The Journey is the Destination Chapter 21 By poetheather Things have calmed down some but Ranma is still worried because the Amazons have not made their move yet. She is worried that Akane and Ukyo might not have the strength to survive what is coming. The only solution? Training Trip.

Ranma was lying on the roof of the house in her usual spot, just thinking about things. So far it seemed like things were working out for her and her life was getting less insane, but she knew there were a couple of other things to worry abut, namely her idiot father and the Amazons. She was sure both of them were plotting something, she could almost feel the tension in the air around her and she didn’t like it. She wasn’t worried about Shampoo or Mousse but the old ghoul was tricky and had a box full of tricks she could use on her.

With the mind wipe shampoo and all the other crazy love potions that they had used on her, it made her really paranoid about the Chinese group. What could she do to deal with them once and for all? Maybe she could ask Nabiki for help? The Ice Queen of Furinken would certainly have the cunning to fight against Cologne in a battle of wits. But what would it cost her to get that help? Maybe she should talk to Akane and see what she thought.

That made her realize that Akane would become a target in this fight because of how close they had gotten. So would Ukyo. Ranma needed to help them get better so they could survive before things came to a head. She needed to do something as she couldn’t stand the idea of either of them hurt. She had an idea but wasn’t sure if it was a good plan or not. With tremendous ease, she swung down off the roof and made a controlled stop by Akane’s window. She tapped on it to get Akane’s attention, as the girl was busy doing homework. Akane looked up at the noise and spotted Ranma. After a heartwarming smile for the redhead, she opened up the window and asked, “What is it?”

“Can you come to roof with me?” Ranma seemed a touch embarrassed to be asking for help.

Akane managed to get onto the roof with a little bit of a struggle and sat next to the smaller girl who was clutching her knees to her chest. “What is it?”

“Well… I know your fighting is getting better but there is the threat of Shampoo and Cologne, maybe even Mousse are going to come against us. They are strong and dangerous opponents.”

Akane growled, “I’ll kick that purple haired trollop back to China if she tries anything with you.”

Ranma sighed. This wasn’t looking so good. If she was this uptight about the issue what would she do when she got to her plan. “The thing is Akane, that isn’t going to be what happens and you know it. Shampoo will probably hurt you. What you need is some intensive training and I kind of had the idea of going on a training trip to help you with that.”

What Ranma was expecting was not what Ranma got. “Really? A training trip? Oh Ranma, thank you! This means so much to me.”

The kiss was brief but powerful. When Ranma’s brain started working again, she smiled happily, in a bit of a daze. She deftly swung down into the room she and her fiancé shared and took a seat on a bed post, watching what was going on. Akane had pulled out a backpack and was trying to figure out what she was going to be taking. Ranma cleared her throat to get her attention. Now the harder part.

When the girl with the short dark hair turned, Ranma said, “I want to invite Ukyo as well. Maybe even Konatsu. I have a feeling that we will need to be at our best for this.”

Akane frowned slightly, until her mind reminded her that Ukyo was now Ranma’s sister and thus no longer a threat to her future happiness. That allowed her to smile. “I think that should work out fine. When do you want to go?”

“Tomorrow. The sooner we take off and disappear, the safer I think it will be. I really don’t want the Old Ghoul catching us off guard, because she is really good at that. I also don’t want Pops or your Dad knowing about it until we have left, because who knows what they’ll do.”

Akane nodded, conceding her love’s points. It made sense. “Okay. I’ll talk to Kasumi then if you can call Ukyo.”

Ranma nodded, relieved that this had gone so well. “I can do that.”

They left the room together and both headed downstairs, where Kasumi was in the kitchen and to the telephone in the hallway. Akane walked into the kitchen as Ranma picked up the phone and dialed. “Ucchans, how can I help you?”

“Konatsu? Can I speak to Ukyo?” asked Ranma politely.

“Certainly Ranma.” Ranma looked around for her father while she waited. He wasn’t anywhere near.

“Ranchan?” came a familiar voice on the line.

“Ukyo, do you think you can take some time off from working?” asked Ranma quietly.

“Maybe. Why do you ask sugar?”

“Training trip. Your waitress too.” Ranma could tell the coast was clear, as her father and Mr. Tendo were both still at the shoji table, playing yet another game. The old man was in his panda form and thankfully this ears weren’t twitching, as if her were trying to listen to something.

“Why?” And before Ranma had a chance to answer, Ukyo came back with, “Oh… Amazons. Right, so we leave tomorrow?”

“Yes. Thank you Ukyo. Yeah, I figure that we can take the ten thirty train north and move from there.” Ranma’s voice was filled with relief that this plan was not being balked at by the two people who needed it most. If they hadn’t agreed then this whole idea would not have gone well. If this is what it took to ensure their safety than she would do that even if she had to drag them with her.

“Sounds good and don’t worry Ranchan, I got the food. Can’t have Akane poison us while we train, now can we?”

“Thank you.” If anything, the relief was even more evident in her voice, which made Ukyo giggle.

“See you tomorrow Oneechan.”

“Goodnight Ukyo.”

Ranma sighed happily, as she hung up the phone, content that the call had gone well and her plan was coming together. Noting that the old man seemed clueless, she turned to head upstairs and stopped abruptly as she came face to face with Nabiki, who had been standing calmly behind her. The information broker had an eyebrow raised questioningly and that made Ranma begin to sweat. “Planning a little vacation Saotome?”

“Uhm, hey Nabiki… how are you doing?” Ranma tried to keep her nervousness from coming out in her voice but was failing miserably.

“Just fine Ranma, just fine. Now what was this I heard you tell Ukyo about a training trip?” Nabiki’s grin would have looked natural on a shark, all predatory and confident.

“Uhm… yeah… training trip… just a little trip to improve some skills, that’s all. Nothing important enough to trouble yourself over.” Ranma looked over her shoulder hopefully. Where was Akane to come save her? If her Tomboy showed up then maybe this whole thing could be stopped.

“That sounds nice. I assume that there is some reason you were talking quietly and glancing at your dad. I take it you want to keep this information from dear old dad?” The smile grew larger, as if she could smell blood in the water.

Ranma blanched at that. If Nabiki told the meddling fathers what she had in mind, this plan would never work out, as they would be burdened by two busy bodies that had no respect for any of them. One of them if not both would insist on joining them and there went the whole trip. Either Panda Butt would complain loudly about wasting training of girls or Soun would cry over every little pain that Akane needed to learn to deal with. As that thought ran through her mind, Nabiki stepped back from the fretful redhead and said calmly in a voice that expected compliance, “My room Saotome.”

Nabiki sauntered up the stairs with a bounce to her step that she had lost lately and Ranma watched her go, her own blood turning to ice. What the hell was she going to do? What was this going to cost? This particular bit of screwing over was sadly something allowed by their bargain with the Ice Queen and now she regretted them not completely muzzling her. Seeing no other possible option to make this plan of hers succeed, Ranma walked up the stairs as if to his doom.

The door to Nabiki’s room had been left open so she walked right on in. Nabiki told her to close the door and sit with just her eyes. Ranma complied, the fight almost taken out of her as the redhead knew that there was no way out. Once seated, Nabiki smiled at the redhead and said calmly, but with some cheer in her voice, “Okay Saotome, spill. I won’t tell them about your training trip but you need to tell me what the hell you have been doing since this whole pretend girl bit has started. And don’t try that lame excuse of you always being a girl. I won’t buy it as I know it isn’t the truth and I certainly have the facts to back that up. Now, talk.”

Ranma hung her head, feeling near tears due to being trapped into this position. All she could really do was tell her the truth and hope this didn’t end poorly. “Fine… I’ll tell you. After the wedding disaster that you masterminded, I was at my wits end with how to deal with all this madness. I kept thinking of a way out and I thought that if I was a girl and tried not to fight and stuff, that it might help cut down on things, or at least give me a little breathing room t actually think. I talked to Akane about all of this, told her I loved her and we came up with the plan together.”

“Wait a second… you told my little sister that you loved her?” Nabiki’s eyes were dangerous, flashing in the light of the room and Ranma began to sweat.

Ranma nodded quickly, hoping that would calm Nabiki down. “Yeah, I did. I love her Nabiki and in a way this crazy plan has helped to make it happen. I have her, Ukyo is dealt with and that’s where things stand.”

Nabiki groaned. Of all the important pieces of information to miss out on or misinterpret, it would have to be the crux of the issue. “So the rest of this I know. Honestly Saotome, if you had just told her that earlier that you had cared about her, I wouldn’t have put you through such hell. I didn’t want Akane to have her heart broken by some idiot who couldn’t make up his mind and decide who he cared about. All you did was play around with Shampoo and Ukyo and a few others but did nothing but give my sister crap, day in and day out! And now you tell me you told her that you love her. Honestly Saotome, you have got to be the stupidest man alive. And no, don’t count panda head as a man, not even I would go that far.”

Ranma tried to defend herself but all that came out of her mouth was meaningless sounds. What the hell was Nabiki going on about? Was this a good thing or a bad thing? She was at a complete loss for how to deal with this.

“All that work to make you leave, all because I thought you had no balls and had no interest in my little sister. Kamisama, what a fool. All this time I have tried to get rid of you and your father because you were freeloading jackasses and I thought for sure that you and Akane were never going to work out. What a jackass you are.”

Ranma’s brain had all but short-circuited through this rant. Nabiki was stayed with the revelation that she loved Akane? Had it really been all that easy to get the scariest person in Nerima on her side? Did this mean that she didn’t have to worry about Nabiki anymore? What the hell was going on?

“So how did you manage to lock the curse to keep the hot water from getting you? Not the soap, as that could wash off at a bad time and ruin your whole plan. The Locking Laddle?” mused Nabiki, watching Ranma closely.

Ranma nodded, wide eyed. How had the girl figured that out?

“I take it you got some from Herb before he left? That also probably means you have Kettle water as well, for when you wanted to end this. Clever Ranma, really clever and with the forethought. It is the kind of thing I would have thought of. Nicely done.”

Ranma blinked a few times but her brain was still not rebooting. She had never even considered the possibility of something even remotely like this occurring.

“You dealt with the Kunos for the most part, Ukyo’s your sister now so the only real threat left is the Amazons, hence the training trip. I am glad you are finally taking my sister’s love of the Art seriously Saotome. So are you going to marry her?”

The nodding just carried across just how dumbfounded she was at this point. Nothing was making any sense in the world anymore.

“You had better or I swear I will leave you broken, homeless, and penniless.” Her eyes glowed evilly with the threat, but then she sat back, took a sip of tea and visibly calmed, “Now what do you need from me?”

* * * * *

Ranma still looked a bit shell shocked as the group of them boarded the train. Akane had been surprised that morning when Nabiki had come up, hugged her, and given her the envelope filled with money, enough that it would cover all of their travel expenses and then some. This was going to make parts of this trip easier. They pulled out of the station safely, with no sign of the Amazons any where about. When Konatsu joined them, after they had left the borders of the Tokyo area, they all relaxed. He wouldn’t have returned if there had been anyone watching.

“So where are we going?” asked Ukyo curiously.

“Well, there is a nice training area up in the mountains that my Pop took us too a long while ago, maybe when I was eight or so. It has hot springs, a waterfall, trees, boulders, the works. It is perfect for the kind of training I had in mind and the hot springs will let us relax afterward.” stated Ranma, growing more animated as they were safely away. Maybe this plan of hers would work out?

“What kind of training is that?” asked the chef, wondering just what they were going to be doing over the next week or so. She was excited by this opportunity.

“Several different things actually. The point is for everyone to be better than Mousse and Shampoo by the end of this, so that we can focus on our real threat, Cologne.” explained Ranma.

“Surely you can beat her since you defeated Saffron?” asked Akane softly.

Ranma had a pained expression on her face as she remembered that fight. “I don’t know. Saffron had a lot of raw power but not a lot of training. He fought just to squish you and he had the power to do that. The old ghoul has been around forever, knows moves I have never even dreamed of, and so I have no sure idea if I could take her or not. I mostly want us to all make it out of this alive.”

Konatsu looked up surprised, his eyes blinking widely, “Me too?”

“Well, yeah. You have been a great friend to Ucchan and I appreciate that.” replied Ranma nervously, scratching the back of her head.

“So any ideas on how to improve things?” asked Akane, trying to contain her bounciness. She was going on a real training trip and that made everything good in her opinion.

Ranma nodded her head. “Yep. I have a few things in mind. Akane your gift lies along a path similar to Ryoga’s, with lots of strength and durability, so I am going to help you get tougher. We are also going to work on technique, s your moves become more effective and you get faster. Ukyo, we are going to work on your unarmed skills. You are great with the weapon but if you are disarmed, things go south quickly. I don’t want that to happen.”

“And me?” asked Konatsu, worried at being left out.

“Actually, you honestly don’t need more training but I could use the help training the others. Can you do that?” asked Ranma, a bit embarrassed to admit that.

He bit his lip and looked painfully cute. “I think I can do that.”

“Good. Then we have a plan and I bet we can beat those Amazons at their own game.”