Disclaimer:  All characters portrayed in this story are owned by their 
respective creators and companies.  I don't own any of them.  Please don't
sue me.

This story draws ideas from both the anime and manga of all the series 
involved.

This is another part of Preludes and Interludes, which in turn is part of
my crossover series, Life and Times.  Previous parts are on my page.

": denotes normal speech.
"<: denotes chinese.

C & C welcomed.  Flames not.

Preludes and Interludes:  Taro

By

Donny Cheng

	"<Eat up the rest of your food, dear.  You want to grow up to be
big and strong, don't you?>"

	"<Don't cry.  You're a big boy now, right?  That's my boy.>"

	"<You can have the last apple.  Mother isn't very hungry anyway.>"

	*Cough* *Cough*  "<It's just to flu.  Don't worry about me.  I'll
be better after a good nights rest.  You go out and play now.>"

	"<Noooo!  Mother!>"

			* * * * *

Third Impact aftermath...

	"Sir!  It's only a nightmare.  Can you hear me?"

	Taro struggled to his senses.  "Y-yes."

	"You were caught in the storm.  We found you outside."

	The storm, he remembered it.  He had been trying to get back to
China.  It was only a short flight he had figured and a little rain storm
shouldn't be able to stop him.  The little rain storm turned out to be a
full blown hurricane as he had found out the hard way.  He tried to open
his eyes and found himself staring into a bright pen-light.

	"Sir, I think you might have a concussion.  Can you please try to
open your eyes again?"

	Taro forced himself to open on eyelid and then the other.  His
eyes soon adjusted to the brightness  "Mother!?"

	Ami blushed.  "Um, no.  You're probably still dazed a bit.  I
don't think there was any permenant damage though."

	No, not his mother.  The girl couldn't have been older than
twenty.  Her short blue tinted hair and round face reminded him of
someone.  Someone he hadn't seen in nearly two years.  "Akane?"

	"You know Akane?  Tendo Akane?"  She smiled when he nodded.  "I've
been told that we resemble each other.  Any friend of hers is a friend of
mine.  My name is Mizuno Ami.  I'm a volunteer here at the hospital.  The
tsunamis created by the impact has hurt Japan more than imagined."

	"Mizuno Ami," he said as if tasting it like it were a fine wine.
It was nice name. His eyes lids threatened to close again as a heavy daze
clouded over his mind.

	"Oh, pardon my manners.  I didn't even ask for your name."

	Taro couldn't rememeber if he replied to her question as sleep
finally forced itself upon him.  He could only remember thinking that she
had a nice name.

			* * * * *

	Taro gave the room one more parting glance before he headed for
the door.  He would miss this place.  Most of all, he would miss her.

	Ami had never once laughed when she said his name.

	"Mr. Pantyhose, I've come to give you your sponge bath."

	"Mr. Pantyhose, here are some apples I've peeled for you."

	"Mr. Pantyhose..."

	"Please Ami, just Taro will do."

	"Okay, Taro."

	Yes, he would miss her but he did have a promise to keep.  Fem-Boy
better take good care of her or he will have a lot to answer for.  Of
that, Taro was sure of.

			* * * * *

One year after Second Impact...

	Taro snorted in contempt as he watched her train these rag tag
bunch of warrior wannebes.  She, however, was quite graceful almost like
she really was a cat.  How much did that old bag teach her before she went
to her grave, he wondered.

	Shampoo resisted the urge to glare at the pair of eyes she knew
was watching her.  What in the world had her great-grandmother been
thinking when she enlisted in the aid of that obnoxious jerk?  Instead,
she decided it was time for him to learn some humility.  "<Taro.  Come
over here.  I need to explain a new technique but I will need a body to
perform upon.>"

	Rather than anger at the girls insolence, Taro felt curiousity.
Since he had come to the village, Shampoo hadn't spoken one word to him.
That was a cunning one, he knew.  He decided to see what she was up to.

	Shampoo waited until Taro was within five paces of her before she
launched herself at him.  She was surprised at her own speed.  It took
only an eyeblink for him to reach him and another to leave him completely
unmoving.  The techniques her great-grandmother had taught in their final
months together were strong indeed.  "<And that class, is how effective
pressure points are against an opponent much stronger than you.>"  That
said, she gathered the group of young amazons back to the village, leaving
the still Taro on the ground.

	Taro was finally able to move again in an hour as feeling came
back into his limbs.  He then got up and dusted himself off.  So, the
kitten had learn much from the cat.  How much more did Cologne leave
behind for her great-granddaughter?  This advance must also be the result
of the closed door meetings Shampoo has had with the elders on the
council.  Taro let out a small chuckle.  Payback, can wait until he
learned all he needed to.  Shampoo just gained a new sparring partner.

			* * * * *

Five years after Second Impact...

	Shampoo breathed in, held it for a second, and released it.  She
let her arms fall her side, signalling she was done.

	"<Done already?  That last technique you did was hardly perfect.
You have enough strength to practice it until the end of the day.
Remember, Herb has at his disposal as much magic and knowledge of the
ancient arts as we do.  When the time comes, I would like to meet him on
equal grounds.>"

	"<Over training can be destructive and push one's advancement back
rather than forward it,>" Shampoo explained patiently as if Taro were a
child.  She knew he hated it when she did that.  "Besides, you're just
still sore that _he_ beat you last month.>"

	Taro refused to be baited.  That woman could be infuriating when
she wanted to be.  He also knew that the 'he' in question was not Herb. 
"<He did not beat me fairly and you know it.  He is a warder to Moiraine
and receives an enhancement from their bond.>"

	"<Ranma has learned how to turn off the the enhancement when he
wants to, you know. He mentioned it the last time he visited,>" Shampoo
said casually.

	Taro bristled.  Like Fem-Boy would ever refuse to take advantage
of the situation.  It was useless to argue with Shampoo about him.  "<I've
learned from my scouts that the Musk Dynasty is in preparation of their
annual celebrations.  I'm going to take this time off and have my rematch
with Fem-Boy... Why did you hit me?>"

	"<His name is Ranma!>" Shampoo yelled, losing her composure.

	Taro smirked.  Her feelings for _Fem-Boy_ will always be her
downfall.  "<I'll be back in a week.>"

	Shampoo nodded absently.  She turned and started to head for her
hut.  She stopped as a thought occured to her.  "<Oh, and say hi to Ami
for me.>"

	"<I will..,>" Taro trailed off.  Damn.  How much did she know?  He
glared after the retreating figure.  It was freaky how much, she was
starting to resemble her great-grandmother.  Well, that was not entirely
true.  The look on his face softened slightly and he gave one more
appreciative glance at the amazon's swishing behind before setting off to
his own hut.

			* * * * *

Thirty years after present day...

	"<Pathetic.  Why do you let him stay?  He looks like a dog then 
way he hangs around you,>" Taro spat out.

	"<I've long since given up on trying to stop Mousse from following
me.  He has helped the village many times over the years, I figure he
deserves to do what he wants.  He knows that he can have any woman and any
woman would be glad to have him.  He just needs to say the words and issue
a formal challenge.  But, he chooses not to,>" Shampoo said and looked
affectionately in Mousse's direction.  He was at his customary distance of
about a hundred yards.

	"<Like I said, pathetic.">  Taro glared at the near blind 
Duck-Boy.

	"<Maybe, maybe not.  How about you?  You hang around me all the
time also,>" Shampoo teased.

	"<That is an altogether different story.  It's my job,>" Taro said
hotly.

	"<You're job is only to protect me.  You can spend your free time
doing other things.  Mousse is not the only one that can have any amazon
he wants.>

	"<Even you?>" Taro asked suddenly and stared hard into Shampoo's
eyes.

	Shampoo flinched.  "<All this time in the village and you still
don't remember the rules.  I'm already taken.>"

	"<Oh, _please_.  He only visits you once every year and only to
keep your reputation among the elders intact.  How can you even call him
your husband when he has not even fulfilled his most basic duty?>"

	"<He has!>" Shampoo said and immediately realized had she said too
much.

	Taro, stunned, stared in shock at Shampoo.  A deadly calm fell
over him.  His voice turned cold, "<Oh?>"

	"<Yes,>" Shampoo said softly.

	"<Excuse me.  I have some business to take care of.  I'll be back
in a week,>" Taro growled out and then headed in the direction of the ki
signature he could never forget.

	Shampoo did not watch him as he left.  What else could she have
done?  Ranma was often depressed when she shared old times with him and
Mousse during his rare visits.  He had needed comforting.

	"<Mother?  Where did Uncle Taro go?>" Cologne asked worriedly.
"<He looked mad.>"

	Shampoo shook her head in answer.  She smiled as her daughter
frowned cutely and prombly forgot about her question.  Shampoo had not
told any of them who the father was.  Taro had thought it was Mousse's,
she was sure.  Ranma, the lovable idiot, didn't even have a clue.
Probably thought Cologne was adopted for all she knew.  Mousse had been
the only one who knew.

			* * * * *

Three hundred years after present day...

	"<He's at the funeral right now,>" Taro said as if that was the
most important fact in the world.

	"<He and I have already said goodbye to one another.>"  Shampoo
put the last of the make up on and looked in the mirror to make sure she
was presentable.  If felt refreshing to be rid of the geis that made her
look as if she really were a three hundred year old mummy.

	"<You still love him, don't you?  Even after all these years.>"

	"<Yes,>" Shampoo said simply.

	Taro sighed.  He had thought as much.  "<Well, you ready?  Or are
we going to stand around all day?>"

	"<You waited three hundred years to get a new name.  I would think
you've learned patience by now.  Come on.  Let's got find 
great-grandmother and Happosai.  Last I heard, they were on one of the
Jurain worlds with my great-grandfather.>"  Shampoo stopped to place the
walking staff in the corner of the room and went out the door.  When she
got this mess with Jurai finished with, she will return.  When that time
came, Goddess and Senshi alike better look out, another suitor is
rejoining the ranks.

	Taro chuckled self-mockingly.  Two women and both of them
unattainable.  A sad day indeed.  Ami had better not be missing a single
hair on her head when he returned.

			* * * * *

	Ranma held Ranko to him as the girl cried over the loss of her
great-grandmother.  He hoped that Shampoo was happy where ever she and
Taro went.  It had been painful for him to act like he was angry with 
Shampoo for over a hundred years.  She had planned her death for over a
century.  She planned it in a way that would make her leaving easiest to
handle.  She had done it all for him.  The least he could have done was to
accept her plan and let her follow through with it.

	The Jurain empire was so vast, no one man could hold control over
its entirety and his cousin Tenchi knew this.  If word got out that Yoshu
had sired another heir, Earth along with Tenchi would be in danger.  
Shampoo had volunteered to leave but only when she was sure Joketsuzoku
could take care of itself.  She never told him of her pact with Tenchi.

	He knew, he wanted to tell her.  He knew that Cologne had been of 
his own blood.  Holding Ranko tightly, he promised that as long as he was
alive, Joketsuzoku would survive.  Until Shampoo returned, no harm would
come to the village.

			* * * * *

Present day...

	Taro looked at the bottle in his hand.  Water from the fountain of
youth.  It had been in Jusenkyo, after all.  All he had to do was to make
a silly little promise and he will live forever.  He looked at Cologne.
"<Will Happosai be alive when my contract is done?>"

	Cologne nodded.

	Taro drank the water.

			* * * * *

The End. (maybe)

Upcoming fics:

First Knight: Challenges

More Preludes and Interludes.

Dragon Ball R1/2: Chapter 2

Another Time, Same Place: Chapter 5

Fanboy and fanfic writer. ^_^
Homepage at http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/4537