PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
Feelings Are Blind
Part Three:  Fortitude

	Ranma left the alley an hour after Tenchi.  He had sat and thought
about everything that was happening to him.  His world was drastically
shifting right under his feet, and he felt there was nothing he could do
to stop the violent upheaval.  He knew he would have to face his family
and friends soon, and it was not something he was looking forward to. 
He wasn't even sure where to start.  The Dojo?  The Nekohaten?  No, he
had to start somewhere he could truly trust, with someone who would
truly listen.  Someone who perhaps also knew, on some level, what he was
going through.
	Ranma landed on the front step of Ucchan's after a quick trip over the
skyline of Nerima.  It was getting late, and the sun was casting a pale
yellow glow from the horizon.  Ranma took a moment to appreciate the
glory of nature's finest painting before stepping into the restaurant. 
It was brightly lit in the store, and filled with the pleasant and
familiar aroma of okinomiyaki.  There were only two customers, and they
were sitting at a table near the door, their food already being shoveled
into their mouths.  Ranma ignored the patrons and immediately went to
Ukyou, the reason for his coming.
	Kuonji Ukyou, a friend of Ranma's from long back, and also a fiancee. 
They were engaged by his father years ago, but his old man stole the
proffered dowry and left the youthful bride-to-be behind.  She had never
forgiven Genma for what he had done, and she thought she would never
forgive Ranma either.  However, his charm had won her over again, and
she once again became a willing fiancee.  Just one of a whole set. 
Ranma sometimes felt like he was in some sort of demented 'fiancee of
the month' club, and he couldn't rescind his subscription.  He wished
though that Ukyou would stop chasing after him.  He liked her, loved her
in his own way in fact.  However, he did not think of her as a
prospective wife, that would be... odd, considering their past.  
	"Hey, Ucchan!" he greeted as he sat at one of the waist-high barstools
lining the grill and counter.  
	"Hi, Ranchan!" the bubbly chef returned, the smile already alight on
her face becoming a challenge for the setting sun.  
	"Ucchan, there are some things I'd like to talk to you about."  His
eyes lowered a bit as he once again lost himself in thought.
	Ukyou noticed his manner and her smile drooped slightly.  "Are you
okay?" she asked, concern marring her usual dulcet tone.
	Ranma nodded slowly, then stopped.  "I don't know.  I need someone to
hear me out," he looked up at Ukyou seriously, "Someone who will just
listen."
	The chef backed away a step from the grill and frowned.  "I'm really
not going to like what you have to say, am I?"
	This time, Ranma shook his head.  "I'm afraid you aren't.  But you're
the only person I feel right talking to like this... well, except maybe
the source of my..."  He paused, unsure of what to call Tenchi.  He
couldn't bring himself to call him a problem, he would never call Tenchi
that.  "Anxiety." he finally completed after a moment.  
	The two men had finished their meals and left their money on the table
before getting up and leaving.  Ukyou ran around the counter and ran out
the door to remove her banner from the street side.  Coming back into
the restaurant she locked the door behind her, officially closing the
establishment.  She went back around the counter to sit in front of a
still sulking Ranma.  She threw some batter on the grill and began to
make his favorite dish.  "So," she began over the popping sound of the
cooking batter, "what can Ucchan do for ya?  I'm all ears."
	Ranma couldn't help but grin.  Then, his face fell and he began his
story.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	Tenchi finally made it back to his apartment.  That was the last time
he would ever go to a bar, he couldn't see what Ryouko found so
attractive.  He threw his jacket onto the couch and sat next to it with
a quick exhalation of air.  The day had been probably one of his most
hectic.  Even the Kagato incident wasn't quite that emotionally
stressful for him.  He picked up the remote and flipped the television
on.  He didn't expect to find anything worth watching, but the noise was
comforting.  The city was rather quiet in comparison to the shrine, yet
another irony.  His life was so chock full of them he sometimes wondered
if it weren't simply created for someone's amusement.  
	Another problem with being by oneself, you tend to get philosophical
for no apparent reason other than the fact that you have nothing better
to do.  Now Tenchi was getting a headache.  He had gone to that bar to
drown his sorrows, to escape his already shaky reality for a little
while.  He should have gone for something a wee bit stronger than
water.  Not only did he fail in escaping, he managed to add one more
complication.  Life can truly suck sometime.
	Food, that's what he needed.  Whenever he couldn't find peace, or farm,
there was always the universal comfort of a bag of chips... or... heaven
of heavens, a gallon of ice cream.  He found himself at the freezer
without realizing he had even risen from the couch.  He opened the door,
and found a head of azure hair hovering in front of him.  It took a
moment for his brain to register the fact that he was being stared at
from the depths of his refrigerator.  When he did, he sighed.  "Ryouko,
what are you doing in there?"  He simply was not in the mood for company
right then.  
	The space pirate smiled and glided the rest of the way out of the
freezer, then to wrap her arms around Tenchi.  "Hello!  I thought you
might be bored, or miss me, or something."
	Tenchi wanted to say, 'none of the above,' but he couldn't bring
himself to be mean to Ryouko.  She was still his best childhood friend,
and he wouldn't knock her down so simply.  So, he settled on pulling her
from him and answering, "Yeah, I suppose I was a little bored."
	Ryouko lit up the room with her most brilliant smile.  "That's what I
thought!"  She wrapped an arm around one of Tenchi's.  "So, what is
there to do around here?  Or am I going to have to come up with
something myself?"  This last question was asked in such a way that
Tenchi to leave his amusement up to Ryouko's ministrations.
	"Uh... we could watch some TV, or go see a movie... walk in the park...
uh..."  He almost added Pachinko, but remembered Ryouko's love of
gambling just in time.  "That's about it."
	Ryouko seemed disappointed for some reason, a reason Tenchi felt better
off not knowing.  "Okay, Tenchi, whatever you want to do."
	Tenchi smiled, "How about we take a walk in the park?  I can talk to
you about some things, and take in the fresh air."
	Ryouko nodded, and they headed out into the street.  Tenchi was not
looking forward to what he would have to talk to Ryouko about.  He just
hoped Ranma would come to him, so all the angst he would be causing
would be worth it somehow.  He hoped Ryouko could understand, but he
doubted it.  He just hoped she went somewhere other than a populated
area to take out any frustrations she may feel.  Tenchi didn't want to
hurt her, of course, but it had to be said.  It would hurt worse if he
drug her on and then Ranma came back.  Truth be told, he also had a fear
for Ranma's life, if ever Ryouko and her met.
	The park was not far from Tenchi's apartment complex, so he only had a
few minutes to compile his thoughts.  Ryouko was content just hanging
onto his side.  When they walked through the gates marking the division
between steel and concrete and grass and trees, he began his story.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	Ukyou was crying.  Ranma absolutely hated to see it, but he couldn't
think of anything to do to stop it.  He had told her everything, and it
was not as hard as he had previously thought.  Whatever was changing him
seemed to have an effect on his ability to open up to others.  It was a
mixed blessing for sure.
	"Another MAN?" Ukyou screamed, "I'm being dumped for another man?"  
	Ranma held up a hand, "I didn't say that, Ucchan.  I just came to tell
you what happened, I didn't say I loved the guy or anything."  It did
not come out sounding as convincing as he would have liked.
	"You don't have to say it, you idiot!  I can tell when someone is in
love, and you are most certainly in love with this Tenchi!"
	A slap to the face couldn't have effected Ranma half as much as that
simple exclamation.  It slammed into his psyche like a mountain of
lead.  His head reeled from the blow, as if a physical force had struck
him.  He stared at his best friend, not blinking for a good minute. 
When his eyes finally closed, they stayed that way.  "I... love...?"
	Ukyou sighed, her Ranchan could be so indecisive.  "Why?  Why do you
love him?"
	Ranma opened his eyes and looked at Ukyou again.  He thought of her
question for a moment, trying to drudge up some good reasons for his
feelings.  "I'm not positive.  It's hard to say why you love someone,
isn't it?"  He glanced out the front window behind him before
continuing, "Believe me, when I woke up this morning the last thing I
would have thought was that I'd fall in love with another man."  
	"You still haven't answered my question."
	Ranma sighed, "Ucchan, I... love him, because he understands.  Not only
that, but he doesn't force anything.  He's the first person who's been
attracted to me, and not instantly issued some sort of challenge, or
puffed up like they figured there was no way I could resist them."
	Ukyou was not convinced, "Is that all?"
	Ranma turned back to the chef.  "No... that's not all."  He was a
little embarrassed to continue.
	"What?  What else?"  She didn't seem like she truly wanted the
conversation to continue, but she was too curious to stop.
	Ranma lowered his eyes to the grill surface, where the okonomiaki's
were sizzling slightly at the edge, just to stay warm.  "It... it's his
touch."
	There was a clatter as Ukyou's spatula hit the frying surface.  It
seemed to reverberate forever throughout the empty room.  Ranma pulled
his gaze up to meet Ukyou's shocked one.  "His touch?" Ukyou repeated.
	He nodded, "When we met in the bar, he asked to touch me when he found
out about my curse.  It's as if he wanted to prove to himself what had
just happened to me was real.  When his hand met the side of my face I
realized I had never before felt such a gentle touch.  It was so warm
and caring, and got more so as it continued.  Then... then, he kissed
me."  Ranma wasn't sure if he could say the last part, but it just sort
of came out when the time was right.
	Ukyou looked as though she couldn't take another shock or she might
simply keel over on the spot.  As it was, her lip was quivering ever so
slightly.  "K... kiss?" she whispered, almost too low to hear.
	Ranma noticed her pick up her spatula and tighten her grip around it
until her knuckles were white.  "Ucchan?" he asked timidly, unsure of
what she would do next.
	"Huh?" she replied, as if not all there.
	Now, Ranma was worried.  He reached over the counter to lay a hand on
her shoulder.  He winced as her spatula came up and sliced his forearm. 
He sat back, his other hand covering the laceration.  "Ukyou, you have
to calm down."  He only used her actual name when the situation was
beyond serious.
	It may have only been a slight alteration in title, but it cut into
Ukyou like nothing else.  "R... Ranchan..."  Her hands shook as her eyes
filled with tears.  She looked down at the spatula she was holding, and
watched as a small drop of blood fell from it to boil away on the grill
below.  "Oh, Kami..." she dropped the razor sharp cooking tool again and
put her hands to her chest as if she were having trouble breathing.  
	"Ucchan, are you okay?"  He knew it was a stupid question, but he
couldn't help but make vocal his concern.
	Ukyou didn't nod, but neither did she shake her head.  Ranma wasn't
sure which would be worse, but found the total inaction most
disconcerting.  "Come on, Ucchan... answer me."  He smiled, "Write a
sign or something."  
	The smile washed off his face as she turned around and began to walk
out of the dining area.  "Ucchan?" he yelled, "Where are you going?"
	She stopped just before exiting.  Without turning around she said in a
cracked voice, "Lock up on your way out, please."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

	"What?  You've found someone else?" Ryouko cried, incredulously.  "How
could you go and do that?  When you have me..."  Her voice dwindled, and
she continued in a quieter tone, "You don't love me, do you?"
Tenchi didn't know how to answer that.  He did love her, in a way.  As a
friend, but he didn't want her to get the wrong idea by saying he did,
in fact, love her.  "Ryouko, I think of you as my best friend.  Someone
who is always there for me, and will always be there.  Am I wrong?"
Ryouko looked up at the sky.  "No, Tenchi, you aren't wrong.  I'll
always be here for you.  I was just hoping you would return the same
feelings I have for you."
"Perhaps if things were different."
Ryouko stopped and looked over at Tenchi.  "What?"
Tenchi took a few more steps, then stopped.  He didn't look back at
Ryouko.  "If it had just been me and you all these years, I probably
would feel the same now of you as you do of me."  He turned and stared
at her for a moment, "However, that's not how it worked out.  Things
interfered, things got in the way.  My life changed, my whole universe,
changed.  I know you know what it's like to have yourself thrust into a
situation without your consent or approval."
Ryouko didn't move for a while, as if her mind was too occupied with
itself to pay attention to the outside world.  For two minutes she stood
like that, still as a statue.  Then, she focused on Tenchi again.  "For
over a decade I have loved you.  I wanted to be your friend, then I
wanted to be more.  I wanted to protect you, to take care of you, to be
there when you needed a shoulder to cry on.  I never truly asked for
anything in this universe, just my freedom.  That was taken from me. 
Now, all I ask for is your love... and I find that was taken from me
too."  She paused, then looked at a nearby tree, "I still want to be
your friend, truly I do.  Unfortunately, I also want to die."  She
laughed, an almost merry sound, "Live, but never feel your loving touch,
or die having never felt it."  She smiled, "I suppose I'll live then, at
least I'll have a chance.  Ranma is a human, we are not.  She will pass
away, but we will go on... I suppose I can be patient, I waited seven
hundred years to meet you, I can go another hundred."
Tenchi found himself a mess of tears.  Ryouko's speech was probably the
most beautiful thing he had ever heard.  He found himself immensely glad
she was not going to kill herself, and even more so that she was
actually going to stay here with him.  He wasn't sure what he'd do
without his best friend.  "Thank you, Ryouko." he said after wiping his
cheeks.
Ryouko grinned, "No problem... and remember, if you ever have the need
for someone... else... you know where to come."
Tenchi put a finger to his lips and looked thoughtful.  "But do you
suppose Ayeka would do that?"  He laughed and jumped out of the way as a
yellow ball of energy impacted at the spot he was just standing.  He
broke into a run as Ryouko followed, launching the occasion small
missile in his direction.  
END PART THREE
Well, what do you think, sirs?  Send comments to me, please.  Anyone who
thinks Ryouko was OOC, tough.  This story would be nary impossible if
everyone was truly and fully in character.  The reason this part is as
short as it is, is I wanted to finish it before the weekend.
Thanks for reading, 
Pmasters (3-27-98)