Chapter 8: Twisted Feelings

Mousse slammed the lid down on the cooking pot, hastily cutting off a questing tentacle. The pot jumped slightly, as though something were trying to escape. Steam wafted up from a slight gap between the lid and pot.

"Good thing that's not our dinner!" Shampoo said, tying the lid into place. Mousse let go of the pot.

 "That's not what I expected to happen," He took off his glasses and carefully wiped the misty lenses with the edge of his sleeve.

"Certainly not! The book says…" Shampoo picked up the thick old grimoire they had been using, and followed the recipe with her finger. "Hmm, it looks like…yes, oh for crap's sake…"

Mousse was shocked into silence.  Royalty did not usually speak like that. And Princess Akane? Well, then again, he'd never heard her up close hat often…He smiled. It WAS unusual to hear a princess curse.

"Er, I mean, I do believe…" Shampoo restarted, seeing the look on Mousse's face.

"What? What?" Mouse asked anxiously.

Shampoo looked up. "I do believe I misread 'red stake' for 'dead snake'…Easy mistake, once you catch it. There's this little blob where the 'r' is hidden...looked like…mumble mumble" She bent her head again.

Mousse checked the cook pot down and said, "So that's why it has tentacles."

Shampoo nodded abashedly. Then she looked surprised. "What?" she wondered. "Why are you laughing?"

Mousse shook his head, unable to speak for giggles. "Hahahaha…It…was supposed…to be a spell…for bats…Did you SEE...it?" He bent over laughing again.

Shampoo smiled tentatively and closed the grimoire. How different from Ranma he is, she mused. Ranma- so cocky, so arrogant, so short-tempered! Mousse… sees the world more light-heartedly.

She found it a pleasant change from…From what? From the island, which was my whole life, until now?

Shampoo glanced around at the small, dark stone laboratory, seeing in her mind's eye the vast expanse of the palace outside. All of this will be mine, as long as I follow Kulloden's plan. That's ALL I have to worry about.

She studied Mousse again as the dark-haired boy, still smiling, began to undo the spell they'd created. Kulloden would never let another magic-user live would he? Especially one who was the enemy. Shampoo was whiling away time here with him, true, but he knew nothing about her. Mousse didn't even know what she looked like! He thought she was the Princess Akane, for goodness' sake! Suddenly that thought bothered her, for some odd reason.

Shampoo shook herself and rose. She'd been spending too much time here in the last two days, that's all it was. She should be paying attention to Kulloden's plan.

As though her thoughts had summoned him, she heard Kulloden's voice suddenly, deep and clear in her mind.

Shampoo! My child, do you hear me?

Yes, master!

Have you done what I asked?

Not yet, master. It's been hard to…

"Princess Akane, why are you staring into thin air? Are you alright?"

She dragged her gaze back to a concerned-looking Mousse. "Yes, I'm fine…"She stood. "I just need some fresh air. I'll see you later, Mousse."

"If you're sure, princess. But, are you certain you're all right?"

"I'm fine!" Shampoo snapped. And regretted it when she saw the look in his clear green eyes. "I'm…sorry…really, I'm fine."

She hurried out before he could say anything, puzzled at Mousse's attitude. Why did it matter if she'd blanked out? Unless she was broken or bleeding, neither Kulloden nor Ranma had ever paid much attention to her. She was expected to take care of herself, as was Ranma. But Mousse had seemed…concerned.

She threw the unfamiliar word around in her head for a minute, trying to fit it in with her own behaviour. It simply would not gel. But then she understood.

Of course! It's just because he thinks you're Akane! Naturally princesses are coddled and cosseted all the time. No doubt, even if they stare off into space for a second, people worry about them.

Shampoo's hatred of Akane increased. Mousse hadn't been worried about her, he'd been worried about Akane!

Out in the garden again, Shampoo looked around for a suitable place to sit before she re-established the mental link to Kulloden.

"Dear Akane!"

Shampoo spun around. Where? Oh, right… me.

"Have you recovered, dear sister?" Kunou was striding across the grass towards her, a wide smile on his handsome face. He held his arms out, beckoning. "Come, come let me look at you."

Shampoo felt immediate revulsion. She wondered now how she'd ever managed to sit a horse with Kunou at all. She bowed, creating distance between them. "Brother," she said. "I'm well now, thank you for your concern."

Kunou had reached her. "Are you sure? There are no bruises remaining? " he asked, running a quick hand down the skin of her arm. "Your ladies-in-waiting said you may be found out here." He deftly turned his caress into a hug, using his arm to pull Shampoo under his shoulder. "It's been a while since we've talked."

Shampoo shrugged out of the grasp with astonishing quickness. "That's not true. We've just been talking right now. Please excuse me, Brother, as I'm wanted by the Queen. I'll see you later." She ran off without waiting for a reply.

She quickly rounded a bush, and was soon lost from view. Kunou was left looking puzzled.

"She's changed," he murmured. "She's not the scared rabbit she used to be. Hmmm….And I thought my training was…irreversible."

In the meantime, Shampoo found a quiet spot in the enormous garden and settled down.

Master?

Idiot! What took you so long?

Shampoo quailed slightly. Sorry, Master, but the palace is very busy.

Never mind! Did you find the Book of Jusenkyou, Shampoo?

Not yet, Master.

Remember, child. It's the key to the kingdom! Without it, we can only hope to live as sorcerers on a stone island forever!

Yes, Master.

Do you like it in the palace?

Shampoo paused. What answer would he expect? Yes, Master.

Excellent. Well, remember, all that will be ours when the Book of Jusenkyou is ours!

I know, Master.

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On a quiet, sandy beach somewhere, a muscled arm pulled itself up onto dry land. A dark, wet head looked up, and around.

"This must be it," Ryouga said. "I can feel it." He stood, surveying the bleak cliffs and rocky seashore. "Yes, he's here somewhere."

He set out to search.

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On another beach, Ranma and Akane were plodding onwards toward the palace. They'd left the forest behind in the morning, turning down towards the relatively quicker path of the coast road. And Akane's feet hurt.

Three days, Ranma had said, but Akane knew that their various stops had hindered their schedule. Ranma had looked at the sky, muttered some kind of calculations out loud, and then pronounced that the trip would take at least two more days than previously calculated.

Akane feet were long blistered, and the blisters had scabbed over. She could feel her feet getting horror of horrors harder. At this rate, by the time they reached the palace, she'd have feet as hard as hooves.

She HAD taken off her slippers though. The cool, wet sand was soothing to her poor bruised feet and she was enjoying the feeling.

She'd stopped paying much attention to the scenery, though it was pretty in a harsh way. They'd left the road itself for a while now, and were walking close to the shore. The great, grey waves rolled up the beach, and the lonely call of gulls echoed throughout the bowl of sky overhead. Little huts dotted the beach, too, with fishing nets hung out to dry or boats overturned to drain the seawater from them. Here and there, fishermen or fisherwomen sat sewing their torn nets whole again. They eyed the traveling pair curiously but asked no questions.

Ranma wasn't saying much to Akane. He walked a few paces ahead, lost in his own thoughts. Akane divided her time between wishing for a palanquin and a score of slaves to carry her, and mulling over the strange dream she'd had the night before.

I was in Ranma's mind. How strange…Is this more magic? Was it a real memory? She had a strong feeling that it was, though she wasn't sure. But she had an idea that if she asked Ranma about standing on the beach drawing spells when he was oh, 8 or 9, that terrible dead look would seep into his grey eyes again- the look he'd given her when he was half-drowning her in the ocean. She shuddered.

At times I could almost forget I'm walking with a complete stranger, she thought.

Eventually, they reached a stretch of beach with no more huts. The sand was grittier here, and bits of dried seaweed began to catch in Akane's feet.

She was about to ask for a rest, when she heard a child's laugh. Looking around, she saw a small girl, very young, barely more than a babe, making quick tracks down the beach. She was bobbling from side to side the way small children did when they ran very fast, and her laughter trailed behind her.

Akane couldn't help but smile. Ranma ignored the disturbance, still deep in thought. The child was a few feet behind her, and it kept going. It ran until it reached the waves, and splashed into them joyously. A bright needle of panic darted through Akane. She turned around and ran for the water. The little girl was still playing, oblivious to the fact that the current was carrying her out into deeper water.

Akane splashed through the knee-high waves with growing urgency, and quickly reached the splashing toddler. She scooped her up, amazed at how heavy she was.

"Ayaaaaaako!" Came a distant shout. "Ayaaaaaaaako!"

The toddler pouted at being removed from her fun, but was distracted when she saw that a stranger had picked her up.

Ranma was waiting, arms akimbo, when Akane splashed onto dry land carefully holding the child. "Do you have to stop and help EVERYone?" he demanded, but his voice was less acerbic than usual.

A tall slim young woman, not much older than Akane, came running up the beach, worry in her eyes. "Ayako!" She cried, reaching out her hands.

"Is this your daughter?" Akane asked. The toddler replied by saying, "Mama," and held her wet arms out to be snuggled furiously by the tearful young woman.

"Oh, thank goodness you're all right!" She looked up, her brown eyes grateful. "Thank you for saving her! I turned my back for just a moment!"

"It's all right," Akane said regally. "No bother."

"My name is Kasumi," the girl said. "This is my daughter, Ayako. Oh my, are you traveling alone?"

"No, of course not!" Akane turned automatically to Ranma, to see his chagrined look. Of course, Kasumi couldn't see him! She coughed. "Of course not! I'm..meeting up with someone later."

"Please, let me invite you home," Kasumi begged.

"Oh, there's no need…" Akane's demurral clashed with Ranma's loud but unheard "No!", both of them in accord for a change. Both wanted to get to the palace as soon as possible, and the delay was already chafing at them.

"Pardon me, but you look tired and hungry," Kasumi pointed out. Akane flushed. Ranma snorted. "Please, allow me to offer you some food, at least."

Akane shrugged. "All right. My name is Akane."

"Oh, like the princess!" Kasumi

Kasumi's home was a large hut, tucked neatly behind an overhang of the nearby hillock. She had a small yard neatly fenced in, with fat, red hens contentedly clucking on the ground. Inside, it was dark and warm,  and smelled like fish. Various lobster pots sat in one corner, and a fishing net was hung over a rack. The furniture, what there was of it, was dark, polished walnut, simple pieces.

"Please, come in," Kasumi motioned, leading Akane and her unknown guest under the low doorway into the large front room. She seated Akane on a small wicker chair, and Ranma followed suit.

When Kasumi left to put the kettle on the stove, Akane looked around, and wondered at how different this humble hut was from Rouge's palace.

"This is ridiculous," Ranma muttered, sinking deeper into the cup-like wicker chair. "We can't be schlepping in and out of half the houses in the kingdom like this!"

Before Akane could reply, a voice said, "Kasumi, I'm home!" A girl with short brown hair, dressed in a tunic and breeches, entered the hut and stared at Akane. "Who are you?"

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It's an odd way to end I know, but that's all I have in me for today. :) Please do review!