Here's chapter 3.  As always, C&C is welcome!




All characters, save Feather, are the copyrighted work of
Rumiko Takahashi, and are used without permision purely for
entertainment value.  In other words, I ain't selling, you
ain't buying, and everyone is happy right?  That having been
said, let us proceed with the third chapter of A Feather in the Wind.
_______________________________________________________________
                   A Feather in the Wind
                       Chapter 3
      As the sun set upon the horizon, Feather sat next to an
unconscious Ryouga.  She leaned back, enjoying the simple
beauty of the sunset.   Eventually, Ryouga regained
consciousness again, and they set out to find their goal, the Tendo
Dojo.
      "We're in the right town," Ryouga said as they started
out, "if our luck holds, we will be standing on the Tendo's
doorstep before nightfall."
      "What makes you say that?  I'm not sure exactly of where we are."
      "You see that school?"  Ryouga pointed at Furinkan High,
when Feather nodded he continued, "That's the school Akane goes
to.  The path between that school and the Tendo dojo is marked
by signs of battle"  He rubbed the back of his head "I don't
hold back whenever I fight Ranma, and he has other enemies that
attack him on a regular basis as well.  Ranma has a tendency to
leave them imbedded in walls, so all we have to do is follow
the damage and we can't lose!"  Ryouga looked impressed with
himself.  Feather snorted and crossed her arms.
      "And how, pray tell, do we decide which way to go from
the gate?"  Feather asked, with just a touch of sarcasm in her
voice.  Ryouga made a guttural noise and jerked forward a
little.  He looked sheepishly over at Feather and put his hand
to the back of his head.
      "I guess we'll flip a coin, we'll have a fifty fifty shot
anyways"  Feathers face started to turn red with anger, then
suddenly she laughed.  Ryouga started to laugh with her as they
headed towards the front gates to the school.  Neither of them
noticed a black-cloaked man following them.  The man spoke
briefly into a walkie-talkie, and turned to continue his
surveillance.  A small embroidered patch of a viper encircling
a blade could be seen on his shirt.
      When Ryouga and Feather reached the gate, they stopped
and flipped a coin.  They turned to the left and started to
run.  After only running for a few minuets, they saw what
looked like a body print in a wall.  Ryouga grinned hugely.
"Judging by the shape of that hole, Mousse decided to attack
Ranma today." Feather was panting when she replied.
      "How do you know it was today?"
      "Simple, with all the fights going on, construction
companies have gotten real efficient.  The holes from today's
fight will be filled in by morning."  And as if to prove
Ryouga's point, a pick-up pulled up to the hole and two men
jumped out.  One of them started to gather the pieces of the
wall, while the other started to mix concrete.  Feather gaped
at how quickly and quietly they worked.
      "That's amazing!"  She gasped out.  She was hurting from
her fight with Cologne, but she didn't want to admit it to
Ryouga.  But her muscles complained constantly about their use,
and her breath was getting short.  Suddenly she tripped, and it
looked to her like she was going to smash headfirst into a
pole.  She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable
contact.... but it never came.  She opened her eyes and looked
around.  Ryouga, without even breaking stride, had picked her
up and was still running.  She was so out of breath, that she
wasn't even able to thank him, so instead, she just wrapped her
arms around his neck, and relaxed.
      "I knew it!"  Ryouga shouted as he turned a corner,
following some broken chains.  Up ahead was the Dojo, and the
gates were open with Mr. Tendo sweeping in front.  At Ryouga's
shout, Mr. Tendo looked their way, and Feather waved to him.
He waited for the teenagers to stop in front of him to speak.
      "Well now, Hello Ryouga, I'm glad to see you made it
back.  Looks like you and Feather had a good time on your
little trip"  Mr. Tendo said as Ryouga put Feather back on her
feet.  Mr. Tendo turned and called into the house, "Kasumi!  We
have guests for dinner!"
      "Yes Father!"  Was Kasumi's only response.
      "I hope we're not to much of a bother.." Feather started
to say, but was interrupted by Mr. Tendo putting an arm around
her shoulders and leading them in.
      "Nonsense!  We really want to know more about you, and
now that you're here, you can tell us"  He grinned hugely,
"We've been worried about you since that night, the only one
who wasn't was Ranma.  He kept saying that there was no way
Ryouga was going to let you get hurt.  I'm glad to see that his
faith in his friend was well placed"  Mr. Tendo was practically
blabbering as he led them into the dining room.  Nabiki was
sitting there reading a stock report.  She looked up as they entered the
room.
      "Well well well, look what daddy found!"  She smiled a
little, "Don't you too just look so cute together."  Feather
blushed, and Ryouga looked fairly uncomfortable as they sat
down at the table.  "Don't spare me the details, tell me what
happened"  Feather gently punched Ryouga in the arm.  He looked
startled for a second, hen he started to talk.
      "After Feather had passed out, I carried her as I ran
from those reporters.  She didn't wake up again until a day
later.  By then, I was outside Osaka.  After she woke up, I
loaned her my spare clothes, and we walked into the city...."
Ryouga continued relating their tale as the rest of the Tendos
and the Saotomes listened intently.  When he was finished, Ranma smirked
a bit.
      "What did I tell you?"  Ranma grinned at Akane, "Like I
said, he's just too pig headed to have let anything happen to
her," Ryouga glared at him for a second, but subsided when he
realized that this was just Ranma's way of complimenting him.
Ranma looked at Feather, "So, Ryouga's started to train you
huh?"  Feather nodded and Ranma grinned.  "How good have you gotten?"
      "Ranma!"  Akane glared at him, "She's only been training
for a month!  Don't be too harsh on her, even if Ryouga is a
great teacher."  She thought back to when Ryouga had trained
her for the rhythmic gymnastics tournament, and more recently,
helping to train her for her rematch with Natsume and Kanumi.
      "I'm still not that great,"  Feather said softly, "But
Shampoo's great-grandmother said I had potential,"  Feather
brightened at this.  "She did say something about how my form
didn't seem to be coming naturally to me, though."  Feather
looked thoughtful, as did Ranma and Ryouga. Suddenly Ranma snapped his
fingers.
      "Of course!  Feather, show me the stances that Ryouga
first taught you..."  Feather stood and demonstrated.  Ranma
nodded, "Yeah, those stances are well suited to someone who
uses a lot of strength in every strike. What may work better
for you would be..."  Ranma stood and showed Feather a slightly
different stance, showing her to roll forward on her toes a
little, and flex her knees just a bit differently.  "There, is
that a lot easier?" he asked as Feather tried the stance he had
just demonstrated for her.
      "Wow!  This feels a whole lot more natural!"  Feather
exclaimed.  Ryouga looked at Ranma with a hateful glare.  Ranma
noticed this and started to sweat.
      "Not that the stance Ryouga taught you was bad,"  Ranma
stammered out, "It's just that he didn't seem to realize that
you are a lot lighter.  You should still be able to execute the
same moves form that stance, just try and do them a little
faster.  You may be surprised at the results!"  Ranma sat down,
and Ryouga leaned next to him to whisper.
      "How did you know that stance was going to work better
for her?"  He practically hissed into Ranma's ear.
      "Simple,"  Ranma replied, "I have to use a different
stance when I'm a girl 'cus my balance is different.  Even
Akane could've told you that that stance pulls a girl off
balance."  Ryouga looked stupefied.
      "How come I didn't run into that kind of problem whenever
I help to train Akane?"  Ryouga asked.
      "She already knew her stances stupid."
      "What did you call me?"  Ryouga started to steam at the
casual way Ranma insulted him.
      "What are you two whispering about?"  Akane asked as she
leaned towards them, curious.
      "n nnothing Akane!"  Ryouga stammered, abruptly sitting
up straight.  Ryouga continued to look excessively nervous
while Akane was looking his way.
      "What's the matter P-chan?  Can't admit you learned
something from me?"  Ranma taunted.  He backed up a little when
Ryouga bared his teeth and then lunged for him.
      "You're dead Saotome!" he yelled as he threw Ranma out into the
yard.
      "Cut it out both of you!"  Akane practically yelled as
she scrambled to get up and separate the two "friends". Akane
was about to rush into the melee, when the two suddenly stopped
fighting, and just stood looking at each other.  Confused,
Akane went to stand next to Ryouga.
      "What happened?"  She asked him. When Ryouga didn't
answer, Akane looked at him in concern.  She noticed that he
was staring rather intently, but not in hatred at Ranma. She
followed his gaze and smiled a little.  At the far side of the
lawn, Feather had been standing, watching the fight with a
faint look of disapproval.  Akane walked quickly over to
Feather.  When she got close, she could see a bit of a tear
forming in the corner of the red-heads eye.  "Come on Feather,
you look like you need some rest," Akane said, gently trying to
guide the girl inside.
      "But Ranma and Ryouga," Feather started to say, but was
Interrupted by Akane.
      "Neither of them will admit it, but they're good friends.
I think they fight like this to keep their edge.  They are both
really proud, and had started out as rivals,"  Akane smiled at
the shorter girl, "But with everything they have been through,
they have become friends, and they seem to show it to each
other by demonstrating his skill... on each other."  Feather
giggled at Akane's viewpoint.  Especially since she heard the
battle restart after they had left.
      "My interfering has also become part of the game they
play.  I try to stop them, and it spurs them on even more."
she giggled at that. "Come on Feather, you can tell me about
your wings while they work out..."  Akane didn't notice Feather
getting very nervous.       ::It's not like I don't want to tell her,::
Feather
thought, ::But I can't remember anything before last year!::
Feather continued to think about how she would get around
telling Akane about her past, unawares of the man watching the
dojo from the tree.
      A while later, Ranma and Ryouga were sitting in the dojo,
utterly exhausted, and both a bit bruised.  Their clothes were
torn, and each felt pain in their ribs as they tried to breath.
      " It's not over yet Saotome!"  Ryouga stood, albeit unsteadily.
      " that's right, pig boy!"  Ranma also stood, and he
was grinning widely, "We haven't gotten each other wet yet!"
      "Ha! You're not getting me this time Ranma!"  Ryouga
grinned as he hefted a fire pail.  Ranma grinned and revealed a
water pistol.  The air between them was thick with the tension,
and neither of them moved.  A single bead of sweat fell off of
Ranma's chin, as he suddenly raised the water gun and squeezed
the trigger.  Seeing the motion, Ryouga hurled the contents of
the bucket at Ranma, and did his best to dodge the thin stream
of water Ranma was sending his way.  With a loud splash, a pig
and a girl looked at each other from different sides of the
dojo, then the girl collapsed laughing, while P-chan did a piggish
equivalent.
      Only a few seconds later, they were both young men again,
thanks to a steaming kettle, thoughtfully left behind by the
eldest of the Tendo sisters.
      "Whoo!  I haven't had that much fun since, oh, I'd say
that little trip to Togenkyo!"  Ranma laughed out.  Ryouga
merely grinned as he squeezed out his shirt.  "Practicing with
Feather sure has improved you since the last time pig-boy!"
      "Heh, and I suppose that you don't think that not being
able to fight for almost a month didn't hurt your abilities?
You've gotten soft Ranma!  Your chestnut fist was slower than
usual!"  Ryouga beamed at Ranma.
      "Hah yourself Ryouga!"  Ranma replied, still grinning ear
to ear, "Your baksai tenketsu took a whole second to work, and
even then the rock barely shattered.  What's wrong?  Lose your
focus?  Maybe you left it with your sense of direction!"
Ryouga glared at Ranma, who returned the look.  After a few
seconds of mock anger, they both collapsed laughing again.
      "It's good to have you back around Ryouga!  I needed a
distraction so badly," he rolled his eyes a bit, "Shampoo has
redoubled her efforts since that night, Kodachi is as crazy as
ever, and Akane's had to fight off Kuno at almost every street
corner."  Ryouga grunted a bit at the news.
     "What about Ukyou?"  He asked.
      "That's the funny part Ryouga,"  Ranma scratched his
head, "Every time she comes over, I think she's going to glomp
onto me, but instead, she just seems to want to help Akane get
through what happened.  Of course, she would still bring over a
'get well' okonomiaki every day.  But like I said, she's just
been helping to keep Shampoo and Kodachi offa me, and Kuno and
anyone else offa Akane.  Ever since she came over the day after
I got shot, she's been like that, even now when my leg is fully
healed, she's still acting like that."  Ranma shook his head,
then looked out at the darkening sky.  "It's kinda nice, and
Akane seems to enjoy having Ukyou as a friend, but what will
happen if I tell Ukyou that I don't want to marry her..."
      Ranma and Ryouga face-faulted as Genma and Mr. Tendo come
out of nowhere and crowd around Ranma.
      "Is it true son?"  Mr. Tendo asked, tears in his eyes,
"You really want to marry my Akane that badly?"  Ranma squirmed
within their grip.
      "Hey waitaminnit! That ain't what I said!  Who said I
wanted to marry that un-cute tomboy anyways!"  Ranma yelled as
he struggled.  Mr. Tendo wailed and grabbed Ranma's shoulders
while bowing his head.  Genma moved next to his son with his
fist raised angrily.
      "Is this how you show your gratitude boy?  This marriage
goes beyond personal wants and desires!"  He yelled in his sons
ears.  Ryouga stands up, unnoticed.  "It's about carrying on
the anything goes school of martial arts!"
      "Oh yeah?!?  Well Akane and I think our feeling have an
awful lot going into this pop!"  Ranma yelled, as Ryouga takes a step
forward.
      "Put aside your anger!  Akane is such a sweet young girl!
You should be proud to have her as a fiancee, and you would be
even more proud to have her as your wife!"  Genma counters,
knowing his son's true feelings for Akane, and is using them
against his son.  Ryouga's battle aura flares.
      "She can't cook, she's violent, stubborn as a mule, twice
as strong!"  Ranma fled behind the cover of the insults.  Out
of the corner of his eye, Ranma notices a green glare.
Glancing over, he notices Ryouga is approaching them angrily.
      "Wait Ryouga!"  Ranma starts to panic, since it looked
like Ryouga was getting ready to do a full shi shi hokkkodan.
Ryouga seemingly ignores Ranma's shout and charges at them.
Seeing an uncontrollable Ryouga approaching them rapidly, Genma
and Mr. Tendo scramble to get out of the way.  Ryouga ignores
them and he flying tackles Ranma into the yard.  Before Ranma
could recover, Ryouga had grabbed the back of his shirt and
jumped over the wall and dragged Ranma down the street.
      "Whoa Ryouga!  Slow down man!" Ranma desperately twists
around, trying to get Ryouga to release his grip.  Suddenly,
Ryouga stops and let's go of Ranma's shirt.  They were at the
bank of the river next to the bridge.  Ranma stood and looked
at Ryouga.  "Ryouga, what's gotten into you?"  Ryouga looks
wistfully up at the now dark sky.
      "Ranma, I, I think I'm starting to get over Akane."
      "WHAT?!?!"  Ranma yelled as he face faulted.  Ryouga
turned and looked at the ground.
      "When your father and Mr. Tendo were talking about you
marrying Akane, I didn't get the same kind of pain in my heart.
It was almost as if,"  Ryouga paused as he looked up, "It felt
more like that happy-sad feeling you get when you see a sister
or brother married I think."  Ryouga suddenly grabbed Ranma's
shoulders.  "Be good to Akane Ranma.  I, I don't think I'll be
getting in your way anymore."  Ranma just looked at Ryouga in
shock.  Ryouga sighed and sat down.  "Your objections to Akane
still wound me Ranma, but, they don't infuriate my like they
used too."  Ranma's mind was still reeling from the
implications behind Ryouga's words.  Ranma sat down next to Ryouga.
      "What made you change your mind?"
      "I think it started when you dragged Akane and Feather
into my house.  The way Akane looked at you while you were
passed out, her cry of despair when realized that you were
badly hurt, the way she was locked in her mind after you were
taken to the hospital.  She loves you Ranma,"  Ryouga looked
over at his rival/friend, a sad look on his face, "Don't make
her wait too long, I might kill you for that."  Ranma started
to object, but didn't say anything when he saw the expression
on Ryouga's face.  They sat in silence for a few minuets, then Ranma
spoke.
      "So, what are you going to do now Ryouga?  If you think
you're over Akane, are you going to try and find your way
home?"  Ryouga shrugged.
      "I thought about that, but it's fun watching you squirm
around your fiancees.  Also, our fights are making us stronger."  Ranma
nodded.
      "Yeah, like when you figured out the shi-shi hokkudan, I
figured out the mouko takabisha.  And you seem to be stronger
and stronger each time we fight.  Your one guy who keeps me on my toes!"

      "And someday Ranma, I will defeat you!  But this time, it
won't be about Akane.  It will be about our skills!"  Ryouga
took on a determined expression.
      "Hah!  That'll be the day!"  Ranma laughed, "The day you
defeat me in a fair fight is the day I'll kiss Kuno!"  Ryouga
gagged at Ranma's remark, but then grinned.
      "I hope you don't take those words to heart Ranma."
Ranma looked at the stars again.
      "So, you and Feather making plans yet?"  Ranma asked nonchalantly.

      "What do you mean, plans?"  Ryouga asked, his heart suddenly
aching.
      "I saw how you look at her man.  It's the same look you
used to give to Akane.  I just figured that since you two were
out training together for a month, she might also be feeling
something for you.."
     "If only I was that lucky Ranma."  Ryouga sighed.  "She
seems to be haunting my dreams now, but, I can't get it
together enough to ask her out or anything.  When I look in
those eyes of hers I...."  Ryouga stops, embarrassed.
      "I know what you mean.  I get the same way whenever Akane
smiles at me.  Not that smile when she's about to clobber me,
but that smile she has whenever I do the right thing." Ranma
started to fiddle with the grass.  "But, before I can say
anything to her, either pops or Mr. Tendo pop out of nowhere,
and they try to force us."  The grass he's playing with is
forcefully ripped out of the ground.  "And then we close up
again.  I get so tired of it all, that I want to grab Akane and
run for the horizon, maybe getting lost somewhere and then we
would be able to actually talk without being idiots."  Ryouga
looked at his friend in sympathy.  Then he stood up.
      "It's late Ranma, you want to lead me back to the dojo?
I kinda want a warm bed tonight."  As if to punctuate his
words, the wind started to blow, chilling them both.  Ranma
stood without a word and led Ryouga down the streets of Nerima.
When they where about halfway back, Ranma spoke.
      "Hey, does she know?"
      "Know what Ranma?"  Ryouga asked, confused.  Ranma rolled his
eyes.
      "About P-chan.  Does she know that your the pig."  Ryouga nodded.
      "She found out about two weeks ago.  She thinks it's
cute, and doesn't seem to mind at all,"  Ryouga flushed a bit
at the memory.......
--------------------------Flash Back-------------------------
      They were running alongside a highway, side by side.  A
recent rainstorm had left puddles alongside the road.  Ryouga
was dodging the puddles, and encouraging Feather to leap over
them, rather than go around.
      "Think of it as training.  If you can jump over the
puddles without landing in any of them, you will have made an
improvement."  Ryouga demonstrated by jumping over a
particularly large one with apparent ease.  Feather tried to
jump over, but when she saw she was going to land a bit short,
she snapped her wings out and flew to where Ryouga was standing.
      "Don't take the easy way out Feather!"  Ryouga chided
her, "If you don't make the jump, you get wet.  If you make it,
you stay dry."  Downcast, Feather walked around the puddle, and
then backed up a few paces to get a running start.  She
swallowed hard and then started to run.  She jumped right at
the edge of the puddle, and it looked like she would make it.
However, she came up about half a foot short, splashing water
all over the place.
      "Oh Ryouga!  I'm sorry did I get you wet?"  Feather
looked all over, but the only sign of Ryouga was his pack, and
some rumpled clothes.  Then something under the clothes started
to move.  Curious, Feather leaned closer, and was greeted by
the sight of a small black pig wriggling free of the clothes.
      "How cute!"  She exclaimed as she picked the pig up out
of Ryouga's clothes.  She hugged it tightly to her chest, and
was rewarded with a gusher of blood coming from the pig's
snout.  "Hey!  What's the matter with you pig?  And why do you
have Ryouga's bandanna.... Bandanna?  Nosebleed?  Ryouga?!?!?"
Feather looked at the pig again, and it looked like the pig
nodded ever so slightly.  The pig squealed a little, and rubber
the side of his head with one hoof.
      "How on earth?"  Feather was confused.  The pig wriggled
in her arms, trying to get free.  Feather put the pig down and
kneeled in front of it.  "Well,  are you Ryouga or aren't you?"
The pig responded by scratching the words  'hot water' in the dirt.
      "You are Ryouga!"  Feather exclaimed, as P-chan nodded
vigorously.  "And I guess you mean by writing hot water, that
that's what it takes to turn you back!"  P-chan nodded even
more vigorously.  Feather frantically dug through Ryouga's
pack, looking for the 'camping man's helper'(TM) and a pot or
anything to heat water in.  In short order, she had dug out the
mini stove, a pot, and had scooped up some rain water to be
heated.  Not knowing how hot it needed to be, she had boiled the water.
      "Here you go!"  She said cheerfully as she tossed the pot
full of boiling water on Ryouga.
      "OWW!! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT!"  Ryouga danced around in
pain from the scalding water, but avoided the cold water like
the plague.  Feather blushed as she watched a naked Ryouga
dance around.  Suddenly Ryouga stopped, and he looked over at
Feather as he belatedly tried to cover himself.  His face, and
a good portion of his chest turned red, as he fell face first onto the
ground.
-----------------------End Flashback-------------------------
      "That was a good one Ryouga!"  Ranma laughed at his
story.  Ryouga got red faced with his anger.
      "Shut up Ranma!  That isn't something to laugh about!"  Ryouga
yelled.
      "But it's so funny!  I mean you, teaching someone to
jump, over cold water, knowing that if they fail, you would
become P-chan!"  Ranma continued to laugh.
      "I said shut up!"  Ryouga retorted with quite a bit of
anger in his voice  "It ain't funny at all!"
      They continued on to the dojo, Ryouga was still fuming a
bit, and Ranma was chuckling at him.  The star filled night was
so peaceful, they felt like nothing could go wrong now.  Kasumi
greeted them at the gate.
      "Why hello you two."  Kasumi greeted them cheerfully,
"Your just in time for dinner, why don't you go and freshen up
a bit."  Kasumi smiled at them, and then went into the kitchen
to start serving the food.   Feather and the rest of the Tendos
were already at the table when Ranma and Ryouga sat down.
Feather was looking distinctly uncomfortable, but as soon as
Ryouga was in sight, she visibly relaxed.  Akane caught Ranma's
eye and winked.  Soon, everyone was too busy eating the
delicious meal set before them to do anything else.  After the
meal, the two fathers retired to there usual spot to play
shogi, while Feather offered to help clean up afterwards.
Kasumi gently, but firmly, told her that guests should not have
to help in the kitchen.  Ranma, Ryouga, Feather, and Akane sat
around the living room.  Akane was telling the bandanna clad
duo about what happened around the dojo for the last month.
Akane carefully omitted about how she was so worried about
Ranma that she was losing sleep over him.
      "Feather," Akane asked, "How come you keep avoiding the
subject when I ask you about your past?"  Akane gazed at the
suddenly nervous girl.  Feather fidgeted for a few minuets,
trying to think of a way around that topic.   "Well?"  Akane
urged gently.  Feather stopped fidgeting, and just bowed her
head.  Ryouga looked worried as he shook Feather's shoulder.
      "Hey!  You OK?" he asked.  Feather's head snapped up, her eyes
full of tears.
      "I don't remember okay?!?"  she screeched as she quickly
stood and left the room.  Outside, a man made a triumphant
report into his walkie talkie, and he stealthily left.  Inside,
three young martial artists looked at each other, and then dashed after
Feather.
      "Wait Feather!"  Ranma called out, "We couldn't have
known!  Come back here!"  Feather ignored him as she quickly
threw her shoes on and ran out the door.  "I said come back
here!"  Ranma and Ryouga gave quick chase, promptly leaving Akane
behind.
      "Honestly," Akane grumbled to herself as she started
walking back to the dojo, "You'd think she would stick around,
huh?" Akane noticed a figure fleeing the wall near the dojo,
trying to stay lost in the shadows.  Akane blinked and she
couldn't see it any more.  "Probably just Happosai up to his
usual tricks again."  She mumbled as she reentered the dojo.
      Feather ran.  She ran from Ranma, Ryouga, and most
importantly, she ran from that blank in her memory.  Her tear
filled eyes clouded her vision, and occasionally, she'd
stumble, only to try and run longer.  'Further, faster, longer,
tougher'  her sensei's words haunted her as she ran.  She never
noticed when her loose shoes came off, until she tried to cross
some gravel.  She sat down in place and cried.  She tried
blocking out the rest of the world, locked in her own misery at
not knowing who she really was.  Try as hard as she might, the
first thing she remembers clearly is working as a fake angel in
a carnival side-show.  She originally told them about being
like that for ten years in hopes that they wouldn't ask any
more questions about that.  She was wrong.
      Ranma and Ryouga heard a girl crying ahead of them, and
they sped up.  When they turned a corner, they were able to see
Feather, sitting on the ground, crying her eyes out.  Both of
the young men stopped in their tracks, not sure about what to
do.  Ranma broke out of brain freeze first and walked up to Feather.
      "Hey, come on, stop crying."  He tried to comfort her,
"We don't care that you don't remember anything, just come on
back to the dojo OK?"  Ranma looked intently at Feather, and
she turned on him rather suddenly.
      "You have no idea what's going on do you?" She screamed,
"I can't remember anything past about a year ago!  I don't even
know who my parents are!  I'm cursed like this now.  You have
no idea what it's like to be cursed!  Ryouga maybe, but you
have no way of knowing how much it hurts to be different, so
different that people would pay money just to see you for a
minuet or two.  Or so alone!  You at least still have you're
parents!  I can't even remember them!"  She punctuates each
sentence by advancing on Ranma angrily.  Ranma backs away from
her, then looks over at Ryouga.
      "I guess there's only one way to make her feel a bit
better about this, eh P-chan?"  Ranma said softly, with a note of
resignation.
      "Ranma, you don't mean...."  Ryouga started to say, and
stopped when Ranma nodded.  "I hope your right Ranma."  Ryouga
looks around for a second, and then picks up a discarded cup.
It still had some water in it from a previous rainfall.  "Sorry
about the dirty water Ranma."  Ryouga says simply as he pours
the water over Ranma's head.  Feather's eyes just about bug out
of her head, as she watches Ranma change suddenly from a well
muscled young man, to a much shorter, bouncy red-headed girl.
      "Wha wha, how, how did you do that?"  Feather's brain
goes into shock.  Ranma grins a little at that.
      "You know all about Ryouga and you're asking how?  I've
been cursed, much as he has, and it has made my life difficult.
I know about what it's like to be used by others for profit.
There are a few people that have paid money in order to just
see me for a moment or two. I'm definitely different from
everyone else, and it's been so long since I've been able to be
with my mom as her son, it tears me apart every time she comes
over."  Ranma-chan walks forwards and puts her hands on the
other girls shoulders.  "I know only too well what it's like to
be cursed.  As for the memory, you can talk to Akane about
that, she would understand a lot better than most people."
Ryouga walked up to the other two, and puts in his piece.
      "You see Feather, we can relate to what you're going
through.  Both of us have had no choice about some things that
have happened to us.  Can you imagine waking up on a dinner
platter?"  Feather looked agape at Ryouga who nodded.  "More
people than I can count have tried to cook me, but I survive,
and I learn from it.  You need to be strong, and I think we can help."
      "What should I do?"  Feather was still sniffling a bit,
but allowed the others to start guiding her back to the dojo.
      "Well, I think Dr. Tofu might like to take a look at
you,"  Ranma-chan said, "He's dealt with memory problems
before.  He's great, as long as Kasumi ain't around."  Ranma-
chan shuddered at the thought.
      "What happens when Kasumi is around the doctor?"  Feather
inquired, curious about Ranma's reaction.  Ranma shrugs a bit.
      "The poor guys so much in love with Kasumi that he goes
nuts when she's around.  It's dangerous to be near him when
he's like that."  Ranma-chan said, and they continued walking
on to the dojo in silence.  When they reached the dojo, they
saw that Akane was waiting for them at the gate.
      "Sure took you time getting back,"  She commented acidly.
Ryouga and Feather looked sheepish, but Ranma-chan was defiant.
      "So we took a little while, so what?  It's not my fault
that you're too slow to keep up."  Akane fumed, then she grinned
maliciously.
      "Is that right, then I guess I won't warn you."  Akane
entered the house in a huff.
      "Geez, what's her problem?" Ranma-chan muttered as they
walked inside.  Right as Ranma-chan kicked off her shoes, a
motherly, and yet frightening voice hailed her.
      "Ranko, it's nice to see you again!"  Ranma's mother,
Nodoka, walked around the corner.
      "Auntie Saotome!" Ranma-chan tried desperately to keep
her heart from stopping.  ::So this is what Akane meant about
warning me..::  "I'm really glad I could see you again!"
Ranma-chan meant it.  Even if she couldn't reveal her true
identity to her mother, she still wanted to be as close to her
as possible. "You missed Ranma again, he went with his father
on another training trip."
      "Oh, Akane-chan already told me.  I was hoping to catch
them while Ranma's leg was still healing.  I saw what happened
on the news, but I was visiting with my parents and couldn't
just leave.  I was so proud of my son, when the reporters said
he had taken a bullet to keep Akane-chan from getting hurt."
Ranma-chan's heart almost broke when she heard that.  Feather
almost said something, but Ryouga clamped his hand over her
mouth.  Feather struggled to move his hand, but he was way too
strong for her.  She even tried biting him, but he showed no sign of
pain.
      "Ryouga-kun!  I thought you would be training with my
son.  What are you doing here?"
      "I, um, I have to stay here and help get Feather back on
her feet, yeah that's it."  Ryouga stammered out nervously.
Nodoka just nodded, and looked intently at Feather.
      "Aren't you the girl my son rescued a while back?"
Nodoka leaned forward to look a little closer at Feather.
Ryouga moved his hand to Feather's shoulder.  Feather spared
Ryouga a withering glance, but then smiled to Nodoka.
      "Hi, my name is Feather, it's a pleasure to meet Ranma's
mother!  You must be so proud to have a son like that!"
      "I am, but sometimes it seems like his father has been
trying to avoid me.." Nodoka sighed.   "So, have you found your parents
yet?"
      "It's been so long, I can't even remember them."  Feather
said softly.  Nodoka looked shocked, then tried to comfort the girl.
      "That's awful!  You poor thing..." Nodoka moved and
embraced the girl, "What do you plan on doing now?"
      "Ryouga has started to train me in martial arts, and
Ranma said that he wanted to help before he left again.  I was
thinking about looking for a place to stay for a while, maybe
start going to school again."  Nodoka nodded at her, "But I
don't want to go anywhere without Ryouga.  The news may not
have said anything about it, but Ranma never would have made it
without his help."  Ryouga blushed and stammered something
unintelligible when Nodoka gave him a startled look.
      "You helped my son Ryouga?  That was very kind of you."
Ryouga just rubbed the back of his head self consciously, and laughed a
bit.
      "He's been keeping an eye on me for the last month now,
so I feel perfectly safe around him."  Feather giggled, and at
that sound, both Ranma and Ryouga relaxed.  They knew she
wasn't going to run off again that night.
      They all went to sleep shortly after that.  Feather
bunked with Akane, while Ryouga opted to stay in the same room
as Mr. Tendo.    The next morning, Feather felt like she had
been run over by a train.  Her muscles, unused to the amount of
exercise she did the previous day, were all complaining.  She
did her best not to complain, but the others noticed quickly.
      "Aren't we a bit sore this morning."  Nabiki remarked as
she passed Feather in the hallway dressed in her school
uniform.  Feather just gave Nabiki the look of the long
suffering, and continued to shuffle towards the breakfast
table.   Once there, she practically collapsed into her spot at the
table.
      "Oh my, Feather are you sore this morning?"  Kasumi asked
as she dished out a portion of food for her.  Feather sighed.
::So much for trying to hide it from these people.::
      "Yeah, I guess I overdid it yesterday."  Feather began to
eat, ignoring the morning argument between Akane and Ranma.
She was in too much personal pain to notice them.
      "Maybe you should have Akane and Ranko drop you off at
Dr. Tofu's and have him take a look at you."  Kasumi said
cheerfully.  Nodoka nodded from where she sat.
      "That's a good idea Kasumi, I'd take her there myself,
but I have to leave again."
      "So soon?  Can't you stay just a bit longer?"  Ranko
stopped arguing with Akane long enough to look pleadingly at
her mother.  She ignored the panicked looks a certain panda was giving
her.
      "I'm sorry Ranko, but I really have to be going.  I'll be
back again to try and catch Ranma and Genma here."  Ryouga
looked up from his food.
      "I'll go with you Feather, you don't look like you'd be
able to keep up with their morning scramble."  Feather looked
gratefully at Ryouga.
      "Thanks Ryouga, It's always nice to have a friend along."
Ryouga blushed and fidgeted with his chopsticks, absently breaking them.

      After breakfast, they scurried off to Dr. Tofu's, Ryouga
ended up carrying Feather so that she could keep up.  They
managed to arrive at Dr. Tofu's office without incident.
      "Good morning Akane, Ranma,"  Dr. Tofu greeted them at
the door.  "How's your leg this morning Ranma?"
      "Good morning Dr. Tofu, my leg is as good as new, but I
do need a bit of hot water, and could you see a friend of
ours?"  Ranma-chan said.
      "Of course Ranma, you better hurry on to school, you
don't want to be late again this morning."  He advised as he
handed them a kettle he kept handy for Ranma.  Dr. Tofu looked
over at Feather and Ryouga.  "Why hello there you two, what can
I do for you this morning?"  He asked them pleasantly.
      "I think she could use something for sore muscles
doctor," Ryouga said, "She's not in the same kind of shape
Ranma and I are in, and she's trying to train just as hard."  Ryouga
shrugged.
      "Come on in and I'll take a look at you."  Dr. Tofu gestured for
them to
 enter.
      Once inside, Dr. Tofu examined Feather carefully, then
applied a salve that he said was a muscle relaxant.  He then
proceeded to give her a massage to help loosen her tense
muscles.  When he was done with the massage, Feather decided to
ask him about her memories.      "Doctor, I need to ask you something."
      "Go ahead,"  He said without looking away from the papers he was
filling out.
      "I seem to have lost all of my memories starting a year
ago.  I can clearly remember back to a certain point, but after
that, it's a huge blank.  Do you think you can help?"  Dr. Tofu
gestured for her to sit in a chair, and he looked over her
scalp, as if he could see her memories as objects.  When he was
done looking at her head, he gazed deeply into her eyes, and
asked her to follow his finger with her eyes.  Feather's heart
was pounding in her chest, and she almost screamed just to
break the awful silence that had crept into the room, when he spoke.
      "Someone did something to block your memories.  They
didn't leave any of the usual tell tale signs, but there is
definitely something blocking your memory.  Unfortunately,
unless we can figure out exactly what was done, I am unable to
reverse it.  All I can do is touch a shiatsu spot that's
supposed to aid a failing memory."  He gestured for her to
stand, and then traced his finger along her side so gently, she
thought she was going to break down laughing.  Then he poked
his finger into a spot close to the bottom rib.
      "There, that might be able to help.  It won't be apparent
right away, but things may start coming back to you."  Dr. Tofu
said gently as he started leading her to the door.
      "Thank you Doctor,"  Feather said as they reached the
waiting room.  Ryouga was sitting there, absently cracking
walnuts between his fingers to amuse an old woman who was also
there.  When Ryouga noticed that they had come out, he stood
and walked over to Feather.  They continued walking out to the sidewalk.

      "You need to take it easy for today, you've strained a
bit past your limits yesterday.  You should stretch and do your
katas, that should keep you from getting stiff again.  Try and
avoid getting into any fights today ok?"  Dr. Tofu said as they
were starting to walk away.
      "Yes doctor."  Feather said as they made their way down
the street.  They started walking slowly, and then Feather
looked around. "Umm Ryouga?"
      "Yeah?"
      "Where are we?"  Feather asked looking around at the
different stores and vendors that seemed to surround them.
      "What are you asking me for?  How should I know?"  Ryouga
replied in a bit of a huff.
      "Great, just great.  Lost again, and this time you don't
have your pack with you."  Ryouga looked around for someone who
might be able to tell them how to get back to the dojo, when he saw a
sign.
      "Perfect, now all we need to do is wait till school gets
out."  Ryouga said with confidence as he strode up to a
restaurant that appeared to be closed.
      "What makes you so sure of that Ryouga?"  Feather asked
as she came up to stand next to him.  "This place is locked up
tight, what makes you think there's someone here that'll help us out?"
      "This is Ukyou's restaurant, and she'll be glad to help
us when she gets out of school."  Ryouga replied, sitting down next to
the door.
      "But what if someone comes along and tries to bother us?"
Feather asked worriedly.  Ryouga grinned viscously as he spoke.
      "Then I get to vent a little bit."  Feather looked a bit
shocked.  "What's wrong?  I'm just a little upset that were
lost, that's all.  It's not like I'm going to kill anyone."
Seemingly mollified, Feather sat down next to Ryouga.  She
leaned her head on Ryouga's shoulder,  and quickly fell asleep.
Ryouga was vigilant, and did his best not to disturb Feather no
matter what happened.  The day seemed to drag on for Ryouga,
and he was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable when he
noticed something.  The sky had gotten dark, and it was
starting to look like rain.  Almost in a panic, he stood,
picked up Feather, and moved them under the awning at the front
of Ucchans.  He set Feather down next to a mailbox, and he leaned
against it.
      "If it's not one thing, it's another."  Ryouga grumbled,
drumming his fingers along the side of the box. "I wonder when
Ukyou allowed this mailbox to be put here, right in front of
her door.  Oh well, makes a good leaning post."
      Inside the mailbox, Tsubasa Kuranai was doing his level
best to avoid revealing himself early.  He was laying in wait
for his dear, dear Ukyou, and nothing was going to stop him
this time.  Not even some guy who seemed to be purposely doing
everything he could to annoy the heck out of him.
      A few minuets later, the rain started to fall, and Ryouga
was glad that the awning was out.  He continued to drum his
fingers against the mailbox in irritation at the wait.
Suddenly losing his patience, Tsubasa popped out of the mailbox
and confronted the jerk who was annoying him.
      "Now look here you..... uh oh." Tsubasa had started to
wag a finger at he offender, but then he realized he was facing
off against Ryouga Hibiki, one of the strongest fighters in
Nerima.  "Eh, umm.. Hi there Ryouga.  What's up?"  Tsubasa
giggled a little, fully into his cute girl act now.  Ryouga
glared at him, and Tsubasa tried his best to look even cuter.
Ryouga looked down and started to chuckle.
      "Still after Ukyou, Kuranai?"  Ryouga asked, nonchalantly
tossing the remains of the mailbox away.
      "You know how it is, with unrequited love and all that.
I take it you wanted me out of my disguise so you could talk to
me is that it?" Tsubasa hadn't even noticed Feather's happily asleep
form yet.
      "I need someone to take me back to the Tendo dojo.  I
have a friend I'm taking care of, and she really needs to get
back there."  Ryouga gestured at Feather, and when Tsubasa
started to get all starry eyed, Ryouga menaced him with his
umbrella.  "Don't even think about it."  He snarled at the cross
dresser.
      "Don't hurt me!"  Tsubasa cringed a little, then spoke
"Okay, I'll lead you back to the Tendos, but if I miss seeing
my dear Ukyou because of you, I'll find a way to make you pay."
      Ryouga didn't bother responding to that, he merely picked
up Feather, set his umbrella and waited for Tsubasa do lead him
onwards.  Tsubasa procured an umbrella from somewhere and began
to skip around in the rain, leading Ryouga back to the dojo.
Just as they left, a black cloaked man stepped out of an alley,
and started to follow them.
      Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma-chan were hurrying to the dojo,
the rain, having changed Ranma back into a girl, was already
putting Ranma in a bad mood.  It didn't help much that Kuno had
accosted him, claiming that he had ensorcelled his pigtailed
goddess away from him yet again.
      "Why did if hafta rain today?"  Ranma-chan complained.
      "Don't worry about it too much Ran-chan," Ukyou said
cheerfully, "After all, your mother may still be there right
now."  Ranma-chan grumbled a bit, but inwardly agreed with his friend.
      "Yeah, but I wouldn't have to if it wasn't for that
stupid promise pop made."  Ranma-chan fell silent after that,
as they were approaching the dojo.   Once they were inside,
Ranma-chan noticed an unusually large potted plant that wasn't
there before.  She smirked to herself and waited for the
inevitable.  As Ukyou tried to pass the plant, it abruptly
sprouted arms that hugged her tightly, and Tsubasa's head
popped out of the plant as well.
      "Oh my dear Ukyou!  I would you hold you like this
forever!"  he sighed.  Ukyou's face went through several stages
of surprise, fear, then anger.
      "Tsubasa."  She said with deceptive calm as she reached
for her mega-spatula, "Let go of me!!"  Ukyou screamed as she
slammed Tsubasa into the next town.  Akane whistled as she
followed Tsubasa's flight.
      "I don't think I've ever seen you hit him so far Ukyou,"
Akane commented.  Ukyou was still shaking in rage when they
entered the living room with Ranma-chan and Akane.  They were a
bit surprised to see that Ryouga was sitting on the floor, with
Feather resting her head on his lap.  He held a single finger
up to his lips, and then turned his attention back to the girl
in his lap.   Ranma ducked into the kitchen for some hot water,
and when he came back out, Akane was kneeling next to Ryouga.
      "Where's everyone else?"  Akane asked quietly.
      "Genma and Mr. Tendo went out somewhere, Kasumi went
shopping, Mrs. Saotome left about an hour ago.  I haven't seen
Nabiki yet."  As he spoke, Feather stirred a little, then
slowly sat up.  She stretched her arms and yawned, then opened her eyes.

      "Oh, good morning you guys"  She said a bit sleepily.
Akane and Ukyou giggled a little, while Ranma outright laughed.
"What's so funny?"  She asked.
      "It's afternoon now silly"  Akane said, a hint of
amusement still in her voice.  She would have said something
else, but there was a popping noise, and a tranquilizer dart
hit her, and she collapsed.  Ryouga leapt to his feet as more
darts flew in.  Feather was struck next, and she keeled over
again.  Ranma was dodging the darts as he tried to figure out
who was after them.  Ryouga had pulled his umbrella out to use
as a shield.  Ukyou tried to block the darts with her spatula,
but one got past her defenses, and she too collapsed.  Seeing
that they were getting nowhere fast, Ranma faked getting hit
with a dart, and fell in such a way that he could quickly get
up and fight.  Ryouga continued to block them with his umbrella
for a few seconds, until he realized what Ranma was up to.  A
moment after Ryouga faked his fall, about ten men in black
cloaks entered the dojo.
        "You three grab the girls,"  One of the men spoke,
gesturing towards the fallen girls, "I want you and you to tie
the boys up, the boss don't want any boys.  The rest of ya get
rid of the evidence."  As the men started to move towards the
fallen girls, Ranma and Ryouga sprang up and attacked.  Ranma
opened up with an uppercut to the man closest to him, while
Ryouga threw one of them into the others.  The dart guns were
out again in a flash, and Ranma was hit with five tranks at
once.  He shook his head blearily, and proceeded to kick
another one through a wall.  Ryouga was hit with three, but he
was in a rage, and the drugs were not affecting him at all.
      "These guys are monsters!"  One of the men cried, as
Ryouga grabbed the front of his shirt and threw him out of the
dojo, ignoring the numerous darts that were sticking in him.
Ranma was feeling them, but was determined to fight off these
men.  He felt his heart sink, however, when another twenty of
the cloaked men entered the dojo, and concentrated on knocking
out Ryouga.  When Ryouga finally fell to the tranks, they
turned their attention on Ranma.  During the fight, a few of
the men were slowly dragging Akane, Ukyou and Feather away.
Ranma went into a rage, and attacked the men closest to him
with a ki charged kick, and then turned on another few with the
kachuu tenshinn amaguriken.  He didn't even bother to call out
his strikes, he just pulverized anyone who got close to him.
Unfortunately, the number of tranks in him were starting to
wear on him, and he couldn't dodge them as well.  Completely
blinded by the tranks, Ranma grabbed the closest thing to him,
one of the cloaked men.  The cloth tore as Ranma fell heavily
to the ground, looking more like a human pin cushion than
anything else.  His last conscious thought was of Akane, and
firmly gripped in his hand was a scrap of cloth, emblazoned
with the sign of the Viper and the Blade...
_____________________End Chapter Three________________________

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