Jedi Kasumi28

Jedi Kasumi

(A Star Wars/Ranma crossover)

by
Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the works of Rumiko Takahashi
& George Lucas, with ideas and inspiration
provided by my friends Bill Guiroff and
Brandon Kelley, but seeing as we're doing
this for free it would make little sense to
sue us, right Lucas Industries?  ^_^)


THE BETA VERSION

(Additional material provided by Rann Aridorn
with ideas and suggestions from Gregg Sharp
and others...)


LEMON-LIME ALERT!  HENTAI ACTION FORTHCOMING!
CONTAINS SCENES OF AN ENTIRELY ADULT NATURE;
NOT FOR THE IMMATURE OF HEART OR THOSE WHO
THING MARRIAGE SHOULD BE RESERVED BEFORE THE
SEX HAPPENS---YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


Episode Twenty-Eight:

Eventful Horizons


Having accepted
the challenge of the
Golden Pair, Akane and
her allies, Ukyo and Shampoo,
have been training with Cologne
in order to master the art of Anything
Goes Martial Arts Figure Skating, a training
Program that has proven both rigorous and quite
demanding for the young Jedi Trainees...

Meanwhile,
A gifted young 
boy by the name of 
Gosunkugi Hikaru has
been recruited by Kasumi,
Nabiki and their young iinazuke,
Ranma Saotome, for testing and 
possible training in Force Mastery due
to his unusual gift, of psychic precognition,
which could prove beneficial to the cause of
our young heroes...

Unbeknownst
to Ranma, however,
Kasumi has ulterior motives
for arranging a special "training
session," exclusively for them and
Nabiki, at the urging of their mother,
Kimiko Tendo, and Trieste, the Jedi Mistress,
to further the aims of uniting the houses of
Tendo and Saotome...

Furthermore,
Trieste has other
Aims in mind for the
youngest of her Apprentice 
Jedi Adepts, Akane, which will
require mending a breach between
the families of Tendo and Kuno, plans
of which the young Force Mistress as yet
remains unaware at the present, though they
shortly will be made plain to her within the
coming hour that follows...





"Where are we going, Sensei?" Akane asked as she dutifully followed after 
Trieste and her mother, wondering at the secrecy that was hidden in their 
expressions as the two older women guided her to their unknown destination.

"Patience, little flower," her mother replied, "You can go back to training with 
your friends after we discuss a little matter of business with an old friend of 
mine.  You need not worry that we'll be gone for too long, and Elder Cologne 
seems to be managing well enough without you."

"I guess," Akane replied with a sour expression, trudging along while resisting 
the urge to relieve herself of the tingling sensations that she was currently 
experiencing, around her loins and breasts, the result of having slept alone for 
the past two days in her own bed and without her usual nocturnal companions.

"Patience, Akane-chan," Trieste mildly chided her youngest student, "A Jedi must 
be above petty concerns and discomforts of the body.  You must learn to 
discipline your senses more if you are to be truly worthy of your heritage and 
my teachings."

"I know that, Sensei," Akane complained, "But...I'm sorry...the last few days 
have been real hard, what with the training and all, getting Ucchan and Shampoo 
to coordinate their steps on the ice, and even with Elder Cologne helping out 
it's still been rough..."

"Especially since you had a fight with your friends and have yet to make up?" 
Kimiko turned and smiled over her shoulder at her daughter, adding a wink for 
extra measure.

"Mom," Akane fairly wilted under that glance.

"We understand and sympathize with your situation, Akane-chan," Trieste assured 
her apprentice, "But we need you to stay focused with us on the here and now.  
The past and future do not exist right now, all that matters is what is there 
before you.  Learn to live in the present and the future will take care of 
itself.  The past...is always the past, and no matter what regrets you may bear, 
you cannot allow the past to govern your present actions."

"I'll try and remember that, Sensei," Akane replied, then winced before adding, 
"No, I mean...I'll do that.  Honestly.  I will remember to stay focused."

"That is good," Trieste replied, hiding the smile that she briefly shared with 
Kimiko as the two of them walked side-by-side down the streets of Nerima, coming 
to a halt only when they had at last arrived at the largest privately owned 
residential area upon the block, at which point they turned and walked up to the 
main gate entrance.

Akane blanched when she saw where they were and said aloud, "The Kuno mansion?  
Why are we stopping here?"

"Because the past, Akane-chan," her mother explained, "may not be as important 
as the present, but certain past actions on your point do need to be addressed 
if we are to settle accounts with our good friends, the Kunos."

"Good friends?" Akane swallowed, "You're kidding, right?"

"One does not jest about matters of honor and propriety," Trieste replied 
serenely, pressing a finger to the button at the front gate and waiting until a 
voice acknowledged them, at which point she spoke aloud, "The Tendo party, here 
to see Kuno Hitome and Godai.  Are they in residence?"

"One moment, Lady Trieste," the guard at the gate replied with obvious 
recognition of her voice, "The Master and Mistress are expecting you.  Please 
wait and Sasuke will be there at once to guide you."

"Ah...I don't get it," Akane said with increasing nervousness, "Why are we here 
to visit with the Kunos?"

"Don't be silly, Akane-chan," Kimiko gently chided, "Hitome and I are very good 
friends, and she trained with me under Trieste when the both of us were 
undergoing stress management therapy.  We do not need a formal reason to wish to 
pay our respects to our closest friends, though I would mind you to be on your 
best manners around their children."

"Oh sure, easy for you to say," Akane grumbled softly under her breath, wincing 
slightly as she anticipated having to be civil around the likes of Kuno 
Tatewaki, though she did briefly pause to smile when she thought of Tatewaki's 
younger sister, Kodachi.

In what seemed like next to no time the diminutive family retainer, Sasuke, 
appeared atop the gates and vaulted over to land and bow at the feet of Kimiko 
and Trieste, then straighten out and say, "Mistress Trieste, Lady Tendo, what a 
great honor and a pleasure it is to see you both again.  And Mistress Akane, a 
great honor and a pleasure to see you."

"Hi, Sasuke-kun," Akane flashed a brief smile at the short self-styled Ninja 
before tending to the queasiness that she was feeling in her stomach, a sure 
sign that something was in the works here that she was not going to be any too 
happy about, though she tried not to think that way as Sasuke led the way up the 
path towards the Kuno family mansion.

In the back of her mind some instinct told her that matters were afoot for which 
she would be tasked to make an accounting.  Why else had she been brought along 
but neither of her older sisters, and why specifically had Shampoo and Ukyo been 
told to remain behind?  It just did not add up to anything good in Akane's 
opinion, and as she thought this her mind traveled briefly to the ice rink and a 
certain cross-dressing former Sith Apprentice who was never far from her 
thoughts these days, even as she braced herself to confront the Kunos with all 
the charitable good manners that were in her personal possession...




"Kuonji-san, pay attention!" the old woman snapped, "Inattentiveness like that 
could cost you dearly in the match that you face in a few more days.  Do not 
waver in the field of battle, especially when you are to coordinate your moves 
with my great-granddaughter."

"Uh...sorry, Coach," Ukyo winced slightly, "Don't know where I went for a second 
there.  It just sounded like I'd heard Akane calling out to me is all..."

"Aiyaa," Shampoo turned to the chef, "This one also think she hear Akane in her 
mind.  Maybe she need our assistance and maybe Spatula girl and Shampoo should 
go to find her..."

"Nice try," Cologne said tartly, "But your oath-sister is with Elder Trieste and 
her mother, and I foresee no dire emergency that would require the attention of 
two untrained minds who can barely skate with proficiency enough to seem half-
way competent.  You are going to have to work a lot harder than that if you 
think to skip out of your lessons."

"Aiyaa," Ukyo exclaimed, copying one of Shampoo's favorite exclamations, which 
earned her an amused look from her nominal skating partner, the purple haired 
wonder who was struggling just as hard as herself to stay upright while doing 
special maneuvers.

"Maybe we do another lift, Great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked, adding in a sweet 
undertone, "This time maybe Ucchan no drop this one on her ass?  Is very cold 
place to sit, yes?"

Despite herself Ukyo felt her cheeks grow red for reasons that had nothing to do 
with the cold of their surroundings, "I said I was sorry about that, Sugar.  I 
didn't actually mean to drop you...any more than I did to fall down on my own 
ass."

"Is not same as Jack ass, yes?" Shampoo gave a bright little wink at Ukyo, 
making a play at the chef's own favorite put-down expression, "Is better things 
do with ass than make get cold, yes?"

Ukyo squirmed a bit, feeling a slight tenseness over certain parts of her own 
anatomy as she met the red-eyed stare of her comely female companion.  It was 
times such as this when Ukyo was actually glad that she had not been born a boy, 
even though she might have pretended to be one throughout various parts of her 
own life.  A boy would have had an instant erection had the purple-haired Amazon 
flirted like that and with such open invitation, and the sort of hard-on she 
would have inspired could make standing upright **extremely** problematic.

As it was, Ukyo could feel her nipples hardening beneath her sports bra, 
reminding her (like the phantom tingling in her crotch) just how close she felt 
towards this "inflatable sex-doll" who seemed to think Lesbian sex was just 
another form of routine training exercise, one to be seized upon and executed 
with a "take-no-prisoners" gusto that would leave Ukyo too weak in the knees 
without hope of remaining upright for any great duration.

It also reminded her of how strongly attracted she was to Shampoo as a person, 
and not just as a quick and easy lay, which some guys would have regarded her 
as, much to their mortal peril.  Shampoo was no one to be taken lightly.  There 
were layers and depths to the lavender-haired sexpot that shone out from time to 
time at unexpected moments.  Ukyo might once have dismissed the Amazon as an 
air-headed bimbo had she not gotten to know Shampoo as a person in between their 
bouts of intense heavy petting and foreplay.  Shampoo had more wits about her 
than most people expected, and she could be surprisingly insightful and deep 
when the opportunity was at hand for her to express the cunning mind that lurked 
behind her outwardly baby-doll persona.

It took supreme will to resist the temptations that Shampoo had to offer, but 
Ukyo had resolved to slow things down for a bit in order to get her bearings.  
From the moment she had first permitted Shampoo and Ukyo to go down on her and 
teach her the joys of exploring a woman's body she had known only constant 
eroticism underlying their more tender moments of quiet talk between all of the 
foreplay.  It made concentrating on their martial arts studies an exercise in 
torment unending, for as hard as Ukyo tried not to think of sex more Sex seemed 
to permeate her thinking until she was surely in danger of losing her edge 
having traded her dark Sith passions for something much wilder, much more out of 
control, like riding a fierce tiger that was her dawning appetite for carnal 
pleasure and the joys of mutual gratification.

There was a time when Ukyo would have believed that she could live without sex 
and romance in her life, a time when she had been convinced that she needed no 
one but herself and her own resources, but experiments in masturbation had 
proven quickly that there was a huge difference between fanaticizing about sex 
and actually doing it with another living person.  Sex with Shampoo or Akane 
could be fun, mysterious, even exciting in ways that could leave her gasping in 
suspense of impending moment of release, which might be denied her for many 
agonizing minutes if her partners were feeling unusually playful.  Tease and 
torment her as they would, there were times when Akane and Shampoo could really 
open up to Ukyo and let their passions flow with an erotic intensity that went 
far beyond any mere physical sensation.  She knew them now as though they had 
been born her sisters, and yet there was still so much to be revealed, and Ukyo 
found that she wanted to learn all that she could about her new playmates, for 
recent convert that she was to the emotions of her own "Light" side, she still 
retained the memory of many lonely nights wishing that she could find someone to 
make those nights shine a little bit brighter.

Ukyo had never been able to trust anyone like this before, to be so totally at 
ease in the company of a companion.  It was hard to give up the discipline of 
years or to ignore the feelings of hurt and betrayal that had driven her into 
Darth Purge's path in the first place.  Lowering the barriers that she had 
erected to protect herself against getting too close to anyone was something 
altogether new for her, and yet when she was with Shampoo she found those 
barriers almost did not exist at all, for Shampoo hardly needed any such walls 
around her own heart, and she was such a caring and gentle person (when not in 
an aroused frenzy of sweet passion) beneath her rounded packaging that it 
surprised Ukyo to note how she responded in kind with hardly any prodding, 
allowing Shampoo into her presence without more than a token reservation.  Not 
even laying hands on her, or responding in kind to those un-subtle "come-hither" 
gestures that the Amazon kept tossing her way almost made the sex seem academic, 
for Shampoo could easily seduce her just by smiling in that alluring sort of 
way, much as she was doing now as Ukyo stood regarding her companion and losing 
herself in those ruby eyes of...

"Whenever you feel ready to rejoin us, Kuonji-san," Cologne tersely reminded 
Ukyo, causing the chef to start as though from a trance, feeling as if minutes 
had ticked by when, in point of fact, only seconds had elapsed from one 
heartbeat to the next.

"Ah...right," Ukyo swallowed, "No problem, Old Woman, I'm ready."

"Yes," Cologne remarked dryly, "But ready for what?  If you want to reserve a 
room together, then we could always practice later."

Ukyo felt her cheeks flush from the scolding sarcasm and growled, "I said I was 
ready NOW.  I'm not putting this off for later."

"Is good," Shampoo replied in that softly cooing voice of hers, "Because where 
it come to Ucchan, this one is always ready."

"H-Huh?" Ukyo blinked, once again caught off-guard by the saucy minx whose very 
nearness to Ukyo was more than a little distracting.  In fact this whole 
business with the Amazon was making her more and more aware that Ukyo was set to 
play the "masculine" role in their match against the Golden Pair, Shampoo 
against the frilly-haired Azusa while Ukyo stood against the womanizing 
Senzenen, yet where Mikado prided himself on his ability to steal kisses from 
unsuspecting young women, Ukyo was finding one woman at a time a bit of a 
handful, and two handfuls if you counted Akane.

The past two days of sleeping alone had also done something rather unexpected to 
Ukyo that made it much harder for her to resist the not-so-subtle charms of her 
curvy companions.  Up until the previous night two evening ago Ukyo had thought 
herself merely a passive player in these games of bedroom gymnastics that they 
both played with each other and Akane (and when all three were together---watch 
out!  They could really shake the rooftops for a block around in all 
directions).  Having been forcibly seduced by both girls in a shower after her 
near-encounter with a group of oversexed hentai, Ukyo would have sworn that a 
night alone by herself was just the thing she needed to clear her mind and get 
over this sense of being used as a sex toy.  Having to live in constant dread of 
being ambushed in the showers or when alone over the past two weeks had made her 
a bit antsy about spending so much time with both Shampoo and Akane.

Those two were just a little too casual in their affairs, one reason why Ukyo 
had felt uneasy about their threesomes, and that made it hard to take serious 
any profession on their part to being serious about a relationship, warning Ukyo 
that she would be heading into romantic disaster if she genuinely lost her heart 
to either girl, a fact that Ukyo would once have sworn was impossible since she 
had been convinced that it was really a man that she was after.

But when the threat of being pounced upon was taken away, Ukyo found herself a 
little too much aware of how cold it felt to sleep in a bed with nothing warm 
beside her.  Being sandwiched between Akane and Shampoo had actually started to 
feel comfortable after a while, even if she had to occasionally wrestle with 
them for her half of the bedsheets.  She was also a little too aware now of just 
how sensitive her body was to the slightest caress or tender display of 
affection, sensations that being constantly screwed into a state of repetitive 
orgasm had awoken in her, which in turn threatened her very identity as a 
thoroughly "hetero" kind of woman.  Even dismissing her reactions by conceding 
that she was really "Bi" did nothing to diminish her awareness of just how good 
it felt to be in the presence of another woman.  The feeling of being in the 
arms of another girl was...right...nice...entirely natural, not at all weird or 
forbidden, as she might once have expected.  She was a little dubious of what a 
guy might feel like at her side and supposed it would depend on the guy, but the 
more she thought on it, the more certain she was that it was a woman she desired 
beneath the covers.

And Shampoo was a woman, that was beyond any question!  A blind man living on 
another planet could see plainly that the Amazon was as feminine as she was 
curvaceous and affectionate in all things.  Her body was incredibly well toned 
yet soft to the touch with effective padding that made snuggling up with her a 
delight to be relished.  Men would kill to have a girl such as her in their bed 
doing things that you did not find in the pages of the Kama Sutra, and yet 
Shampoo seemed to have taken to her with equal ardor, inspiring in Ukyo the sort 
of sensations for which she had no real adequate description.

In a lot of ways Ukyo felt the same way towards Akane, though for notably 
different reasons.  Akane was not as well-rounded and curvaceous as the Amazon, 
but you could be hard pressed to fault her for her feminine qualities, which 
were all too ready on display at the slightest invitation.  Akane was nice in 
spite of her general raunchiness and irrepressible ways, and she had the means 
of making Ukyo feel oddly feminine herself without compromising her "manly" act, 
adding a fierce element to their lovemaking that went along with the softer, 
more leisurely effort at "fooling around" on their way to an eventual double-
orgasm.  Akane seemed to relish the foreplay even more than she did the eventual 
outcome, and with her a sexual moment could linger on for what seemed like hours 
before getting to the moment.  Time seemed to just vanish when they were 
together, and yet Ukyo had only just become aware of it when denied that feeling 
of prolonged frenzy on the previous two evenings...

A sudden impact against the back of their heels sent both Ukyo and Shampoo 
tumbling backward against the ice, and with a solid, "WHOOSH!" they found 
themselves staring up at the ceiling once again, only this time with Cologne 
standing over them with an inscrutable expression.

"Are you certain that you two are paying attention?" the old woman scoffed, 
"Because this twice that I have caught you both napping.  Distractions in a 
battle are dangerous, Kuonji-san...and you, Child, shame on you, torturing her 
like that.  You ought to have more shame for your actions...but then again, why 
start now?  Shame certainly is not a quality that you picked up from your 
mother."

"Hibiichan?" Shampoo blinked with a somewhat confused expression.

"Dammit, Old Woman, I am paying attention...sort of," Ukyo snapped as she sat 
upright and rubbed the sore spots on her back and shoulders, "You don't have to 
play so rough..."

"Less grumbling and more concentration," Cologne said coolly, "Either you 
practice today or you and Shampoo can go off somewhere to work this out of your 
system.  Either way do not waste my time or the value of my lessons."

"I can handle it," Ukyo insisted, managing to get back on her feet on her own 
power while offering Shampoo a hand without even thinking twice about the 
gesture, "You just watch me."

"Famous last words," Cologne replied, "Remind me to quote them back at your 
funeral."

Ukyo just glared at the Amazon Elder, but she also knew that Cologne was 
entirely right about her inability to concentrate.  The problem was that her 
present company was making that concentration all but impossible, much though 
she was loath to have to admit it.  Being this close to Shampoo while they 
trained was making her altogether aware of the not-so-subtle changes that had 
come into Ukyo's life since turning away from her Sith training to discover 
another way to live than her former desire for vengeance.  Into that gaping hole 
that had been the aching marrow of her soul had come a different kind of feeling 
altogether, an awareness of her own body that was new and exciting yet 
frightening at the selfsame instant.  Without realizing it she had been leaning 
upon Akane and Shampoo for a kind of support that she had never found with her 
former Master or fellow Sith apprentices, like discovering a color you never 
noticed before, or a sound that was new to your experience.  All at once it 
mattered very much that she was a woman who was intimate with the bodies of 
other women, and Ukyo wondered if that was what the Amazon had meant all along 
by her kinky idea of "therapy," to give Ukyo a cause worth living for that did 
not involve maiming and killing the former object of her misplaced childhood 
affections...

"Is ready to go?" Shampoo gently asked Ukyo, having noticed the pause in her 
silence and the curious regard of the cross-dressing chef, which was not all the 
wary, guarded look of a former Sith, "Spatula girl still want more training, or 
maybe take up great-grandmother suggestion?"

"Huh?" Ukyo started abruptly, shaken out of her silent meditations as the memory 
of the present flooded in to remind her of what a scene it would make to follow 
through on her sudden impulse to take Shampoo right there and then on the ice 
and forget all about the old woman and her ideas about combat ice skating.  She 
looked away and blushed furiously, astonished at how easily her thoughts could 
be distracted by the altogether distracting presence of her purple haired 
companion.  It was not like she was **that** much into girls after all, no 
matter the fact that she had never felt this way around any mere boy of her 
acquaintance...

"Well then," Cologne noted shrewdly, "If you are through mentally undressing one 
another during these silent pauses, perhaps now you will be willing to do a few 
simple figure eights together, followed by a lift and toss with you, Shampoo, 
performing an aerial pirouette, followed by a catch by Miss Kuonji here.  Do you 
think the two of you are up to something this simple?"

Ukyo steadied herself and said, "Bring it on, old woman...I'm more than ready."

"Just remember where you place hands, Spatula-girl," Shampoo teased softly, 
"This one no mind you touch her down there, but is very hard to maintain 
balance."

Despite the fact that she already felt beet-red around the cheeks, that lilting 
chirrup in Shampoo's voice, coupled by her soft breath against Ukyo's neck, was 
enough to make her face go absolutely crimson.  Ooooh, how the flirt was gonna 
pay for that one!  Ukyo would dream up ways of paying her back just as soon as 
they were alone together, and screw this resolve to remain alone, aloof and 
apart while training.  Two days of celibacy was enough to make the point that 
Ukyo needed companionship at night as much as she needed the warmth of a 
blanket, and as horny as the Amazon was making her feel right now, Ukyo would 
not rest until she had the other girl screaming out her name at night, with or 
without the muffling of a pillow.

And the same went double for Akane!  Ukyo was more than tired of being the 
passive player in these shenanigans, it was long since time that she paid the 
Tomboy back for messing up her life so completely.  Before Akane and Shampoo had 
come along her aims in life had been simple: find Ranma and pay him back for 
choosing okonomiyaki over her, then prove to Master Purge that she was his 
worthy successor, then wipe Taro and her rival students off the map in one fell 
swoop.  Tidy and simple...until Akane had come along and treated Ukyo like a 
human being, even granted her intent was seduction.  Akane had taught Ukyo how 
to care, had made her question everything that she had formerly taken for 
granted, had even caused Ukyo to open herself up to life and discover what 
friendship could be like, albeit with a strong sexual component.

You did not forgive a thing like that too lightly, and Ukyo would teach the 
upstart Tendo a thing or two about seduction.  After all, when you mess with the 
fire you should prepare to be burned, and Ukyo was in the mood to dish out a 
little payback that was hot and steaming on a silver platter, laced with a heady 
spice of, "What you sow you reap" in big gold letters.  Then she would see if 
Akane's resolve held true or if she were all talk and no action, and woe betide 
the younger girl if Ukyo was not satisfied as to her fidelity, or else she would 
make certain that Akane "punishment" was more than doubled...

But first the old woman had to be satisfied on a very different level, so it was 
back to the grindstone to hone her body for the coming match a few days hence.  
She had come far enough to where she hardly wobbled on her skates anymore, and 
before too long she resolved to make falling on her ass a thing of the past...

Provided she could keep her mind on her job as she had a strong hint that 
Shampoo's streak of mischief was only just beginning to manifest, which made 
Ukyo very glad that she was not a boy or she could never have remained upright 
long enough to perform even the most basic of maneuvers...


***


Gosunkugi gasped and opened his eyes, surprise written plain in his expression 
as he turned and looked at the other girl inquiringly, seeing Kasumi's serene 
features as she regarded him with frank admiration.  Even after two days of 
knowing her he still was disconcerted by the aura of calm that she projected, a 
sense of otherworldly peace behind intelligent eyes that were probing and yet 
surprisingly gentle, almost the beatific face of an angel.

"Well now," Kasumi mused, "The Force does indeed flow very strong within you, 
Gosunkugi-kun.  Small wonder you have visions even at your relatively untrained 
state.  I dare say that you could learn much from us, and we could learn a great 
deal from having you for a fellow student."

"Really?" Gosunkugi asked, surprised at being praised by this heavenly goddess 
whose voice and manners were altogether soothing to his fragile nerves.

"You serious, Sis?" Nabiki asked off to one side, "You really think Hikaru-kun 
here is Jedi material?"

"Could take a while to bring him up to par," Ranma mused as he studied the boy 
whom they had befriended the other day, "Guy needs muscle tone and a whole lot 
of breathing exercises to channel that Ki of his so he'll look even halfway 
healthy."

"It goes without saying that you could use some physical conditioning, 
Gosunkugi-kun," Kasumi smiled at the boy before turning to her sister and their 
mutual iinazuke, "But training in the Force has many different levels and areas 
of specialty, and I don't believe that Gosunkugi-kun's best talents would be 
served by training him to be a fighter.  Self defense lessons, yes, but I 
believe that he could specialize in his talents and become something that I have 
only heard described by Mistress Trieste as a Jedi Sage...a kind of Force Master 
who studies the ebb and flow of currents to learn to predict the Force and to 
channel the flow into variable outcomes."

"Really?" Gosunkugi asked, his mouth hanging open in astonishment at this 
particular revelation.

"You're kidding, right?" Nabiki said, "Hikaru-kun here could be a Sage or a 
Force Wizard?"

"Stranger things have been known to happen, Imotochan," Kasumi gave a fond smile 
to her sister, "And believe me, I have seen many strange things during my 
travels."

"So there's such a thing as a Jedi Wizard?" Ranma asked with a puzzled 
expression.

"The Force is more than just a field of energy, Ranma-kun," Nabiki explained, 
"It's a living thing that binds and links everything in the cosmos.  Learning to 
work with it is a bit like channeling with the Kami, you open your mind to the 
variable possibilities and then select an outcome, much like you'd do on a 
computer operating system when pointing and clicking on an icon.  The difference 
here is that it's more like bartering with the force, haggling and coaxing it to 
behave the way you want it to, altering probabilities and even reshaping 
physical reality into whatever you desire.  It's a hard skill to master and it 
takes years of intensive focus and training, but if Hikaru-kun here has what it 
takes to begin training in that field, then he's a rare find indeed, and maybe 
that's why the Force led us to him in the first place."

"You...you mean this?" Gosunkugi asked, "You can train me to be a Wizard?"

"It's not the same discipline as sorcery or other conventional forms of magic, 
but...yes," Kasumi replied, "Mistress Trieste will begin training you in the 
basics.  All you need to do for now is to practice the kind of breathing 
exercises that will help you learn to channel and focus your Chi.  Once you 
learn to tap into the flow of life itself and hold a space within you where it 
came pool and gather, then you will be ready for other more challenging lessons.  
That and the physical conditioning that Ranma-kun has recommended."

"I...I don't know what to say," Gosunkugi replied, "I can't pay you for these 
lessons..."

"Hey, we'll talk what you can do for us another time, Hikaru-kun," Nabiki 
smiled, "We're not real big about money around here.  Well, I kinda-sorta am, 
but that's 'cause I help pay the bills around here.  A real Jedi wouldn't be too 
concerned, though, since there's other ways that friends can help each other in 
lieu of payment.  For now there's no charge, and I know that Sensei would be 
insulted if you offered any.  It's enough of a prize just to find someone like 
you, an ally who has natural Force abilities.  We can worry about the rest of it 
much later, after we learn what your real capabilities are like."

In Gosunkugi's experience the words, "We can discuss payment later" always 
signified trouble, but coming from the middle Tendo sister it sounded like a 
sincere reassurance that they could work something out that would be to both of 
their advantage.  Besides, the thought of being trained in something that could 
make his talents useful, a boon rather than a curse, was reason enough for him 
to want to sign on, even if they made him sign an oath in his own blood at this 
point.  He wanted to learn, and he was willing to do whatever it took to excel 
in the arts that these people had to offer.

Kasumi nodded as she read the thoughts and clear desire in the younger boy and 
nodded approvingly.  This Gosunkugi Hikaru had been treated rather horribly all 
of his life, and the marks of long abuse were clearly written upon him, and yet-
--in spite of everything that he had endured---there was a good man waiting to 
be discovered already within him, and with a bit of encouragement that boy could 
be prodded into coming to the surface.  He would indeed be a boon for the cause 
of the Jedi if he could be turned completely away from the Dark side to the 
Light.  Her Mistress would be very pleased in him if Gosunkugi truly did grow up 
to be a formidable Force Wizard, and the boy did need to feel what kindness was 
like if he were to be protected from the likes of both the Yakuza and Darth 
Purge.  It was only fitting that he be shown the way and given the chance to 
work towards his own redemption.

"Gosunkugi-kun," she began gently, "I am going to show you some basic breathing 
techniques that I want you to practice on your own when you leave this dojo.  
Please come here after school tomorrow and we will see how much progress you 
have made in learning to relax and channel energy.  Then Mistress Trieste will 
begin your instructions according to her determination of what is best for you.  
Are you ready to begin now?"

"Yes, please," Gosunkugi nodded, feeling his excitement level build to where he 
could barely contain himself.

So Kasumi spoke calmly and evenly, explaining the fundamentals of Breath control 
to the younger boy, then asking him to practice several times visualizing a ball 
of light in the air above his head, and how that light was shining down upon him 
like a miniature star, filling him up with pure white light.  She then had him 
visualize a ball of light pooling in his solar plexus and studied Gosunkugi as 
he tried to copy her ideas, gently correcting him with soft admonitions when he 
strayed too far, but gradually getting the results that she was after, at which 
point she smiled and nodded in complete satisfaction.

"That is very good, Gosunkugi-kun," she complimented, "Now...just keep 
practicing this on your way home from our dojo, and be here around four or so 
for your next lesson."

"Thank you," the bow bowed, dropping forward to touch his forehead to the floor, 
his calmness momentarily replaced with joy and relief as he said, "I am forever 
in your debt.  If you ever need anything from me..."

"Oh, don't worry, Hikaru-kun," Nabiki chimed in helpfully for her sister, "If 
anything comes up, then we'll know how to find you."

"Have a very good evening and a safe journey to your home, Gosunkugi-kun," 
Kasumi smiled as she rose to her feet and padded softly to the door of the dojo, 
waiting to see the younger man outside before sliding the doors shut against the 
evening breeze just then blowing with the close of sunset.

Nabiki sensed a sudden shift in her sister's mood and said, "What's up, Kasumi?  
Is something wrong?"

"No," Kasumi smiled a bit shyly, "Anything but.  It is just...when I sought you 
and Ranma-kun out at Doctor Tofu's place the other day...I wasn't in mind to 
pick up yet another student for our dojo.  Strange how the ways of the Force can 
shape our destiny..."

"Um...yeah?" Ranma asked nervously, also sensing a curious difference in the 
attitude of the older of his two iinazuke.

Kasumi padded on bare feet back to the center of the room then turned to regard 
her sister and iinazuke, her smile a bit more shy and hesitant than was her 
usual demure wont, but her eyes shone warmly with affection on them both as she 
took a deep breath to steady her own nerves, gathering up her strength and 
courage to go through with the thing that she and her elders had already 
discussed together.

"Ranma-kun," the older girl began, "There are many different kinds of training 
in the ways of the Force, as you have just seen with Gosunkugi-kun.  
Only...there is an area of training that Mistress Trieste and my mother thought 
the both of us could profit by...and you, too, Imotochan.  That is why I asked 
you to come meet with me here within our dojo."

"What's up, Sis?" Nabiki asked in clear surprise, sensing an unusual rise in 
emotional activity in the usually serene Kasumi.

"Nabiki...Ranma-kun," Kasumi gently nodded and waved to the center of the room, 
"Come sit with me in a circle.  We have...something to discuss that concerns us 
all, and we all need to be relaxed and at ease before we begin the ritual.  I 
trust neither of you has any objections?"

Both Ranma and Nabiki blinked in perfect synchronization, then both glanced at 
the other before shrugging, and then they got up and sat themselves down on the 
floor facing Kasumi in a rude triangle-like manner.  Kasumi settled in then 
reached out her hands and took Nabiki by her right hand, Ranma by her left, 
which encouraged Ranma and Nabiki to hold hands together, completing a circuit 
as they all were positioned surprisingly close together.

Kasumi took a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining a circle of light 
stretching out to surround and protect her loved ones, thus sealing them off 
from outside intrusion.  She knew her father was out drinking with uncle Genma, 
and Aunt Nodoka was cleaning house back at the Saotome place.  Trieste and 
Kimiko were with Akane at the Kuno mansion...best not to think too hard there.  
And as for the old man...well...Kasumi did not sense him anywhere about, which 
meant that the perv---ah---ancient Grand Master of the Anything Goes school was 
about and about his usual rounds causing trouble for others.

This meant that they would not be disturbed for hours, which was good since what 
Kasumi had in mind would require many hours to complete, especially if she 
performed the ritual exactly the same way that she had used when she initiated 
Shampoo into the Jedi arts...with---hopefully---a very similar outcome...

She let her thoughts drift away from her like bubbles of water floating to the 
surface of a large fish tank, then imagined herself as the fish swimming within 
the confines of the absolute stillness that surrounded and supported her.  She 
then became aware of the two other fish sharing the space nearby her and smiled 
the more deeply, opening her thoughts to the both of them so that the need for 
words was obliterated altogether.

**Welcome, Sister Dear and Ranma-kun,** she began, **Welcome to the circle of 
light that is ever unbroken.  Join with me now and let us gather our energies 
and share them together...**

**Huh?** Ranma mentally asked.

**She means let it go and go with the flow, Ranma-kun,** Nabiki affectionately 
answered, **It'll come to you naturally enough in a couple of minutes.**

**That includes you, little sister,** Kasumi projected with mild amusement in 
her tone and expression, **This is not our usual session of thought projection 
and reception...here we must lower our barriers completely, which is why I have 
effected a Siege Perilous protective ward around this area of the dojo.  Here we 
must let down our guards and our pretense of who and what we are before our own 
eyes and each other in order to see the true and essential person lurking 
beneath all surface projections.  For you this may be especially hard, but for 
Ranma-kun...**

**Huh?** Ranma mentally asked, his thoughts mirroring Nabiki's own unspoken 
exclamation that was also partly a question.

**All of our barriers?** Nabiki asked, feeling slightly trapped and confined as 
she sensed the sincerity of her sister's declaration.

**All of them,** Kasumi replied with a gentle smile, her tone firm and level, 
**If we are to become a family unit and share who we are, grow as close as we 
wish to be, then we must allow nothing to come between us.  The purpose of the 
Siege Perilous is to provide a save enclosure where we may reaffirm our 
acquaintance with one another, little sister, and to get to know Ranma-kun 
better.  We cannot do this if we hide any part of ourselves.  We must lower our 
defenses and expose our true being so that each of us may know and appreciate 
our individual make-up.**

Nabiki shied away from this, feeling the dread of what Kasumi was implying.  
Another time, in the real world, and she would have covered her apprehension and 
fear behind a mask of stoicism and indifference, using well-honed reflexes to 
permit sarcasm and cynicism to deflect attention away from her insecurities.  On 
the astral plane, however, emotions were more real words and thoughts could not 
be so easily hidden as her entire being tended to reflect and express her moods 
to the notice of the others.  She could sense Ranma's emotions, for example, and 
the shimmering vibrancy manifested by her older sister.

**I...I will try, Oneechan,** Nabiki allowed, then winced slightly before 
correcting herself, **I mean...I'll do what I can, if the same thing holds true 
for Ranma-kun.**

**Huh?"** Ranma asked with a deeply troubled expression.

**That is as it should be,** Kasumi nodded before continuing, **We must learn to 
accept one another with all our faults and failings while balancing our 
strengths and virtues.  For example...Ranma-kun, you have spent your whole 
lifetime learning to protect your ego from direct challenge by the baiting and 
switching tactics of your father, but here you can let go of this habit and 
express yourself without hesitation or restraint.  You can be the sort of person 
whom you have always wished yourself to be and let us into your world to know 
the real you, just as you can get to know the both of us without fearing the 
consequences.**

**Uh...I dunno, Kasumi,** Ranma replied, his aura becoming somewhat vaguer, more 
indistinct, as if clutching to the walls around his emotions with more intensity 
than ever, "What you're asking...it's kind of a lot...**

To his surprise the older girl reached out a pale etheric hand to take his 
between her finger, the contact allowing him to open up to her on a level of 
which he had never previously be aware with any other living person.

**I know that this must be hard for you,** the willowy Jedi apprentice 
entreated, her aura bright with desire and longing, **But please...trust us.  In 
your heart you must know that neither Nabiki nor I would ever betray your 
confidence, nor would we do anything else that make potentially hurt you.**

**I know that, Kasumi," Ranma mentally replied, **But...it's hard...**

Nabiki felt the hurt within him as surprise and worry warred within him with 
desire and a tentative kind of hope.  There was no overt eroticism in their 
iinazuke's regard of them both, though the presence of two young and beautiful 
young ladies were awakening within him a growing sense of his own isolation and 
a feeling of need for which he had no words to describe, which were definitely 
the kind that begged for nurturing and attention.

But then she felt Kasumi respond in kind, which surprised Nabiki greatly, for 
though she could easily identify a need to be nurturing and maternal in her 
older sister, the sort of erotic sensations that Kasumi manifested were entirely 
those of a young woman who was desperately in need of companionship and who 
yearned to reach out to the objects of her affection.  On the one hand there was 
the obvious feeling of intense, almost physical attraction towards the 
masculinity that was Ranma...yet rivaling this was a different sense of erotic 
desire and emotional yearning that had Nabiki as its focus.  What surprised 
Nabiki most of all, however, was a companion sense of similar yearning and need 
that she found awaken within herself, as if she yearned to hug Ranma tightly to 
her breasts while at the same time wanting to climb into the lap of her older 
sister and cuddle up like an affectionate kitten.

The reference to kitten triggered a faint sense of aversion within Ranma, but 
this only increased his desire to be held and to find solace with another as his 
aura literally polarized to match his emotional template.  A part of her wanted 
to draw away, to maintain her safe distance, but a stronger part of her yearned 
to reach out to him, to obliterate the boundaries that separated them in the 
present so that she could give to him the solace he so desperately needed, 
sensing her own loneliness and isolation crumbling as she tried to hold on to 
her identity and not lose herself in the wash of these curious sensations.

**You see how it is?** Kasumi asked gently, her mental words intruding over the 
flow of these non-verbalized emotions, **This is the power of the Siege 
unveiled, stripping bare all pretense and illusion to reveal that which is 
normally hidden, allowing us to know the unspoken thoughts that we each are 
sharing.**

**Weird,** Ranma exclaimed with a raw sense of need being exposed behind his 
normal shell of independence.

**I hear you there, Ranma-kun,** Nabiki acknowledged with as much pretence as 
she could put on the charade of her nominally aloof stoicism.

 **Now you both know the truth on what we are feeling,** Kasumi smiled, though 
her lips were not really moving in accordance with the words she was projecting, 
**Ranma-kun, you have wanted for companionship your entire life, whether 
friendship or any other sort of attachment that you have been afraid of 
acknowledging lest you be thought unmanly.  But now you know that Nabiki and I 
will not judge or condemn you for having such a need.  We are your friends...and 
we both wish to be so much more than mere friends with you, if you will permit 
it.**

**Ah...I guess...maybe a little...** Ranma grudgingly conceded.

**And you, little sister,** Kasumi turned a wry complex of emotions towards 
Nabiki, both chiding and affectionate, **You have as much to learn about sharing 
your own feelings.  It is one thing to ask others to accept us as the persons 
whom we present ourselves to be, but it is quite another to let the real you 
shine forth so that Ranma-kun and I may know you as a person.  And in truth, I 
am very curious to know the sort of young woman that you have grown to be, 
Imotochan.  Two years separation was much too long this last time.  I want to 
erase whatever distance has grown up between us, to know the real you and to 
have you know the real me, which is why we will conduct this on the plane of the 
spirit, where dissemblance and evasion are all but impossible as thought is 
reality and flesh a mere illusion...**

Ranma felt as though the room around them had just shifted around them in some 
subtle sort of way, for one moment it was dark and unlit with only the fading 
shadows of twilight settling over everything, but then it felt as though a cool 
wind passed through his spine, and suddenly everything was different, their 
surroundings bathed in a soft pale bluish grey while his companions were bathed 
in light and shone from within as though illuminated from an inward souse.  He 
also noticed a peculiar lightness to his own body and marveled that his thought 
processes seemed much clearer and far more fluid in this state.  As he regarded 
Kasumi and Nabiki he noticed that the short haired Tendo sister had a faintly 
gold corona to her aura, while Kasumi's aura was bathed in a lavender hue, very 
soothing to the eye and reassuring to the spirit.

**Now we are as one upon the plane of the spirit,** Kasumi projected calmly, 
**Cast aside all mundane concerns and focus only upon the here and the now.  
Feel the warmth that flows between the Force and us that is a part of 
everything.  Do you feel the light of the Monad that glows so brightly within 
us, my dear sister and iinazuke?**

**I-I feel it,** Nabiki marveled as she glanced around and seemed to shimmer 
more brightly, almost becoming translucent, **The Force is so much stronger on 
this level...is this the Astral Plane that Sensei speaks about so often?**

**We are indeed residing upon the third level of being,** Kasumi replied, 
**Unmanifest creation, the Sea of Light that exists all around us yet is unseen 
upon the plane of mortality.  Here form and matter have no meaning, only thought 
exists, and the bodies you see projected are our own constructions put up by our 
egos to sustain our grasp of such trivial concerns as form and dimension.  The 
human mind is not wired to perceive beyond the depths of four dimensions, 
Imotochan, yet here in the Third Dimension we have space without limit, form 
without time, endless eternity itself, the realm of the Mind and Emotions that 
harness the plane of matter to shape according to our perceptions.**

**Ah...I don't get all that,** Ranma confessed as he glanced all around at the 
eerie space all around them, feeling as though he were on the bottom of a vast 
ocean but had no need to breathe the air, the spiritual energies themselves 
sustaining him as he felt his Chi flow strongly throughout what his mind still 
interpreted to be his body, **But this place...it's...kinda nice...**

**This is the realm all minds return to when we outside of our bodies, Ranma-
kun,** Nabiki informed him, **When we dream it is here that our spirits go to 
experience the wonders of out own thought creations.  Our minds need routinely 
to unravel the collected data and information that we accumulate in an average 
day, and by the seemingly random process of visualization that we call dreaming 
we are able to sort through our days events and arrive at previously unknown 
resolutions.  This is also the realm that we tap into whenever we make use of 
the Force.  It exists parallel to the universe we know, but its essential nature 
is unfinished, lacking the element of time that causes the limitations of matter 
that we know of in the solid world of flesh.**

**Form without Form,** Nabiki reflected in realization, **Space without Time, 
spirit without flesh, and all things are illusions projected and perceived by 
the mind and the spirit.**

**Very good, Imotochan,** Kasumi fairly glowed with pleasure, **In truth there 
is only the soul that exists.  Matter does not truly exist, it is but an 
illusion of time and space, the creation of a vast universal projection that we 
call reality for lack of a better understanding.  In the Hindu culture they call 
the universe we know the Dream of Bhraman...in Middle Eastern Cabalism there is 
the story of the Great Souled Man, Adam Kadmon.  In both systems the universe is 
seen as the creation of the mind of a God whose imagination is quite literally 
limitless, and in our finite lives we are but mere expressions of that singular 
being, his children by connection to the single spark that we share in all of 
us.  To the Jedi the belief is somewhat simpler in structure but infinitely more 
complex.  Life creates itself...and the Universe we know is the collective 
projection of trillions of thoughts by luminous beings who dream as we do of the 
world that we actually live within...**

**Ah...you've just lost me,** Ranma reluctantly conceded.

**Don't worry about it, Ranma-kun,** Nabiki smiled back, finding that their 
iinazuke was rather cute when he became this clueless, **It takes time to get a 
handle on this stuff, especially if you haven't had any formal training in Five-
dimensional theory.  Actually, the simplest way of describing it would be to 
imagine a perfect square, like this...** she held up her hands and a form took 
shape within this space, a cube of solid light that hovered softly between her 
hands as though she were some sort of living projector.

**Whoah,** Ranma thought aloud, leaning closer to marvel at the hovering object, 
which was no more than two decameters in length on any side (approximately eight 
inches), "How are you doing that?**

**Imagination and will,** Nabiki answered, enjoying showing off for the benefit 
of their fiancée, **As Oneechan just explained, nothing is real here except what 
we imagine to be real, so you can create objects here that look and feel solid, 
but they're just props in a stage show.  Now, watch what happens when I warp a 
cube into a sphere.**

Ranma did indeed watch as the projected cube suddenly shifted and flowed before 
his eyes, one side collapsing inward until the four corners touched each other 
while the opposite side expanded outward and formed a balloon-like outer skin, 
the other walls bending with the flow until the object was totally inverted, and 
then a hovering ball took up the space that the cube had previously occupied.

**Warping the cube,** Nabiki grinned, **About the simplest topographical 
equation there is in 4-D mathematics.**

**Very good, Nabiki,** Kasumi nodded with approval, **You have just illustrated 
the difference between Three and Four dimensional space.  You see, Ranma-kun?  
One shape flows into the other by simply expanding the dimensions.  Length, 
width and volume gain the extra dimension of time, and energy thus is 
transformed into matter, for the sphere is the universal shape of our dimension.  
All particle physics arises from this one simple equation, and the energy of the 
spirit becomes translated as flesh, which is how our bodies are formed, by 
projecting our mental and spiritual images into finite reality.**

**Yeah,** Nabiki noted, **But when you lock things up in flesh you also take on 
limitations, which is why matter doesn't like to stay in one finite form for all 
eternity but breaks down into entropy, which is why even Jedi can grow old and 
die, albeit at a slower rate than for most persons.**

**I think I'm starting to get it...sort of,** Ranma mused, **If we're really 
just energy that's shaped like solid stuff, then if we control our energy we can 
affect our bodies, right?**

**Congratulations, Ranma-kun,** Kasumi beamed, **You've just graduated to the 
next level of understanding.**

**Yeah, but if you think warping the cube is something then you ought to try 
this,** Nabiki grinned, holding up her hands again as the sphere she was 
projecting hovered in the space above her hands for another moment, then the 
middle Tendo sister concentrated and something happened to the sphere, a 
dimpling became an inward collapse until a whole opened up in the middle of the 
sphere to form a hovering donut-shaped projection.

**Behold the Torus,** Nabiki grinned, **The Fifth Dimension in a nutshell, 
otherwise known as the Eye of God, or the Wormhole effect simplified to its 
easiest level.**

**I believe that may be going a bit too fast for Ranma-kun to absorb, 
Imotochan,** Kasumi gently chided.

**Naw, he's quick enough to pick this up, aren't you Ranma-kun?** Nabiki gave 
him the sort of smile that tended to cause Ranma's sense of orientation to fly 
out the window, though he managed to regain his bearings a second later, **In 
simplest terms, warping 4-D space yields a tunneling effect that bridges time 
and distance so that you can instantaneously travel from one point to the other.  
Of course an actual naturally occurring wormhole is small, so small that you 
can't hope to perceive it with the naked eye.  Wormholes flash into existence in 
the space between particles in what Scientists call the spongy Space Foam that 
exists between matter.  Effectively these micro-wormholes help keep all points 
in the universe connected together by a singularity or event horizon that they 
call Superstring theory.  What this means is that there is a vast wealth of 
untapped energy flowing all around us at all points of the compass, and every 
square centimeter of space contains literally trillions of these mini-holes that 
are constantly flashing in and out of existence.  To create a larger grouping of 
these holes requires lots and lots of energy and concentration, but by focusing 
your Ki on a single point you can tap into this foam-like energy and create a 
magnifying lens that greatly expands your own natural power.  Theoretically your 
own thoughts could get turned into a weapon...**

**But we Jedi frown on using the power in that particular manner,** Kasumi 
gently chided, **Because there is a reaction to every action, and if you strike 
offensively using the Force it will tend to rebound back and affect you, like 
for like, intent for intention.  This is the essential difference that separates 
us from the Sith, that we are concerned about the consequences of our actions, 
while they...are not.**

**Right,** Nabiki acknowledged, **So mostly what we do with the Eye effect is 
mainly a subconscious effect, like viewing reality through a lens in which time 
and space become visible, and you could conceivably see events before they 
happen, or in the past, or at a great distance, all as though it were taking 
place right before you.  It takes a lot of practice to get good with these 
things, though, but we---Kasumi and I, that is---strongly suspect that Gosunkugi 
has a natural ability to create singularity-shaped spiritual wormholes.  If he 
has the power to use the Eye...**

**Then he has great potential to do both good and bad things with this 
ability,** Kasumi noted rather gravely, **So now do you see why we are so 
interested in taking him on as a student?**

**Um...kind of,** Ranma sheepishly noted, only to pause before saying, 
**Ah...does the same thing apply to me?  I mean...is that why Sensei wants to 
take me on and train me to be like you guys?**

Somehow Ranma could feel and actually see the emotions of his two lady 
companions as they were glowing with surprise and approval, Nabiki adding a 
soft, **What did I tell you, Sis?  He can be taught...**

**Yes, Ranma-kun,** Kasumi smiled at him in a way that would have made his heart 
lurch in his chest had he still been inside his physical body, **Mistress 
Trieste sensed within you a power so strong that to leave it unharnessed might 
have made you a danger to yourself as well as to other living beings.  
Ungoverned by anything but your anger and your pride this power could have been 
corrupted to the Dark side, but with us...you have the capacity to be an 
extraordinarily powerful Jedi.**

**Yeah,** Nabiki agreed with equal enthusiasm, **To say nothing about it being a 
crime to let you stumble around head-blind and ignorant to your own potential.**

**That is why we were entrusted to help train you in the ways of the Force, 
Ranma-kun,** Kasumi noted with her emotions reading out to him like a warm and 
comforting blanket, **But there is more involved to our being with you than 
simply training you in a new style of martial art.  You have another sort of 
power within you that you remain untrained in using, yet you wield it so 
effortlessly that Nabiki and I are powerless within its presence.**

**Oneechan?** Nabiki asked with a faintly puzzled expression.

**Let us return now to the physical world and I shall explain,** Kasumi replied 
enigmatically, closing her eyes for a moment as the room around them began to 
shift and settle once again, and Ranma became aware of a curious tingling 
sensation that flowed all over his body, leaving him faintly with the sense of 
pins and needles over his arms and legs that lasted no more than a few seconds.

To his surprise their surroundings darkened once again, leaving only a faint 
wisp of a sense of the ghostly light that they had all been bathed in, which now 
seemed to settle upon Kasumi, who still glowed with an inner radiance as she 
smiled at Ranma and Nabiki with more than just her usual benevolent expression.

"Forgive me," she spoke aloud, "I know that you are not yet accustomed to doing 
that on your own, nor are you used to traveling the planes the way that Sensei 
has taught me through the Siege Perilous.  I hope you will get used to it in 
good time, but at your level of understanding it would not be wise to dwell upon 
the Astral plane for more than a few minutes outside of your own bodies."

"That was...kind of weird," Nabiki admitted, "But nice, right Ranma-kun?"

"Oh yeah," Ranma agreed before blinking and saying, "Outside of our bodies?"

"Yes," Kasumi replied, "But one good thing about Astral travel...it leaves you 
with an awareness of the spiritual nature of reality that tends to linger for a 
time, reminding us that we are not all about the crude flesh of our bodies.  
What we are is luminous beings who incarnate into flesh and become distinctly 
separate individuals because of our experience within this plane of being.  That 
being said, one should never ignore that the body has certain needs, as does the 
spirit..."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Nabiki chuckled nervously, "Or else you might 
wander out into the streets and find your Karma being run over by somebody's 
dogma when you can't disbelieve the solid object about to hit you."

"Crudely put but accurate," Kasumi noted, "However...the sort of physical aspect 
to our being that I wished to explore with you both has to do with another level 
of awareness that is very much of the here and now, and with our spirits newly 
attuned to one another, there is no compromise or separation between the flesh 
and the body."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, a sentiment inaudibly shared by Nabiki.

In response to this Kasumi reached for her obi and slowly undid the knot, 
pulling it away and setting it to one side before she reached for the top half 
of her kimono and gently pulled it open, revealing the upper part of her body to 
their full inspection.

Even Nabiki gasped at this, finding that Kasumi was not even wearing a bra, 
which was shocking to her way of viewing things since Nabiki defined her reality 
upon the inherent propriety and properness of her older sibling.  Ranma was even 
more dumbstruck as Kasumi set her kimono upon the floor, unfolding the bottom 
half to reveal the rest of her slim form to their inspection, sitting nude and 
cross-legged as though it were the most natural thing in existence.

"Your turn, Imotochan," Kasumi smiled as she glanced affectionately at an open-
mouthed Nabiki.

"Hah?" Nabiki asked, no less surprised at that statement than was Ranma.

"It is time to let the barriers fall completely," Kasumi explained, "Time to 
stand revealed before Ranma-kun and let him know the true nature of his 
iinazuke.  Don't be shy, Nabiki, I know you're not really that modest underneath 
it all..."

"Yes I am," Nabiki's voice quavered a bit before she managed to reassert enough 
self-control to say, "Ah...I don't think this is really the time or place for 
this, Oneechan..."

"No, Imotochan," Kasumi assured her, "This is exactly the right time and the 
right place to reveal ourselves in the altogether.  The Siege Perilous is also a 
barrier that keeps the outside world at bay, and while it is in effect no one 
will be disturbing us, not even the Sith.  It can only last a few hours, though, 
so we had best make use of the time now if we are to truly grow closer together 
as unit.  One flesh, one mind, one spirit...that is what I am offering here if 
you but accept my challenge and let down your barriers for the full final 
measure."

"Hah?" Ranma sat there like a deer literally caught in the headlights, staring 
at Kasumi like he had never seen a naked woman before (with the exception, of 
course, of his own cursed body), and so sensitive were the other two girls to 
his moods right now that they were immediately aware of his masculine response 
to the sight of a naked Kasumi.

"Ranma-kun?" Nabiki asked, surprised that she could feel him hardening beneath 
the covering of his trousers.  Nor did she have any difficulty understanding why 
as she was experiencing a similar level of excitement for some strange, 
inexplicable reason, her eyes drawn to her sister as a loadstone would be to a 
bar magnet.

"In times long past the Jedi sought to inure themselves to the needs of the 
body," Kasumi explained in that same curiously amused tone of affection, "But 
Mistress Trieste taught me a better way to live, one where you accept yourself 
for who and what you are while attending to all your needs for food, rest, 
thirst and hunger.  Sex is also a need, one you can ignore or indulge as you 
judge the moment to be right.  I propose to teach you both how to fulfill this 
need by showing you how to let go of your inhibitions and to indulge in those 
sensations normally forbidden to us, to satisfy a hunger so that the needs of 
the body are fulfilled and the needs of the spirit may also be similarly 
answered."

"How is taking our clothes off gonna do that?" Ranma asked with astonishing 
naivete, and while normally Nabiki would have found his ignorance amusing, this 
time around she was anything but laughing.

"Oneechan?" Nabiki asked, "You're not seriously proposing that we...?"

"I have never been more serious about anything in my life, Nabiki," Kasumi 
assured her, "For weeks we have been leading up to this moment, now the time is 
ripe to give in to the moment, to trust your feelings and act in accordance with 
those desires that we all share yet have been unable to express due to the 
continuous crisis that we have been experiencing.  It is time for us to 
enlighten poor Ranma-kun as to what being engaged to the both of us truly means, 
and that means surrendering our barriers in favor of acting like human beings 
who very much care for one another, without reservation and in the spirit of our 
mutual ardor."

"Now hold on a moment there, Kasumi," Nabiki gently pleaded, "Who's saying we're 
really ready for this?  I mean...maybe you are, but..."

"Are you saying then that you do not want to remain engaged to both Ranma-kun 
and me?" Kasumi gently asked with a teasing smile, "If so, then I will be only 
too happy to take him for my future husband..."

Nabiki recoiled from this then frowned, "That isn't even funny!"

"No, you are right," Kasumi's tone became more supplicating, "I would never 
force you to surrender your claims, Imotochan.  I love you too much to want to 
see you in such pain, nor do I wish to feel rejection for my petition now.  I 
only ask that trust me completely and join with me in presenting ourselves to 
Ranma so that the three of us can truly become a family...or am I asking too 
much of you?  If so, then now is the time to find out if our dual engagement can 
work out as a viable arrangement."

"Hah?" Ranma blinked, his expression making plain that he only half-understood 
the gist of this conversation, but sensing intuitively that he was about to find 
out its meaning through a very graphic demonstration.

"That's dirty pool, Sis," Nabiki frowned, "Are you daring me to go naked?"

"That is entirely up to you, Imotochan," Kasumi said sweetly, "But I, for one, 
would very much like to share him with you, and it would disappoint me greatly 
if you were to refuse my offer...and since this is for his benefit..."

"Oh yeah?" Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she glanced at Ranma, "Like...how?"

"Play along with me and you'll see, little Sister," Kasumi softly chuckled.

Nabiki drew a deep breath and said, "I must be nuts going along with this, 
but...all right, you asked for it.  Ranma-kun, don't you dare look away right 
now!  I saw you gawking at Kasumi...well, now you'll see what you get with the 
group package."

Ranma had been feeling the strong impulse to get up and flee from the scene lest 
somebody get the idea that he was perverted in some way or had unnatural 
instincts.  Fear warred with curiosity, though, and held him rooted to the spot 
as he watched Nabiki fumble a bit with the sash around her own waist, then with 
less grace than Kasumi had demonstrated she started to pull off her travel robes 
and casually tossed them to one side, getting up off the floor so that she could 
pull off the slacks that she wore under her outer garments.  Then she stood 
revealed in bra and panties, causing Ranma's eyes to go as round as dinner 
plates as he watched her reach up for the back hooks on her bra, and a moment 
later it, too, fell to the floor, leaving the middle Tendo sister revealed in 
her full glory with only her panties still in place.

"The panties too, Nabiki," Kasumi gently urged, "Ranma-kun must see us both as 
we are without any physical obstruction."

Nabiki shivered slightly as she grimaced, "Does that mean Ranma-kun also has to 
show some flesh, just to be fair about it?"

"Hah?" Ranma responded, his mind still in full tilt mode as he stared 
unabashedly at Nabiki's slender body with it's gentle curves and interesting 
highlights, unconsciously comparing her to the even more well-rounded Kasumi.

"You raise a very good point," Kasumi turned and gave Ranma a faintly 
challenging look, "Ranma-kun, this applies to you as well.  Please remove your 
clothing so that we can conduct this lesson in the proper state, removed from 
all inhibitions."

"Hah?" Ranma said again, no less surprised and just as petrified where he was 
sitting.

Nabiki started to cover her breasts before checking the impulse and willing her 
hands to go down to her sides.  She arched her back and thrust her well-rounded 
bosom as if daring him to look away from what she had to offer, then adding a 
bit of irritation to her own tones she said, "Just take them off, Dummy.  You 
want Kasumi and me to be the only ones naked?"

"Hah?" Ranma said again before her tone jarred him out of his daze, "Uh...y'sure 
it's all right?  I mean...I dunno...don't wanna do nothing weird or perverted or 
nothing..."

"It's all right, Ranma-kun," Kasumi reassured him, "Nabiki and I know that we'll 
be safe with you, and you are our iinazuke.  Even father would find nothing 
improper about that."

"You sure about that, Sis?" Nabiki asked dubiously, imagining their father 
standing with a heavy club and insisting they get immediately married to one 
another.

In answer Kasumi gave Ranma a very heartfelt expression, allowing her whole 
being to manifest her emotional state as she willed her own barriers to fall 
completely, leaving bare her emotional state so that even Nabiki felt drawn to 
the warmth and aching need that she felt embodied in her older sister.

"Please, Ranma-kin?" she asked, "Trust us.  In your heart you know that neither 
Nabiki nor I would ever do anything to betray your trust.  This circle is about 
healing, and if you cannot trust your own iinazuke..."

Ranma wavered, seeing and feeling the full impact of Kasumi's earnest yearnings 
and experiencing the strange mix of emotions that they awoke in him, for fearful 
and protective.  As dense as he might appear at time he was truly more 
perceptive than most people took him to be, his ignorance about people having 
been conditioned by years of isolation and alienation.  He did not trust that 
easily, at least down deep where it truly counted, but neither did he overtly 
distrust other people, being outwardly a very casual and easy-going individual 
who did not overtly seek confrontation, but who never backed away from a 
challenge when it was given to him, as it so plainly was now, if in a wholly 
unexpected arena.  Letting anyone in past the barriers he had erected to protect 
himself from continuous disappointment in life was not an easy habit to 
acquire...but now he realized in stark terms how absurd his defensiveness must 
seem in light of the fact that both of these women could read him like a 
unrolled scroll.  Just as he could read their emotions, so too did they perceive 
the secrets that he kept so closely guarded that even he was not aware of their 
true nature.

And that discovery caused something new and unexpected for him, a tightness in 
his chest that he released like a breath held too long, and a pressure behind 
his eyes that made him wonder if he were about to explode in some strange 
manner.  Without warning he felt moisture trickle down his cheeks and felt his 
face with a hand, staring in wonder at their inexplicable wetness.  A part of 
him wanted to cry out, "NO WAY!  Guys don't cry!" his usual defense against such 
moments of weakness, but even as the thought flowed into his mind it was 
instantly met by a double denial, a mental cry from both women that he not hold 
back his feelings or decry his own tears.  Ranma looked at where they both sat 
quietly and suddenly knew something about himself that he would never have 
believed right up until this moment.

Kasumi and Nabiki felt it after their mutual petition that Ranma not hold back 
the tears that he had so long been withholding, an emotion awakened within their 
iinazuke that fairly took their breath away, a hot and blazing sensation that 
stretched out to them like the emanating ripples of a pond, an almost physical 
force that surprised even Kasumi, for as much as she had dared to believe that 
Ranma regarded her with strong affection, she had never dared to hope that his 
yearning was this powerful and unmistakable, a realization that matched the 
astonishment felt by Nabiki.

Love.

All of his life Ranma had craved the sensation of being this close to another 
living being, his earliest buried memories being that of the love, affection and 
tenderness that he experienced in the arms of his mother, a sensation ripped 
away from him when he went on his ill-starred training mission with his father, 
whom he loved for entirely different reasons.  Over the years that love had been 
battered, abused and betrayed so many time over that it was hard to recognize as 
love anymore, both men having learned to guard their emotions behind the not-so-
friendly banter that they exchanged at regular intervals, a "Men will be Men" 
attitude having smothered any tenderness behind a blanket of stoical 
indifference.  Insults meant less to Ranma than they would to a normal person 
UNLESS they directly challenge his competence or his manhood, and so he could 
toss off insults with callous ease and never realize the impact that such words 
might have upon others...

And yet this habit had been severely weakened from the time he spent among the 
Amazons, from the first moment he met Shampoo and fought her to a draw, the both 
of them becoming fast friends and later oath-bound siblings, a time in which 
Ranma found delight in being around someone who shared his enthusiasm for the 
martial arts.  Of course, as he had rapidly discovered, Shampoo also had a 
passion for spending time around other women, and she was in something of a 
"committed relationship" with her oath sisters, Lotion and Perfume, but Ranma 
had quickly learned that it was not too wise to allow his guard to go down when 
in female form around the Amazon.  Shampoo could be a little too friendly with 
those hands of hers, and Ranma was uncertain of what this might have led to had 
his father not taken him away in the dead of the night one evening, not even 
allowing him the chance to explain or say good-bye to the friends (or the 
enemies) that he had made among the Joketsuzoku.

But then came his arrival in Nerima...and nothing had ever been the same for him 
since he had spent almost every waking hour in the presence of one or more of 
the Tendo siblings, and only with Akane had he ever felt recourse to insult.  To 
this day it still surprised him how badly Akane reacted to his gentle teasing 
and off-colored comments, taking things entirely too personal as though she bore 
a grudge against him for that mistake in the bath.  He could not relate to her 
mercurial bouts of anger or the way she could react to little things that did 
not seem all that important to his way of thinking.

Not so with the other sisters.  With Nabiki his early attempts at banter had 
been met with clever witticism and repost that had left him shaking his head in 
wonder and confusion.  Since then he had been afraid to match wits with her for 
fear of winding up sounding silly, but over time there was less and less reason 
to insult or offend her as he grew to respect and feel strong attraction towards 
the older girl.  Her intelligence both impressed and intimidated him at times, 
and yet he found her subtle charms relaxed any resentment that might have 
resulted in feeling inferior towards a "mere girl," especially since Nabiki was 
nearly his equal as a fighter, which gave them something they could both relate 
to, and from there he had learned to enjoy her company in terms quite 
unexpected...

With Kasumi it had been a different process that had drawn him towards her, 
almost like a gradually unfolding flower where the first thing you see is the 
bud on the outside, but the longer you look the more it expands to reveal the 
marvelous interior.  Kasumi had at once appealed to the maternal side of him, 
and yet coupled with this was a dawning awareness that she was also a very young 
and extremely attractive young woman only a few years his senior.  Tall, 
willowy, graceful, serene and yet somehow very lonely and almost melancholy, 
wise beyond her tender years and simultaneously quite innocent, she embodied the 
mystery of womanhood within the enigma of an indomitable fighter.  From the 
moment he had first sparred with Kasumi he had learned a different kind of 
respect for her combat skills, but also for the calm methodical way in which she 
could go all out without seeming to try, fighting without the sort of adrenal-
rage that Ranma sometimes employed to win his battles.  To even think about 
insulting her had gone right out the window from the moment of their first 
meeting.

Contrary to what some might have expected, the fact that Kasumi had proved to be 
a superior fighter did not initially offend or bruise Ranma's ego.  If anything 
it intrigued him that someone so beautiful and gentle-mannered could be so 
devastating in battle, and as he was used to meeting powerful martial artists on 
the road and learning by training to defeat them, so nothing fired his blood 
quite like a challenge to be mastered, one that would force him to push beyond 
the envelope of his current limits.  About the only thing that would have turned 
him off was if she were the sort who liked to rub it in all the time and flaunt 
her superiority in his face, then he would have taken great delight in knocking 
her down a peg at every opportunity, with little or not regard taken towards her 
actual feelings...

And yet instead...he had found himself gravitating to her as something more than 
just a sparring partner and more advanced student.  The more time he got to know 
Kasumi as a person, the more he had been drawn to her light, to the goodness of 
her compassionate nature and the warmth he felt behind the mask of serenity she 
so often wore.  He was drawn to her like a moth to a candle, and in time he came 
to truly care about her in ways that were as strong as what he felt for Nabiki.  
Kasumi was still a mystery to be unraveled, but the more he discovered about her 
the more he wanted to know, to share, to relate to her on a level beyond mere 
friendship.  Just being next to her was a distraction, and now he knew the cause 
behind his quiet obsession, his desire for her the equal to his admiration.

That both women clearly returned his affections was in itself surprising, to 
bask in the knowledge that they were emoting towards him with the burning sense 
of a kindled fire made him dare to hope that his long suffering in isolation 
might at last be at an end.  Memories flowed through him of how each girl had 
taken injury in his cause, and how much it had affected him to see them hurt on 
his behalf.  That made it easy to let go of his remaining barriers, to allow the 
love he felt inside shine out like a blazing torch that could never be 
extinguished.

Aloud what he said was, "Nabiki...Kasumi..." and those names alone conveyed a 
wealth of unspoken emotions that he dared not utter lest he lose his composure 
entirely and revert to the child that lay within him, the one who still yearned 
for the comforting breast of his mother.

"Ranma-kun," they both answered, when all at once Kasumi took the initiative, 
surprising Nabiki by moving forward on hands and knees, leaning her body in 
close to where her face was only inches away from his, freezing Ranma in his 
place as he was held fixated by the pull of her brown eyes softly regarding him 
with deep, unbridled affection.

"Ranma-kun," she said, "Please allow me to do the honors."

"Hah?" Nabiki asked faintly, surprised that it was Kasumi of all persons who had 
said this.

"Um...well..." Ranma began when all of a sudden Kasumi moved forward on all 
fours, leaning up closer to him to make Ranma altogether aware of the warm 
proximity of her well-curved body, all the while leaning back himself so that 
she was virtually straddling him, looking up into doe-soft eyes as she gazed 
down with a forthrightness that was unlike her usual shy demeanor.

"You don't need to be afraid around us, Ranma-kun," Kasumi cooed softly, 
reaching up to undo the wooden buttons to his shirt, "I assure you that I won't 
bite, and neither does Nabiki."

"B-B-But...?" Ranma sputtered as his top was pealed open, prompting him to fall 
back onto his elbows, "K-K-Kasumi...?"

"Oneechan?" Nabiki blinked, amazed to see her sister becoming this bold and 
aggressive with their mutual boyfriend, even as she could feel the waves of 
desire affecting her on other levels, causing her to shiver as she sat to one 
side watching matters unfold, unable to look away for her own perverse 
fascination.

"Relax, Ranma-kun," Kasumi smiled as she undid the rope-knot around his waist 
and started pulling down his trousers, "This is as much for your benefit as it 
is for ours..."

Instead of resist or push her away, as he might have done under other 
circumstances, Ranma stared with rounded eyes as the older girl denuded him with 
slow-yet-methodical thoroughness, even removing his boxer briefs to allow a 
flag-pole kept long hidden to rise up to full attention.  For a moment Kasumi 
stared in wonder at his manhood, and then she licked her lips as if in eager 
anticipation.

"Kasumi...what's gotten into you, Oneechan?" Nabiki asked, finally unable to 
contain her astonishment at such a transformation in character from the normally 
shy and reserved Kasumi.

"Gotten into me?" Kasumi paused in the act lowering her face down Ranma's loins, 
then she sat back up and rested her fanny on her heels before pausing to say, 
"Oh my...what am I doing?  This is just like with Shampoo, only..."

"Shampoo?" Nabiki blinked, feeling the moment subside a little, permitting them 
to think normally again in spite of the underlying sense of eroticism and 
arousal that predominated the moment, "You mean...that time you and she...did it 
together?"

"Yes," Kasumi shivered a bit while hugging herself with her own arms, "It 
happened when I was showing her how to tap into her natural affinity with the 
Force...just as with now, while we were performing the Siege Perilous 
together...and it just sort of...happened..."

"What, you mean...like a side-effect or something?" Ranma asked, shaking 
slightly as he could still feel the nearness of the older girl and how close she 
had come to doing something...that his mind refused to process.

"Something like that," Kasumi glanced down for a moment as if to regather her 
senses, "The Siege Perilous is very powerful.  It's a protection spell, but it 
also makes one very sensitive to the Force on other levels, such as when you 
feel a strong bond of mutual attraction with someone...like I feel with you, 
Ranma-kun...and with you, Nabiki...my sister."

"With...me?" Nabiki blinked, more surprised than offended by this revelation, 
though a second later she gasped, "But...I'm your sister..."

"I know," Kasumi replied, "It's just that...I've always cared for you, 
Imotochan, even when I never knew how to express it properly.  You don't know 
how painful it's been finding myself in competition with you for the same 
iinazuke...but I was hoping that maybe...now...we could something work out 
together..."

"Work something out?" Nabiki took a half-step away, "But...that's crazy..."

"What in life these days isn't crazy?" Kasumi asked, then sighed, "Imotochan, 
I'm sorry if I surprised you like this...and Ranma-kun, I am so sorry that I 
presumed on you.  It was mother's idea, really, that we should try and attempt 
this together.  Sensei believed that it was for the better as well, but...I 
think she was expecting me to have a bit more self-control this time.  On the 
other hand..." she turned and her expression once more became curiously un-
Kasumi like, "When will a better time come around to express our feelings for 
one another?  You are a man, Ranma-kun, whom I feel to be very...manly..."

"N-Nani?" Ranma started to react when he found Kasumi moving forward to straddle 
him once again, causing him to freeze in the act of looking up at her nude body, 
both mesmerized and terrified like a small cornered animal, a feeling altogether 
unfamiliar yet somehow as terrifying as it was intriguing...

"I've wanted you from the moment that I first met you, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said 
with the softness of her breath caressing his naked skin, making him aware of 
the sheen of perspiration that covered the exposed areas of his body, "I can't 
explain this desire that I have for you since we come from very different worlds 
and have little more than our martial arts skills between us, yet I have never 
felt such a strong desire for a boy my own age, let alone younger, as I feel for 
you.  You understand that, don't you, Ranma-kun?"

"K-K-Kasumi?" Ranma gasped, finding her face hovering over his so close that he 
could feel her long pony tail falling over his shoulder, her eyes almost 
luminous in the dim light of the dojo with her superb body faintly outlined in 
the glow of the moonlight filtering in from the windows.  Once more the 
obliteration of all sense of separation settled over them, making him aware of 
the aching need within her body that matched a similar need within his own, and 
as the moment hovered nearer he found his resistance crumbling before the 
relentless onslaught of Kasumi's bright affections.

"All of my life I have watched as other girls seek love and companionship with 
someone who makes them feel special," Kasumi informed him in a soft whisper, her 
need so intense that even Nabiki was similarly affected, "In my heart I've 
wanted to be that person who finds someone to make life meaningful, and I know 
now that you are that one whom I've been waiting for all of my life.  Please be 
the one who can make this moment a special one...for both of us..."

And then she closed the gap with him, causing Ranma to react in surprise when he 
felt the caress of soft lips pressing against his own, even as the weight of her 
breasts pressing against his chest, and then the whole of her body was draped on 
top of him, pushing Ranma to the floor as the older girl began to paint 
passionate kisses all over his face and neckline, her hands caressing his skin 
as his body reacted in automatic reflex.  His hands reached up to lay hold on 
her body, whether intending to push her away or to encourage her further, but 
that contact froze his mind in neutral as he became suddenly aware of just how 
feminine she was and how good it felt to be straddled beneath her warm and 
supple body.  With the full body contact their boundaries dissolved altogether 
and they became as one flesh and body, and at once they were fully open to each 
other, mind to mind in contact with their souls melding into sweet passion.

Nabiki stood where she was watching and feeling as all of this happened before 
her, an increasing sense of familiarity intruding upon the unreality to the 
situation.  Kasumi was aggressively making out with a boy...with Ranma-kun, and 
showing none of her usual hesitation or restraint in her actions.  More 
astonishing still, Ranma was responding to Kasumi's entreaties and opening up to 
her on a level that was wholly new to both of them and Nabiki, more than just 
carnal sex but a joining of souls and bodies.  Even standing apart as she was 
Nabiki could feel their energies pooling and combining, and in that hybrid union 
of male and female parts a new symbiosis was formed that gave perfect balance of 
one being to another.

Nabiki's eyes got very round as she saw Ranma's hands begin to move up and down 
Kasumi's sides before moving to encircle her within the embrace of his strong 
arms, and then the question of consent became academic as animal noises escaped 
from both of those attractive writhing bodies.  Nabiki was not sure if she was 
being ignored or had been forgotten, but she found herself an unwitting voyeur 
as she watched Kasumi and Ranma begin to follow the course of instinct, and then 
it slowly dawned upon the middle Tendo sister that she was becoming quite 
aroused the longer she watched things happen.

"This is nuts," she said in a ragged breath, her body shaking with need as she 
hugged herself the more tightly, and then arrived at an unavoidable decision, 
"Oh hell...!"

She fell to her knees and began to crawl to the side of the two others, hoping 
she would not be rebuffed in her entreaties, but to her relief, surprise, 
amazement and dismay she saw Kasumi turn from planning kisses over Ranma's chest 
to stretch out an arm towards her with a gentle entreaty, "Nabiki..."

Nabiki took that hand within her own and then doubt melted away at the brief 
contact, leaving only a desire that was as much of the soul as it was of the 
body.

"Kasumi..." she murmured fondly, melting into their embrace and losing herself 
into a genuine three-way, and then love broke out like a raging fire that swept 
through everything, filling their combined beings with the sweet sensation of 
the Force renewing their bonds and making the three of them into a whole and 
perfect union...



Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Coital Relations for Jedi: shadowmane@ridgenet.net

So, the big event has finally happened, now what follows after besides the 
cigarette and champagne?  As Ranma and his iinazuke sort matters out between 
them, Akane finds herself a reluctant guest of the Tendos as Trieste and her 
mother attempt to put right the little "matter" between herself and 
Kodachi...but how will Tatewaki react, and is Taro far behind in making his 
opinions known concerning Akane's misbehavior?  Be here next time for: "Ain't 
Misbehaving," or, "The Gymnast Strikes Back!"  Be there!





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If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction 
webpage at: http://s11.sexshare.com/~jbader/jimbader.html  All related chapters 
of this series can be found there along with my other works.