Well, I found the rough for this, but the final disappeared.  I finished
it again, and just in time for Matthew's challange (the other Matthew).

Breaking Point
	By Matthew "Bastet's Chosen" Lewis



	"Nabiki!  Have you no shame?"

	"What ever do you mean, Akane?"

	"You took all of Ranma's money, and he didn't even do 
anything that time."

	"Oh, so the 'insensitive jerk' deserves a break this 
time Akane?"

	"Maybe he does Nabiki.  My birthday's coming up and-"

	"Oh, I get it now.  Don't worry Akane, Ranma will just 
borrow money from me.  You'll get your gift, never fear."

	"This isn't about that!  Everything doesn't comes back 
to money!"

	"Look Akane, you're not the only one who can play 
games with Ranma."

	"Games?!  If this is your idea of fun, then that's 
worse than money!  You, you, bitch!"

	"You have no right to judge me, Akane, and you're not 
on the moral high ground, the way you manipulate Ranma."

	"Me?  You're the only manipulator here!"

	"Akane, how long do you think Ranma would have lasted 
if he couldn't bargain well?  How many years did he and his 
father live without a regular job?  He lets me have the 
money, Akane, and it's because his honor makes him guilty 
about staying in our house.  Do you know why I take it 
Akane?  Because I have to run several businesses just to 
keep the Dojo going.  Ranma knows this, he's had to live 
without money.  Do you think I could sneak up on him?  Do 
you think he couldn't intimidate the boys not to buy photos 
of him?  But you, you use Ranma's feelings for you to get 
you what you want, and then you and your lover torment him 
for your amusement."

	"Lover!?  I'll kill that pervert for saying-"

	"Shut the hell up Akane, I'm not your gullible 
fiancee.  If you didn't want us to know Ryouga is P-chan 
the he shouldn't have used the ofuro to change.  And, 
before you protest, only Ranma is besotted enough to 
believe that you couldn't figure it out.  Azusa figured it 
out on her own, for Gods' sakes; with all the clues Ranma 
throws you; you'd have to be blind not to know.  I caught 
him changing when I was sneaking nude photos of Ranma. I 
cantime!
	"You keep stinging Ranma along, for your own amusement 
or for Daddy's promise, I'm not sure which.  You toy with 
him, taking everything he says the wrong way, despite 
knowing how awkward he's socially, and that his father made 
him that way by isolating him.  You even beat him and make 
him pay for the damage you cause when he lets you hit."

	"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard Nabiki!  
Maybe I sometime do stuff to try to see how he feels about 
me, but I don't do it for fun.   And Ryouga isn't P-chan; 
I've seen him wet.  And Ranma always insults me; he's never 
nice.  AND HE DOES NOT LET ME HIT HIM!"

	"Okay, Akane, keep playing your game.  You're too 
stupid to figure out the truth about your pet.  Ranma only 
insults you, and when he does, it's not so that you'll pay 
attention to him.  And you have some awesome power when 
you're mad that lets you defeat the greatest martial artist 
on the planet.  That's so much more likely than what I 
said.  I'm glad we got that straight."

~~~

	"Ran-chan, you look awful.  Did you have another fight 
with Akane?"

	"I- She- Akane's been sleeping with Ryouga!  I thought 
she didn't know, but she-"

	"Oh Ran-chan!  I'm so sorry this had to happen.  I 
know it's for the best, but I didn't want you to be hurt 
like that."

	"Why in the hell is them being together for the best?"

	"I don't mean that, Ran-chan.  Although ending up with 
a girl like Akane is a pretty big punishment.  I meant that 
it's best you found out what Akane is really like.  We all 
knew that you were . . . infatuated with Akane.  I mean, 
the way you kept trying to tell her about Ryouga and all.  
I knew that you'd have to get over your infatuation to 
believe what must be going on, so I didn't try to force the 
truth on you.   I knew you'd come to your best friend for 
the love and support I have for you."

	"I, just never thought of it.  I thought she lo- liked 
me or hated me.  But a plaything?  I mean so little to 
her?"

	"Don't worry about it Ran-chan.  We can leave.  I'll 
put the restaurant on the market by mail.  We can buy a new 
yati and wander Japan selling okonomiyaki.  Think of our 
life together!"

	"God damn it Ukyou, I've had enough of this!  I want 
it to stop.  Akane was using my lo- my feelings for her so 
she could play with my mind, and now you're using my 
friendship to try to become my wife."

	"Well then, Ranma, listen to this!  My friendship for 
you is part of my love and my being your fiancee.  Not 
everything happens on your terms!  I love you Ranma 
Saotome, and you're going to have to accept that.  You get 
my feelings as a package, and if you want to get rid of the 
second two you have to get rid of the first.  And if you 
manage to do that, then you'll have to wait and see if a 
new friendship forms, because the old one will be gone, and 
if you don't then you're going to have to live with me 
loving you, and stop ignoring it.  Do you understand?"

	"I guess there's a third choice, too."

	"Ran-chan?  Ran-chan, come back!  I didn't- it wasn't 
supposed to happen like that- it-"

~~~


	"I can't believe Nabiki, saying things like that!  
Just because I lost my temper doesn't give her the right to 
say I'm sleeping with someone."

	"Bwee!"

	"That's right P-chan, and I'm going to prove her wrong 
once and for all!"

*Splash*
 
	". . . Die Ryouga!  . . . You- you- caught my mallet!"

	"I'm sorry Akane, I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to 
catch it, it was instinct. I wanted to tell you about, but, 
you see, he was. . . .  You can hit me as much as you want.  
I deserve to be hurt and shouldn't have blocked."

	"You caught it.  You can- he can't -he can't he didn't 
he can't he won't.  He won't!"

	"Akane, I'm sorry; I'll do anything.  Akane, come 
back!  . . . Please come back . . . . Ranma, this is your 
fault!  You must have made Akane do this!  For taking Akane 
from me, you will die!"



~~~

	"Mom. . ."

	"Ranma!  What is the matter?"

	"Akane . . . Akane was sleeping with Ryouga.  All this 
time she was stringing me along, embarrassing me.  Mom . . 
. I, I . . ."

	"My poor son.  Don't worry about crying, a true man 
can show his emotions.  I can understand your shock.  I 
knew from the moment I met Akane that such an unwomanly 
girl would not do as your wife, but our honor was at stake.  
I should have known that a friend of Genma's would not 
raise honorable children.
	"Still, if you consider the consequences, this may be 
a blessing in disguise.  We can now honorably break your 
engagement to Akane and marry Ukyou!  This will solve all 
our problems, and Ukyou is a much more suitable match than 
Akane.  We can finally end this tangle with our honor 
intact!"

	"Marry . . . Ukyou?  Mom I-"

	"Now Ranma, I know that you're concerned about your 
honor, but don't worry.  Akane's indiscretions don't 
reflect upon you.  Ukyou will be glad to accept you, and 
that Chinese waitress doesn't have any legitimate hold upon 
you, you need not worry about losing your honor because of 
her."

	"You really don't understand, do you?  You're happy 
about this!  I can't believe all you care about is how 
people think about us and our honor!"

	"Ranma!  Come back here this instant.  Ranma, I am 
your mother! Ranma . . . Ranma!"

~~~


"K-Kasumi, where's R-Ranma?"

	"Akane, are you okay?  You don't look very well."

	"I'll be fine; it's just- just a chill.  Where's 
Ranma?"

	"I think he's in his room.  He went up the stairs 
right after you and Nabiki.  Akane, you feel like ice.  You 
really should wear a sweater if it's cold out."


~~~


	"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!"

	"Get away from me Ryouga; it was hard enough to keep 
myself from hunting you down."

	"Shut up!  For taking Akane from me, you must die!"

	"That's it pig-boy.  You picked the wrong night to 
push your sick little joke."

*CRACK* *CRACK*

	"You bastard!  How did you-"

	"Since you're too stupid to notice it bacon breath, 
when we fought before I never threw a killing or disabling 
blow, since I didn't want to hurt you too bad.  It's much 
easier to just break your arms than stop to you without 
hurting you.  And since you're so weak in your kicking, I 
don't think you're gonna force me to break your legs too."

*CRACK*

	"Guess I was wrong.  Ryouga, I'm not going to kill 
you, because that would make Akane unhappy, and no matter 
how much I hate the sadistic girl she's turned out to be, I 
also love the bitch.  So I think I'll leave you in pain 
here.  You shouldn't bleed to death, unless you move enough 
for the bones to cut a major blood vessel.  Someone will 
find you by morning, and you two can have a nice life 
together, since you seem to be screwed up in the same way."

	"Fuck you asshole!  Shi-shi-" *Gasp*

	"What's that Ryouga?  The pain is too intense for you 
to concentrate for a ki-blast?  Guess I'll have to leave 
you now."


~~~


	"Ranma!  You come to take Shampoo on date!  Yes?"

	"Shampoo leave me alone."

	"Saotome, how dare you address Shampoo in such a 
manner!"

*Splash*

	"Quack!"

	"Son-in-law."

	"Right now is not the time to annoy me with that, old 
ghoul."

	"<Shampoo, let go of your husband and fetch us some 
tea.  Put Mousse in his cadge while you're in the kitchen.  
Why have you come to us at this hour, Ranma."

	"I'm leaving Nerima, Cologne, and I want to get more 
training.  That means leaving with you, or with Happosai."

	"And you obviously prefer me over Happosai.  So you 
have accepted your marriage to Shampoo."

	"Ayah!"

	"No, I haven't.  If you want me to be your student 
then you're gonna have to teach me, not force me to marry 
or have children or any of that shit, and not do any of 
these kiss of death stuff or other fucked up laws."

	"And why should you be one setting conditions?"

	"Because you want to teach me.  All teachers want good 
students, and I'm the best.  You also want me to like the 
Amazons, and you know that there's no way in hell that I'll 
marry Shampoo.  And you don't want the difficult techniques 
you know to die with you, and I can teach them to later 
Amazons."

	"<Shampoo, be quiet.  I see.  Are you in trouble with 
the authorities?"

	"Nah.  I guess my fights from before could be counted 
as assault, but they're all self-defense.  So?"

	"The deal is a good one.  You will come with us to 
China, and I will teach you.  You will obey Amazon laws or 
leave.  In return for your teaching, you will pass these 
techniques on to my people when I am gone, regardless of if 
you left or not.  Swear it."

	"Fine.  I swear to do my part of the deal if you do 
yours."

"Now, the only way to keep you from marrying Shampoo 
is to adopt you, and the only way for you to be my student 
is if you are considered a woman."

	"Hey, I ain't no-"

	"Be quiet, Ranma.  This is the only way it can be 
done, and for you, it's only a legal issue.  Act as manly 
as you want.  Stay male as much as you want.  Indulge a 
legal fiction. Besides, most of the traits you consider 
manly we consider womanly.  To be treated as a man, you 
must be called a woman.  Or it too much of a challenge for 
you to change the pronoun associated with you?"

	"I can do anything!  Besides, I don't want to be 
thought of like Mousse is.  It's . . . the others will know 
I'm guy."

	"A promising burst of logic from you, daughter.  But 
Jusenkyo is not random; it gives people the alternate body 
best suited for them.  And the girl that drowned in the 
spring was an Amazon.  You are a wayward soul brought back 
to your home.  With your fighting skill, that explanation 
will be enough."

	"What's this daughter stuff? Ow!"

	"Be more observant.  I told you I have to adopt you, 
daughter; and you will address me as elder.  If you are to 
gain acceptance, daughter, you must obey all the forms."


~~~


	"<Ranma is in the ofuro, child, you can talk now.>"

	"<Why did you cancel my marriage to Ranma?  I could 
have had him finally!  Why are you taking him with us?  And 
accepting him, a male, as your student?  What about me?>"

	"<Listen carefully Shampoo.  Ranma wishes to leave 
Japan.  It is evident he is angry.  Therefore there is 
nothing in Japan strong enough to keep him here.  He must 
therefore wish to leave the girl he loves and his mother.  
No Shampoo, if you were fit to be my successor, you would 
have figured out he does not feel that way for you, and you 
have not made him come closer to such feelings.
	"<I can deduce from this that the only hurt strong 
enough to cut Ranma from these ties is Akane's betraying 
him.  His mother has probably alienated him by insisting he 
marry her anyway.  I knew that you had a chance of him 
turning to you when he realized Akane could not be as 
unobservant as she pretends to be.  I had hoped he would 
turn to you in grief, but he did not.  He is now very angry 
at being manipulated, and if I wished to have him, I could 
not reject his offer.  Anything else would have his anger 
focused at us.
	"<He is also right about the techniques I hold.  They 
must not be lost to the Amazons, and he is the only one 
capable of learning them.  No Shampoo, while you are 
skilled, you are not near his level.  He will be my 
successor because I have needed one ever since you gave the 
kiss of death.  You have no instinct for leadership or 
politics, both of which I can see in Ranma.>"
	
	"<Great-Grandmother, why are you being so cruel?  I->"

	"<Listen well to me Shampoo.  Look within yourself, 
and you will see you are never happier than when carrying 
out instructions or a plan.  You are the finest warrior the 
Amazons produced in a generation.  But you have the flaws 
of a warrior.  You are direct, even when subtly is needed.  
You are a follower, enjoying carrying out orders, and you 
are not the finest warrior of your generation.  There is no 
shame in this, only in denying your place in the tribe and 
shirking the responsibilities you can bear.  It is your 
responsibility to tribe that we bring Ranma back with us.
	"<We need his strength to train the next generations, 
and his help will give us the advantage over the Musk.  If 
we are lucky, one of use will bear children by him, and we 
will gain his blood in ours.  From your first return, I saw 
that you would not win him, Shampoo, and so the council had 
to find another way to bring him back.  I have allowed you 
to pursue Ranma because it gave me an excuse to be here and 
a way to train Ranma.  That excuse has served its purpose, 
and outlived its usefulness.
	"<As for Ranma's gender; we cannot allow a male to be 
the greatest warrior in the tribe at any time.  The males 
would start getting ideas from Ranma's example and his 
power.  If we have him, and he is not bound by love, he 
must be a woman.  He could be male only as your husband, 
Shampoo, and then you would have been a figurehead.  You 
would not enjoy that, and I would not force it upon you.  
This way, he will not upset our order, and he will have a 
chance to hold my seat on the council once I am gone. The 
laws protecting men might become more rigorously enforced, 
but the law should be a shield to protect the weak, 
including the weaker sex.  Ranma, will, of course, attempt 
to stay male all the time, but cold water is prevalent, and 
we cannot afford to waste fuel building useless fires.  He 
will become accustomed to remaining as a woman . . .>"

	"<I . . . understand, Great-grandmother.>"

	"<Shampoo . . . if you are to win his heart, you must 
give up on him.  Ranma's current relationship with you is 
not one of avoiding romance.  He has also been hurt badly 
by one he cares for.  Ranma will suspect anyone who tries 
to enter into a romantic relationship with him.  He must 
initiate that relationship, or fall in love before her 
realizes it. His foremost criteria for a romantic 
relationship will be lack of desire for a romantic 
relationship.  I have seen the pattern before when young 
lovers break up.  You must therefore give up Ranma for him 
to even consider you as a mate.  An outer seeming will not 
work for this, you must truly give him up or your intent 
will color your relations.  Only after you give him up, 
after you end your current relationship with Ranma can you 
can build a new relationship that might have romance in its 
future.>"

	"<Yes, great-grandmother.  I do not really understand, 
but you have never guided me wrongly.  Unless the tribe's 
interests were involved.>"

	"<Would you put yourself over the tribe?>"

	"<No, I would not.>"

	"<Then I have not guided you wrongly, for your wishes 
were to serve the tribe.>"


~~~


	"Ranma!"

	"Go away Pervert Girl, husband no is here."

	"Why is Ukyou crying, then, when you're not?"

	"Akane."

	"Ranma, about what Nabiki said, it's-"

	"You know, you really had me going.  That was quite 
the trick, getting to say how you really felt and implying 
the opposite.  I can understand hating the engagement and 
all, and blaming me for seeing you nude, but that was sick.  
Toying around with my feelings while carrying on with 
Ryouga.  You made me look stupid in front of all Nerima.  I 
just couldn't figure out how you didnRyouga.  I guess that shows how much
I loved you.  Well, I 
can't stop loving you, but I can get away from these sick 
tricks of yours.  I'm not going to put up with it.  You and 
Ryouga can have a nice life together once he heals, but it 
isn't going to include tormenting me."

	"Ryouga can die from whatever you did to him and I 
wouldn't care!  I don't care what you or Nabiki think; the 
truth is I didn't know about his curse.  Do you know why?  
Because I knew, I knew that someone would tell me.  You say 
you love me Ranma?  I thought so, but you let Ryouga do 
everything he wanted as P-chan.  I was stupid enough to 
think you cared enough for me that whenever I got the least 
doubt, I told myself 'that can't be right, Ranma would tell 
me.'  You acted like you hated Ryouga, but you didn't 
reveal this to me?  I love you Ranma, but you obviously 
don't love me.  If you wanted to get away, you two didn't 
have to set me up like this.  Leave if you want, but don't 
try to be the wronged person here."

	"Tell you?  I dropped enough hints to make anyone but 
Kuno know."

	"That's right.  You dropped hints.  Of course, if you 
really wanted me to know, you would have told me.  Was that 
your little way of laughing at me Ranma?"

	"I couldn't tell you!  I swore that I wouldn't!"

	"And why in the hell would you do that?"

	"Because I knocked him in to the spring.  And I did it 
when I though he was going to tell you about it.  Why in 
the hell do you think I bother him about it?"

	"Was I psychically supposed to know about your 
promise?  Because that's the only way I could figure out 
about Ryouga.  Nabiki leapt to conclusions.  Maybe they 
make sense, but they're still wrong!"

	"Yeah Akane, if that's right, prove it!  I'm going 
with Cologne.  Leave Ryouga and come to China with me.  
Give up our engagement and be a normal girlfriend.  Make me 
believe what you say!"

	"If that's what it takes, then fine!"

	"!"

	"No matter what Nabiki thinks or what you believe, 
Ranma, I love you.  The only reason I didn't shout it out 
to the world was I had no idea if you loved me.  If you're 
going to China, then so am I."

	"You'll come?  I, Akane, I-"

	"I believe I have a say in this, Daughter.  It is a 
little late to add conditions to our agreement."

	"Hey, you're not going to-"

*Whap*

	"Speak with more respect to your elders.  Akane Tendo, 
I am willing to let you join our tribe.  But if you do, you 
will have to be an Amazon.  You must fulfill our standards 
and complete the training and tasks given to you, no matter 
what difficulties or sacrifices you will need to make.  
Once you take this step, the only way to leave is death.  
You will not be able to stop if the training seems too 
much, or even if Ranma chooses not to be with you.  Your 
future will be set.  It is not a step taken lightly."

	"I can take any training you give me!  If Ranmaleaving, then I
	"Very well.  We will leave at dawn.  Be ready then and 
meet us here.  I imagine you will want to bring some 
things, and Ranma probably has a list of his belongings he 
left behind."


~~~


	"Akane?"

	"Yes, Ranma."

	"I really want to, um, date and all, but it can't keep 
on being the same as before."

	"No, I guess not."

	"So I think we should swear to always tell each other 
the truth, and all of it, so nothing like this happens 
again.  I mean, I'm always complaining about you jumping to 
conclusions and not listening to my side and all, and then 
I go and do the same thing.  And I kept on letting you hit 
me away so we wouldn't have to face things and work them 
out and all.  So we'll talk about things, and always tell 
the truth and wait for the other person to say their side 
and all that.  And I won't use you to hit me away, and in 
return I'll stop calling you names.

	"I think, I think that would be . . . a good thing I 
guess.  I mean, we can't go on always arguing like that 
about things.  I . . . don't want to lose you Ranma, and I 
think that if I kept on expecting you to know how I felt 
when I hid it, you'd be gone."

	"Great!  Um, about being honest; Akane, your cooking 
is really bad-"

	"Ran-ma."

	"-so can I help you make dinner?"

	"Well, if we're being honest, I don't like you 
pointing out how bad I am at cooking . . . but . . . I 
could use the help."




                              ("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._      
      Bastet's Chosen          `6_ 6  )   `-.  (     ).`-.__.`)
   matthew.lewis@Yale.edu      (_Y_.)'  ._   )  `._ `. ``-..-'
                             _..`--'_..-_/  /--'_.' ,'
                           (il).-''  (li).'  ((!.-'

Beware of organizations that proclaim their devotion to the light without 
embracing, bowing to the dark; for when they idealize half the world they 
must devalue the rest.
                           -Miriam Simos