"GIRL TALK"
Written by:Emily Siazon
The Ranma 1/2 characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi
< > are thoughts
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[The Nekohanten]
 
     Mousse smiled as he sat down,happy that the last customer from the 
lunch crowd had left.Cologne and Shampoo were out of town visiting 
relatives and wouldn't be back for another week so he was stuck doing all 
the cooking and serving.
 
     Suddenly,a red and black blur appeared before his eyes.When he put on 
his glasses,he saw what appeared to be a very cute red-haired girl standing 
in front of him.
 
     "What do you want,Saotome?" He asked,a bit annoyed at seeing his 
rival but too tired to show his displeasure.
 
     "Hey Mousse.I just stopped by for some ramen.Akane's cooking dinner 
tonight so I figured I might as well enjoy my life while I still have it."
 
     Mousse nodded sympathetically.He hated Ranma with a passion but even 
he didn't deserve that kind of torture.

     "Allright.I'll make you some." He said as went into the kitchen and 
starts to cook a fresh batch of ramen.

     He had taken off his glasses again so he didn't notice that he had 
accidentally taken a bottle from Cologne's rack of magical herbs.Mistaking 
it for salt,he puts a large amount of it in the pot.After a couple of 
minutes,he goes back to the restaurant,steaming bowl in hand.
 
    Ranma-chan quickly inhales the food and is about to stand up when she 
noticed that everything looks bigger."What the...?" She asked,a confused 
look on her face.
 
     Hearing Ranma's puzzled voice,Mousse puts on his glasses and finds a 
six year old girl in the spot where he thought he heard Ranma-chan's voice.
 
     "Where did Ranma go?" He thought out loud.
 
     "Over here,moron." The six year old yelled." Jeez,your blinder than I 
thought!"

     Mousse took a closer look at the young girl and noticed that what he
originally thought was a red dress was really an oversized red shirt.

     "Ranma?"

     "Of course! Who do I look like you jer..." Her voice trailed off when 
she sees her reflection for the first time.Staring right back at her was a 
very cute girl.That in itself wasn't shocking,it was the fact that she was 
six years old.

     "Oops! I must have accidentally put one of Cologne's magic herbs on 
your soup."

     "What?!" Ranma-chan exclaimed angrily."Turn me back_now_!"

     "Well,I don't exactly know how I could..."

     "Then find out!" She yelled.

     "Okay.It's going to take a while though.Come back in an hour.I 
should find out what the antidote is by then."

    "Fine,I'll be back later." She grumbled as she headed towards the 
door.

     "Wait a minute,you can't go out like that!" Mousse exclaimed when she 
was about to open the door.
 
     "Ranma-chan looked down and noticed she was only wearing an oversized 
shirt,the pants she was wearing when she came in was on the floor.
 
     "Here." Mousse said as he grabs a set of girls clothing from his robe 
and hands it to Ranma-chan."It was supposed to be for my niece but you 
obviously need it more than she does."
 
     "Thanks." Ranma-chan answered as she grabbed the outfit and headed 
for the back room to change.
 
     She dejectedly walked out of the Nekohanten a couple of minutes later.
<Great,just what I need.> Ranma-chan thought angrily. <As if turning into 
a girl wasn't bad enough,now I'm stuck as a six year old.>

                                    ***

     Akane is slowly walking down the street on her way to the market.She
was busy trying to remember the ingredients she needed for her new recipe 
until she noticed the sad little girl walking away from the Nekohanten.

     She quietly approches the little girl and asks,"Are you lost?"
 
     Ranma-chan turns around and is startled to see Akane trying to give 
her a reassuring smile.The sight of her smiling face caused Ranma-chan 
to get flustered.

     As she twiddled her thumbs,she nervously stammered,"Uh...well...I...
um..."

     Akane looked at the nervous girl and then at the handful of change on 
her right hand. <I guess my recipe can wait.> she thought as she looked 
back up.
 
     "Tell you what,how about I treat you to some ice cream before I help 
you find your parents?"

      At the mention of food,Ranma-chan quickly answered,"Sure."

     "Great! By the way,I'm Akane."

     Ranma-chan looks around in panick since she had no intention of 
telling the older girl who she really was,knowing that she would have to 
explain what she was doing at the Nekohanten. She then noticed a big 
Sailor V poster on an arcade they passed by.

     "My name's Venus."
 
                                   ***

[The Ice Cream Store]

     The two girls quickly gets a seat and makes their orders.They 
immediately get it and Ranma-chan quickly digs in.Akane watched in 
amazement as the younger girl devoured her sundae in a matter of seconds.

     "That's quite an appetite,Venus.You're eating style reminds me of 
someone."
 
     "Who?" Ranma-chan asked as she scraped the remaining ice cream on 
her glass.
 
     "My fiancee,Ranma."
 
     Hearing her name,Ranma-chan decided this was the perfect opportunity 
to distract Akane from cooking her dinner tonight."Didn't you almost get 
married a couple of days ago?"

     "Is there anyone in this town who doesn't know about that?" Akane 
asked sounding a bit angry.

     <This is too easy.> Ranma-chan thought as she went in for the kill.
"You must really like him to have almost married him." She said,feigning
innocence.

     She knew that nothing would distract Akane more than a mention of 
her feelings for him.She idly waited for the explosion of denial she knew 
was coming and was shocked when it didn't come.

     "Yeah,I do." Akane replied,so softly that Ranma-chan almost didn't
hear.Almost.

     Ranma-chan could only stare at her in shock.She was standing still,
holding a chair to keep herself from falling since her legs suddenly felt
like they were made out of jello. 

     <She likes me! She feels the same way I do!> She thought as a silly 
smile formed on her face.Ranma-chan had the sudden urge to do backflips 
but thought better of it and did the only other thing he could think of,
she kept right on staring.
 
     Akane,meanwhile was starting to get worried.The little girl in front
of her hasn't moved for a long while."Uh...are you okay?"

     Ranma-chan snapped out of her trance like state and smiled as she
figured out what she should do next."I think I hear my mom calling me." 
She yelled as she ran out the door."

    Akane watched the younger girl run off,a confused look on her face
as she watched her receding form.<What was that all about?> She wondered
as she headed home.
  
                                   ***
 
     Ranma-chan ran to the Nekohanten and quickly changed clothes before 
eating the antidote.She remembered to grab a nearby kettle, turning into 
a he as he ran out the door and leaving Mousse wondering if he was ever 
there.
 
     Ranma literally ran into Kuno as he rounded a corner which enraged 
the upperclassman.
 
     "Saotome,I challenge you!"

     "Not now,Kuno." He said as he got up and plucked a rose from a 
boquet Kuno was holding.

     He ran towards home and spotted Akane walking slowly as she watched 
the sunset."Akane!" he yelled as he ran to catch up while she turned 
around and waited for him.
 
     He slowed down to a jog as he neared her,remembering to hide the 
rose behind his back.His heart skipped a beat as he got closer and 
noticed how beautiful she looked in the warm orange light.

     A breeze suddenly picked up making her hair flutter carelessly.He 
watched,mesmerized as she impatiently tucked a strand of hair behind her 
ear,only to have it blown away again.

     As he reached her side,he nervously took her right hand and gave 
her the red rose from behind his back.

     "There's something I've been meaning to tell you." He said,smiling 
as he put her other hand into his and continued to walk home.
 
                                      THE END
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AUTHORS NOTES:
        Yaay!I'm finally done with this fanfic! Hope you enjoyed reading it.
 
     For those of you who's been living on Mars,Sailor V is from the anime
Salor Moon.Venus is also the name of the person who does Ranma-chan's
voice in the dubbed version.
     Please send your comments and criticisms to emily9@bellatlantic.net