A/N: Well, this is a bit of a filler chapter, even though the plot does go forward. Some hints of Akane/Mousse again. ^_^ I just can’t seem to help putting them into those situations, even though I’m firmly pro Ranma/Akane! I could have made it longer, but I’ll try to update again soon. I just wanted to put something up to show I’m still writing! :)

 DISCLAIMER: Ranma & co. don’t belong to me. But a Ranma wedding poster does!

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Chapter 18- The Ice Palace

I watched the snowy peaks of the Himalayas loom ahead of us out of the small, dirty window of the military plane, the vibration of the engines soothing me to sleepiness. Mousse sat next to me, mainly to keep an eye on me, I suspected. I don’t know what he thought I’d do. His nearness was making me twitchy. He’d tied his hair into a long, shiny black braid that fell over his shoulder and brushed the armrest dividing our seats. Needless to say, I determinedly kept to the window side of my seat. Mousse had changed into a white Chinese tunic and pants, and was no doubt bristling with hidden weapons, knowing him.

The rest of the plane was taken up by his Chinese soldiers, all of whom had been briefed about Zhang’s probable defenses. There was a tense air of expectancy in the small plane. It was the feeling of leashed violence, the energy of soldiers ready to go to war. It all made me a little nervous. I wasn’t used to traveling with armed soldiers…though there had been that one time in Vietnam…I looked back out the window and thought back to my conversation with Ranma.

“What?! Are you insane?” Ranma’s voice had thundered down the phone line to pierce my eardrums. I’d nearly let go of the phone. “You’re going into the heart of enemy territory, with just Mousse to protect you? You’re going to Zhang’s hideout? Are you mad or just freakin’ SUICIDAL?!”

“Just trying to get my property back, thank you very much!” I said crisply. It was a liberating feeling, knowing Ranma wasn’t close by to physically restrain me. I felt a rush of false courage. He couldn’t stop me from doing what I wanted! I was Akane Tendo, secret carrier of international fame. Not Ranma Saotome’s fiancée any more.

“Akane, don’t you dare get on that plane without…!” Ranma sounded frantic. I think he’d also started to realize how far away he really was. I wanted to giggle evilly. Ah, it felt so good to get the better of that arrogant pigtailed Saotome for a change!

“Without you? Somehow, the thought of fending for myself doesn’t scare me all that much, Ranma! I’ve managed quite well for the last eight years without you!” I grinned though I knew he couldn’t see me. He could probably hear it in my voice, though.

“Oh, is that right?” The change in his tone wiped the grin from my face and sent sudden skitters of nervousness down my spine. “Well, what should scare you is knowing that when I get my hands on your insubordinate little ass, it’s gonna be sore until hell freeze...”

“Insubordinate?” I demanded. “Who’s working for whom, buddy?”

“I’m not interested in hearing excuses, Akane! If you step on that plane, I swear…” Whatever he swore I really didn’t care to know, so I hung up in his self-righteous face. Too bad I hadn’t hung up before I told him where we were going.

I shivered slightly as I thought of it now, on the plane. Ranma was probably mad as hell. He’d catch up to me eventually and when he did, there were going to be…consequences. I admit a not wholly unpleasant shiver went through me at the thought. I shrugged. I’d deal with that when the time came. It was getting colder in the cabin as we got closer and closer to the mountains. I’d stopped at a store to buy a sweater and a pair of long johns, as well as a woollen cap and a pair of gloves. I wondered if Mousse was wearing long johns under his Chinese pants. Probably not.

Get your mind out of the gutter, you! I told myself sternly. I almost wished I was traveling with Shampoo instead. Even the kiss of death at that point would be less distracting than a nearby bishounen body.

“I take it Ranma will be joining us?” Mousse said, raising his voice over the hum of the engines.

“I suppose so,” I replied. “I don’t know when he’ll show up.”

 “Well, we should be there in about an hour, so…I’ll keep my side of the bargain.” I watched curiously as Mousse fished out a small silk bag and dropped it into my hand. Even before I opened it, I knew what it was. I drew out the large sparkling diamond and marveled again at its ugliness and the incredible events that had taken place following my acceptance of the assignment. New York seemed far away now. I gripped the diamond tightly, reveling in the feel of its hardness in palm.

“Some kind of life, isn’t it?” Mousse said, watching me with his chin propped on one hand. He looked slightly nostalgic, and his eyes had gone the misty green of a secret lagoon. “Back in the Nerima days, fighting, arguing, trying to defeat every rival and claim your own true love, we’d never have thought it would come to this. You wanted to continue your father’s dojo, didn’t you? What happened?”

Unexpected tears stung my eyes. It had been a long time since someone had asked about that. Even Ranma had skirted the topic. After all, he had been a central part of those hopes and plans.

“I might return…someday.” I turned my face away, troubled. My heart throbbed with fresh pain-  sorrow for Kasumi, guilt for not returning and hate for Kuno and Tofu, who had ruined two lives so easily . Briefly I wondered what they were doing now. I’d never wanted to know. When I first learned my special tracking skills, I’d asked Kasumi if she wanted me to track down Tofu, but she’d forbidden me from doing any such thing. So I’d respected her wishes. Until now. Now I wondered if I really should have left it alone. Maybe it was better to know. If I survived this, I told my self, I’d search out Dr. Tofu.

Mousse was silent after that, and when we reached the secluded landing spot his pilot had found, he turned to me.

“We’re here,” he said briskly, all business now. “Zhang’s expecting me tomorrow, so that gives us almost a day’s leeway. From here, we’ll be walking. I’ll send scouts ahead to find the place itself, so you had better stay with me. You’ll get the news faster that way.”

I nodded and pulled myself out of the seat.

Our group silently exited the plane. A frigid wind hit me as I climbed down the skeleton steps, and I was glad I’d dressed warm. All around me, the sharp Himalayan peaks rose in awesome majesty. Snow covered the ground as far as I could see, and vegetation was sparse. The area was very rocky though. Without a word, the group slowly began jogging through the snow. I kept pace with them, looking around as I jogged, calculating options as different scenarios raced through my mind. We must have been jogging for a couple of hours when one of the scouts returned and spoke to Mousse.

The scout had found the hideout, it seemed, but it was guarded carefully by sentries, and he said he’d seen a laser eye swooping in a search.

Mousse gathered his men around him and gave us his plan of action.

“It’s as we expected,” he said. “The place is crawling with guards and cameras. And we don’t know what else. We’re going to plan B.” The men silently dispersed until only I was left standing next to Mousse.

“How were you planning to find this place if you’d taken a commercial flight to Lhasa?” I asked.

“Akane!” Mousse said chidingly, his eyes twinkling at me. “You know all good villains send their private planes, driven by henchmen of course, to meet their guests!”

“Oh, yeah,” I said sarcastically. “I forgot.”

 “On to plan B!” he exclaimed, pulling out a pair of binoculars from somewhere.

“I thought we already were on plan B?” I asked.

Mousse grinned at me. “We’re on plan B of plan B.”

“And that would B? I mean, be?” I asked suspiciously.

“You and I are going to sneak in to the fortress.”

“What? What about your soldiers?”

“They’ll wait here till I radio for them. They’ll be the uh..cavalry!”

I folded my arms. “You brought an entire squadron of men so WE could sneak in while they hide out here?”

“Yup.”

I was sort of pleased. If it was a choice between me and a squadron, I knew which Ranma would have picked.

“You have a lot of faith in my martial arts skills, huh?” I said.

Mousse smiled at me. “If it comes down to it, I figure I’ll throw you at them and run. A girl is always distracting.”

“How chauvinistic. As if girls aren’t gunned down just as easily.”

“Not usually,” Mousse replied. “And especially not pretty girls. Don’t worry, one day your turn will come and women can be gunned down equally besides men.”

“Don’t make me hit you again.”

We trekked down to where the scout had said the fortress was, and indeed there it was. Built of some white stone, it perched at the edge of a hill, like a white ice palace set in the middle of a city of snow. I could see the guards circling carefully. As we got closer, we could make out sensors scanning every area.

“Wait here,” Mousse said. He took out a flask.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to distract them long enough for you to get in. See that high window there?” Mousse pointed. It was small and round, and apparently inaccessible. “You can still jump, right? You’ve been keeping up on your training?”

I turned an incredulous look on him. “Yes, of course, but you expect me to jump up there?”

Mousse uncorked the flask, and upended it over himself. “Distraction,” he whispered as his form shrunk and Mousse sat in front of me covered in white feathers. He was a duck again. He took flight and headed toward the fortress. I followed carefully with his clothes.

The duck disappeared in a flash of wings around the corner, and there was some commotion and muffled yelling. Boy, I could just imagine the surpsie of the guards as a duck appeared, disappeared, and a naked Mousse fell from the sky to go kung fu on their asses. Then I kicked my hentai brain for imagining Mousse naked again. I judged my moment and sprinted for the wall, jumped as high as I could, and clutched the window sill with my fingertips. I scrabbled for a footing, and felt myself starting to slip just as a bare arm reached out, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me in. I was prepared for the sight of a room full of guards, but I wasn’t prepared for the sight of a naked Mousse. No longer did I have to fantasize. Here was the reality. In the flesh.

“Ack!” I blushed bright red and looked away. “What are you doing??”

Mousse apparently was perfectly comfortable in the nude, because I heard him casually walk over and take his clothes from my limp arms. He dressed hurriedly, more because we were in the enemy’s hideout, I decided, than because he was shy. I just stood looking at the wall, blushing as my mind stubbornly replayed what it had seen. The image of Mousse’s slim shoulders, perfectly toned chest and torso, legs, and everything in between, was carved into my mind.

“You’re such a jerk,” I muttered. “How did you get in so fast?”

“I’m dressed now, Akane.” There was amusement in his voice. “People don’t expect to be attacked by a duck. Anyway, you can’t see ALL my secrets. Just some. Wouldn’t want to impress you too much in one day.”

I blushed again. Then I looked around mockingly.

“I’m embarrassed, but if you want me to be impressed, I’m afraid you’d still have to take lessons from Ranma.” I smiled slightly as Mousse’s jaw hung open. “Now, let’s go find Shampoo.”

As we left, I could se him wondering how I’d gotten to see Ranma naked.

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