Chapter 4

	Under the surface of the river, Ranma swam towards Akane.  Akane kept 
flailing her arms about, trying to swim.  She was holding her breath, 
not wanting to drown.  Seeing Ranma swimming towards her gave her a 
sense of relief.  She quickly thrust out her right hand to grab Ranma, 
not remembering about the ring.  As soon as Ranma made contact with that 
ring, she was turned into smoke and drawn back inside it.

	Freaking out, Akane blurted, "Ranma!"

	Once Akane opened her mouth, river water came pouring in.  Akane, in 
sheer terror, kept trying to force the water out of her lungs.  After a 
few fear- filled minutes, Akane realized that she was all right.

	"Huh?" Akane said, wonderingly, "Why am I not choking?  I should be 
dead." 

	Looking around in awe, Akane stood up on the floor of the river and 
started walking.

	*I can breathe underwater?  How?*  Akane thought.

	Going back over what had just happened, Akane rubbed her ring.  Red 
smoke once more came forth and formed Ranma.

	"What is your wish, master?" Ranma said, her words not hampered by 
being underwater.

	*I guess Ranma did hear me,* Akane thought before asking, "Ranma, tell 
me why I can't swim, and why I'm able to breathe underwater."

	Still in her trance state, Ranma-chan intoned, "I thought that the wish 
that you made was so that you would not be in danger of drowning.  I 
believed that you wanted to try and learn how to swim on your own, but 
didn't want to worry about drowning.  I gave you the ability to breathe 
underwater, instead."

	Akane felt her anger build up, as she realized that Ranma had screwed 
up her wish.  She waited for the trance to wear off, before speaking.

	"Okay, Ranma," Akane said, dangerously, "What about my second wish?"

	"What about it?"

	"Did you foul that one up as well?"

	Ranma sighed, looked at Akane, and said, "I tried not to screw up the 
intent, but I failed.  You're cooking will taste as good as Kasumi's."

	Akane cheered up at this.

	"But, it will still be the same bad cooking that it always was."

	Akane glared at Ranma when she heard that her cooking hadn't improved.  
She was about to punch Ranma when she recalled what Ranma had said.

	"What do you mean by 'tried'?" Akane asked

	Running her fingers through her hair, Ranma replied, "Akane, I've only 
been a genie for a couple days.  I'm going to make mistakes with the 
magic.  I WANTED to give you the ability to cook well.  At least then, 
no one would be in danger of dying."

	Akane tried slapping Ranma.  The water that was surrounding them, 
slowed her hand down immensely.  Akane looked up and then at Ranma.  She 
covered her mouth with her hands, to hide a smile.

	Giggling slightly, Akane said, "Ranma, I think you had better change 
your clothes.  Your standard genie outfit wasn't meant for underwater 
wear."

	Looking at herself, Ranma blushed as she realized how transparent wet 
silk was.  She followed her master's suggestion and used her magic to 
change her clothing into a one-piece, blue, bathing suit.

	*That serves you right for messing up my wishes, Ranma,* Akane thought 
to herself, smugly.

	Still blushing, Ranma finally took note of their surroundings.

	"Underwater?  I gave you the ability, but why should I have it?"

	"Well... Wait a second.  How can we be speaking underwater?"  Akane 
asked.

	Ranma opened here mouth to say something, but closed it without saying 
a word. 

	Sighing in exasperation, Akane thought for a few seconds.

	*Okay, Ranma is a genie.  His genie house is the ruby in my ring.  Oh!  
Inside a rock,*  Akane reasoned out.

	Feeling that she had the answer, she tapped the ring and said, "Ranma, 
your female form's home is the interior of this ruby.  Rubies don't have 
air or water in them.  You don't need to breathe."

	Ranma sat down on a large rock, idly remembering how this rock ended up 
here, and why Akane had thrown it into the river.  Ranma put her face in 
her hands and started mumbling.

	"I don't know how much more I can take.  Pops threw me into a cat pit.  
He's engaged me to who knows how many women.  I have guys trying to kill 
me more the slightest thing or trying to date my female form.  Your 
sister sells pictures of me," Ranma said and then shouted, "And now, 
I've been turned into a genie that is at your beck and call!!"

	Akane said nothing as Ranma put her face in her hands and spoke softly, 
"I hate my life."
	
	Akane looked at Ranma with sympathy and thought, *I know this is hard 
for you Ranma, but you're eventually going to have to accept this new 
part of your life.*

	Deciding to change the subject, Akane said, "Ranma, since we're down 
here, why don't we do some sightseeing?"

	Snorting, Ranma responded, "We're at the bottom of a river. What can we 
see?"

	Akane sighed and said, "I don't know.  That's what I want to find out."

	A sudden idea came to Akane, as she said, "What's the matter, Ranma?  
Are you scared of what you might find down here?"

	Ranma's head snapped up at Akane's challenge.  She gave a defiant look 
and stood up.

	"I'll show you, who's scared," Ranma stated as she walked away.

	*That did it,* Akane thought to herself.  *Challenging him got him out 
of his depression.* 

	Looking over her shoulder, Ranma-chan asked, "Coming, Akane?"

	Akane was about to agree when a sudden thought stopped her.  She sighed 
sadly as she realized the necessity of it.  Hoping that Ranma wouldn't 
slide back into her funk, Akane started speaking.

	"Ranma, I wish that when it is an hour before curfew, that an alert 
will be given to us."

	Ranma called up the magical power stored within her and granted Akane's 
wish.

	"Granted."

	"That really bothers me you know," Akane said.

	"What does?"

	"Your eyes turning red every time you grant a wish."

	Ranma just rolled her eyes at that comment, and let it slide.  The two 
walked around the river bed, looking at the fish and other marine life.  
Soon the pair were talking about Ranma's new condition.  Ranma explained 
to Akane how the magic felt, every time she granted a wish.  To her, 
granting Akane's wishes felt like warmth building within her.  Right 
before the energy was released, a pleasant tingle suffused her body.   
Ranma also described the interior of the ring for Akane in great detail. 
Akane suppressed a shudder, when she found out that the inside of the 
ring was nothing more than a barren field with walls and a vaulting 
ceiling.

	*Ranma must be terribly bored in there,* Akane thought, *He doesn't 
even have a blanket to keep him warm.  I'm going to knit him one, just 
so he has something to cover him while he's asleep.*

	After a while, a chiming sound came from Ranma.  Akane looked at Ranma 
with some annoyance.  The chime sounded just like the school's clock.

	"What was that?" Akane asked.

	"That was the reminder you wished for," Ranma explained. "I couldn't 
think of anything better."

	Sighing, Akane let that go.  Ranma feeling a bit better, waited for 
Akane to make a wish.

	*I have no control over my life anyways,* Ranma thought to herself. 
*What's granting wishes to Akane, compared to life so far?*

	Ranma put that depressing thought out of her mind, and instead focussed 
on what she could do to improve her control over her magical abilities.

	"Ranma, I wish that when we teleport next, we will be in the clothes we 
wore before entering the water."

	"Granted."

	"I wish that we were teleported to a spot close to home, that no one 
would notice our sudden appearance."

	A flash of red light came from Ranma's eyes.  When the glow faded, the 
two were in a secluded alley.  Akane was still wearing her bathing suit.  
Ranma, on the other hand, was back in her genie costume.  Looking at 
Ranma and then herself, Akane put her face in her hands and moaned.

	"Ranma, I wish we were back in our standard clothes."

	A slight red glow formed around Ranma and faded.  Akane was back in the 
clothes she wore to school.  Unfortunately for Ranma, she was still in 
her genie outfit.

	"Granted."

	Exasperated, Akane blurted, "Ranma, that's not funny.  My wish is for 
you to be in the clothes you usually wear to school."

	Ranma's clothes glowed red for a second, before reforming into her 
usual attire: red shirt and black slacks.  Both, Akane and Ranma 
breathed a sigh of relief once the clothes had changed.

	*What was that all about?* Ranma thought while shuddering.

	Curious about something, Akane said, "Ranma, I wish that some hot water 
would splash you in the face."

	Ranma-chan's eyes glowed red and a stream of hot water materialized.  
The stream hit Ranma fully in the face, changing him back to his male 
form.

	"Akane, that wasn't funny," Ranma said.

	"Hey, neither was that bit about your clothing."

	"You think, I wanted to be in those clothes?"

	"I don't know.  You are a pervert," Akane said, steering the 
conversation back to their usual arguments.

	They continued to verbally fight as they made their way home.  The pair 
made it to the Tendo home, still arguing.  Entering the house, the two 
of them were surprised by their fathers.

	Soun bawled, with two waterfalls coming out of his eyes, "Oh I am so 
happy.  You have made this man so happy."

	"I'm proud of you, my son.  Soon the Tendo and Saotome lines will be 
joined,"  Genma stated.  "Isn't that right Tendo."

	"Yes,  we'd better go make the wedding preparations."

	Akane and Ranma looked at each other in some confusion, wondering what 
had gotten into their fathers.  Sitting on the upper landing of the 
stairs, Nabiki smirked as she counted the money she received from 
telling the fathers of what Ryoga had yelled at school today.

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