"There is NO way I'm going to cast the spell," the woman shouted at her youthful seeming friend. Youthful seeming, and still annoyingly youthful acting at times.
"But Ihrie...I'll just mess up!" The "girl's" tail twitched nervously.
"Why couldn't I pair up with an elf," Ihrie wondered to herself, she was approaching her mid-thirties with an old scar on her cheek. Her long purple hair stuck out at odd angles, as if she had never even heard of a brush before. "They may stay young longer even than you wiccans, but at least they don't ACT like kids."
"Oh come on Ihrie," Fam whined. "We have plenty of your pills. And you're a much better magician than I am and this involves time AND dimension travel and I don't think I can do it right."
Ihrie growled, of course Fam was only half right. Raw power and theoretical superiority didn't help much when you only got one spell in each battle. Plus Fam knew all her spells and a several more besides that Ihrie's curse had made impossible for her to learn properly.
"Fam, you once cast a spell in a place normal spellcasting should have been impossible," Ihrie said rubbing her temples irritably. "Even if it was just a simple illusion, you can handle THIS, besides she's your kid, not mine." And to think I rejoiced when you finally stopped whining about Lyle. Last time we visited your daughter we ended up getting chased around by some psycho with blue hair.
"Well...okay, if you say so Ihrie."
"Just cast the spell."
"Back so soon, Shampoo?" Cologne said as Shampoo sort of shuffled into the Nekohanten. "Is something the matter, great-grandaughter?"
"Yes," Shampoo snatched a bowl of ramen and sat down heavily, sort of poking at the noodles before eating experimentally.
"Is the son-in-law..." Cologne ceased speaking, as Shampoo pushed away the bowl of ramen. The color drained out of her face and then returned in shades of green. "What is it Shampoo?"
"Ranma is family," Shampoo said, standing up calmly, and then making a mad dash for the public restroom.
"This complicates matters," Cologne said to herself.
"Decisions, decisions," Nabiki said to herself, watching Ryoko and Ayeka fight off into the hills.
Tenchi was in the fields doing chores, this early in the morning, Ranma was still asleep. Nabiki had seen Akane in the dining area in the process of waking up. She must have had a long night, Akane wasn't usually that tired in the morning. Still, her asking how Kasumi had gotten so short was quite amusing.
Ryoko had no money that she could determine, so it was useless selling the little information she had gleaned to the pirate. She doubted Ayeka would be willing to believe it, so blackmailing her was out of the question.
"Now, Xellos on the other hand," Nabiki pondered that. How much farther could she push him before he called her bluff.
"So you noticed her too?" Nabiki turned to Kiyone, who was suddenly just there. Nabiki wasn't surprised, she hadn't felt a teleport, but that was probably because Kiyone hadn't teleported.
"Of course YOU never thought of getting a little advantage from that," Nabiki said, dryly.
"Knowing you, you've already found excuses to avoid the schemes that would really hurt her," Kiyone said. "And have gone on to, 'let's get daddy.'"
"Its hard to make any money with you around," Nabiki said. "Its too much like actually having a conscience."
"By the way," Nabiki turned to face her. "How did you get him to teach you the teleport thing?"
"What do you care, you've always been happy without magic," Nabiki commented. "Hell, even I only drag the stuff out of him for a little oneupmanship."
"Curiosity, and I could have used the "
"Payment for getting me and Akane out of town."
"From the sounds of it you were already coming here," Kiyone said. Then she smiled. "I can't wait to see his reaction to that."
"KIYONE!!" the teal-haired woman face-faulted as Mihoshi called out in search of her. "Where are you Kiyone!?!?? Oh there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Incoming!" Nabiki shouted pointing up into the sky at the descending body. Kiyone saw it, judged the trajectory and smirked a little. Tenchi returning from some morning chores looked up and sighed.
"What now?"
"Oh sorry, Mihoshi, didn't mean to be avoiding you or anything," Kiyone said nervously. The falling person approached with rapid speed.
"Well you should be more considerate...ooo look at the cool rock!" Mihoshi bent down to pick up said rock as the falling person zoomed past her towards a wide-eyed Kiyone. "Hey, Kiyone, what happened to you?"
"Is that a giant spatula?" Nabiki asked pointing at the unconscious pair.
"You IDIOT!!! Now we'll have to find out where he landed!" This was followed by a sleeping Ranma landing in the courtyard by Akane express.
"Ever alert martial artist," she hmphed.
"GET BACK HERE RYOKO!"
"COME AND GET ME SLOW POKE!!!" Ryoko shouted back. Hmm...she's getting better at this. Everybody watched them pass and sweatdropped. Ranma snored.
"Hey, what's with all the noise?" Ukyou walked up to the rest of the crowd stretching out the kinks from sleeping on the ground. She looked back to where Kiyone was coming around underneath the the human bullet. "Dad?"
Shampoo, who had disappeared sometime last night, and Ukyou had refused to impose on anybody as uninvited guests and set up camps. Nobody knew where Kodachi had ended up.
"I'm sorry, but he irritated me!" The Nerimites looked at each other and groaned. Akane noted a bucket of water and started in that direction.
"Grrr...Mihoshi!" Kiyone staggered to her feet in time to see Akane splash Ranma awake.
"What did you do that for?" Ranma-chan shouted.
"What the...huh? Wow, interesting wedding night."
"Dady's little girl," Nabiki smirked, ignoring Kiyone's growl.
"Hey, who's the new girl?" the non nerimites facefaulted as they tried to figure out how Mihoshi had seen it happen and still didn't figure it out. "She's cute." This, on the other hand, surprised them.
"Ah Ha!" Nobuyuki shouted. "I knew it!"
"Quick! Turn me back to a guy!"
"Mihoshi! You're giving us a reputation!"
"Ah ha!! There he is! RANMA SAOTOME PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
"Hmm? Ryouga great to see you man!"
"Shut up, Ranma, I'm here to punish you for your mistreatment of women!" This resulted in two roving fights.
"Do those two ever give it a rest?" Ukyou asked watching the pair of martial artists take their explosive match into the hills.
"No." Tenchi and Akane said at once, then looked at each other and blinked.
"Great now I lost them both, hold it," Leaf scratched the tip of her ear. "If that was Ranma Saotome, that means we're here."
"MOM!" Ukyou shouted in surprise. Wow she looks just like she did when she left, how does she do it?~
"Ucchan!" the elfin girl, about Ukyou's height, but a little slimmer. "I found you!" The two hugged and jumped up and down amid numerous sweatdrops.
"Dad said you were dead!"
"Yeah, well, he's an idiot," Leaf said. "Umm, what happened to your ears?"
"Oh, yeah," she blushed and shifted her hair to let the pointed ears show.
"Ukyou!?" Akane shouted in surprise.
"Ukyou's an elf?" Nabiki blinked in surprise.
"Dad said they'd attract too much attention," Ukyou said shyly. Leaf glared at the unconscious Jiro. "What happened to him anyway?"
"He accused that Ryouga boy of taking advantage of you," Leaf said.
"How'd he know I tried to...uh...oops." Leaf leveled a look at her making Ukyou realize she had just given too much away. "Accident with a love potion?"
"Grrr..." Leaf fumed. "I'll talk to him, AFTER I talk to you about some things."
"Like what?"
"Like immortality for on thing," all the Nerimans present, with the notable exception of Nabiki, face faulted.
"No, we are not sisters," Iako said crisply. "Why do people keep asking us that?"
"Hey, you too look so identical that HAS to be the next thing on most people's minds."
"Well, we AREN'T sisters," Yohko insisted, though she really wouldn't mind it very much.
"My point exactly," Ayaka said.
"We should be getting on with travelling to look for the Kuno," Iako said puzling over her comrades' abilities to waste time. "But since you insist on pestering us." Iako pulled a photograph from a pocket that seemed to be in her clothes some where though nobody could figure out where.
"Hey, Iako what are you doing with a picture of my father?" Iako blinked.
"Grrrr."
"Ha!" Ayaka declared. "I knew you were sisters.
"Oh my Iako, isn't this great?" Yohko smiled at who was turning out to be her half-sister.
By the first devil-hunter! Iako thought. She's going to hug me...she's GOING TO hug me!