The Journey is the Destination Chapter 14 By poetheather In Nerima, some of the psychos won't let you dream...

Akane could hardly believe the good fortune that was now in her life. Ranma was asleep in her bed with her, it seemed like Nabiki was no longer a threat, and all was right with the world. She gave a slight smile at that. She had dreamed of this. Of course, in her dreams, Ranma had been a man and not a woman, but truth be told she wasn’t all that picky anymore, especially after almost dying on Phoenix Mountain. That was not to say that she was attracted to girls in general, as she wasn’t it was more that she was just attracted to Ranma. Male or female her fiancé was hot.

Ranma was currently cuddled up against her, this time on the inside of the spoon, where Akane could hold her. Ranma’s girl form was small enough that it was easy pretty easy for Akane to cuddle the redhead against her and still be comfortable. She did wonder what it would be like to be cuddled this way in Ranma’s strong arms. The thought made her smile and her mind drifted through the image happily. After things had calmed down for a while, Ranma would fix things with her curse and would go back to being male again, at least for part of the time. That would be nice. Akane had to admit that she loved his broad shoulders and muscular chest. The only real constant between forms were her blue eyes.

She nuzzled the back of Ranma’s head, smelling the clean and slightly flowery scent of her hair. It was soothing. The chamomile shampoo was helping to keep the redhead much calmer than usual and that was indeed a good thing, given the stress the girl felt with acting a girl and fighting against all the macho bullshit that Genma had put into her head for all those years alone on that training trip. Any little bit would help. With a gentle kiss, Akane closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

The gentle rasp of something making an unfamiliar noise woke her and Akane could immediately feel the danger. She didn’t see anything when she scanned the room quickly but when she looked up at the ceiling there was Kodachi, that idiot Kuno’s sister, looking down at them, dressed in her usual leotard. Akane rolled out of the bed as the Black Rose dropped to the mattress with two spiked clubs in her hands, destroying the pillow.

“Hohohohohohoho… so peasant, we meet again. Once I remove you and this red haired tramp from my life I will have my darling Ranma all to myself. Bwahahahahahaha!!!!” Madness danced in the girl’s eyes, which was sadly a normal thing. The martial art rhythmic gymnast went into speedily into the attack.

Akane easily dodged the spiked clubs that were rushing at her as the speed training she had been getting from Ranma was helping immensely. To Akane, the attacks were no longer the blur they had seemed like before. This fight was easier than she had expected and Akane smirked confidently at the insane gymnast. As that attack didn’t seem to be working, Kodachi switched to the ribbon. Ranma snored softly.

As the ribbon snapped at her, aiming for her eyes, Akane flinched away and hooked her food under one of her barbells. She held her ground and the snagged the ribbon with one hand. The tension the ribbon was enduring was immense and it stopped Kodachi in her tracks as the girl pulled back, trying to fling Akane. All the woman did glare at her and laugh, “Ahahahahahaha!! Soon Ranma will be all mine!”

It took some effort to remain balanced but Akane managed to kick the barbell into Kodachi’s face. The girl stumbled back towards the open window from the force of the blow. A quick slide step sidekick launched the woman out and almost to the Koi pond. Ranma shifted some in the bed. Akane shook her head and took a moment to pull the covers back over the redhead and run a hand down the girl’s hair lovingly. Then the tomboy growled and launched herself out the window after the Black Rose.

Kodachi was shaking her head to try to clear the daze she felt from hitting her head on the ground really hard. Akane flew down towards her in a flying sidekick, the fabric of her yellow pajamas flapping. Kodachi rolled backwards away from the attack and then executed a handspring to get some more distance. The ribbon was back and she was twirling it in a circle, a few petals of black roses swirled about. “Because of my brother’s love for you I will no slay you Akane Tendo, but I will ensure that you cannot be near my darling Ranma!”

With a deft flick of her wrist, Kodachi wrapped her ribbon around a large hunk of rock in the yard and began to whip it towards Akane. She dodged the attack, trying to figure out what to do in order to get past that weapon as Kodachi was flinging it around in a rather controlled whip motion. The strikes were getting closer.

With a swift back and forth motion she had picked up from watching Ranma fight, she managed to get inside the effective reach of the ribbon and thus neutralizing that attack. Kodachi dropped the ribbon and switched back to spiked clubs and Akane dodged those as well, occasionally managing to slip through the attack and punch or kick through the veritable wall of spikes. Suddenly as Kodachi was being driven back, there was a burst of gas and Akane got a face full of sleep dust.

Akane had to fight this off. Otherwise, Ranma would be attacked and she didn’t want that to happen. Her limbs were becoming heavy and her movements sluggish, Kodachi just stood there and laughed that insane laugh of hers. As Akane fell to the ground unconscious while reaching for the gymnast, Kuno’s sister leapt up to the second floor room.

Kodachi stood over the snoring Ranma, her eyes wide with her madness. This was the moment she had been waiting for, “Now you devilish fox, I shall slay you and free my beloved Ranma from your clutches!”

The spiked club came down towards Ranma’s head, but the sleeping girl turned over and the club missed her, slamming into the pillow, feathers flying into the air. The Black Rose growled, narrowed her eyes, and slammed the club down again, missing Ranma again as the girl shifted away from the attack still clearly asleep. Kodachi screamed in frustration.

Ranma awoke to someone screeching above her. She opened her eyes to spot Kodachi standing above her, holding her spiked clubs. Her heart went into overdrive and Ranma’s hands flew out, one pulling and one pushing. With one hand behind Kodachi’s knee and another on her thigh, Ranma shoved her backwards and made the gymnast fall off the bed and away from her.

The girl made a less than graceful flip in order to land on the floor while Ranma scrambled out of bed to face her attacker. She looked at the gymnast a bit surprised and asked, “Kodachi?”

The insane girl growled angrily at her. Ranma quickly realized that there wasn’t enough room in this room for her to fight the way she usually did. A quick glance at the open window provided her with more options. Even though it would give Kodachi more room to fight her way she dove backwards out the window towards the backyard.

While flying back, Ranma spotted Akane lying face down on the ground. Her eyes went wide in panic and she rushed over to her fiancé. Since Kodachi was known to use various poisons and powders in her fighting Ranma got really worried. She grabbed the tomboy, turning her over, “Akane! Akane!”

Kodachi landed gently on the grass her ribbon twirling again. Thankfully, there were no petals this time. “Hohohohoho, I have removed her from this battle so I can kill you in peace. I want my beloved Ranma back and you are standing in the way.”

Ranma gritted her teeth. This idiot Kuno just never seemed to get it through her thick skull. She clenched her fists and growled, “I am Ranma you baka! How many times do I have to tell ya?”

“You are not my beloved, witch. He is dark haired and muscular and very attractive and loves me shyly.” Kodachi was momentarily lost in her own fantasy of her imaginary relationship with the young martial artist. Ranma tried not to gag.

“I don’t love you!!” screamed Ranma. “And what the hell are you doing attacking me at night?!”

Both Kasumi and Nabiki had woken up from the sounds outside and they both headed downstairs, thinking there might be a burglar or something going on. Nabiki had a baseball bat in her hands and was leading the way, Kasumi hanging back behind her. They got to the living room and looked outside, seeing Ranma in her pajamas facing off against Kodachi. They spotted Akane lying on the ground behind Ranma and were startled. Kasumi brought one hand to her mouth and said, “Oh my!”

“I will attack you whenever I want peasant, until I get my beloved back! He loves me and wants to be with me but you are stopping him.” Kodachi threw her razor hoop at Ranma as she yelled this.

Ranma hopped over the hoop easily and landed lightly, turning the move into the lead in to a near sprint over to the psychotic gymnast. Ranma growled out angrily as she dodged the spiked clubs Kodachi was protecting herself with. To her they were slow moving objects that were painfully easy to evade. Her anger swelled inside her and burst out, “I! Do! Not! Love! You!! I love Akane and she is my fiancé, not you, nor anyone else. Get that through your thick head and fuck off!!”

Ranma punctuated that expletive with a powerful punch to Kodachi’s gut, specifically her diaphragm, slamming the leotard clad girl back fifteen feet into the wall surrounding the property. The wall cracked some under the powerful impact. Kodachi dropped face down onto the grass, gasping for air desperately. She spotted two feet standing in front of her and she looked up at a very angry Ranma, the girl’s immense battle aura blazing around her strong enough to cast shadows and flickering lights about the yard. The force of it was strong enough that the Black Rose shrank back from this display of pure power.

Ranma’s words were cold, as she seemed to be filled with the Soul of Ice, as if that were the only thing keeping her from killing the girl. “If you ever attack me or the woman I love again I will kill you. Do you understand?”

Kodachi just stared at the girl, this interloper into her love life surprised by the words that she said. Nabiki narrowed her eyes in thought at what Ranma was saying and Kasumi gasped at Ranma’s words clearly shaken by their intensity and truth. Ranma just stood there, her aura crackling around her like an untamed fire glaring down at the crazy girl who had attacked them. After a moment of silence, the black haired girl spoke, “I… I… cannot accept that my beloved Ranma is affianced. I know he loves me and wants to be with me.”

Ranma’s stare intensified, as if she was measuring something within the girl. Her response was abrupt. “Very well. Sasuke, pick up your mistress and go home.”

The loyal ninja retainer of the Kuno family popped his head up over the wall and looked on the scene, Ranma standing over his fallen mistress. He frowned and hopped to his mistress’s side, concerned for her safety. He offered her a hand and said, “Come Mistress Kodachi, we should leave.”

Ranma glowered at them as they left, her battle aura never wavering nor weakening. When they were gone and out of the range of her ki powered senses, it winked out, leaving the area dark again. The redhead rushed to Akane’s side and knelt to pick her up. Hugging Akane tightly to her, Ranma began to cry from the stress of the fight and the worry she had for the girl she loved. She felt a hand gently touch her shoulder and there stood Kasumi. “Come on Ranma. Let’s get her inside.”

Ranma stood up with Akane in his arms and she walked inside. Nabiki was staring at the scene intently, processing everything that had occurred. She was certain that this was not how the world was supposed to work. Ranma and Akane were supposed to bicker and fight, clearly disliking each other, not making out in the dojo and for Ranma to cry when Akane is wounded. Moreover, Ranma had clearly yelled out that he loved Akane not just once, but twice in that conversation. The two of them were acting like a couple, not just best friends.

Ranma laid Akane down on the couch and hovered worriedly while Kasumi looked her fiancé over. After assessing her sister’s condition, she sat back and smiled up at the fretful redhead, “She is fine Ranma, just asleep. There should be no lasting damage from what happened.”

Ranma let out an audible sigh of relief and a great deal of tension visibly was released. “Thank you Kasumi.”

Kasumi just laid a hand on Ranma’s shoulder as she got up. “It’s late and I’m going back to bed. You can take Akane?”

Ranma nodded. Kasumi left the room and headed back upstairs to get back to sleep.

Nabiki stood there looking at Ranma, as if trying to decipher the puzzle that the aquatranssexual was presenting her. Ranma looked over at the middle Tendo and asked, “Yes Nabiki?”

“You really love her?” asked Nabiki, her tone serious.

“I really do.” Ranma bent down and lifted her tomboy.

“And you’re really a girl?” followed up Nabiki, sensing that this might be her one chance to piece together the rest of this puzzle.

Ranma just sighed, shook her head, and headed towards the stairs. “Good night Nabiki.”

The middle Tendo girl stood there and watched one of the idiot freeloaders carry her younger sister upstairs close to her chest. The redhead had fought for her, which was usual and then had threatened Kodachi quite clearly, which was not usual. This only added to the puzzles complexity and Nabiki tried to figure out how she could profit from this in a way that went around the seppuku pledge she had made earlier that evening. The pledge had been very specific on the nature of information selling, what she could and could not make money on, but perhaps she could spin it in such a way as to sell information on Kodachi and her actions that in reality related to Ranma and this situation. Something was going on between her sister and Ranma and it was connected to whatever was going on. She headed upstairs pondering this issue and it kept her up for a few hours before she drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Ranma had carried Akane upstairs and laid her gently in bed, pulling the covers up over her. She looked down at her uncute tomboy who always seemed to get in trouble and smiled softly. This was the girl she loved and the reason behind this whole life-changing charade. The most difficult part of this plan was to avoid crap like what had happened tonight. That fight had ruined what had been a pretty good couple of days. The peace was a bit addictive.

When the two of them had managed to go without the usual Nerima madness plaguing them for a month she would change back to her male form and the two of them would get married, like they wanted not what their fathers wanted. She wanted that more than anything she could imagine and it helped her motivation. She wanted it so much that she would fight for it, if that were what it took. She wanted peace in her life and would fight for it without hesitation.

Ranma bent over and kissed Akane on her cheek. This girl was why she was doing this, this girl that she deeply loved and who loved her. It would all be worth it at the end.