They arrive at the restaurant, Ranma checks with Ukyo about Ryoga.

"He’s sleeping, Ranma." says Ukyo, "As exhausted as he is, it’ll probably take three or four days for him to fully recover."

Ranma nods, "I gotta go over to the Cat Cafe and find out more about this cure."

"Wait, Ran-Chan." says Ukyo as he turns.

He looks back at her. Her face is one of a person, about to make a choice, but needs more information to decide.

"I got a letter from Tsubasa this morning." she says.

"Oh, yeah?" says Ranma, "How’s he doing?"

"He’s fine." she says, "He and Maxine have decided to get engaged."

"You mean their parents decided." says Ranma.

"No." says Ukyo, "They actually got engaged on their own."

"Why now?" he asks, "Their still young."

"A lot of people would like to know what’s going to happen to them in the future." she says, "You know, such as, who they are going to spend the rest of their lives with."

"Couldn’t they just be friends until they’re older?" he asks.

"Just ‘plain’ friends, Ranma?" she asks.

"Sure." he says, "Why not?"

"Not everyone wants to be just ‘plain’ friends." she says.

Ranma finally gets the idea that he might be missing something important, "Ucchan, what are you trying to say?" he asks.

"Nothing, Ranma." she says, turning her back to him, "If you don’t know by now, you never will."

Ranma reaches out to Ukyo, then, pulls back. They might have known each other when they were kids, but the girl standing in front of Ranma, suddenly feels like a stranger to him. Not knowing what else to do, Ranma leaves for the Cat Cafe.

When he gets there, Shampoo, Mousse, Akane and Cologne are having tea.

"Ranma, you should hear this." says Akane.

"As I told the others, Son-in-law." says Cologne, "Dr. Tofu has told me about a healing spring on the slopes of Mount Fuji. It is there that we hope to bring an end to this curse. The melting snow from the top and water heated by the dormant volcano, come together in one spring. The cold water is always there, the hot water is not. We have to be there when both hot and cold waters flow. According to our information, that will happen in two days."

Ranma thinks, Two days, I don’t know if I can wait that long.

A postman brings a letter. It is addressed to Shampoo.

She reads:

To the Amazon Shampoo;

Prepare yourself. On the 5th, I will come to defeat you and take your man away.

Signed: Monlon

Shampoo looks at Ranma.

He remembers the guitar playing woman from their journey to Nekonlon, China.

Ranma says, "Isn’t she one of the Seven-Lucky-Gods Martial Artists?"

Akane asks, "Why would she want to take Ranma from Shampoo?"

"Revenge." says Cologne, "By defeating Shampoo and taking someone she loves from her, Monlon is trying to gain some measure of revenge against Shampoo."

Shampoo says, "Shampoo defeat Monlon so Ranma could save Akane."

Mousse says, "The 5th is tomorrow."

"Does the letter say where or when you two are supposed to fight?" asks Akane.

"It not say." says Shampoo.

"So, anytime tomorrow she could come to fight you?" asks Ranma.

Shampoo nods.

"So, what are you going to do, Ranma?" asks Akane.

"What do you mean, what am I going to do, Akane?" asks Ranma.

"You’re the ‘prize’. When Monlon comes to fight, you have to be there." she says.

Ranma sits quietly to think.

On the way home from the cafe, Ranma asks, "Akane? Do you want to do something special this afternoon?"

"Sure, Ranma," she says smiling, "but why?"

"Well," smiling, he says, "if Monlon wins tomorrow, this may be our last day together."

As Akane helps Ranma limp home, he thinks, Yep, she’s still ‘uncute’.

In the morning, Ranma and Akane arrive at the Cat Cafe. As they enter, Shampoo turns on them, as if expecting an attack.

"Take it easy Shampoo, it’s only us." says Ranma looking around, "I guess she hasn’t been here yet."

Shampoo relaxes a little. Mousse returns to his sweeping.

"She’s probably just waiting for her ‘prize’ to get here." says Akane.

Ranma thinks, There she goes being ‘uncute’ again.

After a while, a letter arrives addressed to Shampoo.

It contains a map of a nearby park, on it is written "1 hour", next to that is an X.

They find the spot on the map, it is a small clearing surrounded by brush and trees.

Looking around, they find no sign of Monlon.

Minutes pass, and then, they hear the plucking of the strings on a Chinese guitar. They follow the music. Monlon is in one of the trees. She leaps down and lands on the other side of the clearing.

"Shampoo. Today is the day I will take your man away from you." she says as she strums her guitar.

Akane steps forward, "If it’s Ranma you want, you’ll have to fight me, not her!"

The others look at Akane, then Monlon.

Monlon says, "I am not here for Ranma." she points, "I came for him!"

They all look at who she points to.

Shampoo asks, "Monlon want Mousse?"

Everyone, including Mousse, is stunned. "ME?!" he asks.

Monlon says, "I was defending my gate. Shampoo, you challenged me to let Ranma through. After you defeated me and as I laid there unconscious, it was Mousse who picked me up and carried me to safety. Shampoo, you do not deserve such a fine man. I will take him from you!"

Shampoo thinks back on how she has treated Mousse in the past. Then she thinks of something else. Unable to decide, she walks up to Mousse.

"Mousse love Shampoo?" is all she asks.

"My heart has always been yours, Shampoo," he answers.

Shampoo bows her head and nods.

With a sudden anger in her eyes, she turns to her opponent, "You I fight, Monlon."

With her usual weapons, large colored balls on long handles, she leaps at Monlon.

Monlon takes her guitar and knocks her to one side. Monlon sends wire strings from her guitar to trap Shampoo. Shampoo blocks with one of the balls. More strings fly. She catches them with the other ball. Shampoo throws one ball to Monlon’s left, one to her right. Trailing strings the balls get tangled in the brush. Shampoo leaps at Monlon as she tries to free her guitar.

Akane steps in front of Ranma as he tries to see if Monlon is all right. "You’d better let me handle this, Ranma." she says, "I don’t want her to try to take you away from me."

He stands there, stunned, as Akane goes to check on Monlon.

Shampoo and Mousse stand to one side. What they say, is not heard.

Monlon stands, looks at Shampoo and Mousse, frees her guitar, then leaves.

Ranma and Akane walk home.

She turns to him, "You were right, Ranma."

"About what, Akane?" he asks.

"You once said that Shampoo loved Mousse." she says, "She fought for him."

"You were going to fight for me." says Ranma. "Does that mean you love me?"

"I’m your fiancée, Shampoo isn’t." says Akane.

"I thought we were trying to pretend we weren’t fiancées, just friends?" he says.

"That was your idea. How can we be ‘just friends’, Ranma?" she says, "You live in my house, we see each other every day, get on each other’s nerves, and when you’re a girl, you sometimes wear my clothes. You’re like a brother and sister I never knew about."

Ranma looks at Akane in shock, "Do you really think of me as a brother, Akane?"

She nods, "And sister." she smiles.

"Akane," he says, "I don’t know what to say. I’ve never had a sister or a brother. Except when I was in school, it was just me and the old man going from one place to another to train. Being with you and your family..."

"Ranma?" she says as she put her arm around his, "Tell me the truth, do you want to call off our engagement?"

"Our engagement?" he says, "It was our fathers who said we were engaged. They said we must continue the ‘Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts’. Everyone has been telling us what we ‘must’ do. Nobody has ever asked us what we want to do." He looks into her eyes, "Akane, I believe this cure will work. I didn’t ask you to be my fiancée, and you didn’t say you wanted me to be your fiancé." He swallows, "After I’m cured, I will have something very important to ask you."

At the Cat Cafe, Shampoo and Cologne are sitting together in the kitchen.

"Great-granddaughter," Cologne says, "I’m proud of you. You defeated Monlon much easier than even I expected."

"Shampoo want to fight for Ranma, not Mousse." she says.

Cologne’s eyes narrow as she looks at Shampoo, "Still, you fought for him."

Shampoo says, "Shampoo defeat Monlon no matter who she fight for."

"Of course child," she says, "but don’t you realize by now that Mousse loves you and Ranma does not?"

"Mousse not know who he love." Shampoo says, as tears form.

"What?!" Cologne asks.

"Mousse, he say he love Shampoo, but, he looking at lamp post, or pig, or Akane." she says looking down, "Shampoo not lamp post. Shampoo not pig. Shampoo NOT Akane!"

Shampoo closes her eyes tight as the tears fall.

Cologne closes her eyes, then opens them, as if she has come to a decision.

"Shampoo," says Cologne, "there is something I need to tell you. If Mousse’s eyesight can be cured, I see no reason why you can’t marry him instead of Ranma."

"But, Great-grandmother," Shampoo says, "Amazon law..."

"There is an even stronger law at work here, Shampoo." says Cologne, "You have done everything required of you, to try to get Ranma to marry you. That boy is as stubborn as any Amazon woman I have ever known. I know you love Mousse and would have accepted him long ago if Amazon law would have allowed you to marry someone who was less than perfect. With his eyesight, it’s amazing that boy has survived this long. I am the village Elder, and what I say, goes. If Mousse’s eyesight is restored, you no longer have to marry Ranma."

Shampoo doesn’t know how to react, finally she says, "Thank-you, Great-grandmother."

Later, Ranma goes to Ukyo’s place.

He finds Sapphire, he asks, "How’s Ryoga?"

She says, "He’s getting better. I’ll take you to him." and leads him upstairs. There, he sees Ryoga sitting up in bed, eyes closed. Ukyo puts down a book.

"How is he, Ukyo?" he asks.

"He should be fine in a couple of days." she says. Ryoga stirs.

"According to Cologne, the cure must take place tomorrow." says Ranma.

"I’ll be there." says Ryoga.

"No, you won’t!" says Ukyo, "You’re not strong enough to go tomorrow!"

"I’ll be there." he says to Ranma. He turns to Ukyo, "If you’ll help me."

She looks mad, but she nods.

Ranma says, "We’ll meet at the Cat Cafe tomorrow morning. Then go to the spring on Mount Fuji." He leaves. Sapphire goes downstairs with him.

Ryoga lowers himself in the bed, "That Ranma’s too lucky for his own good."

"Why do you say that, Ryoga?" Ukyo asks.

"Not only does he have two wonderful fiancées," he says as he looks at Ukyo, "he also has two more girls chasing him."

"Akane’s not chasing him." she says.

"She’s already caught him," he says, "but he’s too blind to see it."

"What about you?" she asks, "Aren’t you in love with Akane?"

"It’s hopeless." he says. His face clouds up. He doesn’t like the decision he must make. It is a choice he does not wish to make alone.

"Ryoga, are you giving up on Akane?" Ukyo asks. Her question reminds him that she has a decision to make as well.

"Ukyo, I’ll give up on Akane," Ryoga says as he closes his eyes, "the same day you give up on Ranma."

Ukyo pulls the blanket up to his chin. "Touché, Ryoga." she says as she leaves the room.

Ranma and Nabiki return to the Dojo. On the way, they get hit by a rain shower. Ranma turns into his girl-type. They run, and when they get home, Ranma takes a hot bath.

"No way am I going to sleep like this." he says.

Genma brings Dr. Tofu to dinner.

Dr. Tofu makes a fool of himself over Kasumi as she and the others look amused.

"I hope you enjoy your dinner, Dr. Tofu." says Kasumi as she serves him.

His glasses fog, he laughs and says, "Kasumi, I’ve always loved you. I mean, your cooking." She smiles.

Ranma and Akane look at each other and can barely keep from laughing.

Ukyo and Sapphire close the restaurant. Ukyo walks her home.

"Ukyo, how long have you known Ranma?" asks Sapphire.

"Well," she says, "we knew each other as kids, but for some reason, he thought I was a boy. We played, well, he called it play, I wanted to fight. He always won and my father would give him a pizza. I think he liked the pizza more than he liked me. My father made an agreement, that if his father took me with him to become Ranma’s fiancée, he would throw in our food cart as a dowry. Ranma’s father took the cart all right, but left me behind. When that happened, I thought my life was over." She thinks, Just like Ryoga. She continues, "After that, I vowed to become the best Okonomiyaki Chef in the World, build up my martial arts and get even with Ranma and his father. I got back at his father, but when I fought with Ran-Chan, he found out I was a girl," Ukyo shrugs her shoulders smiling, "and now we’re fiancées again."

Ukyo drops Sapphire off and returns to her restaurant. On her way back she sees a familiar face.

"Ryoga? I tried to find you earlier. Where have you been? No, never mind." she says, shaking her head, "Ranma says both Dr. Tofu and Cologne may have figured out a cure."

"Are you sure, Ukyo?!" asks Ryoga. "Is it possible?"

"Yes, Sugar. If Ran-Chan says they may have found a cure, then I believe him."

Ryoga collapses to the ground, his face is pale and drawn, "Will the nightmares finally be over?"

Ukyo rushes to his side. "‘Nightmares’? Are you okay? You don’t look so good."

"I am so tired." he says, "Ukyo, I’m afraid to go to sleep."

"Why, Ryoga?" she asks, "The nightmares?"

He nods his head.

She pulls him up, "Come on Ryoga. Let’s get you some place you can go to sleep."

"Where?" he asks, "I don’t want Akane to see me like this."

"My place. There’s a spare room above my restaurant. You can stay there tonight."

At the Dojo, Ranma is walking to his room when he passes by Akane as she stands by her door. She has a sad look in her eyes.

"What’s wrong with you?" he asks.

"I was just wondering." she says.

"About what?" he asks.

"If you’re cured..." she says, hesitatingly.

"If I’m cured... What?" he asks, wishing she would just get to the point.

"It’s not going to be the same." she says, "Without your girl-half, I mean."

"I’ll still be here." he says, "Don’t tell me you like me better as a girl?"

"YOU IDIOT!" she says, suddenly angry, "We still don’t know much about her and if you are cured, she could be gone forever! It would be like her dying all over again!"

Akane turns, stomps into her room and slams the door in his face.

Soon, Ranma is in his room going over some photographs. He comes across one of his girl-type seated at the dinner table with Akane. He swallows as he studies the photo.

He thinks about the possible cure promised by both Dr. Tofu and Cologne.

"If it works, the dreams will go away and you can rest in peace." he says. "But, Akane is right, I wish I knew more about you just in case something goes wrong."

Ranma puts the photo away and stands. Akane, in her bedroom, hears his footsteps pass by her door. Moments later he is in the bathroom dressed in pajamas. He holds a wash cloth under the cold water tap to soak it. He then slaps it to his face and changes to his girl-half. Akane, once again hears footsteps pass by her door. She can tell by the sound, what has happened. A half-smile forms on her face as she turns out the light.

That night, the images in Ranma’s dreams are much clearer. Memories of a life that ended in tragedy so long ago, come to Ranma. All thoughts of the events leading up to her death are pushed aside as earlier and happier memories fill his dreams. The images come fast and random, as if a young child was leading him, eager to show a new friend her favorite things. Girl-type Ranma smiles as he sleeps.

In the morning, Ukyo is at the side of the bed when Ryoga wakes up.

"Hi." he says, weakly.

"Take it easy, Ryoga." she says, "Dr. Tofu was just here. He said you needed to rest for a few days and you’ll be fine. How do you feel?"

"I feel better," he says, "I must have slept all night."

"More or less." she says, then asks, "How long has it been since you’ve had a good night’s sleep?"

"I think it’s been two weeks." he says.

"You’ve been having nightmares for two weeks?" she asks.

"Yes, but not every night. Only when I went to sleep at the Tendo Dojo." he says.

Ukyo says, "Dr. Tofu wanted me to ask you something. Have you had these nightmares when you were not P-Chan?"

Ryoga thinks, Wait a minute, Ranma said he’s had these dreams when he went to sleep as his girl-type. He says, "That’s right, I’ve only had these dreams when I was P-Chan."

Ukyo’s expression changes. The comforting smile, is replaced by a look of great concern.

"Ryoga, I am your friend." she says, as she places her hand on his shoulder, "Please, tell me about these dreams."

Ryoga looks at her. The need to tell someone, anyone, is overwhelming.

Slowly, painfully, the events of his dreams are revealed to Ukyo. By the time he is done, it is almost more than she can bear to hear. For his sake, she does her best to maintain her composure. As sleep takes him once more, Ukyo gets to her feet and walks downstairs to the back room. It is there, that she breaks down.

Akane and Ranma are in the training hall. They are not practicing, but are seated on the floor next to each other.

"What were the dreams about this time?" she asks.

Ranma turns to her, not surprised that she knew.

"Mostly girl stuff." he says, "It’s kind of embarrassing to think about it."

"Oh?" asks Akane, smiling, "What kind of ‘Girl stuff’?"

"Just, you know, girl stuff." he says. Ranma’s face is red.

"Anything else?" she asks.

"Opal had an older brother." he says, "He used to tease her a lot."

"What did she do about it?" Akane asks.

Ranma leans back and smiles, "Most people say they got their nose from their father or mother. Her brother says he got his from her." Ranma makes a fist and touches it to his nose. Akane laughs.

Sapphire arrives at the Tendo Dojo. She sees Ranma and Akane coming out of the training hall.

"Hello, Sapphire." says Akane.

"Hi, Akane, Ranma." she says, "Have you found out anything more about the cure?"

"Hi, Sapphire." says Ranma, "Dr. Tofu was here for dinner last night, but when Kasumi is in the same room with him, he’s hopeless."

Sapphire looks confused.

"Dr. Tofu is completely in love with my sister, Kasumi." says Akane.

"But, if she knows, she doesn’t show it." adds Ranma, smiling.

"Did you two just finish your workout?" asks Sapphire. They nod.

Sapphire says, "I guess I should have gotten here sooner. I wanted to watch." As if she just remembers something, she says, "Oh, Ranma! Ukyo would like to see you at her restaurant."

"Okay." says Ranma, "Akane, why don’t you show her your warm-up routine and I’ll go see what Ukyo wants."

"Okay Ranma." says Akane. Then to Sapphire, "Follow me." She leads Sapphire into the training hall. Ranma leaves for Ukyo’s restaurant.

Akane goes into her routine and soon Sapphire is doing her best to imitate her moves.

After a while, they both pause to cool down. Sapphire is breathing heavily.

"Sapphire, why did Ukyo want to see Ranma?" asks Akane.

"She didn’t say." says Sapphire. She changes the subject, "Akane, do you think this cure will work?"

"I hope so," she says sitting down, "I don’t want to marry some pervert who can turn into a girl at any time."

"Do you love him?" Sapphire asks as she sits beside Akane.

"He doesn’t always make it easy," says Akane, "but I guess so."

"Have you told him that?" asks Sapphire.

Akane thinks about what happened when she was wearing the Reversal Jewel.

The Reversal Jewel is an Amazon treasure that when worn up-side down, as Shampoo did, it turns love into hatred that is just as strong. When it was worn by Akane, it was right-side up and amplified the love she already had for Ranma. Under it’s influence, she expressed that love to him. When it was removed, she came to her senses and knocked Ranma through the Cat Cafe door.

"Not voluntarily, no." she says, "It’s funny, I can tell you, but not Ranma."

"Akane, do you give up during a fight?" Sapphire asks.

"No way!" Akane says angrily.

"That’s probably why you can’t tell Ranma." she says, "The two of you are fighting your parents over this engagement. If you were to admit that you even like each other, it would be like giving up. The two of you have got to stop believing that the only ones who want this engagement are your parents. Both of you have to decide if you are engaged or not. If you don’t, it won’t matter if you get married or not, because you will both be miserable."

"How can you know that?" asks Akane.

"My parents had an arranged marriage." says Sapphire, "As I grew up, I could never tell if they really loved each other. I don’t think they even knew. After I fell into the spring and we found out about the curse, I guess it was just too much for my father. He took me home to my mother, packed some clothes, and left. Nobody has seen or heard from him since."

"Sapphire, I’m sorry." says Akane. She gives Sapphire a cloth to dry her eyes.

Sapphire says, "You are not the only ones who have to live your decision. Do you know what it’s like to live in a house with only one parent."

"Yes, I do." says Akane. "My mother died when I was very young. Since then, it’s been just my father, my sisters, and me. That is, until Ranma and his father showed up."

Sapphire gives the cloth to Akane. "Thank-you." she says.

"Akane," Sapphire says, "if you two love each other, don’t keep it a secret."

"Have you talked to Ranma about this?" asks Akane.

"Yes, I have." says Sapphire.

"What did he say?" asks Akane.

"I’m sorry, Akane." she says, "When he’s ready, he’ll have to tell you, not me."

Akane says, "Talk about keeping secrets." Akane thinks about what Sapphire said, "When he’s ready, he’ll have to tell you, not me." Something clicks in Akane’s mind, "I think I’ve heard Ranma say that same thing." she pauses, "We were talking about Ryoga and P-Chan." another pause, then shakes her head, "I just can’t put my finger on it."

Sapphire lets out the breath she had been holding, knowing that, for the moment, Ryoga’s secret is still safe.

Ranma arrives at Ukyo’s restaurant.

"Hey, Ucchan!" calls Ranma.

"Be right there!" she answers from the back room.

She comes out of the back, "There you are Ran-Chan. Is Akane with you?"

"She’s back at the Dojo with Sapphire. Did you want to see us both?" asks Ranma.

"No." she says, "I asked Sapphire to get you here and keep Akane from following you."

"Okay, but why?" asks Ranma.

"Ranma," she says, "Ryoga’s here."

"Where? I still owe him for..."

"That’s enough, Ranma!" she interrupts, "You leave Ryoga alone! You hear me?!"

"Why?" he asks, surprised by her sudden anger.

Ukyo calms herself down again, "He’s sick." she says, "He’s upstairs."

"What’s wrong with him? Should I get Dr. Tofu?"

"Dr. Tofu’s already been here. He says Ryoga just needs a few days rest."

"Why didn’t you want Akane to know?" he asks, "If she finds out, she’ll want to see him."

"He’s been talking in his sleep." she says, looking upstairs, "I don’t think he’d want Akane to hear anything he might say right now. Some of it’s embarrassing." her cheeks turn pink.

"All about Akane, I suppose." says Ranma.

Ukyo turns away, "Not all of it." Ukyo bites her lip to hold back the tears.

"How did he get sick?" asks Ranma, "He was fine two days ago."

Ukyo turns back to him, "He hasn’t been getting much sleep. For the last two weeks, whenever he went to sleep as P-Chan, he was having nightmares." she says.

"Nightmares." nods Ranma, "Just like me."

"You too, Ran-Chan?"

Ranma tells Ukyo about his dreams.

"So, Opal made it to the spring before the bandits got her?"

Ranma nods.

"Well, P-Chan wasn’t that lucky." she shudders as tears form in her eyes, "The dogs..." She swallows, "The dogs caught him twice before he made it to the spring." She puts her arms around herself as if she feels suddenly cold. Her eyes lose their focus and her breathing becomes slow and ragged. Her eyes close as her head lowers.

Ranma puts his hand to her shoulder, "Ukyo?"

Blinking, as if brought back from a dark, far away place, she raises her head to look at him.

"I’m all right." she takes a deep breath, "Most people forget their nightmares. Not Ryoga. He remembers everything. As if it actually happened to him." She shakes her head to clear the image. "You’d better go now." she says.

Ranma still looks at her with concern, then, as he leaves, he says, "I’ll be back later. Take care of him, Ukyo."

"Someone has to." she says after he is gone. Ukyo pauses to collect herself before she goes back upstairs.

Ryoga is awake again and drinking from a glass.

Ukyo forces a smile, "Feeling better, Sugar?" she asks.

"Yes, Ukyo." he says, "I want to thank you for helping me. It really means a lot."

"Hey," she says, "that’s what friends are for." This time, the smile is genuine.

He smiles back, but, suddenly his smile drops and he looks embarrassed.

"What?" asks Ukyo, sensing that something is wrong.

Ryoga is reluctant to tell her, "I, uh, have to..."

Ukyo rolls her eyes as she figures out his problem. She knows Ryoga is still too weak to make it down the hall by himself.

"Okay, Ryoga." she says, "I’ll get you there, but once your in that room, you’re on your own." As she helps him out of the bed, Ukyo is amazed at just how weak Ryoga has become.

At the Cat Cafe, Shampoo and Mousse are telling each other about their other halves lives. Mousse tells Shampoo about Mu-Mu Chan flying with his mate, looking for open water, and teaching their young to fly during their second summer together. Shampoo smiles. Shampoo tells of her cat being the pampered pet of a merchant’s daughter and chasing mice during family picnics. Cologne listens from the kitchen.

Ranma returns to the Dojo to find Akane and boy-type Sapphire coming out of the training hall. They both look a little banged up.

"I told you Akane, Jaden fights by instinct. I can’t control him in a fight." says Sapphire.

"It’s not your fault." says Akane.

"What happened?" asks Ranma.

"After the warm-up, Sapphire and I had a little sparring match." says Akane.

"I wasn’t doing so good. Akane suggested I change into Jaden." Sapphire says and looks at Akane.

She says, "I’m okay, Sapphire. He’s good, Ranma. I’ve never seen that fighting style before."

Ranma looks at them and says. "I guess he fights pretty good for someone who’s been dead for 1500 years. After you two get cleaned up, I’ll take Sapphire back to Ukyo’s."

"I’ll go with you." offers Akane.

Ranma says, "Akane, why don’t you go to the Cat Cafe and I’ll meet you there? Maybe Cologne will tell you something about this cure."

"Okay, but what did Ukyo want?" asks Akane.

Ranma covers for Ukyo by saying, "She couldn’t find Ryoga yesterday to tell him about the cure, she wanted to know if we’d seen him."

"That’s funny, I don’t remember seeing Ryoga for at least three days." says Akane, "Do you think he’s all right?"

"I’m sure he’ll be fine Akane. He’s probably just lost or something." he says.

After they clean up, Akane leaves for the Cat Cafe. Ranma and Sapphire go to Ukyo’s restaurant.

"Did Ukyo tell you about Ryoga, Sapphire?" asks Ranma.

She nods, "She had me get Dr. Tofu this morning. Is he okay?"

"She says he just needs some rest." he says.

"Ranma?" she asks, "How many fiancées do you have?" she asks.

He winces. "Two, that I know of, Akane and Ukyo. My father made both arrangements when I was very young. It’s a long story."

Sapphire says, "When Cologn told me about you, she also said that her Great-granddaughter, Shampoo was engaged to you. How did that happen?"

"Yes." says Ranma, then with a sigh, "She was fighting in a tournament when we showed up at her village in China. I was in my girl form, Pop was in his panda form. We were hungry and we sat at a table with a lot of food on it. We ate as we watched Shampoo and another woman fighting. Shampoo won and attacked us because we were eating her prize. I thought it would be simpler if I defeated her in the tournament so the food prize would be mine and there wouldn’t be a problem. After I was declared the winner, she walked up and kissed me on the cheek. The guide called it the ‘Kiss of Death’, a vow to kill me according to Amazon law. So, she chased us all the way to Japan trying to kill me. Then, to protect Akane, I defeated her as a boy. I was expecting the ‘Kiss of Death’ and for her to vow to kill me as a boy, instead, she kissed me on the lips and said, ‘Wo ai ni.’, which means ‘I love you.’ or ‘It’s you I love.’, because according to Amazon law, she now has to marry me. After that, whenever she saw me as a girl, she tried to kill me, but, whenever she saw me as a boy, she wanted me to marry her. She even wanted to get rid of Akane, because she is my fiancée. By changing from a boy to a girl in front of her, using cold water, I was able to convince her that I had been a girl all along and was just disguised as a boy. Disappointed, she left vowing never to return." Ranma takes a deep breath, "Back in China, however, she fell in to the ‘Spring of Drowned Cat’ at Jusenkyo. She discovered that hot water, not cold, returns you to normal and she came back with her Great-grandmother to try to get me to marry her. You wouldn’t believe some of the things they’ve tried. Even Shampoo’s little sister, Dye, got into the act. Only, she was trying to kill me, so her sister could marry Mousse. Then, there’s Kodachi Kuno, the ‘Black Rose’." he shudders at the thought of Tatewaki’s sister. He asks, "Sapphire, do you have a fiancée?"

She looks down, "We were engaged when I was three. We’re supposed to meet when I turn Eighteen next month, but unless I am cured..."

"I know the feeling." says Ranma. "It’s hard enough living with a curse like this. How can you ask someone else to live with it too?"

Ukyo is taking Sapphire on her deliveries, when they run into Ryoga.

"There you are Ryoga, where have you been?" asks Ukyo.

"I have no idea." he says. His eyes are heavy. As if he is fighting to stay awake.

"Figures. Have you met Sapphire?" she asks.

"We met yesterday." says Ryoga, "She was with Ranma on their way to the Dojo."

Seeing Sapphire glance between them, Ryoga says, "It’s okay Sapphire, Ukyo knows."

Ukyo snaps, "Ryoga! You told her on the first day you met her, when you only told me yesterday? I thought we were friends!"

"I’m sorry, Ukyo." he says apologizing, "When I heard she’d been to Jusenkyo, there didn’t seem to be any reason to keep it from her."

"All right Ryoga, I forgive you." says Ukyo, still a little put out that he didn’t confide in her earlier, "We’re on our way back to the restaurant. If you’re hungry, I’ll get you something to eat."

"Thank-you, Ukyo." says Ryoga, then to Sapphire, "Any word on a cure?"

"Not yet. It may be a while before one is found." says Sapphire.

Back at Dr. Tofu’s office, Ranma and Akane break their hold on one another.

Akane says, "Thank-you, Ranma."

Ranma says, "You’re welcome Akane." his hands go to hers and he adds, "I could get used to that."

"You may have to." she says, smiling.

They look around and discover they are alone. They go outside.

"Mr. Saotome, where’s Dr. Tofu?" asks Akane.

The panda holds up a sign, "Of course I will." Seeing their confusion, he looks at the sign and turns it around, "He went to see Cologne."

"What would Dr. Tofu want with the old ghoul?" asks Ranma.

"Maybe he wants a second opinion, or something." says Akane.

"Let’s go over to the Cat Cafe, Akane." says Ranma, "We still have to invite him over for dinner."

"Good idea, Ranma, we haven’t had lunch yet and I’m starving." Akane says as they leave.

"Now you’re the one who’s being nice for a change, Akane." says Ranma as he reaches out his hand.

"Are you complaining?" she asks as she takes it.

As Ranma and Akane arrive at the cafe, so does Shampoo and Mousse. Both couples are holding hands. When they see each other, Shampoo pulls her hand away from Mousse, as Ranma and Akane let go.

Embarrassed, all four enter in silence.

Cologne and Dr. Tofu are having tea.

"Feeling better, Akane?" asks Dr. Tofu.

"Yes, Doctor." says Akane. "Thank-you."

"That’s good." he says, "Ranma, Cologne and I have a cure for your curse that might work, but it may take a few days before we’re ready to try it."

"Really?! That’s great! What do I have to do?" asks Ranma.

"Calm down, Ranma." says Akane, "What about the others?"

"If this works," says Cologne, "everyone can be cured and the souls of those that drowned will have peace at last."

"Shampoo no turn into cat?!" squeals Shampoo.

"I won’t turn into a duck?" cries Mousse.

Ranma thinks, Never gonna be a girl again. Then asks, "Will the dreams go away?"

"If this works, yes Ranma, the dreams will go away." says Dr. Tofu.

With this news, Ranma and Akane have lunch. Akane tells Dr. Tofu about Kasumi’s invitation to dinner, which renders him useless to Cologne for the rest of the day.

She asks Ranma and Akane to take him back to his office.

After leading Dr. Tofu back to his office and leaving him in Genma’s care, Ranma takes Akane over to Ukyo’s restaurant to tell Sapphire the news.

On hearing about the cure, Ukyo rushes out saying, "I can’t wait to tell Ryoga!"

Sapphire tries to hold back her tears, "I think she means Ryoga will be very happy to know a cure has been found."

Akane, still confused by Ukyo’s action, says, "We don’t know for sure if it will work, but if Dr. Tofu and Cologne think it might, then it’s probably your best chance at a cure."

After they leave, Ranma asks, "Akane, when Dr. Tofu comes over for dinner tonight, do you think he’ll tell us about this cure?"

"With Kasumi around, are you kidding?"

"Oh, right."

On their way home, Ranma and Akane run into Nabiki. They tell her the news.

"Looks like I won’t be able to charge you for hot water anymore, Saotome." she says, "By the way, you still owe me for three days ago."

Akane looks at Ranma. "Kuno." he says. She nods.

"RANMA SAOTOME! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE PIG-TAILED GIRL?"

Yells Tatewaki Kuno as he runs at Ranma, kendo sword raised.

"Better find her soon, Kuno! In a few days, you may never see her again!" Ranma says and kicks him through a wall.

After watching Ranma and Akane leave, Nabiki walks over to where Kuno lies in the rubble unconscious, and says, "Kuno Baby, we have got to talk."

As he comes to, Nabiki says, "Listen, Blue Thunder, as much as I have enjoyed tormenting you, I think it’s time for you to know the whole truth about Ranma and the pig-tailed girl."

Uncertain, he takes her hand and she helps him to his feet. As they walk, she picks up his kendo sword.

He turns and says, "I will get even with you, Ranma Saotome!"

CRACK!! Nabiki whacks him on the head with his sword and says, "Pay attention!" She leads him away.

Looking at her and rubbing his head, a subdued Tatewaki Kuno, complies.

An hour later, Nabiki delivers a letter to Ranma.

"Is this a challenge?" he asks Nabiki as he opens it.

"No." she says, "He just wants to talk to you."

Ranma reads it;

To my worthy adversary, Ranma Saotome;

Information has been brought to my attention regarding your relationship with the pig-tailed girl. I wish to meet with you to confirm what I have been told. The fair Nabiki Tendo shall guide you to our meeting place.

Signed; Tatewaki Kuno

"What did you tell him?" he asks Nabiki.

"I told him everything. The truth this time." she says.

"Why should I care if Kuno believes this curse is real or not?" he asks.

Nabiki is getting angry, "If you were cured before he found out about the curse, he would never believe it. Every time you turned around, he would demand that you show him what happened to your girl-half. If you were cured, how could you prove to him that you and she were the same person."

"We’ve tried this before." he says.

"I know." she says, "But this time you must change while he is watching. Even if you have to change back and forth a dozen times, we have to convince him, that you and she, are one and the same."

Ranma thinks for a while, "Let’s go." he says finally.

Nabiki leads him to the meeting place.

"Kuno’s house?" Ranma asks when they arrive.

"He wanted someplace private for the meeting." says Nabiki as she pulls on a bell rope, "Nobody, in their right mind, will come here to disturb us."

"You’re coming in too?" he asks.

"Of course I am." Nabiki says, "If you and my sister are to have any peace together, I have to be here to make sure he believes I told him the truth."

The gate opens, "Good-afternoon, Master Saotome, Mistress Tendo." It is Kuno’s manservant, Sasuke, who answers the door, "My Master, the Great Tatewaki Kuno, awaits your arrival in the main hall. Follow me and I shall take you to him."

The little ninja leads them to the main hall and opens the door.

Ranma and Nabiki enter the hall to find not one, but two, of the Kuno clan present, "Ranma, Darling." says Kodachi as she kneels beside her brother.

"Kodachi?" Ranma is a little shaken up. Nabiki is not happy. They both kneel.

"What is she doing here?" asks Nabiki, "I thought you wanted a private meeting with Ranma?"

"My sister," says Tatewaki, "has more than a passing interest in young Ranma here. I thought it fitting that she should also learn the truth, if indeed, it is the truth you have told me this time. As you can see," he gestures to buckets of water arranged nearby, "I have provided all that you have requested."

"I was told by my Brother Dear," says Kodachi, "that, that hussy who dares take the same name as my beloved, would be here as well. Where is she?" Her eyes narrow as adoration turns to hatred.

Nabiki gets up and walks to a bucket of cold water.

Ranma says, "You asked for it." as Nabiki pours.

On the way home, Ranma turns to Nabiki, "You were right. We went through almost every bucket of water just to convince them about this curse."

"Her brother may be convinced," Nabiki says, "but Kodachi will be more than happy if you are cured. If that happens, she won’t need to worry about having to fight your girl-half over you."

He nods, "If, I am cured," he says, "only half of my problems may be solved."

Nabiki says, "He still has a crush on Akane."

Ranma asks, "What do think I should do about that?"

Nabiki says, "You leave him to me, Ranma." she smiles, "I have plans for him."

Ranma looks at her and thinks, Poor Kuno. He hasn’t got a chance.

As they finish breakfast Ranma asks, "Akane, would you like to go with me to take Sapphire over to Ukyo’s?"

"Okay Ranma." she says, "On the way back, you might want to talk to Dr. Tofu about your dreams."

Kasumi asks, "If you’re going to see Dr. Tofu, would you please invite him over for dinner tonight, Akane?"

"Great idea, Kasumi." says Akane.

Ranma and Akane leave to pick up Sapphire.

"Akane, Dr. Tofu isn’t a psychiatrist. Why should I tell him about my dreams?"

"He still might be able to help, besides, it’s been a while since we’ve seen him. Don’t you want to see the look on his face when we invite him to dinner?" asks Akane.

"You’re right, Akane." he says.

Ranma thinks over what Sapphire had said to him the day before, "Akane?"

"Yes, Ranma?" asks Akane.

"I kind of like it when we can just be together like this and not fighting." says Ranma.

"We don’t fight all the time."

"I know, but why do we have to fight at all?"

"I don’t know." says Akane.

"Sapphire says it may be because this fiancée thing was forced on us." says Ranma.

"We didn’t have much of a choice did we?" she asks.

"Do you think we could pretend we’re not engaged and just try to be friends."

"Are you saying we should break the engagement, Ranma?"

"No, Akane, but we’re both afraid of this engagement. If we can at least pretend we’re not engaged, it might take the pressure off us and we might find it easier to be together."

"Do you think we’re afraid our fathers were wrong about our engagement?" asks Akane.

"I think we’re more afraid that they were right." says Ranma.

Akane thinks of something Dr. Tofu once said. "...the man you’ll marry will have to be even stronger than you are." she looks at Ranma.

In silence they reach Sapphire’s aunt’s house.

"Hello, Sapphire." says Akane.

"Hi Akane, Ranma." says Sapphire, "Have you heard anything from Shampoo’s Great-grandmother?"

"Hi, Sapphire." says Ranma, "No, not yet. Let’s go see if Ukyo could use some help at her restaurant." They leave for Ukyo’s place.

"What kind of restaurant is it, Ranma?" asks Sapphire.

"She makes the best Okonomiyaki, or Japanese pizza, in Japan." says Ranma.

"She also happens to be Ranma’s ‘cute’ fiancée." says Akane.

As Ranma rolls his eyes, Sapphire asks "What do you mean by ‘cute’, Akane?"

"Didn’t you know? I’m Ranma’s ‘uncute’ fiancée." says Akane.

"Here we go again." says Ranma, "Akane, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I ever called you ‘uncute’. Can we just let it drop? Okay?" He whispers to Sapphire, "I told you it won’t be easy."

She whispers back. "Don’t worry. You’re doing fine."

"What are you two mumbling about?"

"We had a bet on how long it would take you to lose your temper." says Ranma, "I won."

Sapphire gives Ranma a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"Thank-you." says Akane to Sapphire.

In a short time they reach Ukyo’s restaurant. She is outside, sweeping the walk.

"Ranma Honey, Akane, I’m not open yet, but come on in." says Ukyo. "Who’s your friend?"

"Hi Ukyo, this is Sapphire. She’s been to Jusenkyo." says Ranma.

"You mean like you, Shampoo, Mousse..." asks Ukyo.

"And my father." finishes Ranma before she could say Ryoga.

"Oh yeah. So what do you change into Sapphire?"

"Ranma’s fiancée." says Akane.

"Good one, Akane. As if Ran-Chan needs one more fiancée." laughs Ukyo, until she sees no one else is laughing.

"I turn into a boy that, a long time ago, was betrothed to Ranma’s girl-type before they both drowned at Jusenkyo." says Sapphire.

"Whoa, Akane, I guess you weren’t kidding." says Ukyo.

"How’s your restaurant doing, Ukyo?" asks Ranma.

"My Okonomiyaki is selling as fast as I can make them. I can barely keep up with the deliveries." says Ukyo.

"Maybe Sapphire can help." says Ranma, "She’s staying with her aunt, but she needs a job to help make ends meet."

"Sure. When can you start, Sapphire?" asks Ukyo.

"I can start right now if you’d like." says Sapphire.

"How well do you know the area?" asks Ukyo.

"I’ve only been here a week, so not all that well. But I can read a map." says Sapphire.

"That alone puts you way ahead of Ryoga." says Ranma.

"There’s nothing wrong with Ryoga, Ranma." says Ukyo.

"Ukyo, he couldn’t find North if you gave him a compass." says Ranma.

She glares at Ranma. "Tell you what. Sapphire, today I’ll take you around and introduce you to my regular customers. Get to know the area, so to speak, and go from there, okay?" asks Ukyo.

"Okay, Ukyo." says Sapphire.

Akane and Ranma leave Ukyo’s place to go to Dr. Tofu’s office.

"That was a really great idea you had Akane." says Ranma. "Until we find a cure, Ukyo can help look after Sapphire."

"Thank-you Ranma. My, aren’t you being nice for a change." says Akane.

"I’m just trying, Akane. You know, to be friends." says Ranma.

"I know, Ranma. I can tell. Just don’t over do it." she says smiling at Ranma.

He thinks, Is she being ‘cute’ or what?

Outside Dr. Tofu’s office, a panda is sweeping.

"Hi Pop, is Dr. Tofu in?" asks Ranma.

The panda holds up a sign, "Yes, go right in." it says.

"Is someone there?" calls out Dr. Tofu as Ranma and Akane enter.

"Yes Dr. Tofu, it’s me and Ranma." says Akane.

"Oh, Akane, nice to see you. It’s been a while, any new injuries?" asks Dr. Tofu.

"Not today Dr., but Ranma has been having nightmares about his girl-type." says Akane.

"Come into my office and tell me about them Ranma, you too Akane." says Dr. Tofu.

Ranma and Akane follow him into the inner office. Akane makes tea as Ranma talks to Dr. Tofu.

"They only come to me when I go to sleep in my girl form, but they seem more like memories than dreams, Doc." says Ranma, "Shampoo’s Great-grandmother thinks that the souls of those that drowned at Jusenkyo may be trying to talk to us in the dreams of those who fell into their springs."

"She may be right. What do you remember?" asks Dr. Tofu.

Ranma looks over at Akane and takes a deep breath, "I usually dream about what happened just before she drowned," he says, "but last night, I dreamed about my girl-type, her name is Opal, she becomes engaged to a boy named Jaden. That’s the name of Sapphire’s boy-type. She was at Jusenkyo four years ago and fell into the ‘Spring of Drowned Man’. She’s had these dreams for over a month. Anyway, soon after the engagement, Opal’s mother gets very sick. The village Medicine Woman doesn’t think she’ll last very long and the wedding is moved up so she can be there." he pauses, his eyes go moist from the memory, he takes a deep breath and continues, "But, even with the best local medicine, she gets worse and worse until, three days before the wedding is to take place, she dies. After the funeral, they..." Ranma is interrupted by a sniff.

He looks over at Akane, she is fighting back tears. He remembers that she also has lost her mother.

He moves in front of her, puts his hand on her shoulder and says. "Akane, I’m sorry."

"Ranma." she sobs as she leans into him, wraps her arms around him and cries into his shoulder. Understanding her pain from Opal’s memories, he pulls her in and holds her close. Ranma can feel the sobs echoing through him. Unseen, Dr. Tofu leaves the room.

Looking back, he closes the door and goes out front to find his helper.

"Mr. Saotome, have you had dreams about your panda side when you go to sleep in your panda form?" Genma nods.

"I see." he pauses and looks in the direction of the Cat Cafe, "I’m going over to speak with Shampoo’s Great-grandmother. Would you look after them until I get back?"

The panda holds up a sign, "Of course I will."

As Ranma holds Akane, in his mind, he sees an image of Opal crying into his other shoulder, just like Akane. After a few minutes, her sobbing eases, Akane breaks her hold on Ranma and leans back as he releases her.

"Thank-you, Ranma. I didn’t realize just how much I missed my mother before." she says.

"You’re welcome Akane." he says, "It’s strange, but it almost felt like I was holding you and Opal at the same time. You know, comforting you both, sharing your pain."

"You’re not going crazy on me, are you Ranma?" she asks in a half laugh/half cry as she wipes her tears.

"I hope not." he says, then thinks, But Opal is becoming more and more real to me as time goes by.

Akane asks, "Ranma?" looking into his eyes.

"Yes, Akane?" he asks.

She leans forward and puts her arms around him once again, "Just hold me for a while, please?"

Once more Ranma sees the image of holding both Akane and Opal in his mind as he brings Akane in close. Not a word is said as Akane and Ranma’s breathing slows and the tension that had been between them fades.

Arriving at the Cat Cafe, Dr. Tofu enters.

"So, Dr. Tofu." Cologne says. "Is this a professional visit or would you like something to eat?"

"Hello, Cologne, I was hoping to speak with you in private." he says.

Cologne studies him and says, "Shampoo, I have six orders ready to go. Take Mousse with you."

"Okay, Great-grandmother. We go now Mousse." says Shampoo as she hands Mousse one of the boxes and leads him outside.

"Now then, what shall we talk about?" asks Cologne.

Sapphire turns to Ranma as they walk, "Why are we going to the Tendo Dojo? I thought your name was ‘Saotome’?"

"That’s where my father and I are staying." he says, "My father made an arrangement with his best friend, Soun Tendo, that one of his daughters would marry me. So, like it or not, I am now engaged to his youngest daughter, Akane. Neither of us is happy with it, but we weren’t given a choice."

"But aren’t you supposed to marry Shampoo?" she asks.

"That’s only because I defeated Shampoo and according to Amazon tribal law," he explaines, "Shampoo has to marry me."

On the way back to the Dojo, Ranma and Sapphire run into Ryoga.

"Another fiancée, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

"Knock it off Ryoga." he says, "This is Sapphire. She’s been to Jusenkyo."

"I’m sorry." Ryoga apologizes to her and asks, "Which spring did you fall into, Sapphire?"

"The ‘Spring of Drowned Man’." says Sapphire.

"You mean, there really is a ‘Spring of Drowned Man’?!" shouts Ryoga.

Ranma says, "Forget it Ryoga! The Old Ghoul says taking a dip in that spring won’t work."

"What do you mean, ‘won’t work’?!" asks Ryoga.

After Ranma explains about the dreams he and the others have had and what Cologne said about the nature of any cure, Ryoga tells about his dreams.

"I dream of my pig-type being chased by a pack of wild dogs, he slips into the spring and drowns." said Ryoga. His body is shaking at the memory.

"So, you do dream about that pig, hey P-Chan?" asks Ranma.

"Laugh all you want Ranma!" his anger is sharp and sudden, "At least you’re still human when you change!"

Sapphire tries to ease the tension, "Is P-Chan the name of your pig-type, Ryoga?"

Ryoga’s anger fades as quickly as it came.

"That’s the name Akane gave me when she found me as a pig and..." says Ryoga.

"She still has no idea that her little pet piggy and Ryoga are one and the same." Ranma finishes for him, "When are you going to tell her, P-Chan?"

Sapphire glares at Ranma as Ryoga’s anger returns, "Never! If I can be cured, Akane never has to know!" says Ryoga.

Sapphire studies Ryoga’s face and comes to an obvious conclusion. She asks, "Ryoga, then, you’re in love with Akane, but I thought she was Ranma’s fiancée?"

With his attention pulled away from Ranma, Ryoga calms down.

"If you think that’s confusing," he says, "Akane isn’t Ranma’s only fiancée."

As they arrive at the Tendo Dojo, Ryoga says, "See you later, Ranma.", leaps over the wall and disappears leaving the two, with Ranma grinding his teeth and turning red.

After they enter the Dojo, Ranma is making introductions when Akane enters with P-Chan in her arms. She asks, "What’s this Ranma, another fiancée?!"

Tired of this question, Ranma says, "As a matter of fact Akane, you might say Sapphire and I were engaged long before you or I were even born."

After the dust settles and the bandages are applied, Ranma and Sapphire explain about how their other halves drowned at Jusenkyo.

"...and then the old ghoul asked me to bring Sapphire here until she could find a way to let their souls rest in peace." says Ranma.

"Sapphire, could we see what this Jaden looks like? Is he cute?" asks Nabiki.

"Nabiki, Jaden already has a fiancée." says Akane.

"So does Ranma, but that doesn’t seem to slow him down." says Nabiki.

Ranma tries to change the subject. "Sapphire, have you studied martial arts?"

"No, but Jaden did. If I have to fight, I do it as Jaden. His body reacts by instinct during a fight. I just let it do whatever it takes to win." says Sapphire.

"You should still learn to defend yourself as a girl." says Akane.

"That’s why I went to Jusenkyo in the first place." says Sapphire, "Four years ago, my father took me there to teach me. I had to climb the poles to build my strength while avoiding the springs, but I lost my grip and fell in. When I climbed out of the spring, my father asked me what I had done with his daughter. I said ‘I am your daughter’, then, I looked down and saw what had happened to me. The guide then explained about the curse and that there was no known cure. My father was so ashamed of me, my mother and I never saw him again. A little over a month ago, I met Cologne. She was looking for plants to make a special tea. She let me try some before she left. She even told me about Ranma having fallen into the Spring of Drowned Girl. She also told me where to find him. I began having dreams about Jaden and what had happened to him and Opal. So I left China to see Cologne and find out if your other half was Jaden’s fiancée. She told me you often eat there because her Great-granddaughter, Shampoo would one day be your bride. I started going there because I wanted to find out if you had discovered a cure that keeps you from changing to your girl-type, so I could keep from changing to my boy-type. Then, maybe the dreams would go away."

"‘Bride’, huh?" asks Ranma. Then says, "Now the old ghoul says that if we do find a cure that keeps us from changing into our other halves, their souls will have to find another way to rest in peace."

Kasumi asks, "Oh my, you’ve had this curse for four years?"

Sapphire nods her head. Ranma, his father, and P-Chan nod in understanding of what she must have gone through.

"Do you have a place to stay until a cure is found?" asks Soun Tendo.

"What’s the matter, Daddy?" asks Nabiki, "Afraid you’ll have another mouth to feed?"

"That’s not it, Nabiki. We, just don’t have any more spare rooms. If she stays here, two of you girls will have to share a room." says Soun.

"I don’t want to put you out." says Sapphire, "I’m staying with an Aunt here in town, but I should get a job to help her out."

"Maybe Ukyo could use some help at her restaurant, Ranma." says Akane.

"Great idea, Akane." says Ranma, "Sapphire, I’ll walk you to your Aunt’s house and tomorrow, I’ll take you over to Ukyo’s place."

"Thank-you." she says.

Ranma then walks with Sapphire to her aunt’s house.

"Ranma, why don’t you tell Akane about Ryoga and P-Chan?"

"Ryoga followed me when my father and I went to China." he says, "He wanted to continue a fight we were supposed to have when we were still in Junior High. Instead, he was knocked into a spring at Jusenkyo. You might say that I’m to blame for what happened to him. So, under the Warriors Code, I can’t come right out and tell Akane, that the little black pig she’s been carrying around all this time is really Ryoga."

"Do you love Akane?" asks Sapphire.

"It’s hard to say." Ranma tries to explain it to himself as well as Sapphire, "I guess that if we had a chance to get to know each other before this fiancée business was forced on us, we might get along better, but as it is now, we seem to fight every time we see each other." he says.

"Then, maybe you should stop treating her like she’s being forced on you." suggests Sapphire.

"What do you mean?" asks Ranma.

"Why not treat her as if you were just starting to date her and not engaged at all?"

"That may not be as easy as you think."

"It may not be as hard, either."

Ranma drops Sapphire off at her aunt’s house and goes back to the Dojo deep in thought.

He arrives at the Dojo and eats dinner with the rest. As he eats, he looks over at Akane. P-Chan is in her arms and she is feeding him bits of food from her plate.

He thinks, How can I treat her like I was just beginning to date her, when Ryoga’s always around?

As night approaches, Akane carries P-Chan to her bedroom. Ranma walks up to them and makes a show of sniffing something unpleasant, "Akane, maybe you should give P-Chan a hot bath before you take him to bed."

As P-Chan goes from sleepy, to angry, to nervous, Akane asks, "Do you really think so, Ranma?"

"Oh sure, Akane." he says, "Who knows when P-Chan’s had a good hot bath."

As P-Chan begins to squirm in her arms, Akane asks, "Well, why don’t you give him a bath if you think he smells so bad?"

"Oh no, Akane, he’s your pet pig. I think you should be the one to give him a hot bath."

"Okay Ranma," she says, "I’ll do it."

Unable to stand it any longer, P-Chan leaps from Akane’s arms and bolts through a window.

Akane asks, "Did you see that, Ranma? I guess P-Chan hates baths as much as you hate cats."

Ranma, grins, thinking, "Gotcha, Ryoga. You won’t be sleeping in Akane’s bed tonight."

P-Chan finds the spot on the Dojo grounds where his clothes are hidden. Exhausted, he lays down and goes to sleep. As night wears on, he begins to shake and squeal in his sleep. With a start, he wakes up and shakes his head to clear it. He looks up and sees Ranma’s bedroom window. P-Chan rummages through his pack and finds the camp stove and tea kettle. After he pours the hot water, Ryoga says, "If I can’t get any sleep, neither will you, Ranma."

As Ranma sleeps, Ryoga sneaks into the room and carefully pours cold water on Ranma changing him into a girl. "Pleasant dreams, Ranma." says Ryoga as he leaves.

"Wake-up Ranma."

Girl-Ranma sits upright in bed. Sunlight is shining through the bedroom window.

Ranma looks around, there kneeling next to his bedroll, is Akane.

"You were crying in your sleep. Were you having a nightmare?"

Wide awake now, with his cheeks wet, Ranma says, "I dreamed about her again, but this time, it was more like, I was her." A cold shiver runs through him.

Then he looks down and asks, "Akane, am I still dreaming?!"

"Why did you go to bed as a girl, Ranma?" asks Akane.

"I didn’t. Either someone splashed me with cold water, or maybe..." Ranma gulps.

"Maybe you don’t need cold water to change into a girl anymore?" asks Akane.

"I hope not." Ranma puts his hand to the bedroll and pillow, "Look Akane, the bedding is damp. Someone must have poured cold water on me without waking me up."

"Now who would do a thing like that?"

"I’m not sure, Akane." says Ranma, then he thinks, I’ll get you for this Ryoga.

"Ranma?" asks Akane as she kneels beside him, "What was the dream about this time? Was she running away from something again?"

Ranma thinks back on what he still remembers. The sense of panic, left over from previous dreams, has been replaced by a feeling of great sadness. He looks at her, "Thanks, Akane, but I’m fine now. I’ve already forgotten most of it. What’s left just doesn’t make any sense. If I can remember more of it later, I’ll tell you about it."

Ranma takes a hot bath and changes back to his boy-type.

Akane is carrying P-Chan to her room as she sees girl-type Ranma going to his. "Ranma," she asks, "aren’t you going to change before you go to bed?"

"I’m too tired, Akane." says a bleary-eyed Ranma as he makes his way to his room. He slides the door open, enters, slides it closed, and collapses on his bedroll.

"Dreams or no dreams," he says, "I’ve got to get some sleep."

Later that night Ranma is tossing and turning in his sleep.

Ranma is dreaming of his girl-type running from a burning wagon. She is being chased by bandits. She throws herself into a spring to escape and drowns.

At the same time, P-Chan is also having a bad dream in Akane’s bed. His eyes open wide and he is shaking. He lets out a soft squeal.

"Shhh, P-Chan." says Akane in her sleep. As if by reflex, she pulls him closer to her.

Girl-type Ranma sits up in bed, his heart is pounding. The room around him is dark.

"Ranma, what’s wrong?"

Ranma turns, looking at him from a bedroll next to him, is his father.

He looks around the room.

Ranma lies back down, "Don’t worry Pop, it was just a bad dream."

Genma rolls over. Soon, Ranma can hear him sleeping, but Ranma does not.

In the morning, on his way to take a bath, girl-Ranma sees Akane coming from her room. Akane sees him and comes to a stop.

"Ranma, are you okay?" she asks, "You look like you could use some more sleep."

"Thanks," he says, "I needed that."

"I’m serious, Ranma." says Akane, "The last few mornings you’ve looked as if you’ve been awake all night."

"I don’t know Akane, I guess I haven’t been getting enough sleep." he says, "One night it’s Pop keeping me awake with his tossing and turning, the next I have some strange dream." He looks at her, "You don’t look too fresh yourself."

"Tell me about it." says Akane as she stifles a yawn, "P-Chan has been a bundle of nerves all night. We’ll be asleep one moment, the next, he’s on the floor snarling and looking around as if he’s surrounded by something."

"Where is he now?" asks Ranma.

"I let him sleep. He’s been awake most of the night." she says.

"Maybe we’re both having the same dream." he says.

"What kind of dream is it?" she asks.

"I don’t remember much," he says, "there’s a girl running from something or someone."

"I don’t think P-Chan dreams of a girl running." she says.

"I wouldn’t bet on that, Akane." he says as he manages a smile.

"What does the girl look like?" asks Akane.

Ranma’s face turns sad, "She looks just like my girl half." he says.

Akane thinks for a while, "Sounds like your father has been having dreams too. Maybe you should ask him about his?"

Girl-type Ranma nods his head, "After I take a bath."

In the outer room leading to the bath, Ranma finds a hand mirror belonging to one of the Tendo sisters. He picks up the mirror and looks at his reflection.

"No doubt about it." he says, "You’re the girl in my dreams, but who are you?"

Faintly, as if a mere echo, Ranma hears a name. He looks around, but no one is there.

After his bath, Ranma finds his father.

"Hey Pop." he asks, "Do you ever dream about a panda?"

"Sometimes, Ranma, why do you ask?" asks Genma.

"For a couple of weeks now, I sometimes have these dreams." says Ranma, "But they feel more like memories than dreams. It’s almost as if I’m remembering something from my girl-half’s life, not mine."

"Maybe you’re just spending so much time as a girl, you’re beginning to think like one." says Genma, "I sometimes find myself thinking like a panda."

"You may be right, Pop." says Ranma.

"Ranma my boy, I’ve learned to accept my panda side." says Genma, "With no cure in sight, you should try to accept your girl side." Ranma goes away unsatisfied.

After breakfast, Ranma finds Ryoga and asks, "Ryoga, do you ever dream about P-Chan?"

Ryoga gets upset, "No I don’t, Ranma!" he says, "I have enough problems without dreaming about him!"

Ranma thinks, You lie like a chewed-up rug, Ryoga. I know you’ve had those dreams.

After lunch, Ranma goes to the Cat Cafe to see Shampoo. "I wonder if anyone else that’s been to Jusenkyo has had these dreams?" he asks himself.

Meanwhile Ryoga, depressed, wanders around until he finds himself in front of Ukyo’s restaurant. With a sigh he goes in.

Ukyo, seeing his mood, asks, "Hey, Sugar, why so down?"

"Hi, Ukyo. I’m just a little tired." he forces a smile as he sits at the counter. Ryoga pauses, "You know about Ranma’s girl-type, don’t you?"

"Ran-Chan’s?" she asks, "Sure I do. He fell into a spring at Jusenkyo. Now when he’s hit with cold water he turns into a girl."

Ryoga asks, "Did you know he’s not the only one who’s been to Jusenkyo?"

Ukyo answers, "Well, I know that his father changes into a panda, Shampoo changes into a cat, and Mousse changes into a duck. Why do you ask?"

"They’re not the only ones." says Ryoga, "There’s one more."

"Is there something you want to tell me, Ryoga?" asks Ukyo.

Ryoga takes a deep breath, he feels that the time has come for Ukyo to know his deepest secret. "Ukyo, you’re one of the few friends that I have." he says, "Please, promise me, you won’t tell this to Akane."

"I’m glad you think I’m your friend, Ryoga." She senses something important is about to happen. Wiping her hands on her apron she asks, "Okay I promise, but what is it?"

"You’ve seen Akane’s little black pig, haven’t you?"

"If you mean P-Chan, of course I have."

"Ukyo, I followed Ranma to Jusenkyo, and I fell into the ‘Spring of Drowned Piglet’." he says, "Now, whenever I get splashed with cold water, I change into Akane’s pet pig."

Ukyo stares at him blankly. Ryoga is afraid that she does not believe him and might have to prove it to her, when she speaks.

"You mean," asks Ukyo, "that every time I’ve seen P-Chan in Akane’s arms, that was you?"

He nods. His relief, at not needing to give her proof, is more than he shows.

"I take it that Akane hasn’t a clue that you are P-Chan?" asks Ukyo.

"Yes," he says, "but you have to understand. Before Akane took me in as her pet, the only thing I wanted, was to get even with Ranma for destroying my life."

"He seems to have that effect on people." says Ukyo. "Wait a minute. Last week, when P-Chan ran behind me to get away from that dog? That was you?"

"Yes, Ukyo." he says, "After I left, I was splashed by water from a street cleaning machine. I changed into P-Chan and was chased by that dog back here."

Ukyo shakes her head smiling, "I was wondering why P-Chan closed his eyes and was blushing when I opened my blouse." A thought occurs to her, "Ryoga, what do you do when Akane gets ready for bed?"

Ryoga hangs his head, his cheeks turning a bright red.

Ukyo can not stop smiling, "Now, I know why you’re in love with her."

"I thought," says Ryoga, "that my life was over. After I fell into the spring at Jusenkyo, all I wanted was revenge. When Akane took P-Chan in, she showed me that someone could love me, even in my pig-form. I’ve been a loner for so long, I never thought anyone would accept me with my curse. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to break them up, hoping that Akane would finally dump Ranma and turn to me."

"Even if that did happen, Ryoga," says Ukyo, "you still couldn’t tell her. If she knew that she’s been carrying you all this time, she’d tear your head off."

He nods, "I just hope I find a cure before someone tells her or she figures it out."

"Does Ran-Chan know?" she asks.

"He knows." says Ryoga.

"Then, why hasn’t he told Akane?" she asks.

"He’s dropped enough hints," says Ryoga, "but he also knows he’s responsible for knocking me into that spring. I think that’s why he won’t come right out and tell her."

Ryoga sways a little and his head droops for a moment.

"Are you okay, Ryoga?" asks Ukyo, "You look like you could fall asleep on that stool."

"I haven’t been getting much sleep at night." he says, "But I’m okay." He gets up and leaves. Ukyo watches him go.

At the Cat Cafe, Ranma finds Shampoo.

Shampoo sees him, "Ranma! I so happy! You come to date Shampoo?"

"No, Shampoo." says Ranma, "I’ve come to ask you about your dreams."

"Shampoo only dream of Ranma." she says.

"No, Shampoo." he says, "I wanted to ask if you’ve had dreams about a, a, c-c-CAT."

"Shampoo not know what you talking, Ranma." says Shampoo defensively.

"Sometimes when I dream," he says, "it doesn’t feel like a dream at all. I keep seeing images of what it might have been like when my girl-half was alive. It’s like I’m remembering events from her life. I just want to know if you or Mousse have had dreams of your other halves."

Cologne and Mousse hear Ranma talking to Shampoo, and come up to Ranma.

Cologne asks, "Son-in-law, do these dreams come to you only when you go to sleep in your girl form?"

Ranma thinks about it, "I guess so, I haven’t had them when I go to sleep like I am now."

Cologne says, "So, future Son-in-law, it has begun."

"What you talking, Great-grandmother?" asks Shampoo.

"That Tea," she says, "I gave each of you two weeks ago, was made to give you a better understanding of your other halves. Instead, I believe it has drawn the souls, of those who drowned at Jusenkyo, to those who fell into their springs."

"Their souls?" asks Ranma.

"Everything that drowned in those springs," Cologne says, "had a soul, and their souls have been wandering, waiting to rejoin their bodies, or, to find some way to rest in peace."

"‘Rest in peace’?" asks Mousse.

"Yes, drowning is a violent death." says Cologne, "Violent deaths can cause the soul to be torn from the body, preventing it from resting in peace. The soul must then find some way to rejoin the body, or, find someone who can give it what it needs so it can rest in peace."

"Do you think that’s what’s happening, that the soul of my girl-type is trying to talk to me in my dreams?" asks Ranma. "Hoping that I can give her what she needs to rest in peace?"

"It is possible." she says, "What do you remember?"

"I dream about my girl-half riding a wagon in a caravan going somewhere and they are attacked by bandits. Her wagon is on fire and she is running away. She is being chased by some of the bandits. She sees the springs and throws herself into one of them, but she can’t swim and she goes under. That’s about all I can remember." says Ranma.

"Hiya!" says Shampoo, "Shampoo remember dreams of cat chasing mouse and falling into water."

All eyes turn to Mousse. His fists are clenched and his head is lowered.

"I too, have had dreams." says Mousse, "I could see my duck-type flying over the springs and he is hit by an arrow." Shampoo looks at Mousse in surprise as he continues, "He fell into a spring. He was too weak to keep his head above the water and..."

"It seems then, that the nature of your cure must change." says Cologne.

"The nature of the cure?" asks Ranma.

"If we discover a cure that keeps you from changing into your other types, those poor souls will have to keep wandering until they find someone else who has fallen into their springs at Jusenkyo." says Cologne, "Now, we must locate a cure that allows their souls to find peace."

"I was afraid of that." says a young woman at a table. She stands up.

Cologne’s eyes narrow in recognition.

"Who are you?" asks Ranma.

"She new customer, she come here every day for week now." says Shampoo.

"My name is Sapphire. I too, have been to Jusenkyo." she says. Taking a pitcher of water from the table and emptying it on her head, she changes from a yellow haired girl of seventeen to a brown haired boy of seventeen.

"I..." says Ranma in disbelief, "I think I know you, or at least my girl-type does. I’ve seen you in my dreams."

"My boy-type knows your girl-type in my dreams too." says boy-type Sapphire as she looks at Ranma, "That’s why I’ve been coming here. I was hoping that you would find a cure, and then I could be cured as well."

"But how can your other types remember each other?" asks Mousse.

"I think they were traveling in the same caravan." says Ranma.

"Yes." says boy-type Sapphire, "They were on their way to a temple to be married when they were attacked."

"Married?!" asks Shampoo.

"Yes." says boy-type Sapphire, "Their parents had arranged for this marriage, but they did love each other and were looking forward to the wedding. They were traveling in the caravan to the temple with their parents, when the bandits came. The wagons were set on fire by the bandits. He saw his fiancée running and he had to defeat two bandits before he could follow her. By the time he reached the springs and defeated the bandits that got there before him, it was too late. One said his fiancée had thrown herself into one of the springs, but the bandit couldn’t tell him which one. So, he jumped into a spring hoping he would find her in it. Instead, he hit his head on a rock and lost consciousness."

"Do you know the name of your boy-type, Sapphire?" asks Cologne.

"His name was Jaden."

"And you Ranma, what is the name of your girl-type?"

Ranma thinks for a moment. The name he heard that morning in the bathroom comes to his mind, "Opal. Her name was Opal."

"Ranma, I must think on this. Take Sapphire to the Tendo Dojo." Cologne says, "I will send for you if I find a way to give the souls of your other halves the peace they need."

"Okay." says Ranma.

"Could I have some hot water before we go?" asks Sapphire.

"Of course, Child." says Cologne.

After Ranma and Sapphire leave, Shampoo turns to Mousse, "Why you no tell Shampoo how duck-type drown, Mousse?"

"It’s not something I like to think about." says Mousse.

"There’s still a few hours before dinner. Why don’t you two go for a walk and let me think." says Cologne.

"You want to go for walk, Mousse?" asks Shampoo.

"Okay, Shampoo." says Mousse as he walks into the door.

"Here, Mousse." says Shampoo as she takes his arm and leads him outside.

"Mousse, do you remember any more from duck-type?" asks Shampoo.

"He had a mate." says Mousse.

"A mate?" asks Shampoo.

"Yes. Ducks mate for life." he says, "They were together for three summers. They were on their way to the nesting grounds when he saw an arrow flying toward his mate. He flew in it’s path and the arrow hit him instead. He then fell into the spring and drowned. The last thing he remembers, is seeing his mate chased away by the man who shot the arrow."

As he finishes, Shampoo holds tighter to his arm. She remembers something similar. But from the perspective of a small cat. The cat, whose form she takes on when splashed with cold water, was the pet of a young girl. The girl would bring her cat whenever the family went on long rides to have a picnic. During one afternoon picnic, the cat watched as ducks flew over the nearby springs. The little girl’s father retrieved a bow from the wagon and let loose an arrow at the "V" shaped formation. A duck broke ranks and flew into the path of the arrow. The cat watched as it fell into a spring. Another duck, circled down to the one that fell, before being chased away by the girl’s father. The cat became distracted as a mouse ran by. Possibly to get at the fallen duck before the girl’s father. Anger and instincts took over as the cat chased the mouse through the springs.

Thank-you for visiting this blog. I am having a lot of fun posting these stories and welcome all of the comments that I have received at the Pibgorn comments site.

This next group of postings will take several days as they are parts of the largest Ranma 1/2 story I have written. All of the previous stories that I have posted here, have been leading up to this. This is not the finale, but a lot of things happen in the lives of Ranma and company.

These stories are Fan-fiction based on Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 and are not a part of the original series of Manga or Anime. Ranma 1/2 and it's characters are Copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Shampoo is on her bike careening through the streets of Tokyo on the lookout for Ranma. After an hour she slows down, "Not so easy to find one who could be boy or girl." She thinks, If he not with Shampoo, he not with Akane... "Hiya!" she locks the brakes on the bike and turns down a street. She says, "He must be with spatula girl!" Her bike leaves a black mark on the road as she speeds on her way.

Ukyo is at her restaurant cleaning up after lunch is over. She wipes her forehead, "Whew, I’m glad that’s done. I could sure use Ryoga’s help more often. Even taking time to look for Ran-Chan, the deliveries went pretty fast today. Too bad he can’t tell his right hand from his left." She looks at herself in a mirror and fixes her hair, "If I’m supposed to be his ‘cute’ fiancee, why does Ranma spend all of his time with Akane?" Then with a sigh, she says, "I’d better take the shop curtain down so I can get some rest before the dinner orders arrive." She goes outside and takes down the shop curtain. She is about to bring it inside when Shampoo screeches to a halt.

Akane and Ryoga resume their search. Finally Ryoga says, "Akane, maybe Ranma has returned to the Dojo by now. I’ll keep looking out here. If I find him, I’ll make sure he gets home."

"You’re probably right Ryoga," she says, "I’ll try there." They separate.

As she walks, she thinks, Why would Ranma be so jealous of P-Chan? So what if he sleeps in my bed? What’s wrong with that? P-Chan is only a little pig. Honestly, the way Ranma is acting maybe he thinks P-Chan is... she shakes her head and says "No. That can’t be it."

As Akane walks, she tries to think of a reason for Ranma’s disappearance.

If it’s not about P-Chan, she thinks, what made him so mad, that he felt he had to leave? Once more Akane goes over their conversation in the training hall.

Suddenly she stops. Her hand goes to her mouth as she remembers her last words to him, ‘Sometimes you make me so mad, I wish it was YOU, who drowned at Jusenkyo, instead of your girl half!’

The impact of those words leave her shaken. "That’s it." she says, "It must be. We’ve never talked about it. About her. The girl that drowned at Jusenkyo. That must be why he got so mad. Oh, Ranma. I’m so sorry."

Akane pauses at the Dojo gate. She looks back down the street, "Ranma, where are you?"

Akane enters the Dojo to find Kasumi putting lotion on Ranma as he sits on the training hall steps.

"What happened to you?" she asks.

"Oh, Akane." says Kasumi, "It’s just a little sunburn."

"Never mind that. Ranma," she asks, "where have you been?"

"Right here." he says.

"Where right here?" she asks, trying to hold her temper.

"On the roof of the training hall," says Ranma, "I went up there to think and I fell asleep."

"You fell ASLEEP?!" she asks, not believing her ears, "I’ve been searching HALF of Tokyo looking for you and you’ve been here all along?!"

Confused, Ranma says, "Well, yeah."

"Ranma, you are late." she says, barely holding back her anger.

"Late for what, Akane?" he asks.

"Late for your appointment with Dr. Tofu!" she says as the anger builds to a boil.

"I didn’t make an appointment with Dr. Tofu." says Ranma.

"That’s okay." she says as she grabs the front of his shirt, "I MADE ONE FOR YOU!!"

Nabiki watches from a safe distance through binoculars, "Here’s the windup, the pitch..."

WHAM!! She continues, "He’s going... going... and he’s out of here!"

"AAAAAAAHH!!!" yells Ranma as he flies through the air.

The same two students look up and see Ranma high over head. They look at each other, one says, "Akane." The other nods and they walk on.

Shampoo and Ukyo look up as Ranma passes over head. They both get on Shampoo’s bike and follow him. "He’s heading for Dr. Tofu’s all right." says Ukyo. Shampoo nods and takes a few short cuts.

Dr. Tofu and the panda watch as Ranma comes into sight and lands in the middle of the pile of bedrolls and pillows they have laid out. Ryoga comes out of the office and helps them bring Ranma inside, "Looks like I did the right thing by staying here when I found myself out front." he says, "I knew Ranma would show up sooner or later."

Dr. Tofu looks Ranma over once they get him inside, "I can understand the bruises and dislocated joints, but where did you get that sunburn?"

"Ow." is the only thing Ranma can say.

"Oh, well." says Dr. Tofu as he begins to put Ranma’s joints back into place. With each adjustment, Ryoga seems to be wincing more than Ranma. Unable to stand it any more, he goes out to the waiting room to find Ukyo and Shampoo.

They both ask about Ranma.

"Don’t worry about Ranma," Ryoga says as a painful yell comes from the other side of the door, Ryoga smiles, "he’s in good hands."

Akane stalks into the waiting room, "Where’s Ranma?! I’m not through with him yet!"

Ryoga heads her off, "Wait, Akane. I think you’d better let Dr. Tofu take care of Ranma for a while." The loud sound of a joint popping back into place is followed by an "OWWW!!"

"Did I do that?" says Akane, her face suddenly full of concern.

A voice is heard through the door, "Ranma," says Dr. Tofu, "you have to relax, or these adjustments are not going to take."

Ryoga takes her arm, "Maybe we should go for a walk and check back later to see if Ranma is okay?" Akane nods and he leads her outside.

"Akane is such a violent girl." says Shampoo. Ukyo nods.

"Only when Ran-Chan is involved." she says. Shampoo nods.

Outside, Akane turns to Ryoga, "Is he going to be okay, Ryoga?" she asks.

"He’ll be fine," says Ryoga, "I’m more worried about you."

"Why do you say that, Ryoga?" she asks.

"This whole thing started when you two were talking about P-Chan." says Ryoga.

"Why is Ranma so jealous of P-Chan?" asks Akane.

"Ranma thinks he can keep any rival away from you." says Ryoga.

"What do you mean by ‘rival’?" asks Akane.

"Like Kuno, for instance." he says.

"I can handle Kuno all by myself." she says.

Ryoga nods, "There have been others, like that skater, Mikkado, and the leader of the Seven-Lucky-Gods Martial Artists, Kirin, and Toma, that ‘Prince of Illusion’."

"Are you saying that Ranma thinks P-Chan is his rival?" she asks.

"He probably thinks you treat P-Chan better than you treat him." he says, then thinks, I cannot believe I am saying this.

"How can he think that? P-Chan is just my pet pig. Isn’t he, Ryoga?" she asks.

"Oh, he’s much more than just a pet pig, Akane." he says.

"Why do you say that?" asks Akane.

Ryoga stumbles when he realizes what he was about to say.

"Well, um," he says, stalling until he can think of something else, "P-Chan is like, any pet. We like to think that, without us to look after them, to care for them, they would be lost, homeless, and alone." Ryoga begins to get depressed as what he is saying hits a little too close to the heart. He continues, "We tell our pets things, things we would never tell them if they were someone else. Maybe, Ranma thinks P-Chan means more to you than he does."

"I wish I knew where he is right now." says Akane.

"He’s back at Dr. Tofu’s office." says Ryoga.

"Not Ranma," she says with a smile, "P-Chan."

Ryoga bounces off of a light pole, "Excuse me." he says to it and returns to Akane’s side. The light pole fractures and collapses.

Akane and Ryoga come to a stop and realize that they have come full circle. Once again, they are in front of Dr. Tofu’s office.

Akane squeezes his arm, "Thank-you Ryoga. You’re a good friend." she says and goes in.

He watches her and thinks, If I’m such a good friend, I’d tell you, it’s me, not P-Chan, that Ranma is trying to keep away from you. He shakes his head, If I did that, I’d have to tell her, I’m P-Chan, and I’d be in worse shape than Ranma was. With a sigh he goes in.

Akane is talking to Dr. Tofu, "How is he, Dr. Tofu?"

Dr. Tofu says, "He’s a little stiff right now, but baring any new injuries, he should be fine."

As Akane takes Ranma home, the others watch them leave. Shampoo gets on her bike and goes back to the Cat Cafe.

Ukyo turns to Ryoga, "Well, I’ve got to get back to my restaurant. The dinner orders will be coming in soon. Ryoga, would you like to help me with my deliveries again?"

He takes one last look in the direction that Akane and Ranma took to go back to the Dojo. "Sure, Ukyo." he says and follows her.

As Akane walks with Ranma, he is stretching and swinging his arms and legs to work the stiffness out of them.

"Ranma?" says Akane, "Are you okay?"

"Oh sure, Akane. A couple of weeks in traction and I’ll be just fine." says Ranma as he rubs his shoulder.

"This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so jealous of P-Chan." says Akane.

"Who says I’m jealous?" asks Ranma.

"Oh, come on, Ranma. You shouldn’t be." she says, "Ryoga told me everything."

BOOM! Ranma walks into a wall. Akane picks him up.

"Ranma, watch where you’re going." she says. He is unsteady, so she puts his arm over her shoulder and her arm around his waist.

"Everything?!" he asks, not believing his ears, "Ryoga told you everything?!"

"Yes, he did." she says. "Please understand Ranma, P-Chan is just my pet pig. It’s not as if he were some boy trying to take me away from you." Ranma tenses up. "Ranma, you’re choking me." she says, his arm is now around her neck.

He releases her. He steps away, "I’m sorry, Akane." he says, "I thought he told you everything."

"He did." says Akane, "He said you were jealous of P-Chan, because you think of him as a rival. That you think I treat him better than I treat you. That he means more to me than you do."

With each sentence, Ranma reacts as if he is being hit in the chest.

"Is that all he told you?" he asks when he recovers.

"Well, yes." she says, "What else should he have said?"

"Not a thing, Akane," he says, "it’s not important."

"What’s not important?" she asks.

"Forget it Akane." he says, "When he’s ready, he’ll have to tell you, not me."

Akane pauses for a minute, then takes a deep breath and says, "Ranma, I’m sorry."

"Don’t worry about it, Akane." he says, "Like Dr. Tofu said, I’ll be fine."

"That’s not what I’m talking about." she says.

"Well, if you’re not sorry for almost putting me in the hospital." he asks, "What are you sorry about?"

"I’m sorry about that too! Okay?!" she says losing some of her patience, then forces herself to calm down. "I’m sorry about what I said this morning."

"Akane," he says, "if you want to marry a little pig, it’s all right with me."

Akane is turning red and is about to lose all of her patience.

Ranma backs up, "I’m sorry, Akane! But, if it’s not about P-Chan, what is it?"

Akane’s anger fades and she pauses to think about what she is going to say.

"It was about you and your girl half." she says finally, "It wasn’t fair of me to say that."

Ranma finally understands and makes a peace offering.

"That’s okay, Akane. I know you didn’t mean it," he says, "and I’m sorry I got you so mad, you felt you had to say something like that."

"I wonder what she was like." says Akane.

"Me too." says Ranma.

"Do you ever, dream about her?" asks Akane.

"As a matter of fact, a couple of times this week." says Ranma.

"What did you dream?" she asks.

"I don’t remember any details." he says, "Just that she was in them."

As Ranma walks with Akane, his thoughts turn inward. The dreams he has had are vague. Images and emotions of someone running for her life. The only thing that he is sure of, is that the memories and fears belong to his girl half.

Ukyo returns with Ryoga to her restaurant and begins to receive takeout orders for dinner. Since she is usually the only one there, she has to schedule the takeout orders early, make the deliveries, then return to the restaurant to take care of the eat-in and carry-out orders. With Ryoga to help her, Ukyo is able to accept more orders and deliver them in time to cook pizzas for her other customers. As time goes by and customers thin, Ryoga helps her clean up. After they finish, Ryoga and Ukyo both stretch to get the kinks out of their backs.

"Thank-you, Ryoga." she says, "Here you go." she hands him some money.

"What’s this?" he asks.

"You were a big help today," she says, "that’s what I would have paid someone who worked for me."

"Ukyo, I didn’t do this, to get paid for it." he says and tries to give it back.

"Please, Ryoga," she says, "keep it. Everyone can use a little extra spending money. Why don’t you go buy Akane a present or something?"

"Thank-you, Ukyo." he says and puts the money in his pocket. He looks as if he wants to tell Ukyo something, but he changes his mind, "I’d better go now."

Ryoga goes outside and walks down the street. A street cleaning machine goes by and splashes him with water turning him into P-Chan. As he snorts angrily at the machine, he hears a low growl close by. Turning, he sees a dog walking toward him. P-Chan’s eyes go wide and, squealing, he runs back up the street. Ukyo is taking down her shop curtain. He hides behind her as the dog barks at him.

"Get out of here!" Ukyo yells at the dog and swings her shop curtain at it. With a yelp the dog gives up it’s pursuit of P-Chan to search for easier prey. Ukyo looks at him. She bends down, "You’re P-Chan aren’t you?" The little pig nods and lets out a soft squeal.

"I thought so." she says, "Are you lost? Should I take you back to the Tendo Dojo?"

Again P-Chan nods. She picks him up.

"Well," she says, "looks like I have one more delivery to make." She takes him inside.

She sets him on a stool and says, "You wait right here and I’ll get ready to take you."

She puts her shop curtain away and stops at the mirror to fix her hair. As she does this, she glances at P-Chan who is watching her closely.

"I’ve seen that bandanna around your neck before." she says, "Did Ryoga give it to you?"

P-Chan nods.

"I thought so." she says and looks back at the mirror, "Tell me something P-Chan, if I’m supposed to be Ran-Chan’s ‘cute’ fiancee, why does he spend so much of his time with Akane? They don’t get along at all, and yet, when someone tries to break them up, they’ll do anything to stay together. With Shampoo and me, it’s a wonder that Ranma hasn’t chosen one of us over Akane." She shakes her head, "How can one boy drive three girls so crazy. Better make that four, Kodachi is after him too. Akane’s no better, she’s not satisfied with having just Ranma, she also has other boys chasing her. Kuno, even Ryoga thinks he’s in love with her. Akane sometime accuses Ranma of being jealous of you, but I don’t think he’s the only one. Ryoga would trade places with you in a second. Ryoga’s a nice guy and all, and I’d like to have his help making my deliveries more often, but with his sense of direction, I’d never know if he was going to make the delivery in Tokyo or Taiwan. Shampoo has Mousse, even if she wants him or not. I’m engaged to Ranma just like Akane, but if Ranma marries her, what about me?"

She adjusts her blouse and looks at P-Chan. He now has his eyes covered and is blushing. "What?" she asks, puzzled, and looks down. She is showing more cleavage than usual. She closes her blouse and studies him, "It’s okay, P-Chan, you can look now." He uncovers his eyes. "If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were blushing." She laughs, "You’re as bad as Ryoga. Maybe I should find a cute little girl pig and introduce you to her." She laughs again, gets a takeout box, punches some holes into it for air, and sets P-Chan inside. "Are you hungry?" she asks. He nods and she gets a pizza from her refrigerator. She tears it apart and puts it inside the takeout box for him to eat. He sniffs it and looks at her.

"Don’t worry," she says, "I don’t like pork, so I don’t put any in my pizzas."

She watches as he takes a few bites and closes the box.

After she arrives at the Dojo, Ukyo finds Ranma and Akane playing a game of Go.

"Hi, there." she says, "How are you feeling, Ran-Chan?"

"A lot better than I did when I landed at Dr. Tofu’s." he says as he rubs his shoulder.

"It’s your own fault, Ranma, for being so jealous of P-Chan." says Akane, "When he comes back, I want you to treat him nice. Do you hear me?"

"Speaking of whom..." says Ukyo as she shows them her takeout box, "I have a special delivery for Akane." and opens it.

"P-CHAN?!" Akane says as she gets up, "Thank-you Ukyo! Where on earth did you find him?"

"We kind of ran into each other." she says as Akane takes him out of the box, "He was running from a dog and hid behind me until I chased it away."

"What’s this on his face?" Akane asks as she looks him over.

"Okonomiyaki." says Ukyo, "He was hungry and I had one left over, so I let him have some on the way here."

Akane wipes the pizza crumbs from his face. "Thank-you, Ukyo." says Akane, "See, Ranma. That’s how you should treat P-Chan." P-Chan makes a face at Ranma, sticking his tongue out at him.

"Oh, I’d like to treat him all right, Akane." says Ranma, "I’d like to treat him as the guest of honor at a pig roast."

P-Chan’s eyes go wide and he begins to shake with rage.

"Ranma!" yells Akane, "Do you want to have two appointments with Dr. Tofu in one day?!"

"I guess I’d better leave now." says Ukyo as she removes herself from what soon could become ground zero. Neither Ranma, nor Akane notice her departure. P-Chan, on the other hand, watches her go.

Ranma gets up, "That reminds me." he says as he walks away.

"Where are you going?" she says pointing to the Go board, "The game’s not over and you’re losing!"

"Doctor’s orders, Akane." says Ranma, "He suggested that I try a soak in cold water to keep any swelling down. Now, seems to be as good a time as any for me to cool off."

"If you ask me." says Akane, "Now, is the perfect time for you to cool off. Go soak your head while you’re at it!"

After his bath, girl-Ranma walks by Akane’s room and sees the light coming from under the door, go out, "One of these days..." he says as he continues to his room.

Still in his girl form, he goes to sleep. As night wears on, he begins to dream and he tosses and turns. In his dreams are images of a red-haired girl, running for her life, burning wagons, bandits, and springs.

P-Chan, in Akane’s bed, is shaking. With a start, he leaps from the bed and snarls as he looks around. A light goes on. Akane removes her hand from the switch.

"What is it P-Chan?" she says as she kneels before him, "Another bad dream?"

She picks him up and holds him close until his shaking eases. He lets out a soft squeal.

"Hush now, P-Chan," she says, "it was only a dream." and takes him back to her bed.

The light goes out, but P-Chan does not close his eyes.

Fade out.

It is early morning and just before breakfast, Akane walks into the kitchen to find Ranma standing in front of the refrigerator, with the door open.

"What’s the matter, Ranma?" she asks, "Can’t you at least wait until Kasumi cooks it before you eat your breakfast?"

Ranma looks at her, sees P-Chan in her arms, and says, "No, Akane. I was just seeing if Kasumi could fry up some ‘bacon’ for me."

On hearing this, P-Chan goes from ignoring him to focusing all of his anger on Ranma.

"GRR-R-R!!"

He explodes from Akane’s arms, throwing himself at Ranma. When it is all over, the kitchen is in a shambles, P-Chan is gone, and Ranma finds himself stuffed into one of the kitchen cabinets. Pots and pans fall to the floor as Ranma works to free himself.

With a clatter, he follows them, "OW!"

Akane, with arms crossed, stands in the doorway, "It’s your own fault, Ranma. You know P-Chan is sensitive about pork, and I have had enough too. I’m going to tell Kasumi not to buy any more pork for this house."

"What?!" asks Ranma, rubbing a lump on his head, "Are we going Kosher?!"

Akane steps closer to Ranma and points behind him. Ranma turns his head to look and Akane gets a firm grip on his pig-tail, "C’mon!" she yells and drags Ranma to the training hall. "OWW!! AKANE!! HEY!! LET GO!!" Ranma’s protests fall on deaf ears. When they reach the training hall, Akane releases him. She sets herself and says, "Ranma, I’m going to make sure you never eat pork again!" She launches a flurry of blows at him. Ranma easily dodges Akane’s attack and she is getting madder and madder.

"Stay still and face me Ranma!" she says, "How do you expect me to work out my anger at you if you won’t take me seriously!"

Ranma ducks one thrown punch then another and leaps over and behind her.

"How can I take anyone seriously, that sleeps with a little pig." he says.

"You leave P-Chan out of this, Ranma!" Akane screams swinging a leg and strikes Ranma with her foot, sending him into the wall. With a look of satisfaction, she walks over to where Ranma lies, "Honestly, the way you’re acting, I’d think you were jealous of him."

"Me? Jealous of that little ‘porker’?" Ranma says sarcastically, "If you like P-Chan so much, maybe you should be engaged to him and not me."

Akane picks him up and throws him across the room, "Good idea, Ranma! I’d rather spend the rest of my life with P-Chan, than with a pervert like you! Sometimes you make me so mad, I wish it was YOU, who drowned at Jusenkyo, instead of your girl half!"

Ranma looks at her as if he cannot believe what she has just said. He gets up off the floor and walks to the training hall door. He pulls it open so hard, it fall off it’s tracks. Pausing at the doorway, he says, "Fine then! Have it your way!" and leaves.

"What’s gotten into him?" Akane says as she goes to the door. She looks around, but Ranma is not in sight. "I guess I hurt his feelings." she pauses to think for a while, "Good, maybe now he’ll take me seriously." Akane walks to the house. She looks around, "Where did he go?"

"Where did who go, Akane?" asks Nabiki as she walks by.

"Ranma." she says, "I thought he came in here."

"Sorry," says Nabiki, "haven’t seen him. Did you two have another fight?"

"How can we have a fight, when he never takes me seriously." she says.

"What happened?" asks Nabiki.

"We were in the training hall, I landed a kick and then threw him across the room. He got mad and left." says Akane.

"You did that?" says Nabiki, "The only times you’ve been able to do that, is when he’s been distracted or upset. Was there someone else in the room?"

"No." says Akane, "It was just us."

"In that case, he must have been upset about something." says Nabiki, "Don’t worry, he’ll sulk for a while and then he’ll be back."

"I am not worried, Nabiki." says Akane.

"We’ll see." says Nabiki, "Oh, and Kasumi asked me to thank-you for doing the dishes this morning."

"That was Ranma’s fault!" she says, "He knows P-Chan is sensitive about pork, but he just had to have his little joke! Well this time, that joke backfired, right in his face!"

Feeling a little guilty, Akane goes to the kitchen to apologize for what Ranma and P-Chan did. She helps her sister clean up the last of the dishes. Kasumi, for her part, displays her characteristic patience and calm, and acts as if having her kitchen blown up, is a daily occurrence.

"I’m sorry, Kasumi." says Akane, "It’s just that, P-Chan is a little touchy about it when someone eats anything made of pork around him."

"Oh, my." she says, "I suppose it is a little insensitive for us to be eating pork when you have a little pig for a pet." She puts her hand on her sister’s shoulder, "Don’t worry Akane. As long as P-Chan is with us, we will not be having any pork in this house."

"Thank-you, Kasumi." she says.

Nabiki is standing by the door, "Hmm, we have Koi in our pond. Do you suppose we should stop eating fish too?"

Akane can not believe her sister may actually be serious, "I think that may be a little extreme, Nabiki." Nabiki laughs as if she has told a very funny joke, but it was Akane, who delivered the punchline.

Akane goes to her room and reads a book. Her door is open. A few hours later, she hears the door to Ranma’s room slide open, then closed. She closes the book, "It’s about time he came back." She goes down the hall and slides the door open, "Ranma!" she yells, then stops. The only one there is a panda.

"Oh," she says, "Mr. Saotome, I’m sorry. Have you seen Ranma?"

The panda shakes his head and holds up a sign, "Not since last night." it says.

She slides the door closed and looks around the house again. Not seeing him, she goes outside to the training hall. Her father is repairing the door.

"Dad, have you seen Ranma?" she asks.

"Not since early this morning." he says as he puts the door back in place.

Akane walks around the Dojo grounds looking for him, "Where could he have gone?"

She leaves the Dojo and walks up the street, "He’s probably with Shampoo, or Ukyo."

"Hi, Akane." says a familiar voice.

"Oh," says Akane, "hi, Ryoga. You haven’t seen Ranma have you?"

Ryoga looks a little hurt that it wasn’t him, she was looking for, "No, not after yesterday."

"Hi, guys." says Ukyo as she walks up carrying takeout boxes from her restaurant. "What’s up?" she asks.

Akane asks, "Hi, Ukyo. Have you seen Ranma?"

"Not today, Akane." she says, "Why, is he missing?"

"I don’t think so," says Akane, "I just can’t find him right now."

"If I see him," says Ukyo, "I’ll let him know you’re looking for him. Have you tried the Cat Cafe?"

"Thanks, Ukyo." says Akane, angrily, "I’m going there right now." The very thought of Ranma with Shampoo, gets her blood boiling.

"I’ll go with you, Akane. If you’d like me to?" offers Ryoga.

"Thanks Ryoga," says Akane, "but you can help Ukyo look for him. If Ranma is at the Cat Cafe, he’s going to need a doctor, not a friend." Akane massages her knuckles.

"I have a delivery here for Dr. Tofu." says Ukyo, "Come on, Ryoga. We’ll let him know he’s on standby." She gives some of her takeout boxes to Ryoga and leads him away.

Ryoga helps Ukyo with her deliveries. They tell Dr. Tofu about Ranma missing and Akane looking for him with murder in her eyes. Dr. Tofu smiles and says he’ll be ready.

Akane enters the Cat Cafe. She looks around, but apart from the lunch time crowd, the only one there, is Shampoo’s Great-grandmother.

"Welcome, Child," says Cologne, "come in. What would you like to eat?"

"Thank-you," she says, "but I’m not hungry. Have you seen Ranma?"

"Not today." she says, "Maybe he’s joined Shampoo and Mousse. They’re out making deliveries for me right now. They should be back in a couple of minutes. If you’d like to wait...?" Her hand directs Akane to an open table.

Akane does a slow burn as she sits to wait. A young woman at another table, watches as Akane grabs a pair of chopsticks and breaks them into pieces less than an inch long.

As Ukyo completes her deliveries, Ryoga sees someone he knows and walks over to him. "Hey, Kuno." he says, "Have you seen Ranma?"

"You will address me as Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno." he says.

"Whatever." says Ryoga, "Have you seen him?"

"Why should I even be interested in finding someone I despise?" he asks.

"Have it your way, but Akane is out looking for him." says Ryoga.

"Akane Tendo, hmm." he says, then points, "Isn’t that Ranma over there?"

Ryoga turns to look, "Where?"

CRACK! Ryoga falls as Kuno strikes him with his kendo sword.

"With Ranma and this buffoon out of the way." he says, "Now’s my chance to date both Akane and the pig-tailed girl!" He laughs maniacally and rushes off.

"Ryoga!" says Ukyo as she pulls him to his feet, "I turn my back for one moment and the next, you’re out like a light. What happened?"

Ryoga rubs the lump on back of his head, "Kuno. I asked him about Ranma, then told him Akane was out looking for him, and he hit me."

"Which way did he go?" asks Ukyo.

"I think he went that way." Ryoga says and points down a dead end.

Ukyo looks in the opposite direction and says, "We’ll go this way."

Akane, while waiting at the Cat Cafe, has splintered a dozen pairs of chopsticks and driven two more into the tabletop before Shampoo and Mousse arrive. Alone.

"All right, Shampoo." says Akane as Shampoo puts the delivery containers on the counter, "Where is he?!"

"Where who, Akane?" asks Shampoo with her hands on her hips.

"Ranma! Where is he?!" says Akane, fists at her side.

"Shampoo not know where Ranma is." says Shampoo, "Even if Shampoo know, Shampoo no tell you." She adds as a challenge.

"Wait, Akane Tendo." says Mousse as he steps between them, he may be talking to Akane, but, he is looking at Shampoo, "We have not seen him all day."

"You keep out of this, Mousse!" says Shampoo as she knocks him into the kitchen.

Akane and Shampoo stand only a pace apart, the air between them is filled with electricity.

Akane says, "Humph!" and stalks out the door. "When I get my hands on him..." she says as she goes up the street.

Shampoo watches as Akane leaves. She thinks to herself, Akane can no find Ranma. If Shampoo find Ranma, Shampoo have Ranma all to herself. With that, she runs out front and gets on her bike to look for Ranma.

"AKANE TENDO, I WOULD DATE WITH YOU!!" says Kuno as he runs at her, kendo sword raised.

"WHO EVER SAID I WANTED A DATE WITH..." says Akane as she throws a punch, but she is interrupted by a "WHAM!!" as Ryoga sends Kuno flying with a blow from his umbrella.

Two students, from Furinkan High School, watch as their classmate passes by over head.

"There goes Kuno, again." one says.

"Yeah," says the other, "maybe he should sign up for frequent flier miles."

"I wonder who did it today?" the first one asks, "Akane or Ranma?"

"Even if it was Ranma," asks the second, "which one?"

"Good point." says the first as they walk on.

"Do you think Kuno will ever figure it out?" asks the second, "That both Ranmas are the same person?"

"Nah." says the first, "That’s part of his charm."

Both laugh as they turn the corner.

Ukyo shields her eyes from the sun as she watches Kuno’s trajectory. Her head jerks and she closes her eyes as he hits. "I’d guess about 400 meters, Ryoga." she says, "Maybe you should try your hand at baseball."

"I’m sorry, Akane." says Ryoga, "But I owed him that."

"Thank-you, Ryoga," says Akane, "but I can handle Kuno. It’s Ranma you should be worried about!" she takes her fist and smashes the head of a hollow cement statue.

Ukyo says, "Thanks for your help, Ryoga. Well, I have to get back to my restaurant. I’ll see you two later. If you do find him, Akane, send what’s left over to Dr. Tofu. He’ll be waiting."

Nabiki Tendo is enjoying tea at an open air cafe. She looks up to see someone she knows, coming in for a landing. She pulls out a chair and awaits his arrival. Kuno hits with a bone crunching thud. "It’s so tiresome having men falling at my feet." she says with a smile. Nabiki gets up and lifts him into the chair.

"Honestly, Kuno," she says, "if you wanted a date with me, all you had to do was ask."

A barely conscious Kuno asks, "What have I done to deserve this?"

"Would you like a list?" asks Nabiki. She calls the waiter over to change her order.

At his office, Dr. Tofu is receiving an unusual delivery.

"Where do you want these bedrolls and pillows, Doc?" asks the driver.

"You can set them down here, I’ll have to arrange them myself." he says.

"Are you expecting a lot of patients, Doc?" asks the driver.

"No," says Dr. Tofu, "just one."

"He must be in pretty rough shape to need all this." says the driver.

"Not yet," says Dr. Tofu, "but I just want to be sure I’m ready for him."

"You’re the Doctor." says the driver as he finishes unloading the truck.

After the driver leaves, a panda walks up to Dr. Tofu.

"Mr. Saotome, you’re just in time to help me arrange these." says Dr. Tofu.

After they finish, the panda holds up a sign, "What are these for?"

"They’re just a precaution. I’m expecting a patient later this afternoon."

Ryoga turns to Akane, "Where do you want to look next, Akane?"

"I don’t know, Ryoga. Can you think of where he might be?" asks Akane.

"I’m not sure. Where have you looked so far?" he asks.

"I’ve been all over the Dojo and the house, his Father and his backpack were there, so he can’t have gone far." she says, "You and Ukyo haven’t seen him. Mousse says he and Shampoo haven’t seen him, but this is Mousse we’re talking about. With his eyesight, there’s no telling who he has, or hasn’t seen. I hate to say this, but I am getting worried, Ryoga."

"Well," says Ryoga, "who saw him last?"

"I guess I did." says Akane.

"Ranma may have his faults," says Ryoga, "a lot of them, but he wouldn’t disappear for no reason."

Akane thinks back on the events of that morning.

"We were fighting this morning." she says as they walk, "He wouldn’t take me seriously. I got mad. We both said some things. He got mad and left."

"What did you two say?" asks Ryoga.

"We were talking about P-Chan." says Akane, "I said that the way he was acting, I thought he was jealous of P-Chan." Ryoga stumbles, then catches his balance.

"J-j-jealous?" stutters Ryoga.

Akane nods, "He said that if I liked him so much, maybe I should be engaged to P-Chan, not him." Ryoga falls flat on his face.

Akane notices he’s not walking beside her and turns around, "Ryoga, are you all right?"

Ryoga leaps back to his feet and smiling deliriously, he says, "Never better, Akane."

He shakes his head, "I guess I’d better watch where I’m going." He returns to her side, "I’m sorry. What did you say after that?"

"What? Oh," she says as they resume walking, "I said that I’d rather spend the rest of my life with P-Chan, than with him." She looks around, Ryoga is stopped in his tracks. "Ryoga?" she asks, "Are you okay? You look like you’re having a heart attack?!"

She leads him over to a bench and sets him down, "Wait right here, Ryoga. I’ll get you some water." Suddenly, the thought of being splashed with cold water by Akane, sounds like a good idea to Ryoga, but he snaps out of it.

"No!" he says, "Wait Akane. I’m all right. I just can’t believe you’d choose P-Chan over Ranma. I’m sure P-Chan knows how lucky he is to have someone like you who cares for him so much."

"I just wish I knew where he was." she says.

"I’m sure P-Chan will show up soon, Akane." he says.

"Not P-Chan," she says, "Ranma."

Ryoga looks as if he’s going through a personal reality check. He thinks, She’s more worried about Ranma than P-Chan. Who am I kidding? It’s not just Ranma I’m competing against for Akane, but P-Chan too. I never thought I’d be jealous of myself. It’s hopeless.

Mousse and Shampoo are walking back to the Cat Cafe.

"Just you wait, Saotome." says Mousse, fist raised, "Tomorrow, I’ll use something more effective than a bucket of water to bring you to your knees."

"No, Mousse." says Shampoo, "You no bring weapon tomorrow."

"But, he cheated, Shampoo." he asks, "We can’t just let him get away with it?"

"No, Mousse." she repeats, "Garden is too beautiful."

Angry, Mousse draws into himself, "You’re lucky, Shampoo. If you get mad at him, all you have to do is change into a cat, and he’s helpless."

Shampoo smiles at the thought, the smile, twists, as she prepares her plans for the evening.

At the Tendo Dojo, everyone is getting ready for bed as night falls. Kasumi is about to close the front door, when a small, pink cat walks in.

"Oh my." she says, "Sh-shampoo? Ranma is upstairs in his room."

The cat "meows" and pads her way up the stairs.

"Don’t you think you should change first?" Kasumi calls after it.

Akane comes walking down the hall, "Was that someone at the door, Kasumi? Who could it be this late at night?"

"It was Shampoo." says Kasumi, "At least, I think it was. It looked like her cat."

"Her cat!" says Akane, "What did she want?!"

"I assumed she wanted to see Ranma." she says, "I told her that he was upstairs and she went right up."

"AAAKAAANEEE!!!" they hear Ranma screaming out from above.

"Honestly!" says Akane as she climbs the stairs, "I get so tired of this!"

Akane slides the partly opened door to Ranma’s room the rest of the way. She finds Ranma on the floor, his fists starting to ball up and the cat on his chest. She is rubbing his chin with her head and Ranma is paralyzed, twitching in fear.

"Shampoo!?" yells Akane, "What do you think you’re doing!?"

The cat turns on Akane and hisses.

"Oh no, you don’t!" she says. She grabs a broom from the corner and sweeps the cat from Ranma’s chest.

The cat leaps to the door and faces Akane, hissing all the while.

Akane holds the broom like a sword between her and the cat.

"I don’t know why you are here like that?!" she says angrily, "You know Ranma’s afraid of cats! How can you expect Ranma to marry you, when he’s afraid of you half the time?!"

The hissing stops and the cat looks at Ranma. He is shuddering in terror and crying.

Tears form in the cat’s eyes and in a flash, it turns to the door and leaves.

Akane lets out a deep sigh and puts the broom back in the corner.

"She’s gone Ranma," says Akane as she steps to the door, "and I’m going to bed."

"Mmmmrrrrr." Akane turns back, Ranma’s hands are now balled into paw-like fists and his shaking is even worse. Akane goes to his side.

"Ranma!" she says, "She’s gone!" The shaking continues. Akane takes a deep breath and kneels by Ranma. She pulls him from the floor and into her lap. She begins the process of restoring Ranma to his senses that she has used in the past. As her hands rub his back and face, her voice becomes soft and soothing. "Calm down, Ranma. It’s over. She’s gone." Slowly, Ranma responds to the treatment and gradually calms down. When the last of the shudders subside, she gently places Ranma on his bedroll and covers him up. His breathing has become slow and he appears to be asleep.

"Honestly, Ranma," she says to the sleeping form, "what are you going to do if the two of you do get married? If she changes into a cat, I won’t be there."

The sleeping figure’s breathing becomes rapid as Ranma’s shudders return.

"I’m sorry Ranma!" she says as she lifts him from the bed again, "I’ll be there."

The shuddering eases and the breathing slows. She lays him down again.

She swallows, wipes a tear, and says, "I’ll always be there, Ranma."

Kasumi steps from the doorway. She helps her sister to her feet and guides her to her room. She stays long enough to see that Akane is safely in her bed, P-Chan in her arms, and turns off the light as she closes the door. She returns to Ranma’s room, looks in on him, and slides his door closed.

The next morning, Ranma and Ryoga are heading to the private garden together.

"What was all the yelling about last night, Ranma?" Ryoga asks, "I was stuck in Akane’s room and couldn’t get out. Unless I broke down the door, that is."

"Shampoo was there in my room last night." he says.

"Well, I can understand Akane’s screaming," Ryoga says with a smile, "but, why were you yelling?"

"She was there as a cat." Ranma shudders, "I don’t even want to think about it."

Ryoga pauses and says, "She’ll be there at the garden today."

"Don’t remind me." he says.

As they reach the private garden, Ranma’s father and Mousse are standing outside the door. Ranma looks around.

He says, "Where’s...?"

Mousse faces Ryoga and points at him, "Ranma Saotome, this is all your fault!"

Genma reaches over and turns Mousse so that he is facing Ranma.

"My fault!" he says, "Now what did I do?"

Mousse says, "When Shampoo came home late last night, she was very upset."

"She was upset?!" yells Ranma as he advances on Mousse, "Listen, you near-sighted Loon. She was the one who came into my room as a cat!"

"I-is that what happened?" asks Mousse as he steps back.

"Yes, it was!" yells Ranma, "I can’t understand why she did it. She knows I’m afraid of cats!"

"Uh, never mind." says Mousse nervously, "A-all of us have to go to the Cat Cafe."

"Why?" asks Ranma.

Genma says, "Cologne says it’s very important that we all meet there this morning."

"The Old Ghoul’s back from China?" asks Ranma, "What’s she up to?" Mousse does not answer.

At the cafe, Shampoo is tending a teapot as they enter. She sees Ranma, and with a hurt look, she turns her back to him. Puzzled, he and the others sit at a table as Cologne enters the room from the kitchen.

She looks around, "Well, if it isn’t the ‘Jusenkyo Five’?" she says sarcastically.

"‘Jusenkyo Five’?" asks Ryoga. He looks around, but apart from them, no one else is there.

"She means us, Stupid." says Ranma.

"Who are you calling ‘Stupid’?!" Ryoga yells as he stands.

Genma puts a firm hand on both of them, forcing Ryoga back into his seat. He asks, "What is this all about, Cologne?"

"I understand from Shampoo," she says, "that you have been training to avoid changing into your other forms." She motions to Shampoo. Shampoo pours the tea into five cups and serves the four guys, keeping one for herself.

"Yeah, so?" asks Ranma. He and the others begin to drink the tea.

"That may be a bad idea." she says.

"What do you mean?" asks Genma.

"Ever since each of you fell into the springs at Jusenkyo," she says, "you have tried to avoid changing into your other forms or used the change to gain some advantage over the others." As she says this last, she looks at Shampoo. Shampoo does not meet her gaze and sips her tea.

Ranma asks, "Until we’re cured, what else are we supposed to do?"

"Just drink your tea and listen." she says, "Each of your other forms was, at one time, a living, breathing person or animal before they drowned at Jusenkyo. You should show them more respect." She pauses to let them finish the tea. "At the moment, you know almost nothing about them. That tea you’re drinking, will help you get to know your other halves better than you do now."

"WHAT?!?!" the five say together. Each of them looks at the empty cup in their hands.

"Calm down." she says, her eyes narrowing, "The effect is completely harmless."

Cologne leaves them in stunned silence and returns to the kitchen.

"So, you gave them the tea. Against my advice."

"Mind your own business, you old goat." she says to Happosai, "I didn’t spend five weeks looking for the ingredients to turn back now."

"Have you at least tested it?" he asks.

Cologne nods, "When I found the last of the ingredients in China, I was with a young woman who had fallen into a spring at Jusenkyo, four years ago."

"When do the dreams start?" he asks.

"They should happen the next time they go to sleep in their other forms." she says.

"Cologne," says Happosai as he leaves, "you’re no fun anymore."

"Nothing lasts forever." she says.

"Nothing, except you." he says.

The look she gives him, as he passes through the door, is cold enough to freeze a bonfire.

Fade out.

Dawn is just breaking at the Tendo Dojo. P-Chan rolls over in Akane’s bed. The sound of crinkling paper wakes him up. Under him appears to be a note. In the early morning light, he tries to make out who it’s for. "RYOGA", it says on it. P-Chan’s eyes pop and he lets out a squeal. Akane rolls over and reaches for him. P-Chan clamps onto the note with his teeth and leaps from the bed. P-Chan looks for a safe place to read it when he spies the open window.

"P-Chan?" calls Akane as she sits up in bed. P-Chan leaps through the open window and down to the grounds of the Dojo.

Ryoga arrives at the meeting place. It is a large shed near a private garden. It has taken him seven days to find it. The note from Ranma is cryptic, hinting at special training. The note says to tell no one and to come alone. He sees that he was not the only one invited. Mousse and Shampoo follow him in. They are each carrying a bag.

Ranma looks up as they enter.

"Ryoga," he says, "you’re right on time. Good thing I gave you that note last week, or we’d have to start without you."

"What’s this all about, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

"Yes, Saotome," asks Mousse as he points at a poster on a wall, "who do you think you are, ordering us around?"

"Shampoo very unhappy with you, Ranma." she says, "Shampoo thought you want to date, not train."

"Lighten up, okay?" he says, "This is Pop’s idea, not mine."

"What’s going on, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

He says, "Look, you all have something in common, don’t you?"

"That we all hate you, Ranma?" asks Ryoga with a sarcastic grin.

Ranma rolls his eyes, "Anyone else?" he says.

Mousse asks, "Jusenkyo?"

Ranma points to him and says, "We have a winner! Give that man a fortune cookie."

"What you talking, Ranma?!" asks Shampoo as she runs short on patience.

"Okay." says Ranma as he turns serious, "We’ve all been to Jusenkyo. Right?"

"Yes." says Ryoga.

"Right." says Mousse.

"Shampoo know this." she says.

"But," he says, "do you all know about each other’s animal halves? Mousse, do you know about Ryoga and P-Chan?"

"Yes," he says, "I do." Oddly enough, he is now actually looking at Ryoga. "When are you going to tell Akane Tendo?"

"Stay out of it, ‘Duck-Boy’." says Ryoga as he reaches for his umbrella.

"So," says Mousse as he reaches under his robes, "do you want a fight?"

Ranma quickly steps between them, "Stop it. Both of you." he says, "As much as I’d like to see you two try to beat up each other instead of me for a change," Ryoga looks at him, his face turning a beet red. Ranma continues, "we are not here for that."

The two separate and Ranma returns to a chair by a door, "My father suggested that since we all have this curse, we should train together to try to come up with a way to keep it from being used against us during a fight."

"I don’t get it, Ranma?" asks Ryoga. "You at least stay human when you change. Why should you care if we can fight as our animal types?"

Ranma looks at the others, Mousse and Shampoo nod in agreement.

"Do you remember what happened when those creeps from Jusenkyo showed up?" he asks, "They knew all about us and used our transformations against us."

Ranma pauses and lets what he said sink in.

"We didn’t stand a chance." says Ryoga.

"We were just about helpless against them." says Mousse.

"Shampoo no care!" she says, "Girl or cat, Amazon is still Amazon! Shampoo fight even if turn into butterfly!"

Ranma decides to let that one pass without comment.

"What did you have in mind, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

"We need to train to avoid cold water," he says, "like you said, Ryoga, I stay human when I change, so it’s no problem for me. Pop changes into a large panda and can still fight, that is, when he doesn’t run away. You three, on the other hand, fight better when you don’t change. If we can train to avoid cold water during a fight, we all stand a better chance of winning."

"And just how do we do that, Saotome?" asks Mousse.

"Set your bags down and come with me." he says. He picks up a canvas bag and walks through the door behind him. The others follow him into a large open space surrounded by walls. Flowers, shrubs and small trees line the paths that wind their way around the grounds.

"This look like private garden." says Shampoo.

"Yeah," says Ranma, "it belongs to an old friend of Pops, so take it easy you guys. No weapons."

"What are we supposed to use, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

"I’ll show you in a minute." he says, "First, get rid of that umbrella, Ryoga. Leave that and your pack in the shed." As Ryoga removes his pack, Ranma turns to the other guy in the group, "Mousse, that goes for you too." Mousse pushes his glasses back on his nose as if he does not trust Ranma. He then walks back into the shed, loosens his robes, and allows his arsenal to fall noisily to the floor. Knives, short swords, an inflatable duck, weighted chain, dozens of morning stars and other assorted implements, make a pile that surprises everyone, including Shampoo.

"There must be Fifty pounds of stuff here." says Ranma.

Two more items fall. "Fifty-seven." says Mousse. He turns to Ryoga, "Impressed?"

"Not really." Ryoga says and tosses his pack, with the umbrella strapped on it, to Mousse.

Mousse catches the pack and he is almost pulled to the floor by the unexpected weight.

"Ninety-four." says Ryoga with a look of satisfaction.

Mousse bounces the pack in his hands, trying to gauge the weight. As he sets the pack down, he looks at Ryoga as if he has underestimated him, in the past.

Ranma turns to the lone female of the group, "Shampoo, do you have anything to contribute?"

Shampoo smiles and reaches behind her back. Her hands return, each with a short metal cylinder. She thumbs a button on them and they spring out to a length of three feet. She joins them at the ends, making a metal staff six feet long. As Ranma and the others watch, she puts on a show of twirling the staff, both in the air and around her body.

Obviously enjoying the attention, she twirls faster, making the air sing as the metal staff passes through it. She brings the staff to a sudden stop, separates the two halves, and collapses them into the short metal cylinders she first showed them.

Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga give applause for this performance.

Shampoo bows and takes the cylinders into the outer room and sets them down next to Mousse’s collection. Compared to what he has on display, they seem perfectly harmless, but Ranma and the guys, now know better.

Ranma leads the three back into the garden.

"What now, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

Ranma sets down his bag and says, "Hidden around this garden, are buckets of hot and cold water. For every bucket of hot, there are four buckets of cold. We have to be able to tell, just by looking, if a bucket has hot water in it." He opens his bag, "And just to keep this interesting..." He reaches into his bag and hands each of them a squirt gun. "Like I said, we have to learn to avoid cold water. Chasing each other around with these should be training enough. There are also extra jumpsuits located throughout the garden in case you get soaked and have to leave your clothes behind to find a bucket of hot water."

The three look at the squirt guns in their hands.

"Wait a minute, Ranma?" says Ryoga, "Where is your squirt gun?"

Ranma smiles, reaches into the bag and pulls out a super squirt gun. He pulls on the pump and pressurizes it.

Ryoga’s jaw drops, "THAT’S NOT FAIR!!!" he yells.

"And your point is?" still smiling, Ranma runs off and disappears into the garden.

Ryoga, Mousse, and Shampoo stare after him in shock.

They look down at the squirt guns in their hands. Then they look at each other. All three smile and nod in silent agreement. They each run in a different direction hoping to catch Ranma before he gets them. Mousse is hit first and has to go through three buckets to find one with hot water in it. He finds a jumpsuit and retrieves his squirt gun.

Both Ryoga and Shampoo get the drop on Ranma. Ranma rolls out of the way as they fire and hit each other instead. Ranma takes off to hide again as they look for hot water.

A stream of cold water passes by Ranma and he returns the favor, hitting Mousse. Instead of going after hot water, Mu-Mu Chan picks up the gun with his webbed feet and fires blindly. For him, this is normal and he actually hits Ranma, turning him into a girl. Mu-Mu Chan then flies away to look for a bucket of hot water. Under the rules his father set out for this training, girl-type Ranma must find hot water and turn back into a guy before he can squirt anyone else. After he does this, he sneaks around, and spotting Shampoo, boy-type Ranma levels his gun at her.

She turns and, knowing his weakness, she smiles, "Ranma, want to change Shampoo into cat?"

Ranma pauses nervously, "Uh, not really."

From nearby, Ryoga stands up and says, "No? Well I do!" and sends a stream of cold water at Shampoo.

"LOOK OUT!!" Ranma leaps to intercept the water, but he is too late. Shampoo is hit and changes into a cat. Fortunately, Ranma was ready for this. He takes out a second squirt gun and hits Shampoo with hot water before she can get free of her clothes and at the same time uses his other gun to squirt Ryoga. P-Chan crawls from under his clothes and snarls angrily at Ranma. Then he stops and looks above Ranma, his eyes going wide.

Ranma turns to look up and is hit with a bucket of cold water dropped by Mu-Mu Chan as he flies overhead. All three of them laugh at Ranma as he falls to the ground and turns into a girl.

"How humiliating." says girl-type Ranma as he removes the bucket from his head, "To be laughed at by Shampoo is bad enough, but to be laughed at by a duck and a pig is too much!"

Girl-Ranma gets up, finds a bucket of hot water and changes back. He rushes off to the far wall. In the distance, he can see Mousse, Ryoga and Shampoo converging on his position. Boy-type Ranma waits for them to get closer.

"Just a little more." he says as he places his hand on a wheel. "We’ll see who has the last laugh." When they are right where he wants them, Ranma turns the wheel. Sprinklers through out the garden gush forth spraying everything inside it, including him.

Girl-type Ranma puts out his hand and does his best Kasumi imitation,

"Oh my, it looks like rain."

Ranma turns off the sprinklers and heads back to the door that led them into the garden. He opens the door and steps back to let Shampoo enter first. She is still in cat form, so he gives her a wide space. After she goes in, he closes the door behind her. In a few minutes, she returns and allows the boys to use the hot water and towels she found in there. Ranma does the honors with the hot water for all three. They towel off and change into the dry clothes in the bags they brought with them. When they finish, boy-type Ranma opens the door to let Shampoo back in.

Ryoga says, "You know, this was actually fun."

"Yes," says Mousse, "I haven’t enjoyed training this much in a long time."

"Shampoo almost have you, Ranma." she says smiling.

"I’m glad you guys had fun." says Ranma, "Same time tomorrow?"

"I’ll be here." says Ryoga.

"I shall be ready as well." says Mousse.

"Shampoo not be such easy target tomorrow, Ranma." she says.

Mousse and Shampoo leave for the cafe as Ranma and Ryoga walk back to the Dojo.

"Who’s idea was this, Ranma?" asks Ryoga.

"Pop’s. I told you that already." he says.

"I don’t mean the training and the buckets." says Ryoga.

"Okay. I admit it." he says, "The squirt guns were my idea. Just looking at buckets of water seemed boring, so I decided to add something to the training."

"Why wasn’t your father in there with us?" Ryoga asks.

"He’s the one who set out the buckets." says Ranma, "If he trained with us, he would have had an unfair advantage."

"You should talk, Ranma." says Ryoga, "Giving us those small squirt guns when you had that big one."

"I knew you guys would gang up against me," he says, "I just needed an edge to keep things even."

"You know things will be more ‘even’ tomorrow. Right now, I’d say Shampoo and Mousse are probably looking for bigger squirt guns to use against you."

Hi, Everyone!

Just a brief pause before the next story gets posted. Only 5 stories in this series remain. A bonus/crossover story with Rumiko Takahashi's other long running series: Urusei Yatsura, will be posted after that. Most of these stories were written between 1995 and 2000, so you get to see some of my earliest work.

If you are not familiar with Urusei Yatsura, do a little research. The main character, Lum, is a female teenage space alien and usually wears a tiger-striped bikini and go-go boots. An unlucky Earthling, Ataru Moroboshi, becomes her husband-to-be after he wins a game of tag to save the Earth from the Invaders. Ataru is a teenage lecher and will chase any woman, but Lum usually has to chase him and punish him for being unfaithful.

After changing out of their bathing suits, they eat dinner and return to their room. Ryoga sits in the rocking chair as Ukyo straightens out her futon. A thought comes to him.

"Ukyo?" he asks, "What does ‘*Sweet Memory*’ mean?"

"It’s the name of the resort." she says, "Let’s see, *Sweet* can mean *Fond* and that is ‘Konomu’. *Memory* is the same as ‘Kioku’. So it would be ‘Kioku Konomu’ Resort."

"Kioku?" he asks as he stands, "Are you sure?!"

"I think so, why?" she asks.

"Then, the legend might be real, after all." he says.

"What do you mean, Ryoga?" she asks.

"What’s the only spring we haven’t checked?" he asks.

Ukyo thinks for a moment, "The one that dried up. But what use is a dried up spring?"

"I don’t know, but we have to look." he says.

"It’s dark out there now." she says, "Do you want to fall into one of those fake springs and break your neck?"

"Please, Ukyo," he pleads, "We have to do this now." His voice is urgent.

"All right." she says as she gives in, "We’ll go already."

The lights of the hotel allow them to pick their way through the springs to the one marked off with ropes. Carefully, Ryoga climbs down into it.

"It’s hard to see." says Ukyo, "Is there any water at all?"

"None." says Ryoga as his feet sift through the sand. He searches the sides of the spring. He stands and says, "There’s a concrete floor, but I can’t find any pipes or drains."

"Do you think it’s a real spring?" asks Ukyo.

"I’m sure it is." he says with a little anger, "They plugged it up for some reason."

"Why would they want to do that?" she asks.

"Lets find out. Stand back Ukyo!" he says. When she complies, he raises one hand up, finger pointing to the sky. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!" he yells and drives the finger into the concrete. The concrete explodes and throws Ryoga free from the spring as a blast of hot water follows. Ukyo goes to him and helps him back to his feet. They look at the spring. In the column of water, a small glowing figure appears.

"Kioku." says Ryoga.

"‘Kioku’?" asks Ukyo.

The figure takes on the shape of a young girl. Her eyes open and she smiles at them.

"Ryoga." she says, "You’ve come back to me."

"You..." he says and pauses, "You were the one calling me?"

"Yes." Kioku says, "Do you remember me now?"

"Yes, I remember now." he says.

"Remember what?" asks Ukyo, "Who is she?"

"Her name’s Kioku. She is the spirit of this spring." he says, "I was lost, a long time ago. I found this spring and drank from it. Then she appeared."

"I stayed with you until you were found." says Kioku. Her face turns sad, "After you left, some of the people who found you, came back and started to build that hotel. I tried to scare them away, but I can only appear when the waters of this spring rise in a geyser. When the waters receded, they came and sealed it up."

Ryoga is shaking in rage, "Those... THOSE..."

"Jackasses?" offers Ukyo.

"I was thinking of a stronger term than that, Ukyo." he says, "But that’ll do for now."

A commotion behind them causes them to turn. All of the guests have been drawn from their rooms by the noise of the concrete seal breaking and are now pointing and talking.

"The Legend is real!" says one. "The dried up spring came back!" says another.

"What are we going to do, Ryoga?" asks Ukyo.

Ryoga turns to face the other guests. "Listen to me, all of you!" he shouts, "The spring didn’t dry up! Whoever built this hotel, sealed up this spring! They did that so that Kioku, the spirit of this spring couldn’t scare anyone away! All of the other springs are fake!"

"It’s true!" shouts Ukyo, "What you thought were springs, have pipes and drains and concrete floors! What Natural spring needs those?!"

The clerk, who had come out with the guests, stands there in shock. He comes to his senses and runs back into the hotel. He grabs the house phone and quickly dials a number.

"Answer, please! We’re in trouble here!" he says while waiting for someone to pick up. His face brightens up, "Mr.? Oh! I’m sorry! Mrs. Amishida, this is Mr. Imani at the resort. Could I please speak with your husband?"

There is a long pause as he waits. Despite the coolness of the evening, he is starting to sweat.

"Mr. Amishida?" he asks then goes on, "We have trouble here! The seal is broken on the spring that we told everyone was dried up! Yes! She’s there! Kioku! And the guests now know that all the other springs you put in are fakes! What are we going to do?!"

Mr. Imani listens intently to his bosses instructions. His eyes widen in shock.

"Re-resign?!" he asks, "I don’t think that my resigning will accomplish anything, Mr. Amishida! Those people are going to be out for blood, or at least their money back! They might even tear this hotel apart!"

Mr. Imani listens as his boss issues new instructions. The instructions are quite complex. He nods at the phone as he understands what he is to do.

"Yes, Mr. Amishida, yes." he says still nodding, "I’ll tell them. I just hope they’ll believe it." He hangs up the phone and walks outside. Composed once again, he addresses the crowd.

"PLEASE! EVERYONE!" he calls out above the noise of the guests. All eyes turn to him. He clears his throat and goes on, "Please calm down! I’m as surprised as any of you that the springs are fake and that the legend is true! I just got off the phone with the hotel manger, Mr. Amishida! It seems that he bought this resort after the hotel was built. When he found out that the only spring here was dried up, he hired people to put in these others. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know this until just now. Mr. Amishida will be here in the morning and he will give you your money back."

"WHAT ABOUT THE SPRING?!! WHY WAS IT SEALED?!!" yells Ryoga.

Mr. Imani recoils from the question. He had assumed that the seal had broken on it’s own and that no one had known about it. He had hoped to convince them that the spring had just started flowing by itself. He slowly recovers.

"You’ll have to ask the people who built the hotel!" he calls out to him, "Mr. Amishida and I only know about the legend!"

An older man makes his way through the springs toward Ryoga and Ukyo.

"What are we going to do, Ryoga?" asks Ukyo, "We can’t stay here forever to protect the spring?"

"But if we leave and the waters die down," he says as he looks back a Kioku, "they might seal it up again."

The man reaches them. "I think I have an answer to your problem, young man." he says and shows them his cell phone. "I was just talking to my brother-in-law. He’s a Shinto Priest. I told him about what is going on and he said that he and his son will come up here and see if they can declare this spring a holy shrine. If they can, the hotel people will have to leave. He can then turn the hotel into a temple. He may even pull out all of these fake springs and put in ornamental gardens fed by the waters of this spring. That is, if it pleases the spirit of the spring?"

"Her name is, Kioku." Ryoga says to the man and looks at her.

"Well then," says the man, "Kioku? Would that be all right?"

Kioku smiles at them, "That would be very nice."

A burbling noise comes from the spring. Kioku looks down.

"The water is losing pressure." she says, "I must go now."

"Will I see you tomorrow?" asks Ryoga.

"Yes." she says as she fades, "Tomorrow." The fountain of water collapses.

With the excitement over and satisfied with the explanation from the clerk, most of the guests return to their rooms. Ukyo and Ryoga go to theirs.

Ryoga sits in the rocking chair and waits for Ukyo to finish getting ready for bed. She comes out of the bathroom in her robe and pajamas, but is not wearing the facial mask that had shocked him the night before. He stands and walks by her and into the bathroom to get ready for bed himself. When he comes out, Ukyo is still standing there.

"Ryoga?" she says and steps up to him.

"Yes, Ukyo?" he asks.

"I just wanted to say, that I’m proud of what you did tonight." she says and surprises him with a brief kiss. She adds, "Now, get some sleep." She then turns and crawls into her futon. Stunned, Ryoga walks behind the blanket dividing the room and sits down hard on his futon.

‘Get some sleep’? he thinks as his fingers touch his lips, How can I get any sleep after that?!

"And if you say ONE word of this to Ranma..." comes a warning from the other side of blanket.

The next morning, Ukyo walks over to Ryoga as he sits beside the spring.

"Nothing yet?" she asks.

Ryoga shakes his head.

"Well," says Ukyo, "the manager showed up, apologized all over the place, then gave everyone their money back. I put yours in your backpack."

"Thank-you, Ukyo." he says, half-heartedly.

"That was really something, last night." she says and looks at the spring, "Ryoga, the water’s going down."

Ryoga turns to see the water being sucked down into the rock floor of the spring. The sand being blown away with the broken pieces of the concrete seal. He puts his arm out in front of Ukyo.

"Stand back, Ukyo." he warns, "I think it’s going to..."

BLOOSH-SH!! The hot water erupts in front of their faces, spraying them both. Soon, a figure appears in the column of water and takes on a familiar shape. She smiles at them.

"Good-morning, Ryoga and Ukyo." she says.

"Good-morning, Kioku." they say.

"Are you leaving soon?" she asks.

"Yes," says Ryoga, "but I’ll come back."

"I’ll be glad to see you both." she says.

Ukyo is puzzled, but nods in agreement like Ryoga.

"Once the Shinto Priest and his son get here, you should be safe." offers Ryoga.

"I look forward to meeting them." she says, "After all, if they are going to become my guardians, then I should get to know them first."

"Yeah, well..." he says then trails off.

Ukyo senses his reluctance to say ‘Good-bye’. "Ryoga?" she says, "We have to go if we’re going to make the bus that will take us back to the station."

"Good-bye and thank-you," Kioku says and bows, "both of you." She fades as the waters subside.

"Good-bye, Kioku." Ryoga says at last. Ukyo leads him back to the hotel room. They pick up their bags and drop off the key at the front desk. Ryoga turns to Ukyo as they get ready to go out the hotel’s front door. Cradled in one arm, is the small doll from their room. Ukyo rolls her eyes and takes it from him. She sets it on the front desk and leads him outside.

It is early evening by the time they get back to the Tendo Dojo. Ukyo is anxious to drop Ryoga off and have a word or two with Ranma. They find Ranma waiting for them at the front door.

"Hey! It’s Ryoga and Ukyo!" he says, a little louder than necessary, "You’re back!"

"Yeah, we’re back." says Ukyo, "Ran-Chan, about that spring?"

"You can tell me later." he says, "Today is a special day for both of you, right?"

Neither can believe what they are hearing.

"R-ran-Chan?" asks Ukyo, "Y-you remembered?"

"How could I forget?" he asks. "Come on inside."

He leads them to the door to the dinning room. He turns to them.

"Ukyo, Ryoga..." he says and throws open the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" Horns sound and streamers fly as Ranma and the others spring their surprise.

Ukyo and Ryoga are stunned.

"Happy?" asks Ukyo.

"Birthday?" finishes Ryoga.

"Yeah." says Ranma, "It’s your birthdays, right?"

"Ryoga, is it your birthday?" asks Ukyo.

"Not mine. Is it yours?" he asks.

"Nope." she says.

"Wait a minute?" asks Ranma, "Ryoga, I remember being told to find you so you could be home for your birthday party."

"That was for my mother’s party." he says and reaches for his umbrella, "Today is her birthday!"

In desperation, Ranma turns to her. "Ukyo," he asks, "what about the party your father threw for you when we were little?"

"That," she says as she reaches for her large metal spatula, "was to celebrate our engagement!" Red battle auras surround both of them.

"You mean to tell us," growls Ryoga, "that you sent us on this trip, JUST SO YOU COULD THROW A PARTY, AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY?!!"

"uh-oh..."

"Ranma Saotome?" asks the homeroom teacher, calling the roll, "Is Ranma Saotome still absent?"

Akane stands. "Yes, Sir." she says, "He’s still recovering from the ‘accident’ he had."

"It’s been two weeks, Miss Tendo." says the teacher, "That must have been some ‘accident’."

"It sure was." she says as she sits down.

Fade out.

"I’m sorry," says the desk clerk, "but we only have one room left. If you want to stay, you’ll have to share."

"I can’t share a room with him!" complains Ukyo.

"If it’s a problem," asks the clerk, "you can always string up a rope and hang up a blanket to divide the room?"

"GR-R-R." she fumes and asks, "How much?"

"Let’s see..." says the clerk, checking a price list, "Two people, two nights, one room, that comes to 15,100 Yen. Access to the springs comes with the room."

Ukyo chokes, "H-how much?"

"We’ll take it." says Ryoga.

"WHAT?" screams Ukyo, "Are you out of your mind? I can’t afford that!"

"We need this room to get to the springs." he says to Ukyo and then looks at the clerk, "Am I right?"

"Yes, Sir." says the clerk, "The springs are reserved for guests of this resort only."

"There, you see?" says Ryoga as he swings his pack down and opens one of the side pockets.

"Well, you’d better come up with some money," says Ukyo, "because I certainly don’t have enough."

"No problem." says Ryoga as he pulls from the pack, a stack of 1,000 Yen bills. He counts them out for the clerk.

"Where did you get all that?!" demands Ukyo.

"Where ever I go," he explains, "there are always people who need chores or odd jobs done. I work for them for as long as I’m there and they either pay me, or feed me and let me stay somewhere dry for the night."

The clerk collects the money and hands Ryoga a key and a slip of paper. "Thank-you, Sir. Here’s your room key and a receipt. It’s just down the hall to your right. Room eighteen."

"Could you tell us more about these springs?" asks Ryoga.

"Certainly, Sir." he says, "There are thirty springs in all, though I should say there’s only twenty-nine. One of the springs in the communal area dried up long ago. They are divided into three areas, the communal side, where men and women can bathe together, then there are the separate men’s and women’s only areas. There are ten springs in each area. Except, of course for the...?" The clerk stops his description and looks at Ryoga, who, once again is staring off into space. "Sir? Sir?!" he calls, "Are you all right?"

Ukyo raps her knuckles against Ryoga’s shoulder, getting his attention.

He blinks, "I’m sorry. It..." He pauses and says, "There’s something strange about this place."

"Oh, Sir!" says the clerk, "You must be psychic or something! There’s an old legend that’s been around since before I started working here! A legend about that dried up spring!"

"What legend?" asks Ukyo, "It’s not about a ghost, is it?"

"Not so much a ghost as a spirit of some kind." says the clerk, "But you don’t have to worry, I hear that she hasn’t made an appearance since the spring dried up. Most of the people around here have forgotten all about her."

"A woman spirit?" asks Ryoga.

"More like a small girl, I understand." says the clerk, "I think it’s been at least ten years since anyone’s seen her."

Ryoga and Ukyo go to their room. On entering, they look around. The room has a sliding door leading to the springs, a rocking chair, a writing desk, a private bath and a closet.

"Not too bad, I guess." says Ukyo as she walks to the closet. She opens it. "Two futons and..." she pulls out a rope and large blanket. She turns around and freezes in place. The rope and blanket fall to the floor.

"R-ryoga?" she asks, in near panic, "What are you doing?!"

Ryoga is sitting in the rocking chair and is cradling something small. The image is very similar to one of Ukyo’s reoccurring dreams. She sinks to her knees.

"This?" asks Ryoga as he shows Ukyo the doll he is holding, "It must have been left behind by the child of one of the guests. Ukyo? Are you okay?"

"Put the doll down," she says as she recovers, "and help me rig this rope."

After the rope and blanket are up and the futons are laid out, Ukyo walks over to her luggage. She pulls a robe and pajamas from the large case and picks up her small case.

"Ukyo?" asks Ryoga, "What are you doing?"

"It’s too late and I’m too tired to go looking at the springs tonight." she says, "I’m going to get ready for bed."

Ryoga stands and faces the door leading to the springs. He says, "Then I guess I’ll..."

"You stay right there, Ryoga!" she warns him, "I don’t want to spend the rest of the night searching for you. You move one inch and I’ll hog tie you to that futon!"

Chastised, Ryoga turns and sits in the rocking chair. His hand reaches to the writing desk.

"AND STOP PLAYING WITH THAT DOLL!!!" Ukyo yells as she slams the door to the bath. Ryoga jerks his hand back and looks at the now closed door.

He asks himself, "What’s wrong with her?" He begins to rock and closes his eyes.

"Ryoga?" says Ukyo as she shakes his shoulder, "It’s your turn in the bathroom."

Ryoga opens his eyes, they go wide in shock. "AAAAHH!!" he screams and nearly falls over backwards in the chair. "U-ukyo?" he asks.

"You men are all alike." she says as she checks the dryness of her blue colored facial mask. "You want women to look pretty, but you don’t want to see how it’s done."

In the morning, dressed in bathing suits, Ryoga and Ukyo are looking at the map of the resort’s springs. The springs are in an area shaped like a pie divided into three pieces.

"The communal springs are closest to the hotel." Ukyo points out, "The men’s side is further out to the left, the women’s side to the right. We’ll check out the communal side first and then go from there. Now, what are we supposed to look for?"

"What?" asks Ryoga.

"What makes this spring you’re looking for so special?" she asks.

"Ranma said it was some kind of healing spring." he says.

"‘Ranma said’?" she asks, "He told me this was your idea."

"He told me that Nabiki heard Dr. Tofu talking to his cousin about it." he says, forgetting about Ranma’s advice to go along with whatever Ukyo says.

"Something fishy is going on here, Ryoga." she says, "If Ran-chan wanted to find out about this spring, why didn’t he go with you, or alone?"

Ryoga starts to panic. Should I tell her? I can’t! She might tell Akane! "H-he said that if it was the right kind of spring, it might remove his curse."

"How are we supposed to know if it’s the right kind of spring?" she asks, "We’ve got no way of testing it."

"I-I-I," stutters Ryoga as he tries to think of something, "I was just supposed to find it. Ranma was going to check on any springs I found, later."

"Well he’s got a whole lot of springs to check up on now." she says, "I don’t believe this! C’mon Ryoga!"

"Where are we going?" he asks.

"As long as we’re here," she says as she opens the door leading to the springs, "we might as well check ‘em out for ourselves. Just look for anything unusual."

To the far left and right, bamboo walls run from the ends of the hotel and meet at a point. Two doors, one on the left and one on the right, lead to the men’s only and women’s only areas. Where the walls meet, there are ropes and signs marking where the dried up spring is. Ryoga and Ukyo walk up to the nearest of the springs.

"Well, this is what you came for." says Ukyo, pointing to the spring. "Get in."

"It doesn’t look very warm." he says and thinks, What if it’s a cold spring?

Ukyo kneels down and puts her hand into the water. "Well, it’s not hot." she says, "Barely warm. At least it’s not freezing."

How warm does it have to be to keep me from changing? wonders Ryoga, I have to find out if it will cure me, but if I change now, Ukyo will know about me and P-Chan!

Ukyo steps into the spring. She turns and splashes him.

"Well?" she asks, "Are you going to get in or not?"

In near panic, Ryoga checks himself over. In relief, he finds that he has not changed.

"It’s just water, Ryoga." says Ukyo, "You’re not going to melt."

Cautiously, Ryoga slips into the spring. The lukewarm water feels odd to him somehow.

"Well?" asks Ukyo, "Is this the kind of spring Ran-Chan’s looking for?"

"I’m not sure." he says, trying not to look at Ukyo. The bathing outfit she has on is less than modest.

"What’s the matter, Ryoga?" she asks as she moves through the water to get in front of him, "Your face is red. The water isn’t that hot is it?"

"No. It’s just that..." he says as he tries to concentrate on the sides of the spring.

Ukyo suddenly remembers a similar reaction he had when they were practicing with the vest she was going to use in her challenge with Akane. She strikes a pose in front of him.

"Oh. I see what the trouble is." she says coyly. She turns serious, then stands and puts her hands to her hips, "You’re not going to get a nose bleed are you?"

Surprised by her actions, Ryoga falls backwards. Desperately, he turns to look away from Ukyo. Concentrating on the sides of the spring, he sees something that surprises him just as much. His hand reaches over to it.

"You really know how to make a girl feel pretty, don’t you, Ryoga?" she asks sarcastically. She starts to get out.

"Wait, Ukyo." he says and points, "Look over here."

"What is it?" she asks.

"This is where the water is coming in." he says.

"So?" she asks.

"It’s coming in from a pipe." he says and puts his hand over the opening. The pressure from the water pushes on it.

"What’s a pipe doing in a spring?" she asks.

"I don’t know." he says. He digs his foot into the sandy bottom. A few inches down, his toes find a rough concrete floor. "This isn’t a spring. It’s a pool. A man-made pool."

"Are you sure?" she asks.

He goes over to the opposite side of the pool. Hidden by natural looking rocks, is a drain with a built in filter. His shoulders slump in disappointment. His fists and face rise in anguish. "DON’T TELL ME THAT THEY’RE ALL FAKE!!!" he cries.

The other guests turn to look at him. Ukyo apologizes for the disturbance and tries to calm him down.

"Ryoga!" she hisses, "Get a hold of yourself! We don’t know that they’re all like this."

"What are we going to do, Ukyo?" he asks, "If these are all fake, then they’re useless!"

Poor guy. thinks Ukyo, He must really want Ranma and the others to be cured.

"We’ll just have to check them one-by-one." she says, trying to sound hopeful, "They can’t all be fake springs."

Ryoga and Ukyo check each of the springs in the communal area. Their search is slowed by the presence of the other guests. Ryoga is anxious, but Ukyo won’t let him disturb the others just so they can check out the spring someone else is in. By the time all nine active springs in the communal area are looked over, it is lunch time and they take a break. So far, all of the springs they have looked at, are man-made.

"Maybe it’s just the ones closest to the hotel." she says trying to cheer him up, "Maybe the ones in the other areas are real?"

"I don’t know, Ukyo." he says as he picks at his food, "Why would they go to the trouble of putting in fake springs?"

"Maybe they only have a few real springs." she says, "They might have thought that they couldn’t make enough money with what they had and built the fake ones to draw more customers?"

"What about the legend?" he asks, "About the dried up spring and that girl spirit?"

"We only have the clerk’s word on that." she says, "He might have just made it up, or it could have been used when the resort first opened to get people to come here. Then, when the spring dried up, they had to drop it."

"I guess that’s possible." he says.

"Look." says Ukyo, "We’ll check the other springs this afternoon, get some rest tonight and go home tomorrow. I’d like to get back to Tokyo. Sunday’s a special day for me."

Ryoga smiles, "Me too."

"Well then," says Ukyo as she stands, "lets get to it."

Impatiently, Ukyo stands by the door leading to the men’s only side. An older man comes out leading Ryoga.

"Is this him, Miss?" he asks.

"Yes." she says, exasperated, "Thank-you." She takes Ryoga by the arm and leads him away. "What took you so long? I’ve been waiting an hour. Were you able to check all of the springs?"

Ryoga has a sheepish look on his face, "I..."

"You got lost, didn’t you?" she asks, "There’s only one door leading in and out, and you still got lost."

"I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any of the springs." he says.

"A likely story." she says sarcastically, "Are any of them real."

"None. They’re all fake." he says, "How about you?"

She sighs, "Sorry, but we’ll have to tell Ran-Chan that he’d better look somewhere else. It’s getting late, lets get back to our room." She leads him back to the hotel.

"I’m ho-ome!" calls Akane as she slides the door open. She removes her shoes and walks in. Ranma and the others look up from the dinner table.

"You’re home late." he says, "We started without you. Hope you’re not hungry. There’s not much left."

"That’s okay." she says, "I’ve already eaten."

"My, ain’t you rich." he says, "It’s not everyone who can afford to eat out whenever they like."

"For your information," she says as she glares at him, "I was at a birthday party."

"A birthday party?" he asks, "Why wasn’t I invited?"

"It was for one of the girls in our class. No boys." she says, "I told Nabiki about it."

"Yes," says Nabiki, "and I told Kasumi. That’s why we didn’t have a place set for Akane."

Surprised, Ranma looks back at the table. "We didn’t?" he asks.

"You didn’t even notice that I wasn’t here!?" Akane yells.

Oh, man! I’m in trouble now! C’mon! Think of something! thinks Ranma nervously.

"I just thought you might not have been hungry." he says with a weak laugh, "Yeah, that’s right." He looks at Akane, I hope she buys that!

"Humph!" says Akane as she turns to walk down the hall.

Ranma slowly begins to relax as Akane’s foot steps fade.

Genma’s hands go to his shoulders and lift him up. "Go after her, Boy!" he demands.

"Why do I have to..." he starts and is interrupted by Soun.

"Son!" he says, "It is your obligation as Akane’s fiancé to..." Ranma interrupts him.

"Enough with the fiancé thing already!" he says and knocks his father’s hands away. He turns to walk down the hall, "I’m going, okay?"

Ranma catches up to her as she reaches the stairs.

"Akane, I’m..." he freezes as she looks at him with a furious stare. Better change the subject, Stupid! he thinks. "So, Akane, um..." he manages to get out, "Wh-when’s your birthday?"

Her face relaxes as she turns to look back up stairs. "Not for another three months." Her eyes suddenly go wide open and she turns back to him. "YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHEN MY BIRTHDAY IS?!!!" she screams.

Uh-oh! is all Ranma has time to think before...

CRASH!! BANG!! THWACK!! CRUNCH!! BOOM!! THUD!!

"ow..."

At breakfast the next morning, Akane refuses to look at Ranma. It is only on their way to school, that she will even talk to him.

"C’mon Akane," he says, "it’s just that nobody ever told me when your birthday was."

"You never even thought to ask until last night." she says, coldly.

"Do you know when my birthday is?" he asks.

Stunned, Akane freezes in her tracks. Shaking it off, she says, "That’s not the point!" and starts walking again.

"You don’t, do you?" he presses her for an answer.

"Okay! So were even!" she yells, "Do you know anyone’s birthday?"

"I know Ryoga and Ukyo’s." he says.

"You know theirs, but you don’t know mine?" she asks.

"Only because they’re on the same day." he says.

"When?" she asks.

Ranma thinks for a moment, "The 23rd of this month."

"That’s this Sunday." she says, then asks, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am." he says, "I remember having to track Ryoga down, just so he could be there for his own party and Ukyo’s father threw her a party when we were both little."

"Maybe we should throw a surprise birthday party for both of them." Akane says and asks, "What do you think?"

"It sounds like a good idea, Akane," says Ranma, "but if we start getting ready now, Ryoga or Ukyo might find out by accident."

"We’ll just have to keep it a secret." she says.

From P-Chan? thinks Ranma, then says, "I got a better idea, Akane. Why don’t I ask them to check on something Nabiki heard when Dr. Tofu was talking to his cousin?"

"What do you mean?" asks Akane, "What were they talking about?"

"Dr. Tofu’s cousin said there was a spring on Mount Fuji." he says, "Some kind of healing spring. I can ask them to find it and let us know what kind of spring it is. If we’re lucky it might remove this curse."

"That sounds okay, but why would they do it?" she asks, "Ukyo might as a favor to get you back to normal, but what about Ryoga? What makes you think he might go along?"

"I think I can talk him into it." he says, "Besides, I think he’s beginning to like Ukyo."

"What?! When did this happen?" asks Akane, surprised by Ranma’s sudden change of subject.

"Think about it Akane." he says, "It’s not often that you see one without the other anymore. Remember when Ryoga was trying to talk Ukyo into helping him find the Old Ghoul?"

Akane nods, "I thought they might have been in love the way Ryoga was begging Ukyo to help him, but he just wanted her to help him find Cologne. If Ryoga does like her, maybe searching for the spring will give them enough time together for him to figure out if he does or not."

"A spring?" asks Ryoga, "On Mount Fuji?"

"Yeah," says Ranma as they stand outside Ukyo’s restaurant, "Nabiki heard Dr. Tofu and his cousin talking about it. If I’m right, it could remove this curse we got."

Ryoga’s knees begin to shake. "Are...? Are you serious?" he asks nervously.

"Yes." he says, "I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a try. And, I want you to take Ukyo along."

"Ukyo?" he asks, "Why?"

"To keep you from getting lost." Ranma says, "We can’t wait forever, you know, and besides, I think she likes you."

Ryoga blushes intensely, "WHAT?!! Ranma... You... Ukyo... Me..."

"Think about it, Man. Wasn’t she the one who took you to Dr. Tofu’s after you fought with his cousin?" he asks, "And didn’t she take care of you when you fainted after you tried that Battle Aura Blast on me? I’m telling you, Man, I think she likes you."

"But I can’t!" Ryoga says, "Not with Ukyo!"

"Why not?" Ranma asks.

Ryoga starts to fidget. "She..." he starts, "She doesn’t know."

"About what?" Ranma asks.

"ABOUT ME AND P-CHAN!!!" Ryoga yells then whips his head around when he realizes how close they are to her restaurant.

"Why haven’t you told her about it?" he asks, "What’s the big deal if she knows?"

"It just never came up, okay?" Ryoga says, "And, she might tell Akane by accident."

"I think you can trust her, Ryoga." Ranma says, "Don’t worry, if I’m right about this spring, it won’t matter if she knows or not."

"I can’t ask her to do something like this!" he says.

Why not? You did it before, when you were looking for the Old Ghoul. thinks Ranma.

He says, "Jeez, you’re a wimp. Okay, I’ll ask Ukyo and try to talk her into it. If she comes out, just go along with anything she says. You wait right here and don’t move." Ranma leads him over to a nearby post and wraps Ryoga’s hand around it. Making sure Ryoga has a firm grip on the post and understands that he is not to let go, Ranma has at least some hope that Ryoga will still be there when he comes out. He then enters the restaurant.

"What’s going on out there, Ran-Chan?" asks Ukyo as she scrapes and cleans the grill. Her hands move back and forth in preparation for the next meal. "You and Ryoga were making enough noise for a small riot."

Ranma sits down and acts bored, "It’s nothing, Ukyo. Ryoga wants to go up to Mount Fuji so he can find something, but he doesn’t have a lot of time. So he asked me if I could help him, but Akane and I are going to be too busy at the Dojo for me to get away right now."

"What’s so important that he has to go there to find it?" she asks.

"I don’t know," he says, lying, "some kind of spring. Hey, Ukyo? Could you do me a favor and go with him?"

"What makes you think I’d leave my restaurant and take the risk of being lost for weeks with him?" she asks, "I can’t just lock up here and take off. I’d lose business."

"That’s why I’d like you to go with him." he says, "If you’re there to keep him from getting lost, then it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to get there and back. Tomorrow’s Saturday, you should be back by Sunday night."

"We’d better be back by then." she says and adds, "If I do this, you are going to owe me big time, Ranma Saotome."

Ranma holds his hands together in front of his face, almost as if in prayer. "Thank-you, Ukyo." he says, "You won’t be sorry. I promise."

"I said ‘IF’." she points out, then asks, "Just two days?"

"Three at the most." he says, "Think of it as a vacation."

"‘Three days’?" she asks, "If I have to spend that much time alone with him, I’m going to need a vacation."

Although Ranma had thought to use the same ploy with Ukyo, he decides that the line, ‘I think he likes you.’ would not work on her as it did on Ryoga. Instead, he holds his tongue and waits for Ukyo to give in. The hopeful look he gives her is for real. She stares at him for a while, then her head lowers as she shakes it. Ranma begins to have doubts when she speaks.

"One of these days," she says as she raises her head with a smile, "I’ll learn to say ‘no’ to you, but okay, I’ll do it."

As Ukyo goes upstairs to pack, Ranma goes outside. He gets there just in time to see Ryoga let go of the pole and begin to wander off. Ranma runs to reach him.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Ranma asks. He turns Ryoga to him. There is a glazed look in his eyes. Ryoga’s eyes are slow to focus.

"What?" he asks, then realizes what is happening. He says, "Someone was calling my name."

"This is no time to be listening to the call of the wild, Man." says Ranma, "You’re supposed to go with Ukyo to find the spring, remember?"

"The spring?" he asks, still not completely back. He blinks, "The Spring! Ranma did you talk Ukyo into going?"

"Yeah, Man. She’s packing right now." he says and pulls on Ryoga’s arm, "C’mon, we gotta get back to the restaurant before she comes down."

They reach the front door just as Ukyo is closing and locking it.

"He wandered off, didn’t he?" she asks.

"Well, yeah but," says Ranma, "he’s all yours now, Ukyo."

"Thanks." she says sarcastically, "Thanks a lot."

"See you in a couple of days." he says and quickly leaves.

"Jackass." mutters Ukyo, then she turns to Ryoga, "Right. Have you got any money?"

"Money?" he asks, "Yeah, some. Why?"

"If you think we’re walking all the way to Mount Fuji," she says, "then you’re as crazy as I am for taking you. We’ll take the train and go to Gotemba and then we’ll ask about this spring you’re looking for."

It doesn’t sound as if she likes me. wonders Ryoga, Was Ranma lying when he said that?

"Hello-o!" she calls, "Earth to Ryoga! Are you there?"

Ryoga blinks, "Yes. Well, let’s go to the train station." He turns to walk away. Ukyo grabs his arm.

"The train station is this way." She says and pulls him along. Her grip is a little tighter than necessary.

"A spring?" asks the bus ticket seller for the station at Gotemba, "On Mount Fuji?"

"Yes, Sir." says Ryoga, "It’s supposed to be a special kind of spring somewhere on Mount Fuji."

"If’n it’s springs yer wantin’ young feller," he says, "then it must be at that there resort on the other side of Mount Fuji. Those are the only springs that I know of. We got a bus that stops where they pick up their guests. The last bus for this evening leaves in ten minutes. If’n you wants to go there, you’d better buy yer tickets now."

"What’s the name of this place?" asks Ukyo.

"*Sweet Memory* Resort." says the old man. He says ‘Sweet Memory’ in English, instead of in Japanese.

"That’s English, isn’t it?" asks Ukyo, "Why give a Japanese resort, an English name?"

"I believe it was done to encourage more foreign tourists to go there." he says.

"What do you think, Ukyo." asks Ryoga.

"If these are the only springs around here, then we’d better go." she says and buys the tickets.

Moments after they get on, the bus pulls out. An hour and a half later, the bus slows to a stop. "*Sweet Memory* Resort!" calls the driver.

Ukyo and Ryoga step off the bus and look around. "There’s no one here!" she tells the driver.

"Did you call ahead and make reservations?" he asks.

"No." she says, "We only had time to buy the bus tickets."

"Well, that’s why they’re not here to pick you up." he says, "The resort is about a mile down that road. If you start walking, you should be there in fifteen to twenty minutes."

The driver closes the door of the bus and pulls out, leaving the two behind.

"A MILE?!" fumes Ukyo, "When we get back, I’m going to KILL Ranma!" She looks over at Ryoga. His eyes are glazed and he is staring off into space. She snaps her fingers in front of his nose. SNAP, SNAP! "Ryoga! Don’t act like a deer caught in the headlights now. We gotta get going." SNAP, SNAP!

Ryoga shakes his head, his eyes are still unfocused. "I’m sorry." he says, "It’s just that I thought someone was calling my name."

"That was me, you idiot." she says and grabs his arm, "Let’s go."

"Tendo." says Genma in shock, "The Master is down."

"Saotome." says Soun, "H-he’s not moving."

"What are we going to do?" asks Genma.

"If he recovers and finds out we did nothing...?" asks Soun.

"There’ll be more than just Hell to pay." says Genma.

"Then we have no choice." says Soun, "Right, Saotome? He is challenging all of us."

Both men nod and turn on Uwasa. Separating, they set up to attack him from two sides.

Akane steps forward to join them, but is held back by Ranma. As she turns, the anger in her eyes is met by the determination in his.

"Give them room and watch!" he says firmly.

Tempted to ignore him, Akane reluctantly nods and steps back.

Uwasa’s hands and feet blur as he takes on the two opponents. For each strike, he has a counter and lands blows of his own. His hands jab at them. Even without landing a crushing blow, in moments he has Soun and Genma unconscious, at his feet.

"Don’t worry Akane." says Ranma as he leaps forward, "You can go next."

Infuriated, Akane again tries to join in, but once more, is held back. She turns in shock to see that, without her noticing, Nabiki and Dr. Tofu have entered the hall. Dr. Tofu lets go of her arm.

"Watch, Akane." he says, "You have to know what you might be up against."

Ranma’s speed and agility offer only limited benefit against his taller opponent’s experience and greater reach. Unable to land a crippling blow, his only hope is to keep blocking Uwasa’s attempts to jab at his pressure points and wait for an opening. Sweat pours from both of them as the match goes on. Breathing hard, they pause during a momentary break.

"You’re pretty good." says Uwasa, "No one else has lasted as long."

"I’ll last longer than you." says Ranma as they resume.

Despite this boast, in a few minutes, Ranma is also on the floor.

"Why did you come here?!" demands Akane, "Why didn’t you challenge just one of us?! Why the whole Dojo?!"

"Don’t you know that if I beat the entire Dojo," asks Uwasa, "I can ask for anything I want?"

"What is it you want?" asks Dr. Tofu. He rests his hand on Akane’s shoulder.

"Isn’t it obvious, Cousin?" he asks, "All I want is to arrange for an engagement to Kasumi. Besides, don’t you think she’s cute?"

"THAT’S IT!!! I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH!!!" shouts Akane. Her muscles tense as she prepares to charge Uwasa.

Dr. Tofu’s hand exerts pressure on the base of her neck. "So have I." he says as he lowers Akane to the floor.

"I guess it’s over." says Uwasa.

"Not quite!" says Nabiki.

While Dr. Tofu keeps his eyes on his cousin, Uwasa turns to look at Nabiki.

"There aren’t any members of this Dojo still standing." he says, "I’ve won."

"You didn’t defeat Akane." she says, "Since she cannot meet your challenge and I am the only conscious Tendo here, I name Dr. Tofu as her alternate. If you wish to defeat the Dojo, you have to beat him too."

Uwasa turns to him, "This isn’t necessary, Cousin."

"I think it is." says Dr. Tofu.

Seeing his cousin’s face, Uwasa nods in agreement and the two men walk to the far end of the Dojo. Nabiki pulls the fallen out of the way and returns to the door.

Without warning or ceremony, the two men join battle. From the beginning they seem evenly matched. In size, in strength and in technique, neither appears to get the upper hand. Jab is blocked and countered, only to be blocked and countered in return. As the match goes on, the main reason that it is rare indeed for someone to challenge an entire Dojo, comes to light. Uwasa has faced not only Happosai, Soun, Genma and Ranma, but Kuno, Mousse and Ryoga as well in the last few hours. While the matches lasted from just seconds to several minutes, each one has taken it’s toll. Uwasa is tiring whereas Dr. Tofu is rested and has an edge his cousin might not have foreseen. In treating Mousse and Ryoga, he knows exactly which pressure points his cousin is after. Dr. Tofu breaks through his cousin’s defenses and strikes three pressure points in rapid succession. His cousin falls to the floor, but is still conscious.

"You didn’t deliver the ‘Coup de Grace’." says Uwasa.

"I don’t have to." Dr. Tofu says, "It’s over, Cousin. And, you’re wrong about one thing.

I don’t think Kasumi’s ‘cute’." he pauses for a moment, "I think she’s beautiful."

Nabiki turns to see the door of the training hall slide closed.

Kasumi? she wonders, Did she hear everything Dr. Tofu said, or just...?

As Nabiki tends to the fallen members of the Dojo, Dr. Tofu confronts his cousin.

"The two of you just met." he says and asks, "Why did you want to be engaged to Kasumi?"

"Me?" asks Uwasa, "I never said that."

"But, you said you wanted to arrange an engagement to Kasumi?" he asks.

"Not to me." says Uwasa, "To you."

"What?!" asks Dr. Tofu, "Why?"

"From your reaction when she walked in the door of your office," says Uwasa, "I knew that you were in love with her. I also knew that it would take you years before you might be ready to ask her yourself. As a relative of yours, I thought it was my duty to try to cut that short."

"I didn’t ask you to..." says Dr. Tofu as his cousin puts a hand on his arm.

"I know," he says, "but even though I lost, there may still be a way."

"I’m not fighting anyone in this Dojo." says Dr. Tofu.

"You might not need to." says Uwasa, "I remember your father talking about a healing spring on Mount Fuji. It could cure you of this problem."

"That spring is very unreliable." says Dr. Tofu, "If conditions aren’t just right, nothing will happen."

"I know that." says Uwasa, "I also know what signs to look for. I’ll be spending some time on Mount Fuji. I can keep an eye on the spring and let you know when you can use it."

Dr. Tofu looks around and thinks out loud, "There are others that could benefit from that spring as well, but they’re not ready to use it. Something else has to happen before it would do them the most good."

"Well, I can’t stay up on the mountain forever." says Uwasa, "In a couple of months that spring will freeze up and be covered by snow."

Fearing the worst, Nabiki has put off talking to Kasumi about how much she might have heard while listening at the door of the training hall during the match between Dr. Tofu and his cousin. She waits until well after breakfast the following day and Kasumi has begun preparations for the noon meal. Trying to act casual, she walks into the kitchen and is greeted by the sight of Kasumi spooning a wonderful smelling soup into a container.

"Kasumi?" she asks, "What are you doing?"

"I made this soup to take to Dr. Tofu’s." she says as she smiles, "I thought he might like something very special today. Don’t you think so, Nabiki."

Relieved, Nabiki grins and says, "Whatever you think is best, Kasumi."

Fade out.

The outer door slides open.

"Doctor?!" calls Ukyo as she drags Ryoga inside, "Dr. Tofu, you have a patient!"

She props Ryoga against a wall and pulls open the inner door. She draws in a quick gasp and raises her hand at the sight of Dr. Tofu still playing with his skeleton. She walks up to him and shakes his shoulders.

"Dr. Tofu! Snap out of it!" she yells, "You’ve got a patient!"

"K-kasumi?" he asks.

"No." she says, "I’m Ukyo. Remember?"

"Ukyo?" he asks, slowly coming out of his fog.

"Yes. Ukyo." she says, "Kasumi must have just been here, right?"

"Uh-huh." nods Dr. Tofu.

With their glasses empty, Akane and Ranma still sit at the table of the cafe. As they talk, outside the window, a girl in a blue and white dress looks in and sees them. She then turns to look down the street and waves her arms. Soon, other girls appear, look in, then turn to walk in the door. Ranma and Akane look up as they approach the table.

"Hi guys." says Akane, "What’s up?"

The girls surround the table. "So, Akane." says one, "When’s the big day?"

"For what?" she asks.

"The wedding." says a second girl.

"The WHAT?" asks Akane. Embarrassed, she looks at Ranma, then back at the girls, "You’ve got to be kidding!"

"Not you and Ranma." says a third girl, "We’ve all just about given up on you two. No, we’re talking about Kasumi and that guy we saw her with today."

"Kasumi was with Dr. Tofu?" asks Ranma.

"No, not Dr. Tofu." says a fourth girl, "This guy was younger and he wasn’t wearing glasses."

"It was SO romantic." sighs the fifth girl, "They were walking together, arm in arm."

"So, who is he, Akane?" asks the first girl.

"You’ve got me." she says, "If it wasn’t Dr. Tofu, I don’t know who it could be."

"It doesn’t sound like Dr. Tofu anyway, Akane." says Ranma, "He always goes into a panic whenever he sees her. Going for a walk with Kasumi, is the last thing I’d expect from him."

"You’re right there, but what if he finds out that Kasumi’s seeing someone else?" she asks, "He’d be devastated."

Ranma looks up, "Where were they headed?"

"It looked to us like they might be going back your house, Akane." says the second.

"Maybe he’s going to ask your father for permission to get engaged to Kasumi?" asks the third.

Akane quickly stands, "Ranma! We have to get home! NOW!!"

"Thank-you, Kasumi." says Uwasa as she sets down a cup of tea for him after serving her father and Genma.

"Well, young man." says Soun, "It is very rare that Kasumi brings a man home with her. Is there something I should know about?"

"Well, yes." he says, "I’ve come here to..."

THWACK!! The sliding door leading from the living room to the hall, slams open. In the doorway stands a very angry Happosai. His arm swings forward as he throws something at the young man. Uwasa snatches it out of mid-air.

"Yours, I believe." says Happosai.

Uwasa flips the twisted cloth open. The two stones disappear into his other hand.

"Actually, this belongs to Kasumi." he says and returns it to her.

"Oh my!" says Kasumi as she takes it, "This is the cloth I had wrapped around the dish I gave Dr. Tofu. I’d forgotten all about it." She smoothes out the wrinkles, folds it and places it on her lap.

"Who are you, anyway?!" demands Happosai. Soun and Genma both nod.

"My name is...?" he starts to say, but is interrupted by a stampede of pounding feet as Akane, with Ranma in tow, appear in the doorway. In shock, they stare at the scene of her father, Ranma’s father and Happosai on one side of the table, with Kasumi and Uwasa on the other. The color drains from Akane’s face as she draws her own conclusions. The moment in time is frozen as no one speaks.

All remain quiet as Uwasa lifts his cup, takes a sip of tea and returns it to the table. The sound of the cup touching the table breaks the silence.

Akane rushes to her sister’s side as the men surround Uwasa. Questions and demands come fast with all talking at once.

"Kasumi! How could you! What about...", "Who is this guy?", "You made me lose my collection!", "What are your intentions? Are you going to take our little Kasumi away from us?"

Both Uwasa and Kasumi are backed into a corner by this interrogation. They look at each other. Kasumi looks back and steps forward during a momentary lull. Surprised, all eyes are now on her.

"Please, Father, everyone." she says and gestures to the young man as he steps forward too, "This is Uwasa. He is Dr. Tofu’s cousin. I brought him here because he said he wanted to speak to you, Father."

"Oh?" asks Soun, "And just what is it you wanted to speak to me about?"

All others finally remain silent as the young man clears his throat.

"I just wanted to let you know, Sir," he says, "is that I’ve come to challenge your Dojo."

All, but Uwasa and Kasumi, stand in stunned silence as they finally understand why he has come. Ranma is the first to speak.

"The entire Dojo?" he asks.

Uwasa nods. "Yes." he says.

"So." says Happosai, "You’ve come to challenge our Dojo. Very well then, I accept that challenge and I will be the first one you have to face!"

"But, Master?" asks Soun, "Shouldn’t it be one of us, your students, who meet the challenge first?"

"Come on, Tendo." says Genma, "If the Master wishes to face this man first, then we shouldn’t try to stop him."

"That collection took me all morning to steal," says Happosai, then corrects himself, "I mean assemble. Besides, it is my right as the founding Master of this school to meet any challenge to this Dojo!"

Ukyo assists the now recovered Dr. Tofu in tending to a still unconscious Ryoga.

"Who could have done this to him, Dr. Tofu?" asks Ukyo, "Even when he fights Ranma, he’s never been this bad off."

"It was my cousin, Uwasa." he says.

"Your cousin?" she asks, "I’ve never met him before. Are you sure?"

Dr. Tofu nods, "He came to visit just after I got through treating Mousse and sending him home with Shampoo. He told me that he had defeated three men just this morning. From his descriptions they had to be Mousse, Tatewaki Kuno and Ryoga. See these red marks on Ryoga? They’re the same ones I saw on Mousse."

Ukyo is a little embarrassed as she looks at Ryoga’s bare chest. The red marks are small, but in very important locations.

"These are all pressure points, aren’t they?" she asks.

"That’s right." he says, "Apparently my cousin has learned how to strike his opponents pressure points with a Shiatsu technique that paralyses nerves and allows him to finish them off by rendering them unconscious."

Ukyo thinks about this, then asks, "Was it your cousin that I saw walking with Kasumi as I was dragging Ryoga here?"

"It could be." he says, "I’m not sure, but I think they left together. He said he was here to challenge Martial Artists and Dojos. He might have asked Kasumi to show him the way to the Tendo Dojo."

"I don’t know." says Ukyo, "I think there was something more going on than just getting directions. He seemed to be..."

"He seemed to be...What?" asks Dr. Tofu.

"Just a second." says Ukyo as she pauses to think, "Isn’t there some kind of tradition that if you beat an entire Dojo, you can ask for anything and they have to give it to you?"

"It doesn’t happen very often," says Dr. Tofu, "but I believe so. Even if he did defeat them all, what would he ask for?"

"Well," says Ukyo, "from the way he was looking at her as they walked, maybe he’d ask for an engagement to Kasumi."

"K-kasumi?!" asks Dr. Tofu in shock.

"Sure." says Ukyo, "Why not?"

Neat title, huh?

 

 

Ch-ching! Ch-ching!

At the sound of a bike’s bell, Ranma and Akane turn. "Shampoo?" wonders Ranma. He and Akane leap out of the way as the Amazon girl speeds by on her bike. Mousse, in his duck form, lies unconscious and bandaged in the bike’s front basket.

"That was Shampoo and Mousse." says Akane, "I wonder what was wrong with him."

"Maybe he ate one of Shampoo’s ‘special’ Dim Sum?" asks Ranma.

"I don’t know, Ranma." says Akane, "He seemed kind of beat up to me."

"It looks like they’re going back to the Cat Cafe." he says, "If he’s hurt, she ought to take him to Dr. Tofu’s. The old ghoul’s not back from China is she?"

"Not that I’ve heard." says Akane, "Ranma, can we stop for a soda or something? All this walking around is making me thirsty."

"Are you buying?" he asks with a smile.

"What?" she asks, "You’re not broke again, are you?"

"You know Pops don’t give me no allowance." he says.

Akane gets mad, "You’re supposed to say, ‘He doesn’t give me any allowance’!"

"Why should my Pop give you an allowance," asks Ranma, trying to get a rise out of her, "when he don’t give me none?"

Akane refuses to take the bait, "Never mind! I’ll buy, but just one soda! Right?!"

"Sure Akane, whatever you say."

"Nice place you have here, ‘Doctor’ Tofu." says the young man as he looks around.

"You think so, Uwasa?" asks Dr. Tofu, "It wasn’t my first choice to set up my practice, but it’s turned out to be just fine. I’m surprised to see you after all these years. What have you been up to?"

"Oh well, you know how it is." says Uwasa, "I still go from place to place, challenging Dojos and anyone who claims to be a Martial Artist. I’ve already faced off with three different young men, just while I was wandering around trying to find this place. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them turns up here before long. Two of them were no trouble at all, but one did give me more than a little workout."

"Was he a young man with black hair and a pig-tail?" asks Dr. Tofu.

"None of them were like that." says Uwasa, "The one who gave me a good match was wearing a mustard colored shirt and a yellow and black bandanna."

"That sounds like Ryoga Hibiki." says Dr. Tofu, then asks, "Was one of the other men, Chinese with long black hair and thick glasses?"

"Yes." says Uwasa, "He has a strong hidden weapons technique, but he always attacks straight ahead. You get above or behind him, and he’s all yours."

"I thought so." says Dr. Tofu, "That was Mousse, I just got through treating him before you got here."

"I’m surprised he got here so quickly on his own." remarks Uwasa.

"He was brought in by a Chinese Amazon girl named, Shampoo." says Dr. Tofu, "They work at the same cafe. What about the third man?"

Uwasa thinks back, "He was arrogant, I’ll give him that much. He kept waving his wooden sword and spouting meaningless drivel. It only took twenty seconds to take care of him. His manservant took him away."

Dr. Tofu smiles, "I guess you won’t have any trouble with most of the Dojos around here."

Uwasa leans forward and asks, "Are there any strong Dojos in this area?"

"Hmm..." ponders Dr. Tofu, "There’s only one really strong Dojo that I know of. It’s the Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."

Uwasa smiles, "Sounds impressive, but are they any good?"

Dr. Tofu nods, "Two families live there, along with the old Master who founded the school. The youngest, Akane Tendo along with her fiancé, Ranma Saotome, live with their fathers and Akane’s two sisters. Akane and Ranma will inherit the school when they get married. I should say if they get married. They seem to fight each other more than anyone else."

"You seem to know them very well." says Uwasa.

Dr. Tofu laughs, "It’s mainly because they often show up here after their more strenuous training workouts or if they’ve been in a match and one of them gets injured."

"It must be convenient for them to have you so close. Do they visit quite often?" he asks.

"I’d say at least once or twice a week, but not just for injuries." says Dr. Tofu.

The sound of the outer door opening, is heard.

Uwasa’s ears pick up, "Oh? Is there something I should know about, Cousin?"

Dr. Tofu starts to laugh and waves his arms, "Oh no! I-it’s n-nothing like that! It’s..."

The inner door slides open. A young woman pauses in the door way.

"Good Afternoon, Dr. Tofu." says Kasumi, "I didn’t realize you had a visitor. I can come back later."

Dr. Tofu’s glasses fog over and a smile is pasted to his face, "N-no, K-k-kasumi, p-please..." he stutters.

Uwasa turns from him to look at her, "I think what my cousin is trying to say, is that he would like you to stay. Isn’t that right?" He looks back.

"Uh-huh." nods Dr. Tofu.

"And you are?" asks Uwasa.

"I’m Kasumi Tendo. Oh my!" says Kasumi as Dr. Tofu suddenly turns and trips over his exam table.

Uwasa picks his cousin up off the floor and sets him on a stool.

In a fog, Dr. Tofu asks, "Where’s Betty?"

"Betty?" asks Uwasa.

"His skeleton over there." says Kasumi, "She seems to be able to calm him down when he’s like this."

Uwasa retrieves the skeleton and gives it to Dr. Tofu. Dr. Tofu takes the skeleton’s hands and bounces it on his knee like a small child.

"Is he like this often?" asks Uwasa.

"Akane says he’s like this only when I’m around." says Kasumi, "I wonder why?"

"I think I can guess." says Uwasa, "So, you’re Akane’s sister?"

"Yes." says Kasumi, then asks, "And you are?"

He bows, "Please forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Uwasa, Dr. Tofu’s cousin. He’s told me about you and your family."

"‘Uwasa’?" wonders Kasumi, "Doesn’t that mean, ‘Rumor’ or ‘talk’?"

"Yes." says Uwasa, "My mother said that I was quite active before I was born, but whenever someone spoke or told a story, I’d calm down so that I could hear them."

Kasumi raises her hand to her mouth as she giggles. A container wrapped in cloth is in her other hand.

"Is that for Dr. Tofu?" he asks.

"Yes." she says, "I’m sorry. I only brought enough for one."

"That’s quite all right." says Uwasa, "I’ll be heading over to your Dojo soon anyway."

"Oh?" asks Kasumi.

"I need to talk to you father." he says. He takes the container from Kasumi and unwraps it. He places it on the counter. "We can leave this here and when my cousin settles down, he can eat it then. Would you be so kind as to show me the way to your Dojo?"

"Of course." she says.

Together, they step outside the office. He offers her his arm and she smiles as she wraps her hand around it. As they walk, she points out the various shops and greets the shop owners as they notice her passing by. Some of the shop keepers and shoppers stare in wonder at the young couple as they go on. They turn onto a side street and the buzzing of the people is replaced by the buzzing of insects as they walk by a small hive in a nearby tree. Most of the bees stay by the hive, but one begins to circle them. They try to ignore it, but the bee does not go away.

"Persistent, isn’t he?" asks Uwasa. Kasumi nods.

Uwasa pulls the folded cloth, that he had removed from the container, out of his pocket and twists it into a rat tail.

"You’re not going to hurt it, are you?" asks Kasumi as she becomes concerned.

Uwasa smiles, "Not at all." His eyes follow the movement of the bee. At the proper moment, his hand and the rat tail flick outward and lightly strike the bee. The bee falls to the ground and both Uwasa and Kasumi kneel down to examine it. The bee’s wings move a few times and then stop. "You see?" he asks, "It’s only stunned. It’ll recover by the time we’ve gone."

Kasumi nods in agreement. They stand and walk on, arm in hand.

As they turn down another street, a cloud of dust can be seen coming their way. A small figure, dressed in maroon and carrying a large bag on his back, runs and leaps to avoid his pursuers, a dozen young women dressed in the powder blue and white dresses of the girl students at Furinkan High School.

"GET HIM!!", "I DON’T THINK SO!!", "YOU LITTLE PERVERT, GIVE US BACK OUR GYM SHORTS!!"

"HI KASUMI, I’LL BE HOME FOR DINNER!!" Happosai yells as he passes them.

Before Kasumi can turn, Uwasa’s hand flicks backwards and the rat tail with stones tied to each end, are cast over the crowd of girls chasing the little master. He leaps to avoid a broom as a young girl swings it at him and his feet are wrapped up by the rat tail. He then falls to the ground and is swarmed by the angry schoolgirls. Kasumi and Uwasa watch only for a moment more, then turn back and walk on.

With their defeated foe at their feet, the weary and worn out girls halt their attack. Some of the girls turn to look down the path the young couple had taken.

"Wasn’t that Akane’s sister, Kasumi?" asks one of the girls.

"I think so." says another, "But who was she with?"

"Maybe it was her boyfriend." says a third.

"Or maybe her fiancé." says a fourth.

"Now that we’ve got our gym shorts back," says a fifth girl, "we have a new mission. We have to find out who that guy is."

A dozen heads nod in unison.

"But, how?" asks the first girl.

"Akane would know." says the third, "Let’s asks her."

"Right." says the fifth girl, "Fan out. If you find Akane, don’t stop until you get the whole story."

Arms thrust high, the girls give the school cheer and rush off in different directions.

Ranma and Akane walk home after saying good-bye to Lonko and Tetsuya.

"You don’t care who you embarrass, do you, Ranma?!" asks Akane.

"You still mad about that?" he asks, "It’s no big deal."

"‘No big deal’?!" she repeats, "What about Lonko?! You look just like her! Pulling your blouse open like that is just the same as if she had done it! She was with her fiancé! Do you have any idea how she must have felt?!"

"I didn’t pull it open! I only unbuttoned it a little!"

"A LITTLE!" screams Akane, "ANY MORE AND YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN IT OFF!!"

Ranma grumbles to himself. He knows this is an argument he can’t win.

They aren’t the only ones arguing. Down a side street, they can hear a young couple yelling.

"Please!" begs the boy, "I need you! You’re the only one! I-I’m lost without you!"

"Don’t say things like that!" yells the girl, "People might get the wrong idea!"

Akane and Ranma duck back out of sight.

"Ranma." Akane asks, "Wasn’t that Ryoga and Ukyo?"

"Sure was, Akane." he says and asks, "I wonder what’s going on?"

Akane steps forward, "Let’s find out."

Girl-type Ranma pulls her back, "Wait a minute, Akane. If we barge in on them, they’ll just deny everything."

Reluctantly, Akane nods. They continue to listen in.

"But why me?!" asks Ukyo.

"There isn’t anyone else!" says Ryoga, "I’ll never find what I need without you!"

Stunned, Akane and Ranma pull back once more.

"You don’t think they’re...?" asks Ranma.

"It could be." says Akane. Once more they listen in.

"I am not guiding you all of the way to China!" yells Ukyo, "I’ve got a restaurant to run!"

While Akane is disappointed, Ranma perks up.

"You don’t have to take me to China!" pleads Ryoga, "Just help me find Shampoo’s Great-grandmother!"

"Didn’t you tell me, she was on her way to China?" asks Ukyo.

"Yes, but maybe she hasn’t left Japan yet." begs Ryoga.

"And just where are we supposed to look for her?" asks Ukyo.

"Then you’ll help me?!" asks Ryoga, hopefully.

"No! No way, Sugar." says Ukyo, "After what you tried to do to Ran-Chan..."

Ukyo’s voice fades as they walk on and turn a corner.

Akane and Ranma step out to the street.

"I guess they’re not, after all." says Akane.

So, thinks girl-type Ranma, the Old Ghoul is going to China. Ryoga must think she’s on her way to Jusenkyo. But, how did he find out?

"Why is Ryoga trying to find Cologne?" asks Akane.

"I don’t know. Maybe..." Ranma pauses to think. He tries to throw Akane off the track, "Maybe it has something to do with that tea she’s looking for."

Akane looks puzzled. "But what’s so important about that tea?" she asks, "Why would Ryoga care so much about some new tea that Cologne is trying to find?"

Girl-type Ranma shrugs his shoulders as he draws a blank.

"Some help you are." says Akane.

"What did you expect, Akane?" asks Ranma, "You know just as much about this as I do."

"She did WHAT?!" asks Genma.

"Keep you voice down!" warns Ranma, "She left a couple of days ago."

"Listen, Ranma." his father says sternly, "If the Queen of the Amazons went to China, it wasn’t just for some mysterious tea. She’s planning something and I don’t think we’re going to like it."

Bucket in hand, Happosai stops in his tracks. A mysterious tea? he wonders, And she’s going all the way to China to find it? Hmm-m-m. Oh well, time to worry about that later.

Splash! "RANMA!! So good to see you again!" Happosai leaps and lands on girl-type Ranma’s chest.

"GET OFF ME, YOU OLD FREAK!!" Ranma spins and tries to dislodge him.

"WOO HOO!!" yells Happosai as he continues to cling on, "You’ll have to do better than that, Cutie!"

"OH YEAH," yells Ranma as he pours a teapot full of hot water on himself and Happosai, "HOW’S THIS!!"

Happosai jumps off, "AH-H-H, THAT’S HOT!!!"

"C’MERE, YOU!!" yells boy-type Ranma as he begins to chase Happosai.

"Catch me if you can, Ranma!" Happosai yells as he runs down a hall. Ranma is close behind him. Happosai leaps to the ceiling and pops balloons filled with cold water. Ranma avoids each blob of water as it falls.

"Come down here, Freak!" yells Ranma, "You ain’t gonna get me like that!"

"You’re no fun." says Happosai, "How’s about this?!" He pulls out a squirt gun and nails Ranma between the eyes, turning him into a girl. "Gotcha!"

"You little freak!" says girl-type Ranma as he wipes the water from his face, "When I get my hands on you...!"

"I’d rather get my hands on you!" says Happosai as he drops from the ceiling.

Ranma strikes out blindly, but Happosai lands on his extended arm. Both pause and look up in surprise as a sweet meaty aroma passes by. Two noses begin to twitch.

"Something smells good!" says Happosai, "Lunch must be ready. Race you to the table!"

Girl-type Ranma’s hand snags the back of Happosai’s shirt, "Not this time, old Timer!" He throws the little master back down the hall and quickly runs for the dinning room, only to find Happosai already starting on a bowl of steamed rice.

"How did you...?" Ranma asks then shakes his head, "Never mind. Hey Kasumi, what smells so good?"

Kasumi turns from the rice steamer and lifts the cover from a plate, "I made some pork cutlets and spiced ham."

"Wow! What’s the occasion?" he asks as he and the others dig in.

A sound from behind Ranma makes him and Akane turn around. It is a half sniff/half snort as P-Chan stands in the doorway.

So much for China, eh Ryoga? thinks Ranma.

"P-Chan! Come here, baby." calls Akane, "Join us for lunch."

"Yeah, Man." says Ranma as he lifts a slice of ham and shows it to P-Chan, "We wouldn’t want all this good food to go to waste." He brings the chopsticks to his mouth and tears off a big chunk.

P-Chan’s eyes go wide and sweat forms on his face. With a strangled squeal, a hoof goes to his mouth and he turns to run down the hall.

"What?" asks Akane, "What’s wrong with him?"

Nabiki says, "I’ve never seen a black pig turn ‘green’ before."

Girl-type Ranma looks at the meat on his plate and begins to understand. A smile forms on his face.

In a Herbalist’s shop somewhere in the mountains of northern China, Cologne is having a talk with the young owner.

"Why didn’t you say that in your letter?" she asks.

"I didn’t know where they got it then." says Aloe, "I thought that you would want to know right away that the some of the plants you wanted had been found."

"Why didn’t they tell you when they gave it to you?" she asks.

"I have people like that looking for useful plants all over the province." says Aloe, "They bring in stuff by the pack load. I have to sort it out by hand and decide if anything is worth the trouble of going back for more. When they return, I let them know what I want them to get more of and send them out again. It was only by chance that a pack came in with the herbs you wanted. The one who brought it in wasn’t going to be back for two weeks, so I sent you what I could."

"So, when is he or she going to be back?" asks Cologne.

"Funny you should say that." says Aloe, "It seems to be a brother/sister team that brought it in, but I only see one at a time. The strange thing, is that they both go by the same name, Sapphire. Sounds like a girl’s name to me, but the brother doesn’t mind when someone calls him that. Anyway, one of them should be back in a couple of days."

"Brother and sister, you say?" asks Cologne, "Have they ever been to the Qinghai Province?"

"I don’t know that much about them." says Aloe.

"Well, if Sapphire, brother or sister, won’t be back for a couple of days, I may as well look through what else you have." says Cologne, "Then I’ll have to wait until one of them gets back."

Over the next two days, Cologne helps Aloe sort through the contents of each pack that comes in. At first, Cologne is not sure if Aloe knows her craft, but as time goes on, she begins to appreciate just how skilled this young woman is. On the third day after her arrival, a young man enters the shop bearing a pack. He walks to the counter as Cologne eyes him closely.

"I hope I got enough of what you wanted." he says as he puts down the pack, "I could find only a few plants and I left some so they could grow back. I think I found some of the other plants you were looking for, so I brought back one of each so you could tell me if I was right."

"You were right to leave some behind." says Aloe, "If someone were to take them all, then there wouldn’t be any the next time we might need them. Cologne?" she says as she turns to the old woman, "I believe this is what you are looking for." She holds up a small cluster of flowers.

Cologne’s eyes widen as she looks at the flowers. She says, "Yes. That is one of the plants I need." She hops onto the counter to look in the pack. She pulls out the remaining plants one-by-one. She sets four aside and returns the rest to the pack. "I hope you remember where you got these as well, because I need them all if I’m going to make the tea I have in mind."

"Yes, but isn’t this a lot of trouble to go to, just for tea?" he asks.

"It’s a very special tea." says Cologne as she looks him over, "You must be Sapphire. Aloe told me a little about you. You and your sister, that is."

He smiles, "Yes. My sister and I do what we can to support our mother. If that’s all you need, then I’ll go back out soon and get more of those other plants. I should be back in about a week and a half."

"Perhaps I should go with you." offers Cologne.

"It’s a rough trip." warns Sapphire, "Are you sure you’re up to it?"

"Don’t worry about me," says Cologne, "I could outrun you if I wanted too."

"Ma’am," says Sapphire, "I wouldn’t doubt it for the world."

"I’ll take care of these while you’re gone then." says Aloe, referring to the plants Cologne has set aside. She then pays Sapphire for the plants he has brought in.

Sapphire smiles as he takes the money, then picks up his backpack and turns to Cologne.

"Ready when you are." she says and follows the young man out.

"I’ll have to get some supplies and give the rest of the money to my mother before we go." he says.

Cologne watches as he shops. When he is done, she says, "You travel light."

"So do you." he says noticing that she has bought only a small number of items.

"I need very little when I’m out in the wild." she says. Sapphire nods.

At the edge of the village, Sapphire walks up to a small house. He opens the door and walks inside. A woman stands and walks over to greet him.

"Sapphire." sighs the woman in relief, "I’m so glad you’re back safe. But, why are you..."

Sapphire interrupts his mother and steps aside, "Mother, I brought someone with me. This is Cologne. She is looking for plants to make tea."

"Oh? Y-yes." she says nervously, "My s-son is always looking for plants that someone needs, but tea?"

"It’s a very rare kind of tea. It’s ingredients are very hard to find." she says and raises her hand, "But, please. There is no need for you or your ‘Son’ to be nervous. My own Great-granddaughter and her groom-to-be have both been to Jusenkyo."

Mother and "Son" both visibly relax. The need for pretense is gone.

"You have my sympathies." says Sapphire’s mother, "Would you like some of our own tea? It may not be as special as what you are looking for, but it is quite good."

"I would like some, thank-you." she says, "I think your ‘son’ is handling this very well. Most would be quite bitter about what has happened to them."

"I have endured this curse longer than you might have guessed." he says and pours out some hot water from the teapot and onto his head.

"I see." says Cologne as she looks at the now ‘daughter’ of the woman. "You must have fallen into the Spring of Drowned Man."

"Yes." says Sapphire as she sits at a table, "It was four years ago that this happened."

Cologne nods. She says, "There is a boy I know, my future son-in-law. He fell into the Spring of Drowned Girl. Normally a black haired pig-tailed boy, he turns into a red haired pig-tailed girl. You two have much in common. Perhaps someday you should meet."

"Where does he live?" she asks.

"In Japan."

"J-japan?" mother and daughter ask.

"Yes." says Cologne, "In Tokyo. The Nerima District. Not far from my restaurant, ‘The Cat Cafe’. After all, if he’s going to marry my Great-granddaughter, I have to keep an eye on him."

"GR-R-R!!"

"What’s a matter, Pork-butt?" asks Ranma with his hand extended, "Ain’t-cha hungry?"

"SQUEE-E-E!!" screams P-Chan as he leaps at Ranma, knocking the food from his hand.

Akane comes running into the room. "RANMA!!" she yells, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY POOR P-CHAN?!!! YOU CAN HEAR HIM HALFWAY ACROSS THE HOUSE!!"

"I’m just trying to feed him, Akane." he says rubbing his hand.

Akane bends down to pick up the piece of meat. "Is this what you were trying to feed him?!" she demands, "I can’t believe you would try to give ham to a pig after what happened last week! You know P-Chan can’t stand the smell of pork!"

"And just how would he know it was pork?" Ranma asks.

"I always knew you were an insensitive Jerk," she says as she walks toward him, "but do you have to prove it every day?" She stuffs the ham down his shirt and uses it to wipe her hands. She turns from Ranma, walks over and picks up a still angry P-Chan. Without another word, Akane walks by Ranma and out the door.

"Well, now that we’ve got all of the plants you wanted," says girl-type Sapphire, "do you think I might be able to try some of your ‘special’ tea?"

Cologne smiles, the trip out and back had taken them nine days. In that time, the two of them had gotten to be good friends. Sapphire’s skills at locating and cultivating the rare plants were close if not equal to her own.

"We’d better let Aloe prepare them before we make any tea." says Cologne, "We still need the plants that she has already done to make it anyway. And yes, you can be the first to try a cup if you’d like."

"Will you be going back to Japan when it’s all done?" Sapphire asks.

"I’ll stay here for a little while." she says, "I need to check on something even after the tea’s ready."

"Will you stay with us?" asks Sapphire, "I think Mother would like the company."

"Thank-you." says Cologne, "That will do fine."

Fade out.

While Cologne, in the kitchen, prepares to start cooking for the customers who will soon arrive for lunch, Shampoo and Mousse set up the tables.

"Why am I doing this?" grumbles Mousse, "I’m not even getting paid for it."

"Mousse want to stay, Mousse work." says Shampoo, "Otherwise go back to China."

He looks up at her. "No." says Mousse, firmly, "I won’t go back. Not until I beat Ranma. I don’t care how long it takes or how I do it. I will beat Ranma."

"So close..." says Cologne.

"What was that?" asks Mousse as he pushes his glasses up and looks at her.

"You remember," she says, "when you and that boy, Ryoga, joined up. You should have had Ranma then."

"But..." says Mousse, "It wasn’t fair! That girl interfered!"

Cologne nods, "And with just a few more days training, Ryoga’s blast would have been so powerful, Ukyo’s spatula would have been as useful as a flyswatter."

Mousse’s hand goes to his chest. He still remembers the pain from the bruise left behind by the impact of the ball of energy Ryoga had unleashed against Ranma, but was instead batted at him by Ukyo with her large metal spatula.

Shampoo is getting wound up too. "GR-R-R! Spatula-girl not know place! Fight which was between men, womens must no interfere!" she says, forgetting for the moment that she had done her best to make sure that Mousse would lose to Ranma during their fight. "Even if two against one." she says and looks accusingly at Mousse.

"B-but..." he says, then looks to Cologne for help, but she pretends not to notice. Abandoned by her, his shoulders slump.

"Package for the Cat Cafe!" calls a Postman as he walks in the front door. He sees the trio and the tension inside the room. He stops in his tracks.

Turning her back on Mousse, Shampoo walks to the door and accepts the package.

"Is for Great-grandmother." she says surprised, "From China?"

"From China?" asks Cologne, "Why would anyone in China be sending me a package?"

She hops from the kitchen on her staff and looks at the package in Shampoo’s hands.

"From: Aloe, Herbalist." she reads. Her face lights up, "Ah! I’ve been waiting for this!"

She takes the package from Shampoo and sets it on one of the tables. In one swift motion, the twine and paper are removed. She lifts the lid and looks inside. Nestled in straw, is a glass jar. In it, are what look to be dried flowers and leaves. She brings out the bottle for a closer look. Turning it over several times, she examines it’s contents. Soon the look of anticipation, is replaced by disappointment.

"And she calls herself a ‘Herbalist’?" says Cologne as she shakes her head and opens the top.

"What is wrong, Great-grandmother?" asks Shampoo.

"This isn’t even half of what I’m looking for." says Cologne, "And mixing them like this in one bottle... Useless." She walks over to a wastebasket and empties the bottle into it.

Cologne returns to the package. Her hand reaches into the straw and pulls out a letter. She unfolds it and reads to herself. Her eyes move up and down the page as she reads. When she is finished, she takes the letter into the kitchen, lights a match and sets fire to the paper. Once it is burning, she drops it into the sink and turns on the water to flush the ashes down the drain.

"Letter is no good news, Great-grandmother?" asks Shampoo.

Cologne shuts off the water. "No." She sighs as if a great weight has been placed upon her. She looks around. "Shampoo." she says, "You and Mousse will have to look after the Cafe while I’m gone."

"Great-grandmother, where you going?" she asks.

"I don’t know yet." she says, "I’ll be gone for a week or two, maybe more."

Shampoo follows Cologne as she goes into the back room to pack for the trip.

"I’m disappointed in that girl." mumbles Cologne, "If she had just followed my instructions..." She shakes her head, "If you want something done right..."

Without another word, Cologne finishes packing and leaves by the front door. Shampoo starts to follow, but customers begin to enter the cafe and she turns back. She walks in to find Mousse pulling a few of the tiny dried leaves from the wastebasket. He crushes them in his hand and sniffs at it. When Shampoo reaches him, he looks at her.

"They must be for some kind of tea, I’d guess." he says, "But I don’t know what it is."

"Great-grandmother always searching for new tea to serve customers." she says, "Maybe we get to try when she return."

Mousse nods and brushes his hands over the basket.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"I can not believe you, Ranma!" says Akane as she hands him another board. "It’s been over a week and you’re just now repairing the damage to the training hall?"

"I didn’t do all this!" he complains as he takes it. "It was you guys..."

"We were training you, you Dolt!" she says. "Patching up the holes is the least you could do to thank us!"

"You got in some training too!" he says, grabbing some more nails. "Or, hadn’t you noticed?"

"Ran-Chan’s right, Akane." says Ukyo as she tends to the cracks in the floor left behind by her small spatulas. "We’ve both gotten better."

"Yeah, at throwing volleyballs." she says sarcastically.

"Well, not just that." says Ukyo, "Without training Ran-Chan, I don’t think I would’ve been able to hit that ball of energy away. I wouldn’t even have thought of doing it if I hadn’t known what was going to happen."

"But Ryoga didn’t even have his battle aura around him." Akane asks, "How did you know he was going to do it?"

"I didn’t see Ryoga until I jumped over the wall." she says, "Mousse was yelling for him to do it. I only got over the wall in time to see the ball leave his hands."

"But why?" asks Akane. "Why did you do it at all?"

"Remember when I hit the ball at Ranma and he hit it back?" she asks.

They nod. Akane says, "Grandfather Happosai hit Ranma on the head with his pipe."

Ukyo goes on, "The little Turd said that a wooden staff wasn’t strong enough to treat the ball of energy like a baseball. That’s when I thought of using my spatula to see if I could knock it away. Besides," Ukyo stands up, "if anyone’s going to defeat my Ran-Chan, it had better be one-on-one."

YOUR Ran-Chan? thinks Akane.

"One-on-one, two-on-one, three-on-one, it doesn’t matter." says Ranma as he nails in a board, "I’ll still beat ‘em."

WHAP! Akane slaps Ranma across the back of his head with a board.

"OW!" he complains, "Why’d ja do that for?"

"Who are you kidding, Ranma?!" she says, "If it hadn’t been for Ukyo... I-I don’t believe you! Can’t you at least be a little grateful?!"

Holding the back of his head, Ranma turns and walks toward Ukyo.

"R-Ran-Chan!" she says nervously, "Y-you don’t have to...?" She stops as Ranma walks by her and out the training hall door. Stunned, both girls watch him leave.

"Do... Do you believe him?!" asks Akane.

Ukyo’s shoulders slump, "That’s Ranma for you."

"What do you mean, Ukyo?" asks Akane, "That was just rude!"

"No, Akane." says Ukyo as she looks out the door, "If he can’t do it himself..."

"Y-you’re going t-to China?!"

"Yes, Ryoga." says Cologne, "Why don’t you join me?"

"YOU MEAN IT?!!" he screams as tears fall from his eyes. He thinks, If I can go to China, I can find the springs at Jusenkyo! With her to guide me, I can be cured before Ranma!

"Why not?" she says and turns to the schedule board, "The train won’t be here for a few minutes, so...?" She turns back. Ryoga is no longer there. "I swear," she says, "that boy could get lost just by standing still." She sighs, "I guess I’ll have to find a Guinea Pig when I get there."

"The Old Ghoul’s gone?" asks Ranma.

Shampoo nods, "Great-grandmother leave yesterday."

"That’s the best news I’ve heard all day." he says, smiling.

"But," asks Akane, "where did she go?"

"She didn’t say." Mousse says, "She got a package from a woman in China, so we think she went there."

"China?" asks Ranma, "Why did she have to go to China?"

"Shampoo think Great-grandmother looking for new tea." she says.

"A new tea?" asks Akane.

"A bottle of dried flowers and leaves was in the package along with a letter." says Mousse. "She looked at the bottle, dumped it out, read the letter, then burned the letter and said she was leaving."

"She burned the letter?" asks Ranma.

"Great-grandmother leave Shampoo all alone to run Cafe." Shampoo says as she closes the distance between her and Ranma. She throws her arms around him, "Ranma stay to help Shampoo run Cafe?"

"Shampoo-oo?" cries a hurt Mousse, trying to remind her that he is there too.

Ranma tries to pull back, "No! Thanks Shampoo, but..." His hands slip.

Splash! Akane empties a vase on them. "What are you two DOING?!" she yells.

"AH-H-H!!" screams girl-type Ranma as he is now holding onto Shampoo in her cat form. "GET IT OFF ME!! GET IT OFF ME!!" He tosses Shampoo at Mousse and runs out the door.

"HUMPH!!" sniffs Akane as she steps out the door to follow Ranma.

The clear path and pedestrians staring in wonder, give her a trail to follow.

As the trail goes cold, Akane stops. She looks around. In a nearby alley, a trashcan is shaking. She walks over to it.

Smiling, she inhales, "MEOW!!" she yowls like an angry cat.

"YEOW!!" screams girl-type Ranma as he jumps to the top of a pole. Panic-stricken, he holds on for dear life. He looks down and sees Akane. "Y-YOU?!" he spits out.

"Ha-ha, Gotcha!" she teases. "Honestly, Ranma." she says as he starts to climb down, "You’ve got to do something about your fear of cats."

"Thanks for the suggestion." he says sarcastically, "And just what do you think I can do about it?" They leave the alley and start walking down the street.

"I don’t know, but you’ve got to do something." she says, "I mean, it’s not like you can avoid them. There are just too many."

Ranma shudders, "Br-r-r. Don’t remind me."

A young man’s voice is heard from across the street, "Lonko!"

Girl-type Ranma and Akane look at each other. They shrug and walk on.

"Lonko, wait!"

"Huh?" ask Ranma and Akane, they turn around. A young man walks up to them.

"There you are, Lonko." he says, smiling, "I thought I’d lost you."

Ranma shakes his head, "I’m not..." The man looks surprised.

"What happened to the dress you were wearing?" he asks. He looks at Akane, "Oh, it’s you. Akane, right?" he says, "I see you found Lonko."

Akane finally recognizes him, "Wait a minute. You’re Tetsuya. Right?"

Smiling, he nods, "Yes, I am."

"Tetsuya!" calls a young, red-headed, pig-tailed woman in a dress, as she walks over to them. "I’m over here. Who are you talking to? Oh! Hi, Akane!" she says, then freezes in her tracks when she sees Ranma.

"I thought I was talking to you." Tetsuya says and steps aside so she can get a better look.

"It was you in the picture." she says at last.

"Wha-what picture?" asks Ranma, just as stunned as Lonko is.

"Akane showed me a picture of you in a photo album." she says, "At first I thought it was me."

"I can see why." says Ranma.

"Do I sound like that?" Lonko turns to ask Tetsuya, referring to Ranma’s voice. Ranma turns as well. Both Tetsuya and Akane nod.

"Incredible." says Tetsuya, "You’re like twins. Do you have the same mother and father?"

Ranma starts to laugh. Akane and Lonko start in as well.

"Did I say something funny?" asks Tetsuya, puzzled.

"No, no, no." assures Lonko as she wipes a tear, "But this is Ranma, and Ranma is Akane’s fiancé."

Tetsuya’s face goes blank, "You’re kidding, right?"

After the explanation, the four of them sit at an open air Cafe.

"So, what are you two doing here?" asks Akane.

"Since we live so far apart," says Lonko, "Tetsuya hasn’t met my parents yet. Now that there’s a break at our schools, we decided to meet at my aunt and uncle’s house and go to meet my parents from there. We were just doing a little shopping before we went to the station."

"We got separated and when I saw a girl with red hair and a pig-tail," says Tetsuya, "I thought it was Lonko. I mean, how many red headed pig-tailed girls can there be in Japan?"

Lonko nods, "Until I met Akane and she told me about you, Ranma, I thought I was the only one."

"You and me both." says girl-type Ranma.

Down the street, a young man cannot believe his own eyes.

"Sasuke!" he says, "Do you see that?"

"See what, Master?" asks the little Ninja, trying to see around an armload of bags.

"Over there, you blind Oaf!" he yells, "At that table over there! Akane Tendo and not one, but two Pig-tailed girls!"

"I see them, Master, but who’s that young man they’re with?" he asks.

"Surely he is nothing but a passing acquaintance." says Tatewaki Kuno, "No one but I can claim to have not just two, but now three true loves."

"The Master is always right," says the little Ninja, "but please don’t call me ‘Shirley’."

"No one shall dare stand in my way," he says, "I go to them now, Sasuke!"

"Please, Master wait!" he pleads, "Are you sure you’re healed from the last encounter with the Pig-tailed girl?"

"I am fine, my faithful servant." Tatewaki assures him, "You yourself removed the bandages a week ago. Besides, neither of the Pig-tailed girls is carrying a suitcase this time."

"Still, I advise caution, my young Master." he says.

"Nonsense, Sasuke." he says, then yells as he leaps, "I’m OFF!"

"You’ve got that right." mumbles the little Ninja, expecting the worst.

"AKANE TENDO, PIG-TAILED GIRLS," he yells "I WOULD DATE WITH YOU!!"

P-P-POW!!! Though seated, three fists strike out in unison.

"MASTER!!" cries Sasuke as he runs up to the table, watching his master’s trajectory. The little Ninja sets the bags down, quickly bows to the four, picks them up again and runs after his employer. "Master Kuno! Wait for me!!"

"Him again?" asks Lonko.

"Who, Kuno?" asks Ranma, "He’s harmless, well, mostly harmless."

Tetsuya is impressed, "I’ve never seen three people with the same conditioned reflex before."

"Believe me," says girl-type Ranma, "with Kuno, it’s easier that way."

"I don’t know, Ranma." says Akane, "I think Kuno’s the one who’s been conditioned."

"Yeah, to lose." laughs Ranma.

Lonko laughs too, then begins to fan herself, "Is it just me, or is it getting hot around here?"

A hot dry breeze passes through. The others fan themselves as well.

"Whew!" says Akane, "I feel it too."

"No kidding." says Ranma, "I think I’m going to melt if this keeps up."

"This summer is supposed to be one of the warmest on record." observes Tetsuya.

"It’s too early for this." complains Lonko, "I haven’t bought any clothes for this kind of heat."

"It’s so hot." says Ranma as he starts to unbutton his shirt.

"Ranma!" yells Akane, "What do you think you’re doing?!"

"What?" he asks, then notices that Lonko and Tetsuya are staring at him too. Both are blushing. He looks down. "Oh! Sorry!" he says and buttons part way up again. He looks over at Akane who’s just furious at him. "I forgot! Okay?!" girl-type Ranma explains.

"HIYAAHH!!" Ukyo yells. TAK!! TAK!! TAK!! Ranma somersaults to get away from the thrown spatulas.

WHIZZ-CRACK!! Genma and Soun’s staffs smack together just over Ranma’s head as he ducks. Akane and Happosai throw two balls at a time. All pass by without making contact as he avoids them. Ranma runs up a wall and backflips toward the center of the room. Ukyo places her foot on the rim and pushes a tub of water into his path. His feet land on the rim and he leaps again to elude the staff wielded by his father. The staff tips the tub and splashes it’s contents at Genma. Now a panda, he halts his attack.

Ranma changes tactics. Up until now, he has had to keep from being hit. For this practice, he must try to take three of them out of the fight. While he has no intention of hurting Akane or Ukyo, he doesn’t have to. All of them have three brightly colored cloths somewhere on their bodies. He only has to pull the three cloths and they are out. The girls have cloths at their neck and wrists. The men have theirs at their backs and feet. To end this session, Ranma has to take at least three opponents out. On his changing into a panda, the cloths dropped away from Genma and he is out.

Ranma claims the staff dropped by his father. He sets himself up to parry an attack as he prepares to go after the cloths.

But which one? he thinks, Who do I go after next? Akane might have been an easy choice, but even she has gotten better while they’ve all been training him. Instead of focusing on one person, he decides to go after any cloth that might be in his reach.

SPANG!! THWACK!! Ranma swings his staff and bats the ball right by Ukyo’s head.

"Can he do that?!" she asks. She turns to look for her ball and Ranma grabs one of her cloths.

"I just did!" he says. KLUNK!! Happosai’s pipe hits home.

"A staff isn’t strong enough, Ranma!" warns Happosai, "It’ll take something better than that to treat it like a baseball!"

Ranma rubs the knot on his head for a moment before training resumes.

"Ow-w-w." complains Ukyo as she rubs the sore muscles of her arm. She splashes hot water over it as she sits in the bath. "I feel like I’m the one who’s being trained."

"I know just what you mean, Ukyo." says Akane as she pours cold water over herself and works her arm to get out a cramp. She soon slips in beside Ukyo. Her face tenses and then relaxes as the pain of training is soon replaced by the pleasure of hot water. "Ahhh."

"You’re getting pretty good with those volleyballs, Akane." says Ukyo.

"Thanks." she says, "So are you, but we haven’t been able to hit Ranma with one for two days."

"He has gotten better, I’ll admit." says Ukyo, "I wonder where Ryoga is? It’s been a week since I dropped him off at the Cat Cafe. Maybe he’s lost or not coming after all."

"I wish that were true, Ukyo," she says, "but with Shampoo’s Great-grandmother involved, I doubt it. She said it would take longer to teach Ryoga the Battle Aura Blast than it took for him to learn the Bakusai Tenketsu Breaking Point. That took him a whole week to learn."

"Then I guess we can expect Ryoga and Mousse to show up any day now." Ukyo says as she leans forward to rest her chin on her knees. She sighs.

Akane studies her face and asks, "Ukyo, what are you thinking?"

A slight smile forms. "About a rocking chair." she says. Her cheeks flash red and she quickly splashes her face with bath water to hide it from Akane. Damn you, Ryoga! thinks Ukyo.

A rocking chair? wonders Akane.

"I told you, Akane," says Ranma as he, Akane and Ukyo walk down a city street, "I don’t need any bodyguards."

"We’re not here as bodyguards, Ranma." says Akane, "We’re just here to pick up the pieces when you lose. Right, Ukyo?"

"That’s right, Ranma-Honey." she smiles and says, "Someone’s going to have to carry you home and nurse you back to health."

Gr-r-r, thanks for nothing, you two. he thinks.

Ch-ching! Ch-ching! The three turn to look as Shampoo rides up to greet them.

"Nihao, Ranma!" she says, "Shampoo bring important letter." Her bike screeches to a stop. She holds up a folded envelope and hands it to Ranma.

"It’s a challenge letter." he says, "From Ryoga."

"Just Ryoga?" asks Akane, "What about Mousse?"

"Mousse never be strong enough to challenge Ranma." says Shampoo.

Ranma unfolds the envelope and looks at the letter.

The letter reads;

Ranma,

Prepare to breathe your last.

Ryoga

"That’s it?" asks Ukyo, "‘Prepare to breathe your last’?"

Ranma nods and shows her the letter. Before she can take it, the letter begins to smoke and in a flash, it turns to ashes.

"What?!" asks Ukyo.

"That," says Ranma as the ashes fall from his hands, "was from Mousse."

BAP!! A ball bounces off Ranma’s head and lands at his feet. The ball ticks loudly.

"SCATTER!!" warns Ranma as he and the others run from the ball. It emits a bright light, explodes and fills the street with smoke. Coughing, Ranma looks around, trying to find the girls. As the smoke clears, he sees two figures standing at the far end of the block. Mousse and Ryoga.

"No sense waiting on them." says Ranma. He leaps for the top of the wall. "WHOA?!" Polished and oiled, his feet slip off the top of the wall. THUMP!! Ranma lands on his back and rolls quickly as snares try to trap him. Back in the middle of the street, he pauses to look for other traps. Fftt-fftt-fftt! Ranma spins and leaps as three darts from a hidden blowguns pass by and bury themselves in a tree. He hears a "click" from a stone under his foot. Ranma leaps as throwing stars and spears pass through the space he was just in. Now hanging from a tree limb, he swings to gain momentum for his next move. CRACK!! The limb, sawed part way through at it’s base, gives way. CRASH!! Ranma lands in an undignified heap in a bush. "Ow-w."

"Had enough?!" yells Mousse as he and Ryoga still stand at the end of the street.

"I’m not done yet!" yells Ranma. He leaps straight for them.

Splash! Water, appearing out of nowhere, turns him into a girl. Ranma leaps to the side and pauses near a tree.

"Do you think that just changing me into a girl will let you beat me?!" he asks.

"That’s only part of the plan!" says Mousse as he smiles.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!! Ranma is soon tied up as rope and chain wrap around him and the tree. Possibly intended for his boy side, the bonds are slack.

"How about now?!" asks Mousse.

"They’re loose!" yells Ranma "I can get out of these easily!"

Splash! Hot water pours down from the tree turning him back into a boy. The ropes and chain tighten up.

I can’t move! I’ve got to break free! thinks Ranma as he struggles. First one rope, then another snaps. Ranma gathers himself for one last effort to get loose.

"Now Ryoga!" yells Mousse.

Staying calm, Ryoga brings up his battle aura.

Spark to flame. he thinks as each step is completed, Flame to fire. Fire to a ball.

A ball of energy appears in his hands.

"Take this, Ranma!" he says as he brings his hands up, "BATTLE AURA BLAST!!"

The ball leaps from his hands and he is swallowed by blackness.

Motion... That’s the first thing Ryoga feels as he begins to regain consciousness. I’m being moved.

"...heavy..." He hears a girl’s voice. "...set...down, Ryoga."

He feels a hard surface press against his back. His legs are raised to the same level.

He draws in a breath to try to get his voice to work, "A-akane?"

"Not this time, Sugar."

Ryoga’s eyes close tight with the coming of the pain. He relaxes and forces them open.

Slow to focus, his eyes make out the face of the girl standing over him.

"U-ukyo?"

"We drew straws," she says, "and I got you."

"W-what?" he asks, still not understanding, "What happened? Where’s Ranma? Where’s Akane?" His breath is short and ragged.

"Take it easy, Ryoga." she says, "I’ll tell you in a minute. How do you feel?"

The Battle Aura Blast had taken everything he had. "Empty." he says.

Ukyo nods, "What’s the last thing you remember?"

"I used the Battle Aura Blast on Ranma," he says, "then I passed out."

"Well, let me see if I can tell you what happened." says Ukyo as she begins to recount the events from her perspective.

She heard Ranma yell "SCATTER!!" and all four ran from the ticking ball. When it exploded, she and Akane looked on as Ranma leaped to the wall and lost his footing. As trap after trap was triggered, Akane said "They’ve got him running a gauntlet!"

Ukyo looked at Mousse and Ryoga waiting for Ranma at the end of the block.

"Jackass!" she said and using a side street and alley, she made her way around the course.

As she approached the end of the block, she could hear the sounds of Ranma and Mousse yelling at each other.

"How about now?!" asked Mousse.

"They’re loose!" yelled girl-type Ranma "I can get out of these easily!"

Splash!

"Now Ryoga!" shouted Mousse.

"Take this, Ranma!" yelled Ryoga as he brought his hands up, "BATTLE AURA BLAST!!"

"BATTER UP!!" Ukyo leaped to intercept the ball of energy with her swinging spatula.

SP-KANG!! The ball of energy rebounded off the spatula.

"You hit the ball away?!" asks a deeply surprised Ryoga.

"Line drive, Sugar." she says, "Straight to Mousse."

The ball of energy passed by an already fallen Ryoga and into a very shocked Mousse. The impact sent the hidden weapons Master on a one way trip to parts unknown.

"Mousse!!" yelled Shampoo as she watched him go. She turned to Ukyo. "OOH-H-H!!" she fumed, but turned back to run after Mousse.

"My, my!" said an astonished Cologne, "You learn something new every day." In a flash, she was gone too.

"Ranma!"

Ukyo turned to see Akane finish untying Ranma.

"I’ll see you two later, Akane, Ran-Chan." she said as she walked over to where Ryoga lay on the street.

"What are you going to do, Ukyo?" asked Akane.

"I’m going to need Ryoga’s help, Akane." she said and showed them her big metal spatula. It had a dent in it the size and shape of a large cereal bowl.

"I’ll get this flat again," she said as she grabbed Ryoga by the collar, "even if I have to use his head to do it!"

"Hold it still!"

KLANG!!

"UKYO!! You almost hit my fingers!"

"It’s your own fault for getting them in the way!" Her hammer falls again.

KLANG!!

Fade out.