An Odd Engagement: A Ranma � Alternate Universe Fanfiction

               By Andrew Carey <ap_carey3@hotmail.com>
          
          The characters and situations of Ranma � belong to Takahashi
Rumiko, and I am merely borrowing them for this non-profit work of
fanfiction.  It may be archived, distributed, and translated freely, as 
long as this disclaimer and my name are not removed.  If you care to 
translate it into Irish, French, Scots, or Old through Early Modern 
English, please drop me a note--I'd love to talk about it.

C&C is very much desired, public or private.  Please forward a copy of 
any public C&C to me personally�I may have to go on vacation mode for a 
little while in the near future.

Many thanks to Suika Roberts for reading and giving of advice.  Many 
thanks to Takahashi Rumiko for creating Ranma �.  

My sincere apologies if this fails to format properly--this is my first 
posting from this account.
         
 <...> indicates unspoken thought.
"<...>" indicates use of a language other than Japanese, although all
dialogue is here represented in English.
          
          Chapter One, Section 1 of 2:
          
               As the sun rose over the rooftops of Nerima, Japan, 
Tendou Kasumi was already awake and in the kitchen.  That didn't bother 
her; she'd been an early riser ever since childhood.  Back then it had 
been to train with her parents in the ways and techniques of their 
family school of Anything Goes Martial Arts. <Now, however, well, I'm 
used to it.  And I'd rather not have everyone in the kitchen while I'm 
working, anyhow.> They'd just get in the way.  "And I really don't think 
they need to know how we keep the kitchen so neat, do they?" she said to 
the three mice who were busily cleaning the counter.  She hadn't spoken 
in the cheeping code-language she used to communicate with them, but 
they squeaked cheerfully at her anyhow.  The mice liked Kasumi; a basic 
rapport with animals was the foundation of her Talent, and she had taken 
that further, into an abiding mutual affection.  
               She filled a pot with water and began to make the miso 
soup. The mice hopped up onto the windowsill by the stove.  "Finished, 
are we?"  Kasumi reached into the cabinet and took out the last of the 
cookies she had baked the day before.  The mice carried their booty off 
into a crevice behind the cabinets. <I do wish they'd learn to say thank 
you> she thought absently, knowing it for the silly thought that it was.  
It simply wasn't in the nature of a mouse.  She remembered her 
grandmother's lessons, when she was seven and her parents had just left 
with Akane on her first training trip. 

          
Thirteen Years Ago:
               Grandma woke Kasumi early that morning.  Nabiki was still 
asleep; she'd cried and cried when Mama and Daddy left the day before, 
but that was all right.  Nabiki was only five, and didn't understand 
about training trips, but Kasumi was a big girl and Mama had told her 
crying would only make Akane and Daddy upset and make it harder for 
Akane to become the best martial artist she could possibly be.  So, when 
Grandma whispered to get up and be quiet, that she had something to show 
her, she listened and didn't make any noise.  She put on her yukata and 
slippers and followed her grandmother down the stairs to the kitchen.  
               Outside the kitchen door, Grandma leaned down and 
whispered in her ear "Kasumi, you're going to meet some very special 
friends of mine.  They are very shy, so don't make any loud noises and 
be very careful not to frighten them.  Now, will you promise me you 
won't scare them?"
               "I promise, Grandma."
               "Good.  Now be very quiet."
               Keeping the promise was the hardest thing Kasumi had ever 
done, because when she came into the kitchen there were mice everywhere.  
And they were doing things!  Some of them were gathering crumbs off the 
floor.  Others were pushing sponges along the counter.  And they were 
all working together in teams, like a little army.  It was all she could 
do to keep her mouth shut.
               "What do you think, Kasumi?"
               Kasumi didn't answer for a moment, watching a pair of big 
black mice push a straw across the table, scraping the crumbs from the 
cookies she and Nabiki had eaten the night before into a neat pile.  
Three little brown mice picked up the crumbs and carried them away 
behind the stove.  She looked more closely, saw how pretty their fur 
was, how clean and shiny, and how delicate their little ears and feet 
were.  "Grandma, I never knew mice were so cute before."
               Grandma smiled.  "I thought you'd say that.  Now, Kasumi, 
how would you like to learn how I work with them?"
               "Grandma, you train them?  Please, I'd love to."
               "Well, I don't really train them.  Better to say that we 
work together.  It's something people in our family have done for years 
and years and years.  My grandmother taught me.  Now, if you want, I 
will teach
you."
               "Oh, grandma, thank you."
               "Are you sure you should thank me?  It's hard work.  
You'll have to learn to think like a mouse, how to see and hear like a 
mouse.  You'll even have to learn to talk to them."
               "Really?  To talk mouse language?"
               "Well, not quite.  Human people can't really talk like 
mouse people.  But there is a code that we use.  You'll learn it.  And 
how to talk to other animals, too.  Like moles, and rabbits, and cats."
               "Moles and rabbits and cats?"
               "Why do you think my garden is the best in all of Nerima?  
Because I give the little garden animals their share of what I grow, and 
so they leave the rest of my plants alone.  And as to cats, how do you 
think I make friends with the mice?  I give them food, and I protect 
them from their enemies.  Do you know what a bargain is?"
               "That's when you do something for somebody and then they 
do something else for you, isn't it?" 
               "Exactly, Kasumi-chan.  Now, everyone has to learn how to 
bargain with human people.  But a person who practices our Art must 
learn to bargain with animal people, too.  All kinds of animal people."  
                "Our Art, Grandma?  Like Martial Arts?"
               "In some ways.  Everyone in our family does at least some 
Martial Arts, but not everyone in our family does this."
               "Does Mama?"
               "No, your mother doesn't.  I thought about teaching her 
when she was little, but she never quite seemed ready to learn.  She was 
always too busy learning martial arts.  I don't think I'll teach Akane 
or Nabiki, either.  They don't seem too interested in houses and 
kitchens and growing things.  Oh, that reminds me.  I have to ask you to 
promise me not to tell them.  Or anyone else."
               "Not anyone?  Not even Mama and Daddy?"
               "Not even them.  Maybe someday you can tell your 
children.  Or their children.  Or maybe, someday when you marry a really 
nice boy, and you know you can trust him with anything, maybe you can 
tell him."
               "Ewww, boys."  Kasumi made a face.
               Her grandmother smiled.  "You won't always think that,
Kasumi-chan.  Now, will you promise?"
               "I promise."
          
               Kasumi smiled, remembering.  "Thank you, grandma." she 
said softly.  From the stairs she heard the creak of the treads as her 
parents came down for their morning sparring session. <It sounds like 
Daddy's carrying Mama again.>   That meant that about the time they 
reached the bottom of the stairs she would contrive some way to turn the 
tables.  And sure enough, when they passed the kitchen door Tendou Soun, 
all six feet of him, was being carried by Tendou Kimiko, slung over her 
back like a sack of rice.  They were both giggling insanely. 
          Despite herself, Kasumi felt a sting of envy. <Damn it,> she 
thought, <I'm tired of being alone.>  She banished the thought from her 
mind as her sister Akane came bounding down the stairs.  That meant that 
in another hour or so they would be done with their morning exercise, 
and it would be time for breakfast.  She looked back to the soup.  It 
was doing nicely.  She gave it a stir and turned her attention to the 
window.  Outside the little birds were talking about the spring, and the 
gardens that would soon be planted.  Kasumi whistled a greeting.  Even 
if it was irritating to be twenty and single, it was at least nice to 
have friends with whom to gossip. Even if they weren't human.
          
               The same morning, perhaps a day and a half of walking 
away, Saotome Ranma and Kuonji Ukyou were engaged in a quiet romantic
moment in a forest clearing.  Well, maybe not such a quiet moment.
               "HAAAAASSSSSAAAAAA!" Ukyou shouted, swinging her
spatula in a blow that would have taken his legs at the knee if he 
hadn't leapt above it.  Or, at least if it hadn't been a feint, changing 
in mid-swing to a thrust at his midsection. 
          He rolled backwards, coming up with his bokken in a mid-level 
guard.  A half-second later, he leaped into the air, screaming like a 
wildcat, wooden sword held above his head.  Ukyou side-stepped the blow 
which would have bisected her, whirling into a pattern of lightening 
fast blows as he touched down .  He backed up, parrying with the back of 
his weapon.  A sudden back-jump took him out of engagement and onto a 
large branch of a nearby tree.  Ukyou followed, nimbly landing before 
him, spatula raised.
               He lowered the bokken, leaned forward and kissed her.  
She slipped her spatula into the harness that held it to her back, 
wrapped her arms around him, twined his queue around her fingers, 
returned the kiss with interest... and pressed the edge of a smaller 
spatula into the back of his neck.  "Got you, Ranchan." she said softly.
               "No fair, Ucchan." he replied.
               "You knew it was coming."
               "Well, yeah, I should have known you'd do something like 
that.  My very own evil fiancee."  He embraced her one-armed for a 
moment as he slipped the bokken into his belt, wooden edge up, 
katana-style.  
               She kissed him harder.  "My very own ridiculous Ranchan."
               "Love ya, Ucchan."
               "I love you too, Ranchan."  She wrapped her arms more 
tightly around him.  "Time to get down." she said, and sprang off the 
branch, dropping to the ground.
               "Ucchan, let me down."
               "And why should I do that?  I seem to have caught you 
very neatly, sweetest fiance.  Perhaps it's time to carry you off and 
have my wicked way with you."  Her brown eyes twinkled, and she bore him 
off beyond the edge of the woods.
          
               That afternoon, Kasumi was busy planting a few new herbs 
in the garden when her father gave out a great cry of pure joy.  She 
would have figured it was just himself and Mama again and ignored it, 
but then he called out "Girls!  Exciting news!"  She stood up, brushing 
her hands on her gardening apron, and went inside.
     He was hugging Mama with one arm and holding a postcard in the
other.  It depicted a panda sitting in a bamboo grove.  Kasumi looked
quizzically at them, but neither could quite manage to speak.  Soun held 
out the card, and she took it into her hand.  
               <What terrible handwriting!> was her first thought.  It 
read "Coming from China.  Bringing Ranma.  Should arrive 10 May.  Yours, 
Saotome."
               Nabiki and Akane came into the room.  "What is it, Sis?" 
Nabiki said, recognizing her parents' inarticulate state.  
               "Mr. Saotome's bringing Ranma from China; they're coming 
tomorrow." she said.
               "Oh." Nabiki said, disinterested, and wandered off before 
Kasumi could say anymore.
               Akane simply scowled. 
               Kasumi sighed and laid the postcard on the table.  
Someone would have to see that the house was ready, and it looked as if 
it was going to be her.  Papa and Mama were too far overcome with joy, 
and Nabiki could evidently care less.  And Akane... well, Akane was 
hopeless in almost anything to do with maintaining the household.  Oh, 
she could manage basic carpentry well enough; she and Daddy and Mama 
often destroyed parts of the training hall, and they had all long since 
learned to make repairs themselves.  But her cooking bordered on the 
deadly, and the last time she'd tried to wash dishes she'd destroyed a 
full set of the everyday china.
               "Soon our little Akane will be wed!" Soun cried happily.  
Kasumi set her teeth, and turned away so they wouldn't see the look of 
anger on her face.
               "Hmmm, does that make you feel old, Sou-chan?" Kimiko
murmured.
               "Oh, I don't know, Kimi-chan."
               "Well, it shouldn't.  And I'm going to prove it to you." 
she said, and picked her husband up, ignoring the difference of ten 
inches and eighty pounds between them.  Kasumi went to the kitchen as 
her mother carried her father up the stairs.  She would have to do at 
least some of the baking today, and a bit of the sorts of cleaning that 
her friends couldn't manage. <I wish I could figure out a way to teach 
them to dust.>
          
               Genma Saotome took a deep breath of Japanese country air.  
"Ah, the memories!!" he shouted happily.  "The air just doesn't taste as 
good in China.  We've been away from home too long!"
               "<We're too close to Tokyo.>" Ukyou commented in 
Mandarin.  "<I'd forgotten how bad the air smells around here.>"
               "<Too much pollution by half.>" Ranma agreed.  The young 
couple linked hands and kept walking.  It was a quiet country road that 
they walked upon, unpaved and little-travelled.  Aside from the stink of 
petrochemicals in the air, it was pretty country; flowers were blooming, 
and the small birds were warbling happily in the trees.
               "<Now children, that's not fair.>" Saotome Nodoka said in 
the same language.  "<This is our own native country, and that should 
count for something.>"
          
               The walls shook as two bodies impacted the dojo wall in 
quick succession.  "Sounds like they'll be done in a little while." 
Kasumi said to no one in particular.  She went to the bottom of the 
stairs.  "Nabiki, would you mind giving me a hand?"
      "Just a minute." her younger sister replied.  And sure enough,
exactly sixty seconds later she came down the stairs and into the 
kitchen.  Together they began to set the table for dinner.
               "Well, Nabiki, are you ready to meet the Saotome boy?"
               "I'd suppose, Sis.  Not that it really matters.  We all 
know it's going to be Akane, don't we?"
               "Not necessarily.  All Daddy and Mr. Saotome ever said 
was that two of their children would marry, right?"
               "But Ma and Da have been training Akane as their heir 
since she was four years old.  And Mr. Saotome's had his son on the road 
ever since he was five.  They're practically made for each other."
               "But just because they've been raised the same doesn't 
mean they're going to get along.  Let's wait and see."
               "Anyhow, why would either of us want to marry a martial 
arts fanatic?"
               "We don't know he's a fanatic, do we?"
               "How could he be any different, raised like that?  Look 
at Akane!"
               "Akane isn't a fanatic, she's just... driven."
               "Kasumi, she starts every morning at school by beating 
three dozen boys into a bloody pulp!"
               "But they start it, don't they?"
               "Well, maybe.  But I'm sure she deserves this Saotome, 
and vice versa.  Besides, I don't have any luck with boys, do I?"
               "Nabiki, I said I was sorry about Tatewaki, didn't I?  I 
didn't know you were interested in him.  And besides, how was I to know 
a simple kiss would be so intimidating?"
               "You practically smothered him, Kasumi!  And then you 
tried to kiss his sister!"
               "I didn't know she was his sister, Nabiki.  They don't 
look very related."
               "Kasumi, how would you feel if someone tried to seduce, 
say, the two of us, at once?  The Kunous have led a very sheltered life!  
'Dachi won't even come back to Nerima, and Kunou-chan won't come within 
ten blocks of this house!  He's depressed, too; he and his sister have 
hardly ever been apart, and now they only see each other at the 
holidays."
               "I'm sorry, Nabiki.  Really.  I was trying to shock Mama 
and Daddy, and the Kunous were just... convenient."
               "Trying to shock Mama and Daddy.  Please, Kasumi, it's 
not worth bothering."
               "No, I'd suppose it isn't, Nabiki.  After all, I'm just 
the home-maker, amn't I?  Just the one who runs the house while Mama and 
Daddy are too busy training Akane to do anything parents are supposed to 
do.  Just the one who cooks and cleans, just the one who finished high 
school a year early and never even got to apply to college, just the one 
who's supposed to stay close to home and take care of them for the rest 
of their lives!  Do you know how long it's been since I so much as 
sparred, Nabiki?  Ten months!  You get more practice than I do, and you 
don't even particularly like martial arts!  
               "Sure, I'll never be a world class fighter.  I know that.  
I know I'll never fight challenge matches, and I don't want to.  But, 
gods curse it, I do like to stay in condition, and nobody seems to 
care!"  She gave a sharp laugh.  "Sure, I know it's not worth trying to 
shock Mama and Daddy.  They wouldn't notice if I got a motorbike and 
started wearing leather bikinis!  So, Nabiki, I am sorry for 
traumatising Tatewaki and Kodachi.  But I'd appreciate it if you would 
think before you go attacking me!"
               Nabiki's face fell.  "Kasumi, I'm sorry, I didn't 
think..."
               "I'm sorry, too, little sister.  I didn't mean to scream 
at you like that."  
               To Kasumi's surprise, Nabiki hugged her.  Her middle 
sister hadn't been so demonstrative in years.  "Oh, dearest big sister, 
please don't be sorry.  I deserved it.  I was worried about Kunou-chan, 
and I forgot about everything Da and Ma put you through.  I shouldn't 
complain."
               "No, Nabiki-chan, it's all right."
               "No, it isn't.  They've been trying to set you up with 
older men since you were still in high school.  I still remember that 
greasy medical student they wanted you to meet when you were sixteen.  
The bastard was checking me out, and I wasn't yet fourteen, and looked 
it.  If I were Da, I would have killed him on the spot."
               "Now Nabiki, you know they never asked him back..."
               "It doesn't matter.  They shouldn't have asked him to 
visit in the first place.  For gods' sake, he was nearly twelve years 
older than you.  And they've gotten worse.  I swear I think some of the 
men they've brought round have been nearly Da's age.  Bloody doctors and 
lawyers.  And people call me mercenary!"
               "That's not fair, Nabiki, they've never pressed me to go 
beyond a first meeting with any of them..."
               "It doesn't matter.  For gods' sake, Kasumi, if they want 
you to find a husband, why don't they join the twentieth century?!  Let 
you get out, go to college, find one yourself?"
               They fell into a companionable silence for a little 
while.  Then Kasumi said quietly "Nabiki-chan, would you mind if I take 
Ranma?"
               "A seventeen-year-old martial arts freak?  Sure, if you 
really want him, but Kasumi, you deserve better."
               "Nabiki-chan, I'm only twenty.  Maybe he'll be mature for 
his age, if he's been out on the road so long.  I know I used to think 
younger men were boring.  But now I've seen enough older men, and they 
were just the same.  Age doesn't matter too much to me, anymore.  All I 
want is a good man."
               Nabiki grinned.  "Is that all you want, Big Sis?"
               "Well, strong legs and firm pecs, and a cute little rump, 
and long pretty hair that I can play with would be nice, too..." 
          
               Late in the afternoon the Saotome family made camp on a
wooded hill near a little stream.  "Mmmm, easy travelling." Genma said
happily, lying back in the grass.  
               "Feel like a bit of sparring, love?" Nodoka said to him.  
To Ranma and Ukyou: "Why don't you two go off for a walk?  You could 
come back for dinner in three hours."
               Ranma flushed slightly.  "C'mon, Ucchan, let's be off." 
he said.  She linked her arm with his, and they set off down the hill.  
               Then Nodoka called out "Ranma!"  He turned back, and 
Ukyou saw his mother whisper something in his ear.  He blushed more 
brightly.  She handed him a rolled blanket.
               "What did she want to say, Ranchan?" she asked once they 
were out of earshot.
               "Oh, just more of the usual." 
               "Let me guess: 'Skinny dipping with your fiancee is a 
very manly thing to do, my son.'  Did I get it right?"
               "Not quite.  It was more like 'Son, why don't you and
Ukyou-chan go find a soft place by the river?' And she gave me this." He 
held up the blanket.
               A series of rather loud screams rang out from the 
hilltop.  Ranma blushed furiously.  Ukyou kissed him on the cheek.  
"Don't worry, Ranchan.  Just because we find a soft place by the river 
doesn't mean we have to do anything you're uncomfortable with." she 
said. <Damn Auntie Nodoka for a fool!> she thought.  <If it weren't for 
her constantly pushing him, Ranchan and I would have done exactly what 
she wants a long time ago.>
          
               That night, Kasumi went out to sit on the roof.  It was 
something she hadn't done in a while, and it felt a little funny. <Maybe 
because I'm wearing a dress and an apron.>  How long had it been since 
she had worn pants?  
               It was a lovely night.  The stars were pretty, despite 
the glow of downtown Tokyo on the horizon, and the air was fresh with 
the new flowers. Overhead the bats were circling and sporting, hunting 
insects.  She could hear their high-pitched clicking  and chittering as 
they sought their prey; expanding the range of her ears had been among 
the earliest lessons from her grandmother.  She reached out for a moment 
and slipped into telempathic rapport, felt <air beneath my wings in 
myface gentle breeze moth food good taste...>
               She smiled softly.  The little life with its simple needs 
and wants was pleasant to touch, but falling into envy of her friends 
would be a grave error.  
          
          Nine Years Ago:
               "Remember always, my child, that although their lives are 
simpler than ours it does not mean they are easier.  You will learn this 
tonight, I think."
               They were a few hundred yards from Grandma's house , on 
the edge of a small woodland that had somehow managed to survive nearly 
untamed on the outskirts of Nerima.  Mama and Daddy and Akane were off 
training again, while Nabiki was sleeping over at a friend's. 
Eleven-year-old Kasumi looked up at the stars, happy to be up past her
bedtime and out training with her grandmother.  
               "This isn't the place for woolgathering, grand-daughter." 
Grandma said quietly.  "Now, extend your senses outward.  That fox, over 
there, the one who stalks.  By the mulberry."  About twenty yards away.  
Too far for ordinary senses, but Kasumi had been raised a martial 
artist, and her grandmother had been training her for more than four 
years in all aspects of their particular Art.  She found her easily.  A 
vixen, about three years old.  "Remember what I taught you about 
rapport, Kasumi-chan?  Go into it."  Kasumi reached out as she'd been 
taught, further than she ever had before.  She locked into the breathing 
patterns, matched them, let her mind flow out to the fox-mind, and 
<pups/self hungry...teats sore...food rustling...smell food small furry 
leap pounce grip bite twist snap ahhhh warm good flesh...>  The flow of 
information was almost overwhelming, and she could taste the rich salty 
flavor almost as clearly as if the blood were in her own mouth.  It was 
delicious...<No!  I am human!>
               Grandma shook her lightly, and the link broke.  "Well, my 
grand-daughter?" she said softly.
               "I don't know, Grandma.  It was good, and awful, and all 
at once."
               "Not a bad way of putting it.  All things must kill to 
live, Kasumi-chan, and we must never forget it, nor hate ourselves or 
our world for it.  Animal people do not.  But neither do they take 
excessive joy in the kill.  Human people are prone to both extremes, but 
we must learn to avoid them if we wish to remain sane.  You've just had 
part of tonight's lesson.  Now for the other.  The hare by the edge of 
the wood, the one by the firs.  Go into rapport with it."
          
          
               Kasumi still shuddered at the memories of both hunter and 
prey. <I learned about both ends of the sword that night.>  She would 
never be tempted to romanticise animal lives again.  Nor would she be 
tempted to condemn their cruelty.  Each little life was precious, she 
knew, but it was equally needful that some might die so that others 
might live. <I have been fox and I have been hare, I have been hawk and 
I have been pigeon, and each I found was equal in the eyes of God.>
               She was disturbed from her meditations by a soft furry 
body that landed beside her.  A head rubbed against her thigh, and a 
tail brushed her cheek.  "Hello, Tiger-chan." she said quietly.  Tiger 
belonged to one of the old ladies down the street; she was one of the 
cats with whom Kasumi had negotiated to protect her birds and mice.  She 
took a piece of fish sausage from her pocket and fed it to the sturdy 
queen-cat.  Tiger courteously accepted the treat and curled up in 
Kasumi's lap, purring.
               "Oh, Tiger-chan, what am I to do?" Kasumi whispered.  
"Mama and Daddy want Akane to marry a stranger, but I think they'll kill 
each other.  And I'm willing to give him a try, but they can't even 
imagine me doing it.  What am I to do?"  
               Tiger only caught bits and pieces of Kasumi's meaning, 
but she was concerned for her friend, and more than willing to give such 
motherly advice as she could. <If cat no want mate, hiss/slash/bite!  
Will find other. If cat want mate with good male, rub/nuzzle/lick!>
               Kasumi laughed.  "Oh, Tiger-chan, thank you, but I don't 
think that will work.  Then again, I can't think of anything that will.  
Maybe I'll try it."
               
               Late that night, Ukyou sat up in her sleeping bag, and 
gently tapped Ranma on the shoulder where he lay beside her in his.  
"Ranchan, wake up, love, I want to talk."
               "Zzzz, ah, Ucchan, my love, you're so..." she shook his 
shoulder. "Ah, Ucchan, what is it?"
               She leaned over and kissed him.  "Silly Ranchan.  I just 
want to talk a while."
               "Sure, Ucchan."  He looked about the campsite.  "Ah, 
where..."
               "Are they?  The woods.  About twenty minutes ago.  We can 
talk in private.  Could I have a hug?"
               They embraced, and sat for a moment in silence.  Then 
Ukyou said quietly "What if there's another fiancee waiting for you in 
Nerima?"
               "Why would there be that, Ucchan?  We've been engaged ten 
years.  Surely even Da wouldn't be that stupid."
               "I don't know, Ranchan, I don't know.  But I had a dream, 
just now."
               "Oh, Ucchan..." Ranma said softly, and held her more 
tightly.  "Don't worry.  If there is, she'll just have to give up.  I'm 
yours, remember?"
               "But what if it's a matter of family honour?"
               "You're a matter of family honour, my dearest Ucchan.  
And personal honour as well.  And besides, there's no way her 
okonomiyaki could be even half as good as yours."
               She laughed.  "My dearest Ranchan, you say such nice 
things.  I suppose I'll have to fight for you."
               "She won't stand a chance, my Ucchan."
               "No, she won't.  If nothing else, all I'll have to do is 
splash you."  She nuzzled him.  
          
               Kasumi awoke from a confusing dream, a tangle of images: 
a pigtailed boy and a brown haired girl, a sword and a giant spatula, 
sparring, laughing, loving.  She lay in bed, staring up at her dark 
ceiling.  "Oh, my." she said softly.  "I hope he doesn't already love 
someone else."
     
	The next morning dawned bright and clear.    Ranma and Ukyou
woke as the first rays of sunshine crept through the branches of the 
trees around them.  Genma and Nodoka snored on in each others' arms.  
	"Ewww," Ukyou whispered, "he's gone panda again, Ranchan."
        Ranma flushed, and Ukyou briefly regretted her comment. 
"Don't worry, love, I think he just fell into the stream last night when 
they were coming back to camp."
          



Andrew Carey -- ap_carey3@hotmail.com
"Mirie it is, while sumer ilast,
With fugheles song..."

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