I took out the babble about Jude's condition in the beginning of chapter
four and tacked on what would have been chapter 6 onto the end of chapter 5
finishing up some of what happens in the Nekohanten.  By now you've heard
me ask for C&C twice if you're persevered through the rest of the story so
I won't ask in this part, really I won't.  Okay, I'll do it just to be
consistent, please C&C this?  Please? Pretty please? :)

(Sickening isn't it? :))

Standard disclaimer: Ranma and all characters are the property of Rumiko
Takahashi and the various publishing and film companies, I'm simply
borrowing them for the time being.

Additional notes:
Words in *X* are in English, Words in <X> are in Chinese and words in any
other type brackets are in some other foreign language that will most
likely be specified within the text of the story.

The suffix -chan denotes the cursed female form of the characters, other
suffixes will most likely be self explanatory.

-------------
Lost and Forgotten

Chapter 4- Awakening

	The next morning Jude-chan awoke to the sounds of two people fighting.
Her first thoughts were of going back to sleep, after a time the continued
sounds of fighting convinced her that a return to sleep wasn't in the
making.  She sat up and looked around.
	She couldn't recognize a thing.  For some reason having no idea where she
was didn't cause any reaction other then annoyance.  She shook her head a
bit and then her eyes fell on the notebook lying near where she had been
sleeping.
	She opened up the book and started to read.  "Hey there Jude, this is
Jude, in case you forgot, I hope you didn't because it sucks for both of
us, you're at the Tendo's," the book said, she continued to read and soon
after finishing she closed it and placed it back in its pouch.  After
reading something written in her own hand her brain once again kicked into
gear and the memories came back, she knew where she was and why she was
here.  She turned back to Ryoga, who had awakened while she read, and said,
"Damn, that is certainly annoying."
	Ryoga nodded and said, "I would imagine so, good thing you had the journal
handy huh?"
	Jude-chan nodded and then looked in the direction of the doors and said,
"So, who's fighting out there?"
	"Oh that's just Ranma and his father sparring, that's all, we should head
in to the house, they probably have breakfast ready."
	"Good idea," Jude-chan said.  They both got up and made their way to the
house, careful to avoid the two combatants in their morning sparring.

				***

	After a bit of hot water and some breakfast Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki all
left for school. Kasumi began to clean around the house.  Soun and Genma
started yet another game.  Ryoga and Jude took this time to go into their
own training session.
	They started out working on a few katas and then branched into some
sparring, Ryoga had found that he enjoyed teaching another person when Jude
had started training.
	It had been a bit of a whim for Jude to decide to try to learn martial
arts.  He had wanted something to focus on other then the void that resided
in the place of memories.  So one night he had asked Ryoga to teach him,
Ryoga had been a bit startled at first but quickly decided that it was a
good idea.  It seemed that he too had wanted something else to think about
besides travel and the past.
	Their sparring was quiet different from Ranma and his father's aerial
feats though.  This was a match where both opponents soul purpose wasn't to
knock the other into the pond.  Ryoga went slowly, pointing out the flaws
in Jude's offense and defense and working to remedy them.
	One thing that they had found was that Jude was a quick learner, he had an
almost photographic memory it seemed, when he could remember at all that
is.  Ryoga attributed it to Jude's intellect, Jude pessimistically replied
that he didn't have anything else to crowd what he learned out of his head.
	After a few hours they decided to clean up and take a very careful tour of
Nerima.  They borrowed a map from Kasumi and soon they were on their way.

				***

	Earlier that morning Ranma and Akane were walking to school.  Ranma was on
the fence as usual and Akane walked along side him on the sidewalk.  There
was one thing different though, Ranma seemed very quiet today.  Akane
wasn't used to seeing him like this, she wasn't sure what to think.
	"I'm going to be cooking dinner tonight Ranma, you better eat it," she
said, usually that would get a reaction out of him.
	"Oh, that's nice," Ranma replied quietly, he had his hands behind his head
and was looking up at the sky as he walked.
	Akane blinked, that was definitely not the response she expected.  She
tried a few more of the usual argument starting triggers and got the same
results.  Something was wrong here.  She stopped and watched Ranma walk
along the fence for some way before noticing she wasn't along side him.  He
turned back and said, "Aren't you coming?"
	"Ranma," she replied, "Is something wrong?"  Ranma could be a jerk
sometimes but she was used to that and expected it, when he wasn't she
figured that something had to be wrong.
	Surprisingly enough, Ranma hopped down from the fence and walked over to
her.  "Remember last night when Ryoga said about Nannichuan not being a
cure?" he asked.
	Akane paused, the reasons for Ranma's behavior becoming clearer in her
mind, "He did say something like that, either that or Jude did, is that
what's got you so.... quiet Ranma?"
	"Yeah, before there was always that last out, if all the other odd cures
out there didn't work that one was always there.  It had always just been a
matter of heading back to China and hopping in the pool and I'd be cured.
Now, well, that isn't there anymore, there may be some other cure out
there, but, I don't know, it's just, well I'm starting to think that I may
not find a cure."
	Akane looked at Ranma for a time and then said, "I think I understand,"
she couldn't think of anything to say to answer that so she just said,
"Come on, we're going to be late for class."  With that she started once
more on her way to school.
	Ranma shook his head as if to dispel the thoughts of never being cured and
followed her.  After a time he managed to bring his mind to other things,
like the fact that Akane had actually listened to him when he talked.  Of
course he hadn't been anywhere near another woman so that might have had
some impact on her reactions.  He hopped back up onto the fence and ran
down the street to where Akane was and they both made their way to school.


Chapter 5-"Ah, so _that's_ where we are!"

	It was a typical day in the Nerima ward of Tokyo.  The skies had cleared
up during the night and the only evidence of the rain that had fallen was
the scattered puddles along the streets, puddles that Ryoga and Jude were
doing their best to avoid.  Jude was navigating and steadfastly ignoring
any directions that Ryoga happened to give him.  If I'm gonna get lost, he
thought to himself, it'll be my fault and not his.  There was something
oddly reassuring about that thought.
	"Ryoga, there's something I have to ask you," Jude said as he walked.
	"What's that?"
	"Well, it's something that came up a few times while I first showed up at
the Tendo's last night.  Something about them being glad that I wasn't
either a fiancee of, or the bearer of a death-wish towards, Ranma.  Now I'm
confused, I thought that it was standard practice to only have one fiancee,
and from what you said, that's Akane.  So what's the deal?  Care to fill me
in so I don't look like a fool when all the stuff that these people say
goes over my head?"
	Ryoga took this opportunity to give Jude an accurate, if slightly biased
against Ranma, version of Ranma's situation and how each fiancee came to
be.  After Ryoga was done filling him in Jude thought about it for a time,
then he said, "I don't remember anything like this happening to anyone
else, but I don't remember anything at all so that isn't much of a big
thing, but I still get the feeling that this situation isn't totally
normal.  Ah well, at least it isn't you or I huh?  You don't have any
fiancees do ya Ryoga?"
	"No! No I don't, why do you ask?"
	"Well, I dunno, just seemed like a possibility, that's all," anything
further Jude was to say was interrupted by his stomach growling.  "I'm
hungry, do you know any place to eat around here?"
	"Well, when I could find Nerima, and when I wasn't eating as P-Chan, well,
there was the Ucchan and the Nekohanten for food mainly, a few other places
but those could be anywhere," Ryoga paused for a moment and then said,
"Well, the Ucchan is closed while Ukyo is in school, but the Nekohanten is
open now."
	"Ukyo?  She's another fiancee isn't she?"
	"Yeah she is, the other one, Shampoo, works at the Nekohanten," Ryoga
replied.
	"Well, I guess it's the Nekohanten, what kind of food do they serve there?"
	"Chinese food," Ryoga replied.
	"Well, let's get some directions and head there, what do you say?"
	"Sounds good to me, you'll meet everyone over there sooner or later if we
stick around in Nerima much longer so we might as well do it now."
	With that the two set off to get directions, stay un-lost, and get some
food as well.

				***

	Having received accurate directions and actually following them the two
made it to the Nekohanten in a surprisingly brief period of time.  Jude
pencilled in the location of the restaurant upon the map and showed it to
Ryoga.
	"That's funny," he said, "I thought this place was much farther away then
this."
	Jude was about to answer when a passing bicycle and a puddle combined
themselves to soak both of them.  The two girls sighed and entered the caf�.

				***

	As Ryoga-chan entered the Nekohanten she was immediately greeted quite
enthusiastically by a young woman with purple hair.  "Nihao Ranma!  You
come to go on date with Shampoo yes?" she said as she glomped onto Ryoga-chan.
	Before Ryoga-chan could reply Shampoo caught sight of Jude-chan who had
entered just behind her.  Shampoo un-glomped Ryoga-chan and backed away,
she looked from one girl to the other and then said, "Ranma?  When you
split into two people?"
	By this time Ryoga-chan had managed to regain his breath after Shampoo's
hug so she said, "I'm not Ranma, I'm Ryoga, and this is Jude, we both fell
in Nyannichuan when we were in China."
	When she heard this Shampoo took a longer look at both the girls and she
noticed the little details that differentiated them between Ranma's
girl-form.  "Shampoo see that now," she said, "You want hot water and food
then?  Or you here see Great-Grandmother?"
	"Food and hot water will do for now, thanks, but if she isn't too busy I
suppose it couldn't hurt to talk to your Great-grandmother if she isn't too
busy."
	Shampoo showed them to a seat and said she'd be right back after taking
their orders.
	The caf� was empty at this time of the morning, it was in-between the
breakfast and noon rushes so it wasn't much of a surprise.  They heard
Shampoo talking to someone in the back of the restaurant and then the sound
 of food being prepared.  Soon after that a short old woman that reminded
Jude-chan strongly a female Yoda with normal colored skin hopped out on a
walking stick that was taller then she was.
	"So Ryoga," she said, "You've managed to find a cure of sorts to your
condition eh?  Tell me, who's your friend and why haven't you used
Nannichuan if you were too Jusenkyo?"
	Ryoga-chan greeted her as Cologne and quickly told the same story she had
told the Tendo's last night.  As soon as she finished Shampoo arrived with
their orders and a kettle of hot water.  The two cursed girls changed back
and dug into their food answering Cologne and Shampoo's questions as they ate.
	<Great-Grandmother,> Shampoo asked in Chinese, <Did you know I could be
cured when we were at Jusenkyo?> She was glad to hear that she could still
be cured, even if Ranma couldn't.  She was wondering why she hadn't been
cured as soon as she had been cursed.
	<I knew Xian Pu,> Cologne replied, <But a person can't get cured
immediately, Jusenkyo's spell requires time in between the curse and the
cure and that time varies with each person.  I couldn't tell you and have
you wait at Jusenkyo until you could be cured, your mission was too
important.> She paused and then said, "And speak Japanese, you need to work
on it every day to get better granddaughter."
	Ryoga and Jude continued eating, giving no clue that they understood every
word that the two had said.
	"Okay great-grandmother, Shampoo know should talk like this, just not like
it."  She didn't like sounding dumb, but she didn't know enough Japanese to
speak any other way and it frustrated her.
	"We all must do things we don't care for granddaughter," Cologne replied.
She hopped back to the kitchen and out of sight.
	Shampoo turned her thoughts back to the fact that she could be cured once
she returned home and smiled at Ryoga and Jude saying, "Is anything else
you two want?"
	"Other then giving my compliments to the chef I can't think of anything,"
Jude said, "How about you Ryoga?"  Ryoga shook his head and said he
couldn't think of anything.
	"Shampoo make ramen, you really like?" she asked.
	"It was delicious Shampoo, you're an excellent cook," Jude paused and then
grinned, "You're especially better then Ryoga and I are at cooking, that's
for sure."
	Shampoo smiled and said, "Thank you, is not often people say like food,
often just eat and go."  Then a few more customers began to file in and
Shampoo left to take their orders as well.  After a time Ryoga and Jude
paid for their food and got up to leave after saying goodbye to Shampoo.
	Jude picked up his umbrella from beside the chair and held it over his
shoulder as Ryoga grabbed his umbrella as well.  The two began to head out
the door when they heard a voice cry, "Ranma Saotome! Stay away from my
Shampoo!"
	For the briefest instant Jude wondered where Ranma was and what he had
done to that person's shampoo.  Then the name clicked with the person and
he spun around to face whoever was speaking.  As he turned he felt his
umbrella come into contact with something and then heard a thud as
something hit the floor.  He was about to look to see what the sound was
when he saw the person who had been talking.
	He was a tall person in long white robes, his long black hair came down a
ways down his back.  He had glasses perched above his eyes instead of in
front of them for some reason and he looked quite angry.
	"Ranma isn't here Mousse," Ryoga said.  Ryoga calling the person Mousse
caused Jude to remember what he had been told.
	"So this is the guy that has worse vision then I do?" Jude asked Ryoga.
Ryoga nodded.
	Mousse's eyes settled on the area where Jude was standing and then at
something slightly behind him and he cried out, "Whoever you are, prepare
to DIE!"
	The hidden weapons expert let loose a flurry of chains in Jude and Ryoga's
direction and they both dove out of the way of the incoming weapons.
Anything else they might have done was cut short by the sound of a splash
as Mousse disappeared and his clothes fell to the floor.
	Cologne came out of the kitchen holding a bucket and a small cage.  She
reached into Mousse's robes and pulled out an angrily quacking duck from
within them.  She shoved the duck in the cage and said, "Not in the
restaurant you idiot!  What the hell were you thinking?"
	Mousse quacked something but was ignored as Cologne took him back into the
kitchen.  Ryoga and Jude got up and dusted themselves off.  "I wonder why
he suddenly went into �Prepare to Die' mode?" Jude asked.
	"I think I know," Ryoga said, and pointed to the floor behind Jude.  He
turned to see Shampoo lying on the floor with a bruise quite similar to the
tip of Jude's umbrella upon her temple.
	"Did I do that?" Jude asked.
	Cologne made her way to where Shampoo was and looked her over.  Jude
kneeled down beside her and said, "Will she be ok?  I didn't mean to do
that, I must have hit her as I turned around."
	"Oh, she'll be fine, you somehow managed to hit one of her pressure points
when you made contact.  But don't you worry Son-in-law, she'll be just fine."
	"That's good to hear," Jude said, he smiled and then stopped, the smile
faded and he said "Wait a minute, �Son-in-law?'  What do you mean
�Son-in-law?'"



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