Another one that I posted to raac but want to get out to some of
you sooner. Enjoy. (Mousse, thanks for reading this earlier....)

alhuang@hcs.harvard.edu
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang

January 1, 1997

  This is fanfic number 2 for me. (Fanfic 1 is still in progress, as 
the chapters get cranked out.) I'm a fan of Mousse's, and I really 
think that he deserves to have someone--Shampoo. However...he could 
do things a little differently. A lot of people seem to agree, too-- 
I've seen numerous things about how he's a bit overly affectionate 
for his own good. So, I've decided to tweak Mousse just a little, 
with a little bit of help from...elsewhere. Heh.
  Legal stuph: All Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Takahashi-san and 
whoever does the publishing/translating/whatever. Urd belongs to 
whoever created "Ah! Megami-sama!" and so forth.

And now, Oddzilla Productions presents....

"Mousse, Version 2.0"

<...>: thoughts
*...*: sound effects
{...} (within quotes): speech in Mandarin (Mousse, Shampoo, and 
      Cologne speak Mandarin, not Cantonese. Believe me, I KNOW. 
      I've lived in a Mandarin/Taiwanese speaking household for 18 
      years.)

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

  Shampoo humphed and spun around on her heel, stomping back into 
the Nekohanten. Behind her, in the back lot, Mousse lay knocked out, 
a large bump on his head growing slowly. However, although he was 
out, he wasn't being out idly. His subconscious was rather active....

  Suddenly, Mousse's eyes snapped open. He sat up and pushed his 
glasses down in front of his eyes, looking around. <Well. That was 
interesting. I've never remembered so much going on in my head while
I was unconscious. There was that beautiful gaijin lady with the tan 
skin and white hair and those weird marks on her face....> Mousse's 
nose started to bleed a little. (I guess he sees a lot clearer in his 
dreams.) <Now, what was she telling me?> He scratched his head for a 
few moments. <Ahh, yes.> He smiled.
  Now was a time for changes.
  He was going to do things differently.
  It was time to be--
  Out Of Character.
  Mousse blinked. Where did that phrase come from?

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

  "Arigato! Have nice day."

  Shampoo was...uneasy. Mousse had been oddly quiet ever since he 
finally came back to work after getting knocked out earlier. He had 
been especially careful, it seemed, to stay out of her way and even 
was wearing his glasses all the time. Only twice that evening had he 
made any visual mistakes. It was a record for him.

  Strangest of all, the only times he ever spoke with her was to 
communicate a customer's orders. No fawning, no blathering, nothing 
like that at all. She did, however, note the slightest hint of a smile 
on his lips all the time.

  When the night was finally over and she locked up, she looked over 
nervously at Mousse as he wiped down the last of the tables. 
<Something is definitely up.> "{Muu Tsu! Start on the dishes.}" She 
paused for a moment, then added, "{Good work tonight.}" He only 
smiled and nodded his head, then walked to the kitchen.

  As he stood at the sink, soaping up the dishes and bowls in hot water 
for Cologne to wash in cold water (hey, she's the only one who can do 
that in this establishment), he thought about how things were going 
that day. <This isn't as hard as I thought. I wonder what Xian Pu is 
thinking, though.> He heard Shampoo walk in the kitchen and begin 
putting away the supplies, but did not turn around. He finished up and 
walked towards the living area behind the restaurant, hands tucked 
into his sleeves like always. When he passed Shampoo, she stiffened 
visibly. "{Xian Pu, is there something wrong?}"

  She blinked a few times, opened her mouth, and stopped. She thought 
some more and just said, "{No, nothing is wrong....}" Mousse nodded 
and walked through the door. Suddenly, Shampoo said, "Wait. Shampoo 
must ask...is something wrong with Mousse? Mousse seem...very quiet 
now."

  Mousse turned around, the same faint smile on his lips. "No, nothing 
is wrong with me. In fact, I feel better than usual." He suddenly whipped 
his right hand out of his sleeve, sending a small object 
flying towards Shampoo. Instinctively, she snatched it from the air. 
It was a red rose. She blinked.

  "Good night, Shampoo." He walked on towards his room, leaving 
behind a very confused Shampoo. Cologne watched this exchange, 
equally confused.

  "Now, what was that all about, Great-granddaughter?"

  She answered, "Shampoo have no idea." <But ...I feel good about this, 
for some reason....>

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

  Morning.
  Mousse lay in bed, contemplating the fuzziness which he assumed was 
the ceiling of his room. <Wow. Did that really happen yesterday? Yeah. 
And I feel the same today, too. I wonder if this is finally going to 
work....> He hopped out and dressed quickly.

  As he left his room, he bumped into Shampoo. "{Good morning.}" She 
was slightly startled, and only nodded in reply. "Where are you 
off to in such a rush?"

  She paused before answering, "Bringing breakfast to husband. 
Shampoo not can be late." Mousse bristled at this for a moment, but 
quickly calmed himself down. However, when he spoke, there was a 
definite iciness in his voice.

  "I see. Well, then, I suppose you should hurry." He abruptly turned 
and walked off to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him with a 
bang. Shampoo almost jumped at the noise, and she stared at the closed 
door for a moment.

  "Why Mousse acting so strange?" she murmured to herself. <He 
never spoke to me like that before. He hasn't even told me that he loves 
me since yesterday afternoon. I...didn't hit him on the head _too_ hard, 
did I?> She shook her head. <And why would I even be worried about 
that blind fool!?> She humphed mentally and walked away, but not 
before shooting a backward glance at the closed door.

  Inside, Mousse was splashing his face with warm water. <That was  
unpleasant. And it was much harder than everything I had to do 
yesterday, combined. Oh, Xian Pu! If only....> He sighed. "I must keep 
trying. It never was easy before." <Well...better not take this too 
far....>

  The lunch hour went much the same as dinner did yesterday. Shampoo 
was relieved that Mousse was no longer seemingly angry at her. Still, 
she wondered why he hadn't proclaimed his undying love to her like he 
used to every ten minutes. <Hmph! I'm glad! That must mean he's given 
up on me, right?> Then she remembered the rose that she now had 
sitting in a vase in her room. <Or....>

  Mousse was also thinking as he served the customers. <All right. 
This I can handle. This is actually okay.>

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

  Mousse relaxed at a booth. The lunch crowd had finally disappeared 
about fifteen minutes ago, and the dining room was empty. He sat back, 
eyes closed, massaging his temples, when he heard a rustling across the 
table from him. He opened his eyes to see Shampoo sitting down, 
carefully avoiding his gaze. He said nothing.

  Shampoo finally spoke. "M-mousse, did Shampoo hit you too hard on 
head yesterday?"

  Mousse chuckled softly and said, "No, no, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

  Shampoo hesitated, and answered, "Mousse...acting strange."

  "Am I really?" He shrugged "Maybe so. But...believe me, I'm feeling 
okay. Really."

  Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo...glad that you okay. H-hate to lose good 
worker." She turned to go, but Mousse caught her hand. She whirled to 
face him, ready to smash him as usual--but before she could, he 
gently raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. This brought her 
to a complete stop.

  Mousse simply smiled again and said, "{Thank you for your concern, 
Xian Pu.}" He shook his sleeve a bit, and suddenly Shampoo found a 
white carnation pressed into her fingers. He let her hand drop and 
walked to the back. Shampoo was left sitting at the booth, blinking, 
looking at her hand and the flower.

  She turned suddenly to face Mousse's retreating figure, eyes wide, 
and then--

  --she blushed. Badly.

  "Aiyah." <Oh, my head is starting to _hurt_....>

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

  The dinner hours were busy. Very busy. Shampoo and Mousse were 
both constantly scuttling back and forth from the kitchen to the tables 
(plus the cash register). Fortunately, there were no calls for take-
out tonight--a minor miracle--so Shampoo was able to help out with 
the service all evening. For those watching her carefully, there was 
a slightly puzzled look visible on her face. Also, there was a pretty 
white flower placed in her hair....

  Mousse, on the other hand, was smiling--especially when he looked 
at the carnation which Shampoo had tucked into her hair earlier. <I 
am making definite progress here, I know it. This is great! I can do 
this. I can do this. I can-->

  *CRASH* <Huh?>

  A voice muttered from outside the front door. "Chikusho...." The figure 
to whom the voice was attached to stood up and brushed himself off, 
then walked in the front door.

  "Hi, Shampoo! Akane made dinner...and due to some...uh, well, 
misunderstandings, she booted me all the way out here. Convenient, 
huh?" Ranma. Of course.

  "Airen!" *glomp* "Shampoo so happy to see you!"

  Mousse nearly crushed the bowl he was holding in his hand.

  "*urk* Shampoo-I-need-to-breathe-okay, that's better."

  "Violent pervert girl cook *heheh* again? Mousse! Get bowl of ramen 
for Ranma!" Shampoo was relieved to see Ranma. This would take her 
mind off of the weirdness going on today.

  Mousse walked over to the table where Ranma sat with the usual bowl-
of-noodles-on-the-house. He set it down and stiffly said, "Ranma, we 
need to talk later. Tomorrow, after school. Behind the Nekohanten." He 
turned around and walked back to the kitchen. Ranma blinked.

  "Wow. He didn't even threaten me like usual. Oh well." He dug into his 
food as he always did.

  "Yes...Mousse act strange all day today." There was an odd note in 
Shampoo's voice, which Ranma noticed. Then her eyes narrowed. 
"Mousse better not attack husband."

  "Oh, don't worry about me. If he does, you know I can take him. I 
like the flower, by the way. Looks nice on ya."

  Shampoo turned away so that he wouldn't see her blushing--or the 
slightly guilty look on her face. She never stopped to think why she 
might be feeling guilty....

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

  Shampoo was even more uneasy now. After Ranma had left, Mousse 
had lost even the small smile, and rather, had a blank but obviously 
restrained expression on his face. Whatever he communicated to her 
was spoken as short as possible, as if he was limited on breath. 
Cologne noticed this as well, and pulled Shampoo aside during a lull 
(one of the very few that night) to talk to her.

  "{What is going on with Muu Tsu?}"

  Shampoo shook her head. "{I don't know. He's been acting strange 
ever since I hit him yesterday...for one thing, he hasn't said that 
he loves me at all today.}"

  "{Do you suppose he's given up on you?}"

  Shampoo again shook her head. "{I thought that too, but then I 
remembered that rose from yesterday, and...never mind.}" Cologne 
glanced at the carnation, but said nothing. Shampoo continued, "{He's 
been  nice to me, still, except when I told him this morning that I 
was delivering breakfast to Ranma, and now, ever since Ranma came in 
for dinner.}" She paused, then added, "{Muu Tsu talked to Ranma 
when he was in--he wanted to talk more with Ranma after school lets out 
tomorrow.}"

  Cologne considered this. "{Perhaps you should go and listen in to 
what they have to say when the time comes.}" Shampoo simply 
nodded. "{In the meantime, just let things be as they are.}"

  Mousse had been sitting at a table the whole time, relaxing. Well, 
not really relaxing; he was trying to keep himself calm. <I think I'm going 
to go crazy.> He wondered what those two were talking about. <Well, 
actually, I'm sure they're talking about me--I just wonder what they 
might be thinking is going on.> *sigh* <I'd better ease up on 
her.>

  As they returned to work, Mousse was no longer as curt as before, 
but  Shampoo could tell that some of his demeanor was a bit forced. 
Still, she was somewhat glad.

  That night, Mousse did not sleep well. The incident with Ranma had 
bothered him more than usual. Perhaps it was this new attitude that 
he was taking. He finally understood that it wasn't really Ranma's 
fault, and that he couldn't be automatically blamed for it. Still,  
something _had_ to be resolved tomorrow.

  Shampoo did not sleep well either. She wondered--as she had been 
doing for the past day and a half--what Mousse was thinking now. She 
liked how he was...easing up on her, but--it disturbed her, that she
also wasn't quite sure how she felt about Mousse now....

  Cologne slept very well. She was exhausted from the busy night.

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

  "Oi! Mousse! I'm here!" Ranma stood in the lot behind the 
Nekohanten. He was slightly nervous.... This was very unlike Mousse.

  "Behind you."

  Ranma whirled around into a defensive crouch. "What do you want?"

  Mousse stood there, arms in his sleeves. "Not a fight. Not this 
time. Like I said, we need to talk. About Shampoo."

  Ranma slowly relaxed, and nodded. "I've noticed that something 
strange is going on. Shampoo seemed almost worried about you, in fact, 
when I was eating dinner yesterday."

  Mousse's heart fluttered for a moment. <She was worried? Well!....> He 
calmed himself down. "That does not matter. Just know that I love 
Shampoo as much as ever. I would still die for her!" There was an 
unmistakable fierceness in the last sentence. 

  Ranma nodded. "I have no doubts about that."

  Mousse continued. "I just have the feeling that I've been going about 
it somewhat wrong." Ranma nodded again, but said nothing. "Now, 
then, about why I called you here. Well...how do you feel about 
Shampoo?"

  Ranma froze. He certainly wasn't expecting this. "Anou, I, uh...."

  "Please. Answer me."

  Ranma sighed and closed his eyes. "All right.... All right. Well, 
she certainly makes life interesting.... I guess I...she's a friend 
to me. And I do appreciate my friends. But...uh....*sigh* I guess....
*argh* Let me say it this way. I don't feel the same way about her 
as how she feels about me...or how you feel about her." He stopped, 
looking down at his feet. "So...how's that for an answer?"

  Mousse smiled. "If you're serious about what you just said, then I'm 
_very_ happy with that for an answer." The smile vanished. "However, 
I'm not going to be truly happy about it _until you tell her_. Do you 
get what I mean?"

  Ranma blinked. "Well...it's not like I ever say that I love her--"

  "But you allow her to carry on like that whenever she's near you! What 
do you think that's saying? You've got to make it clear to her 
that you only like her as a friend!"

  Ranma hung his head, actually looking a little guilty. "Hai.... I 
guess you're right. *sigh* But...."

  Mousse walked over to Ranma and laid a hand gently on his shoulder. 
"But you don't want to hurt her, right?" Ranma nodded. "It's got to 
happen sooner or later. Believe me, I don't want to see her hurt. At 
all. If what you say is indeed true, though, you're only hurting her 
more by not telling her."

  Ranma sighed yet again. "I'll tell her." Mousse nodded. Ranma turned 
to go, but then stopped. "Mousse...this is so strange. What brought
all of this on, anyway? I mean, you apparently haven't been all over 
Shampoo lately, you didn't attack me when I came to the Nekohanten, 
and now, you're just...talking to me like this. What gives?"

  Mousse stood silent for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure. But... 
someone or something showed me that what I had been doing just 
wasn't working. I've got to stop and think about things before doing 
anything." Mousse thought for a few more moments. "It seems to be 
working...Shampoo hasn't hit me or even gotten angry at me since the 
day before yesterday, you know. I'd consider that progress." He 
smiled, then said, "You know, you could learn from this...."

  Ranma blinked a few times. "Uh...right.... Well, I'll see you later. Maybe 
tonight...." He left the back lot, scratching his head. Mousse looked on 
for a few more moments, then re-entered the Nekohanten, still smiling.

  A bush in the lot rustled, and out stepped a lavender cat, looking 
very confused. Somewhat sad, somewhat angry, but mostly confused.

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

  Shampoo stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. She had just 
changed back and had been running the entire conversation between 
Mousse and Ranma through her mind.

  <Ranma doesn't love me. Muu Tsu still does. I should be very angry. 
Very, VERY angry. And I am angry, a little...not nearly as much as I 
thought I would be. Why? What is going on here?>

  She exited the bathroom, and making sure that neither Mousse or 
Cologne was around, made her way to her room. She lay down on her 
bed and continued thinking.

  <So what do I do? I suppose I must tell Great-grandmother about all 
of this...but....>

  *knock knock* "{Great-granddaughter?}"

  Shampoo froze. She still had a lot of thinking to do...she wasn't 
ready--but.... "{Come in.}" She sat up and sighed, resigned.

  Cologne hopped in on her walking stick. "{Well, did you hear what 
they had to say to each other?}" Shampoo nodded. "{And?}"

  Shampoo sighed again, and recounted everything that had gone 
between the two boys. When she had finished, Cologne was thinking 
hard. The fact that Shampoo was still rather calm did not escape her. 
After a minute, she spoke.

  "{So Muu Tsu has indeed not given up. And in fact.... Xian Pu, how 
do you feel about this?}"

  "{Well...it feels all very strange. I'm...not as angry as I should 
be. Ranma...I think I....}" She trailed off, not really wanting to 
think about that. "{But I suppose, I like how Muu Tsu is treating me 
now.}"

  "{What about Muu Tsu himself?}"

  Shampoo was silent for a few seconds. "Shampoo...still think he is 
stupid blind fool."

  Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter, eyes narrowed. Shampoo 
sometimes lapsed into Japanese when she was confused. "Relax for 
now, great-granddaughter. I'll call you when I need you."

  "Hai."

  Cologne pogoed out the door, and hopped down to Mousse's room. 
She knocked, and a voice answered, "{Yes? Come in.}" She entered to 
see the Chinese boy sitting on his bed. "{What is it, Khu Lon?}"

  "{I don't know how you did it.}"

  "{Did what?}"

  "{You know perfectly well.}" Cologne paused. "{What did bring this 
on? I know that a simple blow to the head couldn't have been it. You've 
been knocked silly many times before....}"

  Mousse shrugged. "{Whatever it was, it doesn't matter.}"

  "{I suppose not.}" She pivoted on her stick, and said, "{I am only 
here for her happiness.}" With that cryptic remark, she left the room.

  Mousse blinked, trying to understand what that was supposed to 
mean.

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

  The evening hours were winding down. Only two booths were 
occupied, when the front door swung open. It was Ranma. He gulped, 
then said, "Shampoo, we need to talk...."

  Mousse froze for a moment, glancing over at Shampoo. For once, she 
didn't leap into Ranma's arms (or rather, wrap Ranma in her own arms), 
but simply nodded and walked over to a booth in the corner. <Odd.> 
Ranma joined her there. Mousse continued cleaning up, straining to 
listen in on what was being said.

  "Shampoo," began Ranma, "I...I have to tell you something...."

  "Shampoo know," she interrupted, looking down at the table. Ranma 
was nonplused. First, he had no idea that she knew already, and 
secondly, she was taking it remarkably calmly. "Shampoo heard...should 
have realized long ago." There was a quaver in her voice.

  "Uh...gomen ne...I didn't want to hurt you. I mean...you're a friend 
to me, and everything, but...." Ranma trailed off. Shampoo shook her 
head.

  "Is okay. Shampoo...understand." She looked up, a few unshed tears 
sparkling in her eyes. She smiled, trying to ignore them. "Ranma 
hungry? Still can have free bowl of ramen."

  Ranma smiled back. "No, thanks...Kasumi cooked a lot for us tonight. 
I'm fine. Uh...are you okay?"

  Shampoo sighed, but it came out a little like a sob. "Shampoo...
will be okay." She abruptly stood up and walked to the kitchen, pausing 
once to look back and say, "Good night, ai--...Ranma." Then she walked 
through the door.

  Ranma sighed. He didn't enjoy a single moment of that. True, he was 
relieved that it looked as though Shampoo was finally giving up on him, 
but....

  "Ranma." It was Mousse. "I know that was difficult...."

  "You have no idea."

  <Well....> "Arigato. And...ah...I apologize for all the times I 
attacked you whenever Shampoo...latched herself onto you." Ranma 
looked up at Mousse in surprise. "I now realize that it wasn't your 
fault. Gomen nasai." Mousse bowed to Ranma.

  "Oh.... Uh, right...I appreciate the apology." Ranma stood up and 
bowed back. Suddenly, he grinned broadly, and slapped Mousse on the 
shoulder. "No hard feelings?"

  Mousse smiled back and nodded. "Hai. This has gone on far too long. 
I imagine that, had we met under different circumstances, we could 
have started out as friends." Ranma nodded. Mousse suddenly looked 
over at the kitchen door. "Well...I'm glad that this is finally cleared 
up. If you'll excuse me, I think I need to talk to her. Ja ne." He 
left, walking to the kitchen. Ranma stared after him a moment, then 
shrugged.

  "She hasn't hit him since two days ago? Maybe he _is_ right. I've 
got something to learn from all of this." He walked out to return to 
the Dojo.

  Inside the kitchen, Shampoo was sitting on a chair looking down at 
the floor. She did not look up when Mousse sidled up next to her. 
Mousse first broke the silence.

  "{You listened to us talking earlier, didn't you?}"  Shampoo nodded. 
Mousse wasn't angry at all; in fact, it seemed to have made things a 
little easier for Ranma, for which he was glad. "{Well...what are you 
going to do now?}"

  There were a few more moments of silence. "{I...I do not know.}" 
She suddenly looked up at Mousse. "{Muu Tsu. Answer me. Why are 
you acting so differently now?}"

  Mousse sighed. He had been answering this question rather often 
lately. "{I'll tell you, I'm not exactly sure. Just something that 
happened after you knocked me out that last time. But I can tell that 
this is something much better than what was going on before.}" He 
looked at Shampoo, but she said nothing. "{Before, I was just all over 
you...and I was too blind, in more ways than one, to see how much 
you really hated that. I suppose being that possessive just didn't go 
over well with you. So I decided to back off a little, and...let you 
decide for yourself.}"

  She nodded. A tear rolled out of her eye, and she sniffled a bit. 
Mousse produced a handkerchief and carefully wiped it away. She 
didn't move away. Seeing that, Mousse tenatively placed a hand on her 
shoulder and gave a gentle, comforting squeeze. "{Xian Pu...I am
sorry...but Ranma's heart does lie elsewhere.}" <I wonder, though, where
yours is now,> he added silently.

  Shampoo sat, deep in thought. She suddenly rose to her feet, and 
looked at Mousse carefully. On impulse, she stood on her toes and 
gave him a kiss on the forehead. His brain nearly burned out. (Hey, 
this is pretty much still the old Mousse, just with plenty of attitude 
adjustment.) A small smile appeared on her lips, one of the few 
genuine ones she ever gave Mousse. 

  "{You are right. In fact, you've been seeing things more clearly 
than I have.... And you know what?}" She paused, eyeing Mousse, 
who was momentarily speechless, then continued. "{There just may be 
the possibility that I might even....}" Shampoo trailed off, leaving the 
sentence unfinished. She gripped his hand tightly for a moment, 
then released it, walking back out of the kitchen to the dining room.

  Mousse stared after her, a huge, silly grin rising on his face. He 
suddenly froze up, and calmed himself down. <It's not over yet. I 
still have much to do.> His grin faded down to the same, small smile that 
had been on his face for the last two days. It was really very 
comfortable, not only to look at, but for him to wear. He thought 
back to the woman that he saw when he had been out cold. "Arigato," 
he whispered. He followed Shampoo's footsteps to the dining room to 
wait on the last remaining customers.

  Cologne hopped out from the shadows behind a counter where she 
had been sitting the whole time. <Well, Muu Tsu. You seem to have 
made considerable progress. Perhaps you are not the weak idiot that 
you always appeared to be.> She looked at where the two had been 
sitting/ standing. <Indeed, I am only here for Xian Pu's happiness. But 
you 
still do have some ways to go....> She turned and began the clean-up 
work.

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

  Somewhere, out there....

  Urd reclined on a couch, looking at the TV screen before her. "Yes, this 
is going very well for him. Now, to convince him to defeat her in combat, 
somehow." She thought for a moment. "Well, he doesn't have to hurt 
her to knock her out. I should have that chiropractor teach 
him a few shiatsu points, perhaps." She grinned. "Ah, now _that_ man
is another project worthy of my attention! Hmm. In fact, Nerima seems 
to have a lot for me..." She whipped out a notebook from the reaches 
of Hammerspace and began scribbling down notes. "...the good Ono 
Toufu-sensei and Tendou Kasumi, Saotome Ranma and Tendou Akane, 
Hibiki Ryouga...and Kuonji Ukyou, Kunou Tatewaki and Tendou Nabiki--
what is it with these Tendou sisters? Do all three of them really 
require divine intervention? Oh well, all the more fun for me...."

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Author's endnotes (everything especially weird explained):
  Well, there you go. This was a lot of fun to do, and passed many of 
my less active days of Winter Break quite nicely. Yes, I left it 
hanging  at the end a bit, but...I don't think it's really necessary 
to conclude this super-neatly. It's already been done. Plus, it would 
be rather unrealistic--unless I was going to make this a lot longer. 
I did find it necessary to have Mousse and Ranma (and Ranma and 
Shampoo) resolve a few of their matters, though. Also, you may think 
that Shampoo took Ranma's rejection very calmly. It's part of her 
reaction to what Mousse has become.... This Mousse would be one, I 
think, that Shampoo could fall in love with. (Guess how Shampoo's last 
line would have ended, had she completed it. ^_^) A suave, romantic, 
non-clingy man. It would indeed, though, take more than a blow to his 
head to make him act that way. I felt like bringing Urd into this one 
because of that. I might do a  short series, with Urd playing around 
with the couples I mentioned.  It sure would be interesting.... As 
for Cologne, I don't think she's really completely set on Ranma. If 
Mousse could make Shampoo happy, and he proved himself as a strong 
fighter (and I'm certain that, if he put himself into it and kept his 
glasses on, he could beat Shampoo), I think Cologne would accept him. 
So? What do you think? C&C is welcome.

>From the desktop of the Taiwanese-American-German-Scot,
	Wakko "Andrew" Huang
Brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Ryouga and Ukyou! Ukyou and Ryouga!"
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang