*Ranma and Ryoga walk into a small theater, where Yoiko is waiting.*

Yoiko:  'Morning, guys.

Ryoga:  *yawn*  'Morning.

Ranma:  Where did all the other chairs go?

Yoiko:  The theater manager didn't want you two to tear them up.  So we
have just the three chairs now.

Ryoga:  Oh, great.  Now we can't prop our feet up!  Ranma, this is all your
fault!

Ranma:  Yeah, whatever.  Whose fic are we looking at this time?

Ryoga: It isn't depressing, is it?

Yoiko:  Just look.

                    HEARTS AND MINDS PRELUDE SEVEN
                          MU SI: REFLECTIONS

                      Ranma 1/2 manga fanfiction
                            by Gary Kleppe

Ranma:  KLEPPE?  The guy with the puns!

Yoiko:  The very same. ^_^

       "I want to thank you for coming to little Yaku's birthday party,
Mr. Mu," the woman said as she handed over several bills.

Ryoga:  Yaku?

Ranma:  What about his brother Waku and their sister, Dot?

       "Mrs. Tatazu most generous." Mu Si took the money in hand and
bowed.

Ranma:  Why Mousse talking like Shampoo?

Ryoga:  Because if he talked like Kodachi, he wouldn't make much money.

Yoiko:  *Kodachi voice* Why, thank you, Mrs. Tatazu!  Waaaa-hahahahahaha!

Ryoga:  See?  He'd scare the kids.

Ranma:  *shudder*  Could you not do that?

       "Thank you." Mrs. Tatazu returned the bow, then righted herself.
"I must say, I really don't know how you did some of those tricks."

Ryoga:  He made a bargain with the Devil.

Ranma:  He's really humbled, if he's letting them call his Art a trick.

       "Mr. Mu come from hidden village in remotest China. Study for
many years secret techniques there."

       "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" nine-year-old Yaku said. "Well,
anyway, that stuff was neat." He held out a hand. "Got a souvenir, Mr.
Mu?"

       "Ah, yes." Giving out something on request had become a standard
part of the act.

       Mu Si reached inside. To anyone watching, it would have seemed
as if he were going to pull something out of his robes. There was much
more to it than that, but he had been taught that trying too hard to
understand what "inside" was might make him unable to use it. So
"inside" was simply somewhere that he could take weapons and other
things from.

Ranma:  I've always wondered about that.

Ryoga:  And Akane's mallet.

       Yaku looked at the gift that Mu Si was offering, and backed
away. "Um... thanks anyway, Mr. Mu." It was a mismatched pair of socks.

       "So sorry, Mr. Mu never know what he going to get." It was true.

Yoiko:  Mousse's robes are like a box of chocolates... ^_~

Mu Si's martial arts master had taught him he could never be aware of
what was inside; for if one knew what one could get, then one also knew
what one could *not* get, and that might include something important. So
he always found something unexpected when he reached inside. Once he had
even found a driver's license from some westerner named Hoffa.

Yoiko:  Waaa-hahahahaha!

Ryoga:  I don't get it.

Ranma:  Would you stop doing the Laugh?  Please?

       Mu Si made his goodbyes to Yaku's parents, then went out through
the front door. He counted the money he'd just earned. It would keep the
bills paid, for a while at least.

       He picked up the bicycle lying on the sidewalk and got on. It,
along with the pidgin-speech he used in his act, was the only thing left
to him from Shan Pu.

Ryoga:  That explains it.

Ranma:  It doesn't explain anything!  He's just setting up the next part of
the story!

Ryoga:  It explains why he's talking like Shampoo, you jerk!

       Making sure his glasses were on, he prepared to pedal away. He
stopped when he saw the image reflected in the bicycle's rear-view
mirror. It was someone he had seen before, a long time ago.

Yoiko:  Well, we know it's not Dracula...

                                ______

       "Welcome to the Nekohanten," Mousse held open the door, checking
how many people were in the party. He saw only a refrigerator.

Ryoga:  Huh?

Ranma:  Couldn't be.

       That couldn't be right, he thought. He pushed his glasses down
over his eyes. What he had thought was a refrigerator was actually... a
refrigerator.

Yoiko:  *snicker*

Ranma:  At least you're not doing the Laugh anymore.

       A voice sounded from within the appliance. "CHARGE!" It pushed
past Mousse into the restaurant, knocking aside several tables as it
made a straight line for the kitchen.

       Mousse looked closely at his glasses to see whether they were
soiled.

       "My dearest darling Shampoo! You're the only one for me! I --"
The voice from the kitchen was interrupted by the sounds of violence.
The refrigerator crashed involuntarily through the wall back into the
dining room.

Yoiko:  Involuntarily?

Ryoga:  It'd kind of have to be involuntary, wouldn't it?

Ranma:  Yeah, you and Shampoo are the only ones who ever go through walls
on purpose.

Ryoga.  Shut up.

       "Stupid girl-boy!" Shampoo yelled from the kitchen. "I see
again, I kill!"

Ryoga:  Ha!  She could be talking to you!

Ranma:  Watch it, bacon breath!

       Something rose out of the remains of the refrigerator. Looking
through his glasses, Mousse saw what appeared to be a cute young girl in
a Japanese school uniform. "Who are YOU?!" he said. "You stay away from
Shampoo, girl!"

       "Never! And I'm one hundred percent man! Kurenai Tsubasa.
Shampoo is the love of my life! We were meant for each other! Someday
she'll realize it."

Ranma:  Does this sound familiar?

       "But... she said she'd kill you if she saw you again!" Mousse
was finding it hard to be angry at this pathetic creature. Anyway,
she... he was obviously nothing to worry about as a rival.

       "I don't care what she says! She'll change her mind. I don't
care if it takes the rest of my life and I have to follow her to the
ends of the Earth. I'll never EVER give up on my dear, dear Shampoo!"

Ranma:  Sound just a little like someone we know?

       Mousse's glasses rested firmly over his eyes, his vision clear;
but when he looked down, it wasn't Tsubasa he saw.

Yoiko:  I love this transition.

Ryoga:  You have to feel sorry for Mousse, though.

Ranma:  None of that sounded familiar to YOU, Ryoga?  Even if you replace
Shampoo's name with Akane's?

Ryoga:  No.  Shut up.

                                ______


       A reflection....

       Mu Si turned around, coming back to his feet and letting the
bicycle drop. "Tsubasa."

       "Uh, hi," Tsubasa said. "Ukyo and Kuno asked me to look for you.
They didn't know where to find you."

       "I've been moving around a lot lately, doing some entertainment
work. A friend of mine is in training, and I'm trying to earn some money
to support her."

Ranma:  Mousse has a friend and he's supporting HER?  Who is it?

Yoiko: You'll see. ^_^

       "Really?" Tsubasa smiled fondly. "I'd gladly do the same for
darling Kasumi. You don't know where I can find her, do you?"

Ryoga:  D'oh!

Ranma:  KASUMI???

       "Sorry, no." Of course, that was the difference between Tsubasa
and what Mu Si had once been. Tsubasa changed the object of his...
affections... every so often; Kasumi was probably just the latest. "She
went off years ago to become an apprentice to a Shinto priestess named
Kaede. I haven't seen her since."

       "Anyway, Kuno wants you to come to the Tendo Dojo tonight at
seven. He said that Shan Pu would be showing up."

       "And you think that would interest me?" Mu Si tried to sound
more confident than he really felt. Tsubasa evidently didn't think much
about offering a recovered alcoholic a drink.

Ranma:  Recovered?  Sounds more like wishful thinking to me.

       "There's supposed to be some kind of crisis in her village.
They're expecting to be attacked, and they need everyone's help."

       "Why didn't you say so?" Mu Si got back onto the bicycle. "Tell
them I'll be there." After all, he thought as he pedaled away from
Tsubasa, her home was *his* home too -- or at least it used to be.

       He wondered what it would be like to see Shan Pu again. She was
asking for *his* help now? That would certainly be a switch after the
way things used to be between them....

Ryoga:  He's going to get his heart broken.  This IS a depressing fic, isn't it?
                                 ______

       Mousse folded over the top of the cardboard box. This was
finally the last one. Packing up the Nekohanten had been like emptying
his robes; every time it looked like he might be almost done, something
else turned up in an unexpected place.

Yoiko:  The Nekohanten is like a box of chocolates, too?

       Now, unless there were any more closets he didn't know about, he
was done.

       The boxes were already labeled for shipment back to China.
Mousse decided to rest for a moment before taping them shut. He sat on
the floor, the furniture having been sold and taken away. The rain
poured down outside, punctuated by an occasional rumbling in the
darkened evening sky.

       Shampoo was leaving. Mousse knew that she would be going back to
China, leaving him behind, unless he could somehow persuade her not to.
Maybe it was insane of him to keep trying after all this time; but to
marry Shampoo was the dream of a lifetime. If there was any chance at
all of it happening, then he had to try. After all, hadn't people
throughout history triumphed against impossible odds to realize their
dreams?

Yoiko:  o/` Just what makes that little old ant think he can move that
rubber-tree plant... o/`

Ranma:  Serious delusions?

       Shampoo came in from the back room. "Thank you for packing
boxes, Mousse. Real estate agent say will deliver to post office
tomorrow morning."

Ranma:  Whoa!  She said thank you?

Ryoga:  Well, he is helping her move.

Ranma:  Yeah, but she just thanked MOUSSE!

       "It was nothing, Shampoo. I'm so glad I could help."

       "I go airport now. Tomorrow morning catch early flight go
Shanghai." She knelt on the floor next to Mousse. "What you do now?"

       "I'm going to seal up the boxes. I've got this really strong
tape, the kind they call --"

Yoiko:  Waaa-haha-

Ranma:  PLEASE!

Ryoga:  I bet he's using DUCK tape!!!

Yoiko:  Waaaaa-hahahahaha!  Waa-waa-waaaa-hahahahahaha!

Ranma:  Aargh!

       "No!" Shampoo interrupted. "I mean where you go now. What you do
after I back in China?"

       A voice inside Mousse's head screamed *NO! Don't let her say
goodbye!* "I... I could go with you to the airport. Make sure that you
get there okay. It's no trouble...."

       "And go back to China with me? That what you want?"

       "Huh? I... uh...."

       "I tell you before, Mousse. We not ever be a couple. You want go
back, that okay, but not go with me."

Ryoga:  This is gonna be depressing, I can tell...

       "Then let's stay!" He suddenly leaned over to make a desperate
embrace. "Please! It'll be so good, just the two of us.... Oh Shampoo,
can't you see who it is that truly loves you?"

       A voice came from behind. "Stupid Mousse."

       He pushed his glasses over his eyes. He had hugged a cardboard
box.

Ranma:  Just don't do THAT laugh, Ok?

Yoiko:  *snicker*  Ok.  ^_^  Cardboard box...  :D

       "I need leave." Shampoo opened the door. Flipping open an
umbrella, she stepped out onto the rain-soaked sidewalk.

       Mousse ran out after her. "Shampoo, wait! I--" His words cut off
abruptly as he transformed into a duck.

       Shampoo looked back from under the shelter of her umbrella,
eyeing Mousse impatiently, as if offering him one last chance to say
something.

       He reached inside and pulled out a bouquet of red roses.

       She struck with her palm, scattering the flowers across the
pavement. "Goodbye, Mousse," she said scornfully.

Ryoga:  Aw, man...

Ranma:  That's pretty cold.

Yoiko:  If there's no hope, it's better that he understand that, though.

Ryoga:  Yeah...but still...

       Mousse could only watch through fogging glasses as Shampoo
turned and walked purposefully away. Her every movement was filled with
a beauty that came around only once in a lifetime, one that he would now
never be able to know.

       A sudden burst of thunder crashed through the sky. A dog started
barking while the rain poured down harder. Mousse thought about where he
was, and realized that he didn't have anyplace to go.

       A nearby puddle showed Mousse's reflection. It was a
funny-looking sight. A duck with glasses. Something that should be a
character on a children's cartoon.

       But even funny-looking duck men needed love. Even they were
capable of giving it.

       He stood in the rain, roses scattered at his feet. The only
sounds in the cold night were the constant downpour and the howling of a
distant dog. The one Mousse loved had left him, maybe forever. And even
if she did come back, she wouldn't love him. The dream would forever
be... a dream.

Ranma:  That's really pathetic.

Ryoga:  What do you know, you insensitive jerk?

Yoiko:  Here, have some Milk Duds.  No fighting till the fic's over.  I
agree with Ryoga, this was a depressing bit.  Very well done, imo.
                                ______

       The rain stopped. The last dim vestiges of evening light emerged
around the clouds. Soon it would be dark again.

       Mousse wiggled his tail feathers and flapped their wings,

Yoiko:  His wings.  Ducks are pretty goofy-looking when they do that, too. ^_^

and
the water rolled from his duck body. He sat down on the wet sidewalk. He
had to decide what to do, where to go.

       Shampoo would be at the airport by now. Soon she would be out of
the country. He could go back to China too if he wanted; but if he did,
he'd have to face all the people who knew him, who would know that he
had been courting the same girl all of his life and had failed.

Ryoga:  So he can never go home?

Ranma:  That's harsh.

       Fine, Mousse thought. He'd just live his life without Shampoo.
Knowing her had only brought him pain anyway. He was better off on his
own. In fact, he thought, if she came back right now, he'd....

Yoiko:  o/`  He'd fall to pieces...o/`

       Someone came walking down the sidewalk. Mousse looked through
his fogged glasses in the dim light. It was Shampoo! She'd come back for
him! He waddled up to her, excitedly.

       Taking another look, he saw that it wasn't Shampoo at all. The
newly-arrived person looked down at Mousse, and smiled happily. She
spoke in a child-like voice.

       "Claudette?"

Ryoga:  Oh, no.

Ranma:  It can't be.

Ryoga:  Azusa!  Could it possibly get WORSE?

                                ______

*snip the storybook part*

Ranma:  That's kind of creepy.

Ryoga:  Trust me.  Until she adopts you and gives you a French name, you
don't understand HOW creepy.

                                ______


       Itakura Ryoko wrote in her notebook as she sipped from the
drinking glass in her other hand. She was a thin short-haired woman
wearing a blazer.

Ranma:  A blazer and nothing else???

Ryoga:  You hentai!

Ranma:  I am not!

Yoiko:  Hey!  No fighting yet!

       The small middle-aged man in the chair next to her was Shiratori
Hideki. He wore large dark-framed glasses and an expensive looking
kimono, with his hair slicked back. He smiled an absurdly wide smile
most of the time. "Anything else you'd like to know for your article,
dear lady?" he asked.

       "No, I think I have enough. Thank you for the interview. I have
high hopes of being able to sell it to one of the major business
weeklies."

Yoiko and Ryoga:  o/`  She's got High Hopes, she's got High Hopes... o/`

Ranma:  Oh, brother.

       Hideki smiled. "I hope listening to my ramblings has not bored
you too much, my dear."

Ryoga:  *yawn*  Oh, no... 9_9

       Ryoko chuckled. Such modesty!

Ranma:  She should interview Kuno next!

"Not at all. It's fascinating to
hear the life story of one of Japan's leading industrialists."

       Hideki laughed loudly. "My life? It is nothing special. The
house of Shiratori is an unexciting place, my dear interviewer, where
the unusual never happens."

Ryoga:  Azusa doesn't live there?

       A young woman entered the living room, sliding quickly over to
Hideki and kissing him on the cheek. "Hi, Daddy!" Her thick, wavy brown
hair and wide eyes looked Occidental. Ryoko recalled Hideki mentioning
that his first wife had been an American.

Ranma:  How many wives has he had?

Ryoga:  Why, Ranma?  You taking notes?

       Ryoko noticed that Hideki's daughter carried a duck in her arms.
The duck wore a pair of glasses.

Yoiko:  Poor Mousse.

       "Good evening, Azusa." Hideki sipped from the drink he was
holding. "How was skating practice tonight?"

       "I met a new friend, Daddy!" Azusa held the duck out for her
father to see. It seemed to be struggling in her grip. "Her name's
Claudette! Isn't she cute?"

Ranma:  She's a boy.

       "Cute? That she is," Ryoko said. "Are you going to cook her for
dinner?"

Ryoga:  This reminds me of my worst nightmare...

       "NO!" Azusa turned away, cradling the duck tightly in her arms.
"Claudette is my friend! I won't let anyone eat her!"

       Ryoko heard what sounded like a sigh of relief from the duck. It
must have been her imagination, she decided.

       "She didn't mean it, dear." Azusa's father gestured toward the
woman. "This is Itakura Ryoko. She's writing a magazine article." He
looked back at Claudette. "She looks healthy enough. You'll have to take
care of her if you want to keep her, you know. She'll be more work than
your other friends."

       "I know, Daddy. Tomorrow I'll go out and buy her some food."

Ranma:  So what's she, I mean he supposed to eat today?

       Ryoko looked closely at the duck. "But... glasses?" She examined
Claudette's eyewear by touch. "They're real prescription lenses."

Ryoga:  Why can she only tell that by touch?

Yoiko:  Maybe she needs glasses herself. ^_~

       The duck broke free from Azusa. It flew around the room, picking
up speed as it rose toward the ceiling.

       "Claudette, be careful!" Azusa cried. "You dropped your..."

       The duck flew into a window -- a closed one -- and dropped to
the floor, stunned.

       "... glasses," Azusa finished. "Oh, Claudette!" She ran over to
the duck. "I'll have to get you a leash so you won't hurt yourself!"

Ranma:  That's gotta hurt...

       Ryoko turned to Azusa's father and spoke quietly. "A duck? With
glasses?" She grinned. "Not unusual?"

       "Azusa often... finds... things. Usually not living things.

Ranma:  Ha!  Tell that to P-Chan!