Ranma 1. Love's First Kiss

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"

Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams

Stories Archived at modified (10/15/1999)

Chapter 1, "Loves first kiss."

Pre-dawn in the Tendou dojo. A traditional Japanese room, floored with tatami and outfitted with shoji doors. Ranma is lying on his back with one arm draped over his eyes and the other sprawled at a 90 degree angle from his body. Genma preferring to sleep as a panda, since it is so much warmer, is curled up about a meter from Ranma facing away from him, snoring loudly. Ranma miraculously enough,has managed to stay male throughout the night, but has however, managed to kick the covers off of himself, and is shivering slightly on his futon. The window is open to the crisp spring-like air, and the beginnings of the daily chirping of the neighborhood birds can be heard faintly.

Genma raises a massive paw to scratch an itch idly in his sleep, letting it fall with a thump. While not a loud noise, with Ranma's life-time of training, it was enough to wake him instantly. Sitting bolt upright, his eyes snapped open, his hands up in a defensive position,

and his heart beat wildly as his still groggy mind and eyes scanned the room for the unknown threat. Glancing over at Genma realization hit him, "Stupid old man!" he thought, glaring at his father, " he just lives to torment me," he mumbled.

Ranma debated with himself whether or not to attack his father for awaking him, or to try to go back to sleep, sleep won. Rolling over he pulled the covers back up and closed his eyes trying to go back to sleep. His mind however was now wide awake and ready for action. Rolling back to lie flat on his back with a resigned sigh, Ranma allowed his thoughts to drift where he usually forbade them. He started to think about the one thing in his life that he had no control over, and had absolutely no idea how to deal with . . . he thought of Akane.

Images and memories of her flooded his mind in rapid fire, her beautiful smile, her cute haircut, every detail of her face, mind and body, his minds eye traced every detail that he knew of her, and he blushed when he remembered just how much he knew, remembering their first encounter as opposite sexes. How shocked he had been to see her out of her gi, and her turning out to be so . . . well cute!

With another sigh Ranma let his fantasy of her speak to him, not really anything intelligible, all he really wanted was to hear her soft lilting voice speaking to him, as he had heard her speak to her other friends and loved ones. He just wanted to have a conversation with her, to hear her speak with neither anger nor sarcasm. Just to have a normal conversation with the girl he was supposed to marry.

Drifting back to the night before in his thoughts, he winced as he recalled it's outcome, smacking himself mentally, and cursing himself for his ineptness concerning interaction with other people. Ranma replayed the night before in his mind, trying to see what he had done wrong, and how he should have done things differently . . .

::Early evening at the Tendou dojo::

Soun and panda Genma are on the porch playing Go as usual, and cheating as usual. Nabiki in her trademark "lazy" clothes, I.E. short shorts and an off the shoulder halter top, is in a corner of the family room, doing her leg exercises, neither Akane nor Kasumi are anywhere to be seen. Ranma is outside in the yard next to the koi pond, wearing a blue version of his silk traditional Chinese sleeveless shirt, and his trademark black pants, he is standing with his feet shoulder width apart, facing a wooden pole exactly his height wrapped with rope on the

top. He is rotating his body and alternating smashing his left and right steel-like fists into the rope wrapped part. The wind is blowing faintly carrying the scent of flowers and the promise of a beautiful spring, a fish in the koi pond leapt, and the wind chimes ring.

Shattering this perfect moment of tranquility came the feminine cry of "Dinner's ready!" Ranma without missing a beat recoiling his left fist from a punch, changed the right strike to a chop, his palm facing upwards and his hand like a knife edge, the pole looked unaffected for a

moment, then a hairline angled cut appeared, and the top of the pole slid off slowly, hitting the ground with a plop. With a self satisfied grin on his face, Ranma turned and leapt the few meters from his spot to his customary seat at the table, next to Akane.

The rest of the family were converging at the table as well, Nabiki plopping herself unceremoniously at her spot, Soun taking his place at the head of the table with dignity, leaving Genma the opportunity while his back was turned to move a few of the game pieces. Genma taking his seat next to Soun grabbed a kettle of hot water seemingly out of nowhere and poured it on himself, changing back to his human form, gaining the hands with which he could feed himself the fastest. Ranma moving his head back and forth quickly scanning the room for something, voiced his growing dread hesitantly,

"W- where's ...A-akane?"

"Why, she's right here." Kasumi said coming rounding the kitchen entrance, gesturing behind her. As Kasumi started setting everyone's places Ranma glanced over her shoulder, Akane was standing sort of uneasily, and was clutching a steaming plate, containing he could only guess, was some sort of food substance... hoping against hope, Ranma looked back at Kasumi to see if she had set his place yet, seeing the table all set out and Genma already doing his impersonation of a vacuum cleaner, Ranma noticed a conspicuous absence of a plate in front of himself.

A large sweat drop formed on the back of Ranma's head. Akane, not having said a word during this small pause, stood rather stiffly. A faint sheen of sweat kissed her forehead, and she looked somewhat worried. Ranma however missed all these details as his eyes and nose informed him that Akane had been cooking again.

A sickly grimace appeared on his face, as his brain sorted rapid fire through a list of possible excuses he could use to leave the table.

"Akane has been working really hard all evening, Ranm**a**" she pronounced the last 'A' in his name harder, snapping him out of his "deer-caught-in-the-headlights," impersonation.

"She made it just for you, isn't that sweet?!" Again that hard tone to Kasumi's voice indicated to Ranma the he had better behave. Stuttering he managed to choke out, "T-thank Y-you, A-akane."

Akane knelt beside her future husband, and hesitantly placed the plate of weird looking food before him, along with a pair of chopsticks. Soun from behind a fountain of tears sputtered out,

"Oh my girl, my girl, is growing up, wah ha ha, I'm so proud!" Tears streamed down his face as he looked upon his youngest daughter's obvious display of affection for Ranma. Nabiki just stared expectantly, and Genma's munching slightly registered in the back of Ranma's mind.

"Well go on, Ranma," Kasumi prompted, her voice again gentle. With an audible gulp and a visible reluctance, Ranma separated his chopsticks and lowered them down slowly to the steaming mound of . . . whatever-it-was.

Akane unnoticed by the rest of the family still kneeling beside Ranma clenched her tiny hands into fists and felt her whole body go ridged. Her face animated with hope she silently chanted.

"I hope, I hope, I hope, please, please, please, please." As he raised the parcel of food to his mouth, a collective gasp was heard, as everyone (except Genma, who at the moment was moving his hands so fast feeding his face, that they were becoming a blur.) Held their breath.

Placing the food in his mouth he let it rest on his tongue, trying to use will power to swallow it. But the sensations overcame him, and he fainted, falling backwards.

Sitting up he politely pushed the plate away from himself mumbling, "thank you Akane it's . . . errr, good, but I'm not feeling to well all of a sudden, I think I'll skip dinner. Ranma lied, then placing his hand behind his head said, "I'll go see if Ryouga is around anywhere."

"At least I know he can eat this stuff," Ranma thought to himself. Ranma, as he moved to get up, completely missed the single tear sliding down Akane's cheek. Stunned, Akane was thinking to herself,

"NOW what did I do wrong?!" Her emotions in upheaval she replaced these unfamiliar feelings with those that she was more comfortable with, she started to grow angry.

"He didn't even give it a chance and I worked really hard, TOO!" She thought to herself. Turning to face him as he made his get-away, she whipped out her trusty mallet and launched him into next week yelling,

"Ranma you jerk!!!!" As he sailed away, Ranma managed to yell back, "Uuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnncuteeeeeeeeeeee!"

::the memory faded to black as Ranma's memory failed::

Snapping back to himself, Ranma again mentally smacked himself for his knee-jerk-foot-in-the-mouth reaction that Akane's cooking seemed to bring out in him. He knew damn well in his secret heart, that she was trying so hard to cook for HIM, and if not out of, L-love, then out of a genuine desire to show Ranma affection somehow.

Muttering to himself, Ranma rolled back till his lower body, and legs were off the floor, then placing his hands astride his head, he reversed his momentum, and pushed with his hands at the same time, effectively launching himself onto his feet, perfectly balanced and poised as usual. Ranma headed off in the direction of the bath, intent on soaking away his worries as well as any dirt. Passing Genma on the way out he swiftly kicked the Panda in the butt. Smirking to himself, Ranma walked out. Genma still sound asleep, simply scratched the injured area absently and rolled over again.

Silent as a ninja, Ranma practiced his stealth as he slinked down the hallway. Not one to ever tell the old man, but Ranma did listen to the things that Genma said, and while he knew that most of it was just his stupid rambling, some things Genma said rang true. One of them being his saying,

"A true martial artist can turn any experience, no matter how difficult or unpleasant into training . . ." Ranma early in life had decided to take that to heart, running along fence tops to practice his balance, using ordinary situations to train, such as standing in the hall holding water buckets for being late, and in situations such as this early morning, when everyone was still asleep, he liked to practice stealth, or ninjitsu.

However he froze in his exercise as he caught out of the corner of his eye, the blue woodcut duck scrawled with Akane's name in English characters, as was the trend, hanging on her door. Impulse overcame reason, and Ranma ever so quietly padded up to her door, and quietly let himself in.

"Just to check on her, and make sure Mr. P isn't in there," he told himself. Lowering his eyes to the floor as he did so, in case Akane while sleeping, had managed to uncover any . . . sensitive areas. He closed the door behind himself, and just stood there, at the doorway listening to her breathe. Smirking inwardly to himself he thought,

"She would kill me if she found me in her room just staring at her." Ever so slowly, he raised his eyes, starting at the foot of her bed. Where her feet were, he raised his gaze, noting how unlike him she was, in that she usually managed to keep her covers on herself while sleeping,

"I guess she isn't violent all the time," he thought. With relief his gaze reached her torso, and he noted that she was fully clothed in her yellow pajamas with the pigs on them, letting out the breath he hadn't even known he was holding with a whew, he froze, terrified that the sound had awakened her. Glancing at her face he relaxed as he saw her eyes still closed. He also smirked outwardly as he noted the absence of "P-chan", and saw that instead she was cuddling one of her spare pillows to her tightly, he also noticed that she was mumbling as she slept. Curious he crept closer to her bed to hear what she said.

Taking a seat gingerly on the edge of her bed. He took the time to stare unashamedly at her beautiful features. Noting how her soft hair framed her face so perfectly on the pillow as she slept, and how even when closed her eyes were still beautiful, and her lips were turned upward slightly at the corners in a sort of half smile as she slept, then he noticed something else, she was . . . Blushing? Snapping out if his reverie, he listened to what she was saying, most of it was too garbled to discern, but a few bits and pieces managed to come through.

"R-ranma . . . why . . . what . . . how can I . . . oh Ranma . . . I . . . don't you know . . . I L . . ." Rolling over in her sleep, the last thing she was trying to say was lost into the pillow. "She's . . . she's dreaming about . . . Me!?" Listening again he caught his name again, this time followed by a sound he had never heard from Akane before, after speaking his name, a very

contented and drawn out sigh.

A slow grin spread across his face as he heard that sigh, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his entire life! Reaching down hesitantly he moved his hand to her head, and softly stroked her hair out of her face.

"She's so cute sometimes . . . it's hard to believe that this Akane and the one that is always hitting me in the head are one and the same person," he thought to himself. Worry of discovery was starting to nag at his mind though, and with a disappointed sigh he got up from her bed, not making a sound as he did so, he opened her door, all the while keeping his gaze on her, and let himself out, just as quietly as when he had entered, all Akane did was roll over again, and continue whatever dream she was having.

Now even more out of balance than before Ranma desperately needed to unwind. Intent on relaxing in the bath for awhile he entered the changing room, and shucked off his boxers and tee shirt he had slept in, tossing them casually over his shoulder as he went into the main bathroom. Starting the flow of hot water that would fill the tub for the day, Ranma sat down on one of the wash stools and began to thoughtfully scrub himself clean.

"Why, oh why am I so shook up now? Why should I care if she dreams about me? Can it be that I really do care for that uncute tomboy? Naw, it must be something else, maybe

an aftereffect of her cooking?"

He muttered to himself while scrubbing, after awhile the tub was full and he dumped a pail of cold water over himself to rinse away the soap, hardly even noticing the change now, as when by himself and with no mirror present, and no one to remind him that he was now a girl, the effects of the curse were subtle enough as to be noticeable now to him. Plodding over to the tub, Ranma slowly lowered himself into the almost scalding water, wincing as it snaked it's way up his nervous system, leaving a tingling sensation in it's wake, finally he was up to his neck, and he collapsed against the tub wall and tried to rebalance his now chaotic mind.

An unknown amount of time had passed, Ranma shutting out all outside influence, and shutting out even his own thoughts. Letting the warmth of the bathtub soak into himself, ever since Jusenkyo, Ranma had hated being cold, mostly because cold now to him meant changing, the warmer the better as far as Ranma was concerned. Ever so slightly almost hesitantly Ranma raised his head up, then his torso out of the inviting water.

Looking much calmer he climbed up the steps leading out of the bathtub. Steam emanating off his now almost pink skin, in the chilled air of the much cooler bathroom. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he padded out of the bathroom. Still walking so as to make the minimal amount of noise, Ranma headed for his room.

Sliding open the shoji he entered the Tendou guest room made into an almost-permanent residence with the Saotome presence in it. Moving over to the dresser where he kept his clothes, no longer quieting his movements since he didn't care if he woke the old man up or not, and besides he could sleep through anything. Quickly dressing himself, choosing his traditional outfit, but with a ivory white version of his Chinese silk sleeveless shirt, with gold ties in front and an ebony black interior.

Now suitably dressed for the day. Ranma's stomach rumbled, reminding him that not only did he skip dinner last night, (due to the fact that he was in low earth orbit, playing human satellite) but he needed breakfast as well. He steeled himself against the hunger however since he knew that Kasumi although usually first up in the household, wouldn't have breakfast ready for at least another hour and a half, half an hour after she woke up as usual. So he headed downstairs to think.

Walking down the stairs a mischievous grin appeared on Ranma's face and he hopped up onto the banister and with his indoor house slippers on, sliding down the rest of the way. Reaching bottom much faster.

"Heh, still got it!" He remarked to himself. Ranma usually refrained from any acrobatics in the house. Ever since that one time when he had almost plowed into Kasumi almost knocking her over, when he was leaping down the stairs. His code of honor would never allow him to injure anyone whom could not defend themselves, even accidentally, especially a woman, and especially someone as sweet and innocent as Kasumi. So this was a rare opportunity for Ranma to do this and be sure no one would be hurt. Ranma started to wander in and out of the various rooms of the Tendou residence, memories overtaking him as he recalled all the things that had happened there.

Stopping in front of the frame to the shoji leading to the backyard, he ran his hand over the noticeably newer wood of the left side, where Shampoo's bonbori had smashed through, when she was trying to kill Akane that day she had showed up from China. In fact there were little patches of new all over the Tendou residence, especially in the dojo, where either due to circumstances beyond their control or overeager training, Ranma or others had managed to destroy parts of it.

Ranma's wandering lead him back to the shoji again, and he opened them this time. Stopping just to look. He had intended to go to the dojo and run through a few form -- or _katas _as they were traditionally known -- but he just started to stare at the beauty that confronted him.

With dawn just barely starting to alight the sky, the world was truly a beautiful place. The wind had died down to a whisper, and everything was silent. The pink buds on the cherry tree were silhouetted in what little light the dawn was giving, and seemed to be glowing with a life of their own, contrasting sharply with the greener but dull new leaves that were also growing. The koi pond was an odd shade of blue-green. It seemed to be made of ice, and with such crisp air the entire world seemed to be sharply in focus.

"Wow," Ranma murmured. Almost as if in a trance, he walked solemnly to the edge of the koi pond and stared into its depths, hardly even breathing. Ranma tried to become part of the silence as he sat down on a nearby rock and began to meditate, the world seemed to freeze as Ranma slipped into himself.

Time passed and the wind picked up, and the sun's hues became more radiant, the birds began their daily serenade. Ranma came back to himself with a start, when he felt the suns first rays peeking over the boundary wall. Stretching and yawning, he looked around as he did so. The bird's song's lifting his spirits noticing that the silent world had fled and a more vibrant and alive world had taken it's place.

His heart froze though as he shifted his gaze to his left and beheld what was there. Akane was sitting on a rock right next to his! In the same kind of meditating trance that he had assumed moments earlier.

"She must have come down when I was meditating," he thought to himself. Taking another opportunity to stare, Ranma allowed his eyes to play over her delicate features. Her eyes were shut, and fluttering slightly, her hair had obviously just been brushed, as it was shining vibrantly in the early morning light, the light bouncing off of her hair making it seem alive. Her skin (all that was visible to Ranma outside of her standard red belt clad gi, anyway,) was covered with goose pimples, reacting to the cool morning air, he supposed.

Akane had come out of her own trance the second Ranma had yawned and stretched, some instinct though had urged her to remain as she was. So she stayed motionless, her back straight and her legs crossed underneath her, with her head lolling down onto her sternum. A small shiver of electricity ran down her spine as she thought to herself,

"Why is he looking at me like that? Can it be oh, can it be that he really doesn't think that I am all that uncute?" Her breath came in shallow heaves and her skin was going all goose pimply, not because of the cold, but because of the attention that Ranma was paying her.

Finally she couldn't stand it any longer, and playacting she imitated his movements from earlier. Opening her eyes she met Ranma's gaze, and the two just looked at each other shyly. Raising his arm behind his head, Ranma cleared his throat. "Uh . . . heh, wahcha doin' up this early, A-Akane? . . . W-What are you looking at?"

He asked self consciously. Akane blushed and turned her gaze down, suddenly finding the grass very interesting. "Well since she's already up, and out here . . ." Ranma thought to himself. "Um A-Akane?" He voiced hesitantly.

"Y-Yes . . . " she answered. Smacking himself mentally, Ranma forced the words out in a rush, "Wouldyouliketogopracticewithme?" Once done he exhaled rather loudly, whew He thought, "Well, at least she can't say I never offered," he fully expected a sarcastic remark or her refusal. He stood up on suddenly shaky legs.

Ranma stood above her looking down at her with those blue-gray eyes of his. "He is waiting for an answer!" Her mind shouted at her. She was however, too confused to respond intelligently. "Why is he being so nice to me?" She pondered. Chalking it up to the absurd, Akane simply nodded her head.

Shock turned Ranma's blood to ice-water. He had expected her to refuse! While training with his father for 10 years had made Ranma an excellent and powerful martial artist, those years hadn't prepared him to interact with other people. Slowly and hesitantly Ranma extended his hand to Akane. Akane for her part was beside herself, "Ranma is being so nice to me! Is this his way of trying to say he's sorry for dinner last night?"

Also as hesitantly, and overriding her pride, Akane extended her hand, allowed Ranma to help her to her feet. His touch was electric on her skin, Ranma tightening the muscles in his arm, effortlessly lifted her to her feet. Embarrassed he dropped her hand and turned his back to her and began to walk in the direction of the dojo. Partly because he really did need to train, but mostly to hide the rampaging blush spreading over his features. Akane as well was still standing where he had lifted her, also blushing furiously.

"I think that that is the first time Ranma has ever touched me, without it being absolutely necessary." She was reeling. Unsteadily she walked on her wobbly legs to the dojo. Peering inside she saw Ranma was already running through a kata, warming up.

So she decided to just watch for the moment. Akane realized that she had never really watched Ranma when he practiced. She was usually too busy being jealous of his skill, or busy trying to beat him up for his latest insult.

"Wow!" She thought, "He moves like a dancer . . . " Watching Ranma move through a simple for him, but extremely acrobatic and difficult kata, for her, she couldn't help but admire his skill. After Ranma finished his warm-up kata, he faced the dojo shrine and bowed. Akane couldn't help herself, as giddy as she was feeling, she clapped! Ranma looked up, and seeing her there, broke out in a grin, and also blushed slightly.

"C-Can you teach me how to do that?" she asked. Ranma now in familiar territory replied more confidently,

"Sure Akane, but first we should stretch out your sleepy muscles, eh?"

"O-Okay" she stuttered. Stepping through the door frame, Akane bowed facing the dojo interior, and stepped onto the main floor. Cinching her belt up tighter and tucking the loose parts back into place, she sat down and kicked out her legs, and started to reach for her toes on her left and right sides. Ranma just sat cooling his heels, well squatted actually, and watched her stretch.

"Want me to help you, Akane?" He asked. Although Ranma had never actually helped any of the other all too few students he had trained, to stretch, whether they were male or female, Akane did not know that, and grinning slyly he also admitted to himself, seeing that this was one of the rare times when they were alone together, that he alsowanted to be able to touch her without that damn mallet of hers smacking him into next week!

"I have got to ask her where the hell she keeps that thing someday," he thought wryly.

"S-Sure..." Akane whispered still facing the floor. "Oh my god he is going to touch me again," she thought as her heart leapt into her throat and her adrenaline level rose several levels. Shifting so that her back was facing him, she leaned forward again, and Ranma, needing no further encouragement placed his hands on her back, and applied pressure.

The only person that he had ever partner stretched with was Genma, so he was a little surprised when Akane yelped from under his pressure. Looking down he saw a slight grimace on her face.

"Oh shoot! I hurt her already!" Furious with himself, Ranma quickly stood up, and started to form an apology. "A-Akane, I-I'm so sorry! I-I-I " hanging his head he closed his eyes and resigned himself to the mallet attack about to crash into his skull. A few seconds passed, Ranma was still standing . . . looking up he saw Akane just staring at him, with an expression he could only describe as concern or forgiveness, or something else that he wasn't even ready to think about yet.

"It's okay Ranma just be a little more gentle with me okay? I am not as strong as a mule, ya know," she smirked, making him blush using one of his own insults against him. But inside her head, her world was spinning! In her state of mind her knee-jerk reaction to his clumsiness had been delayed, so Ranma had been able to try apologize.

"That was so sweet! He actually thought he hurt me! He even tried to apologize, and was ready to accept punishment!" Using a supreme control that she hadn't even known she possessed, Akane overrode her mind and body's commands to leap into his arms and hug him to death.

Moving woodenly Ranma moved back into position behind Akane, and placed his hands again onto her back. Applying the gentlest amount of pressure, he started to stretch her out, "His hands are trembling!" She thought to herself, although the now kitten like force he was exerting wasn't really enough to help her stretch, she didn't really care at the moment, just the fact that Ranma's hands where on her, and that he was being so thoughtful, and careful with

her . . . she wanted to cry!

Ranma moving outside normal stretching protocol, still crouching above her, started to kneed the muscles in her shoulders. He had no idea why, or how he even started! All he knew was that he was touching the girl that he cared most for in the world, and she hadn't smacked him yet!

"I must still be dreaming." He thought. Akane thought her mind was going to snap and she couldn't stop the electric sensations from running through her body, his touch was setting her on fire!!! She couldn't hold it back any longer and a small involuntary groan escaped her lips. mmmmmmm

Ranma paused a minute when he heard that, then smiling stopped his tender administrations, before he lost his last vestige of control. Nudging her gently to a sitting position, he continued helping her stretch, as she leaned over to her left and right sides, stretching sideways now that she was done stretching horizontally. The sensations rapidly were fading from her body. Akane took a deep breath and let it out slowly, commanding her body to behave itself she put all her attention into stretching, as thinking about Ranma was starting to make her dizzy.

"Well I think that you are ready now Akane . . . want to begin?" Ranma, letting the instructor in him take control, stood up and again reached down to help Akane to her feet, not even hesitating this time Akane stretched her own hand up and accepted his help, since she also knew in the back of her mind that her legs were going to be wobbly after the sensations Ranma had been evoking in her. While standing however her clumsy nature reared its ugly head, and she tripped!

Ranma didn't even think, he just reacted. Seeing what she was about to crash into, he leapt with superhuman speed and strength, knocking her back, and killing her momentum as he held her in his arms. The next thing Akane knew she was lying on her face on something hard yet soft, pushing herself up with her arms, Akane looked down to see what she had landed on...and found Ranma's eyes looking back! He was breathing hard, and had a panicked look on his face, wondering why he looked so panicked she looked up, and saw to her horror, that if she had continued her fall unchecked she would have crashed right into the west window!

Ranma, with his heart still racing, simply held her. Not really caring what anyone would think if they walked in and saw them like that. Akane's control finally snapped and she broke down crying! Sobbing a panicked yet relieved cry into his chest. Akane let out all the emotions that had been building in her since she woke up. Clutching her savior to her she wept like a child. The fear of the moment quickly fading into tears of joy and something else that she still wasn't that sure of.

Ranma would always be there to protect her, she had known that for awhile now, but he had just demonstrated it again, throwing himself unthinkingly into danger for her sake.

Ranma, however much as he was enjoying holding his fiancee, was starting to grow uncomfortable with her tears though. Whispering he asked, "Akane . . . Akane, hey Akane, are you okay?" Wanting to check her for any injuries but holding back since she seemed okay, and he didn't want her to think he was a pervert.

"Oh Ranma," Akane managed to sob out. Not finding the words she needed she simply stopped crying as best she could and relaxed into his arms. Ranma was growing uncomfortable though on the hard wooden floor, and gently he again demonstrated the mastery of his body, as only using his stomach muscles he raised them both into a sitting position. Turning her as he did so, with her ending up sitting crosswise in his lap, with her arms around his neck, and her face buried into his chest.

Letting things stay as they were, Ranma waited for Akane to come back to herself, and stand up. She finally raised her head from his chest with an embarrassed expression on her face.

"T-Thank you Ranma, I mean it thank you." She smiled her beautiful smile at him, and Ranma lost all lucid control over his mind.

"Y-Your welcome." He replied, wanting to say three very different words. Standing up he continued to hold onto her, cradling her in his arms, Akane's emotion debated with her pride on whether or not she should get down,

"Oh I can stay here all day", emotion said.

"Shut up you wimp!" Pride shot back.

"But I like it here in his arms!" Emotion continued.

"You are a strong martial artist, and independent . . . stand up!!" Pride snapped back.

"Yeah?! Well you are a freak of nature, now go jump in a Koi pond and cool off!" emotion retorted.

"Don't make me come over there and tear you a new . . . a new something." Pride was at a loss on what she could tear in emotion. Pride however eventually won.

"R-Ranma, "she said almost apologetically, "Um, I can walk fine now, thanks."

"Oh," Ranma said, looking slightly disappointed.

Carefully he set her down onto her feet, keeping his arms around her waist, almost as if he was hugging her. The position they were in, and after what she had seen earlier, Akane made a mental note to get Ranma to take her dancing sometime. Grinning ear to ear she mentally pictured Ranma trying to dance normal dances, or say, the funky chicken! Hesitantly she broke the embrace though, turning her back to him, she looked out the window, and noted that not all that much time had passed since they had entered the dojo. Turning back to him with her composure back in place, Akane waded a little into unfamiliar waters, she asked Ranma for help.

"Well are you ready to teach me how to do that kata now?" She voiced with an uneasy smile. Cinching up her belt and taking a deep breath, Akane stepped into the default "student ready" position, with her feet set shoulder width apart, and her legs slightly bent, with her arms folded behind her back.

"Um, sure Akane..." Ranma said, " Where do you want to begin?" he asked. "Why at the beginning of course, silly." Smiling as she said so, and giggling a little, Akane let out a little of the stress she was feeling.

After a second Ranma joined in, and soon both of them were chuckling lightly. Recovering his composure Ranma started to lead Akane through the kata. He corrected her gently when she made a mistake and cheered loudly when she made it through the harder parts. Akane, for her part was trying to pay attention to what she was doing, but inside she was grinning from ear to ear.

"I never realized how patient Ranma could be, he is a great teacher!" She thought. Ranma was having the time of his life, not only had Akane not hit him today...yet anyway, but he was alone with her, getting along with her, and in effect, he was playing with his fiancee!

Ranma felt like jumping up and down and doing a victory dance and he almost laughed out loud as he imagined doing said dance on Genma's sleeping head! While he was doing his best to stay focused on training though, only about 25 of his attention was on her form mechanics, the rest of his attention was staring at Akane.

"She really does have a kind of grace when doing this kind of stuff." He thought. Finally they reached the end of the kata, and Ranma went to the north wall and sat down against it, "Okay Akane, now with no help from me lets see you run through it by yourself." He said with a silly grin on his face.

Akane got a serious look on her face, and resolving herself to do her best for her new teacher, she set into the kata, moving not too fast and not too slow, and with all the grace and dignity that she could muster, trying to dance through it as she had seen him do earlier, and with a slight smug expression on her face, she admitted to herself, that while not nearly as perfect as Ranma's demonstration, for the first time doing it, she was doing great!

Ranma sat there in a brooding silence, amazed at how quickly she had picked it up, "She must have really been paying attention to me . . . " He thought. He had already noted several small errors in her form, but he stopped himself from saying anything and thus kept his foot out of his mouth, besides she really was doing great! Finishing she bowed to the shrine, and then giggling she bowed to Ranma as well.

Ranma grinned and jumped up. He bowed as well. "So how did I do," she asked expectantly. "You were . . . " he paused a minute to make her sweat it out a little, since he enjoyed teasing her. Actually that was how he showed affection although he was not aware of it, was by teasing those he loved...well, except for Genma.

But before she could become angry he said, "You were great Akane!" He said, "Much better than any other first time student with that kata."

"Thank you Sensei!" Akane grinned. Then as impulse grabbed her, and she launched a snap kick at Ranma's head. Ranma of course dodged easily. "Heh ya wanna play dontcha?!" He taunted. Akane grinning crazily, launched kick after punch after chop rapidly increasing the speed of her techniques. Ranma adopted a more instructor like stance, and started to coach her.

"Don't twist your hips so much, that telegraphs what kind of kick you are about to throw, try not to look where you plan on punching, don't turn your back to me after that kind of kick."

Getting into the spirit of things, Ranma threw soft kicks and a few punches at her. Akane instead of trying to imitate Ranma's speed, simply blocked his techniques. "Harder!" She fairly screamed. Wanting him to actually spar with her for once. She increased the intensity of her attacks, trying to goad Ranma's anger so that he would attack her and stop his constant dodging. But Ranma's training had conditioned him to accept pain, and while a few of her techniques were actually connecting now, he refused to use even 1/4 of his full speed or power against a girl, especially THIS girl. Akane was starting to get angry now. She couldn't help it.

"Why does he do this to me? Why won't he treat me like an equal? Why can't he just ignore that I am a girl for once?" Starting to glow a slight red, Akane launched a suicide attack at Ranma, aimed right at his head. The speed of her attack was a little too fast, and Ranma knew that if he dodged it she would be seriously injured because her trajectory had her going towards the wall a little too fast, and he doubted she had control enough to check her attack in time. If he blocked it effectively so that it wouldn't hurt him, then he would possibly break or sprain her wrist.

So Ranma did the only thing that he could do, he shifted his body so that she would connect with his stomach muscles and braced for impact. "Ranma!!!" Akane's battle cry came out as she rushed towards him, but in the nano-second that she had between punch and impact her mind screamed, "Something is wrong, he isn't blocking!! He isn't dodging either!!" At the last second she tried to pull her punch, but her momentum carried her the rest of the way, and she connected solidly with Ranma's torso. Up he flew to the rafters and he hit with a splat Doing his impression of "The human pancake," on the wall. Then he slid down the wall head first to the floor.

"Shoot!" Akane said to herself as she ran over to him, "He was supposed to block that . . . why did he just take it?" Kneeling besides him she looked down at the mostly unconscious Ranma, he was moaning slightly, and Akane simply put her arms under him and held him, cringing as she waited for his furious words. Looking down she saw him staring at her, and quickly she tried to blurt out an apology.

"Ranma I'm . . . sorry . . . "

Casting her eyes down she waited for him to call her uncute scream at her and storm off, a tear slid down her cheek, as he wiggled out of her grasp. Closing her eyes she told herself that she deserved it. Then Ranma did something that she was totally unprepared for. He squatted down next to her in silence.

"Akane..." he started.

"Y-Yes?" she hesitated.

"T-That was a good shot." He said, punctuating his statement with a light jab on her shoulder. He the forced a grin through his pain to show her it really was okay. Noticing her gaze was still on the ground, gently Ranma reached his hand down to her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. Showing her his eyes, which at the moment were filled with something that was confusing the hell out of Akane. She didn't know how to deal with this Ranma! This Ranma was kind and sensitive and very patient with her. He wasn't behaving like he was supposed to!

"Oh Ranma I'm sorry!" She sobbed as again she collapsed into his embrace, and Ranma did something that Genma would kill him for, he cried with her. Holding this beautiful girl in his arms, on this perfect morning, listening to her sobbing on his chest, feeling her warm tears soak his gi, and her hands gripping his back, Ranma gained a new perspective on life.

"Shh shh shh" He tried to comfort her making funny sounding cooing noises. "It's okay Akane I'm fine"

Mentally slapping herself, Akane forced herself to get under control. Sucking her breaths in slightly and her chest heaving, her emotions running rampant through her mind and body Akane just sat there for a minute. In the empty silence Ranma added with a grimace.

"You know you really do need to work on your control . . . "

Grabbing at the chance to have a talk with Ranma, Akane tried to voice her concerns. "Why, why wont you ever spar with me seriously?" With her looking up at him with those tear-streaked eyes, Ranma had no recourse but the truth. "It's partly because of how I was raised and partly because I-I don't want to hurt you Akane . . . " he trailed off.

"But I am a martial artist too ya know. I can take care of myself." She countered.

"Yes but..." Ranma tried to argue, but all of the arguments that he wanted to use right now, sounded stupid in his head.

"Besides I have seen you fight girls before." Ticking off her fingers as she went, "You've fought Ukyou, Shampoo-several times and you fought Kodachi as well..." Grinning smugly at him Akane waited for a reply.

Ranma knew he was trapped. "Y-Yes that is true, but I don't think I could live with myself if . . . if I hurt you A-Akane . . . " Ashamed Ranma looked down at the floor. Akane's heart froze. He CARED for her, he really did!

Whether or not it was . . . L-Love . . . he still cared, and Akane threw away the last of her inhibitions. She threw herself into his arms, and hugged him fiercely. Ranma panicked at first, then relaxed into her arms, and held her as well, "This is the first time we have ever willingly hugged each other!" He elated to himself. "I wonder if . . . "

His mind trailed off as Akane seemed to collapse into him, they were now laying side by side on the dojo floor holding each other. The force of her throwing herself into him had knocked him down. Tentatively Ranma reached over and stroked her hair.

Akane was in heaven, she curled up into Ranma's side and pulled back her head a little so that she could look at her fiancee's handsome face. Ranma met her gaze after about a second. They simply stared at each other, both wanting to go further, but neither one knowing how to broach the subject, nor did they know how far the other was willing to go. Ranma gazed at Akane and looked into her eyes, leaning his head forward moving his mouth towards hers, he stopped and waited and looked again, blushing, and Akane nodded her assent. Grinning, Ranma completed the movement, and their lips brushed.

His touch was like fire! Akane's whole body felt like it was glowing! Where he was resting his hands on her back, she could have sworn she was getting burned, her back arched involuntarily towards him as his lips brushed hers, and she faintly moaned her assent again. Ranma then leaned in and kissed her closed mouthed. His lips were somewhat moist and the electric sensations he was provoking in her were making her blush furiously and she tightened her grip on him. moaning into his still closed mouth, Akane opened her lips slightly prompting without words for Ranma to go further. Ranma in turn parted his lips slightly, and Akane with very little control left accepted the tip of Ranma's tongue, this being the most intimate she had ever been with him before, or any other man for that matter, Akane's head was swimming.

Ranma was shocked as all hell, she had opened her lips and was sucking gently on his tongue. Unfamiliar feelings were building up in Ranma, and combined with the heat of her body, the scent of her, and what she was allowing him to do, Ranma allowed something inside of himself to snap, and opened his mouth fully, sucking crazily on her tongue, and rolling her over on top of him so that he could feel every part of her touching him.

Akane was a little shocked at first when Ranma responded like he did, but her mind was not in any kind of a state to stop, nor think reasonably, and she let go entirely and felt herself falling, the room seemed to dim out of view, and then she closed her eyes and let the sensations rule her, caressing his teeth and sucking alternately on his tongue and lips. Akane was enjoying letting herself be female, even more so since she was doing this with HIM! Even more important, while she was enjoying having Ranma touch her, the fact that he had been so kind and open with her, and the way he was behaving, meant the world to her.

Ranma was also in his own little world where only Akane existed was starting to feel TOO light headed, and so gently he broke the kiss. His head was swimming, he looked up at Akane and saw a flushed face, lightly coated with sweat and a happy grin plastered across it. She was panting slightly, and neither one of them knew what to say.

Akane however noticed the position of the sun, and the fear of someone walking in on them overpowered her desire to lay on Ranma all day. Gently she rolled off of him, and sat facing him. "Ranma I . . . "

"Shhhhh" he said gently not wanting to spoil the moment. He turned her so that she was facing away from him, and placing his back against the wall he pulled her back to sit in between his legs. Gently he pulled her to lay back against his chest, lovingly he ran his fingers through her hair, and felt as she adjusted her gi modestly as she sat lying against him. Their moment was shattered however when Kasumi's high pitched voice rang out from the household,

"Breakfast everyone!" Faint stumbling sounds could be heard from the direction of the house, which could only have Genma stumbling-falling down the stairs in his rush to get food.

Akane leapt away from Ranma, and as he got up , they both just kind of stood there, neither sure how to end the moment nor if anything was necessary to say. Akane still giddy and way to confused, with emotions and feelings still running through her, simply smiled at Ranma and turned her back to him and walked out of the dojo. Ranma following suit, though after he exited the dojo, he leapt up to the roof top and into his room, so he could come down the stairs and therefore not raise any suspicions.

Humming quietly to himself, Ranma walked down the stairs this time. Pausing at the landing to simply watch his new family. Genma as usual trying to inhale everything, even the plates if he wasn't careful, Soun sitting at the head of the table with a toothbrush in his mouth reading the morning paper. Nabiki yawning into her teacup and looking disheveled. Kasumi looking perfect as always sitting by Nabiki and refilling their plates and Akane sitting at her usual spot next to Ranma's eating daintily.

With a grin Ranma waltzed into the room, and sat next to Akane, not saying anything he simply smiled at her and sat down and started eating. No one seemed to notice, and Akane just blushed as she looked up, then continued eating.


	2. Confusion Sets In

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"

Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams

Stories Archived at www . asayogure . com / rgac

Last modified (9/24/1999)

Chapter 2, "Confusion sets in."

He was doing a fair job of keeping his eyes off his fiancée, the last thing either of them needed right now was to have their parents notice them showing even a trace of affection towards each other. They would be in the chapel before they knew what had hit them, if they did.

With everyone finally seated Kasumi started dishing out breakfast. Bowl's of rice and miso soup, pickled vegetables and of course, tea. Digging in hungrily the family ate as usual, with Ranma and Genma eating the most, fighting each other for the food. Akane for her part had no appetite. She couldn't show any outward sign of divergence from her normal actions. For if she did, Kasumi would pick up on it immediately and would want to know what was wrong. To tell the truth Akane herself didn't know what was wrong, she just felt, well . . . weird, and very lightheaded.

Ranma on the other hand, seemed to have almost entirely forgotten about what had happened this morning. He was too busy locked in battle with his father over breakfast. Each of them stealing food from the main serving dishes and each others plates with lightning quick chop stick strikes. Both of them eating what was on their plates with equal abandon. Genma was rapidly devouring his bowl of rice and miso soup, and Ranma was starting to worry about his own. With the speed of his chestnut fist Ranma quickly set about devouring his own food. Genma finished his and immediately went for that of his son's. His chopsticks only struck bare dish as Ranma had just finished. Pouting, Genma glared at his son. Ranma grinned coyly and said,

"It's okay pop you're on a diet remember?" Genma started to agree. "Why yes I . . . HEY! Waitaminute! . . . " then he snapped out of it, "Are you saying I'm fat?"

"Not at all old man . . . . . . ::grinning:: for a panda." That did it. Genma was mad now. He leapt up from his seat, lunging at his only son, intending to strangle some manners into him. Only his hands grasped only empty air. Tapping his father on the back of the head Ranma grinned.

"Getting slow old man." Genma in a state of shock was thinking to himself, "How in the world did Ranma get behind me so fast? Is he getting faster, or am I really getting slow?" Ranma took advantage of Genma's pause and subsequent absence of movement to grab Akane's hand and haul her away from the table.

"Come on Akane we're gonna be late!" He shouted almost gleefully, as he practically dragged her behind him. The rest of the family just watched in shock as Ranma dragged Akane out the front door. With the notable exception of Genma whom at the moment was still standing where he had lunged for Ranma, his hands grasping an imaginary throat and his mind replaying the aborted battle over and over, trying to figure out when Ranma had managed to get behind him. Ranma grabbed both their box bento lunches and school bags as he went out the front door, Akane's hand still tightly in his.

Akane for her part was just basically letting herself get dragged. She trusted Ranma. About 2 minutes later though Ranma was still going full speed, running along their daily route which took them by the aqueduct, when the fence had come into view he had tensed as if to jump up on it, then looked back at his fiancée and smiling continued to run beside and in front of her on the ground. Akane however was getting tired, jogging for long distances she could do, but not sprinting. Gasping she managed to get out,

"R-Ranma -S-Slow down please . . . "

"Hmmmmm?" Ranma looked back to see Akane stumbling after him. He slowed immediately to a walk and then stopped altogether to let her catch her breath. After a short while she stood up tall again and just looked at him. Ranma hardly seemed to notice that she was blushing at their close contact and that he was still holding onto her hand. He was obviously excited about something, and looked anxious to get somewhere.

He was waiting for her though, even though it was obviously slowing him down. She also noticed during her precursory glance, that he had all her stuff shouldered alongside his. "How sweet!" he thought.

"Ranma . . . " She started to say.

"Yeah?" Glancing down to her eye level, he trained his eyes on her and she could almost feel herself slipping away and losing herself in those 'Oh too intense' blue gray eyes of his. "W-Why are you in such a rush today? We're like a half an hour early for school ya know . . . and you haven't even sparred with your father today yet . . . " She trailed off feeling stupid just talking to Ranma and having him just listen.

Ranma just grinned and poked her in the nose as he said, "Ah but I have sparred with you today Akane." He said while grinning True he had sparred with her she reasoned. But she knew and he knew that she was nowhere near the level of perfection that Genma had achieved. So Ranma couldn't have gotten a very good workout. Instead of arguing the matter though, she just dropped it. The morning was too beautiful, the wind too crisp and fresh and the sun too bright and cheerful, and Ranma was being far too nice to let some stupid argument kill the mood.

Ranma was just standing there still. Watching Akane out of the corner of his eye, the rest of his mind was still going on over drive. He was very confused and needed to talk to a sympathetic ear or he was gonna lose it. But who?! None of the Tendou sister's obviously, nor his pop or Mr. Tendou. None of his other fiancée's he dared tell, nor would they want to hear it. They would most likely slap him and then go off to kill Akane.

To be honest Ranma didn't really have a lot of friends. At least none that he would trust not to blab to the entire school this sort of thing.

Sure there were Hiroshi and Daisuki and a few select others. But they were mere followers really, not equals, nor friends. Running over his ever dwindling list of people he knew, Ranma was trying to find one he trusted, at least a little. The old freak was out, DEFINITELY OUT! The old ghoul was wise, but he really didn't trust her, and couldn't dare let her know about this. She was a possibility, but only if he could figure out a way not to let her know who the girl was he was talking about.

There was Dr. Tofu, and while Ranma trusted him explicitly with regard to all matters of the mind and body and anything concerning honor, he was afraid that either Kasumi might walk in, or that he might spill the beans later when she did make an appearance. There was Ryouga . . . he trusted him, sorta but not if it concerned Akane and besides it was rather difficult to locate Ryouga unless one had a few weeks to kill wandering around Japan looking for an oddball martial artist carrying a steel lined bamboo umbrella.

"Ranma!" Akane Shouted. Ranma snapped out of it and focused on Akane.

"I have been trying to get your attention for the last couple of minutes . . . what are you thinking about?" She fairly yelled. Ranma could see she was starting to get mad. And lord knew that could mean trouble.

"Uh nuthin Akane. I was just, um nuthin." He stammered.

"Well then," she softened her voice now seeing as he wasn't just ignoring her. "Let's get going then shall we, it will be weird to actually get to school EARLY." She grinned at this comment.

It was at this point that they both heard it, and both of them froze in their tracks. A distant ringing approaching at what sounded like incredible speed. Which could only be one person this early in the morning. Shampoo.

Ranma paled and braced himself, Akane just glowered. "Great!" She thought, 'just great we were actually getting along fairly well, and now that Chinese Bimbo! Has to show up and wreck everything!' Out loud she said, "Ranma, lets get out of here . . . " Her eyes pleaded with him. But Ranma had suddenly had a realization. MOUSSE! He could talk to Mousse. Since wherever Shampoo was, Mousse was sure to follow. Akane started off towards school, when she noticed that Ranma was not following her, he was just standing there with a stupid grin on his face. Akane's heart broke a little bit then, and her face fell. Angrily she stomped back over to him.

"Ranma!" She yelled, he looked down surprised.

"Yeah? What is it Akane?" Softening her voice into the tone that she reserved for when she was really furious.

"If you want to get hung on by Shampoo and every other girl that happens to cross your path . . . " She paused a minute and fought back the urge to cry. "Then I guess it is none of my business. Just gimme my stuff and I'll . . . I'll leave you two alone." She sniffled just faintly.

"N-No no Akane it's not like that at all. I hate being hung on, by ANYONE. I'm not waiting for Shampoo, I'm waiting for Mousse." She just rolled her eyes and snorted.

"Yeah whatever Ranma." With that said she snatched her satchel and bento box lunch out of his grasp, intending to storm out of there, but only succeeding in sort of stumbling-walking. Curious though she stopped about a block away and turned back. She wanted to see what Ranma did around his other fiancée's when he thought he was alone. What she saw next amazed her. Shampoo displaying skills almost superhuman, was riding her bicycle on the top of the railing that bordered the aqua duct. A cloud of dust trailing in her wake. She was wearing her usual outfit, a pink silk blouse and pink silk pants, imprinted with a flower design that was very feminine very close cut and looking almost like pajama's. Her hair was pulled back out of her face with a simple ribbon, and as usual she wore no makeup. Waving to Ranma she cried out.

"Airen Airen, Nihao! Husband no go to school today, take shampoo to date!" She grinned happily seeing as Akane was nowhere to be seen, and Ranma was just standing there waiting for her, oh happy day! Launching herself and the bike off the railing and straight at Ranma. Since Akane was not there though to distract him, nor hit or yell at him, he had plenty of time to gauge her trajectory and rate of fall, speed and angle.

He neatly side stepped the falling bike and caught her around the waist in a move that could almost be compared to a clothesline attack. Slowing her down just enough he then let her go to stumble behind him while he spun the opposite way he had let her go. It was over in under a second. Dazed Shampoo came to a halt and looked at Ranma.

"Husband . . . " She began, obviously struggling with the foreign language. "You I mean," straightening up Shampoo spoke a sentence that could almost pass for descent Japanese.

"Would you care to take me on date?"

'She must have been studying' Ranma thought. Akane watching from the distance noticed that while Ranma was being polite, and Shampoo was obviously unaware of it, he was constantly circling around her and staying out of her range. He had one leg back and both hands above waist level, a loose guarding stance but still a stance that would allow him to fight or flee on a moments notice. Effectively keeping the Amazon girl at arms length while not making her aware of it. Akane started to grin openly. Shampoo was getting frustrated. Here she had spent all that time learning that phrase, thinking that the only reason that Ranma hadn't accepted her invitations in the past was because he hadn't understood her.

Thinking he might not have heard her the first time, she tried again. "Would Husb . . . I mean , would you care to take me on date?" She looked up at him hopefully.

"Hey Shampoo that's great! Your Japanese is improving every day . . . who has been helping you?" Ranma asked. In the shadows Akane frowned. "What's he being so nice to her for?!" She muttered under her breath.

Shampoo answered Ranma, uttering a single one word answer. Ranma leaned forward and said, "who? I didn't hear you." A little louder the very proud Amazon girl mumbled the word again. Seeing that Ranma was still waiting for an answer , she blurted out, "MOUSSE! Stupid duck boy help me!" Shampoo pouted, and to alleviate the uncomfortable tension she felt she took the time to run through the familiar motion of flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Ranma just grinned and looked up. Scanning the rooftops, then back down at Shampoo. Then Ranma got an evil impulse. "Was it hard Shampoo?" he asked her. Looking up proudly Shampoo declared,

"Nothing too hard for Amazon warrior!"

"Well did you work real hard on it?" Ranma grinned. Shampoo not getting where Ranma was heading with this simply nodded. Almost laughing now Ranma managed to get out, "did you work yourself into a lather?!" Grinning he snorted and tried not to laugh out loud. Shampoo just stood there a minute then suddenly getting it she stood up tall and with her hands on her hips she defiantly shot back, "that not funny Ranma! Village family names of Amazon tribe no is for laughing! Husband's need be polite!" She made a great pouting face and then grinning evilly she said, "maybe wild stallion boy need to be broken in more, yes?"

Ranma shut up still grinning and just accepted the play on words regarding his name sake. Looking at Shampoo again he imagined her working herself into a lather again and broke out laughing harder. Falling over and clutching his sides Ranma giggled uncontrollably.

It was contagious and soon Akane was chuckling quietly to herself in the shadows and Shampoo was smiling though not laughing . . . Warrior women did not laugh, she told herself. Ranma while rolling on the ground in mock hysterics was still watching the rooftops for telltale signs of the person he was watching for. The master of "hammerspace" was sometimes hard to spot, so Ranma was teasing Shampoo in the hopes of goading him to reveal himself. Knowing how protective Mousse was about Shampoo . . . there! About a block away by that chimney, a flash of light off of metal. That could only be one person. Hopping to his feet Ranma muttered his goodbye to Shampoo and hopped up to the nearest rooftop then to the one after that.

'And that was that,' Akane thought. 'He never touched her, he was polite but kept his distance and now he is off to god knows where I am going to be late for class.' Quietly Akane slipped around the corner very proud of her fiancée heading off to school. Shampoo just stood there for a minute, then out loud she said to herself, "that one is crazy horse boy." Shrugging her shoulders she straightened her outfit and adjusted her hair, then turned and picked up her bike, hopped on and sped off.

Ranma was busily hopping from rooftop to rooftop looking for Mousse. Spotting the glimmer he had seen earlier Ranma stopped a rooftop away and called out, "Mousse come out man, it's me I need to talk to you." Casually stepping out from behind a chimney mousse leapt across the chasm that separated the two rooftops,

"Shampoo my love you have come for me at last!!" Ranma expecting this neatly sidestepped the crazed duck man and yelled after him, "put your glasses on man, it's me Ranma!"

"Ranma Saotome?!" My most hated adversary?" Mouse then slumped his shoulders a little and muttered, "what do you! want?" He then sat down straddling the bridge of the rooftop. A knife appeared in his hands seemingly out of nowhere, a wet stone in the other, he began to sharpen the blade while glaring at Ranma, not exactly friendly body language. Ranma mirroring his opponent had his arms crossed, like a barrier in front of him. Ranma decided to keep his distance for now and simply leaned up against the chimney. Speaking first Ranma tried to break the ice.

"Mousse just hear me out okay man? You can argue with me after I am done." Nodding mousse continued to sharpen. "Okay mousse here goes, I really don't have a lot of guy friends that I can trust with this sort of thing. However you are a man of honor are you not?" Mousse looked up startled and replied, "Of course I am Saotome. I was raised with the finest sense of honor a man can have." He confirmed indignantly. Mousse was now paying rapt attention. Ranma continued on.

"Very well as a martial artist I ask you to swear to me that what I am about to tell you will go no farther, not even to Shampoo, and especially not the old ghoul. Do you swear?" Mousse paused for a second then said as he nodded, "I swear continue." With a sigh Ranma plopped down next to Mousse, he spoke in low halting tones. "Mousse, I am confused . . . " Seeing as it looked as if Mousse was about to make a smart ass remark Ranma quickly cut him off. "You have known me since you followed Shampoo here right? How many fiancée's do I have now Mousse?"

"I believe the official total is 3 now right?" Ticking off his fingers as he listed them, "There is Akane, Ukyou and, gritting his teeth, Shampoo."

"Right, not to mention: Kodachi, ling ling, lung lung, most of the girls at school, that ramen noodle fiancée I had, anyone who happens to swallow a love potion pill, female monkeys, Venus, basically anything female in general seems to be drawn to me." He trailed off as Mousse was starting to get "that look" on his face.

"What is your point?" Mousse growled.

"Well you see you and I are very similar yet also very different. We both have many of the same qualities but there is a striking difference between us two, you openly love Shampoo and chase her. What is it like to be that way? To know you love someone?"

Mousse sitting as Ranma was now facing the still early morning sun. His back was arched forward and his shoulders slumped as he hung his head in thought. His unrestrained black hair cascading down around his head, hiding his face from view. Suddenly sitting up and assuming a haughty tone of voice Mousse sneered, "am I to believe that the great self proclaimed god of love and he whom has total power over women, with legions of them falling at his feet, begging to be wed to him, is asking ME! What love is? Tell me Saotome what game is this? Do you mock me now?"

Ranma simply sighed and seemed to look even more depressed. Then he spoke. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do. I know that the old man isn't the cause of ALL my problems, but he sure is for a great deal of them. I was taken from my mother when I was six years old. The words "training journey," didn't really register then, as part of a ten year trek all over Japan and parts of China."

"I miss my mother Mousse, and because of Jusenkyo and this stupid curse of mine. In addition to the idiotic promise my pop made, I am honor bound to not see my mother until I can find a cure. Do you know what that feels like?" Mousse didn't, his mother was safe in China and he could go and see her whenever he felt like it. Paying closer attention now, he tried to listen carefully as Ranma, his supposed enemy, poured his heart out to him. He was beyond confused.

"Casual admirer's aside, I have four girls chasing me around right now in their own ways. There is Akane, my first fiancée I was aware of. Thanks again to the old man. Then there is Ukyou, my oldest and best friend to this day, she is also after me thanks to pop. Then there is my self titled fiancée, thank god, Kodachi the black rose of annoyance, Kunou. Crazy as she is and acts, she is only after me because I was the first male not related to her to show her an ounce of kindness."

Ranma paused and then looked sadly at Mousse, his eyes showing sympathy. "Then there is Shampoo . . . a girl so obviously in love with either myself or her traditions, that she will sit for hours on end perfecting her Japanese just so she can ask me on a date . . . how long did you help her with that phrase man? Knowing whom she was planning on saying it to?"

He looked at Ranma differently now, he could see a teenager sixteen almost seventeen, almost a full grown man, a person very strong and confident but in the eyes of this person he could see a lot of confusion and a little weariness. Haltingly he answered.

"I-err well I, yes you are right I did help her. I did it out of love. I don't think I could deny her anything if she asked it of me. I knew she would say it to you, but I just chose to ignore that part. Instead I just focused on her beautiful voice and imagined those words were being spoken to me." Mousse smiled a resigned grin.

"Yet you never give up do you? She spits in your face and you get up the next day and ask for more, completely forgiving her, full of love . . . why?"

"I-I love her Sao . . . err I mean Ranma. Until I am dead I will never deny that, nor will I give up hope."

"You know something Mousse I think that secretly Shampoo cares for you as well." His eye's lit up at this.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I have watched her mousse, you ever just watch her? When she is around other men, she refuses to even speak or glance at them, completely ignoring their presence. Let alone flirting with them, she NEVER does that. Then there is you, she trusts you enough to let you live in the same house as her. She talks to you, and YOU are the one she goes to when she needs help man.

You are constantly breaking down the barriers that she lays down between you two. She even took you home tenderly after that match we had that I was supposed to throw . . . sorry bout that by the way, but you were kinda freakin me out with those blades of yours." Mousse was in shock. What Ranma had said was all true. Shampoo really did care for him! It was only the stupid laws and the old ghoul keeping them apart then.

"So what is your point Ranma? Why do you wish for me to tell you what it feels like to be in love?"

"I have four people in my life right now all acting on what they believe to be the influence of love. Some of them are very aggressive and open about it. Others are very shy or cautious about it. I have feelings too ya know, I'm human too . . . I just don't know what they mean."

"Very well I shall play your game Ranma and tell you what it is like for me to love Shampoo." Taking a deep breath and looking off into the distance he began. "When she walks into the same room as myself, my heart starts to beat faster and my knees feel weak. If she speaks to me I will gladly listen, for no sound is more beautiful than her voice to me. Many people either love or lust after Shampoo for her body. For me that is not the case. I am effectively blind without my glasses on. Even with them on the vision is not that clear. I never get to even hug her, which you do on an almost daily basis."

Ranma started to protest. Mousse holding his hand up continued, "let me finish, which you get to do whether you want to or not. I enjoy the scent of her whether it is the flowery "just showered" fragrance she has or her musky after exercising scent. I love everything about her and I would gladly almost gleefully die for her if she asked me to, and I would do so anyway if her life was in danger . . . " He paused to look up at Ranma. "Much the same as you have done for Akane on many occasions." Ranma blushed at this. "In short I enjoy being around her, revel in her affections and am not in love with only a part of her but with the person that Shampoo is." Stopping Mouse looked up and met Ranma's eyes unashamedly. " For me to deny my love would be silly." He said that while looking pointedly at Ranma.

"So tell me Ranma why the sudden interest in what it feels like to be in love?"

"I, um, I, well ya see . . . " Looking up and seeing Mousse looking rather un-amused and rather impatient . . . he began again.

"Something happened to me this morning."

"Yeah and?"

"Me and Akane . . . we well, sorta . . . " Mousse face faulted and he tipped over. Sitting back up quickly he prodded Ranma.

"Go on, go on."

"She well I, well we both sort of ki . . . " He trailed off on the last word.

"What did you say? You two what?!" Mousse was losing control here he was so excited.

"We kissed." Said so quietly that Mousse almost missed it, but also said with such sincerity and that blush on his face could not be faked that Mousse knew that he was telling the truth. Understanding lit up his features now.

"So you think you may love the Tendou girl huh?" That explains a lot. This could also cause you a world of problems if you let word of this get out, I can see why you swore me to secrecy. If you openly pursue Akane, all hell is gonna break loose."

"I know, I know Mousse, I need help . . . I need a plan."


	3. The Tickle Wars

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"

Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams

Stories Archived at www . asayogure . com / rgac

First Draft (8/10/1999)

Last modified (1/14/2000)

Chapter 3, "The Tickle Wars."

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**Fanfiction dot net Notes:**

Feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them. Heck, if there is a strong enough outcry and demand from the community, I may go ahead and write that epilogue I have been meaning to write, and also re-work that last chapter -- which I am still not happy with.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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From a distance any casual onlooker who saw the two figures standing on a nearby rooftop would simply dismiss them as city workers. However if you lived in Tokyo's Nerima district and recognized the two, you would probably turn down the first street going in the opposite direction. One does not cross by the site of a soon to be battle. At least that was what usually was happening whenever one of these two figures was spotted in public.

The figure in red seemed to be listening to the white robed figure nodding his head from time to time as he did so... then he nodded his head a final time and shouted something unintelligible like, "thanks", and turned and leapt to a nearby roof, breaking into a run as he did so. A casual onlooker would simply shrug and go about their business. This was Nerima after all.

Ranma hopped down off of the rooftop and sprinted his way to school. Now that he had a plan in mind, Ranma meant to act on it. He just managed to get into the gates of Furinkan before they closed. Well not really in the gates; sort of over actually.

Pausing, Ranma stood on the right side pillar of the gates. The early morning breeze was blowing his hair and clothing around. The wind started low and ran funnel-like currents up his body, whipping his shirt tails around and blowing his hair into his face. Looking up Ranma noticed that the sky was getting darker and, when he sniffed the air, it didn't smell right.

The air smelt like the misty interior of a wet cave, an ill omen indeed. The hairs on his arms prickled like an electric current was running through the air. Running like he did, Ranma had actually managed to make it to school right behind Akane. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her making her way towards the schools entrance.

Tatewaki Kunou was not known to be a reasonable person. At the moment he held himself with a bearing that cast the illusion that he had just stepped out of ancient Japan. Hardly an era ruled by reason. He stood on the steps leading into the high school with his arms crossed, leaning against one of the pillars for the archway with an imperious expression on his face. His bokken was tucked into the proper position for a real sword in the sash he was wearing.

The wind was playing with his hair and clothing as well. Whipping it into a frenzy for a time only to let it go moments later. The effect was chilling in that it appeared Kunou could call the winds to help him punctuate his own self important words.

Glancing up again Ranma saw clouds gathering seemingly trying to choke away the sun. Deprived of the suns rays the Earth started to grow colder. An icy blast of wind lanced through Ranma's clothes and made his spine tingle. Ranma started to chant silently to himself, 'rain rain go away, come again another day...'

Kunou started his self important monologue as soon as Akane came within ear shot, watching him warily. Drawing himself into what he thought was a noble pose, Kunou tossed his head back and dragged his fingers through his unruly hair. The effect of which was immediately lost to the wind. Directing his gaze to a point off into the horizon only he could see he began.

"The noble scion of the house of Kunou has a mission this day." Lightning struck behind him, so close that the thunder clap seemed immediate. Kunou unfazed, continued to speak.

"Akane Tendou thy honor hast been defiled and 'tis my duty to set matters straight." Glancing up to Ranma's perch Kunou pointed to him with his bokken and sneered.

"This cur hast stole into our stead, defiled the honor of numerous young maidens, and hast proven himself unworthy of asking for your hand in marriage!" Lightning struck again and the thunderclap was again immediate.

Ranma, already tired of this little speech, and REALLY wanting to get indoors before it started to rain, made a move as if to jump kick the annoying kendoist in the head. However Akane glancing in his direction caught his intended actions, cleared her throat to draw his attention and froze him in his place with THAT look. Her message was clear, do NOT interfere. Ranma studied his proud fiancée for a second, clenching and unclenching his fists, causing his knotted muscles to strain all up and down his arms, but he nodded and held his ground.

Akane was standing facing Kunou. Her feet planted firmly a shoulders width apart. Her grip around her satchel was white knuckled and, with the wind and cold playing over her, she looked like any warrior princess out to do battle on a field destined for legend. Ranma almost felt sorry for Kunou. Almost. Shifting his gaze back to where Kunou stood, Ranma got a little worried. Young men were coming out from behind gates and doors, stepping out from behind the bushes and trees, it was an ambush! Most carried some piece of sports equipment. The smarter ones wore protective padding as well. Kunou continued to speak.

"Whilst I admit the cur Saotome hast bested me in combat before, due to his use of the black arts, I hereby decree this day that I will stand for it no more. I say let Saotome prove his worth and fight for her hand.

Akane's steady gaze narrowed into a glare. Ranma's hands clenched into frozen fists as he grit his teeth. If you listened quiet enough you could almost hear him growl. This was NOT what Ranma had expected this morning. But fine, if Kunou wanted a fight, he would get one. He had thought Kunou and all these other idiots had stopped this foolish behavior long ago.

Again he moved as if to jump on Kunou, and again Akane sensed it and shifted her glare to him. He stopped only because he knew he would never hear the end of it if he insulted THIS young woman's pride. Kunou finished his speech. "So it shall come to pass, that I shall bring about your downfall this glorious day Saotome!"

With that the rest of the young men sprinted forward into battle. Akane with a silent thought of, 'oh no you don't!' Was not about to let Ranma fight for her, and she moved to stand between the oncoming horde and Ranma's perch. Ranma tensed as he watched. Silently he begged her to move. 'Oh please, oh please, oh please, they really need a head kicking. Oh please, oh...' If it wasn't so potentially dangerous Ranma would have laughed out loud with how bizarre the whole situation was. Somewhere up there, he just knew a god or two was just laaaaaaaaughing their ass off. Akane simply stood and eyed them as they charged with cold disdain.

As the first of their numbers leapt to try to get past her she nimbly side stepped them and lashed out twin back knuckles catching them in their noses. She dropped her satchel and spun away from them. She then leapt into the midst of the surging crowd, and punched and kicked herself a path out of the press of idiotic bodies. The crowd was forced to turn and fight her, or chance getting struck from behind.

Ranma stood and watched crankily as his fiancée struck down another two would-be attackers. 'I could handle this juuust fine. But will she let me take care of my business, nooo. But just watch and let me try to interfere in her business and . . .WOMEN!' He muttered angrily to himself.

His hands still clenched into fists at his sides, he grumpily watched Akane use a good portion of Furinkan's male student body as target practice. 'At least she hasn't managed to get hurt. Yet. Soun'll rip my leg off and beat me to death with it, if I let his "little girl" get hurt. "Little girl" my ass.' Ranma thought unhappily. 'Story of my life I suppose.'

So, silently, he watched her from his perch and grudgingly admitted that she was getting better. Much better than when he had first met her. Grinning slightly as he noticed that her footwork was almost exactly in sync with the kata that he had showed her this morning. His worry decreased as the number of attackers dwindled steadily. He even laughed out loud when about twenty of the attackers turned and hightailed it out of the courtyard. Realizing that she was no easier to beat now then she had been the long time ago that they had been foolish enough to do this.

Ranma was amazed with how well she had picked up the kata he had been showing her earlier and how quickly she had learned to apply it. It gave him a warm feeling to know that he had been the one to teach her.

Two minutes later the courtyard was littered with the slightly broken bodies of a good portion of the male student body of Furinkan High. Ranma was about to leap down and join Akane when he noticed that Kunou was still standing. Standing by the gates he leveled his bokken at her as he spoke.

"Truly this boorish lot deserved their fate. To attack one as lithe and dangerous as thyself, quickly and unthinking, hath brought about their own pitiful downfalls, now, these fools may see what their folly hath wrought. I, however, hath waited and watched thee Akane Tendou. En sooth I doth believe thou art now quite spent. Shalt the serpent dance with the mongoose this morn moi cheri?" Kunou then grinned the grin of a serpent. Ranma tensed up again.

He sprinted towards her with his bokken held high. Shouting battle cries for the honor of days and ideals long since past. Akane, for her part, didn't even pause as she executed the finishing move to the kata. A jump spinning outside crescent kick that she viciously whirled into Kunou's temple with the knife edge of her foot, the kick carried her past Kunou and Akane landed gracefully in a low crouch, her back to her vanquished foe. To Kunou's credit, he did manage to stay standing a few seconds before he fell, the bokken skittering across the ground in a clattering testament of his defeat.

Pausing a second, Akane surveyed the damage. Then, throwing a quick thumbs up to Ranma she retrieved her satchel and headed off to class. Late for class, but with an obviously happy gait to her step.

Sighing to himself, Ranma hopped down from the post and waded through the wreckage. The schools massive janitorial staff was already carting off the broken shrubbery and destroyed sports equipment. They also had a routine to follow every day, and it usually started with garbage duty. Frequently the destruction was caused by Ranma these days. But either way it didn't matter to them. Ranma grinned a little as he stood and watched some of the first guys stagger to their feet. Most of them muttering curses and favoring certain limbs. Passing by Kunou, Ranma bent down and grabbed his bokken for a trophy.

The wind died down a little just then. Looking up Ranma caught sight of a single bird in a nearby tree branch, and as he watched that bird broke into a cautious song. A good omen indeed. Maybe today wasn't going to be another trip to hell.

Laughing now, Ranma was a picture of grace and speed as he slipped past the comatose Kunou and jumped up into a tree and then ricocheted off a few benches and buildings and jumped-flew right into his homeroom window. Landing with a forward somersault and a plop only rubber soled Chinese shoes can make, he quickly hid the bokken and his gear under his desk.

He grinned at those who were openly gawking at him, as he took his seat. Those that were staring were apparently still not used to having someone jump INTO a third story window. Akane, who was sitting across the aisle from him, muttered, "Show off."

Ranma was just thankful that the teacher hadn't arrived yet. He really did not feel like another session of "water bucket sentry duty". Akane took that moment to look up from her book and give him "the look", the look that only women close to you can give and which men to this day do not know what it is supposed to mean.

Homeroom flew by for Ranma seeing as he slept through it. Akane, on the other hand, was busily scribbling notes and shooting exasperated looks at her fiancée. 'Honestly', she thought, 'it's not like he doesn't get enough sleep at home as it is.'

At the end of class the bell rang and Ranma shot out of his desk already running for the door, completely forgetting his book bag and the prize bokken . . . he had to throw his weight onto his heels in order to stop short of running into Akane though, who was waiting for him in the doorway. Puzzled, Ranma stepped out of her range and looked at her quizzically. She was looking at him thoughtfully.

"Yo Akane, whatcha want . . .?" He asked.

"Ranma..." she began. Ranma eyed her warily. If this was about him taking the first bath today he would have none of it, it had been his turn and . . .

"Ranma, I . . . want to thank you for not interfering today. That meant a lot to me." Akane seemed to literally stumble on the words. Ranma looked at her funny and then shrugged.

"Yeah well Akane, I was pretty surprised you beat them so quick, but I figured you could handle Kunou, you are at about his skill level. Look I gotta go, ok? I'm gonna miss gym..." He trailed off. He turned to leave but Akane's hand was suddenly resting on his shoulder.

"Ranma, why do you sleep through class? Don't you care if you get a good education?" She had assumed her best Kasumi stance, and was trying hard to look scolding, but understanding.

"Hey look Akane just cuz you are good at school and like to play the "perfect" student, don't mean I gotta, I hate school." He protested. Ranma left that last statement hanging in the air. She watched him set his jaw firmly in his 'don't mess with me' expression. Then he crossed his arms in front of his chest as he leaned against the door frame. Akane caught his body language message loud and clear.

'Back off,' he was saying in the best way he knew how. However Akane was not one to back away from a fight. Looking away from him for a second she put her arguments and her fighting spirit in check with a deep breath...and turned back to him.

"Yes but Ranma if you only applied yourself, I'm sure you could..." As she looked back to where Ranma had been she found she was only speaking to a Ranma-less door frame. "How in the HELL does he DO that?!!" She practically screamed as her self control left her, drawing stares from some of those in the hall, and sympathetic looks from others.

As she started to walk away to her next class she muttered to herself. "I swear it's like trying to talk with a damn puppy, he won't hold STILL!" She continued to grumble to herself as she made her way through the crowds.

Ranma let go of the ceiling and plopped back down to where he had been standing. Grinning to himself, he chuckled and silently thanked Kodachi for showing him indirectly how to do that. With that, he turned and hopped out the nearest window. Hitting the ground, he sprinted across the school grounds trying to make his favorite class, PE, in time.

So intent was he on reaching his class that Ranma failed to notice that the wind had died down, and the cool air was now still and quiet, his little bird was nowhere to be seen either. Definitely a bad omen. Back in the classroom, the girl who sat behind Ranma bent over and picked up his satchel and the bokken.

'I should probably give this to Akane or someone, or maybe I can find Ranma ...' her thoughts trailed off as she blushed mightily at the thought of Ranma thanking her for her trouble and giving her one of those smiles that were known across campus to make women swoon... ' Yes I think I'll go look for Ranma...' she thought as she shouldered the pack after placing the bokken through the straps so she could carry it all at once. Taking a step she promptly fell over backwards.

'Good lord what does he have in here? Bricks?' Grimacing with a determined scowl the girl set about dragging the pack out the door, drawing a few curious stares of her own.

Jogging into the schools athletics area, Ranma noticed that the Kendo club was already out and stretching. The girls track team was out and jogging and the general area was crowded with students geared up for PE. In other words...Ranma was in his element, and he was also LATE! Jogging towards the boys locker room. He suddenly heard scuffling sounds coming from the roof of a nearby equipment building.

With barely half a second to brace himself, Ranma threw his arms up crossed in front of his face, just blocking the kick sailing towards his head. Quickly Ranma leapt back and letting all the air out of his lungs with a whoosh of surprise. Sizing up his unexpected opponent as he did so. And so Ranma came to be gazing rather crankily at Ryouga.

Ryouga just smirked and clenched both of his hands into fists as he slowly walked through the early morning fog that was still drifting in from the wet athletics' fields. The cloud vapors swirled and streamed out of his way, almost as if he were wading through an intangible river. His stride towards Ranma was causing his traveling cloak to twirl and weave behind him so as to make him look like some caped lord from ancient times traveling with a deadly purpose to his journey. Ranma's mind didn't even pause to wonder where the fog was coming from.

In silence Ryouga started to circle and size up his greatest foe in the early morning mist. Ranma, wearing a smirk of his own, took the time to look Ryouga over. His shirt was torn and obviously well worn, almost threadbare.

The leg bindings that usually wrapped around his calves to taper in the cloth, were shorter than usual, looking like the cords had been cut for some reason or another. His hair was longer as well. Granted, it had always been somewhat shaggy, but now it was almost touching his shoulders giving him a dangerous unruly air. Silently Ranma ticked off the months in his mind that Ryouga had been missing...the total came to about 3 and a half.

"So Ryouga...what did I do to you this time? Did I pick an apple that you wanted from some tree? Did I beat you up in a dream? Did my great grandfather look at your great grandfather funny? Did I eat bacon this morning?" He said that last comment with a barely contained smirk.

Ryouga did pause for a second, looking slightly confused. You needed a REASON for attacking Ranma? Yeah right. It was a simple fact. Ranma was there, and therefore Ranma was the enemy and to be attacked and beaten at all costs.

But to Ranma's surprise his normal verbal baiting of Ryouga wasn't working. Ryouga just kept walking and stopped about 3 meters from Ranma. It was then that he made eye contact with Ranma. Ryouga's eyes were of a man with a grudge to settle. Well fine if Ryouga wanted to fight, then Ranma could use a good workout, it had been awhile since he had one anyway. Normally he would just fight with him here and now, but there were a lot of people around, and if there was one thing he was learning from living in Nerima, it was that people tended to stop to watch a fight, and the last thing he needed was for some kid to get hurt at school because he was fighting. Akane definitely would never let him hear the end of that. Besides he was LATE!

Ranma suddenly snapped his fingers saying, "ah ha," you could tell Ranma had just gotten an idea. You could almost see the little cartoon light bulb going off above his head. As Ryouga pulled his battle umbrella out from his back pack, Ranma did the exact same thing that had stopped him back when he had first shown up at Furinkan. Holding out his hand he said,

"Yo Ryouga, long time no see...wah cha been up to?" Ranma asked. Ryouga simply swatted the hand away and swung his umbrella. Ranma caught the weapon in mid air and held on. Ryouga simply swung Ranma with the umbrella, which caused Ranma to slide back about a meter in the dirt, he had forgotten just how strong Ryouga was.

"Say Ryouga I can see you are kind of angry, how would you like to work out your aggressions?" That one got through to Ryouga a little.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Yeah well, here's the thing, I'm already late for my favorite class. And while I would love to kick your bacon butt up and down the school I would rather not miss this class. So maybe we could postpone our little match here. If you'd like you can come with me. I will just tell everyone that you are a transfer student." Ryouga, however, looked doubtful.

"You want me to come to gym class with you? Whatever the hell for?" He said looking at Ranma like he had just sprouted pink and purple elephant ears on his head.

"Well, um ... yeah sure why not. This week is American Sports week, and it is rather interesting. Besides, you are the strongest person in this school next to me and it would be kind of fun to try some of those sports with someone I don't have to worry 'bout breaking. That is if you aren't afraid that I am better than you."

With that said, Ranma turned on his heel and continued on his way to the boys locker room. He knew that for pride's sake Ryouga would be right behind him. As he entered the boys locker room though Ranma got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Water was flying everywhere and high school boys were running all over the place apparently having some kind of a water war. Ryouga simply shouldered his way past him, popping open his umbrella as he went. One poor guy made the mistake of running into Ryouga. As he bounced off of his chest, Ryouga simply picked the kid up by his shirt with his left hand and placed him out of his way.

Ranma caught the kid before he stumbled into a wall and let him go. The kid kind of went skidding off towards the bathrooms as though he needed to go really bad all of the sudden. Ranma just continued on, muttering under his breath,

"Jeez isn't he cranky today."

Ranma started to walk behind the other guys that were heading out the back door which led to the schools outdoor fields. Ryouga followed, his fists were still clenched and he was walking like a soldier on his way to war. Ranma with Ryouga in tow joined the rest of the guys congregated on the field and Ryouga became the instant center of attention. Which considering the state of mind he was in, probably wasn't the best of ideas.

The kids started to crowd around Ryouga, at first he just ignored them and started to stretch and perform a modified version of Tai Chi. But Ranma could tell that the guys were starting to get on Ryouga's nerves with their insipid questions.

"Hey aren't you that guy that got hit in the head with a soccer ball?"

"No stupid he's the guy that sells umbrellas out front!"

"Hey are you listening to me man?! I'm talking to you here! Sheesh, maybe that soccer ball to the head knocked the sense right out of him."

Ryouga grabbed a nearby fist sized rock while he was stretching. Without breaking his pattern, he casually crushed it and dropped the rock fragments and powder by the kids feet. The students warming up fell silent as they crowded around the site of the expected fight. Ranma was trying to decide if letting Ryouga beat up the entire PE class could in ANY way be blamed on him, knowing Akane . . . most likely. Even though it would probably be a great way to let Ryouga work out his anger . . . naaaah. With a sigh Ranma turned to face the assembled crowd as he stepped in front of Ryouga, Ranma spoke so most of them could hear him.

"Okay guys listen up, this is Ryouga and he's a transfer student, he is kind of cranky right now so why dontcha leave him alone okay?"

There was a general stirring in the crowd, but before any more trouble could be started a shrill whistle blow cut through the air. Striding into their midst came their coach, obviously oblivious to anything out of the ordinary.

"Okay men line up for roll call!", he trumpeted into the now still air. There was a crazy scramble as all assembled tried to form up into the rows and spaces that had been designated as their own at the start of the semester. Ryouga simply stood where he was with his arms crossed and a glare in his eye daring anyone to annoy him.

However, the coach didn't even seem to notice him. He just took him as the student that was supposed to be there and continued down the line taking roll. Then with another of those annoyingly shrill whistle blasts he bellowed out,

"Okay men take a knee." With that he started to get into the rules of the American sport known as "futtobooru" as it was pronounced in Japanese. Ranma paid attention with half an ear as he watched Ryouga making sure he didn't kill anyone. Yet.

When the coach had almost finished speaking, he summarized the rules once again. "So basically what you do is take a team and try to get the ball down the field and into the scoring zone, following the rules that I just mentioned. Now, let's have our two students with the best grades in this course be the first team captains, they will get to pick their teams first, after they are done the rest of you can form into teams for our little elimination match . . . Ranma and Nakajima stand up please. Okay you two start picking your teams." Nakajima spoke first.

"I choose Ryouga."

"I choose Daisuke." Ranma chose second. And so it went until all the teams had been made.

What followed next was one for the history books. Ranma, acting the as the defensive line for his team would hold Ryouga back until the quarterback could toss the ball. Flags got thrown on almost every play, as it was explained to Ryouga that no he could not do drop kicks, and no, uppercuts were also not allowed. All the teams soon gained a healthy respect for Ryouga, if you want to call cringing terror respect. When Ryouga got the ball he would just run over any of the people that got in his way, like a run away freight train, working out his anger and depression. It sometimes took up to six guys to tackle him. But as he worked off some of his anger and depression, he started having so much fun, that he got into the game despite of himself.

Ranma would make plays with his quarterback and have great fun faking Ryouga out and catching the ball over his shoulder as he ran, only to be tackled by Ryouga with enough force to carry him the rest of the way down the field.

The look on the coaches face as he watched the two was priceless. You could practically see the yen signs in his eyes as he imagined being their manager and negotiating contracts for them back in the USA. One by one Ranma's and Ryouga's teams took on all the other teams. Until only their two teams had the least amount of loses, one each to the other. Lining up to see which team was better, Ryouga stared at Ranma and grinned an evil grin, Ranma grinned back.

Suddenly the bell rang signaling the end of class, every single student on the field except for Ranma and Ryouga sprinted for the locker rooms, wanting to be free from the humiliation as soon as possible. Ranma and Ryouga trotted back in from the now soggy and torn field in tremendously finer spirits.

"So Ryouga, you feel better now? Or would you still like for me to kick your butt up and down the school like I promised?" Ryouga took the joke for what it was and laughed quietly.

"Yeah sure Saotome, be sure to invite lots of people, we'll sell tickets..." Ryouga failed to notice Ranma's sudden cringe, Ranma could just see Nabiki in a ticket booth shouting,

"Come one come all, see the battle of the century...", quickly he looked around, his eyes darting frantically to see if Nabiki or one of her minions were within earshot. Satisfied Ranma followed Ryouga back into the locker room, a small part of his mind wondering how Ryouga had managed not to get lost yet. Since neither one of them had actually broken a sweat, they didn't need to shower so they headed out of the locker room.

"So Ryouga . . . see ya after school or something man?"

"No thanks Saotome, I have things to do...don't worry though I'll be back to kick ya around a bit later...see ya!" And with that he leapt up onto a nearby roof and then another, and soon he was gone.

"Oh well," Ranma thought, he never sticks around much anyway and besides I am sure we would have ended up fighting eventually. The rest of the day passed without many incidents to speak of.

As he was walking Akane home that day, Ranma broke his attention from the fence he was walking along to look at her. She was maybe half a step ahead of him and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. The early evening wind was swirling her glossy black hair around. The setting sun catching and highlighting it as though she were a painting. Her hands were held loosely in front of her, clasping her satchel. Ranma couldn't help but notice how the cut of her school uniform made her very feminine curves stand out.

The slender slope of the nape of her neck, the firmness of her calves and legs in general and the way the jacket top accentuated her tiny waist, which in turn highlighted her very curvaceous hips. All in all Ranma in the most private corner of his mind thought, Akane was the most attractive girl he had ever met. He would love to tell her that actually, but he had no idea how to. At least not without insulting her or sticking his stupid foot in his mouth as he always did. The only way he knew how to approach a problem was physically.

Which is why he took such great pains to tease her, he knew she would become riled, and he knew she would try to fight him, which meant he could touch her. A fair price to pay he thought. But now was not a time to fight so he contented himself with admiring her from afar, for the time being.

Akane chose that particular moment in time to look back at Ranma, and caught his lingering stare. Embarrassed, Ranma looked away. Turning his gaze heaven ward he let the filtering sunlight play along his face and basked in it's warmth. Akane simply brushed his look off as a coincidence, and kept up her gait. Soon they had reached the Tendou home. Ranma headed up the stairs after shucking off his outdoor shoes at the entryway and exchanging them for his indoor slippers. Entering his room, Ranma changed into his training gi, then headed back downstairs to look for Genma and start his afternoon training session.

Heading over to the porch, Ranma found Genma and Soun doing what they usually did in the afternoons -- playing shogi on the porch. The wind picked up for a second and the wind chime rang, at that moment a fish in the koi pond jumped. The sunlight glittering off of it's iridescent scales. That fish still lived in that pond was in and of itself amazing, since either Ranma or Genma were somehow or another always doing headers into it.

Genma looked up from the board to Ranma and groaned. Soun took the opportunity to rearrange several of the game pieces while he was distracted.

"Sorry boy but I'm not feeling too well today...I think I ate a bad mushroom or something, you'll have to go practice by yourself today." And with that said he turned back to the game and immediately grasped his head with both hands as he sucked his breath in sharply. As Ranma headed away, he could hear Genma saying...

"Do over, come on Tendou, do over..."

Ranma headed over to the dojo in somewhat more muted spirits. As he entered the training hall though, he could see Akane in her trademark yellow gi cinched up with her red belt. She was practicing the kata he had shown her this morning. Ranma just leaned up against the west wall in the doorway letting the sun warm his back, and watched her. Well, actually he was watching her more than her form per say. He did, however, notice that she had actually managed to remember most of the kata's steps as well as the intended rhythm to it. She ran through it eight times before she finally noticed that Ranma was in the dojo with her.

Blushing, she turned away from him. "How long have you been standing there Ranma?" She asked with a sense of dread. She just knew an insult was coming. He would always make fun of her and belittle her skills. Or he would seem to be being nice to her and she would lower her guard. Then he would shoot an insult her way and knock her self-esteem down a notch or two. However she gave her thoughts pause here. 'That was not how Ranma had acted this morning was it? No. She allowed herself to dare to hope, was he changing?'

However, Ranma either didn't hear her or chose not to respond. Either way Akane breathed a sigh of relief. Ranma was still standing there looking at her, staring actually. Not only was he staring at her, but she could see his gaze was traveling all over her. Suddenly feeling a mental draft, Akane decided to break the mood and go over to a side wall and stretch.

Out of the corner of her eye Akane watched as Ranma walked out into the center of the room and assumed a black belt, high crane stance. Maintaining his silence and commanding a certain sense of dignity, he began to practice. As Akane watched, Ranma proceeded to get into HIS workout.

He was totally focused and in his center. He was so seriously into his training, that he was oblivious to his surroundings. The sharp plant of his feet on the hardwood floor, counter set perfectly the sounds of his measured breathing. His motions continued to shift from that of what looked like a half air born, half ground speed training kata to what looked like single partner sparring.

'Of course.', Akane realized. Ranma usually sparred with his father about this time. He was running through the routine he usually ran through with his father. 'Where was Genma anyway?'

Akane watched from the wall as Ranma ran through his routine, going faster and faster. His hands were going so damn fast she couldn't even see them, making her all the more jealous of his skill and speed. And it only got worse! He kept going faster and faster, and his movements got smoother and better. It made her so mad that he could do that and she couldn't! He was bouncing around the room like some kind of insane grasshopper! And she wanted to as well!

When he finally stopped. Akane was standing in front of him holding out a package. Wiping the sheen of sweat from his brow Ranma took the package from her with a quizzical look on his face.

"And what do we have here Akane?", he asked, unwrapping the package that said on the outer wrapping "Wild Stallion Professional Martial Arts Supplies." Akane had her hands clasped behind her back and was sucking her bottom lip in nervously, waiting for him to finish unwrapping. Looking surprised, Ranma held up a pair of heavily padded hand pads and a pair of equally padded foot pads.

"Okay Akane I give up what is this for?"

"So we can spar silly!"

"Why do I have to wear pads huh? I'm not afraid of getting hurt."

"They're not for YOU idiot. They're for me. You say you don't like to hit girls right? Well this way you can hit me and I'll hardly feel it. You can use your full speed and actually spar with me, and I'll be able to learn from where and how you hit me!" She beamed at him. Ranma actually started to open his mouth to argue with her but she silenced him with "he look." So, shrugging his shoulders, he put the pads on. Akane took up a ready

stance before him and they both bowed.

"All right then, here I come!" With that shouted challenge Akane charged at Ranma full speed, throwing the best she could at him. Ranma wove back and forth through her attacks but he still had yet to lay a finger on her. He was falling back on his old pattern of evasion, and Akane would have none of it, so she decided that injuring his pride was the way to go. Backing off, she put her hands on her hips and taunted.

"What's the matter Ranma! Can't seem to lay a finger on me today?!"

"Hah, you wish Akane, I could beat you with one arm behind my back!"

"Oh really?! Well why don't you shut up, stick your arm behind your back... and come over here and try me for real?!"

Ranma did shut up. He looked at his fiancée and thought, 'what the hell. . .might as well give her what she wants, she is asking for it anyway . . .' And with that thought he crossed the space between them rather quickly and threw a round kick at her torso which Akane easily blocked. She countered by dropping to a knee and attempted to sweep Ranma as he landed. Ranma barely had time to back flip to safety. Rebounding off his hands Ranma re-evaluated his opponent with new respect. Very rarely did Ranma have to make those kind of evasions.

Openly grinning now, Akane and Ranma both met each other in their mock combat as they did everything else together, full of pride, passion, and barely contained emotion. This was actually fun for both of them. It was probably one of the only things they could do together that allowed them to touch each other, not have to say anything, and both of them knew what they were doing, and didn't have to look awkward or clumsy. Or to bare any feelings that might get hurt. In effect, they were playing with each other.

When they had both had enough, they stopped and bowed to each other. Then Ranma went back to the west wall where he had left a towel and Akane wandered off to her gear. As Ranma slumped down against the wall and began to take the pads off, he saw a pair of legs enter his field of vision. Ignoring her for the moment so he could take off the sweaty pads was a grave mistake in judgment. He heard her say just before she did it,

"Ya know I have always wondered if you were ticklish." With that said, Akane began to mercilessly search for Ranma's ticklish spot. Unfortunately for him, he had lots! He began to laugh and tried to fight her off. But, as he found out, and as any ordinary person who has ever been the victim of a rogue tickler can tell you. Once you start laughing, and especially if you are tired, you are basically helpless.

Unfortunately for Akane, Ranma was no ordinary person. With great strength Ranma brought his own hands into play. Pinning both of her slender wrists together, he began to tickle her tummy and used his body weight to force her down. Akane squirmed like some kind of deranged fish, squealing with delight. She managed to get her hands free and shot a sucker punch to his stomach muscles.

Stumbling out of the dojo and into the crisper evening air, they shrieked across the Tendou's lawn. Letting the wind carry their dreams, and the soft grass caress their feet. Akane in the lead as Ranma would occasionally catch her and tickle. She would in turn tickle him and get a kick or a punch in and he would let her go, so he could chase her again... until she would let him catch her again.

Their commotion caused everyone in the household to come outside to watch Akane kill Ranma again. Soun was hell-bent on killing Ranma. Again. For whatever grievance he had caused with his baby this time. What the family saw stopped them all in their tracks. Nabiki rounded the corner and all she could think to say was, "What in the . . ." As Kasumi came outside she clasped her hands next to her cheek and sighed, "Oh how sweet they're playing with each other!"

Genma and Soun looked overjoyed and hightailed it over to a corner of the house so they could watch and not disturb. Nabiki shrugged and chalked it up to the absurd, and Kasumi, humming to herself, went back to her kitchen.

Dinner came and went with the whole household walking on eggshells around the two. While they had since calmed down and changed into their evening wear, they were neither hanging on each other like lovers, nor were they fighting. All in all not a bad arrangement. They looked like they had a wall up between them again as usual though. The rest of the family could see them sneaking embarrassed looks at each other, but they had yet to speak to each other since the early evening, as if afraid to break the spell. Kasumi was clearing the dishes from the table and most of the people had left the room, the TV in the background could be heard announcing that the nightly movie would be a ghost story. Soun and Genma scooted out of the room as neither of them liked that sort of thing, seeing as neither of them had an actual backbone. Nabiki had already retired to her room to see to her ledgers for the day, and Kasumi was in the kitchen cleaning up for the day. That left . . . just the two of them.

Akane gulped, mostly because she hated horror movies, but watched them out of morbid fascination anyway. Also because she knew Ranma was still in the same room with her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him leaning on his side propping his head up with his hand. He was reading a manga, she couldn't make out the title, but she knew it was probably something dirty . . . 'the pervert', she thought.

Getting up, she went and turned the lights off. Then, returning to the table, she grabbed a blanket from beneath it and propped herself up against a few pillows. Settling in to watch a movie she knew would scare her to death.

Sighing, she reached up across her body to her shoulder with her hand and tried to ineffectually rub the kinks out of her already sore muscles. Although she would never admit it to Ranma, she had gone all out today, and now she was paying the price. She suddenly realized that Ranma had not left the room to find another source of light, when she felt his warm strong hands tenderly brush her shoulders as if seeking permission to touch her.

Smiling to herself, Akane responded by reaching back and removing the pillows, then scooting back until her head was resting on his chest. Ranma also smiled at her response and with great care started to caress her shoulders. Going not too fast but not too slow, and paying equal amounts of attention to her back and shoulders, he used all sorts of pressure techniques to work the kinks out of her muscles. He also managed to find a few knots as well. Those hurt like hell, but Akane bit her lip and said not a word. Ranma knew he must be hurting her though, so he did those areas the fastest and using the most efficient techniques to soothe the muscles as soon as possible.

They sat like that for the duration of the movie, with Ranma rubbing and caressing her shoulders and back. Every now and then, Ranma would get bored and would run a finger lazily from the base of her ear along the edge of her jaw. He had no idea how erotic that was to Akane, and Akane had to fight herself to keep from turning into his arms and kissing him until morning. He did however think to himself, 'God her hair smells great... she smells just like a flower.'

Eventually, his tender ministrations slowed to a stop as he noticed that the movie was over. She was slumped against him with all her weight, while her head lolled to the side. Grinning Ranma took his left arm and shifted her weight so that her shoulders lay across that arm. Then, sweeping her legs up in his other arm and cradling her body he stood up, he headed toward the stairs.

The house was already pitch black, and he heard no noise. Realizing that everyone was already asleep he quietly carried Akane up the stairs and towards her room. Using his foot, he opened her door and carried her to her bed. Grinning, he noticed it was bacon free. Absently he wondered if anyone sold pig traps. Using his foot, Ranma slid the covers aside and lay his fiancée on her bed. She usually slept in pajamas, but Ranma really did not feel like getting the beating he knew he would get if she woke up and caught him undressing her.

So he just lay her down and smoothed her hair out from beneath her head. Leaning in one last time to smell her hair, Ranma started to stand up to leave but found he was caught in a vise-like grip. Smiling beautifully with her eyes still closed, Akane pulled him down and kissed him on the lips quickly and then holding him so his lips were still millimeters apart from her own, she whispered in a voice so small that only he could have possibly heard her, "Thank you . . . my fiancée. . ."

Then, laying her head back down, she turned over in the bed, hugged the blankets close to her, and promptly fell asleep. Ranma left the room, his head spinning with her last words 'fiancée...the word had been used so often, with so many different meanings since he had shown up at the Tendou dojo, that he hardly ever gave it a second thought. Now it echoed in his mind over and over being repeated in her voice . . .' Slowly, he plodded to his room and his futon.

That night he didn't sleep all that much, but he did have a warm vibrating feeling centered in his chest, spreading out and tingling even to his toes. His hands were shaking with either delight or raw fear, he couldn't decide which, causing him to clasp them over his chest to still them. He could still smell her scent all over him as he lay on his futon in thought . . . 'I wonder . . .' he thought, 'is this what love feels like?'


	4. The fury of the fiancées

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile webpage (since ff dot net deletes links in stories)  
Last modified (10/7/1999)

Chapter 4, "The fury of the fiancées."

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**Fanfiction dot net Notes:**

I added a little bonus with this chapter, it has been partially edited with some better wording in places, and a few errors corrected, and I added some text decoration: bolding, underlining and italics where appropriate -- let me know what you think. Feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them. Heck, if there is a strong enough outcry and demand from the community, I may go ahead and write that epilogue I have been meaning to write, and also re-work that last chapter -- which I am still not happy with.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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Akane sat at the breakfast table eating her breakfast and sneaking furtive glances at Ranma. He was also playing a sneaky game of "peek-a-boo" and was stealing glances at her as well. Reaching for food became a whole new kind of game, to see if they could touch hands without arousing any suspicion. Ranma was having the damnedest time keeping a straight face today. He was in a good mood, and Kasumi, deciding to go Western style today, had served eggs and _bacon_. If Ryouga walked into the room, he would have a heart attack. Ranma was practically crying from the effort to hold in his laughter, just thinking about it. 

All too soon it seemed, breakfast was cleared and the two of them set out for school as was their daily habit. They paused at the doorway to grab their lunches and satchels and slip on their outdoor shoes. Ranma froze in the entryway and pivoting at the waist with hands on hips, swung his gaze wildly around the area. "Where in the hell ... " he muttered to himself.

"Looking for something?" Akane said, looking curiously over her shoulder at him, while getting her shoes on. "Hey, where's your bag anyway Ranma?" She asked casually, noticing what he was looking for. "I uh, I um ... I dunno." He said while continuing to gaze around the room with his mouth open in confusion.

"I musta left it at school somewhere, or something." Shrugging his shoulders, he grabbed his lunch and snuck it in Akane's bag when she wasn't looking. Then he slipped his shoes on and hopped out the door. Whipping her head around, Akane saw Ranma already almost half a street away.

"Damn it, wait for me!" She yelled after him, as she accelerated out the door in a run. When she caught up to him, they ran for a while in silence, with Ranma on the fence-top, and her running alongside him on the ground. Ranma didn't follow his set pattern today though. The closer they got to the school, the weirder he became. He kept rotating between running atop the fence and hopping down to run beside Akane. His eyes were all over the place, and he kept clenching and unclenching his hands into white knuckled fists. Akane was pretty sure Ranma was losing it. Ranma, however, just **KNEW** that something bad was going to happen.

That was how his life worked, he would have fun, and a bomb would level his house. He would smile, and be taken away from his mother for a decade. He would say he liked a flower, and it would turn out the flower was possessed by some demon Happosai had pissed off in the name of Anything Goes Martial Arts. He would eat some bacon, and _weeeeeell_ ...

At the moment Ranma would admit that he liked Akane. That was all, he just liked her ... right? But even so, things that Ranma liked or cared about had a habit of being destroyed or taken from him. And Ranma wasn't really in the mood for that kind of crap today. So he was being extra paranoid.

Running absentmindedly alongside her, Akane felt Ranma's hips accidentally bump into hers, and she skittered off the sidewalk, a few steps to the left.

'So that's the way he wants to play it huh?' Akane thought to herself, and grinned evil-like. Girding herself mentally for battle, Akane brought **HER** hips firmly into play and Ranma bounced into the fence with the twanging spring of stretching chain linked fencing. Snapping out of his thoughts as the fence snapped him back, he looked at her with a stricken expression painted on his face.

Then he playfully returned fire. Unfortunately, while they were busy playing and running, they failed to take notice of an ominous bicycle bell sounding in the distance.

Shampoo was so shocked at the sight running towards her, that she didn't leap onto Ranma, or even try to destroy Akane. She just sat upon her bicycle balancing atop the fence railing, looking down at the two of them, and feeling rather confused. Ranma and Akane, noticing her, stopped so quickly they had to dig their heels in to avoid falling over. Ranma swore a rather descriptive oath under his breath, causing Akane to raise an eyebrow in surprise at him.

"What you doing to husband, Akane Tendou?!" Shampoo demanded, her arms folded under her breasts in a no-nonsense kind of pose. The wind picked up for a second, and tossed her purple hair into waves flowing behind her, the wind carried with it the smell of the canal water, a musky wet smell. 'This could be a good or a bad sign,' Ranma thought, and waited to find out.

"_Your_ husband!?" Akane shot back dryly. "I'm sorry I missed the ceremony. When did he marry you?" Shampoo shot Akane a glare that would freeze boiling water. Ranma now understood the phrase, "if looks could kill." Shampoo was making a move to advance on Akane, when out of the clear blue morning sky, a single sparkling stream of water arched towards her. Instant cat. Akane still hopped up on, "**MY**-almost-boyfriend" protection adrenaline searched crossly for the source of the water. Choking back a laugh, and settling for a snicker and a very satisfied grin, her eyes found the old lady watering the dust down outside her home as she did every day, following the ancient traditions.

'I swear, if I didn't know better I'd think she waits out here to get people wet on purpose.' Akane mused to herself. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the introduction of a heavy weight onto her right arm, causing her to lurch off balance. Looking down, she found Ranma. Curled up into as small a ball as he could make himself, he still felt like he weighed a ton to her, though. Shaking and with a wild look in his eyes, he whispered, "C-C-Caaat!" Re-directing her gaze to the fence, Akane found Shampoo glaring at them, kitty cat like, of course.

Shampoo jumped off the top of the bike she was still balanced upon, and, as it sailed off into the canal, she sailed straight towards Ranma.

Ranma clenched his eyes shut and whimpered. Akane thinking quickly, spun with all her might, pivoting on her toes like a ballerina. This caused the heavy pack on her back, to swing with quite a lot of force. The pack caught the mid-air cat, and caused Shampoo to go sailing off after her bike, making very indignant cat sounds. Smoothing Ranma's hair with her left hand, Akane kneeled down on the rough, sun warmed pavement, on her skirt-bared knees.

She cradled Ranma in her lap and cooed to him for a few seconds until he snapped out of it. Looking up with his normal eyes again, their gazes locked, and Ranma did something he had never done before after being pulled out of his Cat Terror. Arching his neck, he brushed his lips up the base of her neck, tickling the little hairs there, and whispered in her ear, "thank you ... my fiancée." It was as near to kissing her, consciously, that he would dare to do in public.

Embarrassed and confused, Akane blushed and quickly pushed him off her lap, causing him to land in a rather undignified pose on the pavement. Standing awkwardly after having his body weight crushing her knees into the pavement, she wiped some loose gravel off her knees, straightened and smoothed her skirt, and adjusted her hair and pack. By now Ranma had regained his dignity, and was sitting cross-legged on the ground, staring at her rather crossly.

"I don't think that was necessary." He said dryly.

"Do you have any idea how much you weigh, you hippo." Akane shot back playfully as she finished making herself presentable.

"Yeah, well ... you still didn't hafta push me, ya coulda asked me to get off, ya know."

"Well I ... oh shoot! We're late again! Come on!" She dashed off in the direction of the school, leaving Ranma to stare after her dust trail and sigh. Rolling his eyes to the heavens, he muttered, "women!" and loped off in pursuit of her. After all, he needed to keep her in sight if he was to keep her safe. Not to mention the fact that she was carrying around **HIS** lunch -- that was important stuff.

They arrived at the grounds of Furinkan High School, and stopped. A small group of students were baring their way. Idly, Ranma noted that Kunou wasn't there, which surprised him. He also noticed that unlike the aggressors he had encountered in the past, this group of students looked, well normal. The assembled students carried no battle gear, no sports equipment, and their eyes lacked that obsessed mad gleam. This was gonna be trouble.

Ranma swore another oath under his breath, this one a little bit louder and definitely not something he had heard in the Tendou household. Akane raised both eyebrows at him. A single student stepped forward with his head bowed. Walking towards Akane, and ignoring Ranma, he stopped about two feet in front of her. Raising his head, you could see tears streaming from his eyes. His hands clenched into fists. At his approach the wind picked up, but the noise died down.

"Akane, I have loved you for as many years as you care to recall. I poured my heart out to you on many occasions. I asked you out repeatedly, and never sullied your honor by participating in the idiotic actions of some of my fellow classmates in the morning, by trying to win your affections through force. Yet time and again you rebuked my advances and dragged my honor through the mud! I came here today to tell you that you are an evil bitch and I hope you are happy with ... "

**CRACK!** That was as far as the guy got. Ranma stood in front of his fiancée; he was breathing heavily, the sky grew darker behind him. Thunder sounded in the distance. The wind picked up behind him and tossed his hair and clothing around, as he fought to contain the rage that sprang up within him. Akane could feel his anger, and it wasn't even directed at her. The young men in the courtyard must have had bladders of steel to remain rooted in place as they were, and not wet themselves. The wind was bringing with it the smell of the sky right before it rained. Ranma's clothing started to whip and snap about as the wind built in tempo. The weather mirroring his darkening mood. His hands were clenched into fists and his knuckles were white as he squared off against the threats against his fiancée.

"Ut-oh." Akane said quietly. Still standing in the same place she had been when this had started, while wearing a surprised and unhappy look on her face. She was still clutching her satchel in front of herself like a shield, from when the boy had approached her. Then, Ranma spoke.

"**LISSEN UP**!!! Akane is **MY** fiancée! Only I have the right to call her names. I am warning you now I am **NOT** in a good mood. If you have any brains you will leave **RIGHT NOW**!!" At that, about two thirds of those assembled did leave, quickly. The scrambled and knocked each other over in their haste to get away. One student Akane could just barely hear, berated another as they ran, "Idiot! How could I let you talk me into taking on Ranma! _Come back here!_" The student then slapped the back of the other student's head as they ran. That left five total, discounting the now unconscious young man at Ranma's feet. The remaining ones were about to regret their decision.

Akane just stood there in shock over how furious Ranma was. He was protecting her! Violently! 'Good lord,' she realized, 'this could get out of hand quickly!' Akane walked up behind Ranma, intent on soothing him; but as she approached, she suddenly felt the strong need to back away. The sky grew even darker as black clouds rolled into the previously clear sky. Ranma seemed to be radiating heat. She heard a low growl escape his throat and she watched as he started to glow very faintly around his body outline with a dull and almost dirty crimson aura!

The last time she had seen this battle aura had been on the island of Togenkyo as they were falling toward what she had thought at the time was her certain doom. He had cast a red aura then, right before he had released the energy of his Ki into an attack she had never seen him use, using it to protect her, the blast had been strong enough to drill through an island! 'Dear god, he's ready to kill for me!' Akane realized in a panic. Frantically, she looked around for a way to cool Ranma down, or for some help in that area. W_here_ was Dr. Tofu when _you needed_ him?

Ranma's incredible display of power managed to scare away two more of the students. Now only three were left. They were unarmed, but Akane also knew they were Martial Artists, and they were fantastic ones. They were in her P.E. class and she spoke with them on many occasions. Before today, she had considered them friends, even though each one of them had been persistently asking her out since she had been like, twelve. They held their ground and met Ranma's cold furious gaze with gazes of frustrated vengeance. Akane was terrified. Not for Ranma but for these brain dead people! Dear lord, didn't they see how angry he was? He was ready to kill! She had to stop this.

Stepping in front of Ranma, Akane tried to get his attention. Looking into his eyes froze her as an icy blast of dread knifed through her. Her heart clenched in her chest. In those beautiful blue eyes of his, she saw a life time of pain and loss. She saw anguish and personal suffering. She knew that Ranma was protecting her, but she had no idea what the depths of his feelings were, or all of his reasons for doing so. But looking into those eyes, she knew Ranma was not entirely in control of himself. Now she was **REALLY** afraid for those guys, they had no idea of the potential danger of the powder keg they were holding a match to.

Ranma glared at the young men assembled before him. All of them unarmed, just the way he liked it. But that didn't matter because he knew them all to be masters of their individual arts. As a matter of fact, these were some of the guys Ranma trained with when Ryouga wasn't around. One was a master of Judo. A deadly art if used properly, and an effective counter to the Kenpo style. One was a master of Akido. Not necessarily a deadly art, but also quite capable of it, Akido was also an effective counter to his style. The last was a master of Tae Kwondo. That was too similar to Kenpo to be of any threat to Ranma on a half-way good day.

But this was not a good day, and he had two other serious threats to deal with. Despite what people thought about Ranma, he was no god, and he was not invincible. A good shot to the right place on his head would render him unconscious as well as anyone else -- Cologne & Happosai proved that often enough. Ranma was afraid, not for himself but for Akane. Coldly, he considered his chances of beating three masters simultaneously, using conventional methods.

Weighing his options, he also started to unconsciously tap into a power within himself that he knew nothing about. Something he had only used a few times in his life and had always used in the defense of others. Most recently that meant Akane. This primal power came alive within Ranma's mind and tore through his body in the shape of his life's failures and fears, his suffering and sweat and tears, filling him with it's strength. He subconsciously felt the most incredible need to protect, violently. The power grew as his mind flashed back to his training, and everything that he had gone through because of it.

He had lost too much, had suffered too much at the hands of men and women, doing what was "right," or was "for his own good." He had been separated from his mother, he had missed a large chunk of his education traipsing around Japan and China training with his father, he had been forced to leave friend after friend behind on that trip. Bitterly, he thought of Ukyou, and what he had been unwittingly forced to do to her.

She had been the first person that Ranma could recall as having said they loved him. His father rarely did, and he barely remembered his mother. True at the time he had thought Ukyou a boy and thought the talk of love as sort of weird, but it had still made him feel good. It had made him feel accepted and safe. Like he was home.

Over the years of his training, he might have forgotten a lot about his brief stay with Ukyou, but he had never forgotten that feeling. When they camped out under the stars, in the dark, in some strange mountain pass, Ranma would be afraid. He had cried himself to sleep searching within himself, alone and afraid, looking for that feeling many times. While his father would snore blissfully unaware of his child's fears just a few feet away.

He had never forgotten the feeling, but he _had_ lost it. Several years later, as his self confidence and deadly skill in the arts had grown, he had slowly begun to realize that he could no longer dig within himself and find that feeling, it was gone. Which is why it had shocked him so, when he had felt it again, from a different source. He had felt it again when he had met Akane that fateful day, and she had asked if he would like to be friends. He could never thank her enough for restoring a part of his childhood, and with it a piece of his humanity.

Ranma felt a sick burning sensation in his chest. Then his anger turned into an icy resolve. Over and over again he kept muttering, "never again, never again ... you'll have to go through me ... I wont let you take her from me." He wasn't even really aware he was muttering it. Suddenly, Akane stepped into his field of vision. Waving her hands in his face and calling his name repeatedly, with a look of terror in her eyes. In the split second that he took to look at her, all hell broke loose.

The men attacking him were lashing out with years of pent-up frustration, years of rejection and loving from afar. True they had only come here today to vent a little, but since they now had a convenient target for their anger and bruised egos, they lashed out at Ranma with all they had. Ranma was defending one of the most precious things in his life at the moment, and had no intention of letting her get hurt, or losing her. While his focus was diverted elsewhere, they rushed him.

Ranma's only concern at the moment was Akane, he couldn't use any attack with her in the way. Quickly reaching out and picking Akane up, he cradled her in his arms and leapt. Kicking one of the students in the face, hard, to boost his jump to a nearby roof top.

Dimly his mind registered the sound of breaking bone, as his foot snapped the young man's jaw, or at least cracked a tooth or two. He landed and set her down gingerly. Then Ranma turned to settle this matter, for good. Before he could do anything however, he saw dual blurs of motion streak towards the students on the ground.

The motion turned out to be chains, chains trying to wrap themselves around the students. One student was now out of commission, lying on the ground writhing in agony. The other two managed to dodge the chains. Beside himself with astonishment; Ranma watched Mousse leaping to his aide Ranma decided to accept the impossible, and sat down beside himself to watch what most assuredly must be the end of the world, if Mousse was helping him.

As Mousse leapt into battle, weapons flying everywhere and battle cries shouted in Chinese ringing off anything that gave off an echo, Ranma could see a wet fur-ball sticking out of the neck of his robes, that could only be Shampoo. In a daze, he watched Mousse land perfectly balanced and square off against the two still standing. Mousse rocked side to side in a ready stance, coiled like a steel spring atop the balls of his feet.

Before anything else could happen, a stream of tiny cutting spatulas impacting sharply into the concrete, cut their way to him in a deadly row. Back flipping out of the way, Mousse never saw the ribbon that shot by to wrap him up. Shampoo the cat hopped out of his robe and went scurrying away as they landed again.

Ranma watched as Ukyou leapt down out of a nearby tree, and Kodachi stepped out from behind the shrub she had been hiding behind, Mousse held firmly in her ribbon. "You're ruining my plan sugar." Ukyou growled as she walked towards Mousse, unlimbering more throwing spatulas from her bandoleer as she walked.

"Ho ho ho. That's right darling, you'll spoil all the fun if we let you run amuck." Kodachi intoned as she jerked her ribbon tighter.

"These guys were about to help rid us of a pest problem, and they need to finish their jobs, sugar," Ukyou said grimly. Ranma couldn't believe it. He would expect this sort of thing from Shampoo or Kodachi, but, Ukyou?

"Why, those ... those evil bitches!" Akane growled from behind Ranma; he turned to see her make a move to jump to the attack. As she passed Ranma on the roof, his hand shot out. She suddenly shuddered and fell back into Ranma's arms. He released the shiatsu point from her neck and cradled her now limp body. There was no way he was going to let her take on Kodachi **and** Ukyou. He laid her limp body on the rooftop, snug in a crevice.

Ranma then hopped off the roof to confront his tormentors. He was still burning with the need to protect, and now a little bit of anger as well. Ranma angled his jump to kick through the ribbon holding Mousse as he landed. Without pausing, he then started towards the two girls.

"Ukyou! Have you gone insane!? What on earth would cause you to do something like this?" Ranma challenged as he slowly and painfully walked toward she to whom he owed so much. Quickly he searched his mind for a way to neutralize her without actually attacking a girl. The power still raging in his body screamed for vengeance, begging him to ignore her sex, and instead focus on the threat she represented.

Before he had a chance to do anything though, his momentum was halted as both of his arms were caught from behind and lifted into a position that was **VERY** painful. Turning to kill whoever had the audacity to impede his vengeance, Ranma caught a stiff fingered jab to the throat. Falling to his knees choking, Ranma saw through the tears in his eyes two satisfied looking martial artists. Seizing his anger and it's cries for blood, Ranma turned the core of his being into ice.

There was too much at risk. He had left Akane unconscious on a rooftop, Ukyou and Kodachi were confronting him, Shampoo might be back any minute, and then he had these two goons to worry about. It was more than his already fragile mind and inhibitions could tolerate. Stuffing his anger and emotions into a deep, dark corner of his mind Ranma staggered to his feet.

The two young men, who had been celebrating and congratulating themselves on their victory, halted in mid-back slap. Visibly resolving themselves to finish their jobs, they squared their shoulders and advanced upon Ranma with the gait of those who had already won. Ranma started to back away from them. He could sense their battle auras, their self-confidence, and their emotion-driven mind sets. Slowly they approached him, and Ranma, faking a look of uncertain fear, backed away from them as he drew them into a tighter and tighter spiral.

Ukyou realized what Ranma was doing, too late, but shouted anyway, "Look out you idiots, he's drawing you into a trap!" But it was too late. The young men rushed Ranma, screaming battle cries of righteous victory. Closing his eyes for a second, Ranma focused his entire life energy into sensing the heat of their anger and emotions. Fixing it within his mind, he had power over it. Just before the dual attacks reached him, he released the cold of his totally calm mind and body.

Catching his opponents in the physical as well as the mental sense, he channeled heart, mind, body and soul into an attack learned gratefully from an old Amazon. The attack of the rising dragon. Releasing the dragon, it took on a being of it's own and caught the two young men unaware, seized their anger and emotion driven attacks, bound them with it's own energies, and drove them heavenward, with a force to bring down mountain tops. It lifted them bodily off their feet into the air, slamming the force of their attack back upon them doubled in power and icy cold, over and over again. The dragon knocked them instantly unconscious, slammed them up and around the tightening spiral and carried them off out of the school grounds.

Standing in the middle of the blast crater, smoke and debris and fine dust swirling around him, and the icy blue aura of the dragon pounding out of him, Ranma turned to face his attackers. Settling his gaze on the one he felt had most betrayed him today, Ranma stepped out of the crater and started to walk towards her. The incinerated ground crunched under his footsteps as he took each betrayed step.

Letting his control go, his anger and feelings of betrayal surged to the front of his mind again. The anger was like an independent being, clawing and screaming around his mind begging to be let out. Blinking back the tears forming in his eyes that the feeling of betrayal brought, Ranma stopped about 10 feet in front of Ukyou. Calmly he noticed Kodachi trying to make herself invisible as she inched for the protection of the nearby shrubs and garden areas. Snaking the length of ribbon he had salvaged from around Mousse out of his sleeve, he caught her ankles with it, lashed it tight by jerking violently with his left hand, and tripped her off her feet.

His anger howled and wailed to be let free. But first he had to know why. Why would his oldest friend betray him? "Why, Ukyou, why?" He asked as he pinned her against the tree trunk she was trying to melt into with the force of his stare. Visually squaring herself up, she glared defiantly at him as she shot back.

"Why? Why do you think, you mule brained jackass?! You're mine. I _own_ you. You have a debt to me and my family honor. You _promised_ me damn it! Said we would always be together back then. You told me you loved me too all those years ago. You called me your cute fiancée! What was I supposed to do, roll over and die because Akane has a crush, and your fathers are idiots? You owe me Saotome, because of you, I never knew the life of a normal girl. That's why."

Stunned and shamed, Ranma's anger withered and died. Standing there amidst the chaos of battle, of love won and lost and pinned between forces he had no control over, Ranma broke a little, then he broke a lot. His heart catching in his throat, he fell to his knees at her feet. Dazed and confused. He still loved her, damn it, he had loved her_first_! But he loved Akane too, at least he thought he did.

But he had loved Ukyou first, and she had returned his love openly without asking for anything in return as only a child can. He **HAD** promised her, damn his father to hell for making him break that promise. What was he supposed to do? He knelt there in front of her, and blinked back the tears of anguish that threatened to consume him.

He suddenly felt a fierce constricting around his ribs, and looked up into the eyes of the first girl he had ever loved, as she hugged him desperately. Clinging to something she was either unable or unwilling to let go. Kneeling beside him, she held him and looked into his eyes. Searching for something Ranma could not fathom.

"I'm sorry Ukyou ... .so sorry ... I ... I ... " he trailed off as she lay a single finger against his lips to shush him.

"It's okay sugar. All's fair in love and war right? I've waited for you for this long I can wait a little longer. Just ditch all those other chicks and we can head for the hills. Just you and me what do you say?" She bit her lip as she looked into his soul through his eyes, waiting for an answer.

Akane. Could he just leave her? What right did he have to her? The promises of two idiotic old men, made without his or her consent, before they were born? He had never made those promises, and denied them every chance he got. But he had made promises, out of his own mouth, to _this_ girl. But ... he still liked Akane. He card about her. Sure she couldn't cook, and was as violent as a gorilla, but she was _his_ gorilla. Besides, if he just up a left her, it would ruin her, the same as it had ruined Ukyou. All of this must have been flashing across his eyes, for it seemed Ukyou got her answer. Shoving him aside, she stood. She glanced back over her should as he lay stunned on the ground.

"You idiot. Can't you see that I know you can't seem to make a decision? If you had just stayed out of the way today ... , we managed to make those guys angry enough that Akane would be in the hospital for sure right now. Then you would be free. All you had to do was step aside and let it happen." Letting out a defeated sigh she continued. "But then you wouldn't be Ranma would you?" Ranma was starting to get angry again. Akane in the hospital?!

"So that's it. Take Akane out of the picture and then my choice is easy right? Ukyou. How could you? I know this wasn't your idea, this could only have come from her demented mind." He said while jerking his thumb in Kodachi's hog-tied direction. "Were you were testing me? You had to have known this scatter-brained plan would never work. You know I would die for her. You know I would die for you. Heck I would even die for nut-ball over there if the circumstances warranted it. I know you want me to make a choice, heck half the girls at this school would like for me to make a choice. I also know I owe you. But not like this, U-chan not like this. I will decide, but it will have to be on my terms, when I'm ready. Can you ever forgive me?"

The usage of her old nickname had knocked Ukyou into a trance of past remembrance. Snapping back into the here and now she nodded. "Know this Saotome. I'll never give up. I would cross the gates of heaven or hell for you. Until you make your choice, I will not give up." Giving him a bitter-sweet smile. She jumped onto a nearby roof, and was gone.

Sitting up and hugging his knees to his chest Ranma's guilt and sorrow and indecision wailed in his mind. And he punished himself with it. He punished himself for the pain he caused Akane, and Ukyou, and the young men he had had to hurt today as a direct result of his indecision. He lashed himself for the pain he caused because every time he should make a decision, he froze like a deer in the headlights. He even sort of felt sorry for Kodachi and his old man.

Sitting there silently berating himself, he never heard the foot steps approaching him, but he did feel it when a most definite feminine weight glomped onto his torso from the rear. Pressing herself firmly against the object of her desire, Kodachi cooed in his ear,

"Raaaanma, darling. My love, why fight it? You know you love me, just say it and you have my heart and my estates. Myself and everything I own, would be yours forever."

'Oh great I forgot about screw-ball,' Ranma thought. Kodachi Clung to him from behind. How she had gotten free, only Houdini could answer. Ranma felt a flash of anger at her blatant attempt to buy his love. Ranma straightened to his full height, which was much taller than her, causing her to dangle from his back.

Landing with a plop, she grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Anger in her voice, she also demanded a decision, in her favor of course. Ranma didn't owe her anything though. Before he could formulate a proper retort, a bonbori struck the side of Kodachi's head, carrying her out of the courtyard.

"Hey, watch it with those things! You could hurt someone!" Ranma shouted indignantly as he spun on his heel to face the Amazon warrior girl, who jumped off the roof towards him, yelling,

"Airen, when you stop stupid fighting and choose Shampoo? Is Amazon law!" She finished as she landed. Taking a step towards him, she waved her remaining weapon erratically. Ranma made the "evil be gone" signs with his hands crossed in front of himself, waiting for whatever punishment she was ready to dish out. He did owe her something, albeit indirectly. She crumpled after her second step. Mousse caught her from behind before she could hit the ground though. Grimly, he laid her on the ground as her weapon slid from her grasp. Wiping his forehead with a cloth materializing presumably from his cavernous robes, he sat beside the fallen object of his desire. Cradling her head in his lap. Ranma was beyond perplexed.

"Mousse, you did that?" Ranma asked.

"Of course I did, Saotome. She would have killed the Tendou girl and most likely yourself way before this if I did not render her unconscious occasionally." Ranma was dumbfounded.

"If you can beat her in secret, why don't you do it in public?! All you would have to do is beat her with witnesses around and then she would have to marry you!" Ranma elated, seeing one of his problems flying over the horizon.

"Just as Akane did not want to be won by violence when she had to fight her way to school, I do not wish to have Shampoo for my bride because I am stronger than her. Not even the old ghoul knows I have a mastery of the truly ancient arts. If she did, she would make us duel and marry, in order to preserve the blood-line, and strengthen the tribe. I could not bear forcing Shampoo to do anything she did not wish to do. No Saotome, I will win her heart fairly." Ranma's problem came back over the horizon and dive bombed him.

"Then why did you help me today? If you hadn't bought me a little time, most likely those guys might have actually touched Akane. If she had been harmed, I would never have forgiven anyone involved here today. Including Shampoo. She had a part in this didn't she?" Ranma asked already knowing the answer. Mousse just nodded.

"I did not do it to help you Saotome. I did it to help an innocent, caught in between forces she has no defense against. Akane Tendou is a noble spirit, she does not deserve the fate that was planned for her today ... tell me Saotome, have you given a thought to the plan we decided on?" Ranma had, and it terrified him.

"I dunno Mousse, what will people think, you see what happened here today, simply because they must have noticed me paying slightly more attention to her than usual. If I commit to the plan, there would be no turning back, no second thoughts." Sighing Ranma looked off into the clouds that were hiding the morning sun. The birds had hushed and the school yard was as quiet as a graveyard at midnight.

"But I guess I have no choice now huh? You're right Mousse ... things are getting out of control, it's now or never." Looking back to Mousse for the confirmation he so desperately needed. He saw him gathering Shampoo into his arms tenderly. Looking into Ranma's eyes, Mousse nodded and whispered, "Do not fail Saotome."

With that he leapt as easily as if he was not carrying a 130 pound girl, and was gone. Leaving Ranma standing alone in the ruined courtyard. The wind picked up for a second and pulled on him, seemingly as if destiny was tugging him in the direction it wanted. Sighing, Ranma leapt back up to the roof top and crouched over Akane. Brushing hair from her eyes, he gazed at the sleeping features of the primary cause of his trouble today. But he could not fault her for it.

Smiling tenderly, Ranma picked her up in his arms and squatted on the roof top, letting her sit on his lap as her head and torso rested against his chest, supporting her shoulder to balance her with his left hand. He reached his right hand to the two spots on her neck, and under her jaw line, and pressed gently. Her eyes snapped open. And she slapped him, hard. Falling backwards he hit the roof, as she leapt of out his arms shouting, "Pervert!" The anger fled her features when she saw who it was. Sitting down in a heap she looked up at Ranma, and muttered a quiet, "sorry."

Grinning, Ranma sat next to her. He silently celebrated when she leaned into his side and cuddled against him for warmth, shivering in the still chilly morning air.

"What happened?" She asked him in a sleepy tone of voice, while laying her head on his chest. "You fainted Akane." Ranma lied through his teeth. He seldom struck her unconscious, and she usually never bought his explanations when he did. The now obvious parallels between himself and Mousse were just sickening he thought glibly. But his explanation seemed to satisfy her today.

"How long?" She asked. Glancing at the huge school tower clock, Ranma noted that only about five minutes had passed since they had entered the gates together. Had it really only been five minutes?

"Just a couple of minutes. We should probably get to class. Maybe we'll luck out and Ms. Hinako fell off a cliff or something." He quipped. Akane giggled into his chest, with her eyes closed, and her breathing shallow. She felt so safe here. Her mind and emotions were in turmoil. She had gone from being terrified to elated in the course of five minutes and for some reason she felt very sleepy.

Dimly, she was aware of the fact that she was sitting on a roof-top in a skirt, which was probably why her legs felt numb, laying half-way on Ranma, in full public view. The common sense part of her mind screamed at her to get off of him, and down from the roof, and into class. But for today, she kicked that part of her mind sharply down into a silent corner, and let herself drift off into sleep. 'Great, just great.' Ranma thought. 'I must have hit that sleeping nerve too hard. She'll probably be out for an hour or so.'

Grinning silently to himself, he cradled Akane's shivering body to his. Scooting into the lee of protection the angles of the roof offered. Trying to keep most of her body off the clammy cold roof-tiles, he held her while she slept. Dimly his mind was aware of how dangerous this was. All it would take would be one person to spot them, and his old man and Mr. Tendou would eventually find out, and Ranma would be wearing a tuxedo so fast he probably would have to throw it over the clothes he was wearing.

But he ignored the danger, for today. Slowly her shivering stopped as the sun peaked through the clouds, then lanced across the courtyard, striking the two roof-bound figures with it's heavenly warmth.

Akane awoke in his arms forty-five minutes later, and this time she didn't slap him. Smiling shyly, she inched off of him, and smoothed her skirt. Without saying a word, they jumped off the roof. Ranma handed Akane her satchel at the door to the school, just as the tone ending first period sounded. Mouthing 'see you tonight', Akane turned and headed for second period. In a daze, Ranma headed down the hall.

Peeking around the corner, the girl who had retrieved Ranma's satchel for him quickly pulled her head back around and clutched his satchel to her chest. She had been so worried he wasn't going to show up today, and she would have to carry it around _again_ all day.

That dang thing was **heavy**! Leaning against the wall right by the corner she demanded her mind come up with something clever to say to him when she returned his satchel. Her breath was coming in short gasps as the moment drew nearer and the realization of what she was about to do sunk in.

Trying desperately to gather the courage she needed, she closed her eyes and took deep breathes. Ranma turned the corner and promptly slammed into something short and softer than him. Looking down he saw the sort-of familiar face of a girl he was pretty sure sat behind him in first period. Looking astonished, she stared back up at him. Quickly, Ranma bent down and picked her up off the floor and set her gently on her feet. 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god ... he's touching me, what do I do, what do I do?!' She thought frantically. Her mind stared to shut down with panic.

Stammering, the girl held an object out to him. Shoving it into his arms, she said something about finding something of his, and ran off, her face a peculiar shade of crimson. Looking down confusedly, Ranma found himself holding his missing satchel, complete with the prize bokken. Smiling absently at the good omen, his mind still doing jumping jacks, he headed to class.

The girl, who's name was Midori, careened around the next corner and slammed her back into it. Pressing her forehead back into the wall with both palms she wailed silently. 'Damn it! I blew it, I blew it, I blew it!' Furious with herself she made dual fists with her hands and slammed them into the wall behind her.

The shock of the pain brought her back to reality. 'Gee I wonder if I broke something?' She thought as her hands started to throb. 'I guess I better go get a note and see Dr. Tofu.' She thought resignedly to herself. He would know what to do about this. He always knew what to do. Idly as she walked off to the nurse's office to get a note, she wondered if the doctor had ever met Ranma. Now there was a guy! She hoped the Doctor was in a mood to talk today, because she certainly felt like talking.


	5. A Warriors Duty

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile webpage (since ff dot net deletes links in stories)  
Last modified (11/2/1999)

Chapter 5, "A warriors duty."

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**Fanfiction dot net Notes:**

I didn't get that big of a response one way or the other for last chapter's extra touches of text decoration (bold, and all that), so I am not doing it for this chapter. Let me know if you want to see it return, and you feel it adds to the story or not. I did do some minor editing to this chapter though, re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of spelling issues that slipped through the filters years ago.

Anyway, feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (generally). I maintain that if there is a strong enough outcry and demand from the community, I may go ahead and write that epilogue I have been meaning to write, and also re-work that last chapter -- which I am still not happy with.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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"Do you agree to the terms set forth in this final contract?" 

"Yes, with the provision that my company will retain the rights to the returns on the stock options listed in sub-paragraph eight title nine."

"Ah. Yes, yes. That can be arranged, let me make a notation here ... all right, now your provision is in the contract, provided that you agree that the dividends for the joint venture capital supplied as outlined in section four, sub-paragraph three, title twelve are met and accounted for."

"Agreed, my company sees no problems within that regard."

"Then our negotiations are done Mr. Ikisando. If you would be so kind as to sign here ... and here ... and initial here ... and there. Thank you Mr. Ikisando, it has been a pleasure doing business with you."

"You are quite welcome. Mr. Nakahara, would you show our honored guest to the door please."

"Before I go Mr. Ikisando, there was the small matter of your companies down-payment. Will that be cash check or charge?"

"Ha ha ha. I had quite forgotten about that, you are very astute. Yes, yes of course. Mr. Nakahara, the briefcase please. I trust you would like to count it?"

"No need for that Mr. Ikisando, if there is a problem my people will be in touch. Now if you would be so kind as to show me the door?"

"Certainly. Mr. Nakahara, would you escort our honored guest out please."

"Yes sir. Come this way please." The very large Mr. Nakahara beckoned the honored guest and set off down the dim hall way. His footsteps raising miniature dust clouds as he lurched along his way.

The "honored guest" was nervous. At the last minute this business meeting had been re-located to this shabby warehouse in the outskirts of the Akihabara district. This was NOT standard operating business procedure. But no matter, the money was in hand, and soon this would be all over. Lost in thought the "honored guest" almost collided with Mr. Nakahara as he abruptly stopped and opened the door. Bowing he wished the "honored guest" a good day and a speedy trip back.

Leaning against the door frame he stood with arms folded across his massive girth and watched the "honored guest" depart. The sky was over cast and the sun was trying it's hardest to peek through. The wind was soft but chilling, and the scent of decaying dust permeated the air. As soon as the individual with the briefcase was around the corner Mr. Nakahara spoke into a small transmitter sewn into the lapel of his very expensive pinstripe suit-jacket, which had to have been tailor made to fit his large frame.

"The target has left the premises, proceed?"

"Go," was all the answer he got, it was enough. Nodding his head ever so slightly, three young men gathered inconspicuously at a bus stop across the way, sitting and reading newspapers or standing and looking bored, rose as one, straightened their very expensive looking suits, and donning mirrored sun glasses, started off after the departed "guest."

Sensing that something was wrong, the departing business partner clutched their briefcase tighter and picked up their pace, searching for that infernal subway entrance, where was it?! Practically jogging now, the search became frantic, dodging around other pedestrians and stepping over or around objects on the sidewalk the "honored guest" wracked their brain trying to recall which block the subway station had been on. There, there it was! Up ahead next to that news-stand.

Breathing a sigh of relief the "honored guest" risked a glance over their shoulder, seeing nothing but the main sights one would normally see in a densely populated city area, trash, people and even a stray dog picking at the meager offerings of an overturned garbage can in a nearby alley. Sighing with relief the "honored guest" headed down the immaculate steps to grab the next train out of here. Preferably a bullet train.

"Where in the hell am I now?!" Ryouga muttered to himself as he walked along the city street. He knew this wasn't Akane's city, the buildings were smaller there, and everything was cleaner. The buildings here were large and close together, and this area was looking rather dirty and run down. Looking around at the rough looking people on the streets, the groups of young men clustered at the entrances to alley ways and the numerous people dashing here and there with nary a kind word exchanged between strangers, he made a decision that he did NOT want to be here when it got dark. And what the hell was making that smell?!

Jingling the few coins he had in his pocket, that he had made doing odd jobs for farmers and the like as he traveled, he decided to take a subway train out of here. "I wonder if the information booth could give me directions to where Akane lives?" He thought idly as he walked down the street looking for a subway entrance. This train trip, would actually be a small relief, and a chance to rest his weary legs and backpack sore shoulders.

He had been walking for what, three ... four days? Ryouga finally saw an entrance up ahead on the other side of the street, and quickly crossed. He was in such a hurry that he almost ran over three guys in very nice looking business suits. All of them were about his height but with slighter builds. Their hair all had the look of professional stylists and expensive up-keeping. Smiling as one they fell over each other apologizing to a bewildered Ryouga.

"A thousand pardons young sir, we should have been watching where we were going!" They all quickly apologized and bowed, then practically leapt down the steps." They were obviously in a hurry.

'Hey, what nice guys.' Ryouga thought to himself. 'You wouldn't expect to find anyone with manners in an area like this, I wonder why they were all wearing those sunglasses though ...' the sun wasn't even out, the sky was very overcast. Looking up he saw the sun peek through a gap and just as quickly get swallowed up by the foreboding clouds.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ryouga walked down into the train station, sniffing slightly at the irritation the fumes from the underground tunnel were causing his nose. He was already composing a small speech for the information booth, to ask for directions to someplace he couldn't remember very well and couldn't name, in a location he wasn't sure of ... without sounding like an idiot, he was very good at that.

Nervously and with a growing sense of dread, the "honored guest," clutched their briefcase close. Where was that damn train?! Standing on the loading platform felt too open and vulnerable, instincts were demanding a safe defensible place to hide in when these kind of emotions were being felt. Looking at their wrist watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, the "honored guest" who was starting to feel like an "honored chump," decided to get a cup of coffee to help pass the time, and turned and headed toward the snack area. Taking deep breaths in order to try to calm themselves. 'I refuse to be afraid ... I refuse to be afraid ...' they repeated while they walked.

Ryouga stood with right hand behind head, elbow crooked, in the classic stance of embarrassment. Nervously he asked the clerk on duty if she had ever traveled around Japan, and if so to describe the various districts she had been in, seeing as he was fresh off the farm and looking for "adventure" as he had put it.

The young female clerk smiled shyly at him and patiently told him that she had never traveled outside of the immediate Tokyo area, but had been to almost all of the districts, and so she started to describe all the districts that she had been too. One of the distinct features Ryouga remembered about Akane's town was that stupid water canal he kept getting knocked into, or falling into. Ryouga kept steering the conversation in that direction.

"Kansai sounds lovely, but I love to be able to sit and stare at water for meditation and relaxation purposes, do you know of any place like that." The clerk replied in the affirmative and promptly started talking about beach-front properties and the beauty of the Kyushu island, which she was quick to point out she had never BEEN to, but had heard great things about. Ryouga had to keep steering her in the direction of land locked water without sounding like he was impatient or a complete idiot.

Finally, in frustration, the clerk said, "Well the only other place I know that has water, that isn't an ocean or a lake or a river or even a large pool would be the Nerima district, which has that grubby water canal. But that is just a small district, mostly residential. Surely you would rather see something more exotic in your "adventures", than a water canal?" She raised an eyebrow at him. Ryouga smiled and asked her to continue, silently repeating the name of 'Nerima' over and over in his mind, lest he forget. A sudden very female and very terrified scream pierced his thought process and stopped the clerk's recitation cold. She immediately picked up a red telephone and spoke rapidly into it.

"Security to gate four of the poetry platform now! I have a code thirty seven emergency in progress, hurry!!" Looking up to calm her guest the clerk found herself gazing at a blank wall. 'I wonder where that nice young man went to ... ' she thought to herself as she got up to go meet the security team and point them in the right direction.

Ryouga sprinted in the direction he had heard the scream. Listening for anything that would help him find the person in trouble, silently praying he could find her in time to help her, furiously he cursed his inability to go in the direction he wanted to, especially in times like this. The scream he had heard had most definitely sounded like a woman's scream. Ryouga had received very strict upbringing where women were concerned. "Protect and serve," just like a police officer his father had said, when he had been around anyway, the curse was hereditary. Those instructions were inscribed on his brain, he could NOT ignore this, like many Japanese would do in this situation, their excuse, "best not to get involved," just wouldn't cut it for him.

"Get away from meeeeeee!" There it was again. Skittering around the corner which led to the snack area Ryouga saw a young woman dressed in a business suit, being lifted off the ground from behind with both her arms locked behind her back. As he watched and ran a briefcase fell from her left hand. Recognizing who was holding her, Ryouga ran faster. She was being held by one of those, apparently not so nice, guys Ryouga had almost trampled earlier, now he wished he had.

Running as fast as he could, he knew he couldn't stop what was about to happen, but gritted his teeth and ran faster all the same. Another of the well dressed men stooped down and grabbed the briefcase and promptly ran in the direction of the exit. The other pulled out something small and black out of his suit jacket, and swinging hard brought the object down on the young ladies head. Her struggles jerked to a stop as a sickening thud knocked her unconscious. The man holding her, dropped her and she fell ungracefully face first into the ground.

Ryouga was beyond pissed. Sprinting like he had never sprinted before, he screamed as he ran, shrugging off his pack about ten steps away from the men, he was hell bent on showing these goons, you do NOT hurt girls.

Hearing Ryouga's scream the two remaining guys looked up startled, and saw a crazy person charging them. Grinning the man who had been holding the young lady reached into his left armpit area under his coat, and brought out a very large and powerful looking hand gun. It was a police issue service sidearm he had taken from an off duty army officer he had robbed, on leave in Yokohama a few months back.

Ryouga, noticing the gun, switched game-plans and directed his charge to the goon holding the gun. The unknown man grinned as he pulled the trigger.

The crack! of the hand gun's report in the ceramic tiled underground tunnel was deafening. At the last possible second Ryouga dodged. He had been watching the muscles in the man's gun arm and hand, and most importantly the trigger finger, so he knew a split second before the goon pulled the trigger. Spinning to his left in a 360 degree spin that few could follow with mortal eyes the bullet whizzed by his face with inches to spare. Finishing the spin he made contact with the gun goon.

Slapping the outside of the gun mans right hand and wrist area with his left hand, he drove his rigid fist pinkie side first, hard into the nerves of on the opposite side of his wrist. Paralyzing his hand. At the moment of impact with his right hand he slide his left hand up the mans wrist to the top of the gun barrel and wrenched the gun out of the surprised mans hand. Breaking his trigger finger in the process. The entire disarmament took less than a second.

Continuing the force of the spin he had started disarm him, Ryouga spun with enough force to turn any male ballet dancer green with envy. Completing the spin he caught the very surprised man with a close fisted hammer blow to the area just under his ear along his jaw line. He was out in a split second. Anything harder would have snapped his neck. This took place in the total elapsed time of two seconds.

Dropping the hand gun, Ryouga leapt on the back of the other man trying to run away in the direction of the exit. Tackling him, the other man tried to squirm out from under him and Ryouga shifted his position to straddle him. Trying to pin the mans arms behind his back. The man in the suit grabbed Ryouga's ankles and using an incredible strength kicked his own legs out from laying behind himself, to in front of himself. Then twisting violently he pushed up and back on Ryouga's ankles, effectively breaking his grip and throwing Ryouga off of him. Ryouga was shocked, no one could wrestle with him and win, it wasn't possible.

With his grip broken, Ryouga threw his body weight backwards into a half hand spring, then with his palms firmly supporting his momentum and weight, reversed his motion to land quickly on his feet, using a martial arts technique many know as a "Chinese get-up." Not pausing for a second Ryouga jumped in suit-boys direction throwing a viscous snap kick at his head, aiming for maximum damage with the ball of his foot for the bridge of his nose. The man in the suit jerked his head to the right, just barely missing the brunt of the blow, but taking a mean graze across his left ear, which was now ringing. He was out-classed and he knew it, desperately the man turned and ran again.

Ryouga was not about to have any of that again. Jumping over the mans head he landed a few steps in front of him, and even as the man tried to reverse or re-direct his momentum, Ryouga spun on his left crouching leg, supporting the sweep with his left palm he pivoted his body weight and caught the man on the right knee-cap, the front right knee-cap. The knee snapped under the force of the blow and the man went down in a heap, crying out in agony over his shattered knee, he wouldn't be running anywhere any time soon.

Getting up heavily, winded but otherwise none the worse for wear, Ryouga walked calmly over to the man he had just seriously damaged. Squatting down next to the mans head, he reached down with his right hand and grabbing a fistful of hair, jerked the man into a half sitting position.

"Now ... you and I need to have a little talk ... about why men should never, ever, ever hit women." To punctuate his point Ryouga slapped the man's broken knee with his other hand. Groaning, and suppressing a sharp intake of breath the man spit in Ryouga's face. Without breaking eye contact with the man Ryouga calmly unwrapped one of his bandannas from his forehead, and wiped his face off. Throwing the bandanna in a corner, he recoiled his hand from the toss, and slapped the man across the face, hard. Keeping his voice calm and his face expressionless Ryouga continued.

"That was not very polite. Didn't your mother teach you anything about manners? First I catch you picking on a girl, who better not be dead right now, or I swear you will wish you died first, then you go and spit in my face? That's very naughty." Clucking his tongue at the man Ryouga waved his index finger in front of his face, as a father would do to scold a disobedient child.

"So ... tell me Mr. Manners, why exactly did it take three of you to beat up on one little girl? Afraid she would out muscle you?"

"I am not going to tell you anything. You might as well just kill me and get it over with. You can tell who ever sent you though, that my boss does not like double crossers, whoever sent you will pay, I swear it." The man hissed through clenched teeth, his breathing labored.

"Oh no you have me mistaken suit boy. I aint gonna kill ya. No no no. That's too good for someone that beats up on girls, no ... I'm going to turn you into the police, after I drag your gimpy ass over to that girl and make you apologize to her." Terror raced across suit boys eyes at Ryouga's mention of the police, he had strict orders NOT to be captured by the police. He had been assured that if he was ever captured by the police, that it would be a short stay. Ryouga continued without noticing the change in his captive's demeanor.

"However I don't want you to give me any trouble while I carry you over there, so I am going to knock you unconscious for a few seconds. Say night night suit boy." As Ryouga cocked his hand back, flexing the fingers he would need to use to render the man unconscious, the man locked gazes with him, and smiling, bit down on something in his mouth, hard enough to make a loud cracking sound. Holding Ryouga's gaze, the man's eyes glazed over and he gradually went limp in Ryouga's hold.

Taking the fingers he was about to use to press the man's knock out centers in his neck, Ryouga felt for a pulse. There was none. Shrugging, Ryouga dropped the corpse on to the tile floor, it's head bounced once. As far as he was concerned, he got off easy. 'Strange time for a heart attack though.' He thought as he jogged his way back to help the girl, a minute later after too many wrong turns, Ryouga finally found the girl. Running to her side he picked her up and held her in his arms as he knelt on the floor, quickly he searched for a pulse, it was there and quite strong. With relief he saw her chest rising and falling with her breathing. Brushing her hair out of her eyes, his heart stopped for about two beats. It was Nabiki!

In name of all that was holy, what on earth was Nabiki doing in an area like this? Alone! Sitting there dazed Ryouga felt a tap on his shoulder. Talking over his shoulder Ryouga deadpanned, "Nice of you guys to show up. You didn't miss any donuts or anything on your mad dash over here did ya?"

Smiling sarcastically Ryouga glanced over his shoulder and froze. About six uniformed security guards were standing there, none of them smiling, all of them with their weapons drawn and pointed at him!

"Um, hi guys." Ryouga said in an icy tone of voice. Is there a reason you are pointing your guns at me?" Ryouga snapped.

Pushing her way to the front of the crowd the information clerk shouted, "Wait wait wait! Put those damn things away. I vouch for this guy, he didn't do it. He was talking to me when she screamed. He must have gone to help her... right sir?" The pretty lady asked, while checking his eyes for the honesty of his answer, she was very good at judging these kinds of things. Ryouga nodded an affirmative. His attention back on Nabiki.

The guards bowed as one mumbling apologies. Then the one in front snapped an order to go look for the real perpetrators. "Move it you slugs, go go go!" Off they went charging after their captain. The clerk stayed behind. Surveying the damage, and noting the bullet mark on a concrete pillar in front of where the damaged suit boy was laying, and the gun at his feet, she raised an eyebrow.

"You did all this huh? Against this guy? With a gun? I'm impressed." Taking over his shoulder without looking at her Ryouga continued to tend to Nabiki,

"I didn't do it to impress you or anybody else, I did it because it was the right thing to do. I have to get her home! I'm sorry miss, please excuse my manners, I'm worried about her. What was the name of that district with the water canal, I... I forgot." Ryouga blushed, ashamed that he had to make a fool out of himself, again!

Perplexed the lady asked, "you planning on taking her with you on your 'adventures'?" Looking at him doubtfully, she started to wonder about his sanity.

"No no no. She lives there."

"Oh well, in that case ... come with me." Motioning with her hand towards her booth the girl started to walk. Rapidly Ryouga stood with Nabiki cradled in his arms, scanned the ground for anything of hers she may have dropped, then set off after the pretty young clerk, he was not about to get lost again.

Reaching her booth the clerk typed a few commands into her terminal and the faint buzzing of a printer could be heard from under the counter. Smiling she slid two all day passes across the counter. They read, "unlimited passage: all rail lines, all destinations." Startled Ryouga looked at the clerk doubtfully.

Answering his unasked question, "because the rail company has a policy to make passengers feel safe after something like this, because you did a noble deed and ... blushing as she spoke, because you're cute." Pushing the tickets towards him she blushed even harder. "Take them silly. Take her home. Go on." Grinning like a five year old who has just been told he can have a cookie from the cookie jar, Ryouga grabbed the tickets with his right hand as he shifted Nabiki slightly so she was resting further up on his arm.

Smiling shyly at him the clerk watched him go. When he was around the corner, her knees finally collapsed and she sunk ungracefully into her chair. Sighing dreamily, she had to take several deep breaths to calm down. 'They don't make them like that any more.' She thought. 'Oh shoot! I should have gotten his phone number or something.' She berated herself.

Ryouga boarded the next train leaving for the Nerima district. At least that is what the ticket taker told him as he handed back his tickets. Taking a seat against the wall he watched the doors and the people as he cradled Nabiki's still limp form. Her head was lolling in the crook on the left side of his neck and shoulder, his left arm supporting her shoulders and his right draped over her knees and holding her firmly. Holding her, he cradled her like a giant infant. He received several stares, but true to Japanese form, no one said anything, and almost all of them stopped staring when he glared at them.

Time passed and Ryouga had to fight to keep himself from relaxing and letting the soothing rocking motion of the train and the rhythmic clicking of the tracks lull him into unawareness. Akane would kill him if he let her sister get hurt.

Sitting up straighter, Ryouga played a mind game to keep himself awake and sharpen his senses. He studied everything with his eyes. The small tear in the seat over there, the slightly dimmer bulb in the ceiling across the way, sending flickering light to it's section. The small corners of dust in the window pains the cleaning people had missed. The blend of human smells wafting from the enclosed space. Grocery bags and old shoes and perfumes and colognes. Diligently he cataloged everything in his mind. It was one of his favorite mind exercises. He hoped that one day he would get good enough at this, that he would remember places, and wouldn't get lost anymore.

The controlled hiss as the train's hydraulic brakes did their job to stop it, and the polite clipped tones of the conductors voice announced his stop. Gratefully Ryouga stood and stretched his leg muscles. His arm muscles were starting to feel a little worn, but he would endure.

Stepping off the train he walked along the boarding platform, looking for the exit sign and promptly ran into something. Taking a step back he found himself looking at a uniformed police officer, who was now eyeing him suspiciously.

"Hey, you there. What's going on here?" The police officer demanded. Ryouga realizing he was carrying a beautiful unconscious young woman in his arms, dressed in a business suit, and he was dressed in his dingy traveling clothes with a grubby backpack strapped across his shoulders. Of course this would look bad. Instantly he came up with a plausible cover story.

"My uh, my sister here tripped and fell at the last station boarding the train. I have to get her to a doctor. I am afraid I have never been to this town before, is there a doctor near-by?" Eyeing the shabbily dressed young man doubtfully, the police officer decided to buy the story.

"About half a block away. I'll take you there. Come with me." With that the officer abruptly turned and marched to a door marked in large red kanji, "forbidden, police only!" Ryouga hurried to catch the door before it closed. Stumbling for a second he started off after the officer, in the well lit, dust free passage. As he walked he noticed that unlike all the other tunnels and walkways through subway stations, this passage did not have any turnstiles or other crowd controlling devices, and was perfectly straight. 'This must be one of the passages the police use when they are chasing someone.' Ryouga idly thought.

Opening the door at the end of the passage, the police officer looked over his shoulder to judge the young mans progress, noting that he was easily keeping up the officer started to jog. Law abiding citizens courteously stepped out of the obviously hurried law officer. They had no desire for trouble. Ryouga followed in the wake the officer left. In no time they came to a squat modest office building, it's signs proclaiming a doctor with a general practitioners license, as well as skills in the herbal and shiatsu area's. Opening the immaculate glass door for Ryouga, the officer watched as Ryouga went inside and asked for a nurse. Satisfied that this was on the up and up, the officer started back to his patrol.

Ryouga called for help again as he lay Nabiki on the couch in the waiting room. She had been out cold now for about twenty minutes, long enough to be a symptom of a concussion, a condition he was very familiar with.

"Well now, what seems to be the trouble? I was just sitting down to eat my lunch ... do you have an appointment?" A pleasantly polite male voice intoned from behind Ryouga, accompanied by the sharp sliding sound only Japanese shogi doors can make. Looking over his shoulder Ryouga sighed a sigh of resigned acceptance, 'it would just have to be one of THOSE days,' he thought as he watched Doctor Tofu entering the room, wiping his hands on a cloth towel. His ever present glasses gleaming with the reflected light of the brightly lit waiting room.

"Of course I can make an exception if it's an emergency but ... " his words trailed off as he noticed Nabiki lying unconscious on his couch. "Oh my word, Nabiki!? What on earth has happened to you. Oh hello Ryouga. Do you know what happened to her?" Tofu asked as he rapidly knelt beside her and checked her pulse and gently pried her eye open to check the dilation of her pupils. They were dilated, but not fixed. A good sign. If they were fixed and dilated, then most doctors would give up on the spot.

Picking her up like his own child Tofu started to walk into his examination room with her, continuing the conversation over his shoulder.

"So Ryouga, do you know what happened to her?"

"Yes doctor. She was struck on the head by some guy that was trying to rob her. I was running to help whoever had screamed, I saw the guy do it. I didn't get there in time, didn't get there when she needed me. I'm sorry doctor, I should have run faster. I didn't even know it was Nabiki. Will she ... will she be all right doctor?" Ryouga choked out.

"There there Ryouga, it's okay. She will be just fine. Why don't you go pour yourself a cup of tea and have a seat in the waiting room? Calm your nerves okay?"

"But doctor can't I stay here? Make sure she's all right?"

"Well Ryouga, I will have to undress her to examine her, and make sure she is all right, would she object if I allowed you to stay? Are you two an item now?" Backing quickly towards the door, blushing furiously, and willing away a nose bleed, Ryouga stammered, "No no, that's ... um, never mind ... I'll, um ... be waiting outside ..." he quickly slid the door closed and leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath.

Smiling to himself Tofu chuckled at the boys almost indecent amount of modesty. He had only been kidding. He didn't need to undress the young lady for a head wound. Sighing to himself the doctor worked rapidly and professionally with a skill few could even hope to match.

Cleaning and examining her wound, he washed away the small amount of blood on her scalp and in her hair, and rubbed a pre-made salve he kept on hand for minor abrasions. Massaging her neck muscles and stimulating several key pressure points he slowly brought her closer to consciousness. The pain would be excruciating, so before he brought her out of it. He pressed a few leaves from some very potent pain relieving plants between her lips and waited while the needed chemicals and nutrients soaked into her blood stream, he gently bandaged her head as he waited. A few minutes later he tapped the final pressure point on her neck.

Nabiki's eyes snapped open. Her first facial expression was one of terror. Throwing her arms up in front of her face she cringed. Not feeling the blow she expected to come she peeked out from under her arms. Seeing the welcome safe sight of Dr. Tofu broke her final wall. She wailed. Crying out in terror she hugged herself and rocked side to side on the table. Helping her into a sitting position he held her while she cried. Ryouga in the waiting room, winced at her outcry. Blaming himself for her pain he made several promises to himself at that moment, mostly about what he would do when he caught the rest of the guys responsible for this.

Nabiki clung to the doctor like a drowning man would to a life raft. Finally minutes later her world stopped spinning, and reality started to invade again. Realizing what she was doing she violently commanded her body to behave itself. Shutting her tears off immediately was not possible, but she did manage to slow them to the occasional sniffle. Sniffing the antiseptic environment around her, she winced at the bright lights needling her sensitive eyes, trying to sit up straighter brought a gasp of pain, and she slumped back into the doctors arms.

"What on earth happened to me doctor? How did I get here? I wasn't even close to home when this happened." She whispered to the doctor, probably the only man outside of her daddy she would allow to see her cry. And even worse have to hold and comfort her, she was supposed to be stronger than this!

"Well I don't know the whole story, but from what Ryouga tells me you were attacked by at least one man, and he hit you on the head with something. From my examination of the wound I would say a black-jack. Quite a nasty little illegal weapon."

"Ryouga? What do you mean Ryouga? Where did he come from? He wasn't with me."

"Well like I said, I don't know the whole story, you'll have to ask him, but I do know he carried you in here." Nabiki's heart swelled, and she immediately was fighting back tears, as she blushed. 'How sweet.' She thought.

"I should probably go thank him." Sitting up and hopping off the table quickly, her legs abruptly buckled and if Tofu hadn't been expecting it and caught her, she would have fallen, hard.

"You need to rest young lady." He said in the concerned tone of a worried parent. You lie here and try to go to sleep, I'll go talk to Ryouga for you. Without waiting for an argument he walked to the door and shutting off the light switch on his way out, opened the door to go talk to Ryouga.

As the door opened Ryouga hopped to his feet, a worried look in his eyes. Upon seeing the doctor smiling he sank back into the couch. His worry leaving him. The doctor sat and talked with Ryouga and listened as Ryouga told his version of the story, leaving out the parts when he had to ask for directions and got lost of course.

The doctor as he listened to Ryouga's story felt his biceps clenching as his hands made fists. It had been a long time since he had felt the need to strike someone, back in his training days he had always been more interested in techniques such as shiatsu and Akido. Brute force martial arts had never appealed to him. But he did know how to punch and kick, very well according to his own sensei whom he still went to see every Saturday. Oh how badly he wanted to have been there, to have been able to strike out at these cowards who preyed upon women!

Ryouga completed his accounting of the incident, and nodding the doctor told him to wait there while he telephoned the Tendou residence, to inform them of Nabiki's whereabouts. Picking up the phone in his anteroom he dialed, silently praying that if Kasumi answered he would be able to, for once, act like a normal person. Whatever gods were up there decided to smile on him. Akane answered the phone.

"Hello, Tendou dojo." She said in a sing song voice, she sounded happier than she had been in a long time, but that was neither here nor there."

"Akane, I am afraid I must be the bearer of bad news. Nabiki is here at my office, she was assaulted."

"Nabiki?" A sharp intake of breath followed by a muffled shout as Akane covered up the mouthpiece and shouted the news to the family. A mad scrambling noise was heard in the background, and Akane said breathlessly,

"We'll be right there." Then she hung up. Nodding to Ryouga, Tofu went back into the examining room to check on Nabiki.

Sitting back in the soft fabric of the couch, Ryouga tried to relax. Letting his eyes fall halfway closed, he started to hum to himself as he usually did when he was anxious and needed to unwind.

Therefore he heard the door opening to the office, but since his mind judged this to be a safe place, he ignored it. He did however feel it when a weight was introduced near him on the couch, as his body due to gravity, automatically sank towards the dip being introduced in it's immediate area.

Cracking his left eye open Ryouga found himself looking at a very striking young lady of about sixteen or so. Dark hair a slight shade of bluish black, more blue than black, long and silky cascaded down her back and recklessly over her shoulders.

Her skin looked pale and soft, her legs were long and slender and she was neither plump nor a waif. Her eyes were what drew him though, they would be the most striking shade of green if it wasn't for the fact that they were blood shot and all around her eyes the skin looked puffy and red... like she had been crying. She sat there sunk into her own little world on the couch, looking absently at the far wall, not really seeing anything. Ryouga doubted she was even aware of his presence.

Clearing his throat to get her attention had the desired effect, she noticed him all right, and screaming a shout of surprise jumped all the way across the couch. Breathing heavily she stammered, "you ... you scared me ... sorry I screamed ... it's been one of those days ya know?"

Scooting back towards Ryouga on the couch she held her hand out in the western style and said, "My name's Midori, what's yours."

"Ryouga... Ryouga Hibiki... how do you do." Smiling shyly the girl ran her eyes up and down his body, her gaze lingering on his ample biceps. Ryouga was starting to feel uncomfortable.

Leaning forward she started to speak ... "Wanna know a secret..." she began. Ryouga sat frozen praying for divine intervention, he didn't know how to talk to a girl! Especially a gorgeous one! That was Ranma's thing. Before he had a chance to reply the examining room's door slid open and Tofu backed through the door carrying a tea tray.

"Hey Ryouga I noticed you didn't take me up on my offer of tea, would you like some now?" Turning around the doctor's very astute eyes took in the situation and he came to Ryouga's rescue. Setting the tray on the coffee table he sat in between the two, and while pouring out three cups of tea casually asked the girl,

"So Midori how are things going for you, have things gotten better since we last talked?"

"Well not really doctor. My dad has to go and drag me over here after mom died to, 'get back to your roots,' as he put it. I have no friends, my Japanese is terrible compared to the other girls I go to school with, and I'm just, well I'm just so lonely!" She wailed slamming her fist into her thigh to punctuate her statement. Her eyes suddenly watered and she winced as she sucked her breath in sharply. She had forgotten about her injury.

Ryouga was making himself busy examining the beautiful lacquer work on his tea cup. Polite people did not eavesdrop on young ladies conversations. They were both ignoring him for now.

"But Midori I thought you said you were working on getting a boyfriend. What happened to that?" Tofu watched her eyes over the rim of his steaming tea-cup as he took a small sip. The tea was awfully sweet today.

"Yeah well ... things haven't quite snapped into place yet ... to be honest I doubt he even knows my name yet. I only have one class with him, home room, and he usually sleeps during that class ..." She trailed off, looking embarrassed into her cup as she realized she wasn't alone with the good doctor.

"Ryouga, could you do me a favor please?" Ryouga jumped at the chance to get out of this awkward situation.

"Sure doctor, anything."

"Could you go outside and change my business sign to read closed, I have the feeling I am going to the my hands full tonight as it is." With that the doctor turned back to a whispered conversation with the pretty girl. Sighing with relief Ryouga walked out the front door, his only reminder of the girl was her lilac perfume that was wafting around the room, and trailed out the door after him.

Finding the business sign hanging from a slender chain on a hook in the wall, Ryouga flipped it over to read, "Closed." His mind still in a daze he hopped up onto the nearest wall pillar and sat hugging his knees to his chest. Rhythmically he started to control his breathing, and to force his jumbled mind to relax. As he sat there the disassociated sounds of the city washed over him and helped bring on a kind of peace.

The rising pitch and fall of shrill children's voices as they played. A dog barking in the distance, and the chirping songs of the birds as they basked in the afternoon sun. Sun? Looking up Ryouga saw that the sun had indeed forced it's way to the fore-front of the cloud bank. As he watched he could see the clouds dissipating as the sun's dominance asserted itself and it shined down benevolently. Everything was finally right with the world again.


	6. Archaic Awakenings

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (9/25/1999)  
Last modified (6/17/2000)

Chapter 6, "Archaic Awakenings"

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**FF Net Notes:**

Sorry for the large gap in posting this chapter, and last chapter. I have been busy changing jobs and moving, etc. I am back now.

I am continuing my experiment with formatting some of these chapters with extra touches of text decoration (bold, italic and whatnot). Let me know if it helps or not, or if you don't care about it. I did some minor editing for this chapter like I did for last chapter, re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of spelling issues that slipped through the filters years ago. Sorry about those problems if you have read the chapter before.

Anyway, feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (generally . ). I have started writing the epilogue to this series, and I will be re-writing (partially) the final chapter, when I get to it in the formatting process.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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Sitting atop his pillar, Ryouga had a prime view of the surrounding area. Therefore he could see the approaching dust cloud careening towards him. Debating with himself for a little while, Ryouga decided now would not be the best time to see Akane. As she was likely dead set on seeing Nabiki as soon as possible. Ryouga hopped off the pillar, landing lightly on the balls of his feet with his hands in his pockets, and went inside to tell Dr. Tofu of the imminent arrival.

Akane ran driven by a fear that had her breath catching in her throat. Nabiki was hurt, hurt because she had been attacked by someone. Akane **had** to see she was all right for herself. Biting down on her lower lip, she willed herself not to cry. Akane was completely unaware of the slight copper taste in her mouth that her biting was causing. She was far too busy to acknowledge pain.

Glancing back, she saw that even Ranma was struggling to keep up with her, as he was staying about a pace behind her, and wasn't goofing off like he usually did when he ran; he was seriously running to keep up with her. Ranma charged behind her with his elbows swinging back and forth like the guide rods of a trains wheels.

Ranma thought as he ran that he could not bring himself to admit that Nabiki being out of commission would not be nice. She was an active participant in making his life difficult. But if she was really injured... and if it was because someone had assaulted her... then the perpetrators would have to answer to the fiancée of their victim's sister, after all she was family, right?

Shaking off that useless train of thought, Ranma forced his mind to take notice of his surroundings. A comfortable drill for someone to do who really doesn't want to think about anything. His mental exercises were a development of the consequences of a lifetime of having deranged martial artists and numerous monsters and demons trying to kill you from all directions, at any time.

After awhile you tend to develop the habit of constantly scanning your environment for threats. It is amazing what your mind will focus on in times of crisis, for instance, as he ran Ranma thought about the stupid little flower basins the government placed alongside the fence of the water canal. The flowers were a vain effort to beautify something that just couldn't be covered up. The effort was there but the results were the same. The flowers were set there to cover up an eye sore and became one themselves. That was pure poetry.

At least the flowers gave off a pleasant scent in the late afternoon air. The sky was starting to clear, and was now only partly cloudy. A small breeze coming from the east picked up the delicate essence from the flowers and wafted it into the air. That mixed with the smell of the dust and the musk of the canal water made a refreshing combination that Ranma remembered from his travels in the outdoors.

Akane was frantic. She knew Dr. Tofu had a different way about him. He usually tried to make something seem better than it was by putting on a cheerful show. But he had sounded pretty serious on the phone. That was not a good sign. Akane ran faster.

Reaching the doctors building, Akane hardly paused as she grabbed the door and flung it open. The hinges creaked audibly as they strained against the tremendous, sudden force being applied to them and the door chime rang crazily.

"Nabiki! Where are you?!" Akane wailed. Running up the steps in the entryway, Akane forgot to take the time to don inside footwear. "Where is she?!" She murmured a lot softer this time. Akane started to race for the examination room door, when she slammed into something, hard. Bouncing off of Dr. Tofu, she stumbled and would have fallen backwards if her arms were not encased in a gentle but vise like grip. Struggling to stand up, Akane lowered her voice a little.

Looking up into the calm, smiling face of Dr. Tofu, Akane was reassured a little. "Help me up Dr. Tofu, please... I have to see her, make sure everything's all right...I promised..." Akane whispered the last part as her struggles slowed then stopped. Her legs giving out from under her even more she started to slump to the floor, as an icy fist of helplessness seized her heart and squeezed. Her breath coming in short gasps she started to cry. Crumpling to the floor the doctor cradled her, then picked her up and started to carry her over to the couch.

Ranma entered the door just then, assessed the situation with the expert eye of a trained observer, made eye contact with the good doctor, and nodded. He quickly went over to where Tofu was standing and picked up Akane's now weeping body, holding her as easily as he would an infant. He calmly stood there and spoke with the doctor.

"So how is she, Dr. Tofu? Is she gonna be all right?" He whispered as he started to rock Akane gently back and forth. Her hysterics slowed with the intimate contact and loving care she was receiving.

Tofu grinned as replied, "well if you mean Akane, she'll be fine. If you mean Nabiki, she has a slight concussion and a few abrasions on her head. She should be well enough to go home tomorrow. Akane on the other hand, seems to be having an awfully tough time with this for some hidden reason. I would like to have a chat with her before she goes home."

Nodding his assent, Ranma sat down on the couch with Akane still held gently in his arms and sank into the corner as she cuddled into him. She was making slight sniffling and whimpering noises every now and then. The fact that she was doing this was normal. 'Lots of people lose control of their emotions when a loved one is hurt.' Ranma thought. But doing it to him, in public... 'She must be losing it.' He decided. As he held her he endured something few others could survive; she was hugging his neck with a death grip. At the moment the brute strength that she was so famous for had somewhat left her, so Ranma could thankfully breath.

Akane's world was falling apart. Someone had hurt one of her sisters! The sea of her life was approaching hurricane capabilities and Akane was heading for the edge and desperately needed an anchor right now. Ranma was that anchor right now. The warmth of supporting human contact and the fact that it was Ranma slowly brought Akane back from the edge. Time marched onward heedless of her problems. Finally the room seemed to stop spinning and her heart was returning to a normal beat. Her tears slowing, she shyly raised her eyes to his, her long eyelashes clumped together with her recent tears.

"Well, hello there, feeling better?" Ranma asked. Shock painting her face Akane leapt out of Ranma's arms and tumbled onto the couch next to him. Breathing heavily Akane froze and just looked at Ranma.

"If you breath one word of this to anyone..." Akane growled.

"I don't know what you're talkin 'bout Akane." Ranma smiled a small smile. Satisfied Akane leaned back into the cool material of the couch and began taking deep long breathes to calm herself. The material under her slowly warming due to her body heat.

Just as things were starting to calm down in the small waiting room, the door to the small kitchen area slid open and Ryouga backed into the waiting room carrying a tea tray.

"Here's the tea you asked for doctor. Are they here yet... " Turning around, Ryouga froze as his gaze took in the sight of Ranma sitting on the couch right next to Akane. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he noticed that her hand lay next to his.

Ryouga was just about to jump on Ranma and demand he leave Akane alone then apparently thought better of it. Instead Ryouga carefully walked to the table and set the tray down. Then slumped down on the couch and glared at Ranma. Akane looked up at Ryouga without expression, then looked back at Ranma. Ryouga deflated a lot with her obvious dismissal of him. Ryouga started to grow depressed. The doctor surreptitiously took notice of Ryouga's plight and decided he could put off talking to him until later. He had enough people flipping out tonight as it was, first Midori who was laying down in one of the back rooms right now under a mild sedative to help calm her nerves, now Akane, and if his internal clock wasn't way off, Soun Tendou should be dashing through that door right about...

"NABIKIIIIIIII! Don't worry baby! Daddies here! Where's my baby?! Where's my Nabikiiiiii?!" Soun jammed through the already open door like a bat out of hell, arms pumping and legs spinning like the wheels of a run away freight train, and leapt over the entryway steps. Running straight for Tofu, he seized the doctor's lab coat lapels and sank to his knees as he wailed under a waterfall of tears.

"You have to help me, doctor. You have to save my baby! My babyyyyyy! Oh Nabikiiii! Please doctor, please save my Nabikiiiii! Can you help her doctor?!!" Grinning on the inside, the doctor noted that Soun was in rare form tonight. Smiling, Tofu reached out to grasp the other man's shoulders in a gesture of support and understanding. If you knew the doctor even casually, you would be loathe to let his hands anywhere near your neck or shoulders, but Soun wasn't exactly in his right mind at the moment.

"There now Mr. Tendou. It will be all right..." The doctor trailed off as he went to work. Ranma watched expertly across the room as Tofu's magic fingers touched nineteen shiatsu points on the distraught father's neck and shoulders. Soun instantly slumped unconscious and seemed to be breathing easier. Cataloging the technique for later, Ranma watched as the doctor picked the unconscious father up in a fireman's carry and started towards the couch.

"Hello? Is everything all right in there? Hello?" The lilting musical chime of a young woman's voice sounded in the doorway. Kasumi Tendou. The ultimate picture of calm and beauty and control under any circumstances, stepped into the modest entryway of the young doctors business. She demurely slipped out of her street shoes, and into the very well kept light pink satin slippers sitting in the little box which was reserved for her by the nice doctor. The larger bin of complimentary indoor slippers provided for patients and visitors contained ordinary blue slippers. Her box was marked, "Tendou Kasumi " in beautiful scrawling Kanji. You could tell a lot about how someone feels about something just by seeing how they draw the characters for it. Her name was scrawled in loving sweeps and soft angles. Kasumi smiled her small private smile acknowledging the doctors' tender ministrations.

Tofu was frozen where he was, rooted to the floor as if he had always stood like that. His gaze locked onto the wall above the couch he had been headed for as his glasses instantly fogged up. Ranma, for the millionth time, wondered how his glasses managed to do that. Soun promptly fell from the doctor's grip and landing headfirst on the floor, remained unconscious as he flipped over onto his back.

"Oh father! You should be more careful. You are going to hurt yourself!" Kasumi scolded as she walked to his side and checked his head for serious injuries.

'Great just great.' Ranma lamented. 'First Nabiki gets hurt, then Akane flips out, then Soun loses it. Ryouga is wiggin out, again. Now the doctor has lost it ... the only sane people in this room are me and Kasumi... all we need is for Kuno and Kodachi to show and we can have ourselves a nifty little party, play some music, and watch 'em all get funky like a witches' monkey.' Ranma smirked and had to choke back a laugh at that last thought - causing Kasumi to glance his way for a second and raise an eyebrow.

Akane chose this moment in time to be unpredictable and jump off the couch and run for the examination room. Sighing, Ranma got up to follow her. Slowly. He was not in the mood to be caught in one of her mood swings. Since when had he taken to following her like a love sick puppy dog anyway? He thought absently as he followed. Glancing back over his shoulder, Ranma watched Ryouga from the corner of his eye start to get up and follow him, then settle for glaring after him instead.

'Weirdo. One of these days he is gonna push me too far ... ' Ranma made a mental note to stay clear of him for the next couple months if he could help it. Ryouga was nothing else if not persistent. The only bonus for that was it would be a cold day in hell before Ryouga could track him anywhere.

Akane paused at the door, placing her hand on it lightly and leaning against the door frame, she breathed a slow audible breath then slid the door open. Walking slowly into the darkened room.

Ranma sighed again, and refocused his attention on Akane. Ranma followed with his hands clenched into fists at his sides as he crept in behind her, making as little noise as possible. After all he was walking into a possible disaster area. Sliding the door open a little further to accommodate his wider shoulders, he stepped into the room and with his back against the side wall silently slid the door shut. His eyes adjusting to the dim inner recesses of the doctor's examining room.

Akane was sitting in a chair pulled up next to the table Nabiki was laying on. She had Nabiki's left hand grasped tightly in both of hers, and she was whispering to Nabiki. Ranma, thinking Nabiki was awake, decided not to intrude on their conversation and started to leave. But Akane's words stopped him.

"Oh, Nabiki. Oh, Nabiki, I'm so sorry. So sorry I wasn't there... please wake up... please be all right ... I promised ... promised mom I would always watch out for you ... I'm so sorry ... so sorry ..." Her voice cracking, Akane slumped over in her chair, laid her cheek against Nabiki's, and started to cry. Not the tears of hysterics, but the slow deliberate tears of guilt and fear.

Observing her wounds from where he was, Ranma noted that they appeared minor. Whoever had attacked her had only struck her once on the head, with some kind of blunt instrument, and her arms were slightly bruised from what looked like an arm lock from behind. That wouldn't bruise someone who worked out even a little bit in the upper body area, but obviously Nabiki didn't do so. Akane was seriously over reacting. 'But in comparison to Soun, I guess this is moderate.' Ranma chuckled grimly to himself then started to walk hesitantly over to her.

This was a very volatile situation. There was no telling how Akane would react to his presence. She could explode at his intrusion, or latch on to him as she had done in the anteroom. He really didn't know all that much about her now that he thought about it. He had spent the better part of the beginning of their relationship together avoiding her, or showing off. He couldn't remember the last time they had just...talked. However she reacted, Ranma decided he would rather be elsewhere right now.

Cautiously he approached her from behind. Taking care to make a small amount of noise announcing his presence. The last thing he wanted to do was startle her. Reaching her, he lay his hands gently on her shoulders and waited for her to react. He got nothing. Pulling back, Ranma looked closer at the two sisters. Akane was draped over Nabiki on Nabiki's left side. She was lying over her like a policeman would do to protect an innocent from a psychopath's random gunfire, crying softly. Her left arm tucked under Nabiki's waist in a fierce grip, her right under her neck. Their heads cheek to cheek. Akane's eyes were squeezed tight and she was muttering something over and over again. It sounded like... "please?"

Astonished, Ranma saw Akane start to glow a dim yellow right before his eyes. As he watched the yellow got brighter and brighter. Soon the aura around her was as yellow as any dragonfly's coat; the fringe of the glow was shining a silky white. The room was now awash with the surging and pulsating light of Akane's aura.

Ranma had only seen Akane give off an aura a few times in his life. Usually right before he thought she was going to end his life. But those had usually been red or blue, the colors of battle. And they had never been this bright or complicated before. Usually just a faint glow of a single shade of color. This was a strong glow and it was multicolored.

Now Ranma considered himself a rather accomplished authority on the subject of auras. But he was almost positive he had never seen anything like this. As Ranma watched, he backed away from the two sisters, until his back met the table on the far wall halting him. Astonished Ranma's eye's locked on the sight before him.

Akane was now rocking back and forth, Nabiki still held under her like her own child. A low howling sound like a grieving mother's wail for a dead child started up somewhere outside in the closely approaching dusk. As the glow from Akane grew in intensity, so did the sound. As the crescendo mounted, Ranma had to squint his eyes against the fantastic surge of light pouring from Akane. Determined to watch, he shielded his eyes with one hand, as if he was shielding the sun.

Suddenly Akane raised her head and arched her back and neck with her arms extended upward in a 'V' shape. She started to scream a defiant scream to the gods. Light was pouring out of her open mouth and her eyes glowed white as the sun. The howling outside crested with her, and the windows on the other side of the room burst open and a wind that was alive rushed into the room.

The wind seemed more liquid than ethereal and carried with it the scent of lilac and pear blossoms, rushing spring water and fresh cut grass. As he watched awestruck the wind swirled around the two sisters and focused on Akane. It seemed to actually be permeating her! Slowly the glow that had been radiating from her seemed to sink into her. Her skin started to glow with the brilliant glow of the sun. Ranma's eyes were now burning with the effort of blinking back the tears streaming down his cheeks. He was too awestruck to even notice. Akane had never done **this** before.

Akane now silent arched her neck back with her mouth still open, like she was trying to catch rain drops on her tongue. She let her arms fall and held them at shoulder level like wings, as she seemed to be drifting within the wind. Accepting the winds caress she danced with it, spinning around in small circles as Nabiki lay still on the bed. The wind lifted her and held her dancing with her as she swayed in place. Her mouth slightly open now and her eyes closed, she allowed the wind to suffuse her with it's life force.

Finally the wind abated somewhat and, leaving Akane, started to swirl around the outside rim of the room. The wind swirled around the edge of the room creating a wall of wind. Akane, holding Nabiki in her arms, now started to focus the energy in her body. That was the only way that Ranma could think to describe it. As Ranma watched the glow flowed up from her legs and down from her head, all of the glow centering on her torso, then traveling down her arms. Focusing on her sister on the table, Akane placed both her hands lightly on Nabiki's temples. The glow then seemed to seep into Nabiki and began to spread throughout her as it had just been doing with Akane. Akane started to make a low rumbling sound.

As the last of the glow left her, Akane started to scream. Not a defiant scream of terror now, but of pleading. It started low and quiet and grew from there. As she did so the glow started to pulse within Nabiki and swirl crazily, gaining in intensity with the rate of Akane's scream. Nabiki's back arched off the table and her body shook violently. Slowly, Akane's scream died out and with it the glow. As Nabiki's body settled on the table, Akane stood above her, swaying back and forth.

'Uh oh' Ranma thought as he dived forward to catch her. Falling, Akane rocketed to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. Ranma slid under her across the slick linoleum, arms and head first, and caught her, barely.

'**Ouch**!' Ranma thought as his skin came in contact with hers, which was alive with the feel of electricity. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothing was rumpled, but she was breathing. Oddly Ranma could still smell the same smells the wind had brought, coming from Akane. As he picked her up, he suddenly felt weaker. His energy seemed to be draining, like something was sucking the life force out of him.

Shrugging off the thought, Ranma looked down at Nabiki and did a double take. He had seen her when he first entered. Her head had been bandaged with a little blood showing through, and the bruises on her arms and neck had been visible. Now her skin seemed unbroken and the bandage had fallen to the floor, showing her head to be as untouched as the rest of her. And was it his imagination or was she still glowing?

Just then, the door slid open and Tofu practically fell into the room. "What in the world happened in here?" He demanded in a rather **un**-Tofu like demeanor. He seemed genuinely shook up. "I've been trying to open that door for the past couple of minutes and it wouldn't budge. And the whole time I hear sounds in here like all hell is breaking loose. Now all of a sudden it jumps open like it's alive..." His rant trailing off, Tofu walked over to Nabiki's prone body. Running his fingers up her arm and trailing them over her cheek and finally her hair, he turned and looked very seriously at Ranma. "How did you do this?" He whispered.

Ranma returned the doctor's gaze for a moment then shrugged as best he could with a teenage girl in his arms. "I dunno doc. You'll have to ask her, I just watched. But that has to have been one of the strangest things I have ever seen."

Visibly reeling, the doctor leaned back and supported his weight on the counter top. Ranma pressed the palms of both of his hands to his eyes as if to contain his sanity. "It can't be, it just can't be." He muttered. "I mean I always suspected it could happen, and she showed some of the ancient signs... but what can this mean..."

Ranma was beside himself watching the doctor losing it. The doctor had never lost it - well, not counting Kasumi anyway. The doctor was who you went to when you lost it. If the doctor was broken then there was gonna be trouble. Who was supposed to fix the doctor? Sure the doctor lost it when Kasumi was around, but that was different. Glancing down at his fiancée, Ranma muttered, "Akane what have you done?"

"Ranma come here." Looking up, Ranma saw only a plain counter and had to spin around to see Tofu standing across the room in front of his overflowing bookcase. 'How in the hell does he **do** that?!' Ranma thought as he lay Akane down on a spare bed and went to go see the doctor. He was rummaging through the books, going deeper and deeper into the collection.

"Yeah doc what's the deal? Do you know what happened?" Ranma asked hopefully. Tofu seemed to know everything when it came to these sorts of things.

"I have an idea... but I wish I didn't..." He trailed off as he dug into his books. Finally he leaned back, pulling a dusty old tome with him. Brushing off the cover with a quick swipe of the hand, Tofu presented it to him. The cover had characters written on it, they looked like Chinese. Although Ranma couldn't read Chinese, he could recognize their characters. But this script he didn't recognize, it must be ancient. "What does it say?" He asked while handing the book back to the doctor.

"It says, 'The record of what shall come to pass.' This is a book of prophecy that I picked up while traveling in China a long time ago, when I was studying the medicinal arts.

"You speak Chinese, doctor?" Ranma asked.

"Yes. I speak many languages." Tofu stated absently while flipping through the book.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Ranma inquired. Tofu arched an eyebrow over the book he was reading as he replied, "you never asked," before he went back to searching the book.

"Yeah, but doctor Tofu, I recognize Chinese characters and these don't look familiar to me... how old is this book?"

"This book dates back to roughly to about 1750 b.c.e of the Shang Era. It has been continuously and painstakingly re-copied over the centuries in order to preserve its contents through the ages. Or so I was told." He said without looking up from his reading.

"Here we are. This is what I was speaking of. This prophecy here." Glancing at the book, Ranma saw a passage bracketed in red ink, with many notations in Japanese scrawled in the margins.

"What does it say doctor?"

"_And so it came to pass that the creator wrought mankind with a small vestige of his powers. He made the sky for and of their eyes and gave them the earth to sustain them. And as the earth and air shall hold and nurture them so shall they turn their backs to him and forget Him whom hast delivered their bounty unto them. So shall He take back his gifts from his chosen and in the ages to come shall forget them. Thus their loss of faith and the corruption of their souls when they serve and pursue selfish ends. Shall herald the end of an era as mankind rends their own world asunder. And It shall come to pass that the creator shall take back his gifts and turn his back to those who would take their eyes from him. And Man shall henceforth lose all knowledge of the ancient arts save for a small remnant of the faithful which shall preserve this knowledge until such a day that mankind proves itself once again worthy of his benevolence. But lo all shall not be lost in this time. "When the hour is nigh for mankind's destruction, a warrior-savior shall be born in their midst as mankind's final chance." He shall be pure of heart, but unrefined in word and deed. Thus he shall have to prove himself in the eyes of those he loves, and hates, as one beyond reproach in his quest for righteousness and truth. In the time before the darkness to come he shall walk the earth seeking to better himself and awaken the old powers within himself and his charges. Let it be known that he who walks with the powers of harmony shall soon awaken the knowledge of old and so shall he be mankind's final hope and redemption. So it is written and so shall it come to pass._"

"And that means exactly...what?" Ranma asked dumbfounded.

"Well granted it's a little rough. That was the best I could make it out to mean anyway. Like all prophecy it speaks in past and present tense and in parable. Basically I think this is saying that in ancient times men could command... well magic.

Well probably not all men, but a lot of them. I think with the references to the earth and air that it was a form of elemental magic. Combining these and other unmentioned elements in certain ways could probably accomplish almost anything. They could use magic for all purposes and for some reason it was lost to them since there was a great war going on, or it was used for war or something like that.

Strange that the records from and before the Shang Dynasty do not speak of any cataclysmic event like a war of this scale. So it would have either had to have been unrecorded, or the records were destroyed... or magic was used in some manner to make people forget. Anyway that is second to the final part of this passage. It says that man will be destroyed unless our savior can prove himself and help to reawaken the old powers. That would mean magic." Ranma looked at the doctor like he would a two year old.

"So in other words this is a religious book, and it is talking about that Jesus guy that all those missionaries keep talking about, or Buddha, or what?"

"No Ranma, look at how he is spoken of in the passage. He will be a normal man, and he will be a warrior, I have never heard of Jesus or Buddha being spoken of as a warrior. No Ranma if this is true then he would be our only chance of redemption. I have studied this for close to all of my adult life. I studied this even before I started to study medicine. And I have been seeing the signs in history and in current events that make me think he may be walking among us. Things like the crusades and the mass population relocation to North America and even the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima are spoken of in this book...and...it speaks of the first re-awakenings of magic being shown in the form of water. I happen to know some people who have encountered magic in the form of water." He looked at Ranma pointedly. Ranma had nothing to say, Tofu had succeeded in freaking him out.

"Of course...I could be wrong." Tofu laughed as he set the book down. Ranma sweat dropped.

"Man, doctor...don't do that to me! I thought you were serious!"

"Oh I'm serious all right, I just don't know how accurate I am. It has been a long time since I studied this tome...I have been...distracted." He blushed.

"Ow! What the heck happened to me?" Pivoting on his heels, Ranma saw Akane sitting up straight on the table rubbing her eyes.

"I feel like I just ran a twenty mile sprint ... Ranma ... Doctor... why are you looking at me like that? What?" Akane, starting to get angry, hopped off the table and started to walk towards the two; she was not in the mood for games. "Why are you two staring at me?!" She stopped when Ranma pointed behind her, to Nabiki. Turning around, she glanced at Nabiki then glanced back. Then she whipped her head back around and ran to Nabiki's side.

"Oh doctor you did it! She's all better now, you really are a miracle worker!" Akane stroked the back of her hand down Nabiki's hair. Smiling gratefully.

"Akane ... I ... I didn't do anything." Turning, Akane eyed the doctor like a mother would a child she suspected of having a fever.

"Doctor ... of course you did, who else could do this ... " She trailed off taking notice of the serious look in his eyes. The room seemed to grow a little colder as he spoke.

"You could Akane ... you." Tofu said quietly. The wind in the now early night howled outside.

"You must be ... joking. I could never do this, I don't have your gift doctor... " Turning her gaze to Ranma for support she saw something she hadn't even seen in his eyes before, doubt. Terror seized her heart.

"What do you mean I did it?! I can't even put a Band-Aid on some one without messing it up, how could I heal her?"

"Akane ... how do you feel right now?" The doctor asked as he made his way across the room to close the door and then over to the little corner where the tea was kept, and poured himself a cup. The warmth of the tea through the cup helped to keep him under control. He then placed the cup on the counter and lifted himself up with his hands to sit on the smooth cold counter top, and started to sip from the cup as Akane collected her thoughts.

"I feel ... I feel tired, but refreshed and sort of tingly all over, and for some reason I think I smell lilac and grass clippings. But I feel fine, what does this have to do with anything doctor? Are you playing games with me? Now is not the time doctor."

"Ranma." The doctor directed his attention to him. "Tell her what you saw." He gulped and nodded. Staring at the ground, Ranma started.

"You, well you ... geez ... I dunno how to describe it...you called the wind I guess, and started to glow yellow. Then you danced around the room screaming in a weird language as the wind whipped around the room, then you took all of the glow from your body and put your hands on Nabiki's head, and the glow went into her. Then you screamed again, and the wind left and you fainted. When I stood up after I caught you, I noticed that Nabiki was all better. Doctor Tofu had nothing to do with it." Akane looked around the room. It was in perfect order, as the doctor always kept it.

"If there was wind howling around in this room, why isn't this place a mess, you are not making sense." She demanded.

"Magic." The doctor said without looking up from his tea. "You called magic to aid you in what in your mind was a serious need. You called it and it came and obeyed you...you used it on instinct." Akane looked beyond incredulous.

"But... but Doctor... there's no such thing as magic." She stated simply. Like she was telling a child the world was round.

"Isn't there?" The doctor asked as he nodded his head to Ranma. Ranma looked pale.

Akane was not in the mood to be played with. "Ranma ... Doctor Tofu, stop playing games with me. I know that Ranma has some kind of magical curse. But that's different, he got that in China in a magically cursed place. I don't have magic. It's not possible." With that she turned her back to them and went to tend to her sister.

Ranma and Tofu exchanged a knowing glance. Then Ranma walked silently towards the door. When it shut, Tofu spoke from where he was sitting.

"Akane, tell me about your mother, tell me about your childhood. Tell me about your sisters. Why are you the only one who studies the art?" He sat and sipped his tea and waited.

Akane stood stiffly for a minute then slumped her shoulders a little and walked over to the bench by the window and leaned against the window sill as she gazed on the peaceful night sky. Even from where she was she could feel the cold emanating from the window. She shivered. Then in a shaky voice she started to tell him what he wanted to know.

Ranma slid the door shut and stood with his hand behind his back still on the handle observing the room. It was a mess but it could be worse he guessed. Ryouga was sitting on the couch with his elbows resting on his knees and his head pressed into his hands. Probably crying. Kasumi was arranging things in the doorway, sweeping up some stuff, and doing her usual thing. Soun was sprawled on the other end of the couch with One leg up over the back of the couch, one hanging off the arm of the couch and his head lolling almost to the floor. He was out cold.

Ranma was about to head over to Kasumi and see if she wanted a hand. She never did, but she smiled so pretty when he asked. But before he could move, a young girl stepped into the room from one of the other back rooms. She had a cloth pressed to her forehead and she looked kind of woozy. She also looked kind of...familiar? Ranma decided to go introduce himself.

Midori wished she drank. Because if she drank then she would be able to compare this headache to that of a hangover, and say this was worse.

Her bleary eyes focused on the coffee table and the tea there, and she stumbled over to it. 'Man. Whatever the doctor gave me to help relax me sure left a zinger of a headache. But I hafta admit I do feel better.' She knew she had finally reached the low coffee table when her shins told her so. She winced slightly as she bent over to pour herself a cup. Idly she thought bitterly, 'A real gentleman would pour a cup for a lady' as she spied Ryouga slumped over on the couch...' Before she could complete her thought though, she saw held in front of her outstretched hands a steaming cup of tea.

Looking up, her heart stopped. There in front of her eyes, with a nice smile on and holding out a cup of tea for her was, Ranma! Maybe the gods did hear prayers.

"Hello miss... what did you say your name was? I have the feeling we have met someplace before...?" Ranma trailed off embarrassed. He wished she would at least take the cup of tea, it was hot.

Midori took the tea reverently. She wondered if she should drink it, or save it? After all He had given it to her. Ranma smiled and waited for her to answer his question. Snapping out of it enough to speak, she answered shyly. "M-Midori, my names Midori. I-I sit behind you in first period."

Ranma snapped his fingers. 'Oh yeah that's right! She's the girl that gave me my backpack back I think.' Ranma smiled and said, "Well nice meeting you. I hope you have a nice night." And started to turn away.

'Wait, wait, wait!' Her mind screamed. Now that she had his attention she wasn't about to let him away that easily. Feigning weakness she moaned and stumbled a little. It had the desired effect, he appeared on her side and grasped her arm in support.

"Here let me help you to the couch, are you okay?" Ranma sounded genuinely concerned. He seated her and made to remove his hands from her arm, but she deftly grasped his hand and pulled him down beside her.

"Tell me what you're doing here, do you come here often? Do you know Dr. Tofu? Where's Akane at?" Midori had all kinds of questions. Ranma was starting to feel trapped. He patiently answered her questions while he scanned the room for an excuse to get up. He didn't see anyone except Kasumi. Desperately he tried to make eye contact with her. He didn't even know if Kasumi would be able to understand what he wanted, but he could try.

As if on cue Kasumi's eyes came up and locked on his. Pleadingly, Ranma looked at Midori who was chattering away then back at her and mouthed, '_help_.' Smiling, Kasumi nodded ever so slightly and returned to what she was doing. Ranma was crest-fallen. He was stuck here. Kasumi hadn't gotten it. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought he did.

"Midori isn't it? I've seen you at the market before right?" Astonished, Ranma looked up and saw Kasumi standing there, wiping her hands on her ever present apron. Her attention was focused on Midori. Midori had to break stride to answer Kasumi. When she did so, Ranma made his break.

"I, uh, think Dr. Tofu just called me...I, uh better go look."

"You owe me one," Kasumi whispered as he passed her. Incredulous, Ranma glanced back at Kasumi but she was deep in conversation with Midori. Talking about the best place to buy material and buttons and that kind of stuff.

'There's more to Kasumi than most people realize.' Ranma thought to himself as he smiled as he made his way back to Akane and safety. He knocked once on the door and waited.

A muffled, "come in," came from behind the door and he cautiously opened it. Akane and Tofu were much as he had left them. She was sitting by the window with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, cradling an untouched cup of tea in her hands, it was still steaming slightly but by the look of it was almost cold. She was leaning back in her chair and talking almost in a monotone. Tofu was sitting on the counter top sipping tea as well, his looked fresh and just poured. There were tears streaming down Akane's face.

"So when I went to see mom that day... I, uh she called me over to her bed... then she asked me to do her a favor... to make her a promise. She told me that all of her little girls had special gifts, and that mine was strength. She said ... she said that she wanted me to always watch over my sisters and daddy, since she wouldn't be able to anymore... " Akane took a deep breath and sniffed. Gulping back an obvious lump in her throat she went on.

"Then she held me in her arms and sang me a lullaby, then she set me down and told me to go get daddy. Then ... then daddy and you went in to see her, and I never saw mom again... " Hanging her head down so her chin rested on her chest, Akane wailed in her own private anguish. Ranma started to walk towards her, to do what he could to ease her pain. He understood. His mother wasn't dead, but she might as well be for all the good it did him. Dr. Tofu however held out a hand to stop him.

"Akane... ?" the doctor asked. "Akane, if you could have healed your mother on that day, would you have?"

"Heal mom? Heal mom!? Y-yes of course I would have! But I was just a little girl. I would have done anything I could to have helped her." Akane clenched her right hand into a shaking fist. "Anything." As Ranma and the doctor watched, the irises in Akane's eyes started to glow a faint white. As soon as it had started, it stopped and she turned a tear stained face to the doctor and said, "but what's done is done. All I can do now is keep my promise."

"Indeed you can Akane." Signaling Ranma with a slight nod of his chin, the doctor bade him to her. Ranma went and stood in front of her and offered her a hand. Smiling up into his eyes, she tentatively took it and allowed herself to be helped to her feet. Ranma offered her his strength and she took it. Again he felt that odd sensation of being drained as he held her and walked her out into the anteroom.

Kasumi and Midori were still deep in conversation, and Soun was still sprawled on the couch... Ryouga was nowhere to be seen though.

'Uh oh.' Ranma thought as he laid Akane on the couch. 'Better go find bacon boy before he does something stupid.' Before he could do anything, Tofu caught Ranma's eye from across the room and sighing went back to see the doctor. This was turning out to be one hell of a night.

"You saw it too, right Ranma?" The doctor asked as he sipped his tea.

"What, you mean her eyes glowing? Yeah I saw it." Ranma looked awfully uncomfortable talking about Akane's eyes glowing. "So why did her eyes glow? And how did she do that to Nabiki?" Ranma asked.

"What you have seen tonight Ranma must not leave this place. There are forces in this world that would not be happy at all to have one with magic back in their realm. What you have seen tonight was a sorceress' promise being fulfilled. Akane has the inborn ability to sense the source of magic that infuses the world. But more importantly she has learned, without teaching of any kind, how to focus that energy to do what she wants. She did this by instinct invoking one of the oldest legends from ancient times. The promises of the good forces of magic were always kept... even from beyond the grave."

"She did what now? Doctor it's late, talk to me like I'm two." Ranma grated. He was getting kind of sick of this.

"She made a promise to her mother on her deathbed to watch over her family. Tonight she felt so anguished not because Nabiki was injured, she could see with her own eyes that Nabiki was fine. She was in torment because she had not been able to keep her promise. In order to set it right she has done something that I do not think has been done on this earth for centuries. She has called magic to serve her needs, to help her keep her promise."

"Okaaaay. So what you're saying is Akane can use magic to heal people right?"

"No Ranma, right now Akane has no idea how to use the power inside her. She still doesn't even believe that she did it. The only reason she was able to do so was because she made a sincere promise with the spirit of a sorceress and her magic demanded she keep it. But I think ..." Tofu said in a hushed voice. "Maybe... it might be possible for her with time and effort, for her to come to command her magic... " Tofu trailed off in awe.

"Okay who hit me with a bus?" Nabiki's voice demanded. Swiveling their heads in her direction, the two men saw Nabiki sitting up straight and looking around the room. Tofu silently signaled Ranma with a small shake of his head not to tell her. Ranma nodded.

"How did I... what happened to me doctor? How did I get better so fast?" Nabiki asked incredulously.

"Magic." The doctor smiled. Ranma shot him a disbelieving look. What was he doing?!

"Well okay doctor, whatever voodoo you do, keep on doing it. If you wanna call it magic that's fine. Am I okay now? Can I leave?" Nabiki asked in her no-nonsense business voice. She was back to her old self again. The doctor nodded.

With a grin, Nabiki hopped off the table and quickly made her way out the door. As she left, Ranma looked at Tofu askance, raising his eyebrows in question.

"She is not ready to hear it yet." Was all the doctor said. Hopping down from the counter top, he returned his cup to the tea corner and started arranging odds and ends around the room. "I have some things to wrap up now Ranma, so why don't you start getting everyone ready to go home and I will join you in a minute. We can talk more about this later." Tofu shooed him out of the room, and Ranma found himself once again in the anteroom.

Ryouga was still nowhere to be seen. Kasumi was still talking to Midori, Soun was still out cold and Akane was sitting up and joining in the conversation like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As Ranma's gaze swept the room, he caught the brief flash of cloth exiting the front door. It was the same color as the jacket Nabiki had on. Casually, he followed her to the door.

Ryouga was sitting atop one of the concrete pillars of the wall around Dr. Tofu's clinic. He was looking off into space and had his hands folded peacefully in his lap. Nabiki was making her way over to him. 'Ryouga may be a screw ball, but he would never hurt a girl.' Ranma thought so he ducked back inside.

Nabiki didn't know what to say. She had always been very self sufficient, ever since mom had died. She had never needed to be bailed out of any situation. It had been her own damn fault for being stupid enough to go to a meeting in that neighborhood and alone for that matter. She had quite a number of security personnel in her employment. But she had foolishly assumed that just this once it would be all right.

According to the doctor, Ryouga had saved her. As a business woman she owed him a debt of gratitude. As a person she owed him her life. Finally her hesitant footsteps placed her behind him. He spoke before she could.

"Hello there. All better I see. Good. I'm happy for you." He sounded about as empty and forlorn as anyone she had even collected a debt with high interest from. But she didn't let that faze her, she had obligations to meet.

"I owe you one. Big time. You ever need a favor and you come to me all right." She waited for a response.

"A favor? A favor huh? Okay make me into a person that Akane will notice. Make me better than Ranma." Ryouga answered after a long pause. He still had not turned to look at her. Nabiki was getting irritated.

"Well within reason. I have no control over Akane. But I am sure I could fix you up with a date with her..." She trailed off as he looked over his shoulder ... tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"A mercy date? No thanks. I would rather die. She doesn't love me, she never will." He seemed to forget that Nabiki was standing there. Turning back to face whatever he had been looking at he started to mutter ... "the world ... is a dark and lonely place ... lonely ... lonely ... beyond care ..." as he spoke he started to shimmer a faint blue, the edges of which were turning black. Nabiki recognized a battle aura when she saw it. Stooping down she picked up a mid-sized rock and chucked it at Ryouga's back.

"Hey! Don't you go blowing up anything when I'm standing here, I just got better!" Nabiki huffed as Ryouga looked back at her incredulously.

"What was I ... did you ... huh..?" He looked at her again and seemed to snap out of something. "Oh, heh, sorry 'bout that." Before he could say anything else though, Dr. Tofu's voice shattered the relative peace of the moment.

"Ryouga can you come in here for a minute?" He shrugged and nodded to Nabiki then hopped off the wall and walked into the clinic.

'What an odd person.' Nabiki thought as she followed him inside. Midori was standing by the door with her backpack on and was studying her shoes sheepishly. Tofu was in the process of asking Ryouga to escort her home seeing as it was after dark and she didn't feel safe walking home alone in the dark. Ryouga nodded dispassionately. He didn't care about anything anymore tonight.

As they set off down the street with Midori in the lead, Ryouga brought out an inky black traveling cloak and donned it. The cloak gave him the appearance of a phantom shadow heeling it's master. Although seemingly without hope, he still had the presence of mind to keep an eye on his surrounding as he escorted his charge home. Where he went after that ... he didn't care. Nabiki watched him go until he was out of sight. Before she went back inside she noticed storm clouds were starting to roll in. They would soon blot out the moon. The musky night air had the tangy scent that one can smell right before it rains. 'We'd better move it.' She thought as she hurried inside to grab her two sisters and her goofy daddy.

Ranma was standing off in a corner talking in low tones with the doctor. The doctor was pointedly **not** looking in Kasumi's direction. Nodding his head slightly the doctor submitted to Ranma tying a blind fold over his eyes. Ranma looked rather self satisfied. Akane and Kasumi were getting their shoes on and were also talking quietly. It was as if an intangible signal had forbade raucous activity and everyone was unconsciously obeying it.

As Nabiki went to get the rest of her stuff, she watched Ranma shut off all the lights then stoop down and pick up her daddy. She noticed Tofu's blindfold and chuckled.

'Clever, very clever young Ranma, you're learning.' A blindfold was probably the only way to keep Tofu from losing control. Now if they could keep Kasumi from talking to him they should be all right.

Akane and Kasumi headed out the door and beckoned her follow; Nabiki hurried to catch up. Kasumi glanced back and commented to Akane how silly the doctor was. Akane rolled her eyes. Ranma took to the high ground as soon as he cleared the door. He didn't even seem to be slowed by his burden. But Nabiki noticed that Akane and Ranma kept shooting each other reassuring glances as they walked.

Tofu brought up the rear. Trailing them with his sense of hearing. They reached the Tendou residence in what seemed like no time at all. Nabiki dropped all her stuff at the doorway and tromped upstairs. She felt unusually tired for this time of night. Somewhere in the city a dog barked then howled, soon others took up the cacophony.

Akane headed to her room, she was so tired and confused she didn't want to think anymore. Ranma took Mr. Tendou upstairs and put him in his room. Tofu followed him. Kasumi watched him from the landing. She was very impressed that Ranma could carry such a heavy burden all this way and not even appear tired. When Tofu was inside her fathers room, she followed up the stairs and went to her room.

Ranma made the rounds of the house as he did every night. He always made sure that everything was locked up at night before he went to bed. He had already invited Tofu to stay over for the night, so they could talk in the morning, and also because he had a nagging sensation of danger in the back of his mind, and having the doctor around seemed like a prudent idea.

With the house dark and the sounds of people settling into their beds winding down, Ranma made his way to the upstairs hallway. Silent as death itself, he opened everyone's door to check on them. Tofu looked up when Ranma looked in and smiled. Soun was still out cold ... whatever the doctor had done to him, he had done well.

Nabiki was also out cold. When he poked his head into Kasumi's room he stared at her in her bed for a minute, thinking her asleep. As he closed the door, he heard her whisper, "Goodnight Ranma, guard us well... " Ranma again reminded himself that there was definitely more to Kasumi than she let on. Blushing at her praise, he silently closed the door.

Last on his list to check on was Akane. Tip toeing to her Door, he stepped into the room and watched her in the moonlight. Her soft hair framed her face perfectly, and her lips gleamed with the sweet nectar of her breath. She was ... perfect. Creeping closer to her bed, he knelt down beside her and just listened to her breathing as he stared out the window. A lot had happened today. But he found that his feelings for her remained unchanged. Sighing in resignation, Ranma started to stand and head off to his room, and his stinky old snoring pop. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Ranma... I'm scared... " Akane whispered. She watched him with those beautiful eyes of hers. Eyes full of hope and trust, and at the moment a tinge of fear.

"So am I." Ranma whispered back." It'll be all right though Akane, you'll see." He made to finish standing, but her hand stayed firm. "Do me a favor?" She asked in a voice barely audible. Ranma nodded. "Sleep with me tonight?" She asked while biting her lower lip.

Ranma's world froze. Sleep with Akane? Sleep with her? Was she nuts?! All it would take would be one person to discover them and he would be her legal husband within the hour. But... was that such a bad thing? He liked her didn't he? But... were they ready for this? To go from innocent kissing to... this? Ranma searched deep into her eyes in question.

"Akane are you sure? Once we do this, we can't take it back you know." Akane blushed beet red.

"Not that! you goober. I meant actually just sleeping with me. It's cold and I'm scared and lonely. And P-Chan's missing again."

Ranma sighed with relief, and regret. But he now felt a little better. Nodding his assent, he started for the floor. "Not down there silly, in here... with me." She whispered sleepily holding open a corner of her heavy down comforter. Ranma gulped and nodded. He started towards the bed but froze when she spoke again.

"Wait, lock the door first... " Nodding again, he quickly went to the door and shut and locked it. Then he tiptoed back to the foot of the bed, and crawled next to Akane.

"You sure 'bout this Akane? You want me to change into a girl or sumthin?" Akane rolled over and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Why Ranma? Can't I trust you?" She teased him. Ranma blushed and nodded his head.

"S-Sure you can." Nodding her approval, she turned her back to him again. 'I'm just not so sure I can trust myself' Ranma thought. Ranma lay on his back, side by side with Akane, with as much distance as he could create between them. Lying on top of the covers he stared at the ceiling and realized his heart was racing. He doubted he would sleep tonight. Akane smelled like ... well a girl. Perfume and soap and all kinds of other smells he associated with women were coming from her and her room. Her bed was also much softer than he was accustomed too. He was used to a simple futon on the floor. 'This is gonna be a looooong night' Ranma lamented. He shook slightly from the cold, and thought about getting up and getting a blanket from the closest in the hall.

"Hey, silly... get under the covers before you freeze to death." Akane's voice scolded him without looking at him. Gulping again, Ranma gently rolled onto his side and lifted up a corner of the sheets and comforter. The warmth emanating from the interior was very appealing.

Scooting a little bit closer to her so he could cover them both with the covers, Ranma lay very still on his side. The inside was deliciously warm. Ranma had never shared a bed with anyone. Especially a beautiful girl.

Ranma gasped as Akane finally got tired of waiting for him to make a move and scooted back into his body. With deft pulls of her hands she scooped his right arm under her neck and his left over her waist and made them clasp her in a hug. She wiggled her bottom closer to him and in doing so caused her pajama top to rise a little. The smoothness and warmth of bare mid-drift skin almost made Ranma faint from sheer sensory overload. Sighing contentedly Akane lay her head back down and seemed to go to sleep.

'At least she has pajamas on.' Ranma thought. 'If she didn't my nose would be bleeding all over the place right now.' With a resigned sigh Ranma nestled his chin in the crook of Akane's neck. They now lay together like two spoons in a drawer. The pleasant scent and feel of this beautiful person as her rhythmed breathing filled the still night air, finally lulled Ranma to sleep. His last thought was, 'Gee this isn't so bad after all... '

On a rooftop about two miles away a shadowed figure garbed in the blackest of black watched the Tendou residence through a pair of high powered binoculars. Glancing at his wrist watch, he noted the time then keyed a short sequence into a data pad on his opposite wrist. A short thin wire extended from a headset he was wearing, it beeped a go-ahead signal. He spoke into it softly. It was powerful enough to pick up the tiniest of whispers.

"I have the targets in sight. Proceed?"

"No. Wait for re-enforcements. They should be there a little before dawn."

"Acknowledged. Over." The transmitter hissed off with a snap. The man smiled an evil grin. Soon he would be able to take revenge for his fallen comrades.


	7. Morning Mayhem

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (11/21/1999)  
Last modified (6/17/2000)

Chapter 7, "Morning Mayhem"

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**FF Net Notes:**

You get two chapters today, because I am just awesome like that. (smiley)

I am continuing my experiment with formatting some of these chapters with extra touches of text decoration (bold, italic and whatnot). Let me know if it helps or not, or if you don't care about it. I did some minor editing for this chapter like I did for last chapter, re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of spelling issues that slipped through the filters years ago. Sorry about those problems if you have read the chapter before.

Anyway, feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (generally . ). I have started writing the epilogue to this series, and I will be re-writing (partially) the final chapter, when I get to it in the formatting process.

Oh, and before I forget, this chapter is probably the most lime-flavored chapter I wrote for the series, I think. It isn't a lemon, but is a certainly not G or PG rated either. Those of you whom are easily offended, or who do not like touchy feely stuff, should probably not read at least the first 1/3 of this chapter. Caveat Emptor, dudes.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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Pre-dawn in Nerima Japan. The air was crisp with life and the promise of adventure. The birds were starting to chirp and sing their praises to the world. As the sun climbed the horizon it brought with it the wind. The wind carried the scent of the world's sunrises, each more spectacular than the one before. The wind carried the scent of dust and pollen, of perfume wafting from an open window and the smell of rain on pavement. As the sunlight drifted over the canvas that was the Earth, it lanced across the landscape and illuminated a window. Akane Tendou's window. 

Akane had a very comfortable bed. The western style mattress was padded with feather down, and her blankets were soft and warm thanks to Kasumi. As she lay asleep her body luxuriated in the feeling of floating in a warm sea of oblivion. The very essence of relaxation permeated her.

As she slept she dreamt. Akane was not especially known for her light sleeping habits. Quite the opposite actually. She was famous for tossing and turning in her sleep, at least she was famous in her household. As Akane turned in her sleep, her normal nocturnal acrobatics met with an unfamiliar shape in her bed which was impeding her way.

In her dreams, a wall appeared. An obstacle. Akane hated obstacles. Instinct told her to destroy the obstacle, and she agreed. She threw a punch at it.

Ranma was warm! He couldn't remember the last time he had been so warm! Ranma hated being cold. Ever since the "incident", he had made every possible effort to stay dry and warm. His body was also comfortable! He couldn't remember the last time he had been so comfortable.

The pleasure was running so deep, that Ranma's normal ingrained response to someone touching him whilst he slept was overridden. It was not worth it to break with the pleasurable sensations he was receiving in this warm place, just to do battle once again. If it was the old man he could always kick him around later.

In Ranma's dreams he was walking along a river bank with his mother and the old man. The sun was shining and the firm grass was slightly moist under his feet. The occasional wispy tendril tickled his legs. He was on vacation with his mommy and daddy. Oh how he loved his mommy. The old man was a different story. But when you are six years old you still have a healthy respect for your daddy as well. Even if you don't like him all that much.

Suddenly the old man turned with an insane gleam in his eye and a maniacal laugh on his lips and threw a punch at Ranma! Desperately, Ranma looked to his mother for help. She looked back with that, 'make me proud of your manliness' look, that made his tummy feel funny. Ranma sighed and moved his incredibly agile six year old's body to dodge his fathers punch. Ranma squirmed out of the way with centimeters to spare.

Akane's dream wall shattered, but behind it stood a sinister looking man swathed in black. He was tall and wore a traveling cloak askew over his left shoulder, clasped at his throat with a symbol of a silver dagger. The cloak did not stir, though the wind was brisk. He smelt of dried tree bark and looked to live a rough life, his muscular build and callused hands suggested he was adept in the fighting arts. His hair was disheveled and his knee-high boots were muddy. He was smiling, but the smile made her nervous. The momentum of her punch carried her towards him and for some reason she couldn't stop. Then the man grabbed her arm and flipped her over his back in a judo throw, and put her in a strangle hold.

Akane's punch missed Ranma's head in the bed by mere centimeters. With the momentum she had placed into it as she rolled around on the bed, resulted with her laying almost on top of Ranma now. Ranma responded by grabbing the offending arm that now lay across him and rolled her over, then under him into a strangle hold.

Ranma was shocked. He was much stronger than the old man for some reason today! He had dodged the punch and now had him on the ground in a strangle hold. Maybe all those vitamins mom kept on force feeding him really did help? Grinning, Ranma looked up into the smiling face of his mommy. She looked very proud of him.

Akane countered her assailant's attack by darting her hands behind her head to gouge her assailant's eyes. Ranma ducked under the strike, but in doing so he lost his hold on her. Ranma couldn't believe how viciously the old man was fighting today.

Akane pivoted at the waist and shot an elbow at her attacker's sternum. But Ranma caught it and used it as leverage to turn her body mass under him again, and increased the pressure by snaking his knee over the backs of her knees. He then wrapped his arms around her torso, putting her in a bear hug and pinning her arms at her sides.

Akane squirmed with all her tremendous might and managed to twist into her attacker's arms so she was facing him. Suddenly Akane's dream shifted. She was sitting in a diner with Nabiki and slurping a fizzy strawberry soda through a straw. It was delicious! In the bed Akane started to suck on Ranma's earlobe.

Ranma's dream couldn't handle Genma sucking on his earlobe so his dream shifted to a faceless girl kissing his ear. Ranma sighed in appreciation, and encircled the girl's waist and hugged her close to him.

A light was blinding Ranma. Even with his eyes closed it dug into his eyelids and burned uncomfortably. Slowly Ranma started to come back to consciousness. His day started off with the unwelcome caress of a sunbeam darting past Akane's window blinds to settle on his face. Of course, Akane! As awareness started to flood his senses, a very important fact struck him. There was something warm and cuddly in his arms, and something was sucking on his ear!

Realization struck Ranma, and his eyes snapped fully open. Akane's hair was partially in his face. He had his legs entwined with hers and his arms were hugging her close about the waist. He had enfolded her like any lover would, and it felt ... right. It was Akane who was sucking on his ear.

'Oh man, oh man, oh man, I am in trouble!' Gently Ranma pulled his head back and thankfully she stopped. He was about to take his arms off her when she rolled over towards him, decreasing his leverage and increasing hers with her weight on his arm and chest.

'Oh great. I can just see the headlines. "Local Boy Found Dead. Body Discovered in Violent fiancée's Room Beaten to Death with His Own Dismembered arms" She's gonna kill me if she wakes up with me in her bed! I gotta think of something!'

Ranma lay there for awhile, trying to figure out what to do. Unfortunately he was a boy, and she was very much a girl in his eyes at the moment, at least as far as his hormones were concerned. It was kind of hard to ignore the soft flesh of a young girl pressing against you when you are a sixteen year old guy. She was affecting him in ways he was not prepared to deal with. His breath shortened to shallow gasps. His nerves were tingling and he felt dizzy.

You never really appreciate how wonderfully different girls are from boys until you hold one in your arms. She was much lighter than him, so thankfully his right arm which was under her waist wasn't going numb. Her hair was light and wispy and was tickling his face. Granted he couldn't see much with a face full of hair, but that was the price one paid to hold a beautiful girl in one's arms. His other arm was draped loosely over her waist and his hand was resting on her firm belly.

He couldn't help himself. Ranma very very slowly started to rub her abdomen in concentric circles. This was without a doubt, hands down, the most erotic thing Ranma had ever done, and he was enjoying it immensely. The tiny hairs on Akane's abdomen tickled, so Ranma regretfully stopped. If they were tickling him he had no doubt they were tickling her, and he wasn't really eager to get on with the beating he knew he had coming today, as soon as she woke up.

Sighing, Ranma crooked his chin over her neck and, interlacing his fingers, hugged her tightly. If he was going to die today, at least he could get to claim he had hugged her first.

"Having fun?" Akane whispered softly with her eyes still closed. Ranma of course froze. Fear and resignation raced through him as he braced for impact. Wincing his eyes closed, Ranma waited but nothing came and Akane didn't move.

"Um ... not that I'm complaining or nuthin Akane, but ... aren't you gonna cream me now? I mean, you don't have to, but I, I mean you, I mean ..." Ranma couldn't believe how stupid he sounded. So he shut up.

Akane laughed a small laugh. "Why would I hit you?" She lilted in a merry tone of voice, her eyes still closed.

"Um, because I'm in your bed for one. And 'cause I'm touching you ... and because well, you always, I mean ..." This was not going the way Ranma was used to, maybe last night with Nabiki fried her brain or something.

"I invited you in here, why would I hit you for doing what I asked you to do?" Akane asked as she rolled over so she was face to face with Ranma. "Besides I kinda liked it when you rubbed my tummy, it felt ... nice. No one has ever touched me like that before, ever." Akane blushed and shifted her gaze to Ranma's chin. She couldn't believe how giddy she was acting.

Ranma's senses had not had nearly enough. More More More they cried. If he didn't get up **now** he was going to start something they might both regret later. He started to lift himself out of the bed, but Akane held onto his arms.

"Um, Akane, you're ... I gotta, I gotta go..."

"Not yet you don't." Akane breathed sensuously as she pulled Ranma down on top of her and started to kiss him eagerly. Ranma mentally shrugged and kissed her back greedily. He cupped the back of her neck in his right hand and propped himself up off of her with that elbow, and encircled her lower waist with his left arm. She tasted exactly as he remembered, but this time she was much more aggressive in her kissing technique. She drank his attentions in like she was sampling the finest nectar of the gods and it might end soon. There were no small kisses, no sucking on his lips. No fooling around. This was serious stuff.

It was like she was trying to devour him through his mouth. Ranma returned her passions with equal abandon and they lay like that for what seemed like ages. Regretfully, Ranma tried to break the kiss, and tried to just stare into her beautiful eyes as he held her pajama clothed, very warm and now slightly sweaty body under him. Akane wasn't having any of that. With a primal growl she threw him under her and resumed ravishing him with kisses.

Sighing Ranma lay back down and rolled her so he lay beside her and closed his eyes as he cradled her in the "spoons" position, the front of his knees pressed against the backs of hers, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, their forms fitting together perfectly, this was fun for Ranma, but he did it mostly to get her to stop momentarily. Akane giggled and yanked the covers back over them. Ranma resigned himself to lay with Akane as long as she wanted, and damn the consequences. If Soun walked in and demanded he marry her ... then so be it.

Kasumi lay awake in her bed listening to the antics of her younger sister through the heating vent, and smiled to herself. 'It took him long enough.' She mused. Ranma had been dancing around any issues of affection ever since he had walked through the door all that time ago. And a merry dancer he was. Kasumi had almost been to the point of clubbing him over the head and inducing amnesia ... Akane desperately needed someone to love, and to return that love. Sure Akane had her sisters and her daddy. But that wasn't the kind of attention she needed. And she definitely didn't need the attentions of any of those knuckle heads at the high school throwing themselves at her, what had gotten into those young men's minds anyway? Akane had not been the same happy self-assured girl since mom died. Now, Kasumi hoped, with Ranma's help they could turn that around.

Ranma was slowly, ever so painfully slowly, bringing Akane out of her shell and breaking down her emotional walls. Ranma was quite possibly the only person alive in the world who could shrug off Akane's emotional and physical shield of abuse and come back for more with an open heart and understanding. Kasumi smiled and sat up in bed. At least from the sound of things Ranma was still being the gentleman, despite Akane's invitations, for now.

Bare foot, Kasumi padded across the soft carpeting of her small but functional room to her dresser and slid the top drawer open soundlessly. She pulled a thin bathrobe out and wrapped it around her pajama clad, supple young body, and headed to the bathroom. It wouldn't do to have the doctor see her partially unclothed, he might die from the nosebleed.

The bathroom was silent in harmony with the house, as it was every morning when Kasumi took her quiet time in her bath. She could hear her own breathing echoing off the tile walls. Luxuriating in her morning rituals, Kasumi took her time washing her body, lathering herself up and rinsing the foamy cream away in rivulets down her legs in gentle tickling streams with the faucet head. The bath was finished filling when she was done, and Kasumi gratefully lowered herself centimeter by centimeter into the steaming crystal clear water. Truly this was one of life's greatest pleasures.

Akane twisted in Ranma's arms under the covers and resumed kissing him. She kissed his nose, his eyelids, his cheeks, she brushed his lips with wet kisses, she trailed her kisses up and down the sides of his neck and gently sucked on the hollow of his throat.

Ranma's arms were strained so tight the muscles felt like knotted cords of rope. He was gripping the bed sheets and biting down on his lower lip trying not to cry out or respond to Akane. It wasn't working very well.

If Ranma didn't get away **now** his last vestiges of control were gonna abandon ship. Desperately Ranma threw the bed covers off and waited for Akane to pause. Grinning despite himself, Ranma kissed Akane's nose with a quick peck and leapt off her bed in a forward somersault.

"See ya downstairs." Was all he said as he made his exit post haste. Akane sighed mightily and lay down on her bed arms and legs akimbo and grinned the triumphant smile of she whom hast won the battle.

'Okay, that was nice.' She sighed.

Ranma hopped, skipped, and jumped downstairs, he even turned a quick cartwheel at the foot of the stairs. He headed to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of tea and hopefully calm down. Man, but now he was wired!

Ranma almost ran by the kitchen and had to lurch to a halt; throwing his weight in reverse and back-peddling to clear the entry way. Ducking under the curtains, Ranma entered his morning quiet place. Glancing out the window, he estimated he had about five minutes.

Moving to the cupboards, he got out all the fixings for instant tea. A kettle and the box of tea bags. Simple described Ranma perfectly today. The kitchen tile was cold this morning, but Ranma was too hyped up to be bothered by that. The sun streaming in through the kitchen window glanced off the highly polished counter tops and made all the cookware gleam with almost animated light. Not mindful of the peaceful tranquility for once, Ranma whistled while he worked. He was not in the self meditating, reflective mood today.

As the kettle started to perk, the steam tickled his nostrils with it's warm clean smell. Of course the kitchen always smelt clean, this was Kasumi's favorite place we were talking about.

Ranma got out a tea cup and placed one of the bags of tea in it. The steaming water poured over it started to seep through the tea and gradually the water started to turn green. Ranma placed the cup on the table and sat in one of the chairs turned around backwards and waited. A couple minutes later Kasumi entered the kitchen. She did not make entrances, she did not make a spectacle of herself, but her presence always drew notice anyway, such was the power of Kasumi.

Kasumi smiled at Ranma as she passed him to get her morning cup of tea. Ranma smiled behind his cup rim as he sipped and waggled his eyebrows in greeting. Kasumi giggled quietly at his silliness.

With careful deliberate motions, Kasumi arranged her tea. She added a splash of fresh squeezed lemon juice from the lemon wedge she was using and a dash of honey to her tea. Not the traditional method of drinking tea, but she happened to like it this way, and tradition be damned.

The lemon scent carried all the way over to Ranma and only served to heighten Ranma's already rapid fire synapses today. As soon as Kasumi sat down she started quietly talking to Ranma. There is something about a low spoken human voice that, no matter who you are, that is very soothing and relaxing, and seeing as it was Kasumi ... well that just made it a hundred times better.

"So, how goes the war Ranma?" She asked as she sipped her tea and smirked slightly. Her elbows were propped up on the table so she didn't have to move very much to sip as she talked. "I didn't hear any screaming today. Does that mean that not only did Akane let you sleep in her room last night with her, in her bed, but she remembered about it in the morning as well? You must be quite the lover... " She smiled a bit more as she continued to sip, only Ranma could know she was kidding, because he was the only one that got up with her every morning and just talked with her. At least ... he was pretty sure she was kidding ...

He was nevertheless amazed that she could know such intimate details so quickly and was sure he was blushing. 'I swear she must have supernatural powers or something.' Ranma thought flippantly as he answered out loud. "Yeah well, you know how it is, I am considered the greatest love god around these parts. I have to live up to my name." Ranma made a respectable effort to keep a smile off his face.

"Is that so? Remind me to find out for myself sometime will you?" Ranma face faulted and started to choke on his tea. Generally Kasumi didn't play around, **this** much. Sputtering, Ranma did a verbal sidestep.

"Yeah well anyway, how is Nabiki doing? Is she all right?" Ranma said, diverting the way the conversation was going as fast as possible, but also out of genuine concern.

Kasumi, grinning on the inside, tallied another notch on her mental, verbal sparring score board. She had made Ranma back down today so she got double points. Usually he would just plod on and wouldn't even realize he was losing the game. She still had so much to teach him, if he ever expected to live with any woman in peace, he had to learn how to chat.

"Nabiki is doing fine, and sleeping like a rock, like she usually does. She is going to be quite sore today I assure you, which means she will be cranky. I would suggest you stay out of her way today." Kasumi remarked as she set her cup down and padded over to the refrigerator in her bare feet. Opening the door with a slight hissing-pop sound, she rummaged around inside looking for something.

"Roger that, no Nabiki today, got it." Ranma resumed calmly drinking his tea. It was going to be a long day, but then again, every day in his life was long, not that that was necessarily a bad thing ...

Kasumi returned to the table bearing the fixings for western style cereal. She then went to the cupboard and retrieved two white ceramic bowls, painted with cherry blossoms in their interiors. Setting the bowls down with dual clunks, she poured the cereal and then milk into the bowl, the snap and crackle of the grains as they decayed in the milk was a soft pleasant sound right then. Ranma smiled at Kasumi and started to eat his, food was always welcome as far as Ranma was concerned.

Tofu entered the kitchen with his usual professional demeanor in place. That is, until he saw Kasumi.

"Why... hello there Kasumi! What on earth are you doing here?" Tofu said to the sink.

"Why I live here doctor, would you like some breakfast?" Kasumi almost sighed aloud. When was he going to get over this _shy little boy_ routine? It was adorable, but it was also getting old. Tofu was dressed in the clothes he had on yesterday. He looked normal enough, except for the fact that his glasses were reflecting an abnormal amount of light. But in comparison with a boy who turned into a girl, it wasn't that strange.

Ranma looked up and sighed. Pushing his chair back with a noisy scrape, he walked over to the doctor and led him by the arm back to the table. Sitting the doctor down, Ranma went back to eating, there was food to be had after all. He could mess around with the goofy doctor any time.

The house looked quiet. The leader of the team assessed all the entry points and sighed. This was not going to be a walk in the park as it were. With all the possible exit and entry points, his small team couldn't possibly cover all of them. But they would do what they could.

The leader keyed his entry code into his left wrist data pad, and a short thin wire extended from a headset he was wearing, it beeped a go-ahead signal. He spoke into it softly. It was powerful enough to pick up the tiniest of whispers.

"Re-enforcements are in place. Orders?" A raspy voice answered, "eliminate as many as you have to, without killing them if you can, but make sure you get the girl or take her out! She knows too much! Out." The receiver snapped off and the mouthpiece automatically returned to it's off position.

Holding up his right hand out of the shadows the leader clenched a leather clad fist which make a slight creaking sound, then held up his other hand with all five fingers spread apart, then clenched them then opened them again. Everyone knew the hand signals, attack in ten minutes, take your places.

Kasumi gave Tofu a slightly frustrated look and got up from the table after she had finished her tea. She headed out of the kitchen without a backward glance. Ranma sighed and leaned over and slapped the doctor on the cheek harder than he needed to.

"It's okay doc, she's gone now, you can act like a normal person." Ranma droned.

"Ouch. Ranma I would appreciate it if you would refrain from slapping me in the future ... it doesn't feel very good you know."

Ranma gave the doctor a surprised look. Of course he knew, he got slapped just about every day of his life from somebody. What was Tofu whining about?

"Sorry doc." Was all he said, he then resumed eating.

The doctor rubbed his cheek for a few seconds glaring at Ranma, then shrugged and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The doctor proceeded to pull the tome of prophecy from last night out from behind his back and set it on the table in front of him. He opened the book to the passage he had shown Ranma last night, pulled out a pencil and started making notations and muttering to himself as the pages creased and crinkled under his attention.

"Now, if memory serves me, this character here means 'light', and this one following it is vaguely reminiscent of the Da Juan character set ... I think scholars call it the great seal type now. I think this was used during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. But now look here, towards the end of the passage here ... I would swear that this character here for 'redemption' is drawn in the Xiao Juan character style or the small seal type. That type was promulgated as standard by the first emperor of the Qin Li as the clerical official form in the third century b.c.e, that character type was used until the middle of the third century c.e. Now ... look here ..."

Tofu muttered as he turned the page of the tome. "The title of this section was written on the same day with the same ink and brush, if I know anything about these things, and I do; then the title was written in the Zheng standard form started in the 'three kingdoms period' - I think they called it 'jinli' during their time period of the Tang dynasty, now I think it's commonly called 'Kaishu'. But that's ... impossible. How in the world could that passage have been written on the same day by the same hand with the same ink and brush, yet span such a huge time span judging by the script style used... I don't think I ever noticed this before ... this is most odd.

Ranma pushed his chair back and started to walk for the back door. Interrupting the doctors quiet studies.

"Hey Ranma where are you going?" The doctor asked without looking up.

"Practice, wanna come with?" Ranma asked over his shoulder hopefully. It would be great to learn some of the stuff the doctor knew. Nodding, the doctor carefully closed the book and followed. Kasumi re-entered the kitchen a minute later to start breakfast. She watched the man and the young man square off in the garden through the window as she worked. She secretly held great fascination with the deadliest of the arts. She couldn't help but be impressed with some of it, even though it was rather gruesome sometimes.

A cool morning breeze played over the courtyard as Ranma made his way over to the cherry tree and leaned casually against it to watch Tofu's warm up kata. Ranma generally didn't use fighting stances. At his level of skill, a fighting stance was too much effort to use against most of the people he fought with. But he was thinking about using one as he watched Tofu warm up. As he watched, Ranma resisted the urge to scratch his shoulder where the tree was making him itch.

This was the first time Ranma had seen the doctor use anything resembling traditional martial arts. His kata wasn't a violent one, nor complicated. The doctor had nothing to prove to anyone. His steps were precise and made little soft swishing sounds in the cool firm grass as he moved, his kicks made no sound as his feet cleft the air in the patterns he was weaving accompanied by his hand motions which were sharp and deliberate. You can tell a lot about a martial artist by what kata they do and how they perform it. The doctor's kata attested to his mastery of his art in his simplicity and confidence in his movements. This... was going to be a **good** fight. Ranma grinned.

Kasumi chose the last part of the doctor's kata to enter the garden. When he was bowing the finish of his form he couldn't accidentally hurt himself or anyone else. She walked briskly over to the doctor since it was still cool outside and she wanted to get back inside soon. Kasumi offered the doctor his morning cup of tea, shivering she held the steaming cup out to him. The doctor, stuttering as usual, accepted the cup, and promptly spilled it's contents on his feet. Ranma groaned with impatience. Kasumi giggled and produced a soft well worn cloth from within the folds of her apron, and quickly wiped his feet off. Mercifully, Kasumi went back into the kitchen promising to return with more tea in a moment.

Ranma sidled up to the doctor and raised his arm to wave his hand in the doctor's face. Nothing. So Ranma raised the stakes and used his index finger to poke the doctor in the forehead. The doctor lost his balance. Coming back to his senses Tofu pinwheeled his arms frantically and cried out, then lost it and fell into the koi pond with a rather loud splash.

Ranma braced himself for impact. He hadn't meant to dunk the poor guy, just snap him out of it. That water had to be **cold**. He would know since he had made several daily trips in there himself. To his surprise the doctor just sat in the shallow water, arms and legs akimbo with water rivulets streaming down his face. Curious, Ranma watched him. As he watched the doctor just sat in the frigid water with a silly grin on his face ... then he started to laugh. It started low and infrequent, then cascaded into a full out belly laugh. It seemed the doctor thought some things were oddly funny?

Gleefully the doctor jumped out of the pond and bowed to Ranma. Ranma, confused, bowed back.

"Ya know Saotome..." The doctor said as he came to stand next to Ranma and slapped him on the back. "It's been a looooong time since someone has had the audacity to do anything like that to me. The last person who ever did anything like that to me, was my last sensei. You are truly a worthy opponent, this will be a good match."

Ranma grinned and stepped away from the wet man. Water was taboo with Ranma lately after all. Ranma sized Tofu up as he retreated to neutral ground. Tofu was good; he wasn't even shivering after a dunk in freezing water! Mentally shrugging, Ranma squared his shoulders and nodded his readiness as he held his hands low in front of him in a loose guarding stance. The doctor met his gaze and tensed his muscles, that was the only visual clue Ranma got. Then the doctor attacked.

Suddenly the doctor was behind him?! Spinning, Ranma lashed out with a medium powered foot sweep, testing the doctor. The doctor kicked out with his own foot and caught the top inside portion of Ranma's ankle with the tip of his shoe. Every nerve in that leg promptly went dead.

Cursing, Ranma jumped out of the doctor's range. 'Shoot, I forgot about that. I can't let him touch me, every touch of his won't be designed to do damage, he uses shiatsu techniques, he will simply try to render me ineffective. I will have to use defensive counter attacks against him.'

Smiling, the doctor started to walk towards Ranma. Ranma wasn't so confident any more. Cautiously, he waited. The doctor attacked in a blur; shooting finger jabs to Ranma's neck and slashing chops to his ribs. Ranma used his knees and elbows and anything else he could think of to block and parry with, and tried to get a clean shot in. Whenever he could, Ranma only used bone or non sensitive tissues to block with, dampening the doctors shiatsu. Of course blocking with your knees and elbows and palms didn't feel very good either.

Ranma took a punch to the head from behind then Tofu got him hard in the chest with a collapsing palm strike. How in the hell had the doctor hit him in the back and from the front at the same time?!

Dazed, Ranma turned around and froze. There was a ... ninja? crouching behind him in a battle stance. At least he looked like a ninja. He was dressed all in black and was armed to the teeth, with both modern weapons and archaic ones. Tofu looked the man up and down and grimaced. Ranma, scratching his head, walked around the guy peering at him curiously, finally Ranma stopped in front of the guy and said,

"Okay I give up, is it a costume party today or something? Who are you and why did you interrupt our match?" Ranma quipped.

The man said nothing but held up both fists and pointed to either side of himself. Out of nowhere about half a dozen similarly clad men hopped off of roof tops and from behind trees and rushed the household. They gathered in the courtyard around their presumed leader. The wind seemed to grow much colder, and Ranma involuntarily shivered. Ranma didn't like the way this morning was shaping up.

"Oh hell no. I know you goof balls aren't interrupting my match, most people would have more sense than that." Ranma berated the one he assumed was the leader with his hands clasped behind his back. A sudden splash stopped his tirade as another ninja leapt into the koi pond. The water found it's way to Ranma of course. Ranma clenched her hands into fists.

"I can't believe you just did that. Get ready for a hospital trip moron." Ranma said as she flashed into action. Leaping from where she stood, Ranma jump kicked for the man standing in the pond, aiming for his head with the practiced motions of a confident professional. Without even flinching, the man in the pond jerked his head back quickly at the last possible second, letting Ranma sail by unmolested. Landing on the opposite side of the pool, she turned to face the man, her face the picture of utter astonishment. No one except maybe Cologne or Happosai had ever moved that fast in a fight with her before.

"What in the hell ...?" Ranma muttered.

"Oh dear, Ranma dear, do you want me to bring you some hot water?" Kasumi's voice carried from across the courtyard accompanied by the squeaking sound of the door opening. The smell of breakfast cooking for the family wafted out. Spinning on his heel, Ranma saw Kasumi making her way over to them. Things has gone from bad to worse, with Kasumi present things were now a lot more dangerous!

Tofu immediately went into comatose mode and started talking to the tree. Kasumi ignored him for the time being and, spinning on her heel with hands on hips, addressed the black clothed men in her yard.

"Um, excuse me but you were not invited in here, so I would appreciate it if you left... now. I don't want to have to call the police." Kasumi faced the nearest man and stared him down with her hands on her hips. The man nearest Kasumi, whom she was addressing, looked to his leader in question. The leader nodded.

With a feral grin the man turned back to Kasumi and took one step closer to her. He then pivoted at his waist bringing the full might of his upper body strength into play and caught the side of her face with a tremendous slap! Ranma thought she heard bone cracking from where she stood. Kasumi crumpled like a rag doll.

"She was a feisty one wasn't she? Women, should be seen and not heard. Got that bitch?" The man sneered as he looked down at Kasumi, a very self satisfied grin pasting his otherwise expressionless features. Ranma was beside herself. Holding her face in her hands Ranma mumbled,

"I cannot..." She paused for a second as she tried to collect her thoughts and framed her face with her hands as she stared bug eyed at Kasumi's attacker. "I cannot believe ... I simply can't believe you, oh my lord, I can't believe you did that! Dude ... do you have any idea how dead you are right now?" Ranma asked incredulously. The man folded his arms and glared at Ranma.

"I wouldn't make promises I couldn't keep little lady, but bring it on girly. I could use a stretch."

"I wasn't talkin bout me buddy." Ranma said as she nodded to Tofu who was now kneeling over Kasumi, trembling in rage and terror, frantically he ran his hands over her prone body, tilting her head this way and that, checking vital signs and what have you. As Ranma watched she noticed something she had never seen before. While holding Kasumi's limp body in his arms, the doctor's glasses cleared sharply. Meanwhile the doctors eyes seemed to fog over as rage and hatred started to possess him.

Carefully, the doctor laid Kasumi back down and took off his wet shirt and rolled it up to lay across her face. Turning calmly back to face her attackers, the doctor actually bristled. Ranma couldn't help snickering. This was going to be funny.

Tofu did not exude a battle aura, he did not make any battle cries or promises or threats. He didn't make any speeches or invoke old traditions such as giving his name to those he was about to do battle with. He just started walking towards the one who had hit Kasumi.

The man ran and threw a blistering punch at the doctor's head. Tofu simply moved his head to the side. The man then threw punch after punch, increasing the speed of his attacks with every second. Tofu switched from simply dodging the attacks, to holding his ground and slapping the attacks wide of his face. Infuriated, Kasumi's attacker threw another vicious volley of strikes at the doctor. Tofu swatted them all away. Tiring, the man took a step back, gathered his breath then launched himself into a suicide punch, throwing his whole body weight into the attack, using the same hand that he had struck Kasumi with.

Not even flinching, Tofu whipped up his left hand and caught it. Manipulating quickly with his strong and nimble fingers, Tofu snapped the man's wrist and continued to press down hard, bringing the man to his knees whimpering in pain, then let go, grimacing in disgust. Tofu stood in front of the man and calmly waited for him to get back up. The man jumped back to his feet with the absence of any pressure on Tofu's part. He then tried a last desperate one-two front kick, back leg round kick aiming low with the first then trying to swing the round kick, hard, up high aiming for the head or neck.

Tofu sidestepped and whipped his head under the kick, then, using the heel of the side of his hand below his thumb where the bone and wrist are, he clotheslined the man hard in the windpipe, dropping him again.

The man writhed on the ground, choking on his own vomit. Ranma stood looking at Tofu with her mouth hanging open. She had had no idea the doctor was **this** good. The man staggered to his feet and looked wildly about to his companions for help. They all stood impassively, waiting for a signal from their leader.

'Honor among thugs ...?' Ranma thought curiously assessing the situation. Kasumi's assailant drew a sharp breath and decided to charge the doctor and tackle him, so he could use his strength against him. The man rushed Tofu who was still just standing there. The fact that this man was still coming after everything Tofu had done to him, spoke of great stamina, stimulant drugs ... or insanity.

Tofu pressed the palms of both his hands together, forming a wedge, then thrust it right in the charging man's sternum. The man abruptly stopped as he crashed into a wall of pain. Tofu then collapsed his arms into twin forearm strikes to the mans throat and ribs. This time though as the man started to crumple Tofu caught him by his broken wrist and just stared into the man's eyes. Tofu had yet to utter a word. The leader said his first word then.

"Go!" With that, every man in the courtyard leapt at Tofu. Keeping firm pressure on the man's wrist, Tofu spun left and right, snapping out chops and palm strikes to vital areas on his attackers. Each attacker met with either sharp pain or promptly fell unconscious. The lucky ones were unconscious. With every movement Tofu made the man at his mercy cried out in pain. His cries were being drowned out by his comrades battle shouts though.

Still moving with the man's wrist under his control, the doctor leaned back sharply to avoid a sword swing that would have taken his head off. Then completed the motion into a back flip kicking under the swordsman's chin at the apex of his motion, all the while mangling Kasumi's attacker's wrist. The doctor seemed to be having fun throttling these people, but he wasn't showing it. Finally there was no one left standing in the courtyard except Ranma and the doctor and the lone leader.

The wind whistled sharply through the trees then, and a koi jumped in the pond. The leader was outnumbered and outclassed and he knew it. Instead of attacking as Ranma thought he was going to do, the man charged towards the house.

He threw the kitchen door open so hard, one of its hinges snapped. The slamming door made enough noise to wake anyone who might still be sleeping.

"Look out!" Ranma and Tofu screamed as they gave chase. The ninja bounded up the stairs and down the hallway with Ranma and Tofu in hot pursuit.

Akane threw open her bedroom door just as Ranma and Tofu cleared the stairs.

"What on Earth is going on?!" Akane shouted at them. The ninja leader didn't even pause as he threw her violently aside, his head whipping back and forth searching frantically for something. With Ranma and Tofu almost on him, the ninja finally spied Nabiki's name on her door and threw himself at it, drawing a throwing knife he kicked open the door.

As his arm cocked back to throw, both Ranma and Tofu finally reached him, and with all of their combined might; tackled him. The force of their impact shattered the door frame. Breathing hard, they stood up, the would be assassin lay unmoving at their feet breathing shallowly, his knife embedded in his shoulder.

Panicked, Ranma darted her gaze around Nabiki's room, daring to hope she was still alive... with a relieved release of breath Ranma spied her finally, Nabiki was huddled up at the foot of her bed with her blankets tousled around her. She was looking about wide eyed and obviously had just been startled out of sleep, but otherwise okay.

Tofu, without saying a word, stood up and raced back down the stairs. Ranma wanted to follow, but had someone she had to care for as well.

Crouching down, Ranma bent over Akane. Picking her up, she carried her downstairs. "How is it I always seem to be carrying you lately?" Ranma muttered as she carried Akane downstairs. As she reached the foot of the stairs, Ranma heard a door slam open.

"What in the nine hells?! What's happened?! Oh my ... **Nabiki**! My baby! Daddy is here! I'll save you! RAAAAANNNNNMAAAAAAAA, now what have you done?!" Soun screamed. Grimacing, Ranma quickly made her way to the kitchen. Faintly she heard Nabiki cry out as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Hello, is anyone gonna tell me what on earth is going on? Daddy it's okay, I'm fine, stop crying already! You're getting me all wet. Ranma! Could you at least remove your garbage from my room please?! Daddy ... knock, it, off! You're gonna flood my room... Raaaaaaaanmaaaa!" Nabiki shouted downstairs in frustration.

Chuckling softly to herself, Ranma set Akane down in one of the kitchen chairs and set about making a kettle of hot water, both to distill some medicated tea for Akane to help with the headache she was bound to have, and to change herself back into a man. While she waited she watched the doctor.

The world seemed to sense the doctor's mood and mother nature herself seemed to call the world to silence out of respect for Tofu's pain. The doctor made his way back outside to Kasumi in a world gone silent, the only sound being his footsteps softly pressing the grass down, kneeling beside her, he gently picked her up. With a careful gait he carried his one and only love back inside her home, a home that was no longer a sanctuary.

Kasumi probably weighed at least 100 to 135 pounds. Tofu didn't even seem to notice. He was moving as skillfully and gracefully as Ranma had ever seen the doctor move outside of Kasumi's presence; slowly he carried Kasumi into the house. He passed Ranma without a word and lay her on the floor in the living room.

Dashing into sudden speed, he ran upstairs only to return seconds later with his medical bag and a large blanket. Kneeling, almost in reverence, the doctor set about helping Kasumi, examining and cleaning her wounds.

She had a few lacerations on her cheek where the man's nails had gouged her was already swelling up huge with purple and yellowish swirls. Tofu was pretty sure nothing was broken, but he wouldn't know until he got her x-rayed. As soon as he was done he pressed a serious shiatsu point on her neck, she would be unconscious until he pressed the counter point, this would allow her to rest and regenerate much faster.

Finished for the time being, Tofu removed his glasses and set them on the table, then knelt on both knees beside her, folding his hands in his lap and hanging his head he started to cry softly.

Ranma knew Tofu blamed himself. She felt bad for him, she would feel the same way. A shrill whistle shattered the moment, and startled, Ranma leapt to snatch the offending noise making kettle off the stove. Ranma, was now breathing hard, with adrenaline surging through her from the scare that stupid whistle had given her. Now irritated, Ranma continued to watch Tofu as she poured some of the hot water over her head to change back in to a guy. Sympathy or not for Tofu, there was the question of personal dignity to be considered. Then he set about brewing a strong tea for Akane, mixed with a mild pain killer.

Ranma then pulled up a chair next to Akane in the kitchen that only a little while ago had been bright with laughter and life. That same kitchen now seemed to harbor only grief and despair. Ranma tilted Akane's head back and pinched her nose shut. Then he slowly poured a little of the tea into her mouth.

Sputtering and choking, Akane's eyes snapped open. The first thing she did was deck Ranma. Ranma went flying into the fridge as Akane's eyes snapped open.

"Hey! Whad'ya do that for?!" Ranma demanded from the floor across the room now, a nice little bruise already welling up on his cheek.

"Sorry, reflex action." Akane blushed. Ranma rolled his eyes.

"Right." Getting back up he sat back in his chair, then, thinking better of it, scooted away from Akane, keeping a wary eye on the unpredictable violent girl.

"Okay Ranma spill it what happened?" Akane said as she hunched over in the cold hard chair and sipped her tea, man did she have the mother of all headaches.

"Yeah well, it's like this. I really dunno what the heck just happened. Me an the doc were out back sparring a little ya know... all of a sudden these whacked out dudes wearing black monkey suits hopped the wall and started causing trouble ... Kunou woulda loved em ... anyway the doc an me asked em ta take a hike and they didn't leave so we fought em. Then Kasumi came out and one of the guys knocked her out -" Ranma was startled out of his recitation by the sound of breaking ceramic as Akane suddenly dropped her tea cup.

Whipping his head around to face Akane, Ranma sucked his breath in. She was doing it again! Her face had gone blank and her eyes were starting to show signs of silver.

Slowly she turned her gaze to rest on Ranma. With the voice of someone not to be trifled with, Akane demanded, "someone hurt Kasumi? Who did it? I'll kill him. Where is he?" She growled. Ranma, making "evil be gone" warding gestures, tried to calm her down, and at the same time get some distance between them, just in case.

"Geez Akane, ya gotta calm down. It's all right, the doc and me took em all out, and the doc really messed up the one that hit Kasumi... there's no one left ta kill. Akane? Akane?!" Ranma's voice rose in concern as he watched her. Finally after a few seconds, her shoulders slumped and she dipped her head to her chest. Looking back up she was the same again, but as he watched her while walking back to his chair he saw her eyes flash the color of quicksilver at the same time that he thought he heard the low ring of a chime, just as fast her eyes flashed back to normal again. Ranma was about to start back into his story when someone knocked on the front door.

Glad for the excuse to get away from Akane, Ranma bounded for the door. Flinging it open, Ranma came face to face with about twenty uniformed police officers, all with their sidearms drawn and pointed up in ready positions. Ranma sweat dropped.

"Look, if this is about that over due library book ... I told that lady on the phone that our pet pig ate it, and that I would have the money soon ..." The officer that had knocked on the door looked at Ranma funny then shook his head.

"No son, we got a call about an armed forced entry a little bit ago. Is everything okay?" Ranma squinted at the cop sizing him up then shrugged.

"Yeah everything is fine now, they're all out back knocked out cold, feel free to arrest em or whatever voodoo it is you do."

"Thanks kid, we'll do that." The officer said, then nodded to his men who re-holstered their weapons and started towards the back of the house.

Ranma went back into the house with the officer in charge at his heels. His eyes were already adjusting to the dim interior of the house compared to the front entry way.

"So who called ya anyways? I know I didn't." Ranma started to ask.

"I did." Nabiki said from the top of the stairs. "No one would tell me what was going on, so I called the police. There's one up here officer." Nabiki called to the lone police man next to Ranma.

Nodding, the officer walked up the steps to the top landing, Ranma following rather close, almost like he didn't trust the officer, but who could blame him after the mornings events. He didn't really trust cops all that much. They never seemed to be there when you needed them, and they always were there when you didn't need them.

Crouching down, the officer examined the man Ranma and Tofu had tackled. The officer looked closely at the splintered door frame, and the pitiful condition the man was in and made a face. Then back up to Ranma. Ranma grinned and shrugged.

"Trust me, he asked for it." Sweat dropping, the officer said, "Riiiiiiiiiight." Nodding his head in the direction of Nabiki's room the officer raised both of his eyebrows. Peeking his head in Ranma sighed.

"And what happened to him?" The officer said indicating Soun passed out on Nabiki's bed. Nabiki, sweat dropping, stepped in front of a conspicuous baseball bat leaning on the wall near her bed.

"He, uh ... fainted, yeah... fainted." Ranma shot Nabiki a, "whatever you say," look over the top of the suspicious officer's head. Nodding in acceptance of Nabiki's thin story the officer went to work.

Working quickly, the policeman placed handcuffs on the would be assassin and searched him, then with Ranma and Nabiki in tow carried him down stairs to where Tofu and Kasumi were. With the officer walking in front of them Ranma leaned over and whispered, "flood averted?" - "and baseball bat slightly dented." Nabiki confirmed without even looking a little guilty.

Ranma sweat dropped, Nabiki cast a nonchalant look in his direction, "Akane doesn't have the monopoly on violence in this house ya know." She grinned and quickened her step to catch up to the officer. Thus they were so engaged when they barged into the room with Kasumi and Tofu.

The doctor didn't even look up when they entered. The policeman took the whole scene in, and wisely left Tofu alone. Sitting on the couch, the officer took out a notepad and assumed a serious face.

"Okay lets take it from the top, what in the world happened here? You've never seen these men before you say?"

Ranma and Nabiki sat on the floor, and Akane came in from the kitchen. Ranma watched her warily, but all she did was lie down next to Kasumi and hug her close. Nabiki answered for the group.

"No we haven't"

"And you have no idea why they attacked you?"

"Well... I might have an idea, but I'm not sure ..." Nabiki started. She then related the events that had happened the day before to the officer.

Sitting back in the couch with an exasperated look on his face, the officer scribbled while Nabiki talked. When she was finished he informed them, "well I'm not sure about the rest of them, but this one - " he indicated the one lying handcuffed on the floor. "I am pretty sure I know of. His name is Lien Chou-Yu. He is a member of a ruthless Chinese triad operating out of mainland China." Pausing for a second and smiling, the officer quipped, "You haven't managed to irritate anyone in mainland China lately have you?" The officer joked. Ranma sweat dropped and hurriedly shook his head.

"Well I haven't done anything to anyone in China but I am getting awfully sick of these guys." Nabiki grumbled. As the policeman made his way to the door, collecting his charge as he went Ranma smiled and tried to lighten the mood.

"Well I'm wide awake now, how bout you guys." Everyone in the room, including Tofu rolled their eyes and threw various items in Ranma's general direction.


	8. Revelations From The Past

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (2/25/2000)  
Last modified (6/17/2000)

Chapter 8, "Revelations From The Past"

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**FF Net Notes:**

Chapter 8 is kind of a weird chapter, continuity-wise. See the author's notes on my profile website, and rest assured that things are fully explained in later chapters. But, yeah, Chapter 8 is kind of where I took a left turn into crazy with this story ... hope you like it. Oh, and yes, this **is** a Ranma 1/2 fanfic, you will understand once you start reading it, what it is the story of.

Like all of the other chapters I am putting up here on FF Net, I am doing some minor editing to this chapter re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of small spelling/grammar issues that slipped through the filters years ago.

Feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (Generally). The re-written chapter 11 (soon to be two chapters), and new new epilogue, are on their way.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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They were lost. The wind screamed in empty fury as it tugged at their clothing - whipping it around as if it were fighting an unseen battle, slicing through the many layers as if they weren't even there, to chill their occupants to their mortal bones. 

The clouds in the angry sky broiled in ominous fury, barely containing the awful storm fast approaching. Lightning struck in the distance, and thunder rolled across the mountains. The wind kicked up little dust motes along the dry rocky mountain trail as it dove through the pass on its relentless passage through time, forcing the slender shrubbery that grew along the mountain pass to bend to its terrible will. The world was coming to an end.

With their strength fast waning they stumbled through the mountain pass, tripping over each other's feet and the smallest obstacles, that normally they could have skipped over.

The Captain of the guard grabbed the Princess about her waist as she started to stumble again, his chain mail armor making swishing sounds with the speed of his motion.

"Just a little further your highness, once we reach the valley in the Bayankala range we will be safe," he shouted above the winds. The Princess locked eyes with her Captain briefly, and gave a brief, brave, nod.

Straightening her back, she set off down the rocky mountain trail once more, her long, silky black, hair shimmering as the wind blew it all about her head and her hands pushed deep into the tattered sleeves that had once been a beautiful royal gown.

The Captain looked over his shoulder as the rear guard crested the ridge they had just crossed. Only twenty men left, but they were his best men, ten in the rear and the other ten taking position at the vanguard.

All of them were combat veterans, many of them having fought beside him in wars in the service of their king. The enemy would come, there could be no doubt of that. They were relentless. But he and his men would put up one hell of a fight to protect their Princess, to the last man, to the last ounce of strength, to the last drop of blood. That was the oath they had sworn above her cradle on the day of her birth, and so it would come to pass.

So on they trekked. The minutes turned into hours and the meters turned into kilometers, and they pressed on. The men of the royal guard were fierce indeed, and those of the Princess' personal guard even more so. Clad in their battle armor, they were not wearing the best of choices to be in this sort of weather; yet to the eyes of the Princess, they seemed almost oblivious to the cold. Their muscles tensed and ready, eyes roving back and forth across the barren landscape and hands clenching chain mail gauntlet clad fists tightly around sword hilts. This day was not going to end well.

These men, these loyal men of hers, would scare the Princess to death with just the sight of them, had she not known them since she was a child. They had been her personal guards since the day she was born. She had played with all of them at some time or another as she grew up. As a little girl the Princess had subjected them to the wiles of a young girl's fancy, dressing them in strange hats and making them play pretend and other such nonsense.

But if truth be told, she had not ever had to order any of them to do anything for her. They would gladly suffer any embarrassment for her, any pain. They loved her as if she was their own daughter. Fiercely loyal to her, and only her, they would follow her into hell itself without even looking back.

Having a hundred men thinking they are your father though could be rather annoying though. That many people thinking they know what's best for you can be a bit of a drag when you are a teenage girl ... at least she used to have a hundred fathers ... the pain of her loss hit her again and she made herself choke back the tears as she stumbled down the mountain trail. At least they were going downhill now, she didn't know if she could go uphill anymore.

The Captain of the guard kept one step behind his Princess to her left, keeping his piercing blue eyes scanning the road ahead of her, on the look out for any danger. Unlike the other soldiers in this weary band, the Captain was not carrying his full gear, just his armor and his weapon. His servant, whom he had been training in the ways of war, was with them, and he was carrying the heavy pack filled with both his and the Princess's gear.

The boy was a strapping youth of sixteen summers. His muscles strained and he grit his teeth with the burden, but he did not complain and his step did not falter. This one would grow up into quite a man. If he grew up.

Risking a backward glance, the Captain took stock of the rear guard and nodded approvingly at their efficient formation. The Princess would not be ambushed from behind with them on duty. Nodding to the boy, the Captain went back to scanning the trail. Just a little further and he was pretty sure they would come into the Jusenkyo valley. The General had always maintained that that was the fall back point should the castle ever come under siege. The Captain hoped at least some of the troops had survived the attack. The attack. Involuntarily he shuddered and in a flash he was replaying the awful event over again in his mind's eye.

-----

They stormed the imperial palace in the middle of the night. Their number uncertain, but even with a conservative guess, the enemy's number was an easy five to one over those of the castle defenders, that and the element of surprise gave them the upper hand. Bristling with malice and flashing weapons, clad in black leather and crimson battle mail, they came to destroy.

Even with seasoned troops manning the walls, their numbers were just too great. With their terrible cries for blood, the savages poured into then over the outer walls, forcing the defending troops to fall back to the secondary wall. The enemies' minor war mages blew holes through several points in the wall for easier entry. And the call went through the castle to rise in arms for battle. Although the counter offensive had been quickly organized, they had still managed to push the invading forces back through the walls, when **he** had appeared.

A hush had swept over the bloody battle field as he strode towards the wall. Comrade and enemy alike froze in their tracks at his appearance. Only one mage in the entire world would dare to wear that symbol and carry that staff. Only one man was evil enough and had the audacity to spit in the creator's face with such a brazen display of disloyalty to the ways of the creator. Huàide Púrén - the servant of evil, had come.

The symbol of death itself was etched in black upon his blood red robe, a circle with four smaller circles each touching a part of the outside circle and two of their brethren. From the center of the circle sprang four spires, each standing for one of the major elements of life, barbed at their ends to take life instead of give, and dripping from the bottom of this awful inscription was the blood of all mankind. The symbol of Siwang - death in it's most awful form. His blackened staff, said to be carved from the charred bones of a thousand children killed to appease his demon masters, bore the same symbol atop its knobby crest.

Many of his own men fled from his presence as he strode toward the castle walls. Terrified and desperate, the castle archers let loose a furious barrage of missiles. All of them aimed at the most evil man in all the world. To their chagrin, all of them dissolved on the mage's invisible shielding. Mortal weapons could not touch this man. Panicked, the defending linesmen sent out a call for the castle wizards, _all of them_.

They came on feet enchanted with spells of speed and muscles strengthened by fear. Their ancient wizened eyes beheld their darkest enemy, and even as he began to chant their doom, they resolved to try their best.

Simple spells were tried first, just in case the dark one had forgotten to shield against them. Each mage took a turn at trying simple spells such as stopping his heart, or freezing his breath, encasing him in solid air. Their hands would glow red or white casting haunting shadows upon their faces, and the winds would come to their call and sparkles and odd noises sprang up around them as they practiced their art in desperation. Anything to stop him. It was no use. Their spells bounced off the dark one's impressive shielding.

Elemental attacks came next. Depending on the strength of the attack, any elemental creature could break through any shield a mage might cast. The first and strongest wizard, the _High Wizard_, called deep into the earth for his saving champion. On bent knees he chanted raising his torso up and down in sweeping motions as if a snake possessed him.

His hands glowed a subtle green and the glow began to spread to his arms then beyond with a rising pitch in his voice the _High Wizard_ demanded his champion from the earth, and the earth split in the semi-distant hills accompanied by the screaming of the heavens, a creature made entirely of living rock and molten metal broke free to the surface.

It was broken and craggy just as the earth was, and betwixt those cracks one could see molten metal surging just under the surface of it's awesome body. Just surfacing, the creature killed a good thousand of the enemy. Scrambling, the enemy fell back. But the defenders did not rejoice. They were too awestruck to even move.

A second wizard called to the heavens danced around in concentric circles, arms outstretched and head thrown back almost as if he were celebrating in joyous laughter. The jumbled words not of this earth escaping his throat dispelled any notion of that though. Louder and louder the mage called, his hands began to glow white and sparks of white hot energy began to dance with him as he called, and down from the cloud swept sky came a creature of tightly packed wind and air, its landing also killed a great many of the enemy soldiers. It looked to be almost invisible. You could see right through it, but it held the stature of a giant, and every now and then it's body would swirl with the unpredictable patterns of the wind.

The last wizard, a junior wizard at that, called to the water from which life sprang, it came from the springs and the air, from the breath of his people and even the enemy. Standing as if a rock unmoving in a mountain stream he chanted. His hands glowed blue and his hair whipped about his face atop currents of unnatural power.

In addition to the elemental powers he was summoning this wizard also gave his spell some of his own life energy, draining him of years he knew he would never see anyway. In the hopes that it just might make his champion a little stronger. Flowing together in the air above the battle field, the water creature settled on the land behind the dark one.

It was a solid object, yet if one cared to look, one could see the currents and eddies of water alive within the creature. The servant of evil stood his ground surrounded by three of the most powerful elemental creatures ever created by mankind, and he showed no concern.

The dark one thrust his staff into the ground as he finished his chant, and the very world seemed to bend and twist in sickening waves of motion. Out of nothing, a rip in the very fabric of reality formed and tearing through it with an awful roar that shook all who witnessed it right down to their bones, came a creature still talked about to this day. They called it a _Draegun_ -- a creature talked about for centuries and millennium to come.

The elemental creatures abode their master's wishes and struck with the fury of the gods. Running or flowing towards their mutual enemy they looked almost comical with their disproportional bodies, if the gravity of the situation hadn't been so serious many would have laughed out loud. At the same time, the three wizards started to chant a bond spell, bonding their life energy as one, for a final desperate blow.

The Dragon fought with incredible power and speed, using its tail, wings and talons. But it took as well as it gave. The earth creature cleaved its tail with a mighty swipe of his unnatural hand. The air creature blinded the beast with blasts of enchanted winds sharp as real daggers. The water creature encased its legs in a liquid gone solid, so that it could not walk. Roaring as they fought the elemental creatures made it sound like the earth itself was breaking apart.

Their battle rolled on, and thankfully away from the castle. But to the horror of the defenders, the Dragon proved the superior fighter. Slaying first the water creature it blasted the ground with fires from it's maw more terrible than anything mankind could imagine, charring its own legs in the process. But also dispersing the water creature back to where it came from. Using it's wings as scythes it cleft the air creature in twain. Then it joined battle with the creature born of earth and fire. Wrestling with it in a contest of pure strength. The earth creature was as hard as the hardest rock, and fire would only make it stronger. The earth creature might even have the upper hand!

Their fighting was terrible. Even from the distance the observers were, they could hear the terrible screams, and see the destruction as the two monoliths crushed everything in their path, villages, trees and even entire mountains! Eventually getting the upper hand, the Dragon rolled the earth creature into a mighty grapple. Squeezing with all its might the Dragon finally forced enough pressure into the creature to crush it into broken fragments. The sound of the implosion carried across the land. Then the Dragon rose and started to walk back towards the battle.

Finishing their life bonding chant, the two lesser wizards locked eyes with their senior. With tears in their eyes, they saluted him with staff to brow. Then each of them lay their hands atop his head and with a single whispered word, let their life energy and power flow into him. Once done, their now empty mortal shells slumped to the ground and were still.

The _High Wizard_ grieved for their loss, but was resolute in the knowledge that soon he would be joining them in the next plane of existence.

Turning on his heel with the awful strength of three to an exponential level raging inside him, the wizard called the dark one by name in a voice amplified by magical means loud enough to shake the very earth.

"**Huàide púrén, I command you, cease that which thou hath ****wrought!**" The dark mage did not even look up from the next spell he was casting. Fire sprang into the old man's eyes then. With righteous fury he called upon the gods to give him the strength he desired.

He knelt in prayer right there on the bloody battlements with arms outstretched to the heavens, beseeching deliverance from this evil. With tears streaming down his face and soaking his beard, a miracle happened. The heavens opened up and a beam of the purest white light struck the enchanter through the heart. With an in drawn gasp he toppled and lay still.

A great cry of anguish swept through the ranks of the defenders, surely now all was lost. But, as they nocked their bows and drew their swords in preparation for one last mad attempt to defend their home, they beheld a miracle. The earth stilled and the air crackled and the wizard slowly began to rise from the ground on unnatural flows of power, it was literally streaming from him in sheets of energy.

About him sprang an aura of the most blinding white light, tinged at the edges with a haunting blueish glow. Those who dared to look upon him hurriedly looked away with stars flashing across their vision.

With a great call for vengeance, the wizard thrust his cupped hands before him as his mortal form cleared the crumbling battlements of the castle, and from those hands struck a beam of pure fury and vengeance. The powers of justice and protection raged in him, and he drew on them hungrily. His heart beat quickened and his breath slowed. He knew this would be his final act upon this plane, and he prayed it would be enough.

The energy struck the dark one in mid-chant and dropped him to his knees. Snarling, he looked up with new respect for this wizard who dared to oppose him. Staggering under the might of the life wizard's attack, he held up a hand through the pain and caught the beam upon it. Then, whispering to the minions of darkness he served, met the wizard's attacks with his own. A stream of black tinged with ribbons of blood red sprang from his palm, the dark one's eye flashed quicksilver and crimson.

Slowly the dark energy began to push the light back. The two powers meeting caused the world to cry out in protest. The earth shook and the seas raged. The winds tore through the

lands, and the people cowered in fear.

With a roar of fury and final resolve, the wizard threw his life energy into the attack, a final assault. Damning the dark one to eternal suffering, he poured his very soul into the beam, and slowly, then with increasing speed, he began to push back the dark energy.

With a look of surprise and a cry of outrage, the dark one's attack fizzled and now unchecked, the light slammed into him with a mighty thunder clap. The force of it threw the dark one deep into the ground. The _High Wizard's_ spell tearing a hole the size of a tree trunk through the dark one's torso as it did so. Muttering one final curse the dark one's grip on his staff slacked and with it, thankfully, the Dragon vanished.

His task done and the dark one banished to the realm he sold his soul to, the wizard turned and beheld his people, all of them cheering their perceived victory. Outstretching his hands he cast one final spell, a spell of the true heart. With it he strengthened their resolve and cast away their fears. And then bowing his head, the wizard whispered his final words and with a brilliant flash disappeared from their plain.

The enemy soldiers' ranks had been decimated by the wizard's battle, and now the odds were uncertain in the confusion set upon them, but there were still a great deal more of them than defending troops. But the invading force, broken and bloodied, were not about to stop now, not with the royal palace before them. Gathering their wits and their strength, they resumed their siege.

As the remaining defending troops crashed into the wall of the oncoming horde, the Princess' personal guards created a human wall before the entrance to her room. It would not be long now, and this would be where they held their final stand.

Half of them were on the outside, and the other half on the inside, with the door securely barred, by both magical and physical means. The enemy wanted the throne, and they could only have it if the immediate family line was gone. With the _High Wizard_ gone, his daughter, the Princess, was next in line to the throne. The enemy would be coming for her next.

Inside her room the Princess railed against the walls and cried out in a mixture of both pure fury and anguish. In the depths of her misery, she even struck out at her beloved guards. They did not even flinch. She demanded to be let out so that she could avenge her father's death. She might be a minor mage still, but she would take a great number of them with her. They would not move. She ordered them to move, she begged them to move. They would not. The Captain of the guard stood behind her at all times, his weapon drawn, and ready to leap in from of her to shield her with his own body.

Frustrated, she turned on him and slugged him in the face, hard. The Captain's vassal, a young man who had just happened to be in the Princess' wing when the attackers had struck, drew a surprised breath in. _No one_ had ever hit the Captain. Ever. The Captain looked down at his beautiful Princess with tears in his eyes.

"My life is yours your highness, if you so desire. But I cannot allow you to risk your life for this foolish revenge. You are too important. Your people need you, we need you." He added softly, choking on the words as emotion threatened to take his control from him, the Captain bowed to her awaiting her next command.

Slumping in defeat, the Princess sank slowly to the floor. She would not cry. She would **not**. The Captain stooped down and scooped her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. He knew that despite their best efforts they were about to be over run. The men on the outside of the door were all going to die, and the men inside were also going to die. And so was the Princess. But not by their filthy hands. When the moment came, he would do it himself, quickly and painlessly, with her unaware of what had happened. He would not allow her to be subjected to whatever cruelties their depraved minds would come up with if they managed to capture her.

It was only a matter of time until the enemy came, and the Captain's heart was breaking. Duty, was heavier than a mountain, death was lighter than a feather. Oh how he longed for his feather. The enemy would come, and then he would do his accursed duty, but not before he made some of them pay for what he would have to do.

And the enemy did come. Despite their enchanted hearts and their fearless attacks, the defenders just didn't have the numbers in their favor. But they made the enemy pay for every step of ground they gained. Boiling oil and trap doors in the courtyard slowed a great many of the oncoming ranks, and the archers would then decimate those not quick enough to scramble for cover. Daring attacks and retreats by the infantry cost the enemy a great number of men, yet they still came.

They poured into the imperial palace destroying anything and anyone in their path. Each room was searched, and slowly they made their way upward. When they finally entered the wing that lead to the Princess, they encountered the first of the real resistance. Soldiers and servants alike manned the halls leading to her tower. They loved their Princess, and even the lowliest peasant would fight to the death for her. They had barricaded themselves behind overturned tables and chairs, archers and pike men at the ready. The surprise of the viciousness of their defense and poor organization cost the enemy dearly, the defenders managed to wipe out three waves of the advancing enemy.

But that was not enough. The enemy centered their force on the resistance's location, believing they had found her at last. A battle wedge was formed, and, with the shield bearers surrounding them, the pike men and archers allowed their shock troops to make short work of the rag tag groups of defenders.

The Captain of the guard cocked his head as the first sounds of close combat reached them from downstairs, as he sat the Princess down upon her bed. Steeling himself for what was to come next he shouted an encouragement to the troops about to die.

"For the Princess!" He cried and was promptly answered from outside with the same call. Then, stamping their feet and smashing shield to sword hilt, they began to sing.

"_ We shall not fail.  
We shall not stop.  
We'll shed our blood to the last drop!  
For the Princess!  
For the Princess!  
We fear naught but failure.  
Press on to death if thou desire.  
To the last we'll stand, marching towards the fire.  
For the Princess!  
For the Princess!  
Come meet us on the battle field!  
We'll not surrender! There's no defeat!  
No mercy nor quarter shall thou meet!  
For the Princess!  
For the Princess!_"

That was the sound that met the enemy as they made their way up the tower, where they were promptly slaughtered by the personal guard of the Princess -- the most elite guards in the entire Kingdom. The guards sang as they hacked and stabbed. They fought in teams and accepted no surrender, gave no mercy. The first wave defeated, they sang louder still, and the guards on the inside sang with them.

Yet on they came, the enemy seemed mindless in their advance. For every guard they managed to kill they lost one hundred or more of their number. With each defending guard slain, the Princess' guards would simply close ranks and continue singing. When an invading wave was over, the guards stacked the bodies of their fallen comrades, and the enemy alike, as a barrier down the hall way. The next wave had to clear it to get to them, and the rear rank of the guards would reward them with showers of arrows for their efforts. Yet still they sang.

The minutes stretched into hours and the battle outside her door raged on. The Princess was losing her mind. Her guards. Her fathers! Were dying for her, and there was nothing she could do. This was all **his** fault. If the dark one had just left them alone none of this would be happening. Clenching her hands into fists she wondered how the enemy had managed to get so close to the castle walls without an alarm going up in the first place. Giving her mind something to think about helped her keep her sanity as the battle raged outside her door.

On they came, the enemy, if they had any brains, only had to barricade themselves around the tower and wait. They were not equipped to withstand a war of attrition. But with simple minded efficiency, they pressed on up the tower, stepping on the broken bodies of friend and foe alike in their mad quest to be the one to capture or kill the Princess.

Then they came. The Blood Snake troops. Members of the enemies' elite vanguard. Each man wearing a silver tunic under a crimson chain mail shirt, black leather and silver gauntlets. Each man had a circle with the four barbed spires tattooed on his left forearm, to proclaim his allegiance. Not the full symbol the dark one had worn, for even these men did not wish the wrath of the creator upon them.

Charging up the tower, they screamed for battle. And the defending guards knew this would be their last stand. So they sang louder, and smiled in the face of death.

These were no ordinary troops. They did not break rank and scramble upon clashing with the royal guardsmen. Efficient and disciplined, they fought in close quarters. Two to a man if possible. And the royal guardsmen started to fall. But they took a great many of the enemy with them.

Then after a long while, the singing stopped and all was quiet for a short while. Then the resounding clang of a battering ram sounded through the door. The room's magical defenses were activated. With a whooshing sound the hallway directly outside the door blossomed into scorching flames that burned hotter than the hottest fire upon human flesh, yet left the hall untouched. Thus the end of this contingent of Blood Snakes came about.

A temporary quiet settled over the castle. But it only lasted for a few minutes. From down the hallway they heard the chanting of mages in concert. Obviously at least one or two of the minor war mages had survived the great elemental creatures and wizard's battle, and they had been summoned to breach the magical barriers upon the Princess' door. After a long while the chanting stopped and footsteps could be heard approaching the chamber. A single tap was heard through the door, then the tapper called the all clear.

The crashing of the battering ram started soon again outside the door. Apparently the minor war mages were better than most thought. This was it. It was almost over. The enemy would win, but this last group would not survive. Each guard swore that to himself as they drew their swords and nocked their bows. They began to stamp their feet and slam their hilts to shields, and they began to sing.

The enemy would pay dearly to gain entrance to this room. The Captain picked the Princess up and carried her to the room's furthest corner. With her safely behind him, backed against the walls, he stood ready to do his duty.

The crystal! Clarity flooded the Princess' mind as she remembered. Her father had given it to her at the age of six, and bade her wear it at all times.

"Use this crystal my darling if ever you are in danger and need to get away fast. It will take you to someplace safe."

He had then told her the magical words to use to activate the crystal's hidden powers, and made her practice them daily until he was satisfied she remembered them.

The door started to crack. The enemy added to the destruction with battle axes and war hammers. Desperate, the Princess kicked the Captain's knees out from behind him and lunged for her dresser. Scrambling, the Captain was up in an instant.

"My Princess, you must stay behind me ..." He began to shout, and then all hell broke loose. With a groan of splintered wood, the door caved inward and the enemy poured in, blood lust in their eyes and hatred in their veins. Reaching her dresser, the Princess threw the topmost drawer open and clutched the hand sized crystal to her. Then began the chant. Mad with fear for his Princess, the Captain just barely reached her before an enemy soldier reached her.

The Captain slammed his fist into the man's throat and crushed his windpipe as he sent the man skittering across the floor writhing in agony and choking on his own blood and bile. The Captain then took up station in front of her again. Somehow four more men broke through the defending lines, and rushed him. The Captain took two of their heads off with a single sword swipe, then got tackled. Dropping his sword, he grabbed both their necks and dropped into a roll going with their momentum, and twisted as he kicked them up and over himself. Their necks made sickening crunching sounds as they snapped.

Dazed but resolute, the Captain gathered his wits and weapon and cried out to his singing troops, "rally on the Princess! To the Princess! Rally on the Princess! Fall back!" The guardsmen closed ranks and fell back to the rear center of the room. Fighting shoulder to shoulder, the bloodshed was incredible. For every guardsman down a score of the enemy went with him. The guardsmen fought as men possessed. Fear for their Princess drove them on.

With his human shield in place, the Captain clutched his beloved Princess to him as she continued her chant. Tears streaming down his face, he allowed himself a few seconds to weep at the injustice of it all. To cry for his little girl. For innocence lost. Burying his face in the hair at the base of her neck, he drew his dagger from his belt. He whispered his apology to her as he tried to choke back the grief.

"I am sorry my Princess, we have failed you ..." As he began to bring the knife to bear at the base of her neck. 'Quick and painless...' He thought to himself just as a scream came from the Princess as she shouted the final word of the incantation she had been chanting. Then the world froze in icy detail.

Blinding white light flashed out from the crystal. It permeated every living being in the room. The power of the crystal was incredible. Made with a father's love for his daughter for the purpose of protection, it did just that. The crystal judged each man's heart in a fraction of an instant and struck dead all those who would harm her. Then with a flash, the crystal exploded into what felt to the Princess like feathers. Swirling around the room, the powers of the crystal gathered up all those living who were loyal to the Princess and in the wink of an eye they were all standing in the mountains of the Bayankala range.

Trembling, the Captain pulled back his dagger and dropped it as if it were on fire. They had been saved. Delivered from the clutches of evil! Rejoicing, the Captain wept openly and fell back on the packed earth with his Princess in his arms and laughed as he clutched her to his breast. A great cheer went up from the remaining guards as they all gathered around to kiss their Princess and rest for a second. The party turned serious almost instantly though as the reality of their situation dawned on them.

From their vantage point, they could see the battle still raging in the castle far below them. They were not safe yet. Standing, the Captain picked up the Princess in his arms as if she were an infant. She smiled weakly from her perch.

The Captain Barked orders to the remaining guardsmen to take up marching positions, and they set off down to the Jusenkyo valley, and hopefully the garrison of troops stationed there. The Captain left the dagger laying in the dirt. He had no intention of touching it ever again.

-----

Snapping back to reality, the Captain's heart soared as they crested the next ridge. There it was, the Jusenkyo valley. Safety. The Captain called for a double step and picked up the Princess again.

They stormed eagerly into the open of the valley, looking for friendly faces. They saw nothing. Crestfallen, the last of the royal guardsmen took up station around the Captain and the Princess.

This didn't feel right ... The wind smelled wrong and the earth was sending warning signals into the seasoned veins of the men. This felt like an ... ambush. The Captain was about to give the order to find cover when they stepped out from around them.

Imperial troops. At least a division. But they weren't smiling, and they did not salute the Captain as they should have. Laughing, a General made his way through their ranks. Smirking, he sauntered over towards the band. Wisely he stopped out of weapons range as he regarded them. That they had made it this far despite all the odds was amazing. That they had the Princess with them was simply incredible. He would have to put them in for medals. Awarded posthumously of course.

"General ... I am glad to see your troops haven't suffered any losses. Would you like my help organizing a counter offensive against the enemy laying siege to the castle now, General?" The Captain glared as he set the Princess down behind him. She was no fool. She knew as well as the Captain did that this was no friendly welcome. Softly she started to chant a war spell.

"Ah Captain, I am afraid I cannot accept your offer. As you see, I am afraid you and I are not on the same side of this particular campaign. Mores to pity, you are certainly the best swordsman I have laid eyes on in decades ... No, I am sorry to say that I must place you all under arrest as prisoners of war. Kindly stand down and surrender your weapons, and I promise your executions will be quick and painless..." The General almost looked hopeful as he said this.

The Captain smiled as he drew his sword straight up in the air. Lightning struck then in the hills, and its brilliance flashed over the weapon's surface. With thunder rolling over the mountains, the Captain drew the hilt down so the cross guard was just below his eyes, in a salute to the General he had once known. The man that he had fought beside many times in days gone by. Not the traitorous bastard that stood before him now. The Captain screamed the battle call, "For the Princess!!" His men answered him with drawn blades of their own, ringing out in the soon-to-be night air. Even the Captain's vassal dropped his pack and unlimbered a rather wicked looking war hammer. Then they began to sing.

Nodding, the General signaled the attack. The traitorous troops, once loyal to the same _High Wizard_ King, charged in from all directions. There would be no magic crystal this time, no magic walls or reinforced doors. Fate had caught up to them, and it was time to fight or die. They sang as they fought.

Her chant reaching a crescendo, the Princess suddenly shot up straight onto her tip-toes and stretched her arms heavenward, palms up and fingers spread, calling to the heavens for the power to save them. Lightning struck her outstretched hands, once, then twice, then over and over again. With each jolt the Princess swayed a little bit, but seemed to suck the energy into herself almost instantly.

Startled, the advancing troops slowed to a trot then a walk as the lightning continued to strike her. They had not signed up to fight a mage, even a minor one. Slowly their ranks stopped, and then started to back up, then showing their lack of discipline and true colors, they broke into a full out retreat, the guardsmen could almost see their tails betwixt their legs as they ran, and they laughed merrily. As the lightning continued to strike the Princess' outstretched hands. Her guards closed ranks about her, their backs to her. They didn't know what she was doing but whatever it was, it was causing the traitors to turn tail and run!

Then the Princess screamed a battle cry of fury and pent-up rage born of her grief. Lowering her hands to her sides, her head dipped and her shoulders slumped. She stood like that for a moment or two. Then she started to laugh, it was almost an insane laugh. She then violently raised her head and damned her traitorous Kingdom's soldiers to eternal suffering as she called for the release of her power.

Flinging her arms out from side to side like she was shaking out a rug that needed dusting, she sent streams of electrical energy into the ranks of her once loyal troops. The power rolled from her like the waves of the sea. It passed through her guards harmlessly, but on contact with the others, blasted them from their feet, hurling them meters back, and ripped their mortal shells to pieces.

The Princess continued to rant as she cast her terrible vengeance. Cursing these men and the greed that drove them, for the lives they had destroyed. After what seemed like an eternity, she slowed, then stopped. Suddenly the valley was silent. Slowly starting to relax, the men of her guard dared to think it was over, that they had been delivered yet again.

Then they heard an odd noise. Clapping? A short distance away a sinister looking man swathed in black strode out of a hidden cave's entrance, brushing back the vines that covered it as he clapped. Behind him marched members of the Blood Snake guard, and above them all shimmered a very powerful magical shield.

The man was tall and wore a traveling cloak askew over his left shoulder, clasped at his throat with a symbol of a silver dagger and on his forearm was burned the symbol of the dark one, minus the blood. Another dark mage in training? The man walked through the chill winds in his light clothing, yet did not shiver, nor did his cloak, though the wind was brisk. His hair was disheveled and his knee-high boots were muddy. He was smiling, but the smile made the Princess nervous. He stopped out of weapons range, but close enough so that she could smell him. He smelt of dried tree bark and looked to live a rough life, his muscular build and callused hands suggested he was adept in the fighting arts as well as the magical ones.

"Very good your majesty." The man sneered. "You wiped them out. You made my job a little easier. Traitors can never be trusted, they are only useful for so long ... then ..." The man trailed off as he ran a finger across his throat. The thought that she had done anything to help this man made shivers run down her spine.

"Now if you would be so kind as to order your guards to stand down, I would like to invite you to join me in the cave to discuss the terms of your surrender. I am being quite generous am I not?" The man smirked and turned on his heel, walking back towards the cave seeming quite pleased with himself.

"I will **not**." The Princess said quietly but firmly. The man in black stopped in mid-stride.

Sighing the man's shoulder seemed to slump a little. "Very well, we can do things the hard way too." The man said nonchalantly over his shoulder. "I am sure the Blood Snakes would like a chance to spar with your men. Rest assured your magic will not harm them, they are quite safe."

Scowling, the Princess started to chant an elemental spell she had heard her father practicing once. At the same time the man in black started to chant his own elemental spell, but before he did so he uttered a single command, "go."

The Blood Snakes leapt into action. And the royal guard began to sing again. They fought back to back and met the snakes on their own terms. They were outnumbered, but not out classed.

And so yet another battle was joined. The two magic users stood untouched in the center of the chaos, each intent on killing the other. Finishing her chant first, the Princess screamed the final word and clapped her hands together, then drew them apart as a brilliant sword of wind, fire and ice was formed. It looked the color of quicksilver, even the hilt looked to be made from the same material, yet it flashed from blue to crimson back to quicksilver in a most unnatural way. It was light as a feather and as sharp as an unbreakable razor blade. She tapped her Captain on the shoulder and gave it to him, and with tears running down her cheeks lifted herself up to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

"Do not fail me Captain." Was all she said. It was enough. Nodding, the Captain jerked his vassal back from the ranks and placed him squarely in front of the Princess, there would be no closed ranks this time. The vassal set his shoulders and waited.

Without another second lost, the Captain dashed through the fighting men. Holding the sword blade out and tip up as he charged, praying it harmed only those of evil intent, but without the luxury of being able to stop and find out, he charged through the lines, on a direct course for the man in black.

Thankfully his prayers were answered as he cut through the lines and Blood Snakes lost limbs and heads, and guardsmen suddenly found themselves without an opponent to fight. The Captain leapt over broken bodies and spun around clumsy sword swipes.

Screaming, he reached the man in black, and charged right through his shield, the sword ripping though it as if it were made of silk. At the same time, the dark mage finished his spell and clasped his forearms together, drawing them back he held a quarter staff that was blacker than black. It glowed with dark energy as evil as its owner, yet seemed to suck all available light into itself. And they clashed.

This mage was as good at the fighting arts as the Captain was. Or better. Each swipe of the Captain's sword met empty air or rang against the mage's staff. They circled each other viciously, and each of them took as well as they gave. The Captain managed to glancing blow to the mage's shoulder, but it cost him a cracked rib to do so. Round and round they went, with neither man seeming to be able to find am opening in the other's defenses.

With her final strength the Princess cast one more spell, a trick really. One that had fascinated her as a little girl. She cast a light butterfly spell in the dark wizard's face. Startled and temporarily blinded the dark mage lowered his guard for just an instant to disperse the spell. But it was an instant too long. With a hissing sound of that which is good meeting that which is evil, the Captain drove his sword through the mage's heart.

Looking down stunned, the dark mage cast one final spell, a spell of freezing breath. Surprise etched the Captain's face as he slowly started to sink to his knees with the dark mage, choking for breath. As he lay dying on the uncaring earth the clouds finally broke and let loose the rains of the damned. Seeing her Captain dying, the Princess pushed herself further than she knew she could go. Channeling her own life force into the spell she cast the life's breath spell on him. Then blacked out.

The Captain's vassal heard her hit the ground behind him, but was presently engaged with two rather cranky Blood Snakes, and could not turn to aide her.

As breath returned to his lips the Captain's head cleared, and slowly he rose as he managed to prop himself up on one elbow. To see the end of the world. There were only two guardsmen left. And at least twenty Blood Snakes left. Cackling their victory, the snakes closed in, two of them rushed his vassal, he fought valiantly but as another two crashed into him he fell. A quick scramble and he lay still on the valley floor. The valley that was supposed to have been their salvation. The irony was disgusting. This valley was nothing if not _cursed_!

The last two guardsmen didn't even have the strength left to sing as they fought. Back to back, they managed to hold them off a little longer, but in a short while the only ones left standing were Blood Snakes.

They leered at the Princess as they picked her up, the Captain knew what they had in mind for next, and the Captain went cold. It was over. He had to do **something**! Exhausted, he pulled himself up to his knees, and crawled forward. His fingertips brushed something cold and taught. Looking down briefly, he saw a bow with an arrow still slightly nocked laying in the earth fast turning to mud. Desperate, he lunged for it.

The Blood Snakes hauled the Princess to her feet and slapped her awake. She awoke instantly, and to her credit, she did not cry out. Nodding to themselves the snakes lowered her back to her knees. They planned on enjoying this.

The Captain drew the shaft back tight against his cheek, and prayed his shot would be true. Begging the Princess' forgiveness he closed his eyes and let the arrow loose. At the same instant a gust of wind whisked through the valley and caught the arrow on a rising current.

It struck the Princess, just above her heart. Gasping, she looked to her Captain in surprise as her life started to bleed out of her.

Enraged snakes turned and rushed for the Captain. As they came for him he managed to rise to his knees, his torso straight in the air, he saluted his Princess. Then hardened his gaze as they came for him. He did not close his eyes this time.

As they slaughtered her Captain, the Princess' last vestige of control left her. Heartsick and enraged, she knelt in silent prayer for vengeance. Magic was to blame for this day, magic was to blame for all of it. Her father, her people, her guardsmen... they had all died this day due to magic, and she cursed it. Begging the heavens with her final strength, she pleaded for the destruction of magic in this world, to wrest the reins of magic out of the inept hands of irresponsible mortals. This world was not ready for magic yet... take it back ... take it **back** ... and slowly the Princess slumped into the ground. Surprisingly, she felt no pain, only a warm glowing feeling...

Then the heavens opened once again that fateful day, and a brilliant beam of the purest white did strike that young Princess through her heart. However she did not rise again like her father. The glow permeated her entire body, then with an awful sound, a howling screech sounded as terrible light left her, shooting out in rays as sharp as razors. They cut down the remaining Blood Snakes, then into the very walls of the valley itself, sealing it's trails and passes for centuries to come.

And as the blood of the Princess and her guardsmen slowly mixed with that of the rain waters, and gathered into the shallow puddles on the Jusenkyo valley floor, the Princess' wish was granted, and all the magic in the world started to drain into those same puddles. Wiping all record of its existence from the face of the earth as it went.

Hours later as the rains died down, a single figure moaned on that bloody battlefield. The Captain's vassal, wounded but not dead, lifted himself up on arms strengthened with determination. Slowly he stood and surveyed the carnage, and he wept for the world and his Princess. Then, a great while later, he began the grisly task of burying their dead. The enemy he left to rot.

When that was finished he left the valley, and found himself a nice quiet cave far into the mountains, and there he began to write, a record of what had come to pass, so that one day, if it should ever be needed, the knowledge of what had happened there on that day would be available. At his side in the candle light, as he wrote, gleamed the elemental sword wrought by the Princess' own hands.

-----

With a crash of thunder Dr. Tofu snapped awake. Disoriented, he quickly scanned the room for the source of the danger. He opened his mouth to call for the guards ... then reality came crashing back to him, and he slumped back down on his futon, drained of all stamina.

Looking over his shoulder, he checked the rise and fall of Kasumi's breast. Her breathing was stable and her color looked fine. Glancing back around the room, the doctor's eyes settled on the window, and the furious storm sweeping across Nerima. The lightning flashed and the winds howled, and the thunder rumbled.

"What in the world..." The doctor muttered aloud. He had never had a dream so real before, so vivid. It was almost as if he was experiencing those events through the eyes of those whom had actually been there. But that was ... _impossible_ ... wasn't it? The more the doctor thought about it, the colder he felt. This was not good, not good at all.


	9. The Many Problems With Women

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (5/11/20000)  
Last modified (6/28/2000)

Chapter 9, "The Many Problems With Women"

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**FF Net Notes:**

Like all of the other chapters I am putting up here on FF Net, I am doing some minor editing to this chapter re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of small spelling/grammar issues that slipped through the filters years ago. For chapter 9, I have also re-written a few dialog scenes for (I hope) better comedy.

Feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (generally). The re-written chapter 11 (soon to be two chapters), and new epilogue, are on their way. Chapter 9 is going up today, I will try to get 10 up today as well, and 11 by tomorrow, but I make no promises

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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Ouch. Kasumi's head hurt. Slowly her conscious self swam out of the abyss that she had slipped into. Breathing in slowly the cool slightly musty air of the room she was in Kasumi's mind tried to sort out many things. Where was she? She was lying down, she could feel that. The surface she was on was soft, and bumpy ... the couch? What was she doing on the couch? Ouch! Man her head hurt! She felt like some crazy little imp had been whanging away at her temple with a pint sized mallet for days. Her head was literally throbbing with pain. Chancing it, she attempted to crack her eyelids open to see what was going on ... big mistake. Hurriedly squeezing them shut again, she sucked her breath in sharply as the little needles of pain stabbed behind her eyes. Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch. 

Now she remembered. That man, that big, smelly, awful man had struck her. Kasumi had never, ever, been hit like that before. Oh sure, mom had swatted her behind a few times on the rare occasion she had been a naughty girl when she was little. But she had never been struck out of violence before. Lying there, Kasumi decided she respected Ranma even more now.

Bravely trying once again, Kasumi briefly opened her left eye, slowly her vision cleared and she could vaguely make out someone sitting slumped over in a chair beside her. It was ... no ... it couldn't be him. Quickly, she shut the eye again. The room was dark with all the lights out, and Kasumi judged the time of day to be about a half hour before dawn.

With a determined moan, Kasumi tried to sit up. The wall of pain that her motions caused, slammed her back onto the couch before she realized it. The commotion that her movement caused jolted Tofu out of his dazed stupor and took his eyes from the far wall, and the images playing again and again through his mind.

With a far away look in his eyes, Tofu snapped out of his thoughts on that weird and frightening dream, and stared at the face of his beloved. Laying the back of his hand across her warm and slightly sweaty forehead he checked for a fever, there was none. Kasumi's face was bruised and swollen. It was bandaged and puffy, her hair was tousled and her breath was probably terrible. But Tofu loved her fiercely. He would trade anything, anything! To be the one to suffer this pain for her. If only he hadn't been such a pathetic loser! If only he could have looked upon this woman and not had his mind turned into insta-pudding.

He had failed her. He had let her down when she really needed him. What if that man had shot her, or used a knife? It could have easily been either of those options instead of a simple slap. Sure, a slap for most people wasn't that big of a deal. But it was kind of hard for Tofu to treat this as a minor incident. Love knew no reason. This was even worse because Tofu possessed the skills to have stopped all of this, but he had been babbling to a tree at the time, and Ranma had not reacted quickly enough. 'But I don't blame Ranma. I am to blame!' He thought in anguish.

'Never again, never again!' Tofu swore that oath to himself over Kasumi's prone and broken body ... okay it wasn't really broken but as guilty as he felt it might as well be. He would never again allow himself to lose control. If he had to, he would pour ice water into his veins. Whatever sacrifice he must make, so be it. Never again would he allow himself to lose control, and in so doing allow the one person he cared for more than any other in the entire universe come to harm. Never again!

Knowing that she would be in quite a lot of pain when she came fully awake Tofu reached under her neck and slowly started to massage the pain out of her. First the base of her neck, then higher, and higher, then right behind her ears, and finally her temples. Using both hands now the doctor crouched next to her, stretched out in an awkward position so as to not actually touch her more than necessary as he leaned over her. This was not a sexual thing, he was acting as a physician. He didn't deserve to touch her. But at least, at least, he could do this small favor for her, to allow her to awake without pain.

Finally she spoke. Her eyes were still closed, but more out of relaxation now than pain. Her voice was a scratchy whisper, hesitantly, and very quietly so as to appease the wicked little demons dancing around inside her head she spoke into the cold, quiet, dark room.

"I don't blame you, you know?" She asked quietly.

"I blame myself." Tofu answered detached and quiet, without passion, his tender care never faltering. "I cannot undo what has been done to you, but I swear to you, I shall seek your vengeance."

"Tofu ... I beg of you. Don't allow yourself to become changed over this. Don't allow that which is evil in our world to change who you are inside. I will be all right. You are just in shock right now, you'll see, it will be all right." She spoke to him as she always spoke, soft, kind and soothing. This whole conversation was going downhill, and yet at the same time it was bizarre. Their first real conversation! He wasn't running into anything, wasn't acting goofy, he was in complete control. The irony was just sickening.

But she never would have wished it, if she had known the terrible price he would have had to pay in order to shed his shyness. The wounds on her face would heal a lot faster than those now festering on this man's heart. Maybe, maybe it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Tofu seemed pretty shook up, and more so than this incident seemed to merit, maybe something else was eating at him in addition to her condition. Soon the sun would rise, and spirits would rise with it, and the house would start up again as it always did, and life would go on normally. Or at least as normal as it ever got around here.

So they stayed and sat, in silence. Listening to the sound of each other breathing, each of them thinking private thoughts, and each of them worried for the other.

-

Ranma was not a happy camper. Why did HE always get the crappy jobs. Why was it that whenever something distasteful had to be done they all swiveled their heads HIS way?

Muttering to himself, Ranma hugged the thin protection that his sole blanket provided tighter to himself and shivered in a corner of the roof of the house in the early morning air. It wasn't quite summer yet, and the nights still dipped to a chilly 10 to 15 degrees Celsius at night.

Flashing back to last night, Ranma bitterly replayed the scene over in his mind again. Wearily he had trudged up the stairs, each step making a slight creaking sound as he went. He was ready for a night of well earned rest. He had just checked on Tofu and Kasumi one final time, both of them still unchanged since the incident had happened. As he cleared the last step Ranma came face to face with the whole family.

"And just where do you think **you're** goin' boy?" Genma had started.

"Ranma, you have a sacred duty to this family and our household, now is not the time for letting our guard down son." Soun had leapt in.

"Yeah Ranma, **someone** has to stand guard tonight just in case more of those maniacs come back, and I just couldn't think of anyone more capable than you sweety." Nabiki had chimed in. Akane just stood there and looked at him sadly, guiltily knowing full well the family was rail-roading him, but also knowing she would sleep sounder knowing Ranma was guarding them.

"Don't worry boy, I'll come change places with you in a few hours so you can get some sleep... " Genma had lied through his teeth. Soun also piped in his resolve to watch over the family in their time of need, or something like that. Ranma hadn't been listening at that point as he nodded and sighed and brushed past them. Resolutely he had walked down the hall and grabbed a blanket from the hall closet as he went. Without looking back he jumped out the window to stand his watch.

So he had stood guard. For the first hour he had grudgingly marched around the roof top, silently watching and listening for any sign of someone. That quickly got old though, and then Ranma had resolved to just find a high perch and watch and listen from there. The chimney seemed as good a place as any. Sitting cross-legged atop the scratchy unfinished surface of brick and mortar Ranma scanned the still night. Someone should be coming to relieve him soon right?

About an hour later Ranma had poked his head down over the rooftop and peered into the guest room to see Genma snoring away in Panda form, as expected. He had then crossed the roof to the opposite side of the house, with the faint hope that Soun might be getting up as he had promised. Only to find the window latched shut with the shutters drawn tight, and a sign on the window reading, "Guard us well son." And a happy face in the lower right hand corner.

Well, it had been a dim hope at best. Tromping over to Genma's side again, Ranma grabbed a small rock from the rooftop as he went and hanging down in front of the window with his toes curved over the roof edge, he slid the window open and proceeded to bounce the rock off of the fat panda's stomach, and smirk as it skipped like a flat stone on water and careened off the old man's forehead.

The panda snorted and waved its hands around frantically for a second, then snapped its eyes open half way and quickly rolled over on its side and rummaged around on its side for a second, the low squeak of a marker on wood could be heard. Then the panda rolled back over on its back and threw the sign at Ranma unexpectedly.

Ranma, caught off guard, caught the sign, but only after it had nailed him square in the chest. Startled, Ranma didn't even have time to do anything fancy to save himself, and went sailing off the roof with the momentum of the thrown sign. As he fell he yelled, "stupid old man!"

Crashing with the sound of broken branches and the popping of joints, Ranma thrashed around furiously in the scratching bushes. After a moment Ranma finally managed to right himself. Indignantly grabbed up the sign from the ground and prepared to chuck it through the open window when it suddenly slid shut with a clang that almost bounced it back out of the frame, then a board went up crosswise across the window frame, and a black and white blur could be seen hammering it home. Then the panda pulled one eyelid down and stuck it's tongue out at the boy, and shut the drapes.

Cursing, Ranma dropped the sign. In sloppy lettering it read, "Go'way boy or I'll sell ya to the monkey house."

"Figures." Ranma muttered as he sighed and resolved himself to the fact that he had locked out of the house, and stuck out here for the remainder of the night, so he might as well do what they wanted him to do.

Sullenly he jumped back onto the roof and grabbed up his blanket and whipped it around his shoulders with a sharp snap, then found the highest corner on the roof, and slumped down into it in defeat. The sand paper like feel of the roof tiles did a pretty good job of keeping him awake. It was rather difficult to find a comfortable position on them. Wrapping the blanket about him he ceased his noise making for the night, and set about listening for any noise in the night that didn't belong there.

At least there was a moon out tonight, and it wasn't raining. Not even a cloud in the sky as a matter of fact. If it had been raining ... he would have broken in that stupid window. Ranma shivered involuntarily thinking of rain. 'Stupid old man.' Ranma thought moodily to himself.

Sitting there hour after hour, Ranma's mind started to fog over, and he knew he was losing the war against sleep. Glancing at the horizon, he knew that day break was only another half hour or so away at the most, if he could just hold out until day break he would be okay. The family would get up then, and then they would be responsible for themselves. Ranma had never been very good at two things: resisting sleep and controlling his ravenous hunger. If either of those things were confronting him, he tended to cave in.

_Scratch ... scritch ... crack._

Ranma shot upright peering alertly into the twilight. "What the hell was that?" Ranma whispered to himself. Sitting upright and slowly turning his head from side to side, Ranma listened to the night for the sounds to repeat themselves. Minutes passed and only silence met Ranma's attentive ears. Muttering to himself, Ranma settled back down again. His tired mind was playing tricks on him.

_Scratch ... scritch ... crack._

"Okay, that time I know I heard something ..." Ranma started to say.

_Scratch ... scritch ... crack!_

Spinning around hurriedly, Ranma caught sight of a dark blur sprinting up the rooftop. Before he could react, the blur was upon him. The dark shape bounded up the roof and leapt off of Ranma's head.

"Whoo hoo hoo hoooo! What a haul, what a haul!" An elated Happosai whooped as he skipped off of Ranma's forehead and continued across the rooftop. Ranma's shoulders slumped as the adrenaline drained out of his system. It wasn't an unknown maniac. It was their well known pervert. Only slightly less annoying he guessed.

"It figures ... just when you think things can't get any crazier, or any worse, the old freak shows up to bounce off your head ..." Ranma trailed off as he rubbed his head and watched the old pervert bounding across the rooftop.

Suddenly the old freak skidded to a stop. Turning his head slowly back in Ranma's direction, he regarded Ranma with a feral grin. Then reversed gears and sprinted back the way he had come.

"Ranma!**Sweeto**! You waited for me? How sweet it is! Here I have just the little number for you to try on too!" Happosai elated as he jumped into Ranma's arms.

Ranma just stood there for a moment staring into the sparkling happy eyes of the old freak. Happosai stared back with a silly grin on his face. Several seconds passed and Ranma took a deep calming breath.

"You know ... you get on my nerves sometimes dontcha?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, but I don't really care." Happosai answered smugly.

"Why you little ..." Ranma attempted to throw the old man down, and found it rather difficult to do, seeing as the old man was now clinging to his arms tenaciously. "Hey you, leggo!" Ranma howled and vigorously shook his arms. "Hey! I said leggo!" Ranma yelled.

"Whoo hoo hoo hoo!" Happosai giggled. "Ranma baby, come ta papa!" Happosai trumpeted. Then wiggling around in his shirt, Happosai produced a flask of water, and without a pause, bit the cork and dumped its shockingly cold contents onto the now female Ranma. Again they just stood there standing and staring at each other, Ranma with a disbelieving look of shock and anger on her face, Happosai with a self satisfied smirk. The wind whistled and a dog barked in the distance. Ranma slowly drew the cold night air in through clenched teeth, then went crazy.

"That's it I've had it with you, you old pervert! Get offa me! ... Hey, get your head **out** of there ... **I am not a plaything!**" Ranma screamed as Happosai proceeded to bury his head betwixt her ample breasts and wiggle around in delight.

Finally having enough, Ranma swung both arms inward in a dual finger jab aimed for Happosai's head. Flexing the first two fingers tightly and crossing them, she aimed for the base of his neck. And stabbed herself in the sternum with the unexpected absence of the old freak.

Suddenly feeling a rebounding weight upon her neck and head, she slowly reached up and lifted the bra off her head that Happosai was using to anchor himself to her, holding the dangling Happosai in front of her again Ranma snarled, "you realize I have to kill you now dontcha?" Ranma said through clenched teeth.

"May I ask for a last request?" Happosai asked in his, "innocent," voice, with his, "Bambi Eyes," going in full force. Shrugging, Ranma answered, "sure."

Reaching around behind himself and digging around in his panty pack Happosai pulled out a skimpy pink sheer and diaphanous low cut bra, swimming with lace and sequins, you just couldn't get more feminine than that, and danced it around in front of Ranma's nose. "Model this for me would ya?" Happosai snickered.

"_**Die freak!**_" Ranma ranted as she punted Happosai into lower earth orbit. Standing there shoulders heaving and breathing raggedly Ranma cursed after the departing old man. Finally tiring of it she slouched then looked down, and screamed. The old freak had managed to clasp the bra around her before she punted him, including the shoulder straps!

"One of these days ..." Ranma silently promised to the wind as she hurriedly ripped the garment off. Then jumped as a baseball bat went sailing past her head.

"Shaddup would ya? Some of us are still trying to sleep!" Nabiki's head was poking out of her window as she leaned out craning her neck up to see Ranma. Just as quickly as she had appeared she whipped her head back in the house and slammed her window, leaving Ranma standing on the rooftop in a dazed stupor.

"That's it, I'm outta here." Ranma muttered as she hopped off the roof and landed in the garden with the slight smushing sound of wet grass and soft earth. Landing in a half crouch, feet together and hands in pockets, Ranma set off out the gates and down the street.

"Maybe Ukyou's place will be open ..." Ranma thought out loud. Her stomach growled audibly at the thought of some food. Maybe if she was lucky Ukyou would let her sleep in the back room for a few hours ... what was she thinking? If she went to Ukyou's after what had happened at the school, and after the steps she had been making with Akane, she would never hear the end of it.

Sighing aloud for the umpteenth time that day Ranma jingled the yen she happened to have in her pockets, and decided it was enough for a meal at a diner somewhere. Shrugging her shoulders, she set off for a favorite one on the opposite side of town. The sun was just starting to come up but hadn't quite cleared the horizon yet, and the sharp clean smells of morning dew and sprinklers on asphalt filled the air. Already the city was coming alive, traffic was filling the streets, and the human sounds of a city were growing.

Several minutes and many hopped rooftops later, Ranma opened the door to her favorite diner. It wasn't her favorite because the food was great, or because the service was good, or even because the prices were reasonable - which they were. It was because nobody knew who she was in this part of town. They didn't recognize her on sight, nor know enough of her reputation to see her Chinese clothes and guess who she was. This was one of the very few quiet spots Ranma had left in this town, and she guarded its location jealously.

Bowing politely to the restaurant owner, Ranma asked for a table and a kettle of hot water right away. Being a diner they always had one or two on the stove so as to be able to serve tea to the customers. Smiling, the restaurant owner shuffled off to the kitchen area then quickly returned with the kettle. She knew this particular customer, and always kept a kettle on low heat ready for her. The first time the customer had asked for the kettle she had complained that the water burned her skin ... however she had managed to get enough of the water on her skin to find that out.

Seating herself, Ranma smiled gratefully and poured herself a brimming cup full of the warm water, then when she thought no one was looking, dumped it on her head. The restaurant owner saw of course, she saw everything that went on in her diner. But a customer was a customer, even weirdos. She would play along with the customer and pretend she didn't see anything, as long as that made her happy.

Sighing with relief, the once again male Ranma leaned back in the simulated leather padded booth and propped his menu in front of him. Scanning the menu, he quickly decided on the miso soup meal, and some tea. Almost as if by magic a waitress appeared as soon as he placed his menu back down, a silly smile on her face and pen and paper ready. Once she had taken the order and had gone, Ranma sat back with his cup of tea and allowed himself to slip into a stupor. Finally, finally he could relax. Here he was temporarily safe from insanity that was his life.

-

"Um ... I don't mean to complain ... " Midori trailed off staring at her shoes as she faithfully followed Ryouga through the twilight streets of Nerima. "You were very kind to walk me home and all ... but ... it's almost day time now ... and we haven't made it to my house yet ... and my dad will be worried. Can I lead now?" Midori asked hopefully to Ryouga's silent back.

Ryouga paused a moment in front, then shrugged and stopped. "Sure, why not." Was all she got from him. Eying him curiously, Midori sidled up to the side of Ryouga, trying to get him to make eye contact. All he did was stare straight at his shoes. Sighing, Midori was about to set off for home, when her stomach growled. Shrugging, she asked Ryouga, "hey, I'm hungry. Are you?" Ryouga grunted noncommittally.

"One of the great conversationalists, he's not." Midori muttered under her breath, then louder she suggested, "I know a great little diner close by here, lets stop for some tea and something to eat. We have been walking all night, and I'm pooped." Nodding his head once, Ryouga stood there impassively. Sweat dropping, Midori nodded to herself then set off, occasionally glancing back to see if he was still there.

Reaching the diner, Midori eagerly slipped inside, only briefly glancing back to see if Ryouga was still coming. He was, slowly but surely stalking down the street, his inky black traveling cloak swirling in the air currents as if it were alive. His eyes were dark and hooded and his face was set and impassive. She supposed that he was scaring the people on the street as they sucked their breath in as he passed them by, or flat out leapt out of his way, but he didn't seem all that scary looking to her.

Walking up to the restaurant owner, Midori asked for a booth for two as she waited for Ryouga to catch up she looked about the room. Casually sweeping her eyes across the room, Midori's gaze passed a young man in an ebony black sleeveless Chinese frog-tied shirt with a high Manchurian collar. The inside was ivory white as were the ties and the collar. His black hair was braided into a pony tail, and he seemed to be half asleep. Moving on she continued her observations, then realization hit her.

Snapping her gaze back to Ranma's table, Midori almost squealed in delight. It was HIM. The guy from the doctor's office, who sat in front of her in class. The one with the incredible body and those piercing blue eyes! Hurriedly motioning to the restaurant owner, Midori told her to forget the booth, telling her she would sit with a friend already here. Shrugging, the restaurant owner nodded.

Visually taking a moment to compose herself, Midori drew herself up to her full height and sucked her tiny waist in further and threw out her breasts. Now almost completely off balance, she practically staggered over to Ranma's table.

Standing next to the table, she cleared her throat in an effort to gain his attention. Nothing. Clearing it a little louder this time, Midori placed both hands on the table edge and leaned over, exposing a small amount a cleavage, to her delight, and practically stared in Ranma's face nose to nose.

Startled, Ranma snapped out of his drowsy stupor and accidentally did the first thing his battle hardened mind called for, he lashed out with a blazing chop straight for her throat. Seeing who had startled him, Ranma managed to yank the chop away from her throat at the last second.

"What in the world! ..." Ranma started to yell. Then remembering where he was, dramatically lowered his voice. "What did you think you were doing?" Ranma growled at the obviously terrified girl who was now standing out of arms reach from the table, clutching her throat with both hands, looking more than a little terrified. Most people just usually said hi when they saw her. "I could have seriously hurt you lady, you just don't sneak up on people like that." Ranma scolded.

He tried to look stern, but the girl looked ready to cry. If there was one thing that Ranma couldn't stand, it was a girl crying because of him.

"I ... I ... d-didn't mean to sneak up on you sir ... I ... I just w-wanted to say hello ..." Midori's wavering voice sounded on the brink of tears as she then sniffled and backed away another step. Inwardly sighing mightily, Ranma stood up and indicated the seat across from him.

"Please ... sit down. Hey ... it's all right, I don't bite." Ranma said as he smiled his "lady-killer" smile. Sniffing again, Midori complied and sat rather stiffly across from Ranma. Smiling, Ranma started to signal for the waitress when she magically appeared next to him again.

"And what will your lady friend be having today?" The waitress smiled.

"J-Just some ... tea please, strong." Midori added shakily as an after thought. She was too shook up now to eat anything. That had scared the hell out of her! The waitress nodded and left again.

'I wonder if that waitress trained under Cologne.' Ranma thought idly thinking about her magic appearing act. Swinging his attention back to the girl, Ranma tried to strike up a polite conversation with her.

"So you are up early today. Did you make it home safely last night?" Ranma asked. Blushing, Midori answered.

"Well ... actually, I haven't quite made it home yet. This is my neighborhood, but Ryouga and I spent the better part of last night trying to find it, he seemed like he wanted to lead so I let him ... did you know he has a rather odd sense of direction." Sputtering, Ranma started choking on his tea.

Choking it down, Ranma resumed laughing. Midori started to grow defensive. "Hey, it's not MY fault. I didn't know that he would get us lost ... hey ... come on ... it's not THAT funny ... hello ... are you listening to me?" Midori shook her head in wonder as Ranma slipped under the table as peals of laughter shook him.

Modestly Midori swung her legs towards the aisle, just in case he was a pervert. Giggling out of control, Ranma finally managed to shoot a hand up from under the table and latch onto the edge. With a mighty effort, he pulled himself up to lay lengthwise across the booth bench clutching his belly with both hands, and taking deep breaths trying to calm down.

Midori leaned over the table to look at him in wonder, what the heck had been so funny? Finally Ranma sat up slowly, wiping a tear from his eye as he chuckled.

"Ryouga having an odd sense of direction ... heh, that was funny." Ranma grinned goofily. He had needed that. His light mood was contagious and Midori was soon grinning along with him.

"So, where is 'ol bacon breath anyway?" Ranma quipped.

"Bacon breath? You mean Ryouga? Is that some kind of a nick name?" Midori asked. Grinning, Ranma nodded, and replied, "oh yeah. He loves it. You should always call him that." Midori nodded and made a mental note to do that. There was apparently a weird side to this young man's life.

"He should be coming in here soon. He was right behind me ..." She trailed off as the implications of what she was saying sunk home. Gasping a quick, "be right back," she ran out the door calling for, "bacon breath." Ranma fell over laughing again. She would be a while locating him. If he wasn't already a mile away.

Five minutes later, she entered the diner again, dragging a rather sullen looking Ryouga behind her by the hand. Snorting, Ranma smiled again. As they sat down Ranma just couldn't resist saying something.

"Got lost again, huh Ryouga? You'd think you'd know your way around this town by now, seeing as you must spend months at a time wandering around it." Ranma joked.

Ryouga, just in the process of seating himself, jolted to his feet again. Fire lit his indignant eyes.

"Who asked you! You have no idea the hell I go through day in and day out! So just shut up Ranma, you pervert." Ryouga snapped and started to sit down again.

"Hey! What did I tell you about callin' me that, bacon breath?! You take that back!" Ranma raised his voice as he stood up.

"Bacon breath?! Are _you_ who she got that from?! **Die Ranma**!" Ryouga shouted as he lunged across the table for Ranma's throat. Ranma met his hands in mid air and they stood there, hand to hand, muscles straining, eyes locked, across the table from each other. Midori was growing a little uneasy. They hadn't acted like this last night.

"Hey! Hello?! Guys ... could you ... hey! Knock it off!" Midori yelled, then tried waving her hand in front of their faces ... nothing. People in the restaurant were starting to stare. Embarrassed, she went to the next level and reached across the table and grabbed a hold of both their noses.

"I said, **knock it off!**" She huffed. Slowly, they lowered their arms, but continued to stare at each other. These two had a bad history between them, that much was obvious. It was also obvious that they intended to carry that past into the present.

Finally breaking eye contact with Ryouga, Ranma's eyes swept the room, to find every single pair of eyes in the diner staring at their table. Sweatdropping, he watched the restaurant owner making her way to their table.

"You people are crazy. Please leave. Tea was free, on the house. Please leave." She firmly stated, pointing to the door. Sighing, Ranma and company complied. Ranma had lost yet another safe haven from his crazy life.

Ranma's all too brief good mood was slipping away from him again. Slowly, he walked down the street with Midori right next to him, and Ryouga trailing behind. Unlike Midori, Ranma did not keep glancing back to see if he was still there, he didn't care. His depressed steps made slight dragging noises on the sidewalk as he mopped.

Quietly, Ranma walked with Midori the rest of the way home. Slowly her spirits started to lift again. Maybe he did like her after all, he was walking her home wasn't he? Deciding to chance it, Midori made a decision.

When they finally reached her home, Ryouga hung back looking depressed as usual. Her house was pretty. It had a high wall around it, pained white with a red border. Two cherry trees dancing in the slight breeze flanked the entry gate and a flower bed circled the fence. Around the flower bed was a healthy green patch of grass, and separating the estate from the sidewalk was a small white fence. The type you might see around a horse corral.

Ranma walked her up to her gate, and politely waited for her to go inside. She stood there looking at him, as if waiting for something. Confused Ranma looked at her down cast eyes and waited for her to go inside. Suddenly, Ranma understood, she wanted him to kiss her. Confused, Ranma stood still, hoping she would knock it off and go inside. But, huffing, Midori stood up on her tiptoes and leaned in to kiss him.

Glancing up out of the corner of his eye, Ryouga watched the spectacle unfolding and grinned. Midori leaned in close to Ranma, her hands clasped behind her back shyly as she tried to kiss him. Ranma stepped back. Stunned, but not done yet, Midori tried again, this time closing her eyes as she went in. Panicked, Ranma did the only thing he could think of, he put his hand over his mouth.

Midori's lips brushed skin that felt like lips, and let her lips linger there for a moment, then opened her eyes, and found herself staring into Ranma's hand. Her heart sank.

Humiliated, she slapped him, hard, then she pivoted on her heal and sprinted into her house, tears streaming from her eyes and choking on her own wracking sobs.

"Geeeeeeez ..." Ranma sighed as he rubbed his cheek. "I didn't mean ta make her cry. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just let her kiss me, every woman in this city watches me like a hawk, if any of them found out about that, I would have to move to a new country." Ranma muttered to himself.

"Cry me a river Ranma. At least you **have** women throwing themselves at your feet. Akane is the only girl I'll ever love, and you **have** her love, and what do you do with it, you toy with her like you did this girl, you make me sick Saotome." Ryouga growled.

"What did you say?!" Ranma shouted indignantly spinning around with hands on hips to glare at Ryouga. "Bring it on bacon breath, I could use a warm up." Snarling, Ryouga dropped his pack from under his cloak and snapped the cloak over his shoulders, freeing up his arms.

"It's about time **someone** taught you some manners Saotome!" Ryouga started to walk towards Ranma, then froze. Curious, Ranma turned his gaze to match Ryouga's, and felt his heart catch in his throat. A rather angry looking gentleman was storming their way, and he looked to be of the right age and appearance to be Midori's father.

"Uh oh." Ranma muttered, this wasn't gonna be good. In his extensive dealings with love sick, crazy girls, Ranma had found that adding family members to the equation was always a bad idea. Idly, he toyed with the idea of running away, then shrugged and stood his ground.

"Hey you! What did you do to my daughter?! Yeah, you, punk I'm talking to you!" The father yelled as he shook his fist and stormed their way, Ryouga, a merry grin spreading across his face hooked his thumbs through his belt loop and leaned back upon a nearby fence and just watched. This was going to be funny.

"First she stays out all night because she tells me that some doofus gets her lost on the way home! Then she tells me that some other guy just accosted her in front of her own house! I want some answers buddy!" The irate father yelled, now standing toe to toe with Ranma. Ranma noted with some discomfort, that this guy could use a breath mint.

Ranma, of course, could wipe the floor with this guy, but in doing so he would sink to the low levels of the art, such as his father applied them, and that would be a fate worse than death. Besides, then Midori would _really_ hate him. So taking a deep and calming breath he tried to explain the situation to the rather large and angry father standing before him. "You gotta lot of nerve trying to molest my daughter in front of her own house!" The irrational father exploded cutting off Ranma's attempt to explain.

"Look, you got it all wrong, I never touched your daughter!" Ranma jumped in during a pause of the father's ranting.

"So, my daughter isn't good enough for you to touch, is that it punk?" The father demanded and shoved a finger into Ranma's chest, pushing him back a step.

"No sir! Your daughter is very pretty! I would be honored to date her." Ranma back peddled hoping to appease this crazy person. Ryouga in the background was chortling like crazy. Ranma's explanation had an undesired effect, the father's eyes lightened and he slapped a muscular arm around Ranma's shoulders.

"Great! I'll call the church, we can marry you two today!" Ranma looked horrified at the sudden change in direction this was taking. In the background Ryouga broke out into peals of laughter. Looking askance at his unwanted partner in crime, Ranma saw him sprawled on the grass clutching his belly in uncontrollable laughter. He swore to himself to kick him after this was over.

"Um, as much as I would like that sir ... I would have to ask my mother's permission first. Here I can give you her phone number." Ranma lied through his teeth as he made up a phone number and recited it to the suddenly happy, if not rather crazy father. Swearing to return as soon as he had his mothers blessing, he hurriedly walked back out the way he had come.

Pausing above Ryouga who was now rolling around on the grass in fits of laughter he gave him a swift kick to the ribs.

"This is _so_ not funny you goof ball." Ranma growled as Ryouga's laughing slowed a bit due to his kick, but started right back up again.

"Oh but it is ..." Ryouga gasped between laughs. "Ranma I swear you should have seen the look on your face, it was classic!" Ryouga giggled then resumed his full out belly laughing. Shrugging, Ranma hopped over the fence and dashed away from the area, this part of town was now just as dangerous to him as most of Nerima.

'Great, just great, **another** girl has lost her mind over me. Maybe it's my cologne?' Lost in thought, Ranma started to trudge back towards the Tendou dojo, and another day of insanity. Maybe he could catch a nap too. And panda boy was getting a beating today, with his own sign, with a brick taped to it, Ranma grinned.

-

Tofu sat in quiet meditation in one of the Tendou guest rooms. All the shutters were closed and the door was shut. The only illumination in the room came from a candle lit atop the small lacquer table he was sitting at. Silent, except for the slight crackle as he turned the pages Tofu poured over the contents of the ancient tome, searching for any clue to that bizarre dream from last night.

Most of the tome consisted of reports of bloody battles that had happened, bloody battles that at the time _would_ happen, and now as Tofu sat there, _had_ happened, such as the bombs dropped on Japan. But that wasn't what he was interested in. He wasn't even really reading the tome, he was simply looking for one character. The Chinese character for Princess.

If anything about that dream was in here, then the unnamed Princess would be in here. Come to think of it, _none_ of the people in that dream had had names ... how odd. Finally he reached the end of the tome. Nothing. Maybe it had just been a _very_ realistic dream. Maybe he just had an overactive imagination. Maybe. But he doubted it.

Tofu was just about to put the book away when his fingers brushed the bindings of the inside cover close to the book's spine. There was a distinguishable lump along the top portion of the inside seam. Almost undetectable had the book been brand new. But with age, the clever manipulations of the book's cover could be seen now, if one cared to look closely enough.

With baited breath, Tofu slowly peeled back the top layer of the inside cover and found a metallic plate, hammered paper thin, covering the inside cover. Slowly he undid the ancient fastenings that held it in place and lifted it up. Cleverly concealed in the hidden alcove was an oil cloth-covered metal tablet. Etched across its face were the tiniest Chinese characters he had ever seen.

Haunted, Tofu sat in utter silence as he held the booklet in his trembling hands, and read the first sentence:

_"They stormed the imperial palace in the middle of the night." His heart in his throat, he read on skipping over the unnecessary details, "... As our remaining troops crashed into the wall of the oncoming horde, we set about guarding the Princess. I was certain we would die in that room. The Guardsmen created a human wall before the entrance to her room. Half of their number on the outside singing their battle song, the other half in the inside, my Lord Captain among them ..."_

An hour later, his eyes strained from reading the minuscule text. Tofu lay the metal booklet down upon the inside of the book's now broken binding. The last lines of the young vassal's accounting of the origins of the Jusenkyo valley flashing across his mind's eye.

_"I pray that this record shall survive the ages, and I will set about making sure it does so, somehow. I have the sinking feeling that Huàide púrén is not dead enough yet. I fear that he may yet again be able to touch this plane. For as this sword wrought by the Princess' own hands lays beside me, so do I believe that he will walk these lands again. I weep for that day. But there is some hope, the court sages who managed to escape, tell me of visions they have received just recently of a saviour, a man that will stand against the Dark Mage to save the world, and at his side, MUST stand his other half, for if SHE does not stand with him, then all shall be lost. So sayest I, in the name of the Princess. Goyung Laou-Cho, Loyal servant to her majesty and the noble Captain of the home guard. May they rest in peace, and I with them soon I hope. I harbor no more love for this wretched plane."_

"My god ..." Dr. Tofu Ono whispered to the silent room. Outside the wind howled in empty fury, and the clouds started to roll in, a storm was coming, fast.


	10. The Protector

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (9/14/2000)  
Last modified (10/8/2000)

Chapter 10, "The Protector"

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**FF Net Notes:**

Like all of the other chapters I am putting up here on FF Net, I am doing some minor editing to this chapter re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of small spelling/grammar issues that slipped through the filters years ago.

Feel free to keep your very nice reviews coming. They are helping to motivate me to get all 11 chapters re-formatted and posted here. I am sorry that I am not able to personally respond to all of your reviews (usually) -- but I do read them, and I do appreciate them (generally). The re-written chapter 11 (soon to be two chapters), and new new epilogue, are on their way.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

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Ranma felt queasy as he walked along the city streets ... away from that crazy girl and her even crazier father! Was every woman in the world interested in marrying him? Discouraged, and rather intimidated, Ranma let his mind drift as we walked, trying to make the shaky feeling in his legs and the pit in his stomach go away. 

The morning air, already brisk, was growing colder. The air was still heavy with dew and contained that special mix of flavors that tantalizes the senses, and seems to refresh you.

Dark clouds were creeping up the morning skyline, shading the sun slowly as if a tree leaning in the blowing wind was being pushed in front of it. Shivering suddenly from the lack of the morning's heat, Ranma glanced skyward. The clouds were growing darker as they slithered across the heavens in inky black trails. 'I have the weirdest life sometimes.' Ranma lamented to himself as he noticed the sky, which seemed to be predicting rain.

Quickening his pace to a jog, Ranma hopped up on the railing along the water canal. The soft splashing sounds the water made as the wind picked up were lost to his hurried mind. Glancing both everywhere and nowhere at all Ranma tried to get himself to relax as he ran. Generally as far as his life went, this was a pretty tame day on the Ranma-scale. Only one small fight, and one crazy girl and her family ... so far.

As he ran, Ranma worried about the path his life was taking, and worried even more about how he was handling things, so he missed the warning bell. A bicycle bell wouldn't give cause for alarm for most people, unless you happened to know Shampoo... and she knew you.

With her customary, "Nihao! Airen!" Shampoo jumped up onto the railing with her delivery bike still under her and proceeded to land on Ranma's head, bike and all.

"Shampoo ... what are you doing on my head? Again!?" Ranma growled, at the same time noticing that Shampoo was wearing some kind of heavy perfume that was starting to make him dizzy.

Scrunching up her face in irritation Shampoo wondered for the millionth time why this was so difficult, the men in her tribe never gave her this kind of trouble, Shampoo cut Ranma off, "stop stupid talking Ranma. Shampoo very busy now. Now be good husband and give dutiful wife big kiss." Shampoo chimed happily in her sing song voice as she leaned over her handle bars to grin at Ranma upside down-like. Ranma sighed and shrugged his shoulders hard enough to dislodge his unwanted baggage.

Flipping end over end in the air Shampoo landed graceful as a cat, still sitting on her bike. Huffing, Shampoo pouted, "When husband be**real** man and take Shampoo to wife? Shampoo getting tired of waiting. Maybe Shampoo get rid of other girls, other obstacles, then husband no have more trouble to deciding ... " Shampoo suggested slyly as she glared at Ranma with a dangerous gleam in her eye. Taken aback and rather surprised, Ranma gulped and waved his hands back and forth in a warding gesture.

"Now let's not get carried away Shampoo. There ain't no reason to start getting rid of people, it ain't gonna solve nothing." Ranma's tone of voice was growing harder as he spoke.

"Shampoo think so, Shampoo think she start with weakest one first!" With that Shampoo whipped around on her bike and raced off in the general direction of the Tendou residence, trailing a cloud of dust.

Seriously worried now, Ranma started to jump off the canal railing to head her off, when his foot slipped out from underneath him!

"Sonofa ...!" Ranma yelled on his way down into the water. The icy surface of the canal water was shattered from its calm existence with the invading body of one now very female, and very irritated Ranma.

Sputtering and splashing around in the canal, Ranma grit her teeth and jumped clear of the water. Landing over the railing in a low squatting position on the street, breathing heavily and dripping very cold water. With her crimson hair plastered across her face Ranma growled and set off over the rooftops.

Ranma hopped over fences, buildings, people, cars and animals like they weren't even there. Fairly worried now, Ranma raced to stop Shampoo from harming Akane. Genma and Soun were home. But whether or not they would be able to recognize that Shampoo was about to kill Akane would be doubtful. Even if they knew, Shampoo wasn't exactly an easy person to stop.

Bounding over the Tendou Dojo gates Ranma sprinted towards the main house, calling wildly for Akane.

"Akane! Akane look out! Shampoo is trying to kill you! Akane! Akane where are you?!" Ranma screamed as she threw open the patio door and entered the house.

There sitting at the breakfast table was the family ... Akane included, and Shampoo. Sitting and talking peacefully. Leaning back and stretching Shampoo patted her belly.

"Aiyah! That good cooking. Killed hunger all gone. You is very good cook Kasumi Tendou, give even Shampoo run for her money." Shampoo grinned and stood up. "Shampoo feel much better now, but is delivery, have to go." Passing where Ranma was standing dumbfounded Shampoo winked and leaned in close to whisper, "next time ... Maybe husband do what dutiful wife ask of him, then no have to worry when run home ... remember Shampoo own you ... husband ..." Blowing warm air softly into Ranma's ear Shampoo took her leave of the Tendou residence.

Sweat dropping, Ranma fell over with an exasperated groan as her knees gave out. Akane glanced up and took in her fiancée's latest appearance.

"Honestly Ranma, do you go looking for water?" Akane chuckled quietly to herself and went back to eating. Ranma's goofiness could wait for later.

Emotionally and physically drained Ranma sighed and crawled up the stairs, and into her bedroom. Her senses returned to her enough that she could stand up as she entered the Tendou guest room. Just as she did so Genma came bounding through the door, holding his belly and burping. Turning her head to regard the invasion to her oh so brief peace and quiet, Ranma, standing in a growing pool of icy water, scowled at him.

"Hey boy. Thanks for standing watch last night, you're a credit to the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts!" Genma grinned and slapped the boy on the back. Making a fist hard enough to crack his knuckles, Ranma growled, "yes, but you aint! You lying coward!"

Ranma felt she could use a good fight just now. But decided against it, she was too wound up, and things would just get all ... crazy-like.

"Get out, I'm changing old man!" Was all she said before she shoved Genma from the room, and slapped the door shut and locked it.

"What in the ... **boy**! You open this door! Your father needs his morning nap!" Genma howled from the hallway as he smacked the door frame with his hand repeatedly.

"You stay out there you pervert. I'm not done changing yet!" Ranma retorted.

"But you're a boy for crying out loud Ranma! What is this all a..." Genma started to protest when the door slid open. Ranma was in her bath robe and still had a rather displeased look on her face. She also smelled a lot like, rain gutter water?

"I'm a girl right now you dirty old man, so just deal with it. You can go take your stupid nap now old man, I'm gonna go change back." Ranma said over her shoulder.

"Well that's more like it ..." Genma started to say to himself, until he turned around. -- Piled neatly on his futon were Ranma's wet and dirty clothes. "Ingrate son of mine..." Genma muttered as he sweat dropped and slowly slid the door shut behind him.

Ranma took a quick shower, not even bothering to wait for the water to warm up, and an even quicker bath, just a dunk in the warm water to change back into a boy. Toweling off hurriedly there was still quite a bit of warm water clinging to him as he slid the bathroom door open and started towards his room, and promptly had to backpedal, because Akane was standing right in front of him, looking at him quizzically and almost ... sadly? She had her hands clasped tightly in front of her and had her shoulders hunched forward, a sure sign of someone not sure of themselves.

"Ranma ... " She began. "What's going on with you? You were supposed to be up on the roof standing watch, I went up there at first light to bring you some breakfast ... but ... you weren't there. I ... I guess you went to Shampoo's or Ukyou's for breakfast ... I ... I understand." She said, with a slight shudder in her voice.

Ranma just couldn't help himself, he knew she was just curious as to where he went, and wanted assurance that he valued her more than the other girls. But he also remembered the cold night last night, and her painful silence as the family railroaded him up there, using his honor against him. He couldn't help it, he resented the family, and he resented her a little bit as well.

"I uh, went to ... a special restaurant of ... you ... you just wouldn't understand Akane. No one understands." Ranma replied in a whisper, looking at some point over her shoulder. His voice was catching in his throat. Was he was going to cry?! What was the matter with him?! He didn't want Akane to see him cry.

"I do so understand! Look I heard you arguing with your dad a minute ago, and I know our idiot fathers forced you to stand on the roof last night, but if you were arguing about our engagement with your dad. I understand, both our fathers are idiots, they both do stupid stuff now, and they did lots of stupid stuff in the past, but it's okay now isn't it? It's getting a little better isn't it? We ... we're getting better aren't we?" Akane asked timidly, hopefully.

Suddenly Ranma felt trapped. He had the old man behind him, pushing him to marry this girl. Her father also encouraged him at every turn, to the point of practically throwing him into bed with her if he could. Now even she was standing in front of him saying it would be okay. 'It will be okay,' she had said, suddenly everyone knew what would be okay for him. What about what he wanted?! What about what he thought was okay?

Did he love this girl? Was she the one who was meant for him? He had heard it said that everyone on Earth had a perfect match waiting for them somewhere, they just had to find them. But, he hadn't found her, he had been led to her. Was that enough? Or was it just wishful thinking?

Realizing that Akane was still standing in front of him, and also noticing that his vision was starting to blur, Ranma blurted out in a choked voice, "You don't understand me either, Akane. Not really. No one does. Oh and thanks for sticking up for me last night. I enjoyed the freezing cold up on the roof." Brushing past her down the hallway to the stairs, his footsteps silent as a ninja's, as always, Ranma didn't look back and Akane didn't watch him go. As usual Akane couldn't hear him go, and as usual Ranma never saw the tears streaming down her face.

'_Damn it!_' Akane mentally screamed. 'I thought we were finally getting somewhere. I thought we were finally connecting!' Storming down the hall to her room, Akane slammed her door so hard it cracked the wood frame, then locked it. Then Akane thundered into her room, kicking off her clothes, and changing into pajamas as she went. Resorting to the emotion that served her best in these types of situations Akane got angry, she turned on her stereo, loud, then fell on her bed.

For a minute she bashed at her pillows, sheets, blankets and even the wall with her fists, knees, feet, and anything else handy. Railing against these inanimate objects with her anger and frustration and the torment of her soul. Kicking and screaming she howled her injustice and pain to the uncaring walls. It was a wonder she didn't cave the walls in.

'**Why**?_Why can't he just __**love me**_? Why does everything have to be an issue with him? A challenge? Why can't he just let me inside of his walls and be with him? Why does he keep pushing me away? Is it my fault? Do I make him do it? Is he acting this way because of me?' Akane thought pitifully to herself in the aftermath of her fit as her strength left her. Then, clutching a rather large pillow to herself, and wrapping her legs about it, she let herself cry. Long drawn out sobs that echoed even over her music. Her shoulders shaking and her head buried deep into the pillows' warm forgiving surface. Hot tears sprang around her tightly clenched eyelids.

Her breathing came erratically as she cried, short heaving gasps, followed by an almost coughing breath that punctuated itself with short minor versions of itself. Then she would sniffle and manage to control herself for a second, only to think of his unkind words again and more tears would leak out. Soon the pillow was soaked with them.

--

Resorting to the last trick he had, Ranma used the "Saotome secret technique: runaway until you knows what to do." Ranma ran down the stairs and out of the house. He didn't care where he ran, he just ran. As he ran, tears streamed from his eyes as well. But he was in control of himself enough to control his breathing, and to be able to move while he was crying.

He just had to get away. Be alone and think for a little while. He should feel awful for treating his family poorly and snapping at Akane like that, but it was almost as if he felt nothing. Did he feel nothing? Well obviously not. This pain in his chest hurt. But not like a punch or a kick hurt. It felt like someone had reached down his throat and was squeezing his heart.

'Why do I feel so bad now after I yelled at her?' Ranma thought. 'I never feel like this when the old man and I fight.' Ranma thought as he ran. Finally slowing to a jog, then a walk, Ranma looked around, and realized he had no idea where he was. This area of Tokyo looked kinda old, and dark. It smelt like old rubber and trash. The buildings looked rather worn down too. Where was he?

Dazed Ranma continued to walk, sniffling occasionally, with his hands in his pockets and his head down. He didn't really care where he was anyway. He needed to think.

From the shadows of an alley Ranma had just passed, a band of about six older teenage boys watched Ranma go by. Street tough and large for their age, they made most of their spending money by beating up dorks like the guy in the Chinese pajamas that had just passed them. That and they got the added bonus of a work out. Nodding to each other they slipped out of the alley and started walking behind Ranma. Others on the streets quickly crossed to the other side, they knew what was about to happen. But it was best not to get involved. The poor boy.

Ranma knew they were behind him of course. But he didn't really care. He was too self absorbed with his worries to care. Just a couple of guys following him, they could follow him all they wanted, as long as they didn't bug him.

Smiling, the members of the little band unlimbered an assortment of weapons, from lengths of heavy chain, to lead pipes and knives and even a pair of metal nunchaku. The largest of the group trotted up to Ranma and poked him in the back with his knife blade.

"All right kid, let's make this easy. Give us your money now, and we'll leave ya 'lone. Or, we can just beat it out of you." He added with a snicker.

'Wow,' Ranma thought, 'I really must be in an out of the way part of town, for these morons to attack me ... nobody besides the craziest martial artists attack me ... I thought Japan was supposed to have a low crime rate ...' Ranma thought idly as he tuned around.

Turning around Ranma held up his hands palms out, non-threatening. "Sorry guys, but I didn't bring my wallet with me, do you accept I.O.Us?" Ranma quipped.

Eyes downcast in mock deference and politeness, the defacto leader of the group smiled, "wrong answer punk." Swinging his hand in an over handed attack, trying to bring the butt of his knife to bear on Ranma's skull, the bully leaned all of his might into it. He was, therefore, a little stunned when the kid casually held up a hand and caught and _stopped_ his arm. The bully strained as he tried to move his arm, but it was like his arm was encased in steel. He couldn't move it up or down. Then the kid wiggled his fingers, and suddenly he felt a sharp pain shooting through his wrist like some one had just jabbed a fork in it. Losing all control of his hand the knife fell out and clattered on the sidewalk.

People had stopped on the sidewalk now to watch this. Most of them knew of this gang of bullies, and seeing them get what was coming to them would be a welcome change from living in fear of them.

Shrugging, Ranma glanced at the rest of the gang. None of them moved, sighing he turned to walk away again. His mind was too crowded to deal with this right now.

Filled with rage, the gang leader grabbed a rock from the ground and heaved it with all his might. Sailing the short distance to Ranma's head it impacted with a terrific cracking against the building wall to the right front of Ranma. Ranma had, of course, heard the small missile incoming, and moved his head the few centimeters needed to dodge it. Unfortunately for Ranma, the rock managed to rebound off the wall, and into a window sill, and rocket right back at his head again. Ranma's legs crumpled under him and he collapsed. A collective sigh went up from those watching, too bad, the kid would probably be beaten to death now. Yet none of them moved to interfere.

'_Ouch_.' Ranma thought in the murky ether of semi-unconsciousness. That had hurt. 'Now why did they have to go and do that?' He asked himself. 'Now I have to beat'em all up.' He sighed. However when he felt himself being pulled to his feet and he still hadn't seemed to have regained his sense of balance or self, he knew he was in trouble. Solid head shots always did this to him, he needed another 20 seconds or so to snap out of it.

Dangling Ranma off the ground, the leader held him by the shoulders and shook him. "I am gonna enjoy beating the crap outta this one." He gloated to his comrades.

'Gotta ... gotta snap out of this ...' Ranma shouted to himself. 'Have to defend myself, honor of the Anything goes school depends on it.' Ranma strained to shake himself into action, but nothing happened. His limbs wouldn't respond.

The leader maneuvered Ranma around into a full nelson hold, and pulled him upright, and called to his cronies to come play. Gleefully they advanced on Ranma and proceeded to slam into him over and over again. Punching him in the kidneys, smashing him in the stomach with vicious kicks, punching him all about the face until he was bleeding everywhere. His body desperately wanted to fold in on itself to protect itself, or lie down or something, but the one holding him, held him up straight.

Ranma knew he was in real trouble, these morons could very well kill him. He _needed_ to protect himself. These animals needed to be taught a lesson, they needed to be brought to justice. Protection ... justice. These two things swirled in Ranma mind and started to take on a life of their own.

Somewhere deep inside of himself Ranma felt something very powerful stirring. Something he had felt before, but now it was something almost tangible, and it was growing sharper and stronger, he knew that it had always been there, but now it almost seemed like he could call it to himself. Slowly Ranma started to swim out of the ether. Calling upon reserves of strength he didn't even know he possessed and he acted.

Using a principal of the art known as purposeful compliance, Ranma let the one pushing down on his neck with his arms wrapped under his arms to push him down more, by ducking his head down sharply. This threw his attacker totally off balance. Then quickly reversing the motion into purposeful defiance Ranma slammed the back of his skull into his attacker's nose as the now off balance gang leader fell forward, lending his forward momentum energy into the strike -- a force which Ranma's attack borrowed and multiplied with his opposite motion.

Stunned, the attacker loosened his grip, but not all the way. Twisting and using his hips Ranma thrust his right hip into the attacker's groin region, pushing his attacker back a step and creating distance between them, then lifted his right leg up and swiftly back kicked his attacker's left knee out, then recoiled the motion and snap-side kicked the right one as well. With his attackers grip now gone and falling, Ranma whipped around and smashed a vicious back knuckle strike at the attacker's temple. Dropping him with the motion he had caused from the two broken knees.

Standing there reeling slightly Ranma glared at the rest of the group. They had a beating coming as well. With a shout they all rushed him, knives and clubs and chains all swinging. Ranma turned into a whirlwind of motion and grace. Parrying knife and club attacks into the other attackers, he watched almost as if he wasn't the one doing it, as the would be attackers attacked themselves. Two went down immediately from knife wounds.

Then Ranma's hands were moving. Using many techniques Tofu had just taught him, Ranma lashed out in the spirit of Justice and protection. Smashing his ridged fingers into sensitive areas of their necks and arms, legs and groins. The pressure points, when used in succession like that, multiplied their effects, and effectively caused their nervous systems to shut down. Soon, the only one standing was Ranma.

With his breath heaving, Ranma started to stagger away. When he heard a frantic woman's shout, "my baby! Where is my baby?!! Please,**help!** Anyone?! Where is my baby." 'What now?' Ranma thought in irritation. Glancing down the street to where a movie theater was letting out, Ranma saw a young woman in her late twenties or so, swinging around wildly and screaming frantically for her daughter, "Rina! Rina! Rina where are you?!" The mother called.

Grimacing with the pain, Ranma hopped up to the nearest rooftop, and looked around. There at the edge of the crowd and quickly disappearing, was a man holding a kicking and screaming little girl under his arm as he ran. Breathless Ranma hopped down from the building and started to run. Then a little faster, then a little more. But the man had quite a lead already, and Ranma knew he wasn't going to be able to catch him, but he ran on anyway. Running much faster than most young men his age ever would be able, he still wasn't able to hit his top speed.

The man was getting away. Funneling everything he had into his run, Ranma sprinted. Slowly he started to gain on the man. A fire was spreading at his side, and something warm was trickling down his leg, but Ranma ignored it. Faster and faster Ranma ran, his arms pumping furiously and his legs flying over the ground. Jumping over a curb, Ranma's toe caught the edge, normally not enough to even phase him Ranma went tumbling, hard, into the pavement. Rolling to a stop, Ranma tried to pop back up onto his feet, and promptly fell over again as an incredible pain stabbed him in on his right side, clutching the area with his hand, Ranma tried to stand again, getting up on one knee Ranma lost his balance, and had to put both hands on the ground to steady himself.

Leaning back into a sitting position Ranma noticed he had left a bloody hand print on the ground. Glancing down to his side he saw that maybe one of those knife blades had gotten through his defense after all? Shrugging Ranma tried to stand again. "Feh, I've been hurt worse than this before." Ranma muttered under his breath as he grit his teeth and tried to stand. This time the pain hit him so hard it knocked him onto his back. A crowd was starting to form.

'_**Nooooo**_!' Ranma's mind screamed to him. '**Get up!**' He told himself. 'Get up and run **you wimp**, **you coward**, **you **_**weakling**_ Get up and save her, **now!**' Shame swept over Ranma and he tried to get up again and couldn't. Ranma's mind howled at the injustice of it all. If he hadn't been beaten to within an inch of his life just a minute ago, he could protect this girl.

'_Protection ... justice_.' Those two words stabbed at his heart as real as any knife blade could. He was a protector. Not like those corny cartoons on TV with the dorky character howling about justice and protection as they made stupid poses and chanted little songs to themselves, the real thing. Justice ... and protecting those that cannot save themselves. For some reason that meant a lot to Ranma right now.

The powerful urge inside him stirred violently and started to expand. With a large crowd gathering around him now Ranma curled into the fetal position and cried out in pain, mind numbing pain. It **hurt!** Needles of fire-like energy stabbed at him, and threw him at their mercy.

_Protection! Justice!_ Those thoughts burned in his mind like an inferno. He** needed** to protect this girl, he had to stand up, he had to run after them. '**Stand up!**' He screamed to himself. '_Get up,__**now!**_ _Be a man and __**save her!**_' He slapped himself mentally. Staggering to his feet Ranma clutched his side as a sharp pain ripped though it again, this time tearing something, glancing down he saw blood oozing though his fingers.

Gritting his teeth Ranma tried to stand again, up on his knees he saw the man round a corner and was then out of sight. The frantic mother oblivious to what Ranma knew, screamed again, "my baby! Where is my baby?!" The mother's shouts, the pain inside him, the white noise from the curious crowds' insipid comments, everything floated into and around Ranma, and ... something inside of himself bent, with each cry of the mother, with each intake of breath Ranma drew through his wheezing lungs, with every stupid sound the crowd made it bent a little more, then snapped. A barrier in his heart shattered over something old and terrible and suddenly the world seemed to be going in slow motion as a flash of light danced across Ranma's vision, the crowd of people seemed to literally stop.

_Protection, justice ... Protection, justice ... Protection, justice ... Protection, justice ... Protection, justice ... Protection! Justice! ... Protection! Justice! ... __**PROTECTION! JUSTICE**_ ... the thoughts swirled around his mind, stabbing him everywhere, he **had** to do something.

Falling to his knees Ranma surrendered to the overwhelming awful powers that were trying to grip him, trying to gain control. Then all hell broke loose.

Suddenly on his feet with his arms outstretched, Ranma's eyes closed and he screamed words, which had no meaning. Face pointed heavenward he called out with strange words no one alive had ever heard before, again and again he cried out. Clouds appeared overhead, quickly and unnaturally, rolling in on powerful currents of cold air to blot out the sun. The wind chilled and thunder rumbled. Calling again and again to the heavens Ranma stretched his arms heavenward and turned his hands palms up. With crackling energy lightning struck his outstretched right hand. Once, twice, then both hands simultaneously.

The sizzle and heat of the energy blew the crowd surrounding him back. Again and again lightning struck his hands, and instead of killing him as it should have done, he seemed to suck the energy into himself. The wind rose up and swirled about him. Faster and faster, making a living wall of motion. The wind carried away people's hats and odd pieces of clothing, but Ranma stood untouched in the center of the chaos. The wind was not a normal wind, it had form and motion and substance, like it was alive. It swirled about him so fast that the crowd was forced to back up even further, or face being cut down by it.

When the wind abated there stood Ranma, arms at his sides now and breathing heavily, head hanging down to his chest. Standing upright but swaying violently from side to side like a marionette without a puppet master left on a hook to blow in the wind, he suddenly snapped his eyes open. They were swimming with quicksilver light. His body was literally glowing white from his intense focus on his need for vengeance, justice and protection. Tinged at the tips of the glow was a blue radiance.

Holding his right arm out Ranma uttered a single word of the bizarre language, and the world went silent. Again Ranma said the word, then again, louder and louder he said it all the while holding his arm out. Slowly a streamer of white energy flowed out of his outstretched hand. Snaking it's way in the direction the man had went the ribbon of light grew larger and brighter, then rapidly gained momentum, shooting around people and buildings, now the ribbon of light energy darted in the direction the man had gone. Out of sight now all that was visible was Ranma swaying back and forth chanting the single word and the pulsating ribbon of light streaming from his outstretched hand.

In the distance a thunderclap worthy of the Gods sounded, then silence ensued. Calmly Ranma stood his ground. Quietly chanting the word over and over again. A minute passed then the cord of light seemed to grow almost solid, at the edge of the square a man appeared, with a little girl under his arm, he was being pulled backwards, and his feet were dragging noisily across the ground, his limbs were locked in place, only his eyes seemed to be able to move, and they were darting around frantically.

Snapping his arm back like he was cracking a whip Ranma yanked the man to him. Sailing across the square on unnatural currents of power the man jerked to a stop in front of Ranma. Holding his other hand out, Ranma commanded something in the bizarre language and the man's arm holding the girl raised obediently. Crying, the girl dropped to the ground, and quickly raced to her mother. The frantic and tearful mother enfolding her into her like she was trying to absorb her, and embraced her little girl again.

Ranma's eyes were locked on the unblinking eyes of the would-be kidnapper. The kidnapper looked afraid, but like he was trying to be macho at the same time. Coldly he stared back at Ranma. Ranma smiled a feral grin.

Raising both hands skyward, palms up and clawing, the man did the same on invisible tendrils of power. Then shouting his cries of vengeance Ranma made breaking motions with his hands, and the man's limbs began breaking. Then Ranma made a violent throwing motion, and the man now with two broken arms and legs went flying across the street, and collapsed, broken and near death.

The power raged inside Ranma. It cried for blood. It **needed** to kill. Betrayers ... parasites ... the refuge of the world preying on the weak and innocent. Those who would shatter another's life to fulfill their sick dreams and desires. They all needed to die. Rage gripped Ranma now as he stalked towards the man, to finish him off. Like a wild animal with a kill in sight, and the blood of the kill already sampled, the power cried out to finish it. Advancing a step in the would-be kidnapper's direction Ranma's brilliant white aura started to glow red around the edges instead of blue. When suddenly he felt a slight weight about his waist gripping him tightly.

"Thank you for saving me misther." The little girl sobbed, slurring her words as little girls do, ignoring the fact that this person was glowing weird colors and was doing odd things, and rubbed her nose on Ranma's knee as she sniffled.

All thoughts of death and destruction fled Ranma as the innocence of the little girl invaded his mind. Sinking down to his knees Ranma gathered the girl into his arms and held her while she cried. Permitting himself a small breach of control, Ranma let his tears roll down his cheeks as well as he held her head to his chest and cried in her hair. The stress of what had just happened finally hit him and Ranma started to go unconscious.

As he slumped forward a brilliant flash of white light swept out of him and another thunder clap sounded, this time right over the square. The light struck everyone in a radius of one kilometer in the eyes. The light muddled their immediate memories as to make them indecipherable.

The mother of the little girl maintained enough sense to be able to recognize Ranma as a protector and not a threat to her little girl, and went to call an ambulance for him, she knew her girl was safe with him.

A short while later Ranma's head snapped up as the growing sound of an ambulance grew nearer. Like the ebb and flow of the sea, the obnoxious tone of the ambulance siren dug into Ranma's nerves like claws on a chalk board. Jerkily standing up Ranma deposited the little girl back into the arms of her waiting mother and began to walk, or more accurately stagger, away. The mother made as if she were going to try to stop him, but one look at those troubled cloudy eyes of his was enough to change her mind.

The air had the odd smell of charcoal and the sea after a storm. Seeing as he was in Tokyo that was even more bizarre. As he walked, the sky continued to grow overcast and a chill wind picked up. The wind darted into Ranma's clothes as if to remind him that all his physical power still meant nothing to the wind.

Ranma felt ... weak? His arms and legs were shaking and he had no energy. Limping home Ranma took a street parallel to the one he had wasted that gang on, if they were up and about right now, they would probably try kill him, and in his current state they just might succeed.

Stubbing his toes into the pavement as he short stepped his walk home Ranma's mind raced. He was fairly sure he had just done something odd. The evidence was very similar to that from when Akane healed Nabiki. He couldn't remember anything, and things that shouldn't have been able to happen, had happened. And to top it off he felt very drained, but unlike Akane, he didn't seem to be able to recover as fast as she had, when she had been acting all weird like this.

Crossing a small low bridge that spanned one of the many channels in Tokyo, a wave of dizziness swept over Ranma causing his nausea to reach it's limit and then cross it, his knees gave out, and sick to his stomach, he crawled over to the edge of the bridge, throwing up into the water and all over the bridge.

"Well aren't you a sorry sight." A scratchy wizened old voice crooned. Too drained to even venture a come back Ranma simply nodded and continued to throw up, his whole body shuddering now as the nausea took him.

"So you finally touched it didn't you? You finally let the power have control didn't you? I knew this day was coming, but I never would have guessed that you would have been able to use the power at such an early age ... remarkable." Cologne declared.

Watching her out of the corner of his eye Ranma continued to dry heave. The fact that Cologne always seemed to know things ahead of Ranma, and things she should not know in the first place was keeping in step with her knowing about this ... this, whatever this was. Laying down flat on his stomach, Ranma reached down and scooped some of the rushing water into his hands and dipped his face in it, rinsing and refreshing himself and at the same time changing into a girl for the second time that day. Standing a few seconds later with a little more dignity Ranma turned to face the old ghoul and demand some answers.

She was no longer there. Shrugging Ranma stuck her hands in her pockets and continued walking. "It's better this way anyways, she always makes things worse." Ranma said to herself.

"The time of prophecy is at hand son-in-law!" Cologne shouted from down the street behind him, turning slowly, Ranma saw her silhouette black against the late morning sun. "A battle is coming soon son in law, one that I doubt you are ready for. I will return to help you soon, prepare yourself for your ultimate test!" Her grave words echoed loudly and clearly across the distance between them like it didn't exist. With that she turned and vanished down the rooftop, as only Cologne could do.

Taking a deep breath, Ranma pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes, trying to keep her mind inside. What on earth was everyone talking about? Prophecy, power, magic, battles? She was just a sixteen year old Martial Artist for crying out loud!

Deciding to deny things for the time being, Ranma picked up her pace and started to run home, the landmarks were starting to look more familiar, he had a general idea of what section of town she was in, it was the same section that Nabiki had been assaulted in. Nabiki ... assaulted. Who **had** assaulted her anyway? Ranma re-affirmed her decision she had made when Kasumi had been attacked. Whoever was messing with her family was about to be sorry, she and Tofu together could take on just about anything.

Reaching the Tendou dojo Ranma paused on the street outside. Akane was in there. That meant she would have to deal with that whole situation again if she went in there. Because if Akane was crying, Soun would be crying, and if Soun was crying Genma would be looking for her. Glancing at the shadow lengths in the garden, Ranma judged she had only been gone about an hour. Sighing to herself Ranma steeled herself to Genma's ranting, and Soun's blubbering.

Inching the courtyard gate open Ranma peeked her head inside. Nothing. There was no movement, no sound, no sign of anything. Getting slightly worried Ranma opened the gate all the way and walked into the garden, her senses on edge, straining to detect danger before it found her. Her head swiveled from side to side looking for things out of place, and her steps and stance took on a battle poise.

Sliding open the patio door with a soft swishing sound and a snap as the door slid into the wall lock, Ranma looked for signs of danger. There were none. A flash of white on the dining table caught her eye, walking over to the table Ranma picked up the note, in Nabiki's ledger perfect writing it read:

_"Saotome:_

_We went out of dinner and a movie. Akane wouldn't answer her door, and her music has been on loud all morning. I think you **know** what that means. You better fix things before daddy finds out. I'll keep them busy until late. Tofu is still sitting with Kasumi, or reading that dumb book of his, so you should have no interruptions._

_Your future sister in law;_

_Nabi-chan_

_p.s. you ever call me that in public and I will be forced to kill you."_

Crumpling the note up Ranma walked into the kitchen and tossed it into the garbage. Quickly putting a kettle full of water on high flame onto the stove Ranma popped the fridge open and rummaged around for a snack. Dumping the hot water over his head, then wiping his head off with a dish towel, Ranma continued to fix his snack. If he was going to walk up those stairs and confront Akane ... he might as well die with a last meal.

So Ranma fixed himself a "small" snack. Chuckling to himself Ranma thought, 'Saotome super secret Snack Technique: how to fix and eat enough food for three in less than five minutes, without disappointing Kasumi by leaving a mess in the kitchen.' Wolfing his food down made him feel a little better, and it seemed to restore some of the energy he had lost when he ... no! He wasn't going to think about that.

Sighing mightily to himself Ranma pushed his chair back from the table with a noisy scrape and shuffled out of the kitchen and up the stairs, hands in pockets and head held low ... this wasn't going to be fun.

Arriving outside of Akane's door Ranma could indeed hear her stereo up to full volume. Pausing a moment to collect himself Ranma knocked on the door. Waiting a few minutes Ranma knocked again a little louder. Still no answer, shouting her name Ranma slammed on the door with his closed fist. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? His anger getting the best of him Ranma hit the door a little too hard, and with a loud breaking pop, the door caved inward.

Ranma froze, there laying on the bed was Akane, she appeared to have cried herself to sleep, and before she had let herself drift off, she had undressed! Laying atop the covers in her underwear, what little clothing she had on was in serious disarray from squirming around while both crying and sleeping. Sitting up on the bed, propping herself up with one hand behind her, and pulling a blanket to cover herself, Akane drowsily, but with a definite hint of anger in her tone of voice asked, "what do **you** want?"

Oops. Ranma had made a little boo-boo. This was one of those situations you always hear about people getting into, and you always assume will happen to someone else. Unfortunately, we are all someone else to everyone else.

Dumbfounded Ranma stood staring at Akane. Why did the sight of her semi-naked do this to him, he had seen his female side plenty of times, and it was better built to boot. Stammering, Ranma tried to apologize for the door and his perverted viewing pleasures.

"I ... um ... look Akane, it's not what it seems, I mean ... I ..." With a loud sigh, Ranma hung his head and muttered,

"Look I'm sorry okay, I didn't mean to yell at you earlier, and I didn't mean to break your door down, or peek at you, I'll just go now Akane, I know you hate me."

"**Ranma!**" Akane yelled at him as he turned to leave. "Get back in here!" She said a little quieter. Obeying, Ranma stood back in her doorway. "Close the door and come inside you goofball." Akane rolled her eyes and chastised him. Glancing at the door hanging crazily on two of it's original three western style hinges, Ranma shrugged, and forced the door back into the now slightly warped jam, an awful squealing, scraping noise emanating from it as he did so. Turning back around Ranma stared at Akane's toes, since she was still almost naked.

"Come here Ranma." Akane ordered. 'Oh boy here it comes.' Ranma thought as he braced himself for a smacking. "Sit down on the bed Ranma." Akane ordered him again. His ire rising slightly Ranma let her order him around, he was the one who had wronged her first.

"Ranma ..." Akane began. "I ... I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you, and I'm sorry I stuck my nose in where it didn't belong, you had every reason to get upset with me." Akane stated in a cold distant monotone, as if she had given up. "I know you don't love me, I don't know who you do love, but I won't get in your way anymore. We can pretend to be engaged to please our idiotic fathers, but I won't try to interfere anymore, okay? You don't have to hate me anymore, or resent me, I release you."

Her words struck him to the core. She released him? She knew he didn't love her? Pretend to get along with him?! No, no, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen at all.

Quickly Ranma turned to look at her, was she testing him? To see how he would react if she didn't behave rationally, to see if he loved her no matter what? 'Why do women do these things?' He wondered. Totally oblivious to her state of dress now, Ranma grabbed her hands, causing her to drop the blanket, and exposing her even more, neither one of them seemed to notice.

"Akane, you cut that out! You know that I l ... lo ... like you. What is going on in your fool head?! Why do you think I hang around this place still huh? Not to make my old man happy you can bet on that." Biting her lip Akane looked away. "Besides, with your cooking, I must be building up a serious resistance to poison attacks, it's even training." Ranma joked, slapping Akane on the back, trying to lighten the mood. Growling Akane slugged him, then quickly slumped her shoulders and leaned against him sighing in defeat.

"Yes but ... I ..."

"Yes but nothing Akane ..." Ranma said quietly.

"Ranma do you ...?" Akane left her question unanswered, hoping Ranma would fill in her blanks. Ranma gently cupped her chin in his hand, and slowly turned her face to look at him.

Reluctantly she dragged her eyes to meet his, and to her surprise she saw it, she saw him let his guard down ever so slightly, she saw kindness and caring, and worry and l-love? ... or something like that anyway? In his eyes. He wasn't lying, he really did care for her.

"Oh Ranma!" Akane's voice caught as emotions she had just spent the better part of an hour trying to bury jumped up into her throat.

_SLAP_

The echo of her slap was louder than the stereo. "You insensitive jerk! Stop scaring me like that!" Rubbing his jaw in complete surprise, Ranma decided he had deserved that. Her stereo was getting on his nerves though, so quickly hopping off the bed Ranma walked over to it and turned the volume down to a human level.

Then he walked back over to her bed and sat down gingerly at the edge, acutely aware of her lack of clothing again, and the fact that they were basically alone in the house for the rest of the day.

Akane didn't seem to mind at all though. "Ranma!" She yelped at him. Swinging his eyes to her he saw her pointing to the spot on the bed beside her by the wall. "Get over here you stupid pervert jerk." She said in a light teasing tone of voice.

Hesitantly Ranma complied, wondering what she wanted. They were far too young for ... **that!** Sitting stiffly beside her Ranma waited for her to take the lead. He was always waiting for the girls to take the lead, he was such a ... such a ... wimp! ... in some matters anyway ...

Akane watched him out of the corner of her eye, grimacing to herself as she saw him wrestling with his doubts and insecurities. Akane patiently waited for him to take the lead for once in his life. But after a few minutes it was obvious he still wasn't ready for much of anything. Sighing, Akane leaned into him, wrapping him in a big bear hug, and promptly jumped away from him.

"Ranma! You're hurt! What in the world ..." Akane looked at her hand in horror, coated in Ranma's blood.

"Oh ... that ... I forgot about that." Ranma said with hand behind head in embarrassment. "I uh ... got in a little, um, fight when I went for my walk earlier." Ranma said uncomfortably.

"What is the matter with you?! Why didn't you ... why didn't you have Dr. Tofu fix this the second you walked in the door you big idiot! Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Akane glared at him as she dashed to her closet and grabbed a T-shirt to use as a bandage, and dashed back to the bed, tearing Ranma's shirt off she gasped as she saw the wound.

A six centimeter gash across his side, already with some puss around it and clotting with dark angry colored blood, the surrounding skin was very swollen and infected looking. Akane's hand darted to her mouth in horror as she recoiled from the wound. She hadn't been prepared for ... that.

"What ... what happened to you ...?" Akane finally managed to ask. Her breath was coming in short panting gasps now, like she was hyperventilating. Her knees felt weak, and the floor seemed to be rising up to meet her.

Ranma was hurt, he could be dying. She had to save him. She had to get the doctor! Dashing to the door Akane yanked with all her might, and almost dislocated her shoulder. Ranma had lodged it in there good!

Glancing over at Ranma, Akane's heart almost stopped, he was bleeding from the wound freely now, and it was dripping down his side, leaning against the wall his eyes were half shut and he seemed to be breathing very slowly!

Panicked beyond reasonable thought Akane jumped onto the bed and slapped him, hard. "Don't you dare die on me Ranma Saotome! I'll kill you before I let you die on me!" Emotions took control of Akane as she slumped against him and wrapped him in a tender hug. "It's gonna be all right Ranma. You just lay down and rest and I'll go get the doctor ..." Akane whispered in his ear, Ranma nodded imperceptibly, his strength was fading fast all of a sudden, he needed to sit down and have a talk with his body about doing things like this to him at the worst times.

As she held him her hand brushed his wound, and sparks felt like they leapt from her hand! Glancing down Akane noticed the skin around his wound seemed to be a little less swollen and red.

Curious Akane looked at her hand and found no trace of blood. "What in the ... " Akane muttered. Tenderly, Akane lowered her hand to Ranma's side, and cupped the wound.

Ranma sat up straight and gasped. Then yelped out loud, "ahhh! That hurts!" Terrified, Akane yanked her hand back and Ranma slumped back onto the bed.

Looking at her hand again Akane found no blood, and now it seemed to be glowing a faint yellow! Looking at Ranma's side again, Akane sucked her breath in sharply. The swelling had gone way down, and the redness was almost completely gone and the wound had closed about halfway.

Ranma was lying on the bed now, moaning and tossing his head from side to side in incoherency. The wound must have given him a slight fever as well ... or something like it.

Grimacing Akane closed her eyes and gently covered Ranma's side with her hand again. This time her hand seemed to almost fuse with his skin. Odd sounds seemed to be chiming in her head, almost as if she was hearing voices from far away, with her eyes closed she couldn't see anything, but her eyes felt ... funny, like they were heavier or something and she smelled ... she smelled ... the wind? Her room suddenly smelled like a late summer afternoon in a meadow, with the breeze carrying all sorts of exotic smells to her eagerly awaiting nose.

Ranma arched his back as Akane's hand touched his wound. The pain was incredible. His mind was almost at the point of taking a vacation it hurt so bad. Then suddenly it was taken from him. The pain the soreness, all of it, and not just from his side, his whole body felt like it was floating in warm soothing liquid. Opening his eyes Ranma looked up to see Akane kneeling next to him, her hand covering his wound and her eyes shut tightly. Her face was scrunched up in what looked like worry, and for some strange reason her hair was moving around like it was blowing in the wind, but there was no wind in her room ...

Akane was tired, so very tired. Trying with all her might to hang on to Ranma, to heal him and fix him, her strength finally gave out.

Just as suddenly as Ranma's pain had left him, so was Akane's collapse. Falling on to him Akane lay still for a few seconds. The second her hand left his side and their bodies came into contact Ranma's body felt like someone had snuck up on him and zapped him with a huge shock of static electricity. Instantly he felt drained.

Rolling over onto her back, and off of Ranma's chest to lay beside him Akane suddenly felt very refreshed. Ranma glanced at her and saw for the faintest of seconds a swirling vortex of quicksilver in her eyes, then it was gone. Sighing heavily Ranma leaned back into his pillow and pressed his hands palm first into his forehead. This was getting all freaky-like.

"Akane ..." Ranma started out

"Y-Yes Ranma?" Akane answered hesitantly.

"You gotta find something else to drain after ya do that, I am not the energizer bunny." Ranma monotoned, smiling to himself.

"Idiot!" Akane growled and chucked a pillow at his head. Sitting up and looking at the bed, Akane was amazed to find it clean, without a trace of blood. Quickly looking at Ranma's side Akane breathed a sigh of relief to find him completely healed. Looking over the rest of his body, she saw all his other little cuts and bruises were gone too.

The small part of Akane's mind that demanded to know what the hell just happened Akane squished under a shield of denial for the time being ... she wasn't ready to even consider what she had just done. She just wanted to sleep very badly all of a sudden. Grinning like a happy fool Akane snuggled up close to her fiancée. He _was_ her fiancée after all, there _had_ to be _some_ fringe benefits, and having someone to sleep with is very, very nice.

Sighing mightily, Akane buried her head into Ranma's neck, and snaked one arm around and behind his neck, and the other under his arm and around his back, then draped her leg over his knee, holding him as lovers will. Sighing deeply and taking in the smell of him, and feeling his deliciously warm and firm skin pressed against hers, she let his heart beat carry her to unconsciousness. She knew she could trust Ranma to behave himself if she wasn't initiating anything.

Ranma's mind was heading for a critical overload, Akane had practically enveloped him! Where had this come from?! One minute he was dying and she was saving him, the next minute she was wrapping him in a bear hug?

What was he supposed to do? Copying the way she had her arms around him, he encircled her neck with one hand, and draped her waist with his other, he left his legs still though, since the tremendous vise of her legs was gripping him very tightly almost as if she possessed him.

In her sleepy state Akane sighed or was that a moan? Ranma had heard about girls moaning, and had always wondered what it sounded like, then he jumped slightly as ten sharp sudden pricks of pain lanced down his neck and back, as Akane dug her nails into him, marking him as her property.

It kinda hurt, but she was pulling him real close to do it, and being pressed into someone who is smaller than you and female, and seems to like you for some odd reason, is a very nice sensation. Akane smiled to herself as Ranma threw a blanket over them quickly and then hugged her back. He had accepted her in a way, she still hadn't gotten him to say he loved her, but she had a feeling that he would some day soon. He had come awfully close today.

"I wonder what will happen tomorrow?" Akane whispered to her lover. Her soul mate, whether he knew it yet or not.

"Tomorrow ... tomorrow Akane, we start the plan. Tomorrow all hell is going to break loose. By the way ... do you still have that pup-tent and your sleeping bags?" Ranma answered her, whispering in her ear with just the faintest of volume, she was the only one in the world who could hear him right now.

"I ... I think so Ranma, why ..." Akane answered back sleepily.

"You'll see." Was all Ranma said as he hugged her close and started to drift off into sleep. Satisfied for the moment Akane drifted off into a sleep that only lovers can enjoy, a perfect union with your soul mate, warm and safe in their bed, that lets you sleep the best sleep possible, even if it was mid-day.


	11. The Plan

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (2000-10-14)  
Last modified (2001-10-28)  
Chapter split into two chapters, and re-written slightly: 2007-12-30.

Chapter 11, "The Plan"

* * *

**FF Net Notes:**

Here is the newly split up chapter 11. There is now a chapter 12, which was split off from this chapter, and made into its own rightful chapter. The old chapter 11 tried to do too many things at once. The new chapter 11 is rightly focusing on only a major topic now.

Like all of the other chapters I am putting up here on FF Net, I am doing some minor editing to this chapter re-wording some sections, and fixing a couple of small spelling/grammar issues that slipped through the filters years ago.

Both this newly edited chapter 11, and the newly edited chapter 12 have been slightly re-written to better shape them as their own chapters. No major re-write has been done though. So, if you have read it before, you will not find anything particularly surprising.

Cheers, and enjoy the read!

* * *

Morning at the Tendou dojo was usually an interesting affair. Sometimes one could see a rather large Panda attacking a buxom red-headed girl, who was frequently without a shirt. Much to the delight of many of the telescope and or binocular owning residents nearby. Sometimes you could smell the most heavenly scents coming from the Tendou kitchen, and other days those scents would be marred by what could only be described as ... composting? Oft times one could hear the sounds of fighting coming from within the walls of the Tendou estate, and most of the residents of the Nerima district knew better than to hang around there for very long. All in all, the Tendou dojo was a rather rowdy place, except for today. 

Ranma and Akane were still sound asleep in Akane's bedroom. Kasumi was in the kitchen making her morning tea, and smiling to herself with an inner glee. Tofu was in the sitting room reading the morning newspaper with Soun. Genma was snoring away in his room as was Nabiki, and Happosai ... well Happosai was being quiet, weird, but quiet.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Happosai was quietly humming to himself with his mini-ironing set on his lap. On the kitchen table was perched an enormous pile of women's panties and bras. Kasumi, as easy going as ever, noticed them, and made a mental note to sterilize the table very ... very thoroughly later, but decided not to press the matter. Happosai was in pervert heaven.

Smiling peacefully, Kasumi asked the distracted Happosai, "so grandfather Happosai, were you out late last night?" Happosai sighed in answer, "panties."

"Oh my, that's quite a collection you have there ..." again the answer came, "paaaaaaaanties." Arching an eyebrow, Kasumi smiled and said sweetly over her tea cup, "your hair is on fire." Happosai nodded dreamily and whispered reverently, "panties."

'Thought so,' Kasumi grinned to herself.

--

In Akane's room, Ranma rolled over and hugged Akane close to him. She snuggled back into his body in return, her arms were held close in tight to her chest as she lay on her side, and Ranma's arms overlapped hers to enfold her tightly. Her back was to him so Ranma was happily hugging her in his favorite "spoons" position.

They were both semi-awake, but neither one of them really cared to break the mood by sitting up, or speaking, the bed was soft and warm, and although they hadn't admitted it to anyone yet, they were basically committed to each other, and had accepted that. They just hadn't quite gotten around to saying it to each other yet.

The long minutes of half sleep passed and Akane's room started to grow warm from the sun's glare through the window. Suddenly three low taps came from Akane's door, and Nabiki's voice sang out melodically, "you two love birds better make yourselves seen pretty soon, or daddy is gonna find out, and you _know_ he will have a priest in here in 5 seconds to marry you if he catches Ranma in your room, 'Kane-chan."

Akane rolled over in bed and met Ranma's panicked eyes and whispered to him, "as obnoxious as she is, she's right and you'd better hit the window Ran-chan." Akane referred to him with his second most common pet name ... the first most common being, 'hey idiot.' Ran-chan was the name Ukyou called him. Akane had _never_ called him by a nickname. "That is, if you are all better now from your boo-boos, Ran-chan?" Akane asked sweetly and crinkled up her nose in her cutest smile and kissed him on the nose.

The events of yesterday were coming back to Ranma and he sat up abruptly and felt around his torso for wounds, and found none. Glancing at Akane, all he got was a shrug, then a push.

Looking up at her from the floor Ranma put on his best pouty face. "Not even married yet, and already you're kicking me out of the bed, Akane?" Ranma teased. Akane blushed and chucked a pillow at his head, which Ranma absorbed with an audible, "oof."

"Don't joke about stuff like that, Ranma!" Akane admonished him as she attempted to pull off a serious face as Ranma started to mock cry from his seat on the floor, he was _**so**_ cute sometimes!

"If daddy heard you saying something like that, coming from MY room, we really will be married today, you dork. Now grab your stuff and hop out the window before someone catches us, you goober!" Akane punctuated her lecture with another well aimed pillow, this one got him square in the mouth, which he had open in mock bawling. Coughing up the pillow, Ranma gave her a, _you are gonna pay for that with some serious tickling_, look, grabbed his stuff and jumped out the window. A second later a loud splash could be heard out her window, and Ranma's indignant cursing in a now very female voice... "Why in the hell do they even have this stupid pond anyways...!? Son of a ...! I **hate** water!" The curses faded as Ranma made her way towards the house.

Giggling, Akane rolled out of bed and started to get dressed for the day. One would think that after this long, the moron would have learned where the koi pond was by now.

--

Grumbling to herself Ranma yanked open the porch door and entered the morning breakfast area. Plopping down with a frustrated oath, Ranma yanked her shirt off and started to squeeze the water out of it. Grinning her evil grin, Nabiki eyed Ranma from across the room and grinned. Ranma ignored her. Soun glanced up from his paper with his custom toothbrush in his mouth, but only seeing Ranma in her usual display of an utter lack of feminine modesty he went back to the news. Genma in panda form slothed into the room and yawning emptied a kettle of hot water onto his "son's" head.

"**Yeeeoow!****Hey, you blubber-butted idiot panda, it's **_**hot water**_**, not scalding! Ya trying ta **_**kill me**_" Ranma yelped from his back as he lay panting in shock on the floor.

Genma, not even missing a beat, held up a sign with scribbled lettering that read, 'and get out of my seat ya ingrate.' Which he followed up with a punt to Ranma's rear-end, sending him flying.

Ranma went sailing into the yard and landed head first in the garden, sitting there upside down he growled, "okay, that's it." With a battle cry Ranma leapt at his panda-formed father and connected with a full power side kick to his head. Genma jumped up from the floor and held up a sign reading, 'you asked for it,' and lunged at Ranma, their fight soon had them rolling around outside and soon everyone was ignoring them, except for Nabiki, who eyed them from her perch in the corner of the room on her beanbag.

"Good grief, you'd think one of them would have killed the other by now." Nabiki muttered before going back to her morning manga.

--

Up in a tree, across the street from the Tendou estate, Ukyou watched the whole scene with a dispassionate glare. Her business here today didn't concern Ranma-honey, not directly anyway. It was time to end it. It was time to force Akane to release her hold on Ranma and his honor, and she was just the girl to do it.

Hopping down from the tree, Ukyou checked her bandoleer spatulas and her giant battle spatula strapped to her back. Setting her shoulders and taking a deep breath, Ukyou steeled herself for the coming battle, not just a battle with fists and weapons, but an emotional battle as well ... this was going to be intense. Clenching her jaw, Ukyou started to march to the Tendou dojo's front gate.

--

Shampoo of the Amazon warrior tribe of Joketsuzoku China smirked from her rooftop perch three houses down from Ukyou's tree. This was going to be interesting. Waiting until she was sure Ukyou wouldn't notice her, Shampoo stealthily moved to a closer location to get a better view.

--

Reaching the Tendou gate, Ukyou paused for a moment debating whether to hop the fence or knock. She opted to hop. Clearing the fence top, Ukyou landed in a crouch and unsheathed her battle spatula. Peering out from the crop of bushes she had landed behind, Ukyou changed her strategy and resheathed her battle spatula and decided to wait for the enemy to show her face.

--

Akane yawned on her way down the stairs for breakfast. It had taken her a good five minutes to yank that stupid door open. Silently she vowed to make Ranma fix it later. Entering the family dining room, Akane glanced out the sliding doors to the peaceful presence of nature. No matter what was going on in her life, she could always stop and watch nature and feel better about everything. The wind dancing in the treetops and the grass, making them sway to a hidden melody. The chirps and songs of the various creatures that lived around their home. The smell of the outdoors, especially yummy smells like chimney smoke, and the fresh smell right after a rain shower. Smiling to herself, Akane took a seat at the table with her back to the doors and the sun on her back. Ranma, sitting across from her, smiled a quick, secret smile. Akane smiled back.

--

Seeing Akane enter the room, Ukyou had immediately yanked a fistful of throwing spatulas from her bandoleer, to skewer her with. But reluctantly put them back. She was better than a sneak attack from behind. Sighing to herself, Ukyou stood up proudly and started to walk to her destiny.

--

Seeing Ukyou stand up out of the bushes along the far wall Ranma froze as his heart leapt into his throat. Narrowing his eyes, he watched her approach. Ukyou was in motion, the plan was about to start. He hadn't realized that Mousse would have been able to get her to move_so soon!_

Ukyou let her steady gaze come to rest on Ranma for a moment, in that brief glance she shook her head slightly and returned her glare to Akane, signaling that although her purpose here was for a fight, she wasn't going to attack Akane without warning. Sighing and dreading what was about to happen, Ranma reached over the table and grasped Akane's hand lightly. Whispering insistently he warned her, "Akane, you better swallow that and turn around, I think Ukyou wants to challenge you."

Her eyes going wide, Akane gulped her current mouthful down and set her shoulders into her "serious and proud warrior" position. Then she decided to insult Ukyou by taking the time to take a final sip of tea and wipe her mouth daintily with her napkin. Ukyou watched her from behind coldly, and cataloged the insult away.

Finally swinging her legs around to drape over the porch, Akane calmly met the gaze of Ranma's oldest friend, the only girl in the world that maybe, just maybe, might be closer to Ranma than she was. Akane, in her usual professional and graceful manner blurted out, "well?! What do you want, Ukyou?"

Ranma buried his head in his hands behind her. When was she going to learn that she wasn't nearly as good as she seemed to think she was? When was she going to learn that meeting every situation with a "can-do" attitude was useless if the fact remained that you _couldn't_ do it! When was she going to learn that although martial arts could be about violence and brute force, it didn't always have to be?! Ranma sighed again and pulled his head up to watch Ukyou's reaction.

Behind Ukyou, the sky was clear and blue. Only a few wisps of clouds were visible, and the temperature was a comfortable breezy one for early morning. But for some reason as she started to speak it seemed to get colder and the wind seemed to still and the sky seemed to gray.

"Akane ... I have had enough. I am tired of the games, I am tired of the fighting, I am tired of the bickering, I am tired of the jealousy and I am quite frankly getting tired of you. I have gone easy on you a number of times in the past because you aren't as strong as I am, and because you don't have as much training as I have, and your skill in the art isn't very impressive. But your callous attitude to this whole fiancée business is getting old, and your arrogance is becoming insufferable. I may not be able to win Ranma's favor by beating you in a fight, but I will win back some of my family's honor! So here it is, plain and simple. I challenge you! I am not brining Ranma into this at all, this is for bragging rights. If I win you have to admit publicly that you lost to me, if you win I'll do the same. We gotta deal, sugar?"

Akane's face went crimson and her jaw dropped open, then she clamped it shut with blazing determination. She'd show her. She'd show all of them just how good of a martial artist she really was!

"Fine then, I accept your challenge! Lemme go get into some clothes and we'll finish this!" Akane snapped then ran out of the room before anyone could say anything.

Ukyou casually unsheathed her battle spatula and leaned on it, calling out to Akane as she left the room, "take your time sugar, I'm in no hurry." Smiling, Ukyou let her eyes travel over the faces of the people still in the room.

Genma was steadfastly ignoring her, leaning over the table shoveling food into his face. Typical. Soun was looking at her with the face he used when he was about to try to sound old, experienced and wise. She knew better now. Nabiki was watching her with those cool calculating eyes of hers. Ukyou could tell she was considering calling the police, or taking bets. Kasumi glanced her way a few times, but she had no malice in her eyes, she almost seemed like she wanted to offer Ukyou a seat and some breakfast, but she seemed to know that Ukyou wouldn't accept. Ranma looked ... resolved?

The silence hung for about five seconds then everyone started talking at once. "What do you mean you are going to beat up my little girl?! I, Soun Tendou, will not allow it! You must first beat Ranma before you challenge Akane. That is the rule of this dojo!" Soun started to rant.

"Ukyou dear ... would you like a cup of tea?" Kasumi asked hesitantly. Maybe all the years of fighting around Kasumi had hardened her to the fact that people fought her family members, and she had just decided to ignore it?

"This is... interesting, I wish there were people around to take bets. I would give five to one odds that Akane only lasts thirty seconds. Whadda say daddy? Ranma? Any takers?" Nabiki grinned.

Genma, not even bothering to look up, held up a sign that read, "Kasumi dear, could I have some more miso soup?"

Ukyou rolled her eyes at Soun, Nabiki and Genma. She politely turned Kasumi's offer down then laid her eyes on Ranma who hadn't spoken yet. The wind picked up for just a second and the porch chime rang out. Quietly, Ranma spoke.

"Just don't kill her, Ukyou. Akane has had this coming for quite a while, but ... I can't allow you to kill her, okay?"

Ukyou nodded her agreement. Minutes passed and just as Ukyou was getting ready to go find Akane, she came thundering down the stairs. She had thrown on her old yellow training gi and her red belt and head band. She looked as uncute as ever and she glared at Ukyou.

Stomping into the courtyard Akane whipped around and planted her feet in a traditional ready stance. Dipping her left shoulder down and leaning back on her right leg she set herself in a stance that she could duck from, or kick from or punch from, depending on the situation. Glaring at Ukyou, Akane held her stance. Smirking self-assuredly, Akane stated, "ready when you are U-chan."

Ignoring the insulting use of her nickname given to her by Ranma himself, Ukyou casually walked down the steps of the Tendou porch. Adding to Akane's anger, Ukyou unstrapped her bandoleer and her battle spatula, and placed them on the ground. Meeting Akane in hand to hand combat without her weapons was rubbing salt in an open wound, her actions said she didn't even need her special weapons to beat Akane. Akane vowed to make her pay for that.

Stopping about five steps from Akane, Ukyou folded her arms and crossed her legs in the most casual of stances, calmly she met Akane's furious glare with an unemotional gaze of her own. She didn't glare and she didn't have all of her muscles clenched in anger.

Ranma moaned and buried his head in his hands again. **The idiot!** Here the fight hadn't even started yet, and Akane was already losing, holding yourself in that kind of stance, with anger boiling through you, making your thoughts jumbled and unfocused, and having all your muscles clenched making your body tired, Akane was proving just how much she didn't know. This was going to be embarrassing. All Ukyou had to do was act the part of the proverbial bull fighter, and dodge Akane's wild enraged attacks and hit her as she passed.

Ukyou simply looked at Akane, she didn't stomp the ground, she didn't pace, she didn't flex her muscles, she simply watched and waited. Finally Akane couldn't stand it anymore, with a battle cry of, "here I come!" She leapt at Ukyou.

Running at Ukyou at full speed, Akane pulled her arm back and prepared to punch. When she was almost on top of her, Ukyou casually leaned to the side and stuck her right leg out, Akane, going full boar, tripped over the leg and went sprawling in the dirt. Rolling out of it and spitting dirt, Akane leapt at Ukyou again.

This time Akane closed the distance a little slower and directly on Ukyou's center, so Ukyou was forced to use her hands to block and counter Akane's wild punches.

Unlike Ranma, Ukyou did **not** just avoid Akane's wild shots. She blocked them, and **hard**. Hammer fisting Akane's wrists and nerve centers again and again as Akane lashed out, Ukyou beat her attacks away, when Akane would swing full force with a hook punch, Ukyou would duck under it and sucker punch her in her solar plexus. Akane started losing speed and momentum and went for more power, throwing full force chops and jabs and hook and round punches at Ukyou, Ukyou was forced to do more ducking and parrying, and less all out blocking.

That, however, gave Ukyou the advantage of the counter shot. As Akane would jab in, Ukyou would partially block her strike and partially lean away from it, as she did so she would use her blocking hand as a ramp and pathway to Akane and she would deliver blow after crushing blow to Akane's midsection as Akane tried to hammer home her offensive. Finally, Akane made a big mistake, starting her attack from two steps away, Ukyou had time to line her hips up properly, as Akane stepped in to deliver a full force back punch, Ukyou ducked under it, grasped Akane's punching arm with both arms, as she at the same time pushed her hip and buttocks into Akane, and crouching down, twisting, and pulling as Akane involuntarily wrapped around her, Ukyou took Akane's momentum from the punch and turned it into a vicious throw.

Akane went sailing up and over Ukyou, and landed hard on her back in front of Ukyou. Ukyou, retaining her hold on Akane's wrist, twisted it into a painful shiatsu wrist lock, then Ukyou knelt so her knee was laying across Akane's neck, slowing putting her into a choke hold. Akane was helpless and beaten and everyone had seen it. Ukyou hadn't even broken a sweat, Akane was drenched. Leaning down to look dispassionately into Akane's eyes, Ukyou whispered, "you lose." Then, smirking, Ukyou let her go and stood up. Turning around, Ukyou saw Ranma standing behind her, sadly shaking his head back and forth. Not ready to confront Ranma just yet, Ukyou calmly walked to her gear and put it back on. Then walked to the front gate and let herself out.

Akane just laid there on the ground. Soun sat at the table with his chop sticks still in on hand, but the piece of pickle he had been about to eat had slipped onto the table. Soun's mouth was wide open in shock. Nabiki had her hands over her mouth, her eyes were wide and she looked ... worried? Kasumi just watched, she seemed neither shocked nor all too concerned about it. She knew how much damage Akane could and couldn't take. Genma had even stopped eating and looked on sadly in panda form. Akane had just been humiliated, and publicly. There was no telling how she would react to this.

Soun started to try to comfort her, "Akane, ... don't you worry, we'll train you for your re-match and you'll be able to ..."

"No! No she won't, mister Tendou. Akane, right now and as she is, even with your training, could never defeat a martial artist such as Ukyou. Until she learns better, this will keep happening to her over and over again." Ranma stated plain and seriously, cutting Soun off in a curt voice.

Jerking herself upright, Akane whispered. "You bastard. You choose now, now of all times to belittle me and insult me and my skills? What kind of an unfeeling monster are you?" She asked him in shock.

Sadly, Ranma replied, "in the world of serious martial arts, Akane, I am as serious as they get. In my world, and Shampoo's world, and Mouse's world, and Ryouga's world, and even in Ukyou's world, defeat could always mean death. Defeat means being helpless, it means letting your opponent get the best of you. Ukyou walked in here today knowing you, and knowing how to beat you. She played you like a drum, and you reacted exactly how she wanted you to act. Whether or not you choose to accept that fact, you do have to admit she beat you, in a fair fight, and because of that, you have shamed the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts."

Everyone on the porch gasped for breath. Ranma's statement, while true, was terribly cruel and not what the situation called for. What was he doing? They had seemed to be getting along fairly well as of late. Why would he suddenly revert back to taunting and teasing Akane?

Akane just sat there for a little while. The breeze played with her hair, and her shoulders heaved as she tried to regain her breath with dignity. What was the matter with him? Had he no sympathy? No respect? No caring feelings for her at all? Where the special moments that they had been sharing a farce? Was he really this heartless? Slowly, as Akane asked herself these questions her anger built and her resolve hardened. She would show him, she would make him fight her for real!

Ranma just stood there, he knew what was coming and he was ready for it. Purposefully, Akane stood up, brushing herself off and straightening her clothing. Finally, Akane swung her gaze onto Ranma. If looks could burn you to a cinder, Ranma would have been toast right then.

"Die, Ranma!" Akane screamed from the very depths of betrayed rage and fury. Her words carried all of her hurt and her disappointment. If she could just get him to fight her for real! If she could at least match him, maybe not beat him, but at least match him, that would help to sooth her shattered perceptions of her Martial Arts skills.

Again and again Akane swung at him. Kicking and punching and chopping and flailing angrily. Ranma dodged as he always did, sometimes with little ducks or with slight leans to either side. Sometimes flipping over and behind Akane. But through it all he kept his eyes on Akane, and his expression was that of someone doing something distasteful, something they didn't want to do but had to.

His pity was the last thing Akane wanted to see right now! Steadily, as Akane attacked him, Ranma lead her back away from her family, and closer to the wall. Closer and closer they came, until finally Ranma was able to hop up on the wall. Akane was hard on his heels. He wasn't running away this time!

Hopping down off the wall Ranma started to jog through the Nerima streets. Akane matched his pace and went faster, soon they were both sprinting. Street signs, cars, people, stores, trees, they all flew by Akane. Her single minded purpose right now was to catch Ranma, and to make him pay for humiliating her! To make him fight her for real.

Akane failed to notice the city fading away and the woods that Ranma so often went to with his father to train in, started to spring up around them. Soon they were dashing through the brush and high trees of the woods. The sunlight filtered down through the treetops in lazy dusty motes, and the woods seemed to breath with the gust of the breeze. A small clearing loomed up ahead, and Ranma veered towards it, and started to slow down. Reaching the center of the clearing Ranma stopped and turned around and faced her, then planted his hands on his hips and waited.

Akane staggered into the clearing on lead feet. Now that they had stopped she was out of breath. She hadn't realized how long they had been running. Only serving to infuriate her, Akane noticed Ranma was standing straight and tall, and he wasn't breathing hard at all. Clenching her fists in frustration, Akane screamed, "will you just hold still and fight me for real, Ranma?!"

Quietly, Ranma responded, "okay, Akane, for you ... I will fight you for real ..." he left off leaving something unsaid, and if Akane had bothered to look, she would have noticed that Ranma's eyes were wet with held back tears.

'It's for her own good.' Ranma told himself over and over again as he readied himself emotionally for what he was about to do to her ... 'May the gods have mercy on me.'

Grinning insanely at his promise, Akane cinched her red belt tighter, and flexed her muscles in one big full body stretch, then planting her feet firmly in the dirt, Akane bent her knees just as she had seen many movie stars do, and jump kicked towards Ranma. Her power was stunning, her form was perfect, her heart was in it, but her skills were lacking.

With a sad look on his face Ranma side stepped Akane's mid air kick, which to him looked like she was moving in slow motion, and twisting his body into a full power strike he lashed out with a vicious back knuckle to her calf muscle of her kicking leg as she sailed by. Akane went down with a gasping whimper and crumpled behind him. Ranma kept his back to her and let his tears fall silently. He could at least spare her the indignity of looking at her on the ground. The tears came in a steady stream. He wept because he knew she was going to get back up.

Gasping at the pain of what he had done to her, Akane was beyond shock. Her leg was screaming at her and she rolled herself up into a little ball and rubbed her muscle trying to work it back out of the pain. She was so shocked at Ranma actually fighting her for real, actually trading hits with her, that her mind locked on her goal, to get up and fight back.

Slowly, Akane lifted herself up off the ground. Turning around she saw Ranma with his back to her. The bastard! His insulting attitude was unbearable! Growling, Akane shook out her leg and started to run at Ranma in a full charge, intending to tackle him about the waist and knock him to the ground.

With the reflexes of a cat Ranma spun about at the last moment and with unrelenting force chopped both her wrists hard in outward sweeping circular motions, right in the nerve centers there. At the same time, Ranma brought his right knee up and jammed it into Akane's midsection. Without her hands to stop her motion, and as fast as she was going, Akane ran right into the knee to her gut. She didn't even have time to tighten her muscles to absorb the impact. With a whoosh her breath left her and she was again on the ground.

Laying there choking and gasping for breath, Akane drew upon her inner power, her stores of strength she had built up during her years of training. Dimly she started to glow red with the power of her Chi. Ranma looking down on her, saw it and felt it, and stayed where he was. Ranma wasn't using Chi or Ki based martial arts, and her Chi was hardly a concern for him.

Cursing under her breath and dry retching, Akane rolled over to her knees and pushed herself up to glare at Ranma. Through her tears of pain, Akane couldn't recognize Ranma's tears of emotional agony.

Slowly, Akane stood up, then gathered herself into her best stance, left foot forward and jaw clenched and ready, left hand held shoulder level and open, right hand held by her right ear and closed. Vowing to at least make the fight a draw or die, Akane launched herself at Ranma.

Punching fast and furious she launched a last desperate attack at Ranma. Ranma's heart broke as he saw her fists raining towards him glowing with the angry red power of her Chi turned into feeble Ki attacks. To his eyes her fists were moving so slow they were almost going backwards.

Slapping away each of her punches with his own hands Ranma didn't even use his "Chestnut Fist" technique. He didn't have to, his basic speed was more than enough to counter her out of control, clumsy attacks. Grimacing inwardly with what he was about to do, Ranma crossed his index and middle fingers and flexing them so they were bent just a little, but rigid, Ranma jabbed them into her pressure points all along her arms and wrists.

Over and over again Akane drove at him, punching with a fiercer resolve than she had even punched before, and over and over Ranma slammed his counter strikes into her arms so hard her whole body shuddered. Soon, Akane's left arm wouldn't move no matter how hard she tried, then her right arm failed her. Desperate, Akane kicked out with her right leg to Ranma's solar plexus. Not even pausing, Ranma brought his right hand clenched into a hammer fist in a sweeping pendulum arc and knocked her kick away so hard that her whole body spun out and away with it. Twirling crazily into the dirt, Akane landed hard face down. Lifting herself up slowly on her left arm which was now working a little bit she barely had time to yelp before Ranma kicked her arm out from under her viciously. She again slammed into the dirt hard!

This couldn't be happening! This couldn't be happening! This couldn't be happening! Ranma wouldn't hurt her like this! Would he? Suddenly, Akane was afraid for her life. In her mind, Akane replayed what he had said just a few minutes ago at the dojo ...

'_In my world, and Shampoo's world, and Mouse's world, and Ryouga's world, and even in Ukyou's world, defeat could always mean death_.'

... Death?

As Ranma kicked her arm out from under her he closed in for the kill strike. The force of his kick rolled her onto her back, her arms were useless. Jumping up and spinning midair in 180 degrees Ranma landed hard with his feet scraping against her hips to pin her down, then kneeling hard on her stomach Ranma grabbed her hair and drew his fist back preparing the death blow.

"**Ranma! Stoooooop!**" Akane screamed in fear for her life as Ranma drove home the killing punch to her windpipe. He wasn't going to stop in time, she was about to die. Oh god, oh god, oh god!

Freezing his fist exactly where he had planned to ... Ranma stopped.

Akane's eyes were clenched shut in terror, and her face was dirty. Terrified tears leaked from her eyes and pioneered small wet trails down her cheeks. Ranma relaxed the sitting hold he had on her, and rolled off to the side of her and let himself cry. He felt like throwing up.

Minutes or seconds passed, it was hard to tell which, and Akane slowly opened her eyes. Glancing over to where Ranma was, she finally saw his body language and his tears. He sat with his shoulders slumped and his knees drawn into him for shelter. He held his head in his hands and cried openly. Slowly the question dawned on her, and the insistence of it grew, she had to know ... **why**?

--

Smiling sadly in a treetop a good distance from the two of them, Mousse nodded to himself at seeing the first step of the plan completed. It had been ugly but it had been necessary. Now the healing could begin, the false bravado could cease, and the end could come about. Truly Ranma's sacrifice for Akane today was legendary. Maybe Akane didn't understand that right now, but what Ranma had just sacrificed of himself was something most real Martial Artists would never dream of sacrificing.

Touching his right fist to his heart in a silent salute and bowing his head, Mousse wished Ranma and Akane well. Taking a small mirror out of his sleeve, Mousse flashed it three times in Ranma's direction, the size of the mirror and the trees around them made Mousse's signal almost impossible for anyone else to see. Grinning sneakily to himself, Mousse shimmied down the tree on his way to lead his tail on a merry chase through out Nerima. Now phase two of the plan needed to be set into motion. Idly, he considered notifying the national guard and the police department of what was coming, if ever there was going to be a nation wide disaster, with the capacity to wipe out Japan, it was coming up soon. The battle for Ranma had begun.

--

Shampoo narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she watched Mousse leaving his tree. She hadn't been able to get close enough to see what he was watching without him noticing her, almost as if he had planned it that way ... Shampoo wanted to see what had happened to Ranma and Akane's fight. The stupid violent girl had probably bopped her husband once again ... aiyah! ... this whole situation was so stupid! If husband would just accept Amazon laws and move back to China with her, he no would have to deal with too-too violent girls anymore. He would be property of Shampoo, and law says, no can hurt property ... growling in frustration, Shampoo moved to follow Mousse, he was up to something, Shampoo knew it. She would come back later to fix husband's boo-boos.

--

Akane gaped at the grief and regret she saw in Ranma. She was beyond confused, but she knew her duty. She had lost two major duels in the name of the honor of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts in less than an hour.

Croaking out in a shaky voice, "Okay, Ranma, you win. I lost ... I lost for real ... so I'll leave now. You can have the dojo, and I will just go away ... " Akane bit her lower lip as the reality of what she was saying sank in, but she had to, her honor was gone, she had lost, and lost badly!

Glancing up with red rimmed eyes Ranma managed a small smile. He didn't say anything, but he looked at her reverently, like he was looking at something precious he might never see again.

Hesitantly Ranma scooted over to her side. Akane flinched away from him. Slowly, Ranma brought his right arm up and around Akane, and gently he pulled her close to him in a hug. Hesitantly, Akane let him pull her close to him. What was he doing?

With his eyes locked on the ground between his legs Ranma slowly started to whisper to her, "do you see ... do you see why I don't fight girls for real now? Do you understand now why I don't like fighting for real with girls or even most guys really? Do you understand why I let you smack me with mallets and frying pans when I do something wrong? Now do you understand?" Akane just glanced at him, but kept silent. She understood but wanted to let him keep talking.

"I hit you hard today, but I didn't use even close to my full power or strength, Akane. In truth all I really did was let you defeat yourself ... the old man may not be good for anything else, but he can train ya in the Arts, and I have learned a lot of stuff in the years I have been training that I doubt you have ever even seen, Akane."

"I'm not sayin' this because I am stuck up, or because I wanna gloat. I'm just tellin' ya this because you need to understand what it means to be a black belt in the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Akane, to be a black belt in our school, means you accept any challenge at any time, and you lay your life on the line each time. I know pop and Mr. Tendou are always going on about being a true Martial Artist and stuff, and their level of paranoia and weirdness is pretty understandable seein' as they trained under the old freak an' all ..." Ranma trailed off as he realized he was rambling.

"Okay, Ranma, point taken already, I said I would leave, what more do you want from me? Why do you have to rub it in on top of everything else?!" Akane whispered at Ranma. The emotional hurt of this moment was more painful than her physical wounds. This was the same Ranma that just last night she had been thinking of her soul mate, hah! What a fool she had been.

"The point I am tryin' ta make, Akane ... is that I want ta train ya. We'll stay out here and we'll get you ready. I want to help you get as good as I think you can be ..." Ranma trailed off helplessly gesturing vaguely with his hands. This wasn't going as well as he had envisioned it back on that rooftop with Mousse when they had first thought up this crazy plan.

Akane just sat in a stupefied silence. Train her? Ranma was offering her a chance to be trained for real? Akane hadn't made it to black belt yet, but she hadn't really been that concerned about it. She had always been able to beat up most anyone that ever caused her trouble, even that idiot Kunou ... until Ranma and those that followed him came along.

She had always just relied on her brute strength, not the color of her belt. She knew that the color of the belt was mostly a status symbol, however the belt was also a symbol of achievement and skill, and that real martial artists had no use for belts or special patches on uniforms or trophies, but then again, Ukyou and now Ranma had just demonstrated that her sheer raw strength wasn't going to solve all her problems for her. What should she do? Ranma was offering to treat her as his student, to show her the things he knew, could she really pass up this chance? Even though it would mean having to call him master?

Ranma's tears had dried and he sat on the dirt floor of the clearing watching Akane's thought process. She squinted her eyes up every now and then, or furrowed her brow, or squinched up her nose. She was so_cute_ sometimes. Heavy heartedly Ranma once again regretted what he had been forced to do today. He might never be able to regain what he had had with Akane. Out of the corner of his eye Ranma caught Mousse's signal and breathed a sigh of relief. Shampoo was being led away from them, so now Ranma could lead Akane to the area he had picked out for her training, it had everything they needed, not to mention all their gear and food.

Standing up, Ranma offered Akane his hand like he had done not all that long ago when he asked her to practice on that special morning. Unlike that morning, Akane winced in pain and bit her lower lip to keep from crying out as Ranma had to then help her stand up. Bowing his head in his own personal agony, Ranma picked Akane up into his arms and started to walk with her to the camp site. The weight of her to carry was but a small penance in the long slippery slope he had to climb to atone for what he had been forced into today. Akane was tense in Ranma's arms briefly, but exhaustion and pain soon changed her mind and she settled in to be carried to wherever he was taking her.

--

Tatewaki Kunou walked along the well worn sidewalk on his way to school as he always did. This morning, as with most mornings, his thoughts were occupied with visions of the pig-tailed girl and Akane Tendou. These pleasant thoughts were interrupted frequently with images of the hated visage of his sworn enemy for life, Ranma Saotome!

"One day ... **one day**, Saotome ... **I shall smite thee mightily**, and then Akane and the Pig-Tailed girl **shall be mine!**" He cackled to himself insanely. However in mid cackle he was suddenly cut off as the weight of a foot was implanted upon his skull then rebounded off. Quickly looking up to see whom he was about to kill Kunou spied the robed fool, Mousse, bounding away from rooftop to rooftop, having just used his head for a stepping stone.

"Come back here and stand knave! Hast thee not honor enough to do battle when thou hast wronged another warrior?!" Kunou shouted after Mousse.

"Return I,- " _OOF_ing with the weight of another foot upon his brow, Kunou was again interrupted. This time he spied the lovely but deadly Amazon hellcat running away from him in pursuit of the other one no doubt.

Shaking his fist after them and shouting "Curs!" Kunou rubbed his now tender head and proceeded towards the school grounds. One of these days ... one of these days he was going to heap his retribution upon all the low born fools who had dared to insult his family.

Muttering vile curses upon **both their houses** ... Kunou proceeded to march to school. The sound of his traditional wooden samurai sandals clopping on the pavement had a soothing effect on him, and soon the wondrous visages of his two goddesses again graced his thoughts.

Upon entering the gates to the school Kunou's footsteps immediately swung towards the kendo club's dojo, he wanted to do a brief workout before classes to work out his tensions. With his thoughts in the sky and his mind on his fantasy women Kunou proceeded to plow right into Ryouga Hibiki, who coincidentally was still looking for the way back to Akane's house after Ranma had ditched him at the crazy girl's house.

With an angry shove, Ryouga pushed Kunou away from him as he snarled, "hey watch it you idiot!" As was usually the case when he was lost and confused, Ryouga was cranky.

Not to be outdone by a filthy commoner, Kunou snapped back, "fear not peasant, I shall smite thee momentarily."

"Whatever you say, Samurai boy, I could use a good stress reliever, and seeing as Ranma ain't here to beat up, you're just as good as anyone else."

Kunou sneered down at the slightly shorter Ryouga and laughed the insults away as he drew and readied his battle boken, "I will not be drawn into a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent."

Ryouga, growing angrier by the second, growled, "come on, rich boy ... show me how soft fancy living has made you!"

With a righteous fire blazing in his eyes, Kunou growled, "silly peasant, I have met many people in my days, and you are not among them. If you insist on trying the blade of Tatewaki Kunou, then have at thee!"

With that, both Ryouga and Kunou leapt into battle, and just as quickly two tiny little feet came crashing down, one on each head, and with a thunderous crash and an insane laugh it bounded away.

"Whoo hoo hoo hoo! Panties! Panties! I got panties! Red ones, blue ones, white ones and pink ones, you name em I got em! Whoo hoo hoo hoooooo!" Happosai cackled as he happily skipped away from the two duelists he had just flattened.

With his face in the ground Ryouga deadpanned, "I know that voice... "

Kunou joined in, "... and he shall **die!**" Leaping up, the two young men started to sprint after the old pervert, when they were again trampled!

The herd of girls wielding brooms and rakes, baseball bats and clenched fists raced after the old man with outraged shrieks.

"Give me back my panties you old freak! I don't have any more! ... "

"Come back here and die old man! ... "

"I swear to god, this time I am sticking the broom up farther! ..."

"How in the world did he get **my** panties?! I brought my dad's safe from home to keep them in!"

The herd of furious young girls went thundering after the old pervert, and Ryouga and Kunou were again face down in the dirt.

"Kunou ...?"

"Yeah ...""

"I'm ...I'm gonna go to the nurses office now ..."

"Are you now peasant ...?"

"... um, yeah, so ... I'll um ... finish this duel ...as soon as I get a kidney replacement ..."

"Not if I get there first ... and replace my kneecap you won't." Kunou wheezed from the ground before he collapsed again.

--

Up in her third story classroom, Ukyou having just witnessed the latest spectacle that always followed Happosai, was rolling around the floor clutching her stomach in a hysterical fit of laughter.

--

Back at the Tendou household, Kasumi was getting ready to go to the market. Daddy was off crying somewhere, Genma was still at the table eating, Nabiki was in her room working on a book she was calling, "Investment For Morons," which she swore would take the "For Dummies" market by storm.

Kasumi stood in the kitchen reviewing her list one more time, and getting ready to go get her coat, she didn't even see Tofu walking into the kitchen with that book of his he had been reading the past few days. Predictably, Tofu plowed right into Kasumi, unpredictably he didn't turn into an "Insta-doofus."

"Oh ... Oh, Kasumi ... how clumsy of me, I am so sorry ..." Tofu apologized with that same eerie look in his eyes he'd had since she had been struck by that big gorilla the other day. She couldn't say that the new Tofu didn't excite her a **lot** ... but she wished he had been able to get to this point with her without having to go through something like that. Maybe ... maybe just spending time with her would do him a little good, maybe her good mood and positive outlook on life would rub off on him a little.

"Dr. Tofu ...?" Kasumi started out. She always hated these opening few lines of conversation, she always felt clumsy and out of her element, this was supposed to be the **boy's** problem ... oh well.

"Yes, Kasumi?" Tofu answered her, meeting her eyes when he spoke. Something he had never been able to do before, "the incident."

"I'm going to the market now, would you like to come with me? I just don't feel all that safe these days in the city, not like I used to anyway." Kasumi lied. She still felt perfectly safe, but she knew he couldn't refuse to escort her if she asked him to be her protector ... silly men.

"Of course, Kasumi, I'll go get my coat." Tofu replied. Not with the eager response of a boy with a crush on a girl being asked to go with her somewhere, but the resolute response of a man who had a job to do. She needed to swing him back just a little bit back towards the, "boy with a crush" area, he was getting just a little bit _too_ serious, even for her.

Tofu reappeared in the kitchen with his nice white silk Chinese jacket buttoned up over his undershirt he usually wore around the house, that in combination with his western style pressed black slacks gave him a very elegant, yet somewhat menacing appearance. Regardless he was _gorgeous!_ Kasumi had to really fight herself from just hanging on his arm and kissing him, _lots_.

Wrapping her jacket around her shoulders and grabbing her shopping list and purse from the kitchen table, Kasumi approached the door and waited as Tofu gallantly opened it for her. There were quite a few western concepts Kasumi had picked up on, and liked, and that was one of them.

Kasumi set the pace for their walk, and a leisurely pace it was. Unlike the few times she had gone to market with Ranma, Tofu was not a ball of energy looking for somewhere to go. When she walked with Ranma he seemed almost nervous to be around her. His usual defense for pretty girls was teasing and tormenting them, however he _never_ did that to her, and so he usually was silent, he really only seemed to like to talk with her in the privacy of their kitchen in the mornings when no one else could overhear. So Ranma would run ahead of her, and behind her, he would do a walking handstand on the railing to the aqua-duct as she walked, he would practice his forms, in short he would do most anything _except_ walk alongside her.

Kasumi really didn't blame him for his actions, after all she was older than he was, and he was nervous around girls, and the odd way his father had brought him up hadn't helped matters certainly.

Tofu, in comparison, walked _exactly_ beside her, and even held her hand from time to time, he seemed restless, but not uncomfortable around her. His eyes were pacing back and forth across the street, covering the bushes and the rooftops and every other place a possible thug could be hiding. Kasumi wasn't nearly as slow as the martial artists in her home might think she was, she knew how surveillance was done, and how fighters acted and prepared themselves, just because she didn't practice the art anymore, not since she was eight anyway, didn't mean she didn't remember it.

Kasumi could see that Tofu was in full "guardian" mode. So she decided to try to get him to open up a little bit now, on the mostly empty street, rather than wait until they got to the more crowded market.

Starting it off and hoping he would get the hint, Kasumi asked, "so, Dr. Tofu, what do you see in your future? A house? Kids? A wife?" Blushing slightly, Kasumi bowed her head a little and waited for his response. Frustrating her once again, Tofu decided to answer her questions with questions of his own.

He pointed out the trees lining the sidewalk in the full grasp of fall, and gloriously displaying the vivid colors of red, orange and yellow, and asked her, "Do you like this time of year? I do. I like everything about autumn. I like the crisp air, I like the holiday season, I like the pretty colors of the leaves, and later their crunch underfoot. I like the sound of kids playing in the street, and the eager anticipation and electric energy that seems to grip people during the fall."

Kasumi nodded, she also liked all those things. Her favorite things in life revolved around family, home and the hearth. Warmth and comfort and good company were all wonderful things to her ... of course, a husband would be nice as well ... someone to share her cold bed with on those long winter nights would be delicious. Smiling to herself, Kasumi licked her lips just thinking about it, then blushed as she realized that Tofu was watching her.

They had stopped their walk along the sidewalk, underneath one of those beautiful trees. The sunlight filtered down between the leafs and lit up the tiny dust motes floating to the earth in their eternal motion of life. Kasumi's breath came to her in shorter gasps with the magic of the moment, and the nearness of the man she loved. Tofu stood there next to her, waiting and watching her. Neither pushing nor pulling her, just waiting. He was _such_ as wonderful man!

Tofu watched Kasumi as she slowed her walk then stopped all together under the tree they had been walking under. She seemed to be daydreaming about something, and she was smiling about something? Watching her, Tofu again looked at her cheek, the cheek he had allowed to be struck by that animal ... every time he looked at her beautiful face all he could see was the way it had been on that day as she lay on the ground unconscious after that monster had hit her. He could have stopped it! He should have! Beating himself up inside, Tofu reached over and pulled her close to him, and held her, more to hide his tears of anger and frustration from her, than to hug her.

Suddenly, Tofu reached over and embraced her! Pulling her close to him, she could feel his steely arms around her, so strong, my god he was so strong! The smooth feel of his shirt against her cheek, resting on his very muscled chest felt very nice, and she could even feel his heart beating! He smelled like a man, not like a boy, she could smell the faint wisp of the shaving cream he had used to shave this morning, and his musky, and somewhat flowery, aftershave as well. It was all just too much for her already over loading emotions. Nuzzling her cheek into his chest and snuggling into him, he hugged her closer, and she gasped at his firm yet tender hold on her, even now holding her like a gentleman, not trying anything sneaky like a teenager would do. Sighing happily, Kasumi tilted her chin back and stretched up onto her tiptoes, and searched for his lips.

Tofu held the woman he loved close to him under the beautiful tree, with the sparkling sunlight dancing across his face and on the ground as well. Kasumi leaned into him and even nuzzled his chest as he hugged, and _god_ that felt good! Trying to shut off his tears, Tofu hugged her closely and she responded by stretching up on her toes and nuzzling her cheek to his, moving her lips closer to his, responding to her in kind, Tofu nuzzled her cheek back and moved his lips closer to hers, and they met, and they kissed.

Kasumi let her lips brush his and he moved his lips to meet hers, his lips were warm and soft and just a little bit scratchy around the edges. Her first kiss! She was having her first kiss! And it was with Doctor Tofu! Melting into him, Kasumi let go her final restraints and kissed the man she fully intended to make her lover.

Tofu kissed the woman he loved, despite the tears of regret and shame running from his eyes. The kiss was soft at first, almost like she was exploring him, was this her first kiss? While he was certainly no dating machine, Tofu _had_ been on a few dates in his time, and he had kissed a few women, but he had never wanted any of them like he wanted Kasumi! As the seconds stretched onward Kasumi's kiss changed from the innocent first kiss a young girl might give, into the passionate kiss of a woman kissing the man she loved. Opening her mouth, Kasumi explored him for the first time, and Tofu's tears started to dry up as he fell deeper into the moment. He was kissing Kasumi! The girl he had loved from afar for the longest time. The girl, turned woman, who now seemed to love him back! As his emotions raced faster, Tofu embraced the moment and her love and literally swept her off her feet, picking her up and cradling her close to him as he kissed her back passionately.

--

They stayed that way for quite a while, and those that happened to pass by whispered amongst themselves that it was about damn time, but didn't dare to interrupt them.

--

Night fell on Nerima, and Akane and Ranma didn't come home. Soun paced worriedly back and forth in front of the phone, and Genma sat on the front steps watching him, and offering words of encouragement when appropriate. Nabiki watched them from the back porch quietly wondering about a great many things. Tofu and Kasumi were in the kitchen laughing and making dinner. Rolling her eyes, Nabiki muttered, "I wonder if Akane actually brained him for real this time ..."

Sitting up straighter, Nabiki saw her daddy talking with Mousse. Mousse seemed agitated and leaned forward to whisper in Soun's ear, and kept glancing over his shoulder every few seconds. Soun had stopped his pacing, and was quietly nodding as Mousse talked to him. Before Nabiki could even get up to attempt to eavesdrop, Mousse patted Soun on the back and leapt up and over the wall, gone almost as soon as he had come. Nabiki narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Something fishy was going on. As she watched, daddy and Mr. Saotome leaned their heads together and excitedly whispered about whatever Mousse had said. Nabiki shrugged it off, if there was one thing she had learned about Ranma, it was that weird things happened around him.

The night came and the world stilled, as if it was holding its breath. No dogs barked, and no wind blew, but the chill of the night was very present. The entire Tendou household slept uneasily that night.

--

"Again! ... Harder! ... Again! ... Faster! ... Again! ... Move it! ... Again! ... Get up! ... Again! ..."

Ranma shouted to Akane on the very first morning of their training together. He had let her sleep in the tent he brought along last night, warm and cozy in a sleeping bag and everything. But now the real training had begun, and as far as he was concerned, she was the student and he was the teacher.

She wasn't his potential future wife right now, she wasn't a girl whom he had seen heal someone with what could only be called magic. She was just Akane, a red belt in the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and she was under his instruction as a high ranked black belt in their school.

Dumping cold water on her as soon as the sun had cleared the horizon Ranma gave her the first lesson of the day, to train yourself to wake up,**before** someone could do something like that to you. Of course, it didn't always work, and sometimes you would ignore the training, but it was a valid technique nonetheless.

Sputtering, Akane had sat bolt upright in her sleeping bag and started to yell at Ranma, "are you crazy, why in the ..." Her shouts were suddenly cut off as Ranma chucked her training gi and red belt at her head.

"Get dressed, Akane, you got one minute before another bucket of water is heading your way." Ranma said in a neutral tone. Unlike his father, Ranma had no intention of making Akane fear him in order to train her. He was just being firm.

Akane debated refusing to do as Ranma ordered for a second or two, but she was now **wide** awake, sitting in a soaking wet sleeping bag and wearing soaking wet pajamas. Going back to sleep was surely not an option now. So, grumbling to herself at her stupidity to accept Ranma as her trainer, she stood up in the tent, which turned out to be just a little bit shorter than she was, so she had to crane her head down a little bit.

She managed to clear the tent with two seconds to spare by Ranma's count. Smiling he put down the bucket he had been holding. Grimacing, Akane noticed that Ranma had fifteen more buckets lined up behind the one he just set down. He had been prepared, that was for sure.

So the training had begun. Taking a deep, refreshing breath, Akane stepped out of the tent with her training gi on, and her red belt cinched proudly upon her waist. Finally, looking to Ranma her mood seemed to slip a notch on the peppy-meter. She still remembered the harsh lesson she had been taught yesterday, and she still didn't know exactly how to feel about it. But that was beside the point for the moment. She had work to do today, and obviously Ranma intended her to be able to take full advantage of the day's sunlight.

So they started right in on the first drill. He grabbed a "focus pad," a simple hand held pad that is padded on both sides and looks sort of like a flat overgrown pear held upside down by it's neck, and split from the top down to the handhold. The purpose of such a pad, is, if struck from the broad flat side with the right kind of kick, or punch or chop, the two top parts of the pad will slap together and make a loud smacking noise. Ranma had decided to start Akane off with a simple drill.

"Okay, Akane I want you to do the following combination. Right back leg round kick, plant forward, spinning left side kick into a right back hand ridge hand strike." Ranma then held the pad out in front of her vertically at about her chin level. Forcing her to strike high.

Akane sized the target up, adjusted her stance, then with a screaming battle "Kia!" tore into the pad with a full force back leg round kick. Her aim being way off she hit the handle instead of the pad, and the jolt forced Ranma to release the pad, letting it fall down along his wrist to the safety strap there.

Sighing, Ranma with a flick of his wrist snapped the pad back into his hand and simply stated, "Again!" And so it went, over and over Akane kicked at the pad. Sometimes she would land her strike on the pad, sometimes she would hit the handle, sometimes she would just flat out miss. But not once did she get the two pad halves to clap together, as is the point of using a focus pad.

After around one hundred sets, Ranma called break and ordered Akane to take the pad. Switching roles, now Akane held the pad in front of her. Ranma told her to raise it up as high as she could. Rolling her eyes at his show-off attitude, she complied. Letting out his breath, Ranma stared at the pad, then barely even giving her any warning with his hips or arm movements his back leg lashed out and slapped the pad, causing it to make the loudest cracking sound she had ever heard a pad make. Ranma, leaving his right instep on the pad surface, with his kicking form on display, started to instruct her as to what she was doing wrong.

"One of your biggest problems, Akane, is that you are overconfident, and you rely on strength far too much. I chose this drill to illustrate that. Let me ask you, how hard do you think I kicked that pad?"

The question confused Akane, it couldn't have been very hard. She knew Ranma was just as strong, if not stronger than she was. But then again, the pad had popped, and loudly ... but she hadn't felt the impact at all in her hand. "I would say you hit it at about medium power, Ranma." Akane guessed.

Frowning and shaking his head sadly, and still holding his leg in the same kicking stance he replied, "I hit it full power, Akane, I hit it so hard, that if that had been your head you'd be dead right now."

"I ... I don't understand, if you hit it full power, why didn't it knock the pad out of my hand, why didn't I feel it in my hand?" Akane frowned as she tried to figure it out.

"Well, I could go the way that pop taught me and make you figure that out, but seeing as we are not doing conventional training I will tell you. Technique number one you must learn today, is the technique of strike recoil. That means that the instant you make contact with your target you pull your strike back. That is how you get the focus pad to pop Akane, not by smashing the two halves together and driving through them, but by smacking one half and pushing it forward in the same instant as you pull your strike back in the opposite direction. This not only allows you to have lightning fast strikes, but it also prevents your opponents from grabbing your strike and throwing you, or holding you. It also transfers all of the power of your strike into your target"

Relaxing his kicking stance, Ranma took the pad from Akane and tied it tightly with some twine to a nearby tree branch. Looking back at her Ranma simply stated, "make it pop, Akane." Nodding her agreement, Akane set to work at making the pad pop.

Ranma walked over to a medium sized rock and, propping his elbows on his knees and leaning his chin on his palms, Ranma watched her practice. She had all the grace of a tap dancing buffalo, but she was learning. She was still flat out missing the pad sometimes, and that usually caused her to fall down or stumble. The whole tree was shaking as Akane wailed on that pad. All the while Ranma shouted instructions and orders to her.

"Again! ... Harder! ... Again! ... Faster! ... Again! ... Move it! ... Again! ... Get up! ... Again! ..."

Akane worked both legs through the morning and into the early afternoon before Ranma called break and let her rest and eat. Panting exhaustedly, Akane slumped to the ground in her now soaking wet uniform. From a pitcher he had filled up at a nearby stream, Ranma poured her cup after cup of water. Then, smiling at her, Ranma handed her a rather large sandwich. The kind he usually made for himself. Akane wolfed it down.

Finished eating and drinking, Akane laid back into the grass and closed her eyes. Listening to the wind and the sound of her own labored breathing, Akane tried to find her inner peace.

Ranma, noticing her meditations, decided that it was time for another lesson. Getting up and walking over to a dirt patch of the forest floor, Ranma stood and waited for Akane to get up.

Minutes later, Akane did sit up and looked about for her teacher. Spying Ranma a short distance away, she walked over and asked, "So now what ... master?" Akane kinda had to choke out the Master part.

Smiling, Ranma replied, "You don't hafta call me master, Akane. We aren't doin' that kinda trainin'." Letting his smile fade, Ranma started right in on her second lesson of the day, balance.

"Akane, where are you?" Ranma asked her seriously.

"I dunno, near Nerima in the woods I guess." Akane voiced an unsure answer, not understanding what kind of answer Ranma wanted.

"True ... but, do you remember when Cologne trained me to use the "Rising Dragon Punch" technique, Akane?"

"Yeah ..." Akane _snerked_ as she tried to hold in a laugh remembering the embarrassing photos Ranma's dad had shown to get Ranma to lose his cool.

His face remaining impassive Ranma continued, "Well now I want you to think of what that training can mean besides how to control losing your temper or your cool ..." Trailing off, Ranma waited and watched Akane as she thought about it. After a while, Akane just shrugged.

Ranma then walked right up to her, so close they could kiss if they wanted. He smelled like a man, musky and sweaty, but also with the sharp tang of his hair shampoo and the soap he used mixed in with that and the odors of his recently washed clothing.

Akane gulped at Ranma's closeness. Ranma snapped a long twig off a nearby branch and stuck it into the dirt near where Akane's feet were. Then walking out and away from her in a circle, dragged the stick in the dirt leaving a swirl that radiated outwards from Akane. Ranma again took up station where he had originally stood and asked her again, "Where are you, Akane?"

"I ... I'm in the center of a spiral ... but, I don't really understand what you mean, Ranma?" Akane scrunched her nose up in confusion making that cute face Ranma loved.

"Of course you don't, Akane, because you have never thought of the art this way. Imagine that the center of the spiral is where you are now, if you cannot cross the lines of the spiral, what would you have to do in order to get to me?" Ranma asked.

Looking down, Akane saw that Ranma had ended the spiral he drew right at his feet. "I guess I would have to walk along the line until it got to you ..." Akane started.

"Describe the path you would take, Akane." Ranma ordered.

"Well ... I would have to start out in small circles, then as the spiral gets bigger I would take bigger and bigger steps and have more room as it spreads out, eventually I would reach you ... oh ... I get it!" Akane cheered.

"Go on." Ranma smiled.

"Well, I guess what you're saying is that the spiral is the study of the art, and each student must start in the beginning, which is cramped and seems to take a long time to get out of. But as you get better and progress further you have more freedom on the path, and while not getting any easier, the path does get broader, so I can ... choose my own path I guess?" Akane bit her lip as she glanced at Ranma.

Beaming, Ranma smiled back at her and said, "Exactly. That is the first part to balance. Every student needs a teacher, and all teachers need students. As the student improves so does the teacher. What a lot of people don't understand about the art, Akane, is that unless your heart, mind and soul are in agreement with you, your art isn't going to go very far." Ranma sure sounded a lot smarter when talking about stuff he really understood, Akane mused.

"Okay so now what, Ranma?"

"Now we work on your endurance, Akane." Ranma sighed, not looking forward to the injuries coming up next. Walking over to the tree where the focus pad was still tethered, Ranma lead Akane to the back of it. Pointing to a spot on the rough barked tree, Ranma instructed Akane on her next lesson.

"I want you to punch the tree right here, Akane. I want you to alternate right and left punches, and I want you to punch it hard. I want you to punch until your arms won't punch any more. When you are done call me and I will come look at your progress."

Looking at Ranma like he was asking a baby to say "goo," or a puppy to chew slippers, Akane went to work. This would be easy, she broke bricks with her hands all the time at home, didn't she?

Sighing at the look of confidence on her face, Ranma walked away and left her to her training. Walking down the dirt trail leading away from their camp, Ranma made his way to the meeting place.

Peeking around a shrub on the trail down to the large rock by the stream where he was to meet Mousse, Ranma spied nothing. Pausing, Ranma whistled the warning sound he and Mousse had worked out. An answer sounded from near the meeting place. Waiting, Ranma watched for a mirror signal. There, behind the tree near the large rock, a mirror flashed three times, then two times then four times. The signal.

Reassured, Ranma walked down to meet Mousse. Stepping out from behind the tree, Mousse hopped up on the rock and sat and waited for Ranma to reach him.

"So ... how's it going, Saotome?" Mousse asked.

"All right. She is learning, slowly, but she _is_ learning. I figure if I can train her out here without any distractions for a few weeks she will be ready. She basically already is a black belt, she just needs to fine tune what she already knows and she will have earned it."

Nodding, Mousse looked Ranma up and down grimly before he spoke, "How are you doing? I saw the end of it you know, that must have been rough."

Shrugging, Ranma looked down before he replied. "It had to be done. I'm not happy that it took what it took to get her to see reason, and I'm sure I will be paying for it for a long time to come now, but ... it had to be done. How about Shampoo? Did you finally ditch her?"

Grinning, Mousse shook his head no. "She is about twenty minutes behind me, tracking me. I think she thinks I have learned some new technique, and I am not sharing. But I doubt she will give up for a few more days actually ... oh by the way I spoke with your dad and her dad last night. I didn't give them any specifics, but I did tell them that you were training her."

Nodding at the not unexpected news, Ranma looked around quickly before whispering, "the plan is going well. I dunno what you said to Ukyou to get her to attack Akane, but she was really mad when she showed up ... next we need to build her confidence level up. I will have Akane in town near the Kunou house in about a week, around say, dinner time. Can you arrange for Kodachi to be in the same area, and if at all possible, cranky?"

"Can do. See you then man, fight the good fight." Mousse clasped forearms with Ranma in a brief salute among fellow warriors, then looking around them quickly, Mousse mouthed silently, 'she is getting closer, I must go, see you then.'

With that, Mousse leapt into the tree tops and started moving quietly away from the direction of their camp site. Not that it mattered all that much, Ranma planned on moving it every night.

Shrugging, Ranma started to head back to camp. By his judgment, Akane's arms should feel like rubber about now. It was approaching late afternoon and the breeze was picking up a little bit, carrying with it the fresh organic smells of the forest.

Stepping back into the clearing that was their campsite, Ranma could see Akane's endurance was waning fast. She was now standing squared in front of the tree, her shoulders limp and her knees were sagging a bit. Her punches had eroded the trees bark to the softer wood pulp underneath, and she had punched that wood pulp flat and smooth. Her punches were coming much slower now than when Ranma had left, and her breathing was ragged.

Watching her for a second, Ranma smiled and called out, "break!" Without even acknowledging him, Akane simply stopped punching and slumped down to her knees, and then flopped onto her back with a weak, "oof."

Looking her over, Ranma saw many of her knuckles had cracked and were now bleeding, and looking again at the tree he could see red stains intermixed with the pulverized wood pulp. Smiling grimly on the inside, Ranma remembered his first experience with the tree with pretty much the same results. Of course his trainer had been Genma, and Genma had left Ranma punching while he went off fishing, and had subsequently fallen asleep while do so.

Ranma had punched that tree all day, and into the night, until he simply couldn't move anymore. When he was at that point he just fell over and slept. Exercises like that had helped his endurance tremendously, but had also taken a terrible toll on Ranma. He now hoped to teach Akane the same lessons he had learned, but maybe finding a happy medium in which to do so.

Bending down and picking up his fallen student, Ranma carried her back to the small clearing, walking slowly enjoying the warm soft feel of her body cradled in his arms. Looking for a good place to lay her down, Ranma decided the patch of grass near the stream would work well. Its quiet babbling would be a soothing melody in the background. He carried her to the stream side where the silky crowns of grass, as delicate as a spider web and even dotted here and there with a vibrant wild flower, swayed and danced and shimmered with the whim of the wind, acting out their own unique and special place in the universe.

Ranma gently laid her down on nature's natural bed of spongy ground covered with soft grasses. Moaning a little, Akane opened her eyes slowly to take in her surroundings. Making a motion as to use her arms to prop herself up, Akane flopped right back down into the embrace of the earth.

Smiling, Ranma took a few pieces of cloth from his pockets and walked over to the stream and rinsed them off in the cool flowing water, just cold enough to make his fingers tingle when submerged. Then walking back to his fallen student, Ranma gently wiped the already drying blood from her knuckles, and then used the other strips of cloth to bind her hands to heal. As he worked, Akane just watched him. He wasn't hostile at all, he wasn't mean, and he didn't belittle her. What was going on? The other day she had been taught probably the harshest lesson of her life, that she wasn't as good as she thought she was, and that humility could be a good thing in certain situations. But the question kept coming back to her, 'why?! Why? Why? **Why?**' What had prompted Ranma to teach her that lesson? He certainly had been given plenty of opportunities in the past to teach her that lesson, why now?

"Why, Ranma? Why are you doing this?" Akane whispered before she even really realized she was giving voice to her inner speculations.

Without even looking up from his work Ranma replied, "because I think you are worth the pain of trying, Akane. I think that in the end, all of this will turn out all right if only ..." He trailed off, seeming like he was almost afraid to speak further.

As she watched from her grassy bed, Ranma's gaze of a tender loving care-giver hardened a bit. But the hardening seemed to affect him more than anything, almost like he was fighting himself? Then he spoke in a slightly more gruff tone of voice.

"Don't think that you are done for the day, Akane. No student of mine is allowed to be babied. Rest here for a little while, then I expect you back in the practice area." With that said Ranma trudged back up to their camp area. With questions flying through her mind and no answers, Akane decided to just lay back and rest, who knew when she would get to rest again.

--

So, her training continued. Akane eventually got back up and trudged into camp, and Ranma was there waiting for her. They trained for the rest of that day, then when it started to get dark they broke down their tiny camp and moved it, setting it up again as soon as they found a new spot, and ate dinner, and collapsed into bed, well Akane did anyway.

Of course as soon as one day ended another one began, or so it seemed to Akane. Ranma now woke her up by sneaking to her bedside and flicking her nose. If he managed to flick her nose, then she failed the morning test. If she managed to snap awake in time and either dodge or block the attack, then she passed the morning test. Then the training would continue.

Sometimes Ranma would set out impossible tasks for her to do, such as 2000 pushups. Akane would get herself mentally pumped up for the task, only to make it to three hundred or so pushups and have her traitorous arms collapse beneath her. Laying there face down in the dirt breathing heavily, Ranma would only watch her with those beautiful blue-gray eyes of his. Eyes that seemed to be asking her a question every time they came to rest on her. Eyes that asked her if she got it yet? Did she understand? Were his efforts to train her worth it?

One day Ranma even made her wade out into the stupid cold stream and told her to stand there in her battle stance. When the cold of the river finally got to her she started to shiver, but Ranma's cold eyes just watched her. Finally he commanded her to, "stop the water." Just like that, "stop the water." Not really knowing what he meant by that, Akane tried to obey. Kicking and punching the flowing water, chopping and just plain holding her arms out, Akane tried to, "stop the water."

Of course no matter how she attacked the water, it just flowed around her. No matter how much she pushed the river it moved past her. No matter how much she wanted to stop it, the water didn't care, and had no intention of stopping. All the while, as Akane fought the water, Ranma just sat and watched her, hoping she would get the message, that she might start to understand what he was trying to show her.

Finally, Ranma called her out of the water. Shivering, and with her uniform plastered to her body, Akane stumbled out of the water and collapsed onto the water bank. She had no idea how long she had been in there, but she couldn't really feel her legs, and her muscles where very cranky with her.

Smiling down at her, Ranma chucked a towel at her and started to walk back to their camp, over his shoulder he mentioned, "I'll get a fire waiting for ya, Akane, don't be too long drying off."

From the stream bank, Akane watched him go. Too tired and cold at the moment to even snatch the towel off of her head. Finally harnessing her internal reserves of strength and stamina she forced herself up and walking, heading for the fire Ranma had promised her.

Scrubbing her hair dry with the towel, Akane entered their camp site. Sure enough, Ranma was kneeling down in front of a ring of mid-sized rocks surrounding the makings of a good fire.

As Ranma cracked two rocks together to spark the tinder into flames, Akane watched him as she continued to towel dry her hair. Finally Ranma rocked back onto his haunches and sure enough a small blaze was catching hold of the tinder. Ranma slowly nursed the fire into growing with progressively larger pieces of wood, until he could finally place the large heartwood log on the fire that would burn throughout the night if he let it.

Shuddering gratefully with pleasure as she neared the flames, the warmth of the fire seeped into Akane as she just stood there, clutching her towel around her shoulders like a shawl. Ranma took up a seat on a nearby rock and watched her with a somewhat more interested gaze than normal. Blushing a little bit, Akane realized that her white uniform was basically transparent when wet. Shrugging because there was basically nothing she could do about it at the moment, Akane let the heat of the fire continue to warm and dry her. Finally, Ranma spoke.

"Didja understand why I had you fight the water, Akane?"

"You like to try to drown your potential wives?" Akane answered glibly. Noticing Ranma didn't smile back at her comment, Akane swallowed nervously then nodded slightly. "I think I understand why you had me do that."

"Tell me."

"Well ... fighting the water seemed to be to me, like a hopeless battle ..." Looking up at Ranma, Akane waited to see if she was totally off base, he just smiled and waited, so she continued. "I tried kicking and punching it, and that didn't work, I tried holding it back with my body and that didn't work, and all the while, the cold and heavy force of the water wore me down ... so I guess you were trying to show me ... that martial arts doesn't need to be about brute force and violence all of the time?" Finishing up, Akane looked up at Ranma with hopeful eyes, and was rewarded with his warm smile.

"Exactly! That is _exactly_ what you were supposed to learn from that drill. Ya know, Akane, it took me _months_ to figure that out. Pop would never tell me why I had to do things, he just chucked me into the water one day and told me to stop it. Of course I was so mad that I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing I would just kick and thrash around in the water until he told me I could come out. But, yes, the point of that drill is to show you that the spirit of the art is unrelenting force. If one way doesn't work, you go the other way, if the fight cannot be won, don't fight it! And the easiest way to win a battle is to wear your opponent down, just like the water wore you down with the force of it's current, and it's cold."

Beaming at her, Ranma opened his arms inviting her to hug him, and Akane hesitantly walked into his waiting arms. Still a little bit damp, but tired and cold nonetheless, and besides, Ranma was sitting on a blanket, which he then pulled up and wrapped them both in. For a time, they just sat and watched the fire. The bright glowing coals, the ghostly wisps of vapor and heat near the base, the cracking flames licking the wood, the smoke wafting into the near-nighttime sky, the sound of the pops and snaps and cracks of the wood being consumed by the flame. It was a very magical moment, and neither one of them wanted it to end. So, Akane snuggled back into Ranma and Ranma cradled Akane and they both lost themselves in their thoughts. Akane thought of all she had learned in such a relatively short amount of time, while Ranma worried that the next battle that Akane had to face tomorrow, was a battle she might not be ready for, but there was only one way to find out wasn't there?

--

Mousse looked out the window of the Nekohanten restaurant again. He had been watching the sun dip on the horizon for the past hour now, and soon it would be time for him to slip away and get Kodachi in position to battle Akane ... theoretically anyway. In his experience things seldom went exactly as the plan had called for. Looking around subtly for any signs of the old mummy or Shampoo, Mousse slipped into the back hallway, and listened to the door to Shampoo's room. Faintly from inside he could make out both Shampoo and the mummy talking in Mandarin ... something about dress sizes, and what height a leg slit in a dress was the perfect height to catch a husband? Shaking his head forcibly to knock the image of Shampoo's sexy legs out of his mind Mousse quietly slipped down the hallway and out the back door. As soon as he had cleared the restaurant grounds, Mousse leapt to the rooftops and started to sprint in the direction of the Kunou estate.

Deciding that the best way to lure Kodachi outside was a simple ruse, Mousse snuck around the estate looking for her and carefully stepping over, around or under the myriad set of booby-traps on the Kunou grounds.

"No, you fool! I said the **purple** bath slippers! Not the **puce** ones! I swear, Sasuke, I honestly don't know why we feed you!" Came the shrill voice of Kodachi from the courtyard around the corner. Smirking quietly, Mousse flattened himself to the wall and waited for Sasuke to leave.

"A thousand pardons mistress! I shall fetch thy purple slippers immediately!" A door could be heard opening quickly and the small thumps of running feet in a hallway soon after.

Seizing his chance, Mousse inched closer to Kodachi's position and whispered, "Kodachi ... Kodachi my love ...?" Mousse heard a small gasp from Kodachi, then an earnest reply came,

"Ranma? Ranma my love? Have you finally come for me?" Trying desperately not to snicker, Mousse replied, "yes my darling, but you must first find me ..." trailing off, Mousse quickly hopped up to the rooftop, and flattened himself against a small arch, using all his skills of concealment to hide himself.

"I come, my love, to prove myself to you! Oh! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Hoooooooo!" Kodachi cackled as she sprang from her courtyard palace into the trees and to the walls of the Kunou estate, darting thither and yon looking for her love, and calling out to him in extreme passion. Mousse's face was turning red from the strain of trying to keep from laughing.

--

"Come on, Akane! Hurry." Ranma shouted to his wife-to-be over his shoulder as he jogged in the direction of the Kunou clan's home.

Panting, Akane replied, "but why are we in town, Ranma? We aren't done training yet, and we just ate an early dinner, and I'm tired ..." Akane complained.

"Yeah I know, but we just gotta go see someone real quick, then we'll get back ta trainin' ya." Ranma explained.

"Ranma! Ranma Sweetums! Where oh where are youuuuu?! Come to me, lover boy! Come to thy love, Ranma darling!"

Pausing, Ranma listened to the sound of Kodachi's voice, then, grinning, headed in her direction. Akane looked puzzled, but followed nonetheless. Running straight past the Kunou estate, Ranma made sure that he ran by the wall Kodachi was currently perched on and kept on running, with Akane hot on his heels. Grinning to himself, Ranma thought, 'this is gonna be goooooooood.'

"Ran- " Cutting herself off in mid-call, Kodachi saw the love of her life sprinting past the Kunou estate ... strange, why would he be running from her ... **Akane!** The devil-girl, she was chasing her beloved Ranma! Growling to herself, Kodachi jumped down off the wall

and sprinted after them.

"Don't worry, my sweetums! Kodachi will save thee!" Dodging around a corner, Ranma jumped into some bushes and waited. Akane came around the corner next and slowed to a stop. Looking around puzzled, she opened her mouth as if to call out for him when Kodachi galloped up and rounded the corner at a full sprint and plowed right into Akane.

Brushing herself off huffily, Akane growled, "hey! Watch where you're going you nut case."

Squaring off against her, Kodachi produced her trademark rhythmic gymnastic competition ribbon, and started to twirl it in a threatening manner. "And just who are you to speak to me in such an insolent manner? You are nothing but a common peasant." Kodachi sneered.

Looking Kodachi up and down, Akane started to fall back into her old ways of handling conflict, but managed to grab a hold of her new training just in time. Standing in a relaxed posture, she put her hands in her pockets and just smirked at Kodachi.

"You can call me whatever you like, Kodachi, I know I'm not a worthless peasant like you seem to think everyone is. And I also know that you're no better than I am."

"Insolent wretch! We will see how sure you are of those words when I ram them down your throat!" Kodachi cried as she leapt into the air snapping her ribbon viciously at Akane's head.

Falling into her training, Akane moved with the motions Ranma had shown her, inching her head just slightly out of the way of the ribbon, then back again, fast enough to make it appear that she hadn't really moved at all.

Kodachi the Black Rose, landed on a tree branch and immediately produced a fistful of clubs, which she proceeded to throw at Akane.

Akane held her ground and simply moved herself ever so slightly out of the path of the clubs. Not even bothering to block them, she just flowed around them, like the river. From her tree branch perch, Kodachi scowled.

"I see someone has been training you, girl, very well then I shall have to use my full abilities to teach you a lesson."

'Here it comes ...' Ranma cringed to himself. Kodachi was about to use her full speed and agility to attack Akane. Akane would either manage to fight her off, or she would end up unconscious on the ground. Biting his lower lip, Ranma waited.

Tucking her ribbon back into her leotard, Kodachi snapped a spiked club into each of her hands as she hopped down from the tree. Glaring at Akane for just a minute, Kodachi then charged with a shrill battle cry!

Akane braced herself and waited, unconsciously she started to tense her muscles and harden her stance like she always used to do. Kodachi leapt at Akane and swung her right club at Akane's head so fast you could hear the wind whistling around it.

Ducking under the club attack to the left of her attacker, Akane shot a right elbow to Kodachi's ribs, then stutter-stepped back out of range. She was doing okay, but with the intensity of the battle, Akane was starting to fall back on old habits.

Swinging through her strike, Kodachi spun into a whirlwind attack, striking over and over again towards Akane with her spiked clubs forcing Akane to block. Just as Ranma had shown her she snapped her chops and palms into Kodachi's vulnerable pressure points as she blocked her. Snarling, Kodachi put everything she had into the attack and Akane's defense started to falter.

Knowing she had to finish the fight soon if she wanted to win Ranma shouted from the bushes, "**Now**, Akane, use it now!"

The shout distracted Kodachi for just a second and in that space of time Akane brought her right back leg up and round kicked Kodachi full in the solar plexus and recoiled the strike back just as fast. The kick knocked the wind out of Kodachi and, dropping her clubs to the sidewalk with hollow metallic clatters, she slumped to her knees.

"How ... how could a lowly peasant like you beat one such as I in joined battle? It isn't possible ..." Kodachi muttered before she slumped over and was reduced to moaning as she caught her breath.

Peeking out from his hiding place, Ranma spied Mousse leaving the Kunou grounds down the street. Noticing Ranma, Mousse gave a quick thumbs-up sign and a wink, then was gone.

Before Ranma could get out of the bushes to congratulate Akane, there came a clapping sound from across the street. Standing up tall from where she had been hidden, was Ukyou.

"So ... you are training her now, Ranma? It took you awhile but it looks like you have finally chosen haven't you?"

Ranma's heart froze in his chest. This was it, this was the confrontation he had been dreading. Standing up slowly from the bushes, Ranma met the very angry and hurt gaze of his closest childhood friend. "Ukyou ... I ... I never ever meant for you to get hurt at all. I ... I dunno what to tell ya, Ukyou, kick the crap out of me if it'll make ya feel better, but I don't love you like that. I love you as my friend, and as someone that understands me, but that's all ..." Trailing off, Ranma forced himself to maintain his gaze into Ukyou's pain filled eyes.

Jumping down from her rooftop, Ukyou landed and started to walk slowly to where Ranma stood. Her hands were clenched at her sides, and tears were starting to fall from her eyes. No battle aura surrounded her, but her hurt and anger were obvious to anyone that could see her.

Akane started to move in front of Ranma, intending to fight her off, but Ranma stopped her with a quick hand gesture to hold her ground. Any punishment Ukyou handed out to him now, he figured he deserved. Getting the drift, Akane sighed loudly but took a few steps away from them and turned her back to give them a small measure of privacy. Grinning slightly, she decided to busy herself with hog-tying Kodachi with her own ribbon.

Stopping so close to him that Ranma could smell her, and could feel the heat of her body, Ukyou continued to gaze into his beautiful eyes for minute after minute, not really saying anything, those beautiful eyes of his ... eyes that she could see didn't love her the way she wanted them to.

Whispering so quietly that Ranma could barely hear her, Ukyou started to say her peace. "Well I guess this is it then. I guess I have to give up now don't I ..."

"Ukyou I'm - " Ranma started to say. Putting a finger over his lips, Ukyou shushed him.

"Don't ruin my noble sacrifice with empty promises, Ranma ..." When she said, "noble sacrifice," Ukyou smiled for a minute like she always used to. Making the moment seem all the more surreal.

"We both know that you have chosen _her_, Ranma. Regardless of whether you have told her or not, we both know she is the one for ya sugar. I know you know that I love ya, Ranma-honey. I know you know that I would have done just about anything to be the one to win you. Maybe even killing for you ... but I guess desire isn't always enough to get what you want is it?" Ukyou asked the question to no one in particular as she smiled sadly, and the tears fell quietly from her eyes. Choking back his own tears, Ranma kept his gaze on his oldest and best friend, he owed her that much at least.

"So ... now what, Ukyou? I know that Mousse goaded you ta fight Akane, but now that I am training her I really can't letcha fight with her anymore ..." Ranma looked down guiltily for a moment then, it sounded so conceited to say something like that.

"I know, Ranma-honey. I didn't even really fight Akane because of what Mousse told me, I fought her to make myself feel a little better, maybe even a little superior. I know it's small and petty, but there ya have it. I did it basically to prove to myself that I had at least _something_ she didn't have. But I don't really want to fight her now. I'm actually happy for her. I really am, Ranma, she's a good person, and she deserves to be loved by someone like you. She has had just as hard and weird a life as I have, and if I have to lose to someone I am glad it's her at least..."

"Oh, Ukyou ... I'm so sorry ..." Ranma whispered as his tears finally started to fall. It was just _too hard_, too hard to do this. Seeing her like this, the pain that he caused, Ranma almost started to want to go back on his decision ...

"No, it's okay, Ranma. She won ya, fair'n'square. I want you to follow your heart, just like I'm following mine."

"U-chan ... I wish there was something ... something I could do for you ..." Smiling ever so slightly, Ukyou reached behind her and unsheathed her battle spatula.

At the sound of a weapon being drawn, Akane looked over her shoulder. But Ranma seemed calm, and Ukyou didn't seem to be overly emotional, or even really angry so, shrugging, Akane returned to looking away, and gloating ever so slightly over her now hog-tied and gagged sparring partner.

Ranma met Ukyou's gaze as she drew her battle spatula. 'Here it comes.' Ranma thought. 'Well, unlike last time I guess I hafta grin'n'bear it.' Ranma winced as he braced himself for a pummeling.

Then Ukyou did something she had never done before, she held the weapon out to Ranma hilt first and offered it to him. "Here ... take it. I want you to keep it with you always, that is what you can do for me. That's what I want you to promise me, to carry this with you always, and to remember me..." Ukyou handed it to him as her voice broke.

"U-chan ..." Ranma whispered. So awestruck at what was happening that words escaped him, Ranma simply took the spatula and held it. Finally, Ukyou looked up into his eyes for a final gaze, then slumped into his arms softly and nuzzled his chin with her cheek, letting her tears fall on his, mixing them together. Slowly, Ukyou wrapped her arms around her lost love and pulled her mouth up to his and kissed him. Not hungrily like Akane did, but very soft and sweet. Very much aware that this would be her first, last and only kiss with Ranma.

Ranma, for his part, froze at first, this could easily dissolve the uneasy peace of the moment very quickly. But Akane seemed to be holding to her unspoken promise and hadn't turned around to look at them yet ... so Ranma let her kiss him. Draping his arms around her awkwardly since he had a very large spatula in one hand, Ranma tried to hug her a little bit before she broke away.

Licking her lips sadly, and with a small glimmer of a smile starting to ease onto her features again, Ukyou bowed to Ranma and saluted Akane's back. Then turned around and started to walk away. Ranma sadly watched her go. He raised his hand once, and opened his mouth to call her back ... but then sadly let the hand drop again, and slowly closed his mouth. No words could make this better.

After some time, Ranma could no longer see her anymore. He turned around to see how Akane was doing. Smiling, he saw that Akane was now perched atop Kodachi's squirming, hog-tied body with a rather self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"So ... what should we do with crazy here?" Akane asked innocently.

"Well, we can't leave her like this, it might be a long time before someone finds her. Lets drop her off at her front door, then get out of here." Ranma replied with a little bit of humor returning to his voice. It was good to see Akane so pleased with herself. Although he just knew that Kodachi would never leave this alone in the future, but that was okay as long as Akane could handle her.

So, together they carried Kodachi to the front gate of the Kunou estate, and Ranma quickly scribbled a note on a scrap of paper and stuck it between part of the ribbon that had her tied down. Then Akane rang the bell and they both dashed off into the early twilight. A moment later the gate swung open and Sasuke peered outward.

"**Mistress!** Oh mistress what has been done to you?" Kodachi answered in a muffled growl.

"MMM! Mhh, mmmh mmmh!" To which Sasuke could only guess as what she meant.

"Fear not mistress, your loyal servant Sasuke shall save thee ... wait a minute, what's this ... a note? ... it says ... that you were trying to bite people at the market, so they had to restrain you?" Looking up from the note Sasuke eyed Kodachi in a slightly less than impressed manner. Growing more and more furious, Kodachi growled.

"MMM! Mhh, mmmh mmmh!" Shaking his head as he started to untie her Sasuke replied.

"Oh mistress ... if you were hungry you should have ordered me to fix you dinner ... it would have been much easier on your ego ..." Finally getting free of her bounds, Kodachi shoved her helper away from her and sneered, "I'll ego _you,_ ya little twerp, c'mere!" Kodachi shouted as she lunged for Sasuke, who nimbly leapt away.

"But mistress! I have done nothing wrong, I - "

"Shut up, fool, and die!" Kodachi screamed as she gave chase.

"But mistress! ... " And so the Kunou household reverted back to pretty much normal. As Ranma and Akane headed back to the woods, to complete the final leg of her training, to prepare her to fight Shampoo.

--

In the Tendou household, Doctor Tofu was staying up late as he usually did these days, and studying that book that lately he lugged everywhere with him. Sitting on the back porch with the book cradled on his knees, he muttered to himself as he read, and made notes on a separate pad.

"... Elemental ..."

"... The dark one ..."

"... death of magic ..." He muttered to himself as he furiously scribbled notes on his notepad, made diagrams, and translated certain section of Chinese into Japanese.

Kasumi watched him from a small distance away for a little bit before she walked out to the porch and sat next to him. The night time air was chill, and a small wind blowing made goose bumps stand up on her arms.

Letting the silence hold for awhile, Kasumi finally cleared her throat rather loudly, prompting Tofu out of his stupor to look up and acknowledge her. Kasumi then softly asked him what she had been wondering for weeks now.

"Doctor ... what's going on? Why do you study that book so relentlessly, why are crazy people attacking my family, and my home? Why is Ranma out there somewhere in the wilderness training Akane? What's happening?" Kasumi asked with a stubborn tilt of her chin to punctuate her question. She wanted an answer this time.

Shutting the book slowly and setting it aside, Tofu adjusted his glasses, which shimmered for a second from the light shining out to the porch from inside. Then quietly he spoke.

"Well, Kasumi ... I don't really know how to explain it exactly. The book you see me studying all the time claims to be a book of ancient history, and also of prophecy. It talks of our world in ancient times as a world of magic and wondrous things. But also a world of terrible evil, ravaged by those that would abuse such power."

"It says that a mighty battle was fought somewhere in China a long time ago, and that the most powerful nation at that time came under siege from the forces of a very evil being, called the 'Dark One' or Huàide púrén which literally means in Chinese, servant of evil. I know it sounds kind of corny to call him the dark one, but that is the best I can do to translate how they generally refer to him as in the book. They almost never use his true name, nor what his true name means. Anyway the battle ended and left the nation destroyed, the king dead, and his daughter the princess killed not far from the castle in a valley. A valley that our friend Ranma has been to it seems."

"You don't mean . . ?" Kasumi asked as she put a hand over her mouth in fear.

"Yes, I think the valley of the accursed springs, or Jusenkyou is the valley the princess died in, and this book says her last command as a princess of the high order of magic she inherited from her father, was to take magic from our world."

"But ... aren't those springs magical? Don't they change the people that fall into them?" Kasumi asked.

"Exactly." Tofu answered in a grim tone of voice, letting the reality of the situation sink in to Kasumi.

"So ... what is happening now then?" Kasumi ventured.

"Well ... I think for the answer to that to come around, we need to trace the triad that attacked Nabiki back to China, and find out. But my guess is that someone or some group has figured out how to resurrect magic in our world, and is now working on bringing this, 'Dark One,' back to our world. Which would explain the attacks on our family, and the strange changes in Akane and Ranma and the rest of their little gang." Tofu stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Oh my." Kasumi said quietly.

"Yeah, no kidding." Tofu agreed. "So I guess our next step is going to have to be to go to China and find the people, or person responsible for all of this. Which means I guess we have to go get Ranma and Akane."

Kasumi nodded quietly and scooted closer to Tofu. She didn't really understand everything that was going on, but she trusted that he would take care of it, he always did.

--

Ranma snuck next to Akane's bedside swiftly and silently. Kneeling down next to her bed he readied an extra-vicious nose flick. Disappointed that she was going to fail her morning test once again.

Reaching down towards her nose, Ranma readied to flick. At the last instant, as his finger was about to fly, Akane's arms shot up and latched onto Ranma's arm with surprising speed and strength.

"Ya know ... that is **not** my most favorite way to be woken up in the morning, Ranma." Akane growled, her eyes still shut in feigned sleep.

"Yeah well, it's better than a full out tackling like pop would do to me in the mornings, so consider yourself lucky." Ranma said as he smiled proudly at her achievement.

Getting up and ducking out of the tent Ranma smile grew even wider, he was very excited about today. Today was the day that he had been waiting for. Shouting over his shoulder as he moved Ranma said, "ya better get up Akane, I got a bucket of water with your name on it out here!"

Grumbling, Akane complied inside the tent, muttering vile things that she would like to do to the mean man that woke her up at such inhuman hours each and every day. Cinching her red belt around her waist, Akane stepped out of the tent and froze.

Grinning, Ranma was kneeling on a white square of cloth, laid out very carefully on a patch of fairly flat grass. Around the cloth were lit candles, that still glowed fairly bright in the pre-dawn light. In front of Ranma lay a small rectangular package wrapped in waxed-oil cloth, a package she had seen in his pack a few times during the past weeks of training, but had never really thought about to ask.

Uneasily, Akane walked over to the patch of grass and looked down at the setup. "Okay, Ranma ... I give up, what are you doing?" Akane asked perplexed.

"It's time, Akane, time to give you what you have deserved for quite some time now. If you wipe your feet on the grass and come kneel here with me we will get this started." Smiling, because Ranma was smiling, Akane did as he asked and then knelt in front of him.

"Akane ... I have never had the opportunity to do this before, so forgive me if it isn't exactly as you envisioned ... but here goes nuthin'." Ranma said as he pulled out a rather elaborate looking scroll case and set it next to the rectangular package.

Akane just sat and watched. This had a familiar feeling to it, but she couldn't quite place what Ranma was up to yet.

"Akane ... it is with great honor and pride that I do this today. If you would do me the honor of removing your belt, and folding it in half, half again and half one more time please." Ranma smiled and waited.

Akane scowled at him, but since he hadn't asked anything unreasonable, she figured she could humor him. It beat doing two thousand pushups, any day. Setting her belt in front of her like she had been instructed, Akane arched an eyebrow and waited.

Grinning, Ranma gradually removed the covering from the rectangular package, slowly revealing it's contents little by little. Finally, he laid out in front of him a black belt. A brand new black belt with the name "Tendou Akane" stitched in beautiful red Kanji characters on one side of the belt's tip, and "Anything Goes School of Martial Arts" on the other tip.

Gasping, Akane put her hands to her mouth in shock. Her black belt! It was her black belt! "My god ... Ranma ... I don't know what to say ... do I even deserve this ... ?" Akane whispered.

Smiling, Ranma continued with the ceremony that his father had done for him many years ago, and he still remembered very well. As a matter of fact, he was basically reciting what Genma had told him back when he had gotten his black. It was the same speech Genma had heard from Happosai back when he had gotten his black belt.

"Tendou Akane as your duly authorized instructor of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it is with great pleasure that I ask you to take your black belt oath."

Nodding quietly as tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked, Akane just sat and watched in awe.

"Tendou Akane, I hereby charge you with the awesome responsibility of being a black belt of our school. If you accept this charge you are hereby honor bound from this day forward to obey the laws of this school, and defend it if necessary. Do you agree to this?" Ranma's gaze seemed to drill through her, this was a **very** serious promise he wanted from her."

"I - I ... promise ..." Akane managed to choke out.

"Tendou Akane do you hereby swear that you will uphold the tenets of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts from this day forward, including accepting any challenge at any time, putting your life on the line if necessary, and protecting the name of the school and all those affiliated with the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts?"

"I swear." Akane whispered.

"Then it is with great pleasure that I ask you to bow down to your old belt, signifying goodbye, please." Ranma instructed.

Looking down at her very well-worn red belt with tears in her eyes, Akane slowly bowed down to it, as Ranma matched her bow, resting her forehead on it for a few seconds. Then straightened back up.

Reaching over, Ranma then switched the two belts in place before speaking again. "Now would you please bow down to your new belt, signifying hello."

Again Akane bowed, and again Ranma matched her bow. When she straightened up they sat in silence for a second just enjoying the moment. Finally, Ranma spoke.

"Now, Akane you get ta do something that many people never get ta do in their entire lives, you get ta put on your very own black belt which you have earned, and are entitled to wear. I would advise you to put it on slowly, you only get to do this for the first time, once." Smiling, Ranma then just sat there and watched her.

Timidly, Akane reached out for the belt. Holding it in her hands, Akane unfolded it slowly, looking at it and feeling it for the first time. Then, slowly, Akane started to wrap her new black belt around her white training gi.

When she had knotted the very stiff and new heavy black belt around her waist she looked at Ranma again. He was beaming. "One final piece of ceremony Akane." Ranma said as he held up the elaborate scroll case, and opened it. Sliding out a rather large ornately decorated scroll, embedded with the seal of the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and

it read in very beautiful kanji, which looked suspiciously like Kasumi's writing:

[Tendou Akane, on this day we confer upon you the

solemn responsibility of being a black belt

in the school of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

We are all very proud of you.

-Signed:

Saotome Ranma

Saotome Genma

Tendou Soun

Founding Father, Grand Master Happosai

Handing her the scroll, Ranma stood and bowed to her. Standing up on shaky legs, Akane set her scroll down and bowed back. Then lunged forward and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Ranma!" Akane squealed as she hugged him. Smiling, he hugged her back.

"Don't thank me for anything, Akane. You sweated blood and cried real tears to get that. You did all the work, and you have earned it. As a matter of fact both your pop and mine have been wanting to give you your black belt for awhile now -- that's why the scroll is all ready. They just hadn't thought of a good time to do it, or how to go about finishing up your black belt training. So, I asked them if I could do it, before the whole day with Ukyou, and they thought it was a great idea.

"Oh, Ranma ..." Akane let the words die, the moment was too pure to try to over analyze it. What was in the past was in the past, and while she still didn't understand everything that was going on, she could deal with it at another time.

"Let's go home, Akane." Ranma smiled as he let her go. Grinning back at him, Akane proudly put her red belt back into her pack and started to help break down camp, greatly anticipating her return to home with her new black belt.


	12. Balancing The World With Harmony

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (2000-10-14)  
Last modified (2001-10-28) (original)  
Chapter split off from ch. 11, and re-written: 2007-12-30 through 2008-01-03

Chapter 12, "Balancing The World With Harmony - The Beginning And End Of An Age"

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**FF Net Notes:**

Holy cow, that took a lot longer than I thought it would!

Well, this is it, the _**entirely re-written**_ ending chapter to Ranma Gets a Clue, which I started way back in 2001, and I am just now getting to finish after promising for so long to do so (**see**! I **did** keep my promise! Hah!). I will probably never touch this story again. It needed to be finished properly, but looking at my writing from so long ago is now painful to me -- which is why I only actually rewrote just this one chapter, instead of doing that with all of the chapters. What I know now about writing, compared to what I knew then, is depressing. I hope that when I post my next story here, you will see what I mean. It is a Star Wars story though, so you will need to look for it if you don't normally read Star Wars fanfiction. Well, if you like my writing and want to read more of it anyway.

Anyway, unlike with the new chapter 11, I really have actually **re-written** this entire chapter. There are entirely new (large) sections to this new chapter, which was broken off from the old chapter 11, to make its own chapter (where it belonged in the first place). The lead up to the climax is now fleshed out and not just a few lines saying briefly what they did, and where they went, and the climax has now been re-written to better reflect my writing style as it is now (not completely, I didn't start from scratch, I just edited things as best I could, or re-wrote small sections of things where appropriate), and also to tie up some loose ends a little better. Some sections have been left more or less alone, except for the hundreds of comma and tense errors I am trying to fix, and the multitude of minor errors I am correcting. I am also rewriting the major battle scene in the center of the story to clean some of that up. This chapter is by no means perfect -- but it is as perfect as you are going to get from free fanfiction on the Internet with no actual formal editing process ;-)

Please feel free to review this chapter. It is basically a new chapter to this story, based on the old way I ended the story (the ending events haven't changed, in case you were wondering, but the aftermath has had a significant new section of story added to it).

The epilogue is on it's way, and yes, it will be tying up all of the loose ends that are still remaining. Those of you who have tagged this story as watched, or tagged this story as one of your favorites, expect to get a PM soon (and by soon, I mean when I finish it, not like in the next few days or something -- but I think I can safely say that within at least 2 weeks or so, you may be getting that PM) about the epilogue being up on my site linked to from my profile. I will post that epilogue here about a week or so after that, for everyone else to read.

Cheers, and thanks for reading. I hope I was able to entertain you with my little story. :-) If you really liked it, be sure to tell your friends, as they may like it too, and I need the exposure ;-) I can't get famous on my own here, people! ;-) (I joke, of course).

Enjoy!

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Nabiki sat in the family room doing some calculations in her ledgers. Genma and Soun where playing a game of Go in the corner, and Kasumi was in the kitchen making dinner. Just like an average evening in the Tendou household went. Except Ranma and Akane were conspicuously absent, and Dr. Tofu was sitting at the table reading that book of his yet again. 

It had been many many weeks now that Ranma and Akane had been gone. Nabiki wasn't worried, because daddy wasn't worried. Since her daddy would be the first to be freaking out if Akane was missing and he didn't know where, she assumed he knew something which she didn't, and just left it at that. She would find out eventually, she always did.

Kasumi stepped into the family room then with a large pot of rice. She set it carefully on the table as announced, "dinner's ready," in the same sweet voice she always used.

With eyes perking up and bellies growling, Soun and Genma raced for their places at the table while Kasumi left to get the rest of the dinner. Tofu slapped his book closed on a hasty paper bookmark, and jumped up to help her.

Nabiki strolled to the table and casually took her place. She would never understand why daddy and Mr. Saotome were always such goobers at meal time, it wasn't like they were going to run out of food. Kasumi entered the room again with Tofu in tow, and finished setting the table. Just as everyone was sitting down, a loud crash sounded from the back door in the kitchen, followed by laughter and voices.

The men at the table all jumped into battle stances. Then the telltale voice of female Ranma could be heard coming from the kitchen, in a rather annoyed tone of voice, arguing with someone. Then they heard Akane's voice.

"Honestly, I don't know what it is with you and water." Akane joked.

"Ha ha, very funny. I swear tomorrow I am filling in that stupid koi pond with concrete!" Muttering to herself, Ranma grabbed a kettle of hot water off of the stove and dumped it over herself.

The entire family ran to the kitchen doorway to peek inside and see for themselves that Ranma and Akane were actually back. They rounded the doorway, and there they were. Ranma was now soaking wet, but looked the same, and Akane was perfectly dry, but looked different some ... how ... her belt!

"Oh Akane! You did it! Daddy is so proud of you!" Soun exclaimed as he raced to his daughter and tackled her in a very excited hug.

"Thank you dad, dad ... dad I can't breath." Akane choked out.

As the rest of the family crowded around Akane to congratulate her, Tofu yanked Ranma aside and whispered to him, "we need to leave immediately if not sooner. As it is I am worried we may be too late." Ranma nodded in understanding, and agreed they could use the cover of darkness to make it out of town without being seen tonight.

As soon as the commotion around Akane died down, Tofu cleared his throat and then announced, "well the time has come everyone. We need to go to China. Akane and Ranma are already packed, and I am ready to go as well. So, the rest of you need to grab what you need then meet us at the front door."

Nabiki and Kasumi just sort of shrugged and headed up the stairs to pack. If there was one thing they were used to in this family, it was weirdness. Genma and Soun nodded in a knowing way, and headed off as well. Only Akane stood her ground.

"China?! But we just got back! What do ya mean we're going to China?!" She demanded.

"Just think of it as your first official actions as a black belt." Ranma quipped.

"Yes but-" Akane started to question him.

"I know, you need a better explanation than that, but Tofu can explain it better than I can, and we need ta get going. I'm goin' ta run upstairs and get some stuff before we go, so ask him any questions ya have. I don't really understand all this either, ya know." With that Ranma dashed out of the room and up the stairs, and Akane started to grill Tofu with questions, while the rest of the family packed. So, Tofu told her the story he had just told

Kasumi the other evening, watching her eyes grow ever wider as she listened.

--

That night, the entire family snuck out of the house and caught the train to the coast. Ranma sat next to Akane and they both slept. Her head lay nuzzled on his shoulder, and his arms encircled her warmly. Their snuggly behavior raised the eyebrows of both their fathers, but they chose to say nothing at the moment. Although both of them secretly hoped that they had finally come to their senses.

Nabiki and Kasumi filled out the rest of the seats in their compartment. In the adjoining compartment, Genma and Soun snored away blissfully after tucking the kids in. Happosai was nowhere to be seen, and presumed to be either following them, or busy raiding panties, everyone hoped for the latter. Dr. Tofu alone stood watch in the hallway, which was fine by him, as it allowed him peace and quiet to study his notes. He checked in on the compartments every so often, but Ranma & Akane were in with the girls, and Soun and Genma could handle themselves if an ambush came in through the windows. So, mostly, Tofu read.

In the morning, the train pulled into the station, and everyone yawned as they gathered their gear. Nabiki seemed to be the most put-out of her comfort zone, and therefore complained the loudest.

"If we don't get food **now** I am leading a mutiny against whoever is leading this crazy expedition!" She grumped to Soun, Genma, and Tofu repeatedly. They stopped at the nearest café and grabbed some breakfast on their way to the marina. Nabiki huddled in a corner for warmth next to the heater duct in the wall. Everyone else seemed to be more or less in good spirits. The only ones in the group _not_ used to traveling and training conditions on the road were Nabiki and Kasumi. Nabiki was clearly showing how displeased she was. Kasumi, on the other hand, was as unflappable as always, and also with Dr. Tofu. So she was fine.

Ranma and Akane were being strangely quiet. Either sitting and talking quietly, or practicing martial arts together whenever they got one square meter or more of space to use. Now that Akane was an official black belt of the Anything Goes school, and an equal to Ranma (at least in displayed belt rank), she seemed to be _much_ more relaxed around him, and everyone else. Whatever it was that the belt meant to her, it obviously had fixed something she had felt she had been lacking, whether she knew it or not.

When everyone was done eating, and the bill paid for, they all turned their heads to Dr. Tofu, expecting him to lead, as he had last night. He smiled over his steepled fingers as he braced his elbows on the table and peered over them, his glasses glinting importantly.

"I bet you all are wondering how, exactly, I was planning to get us to China this time? Well, fear not, it won't be as bad as the last time we all ended up rowing there after we sank Kunou's boat."

That was all he said about it. After that, they got up and followed him to the docks in the marina, where they were treated to a pleasant surprise. Tofu had a full sized luxury yacht ready to go. Complete with crew and everything. Everyone raised their eyebrows and looked to Tofu to explain the extravagance, with sweat drops running down their faces.

Tofu, hand behind head in embarrassment, explained, "well ... you see ... I have helped a lot of people out over the years. A **lot** of people. Many of them old, and suffering from aches and pains that modern medicine can't do a whole lot about. When I am able to help them, they tend to be **very** grateful. So grateful, in fact, that my name keeps popping up in estate wills for some reason. I donate most of it to charities and free clinics. But I kept this yacht. Somehow, I had a feeling that some day we all might need to be going to China again."

They boarded the yacht and were each assigned their own spacious cabins; there were more than enough for one for everyone. Akane and Ranma brushed hands longingly as they parted for their own adjoining cabins. They had grown accustomed to sleeping together, and now it would be somewhat weird to be sleeping in different rooms. Nobody seemed to notice their discomfort though.

Once everyone had been assigned a cabin, and their gear had been stowed, they all went top side to enjoy the yacht. There was a small swimming pool, a jacuzzi, ping pong, video games, a t.v. room, a 2 on 2 basketball court, and a fully stocked bar.

Nabiki, sporting a slinky bikini was didn't leave very much to the imagination, headed straight for the jacuzzi, and snagged a crew member by the collar as she went, giving him drink and food orders and he was dragged behind her. Kasumi poked her head into the kitchen, which she was told was called a "galley" on a ship, and asked if she could help. Nobody wanted to say no to such a pretty girl, so they made room for her by kicking out the youngest chef. Akane and Ranma settled into the t.v. room and snuggled next to each other on the couch under a blanket. Dr. Tofu got a couple of games of ping pong in with various crew members, between reading sessions with his notes. Soun and Genma, as if anyone even needed to ask, found the bar, and had to be carried out when it ran out of alcohol, leaving a very shocked young bar tender gaping in disbelief behind them.

When night fell, they all retired to their cabins. Ranma and Akane once again parting ways with a slight brush of their hands, and longing looks. Dr. Tofu and Kasumi also parted ways, but with held hands, and a shared kiss. They were openly dating now, but Dr. Tofu wouldn't dream of asking to share Kasumi's bed just yet. Much to Kasumi's secret despair.

--

They reached mainland China 10 hours later. The yacht crew found a nice natural harbor, and rowed everyone to shore in the yacht's shore boats. They were instructed to stay in the harbor and wait for them for at least 2 weeks. If they didn't show up after that, then they were instructed to alert the Chinese government about them, and to head for home.

It was now mid morning the next day. After they had been rowed to the damp sand of the beach at a low tide, they all trudged up to the dry sand above the tide line and dropped their packs as everyone turned and looked at Tofu expectantly for what to do next. A chill wind blew out of the north and ran up Ranma's spine as he looked at Tofu, which he took to be a bad omen.

Tofu looked back at everyone puzzled, then asked in a huff, "what are you looking at _me_ for? **I** have never been to Jusenkyou. Ask the two training wonders over there how they got there last time! I have gotten everyone as far as I can get them, for now. I need to study these notes."

The group, as one, turned and glared at Genma, who promptly ran back down the beach and dunked himself in the water. Panda Genma then sat on the beach, trying to look cute, and held up a sign which read, "I'm only an innocent little panda. Please ask someone else for directions." As everyone started to growl, and roll up shirtsleeves to administer panda beatings, Ranma piped up.

"As much fun as I know it is to beat on my no good pop. I actually **do** know the way to Jusenkyou. Trust me. I didn't fall inta a cursed spring and start changing inta a girl, without learnin' the route that would get me back there someday, to undo the damage. Follow me." Ranma said with a grin as he shouldered his pack and waved them after him. Spirits immediately reverted to happy. Except for Genma's, who now held up a sign to their retreating backs, which read, "who're you callin' no good?! Ya ingrate!"

Gathering their packs, the family set off on their long hike to the valley of Jusenkyou. They were going back at last.

--

Many, many, ... many hours later, as they trudged up yet another hill, Akane muttered, "are we there yet?"

"Now, don't you start. We just got Nabiki to stop asking that question." Tofu said over his shoulder as he walked and consulted what looked like a map in that book of his.

Walking behind Akane, Nabiki stuck her tongue out with a very loud,_thhhpppbbbbbbb_ sound, and Ranma rolled his eyes. Maybe bringing the _entire_ family had been a mistake. But then again, the safest place for them right now was around the senior fighters of the school.

--

Peering over a rather large boulder, Shampoo smirked to herself. They were on her home ground now. Silent as shadow, she ran down the hillside she was watching them from. She wanted to get ahead of them, so she could reach the site of the trap she had planned. Unknown to her, someone else was following her quietly in the shadows, in the distance.

--

Reaching the bottom of the latest hill they had climbed, Tofu called a halt for a lunch break. They continued walking to a nearby clearing to settle down for a break, when a rumbling sound brought their eyes to the side of the hill they had just descended. Looking up, they saw an avalanche of rocks and boulders tumbling down towards them.

"**Take cover!**" Tofu shouted, as he grabbed Kasumi and ran in the opposite direction of the avalanche. Ranma grabbed Nabiki and followed him, while the rest of the family ran by themselves. Taking cover behind larger rocks, or in the nearby ditch lining the road they were on, they rode out the avalanche, until all that was left of it was the cloud of dust it had brought with it.

Coughing and dusting himself off, Ranma stood up from the ditch he had tossed himself and Nabiki into, standing her up on her own shaky legs as he did so. At the same time he could see a dark figure slowly walking down the hillside from over Nabiki's shoulder.

Emerging from the dust, strode the figure of Shampoo. Her face lit up when she saw him. "Ranma, you come Shampoo's country. This mean you ready take Shampoo to wife yes?" Shampoo asked as she continued to walk towards them.

"Shampoo ..." Ranma started to answer her when Akane climbed out of the ditch she had jumped into.

"So you're the one behind that avalanche! I should have known! **Well** ... what do you have to say for yourself?" Scowling, Shampoo turned to address Akane.

"Shampoo say, she miss you again, but maybe third time the charm, okay, Akane?" Shampoo asked with a sneer.

"Shampoo ... that's not funny, you coulda hurt someone, badly." Ranma admonished her.

"Aiyah, but husband no could be hurt by simple rocks. Shampoo just playing with you." Looking generally confused, Shampoo beamed up at Ranma with eyes full of love.

"That's it I have had it! Shampoo, I challenge you!" Akane shouted. By now the rest of the family had assembled, and were watching. When Akane said that most of them looked at Ranma in doubt. Ranma simply shrugged his shoulders. It was going to come to this sooner or later, might as well get it done and over with now. He had trained her to the best of his ability, and now it was up to her.

"Shampoo agree ... on one condition, if Shampoo win, then too-too violent girl promise to leave Ranma and never see again, is okay?" Shampoo grinned, confident that she could win any fight against Akane.

"Agreed, but if I win then you have to do the same, okay, Shampoo?" Akane grinned back.

"That fine with Shampoo, violent girl can think whatever she want think, that no make it true." Shampoo smiled as she took up a battle stance and waited.

Ranma watched his former student and future wife face down a truly dangerous opponent for the first time since she had become a black belt. Of course, no one would know that she was now a black belt, because none of them were wearing their gis or their belts.

Akane matched Shampoo's stance and they both waited. This time though, unlike the fight with Ukyou, Akane let herself relax like Ranma had taught her to do. She forced her emotions to drain from her as she'd been taught, in order to find her center. That had been her first lesson when her sparring training had started.

Finally unable to bear the wait any longer, Shampoo made the first move and charged Akane with a quick kick, punch combination. Putting her training into practice, Akane ducked and dodged out of the way of both strikes, using far less energy than it would have taken to block them.

Again, Shampoo charged her and Akane spun around and met the attack with an agile grace she had never before possessed, dodging and weaving out of the way of Shampoo's new attacks.

Growing frustrated, Shampoo stopped for a second and analyzed Akane's moves. She was fighting like Ranma! Well fine, Shampoo knew how to counter that style, at least with a weaker and lesser opponent like Akane.

Walking up to Akane, Shampoo stopped just out of arms reach, and started to focus her ki for an attack. Akane, quickly seeing what Shampoo was doing, decided to go for the easiest counter, and promptly dropped down in a swift motion and swept Shampoo's legs out from under her, breaking her concentration on her ki attack.

Back-flipping out of the sweep, and back to her feet, Shampoo landed and growled, "violent girl get better, Shampoo see that now. Okay then, Shampoo use technique of Amazon tribe. Shampoo was go easy on you early, but now, you make Shampoo mad!" With that, Shampoo jumped at Akane and grabbed her shirt in a throw.

Before Akane could counter the move, she was rolling into the ground. So she just went with the roll and popped out of it, upright again. But Shampoo wasn't going to leave Akane any time to be satisfied with herself. Before Akane had even finished standing up, Shampoo was on her again. She was so fast! Looking to Ranma for help all she got was his steady gaze on her, and a look in his eyes that said, '_you can do it_.'

Steeling her resolve, Akane slapped Shampoo's hands away from her this time, and started to use the Shiatsu techniques Ranma had shown her. Shampoo would lash out at her with a kick or a punch, and Akane would jab a pressure point as she blocked it every time.

Feeling Akane hitting her pressure points, Shampoo muttered to herself and changed tactics yet again. Running towards Akane, she faked a punch then flat out tackled Akane.

Knocking her to the ground and pinning her, Shampoo quickly flicked a serious of pressure points along Akane's arms, then vaulted off of her before Akane could kick her.

Using her kick as momentum, Akane rocked herself back to her feet and tried to raise her arms into a guarding position. The pain that slammed through her when she tried to move her arms was so unbelievable that it made her gasp.

Smirking, Shampoo asked, "Aw, did Shampoo gives you boo-boo? If want, Shampoo accept you surrender now, that way too-too violent girl able to walk home again, yes?"

Growling, Akane braced herself in a battle stance, even without the use of her arms, she could still move and kick just fine. Locking eyes with Shampoo she yelled, "lets just finish this!"

Casually wiping some sweat away from her eyes, and blowing her hair out of her face, Shampoo grinned like a feral animal and strode to her opponent. She gathered her internal chi as she walked, to channel into a punch that would end this once and for all.

Akane also started to channel her chi. She needed something to keep Shampoo away from her for long enough for her arms to work again. Unconsciously, Akane started to build a chi shield.

Reaching a distance close enough to Akane to strike, Shampoo brought her arms up into a guarding position, and started to glow red with her battle aura. To her disbelief, Akane started to glow yellow with her very own battle aura, and Akane's was brighter!

Growling, Shampoo launched herself into a devastating punch. A punch that had been taught to her by none other than her great grandmother herself, Cologne.

The two energies of the girls met and burst into a brilliant flare, Akane's shield vs. Shampoo's punch. Shampoo's confident grin turned into a scowl of determination, then disbelief as her energy ran out, yet Akane's seemed to grow, if anything. Shrieking in outraged disbelief, Shampoo threw everything she had into this last desperate attack. The energies of the two girls flared up again, violently. With a final yell, Akane's yellow aura surrounded Shampoo and exploded. The impact threw both girls back violently.

When the bright light of the explosion cleared enough to see, they saw that Shampoo had landed roughly a few meters away, while Akane seemed to have just sat down on the ground where she had been standing. Ranma rushed to her side, looking with worry down on his former student.

"Akane! Akane are you okay?" Ranma asked anxiously. She looked up at him proudly and grinned.

"I beat her Ranma, I really beat her, all by myself too!" Akane said as she kicked herself back up to her feet.

Before Ranma could respond though, Shampoo shouted, "**no!** Shampoo refuse give husband up to you! _**Die!**_" Shampoo shouted as she stood up, and began to charge Akane.

Before she took three steps though, her knees buckled under her and she slumped to the ground.

Appearing out of nowhere, Cologne hopped up from behind Shampoo, with a grim expression on her face.

"What the ... old ghoul?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Yes, me. Always me, isn't it, Ranma?" Cologne said tiredly. For the first time that he could remember, the old ghoul called him by his name, and not "son-in-law."

"I saw Shampoo here lose to Akane in an honorable fight, with the wager on the fight being that the loser must stay away from Ranma forever." Seems that Shampoo was over confident, and Akane here... seems to have gotten some additional training since the last time I saw her. You didn't show her the rising dragon punch yet, did you Ranma? That is not a technique to be shown to new black belts." Cologne chided him. Ranma shook his head no.

"Good. Well anyway, Mousse told me what is going on so I will leave you to it. If I am right, then your family is the major key to all of this. I bet not even Tofu knows which one of you will be the one to solve this mystery ... oh don't look so shocked, Tofu, you think I haven't seen that book you're always carrying around? That boring thing was required reading among our tribe's elders." Cologne smiled sadly. "I always thought it was a bunch of lies made up by someone who had clearly drunken too much wine. Apparently I was wrong."

"You know, Ranma ... Shampoo really does love you. I will try to get her to accept her fate from now on. But I cannot guarantee _anything_. She never really sought you as a husband because of our laws, you know, that was just a convenient excuse. She sought you as a husband because she _loves you_. She had plenty of opportunities to force you to marry her. That is what one usually does in the situation she was in. They knock the poor guy out, drag him back to the village, and force him to marry under a guard of armed Amazons.

But Shampoo wanted you to come to her willingly. Sure she tried a few games with you, but for the most part I think she was just playing with you. Shampoo has never known a man as strong as you, and I think it delighted her to have someone to play with that wouldn't end up in the hospital every time." Ranma nodded his head sadly in understanding. He wished he could have found a solution to this whole thing that didn't result in heartache for so many people.

"Anyway, I will take her back with me now. I know Mousse is waiting anxiously back at camp for her return. He was the one that alerted me to this whole thing, which is why I was here to intervene. If Mousse showed Shampoo his true power, and stopped her now, then she would again be under Amazon law to marry. As I know you already know, he doesn't want her like that, anymore than she wanted you like that. So anyway, I have said my peace. Good luck to you all, and go with all haste. You are quite near the Jusenkyou valley you know, it is only about a half day's more walk in the direction you are headed." With that, Cologne gathered Shampoo up in her arms and bounded away before anyone could ask questions or even really move.

Looking down at the ground, Ranma sighed and thought about poor Shampoo, and how she would feel when she woke up. But now wasn't the time for that. He was sure that this was far from the last they would be hearing from Shampoo.

The group agreed to a one hour rest to eat and recover from the sudden events that had just, literally, fallen on them. Then they were back to marching again. As Akane walked alongside Ranma, she finally got up enough courage to ask him what was on her mind.

"So ... who have you chosen Ranma? I know it's not Kodachi, or Ukyou and apparently not Shampoo either ..." Ranma sighed and looked at her, then looked away.

"You know how I feel Akane, but not right now, okay? I feel real weird right now." Smiling, Akane just nodded and grabbed his hand as they walked. At least she could hold his hand and help to cheer him up.

Hours passed and the group stopped twice more for water and rest. Until, finally, Tofu said the magic words they had been waiting for, "there it is."

Tofu pointed up ahead to a crack in the wall of the mountain they had been marching towards, and a small wooden sign driven into the ground, which was scrawled with both Chinese and Japanese and read, "This way to the famous Jusenkyou Springs!"

A collective sigh went up from the group as they made their way into the pass, and down into the valley. Where, hopefully, they would get some answers.

--

From a nearby cliff, a lone man, dressed in black, ducked his head back out of sight and set his binoculars down next to him as he touched a serious of keys on the data pad on his wrist. A short thin wire extended from a headset he was wearing, it beeped a go-ahead signal. He spoke into it softly. It was powerful enough to pick up the tiniest of whispers.

"The targets are entering the valley, over."

"Understood, return to base. Out." Nodding to himself, the man clad in black slipped down the cliff side on a rope that had just recently been set up there. He had no idea what was going on, and he didn't really care. He had just been told to watch for a group entering the Jusenkyou Springs area matching their descriptions.

--

The little group finally made it down to the valley where the springs were. Ranma grinned ear to ear and looked for the guide that had been there last time. All he needed to know was which one was the spring of drowned man. Then he would finally be **free** of this stupid curse of his! Looking around hopefully, Ranma failed to see the guide. Eventually, crestfallen, he turned to Tofu.

"You can read Chinese, can't you Doc? Which one of these signs says '_Spring of Drowned Man?_'" Ranma begged.

"Later, Ranma, first things first, okay?" Tofu answered him distractedly as he looked up briefly from his notes. "I need to find the cave mentioned in the text." Tofu muttered as the rest of the group set their stuff down and relaxed.

"Hey Ranma ... I see some Chinese guys heading this way, is one of them the guide you want?" Nabiki shouted over to Ranma as she pointed in the direction of a cloud of dust heading their way.

Looking up in alarm, both Ranma and Tofu swung their gaze towards the incoming horde of people.

"They seem to all be wearing the same uniforms as those guys from the '_Jusenkyou Preservation Society,_' that attacked you guys a while back. But they don't seem to be very happy, do they?" Asked Tofu.

"Nope, sure don't." Replied Ranma as he assumed a ready stance in front of Nabiki and Kasumi, along with Genma, Soun, Tofu and Akane while Nabiki and Kasumi took a few steps back, just to be sure.

"I don't suppose we can talk about this, do ya fellas?" Ranma asked glibly, but the large group of guards continued to charge.

"Ya know Ranma, you might want to take this a little more seriously. Don't you remember Kenny?"

"Oh yeah... I forgot about that." Ranma replied as everyone else sweat dropped.

Yelling as they closed in for the fight, the Jusenkyou Preservation guards slammed into the group of fighters from the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, and Tofu.

Genma grabbed two by their necks and rolled backwards, kicking them over his head.

Soun went from guard to guard, ducking under their swords and staves and kicking and punching them unconscious.

Tofu simply stood his ground with a calm expression on his face, jabbing out with his hands and feet every time the neck of a one of their attackers came into reach, paralyzing them with his shiatsu based attacks.

Ranma and Akane fought back to back. Their ki mixing together and bonding as they fought. So far they had lucked out and none of the members of the "Muscle Sword Clan" had shown up.

When the last of the guards had been knocked unconscious, or rendered immobile, they all relaxed a little bit and Ranma even quipped, "payback's a bitch aint it?"

Tofu smacked Ranma upside the head, and chided him, "don't get cocky! I am sure that isn't the last of them." Tofu then went back to frantically searching through his notes for the cave that was supposed to be here. The manuscript had insisted it was around here somewhere. While they waited, the sun slowly crept towards the horizon.

When it started to grow dark enough that seeing was becoming a problem, Soun and Genma called for a break so they could unpack the flashlights.

"Why can't we just stop and sleep for the night?" Nabiki asked.

"Because I would rather be a moving target than a sitting target, myself." Ranma joked, earning him yet another smacking, this time from Nabiki, causing Akane to raise an eyebrow at her.

"As crass as he is ... Ranma is right, it really isn't a great idea to try to make camp here. Not with all the unfriendly people around." Tofu muttered before returning to his notes and scribbled maps.

"If I am right, the cave should be up in that area somewhere, in the cliff side maybe." Grumbling, the group headed in the direction Tofu pointed, sweeping their flashlights back and forth over the area in front of them cautiously, as they went.

Tofu stopped suddenly in front of a seemingly solid wall of rock and knelt down to examine some scratches in the rock wall while consulting his notes. He then looked back at the wall, then to his notes again, then grinned.

"It's here." He whispered excitedly. Everyone else looked blankly at each other, assuming the others knew what he was talking about. However, before anyone could ask him what he meant, he was in motion.

"Well ... here goes nothing." Tofu stated, and without another word, stood up and walked right at the wall. Wincing at the seriously broken nose the doctor was about to have, Ranma averted his eyes. However, the bone crunching crack of a breaking nose never came. Looking up, Ranma saw the same scene as before, except Tofu was conspicuously absent. Suddenly Tofu's head appeared out of thin air, sticking out of the air.

"Ahhhh!" Ranma yelled. Stepping fully out of the cave, Tofu looked expectantly at Ranma, then asked, "Well come on everyone, what are you waiting for?"

Still breathing heavily from fright, Ranma yelled to his retreating back, "Don't **do** that! You scared the hell out of me!"

Chuckling, Tofu walked back into the cave. The rest of the group timidly followed behind him, still not used to walking through solid rock. Upon stepping into the cave, Ranma turned around and looked the way he had come, only to see a regular cave mouth behind him.

'Weird ... I guess it only looks like that on the outside.' Ranma puzzled to himself as he took up the rear of their little party.

The cave floor started to slope downward and along both walls were fashioned very old looking wooden beams, worn so smooth with age and use that their surface almost felt like glass. They had obviously been setup as some sort of railing, for some reason.

"You guys might want to make yourselves ready for just about anything. There's no telling what we may find down here." Tofu whispered.

The slope finally started to level off and spilled out into a vast underground cave chamber of some sort. The ceiling of which was so high, that the beams from their flashlights wouldn't penetrate it's darkness.

"I gotta bad feelin' about this ..." Ranma muttered.

"Me too boy . . what say we head up top for some dinner?" Genma replied as he started to back up towards the tunnel they had just descended. Before Ranma could answer him though, a cold voice answered instead from the darkness.

"_Please_ ... **do stay!** I have been expecting you." The cold voice boomed across the cavern.

Setting his book and his pack on the floor, Tofu stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled. "So I have finally found you ... whoever you are. Would you care to tell me _what_ you are, exactly?" Tofu asked as he pushed his glasses up on his nose, then crossed his arms across his chest..

"No ... not really." The voice answered from the darkness. "But maybe you have seen me before?" The voice asked as the sound of footsteps carried across the cavern air. As he emerged from the darkness of the cavern, they saw a man ... a sinister looking man swathed entirely in black. He was tall and wore a traveling cloak askew over his left shoulder, clasped at his throat with a symbol of a silver dagger. The cloak did not stir, though a wind in the cave was blowing.

As he drew closer, they could smell what seemed to be dried tree bark wafting from him. He looked to have lived a rough life, and his muscular build and callused hands suggested he was adept in the fighting arts. His hair was disheveled and his knee-high boots were muddy. He was smiling, but the smile seemed, _wrong_, somehow. Both Tofu and Akane, upon seeing him, shouted in unison, "**you!**" Laughing, the man feigned shock and a mocking gasp as he held his hands over his heart in pantomimed fright.

"Yes,_me_. I take it you have seen me in a vision have you, children? Well good, then I need not bother with false pretenses. You have stumbled upon us at a rather bad time and I am afraid you are not welcome here. So I am going to have to have you dealt with." The man smiled as he turned his back to them and started to walk away.

"Oh, and just with what army are you planning to use to '_deal with us_?'" Ranma demanded as he cracked his knuckles in preparation for a good fight.

"Why ... this one of course. Go to it men." The man in black said as he snapped his fingers and walked back into the darkness. Looking unimpressed, Ranma started to chase after the man in black when a low rumbling sounded. Setting their flashlights on the ground, the group backed into each other, trying to see where the sound was coming from. Out of the darkness, rough laughter started to sound from all around them.

Slowly, a large number of swarthy looking men stepped into the ring of light their flashlights were throwing off from the ground. They were all tall, they were all muscular, and all of them carried rather large Chinese swords. In their center stood someone Ranma would rather not see again ... Kenny, of the Jusenkyou Preservation Society, of the Cult of the Muscle Sword, and those with him also seemed to be carrying their swords like Kenny did.

"Um ... Ranma ... I think we're in trouble." Akane whispered.

"No kidding." Ranma whispered back as he braced himself for what was coming next.

"**Get them**!" Kenny shouted in the deep guttural voice that Ranma remembered, as he pointed his own sword towards them and charged.

--

"**Where in the hell am I now?!**" Came a very familiar shout from behind Ranma and company which, thankfully, also halted the advancing Clan of the Muscle Sword attackers in their tracks, as they paused to analyze the newcomer.

Ducking out of the same tunnel that they had come from just moments before, appeared Ryouga. He was filthy, covered with dust and dirt and something green was oozing off his boots.

"Oh ... Ranma, there you are! It's about time I found you, ya coward! I challenge you!" Ryouga yelled with his usual gusto.

"Yeah, well, that's great, Ryouga, but all these guys challenged me and Akane to a match first, so you'll have to wait in line." Ranma quipped as the members of the Muscle Sword Clan began to close the distance again.

"I hate waiting." Ryouga muttered as he turned to face their now common foe. "Besides, any enemy of Akane's, is an enemy of mine!"

With an enthusiastic battle cry of determination, Ranma and company met their attackers with their combined might and fought them. At first the fight seemed to be going more or less as the one they had fought earlier. But the swordsmen were more resilient than the earlier group of fighters. They kept getting up after getting thrown or punched. While their numbers weren't increasing, each time one of them got up, it seemed like another fighter was entering the battle. The effect was an efficient drain on their stamina, which was starting to cause Ranma's group to make fatigued errors.

Dodging swords left and right, Ryouga unlimbered his battle umbrella and knocked the swords of his attackers away. Spinning suddenly, Ryouga met a sword that had been heading for his back with the heavy force of his umbrella, shattering it.

"Attack me from behind will ya, c'mere!" Ryouga shouted as he chased after the now unarmed man. Then he had to almost trip over his own feet to back pedal from an attacker he hadn't seen coming from the other side of the unarmed man, who was now right on top of him.

Tofu fought with his back to the wall, and Kasumi behind him. A fierce determination shown in his eyes, and his battle aura flared a brilliant blue as he lashed out again and again striking down anyone that got anywhere near him and Kasumi. But his hands were being held a lot lower in his guarding stance, than they had when the fight had first started.

Soun and Genma were doing the same thing, guarding Nabiki behind them. Genma used his massive size as he dodged the swords of his attackers to either grab them and throw them, or just run over them. Soun moved smoothly and with a very determined expression on his face as he blocked, kicked, and punched frantically, driving his attackers back. Both men were sweating heavily now, and had to keep wiping their eyes with their sleeves whenever they could. It was getting hot in the cave!

As the fight wore on, every now and then there would be just too many attackers, and someone would get cut. Tofu got cut first. As he turned to check on Kasumi, an attacker's sword managed to get through his guard and slashed a deep cut into his shoulder. Groaning at the sudden wound, Tofu whipped his head around to find his attacker winding up for another swing, and drove his foot into the man's groin with terrible force, dropping the attacker where he stood.

Genma was the next to be cut. As he faced down three attackers, he managed to tackle the first two, but the third slipped through the rush and spun around Genma to slash at his back. It didn't cut very deep, but he started to bleed from his cut shirt as he whipped around and slammed the swordsman into the wall, and away from Nabiki, who was now crouched down in fright.

Ranma and Akane fought back to back again, sweating under the intensity of the workout they were getting. Ranma looked slightly worried, but it was anyone's guess as to what exactly he was worried about. Akane on the other hand seemed to almost be enjoying herself. She threw her attackers away from her, punching and kicking and moving much better than she had ever moved before. She felt a surge of power and a giddy feeling that called out to her for more, more, _more_!

She threw yet another attacker away from her, and as he got up and started to run away. She growled, "oh no you don't," and ran after him, leaving Ranma's back unguarded. Ranma immediately felt her absence and looked over his shoulder to see her running after the fleeing swordsman.

"Akane! Come back here!" Ranma yelled after her, before he had to quickly turn around and catch the arm of yet another attacker, to keep them from slicing him.

"Akane!" Ranma yelled after her, as he struggled with the swordsman, but she was lost in the melee, off chasing the man who had last attacked her, into the darkness.

Frantically beating aside sword swinging maniacs left and right, Ranma tried to follow her, but his progress was seriously slowed. Growing more and more angry and frightened, Ranma's battle aura started to glow a pale white, and his attacks started to become charged with the power of his ki.

Punching yet another attacker out of his way, Ranma growled, and looked for Akane in the darkness. Flaring into full existence, Ranma's brilliant white battle aura shone into the darkness and illuminated the cavern. He finally saw her with her back against the wall, fighting a loosing battle against half a dozen attackers all at once.

Ranma's guardian instincts kicked in and he roared, "**no,**" in a voice ringing with power, which echoes off of all of the cave walls over and over again. He channeled his fear and anger together into a single ball of energy inside himself. Then, holding his hands out as focusing points, he let go of his control and unleashed a crackling energy wave that swept through the cave outwards from him.

The energy wave passed through his friends and family safely, but on contact with an attacker - it lifted them up and threw them out of it's way like blades of grass upon a summer's wind.

Panting and sweating heavily, Ranma stood slightly slumped after his outburst. He dragged his suddenly very heavy head up, to tiredly look around the cave for Akane. The rest of the family took the time to shake themselves off, and tend to their various wounds. Genma was even sitting down and patiently letting Nabiki wrap a bandage around his cut back, while Kasumi tended to Tofu's shoulder. It was a good thing they had brought lots of bandages.

Dashing to where he had last seen Akane, Ranma froze in his tracks as he gasped and his heart leapt into his throat. Akane lay under a pile of bloodied bodies, and she wasn't moving.

"Oh,**no!** Akane! Akane, **no!**" Ranma yelled as he dived for her. Quickly, he pulled her out from the press of bodies and laid her on the cold stone floor gently. He then tried to wake her up by patting her cheeks softly.

"Hey ... hey, Akane ... Akane wake up!" Ranma yelled as he patted her cheeks. "Akane ... Akane!" Ranma yelled more franticly as he started to shake her, but she stayed just as limp.

Walking up behind Ranma, Tofu put his hand on Ranma's shoulder softly and said, "Let me see, Ranma." Nodding, Ranma laid her down softly and scooted back to allow Tofu to examine Akane.

Tofu lifted her eyelids to check for dilation, he held her wrist and her neck, and felt for a pulse, and he pressed his ear to her mouth to listen for breathing. After a long moment, which felt like an eternity to Ranma, Tofu let out a low moan of sorrow, as he shook his head sadly.

Tofu immediately tried to resuscitate her using CPR techniques, and he even tried stimulating her nervous system by pressing the shiatsu points he knew which _could_ bring her back, if she wasn't too far gone already. Akane's body shuddered slightly when Tofu pressed her shiatsu points, but she didn't start breathing again. Shaking his head sadly and wailing, Tofu laid her back down and turned to the family.

"I'm sorry but it's too late ... she's ... she's too far gone now, there's nothing more I can do without hospital equipment." Tofu declared.

"**No!** There must be something else!" Ranma yelled as he violently shoved Tofu away and dived frantically for Akane. He buried his face in her neck and hair and sobbed pitifully as he immediately pulled her body closer to him and started mimicking what he had just seen Tofu doing.

He pinched her nose closed then placed his mouth on hers and breathed into her three times. Then, locking his elbows and finding the right place on her sternum, he pressed ten times in quick succession. Over and over again he repeated the motions, all the while screaming as he sobbed to Akane, "hang on ... hang on, **Akane**, come back to me ..."

The family watched in horror as Ranma worked desperately to save her. Ryouga slumped against the far wall over the cave and wailed while clutching his hair and tearing it out. Genma sat silently on the floor and prayed to the gods for a miracle. Kasumi buried her head in Tofu's chest and looked away, and Soun fell to his knees watching in desperate hope with tears streaming down his cheeks like unchecked rivers. Nabiki covered her mouth with her hands, and tears flowed freely and unashamed.

"Come on! Come on, **Akane**! Don't you dare quit on me now! _Don't you __**dare!**_ Fight! Fight, damn you! **FIGHT!**" Ranma screamed as he started to hammer on her chest with his fists, trying to get her heart beating.

"Ranma ..." Tofu started to say as he eventually leaned forward to try to pull Ranma away from her.

"Get your hands off me!" Ranma screamed as he paused for less than a split second to use his incredible sped to whip his hand around and hit Tofu so hard that he staggered back a few steps. Ranma's eyes flashed a dangerous quicksilver as he batted Tofu away from him, and his irises started to glow in an unearthly manner, making Tofu gasp. The magic was asserting itself in Ranma now!

Ranma immediately turned back around to Akane, and resumed trying to beat the life back into her as he sobbed.

"**Noooooo** ... Akane, **NO!** ... NO! I won't let you! **I won't let you go** ... do you hear me?! _**I won't let you go!**_" Ranma screamed as he beat on her chest and blew breath into her mouth over and over again. His tears streamed down his face and fell on hers, while a steady glow started to spring up around Ranma's body. This time it wasn't a battle aura. This time it was a white, almost silvery glow.

'_Your fault, your fault, your fauuuuuuult!_' Ranma's mind sang to him.

'_You failed, you failed, you faiiiiiiiled!_' It sang.

'_No! No! No!_' Ranma screamed back at it.

'_Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice._' His mind taunted back. Those words stabbed at his heart and soul more painfully than any sword ever could.

'_Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice. Protection and justice._' Ranma's mind screamed at him as he worked desperately to save Akane. The shrill words in his mind **hurt!** Like a thousand stabbing needles they lanced into his heart and soul demanding satisfaction.

Reaching inside himself, and grabbing onto the outrage and terror he felt, Ranma held on to it, and started to bend it. Whatever it was within himself that he had grabbed, burned his mind like living fire. Taunting him with a power he wanted, and singing of his failures.

With the words, '_protection,_' and, '_justice_,' floating in his mind over and over again, and the pain of thousands upon thousands of needle sharp stabbing pains throughout his body, and the desperate need to save Akane from a fate she didn't deserve, Ranma reached into himself and grabbed onto the source of that terrible pain and white hot light in his mind's eye. He held on to it, demanding that it bend to his will ... and the world froze to a halt as a white light flashed across his vision ... vaguely he was aware of the faraway sound of his voice chanting strange words in a language he had never heard, and couldn't even recognize ... but he was to focused on Akane to care.

Silent and unmoving, she lay cold on the cave floor, almost like she was just sleeping. She laid there because she had wanted to help him, because she loved him. She laid there, because she had wanted to help protect the family, because she had wanted to prove herself as a martial artist. With a roar of outrage, Ranma laid his hands over Akane's heart and _**DEMANDED**_ that the power inside him do _**SOMETHING**_.

Shielding their eyes from the incredible glare coming from Ranma, his family backed away from him trying to keep a safe distance from what was going on.

The magic finally bent, and shaped itself to the steel will of it's new master. It called a wind from beyond their world, and the wind swirled into the cavern and quickly converged on Ranma. Twirling and howling around Ranma, the wind danced and moved with a life of it's own. Bringing with it the scent of a mountain spring, and the fresh smell of the first flowers of the year, the wind spun around it's master faster and faster until it solidified into a solid wall, blocking from view from the rest of the world what happened next.

Raising his hands to the heavens, Ranma called the wind to him, demanding it's healing powers serve him in the language of the magi of ancient times. Calling the healing powers into his body, Ranma bent it to his will with the powers and language of the magi. Then, placing one hand on Akane's chest, and one on her forehead, Ranma commanded the power to flow into Akane. With a brilliant flash of light, the energy in Ranma's body surged into Akane's as the wind swirling around them both instantly died down.

With a gasping breath, Akane's chest rose and fell for the first time on it's own since they had found her. Staggering, Ranma stepped back from her almost as if he was afraid he might hurt her accidentally.

Leaning back against the nearest wall, Ranma pressed his hands to his forehead and leaned his head into the cold stone of the wall. When he finally put his hands down, he blinked several times like his eyes itched. Looking in the direction of Tofu and the others, he smiled hesitantly. He looked the same as he always did, except his eyes were still flashing with quicksilver light.

Whispering, Ryouga called out, "Ranma ... man ... you have _got_ to teach me that technique someday!"

Grinning, Ranma replied to his suddenly partially bald friend, "just as soon as I figure out

how I did that I'll letcha know."

Soun finally allowed himself to exhale and sit back down solidly on the ground again, as his muscles slowly unwound themselves. He wept quietly to himself and thanked the gods over and over again. Genma looked up from his prayers and grinned. Tofu looked stunned but was grinning ear to ear as tears of joy sprang up in his eyes. Nabiki and Kasumi both screamed with relief and sprinted to where Akane lay, now breathing, if not conscious, to tackle her with hugs.

The hollow sound of clapping echoed across the cavern. Growing louder as he walked closer, the man in black sneered as he stepped into the boundary of light that their flashlights created.

"Well done young man, well done. I wouldn't have thought that an ignorant little child such as yourself would be capable of standing up to the Muscle Sword Clan, let alone besting them. And calling your lover back from the dead on top of it all, using your stolen powers of the magi, I commend you, truly I do." The man in black grinned as he pulled out a small roll of paper and began to read in a mocking tone.

"_And so it came to pass that the creator wrought mankind with a small vestige of his powers. He made the sky for and of their eyes and gave them the earth to sustain them. As the earth and air shall hold and nurture them, so shall they turn their backs to him and forget him whom hast delivered their bounty unto them. So shall he take back his gifts from his chosen, and in the ages to come, shall forget them. Thus their loss of faith and the corruption of their souls when they serve and pursue selfish ends. This shall herald the end of an era as mankind rends their own world asunder. Lo it shall then come to pass that the creator shall take back his gifts and turn his back to those who would avert their eyes from him. Man shall henceforth lose all knowledge of the ancient arts save for a small remnant of the faithful who shall preserve this knowledge until such a day that mankind proves itself once again worthy of his benevolence. But lo, all shall not be lost in this time. 'When the hour is nigh for mankind's total destruction, a warrior-savior shall be born in their midst as mankind's final chance.' He shall be pure of heart, but unrefined in word and deed. Thus he shall have to prove himself in the eyes of those he loves, and hates, as one beyond reproach in his quest for justice and truth. In the time before the darkness to come, he shall walk the earth seeking to better himself and awaken the old powers within himself and his charges. Let it be known that he who walks with the powers of harmony shall soon awaken the knowledge of old and so shall he be mankind's final hope and redemption. So it is written and so shall it come to pass._"

Looking up from the paper, the man in black chuckled and crumpled the paper in his fist before dropping it to the floor. "Honestly, the scribes over the ages certainly did get carried away with that one, didn't they? For pity's sake they never even mentioned _me_ in there. Truly I have been slandered, don't you agree?" The man smiled as he placed his hands on his hips.

"What do you want?" Ranma asked coldly as his guardian aura flared back to life.

"Oh ... the young magus seeks to challenge his better?" The man in black taunted.

"I dunno what a magus is, but I won't let you hurt my family, man, so we have a problem if that's what you are plannin' ta do." Ranma stated as he drew himself into a battle stance.

Silently echoing his motions, Tofu, Genma, Soun and Ryouga matched his movements. Nabiki and Kasumi took the time to move to pull Akane back a ways from the confrontation, and shelter her as best they could, as she was still unconscious.

Grinning almost sadly, the man in black threw back the cape on his left hip to reveal the strange looking hilt of a sword. The hilt glowed a soft silver glow, and the silver of the metal swirled with different hues of red, green and blue.

"Actually, little pup, I really couldn't care less about you or your family. You see, I have much bigger things to take care of right now. The fact that you and your family have managed to stumble into all of this, and even managed to slow us down a small bit, doesn't change that."

The man in black said as he looked them all over one by one, measuring them and weighing them with his gaze. His gaze settled on the young new magus. Strange that one so young, and without any training whatsoever, was already able to command the magical auras of the magi, and to command them in the language of the magi. He must be an adept, bred into the magic by nature herself, but no matter, he would soon deal with them all and go back to the matter at hand.

"Don't you see, little pup, I am working to make this world a better place. You yourself just used your magic to save that girl you love, did you not? Well that is what I intend to do, I intend to bring back magic to this dismally boring world." The black-clad man said as he raked his fingers through his equally black hair.

"And how are you planning ta do _that_?" Ranma demanded.

"Simple, young pup. I am going to resurrect my lord and master, the dark mage."

"No! You cannot do that! Do you know the evil that you would bring to the world?" Tofu interrupted with a startled gasp.

"Evil? Who are you to say what is evil and what is not? Were you there when my master walked the earth? Were you there to see the great works he wrought? Where were you when my master was cut down unjustly, right as he had been about to establish a new world order where chaos and uncertainty were abolished? Where none lacked for a job, and everyone had a place. Evil? I think not. You know very little indeed, whoever you are."

"The ancient texts say the dark mage was a murderer of incredible evil. That he slew hundreds of children just to make his staff of power! That he crushed whole cities just because they slighted him." Tofu argued.

"Is that so?" The black-clad man asked. "Well we shall see, won't we. Let's ask an eye witness about what she saw, shall we?" Without waiting for an answer, the black clad man lifted his right hand, palm up, towards Ranma. Then, hooking his fingers in a summoning motion, the black-clad man's hand started to glow with a sickly greenish fire. Calling forth the power of his magic in the language of the magi, the servant of the dark mage gestured towards Ranma. He made sharp, ripping, summoning motions as he chanted something.

Making a motion as if to charge him, Tofu and the rest of the fighters started to move forward, causing the man in black to pause for a moment. He snapped his head in their direction, his eyes glowing red, and flicked his hand at them as he quickly muttered something. He then turned his attention back to Ranma, leaving Tofu, and the rest who had been charging with him, frozen in place.

Calling out in the language of the magi, the dark servant pulled something from Ranma. He pulled on an invisible cord with his eyes glowing red and a green aura of power surrounding him. Finally, shouting the final word of the spell, the dark servant smiled as Ranma's body seemed to blur.

The ghostly transparent form of a young girl stepped out from him. She was a girl of average build who held herself in a regal manner, she was perhaps no more than fourteen to sixteen years old, with long dark hair and what appeared to be a beautiful sapphire gown that would have been at home at any ballroom dance. Her face was obviously Chinese and her eyes blazed with hatred.

"I present to you your, _girl half_, young magus." The dark servant grinned.

"My what?" Ranma asked.

"Your girl half, Ranma." The girl said as she turned to look at him sympathetically.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Ranma cried as he stepped away from her rapidly, making warding motions with his waved hands. "Happosai already tried this trick once on me, and I aint fallin' for it again." Ranma protested.

"No, Ranma. The incense that Happosai used to bring forth your '_girl half_,' as you call me, was only able to bring out your female desires. The desires all men have, but just bury down far too deep to even be aware of them. The spirit that Happosai called from you was nothing more than yourself, basically." The girl explained.

"So ... who are you?" Ranma asked.

"I'm ..." The girl started to say, then hesitated.

"Go ahead, little Princess, tell the young magus who you are. Tell him of your failure and your shame." The dark servant sneered.

Glaring at him, the Princess drew herself up to her full height and announced. "I am the daughter of the Wise King, who was the light of our nation. He who was the guardian of the commoners and protector of this land. I am the Princess heir to the throne of the silver rose, and I am the daughter of a nation betrayed." The Princess exclaimed bitterly.

"Oh Princess, you are so melodramatic. If your general hadn't betrayed you, someone else would have. You know, not everyone was dancing on fields of rose petals under your father's rule." The dark servant taunted.

"Bastard! If your master hadn't spawned you from the bile of a common toad and the festering sewage of his land, then maybe my country wouldn't have had to suffer." The Princess spat.

"Temper temper, Princess. After all, you represent the greatest nation this world ever knew, until my master recreates this world in his image that is." The dark servant smiled.

"I killed you once, you bastard, and I can kill you again!" The Princess shrieked as she gestured to the sword at the dark servant's hip and called to it in the language of the magi. Responding instantly to it's creators call, the sword leapt from the dark servant's scabbard to her waiting hand. Holding it tightly in her white knuckled fist, the Princess stared the dark servant down.

"Ah yes, I had forgotten you were the one that created that blade. Impressive. Of course, the only reason that it is still around is because you summoned it wrong, you know. If you had cast the spell correctly it should have disintegrated after a few hours, but in your haste I believe you cast the spell for, 'all hours,' instead of, 'some hours,' as was standard for that spell at the time. Which, of course, meant that the sword could never be destroyed, unless someone equal in power to you cast the counter spell to unsummon it. Interesting effect, don't you think?" The dark servant asked as he started to glow with a much brighter green aura.

Turning to Ranma, the Princess tossed the sword to him and yelled, "use the sword, Ranma! It can cut through any shield he raises!" Looking on in frustration, the Princess watched as yet another man ran to fight this dark abomination for her. If only she could touch this mortal plane directly! She was pushing things as it was, interacting with magical objects she had created. Touching that magical aspect of the mortal plane just now, had sapped her of some of her remaining strength, causing her proud posture to slump a little bit.

Running at the black-clad servant of evil, Ranma thought to himself, 'what am I doing? I don't even know how to use a sword.'

Smiling, the dark servant spun on his heel and dodged Ranma's clumsy attack, and shouted a command in the language of the magi, which summoned a bolt of green energy to shoot at Ranma, which struck him full in the back, sending him sprawling.

Spitting blood and dust out of his mouth and pushing himself to his feet, Ranma gripped the sword in his right hand and walked towards the dark servant this time. Trying to judge how and when his opponent would move next.

Getting into range, Ranma took a few test swings with the sword at the man, but the dark servant simply shot the dark green energy at the blade each time. Suddenly, moving with inhuman speed, the dark servant charged Ranma and triple punched him in the face, neck and solar plexus, dropping Ranma like a puppet with his strings cut.

Sneering, the dark servant grabbed Ranma by his hair and hauled him to his feet. "Oh no, you don't get to end it that easy, boy. For causing me this much trouble, you get to suffer." To punctuate his threat, the dark servant dropped Ranma and kicked him as he landed. Wincing, the Princess clenched her fists in helpless anger.

"What's the matter, boy? You seem a little ... _unbalanced_!" The dark servant gloated as he stalked towards Ranma, causing Ranma's mind to race, trying to think of a way to fight this monster.

**Balance!** The prophecy had said that the warrior-savior had to stand in the face of evil, while _balanced_! It had said that unless he was balanced in harmony, that he would fail! He needed his balancing factor, but what **was** it that would balance him? Nobody else here could do what he could do. Nobody else here could fight magic ... magic!

**Akane!** He had the power to protect and avenge, while she had the power to protect and heal! The revelation slammed into Ranma with a shock like cold water. Akane was his balancing factor! Of course, realizing this, and getting her to wake up were two entirely different things.

Rolling onto his side, to face Akane, Ranma called out to her desperately. Across the cavern, Akane stirred as her sisters tended to her, and tried to shield her from the battle raging before them. Again, Ranma called to her. But, while she stirred, she did not rise.

Reaching Ranma yet again, the dark servant kicked him viciously. Sailing even further from Akane, Ranma tried desperately to think of a way to get to her. Finally seeing a way she could help, the Princess shouted, "the old tongue Ranma, call to her in the language of the magi!"

With precious little energy left, Ranma dug down deep into himself and searched for that white hot bundle or energy he needed. Seizing it, Ranma cried out in pain as it lashed out at a master it didn't quite respect yet. Ignoring the pain, Ranma grasped it tightly and as the magic flowed into him he cried out in the old tongue of the magi, "_Akane! Akane, wake up! Wake up, you have to help me! I need you!_"

Getting suddenly worried, the dark servant darted his gaze to Akane then back to Ranma. Snarling, he closed on Ranma and drew a large dagger from his boot. He was going to end this right now. He lunged for Ranma and slashed with his dagger at Ranma's neck. Exhausted, broken and bruised, Ranma raised an arm to try to block, but he knew it would not be enough this time. Ranma waited for the killing stroke and cried out for Akane in anguish. He was about to fail her again.

"_**ENOUGH**_!" Akane shouted from across the cavern, her voice ringing with her own magical power, freezing the dark servant in his tracks.

Quickly looking over to her, the dark servant cursed at what he saw as he stepped away from Ranma into a guarding stance.

Akane walked slowly towards Ranma, her body flared with an aura of the newly reawakened power inside her. It glowed a yellow so bright, that it was nearly white.

This was it, he was out of time. It was now or never. He either finished these two before they figured out how to link their power together, or his entire plan was about to come crumbling down around him. The man in black rolled his eyes back into his skull and started to chant a spell. His green aura immediately flared brighter with each word of the spell.

Akane reached where Ranma laid on the ground, panting from his wounds, and exhaustion. Gently, she reached down and grasped him by the shoulder briefly, sending wave after wave of healing energy into him.

Suddenly feeling quite well, Ranma smiled and accepted her hand up. Then, hand in hand,

the two of them turned to face the dark mage's servant.

"Ranma, here!" The Princess shouted as she kicked the sword to him. The contact with the physical world costing her even more of her energy, making her fade in color somewhat, and slump down a bit more. It slid to a rest at his feet, and Ranma bent down and picked it up slowly, as soon as his hand touched the blade, it started to glow. It changed from a dull silver to a liquid silver, to a white so pure that looking at it hurt their eyes.

Ranma and Akane's auras mixed together and swirled back and forth. Not fighting each other, but instead intertwining and strengthening on each other. With their hands held tightly together, they pointed the sword at the dark servant and started to chant their own spell, a spell of imprisonment and binding.

Finishing the chant for his spell, the dark servant raised his hands and pointed them at the two, releasing his terrible energy at them. He had chosen the powerful spell of disintegration.

Ranma winced as he raised the sword in his hand to block the spell, hoping it would work. The dark green energy raced in and met the blade of white energy with a sound like a white hot piece of iron makes when meeting a vat of water in a smith's forge. It squealed against the power of the sword which the two lovers were channeling into it, as the dark servant's spell fought to get through.

Locking eyes with each other Ranma and Akane lifted their joined hands together and pointed them at the dark servant. They whispered the final words to their spell, and released a torrent of power at the dark servant. Which finally pushed his spell away, as their combined one overpowered it.

The dark servant quickly cut off his spell as he tried to throw up shield after shield made from his dark power. But their joined spell ripped through them like they weren't even there.

It slammed into his chest with enough force to drive him into the wall behind him, wrapping him in white energy that glowed both blue and yellow as he fell back. It then shrank in on itself, until it ripped a hole into the fabric of their universe and dragged the now trapped and bound servant of the dark mage into it, sealing itself as it went with a screaming howl. Their spell of binding and exile had worked. A fate many would call worse than death. But, in a way, the dark servant might end up happy in the banished lands. That was, after all, where his master was.

As soon as the spell left them, Ranma and Akane's eyes cleared back to their regular eye color, and their aura's left them, causing them to stagger. Their shoulders slumped as their unearthly power faded away, and they dropped the sword to hang on each other to stay upright.

Standing calmly where she had been summoned, now fully visible again, and standing proudly as before. The departure of the dark servant seemed to have re-energized her. The Princess bowed formally to them before saying, "Thank you both. It is finally over. When I cast my spell all those ages ago, to have the magic ripped from this world, I made a mistake and didn't allow for the possibility of the dark mage's resurrection. With this final chapter written into history, I think my promise can be fulfilled, and I can rest now. You will no longer be haunted by my presence, Ranma." The long dead Princess smiled as she bowed again and then saluted with her hand to her heart. Faintly at first, then rapidly, a group of men materialized around the Princess. They all looked at her with loving eyes, and bowed to Ranma and Akane as well, before kneeling before their Princess with tears in their eyes.

Then more and more people started to appear in the cavern. Men that looked like soldiers, men that looked like bakers. Women that looked like ladies of a court, and girls that looked like scullery maids. Turning around in a full circle, Ranma and Akane looked on in awe as more and more of them appeared. Hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions. Then, as one, the people of the betrayed & fallen nation saluted and bowed to Ranma and Akane.

Finally, appearing next to his daughter, the spirit of a wizened old man with a flowing white beard and long unkempt hair faded into vision. The spirit of the dead King hugged his daughter, then bowed solemnly to Ranma and Akane. He then gestured to those still frozen in the grip of the dark servant's power, kindly freeing them from their bonds. Smiling with gratitude, they all faded from view just as rapidly as they had appeared.

Ranma dragged his head up exhaustedly and surveyed the now empty cave, then muttered, "let's get out of here." He and Akane then slung their arms across each other's shoulders and limped towards the cave entrance, supporting each other.

Following their lead, the rest of the group staggered to their feet, or helped others to their feet, and followed them out. "Do you know what just happened?" Nabiki asked Kasumi as they both helped the wounded Genma up the long path to the surface. Tofu seemed to be doing fine with his wound, and needed no help.

"I have no idea," she replied with a shrug.

Ranma and Akane reached the cave mouth first, and stepped out into the early morning twilight before sunrise. They then turned to wait for the others. Looking back, they saw that whatever had concealed the cave entrance from view before, was now gone. So they could see everyone as they slowly appeared in the tunnel, coming up the slope.

Ranma smiled and pulled Akane into a hug as the sun started to peak over the hills into the Jusenkyou valley, shining upon a new day, and a new world.

--

They rested for a short while before Ryouga finally got up and waved to the group with a forced smile. "I need to get going now. I am sure I will see you all real soon, but I promised this old lady I would deliver her mail to the post office you see ... and that was at least four or five weeks ago. So, I have to find a mailbox soon or she'll kill me ..." What he didn't say was that he knew it was over. Akane was hanging on Ranma now, like a lover. She had eyes only for him. And nobody had even told her yet that he had brought her back from the dead. When she found that out, there would be no way anyone else would be able to win her. It was time to give her up. So, when he waved goodbye, he silently let go of his longest kept desire for Akane. It was over, and Ranma had won.

The small group smiled and waved goodbye to Ryouga and wished him well. His help had come at a truly opportune time. Ranma and Ryouga locked eyes as he waved, and shared a secret meaning between the two of them. They both nodded slightly, understanding what was in the other's heart.

Once Ryouga had departed, it was time for them to leave as well. Tofu started to lead the way, when suddenly Ranma dragged the group to a stop with a yell.

"**Wait!** We can't leave yet!" Ranma hopped up and down excitedly, and pulled Akane along with him as he started to run towards the many springs in the training ground. Yelling over his shoulder, Ranma said with glee, "I'm not leaving here until I get rid of this stupid curse once and for all." Akane laughed and dropped his hand.

"Ranma, wait!" She laughed, causing Ranma to dig in his heels and stop short.

"What?" He responded impatiently. "Can't it wait? I have kinda been waiting for this for a couple of years now, ya know... " he said as he started towards the springs again.

"Just a second, come here a minute," she said as she took off her pack and rummaged around in it for her canteen. Holding it up in the air for Ranma to see, Akane got Ranma to raise his eyebrow at her as he looked at the canteen suspiciously.

"Want ta see my girl side one more time, do ya?" He joked.

"Shaddup and c'mere a minute," she said as she reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him closer to her. Then, with a smile, she held her canteen over his head, and dribbled a little bit out over his head.

Male Ranma stood there, looking confused, and wiping water out of his eyes. He was still male, even though he had just been doused with cold water.

"You forgot what the Princess said to you, didn't you?"

"Apparently ... "

"She said _she_ was your girl half. When she was yanked out of you like that, the curse was broken, and now that she has passed on to the other side with the rest of her people, she is gone, so I don't think you'll change anymore."

Ranma blinked at her in surprise, then startled everyone with a loud, "whoop," of joy. Taking off in a flash, he did cartwheels, back flips, somersaults, and hand stands in a weird celebration dance, before he bounded back to Akane and hugged her in joy, before throwing her up in the air in celebration, causing her to squeal with excitement for him. He then dashed to the nearest stream, away from the Jusenkyo springs, and jumped in it. He emerged a second later, soaking wet, and still a guy. Genma shook off Nabiki and Kasumi's arms and ran after Ranma, shouting with glee. He dived into the stream beside his son ... and a giant panda surfaced.

"Hey ... what the ... Akane?" Ranma puzzled upon seeing Genma's curse still in effect.

"Don't look at me, all I know is what that Princess told you. If she was your girl half, and she is now gone, then _your_ curse is broken. But nobody pulled the panda out of your dad, so I guess he still needs to go dunk himself in the spring of drowned man."

Grumbling to himself in panda speech, Genma hauled himself out of the stream, and lumbered towards the magical springs, yanking the hot water tea kettle off the fire as he went. Kasumi had started it when Genma had started his run for the water. She just had a feeling it might be needed.

Quietly, almost reverently, they followed Genma towards the springs. As he searched for the one he needed, Dr. Tofu translated each time he pointed to a sign in Chinese.

"Spring of drowned elk."

"Pass."

"Spring of drowned elderly cat."

"Pass."

"Spring of drowned beaver."

"Pass."

"Spring of drowned muscular child."

"Pa- ... wait ... no, pass." Being muscular would have been nice, but living through childhood again wasn't a pleasing prospect. Finally, they found it.

"Spring of drowned man." Tofu translated for the final time.

Without hesitation, Genma leapt in. He emerged still a man, although now very wet. Tromping with determination, he marched up to Ranma and held his hand out. Ranma slapped his canteen into it with equal ceremony. Genma paused for a second, staring at the canteen, willing the curse to be broken, and then dumped the contents over his head.

He didn't change.

The whole group whooped and cheered for joy. Now everyone was cured, and everyone could go home. Ranma twirled Akane around in a little dance, and kissed her openly in front of everyone, and Genma slumped into the arms of Nabiki and Kasumi -- he was still wounded after all.

--

From a hill a small distance away, Ryouga locked his eyes on the spring which Genma had just emerged from. Without blinking, or moving his head even the slightest fraction of an inch, he waited for the group to depart. As they did so, he stood up from his hiding place, and sprinted towards the same spring, and salvation. For once, he managed to get where he meant to go.

--

From another hill, even further away, Cologne set down her looking glass and contemplated all she had just seen. Clearly they had won, and clearly the curses where now broken. She wondered if Shampoo would be able to resist going back to him, now that he truly was 100 a man again. Mousse had better make his move soon.

--

The trip back was fairly uneventful. They found the yacht where they had left it. Ranma and Genma decided to swim out to it, for no reason other than they could. The rest of the group waited for the shore boats, and boarded in the usual manner.

The journey back found everyone doing mostly what they had done on the way to China. Nabiki held court in the jacuzzi, keeping at least one crew member at hand at all times, to take drink orders, food orders, or to rub lotion on her. Ranma and Akane cuddled in front of the t.v. again. Soun and Genma had made a quick shore trip before they left and came back with a cart load of Chinese rice wine. The poor bartender winced as they started hauling it aboard. They spent the entire trip back trying to see if they could finish it before they made it back to Japan, they almost did. Tofu and Kasumi spent a lot of time on deck, holding each other, and staring out to the sea, holding hands, and whispering to each other. Ranma and Akane's new found affection for each other hadn't gone unnoticed by the group, but they all were wisely playing things cool for now, hoping things would work out.

--

Back in Nerima, Ryouga walked into yet another store front and yelled, "**where in the hell am I now**?!" He was dressed the same as always, except he was now sporting a rather dashing new bandanna, tied over his hair.

"You're in my store, so shaddup will ya!" Ukyou Kuwonji yelled back from behind her cooking counter. She no longer wore her battle spatula, but she still had her bandoleer of sharp cooking spatulas strapped across her chest.

Sighing, Ryouga walked up to the counter slowly. "Hey, Ukyou ... you wouldn't happen to know where a mailbox is would you?" Ryouga asked quietly as he sat down on one of the stools.

"Sure, sugar, hand it to me and I'll place it in my outgoing mail for today." Ukyou answered as she served up a hot Okinomiyaki to a waiting customer.

Smiling gratefully, Ryouga reached into his backpack and pulled out a small bundle of letters. They were bent and worn with age, their edges blackened, and the stamps were faded. Raising her eyebrows curiously, Ukyou took the letters and stuck them in her mail pile, then went back to her cooking.

Unsure of what to do now, Ryouga just sat there. Finally, he mustered up the courage to ask, "so what are you up to these days?"

Ukyou smiled sadly as she worked, "moving on with my life, Ryouga ... moving on."

"Me too ... me too ... mind if I hang out here for a while?" He asked with a sad smile of his own. "I don't really have anywhere else I need to go today."

"Sure, sugar, stay there and I'll whip you up the special of the day ... on the house." Ukyou added with a wink.

"T-thank you." Ryouga stuttered.

"I have to warn you though, that if you start to make this a habit like Ranma used to, then I will have to make you wash dishes for me or something." She joked.

His face turning red, Ryouga blushed and shook his head no violently. "Oh don't worry, I doubt I could even find this place two days in a row..."

"Oh ... is that so ... " She replied back, starting a conversation which lasted well into the night, and well after all the other customers had left. They joked and laughed, and let a lot of their pent up emotions, frustrations, regrets and sorrows out on each other. In turn, they also strengthened one another. When it came time for bed, Ukyou offered him the use of her guest bedroom, which he hesitantly accepted.

The next day they picked up right where they had left off, but with a new lighter feeling in their chests, as if a great weight was slowly being eased off, and being replaced with something else entirely more wonderful.

--

Ranma and Akane spent a lot more time together after, "the incident," as they came to call it. Akane had been told of her resurrection by Ranma on the way back from China. After that, there was just no separating the two of them. Akane had absolutely no recollection of the event, of course, but there were too many eye witnesses for her to doubt that it had really happened.

Tofu also spent a lot more time over at the house chatting with Kasumi, dating with Kasumi, and basically joining the family. They all knew a marriage proposal was on the horizon.

No one really wanted to talk about what had happened in China, and that was fine. Ranma and Genma no longer changed with hot or cold water, and that was cause for many more days of celebration once they got back. Apparently cartwheels and drinking weren't enough of a celebration. Soun and Genma happily spent many nights singing and dancing, and generally annoying the family.

Happosai, on the other hand, mourned for weeks when he found out he could never again fondle the female Ranma. He even built a little shrine to the dearly departed female Ranma, with pictures he had bought from Nabiki. After a few days of their return though, the female Ranma in the pictures slowly faded, as female Ranma was magically erased from the universe. When Happosai discovered this, his cry of, "nooooo," was almost as soul wrenching as the same cry mirroring it from the Kunou estate, across town.

Slowly things got back to normal around the Tendou Dojo, and eventually unless someone brought it up, most everyone forgot about, "the incident."

However, if Ranma was really upset, or Akane was really worried, if you looked fast enough, you could sometimes catch a glimpse of something silvery moving across their eyes. Apparently, the end of the curse, did not mean an end to the magic.


	13. Epilogue

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic Series: "Ranma Gets A Clue"  
Written by Robert "Asayogure" McAdams  
Stories Archived at: see profile  
First Draft (01/20/2008)  
Last modified (01/19/2009)

Epilogue, "To Compromise Is To Agree To Make Nobody Happy"

* * *

Notes:

This is the long promised epilogue to my fan fiction story, "Ranma Gets A Clue." I am sorry it took so long, but paying the bills and graduating college took priority over writing free stories for you freeloading people mooching stories off the Internet ( I kid because I love ^_- ) I am sure this epilogue doesn't tie up **every** loose end in my story, or in the Ranma 1/2 universe, either. But it isn't meant to. It is meant to bring the story to a more gentle close, tie off a few of the more predictable loose ends, while leaving some of the more bitter ones up in the air.

Thanks to all of the tens of thousands of people who have read my stories over the years (and that is just going by my website counter!), who have left me nice words of encouragement, or even criticism. It all helped -- except for the few asshats out there -- you know who you are, and you are still banned. =)~

This is a free story made available over the Internet, so I am making you no promises about what you will get out of it -- but I hope if you have bothered to read the rest of the stories in this 12 chapter series, you will get out of the epilogue what you need for closure. If you really like my writing, remember my name, because I am working on becoming an actual published author -- who like, gets paid and stuff, and maybe even on to some book shelves. ^_-

Also, watch this website and my website for the launch of a Star Wars themed fan fiction. It is the story of a young **male** Jedi Knight and his much younger **female** Padawan whom he is stuck raising and training after a disaster with his first Padawan. I will put that story up on FF dot net and also on my own website, when I have finished it in its entirety. Until then, though, I may post the first chapter to tease you.

Cheers, and enjoy the read, and thanks for coming along for the ride! I am really, really done with this story this time. It isn't perfect, but it is what it is now. No more I sez, **no more! **;-)

* * *

Shampoo had a blinding headache. That stupid violent girl must have hit her harder than she had thought. She tried to shake her head to clear it, so she could get back up and continue the fight. Shaking her head made her dizzy though, and forced her to lie still until the dizziness passed. Weirdly, she smelled familiar kitchen smells being carried on the crisp cool air, like what she normally smelled at home. Akane must have really hit her hard! Before she could move again, she felt the cool, reassuring, hand of her Great Grandmother on her cheek. Good! Great Grandmother was here, **she** would help her claim her rightful husband.

"Are you all right, child?" Cologne asked her softly in her native language of Chinese.

"I'm fine Great Grandmother. Are you here to help me fight?" Shampoo asked, in Chinese as well, as she abruptly sat up, shaking the cool cloth off her eyes which had been blinding her. Instead of seeing Akane standing over her with a smirk on her face, and Ranma's beautiful blue eyes, she saw the inside of her family's hut in the combat village of Nyuchiehzu in Joketsuzoku -- where she had met Ranma all those years ago. Had it really been so long?

"Where ... what ... why am I home?" She asked Cologne.

Her Great Grandmother, in turn, turned away from her, almost in shame, and replied from over her shoulder, "I brought you here, after you lost your fight with that Tendo girl. It's over, Shampoo, it's time to move on."

"You **what?!**" Shampoo screamed, turning a few heads in the village towards their hut.

"Now, calm down, child. It isn't like Ranma was the only possible husband for you in the world." Cologne chided her as she calmly moved around the sleeping area Shampoo was currently in, to make her way to the kitchen area and make them both a nice cup of strong tea. That would surely help.

"Great Grandmother, how could you?! You, who have always been my strongest supporter to my claim on that male!" Shampoo rounded on her, stamping her foot in fury, whipping her hair around in righteous anger.

"That's right, Great Grandchild. I was. Until you lost a fair fight to an equal opponent, with the public wager, made in front of many witnesses, that if you lost, you would give him up. You lost." Cologne shrugged.

"But ... " Shampoo trailed away. It was coming back to her now. Akane had used some sort of chi-based attack on her after she had paralyzed her arms, and then she had blacked out. But ... but ... Ranma ... she let out an anguished howl and sank down to her knees in tears. Her heart was thundering in her chest, she tasted bile in her throat, and the world felt like it was dimming and caving in around her -- slowly she toppled over and lay still on the floor, weeping.

Cologne sighed and turned around to head back to her Great Granddaughter. She pulled Shampoo's head into her lap and stroked the girl's hair softly, singing and humming softly to her the ancient songs she had sung to her when she was still a little baby. Shampoo wept heavily, burying her face in her Great Grandmother's robes.

"There there, child. It will be okay. Heartache never fully heals, especially if it is from your first love. But, it does eventually mostly go away. I speak from experience here. It will get better, once you have moved on." Cologne cooed softly into her ear.

Instead of the relaxing affect she had hoped these words would have on her Great Grandchild, Shampoo instead stiffened and then moments later shot to her feet with a fire lit in her eyes. "No! I will not give him up!"

"But you must, child." Cologne reminded her. "You made a fair wager, and you lost in front of witnesses.

"I don't care! I don't care!" She screamed in a fury. Cologne sighed.

"Well, what do you think you can do about it?" Cologne asked her pointedly.

"I ... I ... " Shampoo stumbled as she tried to think of a plan.

"There, you see, there is nothing you can do." Cologne stated matter-of-factly, as she stood up and moved once more to head to the kitchen to make some tea.

"I'll kill the Tendo girl, that's what I'll do!" Shampoo said in a deadly quiet voice, causing Cologne to drop the tea kettle she had just picked up.

"You'll what?" Cologne asked quickly as she spun around to face her grieving Great Grandchild. Shampoo stood stock still, with her arms draped at her sides, and her head down, almost like she was crying again. Then, slowly, she brought her head up, but instead of tears, there was a dangerous, wild gleam in her eyes.

"That's right. I shall simply kill the obnoxious girl. It isn't like I couldn't have killed her far before now. I already gave her the kiss of death a long time ago anyway, when she tried to interfere with a lunch I had made for Ranma. I have always gone easy on her, because she was weak. But now ..." she giggled in empty mirth, "... now she has beaten me, a female warrior of the Nyuchiehzu tribe! I have every right to track her down, give her the kiss of death, and kill her!" Shampoo said those last two words with an ever increasing, almost hysterical, volume. Without another word, she spun towards the door, grabbing her Chinese short sword on the way out the door, and started marching out of the village, knocking people of the village out of her way as she went.

Cologne sighed deeply, and watched her go sadly. This could only end in heartache. Ranma would never permit her to kill Akane. With a sharp whistle, Cologne summoned Mousse. He appeared in a blur to stand on the pole above their door.

"Yes, old ghoul?" He asked snidely. He had been in a bad mood ever since Shampoo had returned from her lost fight, all bruised and unconscious.

"You have picked up some bad habits from Ranma, boy." Cologne growled at him. He only shrugged.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Shampoo is awake." She replied.

"Great!" Mouse grinned and made to hop down to the ground level and enter the hut, Cologne held up a hand to stop him.

"She woke up, realized she lost, and immediately set out to go kill Akane."

"Oh ... I see ... well ... that does present a problem, doesn't it?" Mouse muttered to himself, sitting down instead, still on the pole.

"See what you can do about it, will you? I am washing my hands of this entire sordid affair. I should never have allowed it to continue for as long as it has. If she kills the girl, fine. Ranma will never accept her, and she will return to us. If she fails to kill the girl, then Ranma will still reject her, and she will return to us. Either way, she will return." Cologne said simply, and then walked back into the hut. Truly, she was starting not to care how this whole saga ended up, one way or the other, she just wanted it over.

In the shadows behind their hut, the white eyes of several scheming Amazons blinked quietly, as they listened, and plotted. Their whisper quiet footsteps went unheard by both Mousse and Cologne as they quickly retreated with their stolen information.

With a sigh, Mousse leapt off the roof top, and began tracking Shampoo through the green rolling hills outside of their village. She was already out of the village, so he couldn't just follow her. He would have to find her first. Not that she would allow him to travel with her anyway. He smiled to himself slowly though, as he imagined the day she would. Maybe, just maybe, he could turn her rage and grief over losing Ranma to his advantage. There was always hope...

-----

Ryoga sat in Ukyou's Okinomiyaki bar and grill for the 5th straight day in a row. He had been there off and on for weeks now. He was oddly conflicted. On the one hand, he no longer changed into that damned pig when splashed with cold water any more -- something which he was still elated about. On the other hand, Ranma and Akane were now closer than ever. But, Ukyou was here for him -- she talked to him, and smiled at him, and she was very pretty. She could even cook! Which, although it pained him to admit, was something Akane was still having a very hard time learning. But, but, **but** ... Ukyou **wasn't** Akane! And he loved Akane, and only Akane! Didn't he? Oh, the misery!

Ukyou, for the second time in the day, saw Ryoga start to emit the dreaded black aura of misery and despair he would output seconds before that freaking ki attack of his. Casually, she reached behind her back and unsheathed her battle spatula, and whacked him over the head with it, defusing the situation.

"Ow! What'd you do that for!" Ryoga yelled with his face now squashed onto the bar surface. He sat up again and shook off the second smacking of the day. They didn't so much hurt, as startle him. His black aura had disappeared though, and that was the important thing -- to Ukyou anyway. She already had one hole in one of her walls from him, she didn't need another one.

"You were building up a black cloud again, sugar." Ukyou said to him in a false cheery voice. Truth be told she was sorta growing tired of him. He had been a great shoulder to cry on immediately after the "incident" -- but lately, she was growing to realize why the poor boy didn't have a girlfriend -- he was so **gloomy!** On top of that, the getting lost thing could be cute, but when you sent the fool boy just into the back room to fetch a jar of pickles, and he was gone for half an hour, that grew old fast. He also wasn't that bright. Since he had been lost for a large portion of his schooling years, and spent an even larger portion of those years training in the martial arts in the wilderness, he didn't have so much in the way of _book smarts._ Not a huge problem, but not a huge asset either. True, he did have a big heart, he was kind and honest, and reliable (so long as you could keep him in sight and not allow him to wander off), and he was a **great** security guard for her shop. Not that she really needed one -- but it was nice to know she had backup handy, should the need ever arise. Ukyou sighed deeply. Why was she analyzing this poor guy like this? It wasn't like **she** was interested in him. She was just trying to help him get over Akane, as he helped her get over Ranma ... wasn't she? She scrunched her nose up in confusion and shook her head to clear the troubling thoughts before she said, "hey sugar, quit dwelling on her. Let her go. She and Ranma are locked together real good now, and we need to move on. Can I get you an okinomiyaki or anything?" She said with a wink and a smile.

"No thanks, Ukyou. I ... I'm not hungry. I think ... I think I am going to go for a walk." He said gloomily as he stood up suddenly.

"Do you still have it?" She asked.

"Have what?" He responded.

"The card I gave you!" She growled as she used one of her cooking spatulas to flip a small piece of batter at his nose.

"Oh! Oh that! Yeah, I got it." He said as he dodged the batter and started fishing around in his pockets, finally holding up a laminated business card of Ukyou's with her name and the address of her shop on it. Trailing from one of the corners of the card was a thick string which had been glued to the card, and the other end of the string was safety pinned into his pocket. He had used the card to give directions to cab drivers over the last few weeks, to get him back to Ukyou's. He was sort of unofficially staying with her now. He had no place better to go anyway. With a sigh, he put his hands in his pockets and started walking, with no destination in mind really.

-----

Lord Tatewaki Kuno sat cross legged on the meditation stone in his chambers. Outwardly he was peaceful. Inwardly, he burned with the holy fires of impassioned rage, intermingled together with righteous indignation. He had been wronged worse than any man had ever been wronged before! Just thinking about it made him clench his fists in anger. Someone, somehow, had managed to sneak into the Kuno estate and vandalize every single one of the pictures and posters he had of the pig-tailed girl! Including the "premium" shots he had purchased from Nabiki at her insane prices, which he kept in the secret safe under his bed, and not even his sister or his father knew the combination to. All of them, **all of them** had somehow been vandalized so that her image had been erased from the images! Someone, someone would pay **dearly** for this outrage -- and he had a sneaking suspicion that svengali, Ranma, was the person who needed to pay!

-----

At the Tendo dojo and household, life was moving forward. Ranma and Akane were still snuggly with each other -- they held hands occasionally, they shared a kiss every now and then, and they cuddled with each other in front of the TV. They were still not married, but they had stopped protesting about it -- they were not sleeping with each other yet, though -- which made Kasumi very happy. They went to school along with Nabiki, who was graduating this summer. Kasumi still tended the house. Soun still taught classes in the dojo, and Ranma and Genma assisted him with teaching those classes, along with Akane when she could spare the time -- as she was a lot more focused on school these days. In the evenings, Genma and Soun sang and drank, and played Shogi and Go. All in all, the Tendo household was a lot more harmonious than it had been in a long time. The only sore spot was Master Happosai, but even he had been quiet for many days now. He was probably on some extended, cross country, panty raid or something.

It was late in the afternoon, with the night fast approaching. The summer air was still warm enough to keep the chill of night away, and Kasumi was in the backyard taking in the day's laundry, humming to herself. Tofu stood next to her, chatting softly with her, making her laugh, and being close to her. Kasumi's heart was so full, she almost floated around the house these days. Unlike Ranma and Genma, Tofu was **not** living with the Tendo family. He came by to see Kasumi daily, usually in the early morning before he opened his clinic, and then again after he closed the clinic for the day. He had become Ranma's replacement early morning buddy with Kasumi, which was a good thing, because Ranma spent a lot more time chatting quietly with Akane these days -- and he didn't have as much free time to socialize with her sisters anymore. Kasumi and Tofu finished gathering the laundry and started to head inside. Little did they know that the night was about to get very ... interesting.

Across the yard, a quiet female voice called out, "hello? Is anyone there?" The voice was coming from outside the gates to their main entrance. The gates were closed for the evening. Kasumi paused and cocked her head to the side to listen closer. The voice sounded again, a little louder this time, "hellooo? Is anyone home?"

"I hear it too." Tofu confirmed to her, without being asked.

Kasumi smiled and set the laundry down, straightened up and said, "well, let's go see who is calling at this late hour then. Tofu unlocked the gates and pushed one of them open, to reveal a woman standing there quite composed and calm -- unlike many of the female callers in recent years. She was dressed in a traditional kimono and was carrying a long, wrapped bundle slung across her back.

Kasumi's mouth opened into a wide grin as she ran forward quickly and swept the woman up into a hug. "Nodoka! It is so good to see you!" She said as she released her.

"And to see you as well, dear." Nodoka smiled politely as she straightened her kimono out again and resettled her bundle.

"Dr. Tofu, this is Nodoka. Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother." Kasumi said in a formal tone. Tofu smiled with understanding, bowed low to her and offered her his arm.

"Here to see your son, are you?" He asked, innocently.

"Not really. I have almost given up on ever seeing him again." Nodoka said sadly as she took his arm and allowed him to escort her into the grounds of the Tendo estate. "Still, I do dream about seeing him again ... a man among men ... one day." She said dreamily as she allowed herself to be escorted inside.

"Oh, I think today might be your lucky day, Mrs. Saotome." Kasumi said with a wink and a smile, as she followed them.

Nodoka perked up immediately. "Really? Is he finally here?" Kasumi only smiled in answer.

They walked up to the front door and let her in. Neither Kasumi nor Tofu announced their guest. They could both sense a rising charge of electrical anticipation and almost frantic energy building around Nodoka though. Both of them hung back and followed her as she made her way into the house, looking for Ranma. Her eyes fell on Genma first, sitting cross legged across from Soun, playing games like they usually did in the evenings. He stiffened in fright for a moment, before his mind caught up with his instincts and he remembered that he and Ranma no longer changed, and the threat of seppuku was now over. He grinned and pointed across to the room to where Ranma and Akane were cuddled together, watching TV -- both of their backs facing towards the family room.

Nodoka's heart leapt into her throat as tears sprang up in her eyes. "Ranma! My boy, my boy, my boy! Raaanmaaaaaaa!" She yelled with abandon as she tossed aside her bundle and leapt across the room to him.

Ranma's head was just turning at the calling of his name when she crashed into him and Akane both. "Mom-- oof!" He started to say when she fell on him, burying her face into his neck and crying uncontrollably. Since Akane had been the "small spoon" in front of him as they cuddled, and Ranma was now twisting around to address his mother tackling him, she suddenly found herself sitting on the ground, dumped there rather unceremoniously.

Akane stood up quickly and was also panicked for a second dreading any sort of cold water getting near Ranma -- before she too remembered the curse was lifted. "M-Mrs. S-Saotome ... so good to see you!" She stammered.

By this time the entire family had gathered around to watch the happy reunion. Ranma now was sitting next to his mom with his arm around her shoulders, and stroking her hair, _shh shushing_ her, trying to calm her down. She still had her face buried in his neck, and was still crying unchecked in between murmuring to herself, "a man among men, a man among men!"

Many minutes later, the entire family was gathered around the dining table, kneeling formally as they watched the reunion of mother and son, and husband and wife. Nodoka had composed herself and was now sitting formally at the opposite head of the table, opposed to Soun, who looked uncomfortable. Their curses might have been lifted, but everyone was still rather uneasy that something was about to go drastically wrong. Nodoka wasn't holding her sword, but it was now unwrapped and laying on the ground next to her, close at hand, as she grilled her husband and son. Both of whom were kneeling to her immediate left and right.

"So, Genma ... it seems I was wrong to doubt you. Ranma seems to have grown up just fine. He seems strong, manly; his relationship with his chosen fiancé seems to be going well. So, I have just one question ... if things have been going so well for so long, why couldn't you have **come home?!** Why are you still **here?!**"

"I -- uh, well, you see ... " He stammered.

But Nodoka cut across him, before he could come up with anything, "and you, son, you couldn't send your poor worried mother a letter every now and then? A postcard? A picture? **Anything?!** You couldn't even make yourself available the last time I came to visit? A son's duty is to his mother until he is married to his wife after all. Poor Ranko had to save me when that geyser went off the last time I visited! Where **were** you?"

"Actually, mom, that **was** me ..." Ranma chimed in, looking up at her sheepishly. "I saved you from that geyser, that was me. I couldn't stay long because me and pop were right in the middle of a ... a training exercise, but that was me that saved you. Akane can back me up here." He said softly. Nodoka immediately locked eyes with Akane, who nodded enthusiastically that it was true.

"Oh, my son, my only son! You truly are a man among men!" She said with tears coming to her eyes again and a shiver ran down her spine as she leaned over and hugged him again.

"Actually, mom, I would prefer to be thought of as, 'just a guy,' if you don't mind." Ranma spoke up sheepishly as she hugged him, drawing a kick from Genma under the table, who mouthed, "watch it," to him silently, before going back to looking down at the table surface humbly as she sat back up and eyed the two.

Nodoka's eyebrows drew down in suspicion for a moment, but then she smiled again and said, "not to worry son, I will not embarrass you. It is enough that we know about your manliness. Now, on to happier news. Now that we are all together again, we should discuss your marriage being finalized with Akane, and you and she moving in with your father and I back at home. I think you will agree that the courtship period has been more than adequately observed, don't you, Soun? They seem to be well matched and accepting of the marriage. I see no further need to extend the engagement." Nodoka suddenly addressed the Tendo family head. Both he and Akane looked down at the table and blushed furiously.

"Well, you see ..." Soun started.

"It's not that we don't ... " Akane also chimed in.

"Excellent!" Nodoka cut them off before they could finish. So, your fathers and I will discuss setting up the ceremony, and once that is all taken care of we can see about moving you and Ranma into our place and taking one of Soun's daughters off his hands. Nodoka smiled serenely, but also dangerously, eliciting an, "oh my," from Kasumi.

Ranma and Akane shot worried looks at each other briefly across the table. Things had been going **so well!** This could ruin **everything!** They just weren't quite ready for marriage just yet! Before anyone could raise any more protests though, Nodoka stood up, and announced, "well, I am off to bed then. I will see you all in the morning." Everyone stood politely, then looked at each other worriedly as she made her way out of the room.

"Don't worry, Ranma, Akane ... I'll talk to her." Soun said.

"Yeah, me too boy, don't worry. She's just a little over excited right now." Genma said with his hand behind his head. "Anyway, I guess I better go see to getting her setup in a bed now." He said before hurrying out of the room after her. The sounds of he and Nodoka starting to argue could already be heard as he followed her up the stairs.

Akane and Ranma linked hands silently, and exchanged worried looks as the rest of the family politely dispersed to give them some privacy. They talked long and seriously long into the night. Not that they came to any decisions or made any plans of action -- as usual.

-----

The next morning saw the sun rise slowly over a worried household. Not that Ryoga Hibiki knew about any of that. He sat upon the nearest hillside overlooking their compound, thinking furiously of a way to turn things around in his favor. A neighborhood dog lay by his side, calm now, but earlier he had had to fight the mutt for the right to sit on this hilltop. Now, being vanquished, the dog lay alongside Ryoga and panted contentedly.

Ryoga sat and watched the house for a long time, as the sun came up. He shivered a little bit from the night's cold, but the heat of the dog helped. As the sun finally peaked up above the horizon, he decided to make his way down the hill to a rooftop closer to their house. He could watch and listen to how things were going, and see if Ranma was treating her right. And ... if Ranma wasn't ... then he could step in and try for one last time to win Akane's heart. His mind made up, he smiled weakly and then leapt into action, leaving the dog behind, and the last of his fears about this moment. Today was the last day he could try to win her, he realized.

-----

Three sets of eyes watched him leap away, rooftop to rooftop, from the shadows of another nearby hill. They had hoped he would be able to lead them to Akane and Ranma, and their hopes had paid off ... eventually. Whisper silent, they followed him down the hillside, and towards the Tendo dojo, and Amazon justice!

-----

Shampoo made her way calmly up the streets of Nerima, which she knew so well now. She was walking for once, instead of riding her bike. The Cat Cafe was closed, and she was no longer a delivery girl. Her Great Grandmother had closed the cafe before she moved back to China. As she walked, she imagined arriving at the Tendo dojo, giving Akane the kiss of death, killing her, and claiming Ranma for her own, all in one glorious morning! She shivered in delight at just the thought of it. Oh, today was going to be a good day, she could **feel it!**

-----

Mousse trailed her, watching her silently, and worrying. She had come straight here from China. No detours, no stocking up on weapons or supplies for elaborate plans or traps. She was still carrying her sword, now strapped to her back. Mousse was convinced that this time it was for real. Just like when she had hunted Ranma when she thought he was female, she fully intended to kill the Tendo girl. He hoped Akane was on her toes, and Ranma was around, or today could get ugly. Mousse resolved then and there to stop Shampoo, and show his strength, if the situation required it. It would bind her to him, and force her to marry him -- and that was **not** how he wanted to win her heart -- but he couldn't very well let her murder the Tendo girl either. He owed Ranma too much to let that happen. He sighed heavily and continued tracking Shampoo from as far a distance as he could get away with, and keep her in sight.

-----

Lord Kuno Tatewaki sprinted towards the Tendo estate in the crisp early morning air. His trusty boken left at home today, in favor of his favorite katana, which he had named _cutter._ Sure, it was a common name, but this was no common sword, and he no common swordsman, so the name didn't need to be embellished_._ Today, Ranma was going to **pay** for his lies, his deceit, and his sinful ways! His freshly pressed blue keikogi snapped satisfyingly in the wind, and his neatly pressed hakama swished nicely in a familiar rhythm as he ran. Today was going to be a **good** day. He smiled a grim smile to himself.

-----

Ranma and Akane woke up early, and quietly snuck outside to the dojo to train and to talk, like they did most mornings after "the incident." They were both wearing their uniforms and black belts, feeling the need to be formal today, for some reason. They bowed to each other and then started light sparring to warm up. It took a long time for one of them to get the courage to speak. Finally, Akane broke the silence.

"What are we going to do?" She asked as she ducked a kick of his.

"I don't know." He replied as he caught her counter strike on his forearm and turned it away harmlessly past him.

"Are you ready for this? For marriage?" She asked as she spun out of his redirection and swept low to try to sweep his legs as she carried the spin to help her momentum.

"I have no idea." He answered as he jumped over her sweep, somersaulting over her head, and landing lightly on his feet behind her. "How about you?" He asked as he kicked at her back.

She immediately sensed his attack and rolled forward to dodge and reclaim her feet. "I have no idea." She mirrored him.

"Well, great, I guess that's decided then." He said with a wink in her direction as they squared off for another round. She was getting much better at avoiding him, making him work much harder to tag her during sparring matches. She still wasn't as good as he was, but she was head and shoulders better than she had been when he first met her.

They wound down their sparring session a little while later, both of them slightly winded. Not wanting their time together to be over just yet, though, Ranma suggested helping her stretch.

"Sure, Ranma, that sounds great." She agreed readily with a knowing smile, and immediately sat down on the floor and started stretching -- boys were so transparent sometimes. Ranma paused for a moment to remember the last time he had been in this dojo, helping this girl stretch, and what that had led to ... "you gonna help me, or do I have to kick you?" She joked over her shoulder, catching him day dreaming, and staring at her, which caused her to blush. He smiled sheepishly and crouched down to push her forward and help her stretch. His touch was still electric on her skin, but she was able to control her response to it much better these days. He still liked to touch her whenever he could, in private of course. The family was still too much of a busybody for his tastes, but they weren't doing anything too serious anyways -- just stretching. He was also proud that his hands no longer trembled when he touched her. After all, control was important to a martial artist. They shifted from stretching to massaging soon after that, and Ranma was quite proud of himself as he eased the tension out of her shoulders and she moaned appreciatively. It wasn't long after that that they were lying on the floor in each other's arms, kissing each other deeply.

Nodoka watched them quietly from the shadows of the house, and smiled softly to herself. Her son **was** indeed a man among men! Quietly, she slipped back into the house to find Soun and Genma and continue talk of the wedding preparations. With the way those two were going, they were going to **need** to be man and wife soon. She smiled to herself in approval.

Many hours later, the family was gathered around the table near the porch. The patio doors were open, and the morning was beautiful. The Tendo family, however, was not noticing it. They were too busy shifting uncomfortably in their seats, avoiding each other's eyes, and trying to not listen to the Saotome family squabbling.

"That's my word, and that's the end of it, woman!" Genma yelled at Nodoka.

"I don't think so, husband." Nodoka countered. She was angry, but at least she had left her sword on the floor. She had no need of it anymore, but she still liked to carry it around. Genma or Ranma, or even Akane for that matter, could have easily disarmed her of it, if it came to it. But, still, it was better that she wasn't wielding it. "I say they have been engaged long enough, and the time has come for them to wed!" She continued.

"Listen ... Mom ..." Ranma tried to interject.

"Quiet, boy, let your father handle this!" Genma snapped at him.

"Quiet yourself, old man, **I get to have a say on when and ****if**** I get married!**" Ranma shot back.

Nodoka's eyebrows shot up at the tone in both of their voices. "Is this how you have raised him to be 'a man among men?' To speak with such disrespect to his elders?" She asked in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Hey, I promised I would raise him to be a man among men, not to be a diplomat. Men are rude sometimes, what can I say?" Genma shrugged.

"Um, hello?! Can we get back to the subject please?" Akane chimed in. "It is nice that you are all reunited and all, but Ranma and I are still in school, and we are just not ready to get married yet!"

"Akane, dear, please stay silent. I know your mother is not around to teach you proper manners, but you do need to know when to hold your tongue, especially when speaking to your future mother-in-law." Nodoka snapped at her, a far cry from the kind woman who had visited them earlier and tried to help her learn to cook. Apparently Mrs. Saotome had a temper.

"Well now, see here! That was uncalled for, madam." Soun bristled from his place at the head of the table, slamming his paper down, and taking the toothbrush out of his mouth. "My little girl is _quite polite_. My dear departed wife may no longer be here, but I raised her right, and my oldest girl, Kasumi, did a fine job in instructing her in her bridal training!" Both Nabiki and Kasumi sat back with their jaws hanging open in shock. They had never heard their father speak like that before. He had real steel in his voice. It was kind of scary.

"Says the man with his engaged daughter sitting at the morning table, in a dirty, sweaty martial arts uniform -- fresh from an undignified make out session with my son on the floor of your dojo." Nodoka deadpanned. It was now Ranma, Genma and Akane's turn for their jaws to hit the floor.

"Wha-- how -- when--?" Ranma and Akane both sputtered.

Genma's face reddened with fury and he opened his mouth to yell at her, as she had finally managed to push him over the edge, when Ranma's eyes suddenly widened and he twitched his head behind Genma to signal him, grabbed Akane, and pulled her out of the way. Genma turned and gasped and started to jump up to meet the unseen attack, when the oddest thing happened, the telltale _shiing_ of a sword being drawn was heard right as Nodoka leapt past her husband and met the attacker in full force, kicking up a huge dust cloud.

When the dust cleared, Nodoka was standing calmly, her sword held at horizontal guard over her head, blocking Shampoo's overhead killing strike, which had been aimed at Akane, before Ranma pulled her to safety.

"Who ... is ... you?" Shampoo said through gritted teeth, once again in her broken Japanese, as she strained against Nodoka's sword.

"I am Ranma's mother." Nodoka replied simply, before faking upwards with her sword -- causing Shampoo to change her grip on her sword and resist downward. She then slid her sword out of guard position, dodged out of the way, letting Shampoo's sword overbalance downward, and brought hers around in a quick low short strike to knock Shampoo's sword out of her hands in an expert disarm maneuver. Mousse let out a low, appreciative whistle from his hiding place among the shadows of the fence. He had been about to rush her, when Nodoka had stepped in. She clearly knew what she was doing. He decided to sit back and wait and watch for the moment. Maybe Ranma's mommy would take care of everything and he wouldn't have to reveal his strength to Shampoo.

"Holy crap, Ranma, your mom is a bad ass Samurai!" Nabiki whooped excitedly.

Genma gulped nervously as Nodoka looked down at him briefly. "What, did you think I was going to spend those 10 years waiting for you two to come home, and do nothing? Since I needed to carry the family sword around, I figured I might as well learn how to use it." She said with a smile.

"G-Good plan ..." Genma said weakly, wishing he had broken that sword as soon as she had set it down last night.

Shampoo stood stunned where Nodoka had disarmed her. She couldn't believe it. **Another** outsider Saotome female had beaten her? Were they a family of fighting freaks? Before she could move to reclaim her sword, and at least die trying to kill the Tendo wench, Nodoka's sword tip was suddenly hovering centimeters away from her throat, like she had sensed her intentions.

"Now, girl, what can I do for you?" Nodoka asked with quiet seriousness.

"**DIE!**" Three voices shouted in unison from behind Shampoo. Shampoo jolted and turned around, as Nodoka raised her sword back into guard position at this new threat. Three more sword wielding Chinese Amazons jumped down to the ground from the rooftop behind Shampoo.

"Okay, now this I didn't see coming." Mousse muttered to himself as he prepared himself to move. Before he could move, though, Kuno came barreling through the gates, sword drawn and yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Raaaaaanma, this time you have gone too far!" Kuno screamed. He pulled up short when he saw the 4 angry Amazons though. "Ranma, where are you?" He yelled from behind them. "I challenge you!"

"Who is this fool?" One of the girls asked Shampoo in Chinese.

"He's a local. He thinks he's good with a sword. He isn't." Shampoo replied.

"Oooh, he's cute." Another of the girls cooed.

"Don't bother, he's a weakling, he would never be able to defeat you." Shampoo set her straight, making her sister frown.

Dr. Tofu managed to choose this moment to make his morning entrance to see Kasumi. He also stopped short of the house, to take in the situation. "Well, hello there. Who are your friends, Shampoo?" He asked innocently, with his best winning smile.

"Ooh, never mind, I want him instead!" The girl who had thought Kuno was cute squealed.

"Ooh yourself, he's mine!" Another of the girls said with a feral grin.

"Be careful, sisters, this one actually **is** as formidable as the other one **thinks** he is. He is also taken with the eldest girl in this family." Shampoo cautioned them.

"Yes, speaking of this family, let's take care of business and head home, sister. This whole thing has gone on for far too long, don't you think?" The leader of the three girls chimed in, gripping her unsheathed sword even tighter, causing her knuckles to whiten.

"I do not **need** your help, sisters. Please stay out of this." Shampoo growled at them.

"Um ... what the holy hells are you girls chattering about? None of the rest of us speaks Chinese!" Nabiki called out from the house. " Quit being rude!"

Tofu actually did speak Chinese, but he wisely kept his mouth shut, and his eyes off the Amazon girls. He did grin to himself though.

The leader of the girls arched an eyebrow in Nabiki's direction, before addressing herself to Shampoo again. "I can see you have these people well in fear of your wrath, sister." She said sarcastically. Shampoo growled at this. Nobody moved in the sudden silence after that, everyone watching Shampoo and her Amazon tribe sisters, and what they would do next.

Ranma and Akane were now standing right behind Nodoka, looking uneasy, but ready to fight. Genma was standing with arms crossed and looking as burly as he could manage, right in front of Nabiki and Kasumi. He would protect them, should the need arise. Soun was standing up at the head of the table, looking stunned.

Finally, Akane couldn't stand it any longer. She stepped out around Nodoka and made her way over to the Amazons, breathing in the cold morning air deeply in a rage. Ranma hurried after her. Nodoka shouldered her sword and watched them with a raised eyebrow. It would be interesting to see how her son handled this.

"Well, what do you want?!" Akane asked Shampoo pointedly. "We had an agreement, or don't you remember? You were **supposed** to give Ranma up and never come after him again after I **beat you** in our fight." Akane emphasized, "beat you," with deliberate slowness as she locked eyes with Shampoo.

Shampoo bristled and clenched her fists. She jerked towards her sword, then stopped, and jerked towards Akane, clearly warring with herself on whether to just smack Akane now, or to get her sword first and **then** smack her. Before she could decide though, all three of her Amazon sisters thrust their swords tip first into the ground and then walked towards Akane, now that they knew which one she was. They approached Akane one by one, and kissed her tenderly at the base of her jaw, near her neck, tipping her chin up and holding her head delicately as they kissed her. Akane stood there in shock, her arms held wide, her back stiff, and her fingers flexed.

Nodoka, Kuno, Tofu, and Ryoga (who was watching all of this from another nearby rooftop) all dropped their jaws in amazement. The rest of the people present knew what was going on, so they weren't as shocked.

Even so, Nabiki couldn't let it go without at least saying _something._ She let out a low, long wolf whistle as the Amazons all gathered around very close to Akane, almost like they were all going to hug her, and stared her in the eyes. "Way to go Akane, I always knew when you said you, 'hated boys,' that you might try playing for the other team some day!" Nabiki shouted with a raised victory fist in the air. Kasumi raised an eyebrow at her in disapproval. Not **everything** was as funny as Nabiki seemed to think it was.

Akane stood there looking stunned, hand to her cheek in shock as the Amazon girls smirked and backed away from her. She knew they had been giving her the kiss of death ... but ... still ... that had been kind of kinky. Ranma slapped his hand to his forehead. Mousse mirrored him from the shadows of the wall. "Aw, man ... didn't we just get **done** with this kiss-of-death nonsense?!" Ranma complained.

Kuno was riveted to the spot. His eyes were open wide, and he was drooling slightly. That erotic overload had gotten close to damn near killing him. Nabiki observed him from a distance, and kicked herself for not taking pictures of them kissing Akane. She could have bought a new car and a freaking **house** for what she could have charged him for pictures like that. Ryoga was also in a similarly paralyzed state in his hiding place on his rooftop.

"Kiss of what now? Soun, did you know that your daughter you have engaged to my son was a lesbian?!" Nodoka rounded on Soun, turning her back on the situation, to glare at him. In that instance, with the only sword wielder on the field of battle distracted, the Amazons struck.

The three girls all grabbed their swords in one smooth motion, and then leapt forward to attack Akane. Akane tried to backpedal, but tripped over a rock in the garden, and fell backwards clumsily. Ranma leapt in front of her before the Amazons could reach her, and an immediate stand-off began. The Amazons glared at Ranma, but didn't advance on him out of respect for his known prowess. Shampoo stood stock still and watched it all in a daze, almost like it was not really happening. It seemed so surreal.

With a growl, the leader of the Amazons twitched her head left and right, signaling her companions to flank Ranma, and get to Akane. Akane was now standing up, but clearly favoring one of her ankles. She must have twisted the other in her fall. Soun was moving forward to help, as was Nodoka and Tofu. Tofu was flat out running to get there from across the yard, actually. Kuno was still stock still and drooling. Ryoga jumped down from his rooftop perch to the top of their outer wall, and was starting to run to help. However, before anyone could reach them, an explosion hit right in front of Ranma -- an explosion of concealing white smoke -- which stopped everyone in their tracks.

When the smoke cleared, Mousse was standing in front of Ranma, he had a curved blade of some sort in each hand, and he was wearing his glasses. He gave a brief warrior's nod to Ranma, who nodded back in kind, and then turned around to pick up Akane and leapt with her back to the relative safety of the porch. Shampoo watched him go with her heart breaking. He hadn't even bothered to look at her or talk to her since she showed up. He had eyes only for Akane.

"Do not interfere, Mousse. We have given her the kiss of death, and now she must die!" The leader of the Amazon girls growled at Mousse in Chinese.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." Mouse stated simply.

"Fine then, you die too!" The leader yelled as she signaled her companions to attack. Mousse smirked and held his ground as they rushed him. When the first girl's blade reached him, he dodged back and let it pass harmlessly in front of him, the second girl's blade he batted into the first, sending them both off balance. The leader, approaching from his front tried to swing over her companions' redirected swords, but Mousse kicked the first girl's sword wrist, causing her arm to jerk up, bringing both crossed swords up to block their leader's strike. All three swords rang together in a tooth jarring clash. Before they could untangle themselves, Mousse flicked some sort of hard steel ball towards the center of their swords. It hit with a small explosion and flames. When the smoke had cleared, all three of their swords were fused together. Shampoo arched an eyebrow in interest. She had never seen Mousse fight like this.

The three Amazons wasted no time in altering their tactics. They dropped their swords as one, and turned on Mousse with clenched fists, intending to beat him into submission. Mousse dropped one foot back into a guard position, back hand held high over his head, and front hand held low at waist level. With a wink he waved them forward with his front hand, in a taunt, which enraged the girls.

They rushed him as one, forcing him to back up and alter his stances as they attacked him. They were actually much more coordinated when fighting unarmed, than they had been with their swords. One girl faked low with a kick, causing him to block low, the next would fake high with a back knuckle strike, causing him to block high with his other hand, and before he could recover from the first low block, the third girl landed a vicious solar plexus strike that would have dropped almost anyone.

Mousse did take a step back and double over, which caused the Amazons to smirk themselves this time, as they moved in for the kill. When they walked within striking distance, however, he dropped to the ground and spun into a quick sweep which knocked them all from their feet. They back flipped out of the sweep, but regarded him with a much more cautious eye as they approached him again. Shampoo started to smile as she watched this. Something magical was happening.

Mousse stood up straight again, and once more assumed a guarding stance and then taunted them to attack him. They obliged in a rush that was less coordinated this time. Because they reached him at different times, he was able to use the girls themselves as shields against each other. He would knock one girl's strike away and spin her into the attack of the next girl, while those two were recovering their feet, the third girl would attack, and on it would go. Finally, after almost a minute of this, Shampoo screamed, "enough!" Which stopped all of the Amazon girls in their tracks.

"Can't you see he is playing with you?" Shampoo hissed at them in Chinese, ashamed for her sisters that they did not realize how outclassed they were, and had not yet submitted to him to ask him to marry them, as was the law of their tribe. "He has all of you beaten, and yet you fight on against a stronger male! That is not our way!" She admonished them.

The girls, in turn, bowed their heads and nodded. They backed up from Mousse in a line, and bowed to him, waiting for him to make the next move. Mousse, however, had known this was coming, and walked to each in turn and grasped them by their shoulders to straighten each one up. He then kissed each of them on the opposite cheek as the one used for the kiss of death, which released them from their obligation to marry him. The girls each held a disbelieving hand to their cheeks -- not knowing whether to be relieved, or insulted. Without a word, they backed up, then leapt over the outer wall, and onto their journey home, back to China.

Ranma piped up at that. "Don't tell me that i's **that** easy ta get an Amazon ta give up on marryin' the guy that beats her!" He yelled in disbelieving anger. Mousse grinned back at him and nodded. Ranma growled. "You're lucky I owe ya one, pal, or I might have to beat ya for not tellin' me that."

"Yes, Ranma, is true." Shampoo said to him in her broken Japanese. "Can refuse marry Amazon girl when defeat her, if give kiss of rejection. You want reject Shampoo?" She asked with genuine sorrow. Ranma froze up and looked at Akane with a big gulp in his throat.

Akane shrugged and whispered to him, "oh fine, if it will make her go away for good, just go ahead and do it." Ranma moved to obey her, when her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist tightly, "just ... make sure ... you don't enjoy it too much." She whispered in a stronger tone of voice.

Ranma stood up solemnly and walked over to Shampoo, who was still standing next to the sword his mother had disarmed her of. He paused in front of her, and looked her in the eyes for probably the last time. She had tears in them. "I'm sorry, Shampoo." He said in a whisper, as the entire family watched with held breath.

"I'm sorry too..." She said as she closed her eyes in a wince, as he gently tilted her chin up like he had seen Mousse just do, and kissed her on the cheek where he had seen Mousse do it. Shampoo stiffened up, almost like he was hurting her, then relaxed and leaned her cheek into his lips. As Ranma pulled his head away, she intertwined her fingers into his hair, and pulled him into a full and proper kiss goodbye. It was now Ranma's turn to stiffen up like he was being hurt. Akane glared at them, as did Mousse. Ryoga broke the brick his hand was resting on at his place atop the wall. Nodoka smiled at her son's manliness with the ladies, and Nabiki whistled another wolf whistle.

Shampoo finally released him many moments later, wiped a tear from her eye, and then walked over to where Mousse was standing. She looked up at him in what seemed like the first time in a long time. He looked much older, stronger, and handsomer than she had him pictured in her mind's eye. She gave him a wink and crooked a finger at him, indicating he should follow her. "Let's talk." She said as she walked out of the front gate, and out of Ranma's life forever.

Akane, not to be outdone, and damn the consequences, hobbled over to where Ranma was standing in shock, and grabbed him roughly and kissed him full and hard on the mouth. Ranma pulled away from her at first, because so many people were watching, but she just grabbed him again and kissed him harder. He shrugged, and picked her up in his arms and kissed her back. This time Kasumi let out a wolf whistle, which made Nabiki and Soun fall over. Tofu laughed as he watched them staring at her in shock. "What, you think you are the only one in this family father taught to whistle, Nabiki?" Kasumi said with a wink.

Ryoga wiped away a tear forming in his eye, and stood up solemnly to leave. Akane had clearly made her choice, and it was time to move on. Maybe he would go see what Ukyo was up to ... and maybe he wouldn't ... but it was time to move on. He leapt down from the Tendo family wall, never intending to return.

Nodoka smiled and resheathed her sword before turning around and beckoning to Soun and Genma, "come on you two. Let's talk about getting these two married before they start giving us Grandchildren."

Soun immediately put his back up again, and picked up the argument right where it left off. "Now see here, I still don't think that now is the time!"

"Nonsense, they are clearly ready." Nodoka said casually as she walked past him into the house.

Soun turned to follow, and the sounds of their arguing could be heard continuing into the house. Before Genma or Ranma or anyone else could follow to continue the argument, they heard a sound they had been hoping they wouldn't hear for a while.

"...haul..."

"...a ... haul ..."

"what ... ... haul ..."

"...-hat a haul ... what a haul!"

"Oh no!" Akane exclaimed as she jumped down from Ranma's arms to scan the rooftops. Nabiki and Kasumi both immediately looked around for the day's laundry, hoping no panties were on the top of the wash.

"It can't be." Ranma started.

"I thought he left." Tofu continued.

"You thought wrong!" Happosai yelled with glee, appearing on the top of the Tendo rooftop, with a bulging sack strapped to his back.

"Hey there, old freak, finally got bored raiding panties and came back here, huh?" Ranma taunted him. Instead of getting angry, though, Happosai smiled a dangerous smile down at Ranma.

"Nope, ya wretched ingrate student of mine. I have been busy getting what I need to solve all of my problems." He said with glee.

"And what's that?" Ranma growled, getting into a battle stance.

"This!" Happosai yelled as he leapt down from the roof. "Happo-fire-**burst!**" He yelled as he started dropping firecrackers.

Ranma smirked and started batting them away before they could explode. Unexpectedly, one of the them burst when he struck it, dousing him with cold water. A water balloon? How juvenile.

Everyone in the yard gasped. Happosai landed behind Ranma and grinned. "Hello there, Ranko." He said with a lecherous smile on his face, and a bra suddenly in his hand.

Ranma turned around and glared at him. "That's not funny, you old freak! I. Am. A. **Guy!**" Ranma emphasized.

"Oh, ... Ranma!" Akane gasped as she held a hand over her mouth in shock. Nabiki and Kasumi were mirroring her. Genma was rolling around on the ground laughing. In a sudden cold panic, Ranma put his hands on his suddenly too wide hips, and felt upward, finding assets he thought he had left behind him for good.

"Oh no!" He moaned in dismay.

"Oh yes!" Happosai yelled back in elation. "How sweet it is!" He yelled in joy as he leapt towards Ranma, who punted him away from him.

"You went all the way to China to fill up water balloons from the spring of drowned girl?" Ranma asked incredulously, as Genma continued to laugh.

"What are you laughing at, pop? This aint funny!" Ranma rounded on Genma.

"Oh, don't worry, I brought enough for everyone!" Happosai grinned as he chucked a black and white balloon at Genma. It splashed over him and suddenly a familiar panda was rolling around on the ground laughing.

"W-W-Why?" Akane yelled at him.

Happosai shrugged, "I don't really like change." He said with a sly smile. "Now, then, Ranma-honey. Why don't you try on this bra for me?" He said with grin.

"Why don't ... **you** ... dry up ... and **die!** You old **freak!**" Ranma yelled as he rounded on him and punted him away from the house with the most vicious kick he could muster. He stood panting in rage watching the old freak sail away into the distance.

"So ... back to China?" Kasumi asked cheerfully.

Ranma's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Yeah, back to China..." he cast a nervous glance at the house where he mom was still arguing with Soun. "... and soon!" He gulped.

"Not to worry, Ranma. We can leave today, if you want." Tofu said merrily.

"Great, and this time, I am wrecking those spring before I leave!" Ranma promised.

Akane laughed and hugged Ranma as they hurried out of the gates, past the still comatose Kuno, and towards Tofu's boat. Akane didn't care if Ranma changed into a girl or not, he was still her Ranma, and he was hers forever now.


End file.
