Alternatives -- Chapter 8 
   
   Ranma 1/2 and all of its' characters are the property of Rumiko 
Takahashi and all of the companies who have licensed it. I don't 
own any of it. I do not have permission to use her characters or 
ideas. I am writing solely for pleasure. Don't sue. 
   
   All comments, flames, MST's or other responses are welcome. 
Let me know what you think. 

   I want to thank my pre-readers for doing a wonderful job.  Thanks 
to Ryan Erik, Miko, Jiro Maeda and Paul Steele for their help in
pointing out test and logic problems in this fic.
   
   Please, tell me that this has decent formatting!  I've been trying,
really, really hard!

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   An unreasonable anger simmered within Ranko as she sat and 
watched Akane fall sobbing into Ranma's arms, arms that by all 
rights should have been hers.  She looked down through tear 
streaked eyes at herself.  Bitterly, she noticed that she couldn't even 
hold Akane the way she wanted to because her arms were smaller 
and shorter than Akane's.  Hell, she was shorter and smaller than all 
of her old fiancee's now.  When she had been crying and holding 
onto Akane, it had been *her* head on the other's shoulder.  *She* 
had been the one wrapped in Akane's arms.  *Her* arms had been 
hooked up and over her fiancee's shoulders.  Her *friend's* 
shoulders, she amended.  Akane could never again be more than her 
friend.  She certainly would never be her wife.  The more she 
watched Ranma tenderly stroke Akane's head and murmur soothing 
words to her, the more she felt cheated out of the life that should 
have been, no, WAS hers.  Finding she was not in control of her 
emotions, she decided to leave before doing something that she 
might regret.  
   
   Having difficulty standing up, she was surprised that it wasn't her 
usual automatic reflex.  Knees too wobbly to balance securely on, 
her arms whipped about in an attempt to keep upright and she 
wondered if toddlers felt this way when they took their first steps.  
Ranko took a step, kept her balance and tried another, this time 
falling unceremoniously at Ranma and Akane's feet.
   
   "Ranko! What are you trying to do?" Akane asked with concern 
as she pulled her head from Ranma's shoulder to see what had 
happened.  "Cologne said that you shouldn't be up until at least 
nightfall," 
   
   "I've gotta get outta here.  You two need privacy and I need 
some fresh air," Ranko said in desperation.  She began trying to 
stand up again.
   
   "At least, let me help you!"  Akane easily stood and moved to 
support her.
   
   "NO!"  Ranko shouted in fury and envy.  Catching herself, she 
took a breath and tried to calm down.  "I just need to get out of 
here for a while, OK?"  
   
   With a look of shock and hurt on her face, Akane shot back, 
"Fine, fall on your face again.  I don't care!"  As she spoke, she sat 
down next to Ranma with her back towards Ranko.
   
   Nodoka, hearing the shout, asked as she opened the door to the 
room, "Is everything okay?  I thought I heard someone yelling."  
Seeing Ranko, she rushed over and tried to get her back on her 
palette, "Young lady, what do you think you're doing?  You need to 
rest!"
   
   Angrily, Ranko resisted as Nodoka pushed her back.  "Mom, I've 
to get out of this room!" she said.  She looked at her mother, trying 
to get her to understand the pain she was going through.  
   
   Trying to learn how to mother a daughter, Nodoka viewed the 
pain and suffering in Ranko's face and tried to understand the plea 
written there.  
   
   Blushing a little, Nodoka began, "Oh! Ranko dear, I think I 
understand.  Let's get you to the bathroom.  Daughter, has anyone 
ever talked to you about what a woman goes through?" 
   
   "Mom, that's not it at all.  I ... just ... need ... to ... get ...
some ... 
fresh ... air," Ranko said through clenched teeth.  Still, she blushed 
slightly at what her mother had suggested.  Her jealousy and anger, 
however, continued to push her from the room.  "Really, mom, I 
just need to go outside for a little while."
   
   "All right, I'll help you.  Akane, please stay here while I help 
Ranko,"  Nodoka said.  Sensing Ranko was too distraught to 
reprimand for the tone of voice she used, she decided to say 
nothing about it.
   
   As Nodoka and Ranko came down the stairs, Ukyo moved 
forward towards them.   "Here, Mrs. Saotome, let me help.  Where 
are you going, sugar?"  She asked as she took Nodoka's place 
beside Ranko.
   
   "Outside," Ranko said tersely. 
   
   Ukyo took note of her tear-streaked face and red, puffy eyes.  As 
she wrapped her arm around the redhead's shoulders, she could feel 
the anxiety in her body.  Sensing that she needed a friend, she 
jokingly asked her, "Do you want to go out back and sit or would 
you like to go out the front and visit with Kuno?"
   
   Ranko winced as if she had been slapped, "That's not even funny, 
Ukyo.  I just want to be alone."
   
   "Okay, the back door it is!"  Ukyo said with a smile, trying to 
ease the tension.
   
   Once outside, Ukyo slowly walked Ranko to the town square.  
The center of the village was where most non-specialized training, 
all tournaments and challenges were held.  There were several 
women and girls training as Ukyo and Ranko sat down beside each 
other to watch.  Neither said anything as they both evaluated the 
different fighters.   
   
   Judging that Ranko was in a very frail state emotionally, Ukyo 
decided to let her begin any conversation.  She assumed that the 
best thing that she could do right now was just to be beside her.  If 
Ranko wanted to talk, she would. When she did, Ukyo would be 
there to support her.
   
   The silence between the two deepened.  Whenever two or more 
people began sparring, Ranko would glance from one fighter to 
another as she tried to anticipate their moves.  After watching for a 
few minutes, she felt that she understood the styles that each was 
practicing.  As her mind began wandering, she found that her 
curiosity was beginning to grow.  
   
   Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she said, "Ukyo?" 
   
   "Yes, sugar?"
   
   "Why are you here and not at the cabin?"  She asked this in a 
quiet voice, while looking at her friend sideways through her bangs. 
   
   "What do you mean, honey?"  Ukyo answered, confusion obvious 
in her voice.
   
   "Well, I'm not your fiance.  I'm just a girl who used to be ..." 
Ranko stopped as the bitterness and pain once again threatened to 
overwhelmed her.  She turned her face back to the practice area, 
not sure whether she was more afraid that Ukyo would leave or 
stay.
   
   "You're a woman who used to be a man.  Not just any man, you 
were raised to be a man's man, Ranma Saotome, fighter 
extraordinaire.  Now you're thinking that you're just a little girl, 
Ranko, a cute little orchid," Ukyo almost spat out the last words in 
the mocking contempt she imagined Ranko felt.  Slowly, hesitantly, 
she reached and took Ranko's hands in hers. "Ranko, you've lost 
more than anyone ever expects to today.  I'm not going to try and 
sugar-coat it for you, honey.  You're hurting and hurting badly," she 
continued in a voice full of kindness.
   
   "Let me tell you a story.  It's a story you've heard before, but I 
think it might have a different meaning for you today.  When I was 
a very little girl, I had this friend who always was challenging me 
for food..."
   
   "Daddy, I'll stop that jackass, Ranchan today.  No girl is going to 
get by ME!" she told her father proudly.  
   
   "Ukyo-chan, Ranchan is a boy.  He's not a girl.  What gave you 
the idea he was a girl?" her father asked while chuckling.
   
   "Well, she's fun to play with!  She's not icky like a boy.  She has 
long hair!"  Ukyo-chan said in triumph, "Ranchan gots to be a girl!"
   
   "No, my girl, Ranchan is a boy.  His father is traveling with him 
teaching him martial arts.  Something like we travel together, while 
I teach you everything there is to know about okonomiyaki," her 
father gently corrected her.
   
   "Humph!"  Ukyo-chan thought quietly for a moment.  "Daddy, 
since Ranchan and I get along so good, and he's a boy and I'm a 
girl, does that mean we'll get married when we grow up?"
   
   "It could, Ukyo-chan, it very well could.  Why don't we wait and 
see, hmm?"  her father chuckled.
   
   "Okay, Daddy."
   
   Ukyo paused, and musingly said, "I think that's when father 
decided we should be married.  A few days later, my father came to 
me..."
   
   "Ukyo-chan, I have some wonderful news for you!"  her father 
smiled as he told her the good news.
   
   She was so excited!  She ran and told all of her friends in pre-
school.  The other girls were all jealous that Ukyo had become 
engaged and would be going all over Japan with her new fiance.  
They all thought it was really neat and romantic.  When they all 
went home that night, they told their parents that they wanted a 
fiance so they could travel, just like Ukyo.  Their parents told them 
that having a fiance and getting to travel were two very different 
things.  As the day came for her departure, the pre-school had a 
going-away party for Ukyo-chan.  She had a great time.
   
   Two days later, when she was once again back in the pre-school, 
none of the other girls would play with her anymore.  They all said 
that because her fiance had run away with her dowry she wasn't 
good enough to be a girl and that she should play with the OTHER 
boys. 
   
   At home with her father that night, she told him what had 
happened at her pre-school.  He was angrier than she had ever seen 
him.  He cursed the entire Saotome clan, he cursed the pre-school 
she attended and lastly he cursed the other children who treated his 
little girl so badly.  
   
   Turning to her, he said, "There is only one thing to do, Ukyo.  
May you forgive me someday.  From now on, you are to be a boy.  
You will wear boy's clothes and act like a boy.  I will change all of 
your records to show you as a boy.  In this way, your dishonor shall 
forever be forgotten."
   
   From that day forth, Ukyo-chan the girl was no more.  Ukyo was 
now a boy and he had to hide the fact of his differences from then 
on.  
   
   "Ranko, I had to learn how to be a boy.  Acting like a boy was 
easy.  All I had to do was be stupid and try to show off by doing 
even dumber things than the others were doing.  The problem was 
the physical difference.  For instance, do you have any idea what it's 
like to only pee when no one else is around?  My bladder must have 
been ten times the average size!" she smiled to herself.  
   
   Regaining her seriousness, she continued, "When I hit puberty, I 
thought I was going to die.  When you're enrolled at an all boys 
boarding school, who do you ask about the changes going on in 
your body?  How do you hide them from the other guys?"  Ukyo 
shivered in remembered shame and embarrassment.  
   
   Aghast, Ranko stared at her friend.  She had known that Ukyo 
had pretended to be a boy growing up, she had never taken the time 
to think about what she must have endured.  "Ucchan, I'm sorry.  I-
I never realized."
   
   "I know, Ranchan, I never told you.  I wanted you to marry me 
because you loved me, not because you pitied me," she smiled at 
her friend.  Taking a big breath, she quietly added in a timid voice, 
"Ranchan?  I've got something else to tell you."
   
   "Yeah, Ucchan?"  
   
   "When you were in the spring today, I went to the Guide's hut."
   
   "I knew that wasn't a dream!" Ranko said.  Realizing that she had 
interrupted, she said, "Uh, sorry, Ucchan, go on."  
   
   "When I saw what you were going through, I couldn't bear the 
thought that you would be doing that again, just for me," she closed 
her eyes trying to stop the memory.   "Ranm-Ranko-honey, I asked 
the Guide if there was anything that could be done to save you from 
the pain of the jumps.  He told me that the Spring of Drowned 
Twins, as the only permanent spring, always caused that pain.  He 
told me that the only way to save you was to use Nannichuan 
water."  
   
   "What!" Ranko interjected, "Please, tell me that he didn't give it 
to you!" 
   
   "No, I can't, sugar.  He gave me the Nannichuan water then," 
Ukyo said gently.  "I-I'm going to use it on myself."  Ukyo 
shuddered involuntarily as she said it.  Lowering her head so that 
the tears in her eyes could not be seen,  she continued, "I don't 
think I could live with myself if I let you go through that ordeal 
again,  just for me. Let me do this for you.  This way, I'll be able to 
help you adjust and save you some of the pain I went through."
   
   Curling up in shock, Ranko pulled away from Ukyo, even as her 
eyes got bigger and her jaw dropped open.  "Ucchan, you don't 
know what you're saying.  Being cursed is awful!  Do you really 
want to be afraid of water the rest of your life?  Never knowing 
from one minute to the next what sex you'll be?" Ranko asked in 
shock.
   
   "Ranchan, I've lived as a guy most of my life.  I know how to do 
it.  It'll seem strange to have a thing between my legs and not have 
breasts, but at least I won't have to bind them anymore.  From what 
I've seen, boxers are more comfortable than bras, too,"  Ukyo 
nervously smiled.
   
   "Are you willing to give up all of your dreams for me?"  Ranko 
asked, afraid of the answer she was going to hear.
   
   "Give up my dreams?  I've already given up my dream of revenge 
upon you and your father.  I'm not giving up my dream of being the 
best okonomiyaki chef in Japan.  I'm not even giving up my dream 
of being married to Ranma Saotome.  The dream is changing, that's 
all."  Ukyo finished.  Timidly and very self-consciously, Ukyo knelt 
in front of Ranko, looking into her eyes she said, "I love you, 
Ranchan, will you marry me?"
   
   Ranko couldn't believe what she was hearing.  Ukyo loved her.  
She loved her as much or more as she was in love with Akane.  
Racking her brain for answers, she said, "Ucchan, I don't want you 
to be cursed.  It's not something I would wish on anyone, not even 
... well, maybe Happosai.   Ranma is still going to jump again, even 
with your sacrifice.  Shampoo and Kodachi still need Ranmas.  
How will your cursing yourself stop that?"
   
   "It's not.  He won't have to hurt himself for me.  I'll still have
you 
and I'll be there for you.  That's all I'm doing.  Can't you 
understand?"  Ukyo said in frustration.  
   
   "Yes.  Yes, I do understand, Ucchan," Ranko said sadly. "I 
understand because I don't like to see the ones I love hurt either.  
That's why we're here.  Do you really want to be a man?  Could you 
be happy knowing you were born a woman, living a man's life?"  As 
she asked the question, Ranko reached out and caressed Ukyo's jaw 
lightly.
   
   Holding the other girl's hand against her face, Ukyo quietly 
implored, "Ranchan, I've already told you that I lived as a boy for 
the last ten years.  Until you called me your cute fiancee, I expected 
to live as a man for the rest of my life.  If you are by my side, I will

be happy."
   
   "I don't know, Ucchan.  There's got to be another way.  What if I 
splash myself?  I got used to being a boy cursed to be a girl, I guess 
I could get used to the opposite."
   
   "Ranchan, be honest with me.  Would you rather be an uncursed 
girl or cursed to be both again?"
   
   "All I know is that I'm tired of being afraid of water.  The curse 
caused me more problems than anything else in my life, including 
my father," she answered begrudgingly.
   
   "Then I'll use the water on myself.  You won't have to be afraid of 
water ever again.  As I've already said, I'll be there for you 
whenever you need me.  Our problems are solved,"  Ukyo 
pronounced with a grin, only her quavering voice betraying her 
fear.
   
   Ranko suddenly sat up a little straighter as a thought struck her, 
she said with excitement, "I know what we need to do!  I'll splash 
myself with Nannichuan and jump into the spring with Ranma 
tomorrow.  Then there will be three male Ranmas and me.  There 
will only need to be one more jump made afterwards for everyone 
to be satisfied."
   
   Ukyo sat for a moment, thinking over Ranko's suggestion.  The 
more she thought about it, the better it sounded.  However, she 
knew the pain and loneliness Ranko would be facing, having lived 
through the reverse herself.  Not wanting her to go through what 
she had as a child, Ukyo formed a plan of her own.  She still didn't 
want anyone to go through what she had witnessed, but knew it 
couldn't be stopped.  She said with resignation, "Ranchan,  that's a 
good plan.  When do you want to get the water?"
   
   Grimacing at the thought of intentionally cursing herself again, 
Ranko said, "Let's do it, before I change my mind."
   
   *^*^*^*
   
   The little black piglet ran for his life.  He stopped, his head 
whipping around in a frantic search for any kind of hiding place.  
The hunters were almost upon him and he needed to find cover, any 
kind of cover.  There was a small hole under a tree root and he tried 
to crawl into it.  Unfortunately, his bandanna snared upon the root 
and caught fast, trapping him.  As he heard the hunter come up 
behind him, he closed his eyes, said a quick prayer for Akari  and 
waited for the killing blow.   When the blow came, he gave one last 
snort and collapsed into a heap. 
   
   "This pig has a lot of spirit!  Myrrh will be pleased that we caught 
this one!"  one of the hunters said to the other.
   
   "Who cares about Myrrh?  I just want a wife and this one has 
much spirit," another said eagerly.
   
   Together, they tied the piglet up and wandered back to their 
camp.  Arriving at camp, they found that the others had been 
successful in finding bridal candidates.  Some had captured a deer, 
four rabbits, a frog, and two squirrels.  Not caring about laws not 
their own, a few had liberated two hens and a sheep from a local 
farm.  At the worst, they were going to eat well the next few days.  
Optimally they would be going home with twelve wives to 
strengthen the Musk people.  They all were going to enjoy the next 
few days.
   
   His first thought upon waking was surprise that he was still alive.  
Ryouga tried moving but couldn't because his legs had been bound 
securely with wire.  Still hurting from the blow to his head and 
since he couldn't concentrate, he fuzzily surmised that he had a 
concussion.  Not being able to do anything else, he looked around 
trying to figure a way to escape, given the chance.  
   
   He was in a camp set up in a military style.  The tents had been 
set up in three rows of nine each, with four other, larger ones 
slightly separated from the rest.  These were the shelters for the 
leaders of the band.  Lastly, a sunshade large enough for ten men 
was pitched close to the woods from which smoke and the smells of 
cooking drifted.  Placed in the space between the jungle and a 
valley filled with springs, the camp was not very defensible. 
   
   He looked at the valley, knowing that he'd seen it before, but 
where?  Then he remembered, Jusenkyo, valley of the cursed 
springs!  He hadn't gotten too lost, at least.  Why didn't they kill 
him?  He looked at his immediate surroundings and found that 
many animals were bound or tied down next to him.  He could only 
wonder what they had planned for him.
   
   His answer came quickly.  A soldier came by and took the sheep 
with him on a leash.  He led it towards a pool where most of the 
other men had gathered.  Since they spoke Chinese and he didn't, he 
couldn't understand anything being said.  However, he could tell 
that some sort of division was being done.  For when the sheep was 
within the group of men, three stepped forward pointing to 
themselves and arguing loudly.    
   
   The argument became louder and more heated until one of the 
men drew his sword and advanced upon the other two.  At that 
point, a monster of a man stepped forward and yelled something at 
them.  The three then looked at each other and stood at attention.  
The leader moved forward and randomly selected the three men.  
The first man picked, smiled in victory and began removing his 
clothing.  When he was naked, he grabbed the leash on the sheep, 
picked the animal up and threw it into the pool.  Pulling on the 
leash, he pulled a woman from the pool.  
   
   Stunned at what he was seeing, he remembered tales of the Musk 
and their practice of marrying animals, but had believed that custom 
had gone the way of foot-binding.  He knew differently now.  As 
the terrified screams of the newly created woman began ripping 
through the night,  Ryouga stared in shocked horror and revulsion 
as an organized gang rape began.  By the time the third man took 
her, even her sobs had stopped and she lay unmoving underneath 
her rapist.  As he finished, he stood up and spat on her and said 
something to the other men.  One of them handed him a pot of 
water, which he threw on the woman.  She transformed back into a 
sheep, which he quickly killed and began butchering.  It was at this 
point that Ryouga's head injury allowed him to escape the sheer 
barbarity of the tableau in front of him by forcing him unconscious.
   
   Ryouga woke the next morning when it was his turn.  As the man 
holding him began walking towards the spring, he tried with all of 
his might to break away.  He was unsuccessful for two reasons:  he 
was still bound with wire and the man carrying him was expecting 
the pig to struggle.  As he neared the bastards who called 
themselves men, he vowed to himself that he would die before they 
did anything to him.  He felt someone attach something to his 
bandanna as the wires were removed from his legs.  The next thing 
he knew, he was flying through the air into the spring.  
   
   As she stood up, Ryouga was surprised to find that she was a 
normal looking woman and not a half-pig woman.  She felt a tug on 
her bandanna and looked toward the beast pulling her towards 
himself.  Her eyelids slotted in anger.  A small smile formed on her 
lips as she began concentrating, beginning a build-up of chi in 
preparation for performing a Shishi Houkodan.  With a gasp of 
pain, she fell forward into the water as her concentration failed 
because of her head injury.  
   
   "I'll die before you can touch me!"  she yelled as she felt herself 
pulled forward.
   
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Ja ne,
   
Mike Allen
http://home1.gte.net/allenmk
   
   PS.  Please email me with your thoughts, feelings and 
suggestions.  I love to know that people are reading what I write.