Author's note:
        Here's part 4, I'm not completely satisfied with the length yet so
I'll probably add another scene but I'm not sure of what.  Perhaps another
flashback, when I figure it out I'll post the scene by itself unless I
actually get some C&C on this and go back to revise.
        I haven't read through this yet so feel free to make any comments
on anything that doesn't seem right.  How well am I doing from an emotional
standpoint?
        It seems I'm writing again so I'm either happy or depressed.
Anyway enough about me here's chapter 4...


Chapter 4 - Beginnings and Endings...

        The sky over Nerima was dark, clouds covered most of the stars.
The street lights gave off enough illumination for Ranma to plot his flight
path.  He was heading towards the business district.

        He could still picture the look on Akane's face.  He should have
stopped while he was ahead.  He probably could have gotten away with a few
nights sleeping in the dojo.

        'I guess it was still too soon to think about having Spice over for
dinner.'  Ranma mused.

        Trust.  That word was etched into Ranma's ears, everything boiled
down to a matter of trust.  It was something he lost, and he wasn't sure he
could get it back.

        It landed on a roof a few blocks from the Nekohanten.  He was
actually a little closer to Ucchan's but Ukyou didn't live there anymore.
Besides that going to Ukyou now might be like throwing gasoline on a fire.

        He could hear the distant sound of thunder, a rainstorm was coming.
He got to the Nekohanten just as the first drops began to fall.

        Ranma started banging on the door, "Mousse!  It's me Ranma.  Let me in!"

        It took a little while for the door to open.  Mousse yawned and
took a good look at Ranma, who was now female.  "You told Akane I take it."
He stood aside and waved her in, "snore too loud and I slit your throat."

----------------------

        Akane crept into the room her daughters shared.  Megumi slept with
a blissful expression on her face while hugging her blanket forcefully.
Noriko looked up to Akane.  Despite the darkness she could tell her mother
had been crying.

        She hid it well, but Noriko overheard the talk her parents had.
Noriko felt many things at once.  Fear that her parents would break up,
curiosity about another sister, sadness for her mother, anger and sympathy
towards her father, annoyance at Megumi's snoring through the good parts.

        "Still awake Noriko?"

        "Yeah mom."

        "How long have you been up?"

        "Long enough."  Noriko sat up a little and looked at her mother,
"is dad coming back?"

        Akane took a seat on her daughter's bed.  "He'll be back, we just
needed a little time apart to think things over."

        "Are you two breaking up?"  Noriko asked point blank.

        Akane paused for a moment.  She hadn't thought of it previously,
but the thought scared her.  "Ranma and I have been married for almost
twenty years, most of them pretty good.  We've raised two beautiful
daughters and I like to think there's something special between us.  I'm
not about to throw that away just because your father's an idiot."

        Akane felt a little better having said that.  She still needed some
time to cool down but she finally felt that everything would be alright in
the end.

        "What are we going to do about the hole in the roof?"

        Akane winced.  "Umm.. I'll have Uncle Ryouga look at it later.  Get
some sleep, it's late."

---------------------

        Shampoo looked longingly at Ranma.  If nothing else he was
predictable, she found herself anything but that.  'Is this love?'  She
asked herself silently.

        Ranma thought idly about how things might have been different.  He
knew his choice would affect everybody.  He prepared himself for weeks.
Tears he expected from Ucchan, not Shampoo.  Looking back he could only
remember seeing her cry once, when she was still trying to kill his girl
form and he showed her the transformation.

        He never gave it much thought, and it seemed like such a long time
ago.  Here she was again, losing him for the second time.  Ranma thought
silently again he wished that things could have been different.  Many
people spend entire lives searching for someone to be with, someone to fill
the emptiness born into everyone.  Here he was with three of those
someones, two of which who would return to that empty place within
themselves, alone again.

        Shampoo drank the mixture she brought for Ranma.  There was a
slight pause as it began to take hold.  She doubled over clenching her
stomache as she gasped for breath.  Ranma dropped to her, placing his hands
on her shoulders.  "Are you okay?"

        She took a few deep breaths and relaxed a bit, "Shampoo okay, use
too much oregano maybe."

        "Huh?"

        "Not worry Ranma."  She looked up into his eyes, "Shampoo love, let
go.  Leave for China in morning, Shampoo promise not to return.  Bie lao my
love."

        Ranma felt a strange empathy as she stood up.  He looked down to
the ground and then back to Shampoo.  He took her wrist as she was leaving
and gently pulled her back to him.  "I want you to know if things were
different..."

        Shampoo placed a finger on his lips.  Some things she felt were
better left unsaid.  She took her finger down slowly and replaced it with a
kiss.

        Ranma hesitated a moment but for the first and only time in his
life returned it without reservation.  Some things were understood, some
things were better left unsaid.

---------------------

        Spice stretched out as the morning sun warmed her body.  Mousse
made her sleep early the night before because of her fight at school.  She
was glad for the rest.  Spice couldn't remember a time in her life that
involved such a simple thing.

        Great grandmother was still a fine martial artist and teacher, but
rest was never a part of her training.  Sometimes she wished she had been
born male so she could have avoided it all like her brother.

        The thought saddened her a bit but it was too early in the morning
for such thoughts.  Spice dragged herself out of bed and headed downstairs
after changing into a light warmup and sweatpants.

        She almost fell while jumping back.  There was some strange lady in
the dining room near her father.  It looked alot like that girl from
school, but a second look dismissed that thought.

        Spice crept up to Mousse and shook him firmly.  "Daddy... Daddy..
DADDY!!" she tried to whisper in his ear.

        Mousse squinted a bit and looked in Spice's direction.  His throat
felt a little dry, "morning dear."

        "Don't 'morning dear' me daddy.  Who's that, and what's she doing here?"

        Mousse turned his head towards the red head snoring blissfully on
the floor.  "Sounds like Ranma.  You met him yesterday when you came home
from school."

        "You can't fool me daddy, your friend Ranma was a guy."

        Mousse grinned, "you think your mother and I were the only people
stupid enough to visit Jusenkyo?"

        It took Spice a couple of seconds to comprehend, "you mean he..
she.. is like..." she looked again at the sleeping Ranma, "ewww.. you have
really strange friends daddy."

--------------------------

        Sakura sipped her tea, Noriko worked on her milkshake.  They sat in
a corner booth of the local snack shop.  Sakura flattened out a few of the
folds on her uniform.  "So how are things with your parents?"  Sakura tried
to ask as gently as possible.

        Noriko sighed softly, "I don't know.  They had a fight the other
night.  Mom kicked dad out of the house and he's been gone for a few
nights, but she thinks he'll will be back in a few days at most."

        Sakura nodded her understanding.  "Do you know what it was about?"

        Noriko swirled her milkshake with her straw.  "One of dad's
ex-girlfriends I think.  I overheard most of the fight but I couldn't make
out a few parts."

        "So you know you have another sister?"

        Noriko stopped abruptly, "what?!?  Where did you hear that?"

        "I heard your dad talking to someone over at Ucchan's.  You know
that new girl at school?  The one with the reddish hair?"

        "The one that's been giving Megumi a hard time?"  Noriko couldn't
contain her amusment and began to grin broadly.

        "That's the one," Sakura started to smile a bit.

        "Are you serious?"  Noriko was still couldn't believe it.  "Does
your mom know any of this yet?"

        Sakura returned to a slightly more serious tone.  "No, and I plan
to keep it that way.  I'm only talking with you because you're my friend
and it's your family anyway."

        Noriko pondered the rammifications.  "Megumi would flip out, so
would a bunch of people actually.  I guess we both want to keep this out of
school," she looked directly into Sakura's eyes, "conspiracy?"

        Sakura nodded and finished her tea, "conspiracy."

--------------------------

        Mousse looked over the young lad.  Quietly simple came to mind, he
could see the signs of a humble upbringing in his clothes and manner.
There was something honest to him, familiar in a way.  He would do nicely.
"Have you ever worked in a restaurant before?"

        "I've helped out in my father's shop for a couple of years."

        "Hmm, good.  Did you do any cooking?"

        "Not really, that was always my father or sister."

        "That's okay, you'll learn I guess."

        "Does that mean I get the job?"

        "One thing first."  Mousse turned in the direction of the kitchen,
"Spice, could you come out here for a second."

        Spice plodded in with her hair in disarray and flour smudges on her
face.  She sighed dramaticly, "you summoned me daddy?"

        Mousse sat back in his chair and motioned to Seki, "what would you
think of this boy working here?"

        Spice gave Seki a quick up and down glance, "kinda cute.  He'll
do."  The sound of a small explosion cut her off.  "Eep!" she ran back to
the kitchen, grabbing a fire extinguisher along the way.  Seki noticed a
few flames shooting out as Spice opened the door.

        Mousse shruged it off, "I wouldn't worry, nobody's ever been
permanantly maimed working here.  Trust me, I'd know.  The job's yours if
you want it."

        Seki was beginning to reconsider his decision, but he did need a
job to help his sister with the rent.  Judging from the popularity of Spice
and the Nekohanten, the job he was being offered wouldn't last long.
Working with Spice seemed promising as well.  "I'll take it."

        "When can you start?"

        "Anytime's fine."

        "Good, get in there and help Spice put that out."

---------------------

        Megumi knocked on the door to the Hibiki household.  A couple of
black and white pups could be seen playing nearby.  It only took a few
seconds for Akari to answer the door.  "Megumi!  We haven't seen you in
such a long time, come in.  Kune's just doing some exercising right now but
I'm sure he won't mind."

        The young red head happily followed Akari's lead to the back of the
studio.  Kune was busily doing drills on a wooden man.  Akari was about to
announce Megumi's arrival but Megumi silently indicated not to disturb him.

        Akari nodded her approval and wandered off, leaving Megumi to watch
her son run through his drills.  Kune was completely occupied with his
wooden man.  Megumi took up a seat and started to watch her fiance hit the
block repeatedly.

        Megumi smiled absent mindedly, Kune had a good physique that looked
even better with the near perfect form of his attacks.  She hadn't seen
much of him lately, there was always something coming up around the house
with her father away from home.  On the positive side it meant she could
skip practice to come see Kune.

        Eventually she decided to sneak up on him.  He would have noticed
most people but Megumi was a good martial artist in her own right.  She
clamped her hands around his eyes.  "Guess who!"

        He was caught offguard and his mind blanked for a second.  His
train of thought had been about his problems between Spice and Megumi.  He
felt a little guilty about spending any time around Spice but there was an
invisible draw towards the girl that Kune couldn't explain.  Fortunately
with Megumi so occupied at home she usually didn't take notice.

        Kune's first instinct was to say Spice, but the rational part of
his mind was screaming otherwise.  "Megumi dear."

        She released him as he turned to face her, a big grin on his face.
She moved her hands to circle his neck and gave him a quick peck on the
nose.  "Bet you're surprised to see me."

        Kune put his arms loosely around her waist.  "Very much."

        She cocked her head to one side, "I'm taking you to dinner."

        "Really?  Where?"

        Megumi rested her head against his chest.  "Your choice, I feel
kinda guilty for ignoring you the past few days."

        Kune sighed softly and smiled.  Megumi always managed to give him a
warm fuzzy feeling, practice could wait.

-------------------***