of the sand that she was sinking into. Brushing sand off the back of her legs she strode into the surf, closing her eyes as the first wave crashed against her and carried off the sand still clinging to her body. She dove headfirst into the next, and powerful strokes carried her past the breakers towards the open ocean. Rolling onto her back she closed her eyes against the rays of the sun just risen above the open ocean behind her and concentrated on the sounds of waves crashing against the cliffs down the shore. Rocked gently by the waves she remembered the end of the day Monday, after she and Akane had eaten at a sandwich stand on the wharf. Walking back to the cottage they had passed an empty playground. Attracted by the solitary sound of empty swings swaying in the breeze they entered and sat, staring out at the rapidly darkening ocean. The stiff evening breeze caught at their hair as they swung gently, and they sat in silence until Ranma grabbed the chains of her swing, placed one foot on the seat and pushed off with the other. Concentrating on staring at the rising moon now visible above them, she swung back and forth, each arc carrying her higher and higher, until she felt that she could reach out and touch the pale body which hung just out of reach above her. Then she saw the hand reach out from beside her and she turned and saw Akane standing on her swing, at the top of her arc, hand reaching out for the moon. Time froze and in that instant of perfect clarity Ranma could see the pale glow of moonlight on Akane's cheeks and the sparkle of stars in her eyes as the first of the distant specks of light appeared in the pitch black sky. Akane turned her head and smiled at Ranma, her secret smile that left Ranma weak in the knees, and then the earth claimed her with its gentle pull and time melted, flowing faster, pulling Akane up and away from her as she fell off her swing and plummeted to the ground below. The fall from the swing had not hurt anything but her pride, and that had been soothed by the soft laugh and wide smile Akane gave her as she helped her to her feet. Now, Ranma remembered the depth of what she had felt for Akane as she hung in the moonlight, the halo of her hair framing her face. Ranma was reluctant to say it was love. She knew she loved Akane, even if she couldn't express those feelings. What she had felt that evening was not love, not what she normally thought of as love when she was in her other form. Then she could look at Akane and know that she wanted her, wanted to be with her, to kiss her with abandon in front of their families and all of their friends and enemies. To prove finally, to Akane and herself and everyone, that, after the long years of tumultuous engagement, Akane Tendo was the woman Ranma Saotome loved. Ranma opened her eyes and glanced at the shore, gauging her drift and taking a few strokes to stay in front of the cottage. But what if Akane didn't want to marry her? What if she hated her curse, the soft curves that Ranma seemed to wear more and more often? That thought always held her back before. She knew she couldn't stand to look into Akane's eyes and see that in them. That night on the swings, she had stared into Akane's eyes and through those star speckled orbs into her soul. It had frightened her, what she saw there, because it wasn't embarrassment, hatred, or, worst of all, friendship. It wasn't love, either, although she was confident in its existence, now. Instead she had glimpsed the thread of fate that bound them together, placed, it seemed, by the gods themselves, binding the two of them to one another for all eternity. A chill ran down Ranma's spine and she squirmed, then turned and dived under the water. The bottom was about twenty feet deep and she swam to it, popping her ears once, then stroked along the bottom, eyes lost in the dappled shadows cast by the twisting waves above. The curse of her body now seemed doubly cruel. Just when she had finally realized the true depth of her ties to Akane she found herself trapped as a girl, unable to act on her feelings. What if the only reason she could think these thoughts now, the only reason she could peer into Akane's eyes and see the passion lying hidden there, was that her female body was capable of these insights where her other wasn't? Maybe she couldn't change back because she had accepted her cursed form -- embraced it even. This last week had been so easy, so happy. All those feelings, which normally crashed against her like waves slowly wearing against an indifferent cliff, had suddenly reached up and engulfed her. All of the eddies and currents of her relationship with Akane were laid bare, to be freely navigated and explored. Was it all just because she wore a girl's body? Gasping for air she broke the surface and treaded water, a frown on her face. She remembered jogging with Akane along the beach in the morning and the afternoon she had tried to teach the girl to swim. Shopping for groceries with Kasumi at the open-air market in the rain, the evening when Nabiki had taken them to the party at that hotel's pool, and the afternoon she had spent eating ice cream with a new friend . She had been a girl each time, for one good reason or another. Not good reasons to be a girl, but good reasons not to be a boy. What if she had fulfilled some dark unspoken condition of the curse, that acceptance meant becoming? Did that mean... she would be this way forever? She choked back the bile that rose at the back of her throat, forced it down into the pit of her stomach. It couldn't be that. She wouldn't let it be that! She swam to shore, waded through the surf and up the beach to the chair where she had left a large beach towel. In her other form, it would have been large, but as a girl the towel swallowed her whole. Chilled by both her thoughts and the seawater evaporating off her skin, she wrapped herself in the towel and collapsed onto the chair, her body completely hidden. She pulled the towel up over her head and down her face, until it was hidden in shadows. It reminded her of how she had slept when she was little, curled into her bedroll like a snail in its shell. Her childhood was an intimate thing, closely connected to the present, as if it was still, somehow, incomplete. She could remember the comfort she had found as a child, hiding away in her bedroll at night, pretending she was still at home in her bed, that Mom had just tucked her in, turned out the lights and shut the door. The first year had been like that, until finally Pop had forced her to stop. Sometimes, when she felt the world was too scary, she would still go and wrap herself up and pretend she was a child tucked lovingly into bed at home. She'd curl up and pull the sheets tighter, trying to imagine that the comforting pressure of the sheets wrapped firmly about her body were instead the arms of her mother. Ranma settled lower into the chair and gripped the edges of the towel to keep it from flying open in the stiff breeze. Right now, the world was a very scary, very uncertain place. Ranma 1/2 By Rumiko Takahashi Oh My Goddess! By Kosuke Fujishima By Steve Pardue http://www.zebra.net/~spardue/anime Scream! Chapter 3 -- Scream at Your Baka! Akane stood on the porch of the cottage, watching the petit redhead as she bounced through the surf, then bundled up in a towel on the beach chair. A frown crossed her face as she took another sip of her tea and pulled the blanket around her shoulders tighter to ward off the breeze. The sun had finally risen above the surface of the ocean, and Akane was looking forward to the warmth of the day. She'd thought that she and Ranma were finally going to be able to resolve some of the issues between them this week, and at first things had seemed to be going well. Away from the distractions of Nerima and fiancées, her relationship with Ranma had blossomed. But, as usual, if it wasn't one thing it was another. Ranma's stupid curse had decided to interfere, once again. Akane frowned. She wasn't going to let it stop her this time. She wasn't going to let Ranma get distracted and run off after a cure again, not until she was satisfied that their relationship was on solid ground -- even if it meant that the baka had to stay a girl for a while. Besides, Ranma had been a girl all week and hadn't seemed to mind. A little while longer wouldn't hurt. Where were they supposed to find the cure? No matter what Ranma claimed, Akane didn't believe that the 'ice cream' did it. No, whoever was after her fiancee would inevitably have to show up and demand a fight, or a marriage, or kidnap her. It wasn't like they could fix the problem before then. So she'd just go talk to Ranma and try to help her get through this. Stepping inside the kitchen she picked up the steaming kettle on the stove and poured a generous amount of hot water into the teapot she had prepared. It had been a major accomplishment in her life, to be able to make an acceptable pot of tea, and she harbored great hopes that one day she would be able to cook a decent meal. Gathering up an extra cup, she went back out onto the porch and walked barefoot down the beach to where Ranma was curled up on the beach chair. The chair was wide and long, composed of thin wooden slats and a heavy canvas back. Ranma had curled up on her side, the towel wrapped around and over her, so that she was completely hidden. Akane paused beside the chair, waiting for Ranma to say something, but the smaller girl remained quiet. "Good morning, Ranma." Akane began, trying to sound cheerful. Akane could see the body under the towel twisting, pulling it tighter against the girl. The only sound she heard was a small grunt. Frowning, she nudged the body with one foot. "Scoot over so I can sit down." This time she could hear some sort of mumbled response. "What was that, Ranma? I couldn't hear you." She could see a small twitch under the towel, and a flap hanging over what she assumed was Ranma's head flipped back. "I said, go away you uncute, unsexy, tomboy!" The towel flap twitched again, covering the small hole it had revealed. Akane counted to twenty, slowly, as she sat her cup on a rock next to the chair and carefully poured another cup of tea. She leaned over the slumping figure and held the cup down, where the steam could rise under the flap of the towel. "I brought you some tea, Ranma." The towel twitched again, and after a slight pause a small hand came out from underneath the towel and took the cup. It retreated slowly back into its hole, and after several seconds Akane could hear a mumbled thank you. She refilled her own cup and carefully sat on the chair, giving Ranma a few moments to realize that she wasn't going away. Then she raised her legs and laid them along the length of the chair and scooted over a little, forcing Ranma to give ground as she made herself comfortable. Finally she took the blanket she had brought and cast it out so that it covered both of them. For several minutes she said nothing as she watched the sun climb slowly into the sky. The first boat sails appeared on the horizon, driven by the stiff breeze which still blew along the beach. After a while she could feel Ranma squirm again, but Akane still couldn't see anything of the girl. Ranma had managed to curl herself into an even tighter ball, but she was now pressed against Akane. Carefully, Akane lifted her right arm and let it fall across the top of the bundle next to her. Her hand rested along Ranma's back she could feel it stiffening, and then, suddenly, Ranma relaxed against her. Akane smiled at the warm feeling of Ranma's body next to her own spreading across her, making her almost uncomfortably warm. She could hear soft noises coming from under the towel that sounded suspiciously like sniffling, but when she tried to raise one flap of the towel a hand darted out from underneath the towel and slapped hers away before grasping the loose flap and holding it down tightly. With a small grin on her face, Akane gently rubbed Ranma's back in small, soothing circles, until the strange noises stopped. The hand holding the flap loosened its grip and pushed back the corner slightly. She still couldn't see Ranma's face, but the sun now cast a ray of light inside the towel revealing Ranma's neck and knee. Slowly the knee disappeared, and Akane could feel Ranma's legs straitening out along her own, until finally the smaller girl had completely uncurled. An empty cup was tossed off the chair, and then Ranma, her face still covered in the towel, pressed the top of her head against Akane's side. Akane continued to stroke Ranma's back, as she spoke to her. "Are you feeling better? We have a long day ahead of us. There's a temple up in the mountains I want to go see. Mother used to take us there when we came to the beach." Akane tucked her hand under the blanket again. "I want to take you before we leave." Ranma spoke, sounding slightly offended. "Don't you want to find a cure before we go wandering off all over the place?" "Isn't that what you usually do anyway?" "Of course not! I always know exactly what I'm doing!" Akane smiled. "And what exactly are you going to do about it this time? Was it Cologne? A jilted lover? It wasn't the ice cream, you know. Who are you going to fight?" Ranma remained silent. "Come on, Ranma," Akane wheedled, "I want you to go to the temple with me." The body next to her shifted again and she felt fingers brush along her hand. She grabbed the questing hand and held it tightly. At first it tried to pull away, but then it relaxed, and gripped hers back. "Akane? Why... why are you acting like this?" Akane gave the shrouded head next to her a puzzled look. "What do you mean? What do you think I'm acting like?" "Why are you being so nice?" Akane resisted the impulse to slap the head she knew was hiding under the towel next to her. Now was not the time. Later. Definitely later. "I've always been nice." "Ha!" "Ranma, I'm not acting any differently now than I do at home!" "Then why haven't you hit me yet?" "Why haven't you insulted me yet?" "Hey! You hit me all the time, not just when I insult you!" "For one thing, I haven't seen you hugging Shampoo or buttering up Ukyo recently." At this Ranma poked her head out from under the towel. Her eyes were slightly red, and loose strands of her crimson hair blew in the breeze where they had been pulled out of her pigtail. "I've never hugged Shampoo or buttered up Ukyo!" Akane stared at Ranma until the smaller girl blushed and pulled the towel back over her head. She heard a muffled word, and although she couldn't make it out she was pretty sure she knew what it was. She lightly slapped the sulking form on the back of its head. Ranma whipped the towel off again and pointed an accusing finger at Akane. "See! You just hit me!" Akane stuck her tongue out at the girl. "You just called me a tomboy." "You didn't hit me when I called you an unsexy tomboy a few minutes ago!" "You didn't mean it then." Ranma pulled her legs up and crossed them, hugging her knees to her chest and staring at the boats in the distance. "I hate it when you're like this." "Like what? Nice?" "Yep. Can't do anything to you when you're being that cute." Akane blushed at Ranma's statement. She never thought that she'd get the chance to have this sort of relationship with her fiancee. A smile crept across her face again. She just couldn't seem to keep from smiling this week. Even with Ranma stuck as a girl this had been one of the best week's they'd had together. Mischievously she let her hand creep out of the blanket until it rested gently against the side of Ranma's leg. They sat in silence for several minutes. Ranma traced a finger along her leg until she reached Akane's hand. Then she glanced back at Akane. "Doesn't this bother you? Touching a girl?" "I didn't think you were a girl. Have you changed your mind?" Ranma turned her face away without answering. When she didn't hear an answer Akane reached up and gently turned Ranma's face towards her. She could see traces of tears around the redhead's tightly closed eyes. "What's wrong Ranma? You've been trapped as a girl before and you've never acted like this." "I... I don't think this is like the other times. I mean, I didn't do anything!" Ranma's voice cracked as she spoke. Akane placed her hand back on the other girl's leg, squeezing it softly. Akane frowned. "Come on, Ranma. There has to be something, somebody, who did this?" "There isn't! I didn't do anything to anybody!" Ranma's eyes desperately sought Akane's as she continued. "I haven't even seen anybody I know all week." "You said it was last night that you found out? So it must have happened yesterday. What did you do yesterday?" Ranma hung her head. "I... last night... I don't know. I... I haven't tried to change back all week." Akane looked at the girl beside her, who was staring out at the ocean again. "All week? You went all week as a girl and never tried to change back before last night?" "Yeah, well, we're at the beach ain't we? Why change back if I'm just going to get wet again?" "That never stopped you before." Akane looked at the girl worriedly. Maybe this was different than all of the other times Ranma had been trapped as a girl. Ranma continued to stare at the ocean, ignoring her fiancee. "Ranma, why didn't you want to change? You can tell me. I'm not going to hit you, you know." She reached up and tried to turn the girl to face her. With a quick jerk Ranma pulled her hand away. Then she twisted to face Akane. "I didn't want to spoil it, okay?!" The outburst surprised Akane. "Everything was going so well. I was having a good time, and... and the two of us... I wouldn't have found out at all if Pop hadn't spilled his tea on me last night." Akane reached out and touched Ranma's face. "All week. Ranma, you know you didn't have to do that." "Then why didn't you say anything?" Ranma's face turned dark. "You like me better as a girl don't you? Well?" Akane pulled her hand back from Ranma's, and looked at the other girl. The conversation had turned serious, and she didn't want to start a fight. "I do like you as a girl, Ranma, but not anymore than I like you as a boy." The redhead kicked the blanket off her legs and jumped up. Turning to face Akane, she waved her hands wildly as she spoke. "So that's it? Is that why you don't want me to find a cure? You like me as much when I'm a girl as when I'm a boy, and you figure if I'm stuck this way the others will give up and you can have me and it'll be just fine that I'm stuck this way forever?" Akane's slap caught Ranma off guard, and the redhead held a hand to her cheek as she stared at Akane, who was now standing in front of her. "What is wrong with you Ranma?! I didn't say that. I didn't mean that. I like you -- boy or girl!" Ranma's shoulders slumped and the anger drained out of her. Wearily she sat down on the chair again. Akane sat next to her and took her hand. "I just don't know, Akane. This time, there's just no reason for it this time. I think... I think it's the curse. Maybe it's how I feel about being a girl, or maybe it just happens to everyone cursed at Jusenkyo. One day -- Poof!" Ranma flung her hands wide in front of her. "You're stuck in your cursed form forever." "Your father, Mousse and Shampoo haven't had any problems, Ranma. I don't think its that." "They turn into animals. Maybe it only affects people who turn into other people." "Maybe, but this is you we're talking about. Ranma Saotome, the weirdness magnet." She poked Ranma in the ribs a couple of times. She could see her fiancee trying to fight back a smile. Akane poked her again. "We'll find a solution. We always do." Ranma took her hand and looked into her face. When their eyes met Akane could feel the same connection she had glimpsed that night on the swings, and she smiled again. She knew how it affected Ranma. Akane stood, and gathered up the blanket. "Ready to go to the temple? It's a long walk, we'll have plenty of time to figure out what to do about this little problem of yours." Ranma nodded, stood, and together she and Akane walked back towards the cottage, pointedly ignoring Soun and the panda, who were bawling onto each other's shoulders, and Nabiki, who was walking alongside them filming their procession with a camcorder. All in all, the start of another typical day. Ranma 1/2 By Rumiko Takahashi Oh My Goddess! By Kosuke Fujishima By Steve Pardue Mail: steve@spardue.org Web: http://www.spardue.org/anime Scream! Chapter 4 -- Scream by Divine Right! "Urd? Urd!" The pile of sheets on the bed shifted, revealing a shapely leg. The rest of the bundle, however, remained well hidden. "Go 'way, Skuld." A seeking hand holding a pillow emerged from the sheets, and tossed the pillow at the youngest of the three goddesses. Skuld dodged the pillow, and repeated her message in a much louder voice than before. "You've got to get up! The office called!" Urd's head surfaced and faced her sister. Black circles under each eye and the rumpled appearance of her face was all the information that Skuld needed to see that Urd had been drinking again. Of course, it wasn't a difficult conclusion to come to, since Urd got drunk pretty much every night. Still, Skuld took great pleasure in rousting her sister out of bed at the break of day. "The office?" Urd rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. "What do they want with me? I'm on vacation." "They didn't call you." Skuld's tone of voice gave Urd the distinct impression that her youngest sister didn't expect them to be calling her anytime soon. "They called Belldandy. There's going to be a system audit!" "So?" "I -- I need your help." Urd stared at the young goddess. "You're asking me for help? Why do you care about another stupid audit?" Urd tried to concentrate her muddled thoughts on what Skuld was trying to say. "Did you mess up a software patch again?" Skuld's face turned a bright cherry red. "That was not my fault! No one told me they changed the file format!" She pointed an accusing finger at Urd. "But that's beside the point. I need your help -- they want Belldandy to track down the source of a corrupted file, and I want to find and fix it before she does." Urd tucked her head back underneath her red silk sheets and fluffed her pillows. "Sounds boring to me, kiddo. If you really want to help Bell that much, just go ask her." "I can't do that!" "Well, why the he-- why not?" Skuld opened her mouth, shut it, and opened it again, before finally snapping it shut. "Ahhh. Now I see." Urd propped herself up on one arm, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "You're afraid Bell is going to catch you with your hand in the cookie jar. Give it up, sis. What did you do?" Skuld blushed again, but this time she just stared at the floor. "It wasn't a bad thing, Urd." "I'm sure it wasn't." "I was just trying to help her!" "Sure, sure, I understand." "I didn't think she'd mind!" "Of course she wouldn't." "How was I supposed to know she liked changing into a man?" "She what? ...into a man?" Skuld nodded furiously. "She's a real macho tomboy. Talks like a boy and everything!" She leaned closer to Urd, speaking conspiratorially. "She even has a... a girlfriend!" "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place," Urd said as she threw off her sheets and bounded to her feet bedside the bed and her startled sister. She placed her hands on her hips and grinned maniacally down at Skuld. "This sounds a job for the goddess of Luuuv!" -*- It was true, Urd supposed, that not every aspect of being a goddess was wonderful. Sure you had amazing powers, and of course you got to set your own hours, but then again, you were on call 24/7/365 for all eternity. It was no wonder she was driven to drink But then again, every now and then a situation like this came up that made it all worthwhile. To help someone find their true love, no matter what form that love took, was always an amazing experience. Urd lived for it; had made it her life's work. Even if she really was the goddess of the Past, her true avocation was as the goddess of love; red silk sheets, skimpy bathing suits and all. So once she had heard Skuld's story, there was no chance that she would simply ignore her sister's plea and return to sleep. She simply had to help this poor victim of Skuld's. Standing before her laboratory table, she considered the two questions before her. First, she had to locate the girl, and then she had to find a way to restore her male form. The first was a snap. Digging her keyboard out from under a pile of personal adds, she turned on her terminal and composed a quick e-mail. To: oracle@cs.indiana.edu From: urd@yggdrasdil.hvn Oh Oracle most wise, how's it hanging? Could you do me a teensy, little favor? I need to know today's itinerary for a mortal by the name of Ranma Saotome (obj ref 021AF45C:002444A1). More detail would be great, but just her location will do. Don't forget to give me the coordinates of any televisions as well. Urd P.S.: Sorry about the woodchuck and whipped cream thing at the last office party. Hope you're feeling better and the stitches are out. Clicking the send button, she hooked a nearby stool with her foot and pulled it closer. Sitting down on it she adjusted her skirt, and leaned forward, resting her chin on her fist as she considered how to correct Ranma's problem. The real problem was that Ranma could not be allowed to know that a goddess was around, much less fixing her curse. That would be bad, because there was no way the system auditor would miss that. A covert operation was what she needed, one where she could be in and out without Ranma and her girlfriend suspecting anything. Deep in thought, it took a second for her to recognize the beep of her terminal as it received a new e-mail. Casually, she eyed her screen, and grinned when she saw who it was from. To: urd@yggdrasil.hvn From: oracle@cs.indiana.edu I shouldn't even talk to you, but I always did find you too irresistible for my own good. I found a reference for a Ranma Saotome (021AF45C:002444A1). He'll be at 76F2EAA1:F23AED12 in 2 hours, along with Akane Tendo (021AF45C:0024438E). They will be purchasing clothing, specifically, a black silk Chinese shirt with wooden toggles instead of buttons. There's a tv in the store. I hope this helps. Orrie You owe the Oracle a night of karaoke when you get back up here. Good old Orrie. Urd had known she could count on him. This was perfect. A black silk shirt? She had just the thing.... On the table before her, Urd contemplated the sheer, silk, high-necked dress she was sacrificing for the common good. It was black, or course, with a dragon embroidered into the dress in gold thread. The dragon started on the back and lay draped over the left shoulder of he dress, it's large head falling across the chest. Now, all she had to do was form it into a shirt appropriate for a man. On the floor of her workroom was engraved a circle of power, a complex design of concentric circles. At five points around the circle was placed a candle. Carefully, Urd positioned the dress in the center of the engraving. At her mental command, all five candles burst into flame and the ceiling lights turned off. Focusing her mind, she summoned her will and began to cast her spell: Spirits, hear me and obey! Shape this cloth into a form pleasing to behold; Ward it well against those who would harm its wearer. Weave into it the the strength of the dragon which adorns it; And bind it to my bidding! I, Urd, command thee! Around the dress, a mist rose slowly from the floor, creeping up along the invisible column of the circle in which the dress lay. At te ceiling, the mist turned inward, plunging down the center of the column and crashing against the dress. The fabric at the edge of the dress began to flutter, as if it was caught in a strong breeze, and individual threads of silk began to unravel, running across the surface of the dress. As more and more mist filled the column, the dress faded from view, until all that was left was a ghostly column in the middle of the room, glowing with a pale light. Urd's brow creased as the strength required to bind the spirits to her command began to tax her. Fingering her moonstone bracelet that contained her energy reserves, she hurried to complete her spell. Concentrating upon the column, he began to chant softly, the words barely audible even to herself, as she formed the program she wanted to bind the shirt. An inch outside the column a complex series of occult equations and diagrams appeared, looking as if they had been formed of polished jade. The goddess continued to chant, and more and more words crawled around he column, rotating to keep the point of insertion directly in front of Urd's eyes. When she was done, the column was surrounded with the mystical equation from floor to ceiling. With a sudden snap, the words imploded into the column, where there appeared, for one brief instant, the form of a pig-tailed boy. Then the column slowly sank into the floor, with the mist billowing out as the column sank, leaving only five puddles of rapidly cooling wax, and a black, silk, Chinese shirt. Urd smiled, and took a sip of sake to recharge. One brief trip, and she could go back to bed. -*- Urd struggled to pull her body through the cramped screen of an old black and white tv. As the image on the screen drifted from static to fuzzy, she finally managed to free herself. Falling unceremoniously to the floor, she looked around quickly before heaving a sigh of relief that no one had seen her undignified entrance. Brushing off her dress, the goddess stood and authoritatively slid back the door to the room she was in. On the other side of the door was the main room of a clothing store, which appeared empty except for an occasional muffled word coming from across the room. Walking towards the sounds, she came upon to girls standing by a sales bin. After making sure that she was not visible to them, she paused to observe her quarry. The redhead rolled her eyes as her companion pulled a sweater out of the pile in the bin. "Geez, Akane. How many of these are you going to look at. Its too hot for this!" "Oh, come on Ranma. Look at the prices! This sweater is only 1500 yen!" Akane held the sweater out to Ranma. "Try it on!" Ranma groaned as she reluctantly took the sweater and pulled it on over her head. She felt Akane tugging at the hem of the sweater as she pulled the neck over her head. Irritably, she twisted out of the other girl's grip. "I can do it myself!" Ignoring her companion's protests, Akane grabbed Ranma by the shoulders and spun her around. Pulling and tugging, she arranged the sweater over the shorter girl's shoulders. The arms of the sweater hung inches below the redhead's hands. Ranma rolled the cuffs up as Akane tucked the bottom of the sweater up around her waist. "It's kind of big." "Well, most people don't have to buy clothes for two different bodies." Akane pulled another sweater from the pile and turned towards Ranma. " Here, try this one." "I don't want to try any more of these things! It's the middle of summer. Why are we buying sweaters? Besides," Ranma cast a glare at Akane, "I ain't got two bodies right now, do I?" Ignoring Ranma's last comment, Akane rolled her eyes. "We're looking at them because they're on sale!" "I ain't gonna put another one on, Akane." Ranma finished peeling off the sweater she was wearing. Balling it up she tossed it into the sale bin with the other discarded sweaters of Akane's earlier attempts. Akane held another sweater up against Ranma's shoulders, trying to gauge how it would fit, but Ranma jerked away. Akane sighed and considered the sweater in her hand a second before putting it back as well. "Oh, well. I'll get Kasumi and Nabiki to come back up here tomorrow." She narrowed her eyes and stuck her tounge out at her companion. "They'll appreciate a pre-winter sale!" "Well, of course! They're girls. They like this sort of stuff." Ranma flapped the neck of her red-silk shirt and tried to cool off. As Akane casually browsed through the rack of clothes, Ranma stared at her, trying to understand what it was that caused women to do things like this. She might have the body of a woman, but shopping for clothes... she shuddered. Why they thought it was fun, she would never understand. All Ranma wanted to do was figure out why she had been locked in her female form again. It seemed to happen too often to just be coincidence. She figured it must be some aspect of the curse, trying to keep her this way. On the other hand, Ryouga, Shampoo, Mousse -- even her old man, for that matter -- had never had their curses locked out of the blue like this. Akane kept acting like it was no big deal; just wait a few days and it'll fix itself. Ranma wasn't so sure, but she was interested in checking out this temple. Who knew what old scroll or spirit could be hidden away in there, after all these years. If she could only get Akane to stop shopping and start walking! Akane worked her way down the wall, further away from Ranma, who leaned against the sales bin and watched until her fiancee had turned the corner at the far wall and disappeared. Idly, Ranma thumbed through the rack of dresses behind her, trying to kill time until Akane had sated her shopping urges. The dresses were short, and Ranma couldn't help imagining Akane in one of them. Blushing at the thought, Ranma didn't see the exotic woman in front of her, until she towered above her. Startled, Ranma tried to step back, but before she could, the other woman reached down and cupped her chin, turning her face left, then right, before tilting it up to stare into Ranma's eyes.. "My, my, you have been thinking naughty thoughts, to make your face so red." Ranma blushed more, and yanked her head away from the woman's grasp. Before she could reply, the woman had pulled the dress out of her hands and was holding it up and eying it critically. "It's nice," idly she pulled a finger down the front of the dress as she eyed Ranma. "But don't you think something a little more daring would be nicer?" Ranma snatched the dress back. "No way! She'd clobber me if I picked out something like that. Who are you anyway?" "My name is Urd." Urd paused to strike a suitably impressive pose, giving Ranma another reason to blush, "And I am here to help you." "So... you work here?" "You -- could say that. May I make a suggestion?" "Well," Ranma eyed Urd suspiciously. "I guess so." Urd reached into a rack and pulled out a Chinese shirt similar to the ones Ranma usually wore, except that it seemed to be more - real. Imbued with some sort of life of it's own. "Perhaps, something like this?" Ranma held the shirt closely, examining it. "This might be ok!" "I think it would suit you well." Ranma ran the cloth between her fingers critically, and spent several long seconds examining the dragon design. Peeking inside the neck, she looked for a price tag. "How much is it," she asked suspiciously. "For you, today, it's at a very special price." Urd smiled. This was like taking candy from a baby. With a little luck she'd have it wrapped up in a few minutes, and no one would be the wiser. Ranma and Akane were such a cute couple. And now, with the help of a few of the extras she'd included in her spell, maybe Ranma would work up the guts to advance their relationship a little bit. -*- Ranma walked towards the back of he store, where Akane was, near the dressing rooms. As she went, she smiled at the shirt she was holding. The woman had been right It was perfect. Nearing Akane, she saw the other girl holding up blouses in front of a mirror. Smiling Ranma walked up behind her and held up the shirt. "Check out what I found!" Akane turned and smiled at Ranma. "Ahh, the shopping bug seems to have claimed another victim." "Nah. The sales lady helped me with it." Akane examined the shirt. "You should try it on. I bet it'll look great on you." Ranma gave a short laugh and placed her hand on the back of her head. "Well, actually, I was thinking that it might look better on you." "Me?" "Well, yeah. They're really comfortable, and they give you a good range of movement in a fight." "Only you would think about that when buying clothes," snorted Akane. "Hey! Ryouga, Mousse, Ukyo and Shampoo all do too." "I think that Shampoo chooses her clothes with something other than fighting in mind." Ranma pushed the shirt towards Akane. "Here. Just try it on." Akane smiled and took the shirt. "Ok, ok." She walked into an open booth and shut the door. Faintly Ranma could hear her giggle. "What's so funny?" There was silence for a second before Akane responded. Ranma could hear her moving around. "Nothing, nothing." Another pause before she continued. "Thanks Ranma. It just, well, you know...that you..." Ranma grinned. He knew. It was just hard for them to say some things. More bumping noises came from the booth, and then.... Akane screamed. Except that, it wasn't Akane who screamed it was a man! Ranma's kick slammed the dressing booth's door open, and he found himself facing -- himself.