hi again guys...here is Found part 3 Revised...i'm trying to take into 
account the fact that Ukyou and Akari have never met. also trying to 
lose some of the forced feel of the last version of part 3. i've been 
trying to lighten the mood a little, so you're subjected to less of the
stereotypically cheesy psychodrama. hope i've suceeded. if i have or 
i haven't, if you think this is better or worse than the last time it 
went out, please tell me, okay? thanks! 

many thanks to Meh-ri <mcl@wallace.ucsd.edu>, for her suggestions
and correspondence!

- mee

-----------

The usual disclaimer: all Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Takahashi-sama 
and distributers, all Oh My Goddess! characters belong to Fujishima-sama 
and other distributers...

[Auth's note:  {}  indicates flashbacks.]

Found
Part 3
(A Ranma 1/2 - Oh My Goddess! Crossover by Mee Robinson)

     "Hmph." The petite blonde circled Konatsu, eyeing him intently. 
"I don't know what Ukyou-sama sees in you," he sniffed. "You're not
even pretty."
     Konatsu gasped involuntarily, surprising himself. He was used to 
insults and harsh treatment; why should he be hurt now? And it was 
true. He wasn't even pretty today...
     <Get a hold of yourself.> he thought to himself. <Who cares if 
you aren't pretty? Ukyou-sama loves you better. _You're_ the one who 
lives with her. And isn't she always saying what a help you are?>
     A wave of feeling followed these thoughts, and Konatsu suddenly 
felt very hot, but also...better than he had in days.
     "Yes, you're right," he said shortly, eyes flashing. "So what? 
There...there's a lot more to a person than just that!" He started to 
walk away.
     Tsubasa blinked. He'd expected more from his competition than this. 
     "Hey, wait up!" he said, catching up in few bounding skips.
     "What?" Konatsu said without slowing his pace. 
     "Well - I know you're not _usually_ like this..."
     "So, you've been spying on me then."
     Tsubasa nodded. "Uh huh! I mean..."
     Konatsu whirled suddenly, and glared at the smaller cross-dresser. 
     "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" he yelled, more fiercely 
than he had intended.
     Tsubasa halted mid-skip, his eyes shimmering, hands fluttering 
nervously to his mouth. 
     <Gods,> Konatsu thought. <He's so...painful to look at. Is this the 
way Ukyou-sama sees me?"
     Tsubasa recovered quickly and scowled. "You're just jealous 'cause 
I'm cuter than you! And you don't stand a _chance_ with Ukyou!"
     Konatsu closed his eyes, fearing it was true. Ukyou-sama never 
looked at him the way she looked at Ranma. She was always, alway kind, 
but never more than that. Never...Konatsu began to growl, clenching his 
fists painfully. 
     Tsubasa blinked. The noise that emitted from Konatsu's throat was a 
deep and threatening sound. He almost couldn't believe it was being 
made by the slim, demure looking thing in front of him. 
     "Hey," he began tentatively.
     Konatsu exploded. "WELL, NEITHER DO YOU!!! DO YOU THINK UKYOU-SAMA
ACTUALLY _LIKES_ BEING CHASED BY A WHINING, SNIVELLING LITTLE BRAT
LIKE YOU?!?!"
     "Oh yeah?!" Tsubasa countered as best he could. "The only difference 
between you and me is that I'm better looking!" He pulled out a spare sign
post and brandished it threateningly. "Kenzan Konatsu, I challenge you!"
     Konatsu, eyes flashing with fury, unsheathed a very sharp, wicked 
looking sword.
     Tsubasa gulped. "I challenge you...a week from today! Whoever 
Ukyou-sama thinks is prettiest wins the right to go out with her!"
     Konatsu glared incredulously at Tsubasa for a long moment before 
coolly nodding and resheathing the sword.
     "Whoever Ukyou likes best," he said.
     "Hmph. We're agreed then. Prepare to give up Ukyou forever!" Tsubasa 
said, and bounce d off to prepare for the biggest fight of his life. 
     Konatsu sighed as the anger drained from him, leaving him confused. 
     "What did I just do?" he asked of his reflection in yet another shop
window. "Is Ukyou-sama going to be very angry with me? Will she even 
care?"
    The boy in the window didn't answer.

*****

     *Knock, knock!*
      Ryouga groggily shook himself awake. "Huh? Yeah, come in!"
      Ukyou pushed the door open and stepped in, carrying a pile of clean 
laundry.
     "Heya, sugar. Just came to drop these off. Can't seem to find your 
shirt, though...but I'm sure it'll turn up."
     "Thanks," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. Ukyou tossed his clothes 
onto the bed and sat beside him.
     "Geez, you sure look a sight. How're you feeling?"
     "Fine."
     Ukyou rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that."
     "I'm _fine._ Better. Okay."
     Ukyou looked at him closely, and decided he was telling the truth. 
He still seemed a bit flushed and definitely irritable, but not 
disoriented at all.
     "Well, Tofu-sensei called. He said he might come by to check on you 
later." 
     "I don't need-"
     "Oh, shush. You know he means well. Tofu-sensei's a really 
nice man."
     Ryouga scowled. "Yeah, I guess."
     "Hey," said Ukyou, remembering what the lost boy had said the night 
before, "Does Tofu-sensei look anything like your father?"
     "What? No, not really. Why?"
     Ukyou opened her mouth to tell him, but then hesitated, wondering 
if it was really a good idea to let Ryouga know what he'd said while 
delirious.Finally, she shrugged.
     "Oh, no reason. He just strikes me as a typical sort of wise uncle, 
fatherly kind of person."
     Ryouga frowned. "You mean he's like _your_ father?"
     "Hardly." Ukyou shuddered. She hadn't seen her father in years. More 
than anything else, it had been her father's silent shame, the almost 
palpable but forever unspoken disappointment, that had driven her away,
determinedto prove her worth. "What _does_ your father look like, 
then?" she said, trying to bring her focus back to the person beside her.
"Anything like you?"
     "Sort of. Not really. It's hard to say."
     "What about your mother, what kind of person is she?"
     "Mom?" Ryouga frowned, "I don't know. She's just really kind and 
really sweet, I guess..." He sighed. "The last time I saw her, I was 
about thirteen..."
 
    {Ryouga fought his way through the crowd, trying to find his way out 
of this dizzyingly bright and cheerful hell. There seemed to be no escape 
from the annoyingly loud and bouncy music. He was angrily asking directions 
from some ridiculous looking man in a mouse suit when he felt someone 
touch his arm.
     "Excuse me, could you direct me to the Hibiki res-Ryouga?!"
     "Mom?!"
     "Ryouga, my son, it's so good to see you again! My, how you've grown!"
     The two shared a crushing embrace. Ryouga would have felt 
embarrassed if it wasn't for the fact that he hadn't seen this woman 
in over two years. She looked almost the same as before, a little bit 
older, butstill strong, still beautiful and full of vitality. She smiled.
     "Did you get the noodles I made you for lunch?" she asked.
     "Uh, no, I didn't. I was-"
     "Oh, I understand. Children today are always in so much of a hurry, 
too busy to eat a proper meal." Her smile deepened. "I'll scold you about
it later. Right now, I'm hungry myself. Come on, there's an ice cream 
vender over there, next to those giant, spinning teacups."
     Needless to say, the two had been separated soon after, and, for 
Ryouga Hibiki, the bitter taste of defeat would forevermore be
synonymous with strawberry vanilla ripple.}

     "Wow, that's pretty bad."
     Ryouga Hibiki, seventeen years old and sitting in a room upstairs 
from Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, was overcome with a sudden sense of 
incompleteness and loss. Not knowing quite how to deal with this 
feeling, he reacted in the usual way.
     "Why the hell do you need to know?!"
     Ukyou, having spent the last few minutes unsuccessfully trying
not to think about her own failure and abandoned family, was too
taken aback to react similarly.
     "I was just...I don't know...wondering..." she said glumly. "I can't
really remember my mother that well...She was sick a lot when
I was little, and I didn't really get a chance to know her before I
left."
     "Oh," Ryouga said, his feelings of anger and annoyance quickly 
turning to a guilty confusion. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't know."
     "Really? I thought everyone knew about me." 
     "Well, I guess I sort of knew...I just never really thought about it."
     Ukyou turned away. "Why should you? Even my fiance doesn't
think about me. The only people who do care about me are those two 
cross-dressing perverts."
     Ack! How should he deal with this situation? Well, Ukyou _was_
sort of a friend.
     *ahem* "Hey, buck up! Don't talk like that."
     Ukyou glared at him. "It's _true_, isn't it?"
     "Uh, I guess so. I mean, no! I mean-"
     She sighed. "It's okay. You don't have to try to cheer me up."
     Ryouga, who had been expecting to be hit in the head with a giant
spatula at this point, blinked in surprise. 
     "Really?" he said, feeling incredibly stupid.
     "Yeah. Sorry. I'll be okay." she smiled weakly. "Hey, Ryouga?"
     "Yeah?"
     "You're not such a bad guy after all."
     "Uh...thanks, I guess."
     Ukyou fidgeted a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable at having 
said so much. 
     "Well, I guess I'll be going now..."
     As she rose to leave, she spotted something on the floor and bent 
down to pick it up. 
     "Hey, is this yours?" she said, holding up his wallet.
     Ryouga started to check his pockets, but remembered he was 
wearing someone else's pants.
     "Hmph. Has to be," Ukyou said, frowning as she flipped through the 
photograph section and came across the one of Akane. "Hey, who's this, 
a cousin or something? She looks like a sweet little kid." She was 
tapping Akari's picture. 
     "That's...Akari," he said, blushing hotly. "She's not a relative, 
she's my - she's a pig farmer."
     "A pig farmer, huh?" she smirked a bit. "That's cute. 
The two of you would probably make a perfect couple."
     "Gimme that!" Ryouga snatched the wallet and tucked it away. "It's
none of your damned business who she is!"
     "I was just _kidding_, Ryouga. You don't have to get all defensive."
     "I'm not defensive!"
     Ukyou rolled her eyes. "Geez, Ryouga, you'd almost think...hey, wait 
a second - don't tell me you've got a crush on this girl too!"
     "C-crush?! Don't make me laugh!"
     Ukyou felt the full understanding hit, followed by a swift and 
righteous anger. "I don't believe you! And here I thought you were head 
over heels in love with Akane!"
     "Shut up! What's it to you, anyway?!"
      Ukyou felt a sudden urge to slap him. 
     "You JACKASS!!!" she yelled. "Who the HELL do you think you are?!"  
She grabbed his collar and started shaking him roughly. "Stringing her 
along like that, when you _know_ you haven't given up on Akane! Have you 
ever even stopped to think about how _she_ might feel? What kind of 
man are you?! You're worse than- You _deserve_ to be cursed as a pig! 
It's what you are anyway!!! Jackass!!!"
     "Um, excuse me?"
     Both Ryouga and Ukyou turned to see Tofu-sensei standing in the 
doorway, looking a bit wary.
     "Konatsu let me in," he explained slowly. "I've come to check on 
Ryouga."
     Ukyou abruptly released the lost boy. Not expecting this, he fell 
onto the bed with a thud.
     "He's all yours," she said.


     Ryouga fidgeted impatiently as Tofu-sensei poked him in a few places
and listened to his breathing. 
     "I'm really okay," he said, trying not to sound too hoarse. 
"And I've really gotta get out of here, and go-"
     "Home?" Tofu-sensei supplied.
     "Well, no," Ryouga said, realizing that if he he revealed his true 
destination to the doctor, he'd probably be cooped up a lot longer.
     The doctor thumped Ryouga's back and listened carefully for a 
moment. "Don't you think your family would like to know where you are?"
     Ryouga shook his head. "Naw. My whole family gets lost, Doctor. I 
couldn't let them know where I was if I tried."
     "Hmm," Tofu-sensei said. "So this is an inherited condition?"
     Ryouga shrugged. "I guess so."
     "Breathe in." 
     Ryouga did.
     "Did either of your parents ever tell you why two people who get 
lost so often would choose to marry one another?"
     Ryouga scratched his head. "Sure, Mom told me all about that when 
I was little. It's actually _because_ they get lost that they were able 
to meet and fall in love. Everyone else they met tended to stay in one 
place, so they never saw most them again. But my parents kept running 
into each other, year after year, wherever they went. Eventually they 
fell in love and got married." 
     "Oh, good grief." said Ukyou, who was standing by the doorway.
     "But you don't seem to have that kind of luck," Tofu-sensei mused.
     Ryouga shook his head. "Nah. I mean, occasionally I'll run into one 
of them or the other, but it's usually years before it happens again." 
Ryouga sighed wistfully, remembering. "Mom always used to say that 
it was fate for her, meeting my father, and if it could happen for them, 
it could happen for me too, but..."
     Ukyou snorted. "Ah, yes. Akari, the pig-loving girl! I can see it all 
now..."
     "Shut up!" Ryouga growled, his eyes focusing once more.
     Tofu blinked, not understanding, but decided he shouldn't get 
involved. "Well, Ryouga," he said, "You seem to be recovering nicely. 
But please, if it's all right with Ukyou, I'd like you to stay here for a 
few more days, and I'll see if I can find you somewhere more 
permanent to stay."
     Ryouga slumped, sensing the almost tangible hostility eminating 
from the okonomiyaki chef. "I can go home," he said sullenly. "I wouldn't
want to be in the way or anything."
     Ukyou shrugged. "Whatever."
     "But you don't know how to get there yourself." Tofu-sensei pointed out. 
"Do you know anyone who does?"
     Ryouga thought for a moment. "Ranma and Akane would know. 
They've both been there before."
     Tofu nodded. "All right. I'll talk to them, see if one of them can 
take you there. In the meantime...just stay put. Try not to go 
_anywhere_, okay?"


     "Okay, Pig-boy, listen carefully," said Ukyou slowly. "_Here_ is 
the bathroom. _Here_," she said, tieing a large jingle-bell to his wrist, 
"Is a bell. When you finish washing up, _DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LEAVE THE 
BATHROOM. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GO THROUGH ANY DOORS. OR WINDOWS_. 
Ring the bell, and I will come and let you out. Got it?"
     Ryouga glared at her, his fangs prominent.
     "Got it?"
     "_YES_!" 
     "Okay then," said Ukyou, shoving him into the bathroom and locking 
the door behind him. "I'll be in the next room if you need me."
     "What the heck's _with_ this treatment? It's not like I'm some sort 
of helpless invalid - I can take care of myself!" Ryouga muttered, glaring 
at the dangling bell as he removed his shirt. 
     "Yeah, right!" chimed a familiar voice.
     "Huh? What? Where?"
     "Right here!" The water in the bathtub shimmered blindingly for a 
moment and out popped...Skuld.
     "YEAUGH!!!" Ryouga exclaimed, falling on his rear. "Where did _you_ 
come from?!"
     "YEAUGH!!!" Skuld exclaimed, covering her eyes. "Put some clothes 
on, you pervert!!!"
     "Ack!"
     "Ryouga?" Ukyou called from outside the bathroom door. "What was 
that noise? Are you okay in there?"
     "Y-yeah! Don't come in! Everything's fine! I just...dropped the soap..."
     "What?" Ukyou made a face in disgust. "Don't scare me like that!"
     Inside, Skuld shook her head violently and made shushing gestures.
     "...yeah, sorry..." Ryouga managed to stammer.
     Outside, Ukyou blinked in surprise. "Well...okay, then. Just don't do 
it again!"
     "...right..."
     Ukyou shook her head as she returned to her room. <Gee, that was 
weird. Maybe the idiot was sicker than I thought.>
     "Where the heck have you been?!" Ryouga whispered as vehemently 
as he could.
     "I've been around," Skuld whispered back. "I couldn't just appear 
the way I usually do with all these people watching you all the time! 
Anyway, I need some information." Skuld pulled out her laptop and called 
up a complicated looking graph. Ryouga leaned forward and stared at it,
trying to make sense of the huge tangle of multicolored lines. Finally, he 
gave up.
     "What do all those lines mean?"
     "This green one represents your life as it's currently progressing. All 
the others are possible futures, other ways your life could turn out, 
depending on the choices you make now. Not all of them, obviously, but a 
lot...Anyway, what are your feelings about Unryuu Akari? I need to know how 
you feel about her before I can formulate the plan."
     "A-Akari?" Ryouga stammered, remembering Ukyou's reaction. "Well...
sh-she's the sweetest girl in the world, except for Akane...and she's 
the prettiest girl in the world too, except for Akane..."
     Skuld made an impatient face. "Yeah, _and?_ A lot of people are 
pretty and sweet. What else?"
     "She loves me, even though I turn into a pig!"
     "Okay, that at least's _something_!" Skuld pulled up a file. "Uryuu 
Akari, pig loving girl..." She laughed. "That's funny!"
     "It is _not_!"
     Skuld shrugged. "Well, it makes my work easier, anyway. If she loves 
pigs, then your curse is actually an asset, right?"
     "Yes. NO! What are you-"
     Skuld sighed impatiently. "Will you make up your mind?"
     "Couldn't you just cure me?"
     Skuld snorted. "What do you think I am, a goddess? Yggdrasil has 
very specific parameters. There are some things you just can't 
compute. Curing Jusenkyo curses is one of them."
     "What kind of ultimate force can't even cure a stupid curse?!"
     Skuld shrugged. "The most powerful in the universe. Anyway, you still 
haven't answered my question. Exactly how do you feel about Akari?"
     "I..." Ryouga blushed, fidgeting. "I...don't know..."
     Skuld frowned. "Unh huh. Okay, good enough" she said, tapping on her 
keyboard for a few minutes. Abruptly, about half the lines on the graph 
disappeared. 
     Ryouga sighed. "I never thought it could be so complicated," he said. 
"I always thought I had to be fated to be with Akane...or Akari..."
     "Fated?" Skuld said, wrinkling her nose. "Not really. Look, there's 
fate, and then there's love. Two completely different things."
     Ryouga looked downcast. 
     "Hey," said Skuld. "I wouldn't worry about it. I _am_ the goddess 
of the future, after all." She closed the laptop with an air of 
satisfaction. "I think I've got just about enough information to get 
started now." She stood up. "I should get going before Spatula Girl
decides to come checking up on you again. I'll get back to you in 
a little while. See ya." The water in the bathtub gleamed supernaturally 
once more.
      "What? Hey, wait!" He lurched after her, the bell tied to his wrist 
jingling loudly. "Dammit!"

*****

     "Hey, what's this?"
     Skuld looked up from her ice cream to see her oldest sister poking at 
the graph on her computer.
     "AUGH!!! Don't touch that!" she yelled.
     "What?" said Urd, a trifle miffed. "What are _you_ getting so worked up 
for? I just might be able to help."
     Skuld shook her head violently, her ponytails waving. "No, no, no, no, NO! 
This is _MY_ assignment! It's my very first assignment, and I don't need 
_you_ to mess it up! I'm going to be a first class goddess if it kills me!"
     "Oh yeah?" Urd retorted. "Well, let me tell you something, sis. There's 
more to life than getting that stupid qualification! "
     "Let me tell _you_ something! There's more to life than _your_ stupid 
love-plots! And  you've never even tried to be more than a class two 
goddess, so what would you know about it?!"
     Urd's eyes flashed angrily. "Oh, you're just like Belldandy used to be!" 
she snapped in disgust. "_I've_ got better things to do than kill myself 
over a something that isn't even worth it! You can't tell me that I don't 
enjoy my life just as much as she likes hers, without even one half of 
the suffering!"
     "You leave Belldandy out of this!" Skulled shouted, standing up and 
pulling a dangerous looking gizmo out of her robes. 
     Urd closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Look, sis," she said 
in a gentler tone of voice. "I'm sorry. I guess I was kind of worried, and 
I wanted to see for myself what was keeping my little sister locked up in 
her room 'til all hours of the night, going through all of _these_." She 
gestured at the stack of discarded ice cream cups. Then she shrugged. 
"It's been infernally dull without you around, you know."
     Skuld gaped for a few moments. "Hmph," she managed finally, but 
without anger. "If you _were_ a first class goddess, you wouldn't be so 
bored, I bet."
     Urd sighed, patting the younger girl's head affectionately. "I doubt 
it. I'm just not cut out for that kind of life."
     "Sure you are!" said Skuld, hugging Urd tightly in an all too rare 
moment of sisterly comraderie. <Urd can be a pain sometimes,> she thought
to herself. <But she's got a really good heart. She's just sort of...
irresponsible. Hey, I know! Maybe if Belldandy and I can show her just how 
great being a first class goddess can be, then she won't be so bored, and
she'll stop meddling with other people's love lives! Then we'll all be happy!>
     "Hey, sis?" she said, breaking the embrace.
     "Hmm?"
     "Maybe you _can_ help me with my assignment. There's a lot of 
unresolved relationships and love triangles that I've got to work out. Just 
don't touch anything or do any magic without telling me."
     "Who, me?"

     "Let me get this straight," said Urd, trying to keep her eyes from 
crossing as she stared at Skuld's graph. "This guy is cursed with the body 
of a pig, has no directional sense, is incapable of sorting out his feelings 
and actually talking to the girl he loves, and _you're_ supposed to grant 
him happiness? Sheesh. I thought they'd give you an easier job, your first 
time out."
     Skuld shook her head. "I chose this assignment myself. Besides,
I'll never get anywhere if I only do the easy jobs. Anyway, it's not so
hard. There is one girl who likes him, even though he turns into a pig. 
She even loves him more because of it."
     "That makes _no_ sense."
     "It does, though! Look here," Skuld said, pointing to a pink line on the 
graph. "See? Her name's Akari, and she loves pigs. And Ryouga loves her too."
     "So...she loves him _because_ he turns into a pig?"
     "No, she loves him because he _defeated_ one of her pigs."
     "What?"
     "Her family raises sumo wrestling pigs," Skuld informed her sister. 
"And her grandfather made her promise that she would only marry a man
who could defeat their champion."
     "Let me guess," Urd said, closing her eyes in thought. "This Ryouga
fellow was the only one who was able to do it."
     "Right."
     "Poor girl," said Urd. "Must be awful, having that sort of promise 
hanging over your head. You'd never know what kind of man you'd end up
having to marry."
     Skuld made a face. "Does it matter? Ryouga's a good person. So is she.
You can't tell me this isn't a match made in heaven."
     Urd frowned. "I admit it's cute, the pig-boy and the pig-loving girl
getting together, but still...I mean, _anyone_ can be cursed to turn into a 
pig."
     "But not everyone is," Skuld said impatiently.
     "Yeah, but..." said Urd, thoughtfully toying with the end of one of Skuld's
ponytails. "It just seems kind of forced. There have got to be hundreds of 
Jusenkyo curses. What if he'd fallen into the Spring of Drowned Dolphin, or 
something like that? Or if her family had raised sumo-wrestling aardvarks 
instead of pigs? Then they wouldn't have fallen in love at all."
     "Don't be silly," said Skuld. "That's just not the way it _happened_."
     "I know," Urd replied, tugging Skuld's hair. "But it _could_ be."
     Skuld blinked, realizing the implications of what her sister had just 
said. "Urd!" she said, sitting bolt upright. "I can't just go and mess up their 
pasts like that! It would be wrong!"
     Urd raised her eyebrows. "Would it?"

*****

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
this is not a conclusion, and no revolution, just a little confusion,

                  where your head...has...been...

                - tori amos, ode to the banana king (pt. 1)

We're human; we're amnesia machines.

                - douglas coupland, Microserfs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------