I made some slight changes in chapter 4 and posted chapter 5.  
Comments are always welcome.

A Second Chance at Love
Chapter 4 Possibilities

<Flashback Nerima>
	After the love potion incident, Ukyou was still determined to 
split Ranma and Akane up.  However, she would not use anything like a 
love potion again.  Using a love potion is wrong; thank god that plan 
did not work.   I want Ranma to love me for me not because of a 
potion.  Shampoo and Kodachi would use love potions but Kodachi is 
insane and Shampoo is weird. 	 

	In the next two months, Ukyou and Ryoga tried a few more 
schemes but they failed.   Ukyou was starting to wonder if any of the 
schemes would ever work.  She wanted to tell Ranma that she loved him 
but he thought of her as a friend.  That was why she had to scheme, 
so that he would see her differently.

	Ukyou was working one day when Akane walked into the 
restaurant.   Ukyou did not hate Akane and if Akane had not been 
engaged to Ranma, Ukyou and Akane might have been friends.  Ukyou 
slowly approached Akane and asked, "What can I get you?"

	"One special of the day."  Akane said.

	Ukyou started to make the special when Akane asked, "How are 
you and Ryoga doing?"

	Ukyou did something strange for her; she lost her 
concentration and slighted burned Akane's food.  As a professional 
chef, this was embarrassing.   "What do you mean?"  Ukyou asked.

	"You are dating him, aren�t you?"  Akane asked.

	Is she playing some sort of game? "I am not dating him."  
Ukyou said as she quickly made Akane another special and threw away 
the burned one.   

	Akane seemed to ignore that comment, "You make such a cute 
couple." 

	Ukyou tried to ignore that comment and gave Akane the food 
and Akane started to eat it.  "This is good."  Akane said after a few 
bites.

     My food is always good, unlike yours.  I can't say that, she'll 
attack me and we will wreck my restaurant.   "Thank you, Akane."  

	After a few more moments, Akane said "Are you sure that you 
aren't dating Ryoga?  He is kind of cute."

	"He is not." Ukyou protested.  'Actually those fangs are kind 
of cute and he is kind of cute when he's blushing.'  "He's nowhere 
near as cute as Ranma."

	Akane smiled and said "That's true but who is?"  

	'Akane just admitted that Ranma is cute, this is not good.  
Maybe she really does care for him.' Ukyou tried to think of 
something to say but Akane paid for her food and left.

	'What the heck was that about?  Is she trying to set me up 
with Ryoga?  That is not like her at all. Wait a minute, what if she 
really believes that I am dating Ryoga?  Does Ranma believe it?'

	Ukyou laughed.  'Ryoga and I do spend a lot of time 
together.  At the movies we looked like we were on a date.  He walked 
me home from the movies and a few days later there were rumors that 
we were dating.'         

     An hour later Ranma dropped by Ucchans and asked for a special.  
Ukyou, as always, was happy to see him.  "Hi Ranchan." 'Ranma looks 
really handsome today.'

	"Hi Ucchan."  Ranma started to eat his special.  "How did 
your talk with Akane go?"  

	"Do you two really think that I am dating Ryoga?"

	"Yes."

	"I am not dating him." Ukyou protested.  'He really thinks I 
am dating Ryoga, how do I convince him that I am not?'

	"Too bad.  I've seen you together and he looks relaxed, which 
is not like him.  The two of you seemed to be having fun at the 
movie."

	"We were but that was not a date."  Ukyou protested.  'That 
sounds weak even to me.'


	"So you're sticking to the 'we met outside the theatre 
story'?"	

	"That's what happened."   'He seems interested, is he 
jealous?'  
	
    Ranma looked unconvinced and said "If you say so."  Ranma ate the 
special and then left.  

	Ukyou was not happy.  Both Akane and Ranma had been convinced 
that she was dating Ryoga and worse both of them had been happy 
about.  Ukyou could understand Akane being happy about it.   Ukyou 
had hoped that Ranma would be jealous if he thought she was dating 
someone else.  If Ranma was even a little jealous, he was hiding it 
very well.

	Ukyou thought about Ryoga some more.  He was cute, even if he 
was not as cute as Ranma.  He was also brave.   He tried very hard to 
be helpful in their schemes and he never seemed to give up.  It was 
nice of him to walk her home after the movie.  All in all, there was 
a lot to admire about Ryoga.  

	The date at the movies had been sort of fun and it was her 
first date in a way.  Ukyou had liked it a lot when Ryoga said she 
was beautiful.   Maybe dating Ryoga is not such a bad idea.

	Ukyou was not yet ready to give up on Ranma completely.  
'Perhaps I can make Ranma jealous.  Sure he doesn't seem jealous but 
I can give him something to be jealous about.  Yeah dating Ryoga can 
be rewarding.'

	Ukyou found Ryoga a few days later and explained the new 
plan.  "Okay, I guess we could try it." Ryoga said.  

	"You don't sound terribly enthusiastic."

	Ryoga said nothing and wore a blank expression.  After a 
pause, he said, "I'm willing to give it a shot."

	The first date in this new plan was another trip to the 
movies.  This time they went to see Iceman Cometh, a very good film 
with Yuen Biao.  They enjoyed the film immensely and they even 
enjoined going for popcorn together so Ryoga would not get lost.  
Somehow when Ukyou mentioned Ryoga's lack of direction it was cute 
instead of being annoying like when Ranma mentioned it. The only 
thing that they did not enjoy was the fact that Akane and Ranma, who 
were also at the movie, were thrilled to see them together having a 
good time. 

 	Ukyou debated letting Ryoga kiss her goodnight to get Ranma 
jealous but decided not to.  It would not do any good to have Ryoga 
kiss her goodnight without Ranma seeing it. How could he get jealous 
if he didn't see them kiss? She wanted to get Ranma jealous but she 
did not want to lead Ryoga on. 

	There were other dates designed to make Ranma and Akane 
jealous but they never seemed to work.  Ranma always seemed thrilled 
to see Ukyou and Ryoga together and Akane was much friendlier to 
Ukyou.  Whenever Ranma and Ukyou talked it was clear that he was 
happy for her and not jealous.

	For Ryoga, the situation was equally bad.  Ranma was actually 
being somewhat nice to him and Akane was not jealous at all.  Akane 
was thrilled for him and whenever she was with Ryoga, she asked 
questions about him and Ukyou.  These talks were not good and Ryoga 
often ended stuttering something and Akane thought that he was too 
shy.
	<End Flashback>
	Ryoga thought about the whole dating each other to get Ranma 
and Akane jealous scheme and laughed to himself in the airport.  
Those were really good times and he missed them.   As much as he 
liked Akari, none of the times with her were that good.  By a strange 
quirk of fate, Ukyou was also thinking about the whole dating each 
other to get Ranma and Akane jealous scheme.      


Second Chance at Love 

Chapter 5 Moving On
<Flashback Nerima>
    It was a sunny and bright day when Ukyou left Nerima.  It looked 
like a happy day but for Ukyou it was one of the worst days of her 
life.  She had left without saying goodbye to Ranma and Akane, she 
had sent Ranma a letter instead.  The letter wished the two well 
about their upcoming wedding.

    The news of Ranma and Akane's wedding was upsetting but not as 
upsetting as it could have been.  Ranma would always be her friend 
but he would not be anything more.  Ukyou knew and accepted that 
now.  

    It had taken a long time to accept that.   Ukyou had started to 
date Ryoga partially as a scheme to make Ranma jealous.  It did not 
work at all.  Those dates, one at a movie and another at a festival 
had been fun, even Ryoga admitted it.  However he was disappointed 
because Akane wasn't jealous.   

    Ukyou had fallen in love with Ryoga.  She was not sure how it 
happened and not sure when it happened exactly.  It might have 
happened during those fake dates.  It might have even started with 
their first date a few months back but that didn't matter.   

     The last month or so had been bad.  She realized that she loved 
Ryoga but she also realized that he was still devoted to Akane. 'It's 
bad enough that she has Ranma but why does Ryoga have to be devoted 
to her also?  It�s not fair'.

     One day after in a park after school, she had suggested that 
Ryoga give up on Akane.  "Maybe she really loves Ranma.  Maybe you 
should find someone else."

        "I love her."  Ryoga said.

        "Don't you have feeling for someone else?"  Ukyou asked.
   
         "No." Ryoga said. "I love Akane."

       'Curse you Ryoga, why can't you give up for once?' Ukyou 
changed subjects quickly. If Ryoga noticed her disapointment, he did 
not say anything.      

     Ukyou was waiting for Ryoga to come by, so that she say goodbye 
and leave the city. Maybe she finally tell him that she loved him. 
Ukyou did not know where she was going, she just knew that she had to 
leave. 

<End Flashback>
     'I can't live like this anymore'.  Ukyou was back in her 
apartment, her small apartment.   It was a not a bad apartment but it 
was small and expensive.  Her old restaurant in Nerima had cost so 
much less to rent per month.  

	Her life had changed so much since her days in Nerima and at 
times she wished that she had never left the city.  Trying to be an 
actress had not worked out. The competition had been fierce and even 
though she had some acting talent (all those schemes helped to 
develop that talent), she was not lucky enough.  She never got the 
one big part that would lead to major stardom in either films or 
TV.   She had not even got a break that would lead her to become a 
successful supporting actress. 

	Also there was more competition every year and some of the 
younger actresses were willing to work cheaper than Ukyou.  Some of 
the younger actresses were also more talented than Ukyou.    Things 
were not going well.

	It was after one of her failed auditions that Ukyou saw the 
ad for the escort service.  The money sounded good and she really 
needed it.  She had not known what the escort service really was 
until she went in for an interview.  She felt bad but needed the 
money and thought it would be a short-term job, perhaps even a one-
time job.  That was five years ago.    Those years had been hard and 
she wished that she could forget them.

	She had tried to continue to pursue acting after becoming an 
escort.  Her luck did not improve much.  She got a few minor parts 
but never got enough work to quit being an escort.  The one big break 
never happened.

	Ukyou called the agency and resigned.  She should have done 
it years ago.  She did not know what to do now but she decided to 
give up on acting.   She also decided that she would leave this city 
to get a new start.  She did not have any real friends in the city, 
so she thought it would be a good thing to do.

	She thought that she would never see Ryoga again.   She was 
wrong.
		





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