[Ranma][Fanfic] Childhood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs ======================================================================= Childhood of a Modern Dynasty Chapter 2: Broken Hearts and Legs Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and copyright 1998-2000 by Jim Lazar An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime. E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: jim [at] animeprime.com Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for all released CMD stories, graphics files, and other information: http://www.animeprime.com/ff/md ======================================================================= From the personal journal of James Davidson: April 13, 2057 I walked along the canal on my way to the Tendo compound, hoping today that Akane would be able to talk about the summer of 1998 again. My first interview for this period had been three days ago. Since then she had trouble talking to me about the rest of the summer, I knew some of the details so I didn't blame her. Her Junior year of high school had started out rather well actually, if you ignored the awful Hawaiian school uniforms the students had to wear. A few fights, but that was nothing new to them or to Nerima. Ukyo had finally reappeared after being missing since the destroyed wedding and made up with Ranma and Akane. Ranma and Akane started getting along better, even doing some training together when Ranma's father broke his leg. Their summer training trip was going well too, even if Ukyo and Ryoga followed them and sabotaged their food and equipment. Looking back, they did Ranma and Akane a favor by forcing them to live off the land and share a tent. Ryoga ended up with a broken leg before the two jealous teenagers could do any harm to Ranma and Akane's delicate relationship. I reached the Tendo Compound just as I was pondering Ranma and Akane's first kiss. At least what Akane considered her first REAL kiss with Ranma. Away from their interfering parents, they had finally shared the first of many kisses. Akane had told me that they had kissed by accident and because of Ranma's cat phobia before that, but she never felt that their hearts were behind those kisses and would always consider the kisses they shared in the woods to be their first real kisses. She called them kisses of the heart. I was shaken out of my thoughts when Hanaki answered the gate. We launched into our typical exchange. I said, "I'm here to see the Matriarch. My name is James Davidson." "Ah yes, you're expected. Please come in, Mr. Davidson," Hanaki said. "Thank you, Ms. Ono," I replied as I was let in. "Please, call me Hanaki." "Only if you call me James." "If you insist," she said and smiled. We exchanged our customary cheek kisses, then I asked, "So, have any boyfriends yet?" "Just you," Hanaki replied, teasing the red highlight in her long hair with her fingers. I chuckled, then said, "If only I was that lucky." "You are, you just won't accept your luck." I stopped and looked at her. Normally she kidded like this with me all the time, but she seemed more serious this time. Since she had not stopped, I started walking again and caught up to her. She led me past the Matriarch's house to the large dojo. The dojo was the only part of the old Tendo house, besides the gardens of course, to have been radically altered over the past sixty years. It was probably twenty times bigger than the original and had several smaller training rooms inside it. Hanaki led me into the main training room on the first floor, then excused herself. I could only describe what I saw next as a goddess in action. Akane was going through a series of exercises. Doing back-flips, kicks, and cartwheels that no seventy-six year old woman should be able to do. I just stood and watched the Matriarch of the Tendo family until she finished. She stopped suddenly and then looked at me. "Good morning, James. Here early today, I see," she said and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She straightened her gi and we exchanged cheek kisses. "Yes, I got an apartment close to the compound.". "An apartment, huh? Just ask before you show it to Hanaki," Akane said, then winked. "Akane, I would never think of..." I started to insist. "Right... just do me a favor, James?" Akane asked. I nodded. "Don't put it off too much longer. 'Later' sometimes never comes." I just nodded, then changed the subject. "That was quite a workout." "You should have seen me in my prime." Suddenly Akane did a cartwheel to the side and held up her arms to block a kick from a small girl. She spun around and blocked another kick from a little boy. Soon, she had them both in a bear hug. "Nice try children, but you have to be faster." "Kay," Akane's five-year-old great-granddaughter Daijiko replied. "Hiya, Daijiko, who's your friend?" I asked, ruffling the little girl's dark blue hair. "This is my fiancee, Takma," Daijiko replied to my question. I blanched, then looked at Akane and asked, "Fiancee? I'd have thought your family had learned its lesson?" Akane smiled. "It's not an arranged marriage or even official. Just two kids playing around. They know our family history so they try to shock us with stuff like that. Takma is just one of our dojo's best young students." "Oh, good." "But I could arrange one for you and Hanaki if you like?" Akane teased me. "Akane..." "Okay... okay... you're less fun in the mornings you know," Akane said, smiling. I just shrugged and followed Akane out to the main house. I sat down in front of the table while Akane went to her room behind the family room and changed. A few minutes later, Akane stepped out of the room and asked, "Now where were we?" I looked up at her and blushed, since she hadn't finished buttoning her blouse yet. "You and Ranma had just had your first real kisses," I explained. Akane knelt down and said, "Ah, yes." She smiled at the memory. Hanaki brought some tea for us. "Thank you, Hanaki," I said as I took the tea from her. Turning towards Akane, I asked, "Did you two, well you know, that night?" "My, my, what kind of book are you writing, James?" "Well, I'm not going to give details about that sort of stuff, but the readers will be curious." "Perverts! All of them!" Akane exclaimed, straight-faced. Then she cracked a smile, "No, we didn't... not on that trip. The morning after the kisses, we got up and foraged for breakfast, and did some more training..." I listened intently and made notes on my palmcard. Technically, it would transcribe everything me and Akane said, but I always added some of my own thoughts and notes to the interview files. It helped when I reviewed them. *********************************************************************** July, 1998 - Hotaka Mountain, Japan; Numata, Japan; Nerima, Japan Akane awoke in Ranma's arms, for the second morning in a row. She looked up into the sleeping eyes of Ranma, smiled to herself and extricated herself from the other girl's arms. Akane thought to herself, smiling. She got out of the tent and looked around their campsite, then she walked out into the woods to collect some berries and mushrooms. When Ranma awoke, she stretched her arms and looked around for Akane. Not seeing her, Ranma got up and went outside the tent. The sight of Akane cooking greeted her. Ranma choked down her usual reaction to Akane's cooking--mostly because Akane looked quite beautiful in the morning light--and smiled. "Good morning, Akane." "Morning, Ranma!" Akane chirped. Ranma joined her next to the fire and poured herself some tea. "I collected some more berries and mushrooms this morning. With the last of our eggs I managed to make a pretty good scramble." Ranma sipped the tea, bit back a spasm as it hit her taste buds, then swallowed. she thought, then noticed the mushrooms. Ranma picked up one of the mushrooms Akane had collected and examined it in her fingers. "Have you used any of these mushrooms yet?" Ranma asked. "No, I was just about to add them," Akane stated. Then with a little anger in her voice, she added, "Why? Not going to eat my cooking again?" "Oh. I'll eat it, but these mushrooms are poisonous. I'm willing to take my chances on your cooking, but not these mushrooms," Ranma said, a smile appearing on her face. Detecting a compliment in there somewhere, but not sure where, Akane smiled. "Oh. I guess I can't make you eat poisonous mushrooms, that's Kodachi's job." Ranma smiled at that and then leaned in for a kiss, she stopped when Akane's eyes went wide. "Oops, sorry... forgot I was a girl," she said, then helped herself awkwardly to some more tea. Despite her initial fright at the thought, Akane found herself disappointed. Akane pondered, as they ate breakfast. -C- -M- -D- It took Ukyo more than a day to make her way down the mountain with the hurt P-Chan in her arms. The terrain she had to go over was much rougher than the terrain they hiked up, plus the pig was heavier than he looked. Ukyo sat outside the room where they had just moved Ryoga. Then a nurse and doctor walked out. The nurse looked down to Ukyo and said, "We're all done with your boyfriend, we want to keep him for a few days and keep him immobile. The X-rays showed some possible bone spurs. Don't worry, it's just a precaution. You can see him now." "Thanks, but he's not actually my boyfriend," Ukyo said. The nurse either didn't hear her or didn't really care, because she just walked down the hallway to her next patient. Ukyo entered the room and looked at Ryoga. "How are you doing, sugar?" "Oh, nothing a few weeks won't mend. Thanks for taking care of me up there," Ryoga said. "No problem," Ukyo said and smiled. Then, noticing the cast on his shoulder, she asked, "Why is there a cast on your shoulder?" "Turns out I broke my collarbone too, didn't even notice it. Guess the pain of my leg or sleeping under your shirt made me miss it," Ryoga explained, then blushed when he realized what he had said. "What are friends for, sugar?" Ukyo said, with a smirk. "Guess I'll be here for a few days, are you going back up the mountain for our equipment?" "Tomorrow morning I will, it's getting late. Mind if I crash here for the night?" "I guess not, just be careful of the nurses, they look mean. Ukyo, could you do one favor for me?" "Sure, sugar. What is it?" A couple minutes latter, a sign appeared on the door of Ryoga's room. It read, 'Absolutely no COLD water allowed in this room!!' The sign was only partially successful; no one spilled cold water on Ryoga, but the same couldn't be said for the cold soda that got spilled by the nurse's-aid that came in to give Ryoga a sponge bath. Ukyo frantically grabbed P-Chan before the nurse's-aid noticed the change. She found some hot water and changed him back. The hospital staff were surprised to find that Ryoga needed new casts put on. Ryoga and Ukyo just shrugged at all of the "How did the old casts fall off?" questions. -C- -M- -D- After another day of training, Akane and Ranma sat by the fire. "Are you okay, Ranma? You seemed a little distracted during training today," Akane asked. After a brief pause, Ranma spoke, "Just wondering where we go from here, after the kiss last night and all." Akane looked into his eyes and said, "KISSES actually. Well, I'd like to see those continue." A slight blush appeared on her face before she continued. "As for the 'other' issues, let's just go slow. It took us over a year to really kiss each other, I doubt it's in our best interest to jump into anything else too fast." "Sounds like you've thought about this today as well," Ranma commented. "Yeah, a little." Ranma slid in beside Akane and put his arm around her. She snuggled into his side. "We'll handle the 'other' issues after we're done with this training trip," Ranma suggested, earning a nod from Akane. Then he bent his head down and gave Akane one of those 'kisses' that he'd wanted to give her all day long. They spent a good part of the evening enjoying the night air, the burning fire, and more kisses. When they were ready for bed, Ranma went to splash himself with cold water. Akane stopped him and said, "Don't bother, I trust you." -C- -M- -D- The next day, Ranma stood in a tree looking around carefully. He glanced all around, especially at the treetops. Then, when he heard a tree branch creak behind him, he leaped up to a higher tree branch. He followed the leap with a backward somersault to land on a tree behind him. This was fortunate, since Akane broke the branch he somersaulted from with an upward punch as soon as she landed on the branch below it. Akane swung around and glared at Ranma. she swore to herself. Akane calculated the chances of taking him while he knew exactly where she was, then conceded the match. Even Kuno wouldn't take those odds. "You win this one," she said, then leapt down to the ground. Ranma joined her, then asked, "Ready for lunch?" Akane nodded and walked over to where they left their daypack. She pulled out some bottles of water and the berry sandwiches they made that morning with the last of their bread. "You did pretty good this morning," Ranma congratulated her. He stuffed a sandwich into his mouth, the whole sandwich. "Huh? I didn't even hit you once," Akane said, then rubbed the sore spot where Ranma had kicked her earlier. "Training isn't about the number of hits you get in, it's about learning to avoid your enemies' hits and to anticipate your enemies' moves," Ranma instructed. "What movie is that from?" "That one's mine," Ranma insisted, then added, "You've been getting better at tactics." "Thanks," Akane said, then leaned over and gave Ranma a long passionate kiss. Neither of them noticed when the bottle of water Ranma was holding slipped from his fingers and spilled over his chest. After several moments, Akane finally realized that she was now kissing a girl. Akane broke the kiss and looked at Ranma, a little shocked. After a few moments of awkward silence, Ranma said, "I'm sorry, Akane. That was clumsy of me." "No, it's okay. Just like you have had to get used to your girl body... I guess I'll have to get used to it too." "I'm glad, I've always figured you'd dump me because of this stupid curse," Ranma admitted. "Ranma, there are much better reasons for me to dump you than your curse," Akane reassured Ranma. This did not exactly reassure Ranma. -C- -M- -D- During a particularly vigorous training session that afternoon, Akane was dogging a series of open hand punches from Ranma. She avoided most of them, but caught one against her chest. She winced in pain as she backed away. Ranma charged her again and yelled, "Chestnuts roasting on an open gi!" "Whaa..." Akane stammered, then looked down at her open gi. Quickly she closed the front of her gi over her bound breasts. Ranma ended up poking a finger against her forehead. "Shouldn't let yourself be distracted like that," Ranma instructed with a grin on his face. "Dirty trick, HAPPOSAI!!" Akane growled. "No. Happosai would have removed the gi and bindings entirely." Ranma laughed. "Pretty confident... for a pervert!" Akane screamed, then launched an all out attack against Ranma. Ranma had to give ground to the determined attack by Akane. He managed to avoid all the blows, until one of Akane's fists caught his side. He instinctively spun to his side and landed a kick to Akane's back as her momentum propelled her past him. She ended up crumpled against a tree. "Akane, you okay? Sorry if I kicked you too hard." Ranma offered his hand to Akane. Akane accepted it and rose in front of him. Looking at his eyes, she stood on tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. He smiled. She then flipped him over her back and against the same tree that she had hit. She grinned devilishly. "Shouldn't let down your guard like that." "Okay, guess that evens the dirty trick score," Ranma conceded, then added, "I think that when we're training we should probably not do any kissing." "Or gi opening..." "Agreed." "I hope you mean no kissing during our actual training sessions and not during the whole trip?" Akane asked. "Yes, of course," Ranma said, flashing what he considered his most charming smile. It actually made him look goofy, but Akane blushed anyway and then gave him another kiss. This time without flipping him. -C- -M- -D- Akane was taking a little walk after dinner to clear her thoughts. she ended her thoughts with a sigh. Finding herself by the waterfall, she decided to wash up. She removed her gi and set it down on a rock. Ranma finished cleaning the dishes and then looked around. "I guess I might as well clean up while Akane's out on her walk," he muttered, then got his towel and bath stuff. Approaching the waterfall from the camp side, he stopped to remove his training gi, and then splashed some cold water over his head. She shook her head and then made her way around the rock outcropping that hid the waterfall. She stopped suddenly as she saw Akane under the waterfall. She gulped, then started to back away slowly. Akane turned around and saw Ranma's red hair out of the corner of her eye. She covered herself quickly with her hands. Like a pair of deer caught in headlights, the two girls stopped and stared into each other's eyes. Well, mostly at each other's eyes. Finally, Ranma spoke, "Sorry, didn't know you were here." She turned and began to walk away. Akane thought for a second then stopped Ranma. "Wait... this is silly. We've already seen each other naked, an untold number of times, and you're a girl now anyway." Ranma turned her head around to face Akane. "Come on, I won't bite... or hit you. Just don't stare." Suppressing her urge to claim she wouldn't stare at an un-cute tomboy like Akane, mostly because she was just staring at Akane's beautiful body a few seconds ago, Ranma shyly joined Akane under the waterfall. She shared her soap and shampoo with Akane. Ranma really hoped 'Shampoo' wouldn't show up right now. Ranma should have hoped that none of her fiancees showed up instead. -C- -M- -D- Ukyo made her way up the mountain towards the camp she and Ryoga had set up. She stopped to get a drink from a stream and spotted two figures bathing in a waterfall. She was about to leave when she realized that it was Akane and Ranma. Quickly, she ducked down behind some bushes. She peered out from behind her bush to make sure she hadn't been seen. This was the moment that Akane chose to playfully kiss Ranma. Ukyo's heart shattered. -C- -M- -D- Ranma enjoyed the kiss, but felt he should remind Akane of something. "I'm a girl you know." "I know, but it's still you. Tastes the same," Akane said with a wink. "I was just curious after our 'accident' this morning." Both girls smiled. "Just don't get too 'curious'. I don't think either of us are ready to use Nabiki's 'joke'," Ranma insisted. "Agreed. Besides we couldn't use them right now anyway," Akane winked again. Ranma blushed, although it was hard to tell as the cold water flowed over her back. They leaned into each other and kissed, more passionately this time. They both enjoyed the feel of the other's skin on theirs as they made out. Ranma decided it was probably a good thing she was female at that moment, since he was pretty sure his male body would react very visibly to the sensations she felt flowing through her female body. -C- -M- -D- Something inside Ukyo snapped. All her thoughts about Akane not loving Ranma vanished. All her thoughts about Ranma just marrying Akane for the dojo vanished. All her thoughts that Ranma would eventually find a way to love her vanished. Up until that point she could rationalize almost anything about Ranma and Akane's relationship, all in her favor of course. Seeing Ranma and Akane making out passionately under the waterfall caused the fantasy world she had built up in her mind to shatter into a million tiny fragments of lost dreams. She finally realized that Ranma and Akane loved each other, no matter what they did or didn't say. After the initial shock caused by seeing them, Ukyo's body finally responded to her instinct to flee and she ran away from the waterfall, tears streaming out of her eyes. If she hadn't accidentally stumbled upon her camp, she would've probably spent the night running blindly through the forest. Instead, she spent the whole night crying and sobbing into her bedding. Either way she didn't get much sleep. -C- -M- -D- The next morning, Ranma and Akane awoke and kissed each other without any awkwardness. When they opened their tent, they were surprised to find a stack of equipment in front of their damaged tent. "What's this?" Akane asked, then started to examine the equipment. Ranma looked around the campsite to make sure nothing of theirs was missing. Nothing was. Akane listed off her discoveries, "Spare blankets, bedding, a ton of food-" she paused, mentally determining what kind of food and what she could make with it, "-even some panties. Well that's good, even washing my only remaining pair isn't doing me that much good." "No need to wear them on my account," Ranma said, and flashed a big grin. "Pervert." "Tomboy." They kissed. Ranma thought to himself before he got lost in the kiss. -C- -M- -D- Ukyo made her way down the mountain after dropping off the supplies for Ranma and Akane, mostly as an apology. She was still crying and muttering aloud. "I guess that's it then. He's made his choice. I guess I've known it since I messed up their wedding. What a fool am I to waste my life chasing him!" In her sorrow and because of the tears pooling in her eyes, she missed seeing the edge of the cliff that Ryoga had fallen down two days before. Fortunately for her, she only fell part way and ended up crashing into a small ledge about a third of the way down. Unfortunately for her, she broke her leg just like Ryoga did during his tumble off the cliff. "Damn," Ukyo swore when she tried to get up. She examined her leg, then swore again, "Damn, what are the chances of me falling down the same cliff and breaking my leg just like Ryoga did!" She quickly put a splint around her leg, packed some food and extra clothing into her small backpack and discarded the larger pack. Knowing that it was going to be a lot harder by herself, she used her large spatula to make her way slowly down the cliff. -C- -M- -D- On the other side of the mountain, a group of red headed girls were taking a hike. To keep from getting lost they were all tied together with ropes. The girl in the lead looked up when she saw a bird fly overhead. She was so preoccupied with trying to figure out what species the bird was, she didn't notice the edge of the cliff that she walked off of. But the other girls did notice the edge as they were pulled past it. The hospital Ryoga was in had to set around twenty more broken legs and arms, plus replace Ryoga's casts when an orderly spilled cold water on him when watering a plant by his bed. Turns out the orderly couldn't read kanji. -C- -M- -D- The next three days went by too quickly for Ranma and Akane, but they finally decided they both needed hot baths and a real bed or futon to sleep on. Besides, they were already a day over their original plan. They packed and gathered the trash, burying what was biodegradable and packed out the rest. Almost to the city of Numata, which was at the base of Hotaka Mountain, Akane saw a figure lying face down in a ditch by the path. Dropping their packs, they both approached the figure. His clothes looked very torn up. Ranma reached down to turn him over. "Careful, it looks like his leg is hurt," Akane mentioned, indicating the figure's splinted leg. Ranma carefully turned the figure over and then recoiled in shock as he saw Ukyo's dirty face. "Ukyo? What the heck is she doing up here?" Ranma asked, although he had a good idea what she might be up here for. Akane checked Ukyo's wrist for a pulse. "She's alive, but pretty weak," Akane stated, then put her canteen to Ukyo's mouth and poured a little water down the dehydrated girl's throat. "Akane, if you can handle both our packs, I'll take her to the nearest clinic or hospital," Ranma said. "Sure, go fast. She looks like she has been dragging herself through the forest for days. Ranma lifted Ukyo carefully into his arms, then bounded off in search of a clinic or hospital. Akane went back and picked up their discarded packs. she thought to herself as she followed the leaping Ranma into the city. -C- -M- -D- Ukyo was running. She chased Ranma through the woods. She could see him look back at her every now and then, but he didn't slow down. "Ranma! Come back! I love you!" she screamed and then stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Ranma had run into Akane's arms. They looked back at Ukyo and smiled before they looked back at each other and began to kiss passionately. Before Ukyo's startled eyes their clothes disappeared. Ukyo looked sadly downward, as the tears started to flow from her eyes. That was when she noticed she was standing in midair. She screamed as she plummeted off the side of the mountain. Ukyo screamed and bolted upright in the bed she found herself in. Disoriented, she looked around. "Oh, good! You're awake!" Ryoga blurted when he saw Ukyo look his way. "I was pretty worried when they first brought you in yesterday. You looked pretty bad." Ukyo realized that she was in the same room that she had left Ryoga in. "How... how did I get here?" she finally asked slowly. "They said some guy found you on the mountain and brought you here," Ryoga explained and then looked at her cast. "So how'd you break YOUR leg?" "I was upset and crying... I sort of fell down the same cliff you did. Not all the way, fortunately," Ukyo replied as she reached down and felt her cast to make sure it was real. It was. "Why were you upset?" Ryoga asked, suppressing a smile at the thought of Ukyo following in his footsteps. "Well, let's just say that Ranma and Akane are forever out of our reach. They have something together that I doubt either of us could match. I saw them kissing," Ukyo informed Ryoga. "Just kissing? That doesn't mean..." Ryoga began. "Well, they were going at it pretty heavily under a waterfall," Ukyo sighed. "And they weren't exactly overdressed." "Oh," Ryoga muttered, then started to grow depressed. More depressed than usual, that is. "Are you sure?" "Yeah." "Really?" "Yes!! They were like two naked rabbits in heat, okay?!" Ryoga shuddered and small yellows sparks flashed across his skin. "Akane..." he whispered into his pillow, trying to hold back his tears. Ukyo looked up at the ceiling, unable to hold back her tears. She didn't want to look and only heard the occasional sound from his bed, but she knew Ryoga was whimpering; they had both lost their first love. -C- -M- -D- A couple hours later, Ryoga was asleep and dreaming of the love of his life, Akane. Unfortunately, she was locked in Ranma's embrace and the two of them were laughing at him. "Akane!!" Ryoga drove his umbrella through Ranma's skull, laughing. He turned towards Akane and smiled, only to have her slap him. She said, 'I hate you', and then quickly ran away from him. "Akane!!" Ryoga chased Akane all over a rocky landscape littered with reminders that she didn't love him; love letters addressed to Ranma, chocolates in the shape of Ranma's head, Akane eating pork chops, Akane and Ranma writhing around naked in a big tub of jelly, to name just a few. "Akane!!" His eyes snapped open, but those eyes were vacant and filled to the brim with self-loathing. A powerful yellow chi flowed over his body as his hands reached towards the ceiling, while in his mind he was reaching out for Akane's retreating image. "Akane!!" Ryoga's depression over losing Akane finally overcame his willpower to stop it. He suddenly was engulfed in a huge Shishi Houkou Dan blast that radiated upwards from Ryoga's hands and blasted away several walls and ceilings of the hospital. "Akane!!" Ryoga's depression was so great that the blast was strong enough to leave the Earth's atmosphere. After destroying several satellites and arcing though empty space, it slammed into the surface of the Moon and sent debris and boulders flying across the surface. The energy from his blast and from the explosion from the impact washed across the surface of a large, rectangular, black monolith that stood nearby. Energy from Ryoga's Shishi Houkou Dan blast mixed with energy that the monolith had been channeling down to the surface of the Earth and caused the combined energy to feed back into the monolith. The incompatible energy caused the monolith to fold in on itself and then explode. The explosion sent a shock wave across the Moon's surface, blackening everything that it hit. Suddenly the shock wave reversed direction and collapsed back towards the monolith's original position. The shock wave and the remains of the monolith disappeared with what could only be called a flash of black light. All that remained was a circular blast pattern around two kilometers in diameter, which was as black as the space the moon hung in. "Akane!!" Back in the hospital, Ukyo had to squirm to avoid the bits of the ceiling that were raining down on her. "Cheer up, Ryoga! Or you're going to kill us!!!" She dived off her bed as a large chunk of concrete crashed down onto it. "What about Akari! She loves you!" In Ryoga's mind the fading image of his lost love was replaced with the other love of his life. "Akari?" This snapped Ryoga out of his depression and the blast subsided. "Akari?" Ukyo sighed as Ryoga stopped glowing. She looked around the ruined room and spat out a piece of plaster. "Damn, remind me never to get on your bad side." They moved Ryoga and Ukyo to a new room in an undamaged wing of the hospital. Fortunately, no serious injuries were suffered by anyone in the hospital. Although, several red headed girls were found wandering around naked after their hospital gowns were burned off by the blast. The cause of the explosion was never determined and Ryoga wasn't about to confess. -C- -M- -D- Later that day, Ukyo and Ryoga were having a discussion of their lost loves when the nurse came in. "You have visitors," she said, then let in Ranma and Akane. Both had obviously cleaned up since the dirt of the training trip was nowhere to be seen. "Are you both okay?" Akane asked, genuinely concerned since they had seen the destroyed wing of the hospital. Both of the patients nodded, trying to figure out how Ranma and Akane knew they were here. "Ukyo, you shouldn't be hiking in the mountains alone, you were a mess when we found you," Ranma said. "YOU found me?" Ukyo asked, then looked away. Ranma nodded. "On our way down the mountain. What were you doing up there anyway?" "I think you know. We were trying to keep you and Akane from getting closer," Ukyo admitted, looking ashamed. "I guessed as much, but I hoped you meant it when you told me that you still wanted to be my friend," Akane said, then added sincerely, "I was really enjoying your friendship." "I was enjoying our friendship too... and I didn't want to interfere with your relationship... but, I guess I sort of snapped when I found out about your trip alone. Pi... Ryoga and me just couldn't stand the thought of you two alone in the woods," Ukyo explained, between sobs. "I'm sorry." "Let's call this strike two, Ukyo. You're forgiven this one last time, but try something like this again and I'll never talk to you again," Akane said, then added, "I think you probably should give our families a formal apology too, call it penance for your misdeeds." She cracked a smile. "Thank you, Akane. I promise that was the last time. I know now that I just can't compete with what you two have," Ukyo said softly and the two girls hugged. Ukyo held her friend in her hands and swore to herself that she would keep this promise. After several minutes of working up his courage, Ryoga apologized as well, "I'm sorry too, Akane!!" He then switched to his most noble and proud tone of voice and declared, "I'll love you forever, but I know now that Ranma holds your heart. I can't break up what fate has determined." Then he started to think of Akari again to control his depression. "You... you were in love with me?" Akane asked, shocked. "Yes... haven't I mentioned that before?" Ryoga replied. Akane shook her head slowly. Ukyo and Ranma slapped their heads at the blunder. "Well... err... I guess I have for almost as long as I've known you," he stammered, twiddling his fingers and looking out the window. "That's sweet, Ryoga, but I love Ranma," Akane said. She then hugged Ryoga. "I know that now... Good luck, Akane," Ryoga said, barely audible. "You know... it's about time one of us said that," Ranma said. "What?" Akane asked, frowning. "I love you," Ranma replied and then pulled Akane into his arms and kissed her. They completely forgot about the other two people in the room. Although the words were never spoken before, the feelings were there, almost from the start. They both knew that now. "I would really love some cold water right now," Ukyo muttered. Ryoga nodded his agreement, then changed his mind. He still didn't want Akane to find out about his curse that could be painful for both of them; physically for him and mentally for her. Ryoga kept repeating to himself until the two lovers took it outside. -C- -M- -D- When Ranma and Akane finally arrived back at the Tendo household, they were greeted with hugs, kisses, and requests for souvenirs. Ranma and Akane obliged all of them. Nabiki wasn't too excited about the pinecone that they gave her. Kasumi loved hers and added to the collection in her room. She put it right next to the 24-karat gold tiara that they brought her from one of their trips to China. It's the thought that counts, after all. Leaving Akane to eat some lunch, Ranma went into the bathroom. After Ranma washed herself on the stool, she sunk her sore body into the hot bath. "Ahhhhh..." He exhaled deeply. Ranma stared at the ceiling and thought about Akane. Then the girl of his dreams walked into the bathroom and it wasn't Shampoo, she's more the girl of his nightmares. Well, Kodachi is actually the girl of his nightmares, Shampoo is just the girl of his bad dreams. Recently, all of his good dreams had included the goddess who stood before him. Akane paused briefly, but then shrugged, dropped the towel that covered her, sat down on a stool, and began to wash herself. Ranma looked up and saw her. "Akane? Err... maybe I should leave," Ranma offered. "Think we've gotten past this stage in our relationship, haven't we?" Akane replied with a grin. "Yeah, but I'm a guy now," Ranma pointed out. Pointed out verbally that is, he wasn't about to move his hands at the moment, especially to point THAT out. Akane glanced into the water. "Yup, looks like it." Ranma blushed and adjusted the position of his hands. Akane finished rinsing herself off, stepped into the tub, and sat down by Ranma's side. She curled up to his side and held onto his arm. "What do you think we should tell our families?" Still a bit embarrassed by Akane's closeness to his male body, Ranma said, "Lets not say anything or they'll have us married before the end of the day." He moved his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. A fleeting thought about why that was a bad thing flashed through his mind. Akane smiled. "Good point," Akane agreed. The same fleeting thought flashed through her mind. "Tell you what, I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow and we can get a good start to our new relationship," Ranma suggested. his mind realized after his lips made a promise before his brain figured out the details. Nothing unusual there. "That's sounds great. It'd be nice to finally do something normal couples do," Akane replied, then kissed Ranma. After their lips parted, Ranma quipped, "You mean normal couples don't have nutcases, Amazons, and other assorted fiancees chasing them all the time?" "No, I think that is unique to us." -C- -M- -D- In another part of Tokyo, a young brown haired boy ran from a beautiful green haired girl. The girl was flying behind him and shooting lightning from her fingers. "Dhar... ling!" the girl called out. Another burst of lightning flashed out and hit the boy. The boy crumpled to the ground. A man in a white suit jumped out of nowhere and thrust his sword at the boy's head. "Die!" The sword missed the boy's head, because the boy had jumped to his feet and ran down the street to get the name and phone number of a cute girl he had spotted. And the chase was on again. -C- -M- -D- As Akane prepared to go to bed that night, Nabiki came in and asked, "So... use any of them?" She winked. "What?" Akane wondered. Then she realized what Nabiki was referring to, so she said, "Of course not!" Then to prove her point she dug the unopened box of condoms out of her backpack and showed them to Nabiki. "It's interesting that you took them with you," Nabiki said, winking again. She walked out of the room. Not wanting to risk saying anything, Akane just stared at Nabiki's back as she departed. -C- -M- -D- The next morning, Ranma awoke. Out of habit he leaned over and almost kissed the sleeping panda. "Ack..." he gasped. "Every time Mom and Pop fight, he ends up here instead of downstairs with Mom," Ranma muttered. He stood up, stretched, and walked over to his dresser. He opened a drawer, then reached to the back and pulled out a number of small boxes. Opening one, he examined the ring inside. Ranma pondered. He put all the rings back except for the ugliest one and then pulled on his red Chinese shirt and pants. He left his room and went to see if Akane was up for sparring this morning. If he happened to get some kisses in too, so be it. -C- -M- -D- Akane and Ranma worked out vigorously in the garden. "Wow, they are really getting into it! Looks like Akane learned a lot," Nabiki commented, as she watched the sparring from the breakfast table. "Yes, looks like my son has gotten over his fear of hitting girls," Genma said proudly. "It wasn't fear!" Ranma yelled from the garden, as he ducked a kick from Akane. "I'm still not convinced that it was right to get him over his reluctance to fight with girls," Nodoka scolded her husband. Genma splashed himself with water to avoid the fight with his wife that he was sure was coming. The specially designed cast on his leg expanded to fit the larger panda leg it now surrounded. "Nabiki, do you still have the number of the zoo handy?" Nodoka asked. Everyone else at the table smiled. The panda grew very worried and held up a sign that read, 'Pandas are endangered and zoos don't keep them anymore'. "I know one panda who will be VERY endangered if he doesn't start taking responsibility," Nodoka informed the panda. The panda was saved from Nodoka's wrath by the sounds of a loud splash from the garden. Ranma wrung out her top as she stepped out of the koi pond. Akane was beaming. "Akane won? Oh my little girl has finally beaten her fiance in a fight!" Soun blubbered. Akane came into the house, wiped the sweat from her face, and knelt down at the table. "Not really, he still won't go all out with me. I wouldn't last more than a few minutes if he did," she conceded. Knowing glances went around the table. "You have improved remarkably in the past two weeks, even more than the two months we trained here at home. You should be proud of yourself," Ranma said, as she came in the house and put her shirt back on. Akane smiled broadly. "Thank you, Ranma." Most everyone at the table smirked. "What are you all smirking at!" Ranma and Akane yelled in unison. "Nothing," they all replied. Even the panda held up a sign that said, 'Nothing'. -C- -M- -D- After ducking out of the house carefully to avoid being seen, Ranma and Akane walked down the street hand in hand. They were dressed very smartly. Ranma had a suit and tie on, although he looked very uncomfortable and kept tugging on the collar. Akane had a black strapless dress on, topped by a cute shawl. Akane was also wearing light makeup, just enough to bring out her natural beauty. Because of the dress, Ranma had a hard time concentrating on where he was headed and had walked into telephone poles twice already. From an upstairs window in the Tendo house, everyone looked at the retreating couple. "Looks like they did get closer on their training trip," Nodoka remarked. Everyone nodded. The young couple, which they finally considered themselves, walked into the small French restaurant they had picked out together, very carefully. The planning session for this date was more like the military planning session for the invasion of Normandy than like a casual discussion about where a young couple should go on their first real date. They hoped that they had chosen a restaurant where Ranma's fiancees or any of their assorted admirers wouldn't interrupt them. Halfway though dinner they realized their big mistake, Kodachi Kuno was a gourmet French cook and had dropped by to steal some recipes from the famous chef of Ma Maison. Unfortunately, by the time they realized that, Kodachi had already attacked them. Akane dodged the first ribbon strike purely by chance, she had leaned over to kiss Ranma. Perhaps they needed to bring a lookout on their dates. Their first clue that something wasn't right was when the booth seat behind Akane exploded from the ribbon's impact Ranma and Akane jumped to opposite sides of Kodachi to split her attention. Then Ranma yelled out, "Kodachi attack number three!" Going into one of the battle plans they had practiced in the mountains, Akane allowed the ribbon to wrap itself around her arm the next time it shot out at her, grabbed it, then yanked hard on it. Kodachi, amazed at Akane grabbing her ribbon, didn't see Ranma jump at her and send a kick into her back. Since Akane's yank on her ribbon already had Kodachi off-balance, she couldn't resist the kick. The long flowing dress Kodachi was wearing didn't help her balance either. Akane ducked as Kodachi went flying over her head and through the window. Kodachi landed in a lake down the block. "Not bad... but we may not be as lucky next time. She wasn't expecting me to kick her," Ranma remarked, analyzing the fight. "Where were we?" Akane didn't even wait for Ranma's response before she leaned in and finished the interrupted kiss. The manager came over and tried to find out what happened. The couple ignored him, until a soaking wet Kodachi, now dressed only in her green leotard, landed a kick into Akane's side. Both Ranma and Akane went crashing through a brick wall and into the kitchen; Ranma ending up in a huge pot of soup. Since soup in normally served hot he wouldn't have cared--except for not really wanting to be in a big vat of soup of course--but this was Gazpacho Soup and was served cold. Ranma started to drag her body out of the watery tomato soup and cursed. This particular curse had something to do with Kodachi's parentage and her resemblance to a female dog. While Ranma got herself out of the soup, Akane was trying to get out of the big vat of noodles she had fallen into. The cook who was still stirring the noodles--despite the 'Akane Alfredo' that was being made--didn't help her any. The cook didn't even seem to care that this was a French restaurant and 'Alfredo' dishes were Italian; for some reason this made Akane the maddest. Kodachi came into the kitchen as both of her hated 'impediments to the love of her darling Ranma' tried to get out of their respective vats. "Where are you hiding my darling Ranma! You twisted girls! Taste my ribbons of love!" she screeched as she pulled out two more ribbons from her tight green leotard. After she wrapped the ribbons around the throats of Ranma and Akane, both girls started to choke and tug at the ribbons. "Where is my Ranma!" Kodachi screamed and yanked on the ribbons. Ranma pointed behind Kodachi. She wasn't too surprised that Kodachi took the bait and looked over her shoulder. Ranma took this opportunity to jump out of the soup and kick a set of knives off a nearby table. As they passed her face, she held her head up so that the ribbon around her neck was cut. Catching her breath, Ranma tossed a cantaloupe at Akane's head. Naturally, Akane was a little surprised to see Ranma throw a cantaloupe at her head. She was even more surprised when it hit very hard against the side of her head. "What did you do that for!" she screamed before she even realized that she could breathe again. She looked down and saw the rather large knife that had imbedded itself in the cantaloupe just before hitting her. Then she saw the cut ribbon slip off her neck and drop to the ground. she thought, then yelled out loud, "Thanks, Ranma!" She leapt out of the noodles, lifted up the vat, and then tossed it at Kodachi. Kodachi ended up covered in noodles and pinned beneath the vat. "'Kodachi con Carnie', not a good dish," Ranma said, as she helped Akane remove noodles from various places on her body. "For a French restaurant they sure have a lot of Italian food," Akane said, as she tried to knock a noodle out of her noggin. It slid out of her ear and she looked at Ranma. "You sure are a fun date." "I try." Ranma stood on her tiptoes and kissed Akane. The manager of the Italian restaurant that was next door to the French restaurant, started yelling at Ma Maison's manager. The two managers soon had an all out brawl going about the hole in the wall between the two restaurants and who was going to pay for it. Hoping to avoid paying for the wall, Ranma quickly paid for their food using some of the money he got from selling the ugly ring earlier in the day. He quickly ushered Akane out towards the door. Then as she and Ranma made their exit, Akane yelled back loudly, "Gee, isn't that Kodachi Kuno? Isn't her family rich?" The two managers suddenly knew who was going to pay for the damage. They called the Kuno lawyers the next day. Soon five big, mean looking, hairy knuckled, barely human lawyers showed up at the restaurants. The managers had to keep from puking as they negotiated with the 'ladies'. They only managed to get about half what they needed to repair the damage. They should have hired Nabiki Tendo to represent them. And that is how Ranma and Akane's first real date ended. Well, they did spend some time in the park making out. They even managed to avoid being attacked while they kissed. It was just luck, since Shampoo rode right by them on her bicycle and never thought for a second that the two kissing girls could be Ranma and Akane. -C- -M- -D- A couple of days later, Konatsu greeted Ukyo and Ryoga at the train station and helped them back to Ucchan's. As the two hobbled up the stairs, Konatsu made up the spare futon in Ukyo's bedroom. Ukyo appeared at the door. "Ryoga, you can have the bed, with your shoulder you need a real bed. The futon will be fine for me," she insisted. "Oh no, Ukyo! I couldn't. It's already too kind of you to let me stay here while my injuries heal," Ryoga insisted back. "Sit, Pig-boy!" Ukyo commanded and pointed at the bed. Ryoga obeyed. "Good. Now you injured yourself saving me, so consider this my repayment to you." Ryoga nodded his head. "Konatsu, we'll have to close the restaurant until I can cook," Ukyo told the female ninja, who was really a guy. It's a long story. "Ukyo, I'll keep the restaurant open, at least during the lunch and dinner rushes. I think you've taught me enough that I can make the okonomiyaki if you can just whip up the batter for me each morning." "Thank you, Konatsu. Remind me to give you a raise." "I only get room and board now." "I'll make bigger okonomiyaki for you to eat?" Ukyo said, smiling. "But seriously, I will start you on an hourly wage. You've earned it." "You honor me, mistress," Konatsu said, with a bow. "Konatsu, please don't call me mistress." "Yes of course, Ucchan." "Try Ukyo... or Ms. Kuonji if you must be so formal." "Of course, Ms. Kuonji," Konatsu said. Ukyo sighed. "I'll bring up some food and tea later, but is there anything else I can get you two?" "Konatsu, there is one special thing I need. After you get it, I'll need you to help me deliver it," Ryoga said. "Of course," Konatsu agreed, then got the details from Ryoga. -C- -M- -D- The next afternoon, Ranma was having a snack in the dinning room and paging through a martial arts magazine, when he saw a familiar black pig with a yellow and black bandana trot by. Ranma's eyes went wide and he grabbed P-Chan by the bandana. "Ryoga! You honorless pork byproduct!" he yelled and then ran down to the bathroom, trying not to be seen by anyone. In the bathroom, Ranma held P-Chan in his hands, and scolded the pig, "Ryoga, you liar!! You said you would stop chasing Akane! I took that to mean no more 'P-Chan'!" He was about to toss P-Chan into the hot water, when he heard a voice behind him. "I never said anything about P-Chan, only that *I* wouldn't chase her anymore." "Still, you know that I can't allow you... to... to..." Ranma began to explain to the pig, then stopped and turned around to see Ryoga standing in the doorway on one crutch. Ranma looked back at the pig in his hands and then back at Ryoga. He tossed the pig into the hot bath. The angry pig clawed its way out of the tub. "He didn't change." He picked up the pig again, only to have the pig bite him hard. Ranma tried to shake off the pig, but it just kept chewing on his hand. "Of course not! That's just a regular pig, dummy!" Ryoga said, smirking. "You're lucky you have the cast on or I'd make sure you're telling the truth," Ranma implied, with an evil smile. "So where did you get the pig?" He looked closely at the pig, which was still trying to make a meal of his hand. "I bought him at a pet store, added a bandana, and there you have the new 'P-Chan'!" "You think of this yourself?" Ranma asked skeptically. "Yup, I knew that I couldn't be her P-Chan anymore, that you wouldn't let me be her P-Chan anymore, and that I didn't want her to be hurt by the loss of her pet," Ryoga explained. He sighed as he saw the last chance for him vanish. "And you didn't want her finding out about your curse," Ranma added. "Well, that too..." "Okay, that's a good plan, as long as it works I'll continue to keep your curse a secret," Ranma said. "I guess I just enjoyed being loved by someone, even if it was just as a pet. Thank you, Ranma." "I guess that's what friends are for," Ranma said. He offered his free hand to Ryoga, that being the one without the pig attached to it. Ryoga considered this for a moment then accepted it internally. Shaking Ranma's offered hand, he said, "Friends. I'll be staying at Ukyo's until my casts are off." "Oh, already shacking up with someone else?" a voice behind Ryoga asked. Ryoga turned around to see Akane in the outer doorway. "Akane! What did you hear?" he blurted. "Just that you're staying at Ukyo's... Don't worry I was only kidding, she told me that she was letting you stay with her until your leg and shoulder healed," Akane said, smiling pleasantly. Ryoga visibly relaxed. Ranma walked forward and held out 'P-Chan'. "Look who showed up..." He pried the pseudo P-Chan off his hand and handed it to Akane. "P-Chan! I was so worried when you weren't here when I returned from our trip!" Akane exclaimed. She hugged the pig to her chest. She missed Ryoga's look of longing and when he wiped the drool from his mouth. "Down boy," Ranma whispered to Ryoga. Akane looked up and frowned when she saw Ryoga. She looked back and forth between P-Chan and Ryoga several times. then said, "You know I never noticed before, but P-Chan's collar looks a lot like your bandana, Ryoga!" Ryoga went white with fear. Ranma simply said, "Imagine that." Akane hugged her P-Chan again and walked out. Ranma wanted to hold Akane in his arms. Ryoga wiped away another piece of drool. Ranma whispered a question to Ryoga, "So how did you find a pig that would attack me like that?" "I think you did that when you tossed it into the hot water," Ryoga said, grinning. Then he hobbled out of the bathroom and said, "Good luck with him." Ranma just cursed silently. -C- -M- -D- At dinner that night, Ryoga and Ukyo were present to apologize to all of the family members. They had both been asked by Ranma and Akane not to discuss the events that happened in the mountains and they had agreed. Ryoga apologized first, just bowing his head, since his two casts prevented a more formal bow. "Mr. Tendo, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome, I sincerely apologize for anything I did to cause your two families any harm. I promise not to interfere with Ranma and Akane's relationship again," Ryoga recited very fast, without stopping for a breath of air. Nodoka nodded, then said, "Very well, Ryoga. My son says you are man of honor, so I will take you at your word. Please don't break my trust in you." "I won't, Mrs. Saotome," Ryoga said. Ukyo knelt down and crossed her hands. Her head was as far to the floor as possible without creating a hole. Considering that her leg was in a cast, this was an incredibly hard position for her to bow in. "Mr. Tendo, Mr. and Mrs. Saotome," Ukyo began to speak. "I sincerely apologize for my actions at the wedding and at various other times. I know now that my actions were shameful and that I have brought dishonor upon me and my family. I beg your forgiveness and will make any monetary reparations that you deem necessary." Ukyo remained in her head down position, waiting for a response. A few tears dripped out of her eyes. "Ukyo, dear. I know you love my son. I can understand that," Nodoka began, looking at Ukyo's prostrate figure. "The engagement to Akane was agreed upon first and thus it is the one I must have my son honor. If Akane decides to negate that engagement, I'd be glad to call you my daughter-in-law. I accept your apology on one condition: You must never again interfere with Ranma or Akane's relationship or their next wedding." Then glaring at everyone, she added, "Which will be their last wedding, it will either occur or I will nullify the engagement myself. Should that happen, I assure you that my husband would not like the events that follow." Suddenly a panda with a broken leg started to play with a tire in the yard. Everyone ignored it. "I understand, Mrs. Saotome. You have my word that I won't interfere with their relationship. I value them as friends too much to ever repeat my shameful acts," Ukyo apologized again, still prostrate. "Great! Let's eat!" Nodoka said, cheerfully. Her cheerfulness took everyone by surprise, since she had been so somber up until then. Kasumi started serving the food and everyone started to chat. Genma returned to the table after discarding an empty teakettle. He sat down and reached for some food. Nodoka slapped his hand away. "Nope, none for you." She hefted out a basket of bamboo and gave it to him. "If you're going to go panda on me to avoid your responsibilities, then you can eat as a panda," she explained, then splashed Genma with cold water. The panda sighed and started to chew on the bamboo. About five minutes later, Akane said, "You can get up now, Ukyo." Ukyo rose from her bowed position and stretched her sore legs. In the process, she spilled the bamboo over the floor, since the panda had been using her back as a table. The panda started to cry. "You didn't need to stay down there that long, dear," Nodoka insisted. "I know. I just wanted to let the tears stop," Ukyo sniffled. "So where did you go after the wedding, anyway?" Ranma asked. "Oh, I went home for a bit, then did some wandering trying to collect my thoughts and escape the shame of what I did to you two. Even got over to China and did some exploring," Ukyo told the assembled people. Akane said, "Well since Jusenkyo is gone-" Ranma frowned. "-I know you didn't come back cursed." She finally noticed Ranma's reaction, "Oops. Sorry, Ranma, I forgot." "That's okay, I'll find a cure someday. Until I do, I'll live with it," Ranma said, somewhat honestly. "That's my brave son, despite my husband's failings as a teacher," Nodoka said and shot a glare at the panda. "Actually, I did find one interesting place in China. It's filled with hundreds of caves, each one holds a different curse. If you sneeze in one of them, then you get turned into the last animal that sneezed in it," Ukyo told them. "Really? Any 'cave of sneezing handsome young man'?" Ranma asked, hopefully. "I think she's kidding Ranma," Nabiki said, as she looked up from her dinner. "Oh," Ranma said, sadly. Everyone had a good laugh at his expense. -C- -M- -D- The next morning Ukyo awoke, stretched her arms and tried to rise to go to the bathroom. She couldn't seem to get up, her legs felt very heavy. Finally, she managed to get up on her crutches. "Damn, all this laying around is making me weak," Ukyo chastised herself, promised to start doing some exercises to keep in shape while her leg mended, and made her way slowly to the bathroom. She slipped off her robe and then pulled her large T-shirt off. She carefully sat down on a stool and filled a bucket with water. Grabbing a sponge, she began to wash herself. Ukyo stopped suddenly, when she felt her cast start to rub against her leg. She looked down at her cast and noticed for the first time that it seemed to have grown in size overnight. "Damn," she cursed, then grabbed the bucket and started hitting her cast repeatedly. A piece of the plaster cracked off and a girl's face poked out, well it was a boy's face that just looked like a girl. Another long story there. Tsubasa spat out a piece of plaster, then exclaimed, "Oh, Ukyo! Let me comfort you in your time of pain!" "Tsubasa! How dare you impersonate my cast!" Ukyo screamed. A few carefully placed hits and Tsubasa went flying out of the window with most of the fake cast. Ukyo wiped her hands off then examined her real cast for damage. There didn't appear to be any, so Ukyo returned to washing up. She probably should have covered up instead, because Konatsu and Ryoga burst into the bathroom to see what the noise was all about. They saw a very naked Ukyo washing herself. They both beat a hasty retreat when assorted pieces of the bathroom's decor started hitting them. "Get out!" -C- -M- -D- A few days after 'P-Chan' returned, Akane and Ranma made another attempt at a nice quiet dinner. Carefully picking out an Italian bistro in the next ward over from Nerima, they settled down for a calm evening; they hoped. Ranma did look a little more nervous than normal, but Akane put it off as his being worried about another attack. A cute waitress took their order. Ranma ordered 'Akane Alfredo', earning a laugh from Akane. Informed that they didn't serve that dish, Ranma ordered a nice seafood pasta instead. "Do you think the waitress is cute?" Akane asked, after the waitress left. Ranma smelled a trap, unfortunately his lips spoke before his nose warned his brain and his brain could stop the lips. He said, "Yeah, but you're cuter." His brain recoiled, His brain decided to look into this unusual development further. "Thank you, Ranma," Akane said and leaned in for a kiss. Ranma obliged her. After their meals were served, they enjoyed a pleasant dinner and good conversation, even with the occasional foot tasting Ranma gave himself. His lips still had something to learn after all. No Amazons broke down the walls, no women in leotards attacked, no perverted freaks splashed Ranma, and no poetry spewing jerks stuck a bokken in Ranma's face. In short, it was a perfect dinner. This did not bode well for the rest of the night. -C- -M- -D- Nabiki approached the shadowy figure in the alley. "I'm here, but I really don't like to meet like this," Nabiki insisted, as she tried to make out the figure in the dark. "Never mind that. Ranma and Akane have been sneaking out of the Tendo house many times over the past week," a deep male voice said, obviously trying to disguise itself. Well obvious to Nabiki at least. "Maybe." "Do you know where they are tonight?" "Maybe." "How much to turn that 'maybe' into some details." "One million Yen," Nabiki answered, knowing that no one would be stupid enough to pay that much just to find where Ranma and Akane were tonight. "Sold!" the figure exclaimed and threw some bills at Nabiki. Casually counting the bills, Nabiki said, "They were seen at 'Umberto's Italian Bistro' over in Shinjuku, I can't guarantee that they'll still be there." She turned and walked away. she thought as she walked away. After Nabiki left, the figure stepped out into the light and removed its cloak. Shampoo grinned, then said in a voice that sounded like Kuno's, "That too too easy, magic-" She reached up and removed the little amulet that was stuck to her throat, her voice returned to normal as she finished. "-amulet made Money Girl spill beans she wouldn't spill for Shampoo." Shampoo walked down the street. She hopped onto her bicycle and rode off towards Shinjuku. -C- -M- -D- After dinner, Ranma and Akane walked through a pleasant little park. Finding a quiet corner, they sat down on a bench and snuggled close together. "This evening has been great, Ranma," Akane said, looking into his eyes. Ranma leaned in and kissed Akane. They spent several minutes making out before coming up for air. "Akane, I'd like to settle one of the 'other' issues we talked about on our trip," he mentioned after a few minutes of listening to their hearts beat together. "Well, I don't think this is the best time to get rid of any of our assorted fiancees and admirers," Akane replied. "That's not what I'm talking about. Um..." Akane placed her finger on his lips and whispered, "Just say whatever you want. It won't change my love for you." "Well, I'm talking about our... engagement. We never really accepted it officially," Ranma said. Akane's eyes went wide in surprise. Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, actually a handful of rings. "Akane, I love you, will you marry me?" he asked, without hesitation. It had taken him several days of training in front of a mirror to remove any hint of hesitation. "Ranma? I... this is so sudden," Akane said, shocked. Then she thought a moment, then said, "Well, sort of sudden... two years or two weeks, depending on how you look at it, but then we have been heading in that direction for so long, even almost getting married, several times I guess, I didn't even think of the engagement as being an issue, I guess I've just been taking it as a given, then there's..." It was Ranma's turn to silence Akane's ramblings with his finger. After a brief pause, he removed it and looked lovingly into her eyes. He only had to wait a couple seconds for her answer. "Yes." They pulled together and kissed deeply for quite some time. When their lips finally parted, Akane blinked and then asked, "What's with all the rings?" Ranma grinned and then answered. "Well, our fathers have been forcing them on me ever since I arrived at your house. They seem to forget that they've given me so many. I almost picked one to give you tonight, but thought you should choose two yourself." "Two?" "One for an engagement ring and one for a wedding ring," Ranma replied, a broad smile on his face. Akane grinned and looked at the rings in his hand, then jokingly suggested, "Maybe we should get them appraised first?" "Are you Nabiki in disguise?" Ranma asked back. Akane stuck her tongue out at him. She examined the rings carefully, and then picked up one of the rings. "This one for the engagement ring, I'll choose the wedding ring later," Akane declared. Ranma pocketed the other rings and slipped the selected ring on the finger that Akane offered to him. They leaned in for another kiss, but their lips never met. Instead, their lips kissed rubber. "Nihao, Ranma!" Shampoo sang, as her bicycle tire landed on Ranma's face. Looking around she noticed the ring on Akane's finger. "Where ring for Shampoo?" "Urk," was all Ranma managed to reply, since it was hard to talk with a bicycle tire on your face. "Shampoo, you're not wanted here!" Akane yelled. "Un-cute fiancee go home now. Shampoo's turn now," Shampoo insisted. As he freed himself from the tire, Ranma stood up and said, "Shampoo, please go home! I don't feel like dealing with you tonight!" "No! You give Akane pretty ring, Shampoo get one too! Only fair!" Shampoo said. Akane thought, relief spreading through her body. "Shampoo, that's an engagement ring!" Ranma explained, without thinking first. Akane malleted Ranma mentally. "It means I'm going to marry Akane. ONLY Akane!" Ranma declared. Akane heart skipped a bear at Ranma's forceful declaration. "Why Ranma sound like scratched CD? Shampoo only wife for Ranma," Shampoo said confidently, although internally she was worried that Ranma might actually like Akane. "Shampoo, I should have done this a long time ago, but..." Ranma began, then pulled Shampoo off her bicycle. "I DON'T LOVE YOU! I NEVER WILL!" Ranma yelled as he threw the bicycle over the horizon. "And I'm sick of getting run over by that damn bicycle!" "Guess Shampoo have to get ring off Akane finger after beating her up!" Shampoo declared, then pulled out her bon-bori. Both Ranma and Akane flipped backward from Shampoo and took up ready positions. "Shampoo, stop! I won't let you touch Akane!" Ranma yelled. "Ranma, let me deal with her! She's in for a surprise," Akane pleaded. Ranma moved to step in front of her, but he met her eyes and backed off. she thought, as she appraised her opponent. "Shampoo, I'm Ranma's ONLY real fiancee and I always have been! Give it up now or I'll have to hurt you!" Akane declared confidently. She punctuated the statement by putting the fist with her new engagement ring out in front. "Akane should realize by now, that stupid tomboy no match for Shampoo!" Shampoo replied and thrust one of her bon-bori at Akane's head. Akane easily avoided the thrust, and flipped to one side and kicked out at her opponent. Shampoo managed to avoid the kick and knocked Akane in the side with one of her bon-bori. Akane leapt away as the blow hit her and avoided any major damage. She dodged in between bon-bori blows to land a few fist blows into Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo back peddled and swung out at Akane's head. The bon-bori connected with a loud crack and Akane was thrown to the ground. Ranma started forward, but Akane got back to her feet before Shampoo reached her again. A few more blows to Akane's legs by the bon-bori caused Akane to leap away to the top of a nearby building. She may not have the reach of Ranma's leaps, but she was getting better at roof hopping. Akane thought as she leapt up to a taller building. This was the first time she had ever used the 'Saotome Anything Goes Martial Arts Final Attack-Ready, Set, Run Away!', but since she was officially engaged to Ranma now she felt she was entitled to use the Saotome family techniques. She wasn't about to shout out the name of this particular attack though; she still had the dignity of a Tendo to consider. "Running? Good choice, but Shampoo beat you no matter where you go!" Shampoo followed Akane, leap for leap. Ranma followed them both, still fighting his urge to step in and finish the fight before anyone got hurt, but he trusted Akane's abilities. Akane would ask for help if she realized she couldn't win. At least he hoped she would. Akane finally found the rooftop she wanted. Of course, she only knew that she wanted it when she found it by accident. It was a building about thirty stories high with a big water tank on the top. She turned around and got ready for Shampoo's attack. She didn't have to wait long for one of the bon-bori to strike at her head. Quickly side-stepping it, Akane grabbed Shampoo by the wrist and twisted, hard. Determined not to let go of her weapon Shampoo ignored her other hand for a split second and then realized her mistake when Akane broke the top of the bon-bori off with a well placed kick. Akane followed this by flipping Shampoo up and over her back. Shampoo landed hard against one of the wooden support legs of the water tank. "When Akane get so good?" Shampoo asked, amazed. Getting back to her feet, she transferred her remaining bon-bori to her other hand. She winced as she performed the move since her wrist was badly sprained by Akane's savage twist. She advanced back towards Akane. "Give it up, Shampoo!" Akane shouted. She did some quick flips to avoid the thrusts of Shampoo's only remaining bon-bori. Akane landed a few kicks on Shampoo through the holes in her defense caused by the missing bon-bori. Even so, Shampoo managed to force Akane back to the edge of the roof. Akane started to worry since she couldn't see any nearby rooftops on this side of the building. Then as Shampoo thrust her bon-bori at her, Akane saw an opening and did a high flip over Shampoo's head. Shampoo quickly spun and used the force of the spin to drive the bon-bori into Akane's back. Akane went flying and slammed hard into one of the support legs of the water tank. Ranma winced in pain as he saw Akane hit the support. Ranma worried internally. Akane shook her head and wiped the trickle of blood that flowed from her lip. Akane had just gotten to her feet in time to block a bon-bori blow with her arm. A loud crack was heard. Akane hoped it was just the sound from the bon-bori hitting the support leg behind her, but suspected her arm was broken. She didn't have time to check. With a savage yell, Akane put the last of her strength into one last kick that connected with Shampoo's stomach. Shampoo flew away from Akane and ended up falling over the edge of the building. Akane gasped and then ran over to the edge, not hearing the wooden support behind her crack loudly. Ranma started towards the edge as well, but Akane reached it first and managed to grab one of Shampoo's arms, just as Shampoo lost her grip on the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, the momentum of Shampoo's fall caused Akane to start to slide over the edge as well. Akane tried to grab the edge of the roof with her free arm, but found that it was indeed broken and growing numb. Akane slid closer to the edge, she had nothing left to stop her from falling over the edge. "Akane, let go. Shampoo lose. No need to save me now, I must meet my death honorably," Shampoo declared, with tears in her eyes. Akane just barely registered Shampoo's sudden use of 'ME' and 'I' before she slid completely off the roof along with the Amazon. She shut her eyes tight. Expecting the ground to smash her skull open, she was surprised to find she was still alive and looking down at Shampoo when she opened her eyes again. "What?" she gasped. "Hang on, Akane!" Ranma screamed. His legs were wrapped around Akane's waist and he gripped a round vent pipe in desperation. Apparently, Akane had one more resource available to her than she had thought. she realized. Ranma looked like he would be able to hang on long enough for Shampoo and Akane to climb up, but then he heard a loud crack of wood and looked up at the water tank in horror. "Damn! Hang on tight both of you! This is not going to be good! The wat-" Ranma screamed in panic, just before the wave of water hit him, cutting off his warning and turning him in to a girl. The wooden support leg had broken, causing the water tank to tip over and send a huge wave of water towards the three martial artists who were already fighting for their lives. Akane suddenly found her hand empty as the cat's paw slipped from between the human wrist sized grip she previously had on Shampoo. With a quick lunge, Shampoo-cat managed to dig her claws into Akane's hand. Akane winced in pain, but still tried to get a good hold on the cat. Shampoo-cat looked up and saw that Akane's attempts to grab her were causing her to slip from between Ranma's legs, the fact that those legs were now female didn't help Akane's situation any. With a last painful, "Meow," Shampoo-cat retracted her claws and fell to her death. "NO!!!!!!!! Shampoo!!!!" Akane screamed, helplessly as she watched the cat fall away from her. Up on the top of the roof Ranma was having trouble hanging onto the vent pipe. Her hands were smaller now and the water rushing over them caused her previously tight grip to slip. She made one last grab at the edge of the roof, but could not gain a purchase. The water pushed her over the edge with Akane. Quickly, Ranma flipped her body over and came face to face with Akane. She held her tight and they looked into each other's eyes. No words were spoken. None were needed. They already knew they loved each other. They both knew they wouldn't survive the impact. *********************************************************************** From the personal journal of James Davidson: Akane collapsed into tears, I wrapped my arms around her and comforted her. "I'm sorry, Akane, maybe I should just get this information from other sources," I said, holding out a tissue for her. "No..." Akane said, wiping her nose and eyes. "It's okay. Guess I'm just an old lady stuck in the past." "Nonsense, you're the most active and lively seventy-six year old I've ever met." "It's not nice to remind women of their ages," Akane said, with a slight smile evident on her face. "Sorry," I said, dropping my head. "It's okay, I know I could still kick your ass if I wanted to, so I'll forgive ya," Akane said. "You're an amazing woman, Akane." "Yeah, I know... been told that too many times in my life. Just don't fall in love with me, it's dangerous to your health," Akane said, trying to smile, but I could see the pain in her heart. "Too late, but I'll just have to settle for the love of a friend," I replied and kissed her on her cheek. "That you are," Akane said. I helped her back to her room, then Hanaki showed me out. We talked as we strolled through the gardens and when we reached the gate I asked her a question. "Hanaki, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" I'm not sure exactly when I had decided to ask her, but I knew it was the right time to do so. I realized that it was best not to put off such things until later, because later sometimes never comes. "Yes, James, I'd love to," Hanaki said, giving me one of her beautiful smiles. "I can pick you up around seven then. I have to visit a couple other people and get some background information for the book, but that should only take a couple more hours this afternoon," I said, gazing into her eyes. "That would be fine. See you then," Hanaki said, smiling broadly. I returned her smile, then walked down towards the Kuno mansion. I wasn't looking forward to this meeting, but I needed the background information. [End Chapter 2] Coming soon: Chapter 3: The Amazon Way ======================================================================= The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings: I saw the idea of using a real pig to replace P-Chan in another fanfic, but I'm not sure what the name of it was. I used it here out of necessity for the rest of the series to work correctly (I hope). In addition, I didn't want Akane to spend the rest of her life in jail for killing Ryoga. My apologies to that author for borrowing his or her idea. While chapter 1 covered several months, this part only covered a couple weeks since the events were more tightly packed and more central to the ongoing story. BTW, one million yen is about seven thousand dollars. A substantial sum. Unlike the other characters in this fanfic, I created James Davidson, Hanaki Ono, Daijiko, and Takma. I claim full ownership for them. They are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons (living or dead) or other fictional characters (animated, written, or live-action) is unintentional. Of course, for descendents of the original Ranma characters there is likely to be some similarity to Rumiko Takahashi's characters. R.I.P. Shampoo - You deserved better from me. I'd like to thank my pre-readers and assorted FFML members: Michael A. Chase, Ryan Erik, David Johnson, Anthony Pardilla, Johnathan Ng, The RAMS, and Sean Conner. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched characters are my fault. Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft Revision 0.4 - FFML draft Revision 1.0 - First RAAC posting (July 22, 1998) Revision 1.2 - Revised version (October 8, 2000)