A Lesson In Love
By Marisa Price

Part II: Kissing is Such Sweet Sorrow
					
NOTE: stuff surrounded by ** means it is in another language, i.e. Chinese.

	Of course, things really weren’t back to normal,
but everyone wanted to believe they were. The scene at the
Nekohanten was familiar at least... but a certain unfamiliar
feeling ran through Shampoo.
	Mousse had done it again. Shampoo sighed as she
placed a cool wet cloth on his bruised and bleeding forehead
and securely tucked the sheets around him.
	Mousse was knocked out cold, or else he would
probably be raving something about her great beauty or his
joy at her "tender" ministrations. Shampoo sighed again,
pulling off Mousse’s glasses. She held them up to the light,
and the myriad of cracks and chips caused a prismatic light
to glow through the thick glass, leaving a rainbow on the
nearby wall.
	"Great-grandmother," Shampoo turned and yelled to
Cologne, who was busy in the kitchen creating her special
Amazon-style ramen for their dinner.
	"Yes Shampoo?" Cologne asked as she hopped in on 
her giant staff, her gnarled body wrapped around it like 
monkey grabbing at the limb of a tree. Long swirling white
hair, the only remnant of her 275-year ago Amazonian beauty,
swirled around her like a cape. She looked down at Mousse,
the blood from a cut on his forehead running on her recently
cleaned pillows.
	"I see Mousse won’t be working today," Cologne
smirked.
	Shampoo just frowned and said, *Can you sew him up?*
	"What happened this time, Shampoo?" Cologne asked,
as she shuffled around in a cabinet for medicinal supplies.
She was always prepared to be amused by this obsessed
would-be-fiancee of her Great-granddaughter’s.
	Shampoo threw her hands up in the air, and then
crossed them against her chest. She adopted a perturbed look
and began, *Well today when I was making a delivery, two men
tried take the ramen. . .*
	Cologne nodded in encouragement for her to go on.
	*And, as usual, stupid Mousse appeared and tried to
stop the men. He never realizes that I can defend myself!* 
she grimaced in exasperation, her hands falling to her sides
in clenched fists, before she continued, *Mousse got wet, 
when he fell into a puddle he didn’t see, and became a duck.
He knows he isn’t as strong in his cursed form, but he STILL
tried to defend me! He is so stupid!*
	Cologne grimaced, her eyes narrowing as she
considered the situation, and then she finally said, "And
did they get the ramen, Shampoo?"
	"Aiyaa!" Shampoo said, slipping into Japanese."Yes
they get ramen because Shampoo have to run back and save 
Mousse. Stupid, stupid, Mousse," Shampoo stood and walked 
into the kitchen, opening a sizable drawer. She pulled out 
a pair of glasses, a particularly strong pair, from the 
large assortment collected there for "accidents."
	Shampoo sat down again, placed the glasses on
Mousse’s face. She dropped her hands into her lap and stared
at the floor. Cologne was amused. She shook her head as she
walked out of the room, sensing that the ramen was ready, 
chuckling. She thought, "That Mousse just tries too hard. 
That one has been trying too hard all his life, poor fool."
Out loud she said, "I will come back to stitch him up in a 
while, I have to prepare the materials."
	Shampoo looked at her hands, still folded in her
lap, time passing without notice. She was startled when she 
realized Mousse had been staring at her for several minutes,
and one of his hands now covered her own.
	Mousse smiled at her, a tight pained smile, and
said, "You stayed, Shampoo. You took care of me. Thank-you.
I only wish I could have..."
	Shampoo stood up quickly, pulling her hands from 
Mousse’s. She shouted at him, "How many times Shampoo need
tell Mousse no need protect Shampoo!"
	Mousse tried sitting up, causing blood to start
trickling from his head again, and he looked more than a bit
dizzy. He said quietly, "I am sorry, Shampoo. Shampoo, I was
only doing what I thought was right."
	"Right for Mousse, not right for Shampoo."
	He began to look pale and started to fall sideways.
	"Mousse!" Shampoo shouted, catching him before he
could fall off the bed and then laid him back against the
pillow. *You stay in bed Mousse! The cut is deep!
Great-grandmother will give you stitches soon.*
	He just smiled that sad smile again and said, *I’m 
all right now, Shampoo. Honestly I am. And I am sorry if you
don’t want me to defend you. I... I just can’t seem to help 
it sometimes... you see... as the one you have chose to 
defend you, that cursed Ranma Saotome, has left you time
and time again to save that Akane Tendo... someone else has 
to...*
	Shampoo cut him off, *Ranma doesn’t love Akane! They 
fight! Ranma will realize soon that I am better, just you
wait Mousse. You leave Ranma and I alone!*
	*Will he defend you in the crucial moment, Shampoo?*
Mousse smiled, and added, *as I would?* And then, his eyes
growing heavy, he sank back down on the bed and fell asleep.
	Shampoo remembered the battle against Monlon 
when Ranma had left her to fight and had gone on himself to
help Akane. She had survived, and won, but. . . he had left 
her behind. However, Ranma could defeat those that Mousse 
could never even contemplate, such as Kirin and Saffron and 
others. Bah, Mousse was nothing compared to Ranma. Shampoo
needed a strong warrior, someone who COULD protect her, or
at least that she wasn’t constantly trying to rescue as she
had to do for Mousse. Mousse was sweet and caring, but his
obsessiveness drove her insane. If but one time he let
HER decide how she felt, she might feel differently.
	Shampoo frowned at that thought and stood, upset
now, and strode out to the front of the Nekohantan, going to
unlock her bicycle. Cologne called from the kitchen, "Where
are you going Shampoo?"
	Shampoo poked her head back in the cafe and said to
her great-grandmother, fury still lighting her eyes, *I am 
going to see Ranma.*
	Cologne smiled again at this development. She called
after Shampoo, "Tell my future-son-in-law I said hello!"
					*****
	Akane slammed the door open, knocking it out of the
slider. Kasumi looked up and said, "Oh my. You are home 
early today, Akane!"
	Akane was furious, confused, and embarrassed. As
with Ranma, this did not make a good combination. She opened
her mouth and said, "I felt sick. I came home. LEAVE ME 
ALONE!!"
	Akane stormed past a blinking Kasumi, went upstairs
to her room and slammed the door.
	"Oh my," Kasumi said again, looking at the place
where Akane had stood, frowning.
	Kasumi finally turned around and walked up the
stairs. She put her ear to Akane’s door and heard a lot of 
stomping, pounding, and banging, mixed with several shouts 
of, "BAKA!!!"
	"Ranma." Kasumi thought.
	Finally the noise quieted down and Kasumi knocked on
the door.
	Akane: (muttered) "Come in."
	Akane was sitting at her desk, her back to Kasumi,
looking out the window. There were weights and bokkens and
other objects thrown about the room. Kasumi frowned, 
wondering where to begin, when Akane turned and said, 
quietly, "I am sorry I yelled at you, Kasumi."
	Kasumi smiled. "That is OK, Akane. I know we all 
have bad days. You want to talk about it?"
	Akane began to tear up a bit as the whole story,
including why she was pissed at Ranma, her anger at and the
nosy students, and, finally, how she was feeling strange... 
almost sorry... that the wedding had not happened... that it
hadn’t even FAZED that jerk, Ranma... It all came out in
one tearful, blurred, rush.
	Unspoken was the truth of the matter: Akane was 
confused, still, about how she felt about Ranma.
	Kasumi went over and hugged her sister and said, 
"You should know, Akane, that Ranma has spent so much of his 
life training in the marital arts that he never received any
social training. The way he shows affection to his father is
by fighting him, insulting him, and practicing martial arts 
with him."
	Akane: "So?"
	Kasumi sighed and said, "Well, Akane, who else do
you know that Ranma treats like he does his father?"
	Akane looked blank.
	Kasumi laughed and pointed out, "YOU, you silly. 
Ranma is very shy and doesn’t know how to express love. It 
terrifies him. Nothing has ever been permanent for him, 
anyone he loved except his father was taken away from him. 
Permanence, such as in admitting love, scares him. He is 
probably afraid he will lose you the same way he had to give
up his mother."
	Akane STILL looked blank and asked, "And your
point is....?"
	Kasumi said sternly, "My point is that sometimes 
Ranma’s insults are his way of saying, ‘I love you’, and are 
just his way of fighting his insecurities. Akane, Ranma DOES 
love you. It is just hard for him to say the words."
	Akane started to tear up again and said, fiercely,
"But he DOESN’T, Kasumi! Wouldn’t I have SOME feeling that
he does?"
	"Akane," Kasumi said, looking sad, "You are just
as insecure and just as unable to say how YOU feel. I think
a lot of that has to do with our losing our mother, we have
all been a little closed since then, scared to show our love
"...As our mother did..."
	Akane began to cry harder. Kasumi began to tear up
a little herself, and walked over to hug Akane. Kasumi
leaned down and kissed Akane on the top of her head, the way 
Mother used to do, and then started to walk out of the room.
	Akane: "Kasumi?"
	Kasumi, her eyes sparkling, turned back to look
at Akane.
	Akane sniffed, smiled, and said quietly, "I love
you, Kasumi."
	Kasumi nodded, and said, "I know. I love you too
little sister."
*****
	Kasumi just reached the bottom of the stairs when
Ranma walked in the door. Kasumi smiled and said, "Hello
Ranma!"
	Ranma looked very uncomfortable and was shuffling
his feet. He looked up at Kasumi and asked, "Um... is Akane 
home...?"
	Kasumi nodded and smiled, her eyes drier now.
	"Yes she is here Ranma. Maybe you should go up and
talk to her?" Kasumi asked.
	"Was... was she upset?" Ranma asked haltingly,
noticing that Kasumi looked a little upset herself, and
added, "Uh, are you O.K.?"
	"I'm fine," Kasumi said, and smiled. "I think Akane
needs you more than I do right now."
	Ranma sighed, nodded at Kasumi, and began to walk up
the stairs. He crept along the hallway until he reached
Akane’s door. He hesitated, and then raised his hand to
knock. After a few seconds had passed, and he still hadn’t
knocked, he realized that he couldn’t do it. He didn’t know 
what to say. Ranma turned and went to his bedroom, sat down
on his futon, and began to think.
	Akane had heard Ranma’s familiar step in the hall 
and knew he had paused outside her door.
	"So, he did follow me home from school... took him
long enough!" she thought.
	Akane’s heart began to thump. She wondered if he 
would knock. If he would apologize. Then, she heard the
steps begin again and the sound of the door to Ranma’s room 
opening and shutting.
	"Chicken. Baka. Fool!" she said quietly.
					*****
	By the time Akane finally left her room, Ranma had 
already given up on apologizing and gone to practice in the 
dojo with his father. Akane decided she would do something 
nice for Ranma; maybe being friendly would help ease the 
tension between them. Akane entered the kitchen with high 
hopes.
	"Kasumi- can you help me make dinner for everyone 
tonight?" Akane asked.
	Kasumi looked a bit afraid.
	Akane smiled and said, "I PROMISE I will listen
to you, too."
	Kasumi sighed in relief.
	Two hours later Kasumi sent Akane out to get Ranma
and Genma. She entered the dojo, watched Ranma and Genma
sparring for a minute, and then said, "Ranma, Mr. Saotome,
dinner time!"
	Ranma looked at Akane. She smiled at him.
	Ranma thought, in abject fear, "Why is she being so
NICE to me?"
	Then, it hit him. She must have..... OH NO....
COOKED!!!
	Genma was not quite as quick as Ranma, and also
missed the look of horror on his son’s face.
	Genma smiled and said, "Sounds GREAT, Akane!" and 
ran off to go attack the food before his son could get it
all.
	Akane smiled after Genma’s retreating form, and
turned to look back at Ranma. Then, she saw the grimace on
his face.
	"Ranma... aren’t you coming? I am OK... about
earlier..." she added, frowning, and reinforced her words by
saying, "Really!"
	Ranma sputtered at this, not knowing what to say.
Finally, what seemed a safer course popped into his mouth 
and he said, "Uh... did you cook, Akane?"
	Akane nodded, smiling, and said, "Yep! And it came
out great too!" She blushed and added, "I made it for
you.... it is that curry that I make that is OK..."
	Ranma blanched again, and, then, damn fool, he said
it. "So you ARE still mad, Akane!! Except you are trying to
be all nice and then secretly come up and try and kill me
with your rotten cooking!"
	Akane looked crushed, and then she began to look
angry. A blue aura began to form around her and she whipped 
a mallet out of nowhere, whamming Ranma with it several 
times before she stormed out of the dojo.
					*****
	Ranma finally crawled from the dojo into the dining
room. Nabiki, Genma, Kasumi, Soun, and Nadoka were all
already munching away happily. Ranma looked at the food on
the table.... it looked... well, NORMAL.
	Ranma sat down, picking up a bowl and some 
chopsticks. He put some of the food in his bowl and poked at
it. He leaned down and sniffed the mix and thought, "Hey...
it even SMELLS good."
	Nadoka looked at her son and asked, "Is something
wrong Ranma?"
	Ranma shook his head and said, "It is just, well...
Akane said she cooked dinner!"
	Kasumi smiled and said, "Yes she did Ranma! She 
listened to me very closely and tried all the dishes herself
before she served them.... I think she was cooking for you 
especially, Ranma!"
	Ranma sighed, closed his eyes, and began to eat. He
realized that it was actually... good. Which made him feel 
terrible. Ranma opened his eyes and noticed everyone was 
looking at him.
	He blushed, and then groaned, thinking, "What ELSE
can go wrong today?"
	Nabiki grinned and said, "Guess you better go
apologize, eh Ranma?"
	Ranma looked frustrated, but, knowing he couldn’t 
fight well on an empty stomach, finished eating before he 
went to go apologize for the second time that day. But, fate
had other ideas.
	Suddenly, a cry filled the Tendo Dojo.
	Ryouga: "Ranma, where are you???!!!"
	Ranma realized his day was about to get,
unbelievably, even worse. He groaned and got up to go 
greet his "guest."
					*****
	Ranma tapped Ryouga on the shoulder. Ryouga was
looking into the coat closet asking, "Ranma? Are you in 
here?"
	Ryouga turned around at the tap, saw Ranma, and
assumed a fighting stance.
	"RAAAANNNNNMMMMAA!" Ryouga shouted.
	Ranma wasn’t even fazed. He asked, "Ok, Ryouga, what
did I do now?"
	Ryouga, as usual, looked really pissed off, and
said, "I have been thinking about it, and I STILL can’t 
believe that you allowed the wedding between you and Akane 
to be called off. I LET you have her because I thought you
loved her and were going to marry her!!!"
	Ranma backed against the wall, hands raised in the 
typical Takahashi "oh shit" manner.
	Ranma stammered, "Lll....llll....looo...? Ryouga,
what are you TALKING about? After that whole fiasco you were
HAPPY I didn’t marry her... and then you wandered off!"
	"I care only about her happiness!" Ryouga shouted,
raising his umbrella to strike Ranma, and adding, "Even if I
must sacrifice my own!"
	"I guess this means you just couldn’t FIND Akari,
huh, pig-boy?" Ranma said, spitefully, getting angry
finally.
	Ranma moved just in time as Ryouga’s swipe knocked
a very large hole in the wall where Ranma had been standing.
Ryouga, his balance off, fell through the new "doorway."
Ranma looked out at Ryouga’s prone form, thought for a 
minute, and then decided that this was the perfect way to 
work off some of the stress he had built up from the day’s
events. 
	Ranma shouted, "Ok, Ryouga! Let’s fight then!" and
jumped outside.
					*****
	She was furious, furious, furious!! Akane scrubbed
her hair violently, as if trying to wash the anger and the
voices out of her head. All the words, however, were still floating in her mind and echoing in her ears. She had made
Ranma a wonderful meal, she had even tasted it herself!! It 
was, for once, not only edible but somewhat good!
	**"So you ARE still mad, Akane!! Except you are
trying to be all nice and then secretly come up and try and 
kill me with your rotten cooking!"**
	"Baka!" she screamed as she dunked her head into the 
water, rinsing out the shampoo, then placed her rinsed face
in her hands, tears mixing with the water streaming from
her clean, shiny, cropped hair. She thought, "As if you
should talk, hentai. You made me like you, you jerk, and for
some stupid reason I try to please you! I am such an idiot! 
Ranma you fool!"
	She got out of the bath, letting the warm water
start to drain. She picked up a warm, fuzzy yellow towel and
wiped down her lithe, athletic figure. She looked in the 
mirror and thought, "Not bad!" She sighed. She was good 
enough for Kuno, Shinnosuke, and even... well, she knew 
Ryouga had some kind of an attraction for her. But oh no!
Not Mr. high- and- Mighty- I- have- Shampoo- Ukyou- and- 
Kodachi- after- me- Ranma- Saotome! She thrust her feet into
her slippers and strode to the door, sliding it open with a
blow that she wished had struck Ranma himself. Looking down
at the ground she fumed, storming out of the laundry room...
and right smack into Ranma-chan, who was coming in the door.
	She looked up, realized who it was, and threw her
hand back in preparation for attack. Ranma backed off as 
quickly as he/she possibly could toward the bathtub and 
said, "Wait wait wait! Akane, I didn’t know you were in
here! Ryouga threw me into the pond and...."
	Akane shouted, "Pervert!!" and strode up to him/her,
where he stood in front of the bathtub, and thrust him/her
back into the draining bathwater.
	Ranma grew before her eyes and his voice deepened. 
"What dija do THAT for, Akane?" he muttered, his boxers, 
towel, and tank-top now soaking wet AGAIN.
	"You.. you... jerk!" Akane screamed."I wanted you
to be a man" (this said particularly scathingly) "for what I
am going to do to you!"
	Ranma thrust his hands out in defense, "What, what
did I do Akane? Are you still mad about the dinner? Jeesh. I
ate some after you left you know, it was pretty good... I 
mean for a tomboy’s cooking and all... I was just teasin ya 
Akane, ok? OK?" he looked up at her, expecting to see that 
blue aura glowing and her body set in Ranma-die-mode.
	However, the fact that Ranma had actually eaten her
food, and admitted he liked it, was enough to stop her 
attack. Ranma was surprised to notice tears at the corners 
of her eyes, she looked up, her big brown eyes glowing, and 
asked, "Oh Ranma, do you really mean it?"
	Ranma hoisted himself out of the bathtub and smiled.
	"Sure I meant it Akane! You think -I-" :here he
gave her a wicked grin: "would I eat it if I couldn’t stand 
it?"
	"Ranma..." Akane looked like she wanted to say 
something more, but instead sighed and turned to leave, 
saying over her shoulder, "have a nice bath..." and started
to walk out.
	Suddenly, Ranma was behind her, his hand on her 
shoulder, turning her to face him. He lifted up her chin
with his hand, looked down at her, and asked cautiously, 
"Does this mean I am forgiven? Or should I be waiting for a 
surprise attack?"
	All of a sudden Akane’s eyes began to glitter 
mischievously. She smiled up at him and said, "Oh I would be
prepared for the surprise attack..." and then she reached up
and pulled his head down to hers.
	"Akan...!" Ranma began to shout, but it was too 
late... she was already kissing him as if her life depended 
on it. Ranma began to sweat and chills overtook his body. 
What was he going to do? If he rejected her she would kill 
him! Then, he began to realize how pleasurable the kiss 
really was, and, he remembered how cute she had looked right 
before she grabbed him.... when she smiled...
	Ranma finally gave into the inevitability of it all
and tightened his arms around Akane, his fiancee, his best 
friend, and.... something else he would have to think about 
later..... He deepened the kiss and realized that this was 
something he had wanted to do for a very long time.
******
	Ryouga came trotting down the hallway, P-chan in
form after his tussle with Ranma in the pond, and was 
heading for the baths to clean up and turn back into 
himself. He was amazed that he had actually found the 
bathroom so quickly in this enormous house! Maybe he was 
getting better with that direction-dyslexia problem... 
However, this happy thought quickly disappeared from 
Ryouga’s mind when he waddled into the bathroom, looked up, 
and saw his worst nightmare.
	Ranma and Akane. KISSING.
	"BWEEEE!!!!" a black lightning bolt of piglet fired
against Ranma, who, though distracted, by reflex blocked 
Ryouga’s attack. The kiss was ended, however.
	Akane realized that it was P-chan, and picked the
pig up, trying to calm him. She thought that the way 
Ranma had been holding her had scared her little pet...
maybe he thought Ranma was attacking her. Akane paused
mid-thought. "The way Ranma had been holding her...." She
suddenly, P-chan blubbering in her arms, turned to look at
Ranma, but was only in time to see Ranma’s shadow as he slid
the bathroom door shut. "Not a word? What is he thinking?
Why is he hiding in the bathroom?" she wondered.
	Then, with the force of a slap, it hit Akane what
had happened. What had REALLY happened, and all the 
connotations of what it might mean tore at her. Tears began
again to flow down her cheeks, dripping on P-Chan. She 
thought, "Oh Ranma, Ranma.... what have I DONE?!"
	Akane fled from the laundry room, ran to her room,
slammed the door, and flung herself down on the bed and 
began to cry. A day for tears indeed, she thought. She
looked up at the frame and picture that Ranma had given her
that past Christmas, of her and Ranma, and all of the Gang. 
She stared at his handsome face.
	"Oh Ranma," she thought, "What ARE we exactly? Are
we friends? or fiancees? or are we... in love?"

End of Part II