* * * * * * * * * *

   Akane sipped her tea quietly and stared into space. Nabiki was beside her
at the table, reading a book and apparently unconcerned even after what had
happened only a short while ago. Every now and then she would take a cookie
from the plate in the center of the table and eat it carefully, never taking
her eyes off of her book. Kasumi was in the kitchen baking another batch, and
Everyone else was upstairs. 

   It had been nearly two hours and neither Cologne, Ranma, or Ranma's...
other half had woken up. Dr, Tofu insisted that they were perfectly fine, only
exhausted as powerful spells tended to drain the energy of those involved. Of
course everyone worried anyway. Everyone except Nabiki. She continued to read
her book and eat cookies as if nothing at all was wrong.

   Kasumi came from the kitchen carrying another plate of cookies and blinked
as she noticed that the one already on the table was only half empty.

   "Akane why don't you have some? Dr. Tofu says that Ranma is just fine so
there's no need to worry. I really think you might feel better if... Akane?"
Kasumi blinked again and knelt down in front of her sister who didn't seem to
have heard a word she had said. She placed the plate on the table beside the
other one and waved her hand in front of Akane's face.

   Akane blinked.

   "What.. Kasumi? What is it?"

   "Akane I said you might feel better if you eat something. Ranma's going to
be just fine. It won't do any good to sit here and worry like this."

   "I know" Akane sighed. "But it's not that I'm worried all that much about
Ranma. It's...Well, it's his girl half. I mean...Who is she? She can't be
Ranma since his guy half is still alive...But if she's alive too she has to be
someone right?"

   Nabiki looked up from her book. "Maybe not" she said, as she took another
cookie. "My guess is that she'll be a new person. Like a baby but without a
baby's body."

   "You mean we'll have to teach her to walk and talk and everything?" Akane
asked.

   "I dunno, it's only a guess" Nabiki said with a shrug.

   Footsteps were heard on the stairs and Dr Tofu stepped into the room a few
moments later. He looked at everyone and smiled.

   "Ranma's awake."

   The room was quickly emptied as everyone clambered to their feet and rushed
upstairs to the guest room. When they entered, Ranma was sitting up on his
futon, rubbing the side of his head. Akane rushed to him and threw her arms
around him, hugging him so tightly his eyes almost bulged out of their
sockets.

   "Ranma, you're awake! I was so worried! How do you feel?"

   "Well, besides this killer headache I'm also bein' squeezed to
death...Could ya let up a little Akane?"

   Akane frowned.

   "Well pardon me for caring."

   Ranma grinned and hugged her back. "Sorry, I'm just not feelin' all that
great. Nothin' an aspirin won't cure." 

   Dr. Tofu reached over and tapped a point a Ranma's neck. The pain in his
head vanished almost instantly. 

   "Thanks" Ranma said, and then frowned, looking around at everyone in the
room.  "Did...did the spell work? Did it cure my curse?"

   He wondered why everyone suddenly looked so uncomfortable. Finally Doctor
Tofu said hesitantly, "Yes Ranma... It did get rid of the curse. You shouldn't
have to worry about turning into a girl anymore."

   Ranma grinned and gave a triumphant shout, then winced and put a hand to
his head. "Ow...Damn, my head hurts." He continued to rub his head and looked
at everyone else with a confused expression. "None of you look too happy...
What's wrong? Did something happen to the old troll?"

   "The same thing that happened to you" Tofu said. "She's still sleeping."

   "So Cologne's okay and my curse is gone... What's wrong then?"

   He continued to look at everyone, too baffled to be happy that he was
finally cured. Dr. Tofu was adjusting his glasses and looked as if he was
trying to think of what to say. Beside him, Akane was fidgeting with the edge
of her dress and biting her lower lip, and Kasumi was standing with her hands
clasped in front of her, looking at the floor. It was Nabiki who spoke first.

   "Well, it didn't exactly get *rid* of the curse, it kind of..."

   "It did eradicate the curse Ranma" Dr. Tofu interrupted, "But in a very
unexpected way."

   Ranma frowned again. "Come on, what happened?"

   "It will be easier to show you" Tofu answered. "Come with us."

   Still confused, Ranma got up and followed Dr. Tofu out of the room.
Everyone else glanced at each other once before going after them.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

   Ranma groaned as he woke and tried to sit up, but immediately regretted it
as a wave of pain lanced through his skull. He let his head fall back onto the
pillow and took a few deep breaths. The pain began to subside a little. Not
much, but enough for him to try and sit up again. This time he succeeded. 

   Looking around, the first thing he noticed was that he was in Kasumi's
room, lying in her bed. What was he doing there? The second was that he wasn't
dead. Strange to notice that second, but his thoughts were jumbled. So the
spell hadn't killed him after all. He would have been immensely relieved if he
could think clearly. Damn this headache... The third thing he noticed was that
he was a she. How had he gotten into his girl form? Oh yeah, that water
Cologne had thrown on him. He must have been too distracted to notice the
change.

   "Great" she muttered aloud. "The spell didn't kill me but it put me through
hell and didn't cure me either."

   With another groan, she lay back down. She considered calling for someone
to bring something for her head but the very thought of yelling nearly caused
her skull to split, so she just lay quietly and wallowed in her misery as she
rubbed her temples and tried to think through this headache.

   Yet another failed cure. She should have expected it really. After all,
none of the others had ever worked. It had been stupid to get her hopes up and
even stupider to believe Cologne when she had said that the spell would cure
her. The old hag had probably been lying all along. All that stuff about
inflicting needless pain for revenge not being honorable. Feh... It was
against *her* code of honor, that was for sure, but the Amazons had their own
idea of honor and she knew from past experience that it was pretty screwy.

   As she lay there brooding, she heard the door open and saw Dr. Tofu enter
the room, followed by Kasumi and several other people. She tried to sit up
further so that she could see who they were but the resulting pain in her head
caused her to squeeze her eyes shut and lay her head on the pillow once more.

   "Hey Doc, do you think you could get me somethin' for this headache?" she
asked.

   Dr. Tofu came toward her and knelt down beside the bed. There was a strange
expression on his face and he looked extremely nervous for some reason.

   "Hey, is somethin' wrong? Come on, I can't even open my eyes without my
head feelin' like it's gonna explode. Can't you get me somethin'?"

   The doctor shook his head and muttered, "Ah...Yes, of course. Just a
moment." He tapped a point on her neck and the pain in her head vanished. She
sat up.

   "Thanks Doc" she said. Now what's up? Why are you lookin' so...." she
trailed off as she turned to look at him and saw who was standing behind him.
Akane, Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun, and her parents were standing near the doorway
and beside them stood someone she knew very well. Someone who should *not*
have been there. Ranma stared at him and he stared right back, neither one
sure what to say. No one else seemed to know what to say either. Finally they
both blurted at once, "Who are you?"

   "I'm Ranma" the boy answered. "What I'd like to know is who *you* are."

   Ranma frowned. "*I'm* Ranma!"

   The boy just continued to stare.

   Ranma began to get desperate now. What was going on here? She knew who she
was! Whoever this guy was, he wasn't *her*.

   "What are you lookin' at?!" She yelled, sitting up further in bed and
glaring at the boy who looked like her. "Stop starin' at me like that, I know
who I am! Whoever *you* are you aint me!"

   "Ranma calm down." Tofu put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently
back down onto the bed.

   "Somebody get me some hot water" she grumbled.

   Tofu sighed. "I'm afraid that won't do you any good."

   "Ranma blinked. What d'ya mean it won't do any good? she asked, starting to
get angry again. "I want some hot water!"

   "Listen" Tofu said, his hand still on her shoulder, "I think I know what's
happened here. Both of you are Ranma. The spell didn't exactly cure the curse,
it split your body into a male form and your cursed female form. Apparently it
did more than just that though. it seems to have split the soul as well. Hot
water won't do you any good because the curse no longer exists. You have
become two separate people."

   Ranma blinked and stared at the doctor for a few moments. Then she turned
to stare at the boy who wore her face. It was like looking into a mirror, only
far stranger. That was her standing across the room. She was looking at a copy
of herself, another Ranma. But... what if he wasn't the copy? After all, the
male form was the true one and the female form was the cursed one. What if
*she* was the copy? Suddenly she was terrified.
   
   "Y...you mean, I'm....I'm stuck like this? And he... he..."

   She had no idea what to do or say. This wasn't like any of the other times
she had been faced with the possibility of being stuck in her female form.
This time there was no way to undo it because she wasn't *stuck*. She had been
split from her male half. The cure had worked and she was the side-effect. She
didn't know whether to be sad, angry, afraid, or all three. Unless there was
some way to reunite her with her other side she was going to be like this
forever. It didn't help when she saw her father hang his head and walk slowly
out of the room. Her mother looked for a moment as if she wanted to say
something, but apparently decided not to and turned to follow Genma. Soun
looked at Akane who was hovering next to the male Ranma and looking at the
girl in the bed like she was a snake ready to strike. He shook his head and
patted her on the shoulder.

   "I'll be downstairs" he said simply.

   "Ranma are you alright?" Kasumi's concerned voice reached Ranma's ears and
she turned to stare at her, still in a daze.

   "Alright? Uh, yeah Kasumi I'm okay... I guess."

   "Would you like to come downstairs and get something to eat?"

   "I'm not hungry. I think I"ll go back to sleep."

   "Um... Alright but come down when you're feeling better okay?"

   "Sure..." Ranma said, before laying back down and staring up at the
ceiling.

   Everyone waited in uncomfortable silence for a few more minutes. Finally,
when it became obvious that Ranma wasn't going to say anything else, they
slowly turned and left. As the door clicked shut behind them, they all looked
at each other, no one really knowing what to say. All except Ranma. He was
staring at the door as if it were the most horrifying thing he had ever seen
in his life. Finally Doctor Tofu spoke.

   "Well, it's getting late so I'de better be going. I've examined Cologne and
aside from severe exhaustion she's fine. Ranma, you and your... Um... You and
the girl had better come to see me tomorrow. I'de like to do a few more
exhaminations just to make sure both of you are alright."

   Ranma nodded, not even turning to look at the doctor.

   "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay for something to eat doctor?"
Kasumi asked. "We all missed supper and I know you must be hungry."

   Tofu turned red and his glasses fogged up just a little.

   "Supper? Ah... Yes, that's very kind of you..." he shook his head and
appeared to regain some control of himself. "That's very kind of you
K...Kasumi but I really should be going."

   "Perhaps tomorrow then?" Kasumi asked, with a polite smile.

   "Yes... Tomorrow would be wonderful."

   "I look forward to it" Kasumi said, still smiling. "Let me show you out."

   "Out? Oh yes... out. Going home. Thank you Kasumi, you really are so very
kind."

   As Kasumi and Tofu left, Akane turned to Ranma.

   "Ranma are you okay?"

   He turned to look at her, a strange expression on his face.

   "I dunno Akane. I mean... She's me... It's..."

   "I know" Akane whispered. "It's strange."

   Ranma shook his head. "Not just that. What... what are we going to do with
her? She... she's going to hate me. She *is* me. And she's stuck like that..."

   Akane put her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. "I wish I knew
what to say."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

   Ranma huddled under the blankets in Kasumi's bed, staring at the closed
door and listening to the muffled voices of her double and Akane. She'd known
there would be some risk involved when she decided to chance the spell but
this... Hearing them talk about her like that was more than she could take.
That should be her out there. She vividly remembered holding Akane close just
before stepping into the symbol. The way she had felt... She would probably
never hold her like that again. never. And what was worse, she was not only
losing her fiancee but she was losing her to her own double. What was she
going to do? Could she even continue to live here? How would she be able to
endure seeing her other self marry Akane and start a life with her while she
was left behind? What would her father think of her? Her mother? Was she
really even Ranma or was she just a copy made to fill this discarded body?

   She lay quietly, still staring at the door, though the voices had stopped
some time ago. Her stomach rumbled and she realized that she was hungry but
she didn't dare go downstairs. That would mean facing *him* and she wasn't
ready for that. She didn't think she would ever be ready for that. She tried
to fight back the tears but finally gave in to them. The world was suddenly a
very scary place.


   Well that does it for the first chapter of what I hope will be a good
story. C&C is welcome of course, just be gentle. I'm a newbie. :)