From: Adam Brown <van077@imag.net>
Subject: [FFML] [xover][lemon][Ranma][Gargoyles] Ch 2: Discovery

Okay, I gotta tell ya that there are some sexually explicit scenes here, so
don't say I didn't warn you.

Please send C&C to abrown@imag.net

Chapter 2: Discovery

       Ranma Saotomae, official heir to the Saotmae School of Anything
Goes Martial Arts walked reluctantly along the shoreline.  Slightly behind
him was Akane Tendo, his fiance and hieress to the Tendo School of Anything
Goes Martial Arts.  He glanced back and noticed her expression was slightly
sullen as well.  He did not blame her.  Their parents had forced them to
go on this 'Midnight Walk'.  Romantic, Kasumi said.  Duty, his father said.
Hah!  Romantic, yeah right!  With this tomboy?  He didn't think so.  About
the only thing he would probably get from Akane was another beating.
        Akane Tendo was angry.  Well, that was not unusual.  What was
unusual was that she was not angry at Ranma for once, but her family.  This
stupid idea about a 'Romantic Midnight Walk' would never lead to anything.
Not that she wanted anything to happen.  Not with this pervert at least!
Jerk!  She looked back at the way they had came.  She couldn't see the resort
they were staying at.  It was really neat that Nabiki had won this trip, but
did she have to let Ranma and his father come along?  She stopped and looked
out to sea, breathing in the cool salty breeze.
        Ranma notice after a few steps that Akane was no longer following
him.  He walked back to her.  "Hey, whatcha doing?  Arn't we suppose to be
walking or something?"
        "We're far enough from the resort to satisfy our families.  After
all, it's not like we like each other or anything.  I mean, what could
happen?"
        "Uh... yeah, why would I want anything to happen between me and a
tomboy girl like you?"
        Akane growled and clenched a fist.  She slowly counted to ten, then
back to one.  She concentrated on the waves and the wind, and tried to calm
herself, then sat down on the cool sands.  "Well we arn't going to accomplish
anything [Assuming we want anything accomplished!] by arguing."  She looked
up at the stars and back out to sea.  "The stars are really beautiful, arn't
they?"
        Ranma gave her a questioning look.  "Yeah I suppose.  You gotta
remember that I've been seeing those stars over my head every night for
almost sixteen years, so I've gotten use to them."
        Akane sighed internally.  [Honestly, you'd thing he'd have at least
one sensitive bone in his body!]  She took out a package she was carrying in
her backpack.  "Here."
        Ranma looked at it.  "What is it?"
        "Leftover dinner.  I took it in case we got hungry."
        Ranma smiled.  "All right!  I could use a bite to eat."  He opened
the container.
        Akane smiled slightly.  [He's really is handsome when he smiles.  I
just wish he was nicer sometimes.]  She began opening her own container.
She heard Ranma gag and turned to him.  He was busy choking on the food he
had stuffed in his mouth.
        "Agh! (Cough, cough) Akane, what is this? (Spit)"
        Her expression turned to ice.  "Leftover dinner."
        "What?  No way, I thought Kasumi did the cooking tonight!  There's
no way she could cook something this bad."
        Her expression became angry.  "I cooked it!  But no one ate it!"
        It finally clicked.  Ranma should have remembered that there was no
such thing as 'leftovers' with Kasumi's cooking.  "Jeeze, Akane, how many
times have I told you not to cook!  It's a health hazard!"  Ranma went to
the ocean and began washing his mouth with sea water.  It took him a
moment to realize how salty and briney the water tasted.  He shrugged and
continued.  Anything was better than the taste of Akane's cooking!
        "So you're saying you don't like it.  Is that it?" she retorted.
        "I'm saying *no one* likes it!"
        "Ryoga likes it!"
        "And that's a recommendation?  What would an uncute girl like you
know about cooking anyway?"
        "At least I don't pretend to be the opposite sex half the time, you
pervert!"
        "Hey, I don't have a choice!"
        "Jerk!"
        Their insults became more and more creative as time went on.  They 
were so engrossed in their 'game' that they did not notice their uninvited
guest.

        Patricia sat on top of the cliff and watched the two humans argue.
She did not understand what they were saying, but it did not matter.  Her
sharp eyes could see the small packages of food they were carrying, and
her stomach rumbled in response.  Personally, Patricia did not like to steal,
but she needed sustenance, and she had not had anything since early last
night.  Besides, if the male humans' reaction to the food was any
indication, she would not enjoy it.  She waited a little bit longer, watching
them.  When she was born, all the humans had been grown up.  Any memories
she had of humans were of people who had been no younger than thirty years
old.  She was curious about these younger ones.  They seemed to be about her
age.  Patricia felt a pang of lonliness.  She had never had anyone her age
with her on Avalon.  She had been the last egg to be laid and the latest
hatched.  All the others had been alive for at least ten years when she was
born.  She was always the 'little one.'  The one who needed looking after.
She had always felt somewhat separated from the rest because of her age.
That was part of the reason she had turned to the Magus as her mentor.
In him she felt a similar sort of lonliness.  When she had shown interest,
he began to teach her the basics of magic.  He could not show her anything
(not without great personal cost anyway), but he could explain things and
let her try it out.  Many of her first tries had ended in disaster, but
the Magus was patient and praised her on her persistence.  This had gone on
until the battle with the Weird Sister in the Hollow Hill.  He had refused
to allow her to participate, even though his power was extremely limited.
She had considered sneaking along, but decided against it after receiving
an angry glare from her mentor just before he left.  She decided to help
protecting the injured.  Unfortunately, she had taken a stray laser blast
early on in the fight and had been knocked unconscious.  When she had
learned of her mentor's death, she had vowed to become the best mage she
could and began practicing almost immediatly.  Unfortunately, her attempts
had more failures than successes, and the others had pressured her to
experiment less and less often.
        She turned her attention back to the humans.  Their arguing seemed
to have reached a pitch.  It was now or never.  She jumped off the cliff,
and into the night air.  She held back a cry of surprise as her jump
carried her several dozen meters farther than she had anticipated.  What
happened?  Was she stronger here in the regular world?  She turned and
twisted through the air.  She could manuver faster and glide more quickly.
Amazing!  Perhaps the laws of nature were different here than on Avalon!
She turned towards the two humans and dove.

        [How dare he say that!]  Akane was burning up in anger at one of
Ranma's exaggerated insults.  [All right that does it...!]  She clenched a
fist, intent on sending Ranma to the moon, when she spied a shadowy movement
in the sky.  She looked more intently and saw a dark outline of some kind
of winged creature.  Two faint points of red light shone from the creature.
It turned and began a rapid descent.
        "Ranma!  Look out!" she yelled pointing at the creature.
        "Huh?"  Ranma turned around and looked up just in time to see a
large humanoid creature with wings and a tail land heavily in front of him.
He stepped back, taken completely by surprise.  The creature said something
in a language he did not understand.  It reached out quick as lightning and
took the food container from him, then turned and ran towards cliffs.  When
it reached them it jumped up about forty feet and then leapt off them and
flew out over the ocean.

        Patricia looked down at the humans, who were looking back at her in
amazement.  "I'm sorry, but I need to survive," she said to herself.  She
sighed and began opening the container.  It was made of some kind of glass.
Bendable glass, she discovered.  Stronger and more flexible.  Some kind of
alchemetical combination of parchement, glass, and metal?  She stored the
question away for future reference.  And how did she leap up that cliff so
easily?  Not to mention the way she jumped off the cliff away from the
humans.  She shrugged and bit into the food.  It was some kind of fish and
white pasty material (sushi to you and me, folks!).  Taste flooded her mouth.
        She gagged and choked.  Her progress through the air was halted as
her entire being was concentrated on dealing with the horrible taste that
she had consumed.  She began to rapidly loose altitude.  Tears of reaction
poured from her eyes and she had trouble seeing.  Her head swam and her
sense of direction began to suffer.  She felt dizziness overcome her.
Because of the weakness of her body caused by the stresses of the past forty
eight hours, she was unable to deal with this final assault.
        She fainted.

        Ranma and Akane watched with amazement as the creature flew over the
ocean.  Suddenly, the creature seemed to stagger in mid air.  It began
spiraling down towards the ocean.  Then its wings folded and it plummeted
from the sky and fell into the sea.
        Ranma swore and jumped into the sea.  He immediately felt the change
come over him.  Flesh retracted into his body in some places and grew out in
others.  Bones and muscles shrunk to fit his female frame, and his dark hair
turned red.  She swam with powerful strokes toward where the creature had
landed.  It didn't take very long to find it, even in the dark.  The wings
were spread out over the surface of the ocean, acting like natural flotation
devices.  Beside it was the container of food.
        "At least I won't have to worry about sharks.  One wiff of that stuff
and a shark'll probably die," Ranma muttered.  She grabbed the creature
around the waist and swam back to shore.  When she felt sand beneath her
feet, she stood up and carried it to the beach.  Akane waited there
anxiously.
        "Ranma, are you all right?  Why did you go after that thing?  Are
you crazy?"
        "Not nearly as crazy as this," she responded.  She dropped her
burden.
        The creature was obviously female.  It was about five feet ten
inches tall with a four foot long tail.  It had four fingers and large claws
on each finger.  It's feet were three toed and sported three inch long
talons.  Her white shirt, knee length dress, long black hair and human face
made her look almost normal if you ignored her more exotic features and
dark blue skin.
        "I - is she alive?" asked Akane.
        Closer inspection revealed that she was still breathing.  Wrapped
around her waist was large bag.  Inside the bag was a large, leather-bound
book with strange symbols and pictures.  Leafing through the book they saw
Romanic lettering, but they could not make out the meaning.  Strangely 
enough, the book was still dry, even after it's immersion in the ocean.
        "Well, what do we do now?" ask Akane.
        "I guess we'll have to take her back to the hotel and wait until
she wakes up.  Then maybe she can tell us something."  Ranma grabbed the
shoulders and Akane took the legs, and they made their way back.

        It took them approximately half an hour to reach the hotel.  "Ranma,
how are we going to get her inside?"
        "Rats!  I knew we forgot something.  I know!  I can climb up to our
rooms."
        Akane looked skeptical.  "Are you sure?  It's a long way.  And you'll
be carrying her."
        Ranma looked at her slyly.  "Why Akane!  I didn't know you cared."
        "I do not!  Did I say I cared?  I was more worried about her.  What
if you drop her?"
        "Don't worry about it Akane, I can handle it."
        Akane looked worried.  "Okay, if you're sure."  She walked to the
hotel and inside.

        Akane entered her father's room.  "Hi, I'm back!" she called.
        Soun Tendo and Ranma's father, Genma Saotome, were outside on the
balcony enjoying the night air and playing a game of shogi.  [Back so soon?
That doesn't bode well.  Especially since I don't hear Ranma either,] Soun
thought.  "We're out here Akane," he called back.  Genma took advantage of
Soun's momentary distraction to steal one of his pieces.
        "Where's Ranma?" asked Genma.  This time Soun took one of Genma's
pieces.
        Akane walked onto the balcony.  "Uh... he'll be along any minute."
        "Akane, how many times have I told you that you shouldn't fight with
Ranma?  He's your fiance, after all," admonished Soun.
        "But he's such a pervert!  Such a... a... BOY!  Besides, we weren't
fighting this time."
        "You wern't?  What happened?"
        "This happened."  Patricia was uncerimoniously thrown up and over the
balcony rail.  She crashed to the floor, knocking the shogi board over and
scattering the peices.  Ranma followed, looking tired and sweaty.
        Soun and Genma were trying to pry themselves from the wall with
fright.  Soun recovered first.  "Ranma!  What's going on here?"
        "She attacked us and ate some of Akane's cooking.  When she
collapsed, we brought her back here."  Genma was able to keep from asking
the obvious question.  Unfortunately, Ranma wasn't able to keep from
answering it.  "If you can believe it, she survived."
        Akane growled.  "Ranma, you JERK!"  With a powerful blow, she sent
Ranma flying over the rail and into the air.  Ranma hung in space for a
second before falling to the ground, screaming in terror.
        Soun, however, had focused on the word 'she'.  In his experience,
when it came to women and Ranma, that usually meant only one thing.
"Saotome, this doesn't happen to be another of Ranma's fiances, is it?!"
        Genma managed to look injured.  "Why Tendo, how could you think such
a thing?"
        "How could he not?" came a drowsy voice.  Beside them, on an opposite
balcony, was a half-awake Nabiki.  "Can't you wait until morning to argue?"
        "We are *not* arguing," answered Akane indignantely.  "We're
discussing."
        "Discussing what, pray tell?"
        Akane picked up Patricia.  "This."
        Nabiki's eyes widened.  "Wow.  What is it?"
        "I don't know.  Could you wake Kasumi?  We'll probably need her."
        Nabiki's attention was focused on Patricia, but she managed to snap
out of it.  "Sure.  I imagine that by the sound of the scream I heard, that
Ranma will be needing hot water when she returns?"  She sighed.  "Next time I
win a vacation, I'll go alone."  Nabiki returned to her apartment.
        Akane dragged Patricia into the apartement and laid her down on the
bed.  A few minutes later, Kasumi and Nabiki entered.  Akane explained to
them the events of their encounter with Patricia.
        "So why bring her here?" asked Nabiki.
        "We couldn't just leave her out there to drown!"
        "Fine.  So what do we do with her?"
        "..."
        "I imagine she'll want something to eat when she wakes up," said
Kasumi.  She picked up the phone and began ordering some food from room
service.  At that point Ranma entered, looking even more tired than before.
        "Hey Ranma, what took you so long?" asked Nabiki.
        "I had to climb back up here."
        "Why not just use the elevator?"
        Ranma facefaulted.

        Patricia groaned.  [What happened?  Was I dead?]  She felt around her
mouth with her tongue.  [Eeuch!  If the taste of my mouth is any sign,
then I've been dead at least a week!]  She then registered the bedding and
matress.  [Where am I?]  She opened her eyes and saw five humans standing
above her.  She gave a started 'eep' and scrambled into a sitting position.
        "Hey, hey, take it easy!  We won't hurt you," said Akane soothingly.
        Patricia, of course did not understand a word.  "Who are you?
Where am I?  What happened to me?"
        No one understood her.  They looked at each other in confusion.
"Uhh... I'm sorry but we don't understand you.  Do you speak Japanese?"
Patricia continued to stare at them with confusion mingled with fear.  "Oh
great so now what do we do?"
        Kasumi entered.  "The food will be here in a few - oh!  She's awake."
Kasumi bowed.  "My name is Kasumi Tendo."  Patricia shook her head.  Kasumi
pointed to herself.  "Kasumi."
        Patricia pointed at her.  "Ka-su-mi?"  Kasumi smiled gently and
nodded.
Patricia pointed at herself.  "Patricia."
        Akane shrugged.  "Well it's a start."  They all performed similar
introductions.
        Patricia suddenly bapped herself on the head.  "I'm such an idiot!
Why didn't I think of it before!"  She reached into her bag on her waist and
took out the leather-bound book.  Flipping through the pages she found the
spell she was looking for.  She raised an arm, her index finger pointed up.
Gathering mystical energies about her, she prepared to cast the spell.
        Everyone except Nabiki and Kasumi felt Patricia's Ki shift. "Get
back!" 
exclaimed Ranma.  They all retreated.  Patricia began.
        Or thought she did.
        Patricia found that when she tried to speak the words, she could not.
She tried several times, but every time she tried the speak the spell, they
stuck in her throat.  Then she remember Oberon's final 'gift.'
        "No.  No!  Damn you, Oberon!  You've taken away the only thing I have
left!"  She fell back against the headboard crying.  "Why?" she wept.  "After
everything I've gone through, after everything I've lost, now this."
        The group shifted uncomfortably.  Kasumi was the first to come
forward.  She laid a hand on Patricia's shoulder.  Patricia looked up and saw
Kasumi, her expression caring.  With a cry, Patricia embraced Kasumi, crying
great heaving sobs.  Kasumi held her, and stroked her hair consolingly.
"There, there.  There, there.  Everything will be all right."  While Patricia
did not understand the words, she felt the emotion behind them.  She knew
that they did not care what she was, and maybe, eventually, care what she had
done.  She needed a shelter and, for awhile at least, she knew she had one.
        "Umm... what was she trying to do?" asked Nabiki quietly.  She looked
slightly embarassed, not use to seeing such displays of emotion.
        "I don't know," replied Ranma.  She reached out and took the book.
She still did not understand the words but she had a general idea what
Patricia had tried to accomplish.  "She was centering and focusing her ki.
Like I do when I fight or use a special technique.  I wonder what this book
has to do with it?"
        Nabiki looked at the book.  "Hmm...looks kind of like Latin.  I
wonder what it means..."
        "Hey, pop.  You don't happen to know any Latin do ya?"
asked Ranma.
        "Of course not!  Why would I waste my time with other languages
when there are combat techniques out there just waiting for me to discover
them!"
        "I knew it was too much to hope he was educated.  Like father, like
son," muttered Nabiki.
        Kasumi turned her head.  "Latin?  I know some."
        The rest of them stared.  "You?" exclaimed Akane.  "Know Latin?
How?"
        "I borrowed a book from Dr. Tofu.  He uses it with his medical
practice, and I wanted to learn some for my gardening.  I helps the people
at the plant shop if they know exactly what type of plant I'm looking for."
        "Well have a look and tell us if you can understand it."  Ranma gave
the book to Kasumi.  She untangled herself from Patricia's hold and read
the spell.  Patricia looked at them, confused.  After a few moments, Kasumi
spoke.
        "I think it says, 'To the one who receives this touch, will
understanding follow.'"
        "Can you pronounce it in Latin?"
        "I think so."  She said a string of syllables which meant nothing
to the human audience.  Patricia, however was staring at Kasumi in disbelief.
Kasumi turned to her.  "Was that right?"  Patricia guessed the nature of the
question and nodded.
        "Okay, so we can speak the spell, but how can we cast it?" wondered
Akane.
        "Ranma!  You said that she was centering and focusing her chi, like
when you fight!  That means that maybe *you* could cast it," said Soun.
        "Me?  No way!  I'm no sorcerer, I'm a martial artist!  Gosenkugi's
the sorcerer.  Let him do it."
        "Don't bother, Daddy.  The only thing Ranma's good at is fighting.
He probably couldn't cast the spell even if he wanted to," said Nabiki.
        "What?" screeched Ranma.  "Don't think I can do it, do you?  Well
I'll show you!"  She grabbed the book back from Kasumi.  Centering and
focusing her ki on the tip of her finger, she slowly pronounced the words
of the spell.  Energy flowed up her body and concentrated in a small yellow
point of light on the tip of her index finger.  Still holding her
concentration tight, she asked, "What do I do now?"
        Patricia pointed emphatically at herself.  Ranma touched her.  The
energy jumped to Patricia and she was suffused by the light.  After a few
moments it faded.  Ranma sagged in a moment of weakness.  Patricia looked at
them expectantly.
        "Okay, what was that suppose to do?" asked Ranma.
        "It was a translation spell that allows me to speak your language,"
replied Patricia in picture perfect Japanese.
        Everyone facefaulted.

        Kasumi answered the door and came back with a tray of food.
Patricia saw that it was filled with the same type of food that she had
eaten earlier.  She gagged and backed away,  "Uhh... thanks but no thanks!"
        "Hey don't worry," said Ranma.  "Akane didn't cook them this time
- ouch!"  Akane had hit her with a small mallet that had mysteriously
appeared from nowhere.
        "Uhh... okay," replied Patricia.  She gingerly took one and ate it.
Her eyes widened.  "This is *good*!"  She took another and another.  Soon
she was stuffing her face as fast as she could swallow.  Ranma followed suit.
        "Ranma!" exclaimed Akane.  "Don't you have any manners at all?"
        "Hey!  She's doing it and you're not yelling at her!"
        "We're not talking about her, we're talking about you!  Jerk!
Pervert!"
        "Stupid tomboy!  Gaah!"  Ranma made a face.
        Patricia was sitting, her mouth full of sushi and another piece in
her hand.  She froze as Ranma and Akane's argument went into full swing.
"Uhh... perhaps I should go..." said Patricia hesitantly.
        "Ranma!  Akane!  Cease this sensless bickering in front of our guest.
What do you want her to think of us?" said Soun. They stopped reluctlantly.
Ranma the last dig in by making another face.
        "Where is the person who I stole the food from?" asked Patricia.
"I'd like to apoligize to him."
        Ranma became very nervous.  "Uh... well that is... ummm..."  She
laughed nervously.  "He's ... not here!  Yeah, not here.  He... left for
awhil - OW!  STOP IT!"  Nabiki had poured a kettle of hot water on Ranma,
who immediately shifted back into a boy.  "What'd you do that for?!"
        "Look at it this way Ranma, if she's staying with us for awhile, then
she would have found out about you sooner or later."  Patricia, in the
meantime, was trying to keep her heart from stopping.  "Don't worry.  You'll
get use to it."  Nabiki sat back down.  "Perhaps you could tell us something
about yourself.  Like what you are, where you came from, that sort of thing."
        Trying hard not to stare at Ranma, Patricia spent most of the night
telling them about her race and what had happened to them.  She avoided
referring to her ex-home as Avalon, calling it 'an island'.  She also
glossed over her exile, saying she left because of 'differing opinions'
between her and the ruler.  By the time she had done, it was *very* early
morning.
        Nabiki streched an yawned.  "Well, that was interesting."  She
looked out the window.  "Oh great, it's almost dawn.  Time for bed everyone!
That is, if we want to have the possibility of doing anything on schedule."
        "Where will Patricia sleep?" asked Akane.
        "Don't worry about me.  I'll be fine out on the ledge."
        "Oh, but we couldn't," protested Kasumi.  "It wouldn't be hospitable
of us if we made you sleep on the balcony."
        Patricia smiled.  "You'll understand soon."  She stood up and walked
out to the balcony.  She stood there, waiting for the sun to rise.  Just
before the first rays of sunlight touched her, she crouched down into a
three-quarter stance.  One arm was streched out as though preparing to
strike an opponent.
        Then the sun fell upon her.
        Patricia cried out in pain.  She lost her balance and collapsed
on to the floor, her hands at her eyes.  They all ran to her.
        "What happened?  Are you okay?" asked Akane.
        "My eyes!  The light!" Patricia cried.  She removed her hands from
her eyes.  They were wet with tears, and her vision was blurry.  She blinked
them clear and stood.  She closed her eyes in pain as sunlight fell upon
them.  She felt a hot tingling sensation all along her upper torso.
"Wha - what's happening to me?"  She shaded her eyes with one hand, the other
grasping at the railing.  She slowly opened her eyes, hissing at the pain.
Her body on the other hand, felt wonderful.  It was slowly becoming suffused
with a golden warmth, almost like from a fire, but infinitly more gentle,
more subtle.
        "Patricia, what's wrong?"
        "My kind turn to stone when the sun comes up.  It's how we sleep.
But for some reason, I'm not changing!"  Her eyes had adjusted to the
growing light and she looked up, seeing the sun for the first time.  The
sky was full of color.  Red, orange, purple, and some of the day's sky blue.
And the sun.  It was a growing chip of liquid fire on the horizon, reflecting
off the sea and sending stabbing pains into her eyes.  Still, she could not
bear to look away.  Her breath froze in her throat, her hands clutched the
railing and tears began to run down her face.
        "Patricia, what - huh?"  Patricia's expression was one of absolute
joy.  A ecstasy beyond anything she had ever felt before.  Patricia spoke in
a whisper, almost as though by speaking she might shatter the emotions she
was experiencing.
        "It's... it's beautiful."

        Patricia watched the sun come up for almost half an hour.  She was
continually amazed by what she saw.  First it was the sky, a light rich blue
so different from the black she was use to.  And then the ocean had taken her
by surprise as it's color turned from it's dark blue-black into a green-
blue.  And finally, the sounds.  Birds of all types which were silent at
night (and did not exist on Avalon anyway) awakened with songs that sent
Patricia into another set of joyful weeping.
        Kasumi was also crying in happiness, as was Akane to a lesser extent.
Even Nabiki's expression had softened upon seeing Patricia's innocent joy
of seeing the day for the first time.  Akane sighed happily and unconsciously
rested her head on Ranma's shoulder who (up until this point was also almost
in tears, not of happiness, but boredom) tensed and looked like a person
ready to bolt.  Even Soun and Genma were overcome by emotion, each
remembering past mornings with either wife and daughters or son.
        Patricia came back in, glancing every few steps back out the window.
"You humans are so lucky to be able to be awake in daylight.  I know many
of my brothers and sisters would give almost anything to see what I've seen."
        Akane finally remembered what she was doing.  She drew away from him
like a shot and would have yelled at him had Nabiki not stopped her tirade.
        "You said something about turning to stone.  What did you mean?"
asked Nabiki.
        "Gargoyles turn to stone by day and are alive at night.  It's how
we sleep and regain our strength."
        "So since you're not turning to stone now, how will you sleep?"
        "I... I don't know.  I guess I could try the human way."
        Nabiki clapped her hands and they all jumped.  "Fine, that means
sleeping arrangements.  Since the original arrangements were, Daddy, Mr.
Saotomae and Ranma, Akane and Kasumi, and me, then I think that the best
choice would be for her to sleep in my room since I don't think it would be
proper for her to sleep with daddy."
        Soun blushed.  "Er... quite right, Nabiki, quite right.  So it's
decided then?"  No complaints.  "Good.  Well goodnight... er... good day
all."  They filed out of Soun's room and headed to their own.
        Patricia had no complaints, although she had wished to be with the
oldest one, since she felt she needed some comfort.  She did not want to be
with the boy/girl Ranma or Akane.  Quite frankly, they scared her a bit with
their constant fighting and violence.  Still she could live with sleeping
with Nabiki.  Aside from Kasumi, she seemed to be the most normal of the lot.
        As they walked into Nabiki's bedroom, she glanced back at Patricia.
"Hmmm.  If you can't do something about those wings, there may not be enough
room for both of us on the bed."  Patricia responded by folding her wings
around her like a cloak.  Nabiki raised an eyebrow, shrugged, then took
some pijamias from a dresser, quickly stripped and put the pyjamias on.
Patricia squirmed uncomfortably, not use to seeing such displays.  "Do you
want some other clothes to sleep in?"
        "I don't think you would have anything that would fit me," said
Patricia.
        "Well, climb in and enjoy your first night of human sleep."  Nabiki
threw back the covers, turned off the light and climbed in.  Patricia
followed reluctantly.  After a few moments of shifting, she settled in a
comfortable position.  She closed her eyes and...
        
        With a strangled cry, Patricia sat up in bed.  She was in a cold
sweat and her body shook in reaction to the nightmare.  She moaned and fell
back onto the bed.  Her head felt full of fuzz, and she had a hard time
thinking.  [Do humans feel this way normally after waking up?] she wondered.
She stood up and gave a huge stretch, feeling vertebrae pop up and down her
spine.  She was awake.  Now what was she suppose to do?  She decided to do
what she always did after waking up.  Get something to eat.  Her stomach
rumbled in agreement.
        She left the bedroom.  In the living room, Nabiki was doing her
morning exercises, listening to music with a walkman.  Nabiki saw her.
        "I didn't know what time you were getting up, so I just ordered
some breakfast for you," Nabiki said loudly.  "There's some sausage and eggs
on the table.  I'll join you in a minute."
        Patricia walked into the small dining room.  On the table were two
plates with eggs and sausage on them.  She sat down, looking at the food
suspiciously.  Her diet on Avalon had consisted mainly of fish and fruit,
with the occasional seagull thrown in.  She tasted the eggs and found them
to be a bit bland, but the sausages were delicious.  By the time Nabiki had
finished her exercises and joined her at the table, she had already eaten
all her sausages.
        "So you liked those sausages, huh?  Why not try the eggs?"
        "I did.  They were bland."
        "That's why you put salt and pepper on them."  Nabiki sprinkled
salt and pepper on both of their eggs.  "Now try them."
        She did, and they disappeared as fast as the sausages.  "Do you have
any water?"
        "No but we do have some milk."  Milk?  Nabiki got them both a glass.
Nabiki drank hers in between mouthfuls of food.  Patricia put on another
display of fast eating as she reveled in the taste.  She sat back and sighed
in contentment.
        "What time of day is it?" asked Patricia.
        "It's about 9:30 am."
        "Huh?"
        "You don't know what time is?  Okay... it's the morning of the next
day."
        "Morning of the *next* day?  You mean I've slept for a day *and* a
night?"
        Nabiki nodded.  "I tried to wake you later in the afternoon
yesterday, but you didn't make a sound."  Nabiki sniffed and wrinkled her
nose.  "You could use a shower, and we should probably get you some more
clothes.  You do know what a shower is, don't you?"
        Patricia fidgeted.  "Uh... I know what a bath is."
        Nabiki sighed internally.  "What about the other... natural
functions?"
        Patricia's skin turned a darker shade of blue.  "Umm... now that you
mention it..."
        This time Nabiki sighed out loud.  [Ranma and Akane are going to owe
me big for this.]  "Okay, come here and I'll show you how to use the
facilities."
        After a quick tutorial on how to use the various items in the
bathroom, Patricia was left to her own devices.  After performing a call of
nature, she entered the shower.  She had a lot of trouble, since her wings
were too large for the stall.
        [I have to admit, this is much preferrable to a bath.  The hot water
hitting me is like a massage.]  "Hey Nabiki, could you help me wash my back?"
        Nabiki, who was watching some T.V., turned a bright red at the
question.  "What?!  No way!  You do your own back!  Use the back scrubber.
That's what it's there for!"  
        [What is she getting so mad at me for?]  Patricia thougth  [It's not
my fault my wings get in the way.]  A feeling of worry began to permiate her
consciousness.  [I'm missing something.  Something I should have.]  She
immediately thought of her spell book, but remembered seeing it on a small
nightable by the bed.  It was something else.  Something she had brought
with her on the boat... "The boat!"  Patricia tore out of the shower, only
at the last minute remembering her clothes.  She ran out of the bathroom
trying to quickly put on her clothes at the same time.
        Nabiki stared at her as she overbalanced and fell heavily on the
floor.  She walked over to Patricia and calmly knelt down over the
struggling gargoyle, who was slowly getting untangled from her clothes.
        "Patricia, what are you doing?"
        "I left the boat I came in on the beach last night!  It had all my
things!"  She finally managed to get her clothes in order and stood up.
Nabiki stared at Patricia's shirt which was pressed tightly against
Patricia's body.  Her body, by the way, was still wet from the shower.
"I'll be back soon." Nabiki managed to snap out of her reverie and grabbed
her arm.
        "Someone has to keep an eye on you and that someone might as well be
me.  [I've been doing it enough already anyway.]  I'll come with you."
        "Okay."  Patricia picked up Nabiki, ran onto the balcony and jumped
off.
        A shriek of terror escaped from Nabiki as they entered a moment of
freefall.  Then Patricia spread her wings and caught an updraft which carried
them high above the hotel.  Nabiki clutched Patricia in fear as they glided
out over the beach.  Patricia noticed Nabiki's panicked grasp.
        "Hey, take it easy.  I won't drop you.  Ease off a little, okay?"
        Nabiki was breathing rapidly, and she felt a wave of dizziness wash
over her.  [Gotta calm down.  I'm hyperventalating.]  She managed to get
most of her control back.  "What do you think you're doing!?  Are you crazy?"
        "I wouldn't have done it if I thought you would have been in danger.
Just relax and enjoy the ride.  I'm the only one doing any work here."
        Nabiki cut back an angry retort.  Taking a deep breath, she began
to take note of her surroundings.  They were several hundred feet up above
the beach.  It would have been very pretty, had she not been so scared.
"Do we have to be up so high?"
        "Actually, I'm having trouble keeping as low as I am.  The hot sands
are causing a lot of updrafts.  If I want to keep low, I'll have to dive.
I'll try to let you know when I'm going to do that."
        "How long until we get there?"
        "Just a few more minutes.  Get ready!"  Patricia tucked in her wings,
and she rapidly lost altitude.  Nabiki watched in horror as the ground
quickly rushed towards them.  At about one hundred feet above the ground,
Patricia spread her wings again and halted their descent.  Nabiki's face was
pressed tightly against Patricia's shoulder.  "You can ease off now."
        Nabiki opened her eyes and drew away.  They were coasting along the
sealine.  Several people were looking up at them.  "Do you see your boat?"
        Patricia shook her head.  "No.  It's not here.  I don't know exactly
where I left it either."  She growled in frustration.  "Everything looks so
different during the day!"
        Nabiki tried to be optimisitic.  "Well... it could be worse."
        "Worse?  How could it possibly get any worse?  That boat had all my
worldly posessions!  I've lost everything I ever owned!  The only thing I
have now is my spell book, and the clothes on my back!"
        Nabiki, being a materialistic person, keenly felt her loss.  [How
would *I* feel if I lost everything I had?]  "Hey, I can call the Coast Guard
and see if anyone found it.  Come on, let's go home.  My dad and sisters are
probably worried about me."
        Patricia smiled a sad little smile.  "We did leave rather abruptly,
didn't we?"
        "You could say tha - AAAAAAHHHH!!"
        A kite had maneuvered directly in front of them and Patricia could
not get out of the way on time.  She collided with it, becoming entangled in
it and the string attached.  With a heave, she shredded the kite and
discarded it.  But during those few moments, she had lost precious altitude
and they were less than fifty feet above the beach.  She tried to regain her
equilibrium, but a crosswind caught her and sent her towards the cliff.
She desperately twisted away but one wing hit the cliff.  A roar of pain
escaped from her, but she managed to catch an updraft.  She glided above
the cliffs and turned towards the hotel.
        Nabiki had once again resumed her death grip on Patricia.  Patricia
gritted her teeth against the pain and returned to the hotel.  Once they were
inside the room, Nabiki pried her arms from around Patricia.
        Nabiki turned to Patricia angrily.  "What did you think you were
doing?  You almost got us both killed!"
        "It's not my fault!  That... thing got in my way!"
        "You should have been more careful!"
        "I've never had to share the skies with anything except other
gargoyles before!  How was I suppose to know that something like that would
happen?  What was that anyway?"
        "That was a kite.  That doesn't mean you can be careless!"
        Patricia gasped.  A vision of Ophilia, Zoltan and Diana passed
her mind.  "I was *not* careless!"
        With a supreme effort, Nabiki got herself under control.  "I need
some time to myself, if you don't mind."  She entered the bedroom and slammed
the door.
        Patricia looked at the closed door.  She growled in frustration and
sat down heavily on the couch.  A twinge of pain reminded her of her wing.
She inspeted the injury.  It was not major damage.  In fact, it seemed to
have healed somewhat during the glide home.  Patricia never had to worry
about infection before, but now with her stone healing gone, who knew how
this might fair.  She decided to see Kasumi.
        She left the suite and went to Kasumi's and Akane's room.  Kasumi
answered.
        "Oh hello!  How are you feeling?  You slept for such a long time, we
were getting worried."
        "Actually, I hurt myself a bit and was wondering if you could take a
look at it."
        Kasumi looked concerned.  "Please come in.  Of course I'll look.
What happened?"
        Patricia explained her and Nabiki's recent flight as Kasumi treated
the scrape.  "And now Nabiki's mad at me," Patricia concluded glumly.  "I
know I scared her, but everything turned out fine!  I mean, I was the only
one hurt."  She sighed.  "I'm sorry."
        "I think Nabiki is more angry about her lose of emotional control
than at the situation.  She's been this way almost since mother died.  It
seems that she felt it was a way to deal with the pain, and it's been so
effective that she hasn't been able to let go.  She almost never smiles
or laughs or anything.  I'm beginning to wonder how much longer she can
keep her feelings pent up.  It's just not healthy."  She smiled and placed
the last of the gauze and tape to the wound.  "There you go, all better."
        "So you think she won't stay angry at me for very long?"
        "Probably not.  Once she regains control of herself anyway.  She'll
just continue on as though none of it ever happened."

        Nabiki paced up and down the length of the bedroom angrily.  "Okay,
just calm down Nabiki.  It's not as though you've never lost it in front of
someone before.  Of course, I've never been taken gliding by a six foot
human bat before either.  How could I lose it so easily?  I mean look at me!"
Pausing in front of a mirror, she looked at herself.  Her face was flushed,
her eyes a bit wild, and her expression, once of cool control now was one of
slightly distressed anger.  She closed her eyes and drew in several deep
breaths.  [That's better.  Yeah, I can just feel the calm coming over me.
Much better.  I'll be back to normal in no time.]  Then she noticed her hands
were shaking.  "Dammit!"  She almost punched the wall but at the last minute
remembered that the wall was harder than her hand.  She hit the bed instead.
It absorbed her blow almost cheerfully, shoving her fist back at her
playfully.  She fell down on the bed and turned over on her back.  She tried
counting ceiling holes, but even that did not help.  "Man, I have got to get
it together.  What if the others saw me like this?"
        She closed her eyes and concentrated on getting her emotions back
under control.  It was like trying to get control of a wild horse.  Just
when she thought she was succeeding, she would get distracted by a strange
tingling in her body and it would escape.  She located the source of the
tingling fairly easily.  She moved her hands to her breasts and massaged the
nipples through her shirt.  They were erect and a small sigh escaped her
lips.  [I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  What did that psycology book
say?  Extreme stress, fear and anger can cause equal lust?  Something with
the body's survival instinct.]  Pleasure flowed in tiny streams from those
two points.  The tingling was replaced by a feeling of longing from between
her legs.  One hand moved down and pressed against her sex through her
shorts.  She clamped her lips closed as a moan threatened to escape.  [Jeeze
I must have been really scared!  I haven't been aroused like this in a long
time.]
        She continued her ministrations, only pausing long enough to remove
her clothes.  A small flutter of anxiety wormed it's way though her stomach.
It vanished as she rubbed her hand against her inner thighs and the outer
lips of her sex.  Her other hand continued fondling her breasts, alternating
between them.
        Her fingers were now pressing against her outer lips, but not
penetrating her flesh.  Her breath came more rapidly now.  With each movement
her fingers pressed a little harder.  At one point her flesh pressed against
her clitoris, which was beginning to enlarge, and she gasped as pleasure
rippled up from between her legs.  After a few moments, on the downward
stroke, she entered herself.
        She moaned in relief as she felt her middle finger penetrate her
outer lips.  She brought it out and looked at it.  She was already wet.  She
reinserted her finger and began to slowly move it up and down again pressing
deeper and deeper until she ran up against her hymen.  There she stopped.
Despite her talk, the mysteries of laying with a man were still just that.
Mysteries.  It was easier to needle others about their own inadequacies and
help cover for her own at the same time.
        She lay there for a time, her fingers moving up, down and around.
It was like she was water and someone had dipped a finger into her.  A soft
gentle pleasure rippled from her center and spread throughout her lower
torso and legs.  Her legs flexed with each rotation, as though they were
holding an imaginary lover to her sex.  Her chest heaved in deep breaths,
pressing her breasts and nipples against her hand.  Then, she removed her
finger, which was glistening with her juices and pressed it against her
clit.
        A wave of pleasure broke over her and she moaned out loud.  Her
finger frictioned against her clit and she unconsciously heaved her hips
upward, pressing her wet digit harder against her button.  She moaned with
almost every breath, as she rotated her finger around her clit.  The pleasure
climbed to a peak, and she knew it would soon be over.
        Then a strange thing happened.  She began to experience feelings and
sensations.  She could feel the wind wipping by her ears.  Someone cradling
her in their arms.  She felt protected, like when she was being held by her
mother when she was young.  These feelings we not overriding her pleasure.
More, it was overlaying it, combining with it, in a strange way making it
better.  She could remeber the smell of wet skin and hair.  In her mind's
eye, she drew back and opened her eyes.  What she saw was the pain filled
face of Patricia.
        "What the - AAAHHH!"  Nabiki came.  Her hips bucked upwards.  She
grasped her breasts almost painfully as her fingers rapidly massaged her
clit for a final few moments.  Her body shuddered as pleasure washed through
her sex and radiated outward to her torso and legs.
        Finally the feeling faded.  She lay there for a few moments,
relaxing.  She could feel tension drain out of her.  She tried to get up and
found out that her body did not want to move.  With a groan of effort, she
stood up and headed towards the shower.
        She wondered for a time about the memories she experienced, but
dismissed them as being related to the anger and fear that had caused her
lust.  She dressed herself in a one-piece black and green striped bathing
suit and examined herself in the mirror.  Looking back was the same calm,
cool face she was familiar with.  She took a deep breath and left the room.
Ready once again to face the world.  Besides, she had some calls to make.

        Patricia shook her head in amazement.  She had a hard time believing
some of the things that Kasumi and Akane were telling her about themselves.
Most of the exciting, albeit unusual, events involved Ranma.  Had they been a
story, she would probably have killed herself laughing, but since they were
real, she found herself sympathizing with him(her?).
        Akane was telling her about their encounter with Mikado and Azusa
when Nabiki walked in.
        "Oh, there you are," she said to Patricia.  There was nothing in her
voice which gave away if she had forgiven her about their flight.  "I called
the Coast Guard.  They said that no one had found a boat matching your
description, but if they find it, they'll either call us here or leave a
message at the dojo."
        "Thank you, Nabiki," replied Patricia quietly.  "Nabiki, I'm sor-."
        Nabiki waved magnimoniously.  "Forget it."  She turned to Akane.
"Are you going to the beach today?  I hear Ranma's already there."
        "Yeah I know.  He got up early to catch the morning tide.  There
are suppose to be some big waves happening today."
        "Ranma?  Get up early?  That's a first.  So you going?"
        "You go ahead.  I'll finish up this story and then follow you."  She
turned to Patricia.  "Do you want to come?"
        "Are you nuts Akane?  She couldn't mix with humans.  Just think how
they would react.  We'd have police after her in minutes."
        "Nabiki!  That's not very nice."
        "It's true though," whispered Patricia.  "I knew that when I came
here my chances with living with humans would be small.  I was lucky in
meeting you, but I doubt that I would have the same luck with the majority of
your race."
        "That's ridiculous!  If we accept you, why wouldn't others?"
        "We're use to weirdness," said Nabiki.  "Look at Ranma and Mr.
Saotomae.  Or Ryoga. Or Shampoo.  Or almost anyone else who is associated
with Ranma.  Are you coming Kasumi?"
        Patricia flushed at Nabiki's words.  Weird.  So that is how Nabiki
thought of her.  Wierd.  The sentiment was not unexpected, just depressing.
When Angela had come back to Avalon just before the appearance of Oberon, she
had explained to the others the humans reaction to her.  Many had been
scared.  Some had tried to hurt her just for existing.  Only a very few had
treated her kindly and with acceptance.  Apparently, Nabiki was going to be
one
of the humans between giving hurt and acceptance.
        While Patricia was thinking all this, Kasumi was answering Nabiki's
question.  "I was planning to go into town for some souvenirs.  I saw a
lovely illustrated tourist map and a compass that we could give to Ryoga
the next 
time he visits us."
        "Okay.  I'll see you down at the beach Akane."  Nabiki turned and
left.
        Akane looked unhappily at Patricia.  "Would you like me to stay?"
        "No, you go and have fun.  I'll watch from the sky or maybe watch
some -- what did you call it?  TV?"  Akane nodded.  "I'd like to get a
chance to look for my boat anyway."
        Akane sighed, took a towel and bathing suit.  Just before she left,
she turned back to Patricia.  She looked like she was about to say something
but changed her mind and left.
        Patricia and Kasumi talked for about half an hour before she had to
leave.  Patricia left at the same time, gliding far above the humans who
were enjoying themselves on the ground below.  She sighed, feeling very much
alone.

        He ducked under the cover of the small cave as Patricia glided by.
The man laughed as she flew overhead.  "He has put you in my domain now,
gargoyle."  He looked back into the cave, her boat and all her possessions
were stored.  He pointed at them and they were surrounded by a globe of
intense light.  The boat and it's contents began to sizzle and smoke.
When the light vanished, only ash remained.  "I will have my vengeance
gargoyle, and in the end you will beg for death."  The figure vanished in
a flash of light.

        That night during dinner, Nabiki brought up a topic that none of the
others had thought about.  "If Patricia is coming back home with us, how
are we getting her there?"
        "An excellent question, Nabiki," said Soun.  "Do you have any
suggestions?"
        "No, but I do have a list of problems.  We can't afford a ticket,
she doesn't look human, and a bit off topic, what will she do once she gets
there?  We can't afford to feed her.  With Mr. Saotome and Ranma, we can
barely afford to feed ourselves."
        "Why don't we just put her in a box and ship her home?" asked
Ranma.
        "Don't be so stupid Ranma," said Akane.  "First, we'd have to cut
holes in the box for her to breath.  Second, customs agents would search it."
        "But what if I wasn't me?" offered Patricia.  The others stared at
her.  "I could teach Ranma to cast an illusion spell to make me look like a
statue, and a stasis spell so you wouldn't have to worry about me
suffocating."
        "No way, no more spells!  I've got better ways to use my ki.
        "I think the idea is a good one," retorted Nabiki.  "I thought you
turned into a girl, not a chicken."
        Ranma and C.O. stared unbelievingly at Nabiki.  "CHICKEN!?" roared
Ranma.  "You're calling me a CHICKEN??!  Okay you insulting, money-grubbing
parasite.  I'll bet you all the money I have on me that I can learn and cast
the two spells by time we leave."
        Nabiki tried to look offended.  "Now who's being insulting.  Do you
think I'm stupid?  I know for a fact that all your money is on your night
table
in your room."  Nabiki's expression turned sly.  "Why don't we bet that
amount?"
        [Rats,] thought Ranma.  "Yeah, okay," he replied reluctantly.
[I learned the last spell easily enough.  These next two should be no sweat.]
        "Ranma, I hope you realize that your easy success was a fluke,"
explained Patricia.  "I still don't understand why you were able to cast that
spell on your first try.  That was a one in a million chance.  It usually
takes years to learn the simplest of spells."
        Ranma groaned, and had visions of yen flying away.  "When do we
start?"

        Ranma and Patricia spent a good portion of that night, the following
day and most of the next night spellcasting.  Patricia finally knew how
hard it must have been for the Magus when he was teaching her.  She knew that
if she could just show him how just once, he'd get it easily.  She was
amazed at the power and flexibility of his 'ki', as he called it.  She
thought that if he ever took up magic as a profession, he could easily
outstrip her in power and ability.  And do it in a shorter time period than
she.
        They worked in on a small island, perhaps no larger than a small
house.  It was several hundred yards from the resort, and no one visited it.
Many of the first tries ended in various act of annihilation of the target
object.  Explosions, vanishings and twisted shape shifting was the order of
the day.
        It took a half a day to perfect the illusion spell.  Since the
illusion did not need any other types of obfuscation other than sight, she
could skip many of the details.  The other spell took much longer.  She was
putting her life in the hands of this spell and she did not want *anything*
to go wrong.
        Patricia was awakened late the next day by Nabiki.  She thought about
asking her what happened when she had awakened, but decided not to bring it
up unless she mentioned it.  And Nabiki was not talking.
        Genma, after much yelling, shaking, and finally a liberal dose of
ice cold water, managed to get Ranma out of bed.  Ranma did not get much to
eat because every time he fell asleep during breakfast, his father would steal
a bit of food.
        Eventually, they were all packed and ready to go.  In Soun's room was
a large wooden crate.
        Patricia looked at Ranma.  "Are you ready?"  Ranma nodded.  Patricia
climbed inside, while Ranma, tired and partially starving, cast the first
spell.  Patricia watched as her skin shifted from her dark blue to a light
stone gray.  [So this is what I look like as a statue.]  She looked back at
Ranma, who was nodding off.  Genma smacked him across the head and he jerked
back awake, punching Genma in the face in a reflex action.  Again Patricia
marveled at his ability.  [If he can learn two spells in as many days, and
then cast them in his state, what could he do if he seriously studied?]
Patricia shivered slightly as she contemplated the power at Ranma's command.
"Okay, do the next one."  She heard chanting then the world faded from her
eyes.
        The others watched as Patricia's body stiffened and stopped moving.
Genma poked at her.  Then shook her slightly.  She still felt like flesh but
was as stiff as stone.  After a moment of consideration, he picked her up and
carried her out to the balcony, the others staring at him curiously.  A few
minutes later, several pigeons had settled on Patricia's body and were
cooing softly to each other.  He nodded in satisfaction.
        "She's past the final test.  If she can fool the pidgeons that she's
a statue, then she can fool anyone!"  Everyone facefaulted, execpt for Ranma
who collapsed.
        "Ranma!" exclaimed Akane.  She rushed to his side and turned him over
on to his back.  His only response was a soft snore.
        "Don't worry, Akane," said Nabiki.  "She told me this might happen.
He'll be fine once he gets some rest."  [Great, now I have to pay him.  Oh
well, a small price to get him motivated.  He *was* the only one able to
learn the spells in time.]  She smiled to herself.  [He's so easy to manipu-
late.  Besides, the money I'll make of theses vacation photos, should be more
than enough to cover the loss.]  "I just have one last question before we
go.  
Why are we helping her?"
        They all stared at her in amazement, as though they had never
thought of that.  "Why, it's the right thing to do, right Father?" said
Kasumi.
        Soun puffed up his chest, and is expression became one of self-
righteousness.  "Absolutely.  It is our duty as martial artists to help those
in need."
        As they headed out the door, Nabiki had one last forbidding thought.
[Altruism.  Great.  The destroyer of financiers.  Why do I have a bad feeling
about this?]

*****

That's it for chapter 2.

					Zhai'helleva
					(Wind to thy wings...)
					Nighthawke