The next town Ranko came to was fairly large, so she wandered around for a while. Walking by a dressmaker's shop, her heart almost stopped. A beautiful black silk dress was on display in the window. In the center of the chest was a Tao symbol embroidered with silver to create a shining yin to contrast with a black yang. This was HER dress.

The redheaded girl smiled at the dress in the window then entered the shop, her eyes clouding over for a moment as she saw herself wearing it. She spoke to the dressmaker with a hopeful glint in her eye. "Hello, I need to earn some money. Do you have anything I could do to help you?"

The man's eyes twinkled. "I saw you looking at the dress in the window. If you would like to work, the owner of the import store down the street has a pregnant daughter who needs a few months off so she can have her child."

"Thank you! I still want to buy that dress some day!" Ranko said, as she hurried out of the shop and down the street.

The man smiled in the redhead's wake, shaking his head slowly. He never really understood why he had made that dress, and had never expected to sell it... But something had compelled him to create it... this girl's destiny perhaps?

=======

"Lee Imports" read the sign on the shop. Ranko figured this must be the place, so she clambered up the stairs and entered the open door. "Hello?" She asked as she entered the store.

"May I help you, miss?" Came a soft voice to her right. Ranko looked up at a girl about her age, though a good 15 centimeters taller. Her black hair fell unbound from her head to flow smoothly down her back. The girl's hair was fine and straight, while Ranko's always seemed to have a mind of its own, currently corralled in a ponytail.

Ranko looked up at the girl, almost in awe. She had been away from Joketsuzoku long enough to forget just how short a girl she was... But there was something else about this girl. Something that made Ranko reluctant even to think of her as a girl... What made her different? Suddenly, she remembered what the dressmaker had said, and cast a quick glance at the young woman's midsection, noticing a slight bulge.

Flushing very slightly, Ranko responded. "My name is Saotome Ranko... and... uh... I'm traveling to Japan, but I'd like to earn a little money. I was told there might be a job working at your store."

The girl's expression became happy as she replied "I'll go get my father, Okay?"

"Sure..." Ranko told her hostess' back.

It wasn't too long before a middle-aged man returned with the girl. A worn pair of glasses perched on is nose, calling attention to themselves instead of his very ordinary face and coal-black hair. His body was muscular, and Ranko figured she'd give up at least half a meter to this giant of a man, from her perspective. As he approached the redhead, he offered a hearty smile. "Mei-Lin said you'd like to help out in our store when she... is unavailable."

Ranko reflected the smile boosted by an enthusiastic sparkle in her eyes. "Sure, I'd love to help!"

The man's expression lost a little happiness as he continued. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Ranko's face fell. "No, sir. I hope the job you need done can be performed by a lonely Japanese girl... far from home." A tear punctuated just how far away she was from home, and how lonely she felt.

"I think so, Ranko. I think you'll work out just fine."

=======

Mr. Lee, Mei-Lin's father never ran out of things for Ranko to do, especially when he found out just how strong the teenager was. The girl unloaded trucks and re-arranged stock in back with surprising ease, never complaining. She also became a good friend of Mei-Lin, who after only a few months found her ability to work in the store restricted by her advancing pregnancy. Ranko's Mandarin improved greatly due to her very public position as a clerk and stocker in the store. Her blossoming friendship with the increasingly expectant mother gave her ample opportunity to learn more about the Mandarin language, and about a very feminine condition, pregnancy.

After a few months more, Ranko's life had fallen into routine. It was daybreak, so she was practicing her kata. Mei-Lin watched as her friend performed her martial arts dance, like she did every morning. Ranko was a remarkable girl, and had helped both father and daughter tremendously. The petite martial artist stopped her workout & turned with an arm raised, catching a thrown towel from her friend. "Thanks!" Ranko exclaimed happily, giving the young mother-to-be a beautiful smile as she toweled off the bulk of the sweat her workout had generated.

"Sure, Ranko. Tossing you a towel is a pretty small place to pay to watch your martial arts show in the morning!" Mai-Lin replied.

Ranko walked over to her friend, draping the towel over her shoulder. "So, how's junior?"

"Well, the baby's not trying as hard to practice the kata as last week. No kicks yet today!"

Ranko laughed "Good, Mai-chan. Mom deserves a rest sometime..."

"Yeah, I guess..." The taller girl responded with a grin.

Ranko looked at her friend, who was now only a few weeks away from delivery. Would she ever be able to do this? It would be tough, men held none of her interest... at least that way. But, though the part of her that longed to join Mai-Lin in motherhood seemed to grow larger each day much as her friend's baby did. She could never imagine herself willing to be with a guy in that way. Period. She had become more of woman then she had thought possible. When she closed her eyes, she saw a girl now, at least outside. Inside was a different story. She hoped it would always be so.

=======

Finally, it was time to leave. Ranko's friend and 'neice' were doing so well that another hand was no longer needed around the store. Never wanting to be a burden, the girl had thanked her hosts and packed to leave.

Ranko hated times like this. Leaving friends, perhaps forever with only words to mark her passage. But she knew that wasn't true. She had made an impact at each place she had stopped and, with the start of a new spring, would be back in Japan in just a few months. She did have one purchase to make before leaving, however.

The dress she had fallen in love with nearly a year ago was no longer on display at the shop, but she knew it was still there waiting for her. With a bit of excitement, she opened the door.

"So, you've come to make your purchase before leaving town?"

"Yes, I hope I have enough to pay for it..." Ranko put a wad of crumpled bills on the counter, the man counting out his share.

You can change in the back room. I'll bring the dress to you."

"Oaky!" She said, and hurried to the back room. The dressmaker brought the dress to her and left the room. She quickly got out of her skirt and blouse, then put on the dress. She clomped out into the room.

The man made some markings on the dress "It will be ready tomorrow."

Ranko walked to the back room and looked at herself in the mirror. He would NEVER have worn anything like this, but she would. She took the dress off, and put her mundane clothes back on. Returning it to the man, she said "See you tomorrow!"

=======

Ranko smiled as she left the town. The dressmaker had helped her carefully roll up the dress, and pack it in a plastic bag to protect it from damage. Ranko wasn't sure when she would be able to wear it, though. Someday she would sport the beautiful symbol of her life new and his old one, when she had a good reason to.

It was wonderful to walk again, to leave the urban area for the freedom and peace of the open road. After a few days travel, her trip reached a junction she had never imagined.

Ranko saw a flash on either side of the road, 200 meters ahead; she went to the side of the road and quickly took off her boots, putting them in her pack. The flashes hadn't moved. The fools didn't see her! Though it was much less comfortable to walk in her stocking feet, she could FIGHT. She put her pack back on, cautiously walking down the road.

A twig snapped. Ranko went to her battle stance, dropping her pack. Four, no, six men rushed out from the bushes. She knew where each of them was. In two seconds, she whirled around to disarm them. "Feh, weapons users!" She whispered as she whirled around again, rendering them unconscious.

Hearing the sound of a man clapping behind her, she jumped and flipped, now facing him 5 meters from where she had previously stood.

"Very good, you are skilled, girl! But can you beat a man?" He sneered, taunting her.

Anger filled Ranko for a second, but she let go of it, that was part of the trap this man was trying to set. She studied her opponent.

"Ah, a bit of self-control. I am truly impressed; you are indeed a student of the Art. A pity you must die today."

Her opponent slowly advanced...

Ranko studied him, he lunged at her, just missing...

Ranko felt a trickle of blood on her leg, and a slight burning. Her expression darkened... POISON!

"You know no honor!" She spat.

The man laughed. "I'm a thief! What honor do I need? And YOU... are dead!"

Ranko had to act fast. Shouting "Kachuu Tenshin Amiguriken!" She pummeled the man before he had a chance to react. Three tenths of a second later, her opponent was unconscious.

Ranko tied a strip of material from her skirt around her thigh. At least some of the poison wouldn't make it, but would it be enough?

Pain forced her to the ground. So... this is where it ended, so far from either of her homes...

She heard an auto engine, then rolled over to see a truck. She screamed before the darkness came.

=======

The woman driving the truck slammed on the brakes, then her companion jumped out of the truck, running over to the girl.

The man looked at the girl, her leg already turning blue-black from her wounds. He shouted to his wife, the driver. "Floss! You'd better call for backup, we need to get this girl back to town."

The woman shouted into the radio. "This is Floss, calling from the South road into town!"

"What's your problem, Floss?" A scratchy voice responded.

"We need another truck out here right away. The bandit gang is down, but we are returning with a critically injured woman, over."

"We're coming. Let's put those bastards on ice. Out"

The man carefully carried the girl to the truck as his wife radioed back to town. He'd seen the effects of the bandit leader's poison before. It looked like the girl had applied a tourniquet, saving her life. He hoped the doctor could save her leg.

As the man gently laid the girl in the back of the truck, his wife ran out to get the girl's backpack and throw it in the back of the truck.

After her husband secured the girl, Floss turned the truck around, then gunned the engine to race home.

=======

The blackness was lifting; Ranko heard the sounds of a household around her. She opened her eyes, and saw a young girl about four years old. She was cute, with pink hair and dancing gray eyes. "Hello." Ranko said in her native tongue.

The girl looked puzzled. "What did you say?"

"Hello, who are you?" Ranko responded in Mandarin.

The girl smiled. "I'm Gloss"

Ranko struggled to smile. "I'm Saotome Ranko."

The girl ran out of the room. "Mommy, the brave lady is awake! She says her name is Ranko!"

Two more people come to Ranko's bedside, a man and a woman.

"I am Chang Zhming, and this is my wife Floss."

The man had brown hair; Gloss had inherited her hair color from her mother.

"How long?"

"You've been semi-conscious for two days, Ranko. The doctor was able to save your leg, but thinks it will take at least 5 months to recover." The man smiled as he continued. "Because you put an end to the bandits which have plagued our village, you are the honored guest of our town."

"What did you do with the bandits?" Ranko asked.

The man's expression turned grim. "They were taken away. We heard they were tried and sentenced to long prison terms. My guess is they were taken out and shot."

Ranko winced; she did not like to be responsible for the death of anyone.

The man's expression remained grim. "They had killed many people who lived here, Ranko. You should be proud, not upset. You avenged all of their innocent victims."

The man's wife spoke next, motherly concern on her face. "The doctor recommends that we help you exercise your leg. It's going to hurt, but we should start as soon as possible."

Ranko could not bring herself to look at her leg. She tried to flex it. It was on fire, but moving. She continued to move it until it was completely extended. she then tried to contract it fully , then extend it. After extending it, she became dizzy, and blacked out.

=======

When she woke up again, the girl was at her bedside.

"Where are you from, Ranko?" She asked with the intense curiosity unique to four-year-olds.

"I'm from Japan. It's a beautiful place across the sea." She looked at the girl's hair, the light pink reminding her of "Sakura."

"What?" The puzzled girl asked.

"Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossom, you hair reminds me of them." Ranko replied with a gentle smile.

The little girl grinned. "I see! You're a nice lady, Ranko."

"Thank you, Sakura" Ranko grinned right back.

The girl perked up even more, a delighted expression crossing her face. "That can be your nickname for me!"

"Would you like to learn a little Japanese?"

"Sure, Ranko!"

=======

Weeks of pain followed. Exercise of her damaged leg alternated with lessons about Japan and Japanese for Gloss and her parents, and Mandarin lessons by the Changs for Ranko. After about a month, Ranko was able to get along well enough to walk, though with a pronounced limp. With their guest able to look after herself, the two parents left their daughter in Ranko's care while they worked.

During this time, Ranko took it upon herself to work on making the Chang's home spotless. She felt it was the least she could do for her hosts. Gloss 'helped' her as any four-year old would. It was two steps forward and one back. Ranko would scrub the floor, then Gloss would tip the bucket over, while trying to move it for Ranko. She could not find it in her heart to treat the girl too harshly, as she WAS trying to help. Soon, Ranko provided Gloss with a DRY sponge, so she could help clean the areas Ranko had not reached yet. Gloss really enjoyed helping her "big sister", and proudly showed her parents where she had helped clean each day.

When the Changs got home each night, Floss gave Ranko a cooking lesson, and found the girl to be an eager learner. After a few lessons, Ranko had a hot meal waiting for them when they got off work each day. After their meal, language lessons and cooking tips continued as Ranko and Gloss did the dishes. The Changs really grew to love their guest, and Ranko wondered if she really needed to search for her family any more... Then she thought of her father and mother, a man she loved and a shadowy entity buried in her memory. She knew then that no matter what, her family was in Japan.

=======

In another month, Ranko could walk well enough to engage in a light workout. She invited all of the Changs to join in a simple kata in the morning. When their parents went to work, Ranko trained Gloss, then studied some books she had bought at the town store, after her housekeeping chores. She thought it strange that it would be in China that she would finally teach herself proper Japanese.

=======

A low rumble broke the silence that usually filled the valley. Ranko was studying her Japanese when Gloss ran in to the room. "Ranko, something bad happened at the mine! Can you come help?"

"Yes!" Ranko made her way out the door, and limped to the mine entrance up the hill above the town.

The town elder was at the mine entrance "Ranko, there has been a collapse in the mine. We think there are seventeen people trapped down there. Can you help?"

"Yes, can you get me to the collapsed section?"

Finally, Ranko had managed to crawl to the point of collapse. Several workers were using picks, making slow progress against the mass of rocks.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I try?" Ranko asked the people in front of her.

The miners moved out of the way. She studied the rock, looking for its breaking point. She turned around. "Could you clear the room, please?" After the workers were a safe distance away, she turned to the rock wall. With a shout of "Bakusai Teknetsu!" She touched the breaking point, disintegrating the rocks. A repeat of the process, and she broke through. Poking her head in the opening, she heard cries of relief from the other side.

Fifteen people crawled out of the tunnel Ranko had dug.

Concern suddenly filled her face. "Where are the Changs?"

"They're still back there, the roof collapsed on them."

Ranko crawled as fast as she could through the tunnel, the elder close behind. When she emerged from the collapsed area, she saw another place where the ceiling had come down... Ranko hurried over, dreading what she would see.

Mr. Chang was dead, crushed by the rock.

Mrs. Chang was clinging to life. She looked at Ranko, her head shaking with her struggle to live. "Ranko, my husband is dead, and I soon will be. Please raise Gloss as your own, we will not be able to."

"It will be my honor and joy." Ranko said through tears. She sobbed for several minutes. When she looked to back on her friends, Mrs. Chang had died with a smile on her face.

The elder was behind her. "Saotome Ranko, will you accept the duty given you by your friends?"

"Yes. After I free them from this place, I will comfort my daughter." Ranko began her terrible task, wishing she was beneath the rocks...

========

The two bodies wrapped in bed sheets lay in the back of one of the trucks. One of the drivers turned to the stricken girl. "We must go to the city to..." He could not finish the sentence. At last, he continued. "You must stay with your daughter to comfort her."

Ranko limped home as fast as her good leg would carry her.

=======

Dirty and bleeding from her ordeal, Ranko limped into the home, her endurance nearly spent. "Gloss, are you alright?" She breathed, collapsing on a bed.

"Did you see mommy and daddy?" The girl replied with concern.

Ranko choked out the words she needed. "They are gone, little one. They were killed in the mine."

Gloss' expression became puzzled as she asked. "When will they be back?"

"I am sorry, they asked me to be your mother, because they will not be coming back, Gloss"

Gloss began to cry, joining her 'big sister' in bed. Ranko just held her, trying to absorb all the child's suffering. Soon both girls were crying themselves to fitful, painful, sleep.

=======

The sun rose, waking Ranko up. "Gloss, are you OK?"

Gloss had slept embracing Ranko. The girl still was not awake, but seemed to be breathing regularly. Suddenly she screamed.

"It's OK, honey, I'm here. Gloss, are you alright?" Gloss grabbed onto Ranko as if she was a life preserver... perhaps she was. The girl and her mother drifted back to sleep.

There was a knock on the door. Ranko got up to answer. "Miss Saotome, the truck is back."

=======

Ranko and Gloss looked through tears at the two small boxes. Gently, Gloss picked the first one up, and placed it into a larger concrete container, then she did the same with the other. Ranko placed the cover on the larger box; then haltingly bore it to the grave. Her injury made the trip agonizing, but she refused all assistance. Physical pain was the least of her suffering, and she had one last duty to perform for her friends. Several mine workers attached cables to the container and lowered it. Ranko and Gloss helped fill the hole.

As they left the gravesite. Ranko looked down at her daughter. "Gloss."

The girl shot a glance of pain at Ranko "Gloss is dead, papa-mama, I am Sakura!"

"Why do you call me papa-mama?" Ranko asked.

"You said you used to be a boy, and both my mom and dad are dead, so you must be papa and mama to me, papa-mama."

Ranko and her daughter returned home, and promptly tried to sleep. After many hours, the two girls succeeded.

=======

Nerima, Tokyo

A young woman with short brown hair, Tendou Nabiki, ran the usual search of newspapers she did once a week using the name "Saotome Ranko". The computer and the Internet made this a much easier proposition than it might have been. It seems that this Ranko character was engaged to the Tendou family, and was to marry either Nabiki or one of her sisters. Unfortunately, he got lost in China when his idiot father had taken him there to train. There had been a battle and the two became separated. Nabiki figured she might as well search the Japanese-language papers in China looking for this Ranko, and had been doing so for a year. Today was her lucky day...

The words on the screen almost shouted at her. "Japanese youth saves fifteen in mine!" The person who performed the rescue was Saotome Ranko from Nerima, Tokyo. Nabiki printed off the article and ran to show her father.

=======

Chinav

Days and nights of pain and tears followed, after a few weeks, the tears stopped and the pain was much less. Ranko was able to walk without a trace of a limp, her recovery astonishing the town physician.

Her recovery complete, Ranko decided it was time for her to earn some income to support herself and... her family. Setting up a few tables in front of the Chang's house, she opened a small cafe, "Ranko's", putting the kitchen skills she had learned to work.

Business was slow at first, but seemed to pick up after a few weeks. Her clientelle seemed to consist mainly of single male miners, but Ranko never seemed to notice. There was always a line each morning of eager customers wanting for some hot foot to take with them to work.

After a month, a smiling Sakura looked up at her mother. "Could I get some clothes like yours?"

Ranko shook her head with a puzzled expression. "Do you really want to wear clothes like mine, little one? You deserve prettier clothes."

Sakura looked at Ranko with the twinkle in her eyes that still melted her mother's heart. "Your clothes are very pretty, mom, especially on you!"

Ranko shrugged in smiling resignation. "OK, lets go to town on the next truck."

=======

Ranko got a chance to visit her friends in the city. Most of them knew the Changs, and would miss them. First, Ranko visited the dressmaker.

"What would you like?" The man asked with a smile.

Ranko looked a little embarrassed. "My daughter would like clothes like mine."

Nodding his head affirmatively, the shopkeeper replied. "We should have these in stock."

Soon Sakura was wearing clothes that looked just like her mother's.

=======

Ranko looked down at her daughter. They had just finished their morning kata. Sakura did not cry anymore, neither did Ranko. It had been five months since the accident. Another winter had come and left, spring was again upon the land.

Sakura looked up at her mother. "Papa-mama, could you please have a baby so I will have a brother or sister to play with?"

"I'm sorry little one, but I'm a boy and can't love a man. I don't know if I can have a baby."

"Please, mommy?"

Ranko realized that many of the regulars at her cafe would be happy to take her as a wife and Sakura as a daughter. Had she come far enough to become one with her body at last? Was she ready to abandon hopes of going home for the sake of her daughter? Had she finally become, at last, a woman?

"Mommy?" Sakura asked with concern, worried Ranko hadn't responded to her question.

"I'll try, Sakura." Ranko felt part of herself come to life at her promise. She prepared to take a step on the road she dared not tread, but realized she had reached its end. Looking at her daughter through fresh tears of joy and sadness, she reached down and scooped the girl up into a loving embrace. "You'll have a sister or brother, Sakura. I promise."

That evening, Ranko thought she heard some people speaking Japanese, but it must have been her imagination.

=======

Elsewhere in the village

Three Japanese travelers were looking for Saotome Ranko, unfortunately, they could not find anyone who spoke Japanese. The finally found an older man who spoke their tongue.

The village elder looked at the three foreigners. The man seemed to be muscular, and wore a cloth over his head. His wife had red-brown hair and had a sword strapped to her back. Their daughter looked to be seventeen or eighteen perhaps, and had long black hair.

The woman spoke at last. "Good day, sir. I am Saotome Nodoka, Saotome Ranko's mother. Do you know where Ranko lives?"

The man looked thoughtful. "Yes, but they are probably in bed by now. There is an inn at the end of the road, perhaps you could stay there tonight and see them tomorrow morning."

Undeterred, Nodoka continued. "Very well, do you have Ranko's address?"

Jotting the address and a crude map on a piece of paper, the elder offered the paper to the woman. "Yes, here it is."

=======

Nodoka looked at the simple bed with trepidation. Would she find her son tomorrow? Would she even be able to sleep the night away? So many nights had passed unnoticed since Genma had taken Ranko. And, after the first few, all had usually passed easily. Now... perhaps... only one was left. She lay awake, wondering if this Ranko WAS her son... Visions of a strong, noble, manly son occupied her mind. Across China, another mother tried to sleep next to her own child.

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