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The characters of the Ranma 1/2 universe are the creation
and possession of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. ------------------------------------------------
Hearts
of Ice Epilogue by
Krista Fisk ------------------------------------------------ The
mountains that surrounded the walled village of Nujiezu (known to
Japanese outsiders as Joketsuzoku) were pale stone, bare of vegetation. The smooth peaks were devoid of rough edges,
the stone having been worn smooth by ages of erosion. Legend said that the first Amazon woman had
come into existence at the same time the mountains themselves were
born of the earth, birthed by the same power.
Some believed that the mountains housed the spirits of all
Amazon ancestors. Cologne
looked on the mountains as she approached the village gate and,
for the first time in her long life, rather than feeling uplifted
with the pride of her tribe's strong, distinguished bloodline, felt
as if she carried the weight of those mountains on her shoulders. Two
guards met her at the gate; girls she recognized, about Shampoo's
age. They greeted her by name and she responded in
turn. "Inform
Sheng Zhi that I have returned and that I require a meeting of the
Elders," said Cologne. One
of the guards bowed slightly, and Cologne couldn't help but notice
that the bow was not as deep as it should have been.
"The Elders have already convened," the guard said. "They gathered as soon as the Watchers
made them aware of your approach." So,
news of her failure had preceded her, but then she knew it would
be painfully obvious since she was returning alone.
Well, at least she wouldn't have to wait. Without another word, she left the guards at
the gate and headed for the Hall of the Elders. Cologne
was expecting near darkness when she entered the windowless hall. Instead, the circular hall was filled with the
glow of hundreds of lit candles.
They must have indeed seen her coming from afar to be this
prepared. The
Elders were already seated and waiting for her.
Her seat was conspicuously empty, but she did not move to
sit. Instead she stood before them, and looked into
their faces. Most of the
expressions that met her gaze were carefully blank, but Sheng Zhi,
Weimen and Zongxian, three of her closest friends, looked at her
with puzzled sadness. Sheng
Zhi spoke first. "Kho
Lon," she said, "Where is Xian Pu, and where is her rightful
husband?" Cologne
closed her eyes, surprised at how they suddenly stung. "Her rightful husband is dead, killed by
demons," she said. Then
she looked up at Sheng Zhi. "I
saw his body myself, and bear witness of it." Sheng
Zhi's eyes widened in surprise.
"Then you and Xian Pu are free from your obligation. Why, then, has she not returned with you?" No
need to draw it out, Cologne thought.
Best make it quick and sharp.
"Xian Pu has broken with the tribe," she said,
an announcement that was greeted with various degrees of audible
shock and disbelief from the Elders.
"She has openly rebelled and has returned to Japan with
Mu Tzu as her husband. And I... I have been defeated by an outsider.
I was unable to administer the Kiss of Death afterward.
I have returned to the tribe to restore the fallen honor
of my family through the ritual of blood." At
this, the gasps and mutterings fell silent. "This
is a very serious thing you propose," said Sheng Zhi after
a long moment. "Are
you certain of your course of action?" "Honored
Sister," replied Cologne. "Since
I received your letter a little over a month ago, I have done many
things for the sake of fulfilling our obligations of honor and upholding
our sacred traditions that have made my soul shrink. I took calculated risks that ended not only
in failure, but in the death of the one who was the objective we
sought. Over the course of these events, the heart of
my great-granddaughter failed her, and she chose weakness over strength,
and banishment over restoration to the tribe.
I also inadvertently empowered my enemies and gave them the
means by which to defeat me. For
these crimes against the tribe and my ancestors, honor demands nothing
less of me than the blood ritual.
You know this as well as I, and for the sake of honor, I
will not now hesitate to do what needs to be done to restore what
has been lost." Sheng
Zhi regarded her soberly. Then
she sighed. "So be it,"
she said, and her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Who will witness?" "I
will bear witness," said Weimen. "As
will I," said Zongxian. "Then
I shall be the third," said Sheng Zhi. With
this announcement, the rest of the Elders stood and left the hall
silently, each bowing deeply to Cologne as they passed her. When
none were left but Cologne and her witnesses, Sheng Zhi walked over
to the altar that stood at the very back of the hall and retrieved
an unremarkable wooden box. Weimen
reached out and put her hand on Cologne's good shoulder, observant
of the injury in her other, and said, "I always believed you
were the strongest among us, and this proves it.
I shall not let this be forgotten." "Thank
you," said Cologne. Zongxian
just shook her head as Sheng Zhi returned with the wooden box. "Xian Pu and Mu Tzu. I thought she hated him." "So
did I," replied Cologne. "Perhaps
she still might... but I think she hates being alone more." "Mm. A terrible weakness." Cologne
nodded, wordlessly took the wooden box from Sheng Zhi's hands, and
opened it. Inside lay the
sacred dagger, the blade chiseled from the stone of the top-most
peak of God Mountain Amesores. The
blade had no hilt or guard. She
took it up in her withered hands and felt the razor edge slice the
skin. Blood began to trickle
from her fingers. She
looked at each of her old friends, memories of older, better times
filling her mind, and closed her eyes. Sheng
Zhi spoke, and her voice filled the hall.
"Kho Lon, beloved matriarch of the Ancient Tribe, we
three Elders witness this, your final act, and declare your honor
unblemished before our ancestors, and swear that your name, and
the names of your family, shall be spoken of with honor to our descendants
until the end of time." "Go
in strength," said Zongxian. "You
will be missed," whispered Weimen. Shampoo, thought Cologne. I do this
for love and honor of only you. Please... be happy, child. Cologne
plunged the dagger into her chest, aiming for her heart. She
did not miss, and as she fell, she caught the scent of mold on the
wind and felt the caress of Yin Wu Ch'ang Kuei's cold, dead hand
on her face.... ----------------------------- The
Land of Yomi wasn't nearly as bad as he expected it to be, Masakazu
mused as he sipped cold sake. Yes,
it was underground in a deep cavern, but there was plenty of light. Aside from the perpetual blue flames that hovered
around the deceased inhabitants, the city that seemed to stretch
endlessly off in every direction had lit paper lanterns strung across
every street. Stores bustled,
inns made good business. He'd
seen a few parties, a few street festivals.
Dead people chatted, laughed, sulked, cried. It
wasn't great. But then, it
wasn't all that bad either. He
had made this particular inn his home because it was close to a
decent hot spring, and because the lady proprietor had died of a
drug overdose, which made her one of the less gruesome dead people
to be around. People in Yomi tended to wear their deaths like
badges of pride. Still, Nakamura-san
kept the place clean, Masakazu's room afforded him some privacy,
and the public areas, such as the back patio where he now sat, leisurely
setting up a Shogi board, didn't see much traffic when there was
a festival nearby. Which
was often. Masakazu
looked up as he heard the inn's front door open, and footsteps head
his direction. The
cause of the footsteps, Susa-no-o, came around the corner. "Yo," the deity said with a cheeky
grin and a hand raised in greeting. Masakazu
didn't even blink. "I
expected you sooner," he said. Susa-no-o
frowned. "Come on. You're not even the least bit surprised to see
me?" Masakazu
shook his head. "I figured
they had to have caught you, when they came and let Hoso-no Kami
out." He gestured for the man to sit on the other
side of the Shogi board. Susa-no-o
did so, snorting his indignation.
"They didn't catch me.
I surrendered myself." That
did surprise Masakazu. "What?
Why would you do that?" Obviously
pleased that he had finally gotten a reaction out of his tengu friend,
Susa-no-o smirked. "Well,
for one thing, who in their right mind would want to spend one more
moment than necessary in Hoso-no Kami's disgusting body?" Susa-no-o shuddered dramatically. "I only wanted to stick around long enough
to see how things turned out. The
Council, they're so ridiculous.
As if sending me to Yomi was punishment.
I guess they don't remember that Daddy Izanagi created me
by washing off excess Yomi after he visited here trying to get Mom
to leave. Had to 'purify' himself after coming to the
land of the dead, and blew me right out of his nose." Susa-no-o threw up his hands and waved them
in mock distress. "Oh,
no, don't banish me to Yomi! Please,
please, please don't throw me in that there briar
patch!" Masakazu
laughed. "I should have
known." "Eh,
best you didn't. I would
hate that overstuffed shirt, Emma-O, to realize that I like it here. It would make him all grumpy again. Better for our young mortal friends that he
stays cheerful." "And
how are our young mortal
friends?" Susa-no-o
grinned. "Blissfully
in love, of course. Just
got back from their honeymoon." Masakazu
actually gaped. "What? You mean they got married? That quick?" "Practically
as soon as they got back to Japan and could get things arranged. Of course, with their dads, that didn't take
long." Masakazu
shook his head. "Well,
I figured Akane was ready... but I didn't expect Ranma to agree
to it so soon." Susan-no-o
leaned over the Shogi board and whispered, "It was Ranma's
idea." "I
don't believe you. Ranma? Ready for marriage?" Susa-no-o
chuckled. "I think he
finally realized that, after coming to terms with his feelings for
Akane, then facing down and utterly conquering his worst nightmares,
and then even coming back from the dead all for the sake of the
woman he loves... well, what could be so scary about marrying her?" Masakazu
barked a laugh. "He
has no idea." "That's
right," Susa-no-o agreed seriously.
"Dying is easy. Marriage
is hard." "That
reminds me," said the tengu, offering the god a sake cup, "how
is the missus?" Susa-no-o
took the cup, filled it from the jug Masakazu had on hand, and drained
it in one gulp. "Ahhhh... Pretty sure she's not crying over me being banished
to Yomi again." Masakazu
snorted, then gestured to the board.
"So are we going to play or what?" Pouring
himself another cup of sake, Susa-no-o settled down comfortably
on the other side of the board, drank, and immediately moved a piece. "Your turn." Several
turns later, while Susa-no-o was silently pondering his next move,
Masakazu said, "Hey... so do you think they'll make it?" Susa-no-o
looked up. "Who, Ranma
and Akane?" He laughed
as if that was the craziest question he'd ever heard.
"After everything they've been through to reach this
point? Of course. Neither
of them would ever be willing to conceded defeat, even if marriage
is the hardest thing they'll ever do.
Besides." Susa-no-o
threw back another cup of sake.
"It's True Love." With
a smile glinting in his black eyes, Masakazu nodded in agreement,
and took a turn. Susa-no-o
didn't notice. ----------------------------- Ryoga
sat in his tent in the middle of the Japanese forest wilderness,
reading a shonen manga in the grey light of a stormy afternoon. He was waiting for the rain to let up so that
he could find some work since he was starting to run a bit low on
funds, and this time of year he could usually find some farmer in
need of hard labor who was willing to hire him on for a week or
so. Sometimes longer, if
he didn't inadvertently get lost in the meantime. So,
isolated as he was, he was surprised to hear the sound of someone
calling his name over the incessant pounding of the rain against
the tent. Moments later, that someone was at his tent
flap. "Ryoga? Hey, you decent in there?" Ryoga
blinked. "Nabiki?" Nabiki
lifted up the tent flap with one hand and peeked in. She was wearing a blue rain slicker and holding
an umbrella in her other hand. "Ryoga?
Mind if I come in? It's
kind of wet out here." Ryoga
sighed. "Sure, Nabiki. And since you're here, I'm guessing I'm not
in Hokkaido, like I thought." "Nope. You're in the woods next to Furinkan High." Ryoga
sighed again. He got lost
so frequently in those woods, he thought he should be able to recognize
something by now. Apparently
not. "So what can I
do for you, Nabiki?" he asked as she sat down at the tent entrance,
doing her best not to drip water deeper into the tent. "Actually,
I have something for you. A
present from Ranma." Ryoga
raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"From Ranma?" "Yeah,"
said Nabiki, reaching into her jacket pocket.
"He would have brought it himself, but, well, he said
he didn't want to rub salt into your wounds so soon after... you
know." Ryoga
smiled sadly. "Eh, it's
okay. I'm over it, mostly." Nabiki
smirked. "Well, hopefully
this will get you the rest of the way over it."
She pulled her hand out of her pocket and held out a small,
plain silver ring. "A
ring?" Ryoga shook his
head, puzzled. "Okay,
what's the joke?" "Take
a closer look, Ryoga. Notice
anything familiar about the metal?" Ryoga
picked up the ring from Nabiki's outstretched palm and examined
it. The silver band had a strange reddish tint to
it. He blinked. "Wait," he said, and his heart pounded
hard inside his chest. "Is
this... this isn't..." "It
is," Nabiki said, grinning.
"Ranma had rings made from that oni collar... and they
work. That one is yours, Ryoga, magic intact." Ryoga
was so stunned, he couldn't think of anything to say. With shaking hands, he slipped the ring over
his right index finger. The
blood was pounding so hard inside his head that he almost couldn't
hear Nabiki as she opened the tent flap, gestured outside, and said,
"Go ahead, try it out." Ryoga
half stood, then hesitated. He
didn't think Ranma would do this to trick him; not after everything
that had happened. But...
what if it didn't work? With
his luck, he was probably immune or something.
A cure, so close, right in his hand, and it probably didn't
even-- Nabiki
rolled her eyes in exasperation, grabbed Ryoga's arm, and pulled
him outside into the downpour. Ryoga
stood, frozen in shock, soaking wet, as he quite definitely did
not turn into a little black piglet. Nabiki
stood back and watched, enjoying the look of ecstatic joy that slowly
blossomed on Ryoga's face. He
looked up into the storm, letting the rain pour into his face and
raised his fists to the sky. "Ah-HA!"
he cried. "At LAST!" Nabiki
laughed. "How does it
feel?" Ryoga
wanted to stand out here in the rain forever.
"Like a hot shower!" he said.
"The rain is hot!" "That's
the ring," Nabiki said, watching as the rain steamed in the
cool around Ryoga. "As
long as you wear it, no cold water will ever touch you." Ryoga
closed his eyes, luxuriating in the feel of the water against his
skin. Then, abruptly, he turned to Nabiki, earnestness
in his features. "Tell
Ranma thank you," he said.
"This... this is more than I deserve." Nabiki
raised an eyebrow. "Tell
him yourself," she said. "We're
having a celebration at my house tonight, and you're invited as
one of the guests of honor. Kasumi,
Ukyo and Shampoo are cooking fantastic food as we speak, so what
do you say? Why don't you come back to the dojo with me
and celebrate with your friends?" Somewhere,
deep in a dark corner of Ryoga's soul, a part of him wanted to say,
no thank you. Celebrate without
me, I don't really need to see Ranma and Akane together as husband
and wife, even if they do think of me as their friend... The
rest of Ryoga, the part that, for the first time in a long time,
saw real hope in the future, stomped on that deep dark part firmly. Ryoga found himself smiling at Nabiki and saying,
"Okay." It
took him practically no time at all to pack, and as he followed
Nabiki back to the Tendo Dojo where his friends waited, he couldn't
help but think that today was a good day to be alive. ----------------------------- Yuki-onna
kept a silent vigil over her mortal friends. Since
parting with them in the Chinese wilderness, rather than returning
to her realm in the Kami plane, Yuki-onna had chosen instead to
follow. Akane and Ranma did not know, and Yuki-onna
preferred it that way. It
helped that spring was slowly turning to summer, and the Snow Woman
found that in the warming climate she was barely able to summon
the strength to manifest herself as a physical presence.
But she watched them all the same, a voiceless, invisible
guardian from an encroaching danger that they did not imagine. For
she knew that, someday, he
would come. She had known
it from the moment she realized the means by which Ranma had returned
from death. He would come to claim what had been stolen
out from under him in his own domain. And,
on the night of the celebration, in the early morning hours after
the party had finally died down and both guests and hosts had gone
to bed and were sleeping soundly... he finally came. Emma-O
was in a good mood. All that
nasty business with Susa-no-o and Hoso-no Kami had finally been
straightened out. The trickster
deity was trapped in Yomi where he belonged, along with his tengu
cohort, and seemed to be bearing his punishment well without attempting
to torment his captor with his inane poetry.
Emma-O's personal realm had been blessedly silent for a while.
Now all that remained was this last loose end that needed
tying up. The
boy was sleeping, curled protectively around a beautiful young woman
with long dark hair who seemed quite content to be in his arms. Emma-O
frowned slightly. Normally
he did not personally indulge in the collection of souls, but he
had made an exception in this case.
Now, as he stepped forward to pluck the impertinent boy's
soul from his mortal shell, he paused a moment, imagining how the
young woman would react to wake and find that her lover had died
in his sleep. Not lover,
husband, he realized as he saw the matching
rings on their left hands, glinting in the moonlight that poured
through the window. Certainly
it would be a tragic scene... one he chose not to dwell on further. This
boy had dared defy his authority over the dead and had found a means
to return to life without his power.
This boy needed to be taught that one did not escape the
inevitable that easily. It was time to end this farce now. The god of the dead leaned over and reached
toward the boy's face. "Emma-O..." He
turned at the voice, surprised to see an apparition, pale, translucent,
with white flowing hair that fell to the floor, appear within the
room. He was even more surprised a moment later when
he realized that he recognized her.
"Yuki-onna," he said.
The hauntingly beautiful woman of the snow, who ofttimes
served as his handmaiden in speeding souls to his realm. "My
lord," she said, and she knelt before him and bowed deeply,
touching her forehead to the floor.
"My lord, I beg of you.
Please do not take this young man." Emma-O
raised his eyebrows. "My
dear lady, why ever not? Surely
you know as well as I that mortals cannot defy the gods without
consequence." "That
is true, my lord," Yuki-onna replied, "but please." She looked up and Emma-O could see tears of
ice slipping down her cheeks. "His
death was my fault; the direct result of my collaboration with a
terrible demon. I interfered
in mortal affairs where I had no right or jurisdiction, and led
that demon to him to satisfy a personal and ultimately petty desire
for vengeance. Without my interference, this boy never would
have died in the first place." Emma-O
straightened, and looked down at the boy again.
"I see," he said, frowning thoughtfully. "However, that doesn't change the fact
that he did die, and he deliberately defied my rules to return to
the same mortal life he had lost.
He broke the rules, and justice must be served." Yuki-onna
once again bowed her head to the floor.
"Then I beg of you, my lord.
Take my life in exchange for his." "What?"
Emma-O said, startled. "You,
an immortal, wish to die? You
wish to throw your life away for the sake of an insignificant mortal?" "He
is far from insignificant, my lord," Yuki-onna replied, and
she looked up and regarded him soberly.
"This is why I am here.
I know that the demands of justice must be met, and so I
offer you my life -- my immortal life -- in exchange for his defiance
of death." Well,
this was not going at all the way Emma-O had imagined. He thought this would be a quick jaunt to the
mortal realm, snag a soul, done and done, mess finally taken care
of. This... This
beautiful woman, pleading so poignantly for justice to be met upon
herself instead of the boy. Emma-O
found his frown softening slightly as her icy tears continued to
fall. "Well,"
he said gruffly. "It's
unconventional. But,"
he continued as a devastated, crestfallen look spread across her
face, "I suppose I could do as you ask.
If this is what you truly desire." The
look of devastation was replaced with wild hope. "It is, my lord. This is what I desire. Take my life and spare the boy." Emma-O
sighed. "I do this for
your sake, and for the sake of the ages of service you have faithfully
rendered. Yuki-onna, rise and take my hand." Incredulously,
the Snow Woman stood, reached out and took his hand. "Take
one last look at this one for whom you sacrifice your life and tell
me that this is what you want." Yuki-onna
looked down at Ranma and Akane.
They slept peacefully, and even in their sleep, they looked
happy. She
looked at Akane. For you, my dear one. She
lifted her gaze and looked at Emma-O.
"I desire nothing more than this.
I am ready." Emma-O
looked at her, and deep black eyes seemed almost sad. "Then, my dear lady, I take your life for
his." Yuki-onna
gasped as there was a sudden, wrenching pull.... ----------------------- ...and
she found herself under water, curled up, her arms wrapped around
her knees, long dark hair floating around her.
Instinctively she stretched out.
Her feet touched ground and she stood, breaking through the
surface of the water. She
was in a vast river. Confused,
and a little afraid, she looked around, but couldn't see very much
because of a mist that hovered just over the surface of the water,
obscuring her vision. She
shivered. All those ages
of acting as death's handmaiden, and she never really knew what
happened to souls that had been freed from their mortal coil.
What was to become of her now? Whatever
it was, she decided, she would face it.
Accept it, no matter how hard or harsh her punishment might
be. The
current caught her, tugged at her, and she found herself being pulled
down stream. After
what seemed like ages, she finally caught a glimpse of something
through the mist. The grassy
bank of the river came into view, and she found herself being pulled
toward it. Gratefully, she climbed out of the river, and,
for the first time, she had a chance to get her bearings. Looking
down at herself, she saw that she was dressed in a simple cotton
kimono. Her hair, she realized, was black rather than
shimmering white. The color
it had been during the all-too-brief time when she had been mortal. Well,
she mused. She was truly
mortal in every sense of the word, now. But where do I go from here? The
mists were thinning, and she could see trees.
Cherry trees in bloom. And
ahead, the warm light of day. Blue
sky. She walked, hesitantly, carefully. This... seemed pleasant enough. Not at all what she was expecting. And
then, as she kept walking, she realized... she recognized these
trees. She
recognized this forest. She
was walking a familiar path. And
there, up ahead, around the corner... she knew what would be there. A small, comfortable home in a clearing... And
there it was. But not just
the home. There were people
there, outside, a whole multitude it seemed, some sitting, some
standing, all waiting. Waiting
for her, it seemed, for two young ladies at the front of the crowd
caught sight of her and gasped, and they rushed towards her with
smiles and tears and open arms... ...
and Yuki-onna stood in shock as they swept her into an embrace and
heard them call her Mother. "Haru..."
she whispered. "Natsu." "Yes,
yes, Mother," they answered, smiling.
"Come, come with us and meet your family." Yuki-onna
stumbled forward in a daze, unable to comprehend it all. Grandchildren, her daughters said. And great-grandchildren. And great-great grandchildren. They all came to her with smiles and welcomes. "You
know, usually it's the ancestors who greet the descendants, not
the other way around," said a teasing voice. Yuki-onna
turned, and there was Shin. He
smiled at her. "Yuki...
beloved. Welcome home." And
it was only then, as she ran to his open arms that she realized
she was crying, weeping tears of joy. The
tears on her face were warm. ----------------------- Though
they go mad, they
shall be sane Though
they sink through the
sea, they shall rise again Though
lovers be lost, love
shall not And
death shall have no dominion. ~Dylan Thomas ----------------------- End of Hearts of Ice June 20, 2009 |