Well, here's the last part.  Everything I wanted to say here I put in the
authors notes, silly me =)
Azusa-chan



Azusa-chan
mimzy@ix.netcom.com
A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction =)

Ranma 1/2 is the property of the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi.
All rights reserved.

*****Watashi wa Ranko*****
Part four:


I yawned.  The sun was shining and it hurt my eyes when I
opened them.  I mumbled an unlady like curse that I suspected
was my male half trying to emerge.
   "Ranko?  Are you awake?"  Akane looked down at me from her
bed.
   "Unfortunately," I said.  I reached for the bottle of pills
and popped one in my mouth.  I swallowed quickly so I wouldn't
have to taste it.
   A memory flashed by, as they usually do.  What I saw got me
soooo angry!  "Arrgh!" I yelled.  Akane looked back over at me
in surprise.
   "What is it, Ranko?" Akane asked, worried.
   I growled some more.  "Ryouga!  You pervert!  I take back
what I said about you being honourable!  YOU FIEND!"
   Akane blinked.  "What did he do to you?"  I blushed.  I
think she got the wrong idea.
   "Its...nothing," I said, also remembering my honour, not
that I had forgotten it.  "Nevermind."
   Akane looked hurt, but she didn't press me any further.

"Ranko!" Kasumi called.  "Ryouga is here to see you!"
   Time for the confrontation.  I went out to meet Ryouga.
"Ryouga."
   "Ranko."
   "I remember.  P-chan."
   Ryouga winced.  "I...figured you would remember sooner or
later.  I wanted to say I'm sorry.  Would you please give this
letter to Akane-san?"  He handed me an envelope.  I eyed it,
not sure whether to trust him or not.  "It tells her the truth
about P-chan."
   I looked over at him, wide-eyed.  "R...Ryouga?"
   He looked away from me, ashamed.  "The other day...When you
said I have honour..."  He paused to take a breath.  "I began
to think.  I didn't deserve your compliment.  I still probably
don't.  But I'm trying to make up for what I've done.  I
realized that even though I have held several grudges against
you, I've thought of you as a friend for a long time now."
   I was touched.  I realized that my memory loss had affected
people in ways I wouldn't have imagined.  It made Ryouga stop
and think, and I was...Honoured.
   "Thank you, Ryouga."  I gave him a hug.  "I won't be a girl
forever, and hugging you as a guy wouldn't seem right."
Ryouga covered a nose bleed.  I suppressed a grin.  "I just
want you to know that what you said meant a lot to me."
   Ryouga smiled at me.  I smiled at Ryouga.  I think that we
were finally friends, after years of him hating me.  It made
me happy.

Akane and I went out shopping.  She and I both figured that it
was my last day as a girl, assuming I didn't suddenly regain
my male mind during our trip.  We picked out a dress for her,
then I bought parfait for us both.  I had my pill and got a
few fighting and fiancee memories back.
   "Jeez, with some of the things I'm remembering, I wonder if
I want to remember any more!"  She looked at me.  "All the
fiancee trouble.  A lot of my memories of you are back, and I
have loved you throughout everything."
   A waiter walked by, and overheard what we were saying.  He
looked at me funny.  "Don't look at me like that, you wouldn't
understand," I said.  The boy blushed and ran off, embarrassed
at being caught eavesdropping.
   Akane shook her head.  I stared off into space, thinking.
I wanted to remember more about the pretty ring.  I hadn't had
another memory about it since the first.  Maybe it was the key
to my remembering.  "What's wrong?" Akane asked.
   I looked up.  "Nothing," I said, smiling reassuringly.  "I
just hope that everything happens smoothly."

The next morning, I woke up.  I looked up at the ceiling and
just stared.  I moved to get up, but realized that something
was making it difficult to move.  I looked down.
   "Eww!  What's this...girls thing I'm wearing?!"  It came
back to me.  I've been a girl the past few days.  "I need a
hot bath," I grumbled.
   Akane looked over at me.  "Ranma!  You have your male mind
back!"  Akane jumped off her bed and hugged me.  "I'm so happy
for you!"
   I hugged her back, though now I was a little unsure.  I had
confessed my feeling frequently and easily to her the past few
days, because I had the mind of a girl.  Now that I was back
to male, I was insecure again.  Damn gender roles.
   "I'm going to take a hot bath," I said, taking my bottle of
pills with me.  It was almost empty.  I could hear it rattle
as I made my way down the hall.  I wanted so badly to get out
of this uncomfortable garment and back into some of my loose
Chinese clothes.
   Ten minutes later I was happy, wet, warm, and male.  I took
a pill and settled down, waiting for a memory, or a handful of
memories.  I got only one brief image.  I was in a store that
sold Chinese herbs and spells.  I bought a one-use thing of
shampoo, and a bottle of pills that looked exactly like...
   Exactly like the bottle of pills I was using to regain my
memory.  I got one thought from the memory.  'The ultimate
test...'

I was silent, pondering, all through breakfast.  I was going
back to school today.  I had a note from Pop saying that I was
sick.  I guess I was, wasn't I?  In the mind.
   Akane kept looking over at me.  She was worried about me,
but she didn't say anything.  I didn't know what to say.  I
wondered why I had bought the pills that Nabiki had said came
from Tofu-sensei.  I asked her about it and she acted like she
didn't know what I was talking about.
   At school, people kept coming up to me asking if I was all
better.  I shrugged and told them to ask a doctor, not the
patient.  The pill I had at lunch showed me more about the
ring.  The woman I bought it from was pretty.  Not that I was
really paying attention.
   I had my eye on it for a while.  I finally saved up the
money to buy it, and I was happy.  I got many images of myself
giving it to Akane, it being on her finger.  The finger that
an engagement ring would go on.  So I guess it was for her.

That night, I took out the last pill.  I looked at it for a
long time before swallowing it.  I didn't know what to expect.
This pill was different from the others.  It was supposed to
be the last one taken.  It was purple with a yellow dot in the
center.
   I swallowed it and I was instantly dizzy.
   I fell into a dream...

I was walking down the street.  I had a wad of yen in my
wallet and a dream in my heart.  I found the perfect ring to
give Akane as an official engagement ring.  It was a beautiful
sapphire.  It made me think of her.
   I bought the ring and still had some money left over.  I
was thinking more now that I had actually bought the ring.  I
wasn't sure enough of the love I felt.  I didn't know if it
would last, really last.  And that was what I wanted.
   I had to test it.
   I passed by a store that sold Chinese herbs and spells.  I
figured I could go in and take a look.  They always have an
interesting trick or two.  I might just find something that
will help.
   Then there it was, staring out at me.  A shampoo that makes
it so the next time you get hit on the head, you lose your
memory.  A little note to the Jusenkyo victims was at the
bottom of the shampoo container.  It said that if you were in
your cursed form, that is what you would think you were.
   I bought it, along with the version of the antidote that
took a while to work.  I thought a lot and planned ahead very
carefully.  I told only two people: Tofu-sensei and Nabiki.
Tofu-sensei, because if I lost my memory and couldn�t' get it
back, I knew I would be brought to him.
   Nabiki was...kind of my accomplice.  I told her what it was
for and she told me that 'just this once' she wouldn't charge
me for her assistance.
   I washed my hair with the special shampoo, them turned to
a girl.  I picked a fight with Akane, and she hit me.  The
last thought that had echoed was what I thought when I bought
the stuff from the Chinese shop.  The perfect test...

I woke up.  I knew what I had to do now.  I knocked on Akane's
door.  She called, "Come in."
   I explained everything to her.  The spell, everything.
Except for why.  I got down on my knee and produced the ring
from my pocket.
   "Akane, I want you to marry me.  I have been in love with
you for a very long time.  I did all of this for you, to see
if our love could last through anything.  I think it can."  I
continued staring into her eyes, which had tears in them.
   "Yes, Ranma!" she said, hugging me tightly.  "Yes!"
   She pressed her lips against mine and I knew what it was
like to be happy.

*the end*

Authors notes:
Man, it sucks doing first person as the opposite gender!  I'm
considering taking a break from writing.  I've become a major
hermit crab, and even though they are few, the negative
comments I receive really drag me down.  Plus, I'm beginning
to get headaches from staring fixedly at a computer screen. =)
Just let me know what ya think, about me taking a break and my
story.  Thanks =)