HEARTS AND MINDS PRELUDE SEVEN
		           MU SI: REFLECTIONS

		       Ranma 1/2 manga fanfiction
			     by Gary Kleppe

	The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful
property of Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission.
This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered
substantially or used for profit in any way.

	Previous parts are at
<http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics#ham>. All C&C welcomed and
appreciated, public response is preferred.

	WHAT'S BEEN CHANGED: Not a lot. Minor touch-ups in several
places, partocularly toward the end, but nothing major.

	PRONOUNCIATION NOTE: "Mu Si" is, as best as I'm able to
determine, the Mandarin Chinese form of the name pronounced "Mousse",
romanized with the Pinyin system. Mu is pronounced "Moo", and Si sounds
like something between "Srrr" and "Szzz". In this series, the Pinyin
forms are used for Chinese names in the framing sequences, and the old
"toiletries" names are used in the flashbacks.

                                 ______


	"I want to thank you for coming to little Yaku's birthday party,
Mr. Mu," the woman said as she handed over several bills.

	Mu Si took the money in hand and bowed. "Mrs. Tatazu most
generous."

	"Thank you." Mrs. Tatazu returned the bow, then righted herself.
"I must say, I really don't know how you did some of those tricks."

	"Mr. Mu come from hidden village in remotest China. Study for
many years secret techniques there."

	"Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" nine-year-old Yaku said. "Well,
anyway, that stuff was neat." He held out a hand. "Got a souvenir, Mr.
Mu?"

	"Ah, yes." Giving out something on request had become a standard
part of the act.

	Mu Si reached inside. To anyone watching, it would have seemed
as if he were going to pull something out of his robes. There was much
more to it than that, but he had been taught that trying too hard to
understand what "inside" was might make him unable to use it. So
"inside" was simply somewhere that he could take weapons and other
things from.

	Yaku looked at the gift that Mu Si was offering, and backed
away. "Um... thanks anyway, Mr. Mu." It was a mismatched pair of socks.

	"So sorry, Mr. Mu never know what he going to get." It was true.
Mu Si's martial arts master had taught him he could never be aware of
what was inside; for if one knew what one could get, then one also knew
what one could *not* get, and that might include something important. So
he always found something unexpected when he reached inside. Once he had
even found a driver's license from some westerner named Hoffa.

	Mu Si made his goodbyes to Yaku's parents, then went out through
the front door. He counted the money he'd just earned. It would keep the
bills paid, for a while at least.

	He picked up the bicycle lying on the sidewalk and got on. It,
along with the pidgin-speech he used in his act, was the only thing left
to him from Shan Pu.

	Making sure his glasses were on, he prepared to pedal away. He
stopped when he saw the image reflected in the bicycle's rear-view
mirror. It was someone he had seen before, a long time ago.

                                 ______


	"Welcome to the Nekohanten," Mousse held open the door, checking
how many people were in the party. He saw only a refrigerator.

	That couldn't be right, he thought. He pushed his glasses down
over his eyes. What he had thought was a refrigerator was actually... a
refrigerator.

	A voice sounded from within the appliance. "CHARGE!" It pushed
past Mousse into the restaurant, knocking aside several tables as it
made a straight line for the kitchen.

	Mousse looked closely at his glasses to see whether they were
soiled.

	"My dearest darling Shampoo! You're the only one for me! I --"
The voice from the kitchen was interrupted by the sounds of violence as
the refrigerator came crashing through the wall back into the dining
room.

	"Stupid girl-boy!" Shampoo yelled from the kitchen. "I see
again, I kill!"

	Something rose out of the remains of the refrigerator. Looking
through his glasses, Mousse saw what appeared to be a cute young girl in
a Japanese school uniform. "Who are YOU?!" he said. "You stay away from
Shampoo, girl!"

	"Never! And I'm one hundred percent man! Kurenai Tsubasa.
Shampoo is the love of my life! We were meant for each other! Someday
she'll realize it."

	"But... she said she'd kill you if she saw you again!" Mousse
was finding it hard to be angry at this pathetic creature. Anyway,
she... he was obviously nothing to worry about as a rival.

	"I don't care what she says! She'll change her mind. I don't
care if it takes the rest of my life and I have to follow her to the
ends of the Earth. I'll never EVER give up on my dear, dear Shampoo!"

	Mousse's glasses rested firmly over his eyes, his vision clear;
but when he looked down, it wasn't Tsubasa he saw.

                                 ______


	A reflection....

	Mu Si turned around, coming back to his feet and letting the
bicycle drop. "Tsubasa."

	"Uh, hi," Tsubasa said. "Ukyo and Kuno asked me to look for you.
They didn't know where to find you."

	"I've been moving around a lot lately, doing some entertainment
work. A friend of mine is in training, and I'm trying to earn some money
to support her."

	"Really?" Tsubasa smiled fondly. "I'd gladly do the same for
darling Kasumi. You don't know where I can find her, do you?"

	"Sorry, no." Of course, that was the difference between Tsubasa
and what Mu Si had once been. Tsubasa changed the object of his...
affections... every so often; Kasumi was probably just the latest. "She
went off years ago to become an apprentice to a Shinto priestess named
Kaede. I haven't seen her since."

	"Anyway, Kuno wants you to come to the Tendo Dojo tonight at
seven. He said that Shan Pu would be showing up."

	"And you think that would interest me?" Mu Si tried to sound
more confident than he really felt. Tsubasa evidently didn't think much
about offering a recovered alcoholic a drink.

	"There's supposed to be some kind of crisis in her village.
They're expecting to be attacked, and they need everyone's help."

	"Why didn't you say so?" Mu Si got back onto the bicycle. "Tell
them I'll be there." After all, he thought as he pedaled away from
Tsubasa, her home was *his* home too -- or at least it used to be.

	He wondered what it would be like to see Shan Pu again. She was
asking for *his* help now? That would certainly be a switch after the
way things used to be between them....

                                 ______


	Mousse folded over the top of the cardboard box. This was
finally the last one. Packing up the Nekohanten had been like emptying
his robes; every time it looked like he might be almost done, something
else turned up in an unexpected place.

	Now, unless there were any more closets he didn't know about, he
was done. 

	The boxes were already labeled for shipment back to China.
Mousse decided to rest for a moment before taping them shut. He sat on
the floor, the furniture having been sold and taken away. The rain
poured down outside, punctuated by an occasional rumbling in the
darkened evening sky.

	Shampoo was leaving. Mousse knew that she would be going back to
China, leaving him behind, unless he could somehow persuade her not to.
Maybe it was insane of him to keep trying after all this time; but to
marry Shampoo was the dream of a lifetime. If there was any chance at
all of it happening, then he had to try. After all, hadn't people
throughout history triumphed against impossible odds to realize their
dreams?

	Shampoo came in from the back room. "Thank you for packing
boxes, Mousse. Real estate agent say will deliver to post office
tomorrow morning."

	"It was nothing, Shampoo. I'm so glad I could help."

	"I go airport now. Tomorrow morning catch early flight go
Shanghai." She knelt on the floor next to Mousse. "What you do now?"

	"I'm going to seal up the boxes. I've got this really strong
tape, the kind they call --"

	"No!" Shampoo interrupted. "I mean where you go now. What you do
after I back in China?"

	A voice inside Mousse's head screamed *NO! Don't let her say
goodbye!* "I... I could go with you to the airport. Make sure that you
get there okay. It's no trouble...."

	"And go back to China with me? That what you want?"

	"Huh? I... uh...."

	"I tell you before, Mousse. We not ever be a couple. You want go
back, that okay, but not go with me."

	"Then let's stay!" He suddenly leaned over to make a desperate
embrace. "Please! It'll be so good, just the two of us.... Oh Shampoo,
can't you see who it is that truly loves you?"

	A voice came from behind. "Stupid Mousse."

	He pushed his glasses over his eyes. He had hugged a cardboard
box.

	"I need leave." Shampoo opened the door. Flipping open an
umbrella, she stepped out onto the rain-soaked sidewalk.

	Mousse ran out after her. "Shampoo, wait! I--" His words cut off
abruptly as he transformed into a duck.

	Shampoo looked back from under the shelter of her umbrella,
eyeing Mousse impatiently, as if offering him one last chance to say
something.

	He reached inside and pulled out a bouquet of red roses.

	She struck with her palm, scattering the flowers across the
pavement. "Goodbye, Mousse," she said scornfully.

	Mousse could only watch through fogging glasses as Shampoo
turned and walked purposefully away. Her every movement was filled with
a beauty that came around only once in a lifetime, one that he would now
never be able to know.

	A sudden burst of thunder crashed through the sky. A dog started
barking while the rain poured down harder. Mousse thought about where he
was, and realized that he didn't have anyplace to go.

	A nearby puddle showed Mousse's reflection. It was a
funny-looking sight. A duck with glasses. Something that should be a
character on a children's cartoon.

	But even funny-looking duck men needed love. Even they were
capable of giving it.

	He stood in the rain, roses scattered at his feet. The only
sounds in the cold night were the constant downpour and the howling of a
distant dog. The one Mousse loved had left him, maybe forever. And even
if she did come back, she wouldn't love him. The dream would forever
be... a dream.

                                 ______


	The rain stopped. The last dim vestiges of evening light emerged
around the clouds. Soon it would be dark again.

	Mousse wiggled his tail feathers and flapped his wings, and the
water rolled from his duck body. He sat down on the wet sidewalk. He had
to decide what to do, where to go.

	Shampoo would be at the airport by now. Soon she would be out of
the country. He could go back to China too if he wanted; but if he did,
he'd have to face all the people who knew him, who would know that he
had been courting the same girl all of his life and had failed.

	Fine, Mousse thought. He'd just live his life without Shampoo.
Knowing her had only brought him pain anyway. He was better off on his
own. In fact, he thought, if she came back right now, he'd....

	Someone came walking down the sidewalk. Mousse looked through
his fogged glasses in the dim light. It was Shampoo! She'd come back for
him! He waddled up to her, excitedly.

	Taking another look, he saw that it wasn't Shampoo at all. The
newly-arrived person looked down at Mousse, and smiled happily. She
spoke in a child-like voice.

	"Claudette?"

                                 ______


	Once there was a girl named Azusa. Azusa had long, wavy hair and
big blue eyes. She lived with her Daddy and her friends, in a big house
with a wall around the yard.

	Azusa loved to ice skate. Ice skating was her very favorite
thing. She would go to the ice rink almost every day and practice for
hours and hours.

	Azusa was walking home from the skating rink one day when she
met Claudette the duck. "Hello, Claudette," she said. "My name is
Shiratori Azusa. Would you like to be friends?"

	"Kwak?" Claudette answered. That was how ducks talked. It meant
yes, Azusa, I would be happy to be your friend.

	"You're so cute!" Azusa said, smiling at the duck. "Would you
like to come to my house to meet my other friends?"

	"KWAK!? Kwa wa kwak kwak!" Claudette said. That meant thank you,
Azusa, I would like that very much.

	"Oh, I'm so happy!" Azusa cried, as she took the duck in her
arms and ran toward her house.

                                 ______


	Itakura Ryoko wrote in her notebook as she sipped from the
drinking glass in her other hand. She was a thin short-haired woman
wearing a blazer.

	The small middle-aged man in the chair next to her was Shiratori
Hideki. He wore large dark-framed glasses and an expensive looking
kimono, with his hair slicked back. He smiled an absurdly wide smile
most of the time. "Anything else you'd like to know for your article,
dear lady?" he asked.

	"No, I think I have enough. Thank you for the interview. I have
high hopes of being able to sell it to one of the major business
weeklies."

	Hideki smiled. "I hope listening to my ramblings has not bored
you too much, my dear."

	Ryoko chuckled. Such modesty! "Not at all. It's fascinating to
hear the life story of one of Japan's leading industrialists."

	Hideki laughed loudly. "My life? It is nothing special. The
house of Shiratori is an unexciting place, my dear interviewer, where
the unusual never happens."

	A young woman entered the living room, sliding quickly over to
Hideki and kissing him on the cheek. "Hi, Daddy!" Her thick, wavy brown
hair and wide eyes looked Occidental. Ryoko recalled Hideki mentioning
that his first wife had been an American.

	Ryoko noticed that Hideki's daughter carried a duck in her arms.
The duck wore a pair of glasses.

	"Good evening, Azusa." Hideki sipped from the drink he was
holding. "How was skating practice tonight?"

	"I met a new friend, Daddy!" Azusa held the duck out for her
father to see. It seemed to be struggling in her grip. "Her name's
Claudette! Isn't she cute?"

	"Cute? That she is," Ryoko said. "Are you going to cook her for
dinner?"

	"NO!" Azusa turned away, cradling the duck tightly in her arms.
"Claudette is my friend! I won't let anyone eat her!"

	Ryoko heard what sounded like a sigh of relief from the duck. It
must have been her imagination, she decided.

	"She didn't mean it, dear." Azusa's father gestured toward the
woman. "This is Itakura Ryoko. She's writing a magazine article." He
looked back at Claudette. "She looks healthy enough. You'll have to take
care of her if you want to keep her, you know. She'll be more work than
your other friends."

	"I know, Daddy. Tomorrow I'll go out and buy her some food."

	Ryoko looked closely at the duck. "But... glasses?" She examined
Claudette's eye wear closely. "They're real prescription lenses."

	The duck suddenly broke free from Azusa. It flew around the
room, picking up speed as it rose toward the ceiling.

	"Claudette, be careful!" Azusa cried. "You dropped your..."

	The duck flew into a window -- a closed one -- and dropped to
the floor, stunned.

	"... glasses," Azusa finished. "Oh, Claudette!" She ran over to
the duck. "I'll have to get you a leash so you won't hurt yourself!"

	Ryoko turned to Mr. Shiratori and spoke quietly. "A duck? With
glasses?" She grinned. "Not unusual?"

	"Azusa often... finds... things. Usually not living things. No
matter. I'll find out to whom this duck belongs, if anyone, and
negotiate to purchase it. If Azusa wants it, she will have it."

	"I take it your daughter is... special? What they call
autistic?"

	"My dear, I assure you that no child of Shiratori Hideki is any
such thing. Azusa is just Daddy's little girl. Isn't that right, honey?"

	Azusa giggled. "Right, Daddy."

	"It's late. I ought to be going." Ryoko stood up, stumbling a
bit as she moved toward the door. "Oh! That sake of yours was very good.
I must have had a little more of it than I thought."

	"Azusa, would you show Ryoko to one of the guest rooms?" Hideki
said. "She seems to have had too much to drink."

	"I don't want to impose on you..." Ryoko said.

	"No trouble at all, my dear. My home is your home."

	"Thank you." Ryoko followed as Azusa scampered out of the room.

                                 ______


	Ryoko quickly glanced around as she walked down the corridor.
Each part of the house was decorated in a different style, apparently
chosen at random. Paintings, books, and shelves filled with other
assorted knick-knacks cluttered up the walls. Some of the things looked
valuable, but most didn't.

	If Azusa was a collector, Ryoko thought, she wasn't the only one
in the family who was.

	Azusa stopped and swung open a door. "Here you are!"

	"Thanks, Azusa," Ryoko said. "I'm sorry about what I said
before. I wouldn't want to cook Claudette."

	"Azusa-chan won't let anything happen to her friends, will she?"
She embraced the groggy-looking duck.

	"I believe you, Azusa." Ryoko moved around to the door. "You've
been collecting... friends... a long time now, have you?"

	"Daddy sent me to school. The other kids there didn't like me.
So I looked for different friends to play with. I learned how to skate
later. Then everybody liked me."

	Ryoko entered the guest bedroom. "Well, Goodnight, Azusa. See
you tomorrow!" Azusa bounded off down the corridor as Ryoko closed the
door.

	She smiled to herself. Hideki had believed her story about the
magazine article. Everything was going according to plan.

                                 ______


	"This is your home now, Claudette!"

	Mousse looked around the large room. A canopied bed with frilly
pink covers stood on one side. A white chest of drawers was nearby, with
a mirror above it; both had several little pink ribbons tied to them.

	On the opposite wall to the bed, a collection of items rested on
various parts of a large multi-level shelf. Azusa pointed to each one in
turn. "I want you to meet all of my other friends, Claudette! This is
Lucia." A music box. "These are Danielle and Delphine!" Two stuffed
terriers, one larger than the other.

	Claire was an oddly-shaped piece of crystal. Raphaelle was a
two-foot high beer stein. Lara was a small round piece of yellow plastic
fruit. Odette was a silvery teapot, with geometric designs embossed all
around it. And so on.

	Stephanie was a plaque, colored bright sky blue. Graceful
pictures of birds in flight adorned it. Mousse read the words on it. *If
you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If not,
it never was.* With the heavy leash chafing against his neck, Mousse was
not pleased by the irony.

	Azusa giggled. "Those birds on Stephanie are so cute, aren't
they!" She flipped a deadbolt into place, locking her room shut.

	Mousse noticed that one of the shelves was empty except for a
small velvet pillow. "This is Michelle's place," Azusa said. "She was
one of my best friends until she got lost. Isn't that sad, Claudette? I
hope someday she'll come back. I miss her and worry about her."

	Azusa took a large blanket from a closet. Folding it over twice,
she set it down in a corner. "You can stay here tonight, Claudette." She
unhooked the leash from around Mousse's neck. "Tomorrow I'll get you
somewhere better to sleep. Goodnight!" She turned out the light and
slipped into her bed.

	Mousse sat on the blanket and waited. He would leave when the
time was right.

                                 ______


	Hours passed. The pale rays of the moon shone through the single
window in the room, casting a stream of light on the adjacent wall.

	Mousse looked at Azusa. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully.
Her breathing was so soft that Mousse had to listen closely to hear it.

	He examined the window. It was a single pane of thick glass,
with no opening mechanism. He thought for a moment. He could smash
through with his bill, but that would probably wake Azusa. It would be
easiest to simply leave through the door.

	Waddling past Azusa's collection of cute things, he wondered
whether Shampoo would like it if he were to give her something like
them. Probably not. Nothing he gave her or did for her ever seemed to
make her happy.

	Mousse was obviously too short in his duck form to reach the
doorknob from the floor. He flapped his wings and propelled himself
upward, hoping that Azusa wouldn't wake up. Gripping the deadbolt in his
bill, he managed to slide it open.

	The same thing wouldn't work for the doorknob, he realized; not
enough leverage to turn it. Noticing a small wooden chair in the room,
he flew down to it. He slowly pushed the chair along the floor, as
quietly as possible, until it was adjacent to the door on the side with
the knob.

	From atop the chair, Mousse leaned over to grab the doorknob in
his bill. He hung precariously in the air, supported by the bad-tasting
knob in his mouth and the wobbly chair at his feet. Kicking away from
the chair, he let gravity swing his body downwards, thereby turning the
knob with his mouth.

	The knob was turned enough to allow the door to open. Mousse
stretched his leg over to push off of the wall. The door swung back. He
let go of the knob and fell to the floor.

	Mousse stepped out the door into the hallway. Now he just had to
find a window that opened, and he would be free to go; although as to
*where* he would go, he had no real idea.

	There was an old saying, *life is what happens to you while
you're making other plans.* That was certainly true for Mousse's life.
Perhaps some of the Gods were punishing him for something, he mused. Why
else would they make Shampoo so perfect for him, and then arrange things
so that nothing he did could possibly win her love? Were they trying to
teach him a lesson? If so, he couldn't see what it was.

	One of the other doors opened.

                                 ______


	Ryoko stepped into the darkened corridor, quietly shutting the
door behind her. Now that everyone had gone to bed, she could search the
house. She walked silently down the corridor, keeping one hand on the
wall, flashlight at the ready.

	She had checked into Hideki's financial records. The balance in
his bank accounts was far lower than it should have been. He had to be
keeping a secret hoard somewhere. She was going to find it.

	As Ryoko took a step, she felt something beneath her feet. A
soft crunch came from whatever she had stepped on, followed by a loud
"KWAK!"

	She moved quickly back. Finding the door to the guest room, she
opened it and ran back in. Being caught would ruin everything.

                                 ______


	"KWAK!"

	Mousse felt something step on his left wing. Pain shot up and
down it. He heard the sound of footsteps moving away, and a door opening
and closing.

	A light came on. "Claudette?" Azusa stepped out into the
corridor. "Oh no, you've hurt yourself, haven't you?"

	Mousse pointed with his other wing to the direction whoever had
stepped on him had run to. "Kwak! Kwa kwak!"

	Azusa scooped him up. "I'm sorry, Claudette. I'll have to keep
you on your leash from now on."

                                 ______


	Mousse lay back on the blanket Azusa had set out for him. The
leash around his neck constrained him, its other end tied to a bedpost.
He knew that he could get loose if he worked at it; but he was tired,
and for now this was as good a place to sleep as any.

	He drifted off to sleep. The pain in his arm prodded him awake.
He rolled over as much as he could, hoping a change in position would
help.

	Sleep eventually came. Shampoo fought her way into Azusa's
house, past Danielle and Delphine and all the other guards, to rescue
Mousse. He collapsed into her arms as she said "Mousse, I no mean it. I
no mean all things I say to you." They went back to China together as
she helped him deal with the trauma he had suffered.

	Light brought Mousse back to consciousness. He struggled to
remember where he was, to comprehend the scene he was looking at.

	He was still a duck, tied to a leash. His arm still throbbed,
but not as much as before. Using his other one, he pushed his glasses
into place.

	Azusa stood stretched out in front of her collection of
"friends", as if shielding them. In front of her was the woman Mousse
had seen downstairs the day before. She spoke into a cellular phone
tucked between her shoulder and chin. "That's right. What we're looking
for is in this room. Get here as soon as you can."

	"You can't have my friends!" Azusa backed up as she and the
woman glared daggers at each other.

	The doorbell rang. The two women continued their standoff.

	Footsteps and voices came up the stairs. "Search where you like,
gentlemen. I've nothing to hide." Azusa's father walked into view,
surrounded by men in cheap-looking suits.

	The men headed straight into Azusa's room, and began examining
her collection.

	"You stop that! These are *Azusa's* friends!" Azusa started
hitting one of the men. Ignoring her, he moved aside with her, blocking
her from the others. "No!"

	"They're here." One of the men took a small cylindrical object
with an intricate symbol carved on one end from Odette.

	"What's that?" Azusa asked, putting down the chair she was about
to hit the man with.

	"It's a bank sigil," the woman answered. "Your father uses these
to access money under a false name to avoid taxes. Isn't that right, Mr.
Shiratori?"

	Azusa's father turned. "Then you are...."

	"Tax inspector Itakura Ryoko, sir. I'm afraid you're under
arrest for income tax evasion."

	Mousse watched quietly. All of this had nothing to do with him.
He started looking for a way to undo his leash. He would wait his chance
and leave as soon as he could.

	Mr. Shiratori looked around the room. "Ah well, such are the
risks of the game. Well-played, my dear inspector." He turned to his
daughter. "Azusa, to you I am truly sorry. I shall try to return to you
when I can." He looked back at the agents. "Shall we go now?"

	One of the agents escorted Mr. Shiratori out of the room.
"Collect all this evidence," Ryoko said to the others.

	"No!" Azusa cried. "You can't take my friends!" She snatched
Lucia away from one of the agents. Two others grabbed Azusa, each taking
hold of an arm. She began kicking. "NO!" More agents took hold of her
legs.

	"Look, Azusa, I don't like doing this," Ryoko said, a bit
angrily. "Your father has been hoarding money that other people need to
survive. Japan needs to provide jobs, medical care... can you understand
me, Azusa?"

	Azusa screamed as she struggled wildly. "GIVE ME BACK MY
FRIENDS!"

	Mousse couldn't help feeling sympathy for Azusa as he watched.
Everything that she cared about was being taken away from her, because
of her father's mistakes.

	"Sorry, Azusa." Ryoko said. She and the agents carried most of
Azusa's collection downstairs. The other agents set Azusa down carefully
and followed.

	Azusa got up and surveyed the remains of her collection. There
were only a few items left, things that obviously couldn't hide
anything. And Mousse. "Claudette! They took Kristina! They took Cynthia!
They... they took..."

	She looked down with big tear-stained eyes. "Claudette, they
took Daddy!"

	Mousse searched for something to say that would help, something
to make Azusa feel better. "Kwak," he said.

	"Claudette, you don't want to leave me, do you? I'll get you a
nice bed, and some fish... I'll get you whatever you want."

	Another reflection.

	"Please.... You're all I've got left, you and Stephanie and...."

	Azusa looked at the plaque. For perhaps the first time, her eyes
focussed with comprehension on the words. *If you love something....* 

	She looked at the duck bound by the leash.

	"I'm sorry, Claudette." She choked on the words as she loosened
the leash. "You can go now." She fell into a silent sulk.

	Mousse could go. But to where? Shampoo was gone. He had to let
her go. And he knew that she wouldn't be back, that she would never be
his. She never was.

	On the other hand, here was someone who was hurting; someone who
he might be able to help.

	Mousse quacked to get Azusa's attention. He gestured with his
uninjured wing.

	"What's that, Claudette? You want me to come with you?"

	The duck went into the upstairs bathroom. Azusa followed. Mousse
grabbed the hot water faucet with his bill, and turned.

	Azusa stared with big eyes at the long-haired man covering
himself with a hastily-grabbed towel. "Oh, Claudette!"

	"Ah, hello Azusa... er, my name's not Claudette. I fell into a
cursed spring that turns me into a duck when I get wet. I'm Chinese, not
French, so of course I wouldn't have a French name. My name is Mousse."

	Azusa stared uncomprehendingly. "I kept Mousse tied up?"

	"That's okay. You couldn't have known. Besides, I had a lot on
my mind anyway. I'm sorry about your father, and all of your, uh,
friends."

	"My friends are all I have." Azusa sighed. "I'll just have to
look for new ones."

	"Um, look, I'll be your friend. If it'll help, I mean."

	"Really?" Azusa smiled. "I'm happy you're my friend, Mousse.
You're cute!"

	"Cute?! Why... er... uh..." Mousse looked around
self-consciously.

	"Mousse is Azusa's favorite friend." She giggled. "Better even
than Michelle!"

	"Who is Michelle, anyway?" Mousse asked, idly curious,
remembering the empty space on Azusa's shelf.

	"Michelle was a little cloth doll, with yellow string hair and a
red dress. I took her to school a long, long time ago. Everybody liked
Michelle. They all told me how cute she was, even the ones that didn't
talk to me before that."

	Mousse reached inside.

	He remembered all the presents he had given to Shampoo, the ones
that she always threw back in his face.

	Azusa's face lit up with a wide smile as she joyfully embraced
the doll that Mousse handed her. "It's Michelle! Oh, thank you! Thank
you! Mousse is wonderful!"

	*Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans.* 

	Somehow that didn't seem like such a bad thing anymore.

                                 ______


	Mu Si parked his bicycle and went into the skating rink. He saw
Azusa on the ice and waved as he entered.

	Azusa leapt into the air, doing a complicated spin and landing
gracefully as Mu Si watched. Soon she might even be ready for the
Olympics. She was beautiful when she moved; not in the same way that
Shan Pu was, but that didn't matter.

	Mu Si knew that he would have to leave soon, to help the people
he grew up with. He hoped Azusa would be all right without him.

	He wondered whether that tax inspector had been right when she
had called Azusa autistic. Maybe it was true.

	But even someone like her needed love, and was capable of giving
it.

                                 ______


	The characters Ryoko and Hideki were taken from the movie "A
Taxing Woman," with Hideki's family name was changed to Shiratori for
this story. Special thanks to Cindy Toler for co-writing Azusa's
children's book style narration.

	Next: Gosunkugi


Gary Kleppe
http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics