Akane sat in the back of the cab thinking of where she was heading. Who she was heading toward. "Ranma."
She reached into her purse and pulled out his telegram again. ‘What’s wrong?’ she thought to herself.
"Here we are."
Akane looked out the window at the mansion Ranma now called home. ‘I’ll have to ask him how he afforded that.’ She thought as she paid the driver. ‘Of course American cabs are cheap, maybe the houses are too.’ Dragging her three suitcases up the stairs she set one down so she could ring the doorbell.
In a small room a dark hared woman sat before a small table chanting. On the table sat a golden goblet, a brass brazier, several candles and several bowls of powders from which she periodically took a pinch to add to the dark liquid in the chalice. A bell rang, which she ignored to continue the chant and sprinkle rose petals into the brazier where they immediately caught flame. Bringing her hands together before her face, she closed her eyes and exhaled as the hands drifted down to the table. The bell rang again. With a slight smile she commented, "Yes Akane Tendo, I am ready for you now." She picked up a small pair of scissors, and concealing them in her hand she walked out the doorway into the hall.
"Thanks, I thought the doorbell might be broken." Akane commented as she walked in.
As she set down her bags, the woman stepped behind her and sniped a small amount of her hair.
"HEY!" Akane reacted, spinning fists clenched. The target of her anger stood there with a bemused smile on her face, holding the scissors and few strands of hair up for scrutiny.
"Mr. Saotome is expecting you, right through there." She said pointing to a door at the end of the hallway. She calmly turned and walked into another room.
Frowning slightly, Akane walked through the double doors into a large room. It was mostly decorated in shades of white: white carpeting, and the base of both the fireplace and the mini kitchen.
Sitting in a far corner of the room was Ranma. He was wearing gray slacks and a black longsleeve turtleneck shirt, but his black hair tied in a ponytail was the same.
"Ranma." Akane called to him.
Not bothering to look up from the spread of Tarot cards he was studying Ranma raised his hand and gave a quick wave.
With an exasperated sigh Akane gave a fast return wave as she turned to look around the room once again. There were several flowering plants, none of them roses. "You certainly seem to have done very well for yourself, I certainly hope you haven’t adapted the secret Saotome techniques back to their source."
Ranma stood up and walked to a cupboard out of which he pulled a small bottle of Sake. "Would you care for a drink?"
With a nod Akane responded, "I’m here because I got your telegram." Reaching into her purse she pulled it out. "You did send it didn’t you? ‘I need you’ signed Ranma Saotome. Three words and I race halfway around the world, and why?" She leaned closer to him. "Because I know your ego. For you to admit you need anyone must mean your in desperate trouble."
"We've both had our problems since, was it six years ago?"
"I haven't done badly." Akane thought of her time in medical school, and her current internship. "And there's still times when I can't believe that you could actually become a scholar pursuing his PHD."
"I heard about your problems with the doctors. Did you have to break that guy's arm?"
Akane scowled. "That jerk was worse than Kuno."
"I want you to go with me to England."
"No. If that's it than I'm sorry I wasted a trip!" She turned and began to stride angrily to the door.
"Akane!" Ranma proclaimed as he walked around the kitchenette, pulling at the bottom of his shirt.
Akane turned angrily toward him.
"The telegram was true. I do need you," Ranma calmly said as he griped the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up revealing his chest.
Akane's angry comments vanished from her mind as she stepped forward to look at a circular scar over Ranma's heart. 'Approximately six centimeters in diameter.' She gently probed it. "This is not normal scar tissue."
"No it's not." Ranma walked to a table and picked up a large envelope. "My heart was made to stop beating."
"Made to stop?"
"I was revived by Lilith who you've met. She brought me back, saved my life." Opening the envelope Ranma pulled out two chest X-rays. Holding one of them up to the light, he indicated a section to Akane. "See here where the heart is distended, like there was some foreign object pushed into it?"
Akane nodded. "But there isn't anything there.
"No, because it isn't there." He turned and began to walk away. Then he turned back. "It's in a doll."
Akane turned to look at him.
"The problem is I can't find the doll. I'll live. For a few years." He sat on the mini steps by the kitchenette. "If I sit. Right here. No excitement, no challenges, no women. No Martial Arts."
"You really should be seeing a specialist about this."
"I have. But what I need is someone who knows me, who can keep me from pushing myself too far."
Akane looked at the floor a moment. "The hospital's thinking of terminating my internship, and they've got reason. I'm seeing a therapist, and I'm getting my temper under control, but we're too used to fighting. If I loose it with you..."
"The problem is being corrected by Lilith." The doorbell rang. "That'll be the car to take us to the airport."
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