Yes, I know, wrong chapter; I'm "a bit" behind on my reading. ^_^

	Shan Pu wondered what it would be like to meet up with Ranma and
Akane after so many years. She had exchanged a few letters with them,
but mail always came slow to the Amazons when it came at all. According

IMO "Amazons, when" or "Amazons - when"

	Great-grandmother was dying. The thought of losing a loved one
might have devastated a lesser individual. But Shampoo was an Amazon
warrior. Not just any Amazon warrior either, but the strongest of her

warrior, and not

	Why bringing Ranma was so important, Shampoo did not know. But
the reason didn't matter. She would carry out her task. If possible. As

know, but

a television announcer's voice droned. "As you can see, the President of
the United States is shaking the hand of the new Chinese Premier.
Clearly this is a historic occasion, a promise of continued peace and
co-operation between two powerful nations."

Don't remember reacting on that last time I read this... Foreshadowing?
With the talk about war on the plane earlier, it's *too* good to be
just something used for a comparison later. ^_^

	"This my father," Shampoo said. "Shan Peine."

...and that bit *is* added, right? It does feel a bit wrong that
Shamps' father just stands there at this point and then just
seems to disappear; no mention is made further on of where he goes,
he doesn't seem to be around during the exchanges of "the party
below". Oh, I must say the name "Peine" doesn't quite feel right to
me, but then, what do I know...

	Cologne looked up. "Greetings, Shampoo, Akane." She spoke with

Instincts tell me to say 'Akane," she' before I got around to
reading the rest and find out things were different. I'd suggest
putting "She spoke" on a new paragraph, myself...

dying, it's like I can't think that way about her anymore. Does dying
make you a better person?"

Unless you're a pretty damn bad person to begin with - Yep. ^_^

	"I guess I know what you mean. She and I weren't exactly the
best of friends either. Maybe we should all try to be nicer to each
other while we're alive."

...

For some reason, this bit of elementary philosophy feels so damn
good when stated a bit uncertainly by ol' crude Ranma. The
paragraph is ... I dunno, perfect.

Hm. Wait. This is Akane speaking? Oh, bugger. Forget it then. ^_^

	"I... I'm sorry." Mousse fell into a silent sulk as Shampoo
descended the stairs.

I... dunno. Mousse really does feel a bit *too* easily accepting
here, even considering the circumstances, and after all, Cologne
*is* still alive.

	Shampoo froze, feeling as if in the grip of a cold, clammy hand.
She didn't want to go back upstairs. Not if it meant having
Great-grandmother know that she was a failure -- at this task, on top of
everything else. How could she let that be the last thing
Great-grandmother knew before passing away?

	She dismissed the ridiculous feeling. If it really was
Great-grandmother's final moments, then Shampoo wanted to spend them
with her. Afterwards, she would find out who took Great-grandmother's
water and get it back from them. But not now.

Oops. Will Lead To Trouble<tm>. ^_^

For her to see the future would make her unable to change it, and that
for her would be like dying herself.

Kind of a strange way of putting it. If you don't know what the future is
*supposed* to be, you're not *changing* it, just *making* it - and looking
back the result will be the same. But OK, she's just a stupid old
woman. ^_^

	Shampoo couldn't understand what it was she was feeling. Death
was something she had no experience with. She remembered reading books
in which the main character died at the end. She could always go back to
chapter one, and everyone would be all right again. Now her life was a
novel whose pages kept turning ahead, and there was nothing she could do
to stop it.

A likeness that feels very strange to me. After passing the final page,
the whole bloody *book* is dead, and only amnesia (on the part of the
reader) will revive it again...


---
Ronny Hedin, thark@hem2.passagen.se, http://nabiki.newberry.edu/thark/
     "One time, a little sparrow landed on a wise man's shoulder, and
      said to him, 'You are the wisest of all the men in the world,
      and all of nature rejoices in your light.' And the wise man
      said, 'What are you doing? Birds do not talk like men!' and he
      killed the bird, and fried it for his supper."