Chalk this up to a combination of writers block and needing to take 
a break from a MONSTER MST...

As always: C&C appreciated, MSTs adored, Flames printed out and 
stomped on.

The Flashman
(Proud member of The Church Of Tsukino Usagi)
TRIO 3: you know the rest
May The Spirit Preserve You!
_____________________________

(This tale takes place between episodes 31 and 32.)

				  TRIO:
				SIDE STORY:
				 WHAT IF...

	From the rooftop of their house, Ranma watched the sun as it began 
to set.  It had been a little less then twenty-four hours since the 
rather spectacularly interrupted date he and Usagi had gone on and 
yet...

	Even though the intense experience had fully restored his shattered 
confidence, there was still something that caused a nagging doubt to 
tug at the back of his mind.  With all the other things that had 
happened to him and his friends in the last few weeks, like Sailor 
Mercury, the return of three of their earlier foes, Kunzite, Broli, 
not to mention the crippling fear that had made him a fifth wheel for 
most of it, the particular doubt had been only a slight background 
noise.

	But... now, it had his undivided attention as the sun reached the 
horizon and turned the sky a flaming orange.  It was almost as 
beautiful as the thing that was currently the main part of his train 
of thought.

	Usagi had been looking for Ranma for the better part of an hour.  He 
wasn't in his room, the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom or any 
other room in the house.  She tried walking down to the street a 
little bit, since she knew that he liked to take a short jog around 
the block before dinner... although he tended to disappear whenever 
she tried to cook.

	Which was the case tonight.  However, the only person she had told 
was Gohan and if he had blabbed, then invulnerability or not, still 
sick with the flu or not, in the name of the moon, she would punish 
him.

	She sighed.  Gohan probably hadn't needed to tell Ranma, since the 
clatter she had raised and the mess she had left in her wake would 
probably have been enough to clue him in if he had gone anywhere near 
the kitchen.

	She felt the tears gathering in her eyes.  She had worked so hard to 
make that curry too.  True, the kitchen would take hours to clean and 
the curry was a little on the extra spicy side, but it was survivable 
and once her taste buds had numbed slightly, rather tasty, in her 
opinion of course.  "It's not fair," she thought, "the guys always 
complain about my cooking, but when I try to improve it, they vanish. 
 How am I supposed to get better if they don't try it and help me 
figure out what I'm doing wrong?  And Gohan's so sick I don't DARE 
ask him to try it.  I hope Ranma didn't run away."

	She sniffed back more tears and then, another part of her ordered, 
"Get a hold of yourself girlfriend.  Yeesh."

	She turned around and started to head back, determined to wait all 
night and keep the curry warm until her boyfriend came home.  She 
happened to look up and noticed a familiar figure sitting on the roof 
of their house, watching the sun set.  A figure that had stolen her 
heart.  Ranma.

	She smiled as she ran back to the side of the house but stopped as 
she considered her options.  She could just shout and get Ranma's 
attention, but she wanted to watch the sun set too.  That left trying 
to find a way up to the roof top.

	Problem was, they didn't have a ladder, so she was forced to find 
another option.

	Ranma was interrupted from his sun watching by a clattering sound 
and two hands reaching over the edge of the roof.  The arms attached 
to the hands heaved and pulled the rest of Usagi's body over the edge.
  Ranma took one look at the struggling girl and it took almost all 
his will to keep from bursting out into laughter.

	The front of her shirt and blue jeans were smeared with a long black 
stain, and her hands and face bore smudges as well.  Her hair was 
frazzled, almost falling out of its classic buns and pony tails style 
and she took in great gasps of air through her adrenaline stressed 
lungs. "Made... it," she panted, "for a... second... I wasn't... sure 
if... that drain pipe... would hold.... but I made it."

	Then, her grip slipped and as she started to fall, she thought, 
"OhgodI'mgonnafallI'mgonnafallwhydidItrytodothis?!!"

	Then, strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her up before 
she had even fallen three inches.  Ranma gently placed her down on 
the roof, his arms still around her waist and for what felt like an 
eternity, the two of them paused to stare into each others eyes.  
Eventually, Ranma regained his voice, put his arms back to his sides, 
stuffed his hands into his pockets and asked, "Do you wanna... you 
know... watch the sun set?"

	Usagi's smile was answer enough and the two of them laid down next 
to each other as they turned their attention back to the show that 
nature provided.  Ranma felt Usagis hand rest on his but he quickly 
drew it away.  He turned to look at the girl laying next to him and 
addressed the unspoken question in her eyes.  "We..." he started, 
"need to talk."

	"About what?"

	"Us.  I mean... is this a bad idea?"

	"What do you mean?"

	"I mean... you know... falling in love.  Are we making a mistake?"

	Usagi grew concerned and felt a lump grow in her throat as she asked,
 "Are... are you saying," tears began to gather in her eyes, "you 
don't love me?"

	Ranma began to sweat and he tensed as he exclaimed, "Nonononono!!!  
That's not it!"

	"What ARE you saying then?"

	"It's just... look at us.  We know nothing about our past, all we 
have is what we have now."

	"Isn't that enough to..."

	"Wait.  I'm not finished yet.  What I'm trying to say is, what if we 
get our memories back tomorrow or any other day?  What if we find out 
that we have people waiting for us back home?  Family, friends... 
lovers... fiancee's... should we really get involved like this?"

	Usagi smirked in replied, "And what if we're the ones who are 
already engaged?  What if you got that transformation thing of yours 
on a training trip to some ancient Chinese province?  What if our 
parents engaged us before we were even born?  What if there's a small 
army of fiancees and suitors waiting for us if and when we get back?
"

	"Usagi..."

	"What if I'm a reincarnated princess of a kingdom that's been gone 
for over ten thousand years and you're my reincarnated lover from 
another long gone kingdom?"

	Ranma chuckled lightly and said, "Usagi, now you're getting silly."

	"Maybe.  But you're even sillier for worrying about 'what if's.  I 
don't know what the future is gonna bring to us, but I DO know that 
right here, right now, I'm watching a beautiful sunset with the man I 
happen to love and that I know that, come what may, I'll be by his 
side."

	Ranma chuckled again, it was times like this, hearing Usagi calm his 
fears, that he knew why he was so deeply in love with this sometimes 
flighty and klutzy girl.  He joked, "That sounds like one heck of a 
lucky guy."

	He turned his head and noticed that Usagi was much closer then 
before, a mischievous smile on her lips as she replied, "And I'd 
really like to kiss him right now."

	Before Ranma could say anything, Usagi closed the distance between 
their lips and the two young lovers embraced each other as the sun 
finally sank below the horizon and the stars began to twinkle in the 
darkened sky.

	The two finally separated, a light blush on both of their cheeks and 
both of their eyes sparkling.  "Now," Usagi said as she lightly 
tapped Ranma on the nose, "I have one more 'what if' question for you.
  What if I told you that I'd just spent most of the afternoon 
whipping up some curry for dinner?"

	Ranma paused to think about it and replied, "What if I told you that 
I'm planing to make a break for it?"

	This time, Usagi lightly grabbed Ranmas nose between her right thumb 
and forefinger and asked, "What if I told you that WASN'T," she 
tightened her grip on his nose briefly to punctuate the word, "a good 
idea?"

	"What if I asked if I had a choice?"

	Usagi gave him THAT look, the one he just couldn't say no to and he 
just grumbled, "Alright.  I'll give it a try."

	It wasn't the worst meal he'd ever eaten and it certainly wasn't the 
best but he was able to suffer in silence and even managed to crack 
an occasional smile.

	For the moment, though they would certainly arise again in the 
future, all questions of "what if" faded away.

END OF SIDE STORY