It has begun....

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  Ranma walked alongside his wife as the group continued back toward
town. Ahead of the pair was Shampoo, with Konatsu and Ukyo trailing
behind. The afternoon had been drawn on for quite some time; soon,
evening would come.
  "You know," started Ranma, breaking the silence, "when I woke up
this morning, I was going to do something important, but now, I can't
seem to remember what."
  Akane's eyes narrowed as they met her husband's. "You forgot?" she
asked suspiciously.
  "Hey, a lot's been going on lately," Ranma replied with a shrug.
  "You wanted to talk to Ukyo," she reminded him. No one could miss
the hint of anger in Akane's voice.
  "Now why... of course!" Ranma snapped his fingers. Turning to his
wife, the martial artist stated, "It'll only take a moment."
  With that, Ranma slowed his walking pace, allowing Akane to march
ahead-- alone.
  The change of pace had not missed Ukyo's attentions. "What's up?"
the chef asked.
  Ranma turned to Konatsu. "Keep Akane company for me, will ya?"
  The kunoichi glanced at Ukyo, as if looking for approval.
  "Sure, go on ahead," encouraged Ukyo.
  Wordlessly, Konatsu nodded, then quickened his pace to catch up with
Akane.
  "Okay," Ukyo said, "I'm all ears."
  Ranma cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts. "Where shall I
begin?" he wondered aloud. "Well, this morning, I realized there was
something missing in my life."
  The okonomiyaki chef peered at her old friend carefully. "Right."
  "Why'd you say that?" he asked.
  "Well, let's put it this way," she replied, holding out her fist.
Extending her index finger, Ukyo said, "For one, you're married, and
have a wonderful wife." She raised a second finger. "Two, everything
has been settled by your mother...."
  "Well, not really," interrupted Ranma, who seemed to be ready to
start sweating. "Mom's actually been 'suggesting' that grandchildren
would be nice to have around and all."
  Ukyo shook her head. "She's crazy."
  "It could be worse."
  The chef girl continued, raising a third finger. "Thirdly, there's
nothing left between us, so I don't see why anything I do matters to
you at all."
  "That's the thing, really," the young Saotome said, almost ready to
choke. "I don't know why... but... dammit, I... miss you?"
  Those words forced Ukyo to come to a grinding halt. "What?"
  Ranma paused. "Don't take it to mean the way it sounds...."
  "You're crazy."
  "No, no, no... let me explain...."
  "Ranma, you're MARRIED!"
  "I didn't mean it that way!"
  "Then what 'way' did you mean?!"
  "Well... I don't know!"
  Ukyo shook her head. In disgust, the okonomiyaki chef resumed her
march.
  Raising a hand, as if it would stop her, Ranma followed. "W...wait!"
  Without turning around, the chef replied, "Don't start with me,
Ranma." She tried her best to force back the tears welling in her
eyes. "I've tried my best these past months to bury my dreams, so
don't try to dig them up again." Ukyo raised her fist, shaking it in
frustration. "Before, I would've done anything for you... anything
that would make you happy. Then I realized that Akane makes you happy,
and not... me." With her other hand she wiped the tears from her eys.
"After that, I've done everything I could to get you out of my life.
The last thing I need right now is... this."
  "But, but... I...." Ranma stuttered.
  "Remember your wedding day?" asked Ukyo.
  "Yeah?"
  "Remember how I gave you my first kiss?" she reminded him.
  "And?" Ranma knew where this was going; the first kiss was always
the one you remembered.
  "The only thing I could remember about it since then was... just
how much I was trying to enjoy it," explained the okonomiyaki chef.
"But, even then, I knew... you weren't kissing back."
  She forced a soft laugh, yet, her sniffling drowned it out.
"Kissing is overrated."
  Ranma was at a loss for words, slowing his pace in order to avoid
getting too close to his upset friend. Ukyo was right about one thing,
at least: the kiss.
  "I can't imagine how the hell you came up with these 'feelings,'"
continued Ukyo, barely maintaining control over her sobs. She glanced
back at Ranma, with both menace and sadness in her teary eyes. "But,
if you dare to say those words...."
  "Ukyo...."
  "I'll hate you for the rest of my life!"

----------------------------------------------------

  Destroy all expectations, for the greatest battle of all is about
to begin!
  And this time, some of them aren't coming home alive....

  Wheel of Fire #16: Nemesis

Razorclaw X
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html

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----------------------------------------------------------
This has been yet another exercise in interpretation.

"Decepticons FOREVER!!" --Ravage, former Decepticon
"If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die." --Kosh, Babylon 5
"Dinobot has spoken. My rigid grill structure... what's next?"--Scott 
McNeil, voice of Dinobot
"...is bearing down on your unprotected garage door."--answer to Scott's 
question
"...you're lamer than your signature and screen name indicate."--Chris 
Davies
"The FFML exists to judge the writing, not the writers."-Richard Lawson

--Razorclaw X
Author: "Wheel of Fire", "The World's Worst Ranma Fanfic!", "The Geometry of 
Shattered Souls", "The Balance of Power".
"I sold my soul to buy a copy of the dubbed 'Ukyo Can Cook'"
"I'm only one person. What can I do? A lot, quite frankly."


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