PS:  There's LEMON in this chapter...just warning you for the 'impressionable' ones out there.  hehehe...is there such a thing anymore?
__________________
 
 

Circle Sky
By:  Gie  (phowah@cs.com)

A Ranma 1/2 and Gargoyles Crossover

Saotome Ranma, Tendo Akane and their familiars are not mine.  They are Takahashi Rumiko-sama’s.  They’ve just come over to my place for a bit...for a sleepover, yeah, that’s the ticket.

Goliath and his familiars are the Big Mouse’s (not Mousse) grotesques.  Although, they have decided to perch on my roof for awhile.

Aiden Ferguson is Christine Morgan’s little gargess, and has asked for permission to attend the sleepover.  She said yes, but to make sure she actually got some sleep.

Any unfamiliar characters, such as Shiun, are mine.  Sit down and get to know them, you just might find a new friend.
 

Timeline:  Well, I guess you could say it is after the manga is over with  (i.e.. Saffron and the wedding) in Ranma, but time has passed and they just graduated from school.   It’s several years after Hunter’s Moon in the Gargoyles line.   (Although there were no Chronicles)  I will end up diverging from the timeline some, but since this is my story, I have the right to, ne?  Alright, on with the show.
 
 

Circle Sky
Chapter Four:  A Hard Day’s Night
 

 The six gargoyles soon reached the airport.  Brooklyn signaled to Ranma and Akane where Xanatos had his jet.  The six landed on the hangar roof to wait for the humans to arrive.  Akane turned to the other four.  “How long will it take for us to get to America?”

 Brooklyn shrugged,  “It will be a good eighteen hours.  We will be stone long before that.  We’ll wake up once we’re back in New York.  It’ll be a fast trip, at least on our end.  Xanatos will leave us in the jet and we can find our own way back to the castle.  We’ve done this before.”

 Angela called over to them.  “Owen and Xanatos arrived.  They’re waving for us to come down.”  The six gargoyles jumped off the roof and glided down to the ground.  Akane stumbled a bit as she landed.  Ranma threw her a concerned glance to see if she was okay.    She nodded and gave Ranma a small smile.  He looked relieved and all eight passengers boarded the jet to go home.

 Once they were settled in, Owen came back to talk to the gargoyles.  “As you know, you will be stone when you arrive back in NY.”  He pointed to some switches on a control panel.  “Brooklyn, these are the controls to release the hatch and the main docking gate to the outside.  Ranma, Akane, we will have your belongings waiting for you at the castle in the gargoyles’ suite of rooms.  If you need anything once you arrive, just let one of us know.  Any questions?”

 Ranma and Akane shook their heads.  “Thank you for all of your help, Mr. Burnett.  We can’t say or stress that enough.  Especially when we were still stone, and you explained everything to our families and friends.”  Ranma nodded in agreement.

 “I was also told that you saved my life when I came out of Gaagoirnichuan.”  Akane blushed and gave Owen a deep bow.  “Thank you very much.  I don’t know how to repay you for your selfless act.”

 “Please, call me Owen.  It was the least I could do, Akane.”

 Akane smiled.  “Thank you again.”

 “It was my pleasure.”  Owen then left to other parts of the jet.

 Angela turned towards the pair.  “Since we have a few hours until sunrise, we can answer any other questions you still might have.”

 Ranma asked the first question.  “I have one.  What do you guys do all night?  You don’t go to school, have jobs or anything?  What’s there to do?”

 Broadway replied, “Well, we have a job, sort of.  You see, a gargoyle protects.  That’s first and foremost in our mind.”  The others nodded around him.  “We were raised as warriors, as Shiun mentioned earlier, to protect the castle, our home, or our families, whatever we felt needed protection.  When we woke up in NY, we tried to protect the castle.  We soon realized that the castle didn’t need protecting anymore. We saw that the citizens of NY needed our protection more.  Not from outside invaders, like we did for the castle, but from each other and the dangers of the city.  So, we go on patrols every night, usually in pairs or trios, busting up robberies, gang fights, muggings and the sort.  We try to be where the police of NY are not.”

 “What’s the public’s reaction to you?”  Akane inquired.

 Brooklyn chuckled ruefully.  “Well, it has gotten better.  Not much better, mind you, but little by little, we are breaking down the barriers that existed from the very beginning.  We don’t hear many more cries of   ‘Monsters!  Demons!’ anymore.  Now, they just scurry off, or we may get a rare smile and a ‘thank you’ in return.”

 Angela added, “We have been hearing more ‘thank you’ lately.  They are always a welcome sound.”

 Shiun asked the newcomers.  “What about you two?  What do you like to do in your spare time?”

 Ranma puffed out his chest a little and boasted,   “Me an’ Akane are martial artists.  We’re going to inherit our family’s schools, and then take over Akane’s family dojo.  Pops an’ Mr. Tendo planned that before we were even born.  That’s why we’re engaged to each other.”  He frowned a bit and turned to Akane.  “Well, I guess we can’t do that anymore, can we?  It’s not like we can teach any classes to the people of Tokyo.  They’d be petrified of us.  Plus, we’d have to hold all the lessons at night.   I wonder if our fathers have thought of that, yet.”
 

 Back in Nerima, Soun and Genma both sneezed and looked up at each other from the shoji board.  They frowned in deep thought, and looked back to each other with stricken faces.  Both men collapsed into each other’s embrace and cried in anguish.  “The schools will never be united, now!  What will we do?   What will we do?”
 

 Back on the jet, Angela thought of a good idea.  “What if the two of you taught us your martial arts?  We were raised as warriors, sure, but you can never stop learning, right?  It could be an even exchange.  We teach you about being gargoyles, and you can each us the martial arts.  Sound like a good idea to everyone?”  The NY gargoyles nodded in agreement.

 Brooklyn added,  “Yeah, we could always learn some new tricks to help stop the crime.  The rate of crime has gone down since we started our nightly patrols, and if we become better at what we do, it will go down even more.”

 Ranma and Akane exchanged glances.  “Well, we will have to talk it over with our folks.  We haven’t been certified as a sensei yet, and the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts is a complicated school, but it sounds like a good idea.  We will let you know, okay?”

 Angela nodded in agreement and sat back in her chair.  Shiun looked at the clock.  “We have about an hour to go before sunrise.  Do you have any last minute questions before we go to stone?”

 Akane gave Ranma a sidelong glance and blushed.  “Well, I was sort of wondering, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but are you guys going out?  Like boyfriend and girlfriend type?  You certainly look and act like you are.  I know it’s a personal question.  I was just wondering.”

 The four Manhattan gargoyles looked at each other and blushed simultaneously.  Shiun answered for the four of them.  “No, that’s okay.  Yes, I guess you could say we are paired up.  Lexington and Aiden, back at the castle, are paired up as well.  In fact, we were going to be having a mating ceremony soon.  That’s why we came to Japan.  I needed to tell my clan, introduce them to Broadway properly, and do a pre-ceremony ceremony, I guess you could call it.”  She smiled and brought her hand up to Broadway’s browridge.  Broadway put his hand her cheek and their eyes flashed momentarily.  “Although, they sort of knew that I had intentions of mating with him early on.”  Shiun then got an idea.  “Would you two like to join us in the mating ceremony?  You did say you were intended, right?  We’d be happy to include you.”  Shiun looked over at Angela, and saw that the same thought had crossed the other gargess’s mind at the same time.  Both Brooklyn and Broadway had a sly look to their faces, and gave Ranma a wink and a nudge.

 Ranma and Akane looked at the four smiling gargoyles with startled faces. “Us?  Mate?  Umm....First, I think we need to get married before we get that far.”  The Nerimians blushed to the tips of their tails; Akane almost purple in embarrassment.

 Angela laughed, “Well, that’s what we mean.  We don’t get married in human terms, although we do have a ceremony.  That’s what we were talking about.  Goliath, my father, as leader of the clan, and Hudson, as eldest, officiate a joining ceremony.  That’s where we say our vows of togetherness and pledge our love to each other.”

 Brooklyn then added, “Then, after all of that junk is over with,”  Angela elbowed him in the ribs with her spur.  Brooklyn scowled at her and rubbed his ribs, but smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face, “then comes the real fun.  The newly-mated pairs will take off from the parapets of the castle and have their mating flight, while the rest of the clan celebrates the joining with dancing, food and the like.”

 Ranma and Akane gave each other incredulous looks.  “Mating?  Flight?  You mean, you do *it* in the air, with everyone else watching you?”  They all nodded.  Akane shook her head vehemently.  “I don’t think we’re ready for that yet.”  Ranma turned away from Akane, disappointment flashing across his grey features.

 Angela nodded.  “That’s fine.  Maybe you’ll be ready when we have ours.  We’ll see. We don’t mean to rush you.  It won’t be for a little while, anyway.”  Angela closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them up, glancing at Brooklyn.  “The sun will be up in a little while.  Brooklyn, can you come with me to the back of the jet?  I want to talk with you for a minute before the sun arrives.”  Brooklyn nodded and followed Angela to the back of the jet.  There they talked quietly and snuggled together, waiting for the sun’s signal to sleep.  Broadway and Shiun excused themselves as well and went to a different corner.

 Akane sighed and turned toward Ranma.  They had a lot of topics to discuss, but she didn’t know where to begin.  Ranma surprised Akane and spoke first about the topic foremost on her mind.  He started out softly, head bowed.

 “Akane, do you want to go through the mating ceremony?  I mean, if you don’t want to, that’s fine with me.  I was just wondering.”

 “Ranma, I’m not really sure, yet.  Everything has been happening so fast lately.  Two days ago, I was an eighteen year old girl going out for ice cream with her fiancee, who by the way, she loves with all her heart.  Now, I’m on my way to live in New York, as a gargoyle.  I didn’t even know gargoyles existed!”   Ranma brought his head up and saw in Akane’s eyes an emotion that he thought he’d never be so happy to see.  He brought his hand up and lovingly cupped her cheek.  Akane sighed, closed her eyes and leaned into the small embrace.  He pulled her forward so she sat in his lap.  Akane opened her eyes and smiled, leaned onto his muscular chest and wrapped her arms and wings around him.  Ranma also brought his arms and wings around her in a loving embrace.  She snuggled a bit, sighed contentedly, and continued.  “This feels so good, Ranma.  Why didn’t we do this before?”

 Ranma laughed and kissed the top of her head, rubbing his cheek alongside one of her horns.  “Maybe because you were an uncute tomboy and I was an egotistical jerk?  That might have had something to do with it.  Plus, we both just admitted we had feelings to each other.”  He stroked her hair with a talon while he talked.  “Although, I have been wanting to do this with you since the first day I saw you, Akane.  When you asked me to be your friend when I first showed up, even though I was in girl form, something ignited in me.  I don’t know what it was; a spark of hope, friendship, or maybe even love.  I still don’t know what happened, but you started something when you smiled at me and asked to be friends.  I knew from that moment on, I needed you to be in my life, one way or another.  There’s no denying that, Akane.”

 He let go of her hair, dropped his wings behind him, and pulled her back enough so they could be face to face.  Akane dropped her wings as well and looked up at him.  He placed a talon under her chin and looked into her eyes.  “All I know now, Akane, is that I love you with all of my heart, soul, mind, and body, and I will never let you leave my life, never.  I would rather die than be separated from you.  The Saffron incident just fueled the fires that were growing within me.  I think Jusenkyo knew that, too, and gave us a new start on life.  Why it picked being gargoyles, I’ll never know.  But I am with you, Akane.  Only you.  No more fiancees, meddling fathers, seppuku agreements being held over our heads.  Just you, me, and the rest of our days...nights.”

 Ranma paused for a breath, smiled at Akane’s tears and wiped a few away of his own.  He clasped her hands and continued.  “I have been meaning to ask you for awhile now, Akane.  The situation may have changed, but my feelings have not.  They are even stronger than before.”  He paused and swallowed.
 

 “Tendo Akane, will you marry me?”
 

 Akane choked back a sob and brought both of her hands up and cupped his face between them.  She joined their faces together with a kiss that explained what was written on her heart, soul, mind, and body.  He deepened the kiss and they sat there for several moments, basking each other’s presence.  Akane finally broke off the kiss and whispered, “Yes.  I love you, Ranma.  I can not imagine my life without you.  You have my heart, soul, mind, and body.  No one will ever come between us again.  I would rather die than not be in your arms.  Yes, Saotome Ranma, I will be your wife.  Will you be my husband?”

 Ranma nodded dumbly.  “Yes, yes I will.”  With that, they came together to seal their pledge of love.  Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma’s neck and braided her talons in his red hair.  Ranma brought his arms around her back, one intertwined with her hair, the other wrapped around her waist.  Their tongues spoke the words they couldn’t say anymore.  Their tails wrapped around each other’s ankles, and Ranma’s wings came about and enclosed them in their own private world.  In this embrace, the sun gave her blessing to the couple and sealed their love in stone for the day, the two lovers merged as one.
 

*****
 

 At sunset, the six gargoyles awoke with reverberating roars and scattering shards of slate.  The NY gargoyles turned to the Nerima clan and greeted each other.  Broadway’s stomach brought them to the first order of business:  breakfast.  “Sorry about that.  We didn’t eat much yesterday, and we have been stone for a long time.”

 Ranma’s stomach answered in reply.  He looked startled, and rather self-consciously, covered up the noisemaker with a wing.  Akane laughed and gave him a hug.  “Come on, Ranma.  Let’s go quiet down the demon.”

 Everyone chuckled for a bit and turned toward the jet’s door to leave.  Before it opened, they noticed a manila envelope taped to the door.  Angela reached for the envelope but stopped when she read for who it was intended.  She then turned towards Ranma and Akane.  “It’s addressed to you two.”

 Akane went forward and took the envelope off the door.  “I wonder who it’s from?”

 “Only way you’ll know, Akane, is if you open it and find out.”  Ranma said as he came up behind her.  She stuck her tongue out at him and opened the envelope.  He made a grab for the offending object with a talon and missed.  He brought his arms around her waist and leaned his chin on her shoulder.  She smiled at him, pecked him on the cheek, and leaned back into his embrace.  She pulled out a note and several pictures.  She read the note and looked confused.  Ranma read it out loud over her shoulder.  “It says ‘Dear Akane and Ranma;   Welcome to NY.  Here’s a picture or two to send home to the family or for the scrapbook.’  It’s signed ‘Xanatos and Owen.’  There’s a P.S., here, too.  ‘P.S.:  Ranma, you little devil!  We didn’t know you had it in you!’”  Ranma looked thoroughly confused.  “What’s that supposed to mean, Akane?  Hey, what are on those pictures?”

 Akane turned the pictures over and looked at the scene intently.  She blushed profusely and said, “Oh, my!”  She quickly tried to hide them from Ranma.  He saw what she was doing and snatched them away from her.  He then looked at the pictures, and blushed almost as red as Akane.  The Manhattanites gave each other confused looks.

 Shiun asked Ranma,  “Not to pry or anything, but what’s on the pictures?  It can’t be anything too horrible, can it?”

 Ranma stammered and handed the pictures back to Akane.  But before she could grab them from his hand, Brooklyn snitched the photos from his grasp and brought them back over to the other three.  “These are surveillance pictures from the cameras on board the jet.”  He gave out a low whistle and laughed.  The others giggled and gave each other giant smiles.  For the pictures were of Ranma and Akane in their final pose of the evening.  Several different angles were shown.  There even was one of just before they went to sleep, evident because of the lack of stone.

 Angela handed the pictures back to Akane and gave her a wink.  “So, I take it you two talked?  Anything you want to share?”

 Ranma and Akane unconsciously moved closer together, and blushed.  Akane started out quietly.  “Ranma and I discussed....some things.”  She turned toward him with a questioning look.  He smiled, blushed and wrapped an arm around her waist, and nodded.  Akane continued, blushing all the while.  “Ranma asked me to marry him.”

 All four gargoyles’ brow ridges went up and smiled.  Shiun encouraged,  “And you said...?”

 Akane’s grin encompassed her entire face.  “I said yes.  I think that answer was evident in the photos.”  Everyone came over to the newly engaged pair and offered hugs and congratulations.  Ranma and Akane took them all in stride with nods and murmured thanks.

 Broadway looked confused for a moment, and then asked,   “I thought you two already were engaged?”

 Ranma explained,   “Well, we were.  But that’s our parents’ fault.  This time, it’s by our consent.  It means more this way.”

 “So, you’ll be joining us in the mating ceremony, then?”

 Akane nodded and leaned her head on Ranma’s shoulder.  “I believe so.  Do you think it would be possible to invite our families to the ceremony?”

 Angela shrugged.  “I don’t see why not.  That’s what the ceremony is about.  Professing the bond in front of the clan, which includes your families.  I don’t see that to be a problem.  Now, all we have to do is plan the ceremony and discuss what to wear!”

 The males rolled their eyes at each other and groaned.  The corresponding females hit their intended mates in unison.  Everyone laughed, and then Broadway and Ranma’s stomach brought them back to more pressing matters:  Food.

 “Well, I suppose we’d better be off before Ranma and Broadway faint in hunger.” Shiun snickered.  Brooklyn opened the jet’s hatch and all six gargoyles greeted the NY night.  Shiun continued,  “On the way back to the castle, we’ll point out some of the more prominent landmarks.  To the roof, then, ladies and gentlemen?”  Everyone nodded and started to climb up the side of the building.

 Ranma and Akane watched the veterans dig their talons into the steel walls of the hangar and smirked at each other.  They nodded and wrapped their arms around each other’s waists, crouched low and leapt to the top of the building.  The other four saw their jump and shook their heads.  When they reached the top of the building, Ranma and Akane were waiting patiently, cleaning their talons and looking bored.  Brooklyn rolled his eyes.  “Ha, ha, you two.  How do you jump so high?  You could have climbed with the rest of us.”

 Ranma puffed out his chest.  “We’re martial artists.  Part of the School of Anything Goes Martial Arts is aerial combat.  These forms have enhanced our regular skills immensely.  We probably wouldn’t have made that jump normally, but we haven’t had a chance to try out and experiment with these new bodies, yet.”  He turned to Akane and asked her shyly,  “When we get to the castle, do you want to spar with me and see what we can and can’t do?”

 Akane looked at Ranma as if he grew another head.  “You actually want to spar with me?  Not just dodge my attacks?  You’ll actually make an effort to attack and hit me?”

 He hesitated, unsure of how he should answer.  “Akane, you know that I don’t like to hit girls, especially you.  I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”  He could see she was starting to get mad.  He tried to calm her down with his next words.  “I’ll try to, Akane.  I’ll see how much you can take, and then we’ll go from there, okay?”

 Akane simmered her temper down and gave Ranma a strained grimace.  “You know how I feel about that, Ranma.  How will I improve if I don’t get hurt?  Otherwise, I won’t know where the holes are in my defense, or how to counter certain attacks.  But, okay.  Remember, now we have the stone sleep to cure the cuts and such.  I can survive a night with a scrape and a bruise.”

 Ranma looked relieved and nodded back.  ‘Avoided Hurricane Akane on that one, tonight.   Let’s hope I can find it in myself to hit her when we spar.’

 Ranma glanced at Brooklyn, who was watching their conversation with a raised browridge.  He smirked and turned around.  “Come on, everyone. Let’s go home.  Goliath and the others are probably worried about us.”  The six gargoyles took off from the roof and headed toward the castle above the clouds.
 

*****
 

 As they flew along, the NY gargoyles pointed out landmarks and points of interest.  “Over there is the Statue of Liberty.”

 “That skyscraper is the Empire State Building.  Used to be the tallest until Xanatos built the Aerie.”

 “Over there is Times Square, where they drop the ball on New Year’s Eve.”

 “There’s Broadway, where all the really big shows take place.  No, I didn’t mean you, Broadway.”

 “We’re flying over Central Park, now.  We do a lot of patrolling here.”

 Akane glanced down at the picturesque view the park gave her.  “Excuse me, everyone, but could be stop and look around down there?  One of the sights I really wanted to see when we decided to come to NY is Central Park.  It’ll be only for a moment.”

 The others looked at each other.  “I don’t see why not.  Come on, let’s land over in that clearing.”  All six circled and landed, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

 Akane held Ranma’s hand and started to stroll around a bit.  She drank in the scenery with great appreciation.  “It’s a very beautiful park.  I have heard many stories about its peacefulness.  I always enjoyed the parks back home; taking walks in the warm sunshine, listening to the chatter of the wildlife, watching the people enjoy themselves as much as I was.”

 Brooklyn smirked behind her.  “Yeah, it’s pretty.  But it is also rather dangerous, especially at night.  That’s why we patrol the area heavily.  Muggers, thieves, gangs and other scum tend to frequent the area.”

 As they were walking around, a shout rang out from a cluster of bushes several yards away.  Several young teenagers were facing off against each other, waving knives, pipes and other weapons around.

 Broadway groaned.  “See?  No matter how much we do, the crime and the violence continues.  Sometimes it gets so disheartening.”

 Shiun patted his shoulder.  “I know, dear.  But we have made a difference.  The park is much safer due to our efforts.  You can see that by the amount of people in the park after dark.  Several years ago, there would be barely anyone.”

 He nodded and sighed.  “I know, but still...”

 Brooklyn interrupted his lamentation.  “Are we going to sit here whining, or are we going to do our duty?”  The four NY gargoyles nodded and started to head toward the gang fight.

 Angela turned to the rookies.  “Why don’t you hang back here.  We should be able to handle the situation.  We don’t want you to get hurt.”

 Akane and Ranma both shook their heads.  “No, we won’t sit back and watch you guys fight.  We re martial artists.  We won’t get hurt.  We can take care of ourselves.”

 “Are you sure?”

 They nodded and followed Angela to join the others in breaking up the fight.  “Hey you guys!  What do you think you’re doing?”

 The gang members looked around startled at the shout.  “Who said that?”

 Brooklyn and Shiun came into view.  “I did, buddy.  Are you going to answer me?”

 The leader of one side, a scarred boy of about eighteen sneered and laughed.  “Yeah, right, gargoyle.  What are you going to do by yourself?  Growl at me?”  The others around him chuckled at the remark.

 “Well, I might do that, but if I have to, I could do something worse.”

 Another gang member yelled out,  “Like what?  Peck us to death with that beak?”

 Brooklyn blanched, but kept his temper in check.  “No, I don’t think so.”  He looked over his shoulder and saw Broadway, Angela, Ranma and Akane come into view.  All six pairs of eyes started to glow.  “But I might ask my friends here to help me show you what could happen if we got mad enough.”

 The leader stared at the group of gargoyles with great unease.  He knew what one or two were capable of, and felt pretty confident with the friends and associates he had with him tonight, but to take on six pissed-off gargoyles went way beyond what his and his buddies were capable of handling.  They were very much out of their league.  He turned toward his group and gave a signal.  “We’re outta here!”  They gang members bolted in different directions, dropping and scattering their weapons everywhere in their haste to leave.

 Angela and Shiun went over to the dropped weapons and started to gather them up.  “We don’t want to leave these laying around so some little children find them and get ideas in their heads.”

 Ranma watched the gang members scurry away.  He turned to Brooklyn.  “Is this what you deal with every night?”

  He sighed and nodded.  “Yup, It depends on what sector you patrol, but gangs and muggings and purse-snatchings and robberies are all part of the night of a gargoyle in New York City.”

 Broadway continued.  “Some nights may be rather quiet, or other nights we might have a run-in with some mob boss or the Quarrymen.  It all depends.  Elisa, a human with the police department, asks for our help sometimes with some really big cases.  Or she’ll alert us to some drug ring going down.”

 Akane inquired.  “What are the Quarrymen?”

 All four shuddered.  Angela grimaced in disgust.  “You don’t want to run into the Quarrymen, especially by yourself.  They are a rather large group of people who are against the gargoyle race in general.  They run around in blue jumpsuits with hoods, carry electrified hammers, and spread deceitful lies.”

 “They hold rallies, trying to spread vicious rumors of the evil of our race.  Their leader is John Castaway, or Canmore, or whatever he calls himself now.  He has a vendetta against us that spans several generations.  He is also known as The Hunter.  You see him, you get out.”

 A deep frown flashed across Brooklyn’s features.  “You know, we haven’t seen or heard much of the Quarrymen or Castaway lately.  I wonder what they’re up to?”

 Akane looked to Ranma in concern.  “That doesn’t sound good.”  He nodded in agreement.

 Angela sighed.  “Well, everyone has to have at least one big enemy, right?  We’ve got several, at the last count.”  She looked up to the sky.  “Come on, everyone.  Let’s go home.” She headed for a nearby tree and climbed to get a good launching point.  The others followed her example and followed her into the night sky.

 Akane and Ranma climbed another tree, talking as they launched.  “Climbing that tree was rather easy, didn’t you think so, Ranma?”

 He nodded and looked at his talons.  “Yeah, these come in rather handy for that kind of thing, I guess.”  He was quiet for a minute.  “What do you thin is going to happen once we get to the castle?”

 She shrugged.  “I don’t know, Ranma.  But we’ll find out when we get there.  I just hope the others accept us as fast as these four have.  I think I really like them, Ranma.  What about you?”

 “Yeah, there not that bad.  Brooklyn seems like he’s be an okay guy to hang around with.  I think we’ve got some things in common.”

 “Yes, I think so too.  Come on, we better catch up with the others, or otherwise we’re going to get lost, and I don’t think we can stop and ask for directions from anyone.”  She shot ahead of him.

 He looked surprised at her and called out.  “Who said anything about askin’ for directions, anyway?”  He jumped to a stronger thermal and glided after her.

*****

 Back at the castle, four gargoyles and one human were awaiting the return of the others.  Goliath kept shooting anxious glances to the night sky.  Hudson noticed this and scoffed, “Ach, don’t worry about the lads and lasses.  They can take care of themselves, now.  We just woke up a few minutes ago, you know.”

 Goliath sighed and turned away from the others and faced the city.  “I know that, Hudson, I know that.  I am just concerned for the new ones that are coming with them.  What are they like?  How will they fit in?  Will they take to the way of a gargoyle?  I know Owen explained to us that they were cursed to become gargoyles through magic.  Have they accepted their new forms?  Or, do they resent them and therein, do they resent us?  There’s so many questions and not enough answers.”  Goliath sighed again and turned around when he felt a small hand on his arm.

 “Don’t worry, big guy,”  Elisa Maza assured him.  “I think they’ll be just fine.  Remember, they were the ones that asked for Brooklyn and the others’ help.  They weren’t forced to come here.  Anyway, I think you’ll get your answers soon enough.”  She pointed to the horizon.  “Here they come.  All *six* of them.”  Goliath turned back towards the city and smiled.  He backed up and motioned for the others to do so as well.  Xanatos, Fox, Alexander, Bronx and Owen came outside as Elisa announced the other gargoyles’ arrival.

 Soon, four familiar shapes and two unfamiliar ones were visible in the night sky.  Brooklyn, Angela, Broadway and Shiun descended for a landing in front of the others, and Ranma and Akane hung back in the shadows.  Goliath stepped forward to greet the travelers.  “Welcome back, everyone.  I hope you had a pleasant trip?”

 Brooklyn walked up to Goliath and extended his arm for a shake.  “Yes, we did, Goliath.  I hope things weren’t too boring while we were gone?”

 Lex laughed and Aiden smiled next to him.  “Nah, it was rather tame.  You were only gone for a couple days.  Not much was able to happen.  Although, I heard you guys were the ones that had the excitement.”

 Angela and Shiun indicated to the bounty in their arms.  “Well, we did have a gang fight on the way here from the jet, but that dissipated rather fast.  Anyway, I don’t think you were talking about that.”

 Brooklyn smirked and shook his head.   “Yeah, I guess we did.”  He motioned to Ranma and Akane.  They looked at each other and walked forward to stand next to Brooklyn.  “Everyone, please introduce yourselves to our new friends.”

 Goliath stepped forward first, with Elisa next to him.  “I am Goliath, leader of Clan Wyvern.  Welcome to our home, Castle Wyvern.”

 He motioned Elisa forward.  “I’m Elisa Maza, a police officer for the NYPD.  Welcome to New York.”

 Hudson came forward, with Bronx directly behind him.  “Greetings, I am Hudson, the Eldest in Clan Wyvern.”  He indicated to the doggoyle next to him.  “The great beastie here, is Bronx, our guard dog.”  Bronx wuffed in reply.

 Lex and Aiden stepped forward, next.  “My name’s Lexington. You can call me Lex, if you want.   It’s nice to meet you.”

 Aiden followed.  “I’m Aiden.  It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”  Ranma and Akane looked curiously at the smaller web-winged gargoyles, but said nothing.

 Xanatos stepped forward with his family in tow.  “I’d like you to meet my family.”  Xanatos pointed to each in turn.  “This is Fox, my wife,”  The tattooed redhead smiled and nodded in greeting.  “And this bundle of energy is Alexander, our son.”  Alex just wiggled in his mom’s arms and smiled at the newcomers.  “I hope you slept peacefully.  Did you find the envelope?”

 Ranma and Akane blushed in embarrassment and nodded.  Angela and Shiun giggled off to the side.

 Ranma stepped forward.  “I am Saotome Ranma, of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.”  He bowed in greeting.  “It is nice to meet you all.”

 Akane stepped forward.  “I am Tendo Akane, of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.”  She also bowed.  “It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances.  Thank you for opening your home to us.  I hope we will not be a bother.”

 Goliath bowed in return.  “Of course not.  It is our honor and pleasure to welcome you into our home.”  Broadway and Ranma’s stomachs rumbled loudly.  Both looked at the offending noisemakers and blushed.  Goliath chuckled, and motioned to the inside.  “Come, I think it’s time for breakfast.  Won’t you join us?  Broadway, are you cooking this night?”

 Xanatos butted in before Broadway could agree.  “Excuse me, but we have breakfast waiting in the dining room.  Consider it a welcoming party for Ranma and Akane, and a welcome home celebration for everyone else.”  He turned to Fox.  “Shall we, my dear?”

 Fox smiled and set Alex on the ground.  He giggled and ran to Lex, who promptly picked the little boy up and mussed his hair.  Alex giggled and tweaked Lex’s nose. The two went into the castle, followed by Aiden, who rolled her eyes at the two.  Everyone else followed their example and went inside.  Ranma and Akane hung back, hesitating for a moment.  Angela turned around and gave them an encouraging smile and motioned for them to follow.  Ranma and Akane smiled back, grabbed hold of each other’s hand, and followed Angela into the castle, to the dining room.

*******

 Dinner was an extravagant affair.  Ranma and Akane were amazed by all of the different types of food set out on the buffet table.  There were mainly American breakfast dishes; several types of egg entrees were prepared.  Many different sizes and kinds of meat were spread throughout the display.  Stacked on plates were several types of pancakes, waffles and other pastries.  Random bowls filled with bright, ripe fruit gave the table a festive color.  Everyone had already gathered around the table and was piling food upon their plates.  Owen came up behind the pair and pointed out certain dishes.  “We had the chefs prepare a variety of specialized dishes for your perusal.   We realize that this is your first time in America, and might not be familiar with what is a normal morning around here, so we had them prepare a special taste of home.”  On one end of the table, was a huge bowl of rice and a steaming pot of miso soup.

 Akane turned to Owen.  “Thank you for everything, Owen.  You have been most kind to us.”

 Ranma nodded in reply, but didn’t take his eyes of the delectable piles of food.  He finally tore his eyes away from the table to look to Akane.  “Can we eat, now?  If I don’t get something in me, my stomach is going to start eating itself!”

 Akane laughed and rolled her eyes.  She turned to Owen and bowed deeply.  “Thank you again, Owen.”  He nodded in reply and left.  She returned her attention to Ranma.  “Okay, okay!  Let’s eat.  I’m starved, too.”  He gave her a quick smile and headed for the buffet.  He started to fill three plates at one time.  She followed him around the table, laughed at his antics of trying to balance the three full plates in one hand, a couple glasses filled with drinks on his head, and grab enough silverware for the both of them.  She continued to fill her own plate.  They sat down across from Shiun and Broadway and began eating. Ranma dug in to his meal with his usual spectacular table manners.  Shiun and Broadway, along with everyone else at the table stopped eating to watch the display Ranma was creating.  Akane noticed everyone’s stares and jabbed Ranma in the ribs with her elbow spur.  He grunted and brought his eating speed down a notch.  He looked up at everyone and back at Akane.   “What’s wrong?”

 Lex stared, astounded at Ranma’s speed.  “How do you move your hands so fast?  We couldn’t even see them, they were going so quickly.”

 Ranma swallowed and smiled.  “Special Saotome School Eating Attack: Kachuu Tenshin Amergetken.  It’s a speed attack that enables me to move my hands at phenomenal rates.  Usually, I use it in attacking the enemy with the fists, but I have adapted for my own uses.  Normally, I don’t go that fast, but I was hungry.  Me an’ my Pop would fight over the food at mealtimes, so I had to learn to eat fast and protect my food.”  He looked around at everyone’s astonished faces.  “Do you want a demonstration?”

 Everyone looked amazed at Ranma’s explanation of his eating habits.  Almost everyone nodded or gave an affirmation of the sort.  Ranma smiled and nodded at Akane.  “Do you want a go, Akane?  You’ve gotten better at defending your food from me an’ Pop.”

 Akane rolled her eyes, but nodded and smiled. “Sure, Ranma.  I have been practicing, so you just better watch out.”  Ranma smiled in return and pulled two sets of chopsticks out of thin air.  He handed a pair to Akane and readied himself.  He looked to Akane, and saw she was in the ready position.  He nodded and broke the sticks.  “Begin!”

 The flurry of sticks and food began.  The gargoyles surrounding the pair backed away, afraid food was going to fly at them.  Some did sail through the air, but before it could reach anywhere harmful, a set of chopsticks flashed out and plucked the food from the air and placed it in the corresponding mouth, that is, if they were lucky.  They watched in fascination as the food disappeared from the two Japanese gargoyles’ plates.  They saw clearly, though, that Ranma was winning.  Akane was holding her own, but she was no Ranma.  He’s had years to perfect his skill.  Finally, after a few furious minutes of battle, the two dueling warriors came to a complete stop.  Ranma looked over at Akane, grabbed his chopsticks and very gently picked up the last grain of rice off Akane’s plate.  Akane watched in defeat as Ranma brought it to his mouth.  He opened it to swallow, but instead smiled and brought the chopsticks in front of Akane and offered it to her.  She raised a browridge, opened her mouth and Ranma placed the winning grain of rice inside the waiting cavity.  She smiled, swallowed, and reached toward Ranma and wiped his mouth with her napkin.

 Everyone exploded in applause and cheers.  Ranma and Akane looked at everyone and back at their plates, blushing.  Ranma turned to Akane and said,   “That was pretty good, Akane.  You have been practicing.  I know I was going close to top speed.”

 “Thanks, Ranma,”  Akane beamed.  “That was fun!  I haven’t moved that fast in a long time.”

 “I even think you are ready for the Chestnut-fist.  Remind me to teach it to you later.”

 Aiden gushed,  “That was incredible, you two!  Your hands were never visible.  How fast can you actually go?”

 Ranma looked back at the web-winged female.  “Well, I think that was pretty close to top speed.  I probably could go faster, if I really pushed myself.”

 Goliath stood up and got everyone’s attention.  “Well, that was an impressive demonstration.  However, we have things to do tonight, yet.  Patrols should be taken.  Lexington, you and I will take Bronx and patrol Central Park.  Brooklyn, do you and the others feel up to a patrol?”  He and the other three nodded their heads.  “Good.  Angela and Broadway take Sector One; Aiden and Brooklyn take Sector Two.  Hudson and Shiun will remain behind to get Ranma and Akane settled in.  Agreed?  Just some quick patrols; we still need to welcome Ranma and Akane properly.  Remember your radios.”

 Everyone got up from the table and went off in their own directions to get ready for the patrols.  Hudson and Shiun then showed Ranma and Akane around the castle.  As they walked, he started in on ‘The Gargoyle Way,’ about the innate feeling to protect, and a little more background about the life of a gargoyle in the old days. As they entered the different rooms and courtyards in and around the castle, Hudson explained its history; if they came across an object or room that held a special story, he would stop and tell the story with a faraway gleam in his good eye.  When they came to the empty rookery, a tear formed and he let out a long, sad sigh.  He also explained what the gargoyles did on patrol, where they fit in today’s society and odd bits and ends that came across his mind as they went along.

 When they reached the gargoyles’ suite of rooms, Akane interrupted Hudson’s rambling with a question.  “Excuse me, but I have a question.  Brooklyn and Broadway mentioned the other night that you are actually from the 10th century.  Is that true?  How did you come to the 20th century?  They mentioned something about a curse...”

 Hudson sighed and motioned for everyone to sit and get comfortable.  “Well, lassie, that’s a good question.  Yes, it’s true that the six of us are originally from tenth century Scotland.  That story involves a lot of different situations, some nasty and treacherous.”  He chuckled ruefully.  “Aye, lots of people played a part in our coming to this time.  It all started with a Prince named Malcolm...”

 Hudson then told the story of the Archmage; Princess Katherine and the Magus’s detest of the gargoyles; Demona and the Captain of the Guard’s treachery; the Viking raid and the mass murder of almost all the clan; the Princess and the Magus’ capture and escape; Magus’s grief-stricken curse on the gargoyles when he thought the Princess to be dead; how Goliath asked the Princess to watch over the rookery and freeze him in stone along with the rest left in the cursed state; the Awakening by Xanatos in 1994; his mistreatment of the gargoyles and being sent to prison.   Hudson then started to mention some of the adventures they recently had:   in the clock tower, with the Pack, Oberon, and the Hunters/Quarrymen, and then their final return to their ancestral home.  While Hudson spun his tale, the rest of the gargoyles had returned from patrol, quietly came into the room and settled down to listen to the old one spin his web of stories.  Hudson stopped after the return to the castle and sighed.  He looked up to find everyone had returned and was hanging on to his every word.  “There you go, lassie.  It’s a giant kettle of fish to think about, but it’s all in the past.  Something that we have learned from all of this is that you should think about the past, and remember it, but you need to live in the present and look forward to the future.”

 Everyone was silent, thinking over Hudson’s words and the experiences that ran through their minds.  Ranma and Akane sat, pondering what the gargoyles had gone through in their extended lives. They silently reached for each other’s hands, wondering if they would have to go through similar times with the gargoyles.

 Broadway snapped out of the trance Hudson created first.  He looked around and spoke up.   “Hey guys, we need to snap out of this funk.  We have a party to throw!”  Everyone looked up at Broadway’s words and started talking.

 Ranma pulled Akane off to the side of the room.  “Um, Akane, do you want to get away for a bit and spar?  I really need to work off that meal we ate.”

 Akane patted her stomach and nodded.  “I know what you mean, Ranma.  I feel like I could explode.  Let’s go outside and see what we can dig up.”  Ranma held Akane’s hand and pulled her down the corridor to the warm night air.

 Ranma looked around to find a open enough space to spar in.  He spotted a courtyard not too far off.  He pointed it out to Akane.  She nodded and jumped off the wall to glide down to the lower area.  He followed her and watched her form as she landed perfectly.  He landed right behind her.  “Good landing, Akane-chan. You’ve sure got the hang of it, now.  I knew you would.”

 Akane, startled by Ranma’s endearment, turned around to him and smiled shyly.  “Thank you, Ranma-chan.  Your encouragement have really helped.”  He went over to her and caught her lips up in a kiss.  She readily accepted his advance and deepened the kiss immediately.  Her hands roamed over his shoulders, making their way down to his muscular back and his giant wings.  She brushed her hands across the sensitive spot where his wings emerged from his back.  Ranma jumped and moaned at the sensation that swept every nerve fiber in his body.  Akane broke the kiss and looked concernedly at Ranma.  “Did that hurt, Ranma?  I didn’t mean it.”

 Ranma opened his eyes and Akane noticed that they were burning white-hot.  “No, Akane-chan, the opposite.  Definitely the opposite.”  Ranma then continued to kiss her, starting at her mouth and working his way down, nipping at her neck with his fangs.  She smiled and giggled.  He came back up and flicked his tongue behind her ear, tickling the little hairs that rested there.  Akane closed her eyes and moaned in Ranma’s ear, enjoying his ministrations.  Ranma continued his intentions and brought his hands into play.  He rubbed her back, brushing by her sides and tickling her wing joints.  Akane gasped and her eyes snapped open, glowing red brightly.  Her breath quickened and she pulled away from Ranma.

 “What are we doing, Ranma?  I thought we were going to spar.  This is definitely not sparring.  I think I may be enjoying this way too much.”

 Ranma reclosed the distance between them and started to give her little nipping kisses on her shoulders.  She squirmed in delight and brought her arms around his neck.   He moved lower and gave the hollow of her neck feathery kisses.  He started to unbutton the first of the tunic’s clasps with his teeth.  He looked back at her, eyes still burning,   “I know, Akane-chan,  I know.  But I think I like this more than sparring.”

 He sat her down on the grass and pulled her into his lap.  He stroked her inner thighs with his hands and crushed his lips to hers, attacking her mouth with his tongue.  Akane’s tongue sparred with its partner, caressing the other with a frenzied passion they didn’t know existed.

 Akane dragged her talons across Ranma’s back, brushing the sensitive wing joints before she stopped on his hips.  He growled at her and brought his hands up to her hips, where he slipped his hands under her dress and lightly tickled her already taut stomach muscles.  She purred throatily and lowered her hands onto his buttocks and squeezed gently.  He slowly inched his way up her chest, where he tentatively cupped a breast in his hand.   She moaned, and leaned into Ranma’s hand.  He slowly began to massage the breast with his hand, moving in small circles.  He flicked at the tip with a talon.  She growled in his ear and began to nibble on the available earlobe, caressing it with her tongue.

 He shrugged Akane’s tunic down over her shoulders, giving little kisses as the material fell away.  He brought his head down and gave her a kiss on her chest, in the valley between the two firm breasts.  She leaned back and Ranma moved over her.  He began to kiss her breast; light kisses and tongue caresses.  She moaned and writhed in great delight, braiding her talons in his wild hair.  When he started to suck on the tip, Akane shrieked in pleasure.  Ranma, still sucking on her breast, started to remove her belt and the rest of the tunic.

 Akane, noticing where this was going to lead, and fast, sat up and started to push Ranma away.  “Ranma, we can’t do this now.  We have people we barely know throwing us a party inside the castle.  They’ve probably noticed that we’re missing and have started looking for us.  Just think of what they’d say if they found us out here like this!  I don’t want to have their first impression of us ruined because we got carried away.  Ranma-chan, please.”

 He looked up, pleading.  “Please, Akane-chan, do you know how much I desperately need you, now?”  Akane looked undecided.  He gave her puppy-dog eyes and brought his head over to hers and started to kiss her.  Akane returned the kiss and sighed.  She broke it and looked at Ranma.  She smiled at him and nodded.

 
 “I love you, my Akane-chan.”

 “I love you, too, my Ranma-chan.”
 

 She moved forward and sat on his lap.  She placed her hands on his loincloth, undid the belt and pulled it off to see how much he truly needed her.  She started to give him feather-light touches, up and down the entire length.  Ranma’s eyes blazed as he growled in pleasure.  She started to stroke him slow, dragging the tips of her talons as she went back and forth.  He moved in time with her strokes; encouraging her to go faster.  She pushed him down; he complied and she leaned forward to take the vibrating length in her mouth.  Akane swirled her tongue around the tip and brought it down and back up the sheath.  Ranma moaned, calling for more.  She gave the tip a kiss and surrounded the shaft with her mouth.  She started to pump, dragging her fangs as she sucked.  Ranma started to whine her name, the strain of holding back becoming too much for him.  Akane noticed this and sped up.  Ranma couldn’t control himself any longer and, with a final shout of Akane’s name, purged himself within her mouth.  Akane choked a little but swallowed the seed.  She sat up and kissed him fully on the lips, telling her love for him without the need of words.

 Ranma removed her tunic and laid Akane down gently on the grass.  He brought his hands to Akane’s mound and started to rub her gently, probing his fingers inside her  They danced around the lips, Ranma never fully entering her.  He kissed and suckled at her breasts again.  She felt like she was going to faint with the sensations crackling within her.  Her eyes burst forth with a flash of red light.  He felt, and could tell, that she was just as excited as he was.  When he brushed the tip of a talon against her clitoris, she shrieked in rapture.  He brought his face down and rained small kisses on her inner thigh.  He moved closer and kissed the outer lips, darting his tongue inside.  Akane, delirious with the sensations Ranma created within her, howled his name and climaxed.

 After Akane recovered from the orgasm, they sat up, and restarted the kissing; the passion and need building quickly.  Ranma released her mouth and started down her jawline.  Akane threw back her head to allow him better access.  She brought her hands around Ranma and stroked, starting out slowly.  He brought his hands into play and began to massage her breasts, tweaking the tips every so often.

 Ranma and Akane sped up their tempo so it coincided with their gasping breaths.  He grunted at her, “Akane-chan, I don’t think I can hold it much longer.”  She nodded and sat back on her ankles.  She looked into Ranma’s searing eyes with her own and said, “Come to me, Ranma.  Claim me as yours, and yours alone.”

 He looked into her smiling, trusting face and felt a tear fall.  He nodded and pulled Akane in front of him.    They wrapped their tails around each other; Ranma around her waist, Akane around his leg.  They caped their wings on their shoulders.  She raised herself above him and took ahold of his shoulders.  He grabbed onto her hips and gently started to lower her.  She paused and adjusted herself above his quivering member.  She nodded, and together in one motion, she leaned forward to give him the most passionate kiss she could muster and he pulled her onto him to become one.  Akane gasped in his mouth at the sensations that were flooding her synapses.  Pain was foremost, but once Ranma established a rhythm, extreme estcasy.  She countered Ranma’s own thrusting, trying to merge with him fully.  They broke the kiss, panting in exertion.  Ranma picked up the pace quickly and with each new stroke, both got closer to the breaking point.  Ranma leaned forward and whispered,  “I love you, Akane-chan,”  into her ear and exploded into Akane.  His eyes and his body both flashed a blinding white while Ranma roared his release into her.

 Akane, hearing the love of her life profess his love to her, and feeling his release within, shot over the edge in a roar of estcasy.  Her eyes and body both glared a ravishing red and she dug her talons into his back, waiting for the ebb of the wave to slow down.  They collapsed onto each other, panting, and after calming down a bit, planted a kiss on each other’s lips to complete their bond.

 Akane looked at Ranma, brushed away a lock of his sweaty hair and mentioned, “You know, I just noticed that you don’t have your pigtail in anymore.  Why not?”

 He smirked and nibbled at her neck.  “I don’t know.  Why, don’t you like it how it is now, wild and untamed?  Just like me?”

 She rolled her eyes and played with the red locks.  “Ha, ha.  Actually, my Ranma-chan, I do like it how it is now.”  She winked.  “Especially the red color.”  He groaned loudly.

 Akane looked around to see if anyone was around.  She untangled herself from Ranma and got up.  She started to put her tunic on and made some semblance of herself.  She leaned down towards Ranma and pulled him up to a standing position, handing him his loincloth as he got up.  “Ranma, in case you didn’t notice, we were rather loud back there.  Someone is bound to come out here and look for us.  How are we going to cover up what we just did?”

 Ranma got an odd, pained look to his face as he adjusted the loincloth in place.  “Gee, I don’t know, Akane-chan.  We can’t say that we were sparring, because we weren’t.  They’ll surely kick us out.”

 Akane got a gleam to her eye.  “No, they won’t, Ranma-chan.  Just follow my lead.  And try to clean yourself up;  you’re a mess!”  With that, she kissed him on the nose and jogged off in the opposite direction, giggling.

 She flicked her tail and tossed her hair over her shoulder, giving Ranma a sidelong glance as she kept on jogging.   Ranma quickly recovered his senses and went after her, growling playfully.  She laughed and stopped a few yards away from him.  She turned around and got into a ready stance, a playful smirk upon her flushed face.  Ranma stopped as well and dropped into his own loose stance, indicating with his fingers that she should attack first.  She studied his form a bit and ran at him.

 She threw a leg up at his head; he blocked easily and countered with a jab towards her chest.  She feinted, turned around and started a flurry of kicks and punches at any openings she could pinpoint and exploit.  Ranma blocked and weaved around her attack, jabbing and poking at the holes he found in her defense.  Akane backed away from him, sweat running down her forehead.  She circled him, making a wide arc around his back.  She gave a “Kyaaaa” and attacked.  Ranma turned around and waited for Akane’s attack.  She surprised him, though, by running and launching into the air by way of a fairly large boulder in the middle of the courtyard.  He readied himself for an air attack and wasn’t disappointed.

 Akane came down at Ranma with one foot extended.  As she neared him, she turned around in a circle and swung her tail in a strike reminiscent to one of Kuno’s bokken attacks.  Ranma was not prepared for this, and Akane landed a clean blow on his chest with the flat of her hammerhead.  He fell to the ground, somersaulted and with the momentum of the blow, launched himself into the air.   Akane landed after the tailsweep, ran again to the launching boulder, and sprung after Ranma.

 The attacks then continued in the air.  Akane furiously attacked Ranma, blow after blow, punch after punch, kick after kick.  Ranma saw the very determined expression on Akane’s beautiful face, and was surprised to feel that some of her kicks were connecting.   He got down to business and seriously attacked her.  He blocked her blows and kicks immediately and went at her close to being full out.  He started a flurry of punches and jabs that would have made Ryouga step back a few paces.  Their actions started to blur.  Akane blocked with all her might, but his blows were landing much more than she could block.  Ranma wound up for a kick and executed the ending move.  Akane fell to the ground with a mighty thump, and knocked the air out of her lungs with a breathy whoosh.  Ranma, breathing hard from the exertion, now and earlier, saw that Akane wasn’t moving.  He cried out in horror and rushed to the ground to see if she was okay.

 When Ranma got to Akane, she was breathing again.  Ranma helped her up to a sitting position and rubbed her back.  He started babbling.  “Are you okay, Akane?  Did I hurt you at all?  I’m so sorry!  I was caught up in the battle and I got carried away.  I’m really sorry, Akane-chan.  I won’t do it again.  Please be okay, please.”

 “Ranma,”  Akane coughed,  “shut up.  Of course you hurt me.  I wanted you to, remember?  Yes, you will do it again.  I just lost my wind there for a moment.”  She looked up at his face and gave him one of the biggest smiles she could muster through the pain.  “It was wonderful, Ranma-chan.  Thank you for not treating me like a piece of china.  This is what I’ve wanted for a long time.  Finally, after all this time, you treat me like a real martial artist.  Thank you.”  She rubbed her knuckles across his browridge and gave him a kiss.  “I love you, Ranma-chan.”

 He closed his eyes and brought her into his embrace, wings and all.  He sighed in relief.  “I love you, too, Akane-chan.”

 Suddenly, thunderous applause and whoops rang out from above them.  They broke from the embrace and looked around, startled.  They saw everyone had gathered on the parapets and was smiling widely.  Brooklyn and Lex were making cat-call noises and the girls were whistling loudly.  Ranma stammered out,  “How long were you guys standing there?”

 Goliath answered,  “We’ve been looking for you two for some time now.    We heard shouts coming from outside and came out to investigate.  We saw you fighting each other on the ground.”  Ranma and Akane blushed in embarrassment.  They gave each other a sideways glance.

 Xanatos smirked.  “Akane gave you quite a surprise with that tail blow, didn’t she, Ranma?  Very clever, Akane.”

 Ranma blinked and played with his tail in embarrassment.  “Yeah, well...”  He turned to Akane, who had a smug smile spread across her face.  “I guess she did.”

 Akane giggled and glomped onto Ranma, knocking him over.  “Wo ai ni, airen!”

 “Argh!  Help!”

 Everyone laughed at the two on the ground.  Goliath smiled at the two newcomers and turned to Hudson. “I think they are going to fit in here well, don’t you think so?”

 Hudson nodded, and remembered the roars that came from outside and saw the winking auras that surrounded the two, smiled.  “Aye, lad.  I think they already have.”  He spoke to the two below.  “Come now, we canna be having a party without the guests of honor, now can we?”

 Everyone watched as Ranma helped Akane up and went towards the wall.  They held onto each other’s waists, coiled, and leapt to where everyone was waiting.  Lex and Aiden looked at the pair oddly and Aiden asked,   “Why did you jump?  Why didn’t you climb up the wall?”

 Akane shrugged,  “We knew we would reach the top.  We could have still jumped further if we enhanced the jump with our ki.  There was no need to climb the wall.”

 “Ki?”

 “Yeah, it’s what we call our spirit energy.   You use your emotions to create them.  I can create balls of ki, or a whirlwind, using hot and cold ki to attack opponents.  Like this.”  Ranma summoned a yellow and red-lined baseball-sized sphere of ki and held it in his hand.

 Lex looked at it in wonder.  “Cool!  And you say you use your emotions to fuel it?”

 “Yep.  I usually use confidence to power mine.  You could also use sadness, pain, anger, joy--pretty much anything.  It’ll be a different color for the different emotion.  I know someone who uses depression to create and fuel his massive blasts.”   The ki ball was growing in size as Ranma talked.  “Watch out, I have to fire this off.”  Everyone backed off and Ranma shouted out  “Moko Takabisha!” and shot the sphere of ki straight into the air.  Xanatos got a strange gleam in his eye as he watched Ranma manipulate his ki.  “Akane-chan isn’t very good at using her ki, yet.  She can create one hell of a battle aura, though, which is one of the first steps in controlling your ki.  Show them, Akane-chan.”

 Akane closed her eyes and brought forth her battle aura.  It was extremely bright red, with flecks of blue running through it.  Ranma walked around her, studying the aura.  “Hey Akane, why is it red, now?  It never used to be red.”

 “Maybe, it’s because I used to create my aura from anger, Ranma-chan.  See, there are still little bits of blue left. That might mean there are residual effects.  As if I still can form one when I’m angry enough.”

 Broadway scratched his head and asked,  “If it was blue before, why is it red now?  What does red stand for?”

 Akane blushed a red as deep as her aura. It just flared brighter.  “Well, Broadway, red stands for the strongest emotion of all.  Love.”  She turned to Ranma and dropped the battle aura.  “Your ki ball had red running through it, too.  It looked like an equal amount of yellow and red.  That must mean you have the ability to use both your love and confidence ki equally.”

 Ranma added quietly,  “It’s always had red running through it, Akane.  You just never noticed it, before. I also tried my best to cover it up, but there was one stubborn streak that wouldn’t go away.”

 “You really mean that, Ranma-chan?  From the beginning?”   He blushed and nodded.

 Brooklyn smiled at the two and shook his head.  “Okay, ‘Ranma-chan’, let’s go inside and party!”  Ranma scowled at Brooklyn for ruining his cheesy moment with Akane and swung his tail at him.  Brooklyn laughed and stuck his tongue out.  Ranma retaliated with his own.  Everyone laughed at the tongue-dueling males and went inside.

 Angela rolled her eyes and pulled Brooklyn away before the two could lock horns.  “Come along,  *hatchling*.  Let’s make like a nice young warrior, which I thought you were, and go get something to drink, okay?”  She turned to Akane, who was laughing at Ranma’s scowl.  “Boys, huh?  See, they’re already acting like rookery brothers.”

 The two males in question looked at each other in surprise and smiled.  Brooklyn turned and followed his intended inside and Ranma turned to Akane.  He offered out his hand for her to take hold.  She looked at it and quirked a browridge.   “Hmm...I think I deserve something more than that.  After all, you *did* beat me senseless out there tonight,” she brought her forearm up to forehead, “and I don’t know if I can walk in on my own.  Oh, the pain and agony of it all...”

 He rolled his eyes and got down on one knee and pretended to sweep a hat off his head..  “My fair and adorable Lady Akane-chan.  It would be my honor and my greatest pleasure to offer myself to you as your unworthy slave for the night, oh great and beauteous Lady Akane-chan.”  Ranma stuck out his tongue in disgust.  “Man, that’s horrible.  It feels like my tongue sprouted a flower garden.   I sound just like Kuno.”

 Akane giggled and went to Ranma, offering her hand to him.  “Oh, my knight in a shining loincloth!  Sweep me up in your arms and take me away, Sir Ranma-Chan, and ravish me until the sun peeks above the horizon and we fall asleep and turn to stone in each other’s arms, exhausted from the night’s lovemaking!”  She giggled some more. “That was fun!  Now I see why Kuno gets his kicks from saying this stuff.”

 Ranma bent over and swept Akane off her feet and carried her into the castle.  She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.  “Now, where did I put my trusty steed?  Oh yeah, I’m the stud, I mean, steed.”  He winked at Akane and gave her a kiss.

 She returned it gladly and sighed.  “Just think if we were back in Nerima, now, Ranma.   We’d never have the guts to do this kind of stuff.  Did becoming gargoyles loosen us up that much?”

 “I don’t think so.  A lot has happened since we left. The biggest thing is that we admitted our love for each other.”  Ranma blushed and rubbed his cheek against one of her horns.  “That helped a lot.  Plus, we are away from all the stress that just being at home caused.  Fiancees, fathers, everything that we thought was going to be normal for us, always.  That’s all gone.  And, I, for one, am glad to rid of it all.”  He walked into the room where everyone else was talking and mulling around.  “You know, Akane-chan, I could get used to living here real fast.  I don’t think I want to go back to Nerima.  Maybe to visit, sure, but I don’t think we belong or fit in there anymore.”

 She sighed and nodded in agreement.  “I know what you mean, Ranma.  No fiancees or fathers pushing us to do what they want to do.  We’re starting over in a new place with new lives.  It’s rather exciting if you think about it.  A new chapter in our storybook lives.”  She sighed again. “Although, I do miss Kasumi and everyone else a bit.  It’s just not the same, somehow.”

 Ranma nodded.  “Yeah, I know what you mean.  I sorta miss sparring with Pops.”

 Angela and Brooklyn came up behind the pair with several glasses filled with a drink.  “Champagne, you two?”  Ranma put Akane down and took the two glasses from Angela.  He handed Akane one of the glasses filled with the bubbly juice.  Brooklyn got everyone’s attention.  “Excuse me, I’d like to make a toast.  To Ranma and Akane.  Even though they have been gargoyles for only three days, to me it seems like forever.  Welcome to New York and to the life of a gargoyle.”  Everyone raised their glasses in the spirit of the toast and clinked them together before taking a sip.

 Akane snorted the bubbles out of her nose and sneezed.  “Thank you all very much.  Ranma and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  We don’t know what we would have done if not for you all.”  Akane started to get misty.  Ranma put an arm around her.  “Extra special thanks goes to Mr. Xanatos and Owen.  If you two weren’t there at Jusenkyo, we probably would have been forced to commit seppuku by our parents for turning into demons.  We can’t express our gratitude enough.”  Akane, in an impulse, handed Ranma her glass and went over to Owen and gave him a bear hug.

 Owen looked completely shocked and slowly put his arms around her in return and patted her back.  “You are quite welcome, Akane.   It was my pleasure to help you out in any means possible.”  He grunted and squirmed a bit.  “Please, could I breathe now?”

 Akane let Owen go and gave him a deep bow. She then went over to Xanatos and repeated the bow.  He, in return, gave her a hug.  She smiled and squeezed.  She walked back to Ranma and leaned into his waiting embrace.  He kissed the top of her head and smiled at the group, still basking in the afterglow from the night’s earlier events.

 Goliath looked around to each member of his clan and got a small nod in return from each of them.  He then glanced at Elisa, who was leaning on his arm.  She smiled at him, patted his shoulder and nodded in agreement with everyone else.  He cleared his throat to indicate he was next in line to speak.

 He turned to the pair.  “Ranma, I had overheard you speaking to Akane when you entered the room, saying that you do not wish to return to the craziness that awaits you at home.  We have talked this over to some extent and offer you a solution.  We would like you both to become members of this clan, and from there on forth, stay here in NY.  What would you say to this proposition?”

 Ranma and Akane stared, slackjawed at Goliath.  Ranma sputtered out,  “You’re joking, right?  This is just some ‘hatchling’ prank to play on the newcomers?  You barely know us and now you want to adopt us into the clan?”  He squinted his eyes and nervously looked around.  “What and where’s the catch?  This can’t be for real.”

 Shiun shook her head and smiled.   “Yes, Ranma, Akane.  This is for real.  We are serious.  In the little time we have come to know you, we feel that you would be a welcome addition to the clan.”  Everyone, humans and gargoyles alike, around them nodded in agreement.  She winked at the astonished pair.  “Besides, half of us already are transplants from other places.  Everyone here has a big heart.  New blood is always welcome.”

 Akane and Ranma looked at each other, amazed beyond belief.  Akane turned around in Ranma’s embrace and started to cry on his shoulder.  Ranma enclosed her in his wings, buried his face and talons in her long, midnight-blue tresses and made ‘sshhing’ noises to calm her down.   Everyone around them looked alarmed, but Ranma shook his head to stop them from asking questions.

 Ranma finally looked up, tears evident on his face.  He opened his wings and Akane turned around,  face smeared and eyes bleary from her crying.  She gathered herself, sniffled, and stepped out of Ranma’s arms.  She moved to his side and together they stepped in front of Goliath.  They knelt in front of him, wings spread out on the ground and bowed as low as they could.   They spoke from the bow.  “We are humbled, and would be honored, to be accepted as members of Clan Wyvern.”

 Goliath looked around helplessly, trying to figure out what to do with the bowing pair.  Shiun motioned to Goliath to have them rise and to return the bow.  Goliath cleared his throat.  “Please rise, that is not necessary.  You are equals among us.  It is an honor to accept such fine, honorable, young warriors into our ranks.”  They stood up and Goliath awkwardly returned the bow.  He smiled at the new members of his clan.  “You certainly proved your fighting skills earlier, outside in the courtyard.”  He gave them a stern look.  “Now, only a couple things stand in the way of becoming true members of this clan.”  Goliath paused for effect.  The others snickered a bit to themselves when they saw Akane and Ranma’s panicked faces.

 “Now, Hudson told you what our mission is in this city, right?”  Akane and Ranma nodded solemnly. “A gargoyle protects; it is in our blood; that is what we do.  As Hudson is fond of saying, ‘We canna stop protecting the same as we canna stop breathing the air.’  Or something to that effect.”  Several snickered around him.  He continued, face solemn.  “Do you, Saotome Ranma, pledge to protect the citizens of New York City and to protect this castle, your home, and the members of your clan in any means possible?”

 Ranma nodded and said, “I will.”

 “Do you, Tendo Akane, pledge to protect the citizens of New York City and to protect this castle, your home, and the members of your clan in any means possible?”

 Akane nodded solemnly and said, “I will.”

 “Good.  Ranma and Akane, formerly of Clan Nerima, welcome to Clan Manhattan.”  Goliath gave the two a huge smile and looked around to everyone in the room.  “Everyone, come greet your new clan brother and sister.”  Everyone gave a shout, humans included, and gathered around the new Manhattanites, liberally giving hugs and handshakes in congratulations.  They beamed at each other and Ranma picked up Akane and swung her around in a circle before he planted a lingering kiss on her lips.  Everyone whistled at their display of affection;  Hudson could be heard muttering something about hatchlings.  They then moved over to a table with treats and drinks laid out to help themselves.

 Ranma and Akane walked over to where Lex and Aiden were seated.  “So, does this mean that we will start joining the patrols around the city?”

 He nodded in reply.  “I don’t see why not.  Goliath and Hudson may want to see the extent of your gliding abilities and judge your fighting skills, to see what areas you need to have worked on, but otherwise, I’d think you two will be joining us soon enough.”

 Ranma smiled.  “Good, I’d like to see what the streets of NY will throw at the mighty Saotome Ranma!  Ha ha!”

 Akane came over and bopped him on the side of the head.  “Stop bragging, Ranma. That’s not very nice of you.  Besides, you may not have what it takes here in New York.  Sure, you can beat up perverted underwear thieves and low-class demons, but you don’t know what New York has to offer.”

 Ranma waved off Akane’s accusation.  “Nah, it’ll be a cinch.  You’ll see.”

 Goliath cleared his throat.  “Attention, everyone.  It will soon be sunrise.  Please take your positions for the morning.”

 Ranma and Akane glanced confusedly at Goliath.  They turned to Aiden,  “What does he mean by that?  Don’t we have bedrooms?”

 “No, we sleep outside on the battlements.  That’s how it has been done since the beginning, when they defended the castle.  You pose on your perch in a menacing or scary position for the day and that was supposed to scare off the marauders.  I guess when you have a hundred or so gargoyles positioned all around the castle, it is more intimidating, but that’s part of being a gargoyle.”  She shrugged.  “I know the members of the Ishimura clan face inside, honoring the vow that the humans and gargoyles made together, long ago.  The humans protect the gargoyles in the daylight, and the gargoyles watch over the humans at night, while they sleep.”

 Ranma and Akane followed the rest outside and watched everyone pair up and take positions on the battlements.  Goliath noticed their hesitation and pointed to a place where they could perch.  It was on a tower across from Lex and Aiden.  They watched Goliath perch on the uppermost tower.  Hudson, Brooklyn and Angela took a lower tier of the same tower.  Bronx went in between Shiun and Broadway on a different tower.  Lexington and Aiden positioned themselves on the tower across from them.

 Ranma and Akane watched as each gargoyle posed, talons raised, wings unfurled, fangs showing.  Ranma gave Akane a quick hug and a big kiss on the lips.  “Good night, my Akane-chan.  I had a wonderful time tonight.  See you in the evening.”

 Akane smiled back and nodded. “’Night, my Ranma-chan.  Thank you for everything.  I love you.”

 “I love you, too.”  Then they took up their poses.  Ranma snapped open his wings and knelt with one knee resting on the parapet, the other bent halfway.  He was looking down into the courtyard with his face curled in a snarl.  Akane snapped her wings open and took a ready position, looking straight ahead, into the horizon.  As she felt the now familiar tingle start, she crouched and looked like she was prepared to jump at an attacker.  The sun froze all eleven gargoyles in their positions,  ready and waiting for the next challenge.
*********************